This week I’ve been:
- Recovering from jetlag. I was in Toronto last week for the Mozilla All-Hands and coming back (i.e. forwards in time) is always a bit rough.
- Ending #LettingGrow. I wrote about that decision here. I now have significantly less hair.
- Chillin’ out maxin’ relaxin’ all cool (well, my version of it at least). It was Bank Holiday Monday and then I took four days’ holiday from work so I’ve been off all week.
- Collaborating with Vinay Gupta on Firecloud after we got the go-ahead from the Mozilla Hatchery to develop the idea further.
- Ordering a Firefox OS phone. As a Mozilla employee I’ll get one eventually anyway, but they’re also offering them for free now to those willing to use the device as a ‘daily driver’. I’m in.
- Trying to figure out my tax return (it was corporation tax for the now-defunct Synechism Ltd). I am not a details man.
- Looking after the children while my wife does some marking for Edexcel.
- Playing a lot of Battlefield 3. I am quite possibly the world’s deadliest virtual sniper.
- Putting on 6lbs in weight. Eating healthily and exercising haven’t been high on my agenda this week!
Next week I’m presenting on Open Badges at the CILIPS conference up in Dundee on Tuesday, getting stuck back into the Web Literacy standard work, and going into Seaton Burn College on Friday to talk badges.
Update: I’ve heard back from 90% of the people who donated to #LettingGrow, all of whom have said they don’t want me to ask Cancer Research to return their donations. Given how overwhelming the response has been, and the difficulty of getting a refund for people, I’ll only now do so if asked specifically. I hope that’s OK!
It is with huge regret that I announce that I cannot continue with my #LettingGrow campaign. I had fully intended to not cut my hair or beard for the entirety of 2013 but, for reasons personal and professional, I shaved my hair and beard last night.
I am looking into ways to refund everyone who so kindly donated to Cancer Research UK. However, JustGiving makes it extremely difficult to do so:
Online Giving – we run and maintain a website that processes donations on behalf of the charities featured on it. For this service, and the support we provide to them and their supporters, charities pay us a transaction fee of up to 5% on the donation. Because we promptly pay donations to charities, we regret that we can only refund a donation if the charity expressly requests it, and they can pay us back. Please get in touch with the charity first.
During the period of growing my hair and beard, I learned many things about myself and others, not least that:
- people are much more likely to strike up random conversations
- international travel is a lot more difficult when you look significantly different from your passport
- I should have talked through my plans my nearest and dearest before taking the plunge
A sincere and heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated. I pledge to refund everyone who donated, even if it means it coming out of my own money.
UPDATE: #LettingGrow is now over (explanation here) Thanks for the donations!
“The more it grows, tiddly pom, the more it goes, tiddly pom, on growing.” (with apologies to Winnie the Pooh)
Two months down, ten to go…
