Done yesterday (20110416 Sa)

[mdlbear]

0416 Sa
  * up 7:40; W=194.6; drugs, nose, teeth, dishes, coffee, light
  % How to be Happy has a section on flow, starting p. 51
    Happiness comes afterward; while you're in flow you're totally absorbed in
    what you're doing.  Wow, does that ever resonate!  Especially with this
    last week at work.  c.f. "The Little Computing Machine" 
  * buy: UPS for nova (on the way back from taking YD to modeling class)
    (actually, that one is swapping with the one in the bedroom, which is an
     older model.  The new one has an actual mute button.)
  @ Baby Pygmy Goat Stampede: Cavalcade of Cuteness - Boing Boing 
  @ YouTube - Rep. Crowley (D-NY) - Speechless via ysabetwordsmith 
  * 15min: swap new UPS into the bedroom.  It's taller and narrower, and
    barely fits on the shelf, but definitely more bedroom-friendly.  Also
    eliminated the powerstrip that it was plugged into.
  * 15min: tax:  W2, 1099G entered.
  * 15min: hx:  move nova to the new UPS.  Smooth as glass except for tracking
    down the correct USB cable.  Why they don't just put a B connector on the
    box I'll never know.  Battery run time now 170min!
    : at this point I appear to have no more serial UPSs in service; even the
      little one by the phones is USB.
    ! accomplished, though a little tired.
  * move apcupsd monitoring cgi to stargate -- accessible, stays up longer
    it's on both machines, but actually Nova has the longer battery life now.
  * tax: printed tax summary by way of seeing whether printers work.
  @ the cube projectThe Cube Project  University of Hertfordshire via siliconshaman 
  * 15min: tax: interest entered except for credit union.
  ~ track down 1099 from Alliance Federal Credit Union -> year-end stmt will do
  @ TXLF: HeliOS helps schoolkids and challenges developers [LWN.net]
    Helios Initiative
  ~ Trantor's UPS daemon should be configured to shut down the computer, but
    not power-off the UPS, so as to leave the WAP powered. -> looks hard
  * dinner - salad, lamb curry, broccoli
  * drive:  Morgan Hill and back via Santa Teresa/Blossom Hill
  * 15min: tax: tracked down COGS, computed sales and inventory for HSX
  @ Groklaw - Groklaw Articles Ending on May 16th Hail and Farewell
  * tax: 11:20 finished Schedules C

The two things on the schedule yesterday were working on taxes, and acquiring a new UPS to replace the one whose battery died on Friday. The taxes aren't done yet, but I did get most of it entered. At this point only dividends and deductions remain. The Schedules C were easier than I expected, thanks to better tagging during the data-entry phase. I'm still running late, though.

I picked up the UPS, an APC BX1500G, at Fry's on the way home from taking the YD to her modeling class. It's taller and narrower than the older 1500's; I put it in the bedroom because it has an explicit mute button; it also has more outlets, which allowed me to replace the old power strip as well. It just barely fits on the shelf, though; I may want to move it to the floor. It also has a master-slave arrangement that allows something like a computer to control power to other devices like monitors. I'd really like that for the desktop, at some point.

The fileserver now has 170min of runtime, up from 11. Whee!

I appear to have no more serial-port UPSs in service; even the little 320VA unit by the phones is USB connected.

How to be Happy (the free e-book from 17000 Days that I finished yesterday) has a section on flow, starting p. 51. It points out that happiness comes after the flow state; while you're in flow you're totally absorbed in what you're doing. Wow, does that ever resonate! Especially with this last week at work. C.f. "The Little Computing Machine".

Several excellent links up there in the notes.

Comments

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

I think that there are only a few of us who are aware when we are in the flow state that we are happy.

Otherwise, many a time, we only realize we were happy in retrospect.

And, surprisingly, many sad people are unaware of their depression, too.

[mdlbear]

Not surprising at all; I always used to think of flow as a refuge from depression.

Of course, my depression was chronic and comparatively mild (i.e., disthymia), so I always considered it perfectly normal.

[firecat]

I am getting better at noticing when I feel things, and I think it's a good skill to cultivate, and it has led to an increased amount of happiness in my life.

At the same time, part of the reason I like flow is precisely because I am NOT feeling things.

There's something about feeling things all the time -- even when the feelings include happiness -- that seems all curled in on itself. If that makes any sense. I think it's healthy to engage in other mental states too.

[mdlbear]

"I am getting better at noticing when I feel things ... I think it's healthy to engage in other mental states too."

Yes. Flow's an interesting case because I'm not really "there" experiencing it.