Year in review, 2024

In the spirit of the tradition I started in 2022, the time has come to summarize the past year. Although this text is publicly available, it was written primarily with myself in mind – as a form of personal retrospection and a lasting record of events, challenges, and joyful moments that shaped the last twelve months. Over this period, I have already reached back to my previous summaries several times, and I have no doubt I will return to this one as well in the future.

I do not intend to treat this text as a list of praises or a celebration of achievements. Instead, it is a sincere record of memories, reminiscent of a page from a personal diary, to preserve the experiences and feelings of the passing year, 2024.

True to the saying third time’s a charm, for the third time I am using this form of summary, which has already established its own structure. Just like in previous years, I divided the whole thing into:

• Career
• Failures
• Talks and Publications
• Travel - this is probably the most interesting section, especially for those outside IT ??
• Concerts
• Books
• Shopping
• Other

Career

Practically nothing has changed here. I’m still working with TT PSC as an AWS Architect, and while running my own business, I continue to expand my services in the area of optimizing AWS usage costs.

Successes

Among the most significant successes, I can list:

• Identifying the greatest AWS cost savings of my career – USD 5.897 million
• Conducting several successful AWS Cost Audits
• Establishing a relationship with a Software House in the cost optimization area
• Releasing as many as 13 new versions of the CloudPouch application. Expanding the Cost insights functionality to include more AWS services: S3, ECR, RDS, as well as EC2 rightsizing.
• Selling ads in the Serverless Polska newsletter.
• Co-organizing the AWS User Group Wroc?aw https://aws.wroclaw.pl
• Reviving and co-organizing the Serverless Wroc?aw meetup https://serverless.wroclaw.pl

Failures

Sales, sales, sales. No progress compared to last year when it comes to CloudPouch.

• I participated in a very expensive training program aimed at developing CloudPouch sales – money down the drain. A higher price tag doesn’t always mean better quality ??
• Very few clients for the AWS Cost Audit service

You might think that in today’s world, where savings are a priority, anything that can seriously reduce unnecessary IT costs should sell like hotcakes. And yet, it doesn’t.

• I didn’t get around to creating a website promoting FinOps Training – there is no information about it on the internet.
• Lack of engagement in Serverless Wroc?aw Meetup (we organized only 3 meetings, thanks to Darek for his involvement)

Talks and Publications

Summarizing the year 2024, I delivered 9 live talks at conferences and meetups. In addition, I co-organized three Serverless Wroc?aw events and ten AWS UG Wroc?aw meetings. We also cannot forget about the (almost) regular weekly sending of Poland’s largest newsletter dedicated to AWS and serverless (31 issues).

List of talks and publications:

1. The Gervais Principle: A Guide to Office Dynamics (January 1, 2024)
2. What’s New in AWS Cost Optimization? Talk at SysOps DevOps Wroclaw MeetUp (January 31, 2024)
3. Over a Million Dollars Saved – a case study of my cost optimization (February 10, 2024)
4. AWS Cost Optimization for a Busy Developer – talk at AWS Community Day in Warsaw (April 11, 2024)
5. Organized AWS CUDOS Workshops in Wroclaw as part of AWS UG Wroc?aw (May 20, 2024)
6. Recording of Pawe? Zubkiewicz Talks About Serverless and AWS Cost Reduction, a podcast with Pawe? Piwosz (July 9, 2024)
7. Prepared Report from the AWS Heroes Summit 2024 that took place in Seattle (July 15–19, 2024)
8. A talk at AWS UG Wroc?aw titled Industrialization and Other Mechanisms of the Public Cloud’s Evolution (August 20, 2024)
9. Blog post AWS Is Shutting Down Its Services – CodeCommit, I’ll miss you (September 23, 2024)
10. Serverless Testing with Pawel Zubkiewicz - Serverless Office Hours, the cyclical AWS webinar. My session focused on testing serverless applications. (October 29, 2024)
11. Talk at the 4Developers Wroc?aw conference on AWS Cost Optimization for a Busy Developer (November 5, 2024)
12. Blog post about AWS Card Clash, a Virtual Board Game for Cloud Fans (November 12, 2024)
13. Blog post Simplified SSO Profile Configuration in AWS CLI (November 15, 2024)
14. Talk Nothing is Cheap if It’s Unnecessary at Tech Talk by Capgemini (November 21, 2024)
15. Blog post Migration of AWS Organization: How I Did It and Why (November 24, 2024)
16. AWS re:Invent re:cap – a panel discussion at AWS User Group Wroc?aw (December 10, 2024)

Travel

I’m writing this text mainly for myself – as a keepsake that will let me return to the memories of my travels. At the same time, I hope it will inspire others to discover amazing places on our planet. It’s not about showing off; it’s about encouraging people to explore the world and its diversity.

In 2024, my travel story looks like this:

• Together with my wife, we started the year with our very first cruise. On the Costa Toscana, we had a wonderful voyage across the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. I really enjoyed the vibe of the ship, especially one operated by an Italian cruise line.

During the cruise, we visited three countries new to us: the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Oman.

• In early spring (March), we went on a short city break to Rome, focusing on visiting its most important monuments. We took in the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Of course, we couldn’t resist enjoying local specialties, such as pasta made with pecorino cheese or Supplì – a fried rice snack.

• In April, I fulfilled my dream of traveling to Japan. Before reaching Tokyo, we spent two days in Seoul, South Korea, which was merely a stopover on our way to our main destination. Japan had always been at the top of my list of places to visit, but I had never managed to get there before.

Describing Japan without sounding cliché is difficult – it’s a fascinating and diverse country, just waiting to be discovered and explored. A week is definitely too short to soak in all that Japan has to offer, including its unique cuisine available at every turn. We felt wonderful there. I truly hope I’ll get a chance to return.

• After the May weekend, we jumped over to Prague for a few days to watch the Ice Hockey World Championships. It was my first time seeing the matches live, and it was an unforgettable experience. Prague itself hasn’t changed much since my last visit, but if you haven’t been, it’s definitely worth exploring.

• For our next city break, we chose Copenhagen (May/June). This was also partly because we wanted to visit another country – Denmark. Copenhagen is a beautiful city full of charming buildings, bays, and canals lined with boats. It’s an ideal place for walking around, which we prefer. Unfortunately, it’s a very expensive city, but absolutely worth visiting. And the sweet kardamonki pastries from Buka bakery are divine!

• In June, I took part in a cycling camp in Bielsko-Bia?a – just like the year before. A mountain trip with the crew was unforgettable.

• In July, there was the AWS Summit (which I mentioned Relacja-z-AWS-Heroes-Summit-2024 here), giving me the opportunity to visit another place in the USA: Seattle. The city is beautifully situated on the water and has quite a charming vibe.

• During the summer (August), we decided to go on a coolcation – a holiday in a colder place rather than a hot destination. We chose Iceland, the land of fire and ice. It’s a stunning place that amazed us with its nature and allowed us to escape the noise of civilization and large crowds.

• To break up the October gloom, we spent one weekend in Andalusia, in Málaga and the surrounding area. Although Italy remains my favorite, Málaga was fantastic and, in some respects, even surpassed it.

• Late November and early December are traditionally the time of the re:Invent conference. For the fourth time, I visited Las Vegas to attend the event.

• The final trip of the year was a return to Rome – yes, for the second time in the same year. We went looking for a festive atmosphere and good pasta. ?? As for the Christmas spirit, Naples is better. You immediately feel the magic of the holidays as you walk through narrow streets filled with stalls reminiscent of our Christmas markets. Rome lacks that. But the Cacio e pepe pasta is out of this world and definitely worth coming back to the Eternal City for on a regular basis!

Summarizing, in 2024 I managed to visit 11 countries, 7 of them for the first time. At the end of the year, I note down in my personal journal a total of 55 visited countries.

Concerts

They’ve become a permanent fixture in these yearly recaps, as I really enjoy them – even if my favorite artists aren’t playing. Each one brought me plenty of joy, and I don’t want these precious memories to fade with time.

• Mystic Festival – a few days in Gdańsk (a wonderful event)
• Taco Hemingway – Wroc?aw
• Mr Big – Wroc?aw
• Adele – Munich
• Cannibal Corpse, Municipal Waste – Wroc?aw

Books

In 2023, I read quite a lot of books – by my standards – but this year, I don’t recall reading anything from cover to cover, especially if we exclude strictly technical books. The only exception is the new Witcher novel.

Shopping

I’m a bit of a trend-setter ??. I’ve heard that a few people, after reading my Mini-review of the ultra-wide Samsung LS49A950UIUXEN monitor bought that piece of equipment and are happy with their decision. These days, I’m not pushing for the purchase of that specific model – maybe new, better ones are out there – but as a guide to why it’s worth buying such a behemoth, the article is still relevant.

Riding the wave of positive feedback, I’ll reveal some other worthwhile purchases I’ve made.

• Visiting South Korea inspired me to buy a folding Samsung phone. There, literally 2 out of 3 people have a Flip or a Fold. Setting aside the fact that part of it might be show-off culture and different social norms, it did spark my interest in buying the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 in April. I agonized for a while about spending more than 5,000 PLN on it. After more than half a year, I can safely say I’m happy with the purchase.

It’s definitely a specific type of phone that requires the user to accept a few compromises (its weight is its biggest downside), but I’ve grown to like it a lot. Certainly, it’s not a device you can’t live without, but on the other hand, the convenience of having a bigger screen always at hand is huge. Since I bought it, I may have used my iPad only about three times. I haven’t even considered taking a tablet on vacation as my entertainment center. Even on airplanes, I prefer watching my own movies and series on the Fold rather than relying on whatever the airline provides. On the other hand, in everyday situations, like getting a PDF attachment with small lettering or wanting to view an entire month in a calendar, simply opening the phone makes it much more comfortable. If you like taking handwritten notes, you’ll appreciate the stylus functionality (the Samsung Notes app is decent). Personally, I only used the stylus during the Relacja-z-AWS-Heroes-Summit-2024 Summit in Seattle for a few days to take notes; day to day, I don’t really need it.

• Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro – bought on a good “Black Week” deal for 700 PLN. They are great. The best earbuds I’ve owned. Reviewers say AirPods sound even better, so I’m a bit jealous :-) but I don’t use an iPhone. Overall, I highly recommend them (and I think 700 PLN is a fair price – the launch price was sky-high).
• Elephant Wallet – a purchase from about eight years ago that I decided to highlight again. After eight years of daily use (see the Tweet below), it still works great and deserves recognition! It’s a carbon card wallet for credit cards, ID, and driver’s license. I recently bought replacement rubber bands, but the plates themselves are in perfect condition. I highly recommend this product from a Polish company!

Other

• Mastermind group – it’s still running, and we manage to meet, though unfortunately very irregularly.
• For the third year, I’ve been learning Italian ????. I get huge pleasure from it, treating it as a hobby, yet I’m still at the stage of not knowing how little I actually know. ;-)
• My amateur MTB training, under the guidance of an experienced coach, is now in its second year. I managed to jump off a drop that frightened me a year ago (I still have great respect for it!). There’s progress, but most importantly, it’s a lot of fun. ??

It has been a wonderful, successful year.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you found something of value in this post. Let me know if it inspired you in any way.

Wishing you a fantastic 2025! Pawe? Zubkiewicz