Happy 0x7DC!

It's hard to believe 2011 is already over. So there you go: happy 0b11111011100 to everyone!

New Year's Eve was uneventful. This was the first time in at least 13 years that we didn't invite anyone over or vice versa. I guess people aren't in the mood for celebrating when the economy isn't doing too well.

However, last week wasn't too bad. For a start, Mom made an amazing Christmas Eve meal with lobster tails and stuffed clams. Three days later, one of Dad's professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign treated us to dinner at the Fish Market in Santa Clara during his visit. It had always been the other way around, but Dr. Trick insisted on returning the favor this time. Everything was delicious, especially the angel hair pasta.

The day after that, my mother invited the Chus and the Tangs over for dinner. That was nice even though there were no other young people. The only reason we didn't have the gathering on New Year's Eve is that Wen-Ko had to catch a flight to Taipei this morning. I jokingly suggested doing an early countdown, but everyone else thought it was a stupid idea. :P

2011 in review

I'm not going to lie - 2011 a tough year due to the economic recession. Our only vacations were two short trips to Yosemite and far Northern California. The worst thing that happened was finding out my contract wasn't going to be renewed. Although my departure from Cisco was graceful, joining the ranks of the unemployed just before the holidays sucks no matter what.

But 2011 had its upsides: the best part was the Armada Group family picnic in October. That was my first company picnic in over 11 years. Another highlight was getting the iPad 2 last month. I've never been crazy about Apple products, but Dad decided to buy an iPad after trying one. It's definitely pretty useful, both for productivity and as a time killer.

To conclude this post, my New Year's resolutions for 2012 are to improve my social skills, kick some bad habits, get a new job and hopefully survive the Mayan apocalypse. Haha.

In other news...

Dad is going to Las Vegas for the CES and plans to take me and Mom along. I'm so excited!

Currently listening to: "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO