[Closed] hows your year so far?

Excellent.
Busy, bonus next month. Loads of riding, two holidays booked for the year.
Family, work and pleasure all good, unlike my self employed days.
Ohh and I've lost a lot of weight.

Youve made my day olgit! Nice one! ;))

Its going way to quick, I also have a mate who is self destructing with really messy consequences, tried talking to him but he can't see it.

On a work front not very good at all (self employed electrician) ive worked about 4 days since jan 3rd, I have managed to get out on the bike a lot more though but unfortunately it doesn't pay the bills

Good thanks, I'm taking some time of, first time in 8mths, killing my Roadie in the Downs, killing myself at the same time.

this last week has been a bit stressfull, had to pay out to replace a phone I'd lost whilst out running. very tired and stressed after doing nights and having to look after the kids without any sleep became distracted at an atm and walked away without the cash. Partner is having a bi-polar crisis, work is very busy and I broke my sunglasses.

January is always shit for me, no one particular reason, just shit, glad to see the back of it. Feb brings a spring to my step. Going to spend March in the Canaries.

Family stuff is OK, I've accepted that my youngest is going to do an apprenticeship rather than go to uni, so that's me finished with formal education for my bunch.

Work is boring but pays well and gives me a lot of time off so with Spring around the corner, I'll be getting out more.

To summarise how my year's been so far - as expected.

F@#$ing windy

so-so
wife/kids all been ill at some point in January, work OK - tiny bit bored if i'm honest.

council taking an age to sign off the first stage of our planning application and am very fed up with our current living arrangements (4 of us in a 2 bed bungalow which is falling to pieces around us)

Am a bit fed up with winter now - looking foward to nice warm summer evenings when I can get in a 2 hour ride after work in daylight.

Really busy at work but in a good way; lots of exciting new projects.
Been riding a fair bit more too after being ill and injured most of last year.
Downside is that work has kept me from seeing much of my wife apart from 'in passing'. Still, the money earned will mean plenty of short breaks in the campervan when it gets a bit warmer.

the same as always, some good some bad and a lot in-between.
family cat died, wife mega depressed and not handling it well so we fall out a lot. contract renewed till summer which is great. climbing lots which I'm enjoying and cycling is limited to the commute.

EDIT: ti_pin_man mantra: life is pain and suffering, the trick is to remember pain is temporary and suffering teaches you and everything in-between is joy and happiness.

Ooh, don't get me started. Not so good.

Re-org at work has left me hanging with no idea where I fit in it, that's been going on for months now.
Very little riding for various reasons
Almost split up with my wife due to a very silly thing that escalated beyond control
I've still got a small cock
Everyone hates me.
My niece announced she was a lesbian (actually this was no surprise to me and I was quite amused by it), I always had my suspicions but it's caused lots of upset on that side of the family which has caused friction a long way out.

But then the last 4 days has really decided to throw it all in.
Boiler flooded the kitchen
Bathroom window broke
Conservatory started leaking
Car windscreen cracked
A delightful bout of 3 days of insomnia has left me in a comatose state
Still no riding

So so, cold, college is ok, working my ass of for last year, hopefully there's a job at the end of it if it goes well. Family are cool, dad got a big promotion more money better car, he's working too hard though, mums gone down to 4 days which she's wanted to do for ages, brov is still a **** though. Gf thing is all a bit weird, dunno where it's going atm, more like FWB rather than anything proper, we've stopped talking about the future together it just causes arguments

Riding and running are non existent and I can't be bothered with it right now. Weather doesn't help.

I'm struggling to muster anything other than 'meh'...

Been riding more, and feel better for it but that's probably the only good thing.

Maybe we should consult oldgit for some advice on making our lives perfik?? 😉

Blimey, not coming in here again... it's depressing 🙁

Have to say I've lost some momentum, last year for very manic with Workshop taking up most of my weekends / evenings, whereas post Xmas I've done very little exercise or DIY. Doing a lot of sleeping though...

On the plus side, taken up Power lifting at a new gym, so learning to Squat and Deadlift properly - flipping exhausting stuff to start with, deadlift seems to drain me like nothing on earth.....

