Having just gotten back from Spain, I had an urge to write about those experiences. Then I looked at the site and realized how long it has been since I wrote ANYTHING. So, a quick update.
I retired in the summer of 2016 after a cruise to Alaska. I cried when the country elected the moron-in-chief (which I tongue-in-cheek predicted in my retirement letter to Local 8). I've watched in amazement as people I respected and thought were intelligent descended into willful ignorance about his lying, megalomaniac behavior both before and during his time in office.
My wife and I started taking care of her sister who developed Alzheimer's. We visited my son in Brazil. My daughter graduated college (again) and we took the family to New York City as a reward for multiple graduates. My dad had a stroke while we were there (he's mostly recovered) and for awhile we had two unwell people to care for in our lives. We finished 2019 by going to Disney World, returning home having lost our desire to be around large groups of people.
The Earth decided to grant our wish by trying to rid itself of the virus known as humanity with COVID, while the leadership of the United States tried to assist. An election occurred that dismissed that stupidity, but only until January of 2021, when a portion of the electorate lost its collective mind...followed by one of our political parties mostly losing their connection to reality following that remnant down the rabbit hole of election fraud. Georgia surprised everyone and gave a majority government to the opposite party and we successfully created a third (fourth, fifth?) wave of COVID which has hamstrung economics around the world, although some would have you believe it is all Joe Biden's fault. Obviously, I should have been writing my heart out through all of that, but I promise to redeem myself going forward (and likely looking back).
For now, know that my son moved to Spain and we decided to visit with him and his girlfriend at Christmas. We can begin there the next time.
