Last Day of the Year 2020

My sympathies go out to the many people for whom 2020 has been disastrous, distressing, or exhausting. And I want to begin by saying that I've been very fortunate. I was able to stay fully employed while working from home. I don't have any children to care for, and I function well in solitude, so I stayed effective. And because I lost my commute and some of my social obligations, my productivity went through the roof. One small sign of this is the fact that I even have time to write a retrospective.

So here were all the positive things I managed to wring out of 2020:

* Gave Acuitas several important new features, including narrative comprehension and the beginnings of moral reasoning.
* Kept Acuitas development on track with 200+ hours of work put in over the course of the year.
* Wrote a blog post for every month.

* Wrote half a novel.

* Prepared my first novel for submission to agents/publishers and wrote pitch material.

* Learned how to 3D model in DesignSpark Mechanical and Meshmixer.

* Started and finished my first major 3D printing project, the Hissing Silence Ghost Shell.

* Modeled a new case for Atronach, printed Version 1, and corrected problems. Almost completed Version 2.

* Learned to handle more 3D printer maintenance issues, including nozzle replacement.

* Even had time for an impromptu weekend art project.

* Book consumption rate exceeded book acquisition rate for the second year in a row. My unread book backlog is down to 33.

* Finally played Beneath a Steel Sky.

* Had time for a lot of maintenance tasks that had been getting neglected. Sealed the crack in the garage foundation, polished the car headlights, emptied data out of the old computer, got a tetanus vaccine.

* Successfully grew potatoes again.

* Didn't get noticeably sick all year.

Atronach: I'm only half put together! How dare you.
ACE: You made me stand up for this?

Happy New Year from all of us, and good luck.