Random thoughts from 2011, and 2012 resolutions.

This is my first post in 2011. Wow, I guess I don't come here often anymore. I made a resolution to get into social networking for 2011, and that's what it seems like has happened. I joined Facebook, set up a Twitter account, set up LinkedIn account, have the necessary Skype account for video calls with family, due to being oversees, and got involved in FourSquare.

How did my 2011 social networking go? I got a BlackBerry Bold 9700 in Fall of 2010 and used a lot of the apps during 2011, mostly reading updates. I post to Facebook the most and check in on FourSquare often, mostly when I'm travelling. I don't tweet much, and only Skype occassionally.

It's a time thing. Most of my free time is spent with Dena and Andrew, and a toddler keeps one busy. When I do have some free time, I surf Google news, and few websites on my personal mobile phone, which as of early November, is a Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone. Mobile phones are now about ecosystems, and Microsoft is just starting to deliver on their 3 screens and a cloud vision of the future, so I finally invested some money in some stocks during 2011.

Stock ownership is a bit like gambling, as one never knows what can happen, but stock is ownership in a company, so research should be done to buy a part of a company just like buying a car, house, or new electronic equipment. I currently own stock of Halliburton, McDonalds, Microsoft and Nokia. I'm long on Nokia as I feel they will come around, and bought Microsoft due to their vision for the future. Having a uniform look and feel across all the platforms has been needed for a long time.

With a baby on the way, due mid-February, I expect 2012 to be much the similar to 2010 and 2011, with me still seeking to achieve a work/life balance. It's been tilted a bit tto much to the prior and causing a little too much stress in the later.

I bought a bicycle during 2011, so I've been bicycling to work a few days a week. (If I'd work to learn the language, I would complete my Dutch immersion.) I'm still struggling to stay in touch with my friends more often, and family also. Mass emails are a nice way to send an update, but just aren't personal enough. It's standing in a crowd listening to a lecture, which isn't the same as sharing a coffee or beer with an individual at a table.

What's 2012 going to bring? I need a personal hobby. Currently this may come from 3 areas: a updated/new Radio Controlled car, electric scooter, or 36 inch wheeled bicycle. Andrew is completely into cars, and this would be fun to get my Traxxas Sledgehammer back functional, or something new. Electric vehicles are going to come into the mainstream, and an electric scooter would be a fun and cheap way to get into an electric vehicle. 29ers, or 29 inch tired mountain bikes are all the rage for 2012, and there have been a few custom 36ers built. I'm so tall that a 36er would be a nice fit to my 2 meter frame.

Finally, I'm resolving to take advantage of as many opportunites as possible, such as going to MotoGP or F1 race or something similar. It's been too easy to just sit comfortably at home, while missing some exciting opportunity the was near by and an easy drive being on Continental Europe.

Happy 2012!!!