| Cycle 50 miles in a day |
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This isn't a too high-in-the-sky dream. I've probably cycled near 25 miles in one day, a long time ago. Recently Caroline and I have begun cycling again and have cycled 16 miles. 50 miles is only just over 3 times that distance. We're hoping to do some cycling touring, perhaps in France, so this 50 miles will probably need to become a reality. |
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| Design and self-build a house |
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Houses are never exactly as you want them, where you want them, or at the price you want them. I'd love to build my own house with all the rooms I want. |
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I went and bought a bungalow in September 2003 with my wife. I can't ever see myself building a house now... but you never know. |
| Drive a rally |
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I love watching rallying on TV, and at one point I seriously considered getting a small rally car that I could take part in rallies with. The only reason I didn't is that I have almost no mechanical expertise. I'd still love to drive one though. |
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I had an 'experience day' out at a rally tuition place once, but you didn't get that long in the car, and I was too nervous to do anything useful. I came last in the competition we had. |
| Fix a problem with my own car |
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As I said in the rallying dream, I have zero mechanical skills. I kinda understand the engine, but don't know what I'm looking at when I peer in the bonnet. Fixing a problem with my car would be quite an achievement for me. |
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Hell, I was happy when I fixed the bulb in Caroline's headlight :o) |
| Get a job I really enjoy |
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There's a big problem with working - hardly anyone likes it. There are very few people who get up in the morning and think "I can't wait to get to work". I know I don't. But I would like to. I have no idea what this job would be, mind. Hard to work towards it then? Maybe. |
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| Go windsurfing in Hawaii |
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I learnt to windsurf back in the mid-1990s in the cold and wintery depths of Poole Park. Hawaii would be so much nicer with its sun, sand and warm water (and sharks!). |
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| Hike a glacier |
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There's a guy at work who goes hiking glaciers quite often, and he always brings back gorgeous pictures from his trip. It looks like quite a bit of hard work, but I think it would be worth it. Maybe I could link this into my trip to New Zealand. |
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| Join a band |
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I love playing my instruments, but I'm really not terribly good at it. It would make me proud if someone thought I was actually good enough to join their band. |
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| Learn plumbing |
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Quite alot of my dreams will probably be "learn x" based. I am an information freak. Learning plumbing is one of those things that I want to do because I currently don't understand much about plumbing at all (other than water flows through pipes, and stuff). Maybe it is that easy, maybe its more complicated. But a couple of my other dreams revolve around me being able to do DIY, so this is an important step to some of the bigger dreams. |
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| Learn to tap-dance |
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I'm not a very extroverted person... in fact, I'm pretty introverted. And lots of introverted people often wish they were more extroverted. I'd love to be able to tap-dance (another in my knowledge-cap), but to tap dance in top hat and tails to a big band would be fun! |
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Turns out I'm learning to salsa dance, instead! |
| Make a present for someone each Christmas |
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This takes time, effort and thought. A really nice present is one where the sender has taken time, effort and thought over it, not money. |
- Christmas 2004: Made a DVD for my parents with an edited video of the wrens they reared during 2003.
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| Make an instrument |
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I love music and instruments, and to be able to make a good quality instrument (not just some shoebox with an elastic band) would really be great. |
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I'm currently (Feb 2005) half way through building my first instrument, on a woodworking evening-class. It's going to be a bowed psaltery (see my woodworking page). |
| Make and sell a DVD |
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Like photography, I also like videography and have produced a number of videos. In fact, I did 4 or 5 videos of vintage motorbike runs which people did part with their cash for. Next, it's to try and make a DVD that people will buy. The difficult bit is getting the job, then spending the time to make it good enough. |
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I did recently (August 2003) make a wedding video for a client of my sister. I made both a VHS and DVD copy of the film and they bought it. However, they bought it sight-unseen. Not quite the same. |
| Make Mum and Dad proud |
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My family mean so much to me that making them proud is very important to me. I'm sure they would say that I already have, but I'd love to know that that is really the case. I'm not sure how I'd evaluate this, mind. |
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Maybe I have, when they attended my PhD graduation ceremony. |
| Marry a beautiful girl |
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Well, everyone would like a lovely girl on their arm. |
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I married Caroline on 20th September 2003. She's not only beautiful, but kind, caring and fun. |
| Photograph someone famous |
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Why? Well, why not? It means you really did see them. I'd still like to take a photo of someone really famous... a film star, or something. |
I have kinda achieved this, although you might not even know who they are.
