The end of another year…
2024 was an interesting, sometimes fun, but overall year of frustration for me. (see also: the decline of WordPress functionality on an iPhone forcing back into a word processor in order to type this)
If you go out tonight, I shan’t, choosing to listen for the sounds of bullets embedding into the roof of the ITP Estate, be safe.
Wordle: three, my starter was DAILY
Wordle in 5 and coulda been 4.
2024 was a fun year, mostly. Travel to Maine, New Mexico (West Texas), Miami, Newark, the “new” Mazda, bike rides, highland games, farm life. Pulling the trigger on retirement and looking forward to it.
I hope and PRAY the next 4 years aren’t a complete $hit show. And I hope you find some happiness in your life, whatever that looks like…
Happy New Year, kids.
-FP
Wordle in. 4 starting with YEARS. Perfect Connections: Y, B, G, P.
Last run, hike, bike or whatever you choose at Sope Creek this afternoon into the evening. Will be home before midnight. Not my holiday. :). The only thing exciting is the big reveal at midnight as to where BRAG is going this year.
New year just means I’m getting older. I have way too many things to accomplish yet.
Happy New Year to all.
wordle was an easy 4 this morning.
Work was way too busy yesterday – too much end of year stuff.
Today is a little better, but plenty of things going on.
I will be done to go see Sal & the misfits at Sope Creek.
After that – who knows, I’m solo – Allan is working – the PEACH DROP is back!
Oh dear. So will it be at Centennial Park? I’m sure a large crowd to stay away from…
Underground – I’m pretty sure.
but – downtown somewhere.
Downtown will be busy – Zac Brown concert tonight at State Farm, and all the football fans for the Peach Bowl tomorrow.
What. A. Hell. Of. A. Year. I had absolutely no idea 365 days ago that I’d be getting into all of this:
• Have not one but two life-changing spiritual experiences in the Mojave desert.
• Become embroiled in a ridiculously acrimonious divorce (I clearly saw the divorce coming, just not the acrimony)
• Have several significant friendships come to an end
• Sell the house that I’d lived in for 20 years.
• Embark on a new relationship (Debbie and I just marked 8 months together)
• Reduce my possessions by 80%
• Shed a tremendous load of responsibility by renting an apartment
• Get asked to write a marquee book (Excel for Dummies) from scratch without even a glance at the prior edition.
There’s a lot more than that, but I don’t want to overload Paulie’s server. 😉 The Grateful Dead song “What a long, strange trip it’s been” doesn’t begin to touch my life experience. I think Alice in Wonderland put it best with “Curiouser and curiouser!”
Thank you Paulie, for keeping the blog alive, in spite of the behind the scenes tech decay and blog fatigue. And thank you for resisting the urge to ban me from your platform, I know I’ve been a bit much at points over the years. All y’all have helped me save me from myself, and finally get to a place where I am truly living life fully, and not just vicariously watching other people, which is very much where I was a decade or so ago when I first became an ITP lurker.
David, I’m glad your direction is up! So many big changes for you- really an exciting time. I hope we’ve been helpful in our own self-serving ways. Here’s to an even better 2025 and more riding!!
Thank you, Steve, you have helped me in more ways than you can ever know. Especially that day you showed up at my house with a pickup truck and chainsaw to help me dispatch an entire truckload of tree limbs that had left me paralyzed for months.
I definitely want to get more riding in. I got on my bike the other day for the first time in months and it felt so good I almost wanted to cry. I’m going to knock out a quick errand this afternoon on two wheels as well.
what a year you’ve had David.
let’s hope the acrimonious part of the divorce is over soon.
Are you & Debbie still celebrating monthly anniversary stuff? (I want to keep making fun of young love 😉
Hope we can figure out a meet up date soon –
I knew you’d chime in on that, Barb! 😉 😉 😉
Between finishing the initial draft of my book and then my brother visiting for a week, January is pretty shot from a social standpoint, but I’m open to getting a double-date with y’all on the calendar with you and Allan, and/or an ITP reader meet-up in February. We’re a bit overdue for one of those.