killswtch.netA geek’s thoughts on various stuff

Back in April I decided to take a well-earned break from work. During that week, I got a lot accomplished. Mostly I worked on my software project (details to be revealed fairly soon, probably) but towards the end I started my first decorating project in my flat.

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It’s a little late, I know, but it’s still relatively early in the year – early enough to set some targets.

Last year I set the following goals:

• Become a Microsoft Certified Professional – exam 1 of 3 complete (with flying colours ), half way through studying for the second now
• Complete a software project I’m working on, and sell it – about 80% of the way there for the first version
• Buy a house/flat – done!
• Get more exercise – I’ve got a Wii now, with Wii Fit, which sorta counts … doesn’t it?
• Push for a revival of socialising at work (it’s died off over the last year) – didn’t happen
• Have another great holiday somewhere with friends from uni – didn’t happen
• Do more non-C# coding, to revive the broadness of my programming skills base – specifically PHP – lost interest, continued focussing on .Net

In addition to the above, I did achieve something I hadn’t planned to do last year – my sky dive.

Now, these are the goals for this year:

• Become a Microsoft Certified Professional
• Complete a software project I’m working on, and sell it
• Have another great holiday somewhere with friends from uni
• Post more to this blog
• Learn to cook more than just pasta

Yeah, it’s shorter than last year, and certainly not original but I should be able to achieve them all if I put my mind to it. I’ve also got a few more personal and some secret goals to meet, so this isn’t the complete list.

Here’s to the new year!

Here’s the video of my sky dive – enjoy!

After 4 attempts, the weather has finally allowed my sister and I to complete our first ever sky dives in aid of our chosen charities.

We arrived at the centre in the east of England at 7.15 am and got in line to make sure we’d be near the front of the queue when it came to jump orders. Less than 2 hours later we were called into the hangar to suit-up and slide into our harnesses. After a plane ride of maybe 10 mins or so, and allowing one guy to jump out at 5,000ft, we were at 12,000ft and I was first in line to accelerate to terminal velocity in the direction of our host planet.

When the door is slid open, the first thing that hit me was the view. The second was the cold air. The third was the realisation that I was about to go out that door and entrust myself to the friendly Chris and his complex arrangement of fabric and string.

The pictures below pretty much explain the rest!

Finally, a massive thanks to all who sponsored my sister and I. Your donations are greatly appreciated.

The first jump was supposed to happen on 7th April, but was cancelled due to high winds. We went along to the airfield today to re-attempt the jump, but once again the weather was not entirely in our favour. Therefore we will be trying again at an unknown date – booking will be left until the last minute so that we can at least have some idea of what the weather will be like.

There’s just over a week to go before my planned sky dive in aid of Alzheimer’s Society. So far sponsorships are at a pretty impressive £200, thanks in part to some very generous individuals. The target I set is just £50 away, so if you haven’t done so already please, please sponsor me for whatever you can afford through Just Giving! I’m paying for the full cost of the jump, so every penny donated goes to the charity (plus a bit more if you opt to give Gift Aid).

My sister and I are going to be jumping out of a plane at circa 13,000 ft (weather permitting) to raise money for charity on 7th April.

I’m raising money for Alzheimer’s Society, and she’s collecting sponsorships for Cancer Resarch UK.

If you would like to sponsor me, I’ve set up a Just Giving page at http://www.justgiving.com/simonsbigjump

The image above is just for illustration. Since this will be my first jump, I have no photography of me falling out of the sky, so I used the GIMP to make something.

Inspired by my friend David’s own post, this is my brief review of 2008 and my goals for 2009.

There hasn’t been any major change in my life through 2008 (that I can reveal on here, anyway), but I’ve managed to do plenty of interesting things at work. I think the thing that 2008 will be remembered for is the dramatic downturn in the world economy, though fortunately I’ve not been touched by it so far other than seen dramatic interest rate cuts on my savings.

For 2009 I hope to:

• Become a Microsoft Certified Professional
• Complete a software project I’m working on, and sell it
• Buy a house/flat
• Get more exercise
• Push for a revival of socialising at work (it’s died off over the last year)
• Have another great holiday somewhere with friends from uni
• Do more non-C# coding, to revive the broadness of my programming skills base – specifically PHP

No plans to move abroad, though moving somewhere else in the UK isn’t out of the question – depends on the circumstances and the incentives.

Let’s hope that 2009 brings a more promising outlook for the economy.