My 2020 Blog Resolutions: Check-In #3

It's been two months since my last 2020 Blog Resolution Check-In so that means I'm due for another look at my stated goals for 2020.  Since my last check-in, it seems like many, many changes have happened:  covid-19 took over the world (especially the United States) and MLB shut down were the two biggest influences on my goals.  But enough of the preamble, let's get to it!

#1:  Barry Larkin Collection

My goal for 2020 is to boost my online collection of Barry Larkin cards (and posts) to 775.  I most recently wrote about card #749 in my collection so I've still got a ways to go but it's definitely within reach.  Even better, I've actually spent quite a bit of time scanning a bunch of new Larkin cards for future posts - my folder of cards waiting to be written about is now back up over 90 cards and I have even more to sort through and scan!  Thus, I'm super happy with my progress on goal #1!

#2:  Blog Trading

Covid-19 and the shutdown of MLB for the first couple of months has definitely impacted my trading.  My original goal for the year was to complete 50 trades and at the moment I've managed to send out 27 packages.  Technically speaking, I'm basically right on track - halfway through the year and halfway through my goal.  So far so goo!

#3:  The Want List

My goal here is to knock my want list down to no more than 90 sets by the end of 2020.  In essence, that means I need to either complete or give up on about ten sets before the end of the year.  In my last check-in, I had completed two more sets from my want list in 2020 but in the time since then I haven't actually completed anything more.  That all being said, I did finally receive my COMC order that I made right before the pandemic started...and within that package there should be a number of sets that I'll be able to have completed.  Thus, while it may not look like I made any progress since the end of April, I'm actually okay with where I'm at.

#4:  The Great Reorganization

I haven't done a ton of work on my reorganizing but I did do enough to discover a Mike Trout rookie card that I had sitting in a pile (one that I promptly sold on eBay since they were going for insane prices).  That alone means this goal is a success, at least up until this point in the year!

#5:  The LEGO Blog

I wanted to hit 36 posts for the year on my LEGO blog (or an average of three posts per month).  I'm slightly behind schedule here but not so far behind that I can't eventually get caught back up.  Of the first five resolutions on my list, however, this is the one that I'm doing the worst at to date.  It might be worth noting that I did write about some of my LEGO plans with regards to my custom LEGO City layout on my blog this past weekend.  Check it out here if you are interested!

#6:  Reading

My goal is to read 12 books for the year.  Now that June is over, I've read a total of five books so I'm a bit behind pace.  It's not that bad though because I'm over halfway through a sixth book so there's still hope that I can get to 12 books by the end of 2020.

#7:  Teaching

This is the resolution that is now no longer.  More specifically, my college is planning on returning to campus with face-to-face teaching but using social distancing.  I won't voice my personal opinions on that on the blog right now but suffice to say I did tell the powers that be that there was no way I could do my LEGO Robotics class with 6 feet between students (the original plan by the college for that class was for students to work in pairs on the LEGO kits, you can't do that from 6 feet away).  

Now, my schedule has changed to me teaching a section of Calculus III and now two sections of Calculus I.  The good news on my end is that I now only have two separate preps rather than three but I lost the course I was most excited to teach!  The other bad thing about my college's plan is now we are going back to work earlier than originally planned...and starting on a Thursday rather than a Monday.  This screws up all of my course calendars so I need to spend a good chunk of time this summer redoing both Calculus classes.  Ugh.

#8:  Woodworking

I've made a wooden raised bed for a flower garden out behind our garage and that's about it over the past two months.  I have hopes and plans to do some more interesting stuff but so far that's all that I've actually done.   Of all the resolutions on my list, this is the one that I deserve the biggest "F" for!

So that's that.  Another couple of months down and I'm still mostly happy with where I'm at.  My want list is probably the most important blog related resolution for the year and that will get a bit trickier to be successful with once Allen & Ginter is released.  I'll surely be adding a bunch of new Ginter sets to my want list which will push the total number of sets on my list back up near (or over) 100 sets.  There will be plenty of opportunities for trading though - so maybe I'll be able to kill a couple of resolutions with one stone in the coming months!