The past year has been a bit of a mixed bag. High points included downsizing into a home with a home office, room for my electric trains, room for our new puppy, and no stairs. The last item, no stairs, is an important consideration as Carolyn and I hope to live here for years to come.
The home office arrangement has been working out great. No more driving to work, just a short walk from the house to the workshop next door, where my home office is located. I manage to make it to the company’s new office in Holiday about once a week.
The fire kettle we almost never used at the old house has gotten lots of use in the backyard at the new house, We’ve had no shortage of firewood, particularly given the amount of wood I’ve cut from the two cedar trees that shed limbs during the storms.
At this point last year, I thought that retiring from public life would result in things slowing down. No such luck! Life has kept us busier than we’d anticipated a year ago.
In addition to singing in the choir and participating in the Men’s group activities at church, I’ve found myself as the chair of the administrative council. It’s all good and I’m looking forward to seeing my church continue to grow in 2025.
Some of our grands joined the scouts last year, so I’ve had an excuse to actually go camping and make other trips with them. In a concession to being a bit older, I invested in a cot. Sleeping on the ground just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Our plan to visit at least one state park each month in 2024 went out the window early on. We did manage trips to Homosassa Springs and Silver Springs, taking a couple of grands along with us. Both trips were a lot of fun. Our annual pass extends to the end of January, so we may well do our annual New Years Day pilgrimage to the Salt Springs State Park later today. If you haven’t been there, it is a lovely park with some very nice trails. The park is pet friendly, so we will likely invite the puppy along! (The “puppy” is only nine months old, but now tops 50 pounds and he is still growing…).
Likewise, while my job has changed and I’m working from home, things haven’t slowed down. We added several new services to our portfolio in 2024, including computer security awareness training and enhanced network security offerings. I completed one massive website project for a financial services company and I’m currently working on a complete overhaul of a non-profit’s website. For good measure, we delivered new servers to some of our clients, including a new server with the most storage, 32TB, that we’ve ever installed in a server!
I don’t know about you, but I’m glad that all the political ads finally ended after the first week of November. Some of the ads were pretty intense. Part of me wishes that we could use the Selective Service System to randomly pick leaders to send to Washington for a single term, with no retirement benefits. If you believe the attack ads, none of the candidates running for anything should be trusted within miles of the levers of power. Random draftees could do a better job.
The issue ads were just as bad. With a bit of luck, we’ll be spared any more political ads for the bulk of 2025.
Ever the optimist, I’m looking forward to 2025 being a better year all the way around. I am looking forward to getting the last of the moving boxes unpacked. I am looking forward to spending more quality time sitting around the fire kettle, roasting marshmallows for s’mores. Mostly, I’m looking to spending more quality time with the people I love.
Best wishes for a very Happy New Year in 2025.
Rob
I enjoyed your story
Continue to enjoy your new life!