[isleaiw1]

Sorry to hear that 2023 hasnt been great for some, I remember those days of being glad to say goodbye to a year.... 2023 was good for me personally, after a few not so good, so always keep believing.

2024 hasnt started great - my Mum has had the bug going round, not an issue for most but at 88 and 3/4, you always worry. And my daughters father in law has cancer and has been admitted to hospital - its progressing faster than they thought being the only comment so far. Here's hoping it improves...

Good luck to all, the main things to ask for are health and happiness. Not much else matters...

[XAlp]

Take care TouringPleb

[Lorcan]

Originally Posted by Grant_7

I don't usually set goals, however last year I made my resolution to do my motorbike license, which I did.

This year I start a new job (next Monday) which is a bit of a career change. Still engineering, but this time its motorbikes rather than cars.

Sounds interesting. Tell me more?

I'm off to a new job as well, just waiting for a start date.

We're having a serious stab at getting the bike in the 5s, too. It's not been done in our (turbo) class, although someone in the USA got close.

[Lorcan]

Originally Posted by TouringPleb

After the last 4 months of 23, I’ll just be happy to get through 24 without a mental health breakdown and killing someone.

I can't imagine dealing with your "customers" on a daily basis. Mine are bad enough

[Grant_7]

Originally Posted by Lorcan

Sounds interesting. Tell me more?

I'm off to a new job as well, just waiting for a start date.

We're having a serious stab at getting the bike in the 5s, too. It's not been done in our (turbo) class, although someone in the USA got close.

Don't want to de-rail this thread, but I will be working for Triumph.

Will add more details in my mid-life crisis post over the next few weeks.

[MY340i]

just one - which is to land a new job following a redundancy last year. consulting industry is hit particularly bad at the moment, so just need to keep at it.

[MY340i]

also there seems to be a lot of giants on this forum

[JustChris]

Originally Posted by allachie9

2024 Goals :

at my age just the one . . . staying alive 👍

It’s as good as any 👍🏻🙌🏻

[Ennoch]

Like others have said, I hope those who had a bad 2023 have a better 2024. For me the biggest one is to be present in the moment more, not wound up by the trivial nonsense that bothers me day to day, and generally be happy with what I've so far achieved rather than always wanting more, or more accurately letting the perfectionist take over and say 'you're not good enough'.

That said;
1) Negotiate a full remote contract with the current job, and start looking in earnest for somewhere to buy around (rather than in) Inverness. I'm just not a city person and it always strikes me how much happier I am when somewhere I'm surrounded by my sort of people; it's so nice to have conversations with people about the outdoors/nature/weather conditions etc and not have to hide your love of these things so as to avoid some numb nut saying 'oh but it's so dangerous' or any other cliche. Having all of my favourite places right on the doorstep would be quite amazing too as I'm fed up of driving up and down the A9 every weekend.
2) Finish restoring the Impreza. It's been put off and off for various reasons. The front end is sorted but the back needs welding and my mate who's helping with that bit has plenty of his own drama to deal with, but it's the right side of the Irish Sea now and we will get to it. And then of course I need to actually start driving it more.
3) Read more books. I love reading but my motivation for a lot of stuff has been lacking this year and it's been easier to veg out in front of the TV rather than engage my brain with a book. As a consequence my to read pile is now well over fifty books!
4) Refind my mojo for just getting out and doing stuff on a whim rather than over-planning, over thinking and then not doing anything. I've got some big hill days I'd like to do but they need some prep, and that won't happen without the mojo!
5) Spend some more time with a counsellor to help clear my mind a little. It's been nearly two years since I last spoke to one and I think it's time to do a bit of a tidy up! Objectively things are pretty decent but there's definitely stuff that's getting me down and bothering me more than it should and so nipping that in the bud is definitely for the best.

