Unexpected aspects of 2009:

• I didn’t expect that I would leave Amazon, nor that I would join Huawei.
• I didn’t expect that I would move from Seattle to Palo Alto. (In fact I never expected to live in California.)
• I didn’t expect that I would spend seven weeks of the year in China (as well as two weeks in England). And there’s going to be a lot more travel to come in 2010.
• I didn’t expect that I would become a car-owner again.

Overall, unexpected is good… it keeps you on your toes.It can be tiring, of course: it’s hard to relax into a routine. It’s been a year of learning, in all sorts of ways. I wonder what the corresponding list for 2010 will look like.