Today is my first working day of 2016 and I am back at the office ready for the New Year. The Christmas and New Year break are over - the College has been closed since 24th December last. While the 11 day break was very welcome, I always feel that taking time off at this time of year is wasted a bit - especially this year when we had dreadful weather. There are three official working days between Christmas and New Year that come out of my annual leave allowance - I don't really mind this, but I'd much rather have these three days in the summer.
I have a few things to look forward to this year:
- I am teaching a new module this upcoming semester (Advanced Business Data Analysis) - I'm looking forward to learning about some new statistical techniques for this module
- I've often dabbled in the R programming language, but now it is part of the above ABDA module. I have spent some time over the recent holidays learning some more R and will need to get better at coding for statistics
- I will publish my third travel book (Exploring Ireland's East and South East Coasts) this year - hopefully before the summer. Following on from Exploring Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way and Exploring Northern Ireland's Causeway and Mourne Coastal Routes, this will be the final part of my trilogy of books about exploring the full Irish coastline
- All things going well, I am hoping to tour northern Germany, Denmark, and Sweden this summer on the bike. Destination Berlin!
- In September this year the wonderful Roma and I will reach 30 years of wedded bliss. We have no plans yet how to mark this, but I'm sure we will find a way to do so!
- My Dad Joe reaches 85 years young on March 31st - definitely a family gathering is in order to mark this birthday milestone
- I am really looking forward to all the 1916 celebrations. I have long had an interest in modern Irish history and like many Irish people I look back on 1916 as a key moment in the foundation of our Republic
- We will also have a General Election early this year - I love politics and will follow the build-up and the election closely. I have already decided who my #1 vote is going to (Mary Hanafin of Fianna Fáil)
Happy New Year to all!
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| Image source: HappyBirthdayCakeImages.com. |
It's very telling that your blog post arrived at the top of my reading list when I powered up for the first time in 2016 in my unheated office. If you've seen Bridge of Spies or Deutschland 83, you'll enjoy parts of Berlin more than the average tourist.
ReplyDeleteI'll see "Bridge of Spies" on Thursday on board Aer Lingus flight to New York - looking forward to it, and seeking Checkpoint Charlie in the summer. Happy New Year!
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