all this does is get me to normal

it's 01:31 which means today is the 24th, and so i am now 24 years old.

since i graduated high school, i think, time has seemed to go very slowly. there are never enough hours in a day when i need them, but long-term, the course of the past year seems so long. not that i'm complaining. i'm glad i have enough going on in my life to make a year seem like forever.

when people ask me how old i am, i usually have to pause and actually calculate and think, "twenty... three... no wait, am i still 23? yes... how can i still be 23, i've been 23 forever."

while i was 23, i:

• bought another car, an old mercedes-benz 190e to "keep the miles down on my r32" which never really worked out. the car was a nightmare in the winter and leaked random things from random places.
• bought an apple powerbook and switched to mac os x and sold my thinkpad running openbsd. 10 months later i'd sell the powerbook and buy another thinkpad to switch back to openbsd.
• bought a motorola razr and switched from my treo 600 on sprint to the razr on cingular. i'd soon switch to a motorola slvr, then to a nokia e61 for all of a day and back to the slvr, then to a treo 700p back on sprint.
• went to another track event at the autobahn country club with my r32, my 6th in all.
• attended my grandfather's wake and funeral.
• had my wisdom teeth pulled and actually didn't feel much discomfort in the days to follow.
• took 3 weeks off of work for my first vacation in then-6-years and picked up carl, a miniature long-haired dachshund. carl is almost a year old now and has been very fun to have around. he still won't let me out of his sight and follows me everywhere around the house, whether standing guard on the bathroom rug while i'm in the shower, or sleeping on my feet when i'm at my desk. i talk to carl sometimes like when i'm running around asking, "carl have you seen my damn car key?" but his english comprehension isn't that great yet. he's learning, though. for now he just stares at me as if trying to communicate telepathically.
• learned to play the piano by learning to read sheet music, though i've already forgotten most of it.
• got another damned speeding ticket.
• traded the 190e i got a few months back for a bmw 318i and started thinking about selling the r32. my main reason for selling the r32 was because i was going to quit my job at dls and continue superblock full-time, so i wanted to get rid of the car payment and insurance for the r32. and thus began the great de-modding of my r32, taking the aftermarket parts off and selling some of them, and putting all of the stock interior back in.
• put the r32 up for sale and entertained offers and test drives and tire kickers for the next few months.
• bought an intel imac to replace the tv on my desk and i guess do other things.
• saw sigur ros in concert with sma and had a great time in chicago all day.
• finally got furniture for my living room for the first time.
• was the best man in sma's wedding and (unrelated, i just happened to write about it on the same day) finally decided not to sell the r32. i decided i was going to stay at dls and try to "ride out the storm" because i wasn't ready to pursue my own business full-time from a financial standpoint. i kept the r32 and started putting it back to the modified condition i had it in before.
• attended railsconf, my first conference (i think?)
• was laid off at dls in an ironic twist of fate (what with the whole r32 thing) after employed for 7 years and a partner and shareholder for almost 4. while i was a partner, i was not informed or involved in this particular decision and learned of the pending staff layoffs along with the rest of the company, one of which was slated for the software development group. i honestly didn't think it would be me given my lengthy tenure and contributions to the company, but such was the case when i was told to hand over my company credit card and keycard and go home on that monday morning. i still remember i was in the middle of upgrading some ports on our openbsd development server while at my desk being told i was being laid off. after they left my office i just kind of stared at the command prompt thinking, "i guess i better re-install the old packages before i leave" and did, and then packed up my stuff.
• went to blackhawk again, my 7th track event and 3rd at blackhawk.

i'm sure there was more but the rest of the days and nights are a blur. i wonder what will happen in the next year...