Capping off a roller coaster year

2011 was a roller coaster year. Here’s the year in review, in bullet points

* Sold off my iPhone 3G and purchased a Nexus S * Supposed long term US stay [gets cut short][1]. * 3+ years of work on project gone down the drain. On the upside, learnt quite a lot. * Met [Manaa][2] in person, after being a very close friend for 6+ years * Was [elected][3] as Community Moderator for one of the Stack Exchange sites, [Super User][4] * Wrote my [first Chrome Extension][5] to get around WebNonsense crap * Bad security practice [from the past][6] comes to haunt me. * [Quit 3i][7] and joined Logica at the middle of the year – after almost having joined TCS, rejected in final round of interview at Oracle & a bungled interview at Société Générale. * Did a short term stint [in Bangalore][8] for training at Logica * My beloved Nexus S [got stolen][9], purchased a iPhone 3GS from [Shivaranjan][10] as it’s replacement * Went on a road trip to Goa with [Appy][11], [AshwinSid][12] and [SwaroopH][13] during the middle of the rainy season. * Test drove the Swift & Figo. Waited for the new Swift to arrive in market and then went and booked the Ford Figo. Swift’s price put it out of my budget & couldn’t wait 6+ months for the Swift

* Gatecrashed [Ravi’s][16] wedding. * Ran all over Chennai in trying to get the paperwork & formalities done for the car loan * Car loan got disbursed, did the payment, only to be told, couple days before taking delivery that I will be relocated to Bangalore * Cancelled car booking, return loan since re-registration of TN car in KA === heavy losses. Total damages: 2.3k(loan processing fees) + 4k (first month interest) * Got a [permanent transfer][17] to Bangalore! (woohoo!) [Ashwinsid][12] & [9_6][18] welcome me [in style][19]. * Moved to a 1BHK house [on rent][20]. Much thanks to [Dkris][21] for allowing me to stay at his house and give expert tips on house hunting. * Watched [Poets of the Fall perform with front row, centre stage][22] view at The Great Indian Octoberfest * Got [clicked][23] for [#TAD365][24], thanks [Roycin][25]! * Met [GeekGod][26] & [Waste-u Photographer][27], [Waste-u Photographer][27]’s [bitch][28] and [Frequent Flyer Manish][29] * Finally, welcomed the New Year at a [far-away coffee estate in Chikmagalur][30].

Gadgets bought/acquired/reviewed

* [Kingston V100 SSDNow 128GB SSD][31] * [Belkin Gold 8-socket Surge Protector][32] * [Mugen Extended Battery][33] for the Nexus S * iPhone 3GS * [Razer Goliathus Omega Control Gaming Pad][34] * [DLink DSL-2520 ADSL Router][35] * [Dell UltraSharp U2312HM][36] 23” IPS Screen * [Lava S12][37] Android phone

Overall, a fab year. Happy New Year – and best wishes for the year ahead.

[1]: https://sathyabh.at/2010/12/26/of-thanksgiving-trip-gadget-overloads-cancelled-christmas-trip-back-to-india/ [2]: https://twitter.com/#!/khatteemithi [3]: https://blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/02/welcome-our-new-trilogy-moderators-for-2011/ [4]: https://superuser.com [5]: https://sathyabh.at/2011/02/04/websense-redirect-my-first-chrome-extension/ [6]: https://sathyabh.at/2011/05/09/my-unmonitored-gmail-account-gets-compromised/ [7]: https://sathyabh.at/2011/04/22/goodbye-3i/ [8]: https://sathyabh.at/2011/05/15/bangalored/ [9]: https://sathyabh.at/2011/08/07/of-dead-hard-drives-stolen-phones-icici-bank-dumbassery/ [10]: https://twitter.com/shivaranjan [11]: https://twitter.com/unitechy [12]: https://twitter.com/ashwinsid [13]: https://twitter.com/SwaroopH [14]: https://twitter.com/#!/hiway [15]: https://twitter.com/#!/mloclam [16]: https://twitter.com/#!/ravim85 [17]: https://twitter.com/SathyaBhat/statuses/110975285003948032 [18]: https://twitter.com/9_6 [19]: https://twitter.com/#!/ashwinsid/statuses/115301206611595264 [20]: https://twitter.com/ashwinsid/statuses/120438958848094208 [21]: https://twitter.com/dkris [22]: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sathyabhat/sets/72157628124234656/ [23]: https://www.flickr.com/photos/roycin/6314736600/in/faves-sathyabhat/ [24]: https://t.royc.in/ [25]: https://twitter.com/#!/roycind [26]: https://twitter.com/rambinggeek [27]: https://www.facebook.com/RishPhotography [28]: https://twitter.com/e_anurag [29]: https://twitter.com/m4n1sh [30]: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sathyabhat/sets/72157628673244635/ [31]: https://sathyabh.at/2011/03/29/installing-the-kingston-v100-ssdnow-128gb-ssd-on-a-hp-envy-14/ [32]: https://www.belkin.com/in/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=481734 [33]: https://sathyabh.at/2011/07/14/mugen-extended-battery-for-the-nexus-s-review/ [34]: https://www.flipkart.com/gaming/mousepads/itmdyfyduhuv5za6?affid=sathyasath [35]: https://www.flipkart.com/computers/network-components/routers/itmd2a539czjjnrh?affid=sathyasath [36]: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sathyabhat/tags/2312hm [37]: https://techie-buzz.com/mobile-news/lava-s12-review.html