How was your 2018?

It's actually been one of my better years, I'd say.

Work has had its ups and downs, but overall feeling better about my job than I have in a while. Got a promotion a few months ago and have been enjoying the challenges of my new responsibilities, and the company overall seems to be on a better trajectory.

I finished up the LS1 swap on the RX-7, my first engine swap. It's every bit as good as I had hoped it would be and has been mostly rock solid so far. Bought a '15 FR-S, by far the newest car I've ever owned, and having a reliable, comfortable daily has done wonders for my general level of stress. Sold the lifted XJ on mud tires with no carpets and non-fundtional HVAC that preceeded the Scion as my daily. Bought a '95 C1500 with a stack of maintenance receipts from my uncle and my fleet is now up to three cars for the first time ever.

Got back into auto x after 1.5 seasons off, campaigning the RX-7 to a solidly meh midpack finish in points. Both the car and it's driver still need some work, and honestly I'm a little disappointed that I didn't make an effort to run more events this year. Made, I think, all but one local event, but I need to branch out to nearby regions and get some more seat time if I am going to progress. Also didn't make it to an HPDE or drag strip, which need to be priority goals for next year.

After feeling like I was trapped in the garage for too many hours in 2017, I made an effort to keep my wrenching to the minimum required during the good weather months and enjoy more outdoor activities. Went kayaking. Bought a mountain bike and did quite a bit of riding, even got dragged into a cyclocross race (on a plus tire mtb) and finished DFL by a fraction of a second. Got back into fishing somewhat seriously for the first time in years and actually had some success at it for a change. 

For 2019, I'm just hoping to keep up the momentum. 

The year has been interesting.  Tiger Mom and I are solid and happy so that makes for a nice foundation to life.  We took some fun trips and a nice family vacation to New England this summer.  Work has been boring and stable, par for the course.  The step daughter and then the sone got their permits and then licenses, so that’s a win.  None of the teenagers have gotten knocked up or knocked anyone up (massive win!!)

On the downer side my attempt at a Monster Miata build was frustrating and netted me a nearly undrivable car.  So I traded it for the ecotec NB which was a good track car but terrible Autocross toy so I sold it for decent money and bought an NC that needed an engine reinstall.  Unfortunately my mechanical ineptitude caused me to melt the wiring harness and I had to spend more fixing it than i’d paid for the blessed thing (ow).  So at the end of the year I made some decent money, but spent it all.  I had some fun and experienced some decent toys.  It wasn’t a terrible year, it wasn’t a great year.  It was a year.  

My goal for ‘19 is to be a bit more stable with my automotive ADD and pay off some bills, preferably while staying healthy.

Pretty stressful, but for the better.  I moved my auto shop across town at the same time as I was buying a house.  A ton of long days but now we are in an awesome building. 

Some pretty dang good posts here. But for me ... I turned seventy last week and I'm still moving, although with some aches and pains in certain joints. Meh, I'm in better shape than a lot of other seventy-year-olds I know. Therefore, I think 2018 was a good year for me. And I'm looking forward to another good twenty years at least. 

Well, lets see

The good:

I almost hit my goal of joining the 1000lb club.

I'm healthy, as is my son.

I am employed and still in a good position financially.

The bad:

My dad died.

I separated from my wife.

The ugly:

My wife put my son in extreme danger and now I have primary physical custody and I am fighting to keep it that way.

It didn't kill me, but I wouldn't want to repeat it again.

Don't even really know where to start. It seems like nothing happened at all this year. Just spinning my wheels and going nowhere. At least I'm not going backwards though.

Depression has been kicking my ass pretty hard most of the year. I'm probably the least motivated that I've been in my entire life. The motorcycle is still broken. 

On the other hand aside from my son's fragile bones we are all healthy and above ground. 

Maybe I'll find some motivation next year.

Oh gees. Where to begin. 2018 was a really good year overall for especially in the second half. 

Started the year spending a couple of weeks with my now boss. Talked through a lot of things and left the conversation with the statement that he wanted me on his team. Well, went through the first half of the year traveling all over for work. China, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia. Then finally got the job offer. Took over as the sales lead for a 1.5B relationship almost doubled my pay. It's a great job and best of all I moved to Colorado as part of the offer. Got a full transfer to Colorado and moved there in October. 

Just sold my house today for 2.5X what I paid for it 12 years ago. Got to work multiple cool races. 

