How was your 2020?
 

I assumed this would be the best place to make this post on. I just want to start mentioning what should be already obvious, it's been one roller coaster of a year. It's been named the worst year. It's been different, but here we are. I'm sure that like in any storm, some rays of sunshine came by. That's what I want this post to be about. The good, the moments where it didn't suck to be behind doors, to not being able to see your family, and so on. So I would like to hear about what interesting things happened to all of you during 2020. Did you get to finish your project car, did it finally turn on? That turbo kit you were saving up for, were you able to buy it? Did you buy a new house? Upgraded to an 86/BRZ? Did you find that 10mm socket? Any story that would remind us that even in the direst of times, joy is still able to exist. I'll start.



On 2020, I became a home owner. Few months after that, I finally decided to pull the trigger and trade my Mazda 3 for a BRZ. Upgraded such car to my liking, while also extending my mechanical knowledge. I also left my back-breaking job working on a shipyard, to an office setting which you could assume allows me to roam around the forums during working hours ;). Most importantly, after 6 long years of BS and nonsense, my time in the Army finally is coming to an end so I can devote myself to my family and much better civilian job.

2020 was a year of patience and learning for me. It's been a year that while unpleasant overall, hasn't been entirely miserable. I'm an incredibly enthusiastic and happy-go-lucky person, Covid didn't affect me much as I'm very well suited to being sheltered.
Just thankful to have anything at all in my life at this point.

Good-
Covid forced my job to be 90% work from home, I love that.
Been saving up for over a year to get a new engine; finally did.
Let go of my childhood Pokemon cards and made a fortune, yay
I lived another year, that's a good thing as well.
Had enough savings from past decade to handle everything that came my way without incurring debt

Bad-
This year was terribly political; people need to calm down.
Wife tried to commit suicide

1. How could you..... Jk. They are truly a great investment for those who kept them from the beginning.



2. I totally agree, this world suffered in both psychological and material ways which were directly affected by political decisions.



3. I'm sorry to hear that, I have also been in your position and I hope things look up for you and your wife on the days to come.

Honestly not bad. Calm, relaxing year, reached an income milestone. I feel very fortunate, having heard and seen some of the stories, sadly with some of them involving my closest friends losing jobs etc

I had quite the collection, it killed me a little inside to part with most of them but it was the right thing to do given the circumstances I was under. I still have 3 base set Charizards I'll keep so I can say I have something left.
Life is what it is. The event happened last March and it's still something we're working at every single day. Working from home is terribly advantageous for me and I'd even say I wouldn't be working where I am if they hadn't let me change physical location- it's non negotiable.

Congratulations on your own progress, becoming a home owner is a serious and amazing! Seriously good work on prioritizing your comfort in your job choice. I spent a lot of time doing physical labor work on concrete and I didn't realize how much pain I was in until several months after switching and it had waned.
Edit: With any work you get done, have a solid stance on anything you have done! Do not be afraid to stand your ground against contractors who do not deliver. Too many people settle, get what you're asking for

It's been an eye opening year both for my career (which solidified pursing teaching) and how I view people. Got into more debt than I care to acknowledge, and then put myself further in it by building a bad ass PC because yolo. I'd say this is the second worst year ever for me, behind 2009. But... it's gonna take a lot to top that year.

Lots of cancelled plans and quarantine pounds. I’ll have to scour through my camera album to see what bright shining moments there were.

Bought the brz, first brand new car I’ve had. Got to get three track days in it.

I took my brother out for our birthdays to see the California Takeover. Straightedge bands from the 90s Strife, Earth Crisis, and Snapcase.

Really wanted to swim here and did it. Grossly underestimated, after I managed to get out of there a team of early twenties came along in wetsuits to deal with the cold.

Been a test of patience.


We are down 70% at work and it is not picking up. I was questioning my job already, but now I am really questioning my position since I spend a lot of time doing nothing and it overlaps with a few others. I am looking to talk with our GM about moving back down into running one of the departments I used to run, it could use the help anyway.

We decided to break up our rental properties this year. I chose to remodel and sell my house. Tennent was given a 90 day in February, it wasn't until July I got the house back. I was expecting that it would be livable and I could move there while working on it, boy was I wrong. Have been behind the 8 ball to get it done to sell. I am at my limit mentally and financially trying to get it finished. Luckily it should sell quickly.

I did become an uncle this year. That has been fun.

Edit: Oh and I only got my car out on track twice this year, and the first time it kicked out the rocker arms and blew up spectacularly.

I have yet to track mine, or do a spirited drive, mostly because the missus is always with me and she's not a fan of driving fast.

