Posts Tagged ‘ TRAVEL

Moving to Melbourne

It is official, I have accepted the role as Flash Developer for World Vision Australia and will be moving to Melbourne in the first week of January!!! I am very excited for this new role, the challenges/opportunities that it represents, and the chance to get to work with a team of really talented people that I have heard so much about.

It is fun to look back at my (almost) 5 years at World Vision US and some of the projects I had the opportunity to be a part of:

  • Being told by our Information Architect that I should investigate ‘this Atlassian wiki software thing’, championing its usage from only myself & a small group of people, into an enterprise wide application that many groups depend on.
  • Our first foray into web services, championing them to various groups in the organization to show how powerful they could be. (Now they are working on even more services to build other cool stuff!)
  • The battles with Lotus Notes Programming (LotusScript, FormulaLanguage) in my early years; working my way out of that to be a part of one of the coolest new teams at the Vision, creating awesome stuff with Flash.
  • Getting introduced to agile project management and programming… seeing how much more effective that is than what we had been doing. (Including what I was taught in college! Can I have my money back!?) ;)

This wont be my first time in Melbourne as I had the chance to visit in 2004 when I was taking some time off after college to travel around the world. I fell in love with the city as soon as I arrived. The culture, the tastes, and the laid back vibe that permeated the place was exactly what I was hoping to find when I went to Australia. I remember thinking/feeling that when I left, I wasnt really leaving and would get to come back some day. I am so excited that I get to come back and work for an organization who’s vision and mission I strongly believe in.

Room To Read

You should donate to John’s project, providing a library to children in Cambodia, especially during this holiday season. What a great way to change lives in an area that needs it. Read more about John here and the non profit Room to Read.

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Best Paragraph on Life in Dar Es Salaam

Quintin wrote probably the best paragraph summarizing a typical day in Dar Es Salaam that I have read.

Read it.

Flying Business Class to Amsterdam

Getting up on the morning of the 23rd was a bit strange as I had been up late the night before packing. It didnt really seem real that the time had finally come and I was actually going to Africa. I have to hand it to my mom, she wasnt even upset when she dropped me off at the airport. Good work ma! ;)

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Rugby World Cup 2007

I could not believe my eyes when I saw that a tv station in the USA is actually going to be showing the Rugby World Cup and if my timezone math is correct, will actually be live for some of the games! The station is Versus; they have a calculator so you can figure out which channel they are on in your area. They have the schedule listed here on their website. I have to say I will be rooting for whoever is playing England as they won in 2003 by playing for penalties with Jonny Wilkinson. That is no way to win a match. Go for tries or go home!

I have a Date!

That may have got your attention; but it is not the kind of date 99% of you were thinking about. I have the date I am scheduled to take off for Tanzania: Oct 29th. Just in time for the weather to get ridiculous! ;) But I am still excited anyway! For those that don’t know, I am heading over there as part of a project to install VSATs, wireless networks, and personal computers so that we can have better connectivity with our field offices. This is going to be one of the best experiences of my life and I just cant wait to go! Lots of little things to tidy up though before I leave, so it is good that I have some time. If five years ago (maybe even 3 years ago) you had told me I would be going to Africa I would have told you that ‘I have a letter confirming your reservation at the nut house’! Let alone heading over there to use my computer skills to do God’s work. Life is great.

Man vs Wild



Since I may be heading to Tanzania, I have become completely enraptured with this show… A fellow youtuber was kind enough to put together a highlight reel of Bear Grylls in action. This guy does it all, drinks fluid from elephant droppings, jumps into sub zero water to show you how to get out, and seems to skydive into the location about every other episode.

Note: Thanks to ShadyKing for tip on turning off rich text editor for embedding youtube videos!

Jeff in Japan

No not me Jeff, my friend Jeff. We went to school together at Western and while we both went traveling, he never quit. He is now in Japan teaching English as well as making trips to all different parts of that area of the world. Definately check out his latest pictures from China. Man I wish I could go to! He is right, it is changing really fast so I need to go soon…

 

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