[b]positives:[/b]
I went snowboarding 😀
The project work is still on track

[b]negatives:[/b]
I hurt myself snowboarding and I'm off my mountain bike
the bid work was difficult and I feel negative about our chances
family illness
Angst about what changes to make in my life

My bipolar is worse than ever.
I tried to kill myself.
Not really a good start.

run down and hectic with a refreshing relocation imminent.. 😀

sorry to hear that iolo

started the year in nepal, with my mountain bike
came back and got ill with a stomach bug (ambulance, A&E)
lost my best mate
got offered my dream job
split with GF (i did the splitting)
funeral
came to an 'arrangement' with a girl at work
ridiculously large gas and electric bill (don't live with spaniards in a cold damp house!)

so other than nepal, the job and the 'arrangement' things have been pretty shitty. but i'm feeling positive, start the new job a week on monday. life moves on.

Its got off to an absolutely brilliant start! And I've just got the distinct feeling things are on the up. Haven't felt this positive in years. Nothing major has changed that much. I'm just happier with the way things are. Got everything I need 😀

Sorry to everyone who's not having a great one. I've had some shockers over the last few years, so I can sympathise

I tried to kill myself.

That doesn't sound much like fun.... Seeing anyone about it?

excellent; handed my notice in. Bought a ticket to Vancouver. The only problem being that the Experience Canada visa's still aren't open. I shall apply whilst I'm out there I think.

Bad.

But not as bad as some.

Iolo, mate I really hope things pick up for you.
Positive vibes from Burnley. Please keep on keeping on.

Tough: baby born on NYE (mum went in on xmas day with waters gone)6 weeks early, difficult birth and other issues that will mean quite a bit of surgery this year. 3 weeks in special care. Finally get mum and babe home and mum has a total breakdown from the stress, crisis team intervention, long nights. Just coming out of it now. I've had our 2 kids to look after and 24hr care of baby and my dear wife suffering. I am tired.
Good: mountain mayhem is next door this year, I have some more work coming up cycling related, a new bike next month, I have some great friends and family and I love my new daughter beyond words and my two other girls are brilliant in difficult times and are flying at school. My wife will recover.

iolo, if every you need to chat or vent, we're all here for you. Hope things pick up for you.

Cautiously optimistic.

Family all good. Work is fine - but in reality even with the little annoying work bumps now and again if those are the worst things I have to worry about in life then life is not too shabby.

Only issue is what GP diagnosed as IBS. Nothing unbearable and some days no issues at all. However seeing another GP on Monday to get another opinion. Was 78kg back in May, dropped to a bit over 70kg Oct/Nov but weighed myself last night and reading a healthy 77kg again.

Apart from that then life is actually relatively rather good.

Thanks everyone for your kind offers.
I've come back from Vienna to north Wales for a bit.
I'm currently heavily medicated and have a psychiatric nurse visiting me every day.
My head is not such a good place to be at the moment.
Bipolar is such a shit thing.

My head is not such a good place to be at the moment.

Wishing you as speedy recovery as possible.

You know you can always vent on the forum if things get too much......

You know you can always vent on the forum if things get too much...

Just make sure you get your grammar and spelling correct before you post though.

Sorry to hear you're having a tough time iolo...

My 2013 is doing ok actually! 2012 was horrific, but I have kind of accepted all the changes and realised that I am actually incredibly blessed to have lovely friends and family and the ability to get out on my bike whenever I want.

Life is very different to how I expected it to be, but hey, got to roll with the punches eh 😉

I only live to ride and usually rely on enthusiasm and momentum from the previous year to see me through winter but last year because of the weather I never really got started it seemed every ride was a battle with the elements.

So this year has been distinctly meh so far and I yearn for the days when I don't have to get kitted up like an Arctic explorer

Otherwise fine

Good so far despite the end of 2012 being a bit crap (parents split up and mum just moved out, girl troubles). Stable job that I'm still enjoying, awesome group of friends and I'm still getting healthier and fitter all the time. Most importantly, the sun's out, it doesn't look too windy, and I'm going for a ride in a few minutes 🙂

I'm not going to lift the mood much I'm afraid.

