Resolutions? Goals? What's up for 2017?

I don't really make resolutions. I just come up with a list of things I want to do, and then try my best to do as many of them as I can. Here's my list.

Car:

-Hydraulic handbrake

-a 3.55 limited slip rear end

-fix the small vacuum leak that just cropped up which makes it a bit hard to start when warm.

-Make a trunk organizer so everything stops bouncing around.

-Figure out what's wrong with the A/C so I can fix it before I relocate.

-More drift stuff

Me:

Re-locate back to Ontario to seek out various opportunities that I have been offered (Kelowna is a complete dead end for me).

Ramp up the Youtube and writing content.

Take the Slamther across Canada.

Keep in better touch with my extended family.

Pair down the stuff I don't need.

Keep up my streak of relative health.

Work out a better audio setup for videos.

Film more stuff.

Get back into cycling.

Get a big boy job. Anything else is dependent on that.

Stop being a miserable old berkeley all the time. I've never been an overly happy person but the past few years anything that can go wrong has and I've become very grouchy. It's gotten bad enough that the wife has started to comment on it but there's nothing she can do to fix it. Until something can change which won't be anytime soon I need to be better at dealing with the everything falling apart.

Personal: Get back into lifting, Bench 225, Squat 275, Deadlift 300, Bent Over Row 225, and Power Clean 185 by end of year. Continue running half marathons, and if the stars align, go for a full marathon in the fall. Find activities that allow me to spend more time with my family, and involve the kids in more projects so they can learn skills, and we can spend time together.

Cars: Get the Mustang put back together and hit 300k in mileage, catch up on maintenance items on the other two vehicles.

House: re-clear the brush in our front yard, bring in top soil, and get some grass growing. Maybe replace some more windows.

Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: I was reading a discussion on productivity the other day. One person mentioned that they had switched to slip on shoes to eliminate the time associated with thing. Someone else commented that if their life was too busy to tie shoes, shoes weren't really the problem. I'm going to try and make sure I have time to tie my shoes.

I hate tying shoes, it's one of those things that absolutely grates me. It does take too long to do. Especially my stupid ariat work boots, every time I get the lace around those stupid small eyelet clip things they use the shoe string slips off one of them. Usually I can get it on the third try. berkeleying frustrating.

Dude! Tie them once; remove by pulling the tied laces off the top hook and so forth. Retie by re-hooking, the last one is tough but doable. Save you some time (effort while bending over for me lol).

chandlerGTi wrote: Dude! Tie them once; remove by pulling the tied laces off the top hook and so forth. Retie by re-hooking, the last one is tough but doable. Save you some time (effort while bending over for me lol).

+1. That's what those hooks are for!!! I think I've tied the laces on my work boots twice in four years.

Spend less time driving (probably not really possible)

Spend less time on message boards

Be a bit nicer.

Drink a bit less, well OK, maybe a lot less.

Lower my blood pressure and my red meat intake.

I’m highly organized (admittedly to the point of being borderline pathological) and my wife is, well, not so much.

Essentially, this could be us except she doesn’t smoke and has boobs:

We have two daughters (nine and twelve) and live in a 2,200 Sq. Ft. home that has E36 M3 absolutely everywhere….literally, there are no horizontal surface that haven’t been commandeered for some purpose unrelated to their original intent.

So, my holiday project was to build out my attic to allow for storage. I brought in my step-son who is an electrician and we installed a drop down staircase, specifically engineered attic flooring, light fixtures, outlets, and enough rack space for twenty nine of those huge 88 quart containers with design consideration for considerable expansion later if necessary.

I paid him $40 per hour (California but he’s between jobs so I think it’s a win-win) and the total project cost came to ~$1,550.

My wife has blamed the mess on lack of storage space since we moved in nine years ago…that excuse is now gone.

If I can pull this off, if I can lobby her cooperation, if I’m about to live in a world where couches are for sitting (not laundry) and tables are for eating (not laptops) and floors are for walking (not toys) and counters are for cooking (not mail), the fifteen hundred dollar investment will bring me wildly, wildly greater satisfaction than had I treated myself to a Porsche or a Cessna or a ???.

My New Year’s resolution is to be polite and watch my temper but not take no for an answer in my quest for order.

In reply to RX Reven':

Or you'll be living in a newly finished attic sharing a bunk with large plastic tubs. Either way you will be in a nice newly organized space.

In reply to RX Reven':

Don't like Bob Costas much do ya?

ProDarwin said:

Preliminary list:

• Eat healthier. As in less boxed/processed crap. More home-made meals.
• Be more environmentally friendly in everything that I do.
• Keep better track of spending.
• Volunteer more.
• Bench 315, do a half marathon.
• Put less than 8000 miles on my car.

 

End of the year check in.  I'm guessing there will be a new thread for 2018.

1)  Success.  Been making more and more things from scratch and avoiding the insane sugar & sodium found in processed food.  Whole wheat pizza, chili, roasted veggies, etc.

