Will do

1. Drive Across Canada
2. Visit all 11 provinces and 52 states
3. Visit New Zealand and Australia
4. Spend at least 3 weeks in Australia
5. Run in a marathon
6. Engineer an innovative software product under my company name
7. Invent a product under my name
8. Visit the pyramids of Egypt
9. Visit the Eiffel tower
10. Bike down a ski-hill in summer
11. Learn Ice Climbing
12. Circumnavigate the globe
13. Watch a building be demolished (from afar)
14. Drive a float in a parade

Probably will do

1. Earn a degree
2. Bike across Canada
3. Write a book
4. Build a house on a mountain. (actually BUILD the house)
5. Live on the coast (beachfront) for at least 2 months
6. Run a 5 minute mile
7. Run the Jasper-Banff relay
8. Fly a glider
9. Teach at a college

Might do

1. Get commercial pilots license and become IFR rated
2. Reach the North pole
3. Hike the continental divide trail
4. Participate in Rally and Ice racing
5. Go scuba diving
6. Live in a houseboat for at least 2 months
7. Learn French
8. Go bungee jumping
9. Go sky diving
10. View mount Everest by helicopter

Highly unlikely / off the radar

1. Land a bush plane on a gravel bar (obviously I was a lot more into aviation 13 years ago)
2. Fly a Hercules
3. Fly a 747
4. Teach a child to walk (I rememeber putting this one in just to score points with my grandma)
5. Meet the prime minister (meh)
6. Release a CD (DJ Daryl?)
7. Meet the pope (again, put this in for someone else, not me)
8. Visit Disneyland (no interest. at all)

Done

1. Fly across Canada
2. Go rappelling
3. Rock Climbing
4. Hike/Bike signal mountain
5. Learn CPR
6. Teach the world what I know
7. Appear on TV
8. Make a speech or interview on the radio

1. Visit Grand Canyon
2. Drive Across Canada
3. Visit all 11 provinces and 52 states
4. Visit New Zealand and Australia
5. Spend at least 3 weeks in Australia
6. Earn a degree
7. Get commercial pilots license and become IFR rated
8. Fly across Canada
9. Reach the North pole
10. Hike the continental divide trail
11. Bike across Canada
12. Land a bush plane on a gravel bar
13. Release a CD
14. Write a book
15. Run in a marathon
16. Participate in Rally and Ice racing
17. Go scuba diving
18. Build a house on a mountain. (actually BUILD the house)
19. Live in a houseboat for at least 2 months
20. Live on the coast (beachfront) for at least 2 months
21. Engineer an innovative software product under my company name
22. Invent a product under my name
23. Visit the pyramids of Egypt
24. Visit the Eiffel tower
25. Learn French
26. Fly a glider
27. Run a 5 minute mile
28. Run the Jasper-Banff relay
29. Go rappelling
30. Learn Ice & Rock Climbing
31. Bike down a ski-hill in summer and in winter
32. Go bungee jumping
33. Go sky diving
34. Teach at a college
35. Circumnavigate the globe
36. Teach a child to walk
37. Watch a building be demolished (from afar)
38. Meet the prime minister
39. Meet the pope
40. Hike/Bike signal mountain
41. View mount Everest by helicopter
42. Learn CPR
43. Fly a Hercules
44. Fly a 747
45. Teach the world what I know
46. Visit Disneyland
47. Appear on TV
48. Make a speech or interview on the radio
49. Participate in a parade (drive a float)

Elect to “un-status” from time to time – for a day, a week, or even a month – and notice the space that arises.

I like this. I’ve been trying to be more mindful of my surroundings starting with the small things. Today I went jogging and didn’t bring headphones. Instead I relished in the moment and took in the sights sounds and smells as I went on my way.

Living in a Zen Centre

Basically, the premise of the calendar is that you see it every day and you mark a big red X after you’ve completed your activity. You attempt to do it for x days in a row, and the theory is you won’t miss a day because it means a gap in the physical record posted on the wall (resulting in self-ridicule and nagging from everyone else).

So there you have it, I’m going to give it a try. I’ve got a big red X for October 14th, 2012 and I’m hoping to make it gap-free to December 14th. I’ll follow up with a blog post then.

I was happy that I was able to get about 25 people to commit to this endeavour, but in the end the production (and time) costs left me wondering if it was even worth it. I spent about $400 out of pocket which may have gone to better use if I had just donated it directly to the project without printing anything.

So I’m thinking I needing to revisit my approach. I have a few options
a) Come up with a different product
b) Come up with a different payment scheme
c) Come up with an entirely different approach altogether

I’d appreciate your input on this. For (a), would you still be interested in a photo calendar or is there something else you would find useful? In terms of (b) I had the idea of spreading the donation out over the year ($5 a month for 12 months).

Comment below or email me at dchymko@infometrix.ca

FYI,  the projects I’m looking at this year are Charity Water and a few on Kiva

You might remember my angry post on Earth Hour 2010. It was a reaction to the whole “turn your light off for an hour” slacktivism that is Earth hour ( grand savings of 0.0114% over the entire year for those who are counting). The most amusing part was the status updates like: “unplugged my laptop, sitting in the dark, happy Earth Hour everyone.” Le sigh. Anyway, I decided that ranting wasn’t doing anything productive and created this pledge. Since then, I’ve been tracking my utility and mileage and think I’ve done pretty well.

Here are my results:

Mileage:
My pledge was to drive 15% less. Comparing 2011 to 2010, I drove 19% less and comparing 2011 to 2008, I drove 29% less. This is a result of biking more and combining errand trips to once or twice a week.
2008 – 20,200K
2009 – 17,600K
2010 – 17,000K
2011 – 14,300K

Power consumption
My pledge was to drop 15%. Comparing 2011 to 2010, I decreased my power usage by 22%. This was done through a few things like reducing electronic items around my home, changing lighting to CFL, and hanging my clothes to dry (plus they last longer).

There are some other areas of my pledge that need work (my addiction to new electonics for one) so I’m going to make that the focus of my effort in upcoming years.

I encourage you and your family to make a pledge on the Earth Day site. Set some goals that you can follow-up on over the course of the year. Track your usage. Post them on the fridge as a reminder that every day is Earth Day.