PixlBit

Good morning Pixlpeeps! I’m doing things a bit differently today, earlier I went and did my errands, grabbed some food, and now I am ready to write up today’s edition of Quick Hits. I did this because it is a 1000 degrees outside, and I want to hit the gym later on today when hopefully it will be not as busy as it usually it in the morning. I’m also hoping that since it is 1000 degrees outside most folks won’t venture outside. This entry is basically me breaking down what I am currently doing/need to start and if that isn’t interesting, it’s all good and I’ll see you on Monday. For you folks who decide to take time and read my ramblings, let’s get started!

2018 Halfway Point

I forgot to post this when it was the actual halfway point in the year but it’s a little over but still relevant. Remember right before 2018 I had resolutions or goals for 2018? Well let’s see how well I am doing with them.

 

Earlier this week I created a list of additional things I wanted to do to clean up the digital clutter that I have. Watching the YouTube videos on minimalists kind of pushed me to this which is fine because I need a good swift kick to get going and I can do some of these tasks a little bit each day.

Phone Music: I keep maybe three thousand songs on my phone. I tend to overthink what I should have on there and I only maybe listen to my Top 200 playlist. Kinda crazy I know, but that’s how it’s going. Since I’ve decided to start a Spotify account I figure I can keep the Top 200 list, get rid of the massive library on the phone or at least slim it down to under a thousand songs total and just stream everything else.

Make A CD Database: I have an older list that I really didn’t keep up with. Since 2018 is almost over why not create a whole new list that includes all my music. Actually all my physical music, and stuff purchased online.

 

I started with one CD book and I figure I can do maybe one book every couple of days before getting into the records and box of audio cassette tapes I have. The digital stuff might be a little tricky but I can always check my the online libraries of Amazon, Google Play, and iTunes of stuff I got from them.

Organize Steam Library: This has been bothering me for a bit now. I have a ton of games that are installed that I don’t play. I think at one point 500 of the 727 games were installed, which took up a lot of space. The last couple of days instead of playing I took an hour and went through my Steam Library grouping and separated out the games. I created a new tab called “Want To Play” where I added games I know I will play, and everything else went into the Not Installed tab. I also moved a lot of the Currently Playing to Want To Play, and uninstalled all but I think 4 of the games in Finished tab. In total I went from 500 installed games to 319. It doesn’t sound like a lot but I saved almost a terabyte of space on an external hard drive and the installed number should be dropping soon when I go back and finish a couple of titles.

Photos On Phone: I need to clean out the iCloud so what I have been doing is moving the pickups pictures from iCloud, adding them to the external photo drive, and uploading a copy to my Google Photos Drive. I’ve been thinking about creating another Google Account just host these pictures. I don’t know why I keep them, but I do.

Remaining Audio Files: I’m doing good with this. Each day I’ve been fixing tags, and adding cover art to the audio files. I still have a ways to but I can say that I think I am in the high 80% finished with this. I like having Musicbee be the program that is home to all my audio files while iTunes be home to my CDs, and select items from Musicbee. It keeps things clean on my laptop and I don't have so much of my hard drive devoted to all my audio files.

 

Resolutions On Pixlbit

Games

A little recap

 

Play More: I think I’m ok in this department. Maybe I should spend less time with NBA 2K18 but other than that after cleaning out my installed library, I know what I want to play.

Cut Down On Spending: Yeah I need to work on this especially after the Steam Summer Sale. On the bright side I have spent a lot less than previous years to this point. I think what I spent on the Summer Sale equals out to maybe one new console game and I got a ton of games for it.

Thin Out The Library: I done a little bit of this with some mobile games by uninstalling some, but for physical games I haven’t started. I do have a couple of Switch games ready for my younger cousin whenever they visit that he can have. 

 

Non Gaming

 

More Gym Time: I stopped for a bit, but I started going back yesterday because I may have gained a little weight from terrible eating habits (hello fast food and hospital cafeteria). Bonus, I’ve cut out soda from the diet again, and went back to drinking ice cold water from the Hydro Flask. Every couple of days I might have a 7Up or every once in a while an ice coffee (every other week). I also stopped drinking Crystal Light regularly. I used to drink a couple of water bottles worth a day. 

Read More: I’m still doing this and I got back on track with my Goodreads goal of 20 books. I finished four audio graphic novels that I bought earlier this week from a Humble Bundle. Here’s the link if interested: Humble Bundle DC Audiobooks $15 gets you 22 audio graphic novels or as they call them "A Movie In Your Mind." I speed up the audio to 1.25% because I think the acting is a little slow.

 

The books are: 52 Parts 1 & 2, Batman: The Stone King, and JLA: Exterminators. I enjoyed 52 Parts 1 & 2 the most because it had three different storylines going at once and used characters I know from CW TV Shows.

After watching some YouTube videos of folks doing a day in the life of college student at X school, I picked up a couple of tips about reading. One of the videos a student talked about reading a book a week and instead of picking up their phone to check social media during free time they read as well as dedicating an hour before bed to reading. I thought this was a good way to fill time and yesterday while on the treadmill I read a bit from my phone. I'm also going to set aside the hour before bed to read instead of watching Big Brother After Dark. 

Listen To Music: I’m doing this, and thanks to Spotify and those random YouTube videos of those college students I found some new artists. Mix that with some Soundcloud and I think I’m covered.

Be More Active Here: Yeah I’m still working on that.

Save Money: Ok so remember when I wanted to do the 52 Week Challenge? Well I got sidetracked a bit and stopped. When I got my act together I found the 52 Week Penny Challenge and I’ve been doing this one because it is a little easier, and I really don’t follow the pacing, but I am at least a month ahead of where I’m supposed to be. I still take $20 each payday and toss that into the collection along with singles and I manage at least $60 a month. Imagine when I cut out a lot of fast food and soda from my diet, that extra money will got into the pot. Since I think I bout enough games for a bit my cutting back on spending will also contribute to this.

Link: 52 Week Penny Challenge Info and Chart

 

Well there you have it. If you read through all of this, thanks, I appreciate you taking the time to read through my randoms. Anyways I think it’s time to end this entry here. Have a good weekend Pixlpeeps!

 

That’s all for now, more later!

-Chris