Oh, 2012 - How awesome you have been.
2012 has been a year of ups and downs. First and foremost I watched and saw how I became more and more driven by hatred and becoming, bit by bit, what I definitely did not want to become. I discovered someone I really liked was only interested in me as a friend and I ruined a good friendship over nothing (again). On the other hand, I moved to my apartment (yay!), recently found a girlfriend, and I'm well on my way to becoming a professional programmer. Some major events that happened in my life last year:
Obviously the big thing was my trial week with a friend of mine which completely backfired due to my own stupidity. I got one of the few cels that I could afford that year DURING our week together, so all in all that was a pretty epic week. However, as stated before, I found out she was only interested in me as a friend. And quite frankly, I'm cool with that. She's an awesome person and I'd rather have her as a friend than not at all.
Another UTI. Yep. On the bright side, that was the only one I had that year, and I expect me to get off a little better this year, what with my isolated apartment and all. Hell, I even got REALLY sick in 2012, which hasn't really happened in a while, and I hope will not happen in a long time, again.
The Dutch government went to great lengths to keep disappointing me in terms of considering their citizens. Most notably on the areas of atheism and digital freedom. While ACTA and SOPA didn't exactly make it through, their willingness to give up rights to a bigger community (which will in term limit our freedom very much) is disturbing to say the least. And what do we do when hate crimes are committed against the godless? We apologize to the criminals. Because that's how we roll. Remember when we once were an advancing civilization? Our politicians are trying very hard to revert those changes.
Snow... For the love... SERIOUSLY? Winter was almost over without any form of a winter stop on the construction site. Then at the very last moment it starts freezing like no-one's business, and they stop the construction for two whole weeks!
I got some really awesome purple Nike's (A HREF="http://lemau.livejournal.com/410968.html">not without pictures!). They were very Shampooey but didn't exactly fit like a regular size 44(EU) did. I got some epic blisters from those bad boys somewhere the first month I had them and couldn't walk in them for another 2 weeks. Still, they're my pride and joy, even though I splattered some paint on them. If I ever have some money to spare again, I'm getting another pair. These are going to have to last for a while though (even though their soles are broken already).
Jagged Alliance Back In Action - I have been looking forward to this game so long, I got it straightaway, only to be confronted with the fact I just threw €45 onto a fire to fuel a shit pile of a game. By the goddess, what a giant disappointment that was.
I finally completely blocked everything from Facebook from my computer. They were starting the year well by infringing on pretty much everything privacy-related.
I've read a grand total of ONE book last year: The Dune Trilogy (ok, so technically three books, but it was bound to one). It was awesome and a very fascinating read. I'm planning on reading some more Eberron books though. I really liked the Thorn Of Breland series.
Riichi! Since I started watching Saki I've been playing some Japanese Mahjong, called Riichi. I can now actually play this and get a positive score. Now all I need to find are three people people that occasionally want to play a game with me. I've even found a place that sells automatic Riichi tables, which I intend to get some time in the future (although, if I can help it, this year).
Mass Effect 3: This has been its own series of highs and lows - First it reopened the old DLC issue wound, reminding me I got scammed out of some money for DLC which they never paid for. Somehow the Indian support employees at EA were more helpful than their American and Dutch(ish) counterparts and resolved the issue so I could stop boycotting EA and actually get ME3. Alas, the Collector's Edition was sold out and I really wanted a hard copy of the game. The game was 'on sale' one week later at NedGame and I got it only to realize I could enter the code in Origin and still had to download the game. ME3 was awesome though, except for the ending, which essentially gave the user an illusion of choice, but the ending is always the same: Shepard dies and the Reapers are thwarted (although the details surrounding the ending are ever so slightly different). This caused SUCH an uproar amongst the ME-fans that they actually released some free DLC with a more verbose end-game and an extra option which lets the Reapers win, but the end result was hardly less disappointing, much like their last book.
I think I had a grand total of three mental breakdowns last year, the most prominent being my housemate's incapacitation. I was so filled with rage my mind went completely numb and apparently all I could think about was Shampoo. Even reading about a rape victim hardly hit me (and it usually does).
