Well, it’s finally here. A new year. Given the absolute terribleness of 2020, I don’t really think much worse can happen, short of maybe Kim Jong Un pulling the trigger on a nuclear barrage.
And what a crappy year it was. My brother Tim died, the COVID-19 pandemic started and continues to rage, I found out I have type-2 diabetes, I’m about to go in for cataract surgery, and we’ve been assailed the past 4 years by history’s absolutely worst president (who just recently got handed his SECOND impeachment). Pretty bad overall. And so…good riddance!
There have been some positives tho, and I am always looking for the positives. I have a wonderful family and awesome friends. I have my health…well, pretty much…it sucks getting older. I am still working for an awesome company (Apple), a vaccine for the COVID virus has started to be distributed, and Sheila and I started building an airplane as our “pandemic project” (yes, a real one. see our RV7 blog), as well as buying a really cool travel trailer.
So, mixed bag, really, but definitely awful overall. This next year HAS to be better.
What do I see is in store for 2021? Well, I’ve been working at home since May, which hasn’t been that bad at all. We will probably head back to the office some time this year. Not a bad thing. In some ways it will definitely be a return to normal, although I do hope that if anything, this past 9 months have shown that working from home is viable. I only hope that because I still have an almost 2 hour commute to and from work, and it’d be nice to maybe work from home occasionally going foward.
As far as my “resolutions” for 2021, I am still carrying forward a few from the past New Years. I want to focus more on my health, which is becoming more evident as I get older. Being a programmer/computer worker means a lot of sitting on my ass, and I need to balance that out with activities that will keep my healthy. We’ve already spent a good deal of money on our home gym…I just need to kick myself into using it.
I’ve been some volunteer work, but with the exception of the Civil Air Patrol, they benefit me primarily. I’d like to extend myself and find more causes that help others. I don’t know what that will look like, outside of donating money, but I’ve always wanted to do something along the lines of Houses for Humanity, where I can go get my hands dirty, with the benefit being completely external.
Another thing on the list is getting back into the cockpit. I haven’t flown in years, and I really do enjoy it (and I’m part of an organization with “Air Patrol” in it’s name!). I DID manage to take 2 flights in the previous month, in my squadron’s beautiful new Cessna 172, which has an all-glass cockpit. It was my first flying in ages, and part of preparing to become certified as a CAP pilot. Seeing that we’re building an airplane of our own, I figured it might be a good idea to get proficient again.
I’d also like to tack on my instrument flying rating as well. I suspect I’ve become a bit more sensitive to risk as I’ve gotten older, and part of mitigating the flying risk is becoming a better pilot. Few things boost that more than advancing your aeronautical ratings.
There will be more trips to Cleveland. This wasn’t only a resolution, but now a necessity. Mom is now by herself, save for a few of our family members with beautiful hearts who check in on her. I’ve been keeping in contact with her as much as possible, and she’s having a hard time adapting, but I want to do everything I can to carry on Tim’s legacy of taking care of her. He was amazing at that. Much more than I think he’d give himself credit for.
Other than that, I really look forward to spending quality time with my wife, especially continuing on with the RV trips we were doing before the pandemic. We both really enjoy getting out and about, camping out in nature and exploring our gorgeous country.
I’m upbeat about 2021. I think things will get better, and this time next year I hope to have to read this post to recall the terrible year that was 2020.
