tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-310169732024-03-08T02:03:31.572+00:00#40@40Taskerweb - Skiing, Work, Redundancy, Life and a few beers.
The story of me getting my ski instructor qualification via resigning, knee surgery, redundancy and knee exercises. Now it's about life back in the big smoke and how I'm celebrating my 40th year on this planet and what I'll do next.David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.comBlogger371125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-1900215534192656802014-04-22T12:00:00.000+01:002014-05-07T17:06:31.027+01:00#40@40 Finished!That's it my 40th year done and my #40@40 list filled up.
Thanks to everyone that helped and joined in. Here's the full list. Hopefully It's made me a much more interesting person to have at dinner parties :)
1. Go power-boating down the Thames
2. Walk over the Millennium Dome
3. Set up my own company
4. Try eating insects
5. Meet the Parents
6. Try life-logging with a Fitbit
7. Have a 'David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-46627206613617950522014-03-20T16:30:00.000+00:002014-06-16T16:30:50.815+01:00#40@40 Mini MeSo I had this idea. Another case of trying something out which is uncommon now but in the future nobody will even think around, getting something printed on a 3D printer.
As luck would have it I happen to find out that ASDA was running a trial touring printing service at its different branches where you could go and get yourself scanned and they would print out a small model of you for 60 quid.
David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-83064642969922778322014-03-16T11:22:00.000+00:002014-06-19T11:24:41.679+01:00#40@40: Attend film schoolAn odd one this. It just sort of popped up and I thought it looked interesting. A day in a lecture theatre near Somerset House learning about what its like to be in the film business.
We started with writing the screenplay and a talk from Elliot Grove, the director of Raindance. He covered the basic principles of writing screenplays, and what storytelling tools. you can use, for example, types David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-12479098598358988112014-03-04T10:58:00.001+00:002014-03-04T10:58:17.923+00:00#40@40 Yoga-ingI went to my first yoga class.
Yes its another very common thing that I've managed for forty years to have nothing to do with. It's one of that list of things in our modern western culture like wearing pink and OK, Knitting, that men leave to women to do for no real good reason. It's a popular pastime with some of my friends. Female friends that is, the reaction from the blokes tends to makes itDavid Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-76635512425964083822014-02-19T18:02:00.001+00:002014-02-19T18:02:58.299+00:00#40@40 A tour of Houses of ParliamentI live in London, and as is traditional for Londoner, I've done hardly any of the typical tourist activities that this great city has to offer. Well today to re-address the balance some what, I did one of the big ones and went on a tour of the Houses of Parliament, the home of our government.
It's not the easiest place to get into that's for sure. OK its easy to find but then finding the place David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-8046445340475004832014-01-14T16:06:00.000+00:002014-06-16T16:08:19.973+01:00#40@40: Keeper for a DayA simple little day out at the zoo. But rather than just seeing the animals you get to be a junior keeper and get behind the scenes for a day. London Zoo run the scheme for the general public and you can get a ticket off their website. Its pretty popular so I had to book well in advance. I actually got the day on an offer via Living Social.
We were told to report to the staff entrance at Monday David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-977548797795617692014-01-14T10:23:00.002+00:002014-05-12T14:21:43.386+01:00#40@40: Indoor sky divingThis one was a present from my Mum and Dad. Getting fully into the spirit of the list and making me do something very out of the ordinary. Indoor sky diving is the pastime of trying to balance on a column of air inside a specially built room. The column of air is provided by a huge wind turbine blasting up through the mesh floor and the room is a 15 foot circle with a roof about 40 foot up (David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-4962072778021269362013-09-25T16:35:00.000+01:002014-06-16T17:16:58.086+01:00#40@40 Tomato fight!
OK, so somebody put go and visit 'la tomatina' on the list when I was asking for suggestions. And it just so happens that I get an email in the morning saying somebody is going to recreate the mayhem nearby at Canary Wharf and they need volunteers to take part.
Boom, yeap I'll do it!
So some food company has basically set up a PR stunt but the idea is sound, food fight!
So I get myself David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-72178313264392952272013-06-02T12:45:00.000+01:002013-06-02T12:45:08.165+01:00#40@40: Set up your own companySo I've not been working since before Christmas. After the fun times I had at the last company I decided to take a bit of time off and concentrate on things like ski trips and daytime TV. Of course this wasn't a situation I could maintain indefinitely and at the start of May I had to start the process of earning again.
Fortunately a good friend of mine had some work going at the company he worksDavid Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-74524152493174612952013-05-18T09:00:00.000+01:002014-02-13T15:56:49.145+00:00#40@40: A meal of worms!An extreme little food experience to add to my list. I've heard it be said that in the coming years, due to the growing population and the cost food production we will be looking in other places for our daily food requirements. For western audiences this could mean trying something that a lot of the rest of the world has no problems with, eating insects.
I managed to find a place in London David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-45168852548050387192013-05-16T14:49:00.000+01:002014-03-04T11:15:07.700+00:00#40@40 Some proof
being a tourist...
on the Thames..
and on top of the Dome...
David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-59683771641155578972013-05-15T18:29:00.001+01:002014-03-04T11:15:36.071+00:00#40@40 And so it begins...
So how did I start on my 40@40 list?
Well, the best way to start is with a bit of a bang and go on as you mean to continue, so on my birthday, I decided to cross a couple of things off the list straight away.
