2009 in Review

The original draft of this post was extracted from an email to a friend a few days before Christmas 2009. 

This year had a rough start in terms of breaking a number of low temperature and heavy snowfall records. Then my plans for a Trans-Siberian journey fell through due to my superior's delay in approving my vacation dates. Just after I registered for the Strata Management pre-licensing course, I found a fairly cost-effective way to visit both Portugal and Italy instead.

Western Europe has historically been one of the most expensive regions to visit, so I could only travel for three weeks this time. Even though I had sworn not to do whirlwind tours, I had to do it again this year. I did a full circuit in Portugal in 9 days and I travelled the full length of the Italian peninsula in 10 days. Once again I returned home recharged and inspired. As always, I was mesmerized by the beauty of fine art and architecture, and touched by the warmth of the people in both Portugal and Italy.





There were a couple of unexpected expenses. Before I went on my trip, I already thought of buying a new cell phone. I have had the same cell phone for four years. After seeing how much the Italians texted whenever they had the chance, I was more motivated than ever to get a new cell phone with lots of texting capability. Well, I bought an LG Rumour with a sliding QWERTY keyboard and camera/video functions.

Since I am a firm believer in the integration of technologies, I considered purchasing an HP Touchsmart LCD monitor which combined a desktop computer, a slim rear-mounted hard drive, and a TV tuner into a single unit when my 6-year old Toshiba laptop went dead on me one Saturday morning two months ago. Well, the cost is still prohibitively high and I opted to get another Toshiba Satellite laptop. I still have to wait a bit longer to get a rocket stick for WiFi internet access. In the research and comparison process, my knowledge of computer hardware was refreshed.

I don’t normally think about my health that much. During a visit to the dentist's office in early November, I found out that I have developed hypertension. After a month of medication, my blood pressure is almost back to the 120/80 mark. I have decided not to go to the doctor that I used to consider my family doctor. I was informed by his receptionist that my file was thrown out a couple years ago. It is simply pointless to go to this doctor since he does not have my medical history anymore. My impression of the medical profession has drastically changed subsequent to my recent experiences. Doctors are not that much different from any other retail store owners/managers. The bottom line is everything to them.

On the home front, my city farm experiment was not successful. The lack of bright sun exposure was a big hindrance for vegetables to mature. I would have to refocus on flowers and plants that would do well in the shade. I produced two beautiful baskets. Well, they are still blooming in my foyer. It is way too cold to be hanging those baskets outside. It sure looks like we are going to have another unusually cold winter this year in Vancouver. Despite a few disappointments and unexpected challenges, 2009 was ultimately a year of learning, travel, and renewed inspiration.

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