2011 in hindsight
What a year.
Since my last post was a point-form update, I thought I’d follow suite this time around.
- I landed a position at an internet company based in Las Vegas, Nevada (and later Dallas, Texas).
- I jumped over that way for a short period of time to meet, greet, negotiate, etc in Las Vegas.
- I flew back to Australia, sorted out my E3 visa, and then flew back to Dallas with my little family beside me.
- The owner of said company turned out to be a convicted felon! That was unexpected. Company tanked, I can only assume because the investors found this out also.
- Dragged family back to Vegas.
- Found out about a serious illness in the family, which was devastating news when one is 10,000 miles away from said family.
- Got married in San Diego! (without a doubt, the best part of 2011 by a long, long stretch).
- Found out aforementioned illness was serious, but manageable and altogether surmountable. Much relief.
- Found out my wife and I are now expecting our 2nd child! (shares the podium with San Diego in terms of fantastic days in 2011)
- Put family on a plane back to Australia while I co-founded Dropbear IMG in the USA to encompass our future development activities.
- Flew back to Australia to a very welcoming wife and son and family overall.
So! Back on Australian soil after all that (temporarily) to see family, sort out the next opportunity in the USA and get the visa/immigration matters safely squared away. It’s been a… turbulent year to say the least.
While on Aussie shores, I’m carrying on with some existing dev work and a local client who has been supportive enough to offer a full-time gig while my feet are on the ground here.
In terms of what I’ve learned this year… oh boy, that would be a long list. I’ll be frank: what happened was terrible, and the individual(s) in question have blazed a trail of personal, professional and financial destruction through the lives of some very hard-working and talented individuals. I’ve never encountered anyone so bereft of moral fiber and common decency.
However, I’ll exchange bitterness for pragmatism, anger for optimism, and a desire for retribution for a commitment to dust myself off, move forward, and get back to what I was doing. There are some fantastic opportunities out there for someone with my experience, and I plan to make the most of it and make my mark.
To that end, I’m officially saying “goodbye” to the current blog template and starting new, when I manage to find a layout I like! And one thing that’s been indicated to me recently is that while I do spend my days elbow-deep in code, I really should write about it more (the problems and the solutions), something I intend to fully embrace.
Remember folks, sometimes there’s only one direction that matters: forward.