Well, here it is, the end of 2021 ... and shockingly, I have the time to write a retrospective again. I want to start by thanking all my regular blog readers for following me and taking an interest in my work. I invent primarily for myself ... as in I don't need fame for an incentive ... but it's more fun when there are other people to share it with, and I've realized I don't appreciate you enough. So to whoever's out there looking at this, I'm glad you dropped by, and I wish you a safe and prosperous New Year.
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I would describe 2021 as a great year for me. Much like last year, I acknowledge and regret that it wasn't great for the planet in general ... just for me. This in spite of the fact that it got off to a poor start, and then I had a near disaster in late spring/early summer. I guess all's well that ends well? I got some pretty nice gifts this year, and that makes up for everything.
I've been feeling so vibrant lately that I didn't even realize the year got off to a weak start, until I read my own journal entries from the early months. I was having weird chronic headaches and frequent neck pain from bad posture in my computer chair. And it seems like I was tired or spaced out or gloomy or worried half the time. This was more of a background mood than a result of anything specific going wrong, but one way or another, it didn't make for a good time. Some of the new Acuitas features really weren't coming easy. I probably felt slow and unaccomplished.
Right about the time I finally started to resolve both my neck issues and my general malaise, the near disaster started. Apparently I have a wonky immune system, and after I got my COVID vaccine, it overreacted badly and started chewing on my own nerves. I had similar symptoms in connection with a bad flu many years ago, which means it's probably a disorder I already had, and catching the actual COVID virus could have triggered it as well ... but this bout was much worse than the first one. I had prickling sensations on my skin, vertigo, muscle weakness, and disrupted coordination. It took me over a month to get a diagnosis, while my condition slowly worsened and I wondered if I'd be in the hospital with flaccid paralysis by the time they figured it out. Once I finally got a tentative diagnosis, I had hit the bottom of the thing and was starting to improve on my own, and my neurologist advised me not to attempt treatment for fear of complications. I'm almost healed up now, though it's been a slow, irritating process.
As you might imagine, this disrupted my ability to work. Quite a bit of time was lost in May/June/July. But I still managed to make up for it and keep my planned development schedule for the year. I also got to go through a lot of fun (?) medical procedures, and practice my courage and resilience (turns out they're actually not so great).
And again, it's been a great year in spite of all that business. So here's the rundown of some nicer things that I did or that happened:
*Saw the first satellite that I personally did some work for and am allowed to know about get launched into space. This was a big one. I've been waiting over nine years to actually get something up there.
*Added several new Acuitas features, including the decision loop, notion of "self," and rudimentary spatial reasoning.
*Overhauled the Text Parser and put it through a benchmark run on real text from children's books.
*Overhauled a lot of other old code and did enough refactoring that I think nothing is a serious mess at the moment.
*Went above and beyond my development schedule and sank almost 350 hours of work into Acuitas. (Way to be a time hog, pal.)
*Rough-drafted the second half of my third (and last in series) novel. My focus can now shift to editing and publishing efforts.
*Wrote at least one blog post for every month, and a few bonus ones!
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| Atronach is the one robot whose appearance changed significantly this year. Someday I'll get a proper blog post out ... until then, have a photo! |
*Finished the upgraded case for Atronach's eye.
*Installed a camera in the eye and implemented primitive visual tracking.
*3D printed with PETG material for the first time.
*Modeled and printed new hinge joints for my long-neglected quadruped robot.
*Printed a model of my own brain from the MRI that happened while I was trying to get diagnosed.
*Kept the unread book backlog in check; it is now under 30.
*Began taking regular walks.
*Grew potatoes and (inadvertently) apples.
*Finally started getting some native plants established in the yard.
*Went to the dentist for the first time in 15+ years.
Happy New Year!
--Jenny
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