Olympics 2024

For those who are new to this website, every Olympics I pretend it's a joke to reflect on my own life since the last one, and not the successes and memes of the actual Olympics.

You would think that having one year less between Olympics would mean one year less of accomplishments and adventures. And you would be right. In that time I've only managed to have four employers and two major injuries. It feels like I've been living in the same house for as long as Patty Mills has been representing the Boomers.

Despite all of this, I still made it to Paris... Last year, on a holiday, where I didn't get any medals but I did get to stare whimsically down the Seine from a spot on the Pont Neuf. And just like that evening, it's now time for me to reflect on the shit that's constantly flowing by every time it rains. (Metaphorically).

Life is not a sprint, it's a marathon, but like the Olympics there's actually both and in the past three years I have not won any sprints but I'm doing okay in the marathon, I think.

My family life is a private paradise. I'm married to my best friend, we communicate well, support each other through everything, have our own independent pastimes but also a shared collection of routines and happies that make life worth living.

I've broadened my technical skills across many disciplines, notably architecture, software development, and understanding generative AI. I've contributed to a lot of projects and organisations, as well as my own side projects.

Despite big and small issues affecting my body, I've recovered from injuries and recovered from setbacks during those recoveries, and fought on a daily basis to keep myself from turning forty without actually dying.

I've managed the finances relatively well, mostly by not buying a new house or a new car or a new computer or a new couch in the past three years, and by cancelling Netflix. I did buy a new camera after 13 years of the Canon 500D and that camera did then motivate me to spend many thousands more on holidays and road trips. I did buy new headphones after 16 years of the HD-515s. I did buy a coffee like five times every week, but I never regretted it once.

Creatively I have done more between Olympics. I wrote 75% of a novel in 2022 and then dropped it. I wrote one short story. I don't really like a lot of my photos. I tried DJing again for a few minutes.

I spent more time on video games this Olympics than I can recall any other. Which is not saying much. I finished three games in three years. That's mostly because my house is super cold in winter and at times my wrist has been too sore to write stories or build side projects.

My goals for the last Olympics were: to be vaccinated, on my way to financial independence, travel overseas, live in a house that isn’t cold in winter, and go camping.

I am vaccinated against Covid, flu, whooping cough and tetanus. Did it stop me from getting Covid? Not every time! But the experience was pretty mild and left me only with a weird metallic taste when I snort my nose in the shower.

Retirement finances seem likely to depend more on interest rates than savvy investments, based on my recent history of unsavvy, yet thankfully small investments.

I did travel overseas, and it was amazing. If I'm creative, I can also claim this as living in a house that wasn't cold during Winter, because that Air BNB I booked in Colmar last June was not chill.

I did not go camping. Well, maybe in Hyrule.

The next Olympics are in the USA and maybe my goal should be to make it back there too. Or at least somewhere cool and not in Australia for a while. I'd also like to configure a private GPT agent to make my life easier. Plus make a DJ Mix to commemorate twenty years - or five Olympics - worth of seasonal mix tapes. And maybe this time I will actually go camping properly, as I bought RDR2 last summer sale. But mainly, my goal is to keep steady on the marathon, with maybe some side-quest sprints for a medal along the way. And no breaking…


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Olympic Medals Presentation

With hindsight I've realised that using each Olympics as a milestone at which I ignore the success and heartbreak of athletes and instead reflect only about my own life in a long block of prose has been misguided narcissism. Why have I been waffling on about my own achievements randomly, and not instead ranking them and awarding medals to myself?

It's been four years since Rio. I mean, technically five but covid has that effect on things. A lot has changed.

Gold


image 2241 from bradism.com

As with every other Olympics since 1996, Tokyo finds me with a new employer, a new salary and a new set of responsibilities. I strongly believe I am now good at my job (I've only written a single Dale since London). I still only use the phrase "IT Professional" ironically, even though I'm now TOGAF Certified.
In 2020 I nearly got flown to San Francisco to present to a conference about my leadership over the successful agile delivery of an integration uplift project (at the time it wasn't really agile or delivered).
I also was promoted to the point where I managed other people, and that really exposed me to new perspectives that I’ve learned a lot from - primarily that I should focus on technology and I shouldn't manage people. Hence my new job...

I've equalled the world record for love and having a dog for the longest amount of time between Olympics. I went on an amazing four week trip to the Pacific Northwest and hiked through nature that's hopefully still kicking a few Olympics from now. We moved house, switched cars. That's been like shedding a skin - all new extremities, but unchanged at the core.

Silver


image 2242 from bradism.com

I have not traditionally published a novel, but I did write to completion two more of them - Shady Slopes, and Cold Case. However, I did achieve my dream of being published in a professional science fiction market, as well as selling numerous short stories both in Australia and internationally. And was featured in a best works of 2018 thanks to my dumb flash fiction about a witch’s magic mirror which crashes after a windows update.
I spent nearly every work day lunch break writing between 2016 and 2019, and then I gave up. I almost gave up... Let's see what happens by next Olympics.

