What I liked in 2004 - and didn't

It is more or less a habit that I write down what I like at a year in the end of a year - its positive and its negative sides.

This is the beginning of the list, but I might add on over the next couple of days or so.

What I liked

1. I love life and live it to the fullest. There is still a Great WoW in Life
   
2. I keep bonding with my kid - and I am still amazed about the things that a "small one" is doing
   
3. I am amazed about my wife's knowledge that she gains so quickly when she really entrenches herself in a new hobby. I could outline a lot of what she learnt over the past 12 months, but she has now great knowledge about insurance, tax law, property law, Yoka and so on and so on
   
4. Met a hellova great people over blogger - thanks to all of you guys that I communicate with and that I met during different situations
   
5. Met a helluva great people via other opportunities - such as training seminars, conferences, and "interest" clubs, so to speak
   
6. A great outlook for 2005
   
7. Reading a lot of great books, with the best book of 2004 being Re-Imagine by Tom Peters (nah, there are others, but this is a different entry)
   
8. Developed blogger skills and with that, also learnt a bit of HTML (I learnt it earlier, but forgot everything)
9. I registered a company and foresee great opportunities and fun in 2005 (may be? may be not)
   
10. Develop new skills around new business opportunities and have really fun around that
    
11. Upgraded my car - cannot say that my new car is new, since I switched my old car with a newer one from my brother-in-law
12. I am still tremendously curious
13. I am still passionate about things that drive me
14. I discover that I still can change. This is getting tougher when you get older, since we "elderly" become more complacent (and I hate it!)
    
15. The two conferences where I had great fun and from which different things evolve that still keep growing
16. My Mum turns 80 this year. My sister and I gave her a hotair balloon trip for her birthday to fulfill her childhood dream
17. My niece found a job after completion of school - which is pretty tough in German with an unemployment rate of 11%
18. Some headhunters called me - but since I have a great job that involves a lot of reading and some more, I stayed with my current employer
19. There are a great many great people employed in my company and the feeling is like being with a family
20. The Internet - how could I forget this!! This is the greatest invention of all times (really?)
21. Great books (didn't I write this already?)
22. Great discussions with great people
23. An invitation to participate in the establishment of an association (cannot say more in the moment, but that WoWs me)
    

What I didn't like

1. My job is not that challenging anymore. I need more stretch targets (but than, isn't that up to me?
   
2. I am getting older (but than, may be also wiser and have more opportunities?)
3. I am still impatient and I cannot stand it at all
4. There are still only 24 hours in a day
5. Why do I have to get up so early to bring my kid to school !! (and how does he manage to keep his energy level so high, despite getting up early?)
6. My boss is pretty cynical sometimes
   
7. I am still angry at stupid drivers that cut in and think their time is more worth than mind
8. My boy is growing bigger and we have our first generation gaps
9. I haven't been on a business trip for more than a day. Singapore was the only destination that I had this year. I like travelling!!!
10. Bush won the election
11. There are way too many wars in the world and as usual, kids and women are the ones suffering
12. I saw the video on the beheading of one of the hostages and I have to say that this was one of the most shocking, cruesome and disgusting experiences that I can recall!
    
13. Malaysians still throw rubbish all over the place. I love this country - I always say that I never saw a country that destroys its beauty that fast and I am sad about it
14. My Mum turned 80 this year and she didn't manage to visit us for health reasons. But she still travels a lot in Europe (needed to make an appointment when I visisted her in 2003 and I am not kidding).
    
15. I couldn't go to Germany since the exchange rate to the Euro is so damn high (I think 1 Euro is about RM 4.90 in the moment - who can afford to go to Europe?)
    
16. My Nephew in Germany is pretty sick
17. I haven't written anything in the positive list that I liked in my company in 2004, besides the two conferences - this looks serious for someone who works more than his fair share of the day!!!!!! I need to think about this serious (Okay - I wrote something in point 17)
18. That it is 2005 already. I remember how I sat on the veranda in 2000 and waited for the famous glitches that never came
19. I am still messy - my desks - office and at home - look like a nuclear war took place

I am happy that there are more things that WoWed me than that turned me off.

Hello 2005 - here I come