[rokut]

Nice topic, and hello everyone - been a while

For me:
1. Focus on what I can to see my girls again. Now been 19 months since I last saw them. They are now 11 & 8. Non-Mol & Non-Occ lapsed end of last year, so glimmers of hope. Plus the financials are nearly done in the divorce, so actually close to not being married over two years since things finally went pop... phew!
2. With all my free time (see above) I got into running last year. Managed to sub-20 5km, sub-40 10km, 1:28 HM and ticked the Marathon distance by myself at 3:27.
Did 50km (longest singular run) on Christmas Day at 4:22. So this year I am aiming for sub-19 5km, sub-1:26 HM and maybe do an official Marathon.
3. Embrace what seems to be a really positive and happy relationship I've just got into. Let's see what it brings.
4. Continue to be thankful for what I do have rather than focus on what I don't have. Keep on growing emotionally and bring empathy to more situations than I have done before. Keep my shit together.

All the best guys! Here's to a good one for us all

[crAbb]

Originally Posted by Lorcan

I can't imagine dealing with your "customers" on a daily basis. Mine are bad enough

Yeah, yours are always asking for a discount....

[JD6]

I had a knee operation at the end of December 2022 which made 2023 a tough year for fitness - it took me virtually 3 months to recover and I’m still struggling to get back to my normal fitness level. Although I guess age is part of that. Looking forward to a better spell of weather to get back out on the fells after the Christmas excess.

One of my concerns this year is my mum’s rapid decline with dementia, which she refuses to acknowledge. The speed of decline is terrifying and she still drives... She won’t see a doctor which doesn’t help. It’s going to be a tough year for my dad in particular.

For 2024 I’d like to get fitter, lose a few kg and spend less time worrying about the future and more living in the moment…

[SR-25]

Some great goals in here and wishing you all every success with them. I'm 2 months away from waving goodbye to 10 years in Formula 1. In 2024 my resolution is to re-discover my enjoyment for network/security/compute technology again and I'm hoping the new job i've accepted will bring me that and open up a world of opportunities to learn new things.

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by danb1979

To recover from left orchiectomy surgery on 03rd Jan 2024 (3-4 weeks I've been told, probably longer)

Buggered already; surgery cancelled for tomorrow as the surgeons had a family emergency!

Now have to wait to find out when I'm back in; private too & I've paid for it

Talk about sods law...

[TurboWeasel]

Originally Posted by danb1979

Can highly recommend private healthcare after everything I've been through this year and the experiences I've had etc

We'll be looking into health insurance very soon; I'm going to speak to my boss about it too as I'll be moving from being a contractor to a full/perm employee in Feb as that's my 22 months time done in my job

And No.6? Wuss

Done £96 per month for me and the missus (soon to be).

Yeah, no.6, who am I kidding?

Sacked off Amazon Prime this morning after receiving an email from them asking for another £36 a year to shift adverts. Screw corporate greed. So that's my consumer rights resolution already in action, of sorts

Another goal I forgot to add was to finally update my 12 year old Mac mini. It's been absolutely faultless and never, ever slowed down like Windoze does, but its too old to run the newer Mac OSs, so it had to go

So I got an M2 Mac Mini and boy was that worthwhile! For what it cost, its damn quick, silent and the upgrade was so simple a 5 year old could do it. I work in IT for a living, but have no time for IT faff at home, so that was very welcome.

I didn't play Apple's stupid storage pricing game, so got the base spec. I have 16TB of off board Thunderbolt storage, so don't need their scandalous upgrades.

Just thought I'd mention that as I know you like your Macs as well

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

Done £96 per month for me and the missus (soon to be).

Yeah, no.6, who am I kidding?

Sacked off Amazon Prime this morning after receiving an email from them asking for another £36 a year to shift adverts. Screw corporate greed. So that's my consumer rights resolution already in action, of sorts

Another goal I forgot to add was to finally update my 12 year old Mac mini. It's been absolutely faultless and never, ever slowed down like Windoze does, but its too old to run the newer Mac OSs, so it had to go

So I got an M2 Mac Mini and boy was that worthwhile! For what it cost, its damn quick, silent and the upgrade was so simple a 5 year old could do it. I work in IT for a living, but have no time for IT faff at home, so that was very welcome.

I didn't play Apple's stupid storage pricing game, so got the base spec. I have 16TB of off board Thunderbolt storage, so don't need their scandalous upgrades.

