So long 2007, hello 2008

I usually hate posts like this, but 2007 marked the end of a difficult period for me and I’m more than happy to see it go. With that in mind I thought I’d review 2007 and look forward to what will hopefully be a very good 2008.

I’m writing this in the foyer of a hotel in Walsall near Birmingham relaxing before an evening of food, drink and entertainment. This time last year I was sitting in a hotel in Dover doing pretty-much the same thing but I didn’t have this MacBook so it wasn’t quite so productive (not sure if that was better or not).

At the end of 2006 I was pretty stressed with my situation at work. The job wasn’t working out as I had expected and “the management” had broken several promises made both before I took the job and since. It was becoming clear to me that I needed to take action. I had spent too long with my head in the sand hoping it would all work out, trusting Roots to make good on his promises and allowing my opinion and that of my colleagues to be ignored – it was time to correct the course of my career before it veered off too far.

That whole situation made me determined to enjoy the New Year, and that meant drinking a lot. Suffice to say a good time was had by all. What was great about that location was the surroundings. The hotel was right on the beach near what I think was the old ferry port so there was plenty of photographic subjects. My father, brother-in-law and I are all avid photographers and it was lovely to go for a walk on New Years Day all armed with cameras to see what we could find. If I remember when I publish this I’ll dig out the link to the photo’s I took that day.

After the success of that trip we decided to try again. My Mother found this place and booked us all in for the entertainment package. Unfortunately this year we’re in a pretty built-up area and so far I haven’t seen anything worth walking to. Still, maybe we’ll find something tomorrow morning, or maybe we’ll just go straight home. We’ll see how it goes.

What’s great about this year is that the rough seas I was traversing last year have passed and it’s pretty calm now. As mentioned in previous posts on this blog I quit my job and found another. I’ve since been promoted to Head of Technology and the future is looking very bright indeed. With a bit of luck and a huge amount of effort next year will be very successful.

I feel confident that I’ve made a few good decisions lately, including taking this job, giving up the hosting company and several others, and I’m determined to make 2008 a great year for me and my employer. As one of my colleagues is keen on saying, “let’s make it happen”.

In addition to those events in my life 2007 also saw my friend and ex-manager Nick Halstead leave the aforementioned evil company to start his own. Since then he’s secured funding from an angel investor and is already making waves in technology circles and looks set to make a big splash when his product is launched next year. I wish him the best of luck with that. Nick and his wife are also expecting their first child early next year so 2008 is sure to be a cracker for them.

One of the happiest occasions of 2007 for me happened at the end of July when my sister got married. It gives me great joy to see her so happy – it’s been a long time coming. I wish them all the best in 2008 and beyond.

Phil Calvert, an ex-colleague, friend and long-time customer of SharedServer.net is also expecting a new addition to his family and I wish him and his wife all the best with that. He’s also currently finding out the hard way that web hosting is not as easy as I make it look which is nice to hear.

A number of other friends and colleagues have had an eventful 2007 but I’m not going to bore everyone with the details. I hope everyone had a successful 2007 and I wish you all the very best for 2008. I’m now off to get hammered – enjoy!