A year in the life

My first observation for the last year would be that I've spent a very large proportion of my time doing things and hence less time thinking and almost no time writing.

What I had hoped would become the first in a series of posts on house ownership did not come to pass. I found that owning a house, especially a house in need of work, as a couple is a particularly stressful activity. In hindsight, moving to a new city, starting new jobs and building (or failing to build) new social circles would probably have constituted an adequately stressful workload for most people. We set out, even before relocating, to buy a house despite early indicators that our priorities would be different. Eventually the stress of purchasing, organising some intensive work and agreeing and carrying out the completion of the interior tore us apart. The life we'd fallen into had stopped being enjoyable. We split up and I found a house to rent a room in to get on with my life.

It's been almost a year and I've become Fitter, Happier and More Productive.

I started taking bike polo seriously and started competing in National Series tournaments. I'll be spending this weekend in London to compete in the UK qualifiers for the European Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships which will be held in Paris this July. The bike polo scene in Manchester has organised itself to become something worth being a part of and I'm hoping to help it organise its own National Series tournament within the next 18 months.

In March, I started commuting to work by bicycle partly due to a coincidence of good weather and car unreliability. It's 16 miles each way of reasonably hilly terrain which I'm covering in under an hour on my track bike. I haven't driven my car for two months and I'm not greatly fussed about making it drivable again.

My position at work was given an upgrade, so I've moved two rungs up the ladder. I'm now doing basically the same job but with far greater expectations of me. I've definitely become a better software developer and employee since I joined my company shortly after relocating.

Overall, I think I'm getting closer to the life I was hoping to have when I graduated. I'm saving up for a car which will suit my needs and maintenance abilities better. My bicycles will continue their incremental upgrades as I succeed in wearing them out and learn more about what makes a bicycle suitable for its uses.

I'm going to make more time for creativity and thought.