My wife's MS continues to slowly destroy her 🙁
I spend most of the time shattered from working full time with a micro managing boss & caring for my wife/running the house when not at work.

I have not ridden a bike (other than to the shops) since the end of October, though given the weather I would have struggled for motivation anyway.

11 work mates were made redundant.

So all in all S*H*I*T

[i]Bipolar is such a shit thing[/i]

For sure. It's really, really good at messing up every single relationship you have. You have my absolute and total sympathy.

Well, things could be much better, but tbh things could be much,much worse.

Things will change, and things will get better, of this I'm sure.

Whenever I get a bit stuck in life, a trip up here usually clears my head, and lets me get a bit of perspective.

[img] [/img]

Bring it on.

Started rubbish, binned by girlfriend out of the blue.

However, Gave up booze for 4 weeks, lost 12 pounds (and counting), rode more MTB miles than any month last year, took up running, busy at work.

So after a rubbish start, its all good.

So far the year has been pretty bad, I lost my mam suddenly at New Year which has really shook the family, still awaiting some ideas from the coroner as to the reason why which is not helping my Dad
Then on Saturday I slipped and broke my ankle and damaged ligaments so 6-8 weeks in a cast has kinda put a bigger downer on things for me, as the only driver in the close family its also not helped my dad as I have been up to see him every day and have been running him around when he needed stuff.
I was hoping to get out more on the bike this month to ward off any 'bad vibes' getting into my head. Just going to have to do my cycling via videos I find on the net.

I started the 'photos' thread again to cheer myself up, its working well, 2 years of quality pics really lifts the mood.

Highlights: seeing Django Unchained with my brothers and my boss finally getting the push at work.
Apart from that... I've certainly had better!

Pretty Meh tbh

Dream job is a horrible bag if shite and I'm hairs breath away from getting the boot. Bike got nicked at then end of last year and have only managed to scrape up a frame and forks so still a long way off riding.

Pulled a muscle in my back on the 2nd, so I've not done any excercise since before Christmas. Couldn't join in the fun in the snow on foot/bike/sledge 🙁

But my 4-year old has suddenly learned to draw, rather than scrawl, and my 5-month old has learned to roll over. So on the whole, its great!

Overall 9/10 so far.

Nothing special, same old same old but living in England is a lottery win by itself eh, so can't complain.

I'd really like to have proper frost down here in the south as it's all a bit muddy.

Two bouts of illness, ongoing depression, threat of redundancy which I feel is very real for me and not just being typically paranoid. But to be fair this year is shaping up to be no different than about the last 6!

Its poo at the moment. Partner self-destructing with anxiety and depression and I am having to distance myself more and more to stay sane. In fact sitting at his place of work while he meets his boss. I am not hopeful of a positive outcome and expect constant tears and fury for the foreseeable future. 🙁

On the positive side am booked in to go to Afan at easter for a bikey weekend.

Jools you dont want a frost!!! thats what did for my ankle!

Yeah but hard frozen ground is the next best thing to dry summer trails!

Sorry to hear of those having a bad start, but after a totally shoite couple of years, 2013 is shaping up ok so far for me. All my positives are pretty much the opposite of things which made the last couple of years so crappy... Settling into a new job which is going v well, just bought a house, only managed to ride sporadically during the winter but now got my mojo back properly - perhaps influenced by the mtbing girl I have been out with a couple of times 😉 So bring on the spring, the sunshine and dusty trails...

All good, well was a bit bad last week when the laser in out printer packed up and the manufacturer said "oh your a week out of warrenty!", now that may not sound like much but as the laser costs £40,000 and would essentially come out of my pocket i was panicked to say the least, fortunately we worked out that the sign off wasnt until the end of feb so we were in fact covered! Phew!, Oh and her indoors is harassing me to move to a bigger house... 🙁 but all things considered its great at the mo!

