Year - End Blog 2023

2023 started off not so bad; of course, when the 12 Days of Christmas came to an end, I was feeling sad while putting away all the Christmas decorations… but I was looking forward to a new year & all the possibilities it held. As the year went on, I was disappointed as it turned out to be just like any other year of my life…

I switched the Men’s Group to Sunday Mornings & as Winter waned & Spring approached, my guys started coming in late or just dropping off to the point of one person showing up for class. It was naturally discouraging so I ended it. 

Life Lesson: If something is not working, it’s not working. Don’t put a saddle on a dead horse.

The Men’s Group Summer Activities was good though, we went boating on Lake Michigan, had a Friday fish fry + movie & a Saturday Men’s Breakfast; all were well-liked & well attended. 

Life Observation: the Men like getting together & hanging out, food helps.

I touched base with a friend of mine in Australia who, it turns out, was upset with me for not keeping in touch with her over the last 4 – 5 years. It goes both ways, my inbox has been empty; not one word from friends (or family) on how I’m doing & what’s going on in my life. I’m the one that has to always make the effort to reach out & I’m tired of it.

I did start the Pratt Cousins video chat this year so that was good, but again, it was me that had to get the ball rolling & reach out to everyone. 

Life Lesson: Everyone lives in their own little world…

Every year, I set up the croquet court in my folk’s yard for them so they can watch the kids, grandkids & great-grandkids play, it’s a source for enjoyment for them in their golden years so I don’t mind doing it. 

I lost my cousin David to cancer this past Summer, that was sad. To be honest, he didn’t think much of me but I did love him. It’s hard when you watch someone slowly fade from this life… the same thing happened to my friend Jeff, who passed just before Christmas; slowly fading away…

Tweetdeck went behind a paywall so I ditched it & naturally had to revert back to regular Twitter / X; it wasn’t so bad but I do think Twitter / X could be improved upon a bit as I’m getting ZERO interaction on it. Maybe it’s my posts? Probably, yeah, let’s go with that; it’s my posts.

Jitsi Meet was a huge disappointment to me this year as it ditched anonymity.  

So, Zoom. I have never liked Zoom, ever. I despise it. Apart from the security/privacy issues; the homepage is hard to navigate & everything about it is gosh – awful. As I’ve said before, I have a tablet that I use exclusively for video conferencing & my tablet had both the Skype & Zoom apps on it. The other day I went to check on a feature that Zoom had called Zoom Clips, a short video that you can make to send to others. Well, I opened my Zoom app & it had somehow logged me out. “No problem” I said, so I logged back in & had to verify something, ‘got sent a security code & entered it in, then was told my app was out of date & I needed to upgrade it. “No problem” I said & proceeded to try to download a newer version of the Zoom app. 90 minutes later & zero progress. I’m not going to go into all the details but I’ll say this: I still hate Zoom. So, as of right now, my tablet has no Zoom app & if there’s a Zoom meeting, I’ll just join as a guest or something… 

On the flip side, I have zero problems w/ Skype. When Jitsi Meet failed me, I used Skype Meet Now, which saved the day! So, this year, I have abandoned both Jitsi Meet & Zoom, settling/focusing on Skype as my main video conferencing platform of choice. It has both a translation feature & a twin cam feature, so I can use another phone (or whatever) as a secondary feed, that’s kinda cool.

Speaking of Skype, I ran across a couple of articles that both stated that Skype is quickly becoming its own social media platform; I’m going to explore this more…

I finally got my mandolin professionally set up & have been playing it more than my guitar or the piano; it’s still an alright instrument to me, nothing spectacular about it… ‘been playing it for the Acoustic Worship Team & sometimes I’m not so sure it fits in; it does add a different sonic palette to two acoustic guitars though. I wonder how it would sound if I put guitar strings on it, probably not much different.

In closing, I’m writing this blog on the 6th Day of Christmas, (December 30th for the rest of you). Hardly anyone in America celebrates Twelvetide anymore & I can understand why. Someone had the terrific idea to start playing Christmas music on November 1st, so by the time Christmas Eve comes around everyone is sick of hearing it & the commercial machine has Holiday decorations out in late September/early October now. It’s okay for the world to celebrate what they celebrate for the entire month of June but celebrating our Savior for 12 Days is out of the question?

I think if more Christian leaders taught on it, not emphasizing the saints of course but magnifying Jesus throughout Twelvetide, more people may celebrate it.

Life Lesson: you don’t learn if you’re not taught; however, it is a heart thing too; you have to love Christmas in your heart before anything else happens.

The end of the 12 Days of Christmas is called Twelfth Night, where a huge dinner party happens with drinking wassail & much revelry, sometimes there’s caroling & exchanging of gifts but it’s always a good time & for us, it’s very much Christ – centered. 

Well, that’s my year – end blog, good times & bad times… I’m not sure what 2024 holds & to be honest, I’m not expecting much as each year I hope for something different but it’s always the same thing, nothing changes.