Ok, first an update on how February went, and then to the next topic of the month: Bottom line? Programming went so-so… I learned very little Go although I did make some progress with Javascript. I also spent some time learning Docker and wrote some scripts in BASH to automate some docker tasks related to my companies software. I don’t know how much those could be considered deliberate programming but I am pleased to announce that I am included as a contributor on a release of our primary software, so I guess that means I’m officially a professional programmer now. :) If I’m really giving myself credit, I guess I could also say that I learned a ton about how professional software products are bundled, built, released, managed and shipped, so again, while not deliberate programming, I did a lot to learn about how the whole process of programming works.

Ok, now for this month; I’m not going to drop the programming topic entirely this month as I very much intend to keep working on Javascript (and maybe get back to somme Go?), but I will keep it as a sub-task on along with work time. I also will be traveling this month so I imagine a large chunk of the month will not allow for evening free time to do things that involve hardware such as drones or robots, as much as I would like to pivot that way. I will however have access to a Gym, or at least a room in which to exercise no matter where I go. I’ve been feeling like I’ve let myself get out of shape since I left the army (to be expected) but I truly believe I’ve gotten to the point where I’m no longer able to say I’m ready to take on even moderately demanding physical tasks on a given day without notice or preparation. And despite the fact that I’ve been slowly recovering from injuries and regaining base functionality again, I’ve never been at this point of inability before.

With all this in mind I have decided March will be about Physical Health. I am going to develop a staged training plan to get myself to a point where I can comfortably conduct x3 deliberate workouts (with an intent to develop) per week, and have at least 30 min of strenuous exercise x6 days a week (which may include the workouts or other cardio-vascular activity…guideline; I should sweat). I’ll start slowly as to not reinjure myself, and to ensure I can listen to my body and assess along the way. By the end of the month the goal is to have developed habits that will continue from then on. The eventual goal is to be able to take a RPFT with no notice and be able to pass.

As a side note, I also happened to have purchased a Steam Deck and really want to get programs like ROS2, RVIZ, and QGroundControl running on it pursuant of my general robotics goals. While I’ll leave that as a topic for another month, my eagerness to play with it may prompt me to spend some evenings playing with to get started with these items early. This should be fine since the topic of this month will likely require some focused discipline to ensure I use my mornings effectively when it will be easiest to work out. Let’s do this!