Dave Olsen… writing about stuff.

I was meant to be at The Gadget Show Live the other day. I was going to write a huge blog about the event and the extensive range of technological delights that would occupy it.

Unfortunately I can’t do that as I didn’t go. Why not? I’m not entirely sure.

I think part of it was down to having to travel to Birmingham on my own. Make no mistake, I have no problem with Birmingham. I do have a problem with 7 o’clock coach rides on my lonesome. Mostly because they can be boring as hell (or as was the case of my last coach trip, I could fall asleep on some old lady’s shoulder and drool and thus make it a bit more eventful).

I think it’s more likely down to my dislike of false pretenses.

I suppose I should clarify.

In order to get my ticket for the event I had to be there on behalf of a company. Now it’s true that I’m a company director of Ask Me Tomorrow Productions Ltd, but what’s also true is that I’m in no position to buy loads of expensive tech for said company.

But I don’t think that’s the case either.

I think the biggest, baddest reason that I didn’t bundle myself onto a coach and engage in a geek orgy of tech is that I don’t consider myself in that circle of “professionals and press” like I felt I needed to be. I’m a consumer. I’d love to be more than that, but for now I’m still just a consumer.

Oh well… I guess I’ll just go and read Engadget some more.

The decade’s nearly over. That means that it’ll be 2010 before you know it. If I had to pick the one thing that matters the most to me in 2010 it would be my birthday. Not just because it’s my birthday, but because it’s the big number twenty-five. It’s the last big milestone birthday before you hit thirty. Sixteen, eighteen and twenty-one are all long gone and that means that it’s time to take stock of my life.

Ten years ago, I was still new at an English high school. I split my time between trying to fit in and trying to stand out. Six years ago, I was dropping out of Manchester Metropolitan University. Back then I was sure that this was the right idea. Well, the jury’s still out on that one. Two and a half years ago, I was moving out of my parents’ home. This time for good, I promised. One year ago, I was sporting a particularly nice ginger beard.

Okay, so not everything listed above is particularly important.

So I’m rapidly approaching twenty-five and I don’t know if I have much to show for it. I haven’t done particularly well with the factors that usually define success: career, wealth and family. I work for a good company, earning a decent wage. Maybe there isn’t as much in the way of progression as I would hope for, but at least I’ve been comfortably employed throughout the recession. In terms of wealth I’m probably in about as much debt as the next guy, just with less to show for it. And my love life… Well that’s something that’s best left unspoken about (not because it’s terrible and seedy, but because it’s relatively non-existent).

I think all in all it’s not the getting older bit that bugs me; it’s the worry that I may not be achieving what I wish I was. Funnily enough not only do I not worry about ageing, I actually want to live to be one hundred and sixteen years old. If I do, I’ll have officially lived in three centuries. How about that for an awesome achievement?

So what are the goals to achieve before this (rather minor) milestone age? I should know them, but I’ve pretty much given up on birthday resolutions. I usually just rely on booze to be a comforting mistress at birthday time instead of planning my year ahead. Of course I do have life goals, but they’re mostly scheduled for around that next big milestone; the big three-oh. I’ll start worrying about them in four years time.

I think that what I’m trying to say (and at the same time, convince myself of) is that although birthdays cause you to pause and examine yourself (not physically), they shouldn’t be how you judge yourself or anyone else. I’ve met massively accomplished twenty-somethings (they make me jealous) and I’ve met middle-aged folks with nothing but their name (they make me worry). From now on, when you think about your age, don’t think about the number. Think about what you’ve done, who you’ve known, how you’ve changed. If the thoughts and memories that you conjure up make you smile then the number is no longer important. That’s how I’m going to work from now on. Happier birthdays.

Think about it.

Dave