In 2020 I wrote the fewest amount of blog posts I’ve ever written since I began blogging more than two decades ago. In 2021 I wrote even less than that. When you stop leaving the house and going to work, it’s hard to find things to write about on a regular basis. The COVID-19 pandemic began in March of 2020, and we spent the majority of that year hunkered down in place. In March/April of 2021, Susan and I were able to get vaccinated, and the kids got their shots a couple of months after that. Being vaccinated while wearing masks allowed us a bit more freedom. Even with those precautions, COVID affected almost every part of our lives in 2021. For example, both Susan and I worked exclusively from home the entire year. I utilized the movie room frequently, watching more than 150 movies in 2021. In the summer of 2021, construction was completed on our swimming pool. Both the pool and the movie room gave us entertainment options without leaving the house. In 2021, Susan and I both turned 48, Mason turned 20, and Morgan turned 16. Morgan got her driver’s license and inherited Susan’s Honda Crosstour. Mason continued school at OU, moving out of the dorms and into an off-campus apartment with three of his friends. In 2020, Susan was diagnosed with Lipedema, a condition that causes growths in one’s legs. In 2021, she traveled to Los Angeles three separate times for surgeries on her legs. With each surgery her legs look and feel better. While Susan was away for her first surgery in February, we suffered one of the harshest winter storms I can remember. Deep snow prevented me from backing down my driveway, freezing temperatures broke a water line causing us to lose water, and during the week we lost power multiple times. As temperatures dipped below 0F, the city’s water treatment plant froze, and the city began rolling blackouts to prevent further outages. Morgan and I were able to remain warm thanks to the generator and a portable heater, but had to melt snow in order to flush toilets. Fortunately service was restored before we ran out of things to drink in the refrigerator — I’ve since stashed a case of bottled water out in the workshop just in case it’s needed in the future. It was about four days before enough snow melted that I could get my truck down the driveway and onto the road. In 2021 I acquired a MiSTer, a small FPGA computer that allows one to play retro video and computer games and strives for accuracy. This led me to place many of my old video games (including all of my old NES cartridges) up for sale on eBay. Over the past six months I’ve made close to a thousand dollars, and I still have more than a hundred cartridges for sale. Last year we had a garage sale day in Sun Valley, but no Czech Festival. This year there was no garage sale day, but the Czech Festival was back. Susan and I were asked to judge the floats, which was a dream come true. The two of us sat on a stage looking down at the parade. I’ve spent my entire life going to that parade, so being a part of it was truly an honor. We hope to serve again next year. Throughout the year we struggled to use our vacation leave. In June, the four of us (along with two of Mason’s friends) took a road trip to Florida, where we stayed in a townhouse and visited the beach. For my birthday/anniversary in August, Susan and I drove to Kansas City and stayed the night in an airstream trailer that had been converted into a tiny house. In December, Susan, Morgan, and I took a five-day cruise to Cozumel. Even with those trips, I still ended up taking the last two weeks of December off work just to burn some use-or-lose leave. 2021 felt slightly less restrictive than 2020 did. Toward the beginning of December, a new variant (“Omicron”) emerged. Hopefully enough people will get vaccinated and we can finally emerge from this pandemic. I am ready for things to return to normal. Similar Posts:
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