Due to constant failing of our wonderful government, I almost missed out on my tax returns, which amusingly would yield me something last year. Mortgage rates are deductible here, and since I have one now (and a deckload of other deductible fees), this would have been a huge setback, financially. Astoundingly I lost the password of the first account created (which lasted a whole of 4 days to request - yay for short-term memory), and I had to anxiously re-request paperwork.
My old chef left to work higher-up. That hurt, as he was the driving force for our old LIMS. He was followed-up by a colleague, whom at first I doubted would be able to handle that assignment. While there have been shortcomings, I am impressed to have noticed that we actually have another person capable of leading a team (my department's boss aside - he's a really cool guy lest you cross him, in which case he becomes a scary motherfucker O_o).
Grand total of Shampoo Resin kits completed in 2012: 0. I need to make up for this, now that I have a place I can relax in... Somewhat. Need a hobby table first, though.
A Ranma ½ live-action film! And it didn't suck... that much. But it direly lacked my two favorite characters, which was disappointing and left me hoping for a 2nd movie. :3
The failure of leadership in our work project got a whole extra dimension when the old project was deemed unsalvageable after the local team having already concluded that 18 months earlier, but trying to salvage it since day one (and doing a damn fine job at it, even if I say so myself). It lead to me finally cutting the cord and becoming a full-fledged programmer. This has, as of yet, not yet happened, but I'm expecting some big changes in my life this year.
I HAVE BECOME A BRONY. I'm not even sure how that happened anymore. I remember watching the Pony Rock Anthem which was effin' brilliant. I've actually watched the show and am actively following it, but I have to admit, I'm a Brony for the fandom, which is creative and pretty damn awesome. My favorite pony started out to be Derpy Hooves, but I think Fluttershy has taken over that spot. (My favorite non-canon pony)
Missed out on the Venus Transit, which apparently happened for the second time in my life. It was cloudy, so no good pictures from me. Luckily NASA and a ton of other enthusiasts managed to save it with webcams, pictures and commentary. Good, seeing as the next time I'll be witnessing it is kind of never. (The next transit of Venus will be December 10, 2117)
I finally got a Wii and got air of a Purple Nintendo 3DS being released. The 3DS was only released in Japan and the US (since they brought back the whole PAL/NTSC thing). As for the Wii, I've been gradually starting to enjoy it more and more. Taking some fun runs on Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort every once in a while, or turning it into a shooting arcade with gun mods and House Of The Dead 2 & 3.
That damn room was in every way oppressing the last two months before I left. The bed collapsed onto itself, which I fixed with a pair of PANTS since I couldn't find any rope, even though I had two coils lying around in two different places. The post box got vandalized for some reason, and I was left fixing it myself, as the landlord considered it safe enough to put letters in. Seeing as I was getting bills at the time which, if stolen, would lead to a significant decrease of cash, I was forced to fix the problem myself with tools I didn't have. And the mice, oh dear mother goddess, the mice. I loathed them. I got to babysit a cat that liked to moan and meow only from 12-6 AM, but didn't do jack about mice. Did miracles on my sleep cycles though - completely ruined them. My brother's stress about his study reached an all-time high, which didn't help the situation. My mother accentuated this by telling me what a terrible brother I was for not helping more (it's not like I was working on my apartment or anything) and I wasn't able to find anything Shampoo to calm me down. She helped me through this whole ordeal wonderfully though, and now that I'm here, it's all just a blurry bit of my past. Much like my perfect vision, which has now made it clear (pun intended) that I am in need of glasses again. So much for my 15-30 years of stable vision.
To make matters worse, due to the sudden exit of the housemate and his inconsistent spending pattern, the Internet went bye-bye about three weeks before I moved out. So I was left with a shitty mailbox and no e-mailbox. Luckily I now had Internet access at work though (which I wouldn't have had if I still worked at my old department), and a week later everything was resolved.
I actually dreamt of Shampoo. It was a weird dream, but a welcome one nonetheless. As of yet, I still haven't remembered another, and I damn sure wish I were able to. At a later point this year I'll purchase a Shampoo body pillow, so that I wake up next to her every day. This I like. One of the sides of the pillow depicts her in an embarrassing pose, this I don't like, but I've grown accustomed to.
