A Check-In

 It's been quite a while since my last post and as I read through my past posts, I am happy to say that quite a lot of changes have happened in the last 2 years.

The inspiration for the start of this online journal was due to extreme stress in my work and constant feeling of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness. It was a good way for me to have an outlet to express my thoughts and feelings in the moment as well as serve as an interesting way to look back on the past me.

Shortly after my last post, in April 2019 I started a new job! I managed to escape the hell which was my last work group and start fresh in a new, supportive environment. The start of my new job was the beginning of implementing a new "smart" factory in my area to manufacture, assemble, and test new 5G radio products. It was a breath of fresh air to start working on something so new to me. A project I could learn and work hard on to make successful. A project that I actually cared about again. The initial training phase also sent a group of us engineers overseas to train on-site in another factory in Estonia. It was the first time I had been to Europe and again an amazing experience.

I still keep in touch with some close friends at my last employer and they have relayed that pretty much the entire original group I was in was disbanded. All the original employees that I worked with either retired, quit, or switch groups. It's sad that I was not surprised by this outcome and even sadder that I still believe nothing will change. I try not to dwell on this too much anymore.

2020 was a life-changing year in more ways than one. At the beginning of the year, the world saw an outbreak of COVID-19. This was a truly scary time for everyone. A mysterious flu-like illness spreading rapidly across the world. Stores were shutdown and closed indefinitely. Everyone was advised to stay home, wash your hands, and start wearing masks. People were panic-buying hand sanitizer, face masks, and oddly enough toilet paper. I would check the daily infection rate and death toll and was shocked to see the rate of increase and the eventual hundreds of thousands of lives lost. Just vanishing from the world. I worried about my parents. I worried about my family and friends. The only way we could keep in touch was virtually. Many companies switched to work-from-home operations and many companies are still in this state today.

Looking back, 2020 was a year of isolation. It's hard to have much memorable moments during this time but actually this was a big year for me and my partner. In August of 2020(August 8th to be exact) I got married! During this pandemic time, we had a very unusual wedding day. Everyone was masked. We had social distanced seating. We eliminated a full reception and kept it to just family and the wedding party. My wife's family in Vietnam and my extended family in Malaysia used Zoom to watch the ceremony and celebrate with us overseas. Overall though, I was quite happy with how the day turned out. We hope to have another wedding ceremony in Vietnam one day as well.

In November 2020, we closed on our first home! This was another huge step in our lives which honestly happened a lot quicker than I thought. Now we realize just how lucky we are because the current housing market has exploded into a crazy frenzy. Houses are being listed and taken off-market within a day at $50k over asking price. It's truly insane. Our own house has increased in value about 15% in just 7 months.

In December 2020, we had the biggest news and life event...we found out that my wife was pregnant! Again, this was an event we were planning, but I think both of us did not expect it to happen so fast. We are expecting our daughter in September of this year so we are getting closer and closer to this big day. Both of us are understandably nervous, but I think exceedingly excited for the arrival of our baby.

I have been running a lot since November of 2020, and year-to-date I have run 475miles. My goal by year end is to try to hit 1000miles for the year and I am on track. My only concern is trying to maintain injury free(which is an issue currently with my hip pain) and also trying to balance the new arrival to our home. We will see, running has been a huge positive in my mental and physical health and I really hope to sustain it long-term.

All in all, huge changes in my life over the last 2 years. I think back in 2019 I truly had no idea how my life would be different in such a short span. I wonder what can change in the next 2 years?

Cheers.