10,000

So if you hadn't picked up on it, today is a special day for me¹.


It certainly a humbling thought to think I've experienced so many days.
And it's overwhelming to consider the range of memories I both recall, and are perhaps forever lost. I thought that to celebrate the occasion I would list ten days, in chronological order, out of my life:

1. Way back in the beginning I lived in a small village called Uphill, which I recently had the pleasure of revisiting it with Jenna². I went to Uphill Primary School and it just so happened that one day I was stood next to this wall:
   
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   Unbeknownst to me some of the less savour pupils had taken it upon themselves to attempt to remove a brick from this wall. Unfortunately, for reasons I shall never know, I was falsely implicated in this affair along with the truly guilty. Despite my protest I was instructed to spend the whole of several lunch breaks standing in a corridor.
   This is when I learned that the world is an unfair place.
   
   
2. Several years later I would find my self attending, for one year only (before my dad's company brought about a family relocation to the Midlands), Broadoak secondary school. I'm rather amused to see it now describes itself as a "Mathematics & Computing College", it appears that despite being separated both the school and myself have specialised in the same faculties.
   One day I raised my hand in a class, I can't remember for what reason, but after waiting a considerable time I became convinced that the teacher was ignoring me. She clearly visited everyone else with their hand up, but didn't even acknowledge me.
   Early in the day I had been reading the Beano and remembered one of the characters had quipped: "She's a blind buffoon". This seemed an onomatopoeically-satisfying and appropriate phrase as the teacher push around tables and chairs, seemingly oblivious to my plight. So I turned to the kid next to me and remarked that the teacher was a blind buffoon.
   This kid, who I subsequently learned was a trouble-maker of the highest order immediately took great pleasure in informing the teacher of my foul and contemptuous language. I was asked: "Is it true, did you say that?", "yes" I replied dutifully, "because I've had my hand up for ages".
   During my time in detention I asked the head-mistress why I was in trouble, and whether I would have been in detention if I had said that I did not say that which had been claimed.
   The head mistress conceded that given this kid's reputation, taking his word against mine, I would not.
   This is when I learned that sometimes lying is okay.
   
   
3. 3265 days ago I started a writing this Blog, and so I have (in varying degrees of granularity and verbosity) just shy of one third of my life documented on here. Whilst I know no more about my experience on Sunday, 11th August 2002 than you can gain from reading my first post, it is a day of which I shall be very thankful. Indeed I am equally thankful for every other day I have taken the time to write on, and equally scornful of those days when I intended to write and did not. It a running theme on this Blog, by disappearance and re-emergence, the latter oft signalled with a "I'm back" summary post. It's tragic to think how many things are lost in these holes, of course, I remember things about which I have not posted, but I am equally sure I have forgotten wonderful moments also.
   My Dad has often cautioned me, often when I am on one of my purging sessions, convinced that all junk and clutter is best eliminated from ones like, that as one grows old it is important to be able to look back on your life. Whilst my lifestyle doesn't facilitate the accumulation of trinkets and nostalgia-laden items, this Blog is a worthy replacement.
   I suppose you could say then, retrospectively, that this is the day I learned the value of memories.
   
   
4. Here's a short and sweet one: On the night of Friday, December 31st 1999, on the eve of a new millennium (yes, I know, not really, for once I'm talking about symbolism and not mathematical rigour, give me a break!) I was in Kenilworth preparing to celebrate with my friends. We stayed up all night and would watch the sun rise over Kenilworth castle, drinks and each others company fending off the cold and fatigue. I suspected then that we would all remain friends for a long time to come, and we did.
   This is when I knew how lucky I was to be able to share experiences with friends who would last a life time.
   
