I’m a week late with this post but, as I said in my review, 2020 sucked so better late than never! As a result of the unusual circumstances and the shutdowns, the increased stress interfered a bit with my 2020 goals. While I know that merely changing years won’t eliminate the virus or the stress it causes, I’m hopeful that this year won’t be as awful as last year. We are ahead of the virus and there are at least two vaccines that are FDA approved (as of the time of this writing). I’m looking forward to getting back out to the zoo and the ballpark. Therefore the first of my 2021 New Years intentions is to remain hopeful and optimistic about this year.
Biggs Labs – Smart Home/Professional Development
This suffered the most from my mental state as a result of the shutdowns. I did not make a lot of progress on many of my technical goals. I didn’t touch the Smart Things and Raspberry Pi integration. Honestly, I don’t know if I will get to it this year or not. I have a higher priority to update the Gift List web application I wrote. While I didn’t make a lot of coding progress on the gift list revamp, I have spent a bit of time designing the changes and making a list of updates and new features. I hope to begin this development immediately.
This blog site will also get some love this year. Apparently I have to find a new theme. I have been using Suffusion for several years, however I recently found out WordPress is no longer approving the theme. Their reason is “it doesn’t meet requirements”; I’m very disappointed in WordPress. So I will be hunting for a new theme. If any of you are WordPress admins, shoot me your theme suggestions.
Finally, I need to find something new to learn. Some kind of coding language or library. I’m stuck in a rut and feeling bored with programming so I need something to restore my enthusiasm.
2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge
I’m setting my reading challenge goal to 15 with the hope that I will exceed it. Last year I was 40% away from finishing my 15th book so with a little more diligence I think I can easily meet the goal, and surpass it. The Dresden Files will, again, be the books that help me reach my goal. I’ve started book 11 so it’s possible I may catch up this year (there are now 18 books).
I’m thinking about reading The Inheritance Series again; I’m a big fan of Paolini’s work and I’m excited to read about Eragon again. I will cover the books I read for the 2020 Reaching Challenge in a separate post.
2021 New Years Health Goals
My health goals are going to look a little different this year. The effects of the stress and anxiety of 2020 still linger and, while I don’t expect things to magically improve in 2021, I can control how it affects me, mentally.
Physical Fitness Goals
In 2020 I was supposed to complete a 15K at the Flying Pig. Obviously that was cancelled but that didn’t stop me from setting some new goals. I tried to run as often as possible to keep in good health. The doctors were telling me that one of the best methods for staying healthy amid the virus was to keep exercising. I improved my daily running distance to 5+ miles a day. On my push days I am exceeding 8 miles but I have not reached 9 miles yet (a 15K is approximately 9.3 miles).
I don’t know what I will do this year in regards to the Flying Pig. Currently their website states you can sign up for a virtual run with the option to change to in-person if health officials allow large gatherings. My original plan was to run the half this year, but that was assuming I would have run a 15k in 2020. As of this writing my thoughts are that if I go virtual I will stick with the 15k plan; I would rather run the half marathon in person since that is my apex running goal.
Mental Health (aka Get Organized)
Everyone’s mental health suffered from 2020. Anyone that denies it is lying to themselves. It will be a few months before we start to see improvements in the current pandemic but we can begin to heal our mental health. The methods for doing this will be different for every person. Personally I am going to do it by getting organized. There have been studies that show getting organized has been known to improve sleep and reduce stress and anxiety.
When I was in college I was a bit of a clean freak; it seems now I’ve become to lazy to be that person but I can change that. I can let my OCD take over again and clean more often. There are places around the house that can use the “get organized” treatment. However, getting organized isn’t just a physical activity. I use my iPad to take a lot of notes (because my memory is garbage); those notes need to be re-organized for brevity and searchability. This will help me be better organized at work.
Finally I need to ignore or remove the toxicity and vitriolic abuse of social media. Everyone treats Facebook and Twitter like its their pulpit for political and controversial influence. The truth you’re not changing anybody’s mind because everyone is braver behind a keyboard. I’m tired of going to these places and getting angry because people spew nonsense so I will be frequenting Twitter less and blocking/hiding/muting posts/people on Facebook that say things with the clear intent of inciting violence or hate.
Again, this post grows most verbose so time to end it here.
/cheers
I could accomplish so much more if I only had minions!
Why in the world would I want to review 2020?? Without a doubt it has been the worst year for everyone. God willing none of us will ever experience another year like 2020. It has been a cruel year for all. We’ve all experienced grief, fear, anxiety, denial, selfishness; but we’ve also experienced hope, perseverance, kindness, and heroism. While we praised the heroic efforts of some we spurned the foolish and parochial choices of the “I won’t live in fear” crowd.
I know this has been an awful year but, personally, it still feels like Christmas; albeit it a little different. We are doing virtual Christmas this year but the families on both sides are really awesome about it. They are participating in the Christmas-from-afar with every ounce of joy and excitement. I am equally as excited to celebrate this joyous time despite the terrible year.
I’ll admit, back in March, I never would have believed our Thanksgiving would be affected by this pandemic. I know it sucks but the responsible thing to do, to keep family and others safe, is to take proper precautions. The responsible thing to do is put aside your fear and bullheadedness and set an example for the kids. It is more important than ever to be thankful this year. We should be thankful that we still have our health; not everyone still has that anymore. Some folks are missing loved ones this year because of the poor choices and selfish actions of irresponsible “adults”.
I don’t talk a lot about sports on this blog; it’s not really a genre that is common in the geek and gaming subculture. However sports is heavy on statistics and numbers, which is right up the geeks alley so I guess it’s not that far out of reach. The baseball season this year is unique because of the covid (much like everything else). I’m having a hard time deciding if the covid MLB season is even worth it. In the end, will it even mean anything?
A 900 year old Jedi Master once said “Fear leads to Anger, Anger leads to Hate”. I feel like there was a lot of effort up front to instill fear in all of us. Some folks are still afraid. Some folks are more angry than afraid. Perhaps all this fear and anger is why there is so much hate in the country right now. I’m tired of the fear. I’m tired of worrying about my friends and family when they travel. Are they being safe? Are the other folks around them being safe? I’m tired of the sleepless nights that result the 10-14 days following their return.