It is that time of the year when you sweep some stuff under the rug and decide that they are a thing of the past. It is also the time when you get the feeling that you need a brand new start. The new year is a time of renewing resolutions, forgiving yourself for your transgressions in the past year and facing the future with recharged batteries and optimism. You get the feeling that this time it will be different, although you are not sure how or why. I love the new year day.

For me, the past few new years also meant writing a blog post with new year resolutions. True to the maxim that history repeats itself, I haven’t completed most of my last year’s new year resolutions. But I did a few, and that is an improvement from the previous year where I did nothing. I had 4 items for 2011:

1. Reduce my weight – totally failed in this one. I am still the same weight. To look at the bright side – at least that is better than gaining weight
2. Reduce my cholesterol – partial success in this one. I reduced my bad cholesterol by 50 points. I am not where I wanted to be but I am happy that I could achieve at least some success on this.
3. Study algorithms and data structures – this was a vague goal but I would consider that I have succeeded to some extend in this. Could I learn more ? Of course ! but I know way more than I did same time last year.
4. Study discrete mathematics – total failure. Didn’t even try.

So basking in the glory of these partial successes and total failures I want to announce this year’s resolutions:

1. Reduce my weight by 15 lbs.
2. Bring my cholesterol to normal level.
3. Increase my knowledge of algorithms and data structures. This will be like part 2 of my resolution of 2011. As part of this I will be taking the design and analysis online class from Stanford.
4. Write at least 12 blog posts. One per month on average. This is the first one.
5. Increase my volleyball skills. I have registered for a volleyball clinic with my friends and I hope that will help me improve my skills. Also reducing my weight should help me jump higher which will allow me to play better.

That is it, five items to get done in 2012.

Looking back at 2011, I think it was a good year for me.

I have always wanted to learn and work in C++ and to that end I changed teams at work. I am quite proud to say that I am quite comfortable with C++ now. I am by no means an expert but I am not afraid of C++ now.

On the personal side my wife and I visited quite a few places this year. In spring we visited some places in Washington and Oregon. In summer we went to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. In fall we toured Washington DC, New York city and Niagara. We had a chance to meet our old friend Ranjeesh and his family while we were at Washington DC and we had a great time together. After Christmas we spent a few days driving along the Oregon coastal area. I immensely enjoyed these trips and I am sure I will always have fond memories of those trips that we made.

We also shifted apartments from Redmond to Issaquah. Initially it was quite difficult and we missed Redmond terribly, but now we love Issaquah. We still miss Redmond but Issaquah is a very nice place to live and closer to work as well.

I guess that is it. Good bye 2011. Welcome 2012.

I wish you, my dear reader, a wonderful and joyous new year !