   
5. Many years ago, prior to my leaving for university, my parents surprised me and my brother to a spectacular holiday, one component of which would be several nights in Tokyo. I can't even begin to remember when this was, although I shall endeavour to find out. It was the first destination of our holiday and after a considerable time on a plane we arrived at our hotel room. My parents and brother were understandably tired, but for some reason I was desperate to get out as soon as possible to explore this new and exciting place as the evening drew closer; so I headed out.
   During the plane over I was pleased to discover a "Japanese for beginners" audio-book on the entertainment system. For some reason, despite it not being in my 'nature' up until this trip, I decided to give it a go!
   
   

   

   Not technically the same day as my one-man-adventure, but during my time in Tokyo I would also find myself witnessing this famous scramble crossing (new term to me).
   We were taking a break in the Starbucks you can see in the building on the left and I remember sitting looking out of the window; wondering what stories and adventures all those people were had, and where they were going.

   
   Since this time I have found more and more I throw caution to the wind, get out there, explore and seek new experiences. I have realised that quite often when you're nervous or uncertain about doing something because you are fearful or intimidated by it, then that is exactly the something you should be doing.
   This was the first time I learned how rewarding doing that something could be.
   
   
6. Okay, this one is a little egotistical, but it nicely encompasses my experience of university: During the final year of my Computer Science I decided to take a module called "Functional Programming", and on this module I would discover Haskell, and we know how much I love Haskell.
   The end of the semester came and it was apparent that I was one of the people who 'got' the language, I'm not going to try and enumerate the reasons, let's just say it appealed to me very much.
   There was an exam, and although I don't remember the contents I do remember the overwhelming sense of joy while taking it. It just felt great to be doing something I really enjoyed, and for it to be so academically relevant. By this point at university I had become aware that I was very lucky³ to be one of the few who had found a course which they really enjoyed.
   The exam was by its nature essentially writing code down on paper, and the terse, declarative nature of Haskell meant that this was far from a chore, labouring over syntax, and was an exciting problem solving adventure.
   We were permitted to take the exam question paper out at the end and I remember a gaggle of us made our way to the pub. I remember enjoying delicious beer, the company of fun, smart people, and discussion of my recently found passion. What more could I have wished for?
   Several weeks later the results were published and I had achieved a record grade, somewhere over ninety-five percent.
   This is when I realised how lucky I am to have found something I am passionate about, good at, and can apply to solve problems in the real world.
   
   
7. Here's another short and sweet one:
   I was honoured to be invited to attend my friend James' stag do (I'm pleased to say he is still happily married and a father) which was to take place in Hamburg. It was a the perfect destination for such an event and I'd highly recommend it to anyone. We embarked on all those things one does on a stag do and after a night of debauchery we found ourselves enjoying the sunrise at the Fischmarkt:
   
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   By no coincidence many other young, free and well intoxicated individuals had also migrated there and after some time I found myself in conversation with a girl.
   In extremely bad form I found myself abandoning my friends for the next ten hours and skipping sleep entirely. It was very fun to just let go and discover all about someone, [redacted], and then part.
   So I realised: It turns out that magical things happen when you least expect them.
   
   
8. For those of you that don't know, I worked at last.fm for a year, it really was a dream-come-true job for a graduate straight out of university. Despite the unfortunate end⁴, which I shalln't  dwell on, my time there was a wonderful experience, both technically and socially.
   In order to get a real feel for how much this job meant to me, I will have to go through the painful ordeal of recalling my time at Viglen. I was placed at Viglen during the placement year of my sandwich degree in Computer Science. From the beginning I must confess I wasn't overly thrilled at the prospect of working there in the capacity I had been interviewed for, but unfortunately the nature of the placement process made it almost inevitable I would end up there (as it was the first job which came back and accepted me). I did however learn one thing from my year of mediocrity, tedium, and intellectual under-stimulation:
   Never again would I be stuck in a job I didn't enjoy.
   After returning to university to complete my undergraduate degree, and then embracing another year on my masters it was set in stone: I needed a challenging and technical job writing code.
   I'd been a last.fm user for several years, and noticed that not only were they offering jobs, but that there was one perfectly suited to me. After a highly successful phone interview I found myself headed down to their office for a second interview which I always remember as the most nerve-wrecking experience of my life. Not because of anyone's actions, but because my determination to get the job was so great, and the fear of failing was so vast.
   I learned that you should never make compromises and always go for what you desire.
   
