Today, is the last day of 2022, and that means it's time for...
My Top Ten Things Of 2022
(not necessarily the best things, just the biggest thing)
There were quite a few things that did not make the final list. Things like a new co-worker starting in my department; summer not being real hot; speaking of temps, it was like 60 degrees on January 1st but only 3 degrees on Christmas; a visit from Dr. Ryan With The Cupcake from San Diego who was in the area for a wedding; getting my A1C from 7.9 to 7.1; tire issues on Christmas Eve; Mom had COVID in January; a visit from a friend's friend which included visit to ice cream joints, sampling some local restaurants, watching Avengers: Infinity War, and some bedtimesexxyfun; wearing a continuous gloucometer on my arm for two weeks and getting some helpful info from it; binging entire multi-season series like Flip or Flop, Young Justice, DC Legends of Tomorrow, Incredible Dr. Pol, Sarah Jane Adventures, Doom Patrol and Babylon Berlin; I binged entire seasons of some shows like (and I'm surprised at the sheer number of shows I binged a season of) Boba Fett, Around The World In 80 Days, Station Eleven, ST: Discovery, Last Kingdom, Gilded Age, Moon Knight, ST: Picard, Heartstopper, The Kids In The Hall 2022, Bobs Burgers, Stranger Things, Umbrella Academy, Obi-Wan, ST: Strange New World, The Boys, Ms. Marvel, Sandman, ST: Lower Decks, House Of The Dragon, Broadchurch, She-Hulk, The Crown and Andor; and there was a non-lethal health issue that bothered me for most of the year that I'm not going to go into right now.
But anyway, here is the...
Top Ten List:
10. Discovering Crystal Light
I'm not a fan of just plain water, but I know I should drink more of it. So I tried Crystal Light and found out I love it! And surprisingly, my favorite flavor just happen to be the two in this photo: strawberry and grape. Also I have some iced tea with lemon, which is fine, but I prefer the other two flavors. And I've been enjoying quite a few bottles of it all years.
9. Game Of Thrones Books and TV
This year I managed to read all five existing books of A Song Of Fire And Ice. And once I finished them all up, I decided to watch the series again. So I binged (in addition to everything above) all 8 seasons of The Game Of Thrones TV show. The fourth book was quite a slog and a disappointment, and the fifth book, while better, still was not anywhere near as good or interesting as the first three books, which I shot through cause I just couldn't put them down. And the TV show was even better, for some reason, because I picked up on things that I knew from the books and didn't know when I watched the show the first three times I binged it.
8. George Perez Died
When I first started collecting comic books in the late 70s, one of my favorite batch of titles was an Avengers' run when George Perez was the artist. I fell in love with him artwork. And then, in 1981, he and Marv Wolfman started the New Teen Titans title, and turned it into one of the two greatest, best selling comics of the early 80s (with the other being the Uncanny X-Men). Perez did other iconic works: a run on the Justice League Of America, The Crisis On Infinite Earths, a total and fantastic reboot of Wonder Woman, and a newer version of The Avengers about 2000 or so, with Kurt Busiek writing it. Perez had diabetes, for years, and had suffered some serious complications from it. And I believe he also had cancer. And the end of the last year, he and his family determined that since his cancer came back, there were not going to take chemo or anything like that and just let nature take it's course. He was done fighting it. He died on May 6th. It hit me pretty hard actually, and I'm saddened to think we'll never see any more of his work. Rest in Peace Mr. Perez, and Godspeed.
7. New Laptop
My old laptop was running VERY slowly and freezing for a few seconds at a time, and it pissed me off. So in October I had had enough and ordered another one. I wanted the 17 inch screen and a keypad on the side, but together, those would have added $400 to the price. So screw it, I went without. It's working great, and I love the ease and speed of using it.
