The Patent Dragon's Zone of Soul Retraction

The List | Previous Updates:
2010
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
2011
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
2012
January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August...

Okay, that's the last full month over and done with - and in the space of one week, there have been several successes!

The source for my SCOREs had been a five-night, six-day trip to London, which has given me a total length of "away from home" time to Task 22 - Spend one full week away from home. I already knew that another Task was guaranteed for success during the trip - Task 27 - See one stage show a year - when we went to see the truly incredible War Horse - the film is excellent, but it just doesn't compare to the stage show, which convinced Spielberg to go ahead with the movie.

Go see it. You will not be disappointed.

Third SCORE was Task 72 - See an aardvark in the flesh. The fast-asleep flesh, at London's Regents Park Zoo. Twice...



Pity the two of them don't count double. I'm starting to see a pattern now - the animals I go specially to see are asleep - remember the binturongs in Edinburgh (Task 73)? - and I will always get a photo of a tiger's backside, vanishing into the undergrowth...

Other progress hasn't been so easy to come by, however, but over the next couple of days, I intend to see just what I can achieve in what little time is left. Fifty-one completed tasks - half-way - remains the target, but I am already preparing for the inevitable penalty pay-out of Task 82 - Give £1 to charity for every task not completed, and an additional £10 for every 10 not completed. Fifty tasks not completed equals a £100 pay-out, and with the £10 I gave to the zoo's tiger preservation programme, I have paid out the princely sum of £11. I need to ascertain which Tasks definitely won't get done, and start paying out for them pretty soon if Task 82 is to be finished on time - and the completion of that could end up saving me £10.

I feel a time-loop coming on.

In Closing... Next stop, boys and girls - the final round-up. I am still considering my "gap year" project, which I will most likely start at New Year, in an attempt to make up for the time "thrown into the grinder" by moving house.

Keep the faith, people!

The List | Previous Updates:
2010
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
2011
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
2012
January - February - March - April - May - June...

The Good News... Task 8 Task 8, as I predicted last time, has changed from an "in progress" to a *SCORE*, as previously recorded. Only one strawberry plant has produced edible fruit so far, but the other two are working on it, I can assure you.

The Not-So-Good News... I'm now into the last two and two-thirds months of my Mission, and it's not looking good. Now that the house is getting its essential roof-work done, things are in a mess, and my organisational faculties are trashed. I can only focus on those Tasks I know I can complete, and hope for some luck along the way - a 50% completion target is the plan.

Wish me luck.

The List | Previous Updates:
2010
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
2011
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
2012
January - February - March - April...

( Okay, let's get on with this (Tasks in progress, in numerical order)... )

And, finally... 98 - See each of the "Avengers" cycle of movies on opening day! (Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America..., Avengers) *SCORE* Saw AVENGERS on April 26th; the UK opening date!

The List | Previous Updates:
2010
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
2011
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
2012
January - February...

There is nothing to report. I have achieved nothing this month. Four weeks has never seemed so short. I have no excuses. Yesterday was probably the first time this month that I even looked at my list.

I need to change that - especially if I seriously intend to start a new Mission after this one ends. Yes, my current list was created at a point in my life when I had no idea what was just around the corner (and by that I mean continual employment), and I had no idea I'd be moving house during my Mission's duration.

I can still complete Tasks. I simply need to apply myself. I very much hope I'll have better news next time.

The List | Previous Updates:
2010
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
2011
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - December...


Completed... Well, I spent enough on it to count Task 83

83 - Get a good, solid, long-lasting office chair!

as completed, as of last week. Whether or not the item in question is up to the job, we shall see...

Advanced Patent Saturday 2011 was a big success, involving a luxurious two-night stay at the best hotel in town. This moves Task 65

65 - Celebrate each and every Spiritwalk (May 22) and Patent Saturday (December 1) like they really mean something (which they do!)

one step closer to - and one step away from - completion. Now, what can I possibly do in May - can I top PatSat '11? Dare I try...?

I'm picking up on my "classic movies" recently, with Scrooge (1951) and The Man Who Would Be King (1975) to add to the list. I have fallen a bit behind, but I mean to remedy that. New Year, new motivation - and talking of which...

2011 In Review... The year just passed started in hopeful fashion, but once I hit the summer, and "The Move", the Mission stalled pretty badly. Some Tasks have reached completion without too much effort, and others that run until "end-of-Mission" have progressed pretty much automatically, and will give me a good, strong dose of completions come September 28th. 100% Mission completion isn't going to happen - but then I hardly expected to achieve that lofty goal when I started, and anything I don't complete can be carried over to Mission II...

I've been toying with several "Push Lists" since The Move, with varying degrees of success. One of the first things I'll be doing this year is lining up Tasks I know I can complete if I spend the time to get them done. So little time, so much to do.

The List | Previous Updates:
2010
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
2011
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - October...

Let's get straight to the good news...

SCORE The First...

( Photographic evidence...! )

Task 73 - See a binturong in the flesh on Saturday at Edinburgh Zoo. Both of them were, unfortunately asleep the whole time, but I can confirm that binturong musk DOES indeed smell like hot buttered popcorn!

And then there's...

SCORE The Second...

