The Year That Was
A new year. A time for reflection. A time for memories.
Up until a few years ago, I always did a Year in Review entry about things in a lot of detail. Nine years ago, I changed it up and didn't do that, only something along the lines of a year's perspective. I've come to realise that the year is done. Life has wound its course for 2024, and there's no point dwelling on it too much. That's not to say that I won't remember 2024. I am, I do, and I will. But I can't live in the past, though I can certainly learn from what happened last year. At least I hope so.
I guess I'll start by saying that 2024 will be remembered for the continuing violence around the world (notably the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas/terrorist groups conflicts in the Middle East); the economic crisis that is crippling consumers in Canada (and presumably elsewhere), notably at the grocery store; the almost constant gun violence that has plagued the U.S.A. and is now spreading moreso into Canada and other previously relatively peaceful nations, killing so many civilians and children; the growing political crisis in Canada as Justin Trudeau's government falls to pieces; the (re-)rise of Donald Trump back into the Presidency of the United States later this month; and the ever present danger of COVID-19, which is still among us and still quite virulent and fatal. Throw into the mix the current flu, which is wreaking havoc (and even death) as it surges in a nasty wave this year, and the respiratory infection (RSV) that is striking down both the very young and the older population, and it's going to be a year that will be quite nasty over the course of January and February.
For me personally, the year was epitomized for the most part by several things. First of all, the year started with me developing a very bad stomach and bowel infection (that has still not been adequately diagnosed due to other issues). Second, my diabetes was not/is not under good enough control, and things were not helped with the shortage in some of the medications that I take for it. Suffice to say, I did manage to bring the diabetes back under control somewhat after August. Third, I've been feeling my age (69 years old as of 2024) this past year, and due to a variety of reasons I've been feeling very alone and isolated. This has led to a couple of bouts of deep depression this year and a feeling of helplessness as well. Fourth, there has been no resolution to my getting a new toilet bought and installed because of issues, both financial and health related on the part of the person who was supposed to take care of this matter. That has led to my inability to get the colonoscopy that the specialist wanted me to get, due to lack of adequate restroom facilities, but that's another issue. Finally, I took a nasty fall down the stairs inside the house in late September or early October, and have been plagued with lower back and rear end pain since that time, which has augmented the body pain that I've been in for a couple of years now. While I have the joy of my gaming groups during the year, this was a mixed bag in 2024 (see the stuff on gaming below), and I struggled to stay positive for the most part. This is something that I'll need to work on this year, especially since I don't see myself risking my health in various social settings too often this year, and because I don't really have a lot of friends and people I socialize with. Throw in the bowel issues I'm having, including Irritable Bowel Syndrome, the stress I've been under and... well, let's just say 2024 was a year to forget health-wise.
Gaming-wise, 2024 was a pretty mixed bag for the most part. I effectively ran two game systems with both the Friday night and Sunday afternoon gaming groups this past year, the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game and the Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game, running the former for the first half of the year and the latter for the second part of the year. The Sunday afternoon gamers played a lot less than the Friday nighters, primarily due to Tammy's work schedule, but havoc was also wreaked when the player I met at CanGames, 2024 who "joined" the group dropped out after a couple of months due to...personal reasons. It was a stressful couple of months towards the end of the year with the Sunday group, but I managed to get through it... but I feel like I'm cursed finding players for the Sunday group to join Tammy and SteveR. And that was pretty much my entirety of gaming for 2024. That said, I did attend CanGames, 2024 (the first one I'd been to because of the COVID-19 thing cancelling the conventions from 2020 to 2022 and missing 2023's convention due to the diabetic ulcer), and I had a good time running games there, and socialising with people once more. I'm (still) not one to play games on-line using Discord, Zoom, Roll20 or other sites, so those just aren't an option for me. There are several games that I'm looking forward to running (and perhaps playing) this year of 2025, but we'll see how things shake out.
And there's also CanGames 2025 to think about...
I can't honestly say there were a lot of highlights in 2024, but there were sure way too many lowlights, none of which I really want to look back at with any angst, perverse fondness or annoyance. Or fear. I like to think that I'm a bit of a better person for what happened in 2024, but there's (a lot of) room for improvement, and I hope to be a better person yet again in 2025.
That's really all I have to say about 2024.
Now? It's time to look forward. And all the good/great stuff that's hopefully going to happen this year.
In the meantime, to everyone reading this blog entry... Stay safe, and stay healthy.
