By any meme necessary, 2022

[wombat_socho]

By Any Meme Necessary, 2022 Edition

 

1. Was 2022 a good year for you?

By and large, 2022 was the best year I've had since moving to Nevada.

 

2. What was your favorite moment(s) of the year?

1) Seeing (almost) all of my DC-area friends while on Son of the Not-Balticon Excursion. 

2) Getting rehired by the Reno District with a stupidly huge draw.

3) Going on the tour of the Nevada National Security Site (f/k/a Nevada Test Site) in 

October after being appointed to the Security Site Advisory Board. 

 

3. What was your least favorite moment(s) of the year?

Getting booted out of Utah Valley Hospital at 0530 in mid-January with no antibiotics 

and being left at the Provo train station to wait for the bus home - outside, in 

literally freezing weather. 

 

4. What did you do in 2022 that you’d never done before?

Drove from Tonopah to Lebanon, TN and back (via Boulder City) for one of Mad Mike's 

Emergency Holographic Conventions, Confinement III. I didn't die, and it was sort of 

fun, but I'm never doing that again. Hello, Southwest! 

 

5. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't do New Year's resolutions because I suck at following through on them.

Having said that, I am going to make serious attempts to:

a) stay rested and on track dietarily

b) especially during tax season 

c) keep better track of my money and put more of it away

 

6. Where were you when 2022 began?

In bed at Utah Valley Hospital in Provo

 

7. Who were you with?

Nobody

 

8. Where were you when 2022 ended?

At home in Tonopah

 

9. Who will you be with when 2022 ends?

Nobody

 

10. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Not that I'm aware of. 

 

11. Did you lose anybody close to you in 2022?

Martin Wooster, who I had paradoxically grown closer to after moving to Tonopah, 

was killed by a hit & run driver on November 12. Also, Klaus Schulze died. 

 

12. Who did you miss?

Most of my friends and family, from time to time.

 

13. Who was the best new person you met in 2022?

No new people in my life. I haven't really been making much of an effort 

to get out and meet people, to be honest.

 

14. What was your favorite month of 2022?

May, easily. 

 

15. Did you travel outside of the US in 2022?

No. What for?

 

16. How many different states did you travel to in 2022?

Maryland, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia. 

Passed through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas while driving to Tennessee. 

 

17. What would you like to have in 2023 that you lacked in 2022?

A new pancreas. A sugar mama. The usual.

 

18. What date from 2022 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

There weren't any really significant dates in 2022. 

 

19. What were your biggest achievements of the year?

1) Not dying. 

2) Having the best tax season since I left Virginia in 2015. 

3) I didn't really do anything to make it happen, but the Department of Education 

wrote off my student loans because I'm disabled. 

 

20. What was your biggest failure?

I didn't have any failures per se.

There were a lot of irritations that came close to being failures, 

but I managed to work through them. 

 

21. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I was pretty sick at the beginning of the year, but I got better. 

Also had am infected abscess in November, but a week's worth of Bactrim fixed it.

 

22. What was the best thing you bought?

A new (refurbished) Dell Optiplex desktop box. 

 

23. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Aside from my district and office managers in Reno, I can't think of anyone. 

 

24. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Do we have to talk about politics?

 

25. Where did most of your money go?

Rent, food, gasoline. The usual. 

 

26. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Unlike a lot of people, I didn't get really excited about the "red wave" that 

turned out to be a trickle, and aside from that, I was on an even keel for most of the year. 

 

27. Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2022?

No.

 

28. Did you do a lot of drugs in 2022?

Despite recreational marijuana being legal, and stupidly inexpensive at the 

Shoshone tribal dispensary north of Beatty, no.

 

29. Did you treat somebody badly in 2022?

Not this year.

 

30. Did somebody treat you badly in 2022?

Family drama stays in the family. Are we not men?

 

31. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder? - I'm a lot happier, because I'm not dying. 

ii. thinner or fatter? - Fatter. I put on a lot of weight over Christmas. 

iii. richer or poorer? -  Despite the stock market trying to burrow its way to the Starless Dark, 

the Cardboard Box Fund is doing well and I am doing pretty well at managing my money. 

I guess I'm richer, when you add it all together. 

 

32. What do you wish you’d done more of in 2022?

More cleaning and clearing out the boxes. I may have to hire some help, 

because I'm not keeping up with it very well. 

 

33. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Video games are terribly addictive. So is Reddit. 

I could stand to spend a lot less time on both of them. 

 

34. Did you fall in love in 2022?

No, but I lusted in my heart after a fair number of women, mostly of the 2d variety.

 

35. What was your favorite TV program(s)?

I didn't watch hardly any TV in 2022, so I didn't really have a favorite. 

I suppose if I had to choose something, I would go with Razorfist's videos. 

 

36. What song will always remind you of 2022?

"Sudno" by Molchat Doma

 

37. How many concerts did you see in 2022?

None.

 

38. Did you have a favorite concert in 2022?

See previous question.

 

39. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Molchat Doma

 

40. What was the best book you read?

Again, it was a tough call. While I really enjoyed The Romanov Rescue by Tom Kratman,

Kasey Ezell, & Justin Watson, I think Mike Williamson's That Was Now, This Is Then was better. 

Special mention to Sandy Mitchell for Ciaphas Cain: SAVIOUR OF THE IMPERIUM and 

Actuary Problem Dog for The Best Tweets From Actuary Problem Dog. 

I actually didn't buy or borrow too many new books this year; mostly I reread stuff. 

With regard to manga, Komi Can't Communicate continues to be outstanding, as does 

Spy x Family. I am not sure about Higehiro, which looks to be evolving into a harem comedy of sorts. 

 

41. What was your favorite film of this year?

I kept meaning to settle back and watch some movies on Amazon Prime but didn't. 

 

42. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I went over to the Stage Stop and had steak for dinner. I am 63 now.

 

43. What did you want and get?

In the realm of material objects, pretty much everything I wanted. 

 

44. What did you want and not get?

I didn't get the windshield or a/c fixed on the Kia. Guess I'll have to wait until tax season.

 

45. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

I would have liked a little more interaction from my friends, even if it was just over the internet. 

 

46. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2022?

"The Festive Color Of My Tribe Is Black", although I'm continuing to branch out into khaki.

 

47. What kept you sane?

Realizing that being unhappy is not the same as being depressed. 

 

48. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Most of the celebrities and public figures that came to my attention this year 

were fairly appalling people. As I explained to the commentariat at The Other McCain, 

the reason I stopped doing Live At Five (the daily news summary) was because having 

to read Page Six and WeSmirch on a daily basis was making me sick. 

 

49. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2022.

No valuable life lessons, unfortunately.

 

50. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

"But there ain't nothing wrong with the radio..."