I got to spend much of Friday engaged in a thoroughly enjoyable activity. I was asked to do a quick and dirty budget for a new activity. Since my expertise is in hardware, I was asked to figure out how much that would cost.

What fun! I felt like a kid in a toy store! Even if we never start up the activity, looking up prices, filling in slots on a spreadsheet, and dreaming about all that gear had me so excited that I actually had trouble falling asleep on Thursday night. Time flew by on Friday, and before I knew it, it was 5 o'clock, so I wrapped it up and sent it off.

If you've never done it, I suggest you try making out such a budget sometime, even if there isn't anyone on the other end to read it. I can actually remember doing similar things as a kid–figuring out how many people and how much equipment it would take to do this or that activity. I guess my thrills are a testimony to the enjoyability of dreaming with your eyes open. Maybe that's what makes startups so much fun.

[2022 note: It would have been a project for CMP. 10 months later, I was laid off and all project with which I was connected were terminated]