(This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times)
Well, here we are then, staring down the barrel of another year.
I’ll get the cliche over and done with by trundling out that oft-quoted old chestnut here about time going fast and be done with it (although, to tell the truth, I used to think that was just something old people said, now I know it’s true. Either that or I’m old).
But I digress, back to the column.
While I’m looking forward to what 2011 has to offer, I’m also happy to say 2010 was a pretty good year for the most part.
Oh sure, there were some glitches and unexpected unpleasantness for example, the incident with Seymour the Wonder Cat and my toothbrush springs to mind.
And then there was my personal website falling over and the hosting company I’d been with for the past eight years or so suddenly ignoring me.
And let’s not forget the second buggered luggage incident with Air New Zealand in less than two years (and here we are four months down the track from the most recent incident and I’m still awaiting their promised form that confirms for my insurance company that I did actually fly with them because Air NZ’s insurance doesn’t cover for damage to things that stick out of luggage, like handles, because really, who needs silly, pointless things like handles on their luggage).
But never fear, gentle reader, it’s not been all bad.
Even the bad things had good points: I’ve now found a new, better host for my website and at least I now know our national carrier has a policy of consistency.
Not surprisingly, the web was a big part of my year: like everyone else, I spent far too much time lurking between Trade Me, Facebook and Twitter. Oh, and You Tube (the biggest but most fun time-waster out there).
I also reconnected with an old friend I haven’t seen for more than 20 years. We had been writing letters to each other until eight or nine years ago but simply lost touch so it was absolutely fantastic when she suddenly popped up on Facebook during the leadup to Christmas.
Another web connection for me has been my new online stalker, who sends the occasional email and dozens of comments to my blog every week telling me about his fashion choices (doesn’t like wearing underwear, apparently) and some of his, um, personal habits.
However, I really wish he’d invest in a decent dictionary because I’m not happy with a stalker with such bad spelling.
As I look forward to the coming year, I’m hoping for one that is as busy as the last one, that all the spammers out there get projectile diarrhoea, that the moron who has phoned me three times now claiming to be from Microsoft and asking for remote access to my computer gets a rash on his dangly bits and that my stalker will learn how to use an apostrophe.
Hope 2011 is good to you all.