2022 a year in review. How was 2022 for you?

[maflynn]

As we march inexorably into 2023 how was 2022 for you? I like to do some self reflection and see where I succeeded, where I struggled, where I could improve.

For me, 2022 was a bit of a pivotal year, many things started coming together, some positive, some negative. I've been blessed to have a job, that pays me enough to have shelter, a vehicle, and health insurance (yes I'm in the US and pay through the nose).

My daughters started to learn to drive in early 2022. That was a learning experience for both them and I. They're identical twins, but are anything but identical in temperament, and behavior. It was quite the time teaching them, both terrifying, and fun. I felt I grew closer to each in the time we had together in the car - just one on one. They took the driving test in December, and passed. They're completed a major milestone in their journey to being adults.

The Flynn family had a once in a lifetime vacation in Hawaii to which they still talk about the vacation even though it happed months ago.

I opted to double down on my efforts for physical fitness, going to the gym, and running at a higher level then I had in the prior year. Its helped me both physically and mentally. I now enjoy going to the gym 2x a day, and running (something that I always enjoyed).

2022 was not all unicorns and rainbows, sadly, my family lost a close relative that was both sudden and shocking. The reverberations of the loss are still felt today.

I've struggled with health issues that impacted my ability to train for karate - at least to the tempo that I used to do.

My wife was laid off in 2022 and while she did find a job, it was at a significant pay cut, couple that with unexpected and painfully crippling inflation, its been a harder year for us then we anticipated, but we both realized, others have it so much worse. Still the struggles continue.

I understand the trials and tribulations we faced are not unique, and sadly others have had it far worse, I came out of 2022 with a strengthen faith, knowing that all of this is temporary and just to be faithful with my relationship to God, reading the Bible and following what it says.

2022 ended for me, the way it started - poorly. I came down with Covid and basically lost the week in between Christmas and New Years.

While not a tale of woe, I do find it cathartic to reflect and talk about the positives and negatives. Its unhealthy to focus only on one and not the other so taking a holistic view can help be a spring board into the new year

 

[MBAir2010]

nice story, maflynn busy year you had, you do seem very chipper nowadays and very positive!

all 2021, I refused a free MacBook Air m1 from the place i freelance for (since 2006)
due to the negative reviews I read online from Mac websites
and i really did not need one since the 2010 MBA still works, with a Dell XPS 13" 2019.

2022 was a entire rebirth of apple for me, as in 2006.
July I scored a great deal on a iPhone, (my first phone since 2005)
then I purchased the AirPods which sounded and fit perfect!
Apple released the TV at a much lower price and better chip than 2020, is I grabbed that.
Then one morning the MacBook Air 2012 would not start using OCLP Monterey
so I blamed that while the 2012 mini still worked with the same patch.

while Ventura, the "End of all OS and an iPad for your Mac" garbage rumors was looming.
the new MacBook Airs were released which I found not to be ascetically pleasing.
so I bite the bullet and purchased the Silver MacBook Air m1 with Monterey
never to upgrade to Ventura, the death to all OS!

well Ventura rules, I stopped reading all Mac related websites and feel better.
I think Jeff Bozos purchased them all just to promote Amazin products,
and even called out son editors on that

Now I have a  watch that tells me im an old bastard!

but what impressed me the most is that HomePod mini, the blue one
so much that I boxed a great Bose sound touch.

I just hope  keeps the ship sailing
and we never see another 2016-19 era with bad keyboards and over-priced  products.



Happy 2023 everyone!

 

[Bodhitree]

Good question @maflynn

2022 has been a somewhat challenging year, which has gone by rather faster than I expected. Last year I bought a house together with my mother and stepfather, thinking I would contribute to the caring of my elderly folks and free up some of their capital while saving us a little money on communal expenses. I don’t have a wife or kids to care for, so this choice was open to me.

But my stepfathers diagnosis with Alzheimers has rather brought the chickens home to roost with a vengeance. He has deteriorated quite a bit, and while its still feasible for him to live at home he now needs help with most basic tasks. The majority of this burden falls on my mother, but I do spend several hours a day assisting her. It’s not easy, and at times confrontational.

On the tech front, most of the major renewals came last year, but I added an Apple Watch, which I am still undecided whether it was a good acquisition. I’ve enjoyed following Apple’s releases and occasionally chatting about them and about the NFL season here.

Being able to study Buddhism in my spare time (whats left of it) has been a blessing, and I now sit shikantaza meditation at somewhat irregular intervals. It has led to increased mental peacefulness and less of a tendency to get involved in spurious internet arguments, although I still find hidden aspects of myself revealing themselves from time to time. The longer I look within, the gladder I am that my path took me away from games as a hobby.

 

[maflynn]

But my stepfathers diagnosis with Alzheimers has rather brought the chickens home to roost with a vengeance. He has deteriorated quite a bit, and while its still feasible for him to live at home he now needs help with most basic tasks. The majority of this burden falls on my mother, but I do spend several hours a day assisting her. It’s not easy, and at times confrontational.

I'm sorry to hear that, I have some inkling of what you're dealing with, as my family was touch be Alzheimer's as well.

 

[MBAir2010]

Good question @maflynn

Being able to study Buddhism in my spare time (whats left of it) has been a blessing, and I now sit shikantaza meditation at somewhat irregular intervals. It has led to increased mental peacefulness and less of a tendency to get involved in spurious internet arguments, although I still find hidden aspects of myself revealing themselves from time to time. The longer I look within, the gladder I am that my path took me away from games as a hobby.

I use my  watch as an iPod mostly by listening to Music while shopping, cycling etc.

TZ Suzuki (writer of zen) saved and changed my life in 1982 from being a rotten spineless hoodlum
to a caring person who became one with nature.
I can't meditate tho, I always need to write or type things down.

as afr debating online, I try to see their perspective, and then hit th ignore button.

Our Neighbor is now hosting their "spent" dad who walks into other's houses lately.
My indoor cat spends most of the day baking in the sun in front of the door.
which now is locked 24-7 or I will drag a heavy plant in front of the door
to deter mr wanderer and keep whisker inside

fun fun!

 

[Mousse]

For me 2022 was 2020 too.🥴😭😭

 

[MmkLucario]

2022 was a lot of fun and also pretty tough.

I was able to go to Kodiak for a Trail Life trip (Trail Life is a Christian alternative to Boy Scouts) and to camp Elkanah in Oregon for a Trail Life Roundup. That was amazing, as we don’t fly to other places such as the Lower 48 very often.

It was also a great year in terms of new stuff. I got my current SE2 for free, which was given to me by our carrier for free, my brother bought a Nintendo Switch OLED, my mom got an X after being on her iPhone 6 for years, and we got a new Argo and snowmachine this year.

Unfortunately, my mom’s mom (grandmother) passed this year, and we only have my grandfather left, who is also not in great shape, health wise.

My own struggles are that I’m not focusing and concentrating on school and distracting myself with other objects of interest, such as MacRumors unfortunately, I’m feeling that I’m losing interest in playing the piano, and reading books has taken a hit as well.

Reading the news has been depressing lately.

My faith has also been stagnant this year, as I struggle to comprehend more of the in depth teachings of our Reformed theology, and have not been reading the Bible.

So, to summarize, this year was filled with fun and adventure, but also filled with uncertainty about the nation’s and my state’s future, along with the transition to being a young man, and not just being an adult that’s mainly useless. Overall, the year was great, but with a many portions of anxiety.

But I have hope that this year will bring new opportunities and adventure and that I will, hopefully, be able to overcome the challenges that face me, and mature.

With that said, I wish you all a great 2023!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Good question @maflynn

2022 has been a somewhat challenging year, which has gone by rather faster than I expected. Last year I bought a house together with my mother and stepfather, thinking I would contribute to the caring of my elderly folks and free up some of their capital while saving us a little money on communal expenses. I don’t have a wife or kids to care for, so this choice was open to me.

But my stepfathers diagnosis with Alzheimers has rather brought the chickens home to roost with a vengeance. He has deteriorated quite a bit, and while its still feasible for him to live at home he now needs help with most basic tasks. The majority of this burden falls on my mother, but I do spend several hours a day assisting her. It’s not easy, and at times confrontational.

On the tech front, most of the major renewals came last year, but I added an Apple Watch, which I am still undecided whether it was a good acquisition. I’ve enjoyed following Apple’s releases and occasionally chatting about them and about the NFL season here.

