Looking back, resolutions and all that malarcky

2008 has been a darlin’ year. As I continue the journey to middle age, the number of look-back regrets has dropped to zero. That’s a good thing, as it’s a personal barometer of successless failures.The best time is the eight weeks time-off in the early spring. I flew to Chicago for a week, relying on m’ legs, friends’ generosity and public transportation, including the train and BART to and from the airport. Kind of a hassle, yet really fun. I’m planning to do the same in spring 2009, after all that snow melts.In the same period, I exercised dailyshooting hoops and swimmingand letting go a little of the Silicon Valley Developer Bee madness; it’s a bipolar thing: I love the excitement of new technologies, but I hate it for consuming / absorbing a lot of everything else.This year, I completed six months of independent consulting (actually four: see aforementioned time-off above), before joining Raptr in July. Contracting was fun, but not my cup of tea. The jobs are transient and the benefits are lackingalmost ten whole months w/o health insurance, can you believe it?Another ‘08 mark of success has to be m’ relationship w/ mom. We didn’t fight as much nor did we engage in an epic battle. It has taken five years of progressive patience and understanding and it’s a whole better =)This year also marked a big milestone in m’ arch-nemesis, the Big Bad Mortgage Monster, as I’ve broken the $300k barrier (owing less than that). Since winter 2004, I’ve cut ~23% of mortgage debt. Yes, I vehemently hate owing money and paying interest.So let’s press onwards towards 2009! Resolutions begin!Quit smoking. Like many years before, it hasn’t gone wellGet me a woman. Right now, if it happens, it will.Exercise more and not just on the weekends. Growing old means one’s health needs a bit more TLC.Lower the mortgage loan by $25kCut down on fast food indulgences to twice a month. Man, I love buffalo wings, french fries and Popeye’s fried chicken.So there, there’s enough for a year-long party for yours truly.Also, I’m gonna hit Comic-Con in San Diego and thinking about taking a legitimate vacation to a resort w/ white sandy beaches and pina coladas …. these are worth mentioning but not within the context of a resolution list =)So, cheers to a new year, to our new President Barack Obama and to mankind for not (yet) bringing the apocalypse! 2009: bring it on!