Dispatches from a happy Hullian

I was having bike seat issues lately, and took it in to get it looked at. The mechanic diagnosed it as needing more Newtons and cranked the relevant bolt hard with a longer Allen wrench than I possess. I hope that's it; if it doesn't do the trick he says it's a head-scratcher.

I did some keychain triage -- my keys had become an interconnected poly-ring affair and many people said they could hear me coming by my keys. I got it down to one generous ring; we'll see if I'm any stealthier.

I've put up a bunch of pictures and certificates, and got a portable AC to help mitigate the heatwave. Then The Ministry for the Future came in at the library. Started reading it and felt distinctly uncomfortable. Elizabeth has been putting books in boxes for me at the old place; I think she wants to claim it as much as I want to get settled here. I'm going to enlist my sister's help for a big push to get things (including all those books) where they need to be. On Canada Day, because we're both lifelong Québec residents.

It's been a while since I've done one of these.

1. What did you do in 2020 that you'd never done before?
Made Yorkshire pudding. Run a half-marathon distance. Gave plasma by aphresis.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I'm not sure I made any last year. This year I'm vaguely committing to keep running, connect more with friends and mentors, make my work life better and maybe ferment some things.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Our elderly Druid and friend Judith. I can still sort of hear her voice and think of her lots — she's all tied in with the turning of the seasons now in my head.

5. What countries did you visit?
Unsurprisingly: none.

6. What would you like to have in 2021 that you lacked in 2020?
More time in person with more people.

7. What date from 2020 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
March 16, when we all went home from the office in the morning.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Probably getting the go-ahead to become part-time faculty at the Canada School of Public Service, teaching Positive Space training.

9. What was your biggest failure?
A Pride seminar that we had to reschedule a bunch of times that still hasn't happened yet. Logistics happen.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing beyond the routine stuff.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Possibly a used office chair for my home office. My back is better for it.

12. Where did most of your money go?
There wasn't a dominant category but a lot of it goes to various sorts of savings as well as food and drink.

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I think I was really stoked to do my secondment at the beginning of the year and to get good at running. The CSPS position is pretty exciting too!

14. What song will always remind you of 2020?
Maybe "Happy" by Mother Mother.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder?
About the same?

ii. thinner or fatter?
My shirts fit better!

iii. richer or poorer?
A little richer: I've been saving, I have a steady job and no major debt. And I kept saving in the economic turbulence which really helped.

16. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Cultivating relationships and organizing for good.

17. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Being overwhelmed and spinning my wheels.

18. What was your favorite TV program?
Sex Education. So cute and engaging. It's nice to find out about a show when there's already a couple of seasons out but now it's a long wait for Season 3…

19. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No… some people frustrate me, I'm envious of some of them, and some people just get on my nerves but I don't feel a lot of hate.

20. What was the best book you read?
Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber was thought- and feeling-provoking.

21. What was your greatest musical discovery?
sabotabby put me on to Bob Vylan, who is raw and biting and Punk and very good.

22. What did you do on your birthday?
I had a backyard gathering where my parents as well as Heather, Andrea and Morgen made it.

stalkingsilence provided me with seven questions:

What is your current favourite song?

I think "Shake it Out", by Florence + The Machine. It's ludicrously catchy, anyway.

What is your ultiamate comfort food?

Galumptious Mac and Cheese, or maybe a bit too much Bridge Mixture. But there is lots of good comfort food out there, so it is hard to choose.

What book are you currently reading? Or what book would you like to read but haven't yet?

I just finished The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood. It was a fun read; I think the characters were more relatable and had more interesting problems than in Oryx and Crake, but Atwood was still having the same sort of parody-dystopia-building fun.

What's your favourite part of being a dad?

Being a toddler amusement park is pretty fun, and so is realizing that my learning curve is starting to catch up with his (for now).

Favourite Canadian museum that you've visited?

I have a soft spot of the National Gallery. When I didn't live here, I would take a couple of hours to visit it almost every time I came up. I should go back more often now that I live here. It's too bad it isn't free like it used to be — it's a bit of a disincentive, particularly if I may be with an awake toddler with a short attention span, to pay by the visit. Maybe they could charge by the hour!

Describe the best holiday you ever had.

I think our cross-country train trip (wow, I didn't really blog that — here are some pictures, behind Facebook security in Elizabeth's account) may have been a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

What does a typical day off for you look like?

Breakfast could be the usual toast or baked goods, coffee and juice, or Elizabeth might make biscuits or pancakes. I'll manage to get some unstructured time to myself for reading or Internetting while Elizabeth and Oscar take a nap. I'll take Oscar with me on some errands to give Elizabeth a break to practice music. We may go as a family off to some happening out of the house, and we'll almost certainly get some Oscar playtime. I'll catch up on laundry, cat boxes and other chores, and Elizabeth will probably clean a bit and get the dishes under control. It's usually a pretty low-key sort of day off, but it's a nice change of pace.

If you want some questions to get your writing juices flowing, let me know in the comments!

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
Fathered a child (well, I guess some salient bits were done in 2009), grew peas, built a hardwood floor, drafted a will, published a statistics paper, took a train in business class, drove a pickup truck.
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