Bronze


image 2243 from bradism.com

My health and fitness has not reached its potential during an inconsistent performance in my mid-thirties. Chronic hamstring tendinopathy had me down for so much up the past years that at one point in 2019 I would almost have been justified in releasing this Olympic recap in line with the Paralympic Games in September.
I did make a triumphant return to low-grade social basketball, hit a couple of corner 3s and then suffered another soft tissue injury that would cost me a year of pain, surgery and rehab.
Despite that, I was very healthy. I walked 10,000 steps most days. I worked on my mobility, strength and physiology enough to mute my hamstring pain to a mostly ignorable caress. I set a new personal best with a back squat of 103kg, and a deadlift of nowhere near that much. I did not set a bench press PB but I did a push-up again. I was a vegan for a few minutes and I ate a lot of salad. I lost 5kg for the fun of it and had visible abs, and then I drank a lot of craft beers and gained 5kg for the fun of that too.
I have so far successfully avoided covid.

Participation Trophy


image 2244 from bradism.com

(Including a summary of 2016’s Olympic Resolutions.)
There were more weddings (but less weddings).
I rewrote my website with a new framework, but I didn’t build it API first. Maybe next Olympics.
I bought my first shares on the stock market. I haven’t sold any yet.
I rode a bike for the first time this millennium.
I survived the Trump era.
I did make a new friend!
I signed up for not one, but two credit cards with awesome rewards programs. I currently have hundreds of thousands of frequent flyer points with both Qantas and Virgin, and nowhere to fly to.

DNQ


image 2245 from bradism.com

Be more spontaneous.

My goals for next olympics.
There’s less than three years until the Paris Olympics, so I’m not sure how much I can really achieve. But that will also be the month before I turn forty, and knowing my history with procrastination and success I suspect another 750 words will be possible in August 2024.

I’d like to be vaccinated. I want one foot into a retirement plan that covers finances, climate change, and something to keep me occupied for the rest of my life. I’d appreciate both feet on foreign soil again, even better would be to do that as the entourage of a certain wifey athlete. I want a house that isn’t cold in winter. I’d like to go camping.

Opening after Closing Ceremony

I can't believe another Olympics has flown by, and with its passing comes another opportunity to ignore the athletes and instead reflect on the past four years since the last one from my own perspective. This will hopefully go better than last Olympics' census night.

So much has changed in my world, and in the world, since 2012. Unlike the results of the Men's 100 Metres which was again identical.

Since the last Olympics I have (un)moved states, changed jobs, become a dog owner, and become more career focused - at least from an outside perspective. I have achieved my Olympics resolutions of owning real estate, visiting Europe, and walking my dog. My goal of getting something published in somewhere took a backseat to my career focused from an outside perspective achievement, however, I am the third-leading contributor (in terms of lines committed) to a popular open source Puppet module on GitHub - that must count for something.

I haven't climbed Mount Kosciuszko, not even a little bit. I think I might have been drunk when I came up with some of those resolutions…

A lot more little things have happened in the past Olympics. I finished a manuscript, over 80,000 words. The only thing left is to build a drawer into my desk so I can print it out, staple it together, and leave it there until I die.

I changed cars again. And phones. I also went to the USA, and to New Zealand about 10 times. I learnt how to make bagels, pretzels, pide, and Spanish omelettes. I saw Federer at the Australian Open and Tim Duncan at Madison Square Garden.

I now have a Spotify and a Netflix membership. I'm on Snapchat and Instagram. I'm connected by network fibre to the world wide web, and I've had my first colonoscopy.

Some things haven't changed since London though, like my marriage to Vanessa which goes on strong. And this website, which hasn't had any new features since before some of China's Rio gymnasts were born. I also play Scramble With Friends with about the same frequency as four years ago. My train trips are now shorter, but my bathroom breaks a little longer.

My resolution for the next Olympics - do whatever I want, really. Try a bit harder to write something people want to read. Maybe make a new friend. Be more spontaneous. Sign up for an expensive credit card with an awesome rewards program.


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Opening Ceremony

The thing I like most about the Olympics—like with most things in life—relates to me. I like that the Olympics happens every fourth winter, because like New Years Eve it provides a nice, even beat for taking snapshots of your life. As I sat on the couch last week and watched Usain Bolt win gold in the Men’s 100 Metres instead of reflecting on the pinnacle of human athleticism I’d just observed I instead dwelled on what had happened to me since the moment in 2008 when I was sitting on the couch watching Usain Bolt win gold in the Men’s 100 Metres.

A lot has transpired in the past one Olympic, it’s been one of my busiest Olympics of my life. I moved out, moved in, moved states, moved jobs and moved very little. I fell in love, got engaged, got married, got read. I was operated on three times. I took about 10,000 photos, wrote about 100 reviews for Rip it Up and wrote several terrible short stories. I doubled my income and halved my muscle mass.

It’s hard not to be prolific between Olympics, though. Two Olympics ago I was a Nightfill and Internet superstar, driving a VK commodore and I hadn’t even traded for a Credit Card yet. The events of the Olympic before that are even more life changing and long ago.

Most people think it’s silly to come up with New Olympic Resolutions, but I’m going to oblige. By this time next Olympic I want to have my name on some real estate, publish something in somewhere, walk my dog, visit Europe, be less self-obsessed and climb Mount Kosciuszko.

Happy Opening Ceremony!

Hooker Wins Gold

Four straight weeks of sobriety and now I have the shirt to prove it!

I think I'm starting to understand what the Olympics is all about. Last night I was passionately rooting for Steve Hooker to win gold in the Men's pole vault. Before last night I'd never heard of him. A day later and he's just a memory. And a day later for him, he's probably in the olympic village right now having a threesome with a British relay runner and a Japanese synchronised diver.

It's kind of about supporting your country through blind jingoism, but in the end it's about uniting the world.

Also, contorting the human body in every imaginable way: http://stuff.thdesign.be/forum/varia/OS.html

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