Revenge of the Gamer

Goal #1- Lose 50 Pounds

I’ve been working hard all year to lose weight.  Believe me when I say it’s been a constant battle, one that I have nearly given up more than once.  Despite the pitfalls along the way I stuck with it and now that I’m halfway through the year I’m glad I did.  As of this morning I am down 13.8 pounds since January 1st and 17.2 pounds since my peak in March.

I was originally shooting for 25 pounds by now, which means I am a little over half way to the goal I set for today.  On the one hand it means that I failed my stated goal, but that’s viewing things from a glass half empty mentality.  I lost 13 pounds.  If I double that in the second half of the year I’ll still have lost 26 pounds, and while that might not be where I want to end up it is most definitely progress.

It’s important to remember that the year isn’t over either.  If I am more diligent in the next six months I could easily lose 20 pounds or more.  I might even hit my goal of 50 this year.

I believe that’s possible.  From January through April my weight see-sawed back and forth, hitting its peak in mid-april at 241.  That means since April 15th I’ve lost 17.2 pounds.  That’s 1.72lbs a week.  There are 26 weeks left in the year.  That means at this rate I could lose another 40lbs.

Will I?  Probably not.  There will be plateaus, but as Bruce Lee once said, “There are no limits.  Only plateaus and you must get past them.”  I can and will continue to make progress, and if I am diligent I will hit my weight loss goals for the year.

Goal # 2- Get in good enough shape to go rock climbing

You know it occurs to me that I have no idea how good of shape I need to be in to go rock climbing, which makes this goal very difficult to measure.  What I can measure is how good of shape I am to go hiking.

When I began in January I found simple hikes very challenging.  The east trail in Armstrong Woods was a serious endeavor, and the first summit on Sugarloaf Mountain left my legs shaking and my breathing labored.  At the end of the first quarter I’d completed much more challenging hikes, but it still took a supreme effort to get to the top.

Now hikes that nearly killed me are literally a walk in the park.  I can climb the entire first summit of Sugarloaf at a brisk walk without pausing even once.  A ten mile hike is a fun excursion instead of a grueling personal challenge.  I feel like a completely different person.

I know what sort of shape I was in when I played paintball before.  It was good, but I am in far better shape today.  I can exert myself continuously for an hour with ease, which is perfect to get out there and play.  I’ve lost enough weight to fit into my old gear too.  Which leads me too…

Goal #3- Get back into paintball

On the one hand this goal could be considered a complete failure as I haven’t actually gone out and played.  On the other I have been working incredibly hard to get in shape and I’ve dug out all my old paintball gear.  Today is July 1st.  I need to stop making excuses and just go play.  Making this weekend is a good time?

Goal # 4- Finish and submit The Bond of Jhordil

This goal hasn’t gone so well.  I’ve spent the last three months brainstorming, writing treatments, writing character backgrounds and re-writing the first few chapters.  The end result?  I haven’t finished very much fiction at all.  Initially this was all part of the plan, but I’m starting to worry.  How long do I linger in the planning stage?  When do I get back to actually writing fiction?

I think its time.  Starting today no more planning, no more plotting.  I start belting out fiction again and try to get an entire manuscript completed before the start of the 3rd quarter.  If I don’t I’ll never have enough time to edit it before the end of the year.

Goal #5- Finish and submit 12 short stories

I’ve totally dropped the ball on this one.  I’ve only worked on one short story since March, and its only half finished.  Unforunately I’ve begun work on other goals and this one is suffering for it.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to get everything done that I wanted to when I set these goals in January and this is an acceptable casualty.

I’m still hoping to get more short stories done, but if I don’t hit 12 I’m not overly concerned.  Creating iPhone apps and getting the Evil GM Book ready is more important.  More on that in the refocusing section.

Goal #6 Learn how to use my expensive new camera

This one is definitely a win.  I’ve used my Rebel to take over 4,000 pictures since January, and there’s no teacher like direct experience.  I’ve learned about lighting, angles and a whole host of other basics.  I still have a ton to learn, but I use the camera FAR more than I ever would have imagined when I bought it.

It’s nice having a nice camera wherever I go.  You can really capture some amazing moments!  Most recently I photographed a rattlesnake I ran into up on Sugarloaf mountain.  Damn I love that camera.

Goal #7 Visit Yosemite  

This goal is about to be realized and I’m very, very excited about it.  As a birthday surprise Amelia booked a bed and breakfast outside the valley.  We’re taking a four day trip to explore as much of Yosemite as we can see.  I can’t wait!  Another goal realized =)

Expect tons of pictures!

Goal # 8- Find a gamer chica who makes my heart sing

Amelia isn’t much of a gamer, but she is definitely a chica who makes my heart sing.  We’ve been together for five months, and every day seems better than the last.  Another goal realized!

Goal # 9- Add $200 a month to savings

This goal is utter failure incarnate.  I have blown far more money this year than I ever expected.  My savings are gone and for the first time in a couple of years I have some credit card debt.  As a result I’ve started a much more restrictive budget and have gotten a lot more frugal.  More on this in the refocusing section.

Goal # 10- Pay my car under $3000

Err, well technically I succeeded at this goal.  The loan is paid under $3000.  In fact it’s paid off.  Unfortunately it was replaced with a much larger loan for my truck Kermit.  How much larger?  I owe $22,000 at 3.69% interest, so about $25,000 with interest factored in.

