Thursday, December 31, 2020

In Review

(Source)

I am taking a break from the book for a few days. The blog as well, I'll get to that in a moment.

Though I am still on vacation for another week, I'm only at Chez Nuke et Tuttle for just a couple more days. It's been a nice long vacation and being able to share in the newest member of our tribe's first Christmas has been awesome. He's a lovely little boy, curious about everything, and is growing like a weed! (He's four and a half months old now.)

As the year 2020 draws to a close, I am reminded of just how much I don't like celebrating the "new year." Never have, never will. The only thing I like about December 31st is that it's The Nuke's birthday. I don't begrudge other people their celebrations, it's just that I personally think it's no big deal. Never have, never will.

I'm not much for goals or resolutions and the new year is just the rolling over of the calendar from one year to another. Does anything change other than that? Is it any different from going from the 31st of May to the 1st of June? 

Nope. Not to me at any rate.

Your mileage may (and no doubt does) vary.

It also marks the end of the Christmas season, my absolute favorite holiday, so it's a bit of a downer on that count. I keep the holiday spirit alive until Epiphany, many do not. My Christmas candles in the windows are lit until the 7th of January takes over from the 6th, that being the last night for them to be turned on. Which marks the end of Christmas for another year.

While I don't really "suffer" from post-holiday depression, there is a sadness there. The season of light, the season of hope and good will passes from the Earth until another December arrives. I try to keep the holiday alive in my heart but when everyone else seems relieved that it's over, it's tough. (How about we stop equating the season with spending money and focus on what it's really about? As much as I like giving - and getting - gifts, that is most emphatically not the reason for the season.)

As to 2020 being a "bad" year and the "OMG, I can't wait for it to be over" attitude...

Are you serious, do you think changing the calendar is going to make things any different that they were before?

2020 was a good year for me, new grandson, new car, things could have been better, sure, but to blame the year? Nonsense, sheer and utter nonsense.

Yes, 2020 was a bad year for some. Any year in which you lose a loved one is a bad one. But don't blame the year. Blame government inefficiency and malfeasance. Not just our government for those who keeping score at home.

Do I think Covid-19 is a bad thing? Of course, it kills people. All diseases are bad by their very nature, is this worse than the flu? Probably, I don't know, I'm not a doctor. But don't blame the year for that. Blame somebody, but not a concept whereby we measure time.

Will 2021 be better? I don't know, but to tell you the truth, I think it's going to be far worse. Don't ask me why, it's a gut feeling. I hope I'm wrong.

At any rate, I'm done with blogging for 2020. Truth be told, I've spent too much time in front of a computer screen and not enough time experiencing life. I'll pick it back up when we get to 2021, which, God willing, will find The Missus Herself and I safely back in Little Rhody with the feline staff. (Who will no doubt chastise us for the 12 days we were away. I can't say I blame them.)

See you next year. Probably Tuesday. Maybe...

But I will be back in early January, NLT Epiphany, I'm sure.

For those who do celebrate the New Year, have a good time.

Responsibly, of course.




48 comments:

  1. Happy New Year.

    Great picture of the Budapest Christmas Tram (Streetcar)

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    1. When I found that on Reddit, I just knew it would be perfect for representing the old year receding into the mists of history.

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  2. Treat yourself well and enjoy your time with those you love.

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  3. I have thoroughly enjoyed the story thus far... Anything that well done is the result of effort. And that takes time and energy... Have a good rest and refit.

    Jerry Clower told a story about a Texas Tech football game. The ref became confused and mistook the 10 yard line for the goal line. The runner past that line, his hands shot up, and the canon boomed, and the Red Raider raced around the football field with his cloak flying in the wind.... When the dust settled, the runner had been tackled on the 5, no touchdown... So the ref ambled over to the coach of double T high skruel and said, "no I made a mistake, so I'm gonna stay and visit for a while so you can remount and reload!"

    THAT has been my issue this year... too many "emergencies" to have time to remount and reload. I'm a bit wrung out after all the 'citement', and I need some time to sort through, think, and figure out my way forward...

    Enjoy your time off, enjoy your family, enjoy your fetching mate. I'll be here, God willing, ready to "Drive Friendly" as the old signs used to say...

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    1. I figured I'd put the proper letters down here.... sed and w, drop the t

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    2. STxAR - The effort had been more than I imagined. But worth it, I think.

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    3. STxAR 2 - Well, if we need those letters, we know where to find them. 😉

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  4. Treating calendars as no big deal - when I was single, I was known to forget my own birthday.
    We divide time up into artificial segments of our own choosing, then imagine significance and special meaning for them.
    On the other hand, it can be useful for precision measurements.
    Frank

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    1. One has to remember that it's just a tool for measuring the passage of time.

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  5. Never did resolutions myself and the biggest effort made for the New Year was finding another calendar to buy. Between the job that helps pay the bills and family demands, all the time put into this blog.......some self-prescribed R&R away from the screen is a "good thing" neh? Wrap your arms around the family Sarge, time flies.

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  6. You have certainly earned your R&R, Sarge. We'll all be here whenever you get back - take all the time you need to recharge your batteries and get your Muse back into shape. I don't pay attention too much to rolling over of years and such, although I do hope 2021 brings a better environment for freedom than was found in 2020. This last year saw way too many 'emergencies' being used to exert control over the population in order to further political interests. I don't recall seeing the clause in the Constitution that said there were exceptions for a virus or other emergency. Anyway, here's wishing that everyone reading this wonderful blog has a better 2021 than 2020,

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    1. Yup, emergencies. I've had that argument cited a time or two, when I asked where in the Constitution that was provided for, I got blank stares.

      Government can suggest, they can advise, they cannot order.

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  7. Hey AFSarge;

    Happy New Year to you and your tribe and I have really enjoyed the story you have rolled out. We will see you next year and hope things get better.

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    1. A constant hope, that things get better.

      Although right now, it's hard to convince myself of that...

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  8. Enjoy your time off. I've definitely been enjoying the story, I look forward to when you pick it up again in a few days. I suppose I'm with you on not having warm, fuzzy feelings about what 2021 might bring, but I'm hoping for the best. Plan for the worst, hope for the best, right? Anyway, here's hoping that you and all the readers of this blog have a safe 2021.

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    1. Thanks Aaron. As to that planning and hoping thing -

      Homo proponit, sed Deus disponit.

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  9. I'm up in Oregon for a couple more days so I may try to help out. Since the new year means little, and it won't change much on the Covid front, I'll wish you, Juvat, Beans and others here at this fine establishment a happy Friday.

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  10. Like you, OAFS, the Epiphany has always meant much more than 'A New Year!!' Lesse, I don't drink, I used to pass out regularly before 11pm until sleeping schedules got rotated after the horrors of 2008 and 2014, and other than that, never saw the thrill of watching has-beens yack at me from the boob-tube while a bunch of Newyarkers froze to death en-masse while some stupid light show based on pre-Edison electricity did something-something. Geez, I'm from the South. Want light displays? Go to Disney. Want real fun, do a New Year's Anvil Shoot (which will get you imprisoned for life up north...)

    Meh.

    There were a lot of great things in 2020. I won't go over them here because they're all political. Just say that the great unwashed finally are seeing what many of us have seen for years, and the only hope for the new year is that the great unwashed continue to stay awake and see what we've all seen and still see. There. Roundabout way of making a statement.

    No hospitalizations, no surgeries, no additional meds (for the most part.) Still have a roof over our head and wheels under our feet. No angry mob of villagers outside my door with pitchforks and torches. Life is, in the micro, pretty good.

    I might even scare up a contribution. Hey, if Tuna can do it...

    As to all y'all Chanters out there... Bonne année! Frohes neues Jahr! (heh, fresh new year, whodathunk, German sometimes is soooo easy to translate...)

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    1. While 2020 has been a mixed bag for some, mine year has been pretty doggone good.

      As to German, technically English is a Germanic language. We also borrow words from other languages, German tends to slap words together to make new words. The latter concept has a certain logic to it, but makes for some very long words. Can you say Vierzylinder-Explosionsmotor? I knew you could.

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    2. Ran into German Connect-the-Words when taking Organic Chemistry. Seems the people who invent something used to be able to make the rules and words to define something.

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    3. Where I grew up, it was called something like Ringing of the Anvil.
      Frank

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    4. Beans - Organic chemistry and German seem like a match.

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    5. Frank - I had to look that up, looks like great fun.

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    6. (Don McCollor)...the essence of old German organic chemistry is Beilstein (in 27 volumes, in German). Had to consult it a number of times in graduate school. One thing for those old boys, if you followed the synthesis instructions exactly, it worked...

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    7. Twenty-seven? Thorough aren't they?

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  11. Sarge, I tend to pay attention to the end of the year more than most, but that is because I tend to put great emphasis on beginnings and endings. They hold significance for me as such (not specifically as the end of the year per se).

    2020 for me was a mixed bag as well, both good and bad. I think the word "Transitional" would be a better word, although that is as much a function of events themselves as the year (to be fair, I think most people find their mid-50's transitional one way or the other).

    To you and all the Chanter authors, thanks and have a wonderful next couple of days. I am very glad I was able to (finally) find you.

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  12. The year has not been the best but your serial story has! Thank you!
    Have a happy and safe new years eve!

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  13. About the only change we'll notice is the numbers.
    The holiday season is but half over.
    One thing that hasn't changed as yet is my frustration with the Gargle; still can't comment, except on the PC.
    Even then it logs me out periodically.

    Enjoy the rest of you vacation and time with family.
    See ya next year, huh?

