Your 2013

[Goafer]

So how was everyone's year? Any significant milestones? Any highlights?

 

A picture speaks a thousand words, so I'll be telling mine with photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that's pretty much it. A rad 2013 really.

[drahkon]

Started working as an Air Traffic controller, found out that it wasn't really for me, got dumped by my ex, quit my job, started studying Biotechnology, met amazing people at university.

 

Crazy but amazing year.

 

2014, do your worst.

[MoogleViper]

- Got a new job

- Moved to Northampton

- Moved to Oxford

- Got bored of Oxford

- Got bored of my job

- Moved to Crotch Crescent

- Moved out of Crotch Crescent

- Went to Amsterdam

[Happenstance]

My 2013 was the same as most years unfortunately, largely uneventful and leaving me feeling slightly depressed about my life by the end of it.

[Beast]

My year is a mixed bag, really.

 

In January, nothing really happened as far as I can remember. I just started talking to my 'friends' again properly, I made plans to lose weight, get more work and to save up money.

 

February was more or less the same as well, I think. Nothing really happened. Again, working and saving money. I pretty much stayed in a lot of the time and this was around the time where my self-confidence started to take a good kick in. I decided it was time to start to try and lose weight but I was still stressed a little...

 

When March came around, I started working out a little to make myself feel better and it did work. There were a few things bothering me at the time but again, I couldn't work out what it was until...

 

April came along and I found out that it was my 'friends' who were creating lies and drama all of the time. Without going into too much detail, they lied about me, spoke about me behind my back and broke their promises so I ditched them. It was quite a big step for me because they were probably the only people I spoke to as friends. I just can't believe it took me so many years for me to see who they truly were. I told them to pretend I was dead to them because I would be doing the same for them. Of course, they retaliated a little and bitched about me on a forum we both go on but I didn't rise to it and ignored them. When I say I'll do something, I'll do it. I also joined the gym because I was so angry and frustrated, I needed something to work it out on.

 

May was quite tough for me. I never felt so alone in my life when it came to friends. Of course, I had my family and my best friend of 20 years but for some reason, I still felt alone. However, the second half of May was awesome. My friend hired a bouncy castle and we both stayed on it for hours on end and some good things happened. It was probably the most fun I had all year.

 

My birthday was in June and it was the first time I had a whole week off to myself. I started losing weight and started becoming more confident and feeling more myself again.

 

July was just beautiful. My best friend didn't feel too happy at this point but we had one of the best conversations I think we've ever had in our entire lives and it really helped us both.

 

August and September didn't have a lot happening at those times. The only thing that had happened was that I got another job and I lost weight.

 

October and November had nothing happening either. My birth mother came into my workplace and it was the first time I saw her in almost 8 years. Of course, I was shocked but her friend came and more or less blamed me for everything that had happened and had told me I hurt her. At that stage, I felt the stress coming back again but luckily enough, with the help of my family and friends and even a couple of the people at work, I didn't stress too much.

 

December saw me be absolutely hectic. Chock-a-block at work with hardly anytime for myself. I lost weight and that's about it.

 

So yeah, it's been a good year but also a dramatic one and boring in some parts. Overall, it's decent enough I guess. For some reason, I have a good feeling about 2014 and even if it's not a good year, I'm still going to try and make it good no matter what!

 

Actually, on reflection, this year has been pretty good. Yeah, I've been down a little bit but I've learned a lot of lessons and I've overcome a lot of things. I learned not to be so trusting, I saw people for who they really were, I decided to be a little more outspoken, I lost weight, I feel more confident and I'm the chocolate geek. What am I on about? I've had a great year!

 

Always look on the bright side of life and see the positives in shite!

[rizz]

Broke up with my girlfriend and bought a new guitar, cut my hair for the first time in nearly 10 years, all in all = win.

[Blade]

Got made redundant

Girlfriend broke up with me

 

Apart from that just a standard year really. Made some new really good friends

[Ashley]

I started the year in a flat/environment I didn't like and moved in April, then again in October and now enjoy where I am, so that's a victory.

 

Quit work twice but still there. It's been an odd year in that regards as I'm conflicted with the sensible adult part of me that needs to pay rent, and the part of me that wants to say fuck it. As a consequence though I have been part time for six months so I got to do some personal work and enjoy the summer, which was really nice. Southbank in the sun

 

Still lots of family dramas, but seeing them less and less as the years go on (I love (most of) them but I can't be dealing with the chaos).

 

Went above nine stone for the first time ever. Bulk up is going well!

