entering 2019 in style

It's hard to believe 2019 is already here. I can't believe how fast time goes. The good news is that I had a great holiday season even though we didn't go on any vacations.

The plan was to go skiing at Tahoe over the holidays, but we cancelled the trip due to a storm in the area. This wasn't a big deal because we had been there many times. The other thing is that I don't have any PTO saved up as I only joined Intel in December. I had to work for a few days between Christmas and the New Year, but the thing is that my boss took us to lunch at an Indian buffet on the 26th. The food was super spicy but also delicious. That was definitely a nice experience.

New Year's Eve

Although we technically have to work on New Year's Eve, my boss told me I could work from home. It was definitely relaxing to not have to commute.

One thing I noticed is that most people don't seem to celebrate New Year's Eve anymore. This year was no different as we didn't invite anyone over or vice versa. However, my mother and I did watch the Times Square countdown together. I can't believe Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve didn't show the ball drop. That was really lame.

I decided to watch Ant-Man and the Wasp on DVD afterwards. That was another great Marvel movie. I then watched the local countdown to 2019 before going to bed.

New Year's Day

Today was pretty fun as we attended the New Year's Day Rogue Run before having family friends over. I wanted to do a mock countdown to 2019 before starting lunch as I really missed the feeling of counting down to the New Year with friends. To my surprise, everyone actually agreed!

Some people brought desserts while the Chiangs brought a large platter of California rolls. Everything was delicious as always. The party also doubled as a celebration for Jim and Yeng-Feng as today is their 50th anniversary. This was definitely a very special get-together.

All of us then watched Mary Shelley together. The Chiangs and the Changs left early as they had other errands, but everyone else stayed until the late afternoon. On the whole, I had an amazing time even though there were no other young people.

2018 in review

Every year has its ups and downs. For me, the best part of 2018 was meeting The Martian author Andy Weir. Not many people get the chance to meet their favorite authors.

The worst thing that happened was when I got laid off in October. Although I had seen signs that the company was experiencing a cyclic downturn, this completely took me by surprise because I felt both my manager and our VP liked me. I did get an awesome new job a few weeks later, but this left a sour taste in my mouth for a while.

At any rate, it's best to look for the future. On that note, my New Year's resolutions for 2019 are to get a promotion and improve my social skills. Let's get serious!

Currently listening to: "Another Night" by Real McCoy