State of the Matthew Address 2023

I am alive and well. As this is the baseline for me to give an address we will move swiftly on.

Regarding my Health

I am currently a bit fatter than I need to be. This appears to be a constant. I'll enter the new year at thirteen and a half stones give or take a pound. No need to worry as I am lighter than when I began my work to reduce my weight last May and will be that much closer in this year's attempt to get down to the magical NHS condoned ideal weight of eleven stone and eleven pounds.

I have continued in my thinking that I want to climb something seriously high one day. I need to overcome some seriously large problems most prominent being funding at the current moment. But I'm keen to get stuck in. I have taken the up the challenge of climbing at least one Munro a month in 2022 and did a solid job. I'll continue this in 2023.

Alcohol consumption was higher in 2022, but not like it was in years gone by. I'd like to change the type of alcohol I drink, still working on drinking whiskey. With time I'll get it.

Regarding my Professional Life

It seems this year has seen the end to the spell checker project, it just kind of seemed to go quietly into the night. And I finished an MVP with a self sustaining business and moved along to a new project making a keyboard for bliss symbols.

2023 will see work towards perhaps smaller projects or perhaps a weather app. It hasn't been decided yet.

Regarding my Personal Interests

Towards the end of 2022 my book got a bit left behind. I am planning that 2023 will be the year I get a solid rough draft together.

As for photography I still work hard every week to produce some kind of images. I submitted to the Scottish Landscape of the Year Competition and was commended but the competition is poorly run. I will attempt the British Landscape Photographer of the Year. Less chance of me being recognized this year, but hopefully a better run competition.

Regarding my Travel

I got to see France and Morocco this past year. 2023 will hopefully let me see Germany and Norway. My traveling is starting to pick up.

Regarding my Volunteering

Tayside Re-Users continues to move forward and has ventured into advertising. This year I'll need to focus on membership of the organisation.

Regarding my Education

I have been thundering along on my Russian instruction. I even managed to take a course from the University of St. Andrews. It didn't go as well as I had hoped, I still came away with a very high mark, but the experience was dismal. I think I will continue to learn on my own, hopefully up to a very basic conversational level and then seek to take Russian speakers out for coffee and basic conversations to build my tongue and ear in the language.

I have focused most of my effort on Russian, but have given some time to learning a few software development skills. Nothing to write home about, but there it is.

Regarding my Finances

I am very comfortable at the moment. I could always be more comfortable, but I seem to be doing OK. All money is now focused on digging ourselves out of debt incurred in Louise's education, should take most of the year, but will be worth it when we arrive.

In other news I am midway through the application for a UK citizenship. I believe strongly that I have a strong application and would expect everything to go right through, however I am in a constant state of worry about the outcome. There is so much money tied up in this application I would not be very happy to miss out because of a technicality especially since the process is about as clear as thick fog.

Regarding the Future

I am strong, I am fit and I will keep moving forward.