 

Trying to put myself out there more 'emotionally', which basically means going on dates. I'm no longer opposed to the concept of not hating people.

 

Feel like my social life has taken a bit of a dive. In part due to my new job (which stated late 2012) as my former colleagues were much more social. Plus a lot of my friends are creative and/or in a LTR and they're not the most reliable.

 

Oh and I went on holiday for the first time in years to Annecy. Swimming in the lake was great (even if it was cold), as was the festival.

 

I'm now rambling.

 

tl;dr it was just a year of mixed things.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Ashley

[yesteryeargames]

Worst year of my life , lost 2 very close family members .

 

All the great games out have offered some distraction, mario was the first one to make me smile again .

 

Really hope next year will be better I certainly hope it won't be any worse .

[Guy]

Pretty good really! Feels like a lot of stuff was organised toward the end of this year that'll be carrying over the next few years.

 

Roll on 2014!

[Rummy]

I think I'm finally grown up, in that 2013 has been a lot of the same at the end of the day. Not my best year tbh, the first half was stressful for a few reasons that all ended up hitting me harder than I expected(and none of them really all that big of a deal, how silly). However I'm still doing the same job, still living in the same place, and still generally the same all round. Is this being grown up? Did make a couple new friends this year, but those fell a bit flat here and there too, so I'm almost going out of 2013 just as I came in! There's been some good times no doubt, but I got dampered by a few other bits. N-E Meet and weeekend in the New Forest with my mates were two definite highlights though. Cousin's wedding in NY was good too.

 

Really, here's hoping for 2014. If everything that's going goes well right now, it should hopefully be a significant year/change for me and hopefully early on too. Watch this space...

 

 

(sorry, this wasn't meant to be as crappy and non-positive as it was)

[Fierce_LiNk]

It's been quite a good year. In fact, in some ways, it has been excellent. There were one or two downsides, but it's mainly been great.

 

The upsides:

 

- Getting more responsibilities in my school and feeling like I am quite important there/well regarded. This was after we had a fair bit of drama with our head of junior school leaving/doing a poor job, so it was nice to have some stability eventually.

 

- Getting a new car! I've had so many car troubles and it was really pissing me off. In the end, I decided to go down a different route and picked up a Kia Picanto brand new. Love it. It's beautiful, no issues, no troubles. (except for one, which I'll explain later)

 

- Going to Glastonbury! Definitely one of the highlights of my year/life. Will never forget this. Just an all-round excellent four days or so down in that part of the world. Excellent music, good company, feels, etc.

 

- Going to Manchester to see Mogwai! This was fairly soon after Glastonbury and was another excellent time of my life. An utterly perfect "gig", and I finally achieved another milestone by being able to see the Zidane film played live, which I never thought possible.

 

- Mini adventures, taking day trips to see friends in Brighton, going back home to see family, venturing to Cardiff, going to London with Ine's family. There were lots of these little getaways, and it always felt like we had things to do this year. Next year's plan is to go on an actual holiday abroad. Hopefully.

 

- Getting fitter/trimmer. Had a lot of compliments from people in work as the weight just kept falling off. Initially, I was bulking and hoping to put on some serious mass. I do like this athletic look and it makes certain parts of my body look pretty good, such as my shoulders and stomach.

 

- Finally falling in love again with music. I had lost this for a while and it seemed to come back in drips and drabs. But, I decided one Saturday morning that enough was enough and brought myself an electric guitar, my first ever electric. Love it. A new friend. I've also got back into bass! All a step in the right direction.

 

- Improving my Spanish. This one is slowly coming along, but I've got a long way to go yet before I would consider myself happy with this. Baby steps.

 

- A nice Christmas with Ine, our first one together.

 

- Having a brilliant summer in the sun. Spent most days off in the garden, just chilling out, having a good time.

 

The downsides:

 

- I was ill twice this year and had to take time off work. They were in fairly close succession and I'm still not sure what the hell was wrong. Thankfully, it's all sorted and I feel great.

 

- Picking up little niggling injuries when exercising. I hurt my wrist recently and also weakened my hip flexor in the summer. It feels better now, but I'm still keeping an eye on things in case they flare up again.

 

- Work was topsy turvy, but it's finally evening itself out.

 

- All of my friends seem to be getting married, becoming pregnant or both. Not the sort of thing I want right now, and it's a tiny bit annoying how suddenly things will change as a result of this.

 

- My car's wing mirror got torn off, which is shit as it was only a few months old. Faith in humanity lessened.

 

- Missed Ine's sister's wedding as I had work.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Fierce_LiNk

[Emma]

Come on guys, most of you seem to be focusing on the negative. Think back, you must have done more fun things this year!

 

Some fun things i did:

 

• Visited Saltaire and the David Hockney Museum.
  
• Sledging and making snowmen.
  
• Having front row seats to see the Blood Brothers
  
• Visited Doncaster Wildlife Park (it's awesome)
  
• Went to wedding number 2 in Hong Kong, which was on a boat, then partied in Lan Kwai Fong until 4am.
  
• Experienced Dialogue in the Dark: link
  
• Saw Bill Bailey stand up
  
• Visited Bakewell and Haddon Hall
  
• Incubated and hatched the Chickens, kept two.
  
• Lots of gardening and LOTS of BBQs
  
• Played Borderlands and loads of other games.
  
• Went to Cleethorpes and travelled on a miniature railway and had a pint in the World's smallest pub.
  
• Visited Italy, including Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius
  
• Moved to a cheaper house near all our friends
  
• Went to two more weddings and was invited to my friend's in May 2014.
  
• Got a Kitty.
  
• Spent Christmas with my family.
   
  

 

 

Overall my biggest thing was realising I was depressed and managing to overcome it. :cool:

[Serebii]

This year for me has been a massive buildup to October. Sad as it may be, the year was focused on Pokémon for me.

 

It started with January 8th when my PC blew up 45 minutes before the big Pokémon Direct. Worst bt of the year. Ran to the PC store, which was luckily open and just down the road. Grabbed a graphics card and ran home, installing it in a panic while hearing it on the phone to a friend who had access to the site's FB and Twitter and so could post things there.

 

Bought a new PC in February as well as a Laptop for backup. Each month has been the build up with news until October when I disappeared socially and focused upon Pokémon. Been easing back into socialness the past month or so since the workload is done.

 

Had a decent amount of freelance work in the interim which has paid the bills.

 

Other than that, same old year as always. I get games, I go out drinking with friends. A friend had a baby and another bought a house, but nothing really happened for me.

[Jonnas]

The semester I spent in Germany was exactly what I needed for myself, to get my shit together. The winter semester since has been quite busy, but I feel more focused and motivated than ever for the future.

 

Just gotta figure out exactly what I'm gonna do for 2014 other than my exams.

[ReZourceman]

January

 

I started the year off with a huge amount of excitement about the 100th issue of Invincible coming out. The greatest comic book in the world, so I re-read the entire series in preparation for it.

 

 

At the cinema I saw Les Mis, Gangster Squad, Django and Zero Dark Thirty.

 

Towards the end of the month, Invincible #100 was released and I was very very very happy, as the letter that I had sent in was printed in it.

 

 

February

 

In this month, I saw I Give It A Year, Wreck-It Ralph and This Is 40. I also celebrated my 26th birthday, so my dad came and stayed with us for a night (he lives in Italy, so I don't see him too often). I cooked salmon with dauphinoise potatoes and he was really impressed with my mad cooking skills.

 

 

I got some cool LEGO too.

 

 

I proclaimed it Donut Day at work.

 

 

My friends and I went to London to celebrate. We went to Leicester Square, and my first experience of Chiquitos (loved it), and then we went to the casino which was ludicrously busy. Be careful though, LDN is a scary place.

 

 

 

So Winter was really great! I also saw my sister and her then fiance.

 

March

 

One of the greatest games ever created came out.

 

 

After a minor slip up with Yodel, I ended up having two LEGO Palace Cinemas, which I created a thread for...

 

 

I made fondant potato for the first time and wasn't overly impressed considering the effort to taste ration (ETR).

 

 

Went to London to take an exam (Financial Securities Level 2, involving mainly EU regulations and advanced types of instruments) which I failed (marginal), annoyingly. But met up with Daft for lunch which helped with the post-failure-sadness.

 

 

Claire and I also celebrated our 8 year anniversary by not doing anything.

 

April

 

I got a car! My previous car broke in November 2012 so I was without transport for several months. Had to get a loan in the end as moneys always tight, but I was so happy to be wheelbound again.

 

 

At the end of the month, Iron Man 3 came out and I shat myself with excitement, opting to view it at 12:00.

 

 

 

I also sold some stuff on eBay.

 

 

And I went on my first ever stag-do to Budapest. It was my now-brother-in-law's stag do, and I found out some disturbing facts about my sister (although quite hilarious....in fact, I'll just say it because its hilarious. She limped into food tech at school one day, and it transpired that she was too polite to inform her sexual partner that he had the wrong hole) Hahahah. Ahhh....ewww. Anyway, it was a great time, really enjoyed Budapest, and Mark's friends were all so great.

 

 

May

 

Went to a wildlife park in the Cotswolds.

 

 

 

THEME FEST SPRING 2013!

 

Ahhhhh. This was amazing. Accompanied by Goafer and our pal Michael, we journeyed to theme parks and stay-overs, for what must have been about the fourth or fifth Theme Fest. On the first day, I picked up Goaf, and we started the travel up to Blackpool. The journey was hilarious as always, and with the guys it didn't seem like to long, although it was about 3-4 hours. I mean...we had a home-made cool box!

 

 

We stopped off on the way and Goafer sorted my car out, using his (already evidenced in this thread) mad car skillz.

 

 

When we got to Blackpool, we checked in to the hotel....seemed fine, and then we ventured off to Blackpool Pleasure Beach. It was about 12:30pm ish I think. The park was absolutely DEAD which was fucking amazing. Along with most rides, Dora The Explorer was walk-on, and Goafer in particular enjoyed this one.

 

 

We took plenty of photos.

 

 

Mike failed to win a cuddly toy.

 

 

I sucked off a pirate.

 

 

We went into Pasaj Del Terror which was probably the best scare maze I have ever been in. It was amazing. At one point, Michael Myers came in and stood in front of us wielding a knife. Then the lights cut out and we have to go forward...ajhhhh it was just amazing. Incredible!

 

 

We took a nice walk after a short rest at the hotel, and I think we had McDonalds for dinner, then went to the casino and won a bit of money.

 

 

What a wonderful day.

 

The next day we woke up and travelled to Staffordshire, for the day after we would go to Alton Towers. We arrived at the accommodation which was a CONSIDERABLE step up from the last, in fact this was a little place we have stayed at before - it's absolutely brilliant, you basically get an entire cottage.

 

 

 

The morning was insanely windy and rather wet, I particularly remember the Asda car park being mental.

 

We went to the Chained Oak, which is a tree with chains on, as talked about in the Alton Towers ride "Hex" and I filmed a spoof horror film, which I will eventually re-upload but is currently not online due to a future 2013 event.

 

 

We got back to the cottage, ordered take away, played MTG and Cards Against Humanity and generally had a nice relaxing evening.

 

 

The next day we went to Alton Towers. Despite going two and a half months after the expected opening date, The Smiler was still not open which made us sad. But we still had a great day. Nemesis front row was SO fun.

 

 

 

We got back to the cottage, and again relaxed after a tiring day.

 

 

We then all went home the following morning.

 

 

Not sure how many photos/words/etc can be in one post, so I'll do a second post for the second half of the year.

[ReZourceman]

June

 

I don't remember anything really happening in June. I saw This Is The End and World War Z at the cinema and like/loved both of them.

 

Oh yeah....the game of the generation came out.

 

 

July

 

Having enjoyed Blackpool so much, I wanted to take Claire there, so there was an original plan where we had booked some time off to go up to Alton Towers I think, but in the end we went to Blackpool and again had a fantastic time. Played a lot of arcade machines as we like that kind of thing, and Claire won a tablet!

 

 

The tablet turned out to be shit, but I'll still never forget that wonderful moment.

 

Our hotel was SO much better than the shit hole we stayed in at Theme Fest, it was right next to the pleasure beach, you could watch The Big One from our room. This was the view from the window.

 

 

I got second highest score on Bejewelled Blitz on my second attempt.

 

 

We went up Blackpool Tower.

 

 

The next day we went to the pleasure beach.

 

 

It was a lot busier than the last visit (early May, school time, vs July) but it was still a lovely day. A nice little break.

 

My "How To Draw" spoof series on YouTube started to gain a huge amount of traction, and my subscribership was growing faster and faster than ever. Instead of one subscriber here and there, I was getting two or three a day.

 

 

Next up was the N-Europe Meet 2013. It was so great to see everyone again, these weekends are really special. Great to meet new faces I'd not met before too, another fantastic day....

 

 

It's a crying shame that the following day, not only did I cause great embarrassment to myself by "vomitting" (it was really just water) in the morning, slightly tagging a member (I'm still so sorry), but just felt HORRENDOUS in the morning. It was like a terrible hangover, but I didn't even drink. I had to bow out of the Sunday festivities early which I was so gutted for. When I got on the train home, I felt a lot of relief. I "vomitted" another two times after leaving the guys, (once just outside (well around the corner) from Marylebone) where it was literally illuminous yellow saliva that I was spitting up.

 

Anyway, got on the train, set my alarm and literally curled up in a ball, closed my eyes, and stayed like it the entire journey (luckily only one hour), got about 5 minutes away from home and had to use the toilet on the train, and vomited again. Took a photo of the state I was in in the toilet.

 

 

With the following hashtags.

 

#stateofme #spiderdehydration #datheadache #datvomit #water #dehydration #noleicestersquareactionforme #datdissappointment #shithappens #sameshitdifferentshit #dosehashtags #deminstagrams #trainnap #trainsick #unenjoyabletrainjourney #atleastitsnotaspanishtrain

 

I got home and actually felt....pretty okay. So well in fact, that after getting home, when Claire arrived back I suggested we not waste the day, so we saw The Worlds End which I actually thought was relatively shit.

 

August

 

I continued to make LEGO MARVEL custom minifigures and tweeted the creator of Gauntlet (and fan favourite writer of She Hulk) Dan Slott, who replied.

 

 

Also made it onto T.V.

 

 

And I believe it was this month that I had the horrible news that ym YouTube channel had been deleted/banned/deactivated. I was searching for "ReZourceman" on youtube, trying to find a video...when nothing came up. That's strange I thought. So I tried loading up my phone, and thats when I saw the message. Awful awful awful. Had about 500 subscribers (well was just about to reach that milestone), had never been more popular and poof, lost 400+ videos. Nightmare.

 

 

 

September

 

In the financial services industry, you usually need to take off two weeks in a row (in case you are committing internal fraud, there is a two week period where you shouldn't be able to have control over whatever), so in September I took my two weeks off, as my main holiday of the year. To start it off, Claire and I went to Bognor Regis, and more specifically Butlins. We had a fantastic time, relaxing, playing arcade machines, going to beaches etc. I got a high score on Bejeweled again. (This was on the Friday, when we got there).

 

 

On the Saturday, we went to Chichester and then onto Pagham, which was where I lived when I was a boy (till the age of about 10).

 

 

I had planned on proposing below the cathedral in Chichester (not religious, just a nice building), but it didn't work out, so I proposed on Pagham beach.

 

 

 

 

(She said "Yes", hence the crying).

 

Another highlight of the holiday was going to the spa. They have an outside hot tub, and the time that we booked happened to be INCREDIBLY INCREDIBLY WINDY and very very wet too. So this hot tub experience was genuinely one of the top 10 most incredible feelings of my life. A perfectly warm and relaxed and comfortable body, but with your head exposed to the slightly painful rain, the harsh and refreshing freezing cold conditions that made you feel so in the moment and alive. It was something else.

 

It was a great weekend away.

 

We returned and GTAV came out which was fun and my Wii U also arrived which was not fun (LOL jst trollin. It's okay).

 

The next weekend we went to Bristol to go to the wedding of my sister and her now husband Mark. Here is me and Mark's brother at the rehearsal (we each had a reading).

 

 

It was absolutely wonderful. I was really overcome with emotion, it was actually one of the best days of my life which sounds sad, but whatever. I am so happy for them.

 

 

The final week of our time off, we just chilled.

 

October

 

One of my favourite movies ever/my favourite movie of the year came out! I loved it. Tonnes. Thor The Dark World, which I saw at midnight and was so cool.

 

I made my coolest Jack O'Lantern ever!

 

 

I went to Thorpe Park Fright Nights with some friends. Enjoyed the new mazes. My Bloody Valentine was very cool. Blair Witch Project was pretty shit actually but kinda okay for a fan, I guess. Cabin In The Woods was alright, but the queue was awesome with the inbred actors. Swarm was incredible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

November

 

Extra Life 2013! Wheeeee.

 

 

This was the third year I have done it, and the second year that I hosted. So I was a little more organised this year. It was great seeing the guys again, although Mike was sorely missed and of course Flamey in Canada (although he held down the fort in the Canadian leg of the team), and it was actually a lot easier than my both previous attempts (I think due to choice of late game being Excite Truck).

 

 

It was a fantastic weekend, obviously tiring, but we raised a lot and it was great spending time with these friends I rarely see.

 

December

 

A new, really nice casino opened up in Milton Keynes in about September ish, and I'd been about three times or so. Went in December and was up for the first time there.

 

 

My sister and brother-in-law announced they are having a baby.

 

Christmas came and I was very poorly. Christmas Day was absolutely horrendous. I'm better now, but still got a slightly stuffy nose.