Mostly I am still writing the date as 2012 on things and wasting time on the internets instead of working. Hopefully the new sort of cheese I invented will take off and instigate world peace - peace with one another and within oneself.

Had two nasty bouts of flu/virus since December but I'm getting spliced next month and have plane tickets for NY, Botswana and a two week surfing trip to Croyde.

Sorry to hear the troubles that some are going through. Positive vibes to you all from this corner.

Things are pretty decent for me and mine. My kids are just ace, both at primary school now, learning stuff, making friends, jumping around and generally inspiring the **** out of me.

My work is good, I've got a few extra staff key positions and its starting to make a difference. My wife's work is going crazy at the mo but she's coping, just. We're about to start on a big overhaul of our house next week so things are going to be up in the air for a while.

Hardly done any riding, other than commuting, for the last couple of months. Will be treating myself to a new mtb in march so crossing my fingers for a dry spring.

trailofdestruction - where is that?

Average for me. My Auntie died but it was the end of a long fight with cancer so expected and an end to the suffering. A silver lining was getting to see some family I don't normally see, especially my brother who came over from Afghanistan. Work has been so-so, making lots of stupid mistakes that I shouldn't be, but a trip to Vegas at the beginning of January was good. Riding has been crap in January as expected, but I seem to have found fresh motivation to hit the gym more so have lost a stone since end of November. Looks like I might be fit enough to race by March 🙂

Mixed bag here but mostly positive:

Not so good: watching my family dispute my Gran's Will has been disappointing and been messed around a bit at work which is frustrating. The cold weather hasn't helped my enthusiasm for cycling either.

Bit more good: Plantar Fasciitis on the mend and slowly getting back to running. Me and the Missus have just been approved to have fertility treatment so after nearly 3 years of trying and investigating things might just be looking up!

Not a great start to 2013 - continues from poor 2012.

Work as a self-employed consultant working mainly with smaller charities has been almost non-existent as national and local government funding cuts come through.

Very elderly Mum who lives over 200 miles away is deteriorating rapidly, not helped by St James Hospital in Leeds not X-raying her arm when she fell badly at the end of December. Found she had had a broken arm for over 3 weeks when she fell over again later in January and was treated as she should have been done initially.

Relationship status is frustrating to say the least.

Not been out on a bike, apart from around town, for ages.

On the plus side the charities I am involved with on a voluntary basis, including being a trustee of two, have provided me with lots of things to keep me occupied and challenged, including negotiating a merger of two charities, business planning, and yesterday training 15 young people who are thinking of setting up their own business about marketing.

Got a ski trip to Tignes to look forward to in March, and have entries for the HONC, Forest of Dean Sportive and the LVIS Audax round Bristol to look forward to!

Best wishes and good luck to all those who are having a crap year!

Maybe we should consult oldgit for some advice on making our lives perfik??

Just at an age where I'm happy with my lot.
Don't need or want to think about a career, happy with what I'm doing.
Family all good and put first.
Don't want for anything, realized that 'things' don't bring happiness, but what you do does?
Seem to be riding better than I have in decades
No credit HP blah blah blah
I'm like some weird right wing hippy.

5 weeks in and i've had a week in Egypt, picked up some photo's of a topless lady when her photo's feel from her hands at my feet(Boots photo developing section) and stopped a drunk lady from falling into a deep fast flowing river, then ensuring she got home safely. Also done a Apple Tree pruning course and finally getting round to Printing and publishing my photo's to Market.
Another trip already planned for April, so all in all 2013 is going well.

Sorry to read others aren't having such a a great one, i've been there before for years and offer my sincere best wishes to you.

[u]Upsides[/u]

Survived our first Californian 'winter' - actually colder than you'd think in a single pained, mainly glass, non-insulated house.

Been skiing twice and going again this weekend.

Still finding more local singletrack and have a bunch of riders who ride 3 x a week, even if it is at ungodly hours of the morning.

[u]Downsides[/u]

6000 miles from old friends

Had to wash my bike (first time in 10 months).

$300 heating bill for the month (see above).

People speak funny.

