My, how time flies when you give in to distraction…

I have neglected this blog for far too long. To be honest, I initially wasn’t sure if there was any point in still keeping it active or even trying to revive it. But in the end, so much has happened and I have so much to talk about—plus a potentially interesting new project for which this blog may be useful.

So first a quick catch-up. I shouldn’t like to bore you, dear reader, and far too much has happened in the last three years to cover anyway. I’ll just bullet point a few of the biggest events:

• After not having the wherewithal to travel internationally for many years, I started up again with two trips in 2019: a visit to Italy and Switzerland in January/February with my nephew Jacob to attend the Rome Italy Temple open house, followed by an amazing Central European sojourn in June with my friend Matt D. We visited France, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria. We shall never see a trip its like again, because…
• No sooner had I rebooted my jet-set life, then 2020 came along with the worldwide plague, spoiling both my spring trip to Greece and Turkey, and a putative return to Japan in the autumn with my niece Julie. The cup of joy was once again dashed from my lips—though that was the least of the world’s problems. Thanks to the hysteria created by politicians, mass media and big tech, there was a whole lot of cup-dashing-from the-lips of just about everyone around the world. Don’t get me started…
• All this dashing of cups finally made me reach my frozen limit. Before things got really ugly, and still riding on the last few gasps of the amazing economy that had been built in the previous four years, I decided to sell up and get out while I still could. I set my sights on southern Utah, found a rental home in beautiful Saint George in October, and began a months-long back-and-forth to move out and prepare to shake California’s dust from my feet.
• Sadly during the “lost year” of 2020 my mother finally took ill (not with the pandemic, mind) and we had to put her in hospital in April. Thanks to the ludicrous and inhumane “protections” instituted by our benevolent overlords, we were not allowed to visit her in person until after she’d finally slipped into a coma. She passed away November 5, one month shy of her 87th birthday. You really don’t want to get me started…
• January 2021 saw me say farewell to my last Scion xB and upgrade to a long-planned Ram Promaster City van. It was super handy for my move—then in May I finally purchased the Wayfarer Vans camper kit I’d had my eye on for years. Stay tuned for future travel reports from the adventure van!
• Also in May, my condo in Valencia sold for a record-breaking price for my complex, I took the money, paid off almost all my debt (it’ll be all gone but the car payment come January ’22) and turned the page to a new chapter of life. The giant weight of a mortgage pressing down upon the shoulders of a single male (me) was finally lifted—oh happy day!

I reckon that’s the biggest chunks out of the way. The unhinged new religion of COVID continues to oppress people the world over and I fear we are all approaching critical times. I remain as optimistic as I can…which is a whole lot easier after having escaped the fast crumbling dystopia formerly known as the “Golden State.” I’m in a pretty good spot in life to hopefully ride things out for a while, touch wood.

Now I just need to take OFF all the weight I put back ON; that, and find some more sources of income. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile I hope the rest of you are all doing as well as you can, under the circs.