What will 2019 bring? Hopefully more racing/Track  work. Looking at a few options for rallycross cars that may end up at the challenge as well. just got an Evo III sitting in Japan waiting for the clock to expire on  the 25 yr rule. Finding a new house in  my new town hopefully with enough room for all of the cars. 

It's been one of my best years in a long time. 

Started the first week of 2018 with the irs seizing all our assists on a Thursday afternoon....  besides that little hiccup I can’t complain.  Lots of ups and downs but love my job, have an amazing Wife and 3 great kids.  Won’t trade it for anything.  Oh and finally got to take not 1, but 2 vacations 

AngryCorvair said:

In reply to Daylan C :

You sent out a kick-ass GRM NYG2017 Box.  Don’t ever forget that!

I actually did forget that, thanks for the reminder.

It's been a good year, overall.

I'm still working for the same corporate practice that I started with in 2013 after losing my own practice in the recession.

I spent the first couple of years they're working 60-hour weeks and trying to not die from overwork and stress (men my age have strokes and heart attacks more often).

Our location was perennially known as a corporate brand risk. Now we're one of the top locations in the practice, and it's a great place to work. It took years, and I should have quit (or died), but we've really turned the place around.

My son finished middle School and started high School. He had been in a small private school for autistic kids for three years. He started ninth grade at the big public high School, taking honors biology, two math classes, and also getting accepted into the engineering academy.

Obviously, we were real worried about this transition. He is doing great, he's happy and he's making us proud every day!

His younger sister finished elementary School and is doing well herself. So far, none of the "teenage girl" issues, but I know what's coming! 

So big transitions for both kids, which went well. This is due in no small part to my wonderful wife. She's an awesome mom. Luckily, we were able financially for her to quit her job teaching at my son's former school to help ease the transition for both kids this year.

The four of us have stayed healthy. That's especially important, particularly for me as I'm now the only income for the family. Since I turned 63 this year, that's becoming more of a big deal.

My family is really close, and my marriage is as stable as the sunrise.

My 93 year old father is in a good spot for his assisted living. His dementia has progressed to the point where he's now in hospice. He almost got blown up in a WW2 training accident, so I suspect this is the aftermath of a traumatic brain injury. He's blind from glaucoma and nearly deaf (also sequelae from the explosion).

He's really turning inward, and no longer recognizes any of us. I'm sure his time is getting short now. The problem is, although he really has nothing left to keep him happy, there's really nothing else wrong with him. His father retired at 84 and lived past 100, and I'm still going strong at 63, so this could go on for a while. 

I started spending a whole lot more time on this forum. That led to the purchase of a Miata, and in April I started autocrossing for the first time. I've competed in 14 events since then and have improved a lot (as in suck less).

I'm going to be selling that first Miata, and I'm looking for a more suitable NB1 five speed. I want to set up the new car so that a fast driver could be competitive in it. I think that will make it easier for me to work on the most important improvement, my own skill.

Hard to call it a good year overall but not really a bad one either. No cars were wrecked, there was only one catastrophic engine failure and it was to the common and relatively cheap G13A, hurricanes didn't keep me from making it to the Challenge, so those are some advantages over 2017 or 2016. I did a whole season of autocross and only missed 1 offroad rally, did pretty well in both overall. On the other hand I had a nasty months-long financial ordeal when my debit card got scraped. My career's been going the same way as it has for the last decade, going nowhere with nowhere to go while economically the walls continue to close in on me. There are indications that this will get worse next year. In fact next year will almost certainly be worse than this year, but for the purpose of accessing some potential for improvement.

Robbie said:

2. Got a huge life bonus in feb when my wife decided to go on weight watchers app. I decided to do it with her since we mostly eat together. We have both dropped 30 lbs with very little effort and zero hunger. Amazing.

It's clearly visible in the difference from your Gmail avatar photo

A certain orange fellow of the same height and weight as me who had some health information publicized has inspired me to lose weight, so I've cut my serving sizes down tightly (it's actually difficult to keep the expense of smaller servings from being higher!) and I'm slowly headed in the right direction. I also expect that I'll be able to get more exercise next year.

bmw88rider said:

. just got an Evo III sitting in Japan waiting for the clock to expire on  the 25 yr rule. 

Oh?  I'm curious how one goes about that?  Did you use one of the US brokers? I've been pondering a JDM Mini in a few years.

Mostly boring with a few fun days thrown in.  GRM helps.

 Got a FiST to help.

It does.

