Where did 2007 go? Plus my resolutions….
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2007. 12 months. 52 weeks. 365 days. Where the heck did it go?!
What a year. A year of big change.
It’s been an amazing year, and getting to the end of it, I feel better than ever! There has been some major changes in my life. Probably the biggest change was with work. I left a company that I had been with for 11 years. It was a huge relief. The last two years had been, well, pretty awful. An aggressive, fake, uninspiring environment and many people who I would not give the time of day to out of the office. Rewarded for subservience and toeing the line, it suddenly started to be a place where I did not want to be. Working with people who were bullies, with HUGE chips on their shoulders, on a daily basis put a big strain on me. A lost a huge amount of weight, and never felt truly happy.
What I don’t miss about working for that company:
- Meetings with no purpose and no agenda
- The incredibly low level of communication skills
- The total lack of computer skills - “how do I create a folder Jon?!”
- The lack of imagination
- The aggressive, bullying culture which was supposed to be stamped out but was actually made worse
- The mobile phone ringtones
- The conferences
- The politics
- The fact that 98% people don’t bother staying in touch when you leave
- There is a lot more!
Excitement and fun
So what now? Having left in August, I started getting my life back, and started to enjoy life again. Kate was an absolute star. She looked after me, gave me advice, loved me and made me smile. Every day. I owe her a BIG thanks. I am now working for someone I like, me! 
I’ ve started out on my own, and now work as a photographer (I’m in the process of updating jonmossphotography.com) and a Marketing Consultant (again, just started developing the website for theappleofmyi.com). It has been so much fun and so exciting to set up my own businesses and I have learnt a lot and continue to learn every day. I also have a couple of other projects on the go, which I will announce shortly! I’m really pumped and looking forward to progressing them!
Looking back on 2007
One of the nice things about writing a Blog is looking back and seeing what I did, so that is what I am going to do now!
January
The year started off with a great photo, and a post similar to this. We had the momentous news of Apple’s iPhone, which I waited 10 months for! Phil Schiller started showing off the fabled device and I started lusting about it. It is rare to know about something, that you know that you will be buying in 10 months time, with a concrete level of certainty.
February
Blogged about the new Apple Airport Extreme, and yes, I did get one! Now running a g and n network, so we have 3 devices on one network and 3 on the older g network. I also saw this Alpine Head unit and we’ve actually bought a couple of these, spooky!
March
The best sounding Porsche Carrera GT in the world, a great picture of the Orso Bianco in Sauze (where I am going very soon!), the Canon 1D MkII intro video (ended up getting this and it rocks!), Nick got his Ducati 1098s (called Dennis) and after quite a few hiccups, and very poor service from the dealership he bought it from, he finally started to enjoy it! I managed to convert 5 people over to Macs during the year, including our good friends, Richard and Nicky - Richard really was fed up with Windoze! There was another Apple purchase (surprise, surprise!) with the arrival of an Apple HiFi. This thing sounds awesome!
With my cleaning fetish, I always like looking at Method products from the States, and I even blogged about a new mop they have launched,a and Kate brought me one back for my birthday this year! Perhaps a resolution this year is less time spent on the Macs - I had a few late nights online during the year
I’m going to continue to look back at 2007 in the next few days as this is taking longer than anticipated! Lots more to cover:
- Trip to Oz (and the unplanned stay in Singapore!)
- Trip to Boston
- An Enzo moment
- NY and Warren, Connecticut
- Supercar Sunday
- Trip to the Nurburgring
- Starting a new business
- My business brands
- Leopard launch
- iPhone launch
For now, I am going to sign off for 2007 with what I am going to focus on in 2008, so I suppose these are my resolutions….
1. Enjoy every day with Kate - she is a star! (to put up with me!) 2. Give amazing value and benefit to clients, both for my marketing consultancy business and my photography
3. Get all my websites up and running
4. Exercise more
5. Eat more healthily
6. Do some charity work - probably for the local Animal welfare group
7. Go ski-ing 3 times
8. Manage our finances sensibly
9. Read more books
10. Generate £X per month so we can enjoy life! (I’ll let you decide what the X stands for!)
So, it’s nearly 11pm, and we have only one left of 2007. How do I feel going into 2008? Bloody great. Kate and I have a wonderful year ahead I am sure, and well beyond that. I cannot believe how much happier I feel now compared to at the beginning of the year. I really do feel a new person - exhilarated, excited and knowing that I can get up in the morning and enjoy what I do. That is something that I had stopped doing a long time ago, and it was crushing. Thanks goodness I have changed my life and feel so much better for it!
