Well, 2020 was quite the ride. The world knew its usual share of turmoil, but this time it was topped of with COVID-19. I hope you and everyone you know are doing well, but unfortunately many people know at least someone who suffered this disease and maybe even passed away because of it.

Because of this crisis, my main customer asked me to cut down the monthly work so that the costs can be reduced. Luckily, I have been following Jonathan Stark’s writings for a while and had been looking to diversify. This gave me the opportunity.

2020 gave me the opportunity (and challenge!) to record two new LinkedIn Learning courses. In fact, it’s the same course, but in two languages: Software Architecture: Patterns for Developers. The original is in English, but there’s a French version coming this or next month.

The French was a challenge, as was recording at home:

Other than that, I’ve succeeded in securing two contracts for tackling some legacy code. One is shifting a .NET application I’ve worked on to Google Cloud. Another is improving the performance of a Python application with MongoDB collections. Exciting!

On the home front, my wife finally convinced me to get a dog (not a spur-of-the-moment COVID-decision):

The last quarter of 2020 didn’t see much running, but I did manage to run a Bergham Run: 8km in 50 minutes or less with a 20kg backpack. I ran it in 49:

Back to IT stuff, we managed to host a few interesting sessions with Building Bruges, our local meetup group. COVID-19 got a bit in the way, but we hope to get back on track in 2021.

What else will 2021 bring? I hope to continue developing my business focussing on legacy code and technical debt. There are ideas (like a book), but nothing I want to commit to yet.

Once again, I wish you all the best for 2021!