July August Goals

Hello hello!

Checking in for July’s progress (and boy, what progress!). As we look ahead to August, I think the momentum will be kept up. Let’s talk:

July Goal Review

1. Invest in Family
   1. Won. Visiting sis and reaching out to family, I’ve learned a lot about them and myself. (Still working on myself!) A
2. Invest in Games
   1. Won. I have a Draft 0 of BITS, specifically BITS of DnD, a conversion of the hit TTRPG, and am onto Draft 1. That, and I playtested various mechanics of a Civil War-themed Risk game – the playtest showed areas where the game wasn’t communicating the right ‘feel’, but I did mathematically deduce what the continent bonus should be in any Risk game (look for a post on that later! Spoiler: the constant for bonus value is .4).
3. Invest in Investments
   1. Won. Read up on The Tao of Warren Buffet and The Intelligent Investor, both excellent and recommended reads. Sold objectively way overvalued TSLA stock, built an automated checklist for stock purchase worthiness, and discovered the glory of ImportHtml in Google Sheets (could give a post on this later if there’s interest). And I bought COBRA insurance! ~woot~ (?)
4. (Wait, what happened to the interview?)
   1. Interviewed, passed the fourth and final round, yet when it was between me and another, the other won out. Oh well 🤷‍♂️ Gave me more time for other goals 😉

August Goal Proposal

I had in mind possibly blitzing a short story a week for four weeks, ~10K words a week, put them in an anthology or some such. While still on my mind, I’ve decided to finish (or get presentable) the thing that’s pestered my mind for two years: BITS. Check it out:

1. BITS of DnD Draft 1
   1. As the title says. Get a presentable document prepared (there are still notes in Draft 0). Once that’s done, I’ll moved to the second goal:
2. BITS of DnD Final Draft (For Beta Playtesting)
   1. By the end of August, I’ll have a playable ruleset that strangers should be able to pickup. This is the draft that can be applied to a general BITS ruleset and collection of design principles applicable for other IPs and games!
3. GD ST Outlines
   1. “GD ST” is a code name for a WIP retelling of a classic IP. My goal is to concoct ‘episodes’ (at least 12, preferably 24) that will be in a one-page outline form each. The outlines will be great for later use, should I begin a ‘short-story-a-month’ or similar scheme to get back to writing 📝
4. Housekeeping
   1. This is particular. Travel is going to happen to someone in the household, so they will become a COVID risk. That, and my sis is moving, so I’m lifting and carrying for that. So, housekeeping! More chores than normal! These things I’ll be spending time on (kind of a cop-out, so should really be one less goal for August as was done for July… oh well 🙃).

July was an overwhelming victory. I’ve demonstrably improved in my financial knowledge and positions, some of my relationships, my game making, and in my understanding of SQL (this is a coding interview thing).

August shall not stop me, nor should it you. If there is help I may provide you in your goals, do reach out. Should you like to help in playtesting, proofreading, or just wanting to check on how things are, I deeply appreciate hearing from you 😊

As always, stay safe, stay healthy, remember that you are and that is excellence. Cheers! 🖖🏻