2021 Year End Review
 

Hi folks. I did a similar thread last year for everyone to sit back and stop thinking about the roller-coaster of a year 2020 was, and thinking about the good things that happened. With some sense of normality that 2021 has given us, how was your 2021? Did your project car start and run? Did you upgrade to the 2nd gen? Did you decide to part ways and get something else? Did you upgrade to FI? Engine swap? Did you get a new job, new house? Addition to the family? Changes to your lifestyle?

Lets again sit back, and review the good things, it gives us hope for what is to come.



I'll start.

Completed my first year of ownership with the BRZ. Which has been great, except for that time when a guy completely tore my front end on the parking lot. But it worked out great because the new front bumper doesnt sag anymore.

Upgraded to better catback that is not only stylish, but sounds way better. Got new wheels. Got a revised tune that made my car way more responsive with a better power distribution along the power-band.

Built a deck on the house.

Built my very first PC with the help and input from many folks on this forum which I am very grateful for.

My family, with whom I haven't spent the last 13 years with, was finally able to move in to the U.S, and I was extremely grateful to have been able to accommodate them in the house while they got settled in. I can enjoy Honduran meals more often.

Started going to a chiropractor that was able to improve my mobility and overall health. This, combined with diet changes has improved my self-stem.
Last but not least, completed my military service after 6 years, that left me with nothing but great memories and lifetime friendships. I served honorably and I'm proud to have been able to contribute to my community and country.

Easy for me.
Same shit different year.

Wasn't too bad of a year for me ;)

Started my dream job this year so that's a huge plus

Nothing much new on the car front.

Did start the planned wind down to being a "man of leisure" in the next 3 years or so.

Humm,,,, 2021

Wife got laid off 12/31/20, looked for a new job for about 10 minutes then declared she was retired. So much for that 2021 revenue.

On the job front,,, back to the office mid-year which just sucked. I'm in IT and can totally do my job from home. On a brighter note,, this will be the last full year of working. Hanging my spurs up end of 1st quarter.

The FRS V6 swap has been stalled this year. Soon to be rectified.

Did a total refit on the boat this year in preparation for retirement. It's fricking beautiful!

My house is dry, safe, and has hot and cold running water, and warm beds for all my family members. I eat enough food every day. This makes me wealthier than about 75% of the world's population. And I only work 8 hours a day.

(Oh yeah, and I have some money in the bank, which puts me in the top 8% of the world's wealthy)

Pretty sweet.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Bought house with shop.

Bought truck and trailer for track days.

Car did not blow up this year.

I call that a win.

Pretty uneventful year overall which considering the state of the world is a good thing. I did find a forgotten investment account with company stock that was converted to cash a few years ago when my employer was sold. It had a few grand in it so I converted to Microsoft stock and up about 40%.

Just finished up doing flex fuel edelbrock sc on my car this fall.
Flowered my corpse flower (Amorphophallous titanum).
Bought my first house.
Spent the beginning of the year going around California looking for flowers. From From the Salton Sea to Denali.

Your neighbors are going to love you when the corpse flower blooms. haha. I didn't even know they sold those.

The Suzuki (855 kms old) is the first auto car I've owned.
Sacrilege I know but I've discovered I don't miss a manual gearbox.

Man that is actually quite cool, I also didn't know you could get a corpse flower for personal ownership. Do you take any measures for when it blooms? From what I understand they don't do it so often and not for long anyways.

Here you go (I know of this place because I visited it once)

https://www.plantdelights.com/produc...-corpse-flower

Was going to say not bad (85 bucks) until I saw 3.5" pot. For that price, I'd rather try my luck with a monstera deliciosa since I'm no green thumb. LOL.

My big one blooms every other cycle. One season (~18 months) it produces a leaf the next it blooms. It’s like 30 years old now though.

Pretty boring year for me. Tcoat pretty much summed it up.

Hm... 2021 was/is both good and bad.

July ('20) found out my wife was pregnant, so prepped extra room into baby room.
Oct ('20) my wife wanted bigger house before the baby pop, so literally in 3 months, I did everything to prep the house to be on market. Thankfully my work was semi-opened, so I had to go into work 3 times a week 5hrs each. That gave me enough time to finish a lot of things in the house.
Dec ('20), started looking around for a house.
Jan, house went on the market... for 2 days and had an enough bids. Plus we got more than asking price. Thankfully Sister-in-Law allow us to stay at her house.
March, baby was born. There was a bit of hiccup, but born healthy.
March, bought a house.
May, heard the news of my friend Bob from Drift-Office passing away. RIP my friend.
July, paid good chunk of money to get artificial grass install front & backyard.
Sept, my aunt has passed away. Sadly due to pandemic, me & my mom wasn't able to fly back to Japan to see her one last time or even able to go to her funeral.
Oct, ordered Toyota Highlander. Expecting to get delivered in 14~16wks.
Nov, sold my Bride/Cusco seats. I'm regret selling em...

Geez Ichi, make the rest of us look like slackers.

When are you getting back into knife making :D

Hoping to get back in the winter (Dec~Feb). Forge is a bit hot to work in the summer.

Let's see, highlights from this year...
-Paved the driveway
-Finally fixed the Tribeca
-Gave the Tribeca back to my father in law because we weren't using it
-Attended multiple weddings
-Drove the Tail of the Dragon
-Got sold
-Visited Galaxy's Edge in Disney, and some other stuff

Navy may have contaminated a large portion of the islands water with petroleum.
Not much beyond that.

Yep, big OOF

I'll play.


Second full year with the BRZ. Second year autocrossing. DS in the highly competitive Steel Cities Region. Was shooting for 25th or better in our driver of the year standings. Hit 31, which was an improvement from 37th last year. Didn't factor in everyone would get so much better. More to come next year when I actually get a front swaybar and exhaust. I do 25+ events per year and plan on doing more national events next year.

Other than that, no major updates really. Working from home (and since well before the pandemic). Looking to possibly buy a house in 2022, but we'll see. I'm requiring 4+ garage spots. My SO and I are divided on how close to the city we want to be. That's going to be the next big project. Shhhh, but personally I prefer our cheap duplex... minus only having one garage spot.

Oh and we picked up a FREE 2007 Honda Rebel 250. Might not be the fastest thing, but it's something to learn on. And the price was good... ha. SO's mom had it and doesn't use it a ton. 6k miles and 3k of them were from a family member long distance driving it a bunch before we got it.

I don't know a damn thing about motorcycles yet, so that's going to be interesting.

The wife's first motorcycle was 1999 (?) Honda Rebel 250. She called her's Isabeau from the story, Lady Hawk.


http://web.archive.org/web/200405172...600/RebRF1.jpg

Here's what you need to know....

1. Take a riding course, preferably with a road component (I take one at least every 3 years when I'm riding).
2. Your head is not as hard as the pavement, wear a helmet.
3. Same goes for sleeves and pants.
4. No one is out to kill you, but they aren't looking out for you either. Your safety is your own responsibility.
5. The slowest bike is likely faster than the fastest car you've driven. Treat it that way.
6. If you aren't relaxed when riding, you need more training.

I'm sure others will have things they can add.

You've never ridden a Grom I see.

(Groms are hilarious and fun, just not fast)

Well, OK, you got me there!

But have you ridden a modified Grom before?


still not fast

So kind of like a FRS/BRZ ;)

agree

2021 was not boring
rather challenging and anxious sometimes... :sigh: