Patterico's Pontifications

12/31/2020

Happy New Year’s Eve

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:29 am



This is one year we can stand to be rid of. That said, it has brought its blessings too. For me, we had some extra time with our daughter, and our family got along well and played games and grew closer.

Focusing on the positive, what good things happened to you this year?

63 Responses to “Happy New Year’s Eve”

  1. Successful bone marrow transplant.

    Karl Lembke (9a3542)

  2. God bless you, Karl. That is fabulous.

    After 30 years, we may finally have a diagnosis for our son. It isn’t good but at least we will know.

    DRJ (aede82)

  3. My wife and I both kept our jobs – and getting paid – when so many did not and could not. Kids stayed healthy and made the best of their situation. Flexibility and resiliency are important traits and 2020 helped mold them in our kids. Extended family was healthy and avoided COVID and other maladies so from our standpoint, we can’t complain too much about 2020.

    Hope 2021 is better for everyone.

    Hoi Polloi (139bf6)

  4. My wife is through her first trimester for our third child after we lost the second to a miscarriage. We never got to meet the second one, but God willing we will meet the third.

    Leviticus (efada1)

  5. Wonderful news, Karl.

    Knowing must be better than not knowing after all these years, DRJ. It’s certainly been a long haul for you. God bless you and your husband for your steadfast love and care for your son.

    Congratulations, Leviticus, on the pregnancy. Miscarriage is difficult to work through. Prayers for a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery. May you be snuggling a sweet little dumpling soon.

    Dana (cc9481)

  6. I really can’t put to words how good my life has been. Here’s some pictures from the last three weeks or so: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hREE4H4KAKSWrmgv9

    In my professional life things have been good too, but that’s not particularly important to me. Still, a lot of risks were taken by my wife and by me, a lot of perseverence paid off, a lot of challenges probably lie ahead.

    I won’t say it was a good year, I guess. I am frustrated by the way the country’s politics have stupified, from top to bottom, left to right, just plain ridiculous. And all the loss. Lives, businesses, even ideas.

    But it was the best year of my life. I wouldn’t even recognize myself 2-3 years ago, when I was bitter and jaded. I’ve been blessed with some second chances and I hope everyone recognizes the value in perseverence and believing in yourself, even if it doesn’t pay off (though it really does a lot of the time).

    Dustin (4237e0)

  7. DRJ you and your son are often in my prayers, though I don’t know the details. I hope your son’s future can be brighter and I’m sure he is profoundly fortunate to have you around.

    Leviticus, hang in there and congratulations. It is tough to be in your shoes and just hope it all works out. I’ll join Dana’s prayers for your family.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  8. Let’s pray that we don’t 2020 the year 2021.
    Happy New Year all.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  9. Very good news Karl.
    Something to celebrate indeed.

    J. M. (ae9309)

  10. Thanks be to G*D for all your blessings! I humbly unite my prayers to everyone else’s for your intentions, especially for those most in need of Mercy.

    I, myself have a obstinate history of contracting the flu every year. But. Not This. Year. Thanks be to G*D! I’ll see you guys on the other side of midnight, and we’ll start all over again.

    Thanks, Patrick! This post is a blessing.

    felipe (630e0b)

  11. Thanks for the delightful photos, Dustin. These are the sweetest of years for you and your wife. And I love that your little medical professional is taking good care of Elmo.

    Dana (cc9481)

  12. I wish you all well, in terms of health, family, and non virological positivity.

    Simon Jester (72e89c)

  13. 10. felipe (630e0b) — 12/31/2020 @ 10:18 am

    I, myself have a obstinate history of contracting the flu every year. But. Not This. Year. Thanks be to G*D!

    Well, yes, but in another way:

    Thanks to *COVID*

    Sammy Finkelman (b78e49)

  14. Best wishes to a fine group of people, and prayers for those that are in need of our support. I have survived the year, my family has grown by another son in law and another precious grandson..

    epwj (3c1887)

  15. Karl, was it for cancer? I know one other person who had a BMT this year after leukemia. It took all year to make it happen when normally it would be faster and easier. It is wonderful to have a great outcome but doing it this year must have been especially hard. I am thankful you made it!

    Also, my thanks to everyone for your kind thoughts. I have always been grateful for the blessings our son has received from the medical community. I am equally grateful for the support and blessings I have from being a part of this community.

    DRJ (aede82)

  16. Despite a shutdown of the laboratory, and delay in manufacture of our magnets (in China…), our new experiment at CERN was constructed on time, and under budget, and is now almost installed in the accelerator tunnel (we’ll finish after the first of the year).

    You can see the what we started with in the disused tunnel in 2018, and what we have now in this picture. The experiment was only proposed in late 2018, and formally approved in March 2019, so it is very rapid for a high-energy physics experiment.

    You can even buy FASER merchandise now!