Guilt from reading the posts of those who have not had such a great start - I hope it improves for you.

Good here so far - relocated back to Cumbria with good new jobs for us both, much much shorter commutes, plus another baby on the way. Just need our house sale to go through so we can buy a place of our own up here and move out of the in-laws.

Started bad;
Started off with a dose of manflu, bedridden for 3 days of sweats and aches.....
Mum died on 2nd Jan
Dad has had a couple of operations to allow food to pass into stomach. First diagnosis was a tumour, samples taken and not cancerous 😆
2nd consultant says it is a hernia not a tumour 😆 Can only eat liquidised food for the foreseeable future
Wife is in bed with womens version of manflu ❗
Wife may have to have ops on her toes, possibly removal 😕
Kids are good
Grand kids are good except for youngest who has an extreme intolerance to dairy products which requires lots af label reading before buying food for her 🙄

I have been out on my bike at every opportunity 😆

OT, but can anyone get on the main forum overveiw page?

Well I thought it was going a bit crap, tbh, but reading these has caused me to take stock and rethink.

Work's crap, haven't been riding in months, house renos are over budget and beyond schedule, have been struggling with mild depression, and worried that I'm dumping it all on the OH.

OTH, I have a job that pays well for only using 20% of my potential, the house renos will be good, the depression hasn't been bad enough to see anyone about it, and the OH is a star who's been keeping me sane.

Sorry to hear of so many bad starts to the year. Ours has been ok in reality but can be best summed up by the words phlegm, snot, paracetamol based medicine and antibiotics. Between me and the kids we seem to have had a constant supply of the first two and consumption of the other two.

If anyone has a commercial application for snot please let me know as tissues are expensive.

Good thanks. Can't complain.

Started off well enough - TUPEd over to new job, except that as well as keeping the old conditions we had a few spankingly good ones added in, Wee Ox is doing well after months of pre- and post-birth health worries.

Then we got caught up in the Edinburgh Council Statutory Notice scandal. Currently looking at a final bill more than 30x that of the initial estimate, and then they have the balls to add on a 15% "management" fee. Quite what they've "managed", other than to systematically cock up the entire process, I'm not altogether sure. We're left in the unenviable position of either having our entire life savings eaten up by the financial cost of fighting it, or having our entire life savings and all of the equity in the flat eaten up by just paying the bill.

We're out, buggering off abroad, leaving this corrupt shitehole of a country to find what will invariably turn out to be another corrupt shitehole. A change is as good as a rest, though.

-ve Last year my work hours had been cut to 2-and-a-half days a week, which I just cannot afford to live on. Each month I spend between two and four hundred quid more than I'm bringing in. This year started off by being told this will not be changing.
+ve But at least I am still there! Others aren't. Some income is still better than none.
-ve Not getting anywhere with job interviews.
+ve But have started new (new enough to be still exciting) retraining Open Yooni course.
-ve Have ruptured myself another hernia.
+ve Touch wood, I am controlling the depression and tension.
-ve Have not quite managed to quit smoking yet.
+ve But have quit seven or eight times already this year!
-ve Have had two punctures in the last two outings on the bike. One leading to a disturbing discovery that I had neither spare tube nor puncture repair kit. The resultant seven-mile bike ride home on the flat has utterly destroyed the tyre.
+ve But, despite the weather, have already managed to do more cycling this year than I did over the whole last six months of last year.
-ve Discovered I am SOOOO not bike-fit.
+ve But have rediscovered the joy of it, despite the very wheezy ups and very mincey downs.
+ve And met an old friend in the street. Had quick catch-up chat, and on parting got a very pleasantly surprising, larynx-rattling, eye-popping kiss farewell with a hope for a future.

So there has been ups and downs. But that's life, isn't it. You've just got to ride them.

Positives...we've only had to do the school run by car once (because of Beaver Scout event), even through the snow me & my & boys have commuted on the cargo bike. Work is busy.

