Tomorrow I have my annual planning meeting with my manager. In this meeting we will discus my targets for 2010 as well as the long term goals. I always enjoy these meetings because if forces me to think about and to plan my future. Before I can see where I want to go, I have to figure out who I am now. So lets give it a try:

I am a 24 year old technical lead developer with a strong passion for software architecture and development. I am an expert on the .NET platform, expercienced in desktop and web application development and familiar with most frameworks like WCF, WPF, Castle Project, NHibernate and Lucene.NET. I am able to make technical designs using UML and apply the appropiate design and architectural patterns.

As a team lead I can start, manage and finish several project simultaneously using both inhouse and outsourced teams. I understand the business problem my customer have and advise them on solutions, do requirments analysis and make accurate estimations.

I think this is a pretty accurate description of who I am (professionally). I will let you know where I want to go tomorrow because it is time for a glass of wine and some frisian clove cheese!

Today i got myself a new cellphone: a BlackBerry Bold 9700. I am really happy with it because it works so much better than my old phone. Everything works like it is supposed to.

Then i discovered an app which connects to WordPress! Brilliant! I wrote this post on it.

Going back to do something usefull now (making dinner).

A beautiful song. I have spend a full day listening to this amazin song and I am still not bored with it and I want to share it with you, enjoy!

Hello, today is a black day for me: my grandfather passed away this morning. Thankfully he passed away in his sleep. He was diagnosed with lung cancer 2 years ago; the docters gave him just a few more months but he was fighting the cancer off long enough to celebrate his 80th birthday which was last week. Although I am writing my thoughts down, I can’t possible describe what he meant to me and how much it hurts to know what I won’t be able to be talk to him. Ever.

It has strange that I only now realize what he meant for me and how much he has done for me for which I am thankful. He has been a great example to me. He always encouraged me to construct something, whether it was Lego or software development, it didnt matter. He had a great influence on my career choice and one of the reasons I am who I am now.

‘Opa’, I will never forget you,

thank you for everything

I drowned myself in my work today but I realize that is no way to deal with the loss. We all go have to deal with losing a loved one at some point in our lives, I thought I prepared myself for it but it still hit me like a rock. I have no ‘cure’ for this pain but I can tell you that writing your feelings down helps me deal with it. Maybe it is the hope this post will leave a trace so my grandad won’t be forgotten.

Echo, yes I am still alive, don’t worry. It is has been pretty busy lately. here is a list of things currently happening in my life:

• My grandfather is very ill, my thoughts are with him
• My girlfriend are in the process of buying a house and moving
• I am fighting a deadline for a project developed in a technology (Java) I am no expert in
• Both are cats are still a little ill

Anyway, I am going back to work now.

I just published my new mission statement, I tells what drives me and how I see myself in the future. You can find it here: http://www.devatwork.nl/index.php/about/mission-statement/.

Recently I purchased a CD, ‘White Buffalo’, of ‘Sickboys and Lowman’, the band in which my colleague Bart plays. The music is really laid-back and the genre is “Americana, Altcountry, Blues, Pop”, which gives me the opportunity to relax.

The tracks on ‘White Buffalo’ are different enough to keep me interested and the the composition of vocals, bass, guitars and several instruments is well done and a joy to listen too. I don’t know much about music but I like listening to it and I don’t get by it, which most of the time happens with other music.

The tracks of the CD can be download freely from their website, http://www.sickboys.nl. However, I recommend you buy the album simply because of the design. The album case is beautiful, it has great artwork combined with a cover of leather.

My favorite song is ‘Off For Good’, it is a beautiful song about rejection, heartbreak and an ended relationship. The lyrics are great and the music is emotional.

I recommend you download some of their songs from their website http://www.sickboys.nl and if you like it, buy the album.

It seem that people are actually living here.

The reason why I have blogged so little the past couple of weeks is: I am addicted. I am addicted to a new game console: The Nintendo Wii. That thing is absolutely brilliant to play with. It has got a nice intuitive interface, it has got some cool games and some nice features.

I bought the system 2 weeks ago now and I have been playing it every single day since then, mostly with my girlfriend but with some of my friends as well. What I like about the system itself is: Easy to install and it is doesn’t eat up much space. What I don’t like is that the Wiimote uses batteries (although I bought some special rechargeable battery packs for them).
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Today I received some new book which I have ordered, so I have something to do in the evening . I am not going to discuss every book in detail, I am just going to post a list of those books:

About ‘Beginning Python‘:
I just want to learn a different programming language and Python seems to be a good one. I think it is essential for a programmer to learn different languages so you are able to select the best tool for the job.

About ‘Scrum and XP from the Trenches‘:
At Liones we are currently starting with some projects using the Scrum project management methodology and I want to know about it.