Say something positive about 2024... no politics

Uh.  Ummm.

This board survived to assist my sanity

Great year, 2024 was. I built my first race car, I got to do some traveling with my family, and I finally saw Fast Five! Oh! And Dunkin' came out with a new donut! It's gross, but new is new, right?

I know not everybody had the best 2024. Here's to 2025 being a good year for all of us. I wish you all good and improved health, prosperity, and peace. May your engines run strong, and your shiny side always be up! Happy new year, fellow dorks! 

Lots of "yes, but" for 2024.

Didn't die. That’s all good.

Turned 69. Happy with that, planning to live forever. So far, so good.

Another thing that was all good, vacation with my family. Two plus weeks with my wife's sister and her family in Tempe. Wasn't looking forward to spending time with her husband, we found out that we really like each other  

Still working full time at a place that burns out thirty year olds, but...still working.

Got major work done on my house, but... had to get a loan, and it needs a lot more. 
 

Got the most event class wins in a year since I started autocross, but...

sold my "forever car" Miata to free up cash, but...

finished second in class for the year in my SCCA chapter despite not driving the Miata after June. 
 

Had surgery on my foot in December after putting it off for over a year, but...probably going to need another one to resolve the problem. 
 

That’s enough. 

I got 2 cars in my 2 car garage. So in my best Denzel voice, I declare:

2024 ain't got E36 M3 on me!

I joined a new D&D group that is easily the best gaming group I've been a part of since my core group of friends from high school. Great friends there.

Wife found a good group to play rugby with.

I took up Bass guitar and am loving it.

There's been rough stuff, but the good continues to far outweigh the bad.

At the national level, I think the 2024 year was pretty great for American's health and wealth. Wealth is the most obvious one, but the developments of GLP-1 Agonists may have longer-lasting consequences.

Money:

-The market returned 24% this year, well above historical average of 10%

-Inflation began the year at 3.1% and ended the year at 2.5% (historical average is 3%)

-Unemployment remained stable at around 4%, near the bottom of the 4-6% range economists consider normal

-Median salary for the American workforce increased by 4.1% year-over-year through the first 3 quarters (Q4 data hasn't been released yet)

Health:

-Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonists are getting cheaper, and we're learning a lot more about how they work, as well as possible side effects.

-40% of Americans are obese and these drugs appear to have massive benefits for them.

-Average weight loss during a trial using Wegovy was 15% of body weight over 68 weeks.

-Risk Reduction in Cardiovascular Events: Ozempic reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) by 26% in people with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. (Sustain-6 trial)

-There are between 20-39 of these drugs in the pipeline, so additional improvements are likely to occur

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The future is bright guys-don't bet against it (or yourself).

Surely there was at least one good thing that happened to everyone in 2024.  Even if it was "There was one time that I made that one traffic light that I always have to sit at for five minutes", there's certainly something.

I got my Miata back on the road.  My daughter got her first car and had it almost finished.  I went on my first retreat in a couple decades.  My wife and I had some great times just being with each other.  My middlest kid graduated high school and started college.  We kept a Biturbo a secret and brought it to the challenge and brought home a trophy. 

Oh.  And I made that one light by my kid's school that one time and I usually have to sit at it for several minutes.

I drove on 25 different race tracks.

I now live on the beach in Florida.

Completed, on the last day of 2024, the construction phase of the new garage.  Now on to the improvements phase.

Paid my house off and got my GTI resprayed reasonably...

Paid off student a student loan and the CRV.   Bought a Ridgeline.

Went out for pizza and beer the other night with two West Point career officers and spouses.  It was "Trivia Night" so the place was packed with people not leaving.  Got pizza to go, some beers and headed to my house.  The Army-Navy game came up; They decided because Army had to play an extra game that's what did the team in.  No resolution (or submission) by Army at midnight so we called it quits.  I hope the coming year is that much fun for you all.

Got a car project I love.  Put a new roof on the house and had two chimneys relined and pointed up.  It was a good year.

Everyone I know and/or care about is still here.  SWMBO & I are still good after 10 years.  I sold two cars, bought three so that's "positive" right?

My stepmom gave me a bunch of my dad's old film cameras & even better, she found 4 photo albums of old photos, some I had never seen before.  That alone made 2024 interesting.  Pets are all still here.  Honestly 2024 was pretty decent for me.

