Here is a quick look at my 2022 activities:
Because the corona precautions have been relaxed, I did go to a few larger arrangements:
I went to the Fedcon in Bonn and enjoyed a good time with friends, old and new.
I went to the local Fantasticon again.
I went to the “Book Forum”, a national book fair. I had planned for spending all 3 days there, as Straczynski had been announced as a guest. He had to cancel, so I chose to go there for just one day.
Watching TV (series):
Seasons 4 and 5 of the Karate Kid spin-off Cobra Kai. Both great fun.
A rewatch of all seasons of the Fringe TV series. It holds up very well.
I finished The Expanse TV series. It is very good, I want more of the books adapted to TV.
A rewatch of one of my favourites: Sense8. Not the last time. I still wish I could get it on physical media.
Batwoman, season 5
Season 1 of The Man in the High Castle
House of the Dragon, season 1, I liked this one.
The Rings of Power (Prime) – it was OK for me.
The Flash, season 7
“1899” (Netflix) I liked this one very well all through the series. The conclusion was somewhat unexpected, but did make sense, given all the stuff throughout the series.
The Umbrella Academy, season 3
The first season of The Sandman (Netflix) was spectacular. 10 episodes in the series proper, and a bonus episode (11).
Season 3 of His Dark Materials is a very good conclusion to the story
Watching Movies:
The Netflix original scifi: Don’t Look Up!, a political satire around a comet hitting Earth.
A drama-documentary about Einstein and Eddington.
Audio Books:
I did a re-listen of the book series of The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey:
Main series story line:
- Dragonflight
- Dragonquest
- The White Dragon
- Renegases of Pern
- All the Weyrs of Pern
- Skies of Pern
Side stories:
- Moreta, Dragonlady of Pern.
- The Masterharper of Pern.
- Dragon’s Kin
- Dragon’s Fire
Most of the audio book listening has been done while driving
Books:
I started reading Leviathan Wakes, the first book of The Expanse saga. I may transition to doing it in audio book form, as it can be done while walking, resting or other non-focus requiring activities.
Other activities:
In other activities I started making arrangements for transitioning to solar power for parts of my house activities. More on that later.
In late spring my gas boiler stopped working. As I need some heating in the house I got a heat pump (air-to-air) mounted on the house, and it has lowered my (electric) power consumption compared to last year. Even as I had the gas boiler on, there were a bit of assistance from small electric radiators. I am actually surprised that it works as well as it does.
Yes, I have reduced the use of some electric/electronic equipment when the solar power got too low, and only the most necessary (wanted) equipment is in use now.
I did purchase a “toy car” (yes it is an EV) Why “Toy car” you might ask. Well it runs on batteries, and they are rechargeable. Some people referred to the EV with this term, and I found it good fun to use the expression myself. I got it in the beginning of November, so I have not driven long distances yet. I do see that in the winter the battery life is a bit low, but most of my driving will be in the summer half of the year, so I will do fine. Who knows, with my limited driving requirements I might be able to drive mostly on solar for 9 months of the year.
Yes, this requires a much larger solar power system, and this may take a while to build. We shall see how it goes.
Now it is time to make some plans for the activities in 2023. I have some ideas, some of them concerning generating more solar power. We shall see what I will do.