Well welcome to 2007 everybody, tis the year of Vista.
Today was my first day back at work and Kevin was telling me about how he's made 10 resolutions that he's telling people about so he feels obliged to keep them. So now with the year fresh I have decided to make my own, and also publish the 10 resolutions I had in my mind to achieve over the last year.
2007 Resolutions
- pass Java Exam
- publish a tech article
- create a real website using new tech (Ruby on Rails)
- become separated from managed hosting
- go back to gym to lose weight
- be able to do 50 football keepy ups
- get on the property ladder
- become a better cook
- read 6 classics (I only ever read tech books)
- improve my French
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2006 efforts
LEARN TO DRIVE (passed)
I figured it was about time I passed my driving test and I finally had some cash to afford the lessons. After just under 50 hours of lessons at £20 a go I passed my test within 2 months. In May I bought my first car.
GET PROMOTED OR FIND NEW JOB (passed)
I was getting a slight bit unhappy at my job after hearing the experiences of some of my others masters course colleagues so I decided to check out the job market and brush up the CV. After spending 2 solid days on my CV and finding ideal references I forgot about it and got on with my job. Out of the blue I was sent an email to attend a job interview the next day at JP Morgan by a jobsite I signed up for when first looking for jobs. I went and was promptly offered the job the next morning.
LOSE WEIGHT / CHANGE DIET (nearly completely failed)
As most people will tell you working in the computing industry doesn't quite give you a six pack on your own. I joined the Glasgow Club gym network in January and then gave up while still paying a shed load of cash a month. Ever since 2004 I've put on a stone a year. In August last year I changed my diet for lunches which has stopped me putting on weight.
PASS JAVA EXAM (failed)
I read a few books on passing the Java language exam. The problem was when I was about ready they changed the exam to fit the new specification changing quite a lot of the test. I bought a book on the new exam but only started using the new version of Java in August. As a result I never booked the test.
IMPROVE MY FRENCH (sort of worked)
Alison's parents are obsessed with going to France on holiday and always rent out a house over there while they stay, this means if I can pay for the flight then it's a very cheap holiday. This made me start to think about improving on my standard grade French. I never really did this and ended up going to Barcelona instead. I now have pretty good holiday Spanish.
START SAVING FOR DEPOSIT ON MORTGAGE (went ok)
I managed to get myself out of the Student overdraft I had amassed and started saving cash. Sadly shiny things keep making me want to get rid of it.
LEARN ANOTHER COMPUTING LANGUAGE (passed)
It's bad enough only being proficient in one real language so being only really good at Java certainly does not bode well in an ever changing industry. After reading masses of hype I took the plunge by reading loads on Ruby and the Ruby on Rails framework. This turned out really well and it really opened my eyes to another way of coding. It's very easy to stay with your favourite language and slag off any contenders.
GET INVOLVED WITH A CLUB IN GLASGOW (passed)
I noticed that the only people I know in Glasgow are the people I work with and a splattering of ex schools friends. In order to change this I decided to go to some clubs in Glasgow to meet more like minded people. I eventually went to a web meetup and was inspired to try things by the other people who went along. I keep meaning to go the Glasgow linux users group but I make up crap excuses and stay at home instead.
IMPROVE FOOTBALL SKILLS (sort of passed)
At my parents house we have a chocolate Labrador which is mental. The big plus is that you can play football with it in a piggy in the middle style. The dog charges you down in about 3 seconds max so you get about 1 or 2 touches to make your pass back to the other player (my brother). This massively showed up my crap first touch in football under pressure. I decided I must improve my skills or risk having bones broken by a rampaging dog. Over the summer I spent a lot of time working on my first touch and feel much more confident now. Though there still is room for improvement.
DESTROY A ROCK GROUP (passed with flying colours)
Ever since I learned the standard guitar chords my respect for different types of musicians changed wildly. During this time I went to see the Presidents of the USA and was subjected to an awful band that I knew I must review badly. After a brief emailing exchange the support band split up 2 months later after being in business for 6 years. Mission Accomplished!