2009

All right, it’s the last day of the year again and about time to sum it up. To write an entry to sum up the year has become quite the tradition and I’ve been doing it since 2004. This year has been a very different year than many of the past ones in many ways, most notably that I haven’t worked my ass off.

2009 was the year that I…

  • continued to exercising regularly, as much as four times a week at best. Now, because I’m back working full time, I’m happy if I manage three times a week.
  • tried to pitch a high tech project to the Norwegian police force, but they replied that it wasn’t too interesting for them. A few months later, they had implemented something that was rather similar. They were probably already working on it when I contacted them.
  • hooked up with some old friends from home.
  • didn’t play any EVE Online at all.
  • found my self in the woods with cross country skies attached to my feet surprisingly often. I even went to Trysil and Røros just to ski.
  • quit my old, all-consuming job.
  • went back to my old, all-consuming job for a few months as a consultant. Since I only worked half time, and it was no longer all-consuming, it brought in good money.
  • went to Trondheim and visited Klas and Camilla.
  • flew to Kyiv, Ukraine, and had a very good time.
  • also visited Chernobyl and Prypiat, a trip that was a real eye opener. Nuclear power == not good for you if you do it wrong. I already knew that, of course, but it was seriously weird to see it with my own two eyes.
  • lost a bet to Tomas.
  • finally managed to throw a house warming party - over two years after I moved into the apartment.
  • went to China for the third time.
  • went to Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which was even more funky that Chernobyl and Prypiat.
  • convinced myself that I needed a netbook, and even bought one. It’s one of the better gadgets I’ve owned. Never got started on that epic series of books I was going to write, though.
  • revised The List.
  • only managed to do one thing on said list.
  • went to see a play.
  • played some Kubb in the park. I’m the champion of Kubb.
  • once again tried to learn to play the guitar, but lost interest too quickly.
  • got a job at the NRK. Home, sweet home.
  • took some pictures I like.
  • biked a lot to and from work. 12 kilometers each day, not too bad.
  • bought myself a brand new PC to play games on… and way too many games on Steam sales.
  • saw Rise Against live. Awesome!
  • met Anniken, an absolutely stunning girl, both in personality and looks. In August I got the privilege to call her “my girlfriend” and she is just getting more and more stunning in every way by each passing day.
  • spent a lazy week in the Oslo fjord and another hot, hot, hot week in Spain with her.
  • ate a little candy for once.
  • voted to made sure people with at least half a brain keep running the country.
  • made a great three course dinner with Anniken. And later we did the same for her sister and her boyfriend.
  • got rid of the iPhone and got an HTC Hero.
  • saw District 9. Movie of the year?
  • started subscribing to Spotify Premium. Great stuff, especially since I have a phone running a proper OS that allows multitasking.
  • added a few one-liners.
  • got some Google Wave invites but never really managed to figure out how the service is useful. Anyone?
  • decided to get my site hosted with a green host and moved it to GreenGeeks.
  • then very quickly decided that they were not capable of hosting it and moved everything to my own Mini-ITX server.
  • learned that another of my former colleagues has been diagnosed with cancer. Very, very sad, and it sure makes you think about life, the universe and pretty much everything in between.
  • realized that I’m trying to do way too much at the same time and thus never finish anything properly. The conclusion was that I should only have one big project going at the time.
  • decided that the first big lone project should be a site redesign.
  • missed my girlfriend a lot. She’s has been out traveling since December 1 and won’t return until April. But thanks to the wonders of modern technology, i.e. the internet and text messages, I’m not going completely nuts.

In conclusion, if I look at the broad picture of 2009, I have to say that I got my wish. Seriously!

I don’t know about you, but I for one welcome 2010 with open arms. 2009 had a lot of potential, but it’s nothing compared to what 2010 might bring. Happy new year, everyone!

Here are the wrap-ups from previous years: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004.

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