Books, Coalface

2015 is that way, 2016 is this way

The last year has been something of a change in direction in my life. Not only was it a year of a large number of ‘firsts’ for me, in all sorts of ways, I also changed a lot of what I was doing to better suit me. Actually that’s really important.

2015 turned out to be a really significant year for me, not because of any huge life changes, but because so many different and interesting things happened to me

What did I change?

‘Official’ Studying – I have for many years been doing a degree in Psychology with the Open University. I was actually on my last year – well, 20 months as it was part time. I had my final two modules to go, and although I was hugely enjoying the course, it was a major sap on my personal time; what little I have of it after work and other obligations (see below). I also reached a crunch point; due to the way the course worked, changes in the rules, and the duration of the work (I started studying back in 2007), I had to finish the course by June 2016, and that meant there were no opportunities for retakes or doing the entire course all over again. I either had to get it right, first time, for each remaining course, or I would have to start again. That kept the pressure on me to get good marks massive when I have a very busy day job, and it got harder to dedicate the required time. In the end I decided that having the piece of paper was less important than having the personal interest in the topic. And that was the other of problem. I’d already stopped reading, I stopped playing games, I stopped going out, all to complete a course. I realised that my interest in Psychology wont disappear just because I stop studying. I can still read the books, magazines, articles that interest me without feeling pressured to do so.

Book/Article Writing – Given the above, the lack of activity on here, it wont surprise you that writing books and articles was something else I stopped. I deliberately changed my focus to the Psychology degree. But I also stopped doing anything outside work in any of the areas I’m interested in, despite some offers. I was working on a book, actually two books, but ultimately dropped them due to other pressures. Hopefully I’ll be converting some of that material into posts here over the course of the year.

Working Hours – I have very strange sleep patterns; I sleep very little, and have done since the day I was born. As such that means I normally get up very early (2am is not unusual) having gone to bed at 10 or 11pm the previous night. However, last I spent even more time up late on the phone with meetings and phone calls to people in California. That would make for a long day, so I switched my day entirely so that I now start working later and finish later, doing most of my personal stuff in the early morning. It’s nice and quiet then to.

2015 Firsts

  • First time staying in a B&B – I know, this seems like an odd, but I have honestly never stayed in a B&B before. But I did, three times, while on a wonderful touring holiday of the North of Scotland, taking in Inverness, Skye, Loch Ness and many other places.
  • First touring holiday (road trip) – See above. For the first time ever, I didn’t go to one place, stay there, and travel around the area. We drove miles. In fact, I did about 2,800 over the course of a week.
  • First time to the very north of Scotland – Part of the same road trip. I’ve done Dunbar, North Berwick, the borders, Edinburgh.
  • First music concert (in ages) – I went to two, in fact. One in Malaga and one in San Francisco about two weeks later. Enjoyed both. Want to do more.
  • First time driving in the US – I’ve been regularly going to the US since 2003, when I first started working Microsoft, and even for companies in Silicon Valley, I’ve always taken rides from friends, or taxis. In April, I hired a car and drove around. A lot. I did about 600 miles over the course of two weeks.
  • First Spanish train journey – I flew to Madrid on business, and then took the train from there down to see a friend in Malaga. The AVE train is lovely, and a beautiful way to travel, especially at 302km/h.
  • First Cruise – I’ve wanted to go on a cruise to see the Fjords of Norway since I was a teenager. I love the cold, I love the idea of being relatively isolated on a boat with lots of time to myself. In the end, I spent way more time interacting with other people than I expected, and did so little on my own, but I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. I went from Bergen to Kirkenes in the Arctic circle and back on the Hurtigruten and it was one of the most amazing trips of my life.
  • First time travelling on my own not for business – I travel so much for work (I did 16 journeys in 2015, most to California) it made a nice, if weird, change to do s full trip on my own. I enjoyed it immensely and recommend it to everybody.

What’s planned for 2016?

I’m starting to publish my fictional work on Patreon with the express intention of getting book content that I’ve been working on for many many years out there in front of other people. I’ve got detailed notes and outlines on about nine different fictional titles, crossing a range of different genres. I’ve started with two of my larger ‘worlds’ – NAPE and Kings Courier and will be following up with regular chapters and content over the coming months.

I’ve also created a new blog to capture all of my travel. Not the work stuff, but things like the Scotland tour and the Norwegian Cruise, plus whatever else comes up this year and beyond. Current thoughts are Antartica, Alaska or Iceland, work and personal commitments permitting. Plus I’m in Spain in August with my family and friends.

Converting my unfinished technical books to blog posts. I’ve worked on a number of books, some of which contain fresh, brand new material I’d like to share with other people, including the book content I was working on last year. I’m still trying to reformat it for the blog so that it looks good, but I will get there.