Saturday, January 28, 2012

Cell Phone Usage 2011 and All Time

Since I first got it in 2008, I haven't often used my cell phone--it's mostly for travel and emergencies and the rare case where I am needing two phone lines at once. Hence, because the cell phone is usually off, most of my calls are outgoing rather than incoming. Here's the breakdown for 2011 through the first half of October:
Here's the breakdown for all time:
Clearly I did a lot more calling out in 2011 than in previous years.


Saturday, January 21, 2012

Car Repairs by Mile and Year

The month of September was a frustrating one with regard to my car--I found myself in the shop three times for three unrelated things. I hadn't had to make many major repairs on it since purchasing it back near the end of 2005. Or at least, that's how it seemed. So I decided to go back and check my records. Here is a chart showing how many major repairs (anything that isn't routine maintenance like tire rotations, oil changes, or new air filters) I've had to make since I purchased the car:
I suppose that 2008 through 2010 in part have spoiled me, with so few necessary fixes.

I'm just now getting to 100,000 miles. Perhaps, that has something to do with the sudden uptick in problems, though my model is one that typically lasts well beyond the 100,000 mark in others' experience. Here's the mileage at which I had to make major repairs since 2005:

It looks like I was doing really well for about 20,000 miles, but there's been a noticeable uptick in repairs in the last 10,000. It was a very trying September through November this year (ironically, the last mechanic who worked on my car said I'd done a really good job of maintaining it--well, yes, indeed, I have, but that doesn't seemed to have helped this past year).

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Types and Subjects of Charts on My Blog in 2011

Given that the year drew to a close last weekend, I thought it would be a good idea to review just what has been charted in the past year. What exactly are my obsessions and in which way do I prefer to express them? Apparently, my favorite expression of them is in the form of a pie chart, as evident in the chart below.
As for subjects (some entries probably could have fit into two or three spots, but I forced them into one for the sake of this chart below), the selection is much more balanced, though places took the lead.