Can’t believe it’s been 12 years since I started my journey here. Time surely flies and I am no longer an enthusiastic youngster ready to take on the world, I’m an adult constantly stressed with work and who finds solace in his independent life and videogames

The past year has been hectic in real life. The relationship with my girlfriend endured a rocky start, with both me and her having obstacles to surpass due to past experiences, but we eventually got to share the weekends together and, for the past three months, share life as a whole when she moved over here. A bit more than a year after we started, things look promisingly bright, with more progress than what I’d be allowed to share here and happiness all around. It’s come to the cost of part of my free time, which is one reason I’m not too active around here, but it comes a time when such sacrifices need to be made.

Work, besides being stressful, is also becoming a main challenge. I won’t vent here about the details because it’s been going on for more than a year and it will soon enter an all-new phase which could end explosively. I will say, however, that I started working full-time in December and that my workload is being gradually increased as the months go by, which steals away another good chunk of my time. Even now we’re under a heavy load, it’s early in the month and so we’re still waiting for much of the workload to arrive so I have some time to prepare for the great storm and share a few words with you all.

Despite all of this, and no matter how much free time I’m deprived off, I’m still here. What exactly keeps me here, I ignore it. May be the community, no matter how inactive it is, may be the nostalgia, may be the promise of still writing guides (I have two in the works for this month, btw, gotta keep traditions alive)... Or it could be all of that at once. I just can’t keep myself away from this place for long, I inevitably drift here like in auto mode. And while I surely have lots to thank this site for, I don’t feel I’m still here for feeling thankful. And I’m also sure that what keeps me here will remain in existence, no matter what life throws at me.

I wonder what could life have in store for me next year. The better things go in the outside world makes you feel better online and more prone to do things. Who knows, I could probably start a race for some personal goals I still have, after this month I’ll have much more free time (though more real-life focused things to do as well, which have been put on hold for lack of time) and everything could be possible. Whatever it is, I will remain here standing tall and I hope I see many of you sharing the place too.

That being said, allow me to shake up a dozen cans of Vizzed Soda and spray everyone in this fuzzy liquid to celebrate this great day. I know America has more important things to celebrate today (it’s 12 AM where I live, so it’s already the 4th here), but if someone wants a more private party, I might know a place……