First up, something touristy in London, a nice trip down the Thames by boat. Well OK, so I've done that before but this time is was a little different as the boat in question was a nippy David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-48092870477100140132013-05-07T09:53:00.001+01:002013-05-07T09:53:57.770+01:00OportoI'm sitting on a sun chair on a balcony in Oporto with a cup of coffee waiting for the others to get up. It would be perfect except for the bloody noisy seagulls and the fact that it's raining slightly. Yeap typical Englishman on holiday behaviour sitting out no matter what just because I'm on holiday. To be fair the first couple of days here were lovely weather and I've got if not a tan David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0Oporto Oporto41.151821 -8.588644tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-77017523620822214292013-04-16T18:27:00.000+01:002013-04-16T18:27:42.018+01:0040 at 40My 39th year on this planet has been quite eventful and I've managed to accomplished some good things and completed some long held goals. Becoming a Ski Instructor and finally getting my full motorbike licence are two that spring straight to mind.
But what about next year?
I've had an idea for a couple of months now that I should do something to celebrate the fact that I am turning 40David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-85424938240317724732012-12-21T00:00:00.000+00:002014-05-07T17:41:47.279+01:00No more WorkWell the Backstabbing and politics at work has reached epic levels. A project with crazy work hours and a Boss who's MIA. And as a result I've parted ways with DraftFCB.
Time for a long break before I decide what to do next.
Perhaps its time to try freelancing.David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-72018002678352326722012-12-05T19:30:00.000+00:002014-05-07T18:09:23.997+01:00Company Xmas DoAn odd party and no mistake.
I guess I'm used to advertising company dos being a bit nuts. The best way to describe this one is quiet.
Not bad a bad thing just a bit low key. Most of the people seem to be sticking in their own groups and departments. I think the theme of the evening was something to do with a reality show based in Chelsea.
So I stuck with a couple of the other developers and David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-29734998240112754112012-12-02T19:25:00.000+00:002014-05-07T18:21:25.992+01:005 yearsMy good friend Kooch had us all round for a big Sunday lunch at the weekend, a sort of nice get together as its been awhile since some of have seen each other.
I took the opportunity to have a little special moment for which I took a long a nice bottle of Cava and some plastic glasses (I guess rightly that they wouldn't have enough real ones).
Near the end of the meal a made a little speech andDavid Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-52491971100935249842012-10-19T19:27:00.000+01:002014-05-07T17:59:48.248+01:00New JobSo its been a while since I've had that new boy feeling.
This week I've started a new job with DraftFCB.
I now have a daily trip cross town to Victoria which is pretty straight forward and much easier than my old place. It's based round the back of Victoria station in an area I know quite well from my time work nearby for uSwitch.
The job is mainly an umbraco project web project for a single David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-58986292511561719922012-09-15T12:00:00.154+01:002020-10-27T12:26:08.166+00:00On the road15/09/2012 12:00What a week!
I've had some time off work to finally get my full UK motorbike licence. I been driving around on L plates for ages now and there is a rule in the UK that you have to redo your provisional licence parts every two years. The idea being to get on and get the full licence or possibly just to make things more complicated.
I'm a bit up to a deadline as the theory part was David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-27225392096185474262012-09-01T12:00:00.000+01:002013-03-19T11:16:13.236+00:00Time to goTime for my current employer and me to part ways.
It hasn't really worked out with the new boss and its got a point where he doesn't want to try and fix things any more.
Its sad, but its been a long while so a change would be good.
A lot of my friends have long since left, but I will miss the social, as that is what makes the company really great to work for.David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-89288043033597530922012-08-13T12:00:00.000+01:002013-03-19T11:11:56.895+00:00Closing ceremony and that whole olympics thingOK, so I did get into this whole Olympics thing with everyone else in London.
In fact, like everyone else in the country it seems. I think people round here did think it was a good thing and was going to be a success, just a bit more modest than it turned out. All the grim warnings about transport seemed to be OTT and us Londoners may, in fact, have had a slightly easier time getting to work forDavid Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-7892626025897856602012-04-17T19:48:00.000+01:002013-03-19T10:47:42.333+00:00St AntonSo I didn't last very long before the need to be on the slopes hit once again.
Last week I had a great little week in St Anton, Austria, to finish off the season. Being as its right at the end, the conditions were quite warm and the snow patchy. In fact the resort advertises it as the crystal snow season, the snow looking a lot like big wet bath salt crystals. The skiing conditions were actuallyDavid Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-43038869227487854012012-03-11T15:09:00.001+00:002012-12-12T18:55:33.124+00:00Ouch a bit harshOk so the MOT didn't go too well.
I got double teamed again, mainly I think because of my boss leaving.
Most of the negatives came from the new boss so that doesn't bode well.
Basically they say I'm just coasting and not helping solve problems and 'a bit negative'.
I didn't fight back apart from pointing out my projects did get released on time and the picture David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-42427852484157717542012-02-24T15:28:00.000+00:002012-03-11T15:30:36.976+00:00Change and maybe an MOT?My boss resigned last week!
I guess at least he waited until I got back or rather I'm glad it didn't happen while I was away. That would have been more of a shock but it's still a major event. He's off to another agency good luck to him.
So his deputy gets his job and one of my good friends is now deputy CTO.
This means a change of line management and some choas going forward. It's going to be David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31016973.post-88159303802273197322012-02-17T15:10:00.000+00:002012-03-11T15:20:50.505+00:00Being HomeMan is cold!! and I've been in a ski resort. The country look very in white on the flight in travelling over the home counties, with little white patch works of fields.
So I back and doing chores, the washing mainly. Getting this blog up to date, particular the exam week entry will take a while we've doing a lot of stuff.
Back at work nothing much seems to have changed, a few more people David Dunhillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12966455910611350876noreply@blogger.com0