Really thinking through my summer

• Grades are due May 13.


• WisCon is May 21-25.


• I've agreed to go see my bestie in Seattle in June or August.


• We're supposed to go see Dale's family ... they want us to go in July, but I think we're angling for June.


• I desperately want to go spend a couple of days by an ocean (which, I haven't done the research, but I could probably combine with the Seattle trip? I mean, also, if I were smart I'd rent a car and go see my Portland friends on the same trip.)


• I need to learn, at a minimum, R and several statistical techniques I don't have down, yet. I really ought to also learn SAS, since we could start needing to use that as early as next Spring. And Java is also on my todo list, though I think I can put it off for one more year.


• I think I also agreed to put together a new-to-us course in computer organization (depending what time we offer it). I haven't agreed to teach anything in the morning, given that I'm teaching roughly 3 nights a week until past 9, but I'm like 90% sure this has already been discussed, and it'll be an afternoon section. As the electrical and computer engineer in the group, this one's arguably my job to teach. (Which'll require re-teaching myself a little bit of it. I'm not worried about it, but it'll take a little time, you know?)


• If I'm teaching C again, which I think I might, I would really like to actually build something in modern C, to get those skills back up to snuff.


• It would also be nice to get to contribute to an open source project in Python, or build something with CircuitPython for fun, but I think I have to accept that that's not happening this summer.


• I should probably study some machine learning, since I think my college is going to offer courses in that soon. (I've got the books; I just need to take the time.)


• I have most of a house to unpack. We will also, statistically speaking, almost certainly have to replace an air conditioning unit, and there's at least one other contractor-heavy project to supervise.


• The semester effectively starts August 17, with required meetings the week before classes begin.

I probably don't have everything listed that should be listed, but getting that much on "paper" has been helpful.

And now I'm thinking to myself: what if I dropped something that I've agreed to do, to make the other things more possible? What if it were WisCon? On one hand, I really enjoy it, and I proposed a panel! On the other, I've read very little speculative fiction in the last year, and I'm behind on (or haven't started) the TV shows people are most going to want to talk about. What if I didn't go, this time? What if I made it an every-other-year kind of thing? Might that be OK? I feel more relief at the idea of doing one less thing than I feel worry about missing out, which ... might be my answer?

But I'm putting this out there to friends, at least several of whom I won't get to see if I don't do WisCon, in case you all have other suggestions. ("Don't go see your friend in Seattle" is probably the one I can most not take.)