Matthew Denner

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The obligatory look back over 2013

I can't move forward without looking back over 2013 and picking out my highlights.

Cochlear implant

My girlfriend was deaf: she now has a cochlear implant which actually gives her better hearing than mine! The device is incredibly simple in one theory: a microphone picks up the sounds, a processor converts them into a signal that is broadcast across a narrow gap to a receiver buried under the scalp, which converts that signal into electrical pulses to the 24 electrodes implanted inside her cochlear into the auditory nerve. But the technology is actually incredibly remarkable: adaptive sounds processing, noise cancellation, narrow field sensors. And she was one of, if not the first, people to get the Cochlear Nucleus 6 in the UK.

That I can now hold a conversation, somewhat staccato, between rooms with someone who only 9 months ago would have to be looking at me to lipread is a stunning testament to this device. It's not perfect but I've seen a dramatic change in her since the operation and I know that the effort she has, and will, put into this will cause even more surprise in 2014.

Having watched her go through all of this I was even more sure of how I felt, so I proposed. I did it in totally the wrong way, because of pressures from a situation I had put myself in, but I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with her. She's an amazing person and I can't believe how lucky I have been to end up in this wonderful relationship.

At the moment our plans are a bit loose, in that we had planned to marry in 2015, but we're sure of our guest list, the theme of the wedding, and where in the country it will be; plus she's bought her wedding dress already! So we are both working towards a wedding in 2014, if we can sort out a venue.

Changing jobs

Way back in 2010 I moved back into IT from the world of teaching skating and ended up working for a great company. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there up until the beginning of 2013, when things took a change for the worse from my perspective: I found my skills drying up and it harder and harder to work with some of the people around me.

So I went looking for another job early in the year. However, with my girlfriend getting her implant around the same time, I found myself under too much pressure & stress to be able to support her and look for the job. So I gave up looking and decided to ride things out.

Eventually I lucked out and, on checking up on an earlier application that I'd made, I was brought in for an interview a uSwitch. The surprising thing was that the technical section of my interview was done in Clojure, a language I had only picked up a few months before, and I was really pleased with how I presented myself.

They offered me a position and, after a nasty two month notice period, I started in November. I have to be perfectly frank: I really took the job to get away from where I was and had no idea whether it would suit me. I figured that anything was better than where I was. But I have to admit: everyone at uSwitch is extremely talented and strongly skilled, and I've been incredibly fortunate to end up here.

I'm working mainly in Ruby and doing lots of front-end work (HTML & Javascript), but also get a chance to do Clojure every-now-and-then too. In the two months I've been there, and with only a month until my probation ends, I've learnt an incredible amount of stuff. The most positive of these is that if you organise your team around a product, with people from all departments, you get a very focused and agile group. Where, in larger companies, I've always felt that you are doing a job, here I feel like my voice counts and that I'm invested in what it is we are trying to achieve.

Where to in 2014

What am I going to be doing in 2014? Well, I'm setting myself a few personal challenges that I'm really going to stick to as best as possible:

I was amazed that my Dad can list all of the countries in Africa, even the odd ones, so I've decided to one-up him and learn to place all of the countries of the world. I'm aware that country is probably a bit of a loose term, but for the moment I'm planning on all of the stable countries plus some of the recent break aways.

This blog was poorly thought out and badly executed the first time round, so I'm going to be writing one article every week. I have no idea what I'm going to write about at the moment, although I suspect there will be lots on my progress through these challenges as well as stuff that comes up from work that might be interesting.

I've always wanted to learn a musical instrument, originally the piano, so in 2014 I've set myself the goal of learning the guitar. When I say learning I mean be proficient enough to pick up a music book and play it; I'm not aiming for greatness, just the ability to play. To do this I'm thinking of getting Rocksmith and buying an Epiphone Nighthawk Custom Reissue, although that might be a bit much! And yes, I will be trying for the 60 Day Challenge.

At the start of 2013 I was running about 4 miles every couple of days; by the end of 2013 I wasn't. I regret this a lot, especially after joining uSwitch and ending up so close to Burrough Market, so now I am going to work towards being able to run the 10 miles from the office to home. Having gone from zero to 4 miles in only a few months at the end of 2012 I feel that I should be able to do the full distance before summer.

Finally, and most importantly, I'm going to get the wedding sorted and done.