Ivo
Established Member
Less than six of the 8,760 hours of the year 2011 remain to those of us observing GMT (i.e. the vast majority), so I thought it would make for a good time to do a bit of reflecting.
Highs...
Finally leaving Great Britain on my own, and what a "holiday" it was (even if it was predominantly for bashing purposes). I have never enjoyed a week as much as I enjoyed the time in Ireland and on over-the-top return leg. Not to mention experiencing the amazing 80 Class, and of course my cab ride in Carrickfergus! If only I had known the Queen's itinerary for her first day in Dublin, given it was also the day I was there...
Finally achieving recognition from my University that I do know the odd thing or two about buses, and as such sitting in on a meeting with First Somerset & Avon.Since then I have done quite a lot of work for the Students' Union, and have created a potential timetable for our buses next year. This obvously isnt that muc of high, but it's nice to finally get noticed for this - and to actually put a long-term hobby to good use!
Setting the World Record for the fastest ever completion of the Docklands Light Railway network, even if it did last for only a week and thus did not result in a certificate or similar. The Travelcard I used for the journey still sits in my ticket wallet to this day, behind my Railcard.
Lows...
Depression, and being on the verge of suicide back in February. At one stage the only thing that stopped me from going out and carrying out my plan was feeling so low that I couldn't even motivate myself to kill myself! That takes some doing! On a more serious note though, the whole episode has put me back a full 12 months in my life as far as work is concerned.
The Day Everything Went Wrong - October 28th. Six letters of complaint and only two that produced an at least satisfactory response, one of which wasn't really a response at all. Still feeling the financial cost of that day in having to buy more stamps for further letters!
Being stuck in Southend on a very small budget for twelve weeks wasn't exactly nice. On the rare occasion I did get out, something almost always went wrong - most notably, I almost got stranded in Holyhead! Only some intuitive thinking - and a payphone - got me out of a very difficult situation...
Overall, for me 2011 has not been too bad for the most part, but the dent in it is so serious that would probably be third from bottom in any imaginary list of "best years of my life" (beating only 2006 and 2007). 2012 should beat it without too much trouble, but we'll have to wait and see.
Meanwhile, what has happened on a macro scale? Well... not much that can be considered positive. The Arabian uprisings, the riots, drought, the Eurozone and the odd strike have all caused major problems on a global or otherwise at least national level, but there have been some good things. For us for instance, we had the St David's Day announcement about the GWML, while on a more prominent scale several enemies of the West have also been lost in Bin Laden, Gaddafi and Jong-Il. Lastly, we also lost one of the country's greatest entertainers in Sir Jimmy Saville, but also one of its most prominent - if controversial - role models in Amy Winehouse.
That's enough of me I think. Any comments anyone else would like to add? I haven't said anything on sport for instance...
Highs...
Finally leaving Great Britain on my own, and what a "holiday" it was (even if it was predominantly for bashing purposes). I have never enjoyed a week as much as I enjoyed the time in Ireland and on over-the-top return leg. Not to mention experiencing the amazing 80 Class, and of course my cab ride in Carrickfergus! If only I had known the Queen's itinerary for her first day in Dublin, given it was also the day I was there...
Finally achieving recognition from my University that I do know the odd thing or two about buses, and as such sitting in on a meeting with First Somerset & Avon.Since then I have done quite a lot of work for the Students' Union, and have created a potential timetable for our buses next year. This obvously isnt that muc of high, but it's nice to finally get noticed for this - and to actually put a long-term hobby to good use!
Setting the World Record for the fastest ever completion of the Docklands Light Railway network, even if it did last for only a week and thus did not result in a certificate or similar. The Travelcard I used for the journey still sits in my ticket wallet to this day, behind my Railcard.
Lows...
Depression, and being on the verge of suicide back in February. At one stage the only thing that stopped me from going out and carrying out my plan was feeling so low that I couldn't even motivate myself to kill myself! That takes some doing! On a more serious note though, the whole episode has put me back a full 12 months in my life as far as work is concerned.
The Day Everything Went Wrong - October 28th. Six letters of complaint and only two that produced an at least satisfactory response, one of which wasn't really a response at all. Still feeling the financial cost of that day in having to buy more stamps for further letters!
Being stuck in Southend on a very small budget for twelve weeks wasn't exactly nice. On the rare occasion I did get out, something almost always went wrong - most notably, I almost got stranded in Holyhead! Only some intuitive thinking - and a payphone - got me out of a very difficult situation...
Overall, for me 2011 has not been too bad for the most part, but the dent in it is so serious that would probably be third from bottom in any imaginary list of "best years of my life" (beating only 2006 and 2007). 2012 should beat it without too much trouble, but we'll have to wait and see.
Meanwhile, what has happened on a macro scale? Well... not much that can be considered positive. The Arabian uprisings, the riots, drought, the Eurozone and the odd strike have all caused major problems on a global or otherwise at least national level, but there have been some good things. For us for instance, we had the St David's Day announcement about the GWML, while on a more prominent scale several enemies of the West have also been lost in Bin Laden, Gaddafi and Jong-Il. Lastly, we also lost one of the country's greatest entertainers in Sir Jimmy Saville, but also one of its most prominent - if controversial - role models in Amy Winehouse.
That's enough of me I think. Any comments anyone else would like to add? I haven't said anything on sport for instance...
) 
).
I was going to post about that AFTER MIDNIGHT! 
hock:
