a year of many ups and downs

Hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve. It's hard to believe 2024 is already here!

I'll start by saying this has been an eventful holiday season. One highlight is the Hsuehs had us over on Christmas Eve. Lily made us a nice hot pot dinner, and all the food was delicious. It's not often that we get to spend Christmas Eve with other families. I'm grateful the Hsuehs decided to invite us.

Also worth mentioning is that our neighbor Bob gave us a box of See's Candies on Christmas. I didn't expect any Christmas presents, so this was quite nice. It's definitely something I appreciate. We're lucky to have him as our neighbor.

I didn't feel like making a dedicated post about this, but I completed the Wharton School's AI for Decision Making program on the 28th. Unlike the MIT course that I finished in October, this one focused more on the business aspects of artificial intelligence. One nice thing about this program is that it's not time-gated — which means you don't have to wait for a course to unlock on a certain date. I was able to finish all the videos and do the quizzes well before the course is due to end.

Of note is that the Wharton program includes several complementary courses. I spent much of the holidays catching up on the lectures because the courses expire in less than three weeks. It would be a shame to let them to go to waste because they are worth several hundred dollars — and more importantly — cover a lot of concepts. I certainly hope to put that knowledge to good use in my future career.

Dad has also been working on a huge home improvement project in the past several weeks. You see, our street has had a huge rat problem in recent years. Because they often get into our backyard and shit all over the place, my father decided to convert the gazebo — which he built in 2020 — into a greenhouse for storage. This would prevent rats from getting in and making a mess. I occasionally had to help out because there are tasks that require two people. There's still much work left to do, but the greenhouse should keep the rodents out once it's complete.

New Year's Eve

Like the previous nine years, my family did not host or attend any New Year's Eve parties. It seems few people are interested in celebrating the New Year nowadays. I miss the feeling of counting down to midnight with friends. Even though there were some public New Year's Events in downtown Mountain View and elsewhere, hanging out with strangers just isn't the same. It certainly doesn't help that food has gotten pretty expensive.

However, the nice thing I got to watch the 2023 movie The Flash on Blu-ray after dinner. It had over-the-top action as well as some hilarious scenes. I'm a huge Flash fan and really enjoyed the movie despite the critical reviews. Sometimes I think it would be so cool to have super speed.

New Year's Day

Our original plan was to participate in the New Year's Day Pathways Walk in Los Altos Hills. However, this seemed a little risky due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases. We ultimately decided to play it safe and just go for a walk in our neighborhood.

Otherwise, this has been a busy day as I continued to catch up on the video lectures. I also had to help my dad with the greenhouse every so often. As you can see, this was an eventful two weeks!

2023 in review

You're probably aware that the past year had many challenges. For one, the economy is still in a bad state. The most unfortunate thing that happened to me was I got laid off in June. Even though I started my own data science consulting firm right after leaving Energous, finding customers is not easy either. Hopefully that changes once we have a website.

Another thing is that COVID-19 cases have gone back up. Looks like some people were right about the pandemic lasting more than three years. Furthermore, food has gotten pretty expensive as I mentioned earlier. It's been predicted that prices will continue to rise. Good thing my family has our own vegetable garden.

However, this doesn't mean 2023 didn't have its highlights. Perhaps the most important thing is I've completed two AI certification programs. I'm also around halfway through two others. Those will look good on my resume, that's for sure.

Furthermore, there were many social opportunities last year. For example, the block party in August was pretty fun. We also had several other get-togethers with family friends this summer. Let's hope the trend continues. :D

Of course, no New Year is complete without New Year's resolutions. For those curious, my goal for 2024 is to switch to an AI career. I also hope to get at least two skills to level 120 in RuneScape soon. There are also a few other nice things that are slated to happen this year. For example, Derek — the LAHS class of 2004 president — has started to plan our 20-year reunion. I'm definitely excited for the future!

Currently watching: The Flash (2023)