2022. Whoever owns 2022 better have a thick skin, because the review is going to be brutal.

• 2022 is the year that the “post-pandemic” housing market peaked and then crashed. A bad roller coaster ride.
• It’s the year that inflation rose to 40 year highs and sent more shocks through financial markets. Tough year to be a retired investor.
• Another ugly, sad year (so far) for Kentucky basketball. Coach Calipari has gone from legend to bum.
• 2022 was the year that we got stuck in the Xmas travel nightmare. We were luckier than most, as we got stuck in a place I like and in a cozy home. But hundreds of thousands missed their holiday, slept in airports, lost their luggage, and just generally got buried in a pile of suck.
• Our smallest Thanksgiving dinner ever. Was pretty sad.
• The year that Elon Musk decided to destroy my investment in Tesla by mucking about with the cesspool called Twitter. And SpaceX’s prospects are dimmed by the same. Musk has turned out to be a childish idiot.
• The year that my metabolism decided I could use a lot more fat around my midsection. Metabolism and I are going to have a frank discussion about that.
• 2022 was the year that I caught COVID at least once (verified by test), probably twice.
• The year that Dad died.
• And stepmother Phyllis died.
• The year that China found out the hard way that you can’t beat a virus with long-term population isolation. A billion people are now paying the price.

There were a few bright spots.

• We got our water problems fixed in our Socal well system.
• My buddy Jon and I won our flight again in his club tournament.
• Our house didn’t burn down in a wildfire.
• The democrats did pretty damn well in midterm elections.
• We saw the Northern Lights.
• I attended a fun writers conference in Louisville.
• We had a good trip to Cabo.

So it wasn’t all bad, but on balance…not a great year. I’m ready for a reset in 2023.