2011 was a whirlwind of change, a time for reflection, and a year of uncertainty.
As we countdown the final few days of the year, I thought I’d jot down a quick list of what happened over the past 365 days. I find that as time marches on our short-term memories seem to fail us. With the glut of information at our fingertips we tend to quickly slough off yesterday’s news in favor of the flavor of the moment.
But taking a step back and reflecting on what went down in the short span of a single year can come as a shock to the system, bringing home the fact that we are, indeed, living in some amazing (and odd) times.
So please, if you will, step into the wayback machine with me and ask yourself, “Do I remember….”:
The loss of the iPhone 4 prototype in a bar
Netflix and Quickster
The assassination of Osama bin-Laden via Seal Team Six
The assassination of Gaddafi
The death of Kim Jon-il
The Japanese earthquake and Tsunami
Arab Spring and the role social sites played
The final movie and wrap-up of the Harry Potter series
Obama releasing his birth certificate
The royal wedding
“Don’t ask, don’t tell” repealed
Anthony Weiner and “Weiner-Gate”
The hacking of the Playstation network
The end of the war in Iraq
Earth’s population reached 7 billion
NASA launched its final shuttle mission
The “Occupy” movement
The global economy
Apple becomes the most valuable company in the world
IBM’s Watson beats human champions on Jeopardy
Jerry Sandusky child molestation charges
The NBA lockout
Tim Tebow
News of the World phone hacking
Solyndra and the waste of taxpayer dollars
Salmonella from ground turkey
Listeria from cantaloupes
The Casey Anthony aquittal
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords shot
Mass shooting in Norway
Ted “Golden Voice” Willaims
The trial of Dr. Conrad Murphy
Notable deaths: Elizabeth Taylor, Jeff Conaway, Ryan Dunn, Peter Falk, Amy Winehouse, Steve Jobs, Andy Rooney, Heavy D, Patrice O’Neal, Harry Morgan, Bil Keane, “Smokin’” Joe Frazier, Dan Wheldon, Al Davis, Cliff Robertson, Nick Ashford, Bubba “Hightower” Smith, Betty Ford, Clarence Clemons, James Arness, Jack “Dr. Death” Kevorkian, Clarice Taylor, Gil Scott-Heron, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Harmon Killebrew, Jackie Cooper, Gelandine Ferraro, Warren Christopher, Michael Gough, Len Lesser
And so we wrap up 2011, and look forward to what will hopefully be an interesting 2012 (crossing my fingers that the Mayans were wrong about the end of times in 2012).
Here’s wishing everyone out there a very Happy New Year!
It’s that time of year again when I take a few days off from work to spend time with friends and family.
I wanted to take a quick moment to wish each and every one of you out there a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Crazy Kwanzaa, Ludicrous Las Posadas, Breathtaking Boxing Day, and a pleasant non-denominational observance day. Many thanks for visiting my blog and taking the time to comment!
I’ll be away from the Terrible Analogies for several days, but will be returning on Tuesday the 27th.
In the meantime, here’s hoping for nothing but the best for you and yours!
I’m going to be taking the next two days off, so for all of my North American friends: Happy Thanksgiving!
For everybody else: Happy Thursday!
Tonight Karin and I are going to make a dessert (Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake) to take over to the parents for Thanksgiving dinner Thursday eve, where I hope to avoid my sister who now considers herself an “artist” and can’t stop going on about her run down apartment-turned-studio where the next door neighbor hasn’t bothered to take down the crime scene tape from last month’s “incident”. Oh, she’s a pip, that one.
Regardless, on Thursday night I plan to do much of the following after stuffing my face:
Will be back to posting Monday morning after the tryptophan wears off.
Hope everyone is able to ease into the holidays unscathed. See you next week!
I wanted to write about a recent job interview I had, and how the technical portion of the interview went extremely well, but the ‘getting to know you as a person’ fell apart because I don’t think I answered the “How would you deal with a crying customer on the phone” quite to their satisfaction.
How do you answer something like that without laughing while your interviewers remain dead serious with scorn in their eyes as you giggle in disbelief at their well-rehearsed question?
Damn it, Jim…I’m a systems administrator, not a psychologist!
Meh, whatever.
Oh, and I hope everyone has a happy Easter! Feel free to send me your unwanted Peeps and Cadbury Creme Eggs
As I sit in my study, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, contemplating whether or not to go on a run at the beach, I think about how lucky I am to reside in California where the typical holiday weather is warm and mild, like the first kiss of a budding schoolyard romance.
Then I think about the east coast, where wintertime is more like a bitter divorce between a once happily married couple fighting for sole custody of the dog.
It’s a wonder that people can live normal lives in areas of the country where the seasons can bring out the worst in Mother Nature. Having to put chains on my tires to drive to the corner market, or having to drape an engine blanket on my car to ensure that it’ll start in the morning are utterly alien concepts to me. My vocabulary does not include the words “avalanche safety”, “ice the roads”, “snowshoes”, “thermal underwear” or “window scraper”. I’ve never seen frost on the inside of my bedroom window. I’ve never had any part of my body stick to a frozen pole. And I must admit that when people ask me if I’m “winterized”, I don’t know what the heck they’re talking about.
And quite frankly, I think I’m a weaker person for it. I’ve never had to think about having enough heating oil to last through a winter, worry about how much snow is weighing down my creaking roof, or even plowing the driveway. Heck, I shudder at the thought of having to walk between my car and office at six in the morning when the morning temps drop to a bitter 50°.
And so, to all of my friends out there having to put up with snowdrifts as high as an elephants eye, here’s big ole’ Hot Toddy to ya. You stay warm…and Merry Christmas!
