Your time has come. There's no turning back. You'll have to go, just take a moment to see if you got all your personal belongings, then mind the gap, if any, and leave.
You've been an interesting one. I would like to say good, but there have been better (for me). I could also say a bad one, but usually everything bad is good for something in the end. So, '17, bro, how've you been mate?
Well, work-wise, I owe you man. The job in ONS feels finally like the right thing for me - messing around with the data, doing some interesting vis and ML, more responsibility too, sprinkled with hackathons, trainings, occasional travel... Just the right soup. Office and its people are cool dudes too (our team, choir, diversity group...). Simply good stuff. '18, yo man, hope you got something up your sleeve to beat your ol' brother! Some new challenges so I ain't bored, you know what I mean bro?
 |
| With colleagues from a work on a Eurostat project, Thessaloniki |
 |
| ONS choir - summer concert |
 |
| ONS choir - autumn concert |
Yeah, work was cool. On the other hand, the housing sucked. We should have moved a long time ago - it's just not worth the trouble house-sharing with so many other people and being crowded in one room. But thanks at least for that last minute deal to finally move out in January! You really pulled that out last minute, didn't ya?
As for guitar, well, not much on that front fella. Where was all the inspiration from previous years? Just a few times busking is not enough so '18, bro - hope you have a proper chat with '15 to get some fresh ideas! Some more jamming, open-mic-ing, recording and stuff. No excuses, right buddy?
Toastmasters took time, you say? Well yeah, true, though that's not the main culprit. Was it worth it though? Oh absolutely. The club grew massively, lots of new interesting people and friends. Yo, '18, see that? Watch and learn! But also, bro, this time you prep some dates for me to do speeches too, was out of the game for some time and that ain't no good!
 |
| Cardiff Toastmasters, Christmas meeting |
Ok, '17 bro. All those things above - you tried at least. But what the hell was that with the eczema and shit! Health-wise, nope, no good AT ALL, man! This really took the best of me this year. Vacations did not feel like vacations, almost no proper hikes done, sports on hold, no time for nothing, all those damn diets and that stupid itch... You showed me bro, how joy can be taken from life. Say what? The last-minute December patch-up, you say? Ok, I feel much better now, but hah - just a small compensation for those hellish months! And even if all this stuff from doctors works now, I don't think things are cured. I'd simply rather not make conclusions too quickly, bro...
All right, all right. I've been rather harsh there. And I know I should look for positives... Ok, so let me see. Well, I suppose I found a lots of new recipes and tried lots of different foods. What else, hm. Ok, so I realized what it means to be stressed, that my life is not just an algorithm to optimize and that things should be taken much more easy. To actually take them easy is another thing. Perhaps point for you, '18, teach me to let things go in certain situations? So a "learning opportunity" it is. And I guess I learned I should pay attention more to myself, sleep a lot, check my body etc etc.. Oh well, we all grow older... And yeah, you're right, one thing I owe you, I found out how many amazing people are out there, willing to help. That counts for you '17 bro, just please, if you ever come back (I dunno, some time machine or shit), just, well, calm down.
 |
| Pen y Fan, Brecon Beacons |
Looking at y'all bunch out there, it seems to me some of you are special.. Defining, I might say, you know? Like you, '13 for example, but also you '17, buddy. It may not be some super special events that you've brought, or major changes in life. It's often the minor things that make you re-think stuff and push you to a different stage in life - the real changes then happen in your head. You, '17 got me thinking, thinking freaking lot. I don't think I know the answers to half the questions you posed, bro. But I do hope that you '18, buddy, have some answers out there for me.
Over to you, '18, bro.
No comments:
Post a Comment