"hey patrick, i know what's funnier than 24 - 25!"

~rav3ndust

Well, we're officially on the last day of another year. Seems like this one has flown by, with a lot of highs and a lot of lows.

~bartender, just a beer?

This year has been great in a lot of ways for me, and not so great in others. We lost some people in our family (and a close friend) this year that I loved and were close to me, and my wife and I have both dealt with health issues of our own this year. Those were some of the biggest lows of the year.

Of course, balanced among those lows, were the highs. We've continued to do our homesteading stuff, I've continued to build software and websites and help clients with their own projects. My wife and I have begun working on a new little platformer video game that I'm excited to get out by summer of 2025. It's been a lot of fun, and continues to be as we build it up. I'm excited to play the final product and share it with family and friends and see what they think about it.

I've learned even more this year that even though I'm a hermit in the woods who barely leaves my house, I have several close friends I know I can count on for just about anything. Two of my best friends I've known since early school days, and the other is someone I met in 2017 who has proven to be a dependable and awesome friend, always there for you and just a phone call away. I try to be the same way whenever I can, and lend a helping hand to those closest to me.

Friendships are one of those things that can seem like they're forged in fire, and can then fizzle out like a bad fruit on a vine. I have had people I've considered close friends at several epochs in my life, and as things go, grew apart from a lot of them. Over the last few years, I've developed a deeper appreciation for those friendships I have that truly *are* forged in fire, the ones that are always just a phone call away, you gain a deeper appreciation for when you think back to those friends that turned out to be truly not friends, who might have been using you for something, or who might have been saying things about you behind your back instead of to your face.

I've had a few of those, and while you wonder why it had to go down that way at first, you move on, and you appreciate those other, truer friendships, even more so. I've sadly mistrusted several people I consider 'friends', and ended up having things I cared about (like a few guitars) stolen from me and knew I could never trust those people again. I'd never allow those people in my life again, while there are a handful of people who I know I can trust alone in my house for days if I am away and need someone to come feed my animals or something.

2025 is less than 24 hours away, and while it's all symbolic and most people don't adhere to their 'new year's resolutions', I think this year I am going to commit to appreciating those people in my life even more than I do now. Not only that, but also continuing to live healthy, growing our homestead, the FOSS stuff we do, and all the other fun things going on.

I am looking forward to another year, another trip around the sun, another year to make the best out of, another year to appreciate those closest to us.

Well, this mug is about empty. Thanks for letting me ramble, ~bartender. I hope everyone has a great new year, and until then, "Have a Drink on Me":

This would have been the *Fly on the Wall* tour. AC/DC's always been my favorite band.

Cheers!