Wow, 2004 is already over. It’s wierd, but it feels like a hazy day-dream at this point. Now that might have something to do with the fact that I just spent the last 2 days in bed/couch recovering from a heavy head cold, but you never know.
The year started off with me ending a 2.5 year relationship. That was painful. It was something that forced me to look inside and start sorting out personal and preconcieved beliefs on love & relationships. Thankfully we are still great friends.
I joined a local wireless network group called “Alameda Wireless” that hopes to start building a community wireless network on the island. Problem is that we are a bit hampered by the terrain (mostly flat) and number of members in the group.
It’s strange, I didn’t feel like I learned to many new things, but as I went through my planner I was surprised at what I found.
I took a “Japanese I” class at UC Berkeley, but unfortunately, I had to drop out 1/2 way through the course. It was hard to learn a new language without constant use, and my night schedule was erratic because of work and so I had no one to practice with after classes. Right now, I’m still deciding if I want to revisit it again this year.
I got my work to send me to “Shoreline Training” in Mountain View. Shoreline, now ShoreTel, is the VOIP system we use in the office. Although the irony is that my work now wants to remove the Shoreline System completly and install a Cisco system. (Maybe I can get them to send me to training for that too 🙂 )
For my own development I took a “Fundamentals of Cisco Router Configuration” in SF. It was pretty interesting and it helped me realize I didn’t want to dive into a heavy networking career path. I still want to include it, but not as a CCNA or such.
I had a great time when I headed over to Las Vegas for “Defcon 12”, I’m considering doing it again this year, maybe even working it. I only got away from the convention for a few hours one night to visit the main strip, and came away with the feeling that it would be a fun weekend in itself. Next time, I think going with a friend would be a lot more fun.
I’ve had an off and on interest in Tantra over the past few years and I took a “Tantric Workshop” here in Oakland, but it was a bit too new age for my tastes. I think that was more due to the teacher than the subject. This hasn’t discouraged me at all, and I’m still keeping an eye out.
A friend gave her s.o. a birthday present of “Hang Gliding Lessons” and I was one of the ones invited to join up for the experience. It was a blast. We actually didn’t get to fly much due to weather and a parasailing class, but we all had a great time. It got me thinking about going for a hang gliding license. I’ve flown airplanes and skydived, but I think this would give a much greater sense of freedom and control.
I’ve always had this nagging feeling that I want to start my own business but never to settle on what. Well in 2004 I think I found what I want head toward. I’d like to start a consulting business that helps small/medium businesses run using Open Source Software. This would let me do all the things I love: 1) travel, 2) build and design systems, and 3) let me play with the latest tech 🙂 . The only thing missing is photography, but I might be able to work that in somehow. I’ve been playing with Open Source and Linux for while now but with no formal training. So to that end I signed up for a UC Berkeley Certification Program “Unix System Administration” and took two of the first courses “UNIX Tcp/Ip Architechure”, “UNIX System Administration I”. The first which I Aced and the second which I believe I Aced. I still have about 6 more classes to take, but I’ve already signed up for the next three.
As a bonus, my work sent be to Red Hat training in December and I got my “Red Hat Certified Technician” (RHCT) certification, which paves the way for RHCE.
So it looks like most of the year was growing my techinical/business side. I think Im going to keep going that direction for the new year too. I do hope to incorporate more creative aspects though.
Oh, one other thing happened this year. I got to experience working for one of the worst/incompetent managers I have ever had in my entire working career. It gave me a much better perspective on “how bad it could be”. Luckly though, I was given an early Christmas present when I was asked to completely shutdown any access he had to the company the same hour his plane was landing in SFO as he was returning from our European offices. It seem his escapades had caught up with him. 🙂
Overall, it was a growing year, but then again, I hope they all are.
Happy New Year everyone.