Year Blog

Twelve months of daily blogging down, and it’s now all over

Steve — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 11:20:59 +0000

So, this is it then, my last blog post of 2010 and therefore the final entry of the Year Blog challenge.

I had the idea of doing this around the middle of December last year, set up a blog and began writing on the 1st January 2010.

There were in fact two others – Harry and Nick – that decided to join me on this journey, although both fell short of finishing and decided to leave behind the burden of having to write something each and every day.

Without the use of WordPress and various phone applications (iPhone and BlackBerry), this challenge would have been near impossible, especially on the occasions when I was away for a few days on holiday.

People asked why I was doing this and what the point is, the answer is simple – I just wanted to know whether I could do it or not.

The positives of writing so much unique content are that the site ranks quite highly and pointed a few people towards my other blog, which has a more specific audience.

Each month the hits have been increasing, so much so that December received almost triple the amount of traffic as half way through the year in June.

What’s next? Well, I keep telling everyone that I will not continue with a second year of daily blog posts.

Why? There is a danger that doing something for so long will become almost addictive and this is something that I do not wish to happen.

So, all that remains for me to say is to wish you all a Happy New Year and thanks to anyone who followed my progress throughout the year.

Stats: There were a total of 368 Posts in 24 Categories with 293 Tags and 113 Comments.

iTunes 12 days of Christmas – Fishing Kings

Steve — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 10:42:24 +0000

From the 26th December to 6th January iTunes are giving away twelve free downloads, including books, videos and games.

Yesterday they released Fishing Kings, which is the only download I have shown any slight interest in at all so far.

Although not exactly a keen fisherman myself, this game is quite good fun for a while.

If it weren’t free, I definitely wouldn’t have considered paying to download it, but the fact that it’s free makes the whole thing a lot more attractive.

Just finished watching Inception on Blu-ray

Steve — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:52:22 +0000

It’s been a while since I last watched a film, so long in fact that I’m not sure what it actually was.

This evening we decided to sit in front of the TV and watch one of the blu-rays from Christmas – Inception.

I have to say that there were some reservations about this one due to all the hype surrounding it’s release, but it didn’t disappoint.

Was it worth watching? Definitely, proving to be better than expected but still not the best movie I’ve ever seen.

Another Xbox and Wii gaming night

Steve — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:15:39 +0000

Although Christmas was good it didn’t bring any new Xbox
presents, instead we opted to play Dance Central. Annoyingly there
are six of us and this game only supports one person at a time,
even with the challenge mode.

So after playing for a short while we got bored and turned
on the Wii to play something we can play with four people at a
time. I think we should have a browse around for other multi-player
possibilities, maybe Dance Paradise. The rather sad this about this
evenings gaming session is the lack of COD playing, but we opted
for the social options.

Our first takeaway in what feels like ages

Steve — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 18:50:03 +0000

Whilst writing this we are eagerly awaiting the delivery of our first Indian takeaway for a numbers of weeks now.

Everything has just been so hectic and tiring over the past few days that I thought everybody deserved a night off from having to do any cooking (not that you’ll find ms in the kitchen much anyway!).

Just sitting here waiting is making my mouth water and the rumbling of my stomach seem much louder than if really is.

The choice of restaurant was the one we often go for, Popadoms in Farnborough, which over time has proven to be the best against other local competition – in our opinion at least!

Boxing Day sales bring in the crowds

Steve — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 18:07:05 +0000

So, it seems as though the Boxing Day sales have sucked everyone in as they do every year.

Although I did go out to take a look at what discounts were on offer, I refrained from making any purchases.

My brother splashed out a new Samsung 50″ LCD TV, so they can sit in bed watching television!

I do intend to go clothes shopping at some point though, refresh my wardrobe a little and
spend all of my Christmas money!

I wish it could be Christmas every day…

Steve — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 13:38:29 +0000

It may have been a slightly earlier start than I would have liked, but looks like my choice of presents went down pretty well.

The most pleased seemed to be my brother and sister-in-law, who are now fighting over the iPad they are supposed to be sharing.

From the presents I received, it appears that people think I smell and don’t change my underwear enough – great!

I guess that’s what you get for not having a Christmas wish list, but as ling as everyone else is happy with what they gig then I’m pleased.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas!

Steve — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 18:40:01 +0000

Today was the my last working day of 2010, which proved to be a great success as those of us who were in the office today were pushed out of the door around midday and told that we could go home.

I arrived at work prepared to be working a full day, so this was a nice gesture / surprise for us all as the office closed for the Christmas period.

Having next week off will no doubt provide a nice, well earned break from work and hopefully get me refreshed for starting back in the New Year.

There are only seven days remaining in December, which means only a weeks worth of blog posts to write until the Year Blog challenge comes to a close.

Merry Christmas

A few last minute presents, but I’m now sorted

Steve — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 22:46:00 +0000

I thought my Christmas shopping was pretty much done the other week, but I had a bit of a panic yesterday trying to find one more present.

The average spend per person this year is a fair bit higher than previous years, but definitely worth it.

Hopefully everyone gets exactly what they wanted, or at least something they will find really useful.

As usual I didn’t write a list of things I would like for Christmas, so I’ll be happy with whatever presents that cone my way!

Putting the old against to new in a one off hockey friendly

Steve — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:15:05 +0000

Tonight will be our last hockey training session of the year, which usually means that we have a bit of a laugh and do something a little different.

After inviting some of the players at used to play for the team to join us this evening, the idea was thrown around that we should have a current squad versus old squad match.

This seemed like a great idea, allowing everyone to have a catch up and also providing a bit of a challenge for both teams.

Ideally we would like to win this game, but there are some good players on the opposition team.

Some of which have retired and others who have progressed onto bigger and better venues.

I’m really looking forward to it!