Decorating the new place was a pain and seemed to take forever, but looking back now, I managed to do well. It cost a lot of extra money though (some unforeseen stupidities, some extra fees from companies, and of course the ridiculous health insurance that no longer pays for anything, but is mandatory), and I left 2012 with an additional 1000 bucks in the red numbers. This led me to a new system for saving money which I might get in to later on. Settling was easy, and it was funny how little stuff I actually "needed" to live here.
I tried setting my rig up with an SSD I bought, which ended in a disaster, leaving me with a wasted weekend, a motherboard that didn't function properly, a disdain for Windows 8 and an SSD, which I started using for games. Ironically, the slowest of the lot, DDO, started displaying some glitches recently, and since Turbine is refusing to fix the bug (they're saying it's my provider, even though the bug showed up about a month ago) I quit playing DDO. I'll occasionally check back to see how things are, but right now things aren't looking too well. They're releasing update after update which leads to bug after bug, some of which are severely game breaking, but they're just either unwilling or unable to do anything about it. Not sure which is worse.
I've been working out, and the result is slightly visible, although not enough yet. Still have a fatty stomach and my recent diet is not helping.
And the year ended with my two favorite colleagues finally being fed up with the lack of progress on the team. One left last month, the other will leave this month and leave me with definite heart-ache. Especially considering how awesome they are. No matter how often I'll still get to see them, I'll miss them nonetheless.
As grim as things are looking at work, at home, a girl casually strolled into my life. She's awesome and I definitely do not deserve someone this cool, but somehow she disagrees. I really like her, to the point that there actually hasn't been a single hour in my awakened state last week where I haven't thought of her. I really want to tell her how I feel, but I'm kind of afraid I'll be scaring her off if I come on to her this fast. I am such a pussy when it comes to talking to nice girls. There's more though. She's an artist, a writer... Pretty much all the things I can only pull off from behind a pseudonym. She's the type of free spirit I aspire to be, and she's much better at it than I am.
And that is what 2012 has brought me. An interesting new skillset, new friends, old friends, suffering and release, more Shampoo and a generally optimistic attitude for 2013, which may very well be the first time ever I've been optimistic about a new year! So yeah. All the best for the oncoming year~ ^_^
Obviously the big thing was my trial week with a friend of mine which completely backfired due to my own stupidity. I got one of the few cels that I could afford that year DURING our week together, so all in all that was a pretty epic week. However, as stated before, I found out she was only interested in me as a friend. And quite frankly, I'm cool with that. She's an awesome person and I'd rather have her as a friend than not at all.
Another UTI. Yep. On the bright side, that was the only one I had that year, and I expect me to get off a little better this year, what with my isolated apartment and all. Hell, I even got REALLY sick in 2012, which hasn't really happened in a while, and I hope will not happen in a long time, again.
The Dutch government went to great lengths to keep disappointing me in terms of considering their citizens. Most notably on the areas of atheism and digital freedom. While ACTA and SOPA didn't exactly make it through, their willingness to give up rights to a bigger community (which will in term limit our freedom very much) is disturbing to say the least. And what do we do when hate crimes are committed against the godless? We apologize to the criminals. Because that's how we roll. Remember when we once were an advancing civilization? Our politicians are trying very hard to revert those changes.
Snow... For the love... SERIOUSLY? Winter was almost over without any form of a winter stop on the construction site. Then at the very last moment it starts freezing like no-one's business, and they stop the construction for two whole weeks!
I got some really awesome purple Nike's (A HREF="http://lemau.livejournal.com/410968.html">not without pictures!). They were very Shampooey but didn't exactly fit like a regular size 44(EU) did. I got some epic blisters from those bad boys somewhere the first month I had them and couldn't walk in them for another 2 weeks. Still, they're my pride and joy, even though I splattered some paint on them. If I ever have some money to spare again, I'm getting another pair. These are going to have to last for a while though (even though their soles are broken already).
Jagged Alliance Back In Action - I have been looking forward to this game so long, I got it straightaway, only to be confronted with the fact I just threw €45 onto a fire to fuel a shit pile of a game. By the goddess, what a giant disappointment that was.