Looks like a pretty awesome place. I guess my travel highlight would be any parking lot where a car meet was taking place because I never was able to go to one. Which was like walking into a candy store. Or seeing a live drift event.

I got married on March 7th, less than a week before the world shutdown. We were supposed to have the big wedding in September, but my wife's grandparents had some health issues early in the year, so we had a small wedding with immediate family much sooner to make sure everyone important was there. That turned out to be one heck of a decision as we had to cancel the September wedding.

Since we saved all the money on the wedding, we were able to put a down payment on a house and take advantage of the killer interest rates.

It was definitely an argument for the "Everything happens for a reason" philosophy.

That's the way I always see things, plus I can't get mad at things that are not in my control. I was supposed to get deployed somewhere in Africa, that didn't happen because covid. The Philipines, didnt happen either. Instead, I got activated for state mission which allowed me to get extra money between civilian job and military which was enough to save up for the BRZ, car parts, and house projects. So I was deff not mad.

No gym sucked. Probably lost 10 lbs of muscle, but I am leaner because I eat a lot less when I don't work out. No family sucked. Surprisingly less overtime for the ER, so pay was slightly down by $5k. The ER sucked. The fires sucked. Air quality sucked. Little motorcycling this year sucked. COVID BS sucked. Politics continued to suck, but at least the orange guy is going, so silver lining. E85 station did not get their permit approved, so maybe no E85 still locally, which sucked. Had to cancel our Alaska cruise, so that sucked. No movies sucked. No restaurant sucked. Being on lockdown sucked. Wearing masks sucked.

A few good things. Parents bought a second home for retirement by Clear Lake. They will be selling their old home soon this coming spring. I got into nursing school for fall 2021. My brother and his wife's adoption was finalized. My cousin got married to a virtual audience (the latter part is also sucky). My wife got a raise. Our work had a strike, but also finalized a three year contract that included raises (the former part was sucky). I got some parts installed on the car like my sound system, wing, header and new MPS4Ss, which completed the car for the long foreseeable future (bittersweet). I made a new cat litter box. Sex-crazy meth-heads above us moved out, so no more 3am tyrannical fights followed by 5 hours of sloppy, loud sex.

I feel bad for chuckling a bit but it was slightly funny. At least the way you put it so thanks for that. On that note, no gym did SUCK. I was very relieved when I moved out of my apartment to our house because my upstairs neighbors walked with brick shoes at 2am, overly loud dude near climax, and the eventual getting out of the building because some idiot hotboxed his apartment which triggered several fire alarms. So we had to get out of the complex, stand in the cold, while the firefighters cleared the building. I wish I has an E85 station near me... sigh....

Can't say my 2020 has been good. Too much money lost from repairs, etc.

Did take my car to a drift event in November to attempt to drift (and not well I might add), and currently working on building a new PC + getting some new sim hardware to practice on Assetto Corsa and learn the basics of drifting down.

I know 2020 was rough on some folks, but if I'm being honest 2020 was a decent year for me. Strange and different of course, but no better or worse than some other recent years for me.

Annoying to move into a higher cost of living area to have greater in-person presence at my job (moved from remote 90% to where the customers/office/etc is) about a month before everything went remote, but that was probably a factor in my wife getting hired, so that's alright. Manged to sell the old house in the height of pandemic panic which was a bit stressful.

Work is in some ways a bit more difficult because of everyone being remote, in others it's better. I'm pretty fortunate to be able to work 99% remote at least.

Got a new cat and he is adorable.

Edit, one bad thing about 2020 was I couldn't go try autocross which is real high on my list of to-dos. I need to drive more... Maybe find other motorsports events in 2021...

Not going to the gym has been brutal. I did a good job eating clean for a while and dropped almost 10lbs but now I am back to being a garbage bear while still not working out. I hope to start up again next week.

Are you just gonna seriously tell us about your cat and not post pics?

#STRAYA 2020

It started with bushfires, that lasted months

The bushfires backed up with Covid, which was nice

Our gyms only closed for a short time, but, I got a heap of different sized kettle bells, flipped tyres, hit them with my sledge hammer, lots of weighted walks and watched some TV on the exercise bike, my cardio actually improved from this training, and as our gyms only shut for a month or two it was a good deload/break

The really only negatives were:
1. Writing off my 86
2. Cancelling my motorbike ride around Australia that I had planned for 2 years

Positive:

I've been on leave since mid November 20 and start back mid January 21, I was going to spend a month riding around, but because of the border closures I've just ridden around NSW, worked on the car and bike, and I've done alot of training and long walks

Work is the same

Family is the same (no one I know is out of work)

No one I know has had Covid

Australia has been good at locking down and apart from people coming into Australia by plane, we really have no new cases, we did have some American aircrew that didn't quarantine, they were infected and there was a small outbreak from that little SNAFU, but we seem to be over that now

In the end my only real concern is all the idiots who are not complying with the restrictions here, and all the idiots acting like spoilt children who didn't get their way

In the end it gives me something to watch on the news



Stay safe

In the show off your pets thread:
https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show...&postcount=910

And a bonus pic, just for you:

Good to hear parts of this, but the thing with your wife - SHIT - that sucks mousse. Hope things are better for her.

Personally, things are stable. I retired from a 35 year career of university teaching and research at the end of August. Before I managed that we went to an on-line only instruction format in March. I had sworn I'd never do that, but ... it was what it was. Since the lockdowns it's been an exercise in marking time. That's not all bad - Lots of time to read. "Time enough at last" as Rod Serling might have said.

Whenever somebody became impatient when I was a kid one of my grandfather's favorite comeback was "hell, son. You can hold a bottlecap over a wildcat's ass that long." Ohhhkaayyy Gramps enough already.

I was really looking forward to 2020 as in 2018 I was reeling from bad decisions and bad luck (in the form of natural disasters.) I also went too far into debt to initially solve the problem. A lesson learned the hard way.

I chopped off all extra spending other than fast food and netflix. Zero social life and zero dating. I threw the sports cars in the garage under cover and worked 2 full time jobs with a 3rd one peppered in occasionally. It was really the only way I could cope with the hand I was given. I told everyone to leave me alone and worked my hardest at the expense of my social life, mentality, and physical health. Needless to say, social distancing didn't change a thing for me...


-1st week of January. Got scammed by an ebay seller for a FA20 engine. Also had some eyeball work and even got lasik.

-2nd week of January. 2nd engine purchased was dropped at my door damaged (hole in the timing cover and corner of LH head cracked.

-1st week of February. Go news that I could not build a larger garage on house/property. Due to the cities red tape.

-2nd week of Februray. Sick AF! Coworker came back after an overseas vacation sick as can be and got everyone sick. Looking back I think it could have been covid.

-2nd week of March. Covid hit and my income tanked despite being an essential employee. Pay cuts all around but, the work I was doing didn't change.

-1st week of April. Finally sold my condo that was wrecked from a hurricane years before. Was able to pay off some outstanding debts and make a large dent in my house's mortgages.

-4th week of April. Got fed up at work, quit. Then after a meeting with the owner he fired all the office staff and rehired me. Was really stressful transition working with all new inexperienced people but, it has been much better after a few months of growing pains and regretting coming back.

-5th week of April. Tried Tinder/Online dating. 2nd date resulted in the bitch burning down my stove and 1/4th of my kitchen cabinets. I say bitch because how she handled it afterwards, just straight up ghosted, blocked me and even sent threatening messages. All I wanted was an apology. Anyways, $9000 a ton of DIY and a month later I have a re-remodeled kitchen.

-2nd week of June. Met a cute girl at work but missed my shot as I wanted to clear it with HR first. She found someone else.

-3rd week of June. Got a call tha my 2.3l engine build for my BRZ is about 8k over-budget. And no idea when it is going to be done because of custom overseas parts and covid.

-1st week of September. Covid has finally started to 'hit' the midwest and it's stating to be taken a bit more seriously. I loose 2nd full-time job because of setbacks.

-2nd week of September. I finally buy and get a good, low mileage 2019 engine to put into my old BRZ. I got everything buttoned up and was able to start it the first time in years. I wasn't able to finish the cosmetics as I'm at my threshold of $ spent on the car considering I just want to dump it and move on.

-3rd week of September. Got hit on taxes pretty hard. When I moved out of state, I didn't properly register/transfer things. Got to pay 2 years of personal property taxes with 2 years of late fees and penalties added on top.


From this point on I tuned out soon as the elections turned up. Went right back into being a recluse, pretty much just working and hording car parts. With how things have gone I have noticed I'm a lot more uptight with people than I probably should be and really just need to chill. I chalk it up to working 3 years straight without a vacation.

With Covid I think I'm pretty lucky, didn't loose anyone (that I know of) personally and don't seem to be sick myself. I still have a lot of debt. Still make impulse decisions. So on that front I should be very thankful.


Hoping 2021 is a bit brighter. Though, I don't expect 2021 to be any different. I really do hope for 3 things out of next year.

