2022

I was reminded of two quotes recently that probably best summarizes 2022 for me. The year has reminded me over and over again that life is both fragile and resilient. Above all, life is fleeting. Consider... What would you do, and how you would live life, if you only had five good years left? What if you knew it too? What if you didn't? Is there a difference between five years or ten? Or twenty? 

Although I am still personally in good health (as far as I know), 2022 was an eye-opening lesson that life is short and can change at any moment. We are mortal. Health shouldn't be taken for granted.  

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. 

   —Steve Jobs, Stanford commencement ceremony, 2005

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

—Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 

COVID-19 Summary: Even though fully vaccinated and boosted, I contracted COVID-19 in December, at a time when I was foolishly less cautious about mask-wearing in public. It was awful, albeit relatively "mild." I started feeling cold/flu/COVID symptoms on December 10, starting with a sore throat, only testing positive two days later on December 12. Apparently, I had been exposed to COVID-19 during an on-site construction meeting on December 6, four days before developing symptoms. Fever broke by December 14, lasting only two to three days. After my initial recovery, I found out that a contractor who attended the same meeting was also infected. Both of us got it from the same person who was actively coughing maskless during the meeting. My sense of smell has somewhat returned but is still recovering.

Also in December, my sister was diagnosed with ependymoma (a type of spinal cord tumor) located in the cervical spine. The prognosis for this disease is generally good in young adults. Open surgery is scheduled for January 11, and only then will we have a real sense of the long-term prognosis.

What specifically came to mind this year was how many more times will you get to spend time with certain friends, family, or loved ones. I suppose, at my current age, and for those of us living away from "home" and seldom have the opportunity to spend quality time with family, we are rapidly approaching the point where the number of remaining opportunities to be with your parents can be counted on two hands.... the finiteness of remaining family Christmases and New Years. And of those, how many of them will be actual good memories? Of those, how many of them will be mundane or spent arguing over trivialities? While I have not come to terms with my own mortality yet (am I still young?), I have started preparing myself for a time my parents (or even my sister) won't be around, to say nothing of freak accidents and other unexpected random causes of death.

What is legacy anyway? Kids? With the impending global upending of society due to climate change; forever chemicals (PFAS) and microplastics everywhere, even detected in blood and fetuses; and ever-increasing wealth inequality, I am not sure. Lately, I've been torn by the desire to put something out into the world and be remembered for it; but also by the desire to deliberately have as little impact on the world as possible (a la, take only photos, leave only footprints). 

----

I finally received delivery of the dishwasher to finish off the 2021 kitchen renovation project. But what's consumed most of my year was the deck project, which began with demolition of the original deck, removal of the various previously abandon concrete pads adjacent to the house (which have caused probably 40+ years of slow water damage to the house), and repair of the rear overhang soffit. 

I signed, stamped, and submitted my own deck design drawings and after a round of comments with the permit office, my project was approved. The majority of the summer and fall was spend on digging six holes for the upper deck and 11 holes for the lower deck (all of which approximately 30" below grade, below the frost depth). There were a few large tree roots (up to 3") and innumerous potato-sized rocks to contend with. Quite the workout. To date, I've only received approval of my footing inspection. I was so close to getting the framing ready for framing inspection, but the winter cold had set in and the end of daylight savings on November 06 meant not having any daylight for "homework" after work hours. As of now, the deck exists incomplete.

Deck Progress, Early 11/2022

I have since switched over to indoor renovation projects, namely the first phase of the basement renovation, which isn't weather or daylight dependent. Thank goodness.

Outside of a few visits home to Brooklyn, travel this year was limited to a brief visit to Chicago for a work-related trip and Emma and Willis's wedding in Charleston, SC. I did take advantage of the drive down to South Carolina to visit Orangeburg, SC, where we had designed a VA outpatient clinic at my previous job; visit Congaree National Park; and do a brief stay at the Outer Banks, on my way home. 

Congaree National Park, SC

Have I become a homebody, alone with my home renovation projects? Fortunately, my mom stayed with my for a few months this year, spread out across two stays. It was nice to have some help with house chores and to have more life in the house in general.

2022 was full of inflation news and US Fed interest rate increases. I am grateful to have received a pay increase in July that vastly surpassed the annual inflation rate (~7-9%?). (I am also getting a promotion to assistant director of the mechanical engineering department, after the previously one of many years had quit for a career change.) Fortunately, I have not been too directly affected by price increases, but they are concerning. I suppose it is good that the market is finally correcting itself after over a decade of supposed market "recovery" and excess. My 2022 personal financial performance shows a year-over-year net growth of –3%, with many of my investment and retirement accounts (including just a little in cypto) showing –25 to –30% gains this year. (My goal had been an approximately 25% net worth increase for 2022.) 2022 generally sucked. And 2023 is expect to be a true recessionary year, so it doesn't seem realistic to set any kind of positive net worth growth as I typically do.

