a quarter century into the millennium

One of my most vivid memories was counting down to the year 2000 at our family friend Carol's house. At the time, the biggest concern was that the Y2K problem would cause worldwide chaos. I remember switching on my Windows 95 laptop right after midnight to make sure it could still start up. It's hard to believe it's been 25 years. We are now actually closer to 2030 than 2020. How time flies.

A bittersweet holiday season

So the holidays were a bit of a bummer. We had invited my cousin Cathy and her husband Andrew over for lunch on the 29th and were really looking forward to seeing them for the first time in two years. However, the couple both got sick during the holidays, as did my cousin Connie and her kids. I've been told this flu season has been especially bad. I did get to catch up with Andrew and Cathy over FaceTime, although that's not quite the same as meeting in person.

But the holiday season had its highlights. One of my mom's friends in New Jersey sent us some high-quality candied cashews and mixed nuts. Mom did some research and found out those weren't cheap. Our neighbor Bob also gave us a box of See's Candies. We certainly appreciate all the love.

I also reached level 120 Dungeoneering in RuneScape on the 28th. I didn't actually have that much time for RuneScape as I was busy studying for cybersecurity certificates, but the XP rewards from the Christmas event definitely helped. Only four more 120's to go!

2024 in review

Some say 2024 was a tough year. For one, the economy hasn't really gotten better. Food prices are still increasing and are expected to continue to rise. It also doesn't help that there are major conflicts all over the world.

We also somehow managed to elect Donald Trump again. I tend to avoid political topics, but Trump has certainly done many questionable things during his first presidency. I'm not at all confident that things will be better this time around. It's probably going to be even worse based on what I read about Project 2025. :\

Of course, there have also been personal challenges. For me, the worst thing that happened is that I was rejected in October by a company I had greatly looked up to. I felt I aced the interview and was fairly confident I'd get the job. It's no secret that the job market is extremely competitive, but that stung for a while.

I was also looking forward to a few events that ultimately didn't pan out for one reason or another. As mentioned above, my cousin Cathy and her husband Andrew had planned to come over for lunch. But that didn't happen because they both got sick after catching the virus from my second cousin Desiree. I was also eagerly anticipating the 20-year LAHS class of 2004 reunion. However, that event never progressed beyond the planning stage. It seems people in my generation don't want to meet in person anymore.

Another unfortunate thing that happened is my MSI gaming laptop suddenly died after the PSU went bad and apparently fried the motherboard. I was not immediately able to recover my data because I didn't realize the laptop also had an SSD in addition to a hard drive. It turned out the SSD had survived the power surge. I didn't have to spend a few hundred dollars on a data recovery service, but having to re-install everything on my new laptop set me back several weeks. That was a stressful month for sure.

However, that is not to say 2024 didn't have its good moments. For me, the best part was getting to see the northern lights. It's nice to not have to travel all the way to Alaska or Iceland. I also got some very nice presents for my 39th birthday in October. That was certainly one of my best birthdays in ages!

On towards 2025

A common prediction is 2025 is going to be a bad year as well. It definitely seems like the case so far, especially given what happened this morning in New Orleans. We're also less than three weeks away from Trump's second term. But as John Connor famously said: the future has not been written. We can certainly do our best make 2025 as good of a year as possible.

I'm also going to try something a little different this year. Instead of making a New Year's resolution — which I know I'm going to fail — I've decided to share my predictions for 2025. Here's what I think will happen in the near future:

1. We will see an improvement in the U.S. job market
2. I will get the opportunity to catch up with childhood friends
3. Donald Trump will be removed from office. He has already been impeached twice, so maybe the third time's the charm
4. I am not going to win a million dollars from the lottery

I don't expect all or even any of those predictions to come true, but I am nevertheless excited to see what 2025 has to offier. :-)

Currently listening to: Pachelbel's Canon by Johann Pachelbel