The Mission:

Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:

Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?

Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year’s resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Improvement in time management will greatly assist in completing this list. I actually manage my time very well. However, I generally fail to be circumspect about how much time tasks will require to complete. This results in starting to many tasks and having a lot of unfinished ones. So some major improvement is in order. I will begin with reading and applying "The Idiot's Guide to Organizing Your Life." I am still thinking about an objective metric to determine when this task is complete.

This goal sounds ridiculously easy, but I haven't had much success in the past. I cannot even recall the last time I went a full week without missing some pill.

This task will be fairly easy. It will be complete when I have lost a specific amount of extra weight. I do have specific weight loss goals in mind, and written down, but I am not sharing them here.

I really do not want to begin a task with the preconceived notion that I can not complete it. But this task is all but impossible.

Given the four previous goals, this one almost seems counterproductive. Actually I think it's a step in the right direction. A reasonably well balanced, nutritious dinner will certainly be better than eating out.

I have a lot of vacation time each year - 7 weeks in 2008 - and I really enjoy traveling, so trying to complete this task in 3 consecutive months would be all but impossible. Therefore, the months do not have to be consecutive. This will also have the effect of forcing me to cook over a longer period of time.

With some luck, the seven course meal may get me halfway on this one. Just so that I don't end up with six varieties of Mac & Cheese, I'll specify that one of these must be a bread, one a cracker, one a pastry, one a fruit dessert and one a chocolate dessert.

This will force me to reacquaint myself with C and programming in general. Fortunately I have lots of friends who can help me when I get stuck. Hey, it's not cheating, it's utilization of available resources.

This program will compile data showing joins, parts, nick changes, soliloquies, most lines, least lines, active times and a panacea of other useless information. The objective isn't so much to end up with something that changes the world of man, but rather gives me a reason to program and achieve a definable goal that can be measured.

I am not one to gamble in a big way, but I will occasionally purchase a lottery ticket. And I never toss the tickets. I will use these as my data set.

I have always written my html files by hand in a simple text editor. Generally notepad. I need to expand my knowledge to include CSS and PHP.

The goal is to use html, php, css and any other tools out there to create a web page that will diplay events in time. I have several ideas in mind where I would like to use this. This will be completed when I have created a web page to show the tasks in this list on a timeline.

I used to be able to solve the cube in about a minute on average, My best time was 37 seconds if I remember correctly. This is not world class speed, but it is still pretty fast. This time I will learn all the patterns for the bottom layer.

I use to be able to identify several constellations. One night at Winding Stair (in Oklahoma) we were watching the stars and I realized that I could not identify any of the constellations.

I can play Chop Sticks and a few keys to Hey Jude on the piano. It's a start, but I have a different instrument in mind.

I have had a few ideas floating around in my mind for more than a decade. It is time to put them to the test.

Despite looking through vast fields of clover (many years ago), I have never found a four leaf clover. I think Brooke will enjoy helping me with this one.

We've already hiked most of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia including the approach trial. Some parts of it several times. The miles hiked do not have to be on one trip or new sections. They just need to total 100 miles.

This one will be a challenge. While I have an incredible amount of vacation time, Janina doesn't have any at her new job. It will be much more difficult for her to get off long enough to do this.

It's hard to imagine that there could be many places in the world that are more beautiful than Max Patch. I have a feeling that watching the stars from Max Patch will also be an experience.

The Bristle Cone Pines are the oldest living things on Earth. To see them should be amazing.

There are four waterfalls. They are blue-green in color. I will probably combine this with the trip to see the Bristle Cone Pines.

Janina has already "stolen" one of my ideas; Jell-O. Brooke loves cinnamon rolls, so that will be one of the five.

Janina and I have already seen six Shakespeare plays. They were all wonderful and well produced. I'm looking forward to seeing three more.

My good friend Neal (Neil) goes to the SciFi Movie-A-Thon every year. I would really enjoy doing this at least once. If I do not go, then I will just create my own. It must be at least 24 continuous hours. I already have a partial list in mind

I know that she will enjoy this. Besides, of what use is it for me to learn 5 constellations if I don't do something with them?

A few years ago one of the cable channels would show rugby at night. (Generally at 2 AM.) I would really enjoy seeing a game in person.

This one counts as an "experience" because the restaurant is a really nice one and we know one of the owners.

Janina has been after me for some time to go through our digital photos and print copies of some of them for scrapbooks and photo albums.

Several years ago we began organizing our photographs and writing captions for them. We are about two years (and several trips) behind.

I have an incredible amount of genealogical information, so "completing" the webpages is not a realistic goal. I'll have to think about what is an objective and realistic goal for this.

I will admit that this one will be a cakewalk. Then again, if it is a cakewalk, then why haven't I already completed it.

I need to expand on this. The task should be "Catalog and organize all my books that I am going to keep and get rid of the rest of them." This task just became easier by an order of magnitude. I will not even mention how pleased Janina will be.

I have no idea why I want to do this. My children will probably un-organize them just as fast as I organize them.

I already have some structure to my mp3 files, but my pedantic nature will increase the difficulty factor a whole bunch.

I have lost count of how many times I have tried to create a playlist. All efforts have ended in failure. The evil warlords who dwell in the caves of No-Playlist should prepare for annihilation.

This one sounds amazingly easy. And it is easy - when you can buy any book you might want. When you suddenly put the purchase of a new book off limits, the reasons to buy one seems to fall from the sky like raindrops in a rainstorm.

This means that the kids have to come too. We do this now, but on a less frequent basis. The family that dines together stays together.

I have always wanted a nice bookstand for my dictionary or whatever book I am currently reading. This one will be considered a success once I have completed the bookstand and I did not cut off any of my digits.

The objective is to have a nice cabinet that doesn't actually look like a computer, to house up to three computers. This will allow me to have at least one unix OS. I also plan to design the cabinet to eliminate a significant amount of noise.

I've made one backpack and learned a lot in the process. This one will have a pocket for the tent, sleeping bag, water bottles, etc.

I really enjoy spicing up my trail meals with veggies. To that end I researched the options for dehydration versus the purchase of dehydrated food. I cannot bring myself to pay $7 for 3.5 ounces of dehydrated tomato so the buying option has been eliminated. I found some online instructions for building a food dehydrator. I think this is the direction I will go.

Tomatoes, cabbage, onions, squash, radishes and so on. If I ever win the lottery I think I'll farm until I am broke again.

BookCrossing is a community of people who send their pre-loved or unwanted books out into the world, for others to find. You can track the book’s progress on the website and watch as it works its way around the world.