2017

In no particular order, here’s a list of notable facts of 2017 in the insignificant little life of mine:

1. After reading Dear Data, I was curious to find out how often I was eating meat. So I used the Reporter app to ask me every day at 8:00 if I had meat the day before. Prior to starting the experiment I was sure that I had no meat about 80% of days. It turns out though that even after paying attention to what I was eating, I got to around 74%. I’m disappointed by this result. In 2018, I will eat no meat. There.

   

   My longest streak without meat was only 10 days.

2. I spent 3 months looking for a new job. Last time, I promised myself I would not quit my current job before finding a new one. I should have kept my promise. I had 48 interviews/coding tasks/test days at 33 companies. It was a very self-esteem shattering experience, which is even tougher for someone who doesn’t have much self-esteem to begin with. More on that in another post soon maybe.

3. I signed for a new job in Lausanne which I’m looking forward to.

4. During my 4 months time off, I haven’t done half the things I wanted to. I spent a lot of time biking, fixing my bikes, digging jumps. I guess this simply shows where my heart is.

5. 2017 was my NT Trails year. I’ve made a couple of new friends: Rico, Jochen, Tom, Phil, Micha, Mazza, Lucas, Fabian… During my time off, we stomped a whole new section out of the ground in a couple of weeks. All manpower, no machines! We celebrated it with a nice little jam in October. This is most definitely something I will miss in 2018, and I will try to visit the NT Trails as often as possible.

   

   

   

   

6. In August, I went on a DH trip with Damien and François. We went to Brandnertal (ok-ish), Fiss (too much gravel), Bormio (shit), Livigno (great), Lenzerheide (cool). I was a bit disappointed by my mechanical problems and my riding, but it was a fun trip anyways. Which is more or less guaranteed with those 2 shitheads ;)

   

   

7. I got a KOM (King Of Mountain, the best time on a segment of a trail/route) on my favorite downhill trail in Zurich. It didn’t last long though: 4 days. I guess the previous King felt offended :)

   

   

8. I went bike riding to Chaumont twice, Lac Blanc (Alsace, France), Verbier and Chur. Strava tells me that in 2017 I completed 88 rides, for a total time of 153 hours, covered a distance of 2272 km and climbed up 97672 m.

   

9. I failed at realizing again one of my 2016 achievements: I got a new bike. The first tour I did was the Epic Trail in Davos. Pretty sweet!

   

10. I spent a week on Mallorca with Mom, my sister and her daughter. A weird combo, not always easy, but we had a good time I think.

11. I also went to Berlin for the second time, and to Europapark and Stuttgart for the first time.

12. I think I have read only 2 book. Oops. Also, my Internet consumption is steadily drifting towards mostly videos. A sign of times I guess?

    

    

13. My personal “TV series” discovery of 2017 definitely was Rick & Morty. So so good. Thanks Jay for insisting that I have to check it out.

14. I’m probably listening to more podcasts than ever. Here’s a list of some of the episodes I enjoyed in 2017:

    • 99% invisible: The Pool and the Stream
    • 99% invisible: Containers: The Ships, the Tugs and the Port
    • Accidental Tech Podcast: People don’t use the weird parts
    • The Allusionist: Technobabble
    • The Allusionist: AD/BC
    • Dig BMX Podcast: Sean Burns
    • Dig BMX Podcast: Chase Hawk
    • Hello Internet: Star Wars The Last Jedi Christmas Special
    • Imaginary Worlds: Evil Plans
    • Imaginary Worlds: World War EVE
    • The Nerdist Podcast: Neil DeGrasse Tyson (TWCH)
    • The Talk Show: Crack marketing team
    • Twenty Thousand Hertz: Let It Beep
    • Twenty Thousand Hertz: Level Up

15. In early 2017, the Nintendo Switch was released, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I cannot think of a game in recent years that I’ve enjoyed as much as this. I clocked in around 90 hours of gameplay, lying on my couch. Yes, I play the Switch exclusively in handheld mode. In Fall, Mario Odyssey was released, another really good game. You can follow my Switch adventures on Twitter at the inadequately named @manuplayszelda account. On PS4 I played more Doom, and a bit of Hellblade. Last week I played through Inside on iOS, which I liked a lot too, despite the super shitty controls.

    

16. When I left Doodle, my awesome colleagues offered me a Raspberry Pi based console emulator with a LEGO NES enclosure. How cool is that? To top it off, I got a voucher for a VR experience in Zurich. I will miss the Doodle team <3

17. The shows I’ve been to in 2017:

    • Lionheart at Dynamo in Zurich on November 23rd
    • Rise Against at Halle 622 in Zurich on November 21st
    • Sick Of It All at KIFF in Aarau on November 8th
    • No Fun At All at Schüür in Luzern on August 12th
    • Dropkick Murphys at Volkshaus in Zurich on July 4th
    • System of a Down at Hallenstadion in Oerlikon on June 1st
    • Me First and the Gimme Gimmes at Kofmehl in Solothurn on February 19th

Writing these reviews always makes it seem like every year was awesome. I’m forcing myself to be positive. I had some really shitty times in 2017 as well!