{"id":1435,"date":"2015-12-31T23:43:09","date_gmt":"2016-01-01T04:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eightminefortress.com\/surewhynot\/?p=1435"},"modified":"2023-05-31T00:14:31","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T05:14:31","slug":"well-played-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eightminefortress.com\/surewhynot\/index.php\/2015\/12\/31\/well-played-2015","title":{"rendered":"Well Played 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wow! Another 12-month ride and what a ride it was. Time for the usual cryptic recap. Let’s see…<\/p>\n

January:<\/b> Fire Still Worked<\/p>\n

-Takoma Park to Hyattsville: “Be cool like us and lower the voting age!”
\n-Hyattsville: “Sure!”
\n-First reading passes!
\n-Yer a wizard, little brother!
\n-My phone is dead after nearly a decade.
\n-Know what that means?
\n-Smartphone!
\n-Ah, “Selma” is a good movie.
\n-Second reading…
\n-Is Hyattsville to join Takoma Park is being #16tovote land?
\n-Uuuuuunanimous! <\/p>\n

February:<\/b> 12th & Market<\/p>\n

-Game food!
\n-If I’m going to do this, I’d better hurry up.
\n-Day trip to Philadelphia! Something about a museum and a Canadian.
\n-Did my TV spontaneously set a parental control block on a sports channel?
\n-Downton Abbey has a lot of tragedy, but it’s fine as long as they don’t…
\n-Okay, time to kick their asses.
\n-I might be too late. Oh, well.
\n-Or, no, maybe not. I misunderstood.
\n-Holy God, why is the fire alarm in the parking garage so goddamn loud?!
\n-Science articles!
\n-The dress is blue! <\/p>\n

March:<\/b> Multi-Piece Shipment<\/p>\n

-Oh. I’m certainly too late now.
\n-Lots of bad news at once!
\n-At least we get a nice snow day. LOL everyone else left early because they’re scared of the snow.
\n-Wait, not too late, but can’t waste time.
\n-One full year on the job!
\n-Sigh. Did he really just yell at our waitress?
\n-Woman: “Are you an introvert?”
\n-Me, standing far away from everyone else: “What gave me away?”
\n-And, after almost ten years, I’m no longer a NYRA board member!
\n-Thank God.
\n-Vernal equinox snow!
\n-Playing a ridiculous game of hot potato in which the only winner is FedEx.
\n-Now watching Victoria be funny.
\n-Gahhh, I spilled pasta in the sink and burned myself!<\/p>\n

April:<\/b> Seventy-Seven Dollars<\/p>\n

-Some Easter trolling.
\n-What do you mean I owe state tax?!
\n-Some event I don’t really want to be at.
\n-Some other event I don’t really want to be at.
\n-Someone needs to vent. Okay!<\/p>\n

May:<\/b> Have More Fun<\/p>\n

-Trains and a door to nowhere.
\n-Night before birthday Nats game!
\n-Box fort.
\n-Do it! Do it!
\n-I didn’t do it.
\n-Cake!
\n-Okay, now I did it.
\n-Ugh, I have to report for jury duty.
\n-Narrow street is narrow.
\n-I think I can squeeze by…
\n-CRUNCH!
\n-And I just destroyed someone’s side view mirror. Ugggghhhhh!
\n-I haven’t had a truly terrible time driving in DC a while. Clearly I was due for a truly terrible time driving in DC.
\n-Virginia: “Hey, DC. Challenge accepted.”
\n-Three hours stuck on the beltway in middle of the night because Virginia is all “look at us, we’re Virginia, we’ll do late night construction and back you up for hours, because fuck you, we’re Virginia!”<\/p>\n

June:<\/b> 37 Years Later<\/p>\n

-Oh, good, got out of jury duty after only a couple hours.
\n-Free donut!
\n-Belmont. Can you do it, American Pharoah?
\n-Final turn. Welp, here comes another horse closing in.
\n-Wait, no, that horse is quitting.
\n-Could it be…?!
\n-American Pharoah wins the Triple Crown!!!!
\n-Sense8
\n-Picnic!
\n-Emptying out old storage trailer.
\n-And Sugarloaf with little brother.
\n-Inside Out!
\n-Emptying out hotel room family was living in.
\n-And they’re off across the country on a train.
\n-But they left the Wii with me!<\/p>\n

July:<\/b> The Vine<\/p>\n

-Chili and ‘splosions!
\n-WORLD CUP!
\n-Hey, where’s the air conditioner?
\n-A couple hours of pulling vines and weeds from backyard garden.
\n-There it is!
\n-DONKEY KONG COUNTRY!
\n-Clearing stuff out.
\n-What are you doing, laptop?
\n-Family came back east.
\n-Loud restaurant is loud!
\n-Minions!
\n-Family went out west again.
\n-They took the Wii this time. D’oh!
\n-Power outage at work = lots of screaming freezers
\n-Looking for new laptop.
\n-Hey, reached 69,000 miles on car on Day 69!<\/p>\n

August:<\/b> Timing<\/p>\n

-Crash Bandicoot!
\n-Zoo!
\n-Alright, I booked a trip.
\n-You go in the Rack of Shame!
\n-Oh crap, I’m in trouble.
\n-No, it’s okay, I fixed it. For now.
\n-Car maintenance.
\n-What do you mean you have to keep it overnight?
\n-I don’t want a loaner car. I want MY car!
\n-Hey, I finally did the thing!<\/p>\n

September:<\/b> Yellow Lampshade<\/p>\n

-I’m spending Labor Day weekend in San Francisco for some reason.
\n-Kathleen and I are visiting museums and seeing things.
\n-And a hookah fell on me.
\n-Driver: “What park is this?”
\n-Me: “Golden Gate Park.”
\n-Driver: “But we’re not near the Golden Gate Bridge.”
\n-Me: “…seriously?!”
\n-Stingrays! Sharks! Penguins! Snakes! Swamp!
\n-Chocolate!
\n-What do you mean United charges to watch the flight map?!
\n-I have a stuffed octopus now.
\n-Ugh, I forgot to do a thing and don’t have a good reason for why I forgot to do a thing!
\n-Middle Eastern Bazaar!
\n-Fezzes are cool.
\n-Sushi.
\n-Pope.
\n-Lunar eclipse.
\n-I’m invited to a thing!
\n-Now there’s a hurricane coming, compromising the thing.<\/p>\n

October:<\/b> Nine and a Half Hours<\/p>\n

-Nope, hurricane is going elsewhere. The thing is unaffected.
\n-To Philadelphia and southern New Jersey! Something about mosaics, an injured squirrel, and a Canadian.
\n-Winter Festival script reading!
\n-Wow, twenty years of these songs that remind me of things.
\n-Gallery of Art and then Middle Eastern food!
\n-Collective Soul!
\n-Gah, I forgot about the emissions test I’ve been getting reminders for since August!
\n-I forgot to do things and I’m going to get in trouble for forgetting to do the things!
\n-Oh, wait, they don’t care about the things. Whew!
\n-Annual Sugarloaf climb!
\n-Passing out candy to adorable costumed children! And some teens and adults. LOL<\/p>\n

November:<\/b> 1:48pm<\/p>\n

-I was sitting far away from everyone else in my group. Now with renovation, they’ve been moved next to me!
\n-I’m so happy!
\n-WES Auction: trying not to buy or sign up for too much shit this time
\n-Damn it.
\n-Did 97.1 go to Christmas mode the day after Veteran’s Day? I wonder why so much earlier than usual.
\n-Ugh, not another Paris attack.
\n-Think I’ll make turkey chops for Solo Thanksgiving.
\n-Heh, look at those turkey breasts, and all they’re complicated instructions. I’ll read them for the hell of it.
\n-Actually, this looks doable.
\n-Buy the roasting pan!
\n-Mockingjay, Part 2! It made me feel emotions!
\n-Alright, I’ll break with tradition and book a trip for Christmas.
\n-What do you mean the return flight fare went up $95 just before I clicked purchase?!
\n-Time for Solo Thanksgiving! Will I be lonely?
\n-Nope, too busy making the turkey to give a crap.
\n-Ugh, I wish this turkey wouldn’t keep tipping over.
\n-Is it up to temperature yet? Is it up to temperature yet?
\n-Okay, this thing has been in for about three hours. I wonder if it’s edible.
\n-Holy crap, the turkey is edible. I made a Thanksgiving turkey! Achievement unlocked!
\n-Solo Thanksgiving ftw!
\n-Lots of leftovers!
\n-Shit. Why does my whole downstairs smell like gas?
\n-And here’s the fire department.
\n-What do you mean you can’t smell it?
\n-Oh, wait, this other guy can. Good, I’m not crazy. I think.
\n-There’s nothing wrong with the heater? Good. Then why the gas? Odd.<\/p>\n

