Beethoven In Trance - Episode 73

 2022 Annual Letter

Pandemic year 3. 

Change is not always good. Back in 2021, I noticed house mortgage rate dropped noticeably. After much analysis, I decided to refinance to a lower rate. Our month payment since dropped and our overall interest obligation wasn't impact either. It seemed to be a good move. Feeling empowered, I decided to switch our home and auto insurance carrier to State Farms at the beginning of 2022. It was triggered by the rate increase from the carrier at that time. I thought the No.1 insurance company would provide better service and coverage. Well, it turned out the service is underwhelming, and price is higher than expected. The company increased the premium price after the policy went live, and requested moss cleaning on the roof before renewal. The agent was only helpful when asking for premium payment. By the end of the 2022, I switched again to All State insurance. I hope not to change again in 2023. 

Early in the year, I got into a car accident on my way back from the table tennis practice on Saturday. It was raining in that evening. I wasn't able to stop the car and the car slide over a distance to hit the car in front. Fortunately no one is hurt and the Start Farm at the time didn't increase the rate. Possibly the other car didn't request the repair for such a minor fender bender. I took the car into the garage because the windshield wiper failed weeks later. The mechanics told me that the complete brake system needs to be replaced. It was a $1800 job to replace rotor, clipper and pads, front and back. Also the brake fluid system needs to be flushed as well. It was a very expensive repair on a 2006 Corrola, which normally worth almost the same price of the repair. However, all used car prices were inflated due to pandemic. I decided to bite the bullet and repair the car instead of getting a new one.

During the sprint break, my daughter and I went on a "dad and daughter" trip to the east side of the state. It was a great trip despite the bitter cold. The landscape is different from the usual ever green around the Seattle area, more similar to Arizona and Utah (boulder states). We visited a few state parks and stood on frozen lakes, it was pretty cool. 

Early in the year, we are moving to a new office at work. It's a new building which adds 10 more minutes to my morning commute 20 minutes to the afternoon. The new building offgas so much that I had to wear a mask in the office. I felt dizzy and sick after the day in the office. I raised a ticket for the property management team to evaluate the offgasing in the building and the team did some adjustment on ventilation. It helped, but still took months for me to adjust to the new building. By that time, more and more people were coming to the office to work, as the pandemic restriction had eased. 

2022 is also filled with ups and downs at work. I was able to transition out of a project and took on a different one (one with more visibility). It was a longer transition than I expected, and the new engineering team needed quite a bit of hand holding. After the new team got on the track, I was assigned to another project, another new team to manage. Second time was not a charm. The new project didn't go well, things were breaking, no one knew what to do, and stakeholders were escalating. Eventually, the team survived, but barely. It was the first time my conversation with my manager didn't go well as usual. It was a painful but good lesson to learn. 

My wife also landed the job at my company. That was a good news. I think (and hope) she is a good fit for the company and the work she does. 

In late 2022, I changed my wine selection. I decided to explore wine outside of US (CA and WA typically). I decided to prioritize region (Italy, Spain etc.) over price, and enjoy some new flavor. I was able find couple wines from Spain and Italy in Costco. They are not expensive and very enjoyable. Combined with the decision that I no longer drink on Friday and Saturday (to get myself ready for the table tennis practice the next day). I basically reduced my alcohol consumption. 

In Sept. I travelled with my daughter and my mom to CA for my daughter's Kungfu competition. We stayed at our cousin's home and had a great time. The competition was jam packed and everything was delayed. We ended up staying there from 7:30am till 11pm. It was my daughter's first national competition and she did well, taking home two meddles. Proud of her, she did something I wasn't able to do what I was at her age. 

In Nov, my father in law passed away. My wife went to Ohio with my daughter in the late summer to spend some time with the in laws, but my father in law had dementia and he didn't recognize much any more. We found a local captain and scattered his remains in ocean per his request. 

My parents still go to food bank in town religiously last year. It has become their routine every week and they enjoyed it. 

Home fight still happens last year, but got better later in the year. 

My daughter is still on ADHD medicine. The medicine suppresses her appetite as a side effect. We were getting used to her eating schedule last year. We didn't eat together everyday any more because either she or her mom won't be able to join due to lessons or classes. 

Last year, I upgraded to a newer model of xBox and bought a PS5. I finally finished The Last of Us Part 2 and Horizon West. 

I upgraded the table tennis robot as well, but the new one is not used as often as I imagined. The robot wasn't used by my parents either because they both are recovering. 

We decided on Arizona for our winter vacation. We booked the trip, and two weeks before the trip, my mom got a compression fracture on her spine. We had to cancel my parents flight, hotel, etc. They were left home unwillingly.

We had a great time in Sedona, the airbnb is huge (considering we are two people short). and it has great view of the mountains. The mountain trails were not very challenging, and color of the rocks (red) is particularly vibrant against the blue sky. By day 5, we were ready to go home, but the night before, we got an email from the airline that our flight was cancelled due to freezing weather condition in Seattle. We had to stay in Phoenix for two more days. We found a hotel close to the airport and did some local sightseeing, museum and movie (Avatar 2). The Avatar 2 was a disappointment for me, but my daughter and my wife enjoyed it. 

The movie I did enjoy last year include batman, Arcane: league of legend (which is fantastic  tv series interpreting from the video game)

Another good change last year is on the wardrobe. Just before the winter holiday, REI trade-in program had 10% promotion for trade ins. I took the opportunity to turn some clothes into gift cards. It reduced my clothe "inventory". I think I could do more in the coming years as well.