Dear readers, I haven’t been entirely straight with you. Three years ago, on the eve of New Years 2014, I started on a diet and exercise regimen – every month I added another rule, until there were over twenty separate restrictions, each infraction punished by a $100 donation to charity. I did this for eighteen months, during which […]
Category Archives: Monetizing failure
So, I’ve been a bit bad about reporting on my exercise/diet regimen, and since I’m about to descend into the valley of the shadow of a new job at a startup, I figured I should probably post this now, before it’s too late. First off, I’ve pretty much given up on finding a gym nearby. […]

Not much time for a full report this month, so just a quickie before turning in. Bottom line is that while the sheer tonnage of snow dumped on Boston has been a pain in the ass, shoveling snow is really good aerobic exercise. And, I must say, a Roku streaming stick + Amazon Prime has made […]
This is going to be brief. First, because I don’t have anything deep and meaningful to say about habit, reward, and personal improvement this month. And second, because I was on call and up all weekend with a neverending stream of devops emergencies that had to be addressed, and I desperately need the sleep. [As […]
When I initially proposed my monetizing failure challenge, I first sat down and tried to figure out how bad it could get (worst case, I figured I’d be on the hook for $1400). I then had to convince my wife that I wasn’t being an idiot (no easy task, given the historical record). I had no idea […]
Once again, it’s time for my monthly descent into TMI land, to discuss progress in my ongoing quest to get back into shape. It’s been a bit of a mixed bag this month – a couple of colds, Thanksgiving, and moving into our new (and hopefully last!) house have wreaked havoc on my workout schedule. […]
Regular readers of the blog will know that I’ve been trying a variety of experiments over the past year in order to lose weight. Things were going slowly until suddenly, in late July, I started working out 5-6 times a week. This wasn’t by design – without really thinking about it too much, I just started […]
So, it’s time again for my monthly digression from technical and management issues, in which I report on my attempt to lose weight, get back into shape, and generally be healthier in a long-term, sustainable way. Every month since the beginning of the year I’ve either added a new exercise requirement, or a new limitation on unhealthy […]
For those of you new to the blog, this is my monthly report on my attempt to use shame, peer pressure, and financial disincentives to get into shape. August was a strange month. For starters, at the beginning of the month I went on a week-long vacation with family, during which I ate, drank, and generally […]
Well, it’s time to check in on my exercise and diet goals. I’ve never had New Year’s resolutions that lasted more than a week, and I didn’t particularly expect these to, either. So I didn’t really have any long term goals beyond “lose weight” or “get back into shape”. Well, it’s taken seven months, but I’ve […]