(Okay, we're down the On-Ramp and at least one mile down the 2022 highway by now. My bad...)

​

Obviously, my top priority in 2022 is continuing the positive dietary habits I'd formed in the final weeks of 2021. For the most part, I don't miss the stuff I've given up all that much...but finding motivation to exercise is still difficult. I'm confident that once my backlog of crap to do slowly shrinks, I'll find myself exercising to pass the time like I did up until early 2018.

In 2022, November specifically, my daughter will become a teenager. I don't have any experience being a part-time dad to a teenage girl, but I know a few people who do and will be sure to lean on them for worthwhile advice. Josie's head certainly seems to be on straight in spite of being from a broken home and bouncing around in recent years, so I have something advantageous to work with.
I VOW to give her a memorable 13th birthday event at an arcade she's long yearned to visit.

On March 26, 2022, we will have a kickass softball/BBQ event to mark my 42nd birthday three days prior. Everyone I care about who's based in California will hopefully be there. And unlike November 2021, I will hit a ball to the outfield! And I will reach first base in under 30 seconds!

Me and the boyz tried...and failed...to plan a visit to Levi's Stadium (home of the San Francisco 49ers) in December 2021. In 2022 we'll get everything out of the way in August because I have NO intention of missing the first decade of 49ers football at their newest home.

In September 2021 I was going to return to the Oakland Coliseum to take in my first Athletics game in three years...but issues with Josie's health and custody derailed my plans on the morning of. This year—even if I have to drag her along with me—I AM going back to the Coliseum, if for no other reason than the A's might not be there very much longer. Seriously.

My beloved Topps baseball card company has new owners as of early 2022. Part of me is eager to see what Fanatics will do with the Topps sets I've collected annually since 1990. The other part of me is terrified to see what Fanatics will do with the Topps sets I've collected annually since 1990. I know in the past I've claimed to be too old to collect baseball cards, but now, as I approach birthday #42, I'm going to do what makes me happy—damn how it looks/sounds to anybody else.

For who knows why, I didn't listen to much music for most of the first ¾ of 2021, and I believe it affected my mood in a negative way. But then I discovered a company that makes radio promos for average Joes like me—once I got my hands on some, my affinity for music returned and my overall mood improved. 
???
Okay, I'll explain: a part of me has wanted to be a disc jockey since middle school (DON'T JUDGE), and getting to "fulfill" that dream a bit does bring me a little extra joy.
I look forward to a full year of music...and by extension, joy...in 2022.

I think my old baseball league is planning a reunion in 2022, marking 20 years from its inception and 10 years since its cessation. Though my time there didn't end on good terms, time can erase hard feelings and it would be fantastic to go back down memory lane with a great group of guys I was once real tight with. If I get the invite and COVID doesn't ruin everything...count me in.

In closing, one important goal I have for the year 2022 is to replace my piece-of-crap, unreliable, more-useful-as-a-paperweight cell phone. There are reasons why I have not replaced it yet, but believe me with each passing day I take one step closer to my nearest Metro PCS Authorized Dealer.
When I bought this phone, I had little use for anything smartphones had to offer besides calling, texting and basic internet usage. In the four years since then, my needs have changed dramatically. My new phone must:

​

 

• be able to hold more than three downloaded apps

• not force me to delete existing apps when I already have enough space for a new app

• not reset my wallpaper whenever it feels like it

• allow me to scroll more than halfway down an ESPN article without freezing

• actually activate the camera when I push the camera button

• not alter the contacts in my text thread for no reason

• actually send messages within reasonable time of receiving a message

• be able to download attachments of over nine megabytes

• not EVER not ring when my therapist is trying to call me

• have at least double my existing phone's five megapixel camera

• have at least four times my existing phone's one gigabyte of storage

• activate Google Maps within five minutes of me opening it

• not shut down the Alexa app for absolutely no reason

• not display the unopened message counter when I have NO UNOPENED MESSAGES, and

• must not mysteriously block random contacts from receiving my messages, or sending messages to me

​

Seriously, we might have a New Phone Party whenever I finally pull the trigger on a new purchase.
If so, don't bring too many calories. I'll be on a diet...