Tag: 2012 Twelve

2012 Twelve Final Review

The twelfth and final review of my 2012 Twelve challenges.

At the end of the year when I look back on my 2012 Twelve list I can’t exactly say it was a roaring success.

However, when I look back on the year as a whole I feel I did achieve rather a lot: I ticked a few of the major challenges off my 60 before 60 list (Womad, St Kilda, Northern Lights) as well as either achieving or making headway towards a few of the others.

I’ve also finally got my house pretty much finished which gives me headspace as well as time and money to think about other things. I’ve started planning my business and getting my book collection better organised. I’ve also had a few great holidays and explored a lot more of this fascinating and beautiful country of ours. Add to this some achievements at work that enable me to feel I’ve done what I’ve set out to do there and I really feel that the past 12 months have really been a strong building block towards the future I want to have.

  1. Floating in a floatation tank (I’m hoping to do this in London during the February half term) completed
  2. Reading at least 10 books from the BBC Big Read list (if I read 10 a year, I’ll have the whole 200 knocked off in the next 12-13 years!) – only one I got round to reading was Swallows and Amazons
  3. Taking at least one photo every day of the year (this will improve my photography skills, be a photo-diary of ‘year in my life’, and help me to learn to use my new camera) – more days than not I completely forgot about this
  4. Coming up with a fitness plan and sticking to it (the start of my training for Kilimanjaro, though I may not actually climb it for several years yet) – been really bad at this and have probably ended the year with the lowest fitness level I’ve ever had!
  5. Leading at least 4 of my own walks (good practice for my walking group leader’s qualification) – very little walking done compared to how much I used to do. At least I’ve got involved with the Duke of Edinburgh Award which is a step in the right direction
  6. Buying another house (need to get my finances in order first) – this seems to have morphed into a ‘starting my own business’ task instead.
  7. Learning to use at least 3 new pieces of technology or computer programmes (not counting my new camera) – I could claim to have completed this if I use the term ‘learning to use’ very loosely. I had a lesson on using a new whiteboard software package but haven’t yet made much use of it. I’ve kind of got to grips with using my Kindle and netbook/tablet, though I still don’t think I use them to anywhere near their full potential
  8. Doing a writing course (depends on the length of the course whether I’d complete it in the year or not) – as with going to the gym, I keep making plans to knuckle down and do this, and this something gets in the way. 
  9. Getting at least one piece of writing published (paid or unpaid, as long as someone else makes the decision to publish it and it’s not self-published) – completed
  10. Making a start on sorting out my photos (putting the prints that are currently still stuffed in packets into albums and getting all my photos scanned into the computer – no way will this be completed in a year, but I’ll feel good even if I get started on it) – I’ve started and been concentraring on a book database instead
  11. Buying a car/van that I can sleep in (and doing any necessary conversions/adaptations) – I’ve got the van but conversions have been on hold whilst I did work on my house, but I’m now ready to start thinking about my van again
  12. Getting into cycling (even if it’s just short cycle rides along decent paths) – Ive been trying to get into the mindset – buying panniers, reading cycling blogs and so on, but haven’t actually done any cycling

October 2012 Twelve Review

The tenth review of my 2012 Twelve challenges.

Some of my 2012 Twelve challenges seem to be morphing into different tasks. I’m not too bothered about this as at least I feel like I’m achieving something. However, there are still far too many challenges that I’ve really not made any headway with at all and I’m fast running out of year. This bothers me a bit more.