Being able to study Buddhism in my spare time (whats left of it) has been a blessing, and I now sit shikantaza meditation at somewhat irregular intervals. It has led to increased mental peacefulness and less of a tendency to get involved in spurious internet arguments, although I still find hidden aspects of myself revealing themselves from time to time. The longer I look within, the gladder I am that my path took me away from games as a hobby.

I'm sorry to hear that, I have some inkling of what you're dealing with, as my family was touch be Alzheimer's as well.

My sympathies - profound sympathies - to both of you re having experienced dementia with close family members.

I have first hand personal experience of this, as my mother suffered from dementia and we cared for her at home until her death four years ago.

All I can say is to be kind to yourselves, - for it will be relentless and exhausting - pace yourselves, take breaks, do not be afraid to fall short of "perfection", and allow yourselves to feel pain and frustration; such responsibilities and such a life is a marathon, not a sprint. Accept all intelligent (and genuine) offers of help and support.

The inevitable (and heart-breaking) trajectory of dementia means that you will live with and experience something akin to a reverse arc of growth, an arc of decline, where family roles, too, are reversed, - roles that you have inhabited since childhood - are inverted as parents look to you for leadership, support and guidance, - which can be a shocking and upsetting and unsettling experience - yet are sometimes simultaneously reluctant to release their own authority, until the unknowing grows to the extent that they no longer remember - except fleetingly - who they are, and thus, no longer care to (or are able to) assert their prerogatives. They don't call it the "long good bye" for nothing.

 

[Herdfan]

2022 for us was a time of moving on. I have lived here in WV for most of my 56 years aside from college and 6 months living in Charlotte afterwards. I brought my wife here 28 years ago (dang, I just realized I have been married half my life) from Indianapolis. So I figured I would defer to her where we went next.

And next is Arizona. We found a house we love just outside of Cottonwood with views of both the Mingus Mountains and the Red Rocks of Sedona. Plus no humidity.

We got our daughter graduated from the Savannah College of Art & Design and she has embarked on her advertising career in Los Angeles. So once we get fully moved to AZ, we will be much closer to her.

So far our health has been good and we hope that continues into 2023.

So looking forward to what the move brings us.

 

[maflynn]

My sympathies - profound sympathies - to both of you re having experienced dementia with close family members.

Alzheimer's is horrible disease that steal's a person while they're right there with you. My solace, is my family member's suffering is now over.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Alzheimer's is horrible disease that steal's a person while they're right there with you. My solace, is my family member's suffering is now over.

It is a soul-destroying and heart-breaking condition to observe - and experience - at close quarters.

In the early stages, or early to mid stages, I think it (dementia) is hardest on the person who suffers from the condition; they are aware of their deterioration, possibly ashamed by it, certainly, frightened by it, and - depending on personality, character, temperament - their reaction can be anything from fear, to neediness, to frustration, to anger.

And some of the behaviours - the endlessly repetitive questions, the "sundowning" (nocturnal roaming), possible violence, - are - or can be - almost impossible - or, actually impossible - to deal with.

But, in the later stages, the person themselves will have regressed to a stage where - if their character is basically decent - as long as their needs are met, and that they feel safe, and secure and warm and cherished and loved - they will be (psychologically) fine.

Now, yes, some will revert to a basic nature of being a needy, difficult and demanding individual, which makes caring for them a real challenge. This is the time when the main psychological challenges and heartbreak will fall on the carers, especially carers who have had, or enjoyed, close family ties with the person who suffers from dementia, people who remember this person when they were competent and capable and find the deterioration shocking and the role reversal - the cared for (as children) become the carers, accepting a role that their entire conditioning finds almost incomprehensible and impossible to cope with, not least because this relationship is often partly based on a shared remembrance of the shared past, and dementia destroys all of that, robbing the person who suffers of their mind and memory, and you both of your shared past.

And, unlike many physical conditions, this is a one way journey.

Try to be kind to yourselves.

 

[Huntn]

2022- Overall an acceptable, yet troubling year, and we (spouse and I) are 1 year older. Visited Hawaii and started a vacation and cruise in Athens, Greece and the Agean sea. Best thing that happened, not without $ cost to me, is that a toxic personality introduced by marriage was ejected from the family, although she still haunts us from the peripheries. We reconnected with our Son during the process of said toxicity being purged.