( Photographic evidence...! )

Task 52 - Complete some craft projects I've started This one's been hanging around for a couple of years, but at last it's done, and this Task is a most welcome *SCORE*

Yup, there you have it - TWO Tasks completed this month, after several months of struggling. There's less than a year to go now, and I really don't think I'll complete every Task, thanks in part to the chaos this summer, and thanks in part to some over-enthusiasm on my part. Anything that doesn't get completed will go into my NEXT list...

Looking promising for impending *SCORE*s... It's not impossible that I could complete my diddley bow (Task 97 - Build a diddley bow) before Christmas, and the same could be said for my "Personal Goddess" (91 - Create a "personal goddess"). Come December, I'll also get my last shot at 14 - Take Mum to the Christmas performance of Handel's Messiah at least once, which I'm thinking is going to be effectively an "extra point shot".

Add to these several more Tasks in progress, and the Tasks that are Mission-long, and I'm thinking I can hit 50% - at least that's my bare-minimum target. I hope that doesn't sound in any way defeatist...

The List | Previous Updates:
2010
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
2011
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - August...

I blew it. I have no completions to report, and yes, that makes me a liar. I have made some progress on several Tasks:-

- *mini-SCORE!* On 7th July, I completed my second year of 100 hours of outdoor walks, all thanks to being at work. Given that I did 165 last year, I only have to do TWO more after today to average one hundred for the three years of my Mission. That doesn't, however, mean that I'm going to take things easy in 2012. Far from it!

( And the rest... )

And finally...

Task 85 - ...and make my own books! was supposed to be my "ace-in-the-hole", but I screwed up the one I was working on last night. However, I have plenty of materials to have several more tries, I know where and how I went wrong - and this Task WILL be completed this month! This, and at least one other...

That's about all I can think of right now, and the day is drawing to a close - I can actually hear owls outside (tawny owls, I believe). I hope to have better news next month!

The List | Previous Updates:
2010
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
2011
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - July...

July has still been a month dominated by moving-related matters, but I have been able to make some progress, albeit not to the point of actually completing any Tasks this month. So, let's see what's been happening...

Task 17 - See more of Jan Given that my nephew is now next door, I can't hardly fail on this. We have semi-regular meetings over the garden wall, and in-depth discussions on things such as nettles and dinosaurs.

Task 59 - Learn to upgrade PCs I "broke my duck" on this one by finally taking the plunge, and extracting a hard drive from my very first PC, for installation in a USB enclosure, making it into an admittedly small external drive. It worked - after a certain amount of frustration - and my confidence with hardware has just had a considerable boost!

I can take bits out without a panic - but can I put parts in? I'm looking to get a new PC as a full-scale upgrade in the very near future, but it'd be worth seeing if I can take my current machine a step or two closer to being more up-to-date.

Task 83 - Get my chair fixed! The chair in question is history. It was stripped of any useful parts, and sent to the dump. I will now be looking for a new, quality office chair, as I'm not entirely sure I'm going to inherit the second of the pair any time soon...

Task 97 - Build a diddley bow I have the "two by four", and several of the non-electrical pieces, and in a week or two, I'll go and see if I can get the necessary electrics at the nearest music shop (which happens to be out of town).

Task 98 - See each of the "Avengers" cycle of movies on opening day! (Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America - The First Avenger (2011), Avengers (2012)) I saw Captain America - The First Avenger on Friday - the UK opening day - and that means I only have Avengers to see when that opens, and this task is COMPLETE!

And (almost) finally...

Could I perhaps stretch it a little and say that Task 6 - Save lie-ins for weekends is complete? For about half the duration of my Mission, I have been working, and so I simply don't have the choice about lie-ins any more. Technically, I should only call this complete on the final day, but I rather doubt I'll be out of work any time before then. Opinions would be appreciated on the matter.

And finally finally... I WILL be completing Tasks in August! I PROMISE.

And so, After The Fall reaches its conclusion.

Moments to treasure, moments to fear - and this is but the beginning of how things are going to be from now on...

Release Notes... Expect Season Seven to continue very soon!

Meanwhile... Crap. Nettle stings. And all on my mouse-hand. Guess I won't be doing much tonight then - except maybe researching gardening gloves. Oh, and maybe a games console to double as a DVD/BluRay player, which I am really starting to need, now that I have a 32" TV at hand (ouch)

I am so desperately trying to make a life here at the "new" (heh) house, but the place doesn't seem to like me much. Our pestilential adversaries have just doubled in species, not that I can mention that to the house-owner without being made to feel that a) I'm bringing it up just to make their life more miserable, and b) it's somehow my fault.

Fine. I'll pay to have it all fixed. Happy? I want to make this work, and not just because I have nowhere else to go. There are some neighbours who have been owing me money for years now - maybe it's time they forked over some cash...

Ah, screw it. Going to watch some DVDs now, on whatever equipment is available. I got the collected edition of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr's Kick Ass comic yesterday as my "book-a-month" (and just in time, too), and a pretty powerful piece of work it is. I'm not a fan of the "grim and gritty", so typical of British comic creators, but this was impressive stuff - teenage loser decides to become a superhero, and that's about as good as it gets for him. Brutal... Score: 8.5/10

Mission Update... is coming tomorrow. I'm not in the mood.

The List | Previous Updates:
2010
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec
2011
January - February - March - April...

And the score is... Not so good.

( And here's the rest of the sorry tale... )

Cross-posted at Mission 101 Community at LiveJournal