Life Begins....

It's happened; I've reached 40. I'm not sure how it happened. One minute I'm leaving University about to embark on a life of adventure and mystery and five minutes later I am sitting in a hotel room in our provincial capital looking forward to an incredibly busy day at work in which, despite several reminders leading up to the trip, my boss fails to remember and continues through the day as if it were any other day. Of course, to him, it was any other day; 3 flights a lunch meeting, followed by a dinner meeting in Prince George before a return flight to the big smoke.

Time appears to have passed with lightening speed since laving University that I often wonder how quickly the next 20 years will pass. I'm wondering if I've done enough yet. I've worked for two dubious companies and one great company, gaining experience of work as I've progressed through a number of roles. I'm married to the wonderful Gingerone and have grown as a person as a result. We have two wonderrful kids and all the stresses and strains that come with that and we've made the move to a fairly foreign country and grown as a family even more. I've travelled to a lot of interesting places in the world, built a music collection that continues to expand today and read some brilliant books.

I've had a very full life so far and met a lot of close friends along the way and I feel that life is improving all the time. Sure we have our crosses to bear and, now that we live in Canada, our bears to cross but if I had the chance to live it all again, would I do the same? Would I make the same choices? Well, if I was going to make different choices I would have to be aware that I was living it all again in the first place otherwise I would definately live my life the same way. But other than a few little tweeks here and there, like working harder at school and not partying so much during my first year at University I'm not sure I would have done anything differntly. Well, I might have completed a MBA before the kids came along but I wasn't working for a company that would have had the foresight to pay for my way through the experience.

I would have gone to Spike Island, I would have gone to see Nirvana before their career took off, REM and the Black Crowes in their early years and the Smiths when I was still at school.

I would have read more. More of the classics that I am reading now so that I would had more books to tick off the Big Read list. But I am making up for that now.

So my Birthday was celebrated a couple of days late. I now have an iPod so that I don't have to borrow everyone elses and a great pair of headphones so that I can listen to the music as it was intended to be listened to. It's amazing how much these headphones improve the sound, although if you're going to buy a set, don't read the audiophile reviews. They are written by people who think the rest of us understand what they are writing about. The best reveiws ere those offered by ordinary people who reviewed their purchases on the Futureshop (think of a North American Dixons) website. Reviews I could understand.

My parents sent me a new version of Reckoning by REM with an extra disc of a concert from 1984. The other CD was the Plastic Beach by The Gorillaz. Now, that's a piece of audio art; an eclectic collection of different styles, guest performers and Mark E. Smith.

So where is all this leading to? Will we have a homeof our owwn to live in any time soon? If the exchange rate continues to remain where it is, no!! But I can't complain. I am enjoying my life here, the new friends we have met and the fact that the kids are growing in an environment that allows them to grow and develop in ways that the UK would never have allowed them to.

Here's to the next 40 years....just can't toast it with any alcohol. Hey ho.