Medarbeidersamtale
The first week of real work after Christmas is now over and it's around this time of year that most Norwegian companies begin to think about holding an annual performance review (medarbeidersamtale) with all of their employees.
As preparation for this I like to summarise my achievements the previous year and things I would like to do the next year. This year I have extended this process to take a broader look at my life, read on for the full details.
Achievements 2008
Explored more of Norway
Last year we took two trip up to the north of Norway where Lise comes from. This was great fun, allowing me to experience;
- north norway cabin trip (significantly different from Frode's Kristiansand cabin)
- minus thirty degree temperatures
- driving a snow scooter
- very little sunshine
- a confirmation in both Norwegian and Sami
- a trip to "the world's northernmost settlement of more than 5,000 inhabitants"
During the year we also took the Norway in a Nutshell train trip to Bergen which has some amazing landscapes.
Presented at EuroPython 2008
In the summer of last year I had the opportunity to attend the EuroPython conference for the second time. This time I decided to submit two talks, and had both accepted. For anyone interested my slides are available on the Web Applications Team blog.
Being the first time I've ever presented this was a huge learning experience for me (tip: prepare in advance, don't try writing the presentation hours before you need to give it, especially when there has been cheap Lithuanian alcohol consumed the night before). Despite my lack of experience as a presenter both presentations were received really well with interesting discussions and relevant questions coming up at the end.
Open source contributions
Over the last year I have made several, admittedly quite small, contributions to open source projects. These were;
Change of job
Around June last year I took the difficult decision to move on from my position at Opera and gain further experience somewhere else in Norway. I interviewed at three places, LinPro, Bouvet and Kezzler. Although I received a very generous offer from Kezzler I decided to try out consultancy, instead of joining another product orientated company. It was a tough decision between the remaining two but in the end I settled on Bouvet.
I started at Bouvet in the middle of September and although I don't feel my projects up until now have exercised my full range of abilities, I'm happy with the decision I made. It's still early days yet, I'm sure I will have the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects.
Sun Certified Java Programmer
First item on my training plan at Bouvet was to join the study group for the Sun Certified Java Programmer (Java 6) certification. I took and passed the exam just before Christmas.
Debt free (almost)
After trying to pretend they didn't exist after leaving England for Norway I finally got around to paying off my old credit cards this year, with the final payment being made from my December pay check. That leaves just my student loan remaining, although that one isn't entirely my own fault. The SLC seem to have big problems sending mail to Norway even though they have my correct address.
Goals 2009
Learn to drive
After two trips to the north of Norway last year it became obvious that it would be useful if I could drive so that we are not dependent on people to drive us around in order to do anything up there. Next trip up is planned for the summer so I would ideally like to get my driving license before then, which means I need to find a driving school next week.
Get my green card
In Norway, and most of Scandinavia, if you wish to play golf you need to have a green card. This card is kind of like a driving license, guaranteeing that you have a base line understanding of the rules.
Last summer when Opera arranged a discount at Grini golf club for people wanting to take their green card I took the opportunity to try. Unfortunately I didn't pass first time and didn't get around to trying again last year (partially because I didn't fancy paying a year's club membership to sign up at the end of summer). This year I plan to try again in the spring and get plenty of practice in over the summer.
Spare time projects
One technique software developers use to keep their skills sharp is to work on hobby projects in their spare time, this gives us the opportunity to play with new technologies as they come out and to maintain knowledge in areas that are perhaps not getting used so much in daily work.
I have a long list of ideas for spare time projects and my plan is to make four "useful" releases during the course of 2009. This may be four releases of the same project or it may be working prototypes of four separate projects, we'll see what happens as I get around to prioritising them.
Join the housing market
In the current financial economy there are some really interesting properties beginning to appear within what I believe to be my price range. Assuming it is possible to get a mortgage it would be stupid not to get on the property market next year before the economy recovers.
Send all family birthday and Christmas cards
Family are one of the most important parts of your life, and I have generally been a bad family member the last few years. I rarely make contact and have not even managed to send out birthday and christmas cards to everyone. It's not that I forget, I have automated reminders from Google Calendar but I seem to have problems coordinating the act of purchasing a card (I don't go shopping very often) and posting it at an appropriate time. This year my target is to send everyone in the family at least a birthday card and a christmas card, on time.
Be more social
Since leaving Opera I've noticed a severe drop in my social activity. This is partially because Bouvet only have fredagspils (friday beer) every month, instead of every week as Opera, and partially because I no longer have daily contact with the friends I have built up over the last three years. My liver is probably quite happy for this change but it's perhaps gone a little too quiet.
One method of working towards this goal is going to be inviting people round for dinner at least once per month. The first of these nights was last Wednesday and was a great success, although it's unlikely to be as extravagant as a roast dinner every time.