2016 in Review

I haven't done a public year-in-review in a long time. Everyone's saying how bad this year was globally, just like 2014, but, just like 2014, this year has been fairly positive for me. Especially compared to 2015.

I didn't write about 2015. Let me briefly recall it too. There was a repeat trip to Minsk, which left far less of an impression compared to the first visit. On the other hand, there was the first trip outside the CIS, to Bulgaria. I got a long-term visa for Bulgaria, but the end of the year crossed out everything positive… Just losing both the backup drive and the main one within a month was bad enough; in the end almost all the photos and logs were lost, only the most important stuff that was in the cloud remained.

So 2016 is better. Although maybe there was less that was truly new in it. I did finally move to Bulgaria in the spring and in total lived there for half the year. I started living independently, which is the main thing about the past year. There's a lot one could write about the move itself and life in Bulgaria, if only I were in the mood.

I got a new computer, which lets me play new games that I couldn't play for the last 2 years, since they stopped making them for the previous generation of consoles. And it also lets me work faster and more comfortably :)

Nothing much changed with work, and that's something I'll need to change somehow next year. Develop and learn more professionally, and then we'll see. I actually stopped learning anything new for myself and for work back in 2011… I just started figuring out and solving problems as they came up, without studying what might or might not come in handy in the future.

On the other hand, in recent years I've leveled up socially. Communicating in real life with strangers is still just as unpleasant and draining, but now I have experience and understand how it works better, and that comes in handy for a lot of things.

And yes, this year some acquaintances became friends, while other friends drifted further away. As always, new acquaintances appeared. In terms of significant acquaintances 2015 was better, but in terms of friends, I think, 2016 is better.

Happy New Year!