This past year has been an educational one to say the least. I believe that the pandemic is here to stay and while it may be diluted in the future, the influence of the pandemic will be cemented in my mind and influence my life forever as I am sure many of you. We can liken its influence to the depression, or a world war or other major event. Living through such events influences generations. Future generations may ignore a person coughing in a public space whereas a person who has experienced the pandemic first hand may react as if bullets were fired and run for cover. But pandemic or not, this is our time on earth, and we need to make the best out of it. So on that note, let’s review my 2021!
January started with a hike on New Years Day with our dear friends. January was filled with anxious moments leading up the inauguration. The Capitol riots that occured on January 6th, incited and supported by the outgoing President should be of concern to every citizen in the US. Remember, nearly 1/2 of the population voted for him, which means that a portion of those voters think similarly, who were not in Washington DC on January 6th. To me it signals a bigger problem in the US that will not change for a long time, and will be a constant threat to all in the US. I am grateful that Joe Biden took office, it is what our country needs to heal. In January the pandemic continued to dictate our lives. I am grateful for my home gym and for having a nice accommodating home.
February and March were more of the same. Lots of walks on Alki Beach as that was safe. Pandemic, shelter in place, be grateful. April brought hope that we may be seeing a break in the pandemic and resuming a somewhat normal life, or that is what we had hoped. I had planned to set up a nice dinner to celebrate a special birthday and set out to make reservations. Most restaurants were at 50% capacity with many restrictions. As I started calling around, I found that a few of my favorite restaurants in Seattle were permanently closed (Millers Guild is one casualty). We had settled on her favorite restaurant, IL Terrazzo Carmines in Seattle. Both of us were leary about going out but we were satisfied with a 50% occupancy rule and space between tables, etc. As soon as we walked in the restaurant we were both caught off guard, the restaurant was at capacity, just teeming with people. We reluctantly turned around and got take out. It’s hard to blame the restaurants for this as the restrictions imposed did not make sense (meaning it was not consistent across all businesses).
Vaccines started to become available in the US and I was able to get mine in April (Pfizer) and my girlfriend was able to get hers shortly thereafter and we were soon after meeting with our friends more regularly and making plans for trips and such. I also accepted an offer to start a new role that is in technology sales of a SaaS product. This is something that I have been wanting to do for a long time and I could not be more happier to join the team here in Seattle.
We went on several San Juan Island trips on our friends boat this year and had many lovely dinners and parties and such. Oh, I also ran for office and almost won! Yeah, that was kind of a big deal and it deserves it’s own space and I will be publishing that story soon.
2022 will continue to be about being the best version of myself. I am going to crush it at work and continue to exercise and focus on making as much money as I possibly can so I can get that 27′ Ranger Tug (in blue please) and join my dear friends in the San Juans (and maybe find a new deck hand to enjoy it with me!).
Much love to you and your family and loved ones. I wish you good health, happiness, and everything you desire.
Life is SoCray 
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