As a freelance scientist, I find my Friday to-do lists are particularly eclectic.  A little backstory: I work as a freelance a) science writer and b) programmer in order to support A) my family and B) my hobbies.

As long as, from a cash perspective,
     $a+$b > $A+$B
and, from a time perspective,
   dt(a)+dt(b)< dt(A)+dt(B)
... then I'm happy.

Oh, I could complicate this-- some of my hobbies pay, and I suppose I could sell the kids on eBay to reverse the equations.  And it is very hard to figure out on which side ScientificBlogging falls.  It pays (a little) but it's also as self-directed and open-ended as a hobby, whereas I tend to find 'work' is "a task with definable goals".  So ScientificBlogging is a bit of an outlier... and that is as it should be.

Overall, though, that simple pair of equations defines my life.  It's be silly to say which items are work and which are not-- they're all work!  That's the point of a 'to do' list!  The crucial question is which ones you can get done.

Which leads us to today's to-do list.  Fridays, ah, Fridays, the cusp between the professional and the domestic.

To-Do:

1. email magnetic sensors manufacturer with update on specs for Project Calliope
2. finish debugging PHP/AJAX code and deliver.
3. send out BookMooch book I promised. ship out eBay stuff.
4. laundry
5. get milk.
6. exercise.
7. email Calliope music patron, do other weekly emails.
8. write ScientificBlogging piece due today.
9. dishes.
10. guitar hero.

Today went well-- I nailed everything on the list except for the last one.  Unfortunately, that one lingering item has been on my to-do list for 2 months now, unfulfilled.  Oh well, there's always next week.

Alex, the Daytime Astronomer


Tues and Fri here, via RSS feed, and twitter @skyday
Read about my own private space venture in The Satellite Diaries