2008: a year in review

What a year it’s been. I’ve experienced some of the highest highs and the lowest lows of my life this year. When things were good, they were REALLY good. When they were bad, they were REALLY bad.

January – I’ll probably remember January 2008 as one of the worst months I’ve ever had. At work, I had to help manage the PR and logistics of a very public product recall that got a lot of attention in the national media. This took up a lot of time (that I already didn’t have) and was very stressful. On the personal front, my car was rear-ended early in the month. Only a couple days after I got it back from the shop, it was hit again. My Midas touch didn’t stop there. I had a natural gas problem and a propane tank problem at my place; lightbulbs were going out when I walked in the room; I ended up getting a defective copy of one of my favorite movies when I ordered it on HD DVD. It seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong in January.

February – Comparatively uneventful. I participated in my first caucus ever, and I came away having even less faith in our election process than I had prior to going in. There weren’t enough pencils or ballots for people; I couldn’t hear the person leading the caucus, because several precincts were caucusing in the same room. The guy I voted for won Minnesota on the Republican side, but ended up dropping out of the race not too long after. Oh well.

March – A pretty good month. I went to Vancouver on business, and while that trip was fairly lame due to my co-workers, I like Vancouver quite a bit. After years of lusting over one, I finally bought a Gibson Les Paul guitar, which I named Melinda. I had laser eye surgery toward the end of the month, and while the next couple of months were pretty rough with all the eye drops, eye exams and frequent discomfort, the end result has been wonderful. I’m glad I got over my fear and finally did it. Not wearing glasses has been great.

April – I was mostly focused on school during this month. I finished my complex negotiations course in April, and it will forever remain one of my favorite courses…and not just because I got to wear my ridiculous red Hawaiian shirt to class on the final day. April was also great because we sold off or threw away a bunch of stuff via a yard sale, eBay, Craigslist and other internet methods. I parted with some rare CD collections I’d been holding on to, but I made over $2000 from CDs alone. In total, I think we made between $3500-4000 from all these sales. Awesome.

May – May was definitely a month to remember. We went on our first cruise, which had stops in Italy, Greece and Turkey. We ate a lot of great food and saw many interesting and wonderful things that I thought I’d never see. I can’t say enough good things about that trip.

June/July/August – These were pretty rough months, and I think coming down from the Mediterranean cruise high had a lot to do with that. On the school front, I hit the wall in late July, and I don’t think I ever fully recovered. It’s a good thing I finished up and graduated the following semester. I finally snapped out of my post-vacation funk at the end of August, and I think buying a new car had a lot to do with that. Man, do I love that car. I’ve always loved driving, but I REALLY look forward to driving now. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in my life or what the weather’s like. Ah, the futility of capitalism. Or maybe that’s consumerism. Whatever.

September – Back to school after a short break, and while I didn’t really want to be back, it was in September that I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. It was also in September that I stopped listening to political talk radio. I switched over to listening to comedy, and I haven’t looked back. Sure, I’m less informed, but I’m a much happier person for it.

October – It wasn’t like there was a ton of stuff going on, but I think it was a pretty good month. It was certainly my most prolific month ever, from a blogging perspective. I wrote 24 entries on this blog alone (I do have another one), and I felt like I had so much to say about the world and life, in general. Sure, the stock market and the economy went to hell in a handbasket, but that’s OK. It was bound to happen sometime.

November – What a lame month. Barack Obama won the presidency, and while I don’t think it’s the end of the world, I didn’t vote for him and am not a fan of the policies he was proposing. Uncle Sid, my co-worker with whom I had a love/hate (mostly hate) relationship, left the company and I was forced to take on all his work in addition to my own. Work responsibilities cast a very dark shadow over otherwise happy Thanksgiving festivities. My parents and sister came to MN for the holiday, and that was great.

December – What can I say? I was super busy, but I finished my master’s degree. I got promoted at work. I can’t complain too much, right? I’ve been in California for a week, and while I’ve had to work almost every day, it’s great to be here and away from MN for a while. I don’t mind the snow and cold of MN, but I also like variety. I’m currently sitting on a hotel balcony, looking out at the ocean, the boats and the fog on Catalina Island. What a great way to end the year.

To all my friends and family who read this blog, thanks for reading and for being there for me in 2008. Here’s to a better year in 2009. Happy New Year!