GameboyRMH said:

Robbie said:

2. Got a huge life bonus in feb when my wife decided to go on weight watchers app. I decided to do it with her since we mostly eat together. We have both dropped 30 lbs with very little effort and zero hunger. Amazing.

It's clearly visible in the difference from your Gmail avatar photo

A certain orange fellow of the same height and weight as me who had some health information publicized has inspired me to lose weight, so I've cut my serving sizes down tightly (it's actually difficult to keep the expense of smaller servings from being higher!) and I'm slowly headed in the right direction. I also expect that I'll be able to get more exercise next year.

Thanks man! Yeah and that gmail photo is probably 5 years old, at the height of my work travel days (eating out ALL THE TIME) so I might be closer to 40lbs less than that today. 

p.s. I recommend not to worry so much about serving sizes. Just choose what to eat. 5 large carrots = ok (but abnormal for someone to eat), but 5 cookies = not ok (but totally normal for someone to eat). I eat a TON of eggs because I love them, but if you eat protein and veggies you can basically eat as much as you want. Sugar, alcohol, wheat, pasta - including rice - are the ones that sneak up on you. Salt makes you carry water - I notice that if I have a high salt day I will go up about 5 lbs and it won't drop back off for 2-3 more days. Also, make a point of prep; if I slice up 2-3 apples I will eat them. If I have 2-3 apples whole in the fridge I will not touch them. Don't know what's up with that. 

Couldn't have been worse than 2017.  We lost my mom and niece within 24 hours, 2 days after Christmas, so 2018 didn't have to work hard to be an improvement.  The down side: working too much, sleeping intermittently and playing too little coupled with some physical issues (all of which are probably related) have left me feeling pretty old, crappy and crabby.  "Parenting" my dad while still having two teenagers is a challenge I didn't expect and am struggling with. 

The up side:  A friend and I worked out a deal where I turned my 101K mile 94 Miata into a 52K mile 03 Shinsen/NB Miata in a way that was cash neutral for me and a win for him.  I've started slowly working on getting the 03 where I want it to be while avoiding some of the mistakes I made with the 94 (cough, ROLLBAR, cough).  My son and I got out a few times autocrossing, and he still hasn't beat me.  (He's getting close, though)  The new car is faster than the old one, even though currently riding on all seasons.  We took a chance with my youngest (who has autism) and enrolled him in marching band.  He learned all the music and all the drills and gained a new, positive peer group.  He also powered his way through multiple novel situations (band camp, performances, football games, competitions, travel, etc), which historically has been difficult for him.  It was a huge positive for him.  I realized, again, that I married above my station. 

Began the year laid up recovering from my spinal surgery and while mobile, am still recovering strength flexibility and fitness wise. In July my son was born, underestimated the sleep deprivation involved, but it's an amazing source of happiness. He is so happy and healthy it's scary.

The back thing and becoming a parent made me pull a trigger that I've been threatening for ages, (will be revealed when racing season starts) with total spousal approval.

Ending the year fighting a month long sinus infection and with my wife and I furloughed from work because of stupid political bull.

Mrs. Deuce had a great year at work. Challenging, makes her happy, gets paid appropriately.  

Kid#1 started at college two years early and kicked butt her first semester. 

Kid#2 got his permit and is reluctantly doing pretty good for a kid with about as much motivation as I had at his age. 

Kid#3 started sports this year and is serious and successful at them while still getting perfect grades and being first chair in band. She's awesome. 

Kid#4 is doing great and following in the footsteps of his siblings while being  more compassionate and way funnier than one would expect for someone his age

I'm just hanging out and watching all of this happen. Finances (I'm in charge of investing in the family) made it to a point where Mrs. Deuce could mathematically retire and we'd be cool. She plans to work for a decade at least so I just need to continue to not screw things up. Sold a couple truly great cars. Bought a couple terrible ones to replace them and I'm at least as happy. Had a good One Lap. Had a good Challenge. Met even more GRMers in person and am grateful for the friendships. Y'all are some good people. Finished the year by sending out some shirts with artwork that I'm proud of. 

It may have been shaping up to finish strong, but I am strongly considering setting fire to the whole berkeleying thing. Tired of people's E36 M3. 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

Mrs. Deuce had a great year at work. Challenging, makes her happy, gets paid appropriately.  

Kid#1 started at college two years early and kicked butt her first semester. 

Kid#2 got his permit and is reluctantly doing pretty good for a kid with about as much motivation as I had at his age. 