The 2022 Year in Pixels showed that the number of Anxious days were double that of 2021 (majority due to work-related projects). There was a significant number of Illness days 2022 after having none in 2021 (due to COVID-19). Amazing/Good days were appreciably less.

2022 Year in Pixels

I really don't know what to expect of 2023. Maybe it's the year to quit social media for good.

2021

Can't believe it's already the end of 2021. As fast as the promise of vaccines came this past spring, allowing at least some form of normalcy, this year is is ending in a worse state than it was and only somewhat better than it began. At this point, I'm rather numb to it all. I was able to get up to Brooklyn twice this year, and to York, PA once. I did get on a plane to Idaho Falls to visit Aysenur and Taylor, also visiting Wyoming and Montana. I'll save Utah for another time. In September, I was invited to a Daikin event in Phoenix, my second time to Arizona. I also had a small OTEC-1 reunion in Albany in September, and ended up staying with Eric and Smriti in Saratoga Springs for a few days. 

My 2021 was mostly consumed by the kitchen project, which is capping out at approximately $31,000 all said and done, after I had budgeted $20,000. Material costs and "supply chain" issues required some creativity and some planning. But it was a good diversion. As of Dec 31, 2021, I am still awaiting delivery of an out-of-stock dishwasher I ordered in October and backsplash tile that's on its way. I couldn't have imagined how excited I was to be able to wash dishes by hand again, after exactly 290 days of not having a kitchen sink.

Kitchen, the day countertops were installed.

The deck rebuild and foyer renovation was originally planned for this year, but will slip to 2022 or 2023.

I don't have motivation to make this a long post, but I'll end with the Year in Pixels. It was a better year than 2020, with more positive days and less anxiety and anger. At present, I don't see how 2022 can be worse than this year, but you never know...

2021 Year in Pixels

2020...

As I write this on December 31, it is Day 295 since the COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic. To state the obvious, 2020 was a weird and depressing year. It was simultaneously unpredictable and obviously predictable. And it was very lonely. Fortunately for me, my family and I have been safe throughout this pandemic so far.

Both professional and personal travel plans have been largely eliminated for the year. I did fly to San Antonio in February, with a follow on trip to Toronto for the first time, and onward to NYC via LGA. I drove to Dayton (in lieu of flying) in June for a short work trip. But as a result of the lack of travel, I made significant progress on the house. Completing Phases 1 and 2 of the five-year house plan went largely unimpeded by COVID-19-related lockdowns and quarantining. Working remotely from home turned out to be much more feasible than I once thought, and I even prefer it, at least part time, for the long term. Home Depot remained open as an essential business, and it was the only place to go to get out of the house and "shop." However, delivery delays and the unavailability of supplies (even of those things unrelated to sanitization) was definitely noticeable. Often, I would end up making several trips to Home Depot, Lowes, or IKEA, occasionally to different ones on the same day to source much needed supplies or equipment. According to my account records, I've spent $9,580 at Home Depot in 2020. 

In 2020, I set up my home office and guest bedroom, and had my first floor windows replaced. I started and completed the renovation of the two main level bathrooms on my own. I quit my job and joined a smaller company in October, just to find out in December that my new company was getting acquired by a larger one. In 2020, my 401k and IRA accounts are up 25.19% and 17.27%, respectively, which is unbelievable, and not in a good way.

Master Bathroom

Hall Bathroom

The plan for 2021 is a deck rebuild and kitchen and foyer renovation. I don't know if these will actually come to fruition given their project budgets, but we will see. The primary goal for 2021 is to unsubscribe or unfollow things that don't actually matter—news alerts, various phone notifications, etc. Maybe finally quit Instagram too.

2020 Year in Pixels

There was a notable increase in anxiety and anger this year, as compared to 2019. There were also significantly fewer "Good" days (45 vs 76), and just a single random "Amazing" day in 2020. As much as it is difficult to see how 2021 could turn out worse than 2020, I have a feeling we're not out of the woods yet, and the worst may yet be upon us. Stay safe.

I can't wait to hug people again.