6. Lactose Intolerant
I was noticing earlier in the year that I was getting stomach aches and being overly gassy and nasty poos. It didn't happen all the time, but I was trying to figure out what may be causing it, and I came to the conclusion it might be milk. So I switched to Lactose free milk. And lo and behold, all those things seemed to stop. At work, when I was having a cookie, I got one of those little milk cartons they give out in schools and such, and that night...yep, it was back. So that kinda clinched it for me. I've not been diagnosed with it, but even since I've had the Lactose free that stuff stopped. I can eat yogurt, cheese, etc, etc, but a glass of milk....nope, no more.
5. New Mattress
Back in 2018 I bought a new mattress to replace the one which was probably 15 years old or so. But that one was so freaking hard...it was just uncomfortable. I didn't want to waste money getting a new one, but this year, I just couldn't take it anymore. My hips had started bothering me, aching and sore for a few years back in 2020 and it only got worse. But after I got this new, plush mattress, my hips haven't bothered me for like six months or more. It's great! And a bit surprising how much difference a mattress can make.
4. Instagram Hacked
Back in July my Instagram was hacked. After 2.355 posts over several years and over 300 followers, I was hacked and lost access to my own Instagram. I tried to get it back, to no avail. So I just made a new one and have gone on from there. But it feels....like a violation. And it sucks. But at least I still have an Instagram account now to play with.
3. The Midterms
So ya'll remember that Red Wave, nay, Red TSUNAMI what was going to wash over the capitol and put a whole HORDE of Republicans in control of Congress. Yeah, well...not so much. Turns out it was little more than a reddish or even a pink puddle.
Even *I* had predicted a 25 seat loss in the House and a Senate that was 52-48. And to be fair, the Republicans DID get the House, but only by about 4 seats, which means with as fractured as the Republicans are, they wont be able to get anything done other than to persecute Hunter Biden for two years. And the Democrats actually kept the Senate and WON an additional seat (Thank GOD Pennsylvanians were smart enough to vote for Fetterman, and Shapiro for Governor for that matter). At least with the Democratic Senate we can still get Federal judges onto the bench. And with the totally batshit crazy clown show that will BE the Republican House over the next two years, that may make the Democrats retaking the House in 2024 more likely.
But I'm just glad we had such a good turnout this November. It saved the country.
2. Vision Issues
I still had to have injections in my eyes all year, but that's not anything new. Starting in July I noticed the vision in my right eye start to get worse. I couldn't read without my glasses, as I had always been able to do. I couldn't see my phone clearly without my glasses, as I had always done when going to bed and putzing around on my phone as I had always been able to do. Seeing in darkened rooms or in the dark was quite a bit harder, even with my glasses. I mentioned this to my retina doctors and they stated I had a cataract. I went back on Thursday for them to look at it in more detail. And yes, they confirmed I did have one, and they'd make arrangements for me to see an eye doctor, at the practice I had already wanted to go to (this practice had done both of mom's cataracts last year).
So this vision thing kept getting worse but now I at least know what's going on with it all. And hopefully sometime next year I'll have it fixed.
1. Tooth Issues
Put simply, my teeth are crap. Genetically, my mom and dad both had soft, bad teeth. However, I'm not blaming them because I've never taken care of my teeth as I should. This year, I had to have a tooth pulled, on the other side of my mouth, I lost a crown and there wasn't too much he could do about it other than slap a 'cover' over it. I chipped a tooth on that second listed side as well, with a filling in...that three days later, came out. It's got a new filling in it, which is still working. All of this was on my upper jaw. I chipped two bottom teeth, but superficially, because the dentist was able to just fix them by grinding them down, which was a pleasant surprise.
But, my teeth were a major source of anxiety past year. Not so much pain, as just worrying about having pain. And not being able to eat things I very much enjoy eating (like chewy caramels, peanut brittle and gummy fish....although I really shouldn't be eating those anyway, so I guess that's not such a bad thing). But yeah not only were they an issue for me this year, I fear they will continue to be one in the next year and the coming ones.
So that's my Top Ten List for 2022. I hope you year was a good one too.
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