  1. Floating in a floatation tank (I’m hoping to do this in London during the February half term)
  2. Reading at least 10 books from the BBC Big Read list (if I read 10 a year, I’ll have the whole 200 knocked off in the next 12-13 years!) – Swallows and Amazons read; nine more to go for this year.
  3. Taking at least one photo every day of the year (this will improve my photography skills, be a photo-diary of ‘year in my life’, and help me to learn to use my new camera) – very few taken. 
  4. Coming up with a fitness plan and sticking to it (the start of my training for Kilimanjaro, though I may not actually climb it for several years yet) – keep making plans to go to the gym and then something comes up and I don’t get there.
  5. Leading at least 4 of my own walks (good practice for my walking group leader’s qualification) – not done any walking, let alone leading walks.
  6. Buying another house (need to get my finances in order first) – this seems to have morphed into a ‘starting my own business’ task instead.
  7. Learning to use at least 3 new pieces of technology or computer programmes (not counting my new camera) – had a quick course on using a special interactive whiteboard package. Seems really good, now I just need to use it a few times to get the hang of it.
  8. Doing a writing course (depends on the length of the course whether I’d complete it in the year or not) – as with going to the gym, I keep making plans to knuckle down and do this, and this something gets in the way. 
  9. Getting at least one piece of writing published (paid or unpaid, as long as someone else makes the decision to publish it and it’s not self-published)
  10. Making a start on sorting out my photos (putting the prints that are currently still stuffed in packets into albums and getting all my photos scanned into the computer – no way will this be completed in a year, but I’ll feel good even if I get started on it) – I’ve now decided to concentrate on my book database instead for this year.
  11. Buying a car/van that I can sleep in (and doing any necessary conversions/adaptations) – van conversions are on hold whilst I do work on my house, but I’m still hoping to have at least made a start by Christmas.
  12. Getting into cycling (even if it’s just short cycle rides along decent paths) – I’ve been reading blogs about cycling trips to motivate myself. I know this isn’t the same as getting out cycling myself, but at least it keeps it at the forefront of my mind.

September 2012 Twelve Review

The ninth review of my 2012 Twelve challenges.

Only three months of the year to go and I’m nowhere near finishing my list. I’m not going to stress too much over it as I’m happy with what I have achieved. I’ll still keep trying though.

  1. Floating in a floatation tank (I’m hoping to do this in London during the February half term)
  2. Reading at least 10 books from the BBC Big Read list (if I read 10 a year, I’ll have the whole 200 knocked off in the next 12-13 years!) – started reading Swallows and Amazons.
  3. Taking at least one photo every day of the year (this will improve my photography skills, be a photo-diary of ‘year in my life’, and help me to learn to use my new camera) – Never think about it unless I’m out and about somewhere and have a reason to take photos.
  4. Coming up with a fitness plan and sticking to it (the start of my training for Kilimanjaro, though I may not actually climb it for several years yet) – One walk and that’s been it.
  5. Leading at least 4 of my own walks (good practice for my walking group leader’s qualification) – One walk walked, none led.
  6. Buying another house (need to get my finances in order first) – started planning a business instead.  
  7. Learning to use at least 3 new pieces of technology or computer programmes (not counting my new camera) – I’ve been using my tablet and Kindle a lot and I’m really starting to get the hang of them now and I’m discovering what they can do.
  8. Doing a writing course (depends on the length of the course whether I’d complete it in the year or not) – No more achieved on this.
  9. Getting at least one piece of writing published (paid or unpaid, as long as someone else makes the decision to publish it and it’s not self-published)
  10. Making a start on sorting out my photos (putting the prints that are currently still stuffed in packets into albums and getting all my photos scanned into the computer – no way will this be completed in a year, but I’ll feel good even if I get started on it) – I seem to have replaced this with my book database.
  11. Buying a car/van that I can sleep in (and doing any necessary conversions/adaptations) – On hold whilst I sort out a woodburner for my living room.
  12. Getting into cycling (even if it’s just short cycle rides along decent paths) – Nothing done on this one.

Climbing, archery and bad internet

There’s a lot going on at the moment.

So, what have I been up to? Quite a bit actually. Let’s start with archery.

The man at the archery club where I was going to take my Duke of Edinburgh students has let me down so I’m feeling rather miffed about it. I’d told him in my initial email before the summer holidays that it would be Friday afternoons from about 12.30. After several emails in which he’s sounded as though it might happen at the last moment he told me they can only do courses on Tuesday evenings. Arrgh.

 

After some frantic hunting for another activity I’ve come up with climbing. It all sounds very positive. The club can fit us in at the times we require. The students can gain their level 1 and 2 qualifications in indoor climbing and it costs slightly less than the archery. Only problem now is whether or not school will give me the funding for it. I don’t see what the problem is as I only need the money I would have had anyway for archery, but for some reason no-one will confirm with me whether I can go ahead and book or not.

