As noted earlier, since I’ve got the time goal shattered just on natural pace, it’s all about the reps right now.

But, yes, all goals met for this week, which is an achievement in itself. I just wish I didn’t live near the top of a hill. The final 1/3 of a mile coming home is … the challenging bit.

Today is a recovery day, so I’m sleeping in. This post comes to you care of WordPress’s post-scheduling feature.

This is the second report of up to 33, chronicling events between 30 Aug 2010 and 11 Apr 2011.

So we go back to being a one-desktop family. Since we will still also have two laptops and (later this month) two smartphones, I don’t think anyone will be suffering for computer time.

(Oh, I had enough strength and stamina to do what needed doing. But I’ve never, ever been “objectively” fit. It’s far past time to correct that. And if I can’t do it on my own, right now, then what comes next doesn’t bear speculation.)

I’m not going to spam you with the details of what I will be doing, except to reassure you that it is:

• safe: I’ve seen my doctor and gotten a green light;
• progressive: it starts slow and builds at a reasonable tempo;
• about performance: the job is to meet the simple goals. Anything else that happens is gravy.
• scientific (of course!): the goals are based on age- and gender-appropriate norms derived from a long heritage of research.

I reworked the plan a little bit since the last Facebook post, making the endgame a little more reachable and leaving me room to keep climbing afterwards. But the resolution to not cut the hair remains. Yes, I need to get pictures going.

This is the first report of up to 33, chronicling events between 30 Aug 2010 and 11 Apr 2011.

As for my NARTREK Gold project, I’m going to finish the build on it, but I also have to recreate the simulation files after they were lost during a program update. Bah!

Project Samson will kick off on Monday. I’ve scaled back the targets some. The goal date is 32 weeks out; the plan has nominally 18 weeks; that gives me 14 weeks of padding to accommodate plateaus, weather, kids, and other phenomena. I’ll be trying to leave y’all progress reports on Sunday mornings.

Project Pym is being scaled back as well. If I try to just do the whole thing in one swell foop, the children will starve instead of learn. So that one shifts to one event/week for now, and hopefully increasing through the fall and winter. I need to do a bit more research, though, to assess appropriate personal targets.

Cryptic? Why, yes. Yes I am.

The Lady has recovered from the most recent round of kidney stones, and is undergoing tests to identify a cause for the condition.

The Youngest began Third Grade three weeks ago and is settling nicely back into the routine.

The Eldest begins Tenth Grade on Monday. She is undergoing testing for allergies and asthma this week, in a first attack on her problems with getting good sleep.

Me? Just keepin’ on keepin’ on, by the grace of God and that it’s all I know how to do. My Star Trek fanfic will come into the site on Sept. 8.

On equipment: I’m going to, in the words of the MST3K theme song, “really just relax.” Take whatever gear I feel like flying from. Keep the Big Gear on hand if the girls decide to try something mid-power, or if I decide to emerge from my self-imposed very-low-power confinement someday (’cause APCP motors are really cool to watch…).

As far as what I’m going to build? Just mostly finish what I’ve got (two cutaway motor models, a Quest Astra, and a book). When those are done, try some new things. I haven’t done helicopter recovery yet. I’d like to see what wadding-less recovery (using baffles) is like.

At the bottom, after finishing NARTREK, it’s time for me to settle into small projects that amuse, “fly casual,” and support the girls if they choose to start building and flying.

So what smartphones are we getting?

Blackberry? No, no, and no. Too pricy, too enterprisy.

Apple? Tempting, but current iPhones would compel us to an OS upgrade on the home computers as well … and that upgrade would increase the cost of the project by half again. Hey, Apple? Why is a family package for OS 10.6 $50, but a family package for 10.5 over $200?

Android? Not available on our carrier.

Samsung? Nokia? Um, no. Not really any support for them that I’ve seen.

That leaves us with the webOS devices, newly available on our carrier, half the price of the Apple products, and … they look like a lot of fun. They may not have as many apps yet … but HP is definitely encouraging that development, and I hope webOS developers have an advantage from seeing what worked and didn’t for the other app platforms.

Also, I like the “open” architecture — it runs on a Linux kernel, using HTML5 and CSS to manage the UI. I’ll probably satisfy my programming itch by learning how to make apps for it (and HP has such NICE toys for developers! Even developers with Macs!).

UPDATE: For Macs running with x86 processors, that is … which means I don’t get to write nuttin’. Cur-ses.

It’s definitely going to be a transition. I’m going to lose the Bible reader software I’ve had on my PDA for years (it could run in an emulator, but that clutters the display and I lose the webOS display’s rotatability.) I’m going to have to buy replacements for programs I used to have free. But … that’s just tech life when you skip two generations of OS and hardware.

Progress reports as I think they are warranted.

(Why up this early? Want to get ahead of the back-to-school shopping this morning.)

So, apart from that semi-intentional mishap, the rest of my flights went well despite increasing and shifting winds. Between trades and flights and giveaways, I got rid of all my C-and-higher motors, and destroyed my D-and-higher models (the Blue Ninja fared little better on its E15-4 mishap. E15-7 would have been perfect, but they also would have drifted a good mile away.) Composite motors make a pretty show and noise, but … I’m satisfied. B and less will be good. I’m also still trying to learn the ins-and-outs of flying in wind… an important skill here.

Thursday I spent a nice, all-too-brief, lunch with my semi-foster-brother Russell, hastily catching each other up on the last decade, decade and a half or so. Thanks for taking the time for me, Russ, and love always for you and Marie. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.

I took a silly amount of time this week chasing down MP3s of the three main versions of Ron Grainer’s full-length Doctor Who theme: the 1963 original by Delia Derbyshire, the 1980 synthesizer version by Peter Howell, and the 2005 orchestra-and-sampler version by Murray Gold. (All of which I like just fine, by the way.)

(Who-fans need not write pointing out the esoterica of the minor revisions and obscure alternate versions. I think we can all agree these are the three that deserve fullest attention.)

(I’m ambivalent about Gold’s rework for 2010. I like the choral work, and the escalating tension in the intro. I dislike the move further away from electronic music, and the electronic elements that are there are not fulfilling.)

First views of WB Animation’s new “The Looney Tunes Show” are rolling out at Comic-Con International in San Diego this week. Looks very promising. The design sensibility is late 1940s, finally shaking off the look that these characters have been locked in for, well, most of the Television Age. We’ll see how the writing and animation go.

I woke up this morning with more ideas for my “no soldering required” model rocket controller build. I need to go write those down now before starting the day’s chores. Y’all be good to each other, now, y’ hear?

I gave the Lady of the Manor my Christmas wish list today. Her reaction: “Really? ” I think she’s suprised that I finally put some list ideas together right around the time she usually starts thinking about gift shopping. Hey, it only takes me fifteen years to pick up on these things.

The Daughters will be drafted as range crew to help me at the next couple launch days. They do not yet know this. And I do not yet know how to fit all three of us and my flight gear into the Honda Accord. That seems fair to me.