EuroTrip

 Spent two and a half weeks wandering around Europe, specifically Munich, Stuttgart, Paris, Cologne, and Amsterdam.  Long trip, probably a little too long to be completely honest. Had a hell of a good time while also getting to the point where I was very keen on having the trip over and done with.

Just going to hit the highlights for each place.

A matter of substance.

The COVID TimeLine hasn't been great for a lot of people, I'm no exception. During this period I've felt more isolated and lonely than ever. It hasn't been unmanageable. Unfortunately some of the ways I've been managing are neither productive or healthy.

Boiled down, I'm conscious that I've been drinking a lot more. Problematically, I'm drinking more when I'm bored or lonely. This has almost become habitual. A bit like boredom or fugue eating, but with adult beverages.

Life Update

It's been a minute since I've posted here.

Anyway...

To date, 2022 has been pretty low key.  Less boring than 2021 for sure.  These are the highlights so.

2021 By Month

 Highs

• Bought a car that I've been thinking about since 1998.
• Two road trips, one to Colorado and one through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington.
• Vaccination. (First and second Pfizer, then the booster in November.)
• Hanging out with [vaccinated] friends at the Cal Academy of Science for the first real social experience since the start of the Pandemic.
• Helped my Parental Unit clean up and prepare to move from Colorado to Michigan.
• Got to see one of my sets of aunts/uncles and one of my cousins I haven't seen in a very long time.
• Upgraded my eyeballs to contact lenses.
• Received a work promotion.

Lows

• I feel like I've become even more isolated and estranged from the friends and communities I already had trouble keeping connected to.
• My fuck-off deep sense of loneliness grew deeper this year.  I haven't found a comfortable way to express my feelings more generally with out feeling like a shit heel.
• Helping my sisters and mother deal with the fallout from a scam moving broker who stole my mom's money and left her sitting high-and-dry.
• Realizing that it's more likely than not that I'll never see my aunts/uncles in person again. (And possibly my mom, as well.)
• Learning that one of my dogs has started down the long path kidney failure.

Books read in 2021

Leviathan Falls (By: James S.A. Corey)

Velocity Weapon (By: Megan E. O'Keefe)

Redshirts (By: John Scalzi)

The End of All Things (By: John Scalzi)

The Devil’s Candy (By: Julie Salamon)

Asylum (By: Lindsay Buroker)

The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity (By: Carlo M. Cipolla, Nassim Nicholas Taleb - foreword)

Ready Player Two (By: Ernest Cline)

The Demon-Haunted World (By: Carl Sagan)

Project Hail Mary (By: Andy Weir)

Tiamat's Wrath (By: James S. A. Corey)

Persepolis Rising (By: James S. A. Corey)

Babylon's Ashes (By: James S. A. Corey)

Nemesis Games (By: James S. A. Corey)

Cibola Burn (By: James S. A. Corey)

Abaddon's Gate (By: James S. A. Corey)

Caliban's War (By: James S. A. Corey)

Leviathan Wakes (By: James S. A. Corey)

One Nation Under God (By: Kevin M. Kruse)

Battle Ground (By: Jim Butcher)

The Rogue Prince (By: Lindsay Buroker)

Console Wars (By: Blake J. Harris)

Layers of Force (By: Lindsay Buroker)

A Hole in the Sky (By: Peter F. Hamilton)

Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark (By: Claudia Gray)

Qalea Drop (By: Joel Shepherd)

The Innovator's Dilemma (By: Clayton M. Christensen)

Planet Killer (By: Lindsay Buroker)

Home Front (By: Lindsay Buroker)

Star Kingdom Omnibus II (By: Lindsay Buroker)

Star Wars: Light of the Jedi (By: Charles Soule)

Extreme Frontiers (By: Charley Boorman)

Couple of days on from Folsom Weekend and I feel disappointed—and a little angry—that I missed it. Plans with friends failed to gel at the last minute without any time to scrape up alternate arrangements so I bounced on it.  Now that I’m seeing the occasional post and pic from friends who did go…well…yeah. It hurts.

I should just give the fuck up.

I'm putting an indefinite pin in migrating out of California.

The reality of the situation is that my primary reason for relocating hasn't existed for thirteen months. The overwhelming driver was to be nearer my remaining ParentalUnit in the event of an incident. That need evaporated when said ParentalUnit announced their intention to move into a senior's community close to one of my SiblingUnits.

COVID-19 shot my secondary relocation reason in the face. My work world shifted 100% virtual nine months ago and will continue to be 100% virtual for the next year. There is no "physical office" for me to relocate to--presently--that is "better for my career" with my current employer. It's unclear what the office and remote work landscape are going to look like when The Virus Timeline resolves itself.

My tertiary reason was stupid and should never have been a reason in the first place. As tough a pill to swallow as it is, simply moving somewhere else won't make me a happier person. My happiness grind is that I'm lonely. Moving won't make me not lonely, I'll just be lonely somewhere else. It was always in the back of my mind that relocating for the other two reasons would also mean a change of social scenery that could be good but in and of itself isn't a strong reason to move.

Until significantly compelling reasons again emerge, I'm going to be sticking around the Bay Area.