 

Although I won’t be doing the climbing myself I’m sure to pick up plenty of tips for when I do get round to trying this for myself. I’ve put it on my list of things to do as some of my friends are climbers and seem quite obsessed with it. I thought I should give it a go to see what’s so exciting about it. Personally I’ve always preferred to walk and get from one place to another rather than hanging about (literally!) in the same place all day. But I know I shouldn’t dismiss something without trying, hence it’s on my list.

 

I’ve also been looking into doing my level 3 Basic Expedition Leader Award as this will be useful both for when I’m working on the Duke of Edinburgh expeditions and for when I get around to doing my Walking Group Leaders’ qualification. The course runs over four weekends and costs £325. As it’s work related school would pay for this so of course I’m very keen to do it. The course runs twice a year, once in the autumn and once in the early spring. The autumn course would be best for me, but it’s full. I’ve looked at the dates for the spring course and it looks as though I’ll be unable to do two of the four weekends. I’ll have to try to move things around a bit, but as some of them are holiday things and as working in a school I have to take my holidays at fixed times, it won’t be that easy.

 

Duke of Edinburgh issues aside, I’ve also been starting to think seriously about my own business. Ultimately I want to own my own hostel and I have very specific ideas about what I want. But now isn’t a good time economically to start that type of business and also it would need a lot of financial input upfront. As I don’t have any track record in running my own business I’d find it difficult to get backing for something like that. So I need to start with something that is cheaper, easier to make a turnover in the beginning and ideally is something I already know quite a bit about.  I’m thinking sandwich shops / coffee shops. Having worked in this kind of business for years when I was travelling and a student it’s the thing I know best. I’m starting to look around at businesses for sale to get an idea of prices and locations. I’m not in a position to do anything about it at the moment, but at least I’ve made a start.

 

I’ve downloaded a few books on coffee shops, sandwich shops and small business start-ups on to my Kindle. My knowledge is out-of-date and legislation and so on does change so I thought I’d better read up. By downloading the books I’ll also use my Kindle more effectively as I can use the tools for highlighting and annotating and so on, rather than just reading. This means I’ll be getting to know how to use one of my new pieces of technology and working towards achieving one of my 2012 twelve targets at the same time as reading up on businesses.

 

Another of my 2012 targets that I’m working on at the moment is reading 10 of the books from the BBC Big Read list. At the beginning of the year I set myself the target of reading ten books from the list thinking this would be easily achievable, but we’re now three quarters of the way into the year and I haven’t read any. I realise I need to get a move on if I still want to achieve this goal and so I’ve started reading Arthur Ransome’s Swallow and Amazons.

 

I’ve also been working on my book database. I’ve catalogued my books up to the letter ‘C’ and already have almost 1100 entries on my database. I knew this would be a mammoth task when I started it, so I’m not setting myself a deadline. It does feel good to be getting on with it though.

 

The other thing that’s taking my time at the moment is trying to get all my write-ups from over the summer transferred onto my blog. I found using my tablet whilst I was in the Hebrides a good way to get every typed up straight away, rather than hand writing and then typing up later, but I struggled to find internet access. In Shetland there’s lots of free wi-fi and I was expecting it to be the same in the Outer Hebrides. So I have all these posts that I wrote at the time but was unable to publish. I have lots of photos to upload too and really it should be quite straightforward and quick, but my internet keeps playing up and stopping and because I have a rubbish internet company I’m struggling to get it fixed. This means that often when I do have the time and motivation to sit down and starting getting things updated the internet lets me down. As I do manage to upload my posts I’m backdating them to when I originally wrote them otherwise it’ll just be too confusing for me when I look back over them.

 

2012 Twelve August Review

The eight monthly review of my 2012 Twelve challenges.

I’ve done a few relevant things this month, but still nowhere near enough to be confident of ticking everything off by the end of the year.

