I agree with taking on pet projects that have no immediate payoff. And they don't need to be complicated either, only intellectually stimulating or ambitious.
For example, a few summers ago I decided to make a web page for each and every national anthem in the world. A huge website network of national anthems, and later I would add audio.
I only managed to do 5-6 anthem pages (Great Britain, USSR, Canada, a few others) before I became completely preoccupied with trying to secure the Star Spangled Banner lyric site. The site was being hacked constantly.
I finally took them all down - except the "Oh Canada" website (my home country) which comes in handy for my own use: http://ohcanadaanthem.com/
Funny how this is the latest research findings. It seems so obvious. I guess we all are so distracted, numb and unconscious we don't even know ourselves anymore.
For me, I've been using Basecamp for practically everything. It's so useful and reliable, and the mobile site has the best most functional interface I've ever used.
I just reinstalled the app, and it will take awhile before everything is synced again - that is if the app version was the source of the problem. I'm running the leaked OS 10.2.1.1925 for the Z30, but I doubt that had anything to do with it. The OS has been rock solid.