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    1. The only place Blogger seems to work well is on a PC. I often have issues trying to use my phone for commenting.

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  14. Your story continues to bring educational stuff to me, for which I’m thankful. We go back to FL on Tuesday after a month here on the (really!) left coast. I have never been so surprised to find a whole population so subservient, unquestioning and judgmental. Enough said.
    Our trip was different this year as Miss Jeanie decided to have an emergency operation three days into our trip. 10 of 10 pain, 911, DaVinci machine surgery, two days recovery, now three weeks after, normal on all accounts. Amazing surgical procedure.
    “Twenty-twenty” will probably be used as a collective noun/adjective. As in the admonition,”You really pulled a twenty-twenty on that one, dude”. You read it here first.

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    1. Glad Miss Jeanie is better now. I'll bet you're looking forward to leaving Mordor.

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  15. Happy New Year, Sarge.
    2020 seems to be either trying to end on a high note or adding just one more thing to the list, depending on whether you're an optimist or a pessimist. It's been snowing at Casa Juvat since about one. I think I'll take it as an "I'm sorry, I'll try to do better starting tomorrow."
    Little J and DIL are still here. The Kuwaiti's have said they'd end the lockdown NLT Jan 1, so I guess we'll see tomorrow. They've got to go to DC on Thursday for a couple of weeks. But...typical government stupidity lately, they can't go into the office because....Covid. So, they're going to stay in a hotel room for about a week until their return flight leaves for Kuwait.
    No, they can't stay here. That would be unfair or not legal or some dumass gummint reguration. ARGGH!
    Hope you have a safe trip home and enjoy the rest of your vacation.

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    1. Snowing? To this old Vermonter, that's awesome. I do like me some snow around the holidays.

      Wheels up on Saturday. It will be good to get home, but it will be sad to leave here as well.

      Is there such a thing as a non-dumbass government regulation?

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  16. Happy New Year (dare I hope?) to you and yours OAFS, Juvat, Tuna, 4D, Beans and their families--as well as to the rest of the commentariat here!
    (Only REALLY GOOD out-come for yours truly in 2020 was my alma-mater LSUs recored-setting undefeated NCAA championship season in football capped by Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow directing a win over Clemson in the Superdome in Jan. Geaux Tigers!

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  17. Have a good time off OAFS. I am looking forward to you resuming the story. And, I am looking forward to it in book format.

    I am about 40 miles south of Juvat and got a little snow about 16:30.

    May all of the team and commenters here at the Chant be Blessed in the coming year. Calendars are for getting paid, paying bills and knowing when you need to be somewhere. Tomorrow will be just another day but we all will have to write 2021 on the checks and not 2020.

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  18. Christmas here doesn't end for me until 1/6...which is my birthday...why would anyone want to put away such pretty lights sooner?? I just don't get it.

    And yes, while I am trying to be hopeful...my pragmatic Scot's ancestry is saying that we aint seen nothing yet. My gut agrees with your's Sarge.

    However, today begins the first of 4 days that I am not working at all...in a row...so, I plan to just loaf around and spend plenty of critter cuddle time, and maybe run over to see the dear #1 grandson. Who is now 18 mos old, 36" tall and 36 pounds!!! And just awesomely smart!! :)

    Watched him open Christmas presents...would tear off one piece of paper, walk over and put it in the trash can, go back, tear off another piece of paper, walk over, put it in the trash can...lol...funniest thing I have ever seen. I guess the moral of the story is get a trash can with a lid to teach kids to throw out the trash??

    Enjoy your family Sarge, and be careful driving back to RI. There are all kinds of yahoos out there on the roads these days.

    And, to all of you in TX, I understand how wonderful the Southern hospitality is, and how ya'll love to share, but you can absolutely keep that snow right below the Mason-Dixon line...I am just fine with that. Our 3 foot dump finally, mostly, melted away, and it is very nice to be able to see over the snow banks again. I really need to get myself a truck...sigh...

    Happy January First to all!!

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    1. Tomorrow's trek north is viewed with some trepidation, due to the aforementioned yahoos out there, but we shall endeavor to return to caring for the feline staff. Gonna miss the folks in Maryland but hey, everybody (except me) goes back to work on Monday anyway. (I took the first week in January off. Why? Because I can.)

      Happy Friday (and First of January) to you and yours Suz!

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    2. Well, felines are indeed a very strong reason to dare death on the road with the yahoos...just be careful, I'm not sure your new car came equipped with the optional ice skates, and the radar maps are showing the potential for nastiness. Of course, being from the land of snow and ice (also known as Vermont) at least you have experience in driving in "interesting road conditions".

      And "just because I can" is a much better reason than most I have heard. :)

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    3. I am monitoring the weather and shall proceed with due caution.

      Wanting to get home is a powerful motivator, want to get home alive, even more!

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