It's been super stressful, but my business is doing better. Also I bought a brand-new Lexus, so that was nice. 

Visited several countries this year: Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Dominican Republic, Colombia. 

It really wasn't a bad year. Hard, but good 

Trying to look on the bright side. I get to remodel 9 apartments and get a new roof on my house!

Thanks hurricanes!

I had a great year.

I took a trial retirement and realized I was going to be fine without a paycheque. I had an excellent year at the track, volunteering, riding, racing, putting on events, and making new friends. I'm in good shape, my family are all doing well and the future looks bright. 2025 will be full time retirement, volunteer work, and riding at the track til dark when I can, and going somewhere warm in the cold months. I told them I'm done in April, and I can't wait.

Was that positive enough?

I made 10% more than last year, made my last alimony payment in December, and owe less than a kilobuck on my house, after buying half of it for the second time.

Plus, to look at it from the optimistic side, my doctor sent me to my cardiologist, and I found out I have aortic stenosis, before I figured it out through crushing chest pains.  

Oh boy, this is great. 2024 was the best year of my life and I can give numerous reasons why:

- We took care of a friends dog for a weekend and absolutely fell in love with the big furball and out of the blue, our friend told us that she was looking to re-home the dog and we immediately put our hands up that we wanted her. She's now ours and she is even more awesome than we could have imagined.

-Another friend rented a whole island in the middle of a lake for a week and when she could only use it for 4 days, gave it to us for 3 days and left two 300hp Sea-Doos to play around with.

-We were on a wait list for a Corolla GR Circuit edition and were told we would likely have to wait until 2025 and it would probably be Core edition. Someone who has been on the wait list since 2022 finally got their 2024 GR Circuit and when it arrived, they decided not to take it and the car (in the color we wanted) was offered to us, and we took it. It's a wonderful car

-My two year long project, the 1967 ProTouring Camaro finally was finished and it's been an amazing summer of driving and racing it, so much fun and I even won a car show with it

-At the restoration shop I work at part time, the 1950 Land Rover we have been restoring for 2 years was finally done and it runs and drives excellent, and the owner is thrilled. I'm very proud of it

-In June my wife and I flew to Europe for the first time and I got to drive the Nurburgring, it was even better than could be imagined. We spent 2 weeks driving around Europe and I enjoyed every minute. Spending the day at Dachau, seeing the pictures and videos and standing in front of the ovens made me appreciate everything I have and I've been in an amazing mood ever since.

-We started a new business, Simul8, which is a racing sim lounge and even though we are still in early stages, it's very exciting and the sims are super fun.

-Our primary business, Speedworld Indoor Kart Track, is running smoother than ever and we just promoted a staff member to Manager and another one to Assistant Manager and this should give us more free time for Simul8 and other activities.

-The 2024 SCCA Solo Nationals was western themed and we had an absolute blast dressing up in western gear and racing our Corolla GR in BStreet class. 

-I got to share all these things with my wife and best friend of 21 years (she wrote this one-lol)

Here's a picture of the highlights from 2024

Left a job I hated for one I generally like. 5 more years to go and I can pull the plug completely.

Successfully turned a six cylinder car into a V8 car.

Killed and removed two mice within days of their arrival in my house.

That's about it.

I lost 25lbs. 

I finished a 1.5 year renovation of my house and garage and survived to tell the tale. 

Lost 20lbs

got back into 5k shape.  Joined triathalon team. 
 

left. Job I hated and a boss who backstabbed me repeatedly.  Now that company is under a 5 day rto mandate and all my old leaders are required to drive an hour plus each way to the office 

started therapy and got adhd tested.  Fire me now berkeleyers. I have a disability and am over 40.  
 

Got passports for the kids. Time to dabble a little toe into traveling. 
 

nearly have kid 1's college money put aside.  She's 15.  Working on kid 2. 

did a cool tv vacation to the black hills. Such a cool place. Highly recommended. 
 

It wasn't bad I guess. Wasn't great. 

It's over. I'm still alive.

Still a lot of negativity in this positive thread. If you think 2024 is so bad, maybe zoom out a little and read a history textbook.

Or, summarized by someone much wiser than any of us: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice"

I'm excited for the future because I choose to be. In fact it's my new year's resolution.