Wow. I can’t believe today is the last day of 2021. The last two years flew by for me. 2021 was one of those years that brought another drastic change in my life: I no longer have a full-time job.
Back in June, when my contract ended with my then-current employer, I thought I’d get more selective searching for my next job. Then my PTSD culminated at an all-time high which resulted in my VA disability rating increasing high enough that I didn’t have to stress about finding an adequate job.
Early retirement (I’m only 40) sounded like a great idea at the time, but a few weeks into my retirement, I was bored. And lost. I didn’t have any hobbies and my career controlled my life for the previous 20 years. The few websites I started and business ideas I had were now pointless, since I solely focused on making money with them. Nothing I did in my free time was purely for fun.
Eventually, I became used to being a house-husband. I cleaned more, cooked more (and ordered out less), and did a few little house projects that were lingering for a few years. I read a ton of books and eventually watched even more movies. I subscribed to the Shudder streaming service in October and rekindled my love of the horror genre. Watching movies on Shudder led me to fall back in love with the zombie sub-genre of horror which then led me to my current hobby – collecting zombie movies on DVD and Bluray.
I currently own over 200 zombie movies and about 15 books. I spent time and money redecorating my den/man cave to reflect my latest obsession. The room has never looked better (although I have about 12 big boxes to break down from all the new bookshelves, floating entertainment center, and glass shelves. My wife and children gave me horror collectibles like Evil Dead, The Thing, Jurassic Park, and a few other gifts that brought me a ton of joy this Solstice (we celebrate the winter solstice instead of Christmas).
Speaking of the holiday season, I’d like to take a minute to pat myself on the back for what I consider my best gift-giving year ever. Everyone was happy and a few gifts were nice surprises which are nearly impossible to do in this family!
Oh, and I skipped over something I’m quite proud of for 2021. I never set new year’s resolutions, but I decided to do just that on January 1, 2021. My first resolution was to avoid playing video games the entire year. I didn’t dabble in console or computer games but I spent a ton of time playing simple games on my phone. Too much time, really. I managed to avoid all video games until July when I realized it was OK for me to waste my time now that I am pseudo-retired. I don’t regret not keeping that resolution and I’m proud that I was able to avoid playing them when I really did need to focus on my career and side businesses.
My second resolution was to read 100 books this year. In 2019 I read 41 and in 2020 I read 68. So how many did I read? 88! Although I didn’t accomplish my goal of 100, I managed to increase the number of books I read year-over-year and am certain I’ll read over 100 in 2022. Again, I’m proud of myself for getting so far along that goal.
So what about this year’s resolutions? After careful consideration, my 2022 New Year’s Resolutions are:
- Hike 25 times
- Read 100 books
- Write a total of 100 blog posts (on this site, iheartscifi.com, and inquisitiveotter.com)
- Make at least 6 extra mortgage payments
That’s it!
Until next year,
Seth