Find a house with a usable/larger garage or shop. Drive and enjoy my toys! Track, street, car meet cruises I don't care which. I got new cars I haven't driven! Get back to dating and finally find a good wife. Maybe even the F-word. (family ya pervs.)

this year was just weird. busier and slower. more hectic, and less in tune with everything.

i've told a few people that i never really felt like there was a rhythm to this year. it was more of a "throw it at the wall, hope it sticks, keep running" kind of year.

didn't go anywhere, didn't do much except entertain myself with the massive backlog of projects. didn't use vacation time much at all this year.

my estranged brother had a son i'll likely never meet, my closer brother had a daughter that stays up all night and enjoys fart noises, my sister got pregnant, and my sister finally convinced her husband to get her a pure-bred german shepard that she's wanted since, well, her entire life...

Nothing crazy happened...
Jan - Designed a logo for my friend’s Martial Art studio.
Feb - Met Tada-san to have a private interview.
Mar - 5.7m earthquake happened. Combined w COVID, locally everyone went apeshit.
Apr - Ordered custom forged wheels.
May - Riot near my work. On the TV, saw flipped cop car burning while background, I can see my office.
June - Started carbon fiber skinning & knife making
July - Found out I’m going to be a father.
Aug - 1st custom knife order was made & sold.
Sept - My wife want to move into bigger house, so started remodeling...
Oct - 2nd custom knives order was sold.
Nov - Found out, baby gonna be a girl.
Dec - 90% of house remodel is done, so can put it on market in Jan.

Is it your first baby? When is she due? My second one is due April.

What minivan will you getting? Lol


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Custom knives eh?.... I might take you up on that.
Congratulations on the baby girl! :cheers:

I hate to say it because it sounds insensitive and I know there are a lot of people struggling. However, other than the lack of track days, 2020 was a good year for me.

Nobody I know died or was even hospitalized due to Covid.

I am working from home permanently. Saving a lot on mileage and fuel.

Purchased a car that has been on my list for a long time. 1995 BMW M3.

I did a class record lap at my local track and won my time attack class for the 3rd year in a row with the FRS.

My wife is pregnant with our first child and it is a healthy baby boy. Due in June. I cannot be more excited.

I know it kind of feels wrong, but is what I wanted to remind people of at the beginning of the post, I want to focus on the good. So that people can see that even in the darkest of times, some light is able to shine.

Congratulations on the baby! I'm very jealous of that M3, is one of my favorite cars of all time. Could never get my hands on one or inside one. Also, congrats on the achievement with time attack, I hope to track my car soon and check something else of my list.

Yes, this will be my 1st baby. She’s due early March.

Minivan? lol 4 cars I’m looking as a 2nd cars are ‘16 Subaru WRX STI (hatch), 21 Toyota RAV4, ‘22 Hyundai Tucson, ‘21 Subaru Crosstrek... or maybe ‘22 Toyota GR Yaris/Corolla, but that’s depends on the price.

Haha yeah. Have made few survival knives & chef knives. I’ve been blessed & a lot of friends & fams have asked for them. Now I’m booked til next year summer on all the orders.

& thanks!

If I can provide some insight on future car, go either the Hyundai or Crosstrek. The Crosstrek is for some reason the most reliable out of all the Subaru lineup. Wife used to have a 16 and I loved it, she traded it for a new AWD Mazda 3, which I would hands down recommend too. Very nice interior, quiet and comfortable ride. The AWD trim comes with a Bose system which is amazing. All sorts of safety features too for a car that costs less than 21K

This is what I wanted to do...but couldn't make it happen. After I move maybe. Jealous of the other RCE folks have really nice set ups.

There just weren't many events in our area until the end of the year, and then I had to miss the few that we did have. Bummer, but next year will be better.

- Andrew

Our CAD guy built a really nice setup that I am pretty envious of. Fanatec Podium DDI base with their top of the line pedals and Porsche GT3 wheel. Triple monitor setup and a new PC with the invidia 3080. I think he spent 4k+ in one day.

That's probably something like what Myles will upgrade to next year. Hoping I can get his leftovers lol.

- Andrew

Mazda 3 hatch is def in the list of options... just atm feels like Crosstrek is better bang for buck compared to 3 hatch.

I’ll be only using it for the winter and driving baby around. Rest, my BRZ will be the main car.

Family: Sucks that I barely saw them. My mom turned 70 so I was terrified of what would happen if she got COVID, but she was also pretty isolated and depressed. Tried to manage that with my brothers but damn I can’t wait for her to get vaccinated.

