Year in Review: 2021
First off - Happy New Year everyone :)
Well, another year has passed so I will continue the tradition of posting its highlights - I have to use my account for something, right?
Should just state that after a year and a half of the lockdown nonsense in New York City I’ve decided to move. Twelve years in my Queen’s apartment, outside my family home that’s the longest I’d lived in one location. Will I miss it? Yeah… I guess, though it’s more of missing what it was not what it had become during the lockdown. Things I loved were being shed over that time until all there was left was living on my own - gym membership gone, running with NYRR and NYC Runs gone, charity/volunteering gone, those random events I’d attend like the black light slide gone, going to restaurants and bars… well a lot of favorites disappeared, general enjoyment of the city severely diminished, and frankly seeing people in the city was diminished/gone. And when you are working from home it becomes a question of why am I paying so much to live here? The city feels dead :(
Work
The hours have been grueling but there aren’t too many things to mention. My coworker Eric who was very reliable and a wealth of information in this group (as previously mentioned I made the transfer to this group in August 2020) well… he decided to transfer to a different group back in May. Sounds like he made the right decision, far more consistent hours and workload… honestly I’m jealous. So after he left I found my workload increased by quite a bit. They added some personnel later in the year but it really hasn’t helped the hours I work (training people is not really the strong point of this company and I find myself doing a lot of the training of Jessica, one of the new hires, especially since my workload as I’ve said keeps me exhausted) and she doesn’t have the same background so it’s not just showing her the reports you have to teach her how to use the systems to run the report me not to mention teach her to be more detail oriented and paranoid about checking the numbers.
So we’ll see where this leads, it doesn’t look sustainable from this point in time.
Conventions
None at all this year, sadly I’d say the first year for this to happen in the time I’ve been making these year in review posts.
Trips
Not much to report but more than nothing at least. So as mentioned last year my 20 year college reunion was pushed back due to the lockdowns so I attended it this year, in August rather than the usual June.
The reunion was pretty toned down. No morning race, no wine tasting, library was closed, didn’t really recognize anyone else in attendance… But I did see a new building that has finally been finished (the outside at least) that was under construction the previous time I was on campus; spent a bit wandering around campus a bit. There were some changes that didn’t like (like their adding a giant “Fiat Lux” art thing outside the Campus Center) though overall still enjoyed attending.
Once again I visited my cousin Carlise during my college reunion, her husband wasn’t doing so great and the rest of her family was out of town so we ate dinner at her place, didn’t get a chance to take a picture of them for my parents because Bill wasn’t feeling well and he excused himself early (he’s doing fine but was just exhausted that day).
Unfortunately no word on my 25th High School reunion so that didn’t happen.
Friends
Between my move out of the city, pressures of the lockdown, and probably general atmosphere of things I find myself moving on from some previous acquaintances and mostly estranged friends. But I’ve kinda reached a point where I guess I just don’t care as much anymore, if people decide they can’t be friends with me then I guess… goodbye. I’m not going to waste energy on anyone who can’t be bothered to focus on where we share common interests and would rather fixate on differences. So enough on that.
My new home I’m living close to friends I’ve known for decades and I’m looking forward to seeing them more. My friend Dave has started his gamefests back up so I’ve been more involved in them more. Been out to eat with pretty much everyone I know who is within driving distance.
It’ll also be nice to be able to see my nephew more. Honestly it was exhausting traveling from the city to upstate. I would leave Friday nights, only have Saturday to choose between doing something with friends or family, then spend much of Sunday just returning to my apartment - glad I won’t have to deal with that anymore.
Health/Fitness
The operation I had last year didn’t fix anything, honestly pain got worse. Tried a prp injection, that didn’t do anything. At one point my podiatrist suggested the remaining sesamoid bone might not have gotten enough blood and the bone could have died. She suggested a different podiatrist and he felt a similar diagnosis so in December I had the remaining bone removed. It’s not a pleasant prospect because there are consequences to taking it out, such as reduced mobility in the big toe but… if it helps with the pain I’ve been experiencing it should be worth it but I’m still recovering so it’ll be awhile before I know the results :/
Finance
Last year I really built up my stock portfolio, this year I decided to try another tact - buying physical silver and gold. So I’ve begun adding some of that though in small bursts because at heart I want to continue to have enough of an emergency fund of cash if anything unexpected happens… and the way things have been going these days even preparing for the worst would probably only dull but not prevent pain. With inflation especially… who knows what is coming our way, a year ago I felt confident in what I’ve saved but now I don’t know if any amount could be enough. Anyway, continuing to flesh out my 401k, and continuing last year’s attempt to also add some to an IRA as well.
Entertainment
Several years ago I spotted a cute looking kids book at the library (one of the Dragonbreath series) which I checked out - it was a cute book that was a quick read (yeah sometimes I will check out a book solely because of some cover art). Though it was in the middle of the series so I was missing a little bit of context. This year before I moved out I decided to read the remaining books in the series.
Along those lines there were a few book series I was trying to complete as well but couldn’t quite devote the necessary time to reading… so hopefully with whatever libraries I use in the future I can get those books.
There’s really no movies that stood out too much for me. I did enjoy watching Tenet and I will also say my first exposure to the Lupin the Third franchise - the Lupin III movie was quite entertaining as well.
I should also mention my Facebook account was erased. I strongly suspect a joke I made on a community got flagged incorrectly, I was told I had thirty days to appeal the decision which I did but heard nothing back (so I don’t think the decision was reviewed). During that time my account basically didn’t exist so I couldn’t salvage anything before it eventually ended up no longer existing. So all those pictures, any groups I created, anything I posted or shared anywhere just vanished. I was pretty bummed and came to the decision I was just done with the website. But a friend who was using the Messenger to organize hangouts asked me to create a new account do I could be a part of that. I relented and created a new account, I thought I might try to recreate my old account but the fun is gone so it’s more of a placeholder than anything. I couldn’t even get the energy to re-add everyone I had listed as friends before (some have accounts locked so sending a request is difficult, and some I can never add - people who have passed away (RTR and JBadger are two who come to mind). So I don’t know anymore, it’s more of that feeling of apathy and pointlessness that the lockdowns have exacerbated.
Next year…
I won’t even seriously consider new year’s resolutions, if anything it would likely have to be losing weight and perhaps crossing off some things I’ve been wanting to do for years (writing more, creating my face photo a day video, perhaps play some more games I’ve bought) if I’m going to attempt anything realistic.
The world seems to be madness these days so I don’t feel hopeful about the future anymore, just trying not to let the void swallow me. It feels hard to believe how different the world was two years ago and earlier.
Well, another year has passed so I will continue the tradition of posting its highlights - I have to use my account for something, right?
Should just state that after a year and a half of the lockdown nonsense in New York City I’ve decided to move. Twelve years in my Queen’s apartment, outside my family home that’s the longest I’d lived in one location. Will I miss it? Yeah… I guess, though it’s more of missing what it was not what it had become during the lockdown. Things I loved were being shed over that time until all there was left was living on my own - gym membership gone, running with NYRR and NYC Runs gone, charity/volunteering gone, those random events I’d attend like the black light slide gone, going to restaurants and bars… well a lot of favorites disappeared, general enjoyment of the city severely diminished, and frankly seeing people in the city was diminished/gone. And when you are working from home it becomes a question of why am I paying so much to live here? The city feels dead :(
Work
The hours have been grueling but there aren’t too many things to mention. My coworker Eric who was very reliable and a wealth of information in this group (as previously mentioned I made the transfer to this group in August 2020) well… he decided to transfer to a different group back in May. Sounds like he made the right decision, far more consistent hours and workload… honestly I’m jealous. So after he left I found my workload increased by quite a bit. They added some personnel later in the year but it really hasn’t helped the hours I work (training people is not really the strong point of this company and I find myself doing a lot of the training of Jessica, one of the new hires, especially since my workload as I’ve said keeps me exhausted) and she doesn’t have the same background so it’s not just showing her the reports you have to teach her how to use the systems to run the report me not to mention teach her to be more detail oriented and paranoid about checking the numbers.
So we’ll see where this leads, it doesn’t look sustainable from this point in time.
Conventions
None at all this year, sadly I’d say the first year for this to happen in the time I’ve been making these year in review posts.
Trips
Not much to report but more than nothing at least. So as mentioned last year my 20 year college reunion was pushed back due to the lockdowns so I attended it this year, in August rather than the usual June.
The reunion was pretty toned down. No morning race, no wine tasting, library was closed, didn’t really recognize anyone else in attendance… But I did see a new building that has finally been finished (the outside at least) that was under construction the previous time I was on campus; spent a bit wandering around campus a bit. There were some changes that didn’t like (like their adding a giant “Fiat Lux” art thing outside the Campus Center) though overall still enjoyed attending.
