2021 wasn’t the year any of us quite expected, and with that have come some incredible disruptions. And some things that, by quirk of fate or just dumb luck, continued uninterrupted. I figure it might be fun to share.
Streaks Maintained
- I’ve managed to be on a Delta airliner every year going back to at least 2016, and I’m pretty sure about going back to 2015.
- I’ve enjoyed Tijuana Flats at least once each year since 2015. Even got to enjoy it indoors this year, during that all-too-brief lull in cases in late May and June.
- I’ve set foot on an FRC field each year since 2004, even if this year was only at SCRAP and SCRIW.
- 1293 remains winless and awardless at events going back to 2004, although 2022 is our year darn it
- I’ve had tickets to a professional wrestling show each year since 2019. I somehow ended up at three shows that year, I had tickets to a WWE Raw taping for the Monday after Houston 2020 (which was rescheduled a few times before they conceded defeat), and this year I was able to make it to AEW Double or Nothing. (Almost made a roadtrip this week back to Jacksonville since AEW’s home venue is an outdoor amphitheater, but it felt like too much of a COVID gamble this close to Kickoff.)
- 2021 is the second year in a row where I’ve had a flight and tickets to attend a BattleBots taping, only to have COVID wreck those plans.
Streaks Broken
- This is the first year since 2014 that I haven’t set foot in the state of Indiana, and only the second year since 2008. With IRI and AndyMark Fight Night not happening (and with, y’know, me not living there anymore), the usual trip didn’t either.
- This is the first year since 2016 that I haven’t built a fighting robot (also for lack of Fight Night).
- This is the first year since 2004 that I haven’t received a plastic shipping tote or two, thanks to FIRST’s switch to a cardboard box for the slimmed down kits.
- I managed to go 35 years without asking someone to marry me, but that’s fixed.
How about you?