2014

• January
• Recreational pot stores in Colorado open (http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/31/us/colorado-recreational-marijuana/index.html?hpt=hp_t3)
•  New word of the year:  "polar vortex" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/polar-vortex-puts-midwest-in-deep-freeze-heads-to-dc/2014/01/06/57d9fa24-76c2-11e3-8963-b4b654bcc9b2_story.html)
• Bridgegate (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25686050)
• Protests in Thailand (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25708092)
• Gov. Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown declares a drought in California, which incidentally wouldn't have happened if the radical environmentalists hadn't turned parts of the state into a dustbowl to save the Delta Smelt (http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-jerry-brown-declares-drought-emergency-in-california-20140117,0,3244744.story)
• First New Years with my new wife.
• Goodbye to the '94 Prelude
• February
• U.S. government recognizes same-sex marriage (http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/08/politics/holder-same-sex-marriage-rights/)
• Sinkhole opens under classic Corvettes in their museum.  Oh the humanity! (http://www.autoblog.com/2014/02/12/national-corvette-museum-sinkhole/)
• Winter Olympics in Sochi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Winter_Olympics)
• Goodbye to one of my Flemmys, Dori.
• Positive pregnancy test!
• March
• Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappears, has yet to be found (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26492748)
• Russia annexes Crimea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Crimean_crisis)
• Quiznos files for bankruptcy (http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-03-14/quiznos-follows-sbarro-into-bankruptcy-as-competition-grows-1)
• U.S. to relinquish control of the Internet because of the actions of the NSA.  Because, you know, despite our country's flaws, there are so many other nations out there that can depended on for fair administration of the Net (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/us-to-relinquish-remaining-control-over-the-internet/2014/03/14/0c7472d0-abb5-11e3-adbc-888c8010c799_story.html?wpisrc=al_national)
• Visit to Minnesota.  Two feet of snow, inch-thick ice on roads, and dinner with friends as we say farewell to Dori.
• April
• Microsoft discontinues support for Windows XP (http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/computers/how-to-upgrade-from-windows-xp-20140409-zqs4w.html)
• A South Korean ferry capsizes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_South_Korean_ferry_capsizing)
• A meteror explodes over Murmansk (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/video-huge-meteorite-explodes-ball-3432859)
• Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers, is punished by the NBA for politically-incorrect speech (http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/04/29/clippers-owner-donald-sterling-banned-for-life-from-nba-fined-25-million-by-nba/)
• 1st anniversary with the wife at the Des Moines 801 Chophouse.
• I'm able to give back to the Church in my small way by sponsoring two candidates for confirmation.
• Sold many of the larger items in our storage unit in our first garage sale.
• May
• NASA "scientists" claim "irreversible" threat to the West Antartica ice sheet (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/science/earth/collapse-of-parts-of-west-antarctica-ice-sheet-has-begun-scientists-say.html)
• Mother's Day holds extra meaning for me, as my wife is an expectant mother.
• June
• 70th anniversary of D-Day (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/06/04/d-day-at-70-historic-photos-from-the-invasion-of-normandy/?tid=ts_carousel)
• 100th anniversary of the assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, largely regarded as the trigger of WWI (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/28/us-ww1-anniversary-bosnia-idUSKBN0F307C20140628)
• Okoboji with the in-laws.  A better time than last year, to be sure, except I bruise both heels in the shallow end of the swimming pool.
• I develop bursitis in my elbow.  A couple of days later, my wife burns her hand pulling a hot pot handle out of the oven.
•  A large tree branch falls between our house and garage, leaving only a glancing blow on the roof of the house.  Only casualty:  Chain-link fence.
• July
• "Chocolate City" New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, he of the flooded school bus photo, is sent to prison.  Big surprise there (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/10/us/ray-nagin-former-new-orleans-mayor.html?_r=0)
• The Costa Concordia is re-floated in a display of awesome engineering (http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2014/07/14/costa-concordia-refloat-underway.html)
• Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 shot down over Ukraine (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/17/us-ukraine-crash-airplane-idUSKBN0FM1TU20140717)
•  My wife and I investigate finishing our attic.  It still remains unfinished.  Ugh, building contractors.
• My wife and I spend the 4th of July at my brother-in-law's lake cabin.  I resume running somewhat on my bruised heels.
• August
• Tony Stewart runs over Kevin Ward after Ward decides to take an ill-advised angry strut on the racetrack (http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/story/2014-08-10/tony-stewart-sprint-car-hits-driver-fight-incident-trouble-investigation-new-york-watkins-glen-kevin-ward)
• Japanese scientist commits suicide after falsifying stem-cell research (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/05/japan-scientist-idUSL4N0QB3CV20140805)
• Michael Brown is killed by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, MO, riots ensue (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/10/justice/missouri-police-involved-shooting/index.html?eref=edition)