  1. Floating in a floatation tank (I’m hoping to do this in London during the February half term)
  2. Reading at least 10 books from the BBC Big Read list (if I read 10 a year, I’ll have the whole 200 knocked off in the next 12-13 years!) – still haven’t done anything about this one.
  3. Taking at least one photo every day of the year (this will improve my photography skills, be a photo-diary of ‘year in my life’, and help me to learn to use my new camera) – As I’ve been on holiday all month I’ve taken loads of photos and had not problem taking photos each day until right at the end of the month when I came home. Then I forgot all about it.
  4. Coming up with a fitness plan and sticking to it (the start of my training for Kilimanjaro, though I may not actually climb it for several years yet) – I’ve done lots of walking over the past month in the Outer Hebrides. Nothing too strenuous, but at least I’ve been getting exercise.
  5. Leading at least 4 of my own walks (good practice for my walking group leader’s qualification) – I’ve still not led any walks, but at least I’ve done lots of walking.
  6. Buying another house (need to get my finances in order first) – nothing done towards this yet.
  7. Learning to use at least 3 new pieces of technology or computer programmes (not counting my new camera) – I’ve been getting to grips with using my new tablet. It’s very different to my laptop and Office so it’s taken a lot of trial and error, but I’m getting there.
  8. Doing a writing course (depends on the length of the course whether I’d complete it in the year or not) – I took lesson 1 of my writing course to the Outer Hebrides with me but did nothing on it.  
  9. Getting at least one piece of writing published (paid or unpaid, as long as someone else makes the decision to publish it and it’s not self-published)
  10. Making a start on sorting out my photos (putting the prints that are currently still stuffed in packets into albums and getting all my photos scanned into the computer – no way will this be completed in a year, but I’ll feel good even if I get started on it) – Haven’t been home to do anything about this.
  11. Buying a car/van that I can sleep in (and doing any necessary conversions/adaptations) – I’ve lived in my van for the past month, sleeping in it every night. I love it. I feel I’ve got the feel of it now and I’m ready to get it converted. I know exactly what I want, I just have to find someone to do it for me.
  12. Getting into cycling (even if it’s just short cycle rides along decent paths) – I didn’t get to do anything about this, though when my brother arrived from Germany at the end of the month, he brought me the panniers I’d bought when I was over there at Easter. So I’m getting all the equipment together, now I just have to get out and cycle!

Using my tablet

Enjoying coffee with a view at the Isle of Barra Hotel whilst learning to use my new tablet.

I’m typing this on my new tablet. After much research I decided to go for an Asus tablet that comes with a detachable keyboard so it can be used as a netbook. It had good reviews, particularly about the aspects that were most important to me. The battery lasts for up to 15 hours; it’s light enough to carry around when used without the keyboard (the keyboard makes it heavier, but I wanted a keyboard to use for when weight isn’t an issue); it has wireless internet access; and it has Polaris installed which is similar to Microsoft Office (and apparently compatible, though I haven’t tried it yet). It also has a camera, bluetooth, and can be used with a USB as well as SD cards.

So, how am I finding it? I’m sitting in the stunning lounge of the Isle of Barra Hotel near to where I’ve been camping. I came in looking for a coffee and a place to sit and type. They weren’t open for coffee but said I could sit in the lounge and then offered to make me a coffee anyway. So I’m sat with a silver pot of strong, delicious coffee, on an orange sofa, in front of a large window overlooking the beach and sand dunes. The lounge itself is airy with big red and orange sofas, a budgie in a cage, a piano, interesting wall hangings and pictures, a shelf of games and three shelves of books, and some very comfy looking leather loungers. I’m getting very distracted looking out of the window and looking around the room.

But, I’m here to test my tablet. I took a few photos of the lounge using the camera but have no idea where they’ve gone or how I save them. I found the Polaris version of Word and I’m trying to get used to the tiny keyboard. I’m making a lot of mistakes. I’ve not found out how to copy and paste or how to drag text around yet. I’ve also not found the delete button and so can only use backspace to clear any mistakes. But I’m learning and when I feel competent this will count towards my 2012 twelve goals.

Much later …

Here are the photos I took. The one where I used the zoom is a bit fuzzy, but otherwise I’m quite pleased with them.