Physical health: I had ACL surgery (again) in 2019 so I had just gotten back into easy pick up soccer games with friends at the beginning of 2020. When that stopped, I just focused on really building my legs back up. Mostly I rode the bike trainer until I couldn’t feel anything. Did a little running and lots of long hikes. In pretty good shape now, also due to cooking at home a whole lot more (and getting pretty decent at cooking).

Mental health: Whew. I think it’s fine. Trying to remember that this is just a complicated time and I’m very fortunate to not have to deal with what a lot of other people are dealing with. But I guess you realize how important all these things we take for granted really are like seeing family, friends, playing soccer, traveling, doing fun car things, etc. Being around my gf basically 24/7 can be complicated, but I'm grateful to not be alone.

Dog: Wilbur is awesome. He's almost 2 now and I'm really happy we have him. Honestly helped a lot to have him around to take care of while quarantining.

RCE: Definitely not what we were planning on for this year but things are pretty good actually. We weren't sure what to expect with all of...this...but we've adapted well. We made good progress on a couple of projects only to be delayed by COVID related things outside our control which is super frustrating. But there were also a couple of things outside of our control that are actually very good and could make 2021 reeeeeally exciting. Some of our projects will be coming through next year and we're excited.

My own car stuff: Did very little to my car, did 0 events, had a pretty scary incident that thankfully (and very improbably) happened at 5 mph and not 75 mph...all not great! But I'm not dead and the car is fine. Exciting plans for 2021 and a bunch of parts waiting to go on. Hoping to do more ApexFiles stuff in 2021 too...lots of good ideas but I've been a little busy!

Anyway, I'm really happy to be a part of this community. Sounds silly, but this place is important to me and it's been good to have some positive human interaction this year. And if anyone is having trouble and needs to talk about anything, feel free to send me a message.

- Andrew

Right now stuck in Mississippi away from family due to some Air Force guard training for 3 months. Other than that I had and still having a really productive 2020 despite the world’s woes. One of the best years of my life actually.

As far the 2018 86 Twin. I’ve been harassing Racecomp and CSG plaguing them with questions because I am a car enthusiast noob! But they’ve helped me so much that I’m making moves on the car and it’s slow and annoying but, I’m not breaking the bank or sacrificing much. Every move I’ve made so far has been done well and I love the motto “buy once cry once”. It’s been a great journey with the car and I’m excited to get the project rolling. I’ve signed up for the SCCA which is been my dream to do once I have my own home and I am looking forward after my Air Force TDY to get seat time! My wife is supportive as well haha. Happy holidays twin cult!


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How was your 2020?
 

Check out the RAV4 prime. Best all around car. It might be a bit small if you ever have a second child. I have a NX and Prius but maybe switching up the Prius for a 4Runner in near future.

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Yeah, for me, I really don't want to spend the money on a new sim cockpit so I figure I'd build one out of wood instead. Maybe perhaps down the line I'll put an FR-S dashboard and center console on it. Planning on getting a Thrustmaster TS-XW + TH8A shifter as well. I'd have gone Fanatec, but I haven't heard good things about Fanatec's software, and I'm not much of a fan of my current Logitech G920 and shifter.


Hey man, I hope your mom does get vaccinated soon so that everybody can be together again. I have to worry about my grandmother all the time because I don't want her catching COVID either, and the worst part is, I can't be around her at the moment because I was just exposed to it and I have to get tested yet again before I can be around her.

Good to hear everything else is alright with you. Best of luck to you in 2021.

OMG +1

Internet 101 fail

edit: ok, I fail too. Late to the party.

Glad to see lots of good vibes in the community.

2020 was incredible. I'm mostly an introvert. So when everything shut down, my life didn't change much.

during the year, I landed a dream job, wife got promoted, refinanced our home with the ridiculous low rates, lost 30 pounds, and saved enough to buy my first investment property in the next month or so.

BUT! Mother-in-law moved from California to my state, so that sucks.

All-in-all really blessed IMO.

Andrew inspired me to share because, oddly, this crew has also been important to me for years now. I've never done any other social networking but there's something truly special about this group.

Been WFH since, what, early March. My cat, Chloe, has been my best buddy. I'm convinced that I caught the Rona from one of my colleagues at work last February, and gave it to her. She had a nasty dry cough for a week while I felt exhausted at the same time. Still followed the spirit of the exercise in every way and will continue to do my best to remain part of the solution.

Activities? Kept busy with dozens of little DIY projects and honey-do jobs.

FRS? Barely drove her all year. At 7/8 of my second tank since lockdown. Most of that was just highway jaunts to run through some good heat cycles and exercise the squishy parts.

Wishing all y'all the best. Stay frosty. :thumbsup: