2016 was a year of trepidation for me. For the first time in 45 years, I didn’t have a job to get up and go to everyday…

Throw in a major move, buying a new house and setting up housekeeping in North Texas, and the SIGNIFICANT pay cut all were a ‘little’ stressful, to put it mildly. And relearning the ‘joys’ of home ownership…

The year started with a continuation of  recovery from the knee operation and the back problems that caused me to retire to start with, but I found a good therapist who’s more or less got me ‘straightened out’ due to some pretty extensive therapy.

Friends kept my spirits up, more friends moved to the area and I finished both the 4th Grey Man novel and wrote a MilSF short story. Not as much as I’d have liked, but all things considered, I’ll take it.

I finally got to volunteer at Augusta after many years of trying, and truly enjoyed the experience. Not just the golf, but the people I met and worked with through the week, in addition to getting to see both the best and worst of professional golf (not the least was Jordan Spieth’s epic meltdown on #12 while leading).

There was an epic trip to LibertyCon in July, 2300 miles with five people in the truck and we didn’t kill each other! But the punning was vicious, to put it mildly… 🙂

Volunteer work ramped up with the Sheriff’s Department, and the birth of my first granddaughter were high points, along with the yearly pilgrimage to Colorado for our get together out there…

Politics drove much of the year, along with the MSM’s meltdown(s) when things didn’t go their way. Seems many folks took things VERY personal, with many unfriendings, hurt feelings and threats (in some cases). My takeaway is that the silent majority in flyover country had finally had enough… FWIW, we have a business man who will take the reins on Jan 20th, and for better or worse, it should be interesting.

A week before Christmas, one of my credit cards got frauded and it took a week to get that sorted out… Sigh…  Still managed to get out to see the ‘kids’ and grandkids for Christmas, finally wore out Vito, Jace and Kaya…

The trip home was a good reminder of why I don’t miss traveling like I was… Just sayin’

All in all, I’m happy with the way the year went.

Resolutions? None… I figure 2017 will throw enough challenges to keep it interesting…

Wishing all of you the best for 2017, may it be a better year for all of us!!!