Isle of Barra Hotel Isle of Barra Hotel Isle of Barra Hotel Isle of Barra Hotel Isle of Barra Hotel

July 2012 Twelve Review

The 7th monthly review of my 2012 Twelve challenges.

I’ve done a little better this month than I did last month, but still got lots to do if I want to get them all ticked off by the end of the year.

  1. Floating in a floatation tank (I’m hoping to do this in London during the February half term)
  2. Reading at least 10 books from the BBC Big Read list (if I read 10 a year, I’ll have the whole 200 knocked off in the next 12-13 years!) – still haven’t done anything about this one.
  3. Taking at least one photo every day of the year (this will improve my photography skills, be a photo-diary of ‘year in my life’, and help me to learn to use my new camera) – I’ve taken lots of photos whilst I’ve been on holiday, but not the rest of the month. I’m seeing a pattern here – I’m good at taking photos when I have leisure time but not in my day-to-day life.
  4. Coming up with a fitness plan and sticking to it (the start of my training for Kilimanjaro, though I may not actually climb it for several years yet) – I did a couple of walks on the Cotswold Way 
  5. Leading at least 4 of my own walks (good practice for my walking group leader’s qualification) – not led any walks, but I’ve done a bit more walking
  6. Buying another house (need to get my finances in order first) – nothing done towards this yet. 
  7. Learning to use at least 3 new pieces of technology or computer programmes (not counting my new camera) – I’ve been taking lots of short video clips. I want to put them together using something like ‘moviemaker’.
  8. Doing a writing course (depends on the length of the course whether I’d complete it in the year or not) – I keep carrying lesson 1 of my course around with me and then not getting the time or motivation to do any work on it. 
  9. Getting at least one piece of writing published (paid or unpaid, as long as someone else makes the decision to publish it and it’s not self-published)
  10. Making a start on sorting out my photos (putting the prints that are currently still stuffed in packets into albums and getting all my photos scanned into the computer – no way will this be completed in a year, but I’ll feel good even if I get started on it) – I seem to have got distracted with developing a book database so I can see the photos having to wait until next year.
  11. Buying a car/van that I can sleep in (and doing any necessary conversions/adaptations) – I’ve now had a second week camping in my van and have even figured out how to use it as a shower! I’m fairly certain now about what I want doing to it, but it will have to wait until I get back from the Hebrides.
  12. Getting into cycling (even if it’s just short cycles along decent paths) – I was thinking of taking my bike to the Hebrides, now I’m not so sure. I still want to but my dad has stored it in rather an inaccessible place and I may not be able to get it in time.

June 2012 Twelve Review

The 6th monthly review of my 2012 Twelve challenges.

I’ve done a little better this month than I did last month, but still got lots to do if I want to get them all ticked off by the end of the year.

  1. Floating in a floatation tank (I’m hoping to do this in London during the February half term)  
  2. Reading at least 10 books from the BBC Big Read list (if I read 10 a year, I’ll have the whole 200 knocked off in the next 12-13 years!) – still haven’t done anything about this one
  3. Taking at least one photo every day of the year (this will improve my photography skills, be a photo-diary of ‘year in my life’, and help me to learn to use my new camera) – I took lots of photos during the first week of June whilst I was walking the coast path, but not many since 
  4. Coming up with a fitness plan and sticking to it (the start of my training for Kilimanjaro, though I may not actually climb it for several years yet) –having not walked much this year so far, I did lots when I was in Devon 
  5. Leading at least 4 of my own walks (good practice for my walking group leader’s qualification) – not led any walks, but at least I’ve done some walking again and signed up to work on the DofE 
  6. Buying another house (need to get my finances in order first)
  7. Learning to use at least 3 new pieces of technology or computer programmes (not counting my new camera) – I’ve bought a Kindle and am currently getting to grips with everything it can do. I’ve also recently aquired a tablet computer. 
  8. Doing a writing course (depends on the length of the course whether I’d complete it in the year or not)
  9. Getting at least one piece of writing published (paid or unpaid, as long as someone else makes the decision to publish it and it’s not self-published)
  10. Making a start on sorting out my photos (putting the prints that are currently still stuffed in packets into albums and getting all my photos scanned into the computer – no way will this be completed in a year, but I’ll feel good even if I get started on it)
  11. Buying a car/van that I can sleep in (and doing any necessary conversions/adaptations) – now I’ve spent a week camping with my van (I was sleeping in my tent, but had everything in the van), I have some good ideas of how I want to convert it 
  12. Getting into cycling (even if it’s just short cycles along decent paths) – I’m seriously thinking of taking my bike to the Outer Hebrides 

2012 Twelve May Review

The fifth review of my 2012 Twelve challenges. I’ve been rubbish!

