There are 150 posts filed in MT.Net (this is page 13 of 15).
Of course the economy would make it to my list of highlights of 2008. You’d have to be under a rock not to have noticed. It certainly did affect us here at MT.Net.
We began the year pretty well-off financially. I’d picked up my job at the address verification company and life was good. News of layoffs elsewhere gave me pause but I assumed I was in a good spot working for an international company.
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Up until last year I’d been pretty good at avoiding car accidents. I try to drive defensively, watch my speed (more or less), and aside from a fender bender that wasn’t my fault its paid off in keeping me out of wrecks. All good things must come to an end, and that streak ended in November when I wrecked our minivan while towing an overloaded load of mulch. (And two days later I lost my job, but that’s the subject of another post).
If I had to total my car this wasn’t a bad way to do it: with no injuries, no other vehicles involved, no traffic ticket, and a decent payoff from the insurance company. The worst damage was to my pride and my wallet, in towing charges and insurance hikes. And the minivan’s transmission was only eight months old. It was a great car in great shape. Until.
We still haven’t replaced the minivan yet. We’re still shopping around, and a neighbor has graciously loaned us their extra car in the meantime.
Funny how just a few seconds can make such an impact in your life, so to speak.
The year 2008 was the year that I got much more involved with civic affairs. I’d always been interested in playing a bigger role in Raleigh but it was after the Raleigh Neighborhood College that I began to consider it more seriously. As I mentioned in my RNC post, it led me to become the East CAC chair and a member of Raleigh’s Parks, Recreation, and Greenways Advisory Board.
The East CAC thing seemed like a natural fit for me. I’d been to a few meetings and got a lot out of them. I was also impressed at the large number of neighbors who came each month. When the former chair, Lynette, said she was stepping down, I felt I had to step up. Besides, the easiest election to win is the one where you’re unopposed!
I was perfectly happy being CAC chair when word came ’round that there was an opening on the Parks board. I’d been angling for a spot on a city board for over a year and couldn’t turn down the chance when I finally got it.
Both are lots of work, but the CAC probably takes more of my time. I have a newfound appreciation for the kind of time our volunteers put forth in improving the city of Raleigh.
One of the big highlights of 2008 was the 12 weeks I spent in the Raleigh Neighborhood College (RNC) program.
I found out about RNC one day from a flyer posted in my downtown office building. I called and found that because of the late date the class was already full. Fortunately, someone canceled and I got in.
Twelve weeks I spent time at Peace College and other area locations, hearing presentations from city staff about what the city does. Even better, I spend those wonderful weeks with a class full of outstanding citizens, from whom I learned as much as from the presenters. At the end of it all, my fellow classmates elected me valedictorian: an honor I deeply appreciated. I was sorry to see it end.
The RNC got me thinking that I could spend more time helping the city as a volunteer. It led me to seek appointment on the Raleigh Parks board and encouraged me to become a leader in my CAC. Both of these responsibilities take lots of time but have provided me exceptional exposure to some of Raleigh’s finest people.
I would be a very different person today had I not responded to that flyer. No doubt about it!
The MT.Net reader knows I’m a political junkie. Some say its incurable. The year 2008 offered many fixes for my habit.
First off, America (and North Carolina!) elected Barack Obama to be its next president. What a breath of fresh air he promises to be! While he did disappoint me last summer, he still was better than the alternatives. I said a year before the general election that he’d get my vote and he did.
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Ever since I upgraded my site to WordPress 2.7, the image uploader isn’t automatically resizing my uploaded images. All the uploader offers me is “Full Size.”
Anyone seen this?
Update: Fixed it. Looks like I didn’t have all the necessary GD plumbing in place.
This year I was fortunate enough to be able to bike to my job downtown. Just those 15 minutes of riding each way helped me drop weight, spoiled me, and got me into probably the best shape in my life. Not bad now that I’m less than a month away from being 40!
I did get a rude awakening in September when my lab tests showed an elevated cholesterol level. Since then I’ve been munching almonds and cutting back on carbohydrates. Another lab test in October didn’t show much improvement, so I began taking anti-cholesterol medicine, which then tripled my personal health insurance premium.
I get tested again next month. Hopefully things will have settled down. Until then I’ll keep doing what I’m doing.
One of the 2008 highlights I expected to write was relief that no one close to me died this year. Looks like I’ll have to revise that one as my Uncle Arthur passed away this morning at the age of 77.
We spent many summers at my aunt and uncle’s beach house in Garden City, SC. Arthur was always quick to tell a joke or to tousle our hair. He had suffered from Alzheimer’s for the past several years but could still tell a joke. He seemed in good spirits the last time I saw him.
We spent Christmas Day with my parents, during which I took a moment look at photographs. I found my eyes lingering on a picture of Uncle Arthur with my aunt.
He lived quite a full life. I’ll link to his obituary tomorrow.
We took a week off in August for vacation, initially with the hopes of getting back out to Orcas Island. When the frequent flyer tickets weren’t available for Seattle, we opted to travel closer to home. Thus it was a few days in the mountains and a few days at the beach.
The mountain in question was Gateway Mountain, outside of Old Fort, NC. After being welcomed with the traditional mountain greeting, we enjoyed getting our caricatures drawn, looking around Old Fort, or just enjoying the stunning view of a mountain sunset. We took a side trip to Chimney Rock, where my photo from the Rock is still featured on its Wikipedia page.
While the mountains were beautiful as always, the area was alarmingly dry. We swam in knee-deep water at Lake Lure. Honestly. Even four months later the area’s still in the grip of a terrible drought.
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It’s the time of year I list my highlights of the year. This year I will eschew limiting myself to ten, as it’s tough to pick and choose from so many happenings. I will rank them, more or less, though, as I think that’s important.
Look for the first installment sometime this weekend.