Kid#3 started sports this year and is serious and successful at them while still getting perfect grades and being first chair in band. She's awesome. 

Kid#4 is doing great and following in the footsteps of his siblings while being  more compassionate and way funnier than one would expect for someone his age

I'm just hanging out and watching all of this happen. Finances (I'm in charge of investing in the family) made it to a point where Mrs. Deuce could mathematically retire and we'd be cool. She plans to work for a decade at least so I just need to continue to not screw things up. Sold a couple truly great cars. Bought a couple terrible ones to replace them and I'm at least as happy. Had a good One Lap. Had a good Challenge. Met even more GRMers in person and am grateful for the friendships. Y'all are some good people. Finished the year by sending out some shirts with artwork that I'm proud of. 

Yes, and thank you for the T after returning from B'ham Al. for the holidays while 'working' far from home ,but thankful and blessed   

I won the court case and subsequent appeal against my former employer, then pondered unemployment for 6 months anyway. I got into a VA program for more schooling and got accepted by a good school and am now 3 semesters deep into grad school. I slung tires for a few months and now do work study stuff for the VA. I tried to fix my marriage and finally got fed up with her E36 M3 and got divorced (yesterday!). I met an amazing person and am basking in the goodness of a positive relationship. I hit up 2 concerts (Sir Mix-A-Lot and Sugar Ray), went on 3 road trips, and flew to CO and FL. I did my first wheelie in a drag car, my first SCCA National ProSolo, and won the season championship in CAM for the OR SCCA. I set a new ET best for the Cobra and had to get towed 3 times. I sold the Alfa, bought a 3, a Bronco, and a Porsche. I moved. I started a YouTube channel. I played with my kids and taught mad model building skills. We went to 3 model shows and they swept the Juniors awards at all 3. My daughter even won best of show in an adult category at the last one! She also rocked school and is reading constantly. My son is doing great in preschool and is turning into a total gearhead like his sister. I may have slept once or twice in there, too. Overall it was a good year, but man was it tumultuous. Can I have a relatively quiet and good 2019 please? 

Put me solidly with this group:

2018:

- Started with my ex and I already in the midst of negotiating a Separation agreement.

- Jan 30, walked into a Project meeting with my boss, to find him sitting there with the head of HR. 15 years and 3 days and I get shown the door due to a "re-orginization"

- Took 3 1/2 months to negotiate a severance package.

- Looking for work for about 3 months. Landed a good role in the same sector (Good). 5 hours away from home and kids (bad).

- Was back up for a weekend in May, staying with Mom, she fell down at 2 am and was having trouble walking. Took her to the hospital, she was admitted to allow for intensive physio therapy. They did a cat scan and found 9 lesions in her brain. 

- Mom hung on until late June and she passed on.

- Some friends offered me a nice apartment for a good deal (good). 7 months later and I am still looking for a house. It's a Seller's market around here. Lots of questionable ethics by agents around here.

- Finally got a Separation agreement finalized. 

Like a Country music song, but things are improvin!!

2018 was the best year yet for me.

In May, I went to Vegas and got married!

In June, I changed jobs and I now drive a garbage truck.

Because of my job change, I don't have to travel for work so I hired another attorney, took my ex back to court and won equal time with my kids. That helped necessitate a drop in child support, score!

The wife started a salon and runs it out of the basement. She makes great money and she works at home.

I've never been happier. I've had a lot of win this year and things are really looking up.

2018 was a good year with ups and down for me and my family. Raising 3 small kids always brings challenges by the minute. 

Started 2018 at a job that was really difficult. Long hours. Impossible situations and deadlines. Tasked with hiring people that do not exist. I was stressed. Lost weight that I didn’t want to lose and looked terrible. Was having chest pains at night. Wife was very supportive but was getting increasingly impatient. Going to work before kids got up and home after they were in bed. Was also being pressured to work weekends which I mostly refused. I still spent my weekends in my laptop and on my phone.

In May I landed an awesome job with a great company that actually preaches and practices work/life balance. It was a hard transition for some odd reason but I’m settled in and loving my new role. Wife and kids are much happier. After 10 years of being promised a bonus with other companies, I finally made a bonus this year  

Car wise I’ve chipped away at my DSM slowly and started parting out SVT focuses again. 

Wishing you all a blessed 2019. 

If things go my way this year I might want a nice clean subframe for an '02.  I'll be careful not to tell God my plans.  I don't think he stopped laughing from last year.