“So… what do you want to talk about?”

That quote is the catchphrase for THE NEW Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Cody Rhodes. And since it’s been over 3 months since I’ve made a post, I guess it could apply to me, as well.

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No matter how I twist it, turn, look at it, or analyze it, 2024 (as a whole) has not been a good year so far. For starters, my paychecks have been, on average, about $150 shorter than normal since late 2023. Nothing has been garnished, and my personal info hasn’t been stolen or compromised. When I talked to Peraton, my company’s parent company, the answer I got was “We’ll look into it.” 5 months later, no answer. This shortage has cost me a Savings Account, overdrawn my Checking Account $100+ twice (it’s fine, now…), and has put a few bills behind or in Collections.

A bigger issue in 2024 has been health. I caught “an unknown virus” back in January; it wasn’t horrible, but it did knock me on my butt for a few days. 2 weeks later, after I had recovered from that, I started having problems getting my breath, as well as being EXTREMELY fatigued. I got diagnosed with not only Pneumonia but with COVID-19. After taking a week off from work to recover, I returned to work, exhausted but better. Fatigue was still there, however, and getting worse. A few days later, I went to UofL Hospital FirstCare because my legs simply gave out on me waling to work. I was diagnosed with severe Anemia (possibly COVID related). I had to get 5 bags of blood, my blood counts were so low (normal range is about 11.7-17.0; mine was 3.5); I spent 7 days in the hospital, including multiple labs drawn, an Endoscopy, a Colonoscopy, and a few new prescriptions (the ‘gory’ details, I’ll spare you from).
It’s been about 7 weeks since the hospital stay. The nearly 3 total weeks of work are the most I’ve ever missed (especially this early in the year), in a 28-year working career, including the heart surgery in 2010. I’m currently on an iron pill, a couple of supplements, a medicine to regulate my heart beat, and one or 2 others. The fatigue levels are sporadic but the deep exhaustion still pops up. Now, I’m dealing with bad congestion, although it’s not a severe as 4 or 5 days ago. It’s frustrating, dealing with these illnesses, to a person who is normally rarely sick. The best thing I can do is rest, improve even more on nutrition, and keep a vigilant eye out on the body.

Speaking of frustrations, I have found myself increasingly frustrated with the lack of sex and/or intimacy in my life. I am not looking for a serious girlfriend (right now)/permanent relationship, nor am I looking to see how many people I can sleep with. I’m just looking to cuddle with, possibly make out with, maybe have some NSA adult fun with, a woman that isn’t requiring me to fill out a resume and give a credit report, just to ‘get my foot in the door’, so to speak! It has been well over a decade since there was *any* intimacy and about a decade since there was a legitimate chance for it. And no, Tinder and Bumble are jokes unless you decide to pay $20+ a month.

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I’m still looking to start a career in Programming, QA, or Game Testing; while I’ve put out about 15 applications, I’ve been turned down by 12, 2 never responded, and the last has my info on hold. I haven’t completely given up on the search, though.

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So, that’s been 2024 in a nutshell. I plan on making a “First Impressions” game post for “Fallout 3” in the upcoming days – I just bought the Game of the Year Edition for $4.99 on Steam. I also want to rewrite one on “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice”: I picked that game back up, after nearly 3 years away. Other than that, I’m just tryin to survive the first third of this year.