Lounge of Tomorrow - View Single Post - End-of-Year reminiscing

Alex · 12-22-2005, 03:36 PM

This has been an interesting year in many ways.

Most prominent is that I haven't drawn a paycheck even once this year. My no means does this mean I haven't been working (the redesign of MousePlanet was the focus of much of my time) but it is the first time since I was 13 that I haven't had a job (disregarding a couple short periods during high school). I've discovered that I enjoy the role of househusband and how ideal a setup it is to have one person in the relationship taking care of the home while the other takes care of the money. The house is cleaner, the eating is better, the evenings are time together (as opposed to time spend doing the chores that can't get done during the day).

I'm not going to do it forever, but it has been a good life lesson (especially realizing just how much money we were wasting when we had two incomes)

As a result of not working, we didn't do all the short travel we usually do, but I was able to piggyback on Lani's business trip to Singapore and spent 2 1/2 weeks there. I love travel but have never travelled internationally (we grew up poor and driving trips were all we ever did) so that was great. We also took a wonderful long weekend at Seqouia/King's Canyon for camping and hiking with friends that was wonderful.

The 50th Anniversary events were certainly interesting, though in a different way than for the rest of you since I was working. May 5th I spent more than 12 hours sitting at a table at Whitewater Cafe, writing and processing photos as they came in through the day. Never even stepped foot in the park. Getting to go to the press/VIP party the night before at DCA was pretty cool as I got to meet and chat with quite a few interesting people.

I learned that I can't talk on a microphone with a speaker delay. Or, at least, I better practice doing so before next April.

We moved out to the 'burbs. With me not working it didn't make any sense to force Lani to commute 30 miles each way so we moved closer to her employer. For the first time as an adult I have a front door that actually opens to the outside world (it has been 14 years of security apartment buildings before that). It is different and I vastly prefer living in the city but it hasn't been as bad as I expected. The wild turkeys that walk past my office window every few days are nice as well.

We got a cat, which is the first pet I've had since 1993 (when the last one went out the door with my first wife). While I don't fetishize pets the way many people do, they are nice to have around, especially when I spend all day in silence by myself, looking at a computer screen.

I ran two half-marathons this year (third time at the WDW and first time at the San Francisco), and those are the only times this year I've run more than a mile at any given stretch.

It is also a noteworthy year because Lani, due to World of Warcraft addiction, finally "made the switch" and for the first time in her life bought a PC.

All in all a good year, though not particularly exciting, and I can't really think of anything bad that happened.

12-22-2005, 03:36 PM	#4
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	This has been an interesting year in many ways. Most prominent is that I haven't drawn a paycheck even once this year. My no means does this mean I haven't been working (the redesign of MousePlanet was the focus of much of my time) but it is the first time since I was 13 that I haven't had a job (disregarding a couple short periods during high school). I've discovered that I enjoy the role of househusband and how ideal a setup it is to have one person in the relationship taking care of the home while the other takes care of the money. The house is cleaner, the eating is better, the evenings are time together (as opposed to time spend doing the chores that can't get done during the day). I'm not going to do it forever, but it has been a good life lesson (especially realizing just how much money we were wasting when we had two incomes) As a result of not working, we didn't do all the short travel we usually do, but I was able to piggyback on Lani's business trip to Singapore and spent 2 1/2 weeks there. I love travel but have never travelled internationally (we grew up poor and driving trips were all we ever did) so that was great. We also took a wonderful long weekend at Seqouia/King's Canyon for camping and hiking with friends that was wonderful. The 50th Anniversary events were certainly interesting, though in a different way than for the rest of you since I was working. May 5th I spent more than 12 hours sitting at a table at Whitewater Cafe, writing and processing photos as they came in through the day. Never even stepped foot in the park. Getting to go to the press/VIP party the night before at DCA was pretty cool as I got to meet and chat with quite a few interesting people. I learned that I can't talk on a microphone with a speaker delay. Or, at least, I better practice doing so before next April. We moved out to the 'burbs. With me not working it didn't make any sense to force Lani to commute 30 miles each way so we moved closer to her employer. For the first time as an adult I have a front door that actually opens to the outside world (it has been 14 years of security apartment buildings before that). It is different and I vastly prefer living in the city but it hasn't been as bad as I expected. The wild turkeys that walk past my office window every few days are nice as well. We got a cat, which is the first pet I've had since 1993 (when the last one went out the door with my first wife). While I don't fetishize pets the way many people do, they are nice to have around, especially when I spend all day in silence by myself, looking at a computer screen. I ran two half-marathons this year (third time at the WDW and first time at the San Francisco), and those are the only times this year I've run more than a mile at any given stretch. It is also a noteworthy year because Lani, due to World of Warcraft addiction, finally "made the switch" and for the first time in her life bought a PC. All in all a good year, though not particularly exciting, and I can't really think of anything bad that happened.
	Submit to Quotes