2023 Ball Gazing...

It is that time of the year again where I gaze into the crystal ball and make predictions for the coming year.  First let's see how I did on 2022:

2022 Predictions

Apple

-No more Intel Macs -True
-AR Glasses released, are expensive and hugely popular- not yet
-Apple self driving car actual images are released-not yet
-It will be September before Apple calls its employees back to campus- True
-There will be a major advancement to CarPlay- No
-Touch screen Mac-no

Sports

-The NBA and NHL seasons will be completed but there will be a suspension of the season in one of the leagues for a time.yes, MLB had a 1-week lockout
-The Celtics will trade either Jaylan Brown or Jayson Tatum-nope, thankfully
-The Cubs will finish in the middle of the pack- more like the bottom but wait until next year

Weather

-A record year for the number of Atlantic hurricanes- actually not that many
-Significant spring flooding in several areas- yes
-There will be a major nor'easter with a huge dump of snow in Vermont- haven't seen one of those for awhile
-Climate refugees will become a thing- Yes, Vermont is ranked as the most "moved to" state
-It will be the hottest year on record-Yes

Pandemic 
-3 more variants of Covid 19 cause major disruptions- Yes
- The world becomes more vaccinated by far- Sadly no
- Corruption is discovered in Operation Warp Speed- not yet
- Additional treatments are discovered for Covid 19- yes

Space
-Yes, this year is confirmed discovery of extraterrestrial life- no
-Space X will have a test flight of Starship- no
-Space X will have over 50 launches - yes, 60
-We will discover something amazing from the Juno spacecraft flyby of Europa- no
-The Webb telescope will find something unexpected- yes several things
- China will finish construction of the Tiangong space station- Yes
-NASA lands a rover on the moon- nope just a fly-by

Politics

-Dems will retain control of both the house and senate - Nope
-The Jan 6 house committee will hold public hearings which change the nature of political dialogue- yes
-Stacey Abrams will become governor of Georgia- nope
- Some how, some way, voting rights laws will be passed- nope

Miscellaneous
-Don will catch a big fish-nope
-Electric cars and trucks will account for over 15% of the market for new vehicles- Yes for the world, 6% for USA
-Housing costs will hit record highs-Yes
-Recreational marijuana will be legal in over 26 states- only 21 so far

36% seems to be my average, let's see how we do for this year.

My 2023 predictions

Apple

• AR glasses for sure this year
• Major Apple Car developments
• Apple stock hits a low of $110/share and a high of $177/share
• Foldable iPad
• One major acquisition
• One major sport on Apple TV+

Sports

• Boston Celtics will defeat the Denver Nuggets for the NBA title
• Cubs will be in the playoffs
• Chicago Sky will be WNBA Champs

Weather

• Vermont will have the warmest winter in 50 years
• Very active hurricane season with 3 cat 5s
• Western USA will see record snow pack
• It will be a bad year for wildfires

Pandemic

• The pandemic will continue to cause disruptions and be the leading cause of death
• China will impose pandemic restrictions again
• A new anti-covid drug will be discovered

Space

• Definitely confirmed extraterrestrial life
• An asteroid will make a very close pass of the earth
• Man will return to the moon
• Space X Starlink system will go down for more that 24 hours
• Space X rescues astronauts from ISS

Politics

• Kevin McCarthy will eventually become Speaker of the House only to be later removed
• More than three additional candidates for President announced
• Third Party formed
• Former guy indicted

Miscellaneous

• Inflation begins to be reduced
• Stock market hits all time high
• Harriet Tubman finally on $20 bill
• Federal marijuana laws moderated
• Electric cars hit 25% market share worldwide