And we have a person who was raised as our grandson, is stuck in a rut, going nowhere, miserable working fast food, and may be imploding. it does not help that is role model of a step Dad, leave A LOT o be desired. There are likely mental issues involved, and as an adult, the family is trying to help him find the resources needed for him find a positive direction in his life.

Not sure if it is chicken or the egg situation, it’s as if he has no ambition, no effort to improve his life or his mental outlook (depression among possibly other issues) is responsible for his lack of endeavor. I mean if you don’t make an effort, you can’t realistically expect things to magically become wonderful in your life.

He briefly had the start of a decent career path (relatively speaking) working in a UPS distribution center, relatively good pay, benefits, and he walked away from that within weeks to fall back into his fast food no-where job. We are not local, so we are not as close as his immediately involved parents that need to step up to the plate.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I climbed the highest mountain in the UK.
Sold my last ICE car, bought an EV.
Caught Covid for the first time.

Outside of that it was a pretty uneventful year. Spent most of it at work.

 

[QuietGamer]

My biggest event was I got married after a 14 year courtship.

Other bits and pieces.

I had the highest yearly income of my life at 61.
Grateful that I still enjoy my job after 28 years which is a journey I unknowingly started at 18 due to ,what I thought at the time, an unfortunate change of events.
I survived the first surgery of my life and feel much better.
We spent many days and nights camping at the lake and meeting up with old friends.
Home Kit works flawlessly 95% of the time.

 

[rm5]

I thought 2022 was a good year for the most part—obviously not everything was good, but I can't complain all that much...

• January - I started studying with John Funkhouser, an amazing pianist and bassist in town
• March - Drove to Wisconsin and Ohio to visit Lawrence University and Oberlin College. I caught COVID on that trip, but overall, it was a lot of fun
• April - Wrote my first film score for a class that was producing a short film
• May - Went to my first ever school dance, which was Prom. For anyone wondering, no, I didn't have a date. I also failed my physics final in May.
• June - Went out of town for a month to Colorado. Also, went to a "memorably boring" webinar where they talked an hour straight about how to fill out a form that I'd already completed... that was a waste of time!
• July - My brother flew out by himself (he was only 14 at the time) to Boston for a summer program. I'm still incredibly proud of him for doing that! Also, in July, I started working with a vocalist in town who's new to the music scene but really wants to perform. We've since added a bassist, percussionist, and violinist, and she's been doing an amazing job at finding gigs. While she's not a super experienced musician, she sure knows how to network (unlike me, who is very shy, and is even afraid of asking people for favors, etc.)
• August - I went to LA for Berklee's inaugural "Film, TV, and Video Game Scoring" program. Later that month, we lost a family friend to kidney failure (among other things). She was 85 years old. So that was sad, and she was a joy to be around, was always interested in what I and the other young people were doing, but she had a well-deserved long, happy life. She was a big advocate for local libraries and furthering the school library system, too. Her son, who is 56 years old, also works in a school library, and also as an IT consultant/system administrator.
• September - I started preparing for college applications and auditions. I also had my first paid gig in over 2 months in September
• October - I caught a really bad cold and was sick for three weeks. I also made the stupid decision of playing gigs while I was sick, which only made things worse.
• November - I, along with other students, went down to El Paso for three days, hearing powerful testimony from immigrants, lawyers, and other community members. It was a life-changing experience—I posted a picture of the border in "Photo of the Day" for November 2022.
• December - I received my first round of admissions decisions. We also went back up to Colorado for Christmas.

Writing this has given me a great chance to reflect, too, which I think is important. So yeah, I think 2022 was for the most part a great year for me. 2023 seems to be equally great so far!

EDIT: Realizing the only month I'm missing is February. I know this is annoying to some, but there was nothing eventful in Feb. 2022, sorry!

 

[chown33]

EDIT: Realizing the only month I'm missing is February. I know this is annoying to some, but there was nothing eventful in Feb. 2022, sorry!

That just means the thing that makes February stand out is that nothing eventful happened. Uneventfulness is notable.