With apologies to Mr. Lothbrok, before we close the book on 2018 I thought I’d take a few minutes to reflect on what this year meant to me.

It turned out to be a loveless year, which is somewhat of a surprise I suppose. Of course, I spent a goodly portion of the last twelve months getting over past loves. So to that extent I’ll chalk this one up in the “success” column. And actually I did find someone who loves me:

I did start this year with high hopes that I might find “the one”, but instead only found disappointment.

Sadly, Gem was not the only “friend” who let me down this year. It seems I am either heavily indebted to bad Karma or I am an extremely poor judge of character. Or both. Anyway, if that is the worst I can say about 2018 I did alright I reckon.

On the plus side of the scale, I successfully made the move here and I think I’ve done a reasonably good job at settling in and acclimating myself to my new life amongst the Filipino people. I may run in a small circle but I do feel like I’m now part of a community and I can say it feels more and more like home all the time. I think I’m going to make it here!

There’s still much to be done of course. One of my goals in living here was to find ways to make a difference. To some extent I’ve achieved that, at least for a few people. I mean, I have provided a good job for my domestic helper (and her friend I suppose). My driver gets work he wouldn’t otherwise have, and the caretaker downstairs has a roof over his head and a small weekly allowance. I’ve helped a few other folks out when the need arose (and perhaps when it didn’t, I know I’ve been scammed at least once). There’s still more to be done and I hope to get started doing some regular charity work in the coming year.

This is also the first anniversary of my joining the Hash. That’s one of the healthier aspects of my life here, except when it has me in stitches. Here’s to hoping for another year with no broken bones at least!

So in summation, my life is better than it was and not as good as it is going to be. Bring it on 2019!