I often like to joke parallelizing birthdays to software releases. In that spirit yesterday I celebrated my 39th birthday. Or I received an update to version 3.9. Next year I am getting a major release to version 4.0.
This year I got to spend my birthdays in two cities. The first half (00:00 – 12:00) I spend it to Athens and the second half to Thessaloniki, my home town. It was one of the best in my life!
I was spending the week in Athens getting to know InstaShop‘s local office crew, up close and personal. There were a lot of meetings but when you discuss with talented, smart people, time flies. The team was welcoming and even though I have not been with them a long time, they made me feel as one of their own. I also got to see friends, now permanently located in Athens, after a long time. I wish I could stay longer and see more of them.
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Birthday surprise!
I met George for dinner. He knew tomorrow was my birthday we started with birthday wishes. Fun fact, in another table nearby, they were birthday celebrations as well. Once the day changed, there was a birthday cake and everything. George started teasing me on how I should go and blow the candles of that cake, thanking the guys for remembering my special day (even though I didn’t know them at all).
But… after a couple of beers while getting ready to call it a night, I got my own birthday cake:
Thanks George!
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Age is just a number…
Growing up, I have seen relatives from previous generations getting tired as time went by. They were working on labor related professions (construction, heavy industry, farming, etc) so it – short of – made sense. In our line of work (software engineering) work can be really fun as you grow older. We get the chance to experience different challenges, different environments, different products, different teams, people with all kinds of personalities. Being just a breath away of 40, I believe I agree with Gary Vee that they are the new 20:
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Highlights of my 39th year on planet earth
- Finished my PhD
- Got a fellowship to write great content for Open Source
- Wrote my first book
- Turned reading into a habit
- Lost weight (but then I put it back 🙈)
- Decreased caffeine consumption
- Created my own Study!
The best is yet to come!
