Ready For 2024 To End

Every December I hope the new year will be better than the previous one.

And every year I am disappointed.

This has not been a good year for me. Here are some examples.

I was unable to meet my friends from the UK in South Africa for a long-planned photo safari. American Airlines kept canceling my flight to Denver, from where I was to connect to the other side of the planet. There was a huge storm in Dallas, but American seemed incapable of rerouting me to another destination that wasn't impacted by the storm. Airport staff were not kept informed of delays until a few minutes before they were announced. After two days after delay after delay, accompanied by repeated trips home and then back to the airport, I had enough. Landing in Johannesburg was just the first part of the trip. From there I had to catch a flight on a small plane to Nelspruit, from where I would be driven to our camp in the middle of nowhere. So I cancelled the trip, which cost me some $7,000 in lost expenses even after trip insurance.

Then in late June, my 2-year-old golden retriever got sick and died just two days later. The necropsy showed that he died of meningitis arising from a large abscess behind his eye. No one knows why the abscess developed. Losing him so suddenly and at such a young age was, and still is, devastating.

I am now searching for another golden retriever, a breed that is extremely rare in the state where I live. Most rescues refuse to adopt out of state, so that isn't an option.

The latest bit of bad news involves my brother-in-law, a great guy, father of two, and a retired attorney. He is hospitalized with an abscess on his liver. He wasn't feeling well for several weeks, and he lost a lot of weight.

And I just was informed by my dog's health insurer that I won't get any money back for his examinations, tests and treatments because rather than including both invoices I submitted, it included only one. I'm told to expect a response to my e-mail questioning the decision in "5 to 7 business days."

This has been my year so far. I could use some good news for a change.