• Trip to see my parents.  Our baggage did not make it home at the same time as us, however, and it looked like the suitcase might have been dropped from the plane.  At altitude.
• We set up the baby registry.
• September
• Hackers release nude photos of actresses they had on their digital devices.  While I deplore the act, I'm given to question why the actresses had nude photos on their devices.  Of course, that's blaming the victim (http://www.mtv.com/news/1917801/fbi-celebrity-nude-photo-hack/)
• Plane continues on auto-pilot hours after its pilot succumbs to hypoxia, eerily similar to Payne Stewart's death in  1999 (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/05/us-usa-airplane-cuba-idUSKBN0H020J20140905)
• 6.2 earthquake shakes south-central Alaska (http://www.adn.com/article/20140925/earthquake-shakes-southcentral-alaska)
• Mt. Ontake erupts in Japan.  In this digital age, we are able to see images of people and see and hear messages from them moments before their death (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Mount_Ontake_eruption)
• First Ebola case in the U.S. (http://www.theolympian.com/2014/09/30/3346615/ap-newsalert-officials-confirm.html)
• October
• Liberian man who lied to Customs officials to gain entry to the U.S., dies in a Dallas hospital.  Three hospital workers contract the disease but fortunately survive (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/08/dallas-ebola-patient-dies/16786011/)
• Irony:  Plane crashes into FlightSafety building (http://www.kansas.com/news/local/article3468723.html)
• Tom Menino, Boston mayor who had a little trouble understanding the First Amendment rights of Chick-Filet's CEO a few years ago, dies (http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/30/thomas-menino-boston-longest-serving-mayor-has-died-age/zAuWXQ4ccPJSv7uuW0kcDK/story.html)
• Virgin Galactic spacecraft crashes on test flight (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-29857182)
• Maine nurse Kaci Hickox acts as though the quarantine rules don't apply to her (http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/31/maine-asking-court-limit-movements-nurse-kaci-hickox/9tGSogqyPYlu3Vq7WjG84L/story.html)
• Weekend at my brother-in-law's place in Kansas City.  Fun at the speedway, but with my wife 8 months pregnant, I go with my in-laws and not her.
• My wife celebrates her 40th birthday.
• I step up the Halloween decorations a notch, having found my foggers!
• November
• World Trade Center is open for business again (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/11/03/resurrection-world-trade-center-reopens-for-business-13-years-after-11/?intcmp=ob_homepage_US&intcmp=obnetwork)
• GOP sweeps Senate in mid-term elections that sting the Democrats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_elections,_2014)
• Philae Comet Lander has a bouncy landing, but feminists try to make the moment about one scientist's Hawaiian shirt with bikini-clad women on it (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30034060#)
• Grand jury decides not to file charges against Officer Darren Wilson.  Black community riots because they didn't get their pound of flesh, regardless of the facts of the case (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/grand-jury-reaches-decision-in-case-of-ferguson-officer/2014/11/24/de48e7e4-71d7-11e4-893f-86bd390a3340_story.html?wpisrc=al_national)
• After driving on slick roads in the middle of a blizzard to the hospital one, my wife and I admit her to induce the next morning.  Instead, the doctors perform a C-section and my son is the next evening.
• Thanksgiving at my sister-in-law's with our newborn son.
• December
• Grand jury decides not to files charges against officers in the death of Eric Garner.  I personally think the officers got a pass here, considering the forensic evidence that indicated an illegal choke-hold was used, but I don't agree with the decisio to riot in this case either (http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/03/justice/new-york-grand-jury-chokehold/)
• Senate Democrats release highly-inflammatory and one-sided report against the CIA (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30383924)
• U.S. Navy now has laser weapons to protect ships in the Persian Gulf (http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/12/11/navy-declares-laser-weapons-ready-to-protect-ships-in-persian-gulf/?intcmp=features)
• Vivek Murthy gets confirmed by the lame-duck session of the U.S. Senate.  Murthy is a controversial figure because he views gun ownership as a health issue  (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/surgeon-general-nominee-finally-has-confirmation-vote/)
• NASA e-mails a wrench to the space station, and the wrench is printer out on the zero-gravity 3-D printer (https://medium.com/backchannel/how-we-email-hardware-to-space-7d46eed00c98)
• Normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba begin.  Hey, don't they owe us for property they seized in 1959? (http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2014/12/17/alan-gross-released-from-cuban-prison.html)
• Violent anti-police sentiment, stoked by unrepentant Al "Freddie's Fashion Mart" Sharpton, results in two police officers being murdered (http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/12/20/baltimore-man-shoots-2-nypd-officer-1-dead-second-in-critical-condition)
•  I celebrate my 39th birthday, and my parents celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
• My wife and I celebrate our second Christmas together.  It is my son's 1st.  Unable to travel to see my family for the holidays, on account of us having a 6-week old, I video-conference with my dad to see everybody for Christmas, and for them to see their new nephew and cousin.

It's been an interesting year for all, and a terrific one for me, my wife, and the new addition to our family.

Happy New Year to all.  May 2015 bring you joy and happiness.