This was the year that the COVID pandemic receded and life returned to normal, although I think I’m forever changed by it. That meant that there was a lot more travel and other social events, but it also meant that we had a cold virus go through our family this Christmas. I noticed that there were a lot more “family” posts that weren’t focused on one person or another, so this retrospective might be a little different.
Miranda is the epitome of this: she was a part of so many stories this year, but rarely took centre stage. She’s into her second year at the University of Calgary and she’s still working at Abbey’s, and things have kept rolling for her. When I asked her about her main memories for the year, she listed a bunch of things that never got posted here, like doing her Inktober drawings and getting accepted into the Ireland study abroad program in 2024. I would say that another bit thing was her staying home alone while we were in Victoria this summer, looking after Mr. Murphy. As usual, her birthday started our year off right, turning 19. She had a spa day with Tammy as a birthday gift. This was also the year that she took driving lessons and got her driver’s license. I sense that this is the calm before the storm for Miranda, as in the next few years I’m sure there will be a lot of changes.
Ian got a lot more “ink” in the ii News this year, which I guess makes up for earlier years where you’d swear he didn’t exist at all. He got his learner’s license early in the year and then took driving lessons through the AMA. Unlike Miranda, his friends were learning to drive and he didn’t want to be left out. He also got a gaming PC this year. He paid for half, and we paid for half. He now has no excuses when he wants to play games with his friends. Turns out it was great for his multimedia classes, too. Ian did a lot of cooking again this year, so much so that it sorta stopped being news. He mostly does main course-style dishes and never disappoints. He keeps growing and growing and finally it was obvious he needed to graduate from the loft bed and into a Twin XL. I was sad to see the loft bed go, but glad that it would have a new life with young kids. Ian turned 16 this year but his friends were travelling in the summer and so his birthday party with them was very belated. I’m sure he would have been glad if that was the last time he was mentioned for the year, but he also had his wisdom teeth out when his impacted molar was starting to show signs of an abscess.
Tammy mostly got posts about her baking this year. I mean, you don’t really have to see who it’s about when the title is World of Pie, right? There were many examples, but I’d say her moment of triumph was the homemade stroopwafels that she shared during the Ronde van Cowtown. She quickly gained legendary status in the BCC. She turned 51 this year and celebrated her 20th Mother’s Day. She and I made time to have breakfast in Cochrane a couple of times this summer. Her work at Columbia College continues to go well. She’s still working from home and is happy to do so. You should hear her grumble on the days that she has to go in for a staff meeting. In cycling news, she got her Tron bike (that’s no easy feat!) and she also got the La Vie Claire retro jersey in Zwift. They were both big goals for her that she achieved.
I seemed to get the lion’s share of the stories this year. It all started when I got the Lego Galaxy Explorer reissue for Christmas. That then led me to spending a few weeks sorting the Lego so that I could build Benny’s Spaceship. By the time I finished sorting the Lego, I didn’t want to see another piece of Lego, so Benny’s Spaceship remains a dream. Shortly after, I became a Solution Delivery Manager at Esri (unrelated to the Lego thing). It was a struggle at times, especially around April to June, but became manageable toward the end of the year. I got an upgraded Mac for work, too. Later in the year, I asked for and got an office at work. I started spending 3-4 days per week downtown, which will keep going as long as it makes sense. I turned 50 this year. It was a busy birthday day, with a 50 km Zwift ride to mark the day (the air quality tanked), a family breakfast, a day of work, and a organizational meeting for the Tour Alberta for Cancer ride in the evening. The later “party” with Steven and Krisztina was much more fun and relaxed. Watches seemed to become an obsession for me. It started with the Bulova Lunar Pilot in 2022, and that led to a pair of Bulova Suttons, a Casio AE1200 (“Royale”) that I modded, a Seiko Astron and a Seiko Arnie for Christmas. I continued my long-running streak of learning French with Duolingo. I think the funniest thing was when Miranda gave me some Tintin books in French for Christmas this year, and it took me at least a three count to realize that they weren’t in English. I just read the titles and it didn’t register that they weren’t in English. I guess the last bit to round out the year was my new iPad Pro, that I used (somewhat successfully) to do the Advent of Code this year.
Dad figured large in 2023, for the wrong reasons. He had his big fall that left him looking like a raccoon. And we were worried about Aunty Audrey and Uncle Jack, who passed away within 12 hours of each other. But then a week later, Dad had a stroke and spent the next two months in the hospital. We really didn’t think he was going to pull through. But he did, and I found myself visiting Victoria twice, first to see him in the hospital, and then to help him move to the Alexander Mackie care home. Stephanie and Tristan have been doing a ton to help out. Dad’s condo should be on the market in early 2024.
And you had to wait this long to hear about our new cats? Who the hell is writing this Retrospective? Talk about burying the lede. Stephanie started it. Then we finished it, I guess. Lizzie and Pip are fitting in well here. It took some time for everyone to get adjusted to each other, but thing seem fine now. Mr. Murphy has even lost 3/4 of a pound. He had a weird illness late in the year, but is over it now. Lizzie is a hungry, rambunctious parkour master and Pip is a lap cat. We also lost a cat this year, so to speak. Topaz, our visiting cat stopped visiting, and it seems he met his end. Such is the life of an outdoor cat.
Photography figured large this year. We had a family photo day early in the year, and in the fall, we had another, this time with Krisztina Beothy Photography. I also took the time to get Miranda’s baby pictures re-printed, after they had faded in the sunlight. And since it was 10 years since our move to Calgary, we re-created our family photo to mark the occasion.
With COVID receding, we had more occasion to find ourselves other places than our home and in other people’s company. I went to Palm Springs to attend the Esri Developer Summit, and had the usual fun getting back. Esri Canada also held Tech Trek in person in Ontario for the first time since 2019. Tammy, Ian and I drove to Victoria in the summer, and had a great time with the Tour de Victoria, doing fun stuff in Victoria and Pender Island. Unlike 2022, I didn’t come down with COVID on the way home. We had a close call with the Tiguan: days before our drive to Victoria, the serpentine belt started eating itself. Glad that didn’t happen halfway to Victoria. Early in the year, we took a chance to enter a crowd for the first time in years with the RAW Artists Art Show. We attended both of our work Christmas parties this year, and had a good time at both.
Our home got some love this year, with the solar panels having their first full year of generation and us getting the rebate finally. We were happy with the results: the installers said we would generate about 5,000 kWh, and we ended up measuring over 6,000. The kids got new mattresses, and Ian’s loft bed is gone and replaced by something longer. Tammy and I tried rearranging our bedroom for the first time, and so far it’s working. After procrastinating for too long, I finally fixed the front and rear screen doors. And speaking of procrastination, looking back in the archives, I painted the upstairs hallway in 2015. It took me until this year to get painters in to finish the job in the stairwell. And when our dishwasher suddenly gave up the ghost this fall, we took the opportunity to replace it and the washer and dryer. Little did we know that the dryer was DOA and wasn’t that a pain in the neck until it was fixed.
And lastly, the ii News got a facelift in 2023. I had been using the standard 2011 WordPress theme for so long and it wasn’t being supported anymore. That can lead to security vulnerabilities and so it was better to choose a new one than continue with the old. But speaking of security, a number of times in the last few months, I’ve gotten warnings from Linode when my server had been working hard. It seems that there have been some attacks of sorts against my website. There were several over Christmas. If they continue, I may have to reconsider how I’m hosting this site. It would be a shame to go off the air after 22 years, but we’ll have to see.
I hope everyone else had such a full year. Here’s looking forward to 2024.