    Dave (1bb933)

  17. L: I am sorry for your loss but happy there may be a Leviticus, Jr., coming.

    DRJ (aede82)

  18. Well done, Dave!

    DRJ (aede82)

  19. One of my neighbor’s 7-year old granddaughter is receiving a bone marrow transplant today. They flew from here to Philadelphia because she was diagnosed 4 weeks ago with Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) and that is the only place in the country with a hospital devoted to treating the fatal disease. Her life expectancy is anywhere from 14-20 years old. There is no cure, only therapeutics to help slow down the disease’s progression. One sibling (age 10) tested negative, and the third sibling (age 4) tested positive like her sister. The positive one is undergoing testing and evaluation to see if the specialists can determine whether she too will become symptomatic. It’s a genetically inherited disease. Both parents are positive, but never showed symptoms. It’s been a horrible month for this family. Their world was completely tipped over. If you are praying, please pray for little Stevie and her family.

    Dana (cc9481)

  20. Dave, that’s pretty impressive, looking at the before and after. And I love the merch shop – especially the FASER pillow. It’s nice to see something positive happen, even if it’s in a “world” I don’t inhabit!

    Dana (cc9481)

  21. After 2020, I feel like we all *deserve* a participation trophy.

    Dana (cc9481)

  22. Dave that is awesome.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  23. Nice photos, Dustin. After trading comments with you for years, I now know what you look like.

    norcal (b4d7b1)

  24. Sorry I put your through that, norcal, but I think my comments make more sense if you imagine my smirk

    Dustin (4237e0)

  25. Women happened to me this year. After being alone for a few years, I ventured back into the dating world. Yes, even with Covid all around. I’ve had some near misses and some hilarious disasters, with a couple of ongoing possibilities.

    I had become so accustomed to living alone that I forgot how nice it is to be in the company of a good woman.

    norcal (b4d7b1)

  26. You didn’t put me through much, Dustin. The only disagreement I remember concerned Romney in 2012. I liked him more than you did. I’ll forgive you for that mistake. 🙂

    norcal (b4d7b1)

  27. No I meant I’m sorry you had to suffer through seeing my face. 😬
    And damn was I wrong about Romney. Damn.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  28. norcal @ 25,

    That’s really nice. I’m happy for you.

    Dana (cc9481)

  29. Breaking911
    @Breaking911

    BREAKING: UK completes separation from European Union
    _

    Happy New Year!!
    _

    harkin (8fadc8)

  30. IN Sydney, Australia , there was no crowd at the New Year’s celebration even though there is no known case of Covid in Australia!

    Sammy Finkelman (b78e49)

  31. I think that working from home due to the pandemic and traveling less, has given me much more time to spend with my family. I’ve had more time to do things(music, gardening, cooking, being in the company of family members) than I otherwise would have. I did put quite a bit of weight, as I didn’t adjust my eating to compensate for not going to the gym as a result of Covid. I think a major silver lining of 2020, is appreciating the small things of life that I would’ve otherwise taken for granted way too often. Happy 2021 for all of you here!

    HCI (92ea66)

  32. Congrats to everyone who had good things happen in 2020. My year kind of disappeared on me, into some kind of Covid vortex. It wasn’t terrible, just not very there.

    Nic (896fdf)

  33. Happy New Year. May the next be better than the last.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  34. @ Karl: That’s awesome and I wish you all the luck!

    @ Dave: Dude… that’s awesome! Don’t be shy, we need MOAR pictures!

    @ Everyone else: Looking forward to 2021 with all of ya’ll and I hope we see good fortunes.

    whembly (c30c83)

  35. 15. 17-128, 20-22:

    @Dave: The before picture looks like a smooth road or tunnel, while the 2020 picture looks cluttered like a junkyard filled with miscellaneous things, including ropes lining the walls and an orange trolley with wheels carrying dirt, although it is better lit. I have no way of interpreting what that is.

    Sammy Finkelman (b78e49)

  36. I can hear some firecrackers occasionally exploding. (illegal, but customary most years – also around the 4th of July but more then and for days before)

    Sammy Finkelman (b78e49)

  37. New this year:

    In addition to the Times Square ball drop there will be a Brooklyn ball rising:

    At Atlantic terminal, where many subway lines and LIRR converge and where the Nets now play

    https://patch.com/new-york/parkslope/brooklyn-gets-its-first-new-years-eve-ball-lighting

    Sammy Finkelman (b78e49)

  38. Saturday Night Live: 2020 hindsight (psychic in 2019)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7hoynDj4WI

    Sammy Finkelman (b78e49)

  39. The Babylon Bee
    @TheBabylonBee

    2020 Rated Worst Year Ever, Provided You Never Lived At Any Other Time In History

    https://twitter.com/TheBabylonBee/status/1344681271310442497?s=20
    _ _

    harkin (8fadc8)

  40. @1/@2. KARL/DRJ: that is absolutely magnificent news.

    As for myself; nothing particularly good to report for 2020- aside from $1200 from The Donald. Losing Mom killed any goodness and all joy this year– and for years to come. It’s a war zone outside here now– fireworks and gunfire.