December:<\/b> Same Fan with Weird Stripe<\/p>\n

-Spinach Bean Thing for holiday potluck at work.
\n-And Perfection. I perfected Perfection.
\n-The Good Dinosaur!
\n-Nutella cookies!
\n-Lots of Winter Festival rehearsals.
\n-Lots of cookies for Cookie Walk.
\n-I’m Muffin the Cat!
\n-Brookside lights!
\n-Where the fuck did my headband go?
\n-Star Wars: The Force Awakens!
\n-Less Christmas shopping as usual because already dropped a bunch of money on flight.
\n-Did I really make these peanut butter cookies myself?!
\n-Seneca Creek Winter Lights!
\n-Have lots of chocolate, coworkers!
\n-Silent Night selfie!
\n-Why the mother of hell did I book a flight on Christmas Day?
\n-Yup, no parking in Dulles Economy Lot.
\n-Oh, wait, there’s some spaces.
\n-My feast of roast beast is in the form of a sandwich from Potbelly. Still counts.
\n-I called it roast beast when I ordered it. They didn’t notice.
\n-Did the flight crew just give us the pre-flight safety info in the form of a paraody of A Visit from Saint Nicholas?!
\n-The flight map is on my phone! The flight map is on my phone!
\n-Me, to family: “I come from the east bearing gifts after following a star.” Technically true.
\n-Some prix-fixe prime rib for Christmas dinner! Mmmm.
\n-Some relatives I haven’t seen in forever.
\n-After a few days of that, time to come home.
\n-What do you mean the flight is oversold and I can’t get on the plane?!
\n-First the fare going up right before I booked and now this?!
\n-Oh, wait, they got me on after all. Yay!
\n-Holy crap, Dulles is foggy!
\n-Back to work and package related annoyances.
\n-Screw, let’s get some snow crab legs and end this year already.
\n-And, holy crap, how the hell did I manage to post every day in December?!
\n-Oh, because all the posts are crap that I wouldn’t post the rest of the year. Meh.<\/p>\n

What a year! I feel like big things are happening. There were lots of changes in this year, and there’s still plenty of promise, plenty I’m waiting to see how they turn out. Isn’t that the business of life? Something like that.<\/p>\n

Goodbye, 2015! We had a time. Alright, 2016. I see you up there in Times Square. Bring it on! <\/p>\n

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Wow! Another 12-month ride and what a ride it was. Time for the usual cryptic recap. Let’s see… January: Fire Still Worked -Takoma Park to Hyattsville: “Be cool like us and lower the voting age!” -Hyattsville: “Sure!” -First reading passes! -Yer a wizard, little brother! -My phone is dead after nearly a decade. -Know what … Continue reading “Well Played 2015”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,7],"tags":[36],"class_list":["post-1435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas-time","category-going-places","tag-new-years-eve"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eightminefortress.com\/surewhynot\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eightminefortress.com\/surewhynot\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eightminefortress.com\/surewhynot\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eightminefortress.com\/surewhynot\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eightminefortress.com\/surewhynot\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1435"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.eightminefortress.com\/surewhynot\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1792,"href":"https:\/\/www.eightminefortress.com\/surewhynot\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435\/revisions\/1792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eightminefortress.com\/surewhynot\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eightminefortress.com\/surewhynot\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eightminefortress.com\/surewhynot\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}