I've so far photographed:
- Tom O'Conner (Summer 2002) - while he was attending a wedding at which I was helping to provide a service.
- TOCA drivers (Summers of 2000 & 2001) - On the pit walk, I managed to take pictures of most of the TOCA British Touring Car Championship drivers.
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| Read a book in a week |
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I read slow. Really slow. And I don't get much time for reading. Someone out there no doubt thinks I'm odd, as they probably read one, maybe two books a week. Well, I barely get a chapter done in a week... and I don't actually read often anyway. Not a top priority, this one. |
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| Run 5 miles |
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Despite being able to cycle fairly long distances, I get absolutely knackered just running 100 yards. I'd like to be fit enough to run 5 miles. |
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| Run my own business |
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It's often the way that you're sitting at work bored stiff, or on the long commute in, wondering "Why am I doing this?", or "Who is this for?". Running a business the answers would be obvious: I'm doing it for me. |
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I've already started thinking and acting on this. I'm halfway through completing the software for an online shop that will allow me to start selling stuff. |
| See penguins in the Antarctic |
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I think the main thing here it to get to the Antarctic. Another awe inspiring place unlike any other. Whether I take any chocolate biscuits is irrelevant, really. |
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| Sell a photograph |
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I love photography, and, although I'm not terribly good at it, if I was to produce a photo that was good enough that someone else actually liked it and wanted to put it on display, I would be very much chuffed. |
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| Sell an album |
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Following on from joining a band, selling an album might be a possibility. Selling an album of music I produced in my bedroom might be very difficult. |
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| Sell an instrument I make |
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After making instruments, I'd love to be considered good enough that someone would part with their cash for something I produced. Making something beautiful from lumps of wood must be really satisfying. |
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| Teach someone to program |
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Being pretty proficient at computer programming, it would really be great to be able to pass on enough of my knowledge to someone that they could also program relatively proficiently. I can't imagine I'd make a good teacher, but if it works it must be a great feeling of achievement. |
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| Tell a joke in public and get a laugh |
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Just part of the introvert wanting to be more accepted in society thing. |
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| Visit all the main national parks in the US |
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Like Australia and New Zealand, the national parks in the US have some really spectacular sights, and some great photo oppurtunities. There's hundreds of national parks in the US, so visiting them all might be impossible. But I could visit at least all the main ones. |
So far I've visited:
- Yosemite (March 2001) - An amazing place, although I only really saw the main tourist areas. I'd love to trek through some of the less visited sights.
- Death Valley (March 2001) - Also an amazing place and well worth a visit. Furnace Creek Ranch is an awesome hotel.
- Sequoia (February 2000) - I barely saw much in this wonderful place. I travelled to see the 'General Sherman' tree, and saw some great views on the way. But by the time I got there it was dark and I had to leave.
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| Visit all the national parks in the UK |
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Complimentary to the US one, I'd like to at least see most of the national parks in the UK. |
I've so far been to:
- Dartmoor (with school a long time ago)
- Peak District (June 2003) - while on a business trip to Sheffield.
- New Forest (often) - I live quite near.
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| Visit Australia |
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I would love to visit Australia. It looks such an amazing and awe inspiring place, with some very unique wildlife. In fact, I'd love to cycle around some parts of it. It may even be a possibility one day, as my uncle lives there. It just requires building up some funds, and then taking quite a bit of time off!! |
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| Visit Machu Pichu in Peru |
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I have to admit, I only know a little about Machu Pichu, mainly from TV holiday programs, and my wife. However, it looks another good place to wonder about humans' abilities. |
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| Visit New Zealand |
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If I'm going to visit Australia, why not visit New Zealand. It looks a very different place to Aussie, but just as amazing. The scenery looks beautiful and truely great for photographs. It seems strange how such large glaciers can inhabit a country with green rolling hills, and bit cosmopolitan towns. |
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| Win £1000 or more on a competition |
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Not something I have a lot of say in, but if I enter lots of competitions I might just win something. |
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Shame I don't enter many competitions. I've won some DVDs, and CDROMs over the years. Never money. |
| Write and sell some software |
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Writing software is my job, although as a researcher I never really see it being used (mainly because it doesn't get used!). So I'd love to write and sell some software, ideally, software that I wrote entirely myself. |
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