    Leviticus, be strong for the wife; Dustin, be the best father you can. Just remember every day is a gift; ave, be sure the fire insurance paid up at Cern. ;-).

    May the sentiments, spirit and triumphs from Christmas Eve, 1968 be with you all in 2021.

    Happy New Year to you all.

    “God Bless all of you; all of you the good Earth.” – Frank Borman, CDR, Apollo 8 at Luna, 12/24/68

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  41. lots of firecrackers and sparklers

    Sammy Finkelman (b78e49)

  42. Now, 1st observation of 2021:

    Why are so many on air cable folks at MSNBC and CNN dripping-wet-bar-gay? Bad news with a swish and twist of ‘Lemon’ is still bad news.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  43. @2. Diagnosis is half the battle; you’ll know what to fight. That is the good, DRJ. Treasure each day.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  44. I’m sorry, DCSCA. I hope your new year brings you some good things in your already interesting life.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  45. Actually, not a lot of guns compared to recent past years. A few fireworks 4th of July weekend was way noisier.

    urbanleftbehind (de8017)

  46. Finally finishing my degree. Kept my job. Distance working and learning, saved money on gas. haha @norcal getting into dating. Dating slowed waaay down for me.

    JRH (52aed3)

  47. I hear that 2020 is being held over for a few months by popular demand.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  48. I really don’t have anything special to report. Being retired, the financial thing wasn’t the issue. I’m just sad about the people we’ve lost and may lose. On the other hand, we may have learned quite a bit about viruses and that may lead to some surprises in the near future.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  49. Gracie trotter became the first woman she’s 19 to win an arca sanctioned automobile race. Hope she and hailie deegan can win more races in 2021. Nascar needs them to be successful.

    asset (9281fa)

  50. 21 years ago tonight I was babysitting a technical building/microwave station on a hilltop in the Great Basin which served data to various locations in southern Idaho.

    Every regional manager was required to call in and confirm all systems operational after the dreaded Y2K moment. I was the bellwether because all the other managers were in the Pacific Time Zone.

    My gf at the time was with me but extremely frustrated that we weren’t at one of the parties we’d been invited to.

    Happy New Year!!
    _

    harkin (8fadc8)

  51. “ On the other hand, we may have learned quite a bit about viruses and that may lead to some surprises in the near future.”
    __ _

    The American news media went out of their way to prevent most Americans from learning about China.

    Lots of surprises predicted for 2021.
    _

    harkin (8fadc8)

  52. BTW, I still think 1968 was worse, as it was mostly of our making.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  53. @53. ’68? It was.

    Apollo 8 saved it– at least a fragment of it.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  54. The American news media went out of their way to prevent most Americans from learning about China.

    And the plagiarist-elect,too.

    No Donaldsons or Cronkites in this generation of scribes.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  55. Happy New Year, everybody!

    nk (1d9030)

  56. I’m guessing Lin Wood’s new year will be less happy than 2020.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  57. Happy New Year, nk!

    Dustin (4237e0)

  58. I have been fascinated with Lin Wood for a while. He’s been amazing at crafting a narrative, sometimes for a good cause, but not always in my opinion.

    It is interesting that he is laser focused on spreading insane rumors about Epstein, once of Trump’s most obvious looming scandals. He fired the USA right before Ghislaine Maxwell’s arrest and there was an apparent struggle to thwart what they were doing right when they were arresting her, Trump even offered comments that seem supportive of her, and of course they go back and Trump’s also a proud creepy pervert. On its own, this scandal would have destroyed George Bush, but with Trump it’s not in the top ten list of issues.

    So Lin Wood is using a series of weasel word accusations to ‘just asking questions’ accuse Chief Justice John Roberts ofsome kind of involvement with Epstein. He’s doing everything he can to avoid actually saying anything he can get sued for, while insisting the lack of a suit is proof against Roberts. And all the while this is totally muddying the waters in a way that definitely protects Trump from a scandal that might be about to erupt of Trump does pardon her (or if he doesn’t and she’s implicating him to protect herself).

    Just fascinating that Trump is using folks like Sidney Powell and Lin Wood. They aren’t smart. They are like the scams with typos, weeding out the smart audience to save time. 2021 will show us. Trump wasn’t the problem. Dumb people are the problem. A failure of leaders, media, education are the problem.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  59. Apollo 8 saved it– at least a fragment of it.

    Yes, Genesis from the moon was cool. Couldn’t do that these days.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  60. There is no way that Biden wants Trump to have the same attention that OJ’s trial got. There has to be a STFU deal to be made.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  61. @61. Only a few people knew they had planned to do that. And they caught some flack from some atheist groups upn return after splash on it. So NASA brass put out a directive to curtail any similar public references. The 11 crew created a clever work-around on it. Shortly after they touched down, Aldrin conducted a communion service in the LM and it occurred when, in the audio, he asks every one to ‘pause, contemplate the events of the past few hours and give thanks in his or her own way.’

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)


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