I finally completely blocked everything from Facebook from my computer. They were starting the year well by infringing on pretty much everything privacy-related.
I've read a grand total of ONE book last year: The Dune Trilogy (ok, so technically three books, but it was bound to one). It was awesome and a very fascinating read. I'm planning on reading some more Eberron books though. I really liked the Thorn Of Breland series.
Riichi! Since I started watching Saki I've been playing some Japanese Mahjong, called Riichi. I can now actually play this and get a positive score. Now all I need to find are three people people that occasionally want to play a game with me. I've even found a place that sells automatic Riichi tables, which I intend to get some time in the future (although, if I can help it, this year).
Mass Effect 3: This has been its own series of highs and lows - First it reopened the old DLC issue wound, reminding me I got scammed out of some money for DLC which they never paid for. Somehow the Indian support employees at EA were more helpful than their American and Dutch(ish) counterparts and resolved the issue so I could stop boycotting EA and actually get ME3. Alas, the Collector's Edition was sold out and I really wanted a hard copy of the game. The game was 'on sale' one week later at NedGame and I got it only to realize I could enter the code in Origin and still had to download the game. ME3 was awesome though, except for the ending, which essentially gave the user an illusion of choice, but the ending is always the same: Shepard dies and the Reapers are thwarted (although the details surrounding the ending are ever so slightly different). This caused SUCH an uproar amongst the ME-fans that they actually released some free DLC with a more verbose end-game and an extra option which lets the Reapers win, but the end result was hardly less disappointing, much like their last book.
I think I had a grand total of three mental breakdowns last year, the most prominent being my housemate's incapacitation. I was so filled with rage my mind went completely numb and apparently all I could think about was Shampoo. Even reading about a rape victim hardly hit me (and it usually does).
Due to constant failing of our wonderful government, I almost missed out on my tax returns, which amusingly would yield me something last year. Mortgage rates are deductible here, and since I have one now (and a deckload of other deductible fees), this would have been a huge setback, financially. Astoundingly I lost the password of the first account created (which lasted a whole of 4 days to request - yay for short-term memory), and I had to anxiously re-request paperwork.
My old chef left to work higher-up. That hurt, as he was the driving force for our old LIMS. He was followed-up by a colleague, whom at first I doubted would be able to handle that assignment. While there have been shortcomings, I am impressed to have noticed that we actually have another person capable of leading a team (my department's boss aside - he's a really cool guy lest you cross him, in which case he becomes a scary motherfucker O_o).
Grand total of Shampoo Resin kits completed in 2012: 0. I need to make up for this, now that I have a place I can relax in... Somewhat. Need a hobby table first, though.
A Ranma ½ live-action film! And it didn't suck... that much. But it direly lacked my two favorite characters, which was disappointing and left me hoping for a 2nd movie. :3
The failure of leadership in our work project got a whole extra dimension when the old project was deemed unsalvageable after the local team having already concluded that 18 months earlier, but trying to salvage it since day one (and doing a damn fine job at it, even if I say so myself). It lead to me finally cutting the cord and becoming a full-fledged programmer. This has, as of yet, not yet happened, but I'm expecting some big changes in my life this year.
I HAVE BECOME A BRONY. I'm not even sure how that happened anymore. I remember watching the Pony Rock Anthem which was effin' brilliant. I've actually watched the show and am actively following it, but I have to admit, I'm a Brony for the fandom, which is creative and pretty damn awesome. My favorite pony started out to be Derpy Hooves, but I think Fluttershy has taken over that spot. (My favorite non-canon pony)
Missed out on the Venus Transit, which apparently happened for the second time in my life. It was cloudy, so no good pictures from me. Luckily NASA and a ton of other enthusiasts managed to save it with webcams, pictures and commentary. Good, seeing as the next time I'll be witnessing it is kind of never. (The next transit of Venus will be December 10, 2117)
I finally got a Wii and got air of a Purple Nintendo 3DS being released. The 3DS was only released in Japan and the US (since they brought back the whole PAL/NTSC thing). As for the Wii, I've been gradually starting to enjoy it more and more. Taking some fun runs on Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort every once in a while, or turning it into a shooting arcade with gun mods and House Of The Dead 2 & 3.
