2019 in review

2019 was by far the most eventful and challenging year of my life. It also had some of the best times yet. Anything bad definitely made me stronger by the end.

The year started off with AGDQ which was one of the best years of my life and I'll never forget it. I wrote a pastebin back in January all about that so I'll link that here instead of typing another one here: https://pastebin.com/VudE6nYg

After AGDQ things were very tough for me for the next couple months IRL. I began to question if I really wanted to pursue a career in web development despite already doing it for over a year. It really hit me hard because I had really committed to it, I really thought it was it and so did everyone around me. I also had no idea where my career could go without it. I first talked about this to my parents over the phone which was awful, and there was definitely some disappointment but then they understood when we talked in person.
This career drop gave some of the biggest anxiety I've ever had in my life, that combined with the fact it was the dead middle of winter and I usually get mentally affected by the season.

After I was getting over the career change I suddenly became a massive hypochondriac, moreso than usual. My anxiety became so bad from symptoms (and googling them which I'll never do again) that I got constant tension headaches and intermittent ringing in my ears for a couple months. I did not know at the time that the ringing was caused by anxiety so that combined with the tension headaches made me think something was terribly wrong with me.

I saw a doctor at the end of march and took a questionnaire thing for anxiety. My results were 20/21 where >15 is severe. We were able to get me on anxiety medication, which I definitely should have been on a long time ago. My result was much lower the following month when I took the test again.

This was when things started to go up. It was now April, and I was ready to move on from web design completely. I finished what I had begun and still got some cool Microsoft Certificates out of it and experience.

I was also now ready to begin the job hunt. I had and still do not have a solid idea of what field I want to pursue for a career, so the only other option until I figure that out is to work.

This job hunt went on for over three fucking months. Just no response from anywhere. The pressure from my parents was increasing too (obviously, which is fair) but none of my applications went through. In July, I attended a job fair for a warehouse (which I had a bit of experience with before), and applied there. I also got a job interview at Wal-Mart for a self-checkout attendant.

Wal-Mart hired me first, and thank goooooooood it did. Getting hired by Wal-Mart is one of the BEST things to ever happen to me, and it's crazy. I never thought I'd ever say that. The atmosphere at the one I work at is fantastic, my co-workers are great, and I'm doing super well at it. I had mostly avoided applying to retail during my job hunt due to my shy/introverted nature. But this was one of those things that I would always have had to just try to fully see.
This job has given me so much. It has improved my social skills immensely, given me experience, taught me so much, and sooo much more.




Now, let's talk about the speedrunning stuff this year, since the rest of 2019 IRL was mostly just getting better at my job.

*AGDQ 2019 pastebin is near the top*

This was by far my best year for speedrunning. The big spotlight being on Crash 1, as with every year lol.
I improved a fuck ton in both crash 1 categories in 2019. I managed to reclaim the Crash 1 100% WR and get the first and second every 1:03:xx. In any% I also finally got to a level that way more closely reflects my skills in the game. I got WR for the first time in that category, which means that I had both WRs at some point which was really awesome. No 39 in any% yet, but my boy wp got it so I don't have to suffer with that category's resets til I'm ready again ^_^

Crash 3 improvement was great as well. 2:02 in 105% and 44:3x in No IG. My skills have improved to a point where I think I'll consider myself a top-level player at this game. I can do Tomb Time very consistently and also Tomb Wader fastest cycle in No IG which is the hardest thing in the whole game and one of the hardest things in the trilogy.

Did some Crash 2 stuff and the game is fun but emu was holding me back with the horrid input delay and lag on my PC, so I quit running that until my PAL console setup is complete. Got 2nd in TWoC 106% but that means nothing to me because that category is a joke besides Len lol.

In 2020 I hope to bring down both Crash 1 PB/WRs respectively, play a bunch of Crash 2 on console, get very top times in Crash 3, and also some more non-crash lol. My friends got me a NES at GDQ (u fuckin legends DISGUST ME), and I managed to buy a SNES at a local game swap meet. Options once I get an everdrive and an SD2SNES respectively include Mario 1 any/warpless, Mario 2 USA any/all levels, Mario 3 100% (SNES), SMW 96 exit, DKC 1, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, and probably more.

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