2019 Year in Review: "We Bought a Zoo"

Last Instagram post of the decade, December 30, 2019

With a couple hours left to go in 2019, it's probably time to reflect and summary the incredible experiences of 2019. I've been procrastinating this post for days, and instead, have been more focused on taking advantage of the down time to work on the house. What an incredible year. After a nearly year-long process of shopping for a house, I'm now a homeowner. The process started in earnest late January and after multiple failed offers and and several ridiculous bidding wars, I finally closed on a property in August. I settled on a fixer-upper, which I felt has huge potential to make it what I want it to be. While my original house renovation schedule is now hilariously delayed due to a series of unwelcome work travel in September and October, I've made huge progress and already have had several rewarding moments as well as numerous frustrations. I've become a novice electrician and quite adept at drywall repair. I have a five-year plan for all the home renovation projects and expect to make tons of progress in 2020.

In 2019, I've flown 43 flights comprising 58,936 miles, and attained United Silver Premier status and Marriott Platinum status in the process. Although traveling for work is generally fun, it has gotten in the way of home life in several instances, enough to had been annoying and tiresome. Hopefully 2020 will have far less work travel... I'm kind of done for a while. This year, I went to Japan for the first time (on a work trip) in August, and a second time as part of a two-week Tokyo-Okinawa-Seoul itinerary (also a work trip) in October, which included my first time in South Korea. I visited Dallas, Dayton, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis all in January as part of work trips. I visited the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, and visited Columbus and Charlotte in February. In April, following a work trip to San Antonio, I decided to do a short road trip from Phoenix to Las Vegas. Kelsey joined me. We flew in a hot air balloon in Phoenix, and visited Petrified Forest National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Antelope Canyon, and Horseshoe Bend on the way to Las Vegas. In July, I visited Corpus Christi and drove an Infiniti G50 on the beach at Padre Island National Seashore. In September, I visited Zion National Park in September and did the exhilarating Angels Landing hike and didn't die. 

I've added Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky to my list of states I've visited, and Japan and Korea to my list of countries I've visited. I flew on ANA, Japan Airlines, and Asiana Airlines for the first time, and any of them puts all American airlines to shame. In particular, ANA was fantastic. On my new airport visited list (since I keep track of these things...): DAY, CRP, CMH, GNV, OMA, CAE, HND, OKA, and ICN.

The SPC3SHP accrued only 11,000 miles this year, probably a result of a much shorter commute that I'd been used to and being away on work travel for roughly 25% of the year. Still on track to reach my 200,000 mile goal someday.

I expect 2020 to be a really fun year. I've fulfilled my personal goal of two years at my current job; we will see what happens from here. I hope to revisit Iceland, and also go on a proper vacation that's NOT tacked onto the end of a work trip. Maybe even have a personal life outside of travel and "working on the house."

2019 Year in Pixels

This year's Year in Pixels did not have nearly enough "Amazing" days. The majority of "Anxious" had to do with the home-buying process. "Average/Normal" was about 50%, which makes statistical sense, I suppose.

Happy New Year. And happy end of the 2010s, our first post-college decade and our first attempt at adulting.

P.S. A couple of random discoveries or re-discoveries this year: 

• Music really does make an empty house start to feel like a home.
• Hot chocolate is delicious.

2018 Year in Review: Keep On Keepin' On

Gullfoss, Iceland.

For those that follow me, log in to Instagram for links to accompanying photos.
​
Today's the last day of 2018. It was a pretty good year.... I think. Even though I’m fairly content with the way the year turned out, I can’t shake the feeling that I didn't do all I wanted to do—or all that I could've done this year. For example, last year I resolved to run a 5K, and I did. This year, I made no inroads into my 2018 goal of learning to jump rope. I fell short of my financial performance for the year; stock performance was downright abysmal.

This year's theme song is Locked in A Cage by Brick + Mortar. In general, 2018 has been more of an slow-and-steady, test-the-waters kind of year than a kick-ass-and-be-awesome one. I can’t complain though.

It’s been a fantastic year for travel. 2018 was the first full year at my current job, and it was chock full of exciting work-related travel. I even achieved Marriott Silver Elite (the hard way), and could've easily reached Gold Elite status had I been more diligent. It’s nothing to write home about, but a personal accomplishment nonetheless.

In January, my first flight of the year was out of DCA to Chicago for the 2018 AHR Expo. I ended up spending most of the trip catching up with ex-coworkers (from both my previous jobs), eating steak, and sightseeing. Apple Michigan Ave is one of my new favorite Apple stores.

In February, I discovered that there has been a Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken near me for so many years. So I went one night, and it was awesome. I went to San Antonio for work-related meetings in early February and mid-March. I decided then that if I had to go to San Antonio so frequently, I might as well extend the trip to make time for sightseeing.

