I thought that 2021 was the worst year, the first of the reign of the dementia-plagued, America-hating, lying Joe Biden.  But I was wrong. 2022 turned out to be as bad, or worse.  It is depressing, knowing that the elites who run our formerly-strong and free country are doing their best to tear it down.  Even the Republican party has shown us that it despises the working, liberty-loving Americans who are its base.  Why else would they approve massive increases in government spending which threaten to prolong the already punishing inflation plaguing every corner of society?  They are looking out for themselves alone, most congress-critters vastly increasing their personal wealth while in office, while many of their constituents end up in long lines at food banks.

The conservative-leaning Supreme Court even disappointed us, by throwing out all the lawsuits filed by President Trump’s attorneys regarding the many irregularities in the 2020 election.  The best court decision of 2022 was the overturning of the Roe v. Wade abortion decision; as expected, however, Leftist states are ignoring that decision and insisting on abortion on demand over the decisions of their own legislatures!  I see the Supreme Court having to deal with this again in coming years.

With Covid vaccines now showing all sorts of adverse effects, we have learned not to trust anything coming out of the government health establishment.  I remember a Twitter thread from today, where a person asked if others knew of people who had adverse effects from the vaccine.  There were hundreds of responses from folks in the US and Europe, with many saying that they, themselves had adverse reactions, and many mentioning horrible effects and deaths among their friends and family.  This might be contributing to a general distrust of vaccines of any kind; more and more stories are coming out about formerly-conquered diseases returning, due to parents refusing to vaccinate their children.  And, still, the Government is heavily promoting the Covid vaccine!  It’s disgusting.  They really do think we are stupid sheep, who will do whatever our masters in DC tell us to do.

One bright spot this year, is something that exposed exactly how our government conspired with Big Social Media to cover up big stories that might have changed the results of the 2020 election.  Elon Musk, whose companies include Tesla and Space Exploration Technologies (Space-X), bought Twitter and took it private.  Almost immediately, to the gnashing of teeth and screeches of the Leftist Media, he began releasing records showing that the FBI, CIA, CDC, and HHS were directly telling Twitter to block stories and accounts that went counter to The Leftist Narrative.  Multiple Twitter Files have been released, and we now have a pretty good idea how Joe Biden was placed in office, by concealing legitimate stories of the activities of his sleazy son Hunter, among others.

Personally, I have to say that 2022 was not too bad for us.  Our costs of living have steadily increased all year, starting in January when our homeowners’ association had a special meeting to discuss a huge cost increase, brought about by the need to replace the roofs on all 85 homes.  That speedily decimated the HOA reserves, and initiated a huge dues increase plus a special assessment.  And last week, we were told our dues would be increasing again in January.  We paid close to $5.00 per gallon for gas most of the year, only seeing a decrease just recently.  Of course, our state is increasing the tax by $0.50 a gallon tomorrow, so there goes that little benefit.

My one-month temporary job that started in July of 2021 lasted until early June of 2022, helping us to afford all the price increases.  I was back to being retired for the rest of the year.  I applied for many jobs, and was rejected for all.  Until this month, when I finally got a new job, starting in January.  It was the smoothest process I can ever remember, and I’m excited to be back in the saddle again, as a Senior Buyer at a medical device manufacturer.  I’m still collecting Social Security, which I plan to save once I have salary coming in.

I had health issues in the early part of the year, stemming from my bout of pneumonia in December of 2021.  A measure of inflammation that I get tested for every three months skyrocketed, and my rheumatologist panicked.  So I went through an extensive series of blood tests, to see if I might have some sort of blood cancer.  Well, after thousands of dollars of tests with normal results, it turned out that the inflammation measure went right back to normal once the pneumonia was beaten back.  For the rest of the year, my health has been excellent, and my rheumatologist is quite pleased.  I’ve been working out on my home rowing machine all year, and I think I’m getting fitter.

In April, we drove to Colorado and back for a Hillsdale College meeting, and we had an excellent journey.  In October, we drove to Boise for another Hillsdale function, and had a great time there, too.  We are funding our endowed scholarship gradually, and it won’t be too long until they can distribute funds to a worthy student.  Toward the end of the year, Canada removed its requirement for foreigners entering the country to show they had been vaccinated against Covid, so we might now be able to visit Victoria, BC, where we honeymooned in 2003.  Next year is our 20th anniversary, and we might take a cruise on the East Coast to celebrate.

Since I was retired for half the year, I did a whole lot of reading, which has always been my favorite leisure activity.  I re-read the Tolkien Lord of the Rings trilogy, and The Hobbit, in a new boxed set I bought.  I discovered the Inspector Lynley novels by Elizabeth George, and have read many of them, and continue to read more.  This year, I got a library card, so I could read what they had of the Lynley books.  I also went on an Ancient Egypt kick, and read a number of non-fiction books about the lives of ordinary people, plus the many temples and monuments.  I listen to the Egyptian History Podcast while I’m rowing, and Dominic Perry says that archaeologists are still discovering new cities and temples buried under the sands.

In 2022, my online life has expanded, starting with more frequent posts to my blog.  There’s something new to comment on in the news every day, so I’m never at a loss for subject matter! [which I’m sure you have noticed]  I post to Ricochet.com often, and in 2022 I had 88 of my Member Feed posts promoted to the Main Feed.  Earlier in the year, I joined Gettr, and did a few posts there.  Once Elon Musk bought Twitter, and let everyone know that free speech was back, I joined there, and have had a great time commenting, and following friends old and new.  I followed Elizabeth George, but I’m considering stopping, since she’s a disgusting leftist.  I’m having great fun following a guy who posts as Catturd-he’s just hilarious.  My greatest internet find this year has been VivaBarnesLaw on Locals.  It’s two lawyers, Robert Barnes and David Freiheit (who is Canadian but living in Florida).  Barnes is a top-notch lawyer with lots of great ideas, and he can think on his feet better than anyone else.  They do live-streams on Rumble.com, and have a thriving community on Locals, which I finally joined this month.  I expect to give them more attention in the new year, when I’m not at work.

Our cat, Kikyo, is now a senior cat, so she spends most of the day sleeping.  I put out her blue fleece blanket, and she curls up on our bed next to me when I’m reading.

Another thing I plan to do in the new year is volunteer at Purrfect Pals shelter, so I can play with their kitties on Sundays.  I can never get enough of cats!

My big purchase for the year was my new car, an Audi Q3 which I have named Red Rover, in September.  As of today, it has ja little over 800 miles on it, and I just love it.  I’m waiting on my new personalized license plates, which will say RBABE49.

With all the crap happening nationally, I’m glad to bid farewell to 2022.  I don’t expect much to improve in 2023, with the Biden administration doing its best to weaken the country, but I do expect to remain as outspoken in favor of liberty as ever.  I intend to do more posts on Twitter and Ricochet, as well as here.  I invite all my readers and followers to join me on the VivaBarnesLaw community on Locals-I guarantee it will be the best $70 you spend in the new year.

Cheers!