Skip to main content

Approaching milestones and dealing with them

Over the weekend, I had to go spend time with 15 friends to celebrate the 29th birthday of a friend. We're sort of at that age where we are going to cross that invisible threshold that marks 3 decades on god's green earth. Somewhere between the lamb and the tiramisu, we kept coming back to trying to figure out a way to make our mark on the big 3-0. Since this also happens to be the time where some of us are settling down to a married life (I missed one wedding this summer already and am hopefully not too late for at least one next year; and one friend took out his phone and showed around the 3 month old baby's pictures), I get the feeling we are in sore need of some validation for our almost 3 decade reign here.

A lot of the conversation hung around going to Vegas or Mexico for the next stag, but I am convinced that there is more to it than a stag. I have a list of things I have wanted to do in life and some day I hope to do them. I am going to list them here in the hopes that if I see them, I will try and work towards them. So here's my list:

  • Run a marathon
  • Run the 2010 Vancouver Sun Run and beat my previous time (~55 minutes in 2004)
  • Learn to ride a motor cycle
  • Become a certified diver
  • Do the West Coast Trail
  • Try Surfing
  • Train for a triathlon
  • Do more hiking
  • Learn to ski
  • Travel
  • Go fishing
  • Buy my first place
This list is by no means a complete one and isn't ordered in any particular order. I would like to start accomplishing some of these soon enough, but some will take longer (like the West Coast Trail or the motor cycle one). As you can tell, most of these have to do with being in better shape. That is an unstated implicit goal for me as well. I was probably the fittest I ever was the year I started working for my current employer (way back in 2004!). I did miss out on the a lot of the running and hiking and it is time to pick that up again.

What are your goals? Have you met them?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Birthday Canada

I have celebrated more than 20 Canada Days in Canada. While this nation is far from perfect and we have so much further to go, there is hope. We are a nation, at 153, looking at the future with a mixed record: we have immense prosperity, peace, safety and a relatively good standard of living for most . We are welcoming to immigrants, refugees and guarantee people with a wide range of rights. We are a leader in respecting people's human rights and punch above our weight internationally. We are also a country that is in the midst of a reckoning right now. We have systemic racism, we are at war with the environment - we are actively digging things out of the ground to sell to the rest of the world. Climate change is ravaging our country - we have floods, fires and drought.  Our past and present deeds towards indigenous people is shameful. We have a long way to go yet, but there is hope. In the midst of a pandemic, with social upheaval to correct past wrongs, or at least make amen...

How to make a good thing go bad quickly in tech

I haven't written a work related post in what seems like ages. I am currently living through the aftermath of a third M&A in my career. The company I currently work for is in its third incarnation - from a small tech startup 15 or so years ago to something that was sold to a large software company - one of those lumbering giants that have their hands in all kinds of technology driven fields - where they invested sufficiently in it to grow it in its current location - to now finally being acquired by an even larger technology company - one that its hands in all kinds of technology fields.I came along post the second phase but I have seen 2 other US tech company acquisitions, one that made me quit fast and the other that took me around the world but made me leave anyway. The difference from the previous take-over of the current place and this one is stark. While there was a lot of churn up top in the previous acquisition and differences in what you paid for benefits etc, for...

Thoughts on the new year