ucantblamem

Last Friday I had a well overdue 12 month review at work, which really made me sit and reflect over the past year. As planned I have dedicated this time to really propelling my career, which I think was maybe a bit obsessive, but at least a little successful. One thing that really came out of the review process was that it’s high time I balanced out my focus and my life for that matter.

Retired reflection

So, I left the “city on a hillâ€?, at the end of 2005 for the big smoke, with only the hope of crackin the big-time. To my (pleasant) surprise I landed a job the same day we moved in and I set about rapidly learning the in’s and out’s of an established web-development firm. I’ve read umpteen billion books and read more RSS feeds than there are neurons in my head. I have been very blessed to make a meaningful contribution to the team and SM2 seem to be quite happy with my work.

The down-side of all this is that I’m still living at home, still without a set of wheels (of my own) and I’m a lot less social than I used to be. It’s such a contrast to 2005, when there was rarely a night to myself, from all the various goings on. I have met some pretty cool people here and I think I’m finally starting to settle into a church, so there are more good times ahead I’m sure. But, certainly there’s some work to do in unwinding the side-effects of my over-studious behaviour.

The music has really suffered this year… Big time! My poor Fender, which I sold everything bar my left arm to buy, is slowly rusting away under the bed and I’ve recently come to realise that I can’t pick the harmonies like I used to… :S

Ironically, I have bought a tonne of music this year; I’m expecting a frequent buyers card from iTunes any day now. Mostly scouted from Purevolume, I’ve tracked down some really great stuff and it’s kept me well isolated from the boring sound of clacking keys.

Sitting down for 8 hours a day has a certain effect on the human body, coupled with an un-pretty diet and a lack of regular exercise, I have put on a few pounds in all the wrong places. A few times over the last year I’ve scared myself and made swift changes to curb the corpulence, but this is proving to be one tough foe. I’ve been slowly learning how to count the calories (not literally), make more time for exercise and I’m hoping that freeing up more time will allow me to get out and use that expensive mountain bike I bought 2 years ago.

All in all, I have accomplished the major goals I set out to achieve and certainly I count 06/07 as a success. The reflection and introspection that I’ve done over the last couple of months has pointed out a number of new areas I want to work on and I really should put a new set of goals in place.

Onward and upwards

Firstly, all the “Extra stuffâ€? is getting the flick this year and I’m going to let down a lot of people in the process I’m sure. Unfortunately, these little side-projects almost invariably turn into big side-projects, which I don’t really have time for. I’ve also found that the people who I do free stuff for are some of the fussiest clients’ I’ve ever had. Thank the lord, I now have a couple of reliable contacts around the place that I can refer people to and they seem to be quite thankful for the business.

I had planned on doing a bunch of little “appsâ€? as well to stretch my Rails wings, but while the ideas are pretty simple, the implementation will take some time which I don’t really have. So, I’m going to cut back on my own endeavours also and relax into my job a little. The new SM2 Joomla! website is on its’ way and there’s a number of new components that we want to have done by then, so it’s likely I will put some focus on those in place of my personal stuff.

I’d really like to try leaving work at work as much as possible. Reading back over my last few paragraphs (and my last bunch of posts for that matter), I can see that there’s going to be some fairly well entrenched habits to break, but the underlying plan is there.

Spread thine wings

I’ve never been overly enthused by the idea of Travel. I’ve just always thought of it as a bit of a money sponge and I mean, isn’t that what Google Earth is for?!?! I joke, I joke. The thought of hopping country has been more and more on my mind of late and with Tim’s wedding only two months away it’s got me thinking about where else I’d really like to see.

My Kindalogical bretheren has been putting in a convincing argument for Canada, I just wish I could do that trip while I’m in the states in July. I’ve also been thinking that I’d like to see a couple of odd places like Denmark and Dubai, but not for overly extended periods.

In any case, I will certainly be venturing out some more, starting with Sydney next Thursday for the Google Developer Day and then possibly again for Web Directions (south) in September.

Adultification

It’s true that still living at home at 24 is pretty lame and I’m sure my close friends will attest that it has been eating at me for a while now. Two years ago, when Kindalogical was at its’ prime, I thought we’d done pretty well to put together a moderately successful company completely without the aid of the bank or any type of VC. Unfortunately, it meant that I really had little to show in terms of assets and I’ve had to put in an extra effort to make myself attractive to lenders.

This year is already looking to be one of freedom in that regard. I’ve lined up a very sweet little situation so that some time over the coming weeks and/or months I can pack my stuff and pave the way to independence. A friend of mine has a great place not too far from here; nice and quite, with a great view and a room that’s not in a rush to be occupied. He’s in IT also, so I’m assured of all the necessary provisions. ;-)

A year ago I took out quite a small personal loan that I’ve been paying off at a million miles an hour to boost my lending power and in light of recent talks with my bank, it seems to have payed off. I’ve been keeping a close eye on carpoint.com.au and I’m hoping to have something nice in the driveway pretty soon.

I have the urgings for a good holiday and perhaps that is the reason I want to slow things down a little, but I know that if I don’t ease off soon I’m going to burn out and I’m not keen on that idea. I’ve always loved cleaning out my cupboards and cutting my stuff back to bare essentials, so tonight I did some culling of my RSS feeds, so that I’m only reading really necessary material. It is the beginning of a new year for me and it smells like freshly cut grass.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 24th, 2007 at 6:34 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.