2020 Recap 2
It was one of my most challenging years. I ended the year weighing more and taking more medications than when it started. It was a bad year, hands down, but there were somethings that made it better. We've heard all about the bad stuff so here is the good stuff that happened in 2020.
Animal Crossing New Horizons
Ive played the Animal Crossing series since it first debuted in the U.S and its had a place in my heart ever since. Being the lone human in a village, town, city and now island amongst animal peers is surprisingly fulfilling. What do you do? Well you grow fruits and flowers and now vegetables, help your friendly animal villagers with tasks, fish, catch bugs contribute to a museum, swim, decorate and expand your house inside and out, visit friends friends island etc. Its an incredibly low stakes game that's very charming and just has you smiling all the time. I'm currently experience a bit of burnout with the game, but to be fair Ive put in a staggering 1,205 hours into the game. Ill eventually pour even more time into it
Pokemon Shield
Another game series from my childhood..I played Pokemon Shield a great deal last year too. Filling up the pokdedex, catching shinies, doing max raids, battling friends. It was a good time. 975hours. I escaped quite a bit into video games, even if just a few. I spent 25 hours total playing Super Mario Maker 2 as well, just a fun game where I play custom designed Mario levels from creators all over the world. Very fun
Twitch
I finally opened the can of worms known as Twitch, and find that I really enjoy watching people play games, almost as much as I enjoy playing them. Watching the decisions and play style of different people is very fascinating to me. I actually think I’ll start streaming the games I play soon.
I guess you could say 2020 was the year I rediscovered video games, a hobby of mine that pretty much eroded away due to depression, years ago. My friends all went in and bought me a Nintendo Switch for Xmas 2019 and I’ve taken full advantage of it
Walking
Though it didn't last long, I did start walking again. at first only being able to do less than quarter of a mile, to a full mile to a mile and a half. It was fun challenging myself and seeing familiar walkers along the path from day to day. Though Ive gained most my weight back it proved that I'm still not out for the count.
Exercise Bike
I got a nice exercise bike for dirt cheap and it was something I was very proud to have owned, Id been wanting some kind of equipment for home and a stationary bike seemed perfect, but they can be expensive, so when I came across a a wealthy lady just wanting to get rid of one for basically nothing, I jumped on it. It proved to be quite controversial though, As after just a few uses I totaled it. I knew I exceeded the weight limit and told myself initially that I would lose at least 50lbs before trying it. I jumped the gun, one day while I was working my way to 30miniutes the back support beam bent. I was basically on the ground, impossible to pedal. I was actually able to fix the beam so that the bike could be used again, just not by me. If I do end up losing weight again, it'll be a great milestone achievement to be able to use it again. Ive estimated the weight capacity to be about 350-450 tops, I wont try again until I'm in the 300s. But I have it.
Podcasts
I listened to hours of podcasts, mostly scary things like The NoSleep Podcast and Lets Read, but also so more light-hearted and informational things like Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me, Car Talk, Food Psyche, Help Me Be Me and more. A lot of the time I go to sleep listening to a podcast.
Camping
One of the biggest highlights of the year was going glamping with my friends again. It was a great time, had lots of fun got to get away from the stresses of the world and forget about the pandemic for just a bit. It was one of the few times I actually seen and got to hangout with my friends.
All these things made an unbearable year bearable. It wasn’t all bad, just mostly. Lol