Up until a few years ago, I always did a Year in Review entry about things in a lot of detail. Nine years ago, I changed it up and didn't do that, only something along the lines of a year's perspective. I've come to realise that the year is done. Life has wound its course for 2024, and there's no point dwelling on it too much. That's not to say that I won't remember 2024. I am, I do, and I will. But I can't live in the past, though I can certainly learn from what happened last year. At least I hope so.
I guess I'll start by saying that 2024 will be remembered for the continuing violence around the world (notably the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas/terrorist groups conflicts in the Middle East); the economic crisis that is crippling consumers in Canada (and presumably elsewhere), notably at the grocery store; the almost constant gun violence that has plagued the U.S.A. and is now spreading moreso into Canada and other previously relatively peaceful nations, killing so many civilians and children; the growing political crisis in Canada as Justin Trudeau's government falls to pieces; the (re-)rise of Donald Trump back into the Presidency of the United States later this month; and the ever present danger of COVID-19, which is still among us and still quite virulent and fatal. Throw into the mix the current flu, which is wreaking havoc (and even death) as it surges in a nasty wave this year, and the respiratory infection (RSV) that is striking down both the very young and the older population, and it's going to be a year that will be quite nasty over the course of January and February.
For me personally, the year was epitomized for the most part by several things. First of all, the year started with me developing a very bad stomach and bowel infection (that has still not been adequately diagnosed due to other issues). Second, my diabetes was not/is not under good enough control, and things were not helped with the shortage in some of the medications that I take for it. Suffice to say, I did manage to bring the diabetes back under control somewhat after August. Third, I've been feeling my age (69 years old as of 2024) this past year, and due to a variety of reasons I've been feeling very alone and isolated. This has led to a couple of bouts of deep depression this year and a feeling of helplessness as well. Fourth, there has been no resolution to my getting a new toilet bought and installed because of issues, both financial and health related on the part of the person who was supposed to take care of this matter. That has led to my inability to get the colonoscopy that the specialist wanted me to get, due to lack of adequate restroom facilities, but that's another issue. Finally, I took a nasty fall down the stairs inside the house in late September or early October, and have been plagued with lower back and rear end pain since that time, which has augmented the body pain that I've been in for a couple of years now. While I have the joy of my gaming groups during the year, this was a mixed bag in 2024 (see the stuff on gaming below), and I struggled to stay positive for the most part. This is something that I'll need to work on this year, especially since I don't see myself risking my health in various social settings too often this year, and because I don't really have a lot of friends and people I socialize with. Throw in the bowel issues I'm having, including Irritable Bowel Syndrome, the stress I've been under and... well, let's just say 2024 was a year to forget health-wise.
Gaming-wise, 2024 was a pretty mixed bag for the most part. I effectively ran two game systems with both the Friday night and Sunday afternoon gaming groups this past year, the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game and the Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game, running the former for the first half of the year and the latter for the second part of the year. The Sunday afternoon gamers played a lot less than the Friday nighters, primarily due to Tammy's work schedule, but havoc was also wreaked when the player I met at CanGames, 2024 who "joined" the group dropped out after a couple of months due to...personal reasons. It was a stressful couple of months towards the end of the year with the Sunday group, but I managed to get through it... but I feel like I'm cursed finding players for the Sunday group to join Tammy and SteveR. And that was pretty much my entirety of gaming for 2024. That said, I did attend CanGames, 2024 (the first one I'd been to because of the COVID-19 thing cancelling the conventions from 2020 to 2022 and missing 2023's convention due to the diabetic ulcer), and I had a good time running games there, and socialising with people once more. I'm (still) not one to play games on-line using Discord, Zoom, Roll20 or other sites, so those just aren't an option for me. There are several games that I'm looking forward to running (and perhaps playing) this year of 2025, but we'll see how things shake out.
And there's also CanGames 2025 to think about...
I can't honestly say there were a lot of highlights in 2024, but there were sure way too many lowlights, none of which I really want to look back at with any angst, perverse fondness or annoyance. Or fear. I like to think that I'm a bit of a better person for what happened in 2024, but there's (a lot of) room for improvement, and I hope to be a better person yet again in 2025.
That's really all I have to say about 2024.
Now? It's time to look forward. And all the good/great stuff that's hopefully going to happen this year.
In the meantime, to everyone reading this blog entry... Stay safe, and stay healthy.