Negatives...I've eaten to blimp status. Money is tight. I've got it in my head that I need a Salsa Fargo. Wife was told yesterday that She's being made redundant. 🙁

Work wobbled a bit, but back on course now.
GF wobbled a bit, but back on course now.
Two bouts of illness (viruses) in 5 weeks.
Car needs a new clutch.
Completely lost my cycling mojo. A few years ago I couldn't imagine a time when I wouldn't be [i]racing[/i], let alone riding. Now I could quite happily sell all my bikes.
Just booked a holiday. My first in 8 years.

I've had a lot worse starts to years.

Iolo, I'm in NWales mate, Llandudno. email me KevinevsATyahooDOTcoDOTuk if you feel up to a ride sometime. Even if it's just a pootle about and a beer or a coffee.

oh I'm going to have to write something, aren't i?

Well, left my old job through redundancy at the end of the year and set up my own web development company. Getting lots of good work in the pipeline so it looks like I made the right decision.

I now have a date for some surgery, April 9th, which is scary but all good. Gonna be useless for a couple of months and off the mountain bike for the rest of the year most likely. Might manage the road bike by October, hopefully!

So, all sorts going on but feeling really, really positive. 2013 is MY year.

Rachel

A tiny glimpse of light at the end of a very long tunnel offers hope. Am hoping to be accepted for voluntary work which I'm really excited about.

The scenery and landscape continue to feed my soul. 🙂

Mr overshoot your post turns me inside out mate .
I had a bad dose of Lyme disease that gave me an MS like condition for about a year, I feel I have had a very rare chance to experience what your wife has to live with day to day
I can honestly say I have no idea how she does it .
Tell her a random stranger off the net sends her some love.
Keep on keeping on chap.

I have stopped worrying about getting worried with things so in a way I guess things will get better for me.

Time to pull some birds ... boom boom!

p/s: life was shite for the past few years.

nonk - Member

Mr overshoot your post turns me inside out mate .
I had a bad dose of Lyme disease that gave me an MS like condition for about a year, I feel I have had a very rare chance to experience what your wife has to live with day to day
I can honestly say I have no idea how she does it .
Tell her a random stranger off the net sends her some love.
Keep on keeping on chap.

I'll tell her don't you worry, glad your over it as I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
She has had Secondary Progressive MS (since 1986) sadly she doesn't really have good days, only less poor ones in the last 10 years 🙁
I got back from work @ 18:30 and she didn't want anything to eat just to go to bed (that in itself is a fairly physical undertaking and I'm a 6'3" lump and she's fairly slight, so god knows how others manage)
I'm not ashamed to admit feeling utterly helpless most of the time & having the odd cry to myself as cleaning her up after an "accident" is pretty degrading for both of us.

Upd followed by downs followed by ups followed by - well you get the idea!

My dad is slowly dying of cancer - which is very bad. 😥
Weekends spent visiting him in hospital - which can be depressing. 🙁
Weekends spent in hospital means i'm spending more time with my dad than i have done so for a long time! - which ironically is good! 😕
My kids are great - which is great! 😀
Mrs PE is about to start a new job - which is really great! 😀
Promotion on the horizon - which is nice! 😀
Haven't ridden my bike for a while due to weather and work - which is bad 😥

Hoping the year will even out at some point soon.

@Mr overshoot
Strong as ox the pair of you, I won't try saying owt to make it better just know that I ponder in disbelief at how couples like you manage.
Hat well and truly off.

Can't complain, nothing compared to the stuff some on here are going through. Finish school in June then Uni in September, excited about that.

Thoughts to all of you who are struggling.

I don't know if this makes it better or worse, but seeing a close friend deal with the diagnosis of an incurable brain tumour before Christmas, hearing about Spongebob, the suicide thread a few weeks back, and reading your travails, I have made the decision that I am refusing now to allow minutiae to get me down.

It's hard at times, I have a stressful job and I'm a stressy person anyway, and I have in the past allowed myself to get to some bleak places, but I don't have an ounce to carry compared to the burdens you have. I hope you all find the strength to keep on keeping on, and if in some small way, if it gives you a grain of comfort to know you have made my life a bit better by making me realise what I've got, I want to thank you for that.