A bit of a rubbish month as far as this list goes. Looking over it, I can’t think of anything I’ve actually done towards it. Ah well, must try harder next month.

  1. Floating in a floatation tank (I’m hoping to do this in London during the February half term)
  2. Reading at least 10 books from the BBC Big Read list (if I read 10 a year, I’ll have the whole 200 knocked off in the next 12-13 years!)
  3. Taking at least one photo every day of the year (this will improve my photography skills, be a photo-diary of ‘year in my life’, and help me to learn to use my new camera)
  4. Coming up with a fitness plan and sticking to it (the start of my training for Kilimanjaro, though I may not actually climb it for several years yet)
  5. Leading at least 4 of my own walks (good practice for my walking group leader’s qualification)
  6. Buying another house (need to get my finances in order first)
  7. Learning to use at least 3 new pieces of technology or computer programmes (not counting my new camera)
  8. Doing a writing course (depends on the length of the course whether I’d complete it in the year or not)
  9. Getting at least one piece of writing published (paid or unpaid, as long as someone else makes the decision to publish it and it’s not self-published)
  10. Making a start on sorting out my photos (putting the prints that are currently still stuffed in packets into albums and getting all my photos scanned into the computer – no way will this be completed in a year, but I’ll feel good even if I get started on it)
  11. Buying a car/van that I can sleep in (and doing any necessary conversions/adaptations)
  12. Getting into cycling (even if it’s just short cycles along decent paths)

2012 Twelve April Review

The fourth monthly review of my 2012 Twelve challenges.

1)  Floating in a floatation tank (I’m hoping to do this in London during the February half term)

2)  Reading at least 10 books from the BBC Big Read list (if I read 10 a year, I’ll have the whole 200 knocked off in the next 12-13 years!) – I still haven’t read any more of the list, though I have bought myself a copy of Heidi which is on the list somewhere.

3)  Taking at least one photo every day of the year (this will improve my photography skills, be a photo-diary of ‘year in my life’, and help me to learn to use my new camera) – as I’ve been on holiday I’ve taken a lot more photographs – however this all stopped when I got back home and got straight back into being busy, busy, busy …  

4)  Coming up with a fitness plan and sticking to it (the start of my training for Kilimanjaro, though I may not actually climb it for several years yet) – still nothing done on this one.

5)  Leading at least 4 of my own walks (good practice for my walking group leader’s qualification) – nor this one.

6)  Buying another house (need to get my finances in order first) – actually made a start on going through my accounts

7)  Learning to use at least 3 new pieces of technology or computer programmes (not counting my new camera) – I’ve been learning to use the video camera I bought before Christmas.

8)  Doing a writing course (depends on the length of the course whether I’d complete it in the year or not) – I took the first lesson with me on holiday and made a start on it. Now I just need to finish it. 

9)  Getting at least one piece of writing published (paid or unpaid, as long as someone else makes the decision to publish it and it’s not self-published)

10) Making a start on sorting out my photos (putting the prints that are currently still stuffed in packets into albums and getting all my photos scanned into the computer – no way will this be completed in a year, but I’ll feel good even if I get started on it) – nothing done

11) Buying a car/van that I can sleep in (and doing any necessary conversions/adaptations) – I’m researching conversions and have the number of someone I can get to have a look at it for me and give me some advice. 

12) Getting into cycling (even if it’s just short cycles along decent paths) – I’ve bought some panniers and a cycle computer. I might not have done any actual cycling but I’m now better equipped for the cycling I don’t do!