Yikes, you’re probably saying.  I know I did when I first considered buying the new truck.  But then I did some really serious thinking, and realized that it was a very good idea for me to take on massive debt.  That’s crazy talk, right?  Not at all.

You see the US dollar is about to undergo some major devaluation, what the average person calls inflation.  We’ve printed trillions upon trillions of dollars, and what’s more as of yesterday even the U.N. is clamoring to move away from the dollar as the world reserve currency.

What this means is that in a very short time the dollar won’t be worth squat globally.  For example let’s take my truck, which is manufactured by a Japanese company.  They sell it for $22k based on the current value of the dollar versus the value of their own currency, the yen.  If the value of the dollar drops by 20% then they need to raise the price of that truck by 20% to compensate, which would go up to $26,400. 

If I saved up the money and bought the truck in five years the money I saved would lose a lot of value along the way.  The average rate of inflation is way higher than the 3.69% interest I’m paying, so I’m net saving money in the long run.  I understand that this sounds like rationalization to blow money, and in a way it is.  But it is also the truth.  If you have money in savings it is losing value.  The interest you are being paid to keep it in the bank is not nearly as great as the rate of inflation.

So if you have good credit, need or want a new vehicle and are in a position to buy now is a great time.  In my case I wanted a truck I could have for 10 years or more.  Toyota pickups from 1980 are still on the road today, and if I take care of mine I could be driving it when I turn fifty.  Even if I don’t it should retain much of its value, which means I have a tangible asset I can sell later if I wish.

I wouldn’t apply this same logic to credit cards by the way.  I have a great rate on mine, 8.99%.  But the rate of inflation is usually under that, which means if I carry a balance I am net losing money.  So recap- car loan good, credit card debt bad.

Goal #11- Be nicer to myself

This is another victory.  I have always been my own worst critic.  In the past I expected everything I do to be perfect, and if I failed even slightly I berated the crap out of myself.

This year I have embraced a different attitude.  I don’t need to be Captain Perfect.  I just need to try.  As long as I am making an effort to achieve my goals its all good.  I don’t need to drop 50 pounds tomorrow, or publish my novel by the end of year.  But I do need to try to do both.  Honestly it feels good.  Like I’ve excorcised the phantom version of my father that follows me around bitching about all the things I’m not good enough at.

I am good enough.  What’s more I’m happy.

Refocusing

This part of my year in review is new.  Setting goals in January was great, but I need to leave myself room to abandon current goals and add new ones.  Much has changed in the last six months, and I want to alter my course accordingly.

New Goal #1- Develop the EvilGM iPhone / iPad application

There are 40 million iPhone users and six million iPad users.  Every month there are more of each.  If you write an application you gain access to that entire market.  I spent some time brainstorming with Jeff and realized that I am sitting on an application that every gamer worth his salt is likely to use.

Assume 50 million total users between iPad / iPhone by the time I make market.  Most people who own one or both are geeks, so I’ll assume one out of a thousand actually plays / played roleplaying games.  If my unscientific guess is even close to right that means there are 50,000 potential clients.  With effective marketing lets say I reach 10% of them.  That’s 5,000 sales.  At $4.99 a pop that’s nearly $25,000. 

I have a feeling I’m lowballing the number of gamers who have an iPhone, and if I make it appealing enough I may be able to target more than 10%.  The key will be advertising, but if I start making money on my app I can afford to advertise with www.rpg.net, Knights of the Dinner Table, Dragon Magazine, Gamegrene and anywhere else I can think of.

This means that if I do it right I could be sitting on a goldmine.  I have some very concrete ideas for the app, all of which appear easy to implement.  There are some things I can’t do myself, but finding a good artist is easy.  Our webmaster at work is good, and there are iPhone forums for development where I can probably meet others.

This project will not be easy or quick.  I need to learn Objective C, which looks easy enough as it’s a C++ derivative.  I will need to pour a ton of hours into development and testing.  I will have to start a new business.  I will need to research advertising.  I will need to register a domain and get an impressive looking website together.  I will have to pay a lot of money for artwork, advertising and other expenses.

In the end it should all be worth it.  If I can pull this off and make even a small profit I’ll have discovered a new revenue stream that will never be obsolete.  If I can develop several related apps and brand them together I can continue to create and tweak tools for gamers on their phones.  If its successful I can even make alternate versions for other phones like the Android.

I know that this is an ambitious project, but its one I am dead set on making a reality.  I can do this.  I have most of the skills already and am very confident I can build the rest.  Hard work and dedication are something I’ve learned a lot of recently, both from writing and from working out.  I just need to keep the same work ethic and keep my eye on the prize.

New Goal #2- Accumlulate wealth

This one goes hand in hand with the previous goal.  I’m old enough that I’m starting to seriously plan for retirement.  I recently wrote a journal entry about it, the gist of which is I want to be financially independent enough to travel.

There are two ways I can do this, both of which work in Tandem.  The first is to increase my revenue.  If I can make money doing things like iPhone apps then I can meet that part of the goal.  Add in things like my Evil GM book, my novel and anything else I can create.  The bottom line is I need a pile of intellectual propery which will continuously generate money.  I won’t go into that in detail here as I have already done so in my journal.

The other part of the equation is living frugally.  It means having a budget and sticking to it.  The good news is that I’ve set one up and am starting to really examine every penny I spend.  This will take diligence, but I believe its worth the effort.

Alright, thus ends the review of the first half of 2010!