Have a great 2008, and many thanks for reading this blog! See you next year!! 
Technorati Tags: 2007, jonmoss, jonmossphotography.com, jonnymoss
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Fame at last - Jon Moss on the 37 signals blog!
37 Signals is a company who I really like. They produce superbly simple online applications to help you. I use Basecamp for project management and also Highrise for contact managment. I introduced a client to Highrise and they have found it to be very useful, and so I contacted 37 Signals and they have just featured me and the client, Ian Blowers Jewellers on their blog.
The 37 signals blog has over 3000 subscribers, so great publicity!
Technorati Tags: 37signals, ianblowersjewellers, jonmossphotography, theappleofmyi, theappleofmyi.com
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Spending time with your family
Well, it’s Christmas Eve once again. The year, starting slowly, has gradually accelerated to an incredible pace and it is approaching 2008.At this time of year, it is wonderful to be with family and friends.
Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, I received the terribly sad news that a someone who I had a great deal of respect for, had died of a heart attack. He was the father of two sons, both close friends, and husband to a lovely woman, kind and always smiling. I attended the funeral a few days ago, back where I used to live. Both sons spoke with respect, love and deep admiration for a man who was cruelly robbed of live.
What has really hit home for me, is that I don’t see my family enough, and that is something I am going to amend in 2008 and onwards. Spend time with the people you love, as one day, they will not be there.So, wherever you are, I hope you are with people you love and who love you. Merry Christmas to you all, have a wonderful holiday.
My link blog
Evening all!
Just a quick reminder, do have a look at my shared items page / link blog. It has some great stuff on it - I read a lot of blogs online, so save yourself sometime and pick up all the latest info on Macs, Apple, photography, marketing, technology and what is going on online!
Diet Coke - good for you?!
photo.jpg, originally uploaded by JonnyMoss.
This has got to be the greatest marketing spin ever!! It actually says for “vitality and wellbeing”! I’m not sure how their regulatory department signed this one off.
I think there is a valuable lesson here for custodians of brands, so that could be a big company, or a small business. What’s the lesson?
- Don’t try and push your brand’s limit TOO much. It just doesn’t work
Diet Coke - it is not good for you. Even if you add vitamins. It’s a bit like putting some extra lettuce on a juicy burger and trying to call it the health burger. Surely, the Coke marketing team are seriously underestimating their customers. Or are they?!
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Superb new T shirts!
Just ordered some of these from insanely great tees in NY - I’ve bought a few from them before and they are superb!
Technorati Tags: apple, insanelygreattees
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My Google Profile
Another new feature from the almighty Google - your profile. People can see it on your shared items page from Reader. You can access it from My Maps and also Mail.
It’s been mentioned many times by many people, but it still amazes me how much data holds about people, me included. Lets see… I use
- Google maps
- Gmail
- Google Reader
- Google docs
- the list goes on!
That is a lot of info! Does it worry me?
Not yet.
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New DAB radio
New DAB radio, originally uploaded by JonnyMoss.
I haven’t seen this before. Made by Vita Audio and it looks rathernice. We have a Tivoli Pal which is excellent and one of the firstPure Evoke DAB radios. Perfect for Radio 4 in the morning.Does anyone else use a DAB product?
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If I could have any watch right now ….
It would have to be this AP Rubens Barrichello special edition. I love the design of this watch! The black face and crown offset by the funky colours. Unfortunately, I have a feeling it costs £10K, if not more! Hmmmm….. donations , anyone?!
For something that you will use, and see everyday, design is critical. So for me, those things that come under that category are:
- Home phones
- Mobile phone
- Computer
- Car
- Light switches
- Bags
- Keyboards
What do you think? What do you really use everyday which needs to work well, feel good and make sense when using?
Technorati Tags: AP, barrichello, rubens, watches
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Lambo time
I have finally had a little time to process and sort out the 1000 + photos I took when I went to the ‘Ring back in October. I’ve put the first day’s photos up so far, so please have a look!
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