That damn room was in every way oppressing the last two months before I left. The bed collapsed onto itself, which I fixed with a pair of PANTS since I couldn't find any rope, even though I had two coils lying around in two different places. The post box got vandalized for some reason, and I was left fixing it myself, as the landlord considered it safe enough to put letters in. Seeing as I was getting bills at the time which, if stolen, would lead to a significant decrease of cash, I was forced to fix the problem myself with tools I didn't have. And the mice, oh dear mother goddess, the mice. I loathed them. I got to babysit a cat that liked to moan and meow only from 12-6 AM, but didn't do jack about mice. Did miracles on my sleep cycles though - completely ruined them. My brother's stress about his study reached an all-time high, which didn't help the situation. My mother accentuated this by telling me what a terrible brother I was for not helping more (it's not like I was working on my apartment or anything) and I wasn't able to find anything Shampoo to calm me down. She helped me through this whole ordeal wonderfully though, and now that I'm here, it's all just a blurry bit of my past. Much like my perfect vision, which has now made it clear (pun intended) that I am in need of glasses again. So much for my 15-30 years of stable vision.
To make matters worse, due to the sudden exit of the housemate and his inconsistent spending pattern, the Internet went bye-bye about three weeks before I moved out. So I was left with a shitty mailbox and no e-mailbox. Luckily I now had Internet access at work though (which I wouldn't have had if I still worked at my old department), and a week later everything was resolved.
I actually dreamt of Shampoo. It was a weird dream, but a welcome one nonetheless. As of yet, I still haven't remembered another, and I damn sure wish I were able to. At a later point this year I'll purchase a Shampoo body pillow, so that I wake up next to her every day. This I like. One of the sides of the pillow depicts her in an embarrassing pose, this I don't like, but I've grown accustomed to.
Decorating the new place was a pain and seemed to take forever, but looking back now, I managed to do well. It cost a lot of extra money though (some unforeseen stupidities, some extra fees from companies, and of course the ridiculous health insurance that no longer pays for anything, but is mandatory), and I left 2012 with an additional 1000 bucks in the red numbers. This led me to a new system for saving money which I might get in to later on. Settling was easy, and it was funny how little stuff I actually "needed" to live here.
I tried setting my rig up with an SSD I bought, which ended in a disaster, leaving me with a wasted weekend, a motherboard that didn't function properly, a disdain for Windows 8 and an SSD, which I started using for games. Ironically, the slowest of the lot, DDO, started displaying some glitches recently, and since Turbine is refusing to fix the bug (they're saying it's my provider, even though the bug showed up about a month ago) I quit playing DDO. I'll occasionally check back to see how things are, but right now things aren't looking too well. They're releasing update after update which leads to bug after bug, some of which are severely game breaking, but they're just either unwilling or unable to do anything about it. Not sure which is worse.
I've been working out, and the result is slightly visible, although not enough yet. Still have a fatty stomach and my recent diet is not helping.
And the year ended with my two favorite colleagues finally being fed up with the lack of progress on the team. One left last month, the other will leave this month and leave me with definite heart-ache. Especially considering how awesome they are. No matter how often I'll still get to see them, I'll miss them nonetheless.
As grim as things are looking at work, at home, a girl casually strolled into my life. She's awesome and I definitely do not deserve someone this cool, but somehow she disagrees. I really like her, to the point that there actually hasn't been a single hour in my awakened state last week where I haven't thought of her. I really want to tell her how I feel, but I'm kind of afraid I'll be scaring her off if I come on to her this fast. I am such a pussy when it comes to talking to nice girls. There's more though. She's an artist, a writer... Pretty much all the things I can only pull off from behind a pseudonym. She's the type of free spirit I aspire to be, and she's much better at it than I am.
And that is what 2012 has brought me. An interesting new skillset, new friends, old friends, suffering and release, more Shampoo and a generally optimistic attitude for 2013, which may very well be the first time ever I've been optimistic about a new year! So yeah. All the best for the oncoming year~ ^_^