In late March, I was in Jacksonville for a project and made time to check out the beach and zoo. A few weeks later in April, Taylor and I took a weekend trip to Pittsburgh to see the National Aviary and eat at Primanti Bros. On the way back east, we made a stop at Fallingwater, but unfortunately didn't make it in time to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial in Stoystown, PA.

In May, Avengers: Infinity War happened! Enough said.

I went to San Antonio yet again for a work trip, followed by a family vacation to New Orleans. Saw some gators, visited the National WWII Museum, and drove across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (a bucket list item!).

I was in Biloxi, Mississippi for work mid-June, which was the first time I saw the Gulf Coast. A coworker and I found time to drive across the border to Mobile just so we can say we did, since it'd be both our first time in Alabama. Thus completes my list of states visited in the Southeast. (Incidentally, I have yet to visit Vermont or Rhode Island in the Northeast... smh.)

States I've been (including airports), 2018.

In July, I kayaked for the first time, on the Susquehanna River, with Taylor and family. It was good exposure therapy to help me overcome my fear of being on open waters. I guess it worked, because I went to kayak again in September.

In August, I was down in Tampa with a coworker to check on the construction progress of one of our projects. Although it was a project I didn't design but inherited, this was the first greenfield building construction of my career. It was great.

Also in August, Kelsey and I decided to visit Iceland for about a week. Although our planning and getting plane tickets happened only three weeks prior to the trip (expensive tickets!), Iceland turned out to be one of the best vacations of my life [so far]! No flat tire in our shitty little Suzuki! It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I think I found my "spirit"-country in Iceland—it is rainy, cold, and gray. I loved it. The nature and wilderness was so accessible and breathtaking. But being in between the seasons, we missed the chance to see summertime puffins and we were too early to see the Northern Lights; I'll have to go back. What more could I say? Being city-dwellers, we were way outside our comfort-zone in Iceland, but it was worth it. Undoubtedly, it is the land of legend, epic waterfalls, sheep, glaciers, black sand, icebergs, whales, rainbows, and double rainbows. I used Iceland as a great excuse to get back in to photography, however briefly. I ended up spending dollars on a new travel tripod and a $1000 camera lens just for the trip. I also ended up buying a new Dell XPS desktop to post-process the approximately 7,000 photos I took... go figure. My Iceland album here.

In September, I was in Jacksonville for a one-day emergency project meeting. It was not a fun trip.

In October, I was back in San Antonio for week-long training, which was surprisingly useful and productive. I attended a Spurs game, where parking cost three times more than the game ticket. This was the trip where I decided to actually stay a bit longer in Texas to venture out to the rest of the Texas Triangle, starting with a weekend getaway to Austin. I drove a Camaro SS rental, visited the LBJ Presidential Library, and visited some family. In Austin, I went to a Waffle House for the first time. It was phenomenal!

In December, I was back in San Antonio yet again, and again for training. After visiting Austin last time, I decided to visit Houston this time. I got to drive a Dodge Challenger for the weekend. The Space Center was excellent, but I didn't like the vibe of Houston and I hope to never have to go there again. Sorry.

Summary from all the traveling in 2018:

• Visited San Antonio five times this year.
• Went home to Brooklyn nine times this year.
• New states visited: Mississippi, Alabama.
• New country visited: Iceland.
• New airports visited: JAX, TPA, GPT, KEF, AUS, DAL, HOU.
• New airline flown: Icelandair.

The SPC3SHP crossed 100,000 miles on September 30. I'm going to wrap up the year having added only about 14,100 miles this year, for a five-year lifetime total of about 103,700 miles. The current commute is nowhere near what it used to be. But I'm still hoping to make 200,000 miles with the SPC3SHP one day. Also, after so much trial and error, I've inadvertently become an expert at doing brake replacements and diagnosing tire and wheel noise.

Phew. What a year this has been. I learned to get outside my comfort zone in so many ways. I learned to better balance moving forward while remembering the past. I also binge watched all nine seasons of The Office for the first time, in under two months. I can say with certainty that this was the year when I started not to constantly worry about what other people think of me. It is quite liberating. I also decided that I've been in my studio apartment for far too long (three jobs over seven years!). I am lining myself up to buy a house in 2019. Maybe I'll finally get around to learning to jump rope too.

Happy New Year.

P.S. After sampling so much ramen this year—see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11—I still think Daikaya in Chinatown is the best.

P.P.S. Last year, I got the idea to do a Year in Pixels from Instagram. Thought it was cool. So here it is:

Year in Pixels, 2018.