The bucket list

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Andy tagged me in his post, after getting tagged by Jeff.  So, in no particular order, here’s my "bucket list".

1. Get in better shape.  Four of my friends have had heart attacks in the last three years, the latest being Om Malik. Fortunately three of the four weren’t fatal. I’m overweight, with high cholesteral, sedentary, the right age for a heart attack, and not getting any younger. It’s time to get serious about being healthy.
2. Create more.  As a high school student I dreamt of being a writer, a musician, a software developer and a film maker. I’ve been in the software industry for my entire working life,  and blogging has been a wonderful outlet for the past five years.  I have a hankering to get back to more of my first loves, though.  Someday I’ll write a novel instead of 1,000 words at a time on a web site.  This year I’d like to make some video, or write some music.
3. Finish my garden.  Janice and I have put huge gardens into all of our homes.  This one is no exception, but the front yard hasn’t been landscaped yet, and the backyard is still a work in progress.
4. Enjoy my wife and children.  High stress job, lots of hours… sure I see them, but I don’t spend as much time with them as I could. That hurts.  And while I am at it, spend more time with the extended family – brothers, parents, in-laws.
5. Build an enduring company and brand.  So many startups fade into oblivion.  Every so often, however, a big idea comes along and takes the world by storm.  What will it take to make iotum that enduring?
6. Hike.  Living in the Pacific Northwest attuned me to the joys of long distance hiking.  There’s nothing like setting out to walk 60 or 70 miles in the wilderness, emerging a week later dirty, triumphant and full of wonder. I’d like to get one or two weekend backpacking trips in over the summer.
7. Dive.  For our children, a rite of passage upon reaching age 12 has been earning a divers license.  Five of us dive now. This year I hope to be able to help Michael earn his divers license.   When all seven of us can dive, I’ve fantasized about a week of diving on a live aboard in the South Pacific, and on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
8. Fix up the basement.  When we moved into this house in 2001, we had the basement finished.  8 years later, it’s got 8 years of living on it.  It needs paint, a new floor, ceiling and wall repairs (five boys are hard on a house), and some new doors.
9. Write software again.  The last code I wrote was in 1987.  Since then it’s been spreadsheet macros and blog templates only.  I’ve got some ideas that need real code though.  It’s time to learn a modern programming language and commit them to code.
10. Go to Quebec City for the 400th Anniversary celebrations.  This year is the 400th year since the founding of Quebec City, making it the oldest city in Canada.  Not only is it a spectacular and beautiful city, but the whole country is gearing up for a massive celebration. 

Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.