Goodbye to 2024…
Hey readers, this post will be a bit unusual, as instead of being about some kind of cool tech or gadget, it’s going to be about me, and where I find myself entering 2025.
2024 was a bit of a mixed bag. There was in fact a lot of good things about 2024, particularly how it began. I turned sixty, and treated myself to an awesome birthday cruise with my wife Carmen, my best friend Jeff and my sister Kristin. This was after doing an amazing adventure to Mazatlan to see the solar eclipse. I totally recommend being under the moon’s shadow at least once in your life. It was an emotional experience unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. You can review some of the pictures and video that I shot here.
But it wasn’t all great.
Perhaps the most dramatic change is that Pixar Animation Studios, my employer for over three decades decided that my services (and the services of around one hundred eighty coworkers) was no longer required, and for the first time since I was 17 years old, I’ve found myself unemployed. While I had begun to consider retirement, I had hoped to make my departure on my own terms. Instead, I found myself locked out of my account that afternoon, people cancelled meetings with me, and feeling as if I had returned home to find my wife had put all my stuff on the front porch, had the locks changed, and filed for divorce.
Carmen hasn’t filed for divorce, incidentally. We are doing well.
I’ve spent the last six months drawing up resumes, and filing for jobs which have largely proven to be non-existent. It’s a bad time to be out of work in the film industry, especially if you don’t want to move overseas. The same forces which made Disney reduce their headcount are pretty much being expressed universally, and that makes finding a new job difficult.
But that isn’t all bad either. While I have not precluded the notion that I’m going to find a new job (hope springs eternal that something cool will cross my desk, and they will recognize my talent and experience) I’ve also begun to come to grips with the fact that financially I’m in pretty good shape, and perhaps retirement is in fact my future, so I’ve begun to prepare for that outcome. As I mentioned before, work has been part of my daily routine for over four decades, and trying to understand the change has been difficult. Prior to being let go, I had been working on trying to lose weight, mostly using the Noom app. I had lost forty+ pounds, which sadly I have found again in the time since July, along with a few extra. Part of my New Year resolution is to get back on track with that, and lose those same pounds that I’ve lost at least four times. That’s a bit frustrating.
On Christmas Day I had a bit of a bummer. I tripped in my living room and conked my head on the corner of a bookcase, which sent me to the ER for over twenty stitches. They should come out on January 2, and appear to be healing well. I have added “it’s pretty ad, we can see your skull” to the list of things that I don’t need to hear again on Christmas. Still, it was a probably more frightening for Carmen than it was for me, and a CT scan revealed that no significant damage had been done to the grey matter, but that they did note had begun to change in density, which is apparently a fairly common occurrence for people as they age. Great. My getting older can now be documented with advanced imaging.
We have also been struggling with a leak in the roof of the house, which is going to change into having our roof replaced, as it is near the end of its life. Sigh.
Oh, and I’m not especially pleased with the political situation either.
But, I’m making some headway:
- Back on noom to help control my diet.
- Working on a retirement plan/budget.
- While I miss the challenge of work, I no longer feel like I have to work to make them understand my value.
- Looking to downsize my home a bit, to make future changes less dramatic
- I’ve worked on removing myself from the anger machine that is most social media.
- I am still married to the woman I love more than anything.
I’ve got some other stuff in mind as well, but it’s all on a relaxed schedule.
I have no idea what 2025 will bring, but I am going to work on maintaining a positive attitude and have hope that even amidst change and turmoil, I’ll find some good things as well.
Hope you all do well in 2025. If you want to reach out to me, feel free either via my email or my accounts on Mastodon or Blue Sky.
I’m off to have lunch with my good friend Tom. Best wishes to you all.