2)  Success again.  Built a bigger/better compost bin in the backyard.  Have been more discretionary about what I can recycle/compost... trying to intercept items from the wife & kid that don't need to be trashed.  Also made changes to my diet, stopped using styrofoam cups, straws, and switched to good old #2 pencils.

3)  Fail.  No improvement over last year.  Nothing is out of control or in danger, but its something I want to track better.

4)  Fail.  Signed up somewhere, haven't actually volunteered at any events :(

5) Fail.  No real heavy lifting.  Semi-success on the half.  I didn't do an official half, but I am signed up for a full.  Just did a ~12.5 miler earlier today.

6) Fail.  9100 miles on the car so far this year. 

Dusterbd13 said:

Self: increase my faith. Put 5k into savings.

Cars: Finish, test, and compete with challenge car. Finish duster.

Hoese: finish 1/2 shop renovation. Finish decks. New coat of paint on all interior walls.

Self; did both

Cars: half. Duster still not done. But amc kicked ass.

House: everything but interior walls.

Next year: lose 20lbs. Redo floor in shop. Get control of my diet. Finish the duster and elky. Build challenge car with dad. Teach my brother about being a father to an infant. 

mndsm said:

Break all my resolutions. Grow more beard. Make something I own run and drive.

Failed at the first one, because I actually made the corolla run and drive,  and I did in fact grow more beard. 

Toyman01 said:

Goals:

Reduce the pile of crap I own to a reasonable amount and get my shop in order so I can actually find things.

Get SanFord back on the road and do more camping.

Renovate the living room.

I did reduce the pile of crap, but then noticed the extra space and filled it up again. I can find most things.

SanFord does run, but no camping so far. 

And we did renovate...the master bathroom. 

I'll call it a win. 

dropstep said:

Get the last rust spot on the wagon fixed and finally put the interior together.

Quit eating junkfood out of boredom because im getting fat since i quit chewing.

Got the rust spot fixed, did not finish the interior. Have managed to quit eating munchies non stop! 

Chadeux said:

• Unberk the wiring on the D350 - Sold it

• Drive the Bravada with the V8 - Sold it

• Stop being a terrible student so I can finish being a student and get on with something better (I won't finish this year, but no more wasted semesters like I've done in 2015 and 2016) - Still working on it

• Other stuff that seems awesome but they hinder that 3rd one, so not doing those things is the smart move in my mind. - I think I tried those anyway.

• That other really important one that I can't find a way to write without sounding like I spend all my spare time in safe spaces. - Can't remember what this was but if was sellable I probably sold it too.

All in all most of the year was a now expected level of miserable but I did some cool things too so I think it works out to a slightly positive year. 

Daylan C said:

Chadeux said:

• Unberk the wiring on the D350 - Sold it

• Drive the Bravada with the V8 - Sold it

• Stop being a terrible student so I can finish being a student and get on with something better (I won't finish this year, but no more wasted semesters like I've done in 2015 and 2016) - Still working on it

• Other stuff that seems awesome but they hinder that 3rd one, so not doing those things is the smart move in my mind. - I think I tried those anyway.

• That other really important one that I can't find a way to write without sounding like I spend all my spare time in safe spaces. - Can't remember what this was but if was sellable I probably sold it too.

All in all most of the year was a now expected level of miserable but I did some cool things too so I think it works out to a slightly positive year. 

Daylan c=Chadeux? Good to know. I've been puzzling that for a while due to the gta thread. 

Ian F said:

1. Get MC license and the DRZ400 in my shed registered.

2. Have the TDI and both Triumphs operating again.

3. Get basement bathroom built.

4. Spend less bloody time on the internet...

Damn.  I have failed miserably. 

GameboyRMH said:

Don't die, try to win the autocross championship before the competing weaponry gets too crazy.

Well I didn't die but I only got 4th in class in autocross, largely because an event was rescheduled to when I was out of the country at the last minute, but even if that hadn't happened I couldn't have got better than 2nd. And the competing weaponry is absolutely too crazy now.

In reply to Mndsm :

I changed my signature to "formerly Chadeux" for exactly this purpose.

NOHOME said:

Car stuff: Get Molvo running and be into final bodywork

Career: Be down to 11 work days by this time next year

Me: Pretty good with what I got. Always been pretty happy with where I am regardless of where that is, so...

Nailed it so far. Trick is to keep the bar high enough that you can walk under it.

Pete

Glad I didn't make any predictions for this past year. I know at this time I was getting ready to co-drive a Formula Ford CMod car for hte coming season. Then I flew to AZ, picked up an overpriced money pit, drove it home on an epic adventure and then proceeded to dump good money after bad. .... enjoying every moment.

Glad I didn't participate because it would a lot of fails.  Job?  Nope.  Lose weight?  Nope.  Healthier?  Nope, worse.  Budgeting better?  Nope?  Investing?  Nope.  Challenge Car?  Nope.  F this thread.