Farewell 2013...

It's the end of the year, and I feel fine.

It's been a year.  Employment-wise, I was employed.  Contract work is variable.  Getting a contract longer than six months at the outset is unusual.  Extensions can and do lengthen the term, but contracts still end.  With companies outsourcing employees more and more, it's going to be a problem as Baby Boomers retire en masse*.  Many companies are going to find themselves missing corporate memory and will either flounder while internal positions get refilled or contract out those jobs to retirees.  Meanwhile, a workforce comprised of contractors doesn't have long-term stability.  The economy is going to stagnate; contractors preparing for the end of a contract and time before a new job aren't going to make major purchases.

Elsewhere, I'm writing.  Between Lost in Translation and this very blog, I've committed many atrocities to the written word.  Regular writing means writing becomes easier to do and lets me experiment a bit.  Of course, some of the writing is done to deadline.  The weekly /Lost in Translation/ review and the Thursday commentaries are often last minute.  But spontaneity can be creative, too.  Just look at the Doughnut Defender.

Overall, for me, 2013 was decent.  Really decent.  No major issues, except near the end when my glasses finally gave up and the arms wanted to cosplay as

Post-spaghettification.  Note the lack of the hook that goes over and behind the ear.

spaghetti while my netbook decided that the touchpad mouse was anathema.  These things happen.  I was expecting my glasses to fall apart eventually and I was overdue.  The netbook was more surprising; I have a seven year old HP Pavilion laptop with a broken keyboard and an undead battery* that I expected to die first.  Go fig.

So, Happy New Year, all, and enjoy the night!


* The leading edge of the baby boom reached retirement age in 2011.  Some have to wait two more years after the Harper Government raised retirement age to 67, delaying the inevitable.
** The battery doesn't charge anymore and may have, at best, enough juice to force the OS to start hibernation before dying.