I wanted to review photos from this year. I spent a little time this evening (1/1/22) reviewing photos on my computer. What a year!
The beginning of 2021 was very much like the end of 2020. Of course, vaccinations hadn’t yet started flowing…
The early part of the year included continued investment into learning computer programming (mostly Python, C, and SQL). Camilla started out enjoying it, but eventually became bored and left me to myself to progress. I imagine we will come back together on this topic in the future!
I was still working at USI through Q1; The beginning of the year involved quite a bit of online activity. I resigned in March, setting myself onto a new career path, which, in retrospect, was scary.
Becca and I looked at quite a few cabins during the first half of 2021; Isolation at our home in State College started to cause us to feel somewhat claustrophobic. We never bought one but made numerous offers (which were not accepted.) We witnessed, first hand, the big run-up in real estate values; In one case, we made a full price offer which was outbid! (In other good news, though, we sold a rental home on West Irvin Avenue for a nice capital gain.)
By the time April arrived, and Becca and I were fully vaccinated, things started to “feel” a bit more normal.
In Q2, I took “Managing the Growing Company” with one of my favorite professors from NYU-Stern: Glenn Okun. I got a lot out of this class, and it has been interesting since leaving USI applying some of his frameworks and ideas, including in two ventures I started with partners, as well as an effort I made to acquire an operating business in global finance with another NYU classmate.
It was nice to have visitors in May. Andreas, Maggie, and their girls came east and visited.
It was odd leaving USI on June 11. I am asked regularly what my “next step” is in my career. The truth is, I am not certain. The things I am interested in include feeling like my work is interesting, the results matter, and the (potential) financial rewards are sufficient to justify my time. Also, it is really important to me to like, and respect, the folks I am working with. I have had a few offers come my way through my network, and I still haven’t actively sought out any jobs, but, to date, nothing has “checked all the boxes…” I am happy to be working on different options and ideas at this stage of my life.
After my last day at USI, our family joined the Lowe family on an epic tour across Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. I posted some photos elsewhere on this blog. It was a very special experience and I highly recommend EVERYONE invest time into checking out the US National Parks. They are mind blowing!
After we returned from the national parks trip, we enjoyed some smaller scale day trips to places like Watkins Glen. 2021 was a great year for the Thorsens’ enjoyment of the outdoors!
We did spend quite a bit of time at Centre Hills Country Club during the summer. Prior to June, I wondered if, as a quasi-retired young man, I might work extensively on my golf game. Long-story-short, I did not golf very much this year. I definitely prefer working on business ideas, reading, and other types of engagement (e.g. tinkering with computer programs) more than golf. (I did get out a few times, though, which was more than the prior few years…)
We had another nice visit with the Montana Thorsens and my parents in Lake George, NY. It was really nice getting out onto the lake and checking out the Town of Bolton.
I agreed to join some NYU classmates for a hike up Devil’s Path in September. The truth is, the difficulty level of that hike was a stretch for me. The weather increased the level of difficulty by quite a bit, as well. But, I did it! I found it to be incredibly hard but was so motivated to see my friends Neil, Fernando, and Ermek. Ultimately, both the experience and the time with those guys made the struggles worthwhile. But, holy moly, it was hard…
2021 was a great year for me, personally, in terms of books. I really enjoyed using time to read cool and different sorts of books. A few examples listed below. Also, not listed, was Yevgeny Zamyatin’s WE. This story is similar to Orwell’s 1984; Orwell may have been influenced by Zamyatin.
One of my friends was seriously injured in an accident as a result of a distracted driver earlier in the year. One of the blessings of my time away from the corporate career path has been the opportunity to walk around together during his recovery. We figure we have walked, over the months since his injury, more than 200 miles together. This time off also offered the opportunity to travel ad hoc down to Rehobeth, Delaware to meet Sam Calagione. We have had quite a bit of fun since my resignation and his injury… I hope we can all find ways in our lives to have comparably nice experiences without requiring the physical trauma arising from an accident or somewhat wrenching changes that arise from voluntary resignation of one’s job! 🙂
We are fortunate that we were all able to remain healthy during the balance of the year, including Becca’s family on the Pangborn-side, as well as ours on the Thorsen-side.
As the year wrapped, even despite omicron, we have opened up a bit more. Still masked. Still careful. But opened up more, nonetheless, including returning to our tradition of Christmas Eve dinner with our friends the Saylors and Lowes.
We closed out the year in a special way over the past few days in Washington DC, celebrating the wedding of my cousin Greg Pertuz to his fiancé, Jesse Meyer. It was so rich to see our family in person; While there were folks understandably missing from the event, it was great to see everyone that we could and celebrate the wedding of these two wonderful people. It was also great fun seeing Camilla and Holger dancing with one another, as well as grabbing me and Becca, and their cousins, out on the dance floor!
Last year was wonderful for our little family. I am looking forward to the year ahead. Thank you for reading my blog and thank you for your place in our lives! I hope you see you all soon, in person, and have more moments like the ones we experienced last night; connected to the people we love, building relationships, and discussing interesting ideas (though, I understand some of the ideas I am interested in don’t resonate with everyone… for example, our discussion yesterday morning about “the nature” of individuals… I should add to my list of resolutions to “read the room better!”)