Just thought I'd mention that as I know you like your Macs as well

Yeah I saw that Prime price change; bastards!

I've got the M2 Mini Pro and yes; super-fast. Had the M1 Mini and it was faultless, just couldn't help myself upgrade haha

Just upgraded my work MacBook air to the M2 15" MBA too; it's brilliant and better than the 13" M1 MBA - that's gone back to be given to a new colleague joining us later this month (and the shitty Samsung A53 5G mobile)

Bought myself a Pixel Fold the other week; it's a superb phone & great to have a flagship Android device to play with as well as my iPhone 14PM etc

[KRS_SN]

Originally Posted by danb1979

Buggered already; surgery cancelled for tomorrow as the surgeons had a family emergency!

Now have to wait to find out when I'm back in; private too & I've paid for it

Talk about sods law...

That's awful..
Gone are the days when appointment wait times for urgent referral was 2 wks and routine 3-6 months where I work.
Now it's up to 6wks urgent and 12-18 for routine.
Wrt private care used to be within the week.
Now it's 1-3 months.
Ultimately number of full time equivalent medics etc is static and declining.
Hope you get a date very soon.

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by KRS_SN

That's awful..
Gone are the days when appointment wait times for urgent referral was 2 wks and routine 3-6 months where I work.
Now it's up to 6wks urgent and 12-18 for routine.
Wrt private care used to be within the week.
Now it's 1-3 months.
Ultimately number of full time equivalent medics etc is static and declining.
Hope you get a date very soon.

So do I as I'm sick of being in pain and drugged to the eyeballs with naproxen & dihydrocodeine

[martin10chk]

Originally Posted by danb1979

Buggered already; surgery cancelled for tomorrow as the surgeons had a family emergency!

Now have to wait to find out when I'm back in; private too & I've paid for it

Talk about sods law...

Really sorry to hear that Dan. Have been following your saga. I know from personal experience it’s not ‘just’ a delay. You build yourself up mentally for going under the knife and then to be told at really short notice that it’s not goung to happen bloody well hurts - emotionally. Anyway hope they get you sorted with another date asap.

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

Sacked off Amazon Prime this morning after receiving an email from them asking for another £36 a year to shift adverts. Screw corporate greed. So that's my consumer rights resolution already in action, of sorts

I received that email yesterday. Greedy bastards.

Prime is a no-brainer for us in terms of delivery frequency and (no) charges, but I won’t pay Amazon to go ad-free and I won’t watch ads unless it’s a terrestrial channel broadcaster i.e. ITV.

Simple’s really,,,I won’t watch anything on Amazon.

[Nibbles]

Originally Posted by JD6

One of my concerns this year is my mum’s rapid decline with dementia, which she refuses to acknowledge. The speed of decline is terrifying and she still drives... She won’t see a doctor which doesn’t help. It’s going to be a tough year for my dad in particular.

…

Currently going through this with the in-laws. My advice is to get them to see a doctor and get some help asap even if it's your dad that goes to the docs first to speak to them about it without your mum. My father-in-law left it far too late to tell us he couldn't cope and his mental wellbeing has taken a massive hit. He's now on anti-depressants but it's taken a massive toll on him. They're now getting some help in a few times a week to take the strain off him. I think they're going to need a lot more but it's hard as it's not my parents so I have to let my wife and her brother lead it.

As for my year - keep working hard and aim for as early a retirement as possible. Spend as much time as I can with the family and doing things I enjoy as you only get one life.

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by martin10chk

Really sorry to hear that Dan. Have been following your saga. I know from personal experience it’s not ‘just’ a delay. You build yourself up mentally for going under the knife and then to be told at really short notice that it’s not goung to happen bloody well hurts - emotionally. Anyway hope they get you sorted with another date asap.

Nail on the head there pal

I was really worked up/edgy on Tuesday knowing what was happening the day after & then at lunchtime it all got whipped out from under me...

I'm really hoping they get a date sorted ASAP as wed planned around this date and the recovery etc as we're heading up to the Highlands mid Feb for 2 weeks and I wanted to be ideally fully recovered by then!