2022 Year-in-Review

Note: This post is AI-generated based on my twitter archive.

If 2022 taught me anything, it’s that time is undefeated. I officially hit age 45 this year, which brought with it a massive epiphany: I finally understand why my father took a nap after supper every single day. Between navigating life with two full-blown teenagers, surviving a major hurricane, and embarking on some massive tech migrations, I definitely earned a few naps of my own this year. Here is the 2022 year in review:

Family: Teenagers, Bears, and Stranger Things. Life with teens is a whole new ballgame. In fact, my undisputed “Tweet of the Year” was a photo of our brand new family room couch, specifically selected because it was large enough that our two teens could lounge on it without actually touching each other. They also developed a habit of tearing into cereal boxes like starving bears.

Speaking of bears, we had an actual black bear stroll through our backyard to test the limits of our green bin, reminding us that we definitely live in the country.

Parenting milestones this year included me accidentally dropping an F-bomb in front of the kids for the very first time. We were watching the Stranger Things finale, and the tension got the better of me. I made it 14 years without slipping up, so I’ll take that as a win. We also weathered Hurricane Fiona in September. We lost power, but we were incredibly fortunate to make it through with only a lost clothesline, some downed trees, and minor damage to the pool.

Technology: The Great De-Googling and a Return to Linux. 2022 was defined by “The Great De-Googling.” When Google announced they were going to start charging for their legacy free tier, I refused to pay $50 a month for my family’s custom domain emails. I spent my early weekend mornings migrating the entire family over to a Microsoft 365 Family subscription. The kids didn’t even notice the email switch, but the moment I disabled their Google accounts, Emma immediately came running to tell me her YouTube history had disappeared.

In other geek news, after 20 years away, I finally returned to Linux as the operating system for my personal gaming PC. Thanks to Steam’s Proton compatibility layer, Linux gaming is finally a viable, awesome reality. I also spent part of the year battling Nova Scotia Power online as they actively tried to penalize residential solar owners like us. On the home appliance front, I managed to fix our dishwasher with zip ties for what felt like the 100th time.

Vehicles: The PHEV Era Begins. We absolutely fell in love with our new 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe Plug-in Hybrid. By August, we had put 10,000 kilometers on it while averaging an incredible 2.3L/100km (about 102 MPG). Thanks to our solar panels, the charging didn’t even spike our electric bill.

Meanwhile, our 3.5-year-old Honda Fit threw an emissions error that required a $2,100 fuel injector replacement. Thankfully, after a bit of a battle, Honda Canada stepped up and covered the parts and labor out of warranty.

Sports: Frustrations in PA and TO Sports provided more stress than relief this year. Watching the Raptors take on the 76ers in the playoffs was an exercise in frustration; I noted that James Harden and Joel Embiid looked more like soccer players with the amount of flopping they were doing on the court. The Steelers didn’t fare much better. I spent my Sundays yelling at the TV over terrible clock management and watching Diontae Johnson catch the ball only to run backwards and turn a first down into a 2nd-and-1.

Despite the sports-induced headaches and the rising cost of literally everything (including a massive $1,325 bill to fill our furnace oil tank), 2022 was a great year. We are healthy, the kids are thriving, and the Wi-Fi remains fast. Bring on 2023!