Today is my birthday. Won't you help me celebrate?
What a year, huh?
I worked from home most of the year. I have had a great view of my yard, which I really enjoy. Sometimes deer or wild turkeys walk through.
I returned to the office starting in June and was laid off in July. We had a new VP of Sales who wanted a young, hip and cool sales team; and as a grumpy, old, expensive dinosaur, I didn't make the cut.
It all worked out though. I was given a generous 2 months severance and they paid for COBRA coverage for that time.
I made 113 applications, received over 40 rejection emails; which I appreciated because I knew where I stood with those companies. I had a handful of interviews I had two job offers and could have had a third but I backed out as I learned more about that third company.
So before the 2 months expired, I started a new job as a Sales Engineer in an industry I've enjoyed before. What I made on unemployment turned out to be a bonus.
And I'm working from home. Permanently.
God willing, if all goes according to plan, I'll retire in a few years.
I had stopped training in iaido in May, because my wife and I become very busy, socially, during the summer and I would have missed a large number of classes; for which I would have had to pay anyway. The dojo has moved on to mostly practicing aikido now. I have to see how this new job is going to work out for me timewise, before I commit to training in a dojo again.
Having said that, my taijiquan practice is flourishing. Life just works better when I practice everyday.
Besides getting a ton of reading under my belt, in this last year I've taken up archery and shooting. A neighbor have me a mountain bike. I have to get a new rear wheel because it was bent. Tracking one down because of supply issues in the current nut to crack.
