2025 Review

 Best way to put it: Challenging year.  

Let's start with the travel stats:

20 points, which is a bit lower than usual but I did make the strict standard in 16.  I would have picked up 5 more if I had driven from Alabama to Pennsylvania but that didn't happen this year.  I completed Round 2 of Visit All 50 States and made my first foray into South America.  Also added 5 new MLB parks, which takes me up to 23.

Lenient standard:

Jalisco- Bus ride from Puerto Vallarta to Sayulita

Utah- Photo op at Lake Powell

Maryland- Metro stop

Vermont- crossed the border from Massachusetts.

Strict standard:

Alabama-Lived

Colombia- Cartagena

Nayarit- Sayulita

Florida- Destin, Miami, Flagler, Amelia Island.

Arizona- Phoenix, Sedona, Grand Canyon 

Illinois- Chicago 

Alaska- Anchorage, Seward, Denali SP

California- San Francisco, Orange County, San Diego, Anaheim.

Washington DC- Mall, Smithsonian, game.

Virginia- Arlington 

Pennsylvania- Pittsburgh 

Connecticut- Hartford 

Massachusetts- Springfield, Pittsfield, Mohawk Trail 

New York- Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens

Georgia- Okefenokee Swamp Park 

Mississippi- Bonita Lake in Meridian 

Work:

 New building, new software and a new boss.  There will be an adjustment period but I'm not going into great detail here.

Family:

The big blow was the loss of my father in November.  I still have days in which I am fighting back tears.  The first Christmas without him was ROUGH!

Health- Still a MESS.  I began the year with a scare.  I had a lump in my groin area that sometimes oozed.  I feared Lymphoma but in all likelihood, it was a strong immune reaction.  That's gone now.  The Candida rash has diminished but it's still there.  In the middle of a parasite cleanse, a large cyst on my back that had been there for nearly a decade finally broke and has not come back.  

Malic Acid may have reduced my autoimmune reactions but the process was painful.  As of now, Zinc is my must take pill but it is not tolerated without Malic Acid.  Unless you count the 5K walk in San Diego, no races for the 3rd straight year.  I have not had a good race since 2017 or a decent race since 2019.  Will I ever come back?

Relationship:

After many Internet psychos, I finally have a good female companion in real life.  It remains to be seen if she will be a best friend or something more.  My fear is that she will be frightened when she finds out how sick I really am.  It's possible that she knows about the suspected Autism but she has no idea of the full extent of the autoimmune issues.  I do think that an older woman is more likely to be accepting.  This was the biggest bright spot of '25.