The thing that's most noticeable about this Photo A Day gallery is the number of days which lack photos. There are many reasons for this, most of which have been discussed in previous shots, but let's summarise:
[*] The PAD was taking too long to do. Every night I'd have to sit down and process the day's photos and aside from becoming a chore, it was taking time that I didn't have. This one, I still have to work on though my workflow is probably better now than it was then.
[*] My primary camera gear, notably my 24-105 lens, has spent a ridiculous amount of time in the repair shop this year. Indeed, that lens is still there as I write. But also...
[*] Unless you're on holidays or retired or are a full time photographer, a 40D is just too sodding big to lug around each day. I could only do it when carrying a backpack, which is just too much five days per week. Other than that I could only use the 300D that I keep at the office, and that generally meant midday shooting sessions in really bad light.

Introducing the solution to the third problem; the Olympus E-P1. I was tossing up between this and the E-P2 but although I'm more inclined to look at functionality rather than cost these days, I couldn't justify the price difference between the two given that the image quality is, according to reviews that I've seen, pretty much identical. The E-P2's optional viewfinder would be nice, but would rather defeat the purpose of the compactness of it. (In fact my kit does come with a viewfinder, but not one which is electronically connected to the camera.)

I also considered the E-PL1, especially as there's a $100 to $150 cashback on it at the moment, but there I did have to draw the line on the price / quality trade-off. Not that the E-PL1 is a bad camera, but having to access all of the advanced settings through menus rather than dial controls and buttons is something that I'd have to live with long after the price gap was forgotten.

Naturally I'm still an unconverted Canonista (300D, 40D, Legria and, most likely some time next year, 5D Mk III), but Canon has no real contender in this market and I didn't want to go compact with one of the G series. Hopefully the Olympus is the beginning of returning to a photo every day. (Or at least most of them.)
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Edit March 2025: This comment threw me a little:
"I could only do it when carrying a backpack, which is just too much five days per week". I honestly can't recall a time when I would not have a backpack when going to the office. Of course, there have been 15 years between now and then. It's interesting how habits can change without us noticing.