A portfolio check, Sunday 18 October

Where six side projects stand

Reading time about 4 minutesWritten 2026-10-18For: the builder, in a Sunday reviewExample with made-up data

Two of my six side projects need me this week: the photo backup is failing, and the podcast hosting renews on 24 October.

Keep in your head (only these)
  1. Two of six projects need me this week.
  2. The photo backup is the only one putting data at risk.
  3. The budget sheet has been stalled for 44 days.

Where do the six projects stand?

2 need you this week

Needs you

  • Photo-backup scriptFailed 4 nights in a row. The drive is 96% full.
  • Podcast feedThe hosting plan renews on 24 October. Keep it or move?

Moving

  • Notes appVersion 2.4 is on track for 29 October.
  • Recipe siteSearch works. 41 of 120 recipes are tagged.
  • Cycling-route mapAutumn tiles are fresh. Two routes cross a closed bridge.

Stalled

  • Household budget sheetThe import has failed for 44 days, since the bank changed its export.

Take: two projects need me this week. Three are moving and one is stalled.

  1. What does each project need from me?Two measures for all six: last touched, and what it waits on.
  2. What moved since last Sunday?Three moved forward, one slid back, two stood still.
  3. What is blocked, and why?One thing puts data at risk. Two only cost time.
  4. What waits on me, most valuable first?Five steps, and the first two come before Saturday.

Chapter 1 of 4, about 1 minute

What does each project need from me?

Before this: two projects need me this week, three are moving and one is stalled.

The six projects share two measures: when I last touched it, and what it waits on. Green is the last week, amber the last month, red longer.

Six projects, measured the same two ways
ProjectLast touchedWaits on
Needs me
Photo-backup script5 months agoMe: free space on the drive
Podcast feed12 days agoMe: keep or move the hosting
Moving
Notes app2 days agoMara: two DNS records
Recipe site4 days agoNothing
Cycling-route map1 day agoNothing
Stalled
Household budget sheet44 days agoMe: rewrite the import

Take from this: the three projects that wait on me are the same three that have gone quiet.

Show what each project is
  • Notes app: a phone app, a web app and a sync server, used by about 3,400 people a week.
  • Recipe site: a static site of 120 family recipes.
  • Cycling-route map: a web map of 18 local rides.
  • Household budget sheet: a spreadsheet and a script that imports the bank's file.
  • Podcast feed: 24 episodes on a hosted feed, $9 a month.
  • Photo-backup script: a nightly copy of 31,204 photos to an external drive.

Remember: three projects wait on me. Two are urgent and one is not.

Chapter 2 of 4, about 1 minute

What moved since last Sunday?

Before this: three projects wait on me, and two of them are urgent.

Three projects moved forward and one slid backward. The podcast feed and the budget sheet did not change at all.

Sunday 11 October
  • Notes app: sharing worked on the test server only.
  • Recipe site: no search.
  • Cycling map: last year's autumn tiles.
  • Photo backup: passing every night.
Sunday 18 October
  • Notes app: sharing works on the server, the web and Android.
  • Recipe site: search works, with 41 of 120 recipes tagged.
  • Cycling map: this year's tiles, but two routes cross a closed bridge.
  • Photo backup: failing for four nights, with the drive 96% full.

Take from this: three projects improved, and the one that slid back is the one that matters most.

Remember: three projects moved forward, one slid back, and two stood still.

Chapter 3 of 4, about 1 minute

What is blocked, and why?

Before this: three projects moved forward, one slid back, and two stood still.

Three things are blocked. One puts my photos at risk, and the other two only cost time.

4nights in a row the backup failed
96%of the backup drive is full
38 GBof old test photos I can delete

Take from this: the fix is small, and every night it waits adds photos that have only one copy.

Photo-backup script: no new backup since Wednesday

The nightly copy stops when the drive is full. The last good backup is four days old, so photos taken since then have one copy.

Household budget sheet: the import fails

The bank now writes dates as 18/10/2026, and the import script expects 2026-10-18. Nothing is lost, and the sheet is 44 days behind.

Notes app: one part waits on Mara

Invite emails need two DNS records that only she can add. Version 2.4 still ships without them on 29 October.

Show the backup log 
Wed 14 Oct  ok      31,204 photos copied
Thu 15 Oct  FAILED  drive full, 96% used
Fri 16 Oct  FAILED  drive full, 96% used
Sat 17 Oct  FAILED  drive full, 96% used
Sun 18 Oct  FAILED  drive full, 96% used

Remember: only the photo backup puts data at risk, and it is the first thing to fix.

Chapter 4 of 4, about 1 minute

What waits on me, most valuable first?

Before this: only the photo backup puts data at risk, and the other two blocked things cost time.

  1. Free 38 GB for the photo backup. Today, about an hour. Delete the old test photos or buy a bigger drive.
  2. Decide the podcast hosting. Before Saturday 24 October, about an hour. Keep the $9 plan or move to a free host.
  3. Remind Mara about the two DNS records. Monday, five minutes. The notes app waits on them.
  4. Rewrite the budget import. One evening, about two hours. It must read the bank's new date format.
  5. Reroute two cycling routes. One evening, about two hours. Both cross the closed bridge.

Take from this: the first three steps take about two hours and settle everything that has a date.

Remember: fix the photo backup today, decide the podcast hosting by 24 October, and the rest can wait.

Recap

  1. Three projects wait on me. Two are urgent and one is not.
  2. Three projects moved forward, one slid back, and two stood still.
  3. Only the photo backup puts data at risk, and it is the first thing to fix.
  4. Fix the photo backup today, decide the podcast hosting by 24 October, and the rest can wait.