I’m going away for a bit…

tl;dr

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been busy with many things not software related. And I’m about to take a sabbatical. This means I’m also not likely to post again until May/June.

Why I’m taking a sabbatical

Because I can. 🙂

One of the perks of working for Redgate is that you get a 6 week paid sabbatical after 5 years. I joined Redgate in December 2010 and mine is due.

I had thought long and hard about what to do with my sabbatical. I thought about doing something really productive: Taking 6 weeks to try and kick-start my own consulting company, do a 6 week secondment into a different role or do some charitable work etc. In the end I decided the best thing I could do is take a 6 week technology detox and use the opportunity to do all those ‘things to do before you turn 30’ things that many people don’t get a chance to do. And I wanted to see some of the world while I do it.

Jealous? We are pretty much constantly hiring for someone:

http://www.red-gate.com/our-company/careers/current-opportunities

And if you do fancy applying, remember to drop my name. We get a referral bonus. 🙂

What I’ve been busy with so far

I went to India for nearly three weeks. It was part of an original sabbatical plan which mostly fell through. Since the India leg of the trip was already booked I took it as a holiday in it’s own right using regular annual leave instead.

It was awesome. I won’t bore you with the details. Here is a picture of a wild tiger cub:

2016-02-15 08.26.28 IMG_2062

Also, since I’m going to be away for 6 weeks (plus 3 weeks in India) I needed to get 9 weeks ahead on my open uni coursework. That has pretty much been taking all my spare time.

I also wrote a new song for SQL Saturday Exeter and recorded a couple of backing videos (the new song plus ‘Post-its on the Wall’). That all took up a couple of weekends. I’m sure there will be recordings of the live performance online soon.

I’ve been training for London Cardiff 24, a 24 hour relay race from London to Cardiff. I’m sure I’ll write a proper blog post about it soon. In the meantime, if you like children and dislike cancer and would like to sponsor us you can do so here: https://www.justgiving.com/chariots-on-fire

Finally, I needed to actually plan the sabbatical. There was a lot to do!

So sorry – I’ve been a bit light on blog posts so far this year.

What I am going to do

Week 1: Hiking in Scotland

Week 2: Driving a sports car around California

Week 3: Driving a sports car around California

Week 4: Camping/hiking/getting lost in a national park in California

Week 5: Exploring Lima and Cusco (Peru)

Week 6: 7 day trek across the Andes (about half way we join up with the Inca trail to Macchu Pichu)

It’s a hard life.

So long – and I’ll write again in May/June ish.

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