It's been an interesting year

Places outside of the mainland USA visited:

• Nicaragua
• Costa Rica
• Puerto Rico
• Mexico
• Canada
• Iceland
• Norway
• Germany
• France
• Switzerland
• Spain
• Portugal
• Turkey
• Cyprus
• Italy
• Sardinia
• Azores

Realizations:

Divorcing my first wife was the right decision.  I don't regret it.  I only regret how it happened and that she made it impossible to be friends by betraying our friendship.

I wish I had sought help for depression much earlier in my life.  Some of the mistakes I made when I was between 20 and 30 would have been avoided.

The United States of America is a complete and total failure and soon will be as poor as it was before World War I.  Arrogance, a love of ignorance, narcissism, and a lack of empathy are relegating the USA to the status it deserves - third world status.

All of the bullshit I went through between 2000 and 2006 only made me stronger.

I am one of the fastest learners.  I can learn anything in about 1/10 the time of most people.

You can drop me into nearly any country on Earth and I can understand a significant percentage of whatever language the local people speak.  This is a consequence of having studied so many languages.

I have been an awesome father.

I have regrets, but not many.  The only things I regret deeply are things that happened when I was around 20 years old and those things were fueled by untreated depression, intentional deception by a friend, ignorance, misinterpretation, and mis-education.