 

 

THAT WAS MY YEAR. Overall it certainly had its low moments (No car for three months, losing my YouTube channel) but so many high moments of greater importance (Theme Fest, engagement, wedding).

 

Pretty decent.

 

In 2014 I am planning the BIGGEST Theme Fest ever, so I am really looking forward to that, looking forward to the birth of my niece or nephew, the release of Captain America The Winter Soldier, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Amazing Spider-Man 2, and looking forward MASSIVELY MASSIVELY to going to Florida in October.

[nightwolf]

Man some of you have had a pretty good year!

 

My year mostly started out with my new job at Jagex and the same house I'd been living with in over a year.

 

I've mostly - mentally had it pretty rough and quickly slipped back to how I was in university, which was worrying. So I ended up doing the following:

 

1. Booking a holiday to Thailand

2. Buying a PS3 and selling my XBOX

3. Join the gym work offered

4. Renewing a housing contract

 

For the most part I've preferred the last 6 months of the year, I went to Thailand which was awesome, spent a lot of money and finally decided it was time to move on from Cambridge, that decision has made it a pretty scary time for 2014 when I have to figure out where to go.

 

But yeah 2013, not so good, with some cool highlights. Nothing like 2012 alas, but bring on 2014?

[Dannyboy-the-Dane]

I applaud the thorough and visually interesting year breakdowns of Goaf and ReZ. I myself am far too lazy to be as thorough, so I shall simply sum up my year in general: Overall it's been a great one. I gained some amazing new friends with whom I've had the greatest of times and to whom I've grown very close, and in general I've just had some amazing times with friends. 2013 also had a lot of great happenings to offer like the N-E Meet, the Doctor Who Anniversary and my very first tabletop RPG campaign. It's also been a great year for me as regards personal development - I feel better than probably ever before, and I can only see it improving. Oh, and I also handed in my BA project, which I keep forgetting is a pretty decent achievement.

 

All in all a pretty amazing year for me. Bring on 2014!

[Kav]

Girlfriend went back to Mexico, we broke up

Girlfriend came back from Mexico to give it a go

Met @Blade on MH3U

Hard carnage in Leeds with @Zechs Merquise and Blade

Had a nice week away with the girlfriend in the lakes

Got a surprise birthday party thrown for me which truly stunned me

Girlfriend asked me to marry her, I said no

Girlfriend went back to Mexico and we broke up

Went to Sheffield to see Blade to cheer him up

Went out in Leeds again with Zechs and Blade

Went on quite a few dates (need to go on less, I'm spending too much money, haha)

Went out in Leeds again with Zechs and Blade

Told the director at work I'd be looking for a new job

Had an awesome new year with Zechs and Blade

 

 

So yeah, that was interspersed with plenty of drinks with my mates from this neck of the woods too. It's been quite a year for the drink for me, I probably should drink less this year, haha.

[Blade]

@kav82

 

I thought your highlight of the year was seeing me and Zechs at your surprise bday party and seeing the Blades on my bday

Edited January 4, 2014 by Blade

[Dog-amoto]

Not a bad year, went for an interview in Sept 2012, passed everything but didn't expect to hear anything as they placed me in the talent pool. So started 2013 still doing my driving school business, but out of the blue in February, got a call from Northern Rail asking me to start as a conductor the following week. So had to fold up most of my driving clients, started the training but kept doing lessons at the weekend to make up the money, as the training wage wasn't enough. So spent four months doing the training and teaching, so didn't have a single day off between Feb and June, which put a little strain on my relationship with my girlfriend. All is well now, she's actually moving in this month.

 

So glad I did it though, met some great friends and get so much more time off now with the luxury of paid holidays. Went to Portugal in October, first proper holiday in six years.

 

Currently in the process of applying for a train driver job, just got one more assessment to pass and if it goes well, I'm in. Career wise, 2014 may shape up to be the same as 2013 if I get the job. But I won't be doing any more driving lessons. I actually hate driving now, used to love it.

 

Multimedia wise, managed to resist the PS4 and Xbone so far. Will probably be 2015 before I get one. Finished a few games that were on my to play list, some of them for many years like the Minish Cap. 2013 saw the end of one of the greatest TV shows ever in Breaking Bad. Managed to catch up on a few others such as Mad Men, Homeland etc. Movies wise, not a great year but the highlight had to be Star Trek Into Darkness. Loved that.

 

Will there be the usual N-E awards this year? Will @Magnus be at the helm again? Loved his illustrations!