Once again I visited my cousin Carlise during my college reunion, her husband wasn’t doing so great and the rest of her family was out of town so we ate dinner at her place, didn’t get a chance to take a picture of them for my parents because Bill wasn’t feeling well and he excused himself early (he’s doing fine but was just exhausted that day).
Unfortunately no word on my 25th High School reunion so that didn’t happen.
Friends
Between my move out of the city, pressures of the lockdown, and probably general atmosphere of things I find myself moving on from some previous acquaintances and mostly estranged friends. But I’ve kinda reached a point where I guess I just don’t care as much anymore, if people decide they can’t be friends with me then I guess… goodbye. I’m not going to waste energy on anyone who can’t be bothered to focus on where we share common interests and would rather fixate on differences. So enough on that.
My new home I’m living close to friends I’ve known for decades and I’m looking forward to seeing them more. My friend Dave has started his gamefests back up so I’ve been more involved in them more. Been out to eat with pretty much everyone I know who is within driving distance.
It’ll also be nice to be able to see my nephew more. Honestly it was exhausting traveling from the city to upstate. I would leave Friday nights, only have Saturday to choose between doing something with friends or family, then spend much of Sunday just returning to my apartment - glad I won’t have to deal with that anymore.
Health/Fitness
The operation I had last year didn’t fix anything, honestly pain got worse. Tried a prp injection, that didn’t do anything. At one point my podiatrist suggested the remaining sesamoid bone might not have gotten enough blood and the bone could have died. She suggested a different podiatrist and he felt a similar diagnosis so in December I had the remaining bone removed. It’s not a pleasant prospect because there are consequences to taking it out, such as reduced mobility in the big toe but… if it helps with the pain I’ve been experiencing it should be worth it but I’m still recovering so it’ll be awhile before I know the results :/
Finance
Last year I really built up my stock portfolio, this year I decided to try another tact - buying physical silver and gold. So I’ve begun adding some of that though in small bursts because at heart I want to continue to have enough of an emergency fund of cash if anything unexpected happens… and the way things have been going these days even preparing for the worst would probably only dull but not prevent pain. With inflation especially… who knows what is coming our way, a year ago I felt confident in what I’ve saved but now I don’t know if any amount could be enough. Anyway, continuing to flesh out my 401k, and continuing last year’s attempt to also add some to an IRA as well.
Entertainment
Several years ago I spotted a cute looking kids book at the library (one of the Dragonbreath series) which I checked out - it was a cute book that was a quick read (yeah sometimes I will check out a book solely because of some cover art). Though it was in the middle of the series so I was missing a little bit of context. This year before I moved out I decided to read the remaining books in the series.
Along those lines there were a few book series I was trying to complete as well but couldn’t quite devote the necessary time to reading… so hopefully with whatever libraries I use in the future I can get those books.
There’s really no movies that stood out too much for me. I did enjoy watching Tenet and I will also say my first exposure to the Lupin the Third franchise - the Lupin III movie was quite entertaining as well.
I should also mention my Facebook account was erased. I strongly suspect a joke I made on a community got flagged incorrectly, I was told I had thirty days to appeal the decision which I did but heard nothing back (so I don’t think the decision was reviewed). During that time my account basically didn’t exist so I couldn’t salvage anything before it eventually ended up no longer existing. So all those pictures, any groups I created, anything I posted or shared anywhere just vanished. I was pretty bummed and came to the decision I was just done with the website. But a friend who was using the Messenger to organize hangouts asked me to create a new account do I could be a part of that. I relented and created a new account, I thought I might try to recreate my old account but the fun is gone so it’s more of a placeholder than anything. I couldn’t even get the energy to re-add everyone I had listed as friends before (some have accounts locked so sending a request is difficult, and some I can never add - people who have passed away (RTR and JBadger are two who come to mind). So I don’t know anymore, it’s more of that feeling of apathy and pointlessness that the lockdowns have exacerbated.
Next year…
I won’t even seriously consider new year’s resolutions, if anything it would likely have to be losing weight and perhaps crossing off some things I’ve been wanting to do for years (writing more, creating my face photo a day video, perhaps play some more games I’ve bought) if I’m going to attempt anything realistic.
The world seems to be madness these days so I don’t feel hopeful about the future anymore, just trying not to let the void swallow me. It feels hard to believe how different the world was two years ago and earlier.