2007 in Review
Ξ December 31st, 2007 | → | ∇ Blog |
Its New Years eve and that means it’s time to reflect on the past year. A lot went on this year. This was my first year being married! I give the experience a thumbs up. Rosie and I have had a bunch of fun this year. We’ve finished our kitchen and bathroom finally and we’re preparing to put our home on the market. We’re not in a super huge hurry to move, but if the right offer comes along we’ll take it. It’s not a great time to be selling, but its a teriffic time to be buying .. I guess it all evens out in the end.
Rosie got her license. This is monumental. Everyone has been waiting for this for years. Rosie was a bit scared to drive, but I was finally able to talk her into taking lessons and getting a license. Now she’s zipping all over the place in her sporty blue car that she calls “zippy”.
Greenstar Systems was a bit more successful then I thought it would have been. The company was started so that when I work as a consultant, I can get paid as a corporation instead of being a W2 or 1099 employee. Essentially, just some minor tax differences. Not a huge deal, but something every consultant should look into. At any rate, side work began coming in at a faster pace and I was ill prepared to handle it all myself. Then when two major software projects came in at once, I was forced to get some help. Having been in the business a while, I knew a few people that I’ve always worked well with, and enlisted their help. We’ve been chugging along ever since. Without even really trying, we’ve obtained a number of steady clients, and we’re all having fun working together. I’m not sure where I want to take the business yet. For now we’re in a holding pattern and just taking care of existing clients. The clients seem to be happy with us, and we have more work then we know what to do with at the moment. Growing the business comes with its own set of problems. We’d had some difficulties getting reliable developers over the summer, so I’m hesitant to bring others in quickly. I think over the next year, things will fall into place for Greenstar Systems on their own.
School - I did OK this year. I got good grades had interesting professors and no real complaints. I’m looking forward to starting back again. Rosie also seems to be doing well. She’s sharp as a tac. We should be finishing up around the same time. Perhaps we’ll throw a big party when we’re done.
I started teaching this year. I love it. I kinda thought I would though. I’ve really learned a lot about presenting complex information to people from a wide range of professional and educational backgrounds. I’ve been asked to teach additional courses which I’m considering. Again, the coming year will determine where I want to take all of this.
The Bank - I started working as a Quantitative Software Engineer this year. I’ve learned a lot and have had the chance to work on some very interesting software.
So, 2008 .. where are we going from here? What are the big goals?
As you can see, 2007 came with a lot of work. The Bank, Greenstar Systems, teaching and school. I spent most of my time working. Seriously, most nights were spent coding till 2am. My goal for 2008 is to have more of a work/life balance. Greenstar is up and running now, I’m going to outsource more of the work to Matt and Eric and handle mostly project management, and customer relationships.
Although I haven’t spent much time at the gym in 2007 because of all the work, I’ve been able to drop some weight because my diet got a lot better. I’ll continue eating better, but get to the gym in the morning too.
My sleep situation. 2007 was virtually sleepless. My goal for 2008 is to go to bed earlier. I’ve always been a night owl, and typically don’t get to bed till 3am, so I can be up at 7am for work. This year I hope to change that pattern.
I’m hoping to sell the house and buy a new one in 2008. Destination - unknown
The Bank. My contract is complete in August, from there I don’t quite know where I’ll be going. I certainly have a few thoughts in mind and any number of things can happen before then. I’ll probably have to settle down with a full time gig. I’ve been under Rosie’s benefits for a while, but I suspect I’ll need to get the benefits in 2008. There’s a ton of employment opportunities out there and its exciting to think about where I’ll end up.
My last goal this year is to go away more often. I rather like going on vacation. Long trips OR long weekends are fine with me. We’re going to Florida next week and we’re thinking of heading to Ireland in June for a wedding, but aside from that 2008 is open so far.
As usual, I suspect I’ll be flying by the seat of my pants in 2008. Now that you’ve read about my resolutions, why not leave a comment and tell me what yours are going to be?
Have a happy and safe New Year.
Best Regards
Biff
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.