2020 - That quarantine life

My goals for 2020 were to:

Covid really helped me nail three of those, hah. But with nowhere to go, I didn’t get on the bike nearly as often as I wanted.

So first of all, Kari and I were incredibly fortunate to have steady work, income, and a spacious home and yard during this pandemic. I absolutely feel for everyone that had their pay scaled back or eliminated, or were cooped up in apartments or city spaces without being able to fully enjoy their local amenities.

The only way that I knew how to stay sane in isolation was to be outside and stay as busy as possible on projects, so I started the pandemic with a lot of yard work and small house projects. Then, we eventually realized how much money we'd been saving by not traveling or going out, so we decided to invest in making our home a nicer place to hang out. This turned into some larger projects and many furniture upgrades.

Here are some lists of what we did in 2020.

Travel

The year started off great with trips to:

And then our vacation plans transitioned from cities, events, and resorts to cabins and campgrounds.

Guests

Man. We really missed having guests and hosting parties. We started the year with a big NYE party. Then, my dad and his partner, Brian visited, which was nice.

After covid hit, we set some rules and bubbled with Kari's parents, so they visited fairly often... and even stayed with us for a bit after the Derecho knocked out power for several days.

We also co-quarantined with Kari's cousins so that they could visit us for a weekend. It was great, but also weird to have strangers in our house again, haha.

House tech

  • Ran more CAT-6 and upgraded our home network to Unifi
  • Upgraded our home audio with newer Sonos and a nicer Turntable cartridge
  • Added a connected weather station
  • Improved the home automation
    • added some circadian rhythm lighting scenes
    • added more motion/door sensors
    • automated fans
    • made Kari's hair straightener smart so that it automatically turns off when she leaves the house (a common concern)
  • Got a second TV 😱

Other house projects

Homebrewing

Cars

I tinkered with the Jeep a ton and finally got the thing off-road. We spent most of the summer with the top off, and the winters hoonin around in the snow... but I also updated quite a bit on it.

I also put wheel spacers on the M4 and we traded in Kari’s Velar. She picks up her new one Monday.

Weddings

We missed a few that we were excited to attend and that sucked.

  • Kari's cousin Jerry Cozad's
  • Our good friend Nathan and Christina Deutmeyer's
  • My cousin Gabe and Zillah's

Shows

I went to one. Almost a year ago. And that is a bummer.

Work

Work was wild. It was over the top busy with a bit of drama and became stressful at times. Work-life balance became worse, but it was also steady - so I'm definitely thankful for that.

I spent most of the year building the Venmo Credit Card with a ton of other amazing folks.

After that was done, I got a new job as an Application Architect at Venmo and I'm excited to grow in this position.

Other random stuff

  • Added a few bird feeders and got into bird watching (lol)
  • Cooked way too many meals
  • Made way too many cocktails
  • Went to a socially distanced 40th birthday party
  • Battled some depression
  • Lost a bunch of weight and then gained most of it back
  • Got out of and back into yoga. Thanks, Peloton.
  • Had a lot of "fancy friday" home-date-nights with Kari
  • Did a tiny bit of web dev and built photos.broox.com (which barely works, btw)
  • Lost interest in computers
  • Had to take my second nipple ring out because it nearly migrated out after ~20 years. Now, both of my nipples are just scarred, huge, and permanently nipping
  • Went for lots of drives
  • Helped make Trump the only one-term, trust fund, baby boy president to be impeached and lose the popular vote twice. Bitch. Fuck you.
  • Managed to not get covid
  • More importantly, managed to not give anyone else covid
  • Lost our dog, Garth Brooks - which was awful

Like everyone else, I had a pretty tough and lonely year, but it was also incredibly productive. I missed my friends and family, but grew much closer to the person that matters the most.

I also learned a strange lesson, and that lesson is that most people in your life, especially your internet life, are expendable. I have literally no problem writing toxic people off now. This is new to me... and it feels awesome.

I'm excited to come out of this pandemic stronger and more comfortable than ever before.

Goals for 2021

  • more yoga - maybe IRL!
  • more tinkering
  • more biking
  • more travel 🤞
  • not going absolutely wild if/when things get back to normal
We look forward to some awesome biking with you!!!

Rico posted

Yes, please!
glad to hear your doing well dude! im also glad this website still exists lmao! soap on!

Derek posted

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