   
9. Now we're going to jump straight to the near present.
   I never actually confirmed on here that: Yes! Jenna was only meters away from me, and after a rather torturous wait she emerged through the double doors in arrivals (I wish I'd taken a photo now!) and into my arms.
   

   It's quite something (we've posited it as the best-worst start to a relationship ever) to meet someone and fall for them, but then be separated by an ocean for two months. Conveniently it was during this period that I was free-running with sleep, so we were fortunate to share plenty of awake time together.

   A long way. (5232 Km long).

   
   

   Jenna digitally attends a party. This really is the future.

   But being awake at the same time isn't really that useful when you are prohibitively far away from each other. At least that was the case before the advent of Skype-esque technologies! If I may nerd-rage for a moment: I find it hilariously bizarre we have arrived at a state where I can high quality video calls across the ocean for free, and yet still have to pay to use a regular phone line. I mean, that just doesn't make sense does it? Well I guess it makes sense to some people.

   Anyway, having Skype available allowed us to form a relationship in the rather novel way, and it's certainly encouraging if your desire surpasses the inconvenience.
   That said, thinking back to all the dropped connections, battery failures and burnt legs, I have to say it's a wonderful thing to simply be in the presence of something else. It's fair to say that from the moment she walked through those doors it has been a weight off our minds. How couples maintain long distance relationships I will never know!
   I wouldn't change anything: Some things are worth waiting for.
   
   
10. My final day is a little cheesy, and perhaps a cheap-shot, but bare with me, you guess it, it is: Today⁵. Thinking back over, I don't think this has been a bad 10,000 days, I don't think it's been bad at all!
    A quick calculation on my new favourite (although perhaps less so as I age) site tells me that my 20,000th day will be Sunday, December 5th, 2038 (I'll be fifty-four). Now I don't think that date actually sounds too far away. But when I consider what I've done in my first 10,000; and note that for a large fraction of it I was just a child, well I'm actually feeling pretty cheery right now! I can't wait to see whether I'm equally cheery then.
    So for my last (I seem to have summed up each of the ten days with a) thought: This whole life is a double-edged sword isn't it: You best not waste it, because you only get one; but then you best not get complacent, because you only get one. I think the only sensible approach is to look at yourself, find the things which make you happy and sad, and work with that.
    You change the future!⁶

Incidentally if you are interested in your 'alternative birthdays', I highly recommend this site. I'm rather looking forward to my one billionth minute on Tuesday, November 10th 2015, I'll let you know how that goes!




¹ I tried to create a facebook event to celebrate, but I failed entirely as I will post on if I can recreate the fail (basically it created it on the wrong date).

² There is a pub on the road I grew up on, which I walked past so many times when I was younger, we moved away from the area long before the concept of going to a pub had become available to me. A girl called Felicity lived there because her parents owned it, she was the first girl I ever (to my memory) fancied; she didn't fancy me in return and suggested I leave her alone.
How amusing it was then to return at the age of twenty-seven, with my girlfriend, all the way from America, and enjoy a drink in there. To think that back then I didn't even consider a life with out Felicity! Oh well :)

³ And I was very lucky, because by all accounts I shouldn't have been taking a Computer Science degree; my grades in school weren't good enough! It was only by virtue of there being space on the course and a willingness of the course leader Dave Smallwood (to whom I am eternally grateful) that I was allowed to join on merit and not grades.

⁴ I apologise deeply for posting a TC article on here, and more-over whilst talking about last.fm. It's not the best website in the world, but in this instance that article has strong memories for me because I was on the inside as it was posted and scandal in-sued.

⁵ Ah, well, I have a confession here: Normally I wouldn't do this, but it's actually taken me a couple of days to write this post and I'm going to back date it when I post.
I figure it's better to take my time, right?


⁶ Discuss.