Hasta la vista, 2008! You were a tough year in the life, and while you certainly gave me a good run, I’m not unhappy to see you go. You’ve lead me further down the road of fatherhood, brought me back dear old friends, brought me new challenges at work … and of course moved me to an entirely different country. But with all of this, you’ve brought a whole mess of turmoil, instability, and grief.
Now for those of you who’ve not been following along — and what the heck, even for those of you have — here’s what I’m talking about:
- Started the year with a big decision: move to Costa Rica and help start up a new business
- Marvelled in the wonder of my daughter learning how to speak, and starting her first unaided steps (of course now we need a homing beacon and a volume setting, but that’s another story)
- Came to the heavily sobering reality that I am not my father, and finally agreed that we needed a contractor to finish the redevelopment of our basement
- Was extremely happy to see the basement finally complete
- Switched briefly to a Mac before switching back to a PC (too many issues with emails and meetings); I now curse the reality that I wish I were on one
- Came down with an evil flu, despite getting a flu shot
- Saw my first NBA game
- Went to Chicago
- Went to San Francisco
- Went to Santa Cruz (and went for a sailboat trip out on the ocean)
- Went to Las Vegas
- Went to London
- Went to Glasgow
- Went to Oban
- Went to Iona
- Went to Inverness
- Went to Edinburgh (albeit briefly)
- Went to York
- Went to Costa Rica twice in three weeks … the second time to move there
- Haven’t returned to Canada since mid-July (went to bring my family down)
- Went to Panama City twice
- Saw the Panama Canal (and a ship travel through the locks)
- Went to Toronto
- Went to Oakville and Burlington
- Went to Punta Leona
- Went to Montezuma
- Went to Arenal (again)
- Went into San José many times
- Went to New York City for Christmas
- Didn’t ride nearly enough trains (despite going to the UK)
- Attended the Web 2.0 conference
- Learnt to drive Costa Rican-style
- Comenzó a aprender español
- Mourned the loss of my friend Sean
- Missed my many friends dearly — one feels very alone and separated down here
- Made more new friends
- Bought a new used car (for far more than it should have cost…)
- Got a traffic ticket for pulling a u-turn
- Went to a Costa Rican soccer, er futbol game
- Tried to encourage my former co-Calgarians to vote Jim Prentice out of office (sadly, it was likely too little, too late)
- Experienced considerable grief with our internet connections, both at home and at work
- Actually managed to get a decent Thanksgiving meal in Costa Rica
- Felt two earthquakes, one of which I almost slept through
- Drank my first cup of coffee (current tally: 15)
- Got to experience Halloween in a different country
- Came to loathe Costa Rican traffic
- Had our first Costa Rican office Christmas party
- Saw the fireworks for New Year’s Eve
So that brings us into 2009. I wonder what this year will bring us?
