How was 2016 for you?

[Gus Mears]

Relatively self evident.

 

This year was wank with a side of decent. I got a new job in January, went mental in February, spent the following six months attempting to stop being mental. Got a great new job which I love last month and went mental again in September after shagging my best friend and the ensuing hilarity of abortions, arguments and visceral hatred that resulted from it. I now can't drive a car for a while because of epilepsy which is crap. I went to Boston on holiday which was tremendous and ran some half marathons. I also drank too much. 

 

As both a politics dork and someone who works within that field, 2016 was the worst year of my life. I am relatively sure the arc of history bends towards progress, but it's the first time where I am uncertain if i will live to see much of it. I feel we have regressed massively as a society this year and 2017 will be worse as we usher in a disgusting human being as leader of the free world. I am more fervent than ever in my belief that the world would be a better place if the majority of us didn't exist. We're an appalling stain on the earth as a race and I would just as soon leave it to the cats and badgers and all that other shit in the wild.

 

Happy fucking New Year.

[PunkStep]

In terms of celebrity deaths it was shit and politically it was a fucking disaster. Never before have I felt this sense of the Western world moving backwards until this year, it's really disappointing. But we've covered all this shite already.

 

Other than that, for me it was a good year. Promotion in March and the directors here love me, so career-wise it's been a good'un. My wife changed jobs and is now a 1-on-1 LSA at the school our kids attend (which is very handy), looking after a boy with ADHD. This means she no longer works nights twice a week, I get my Thursday and Friday nights back, we all get our Saturday together back and she's not as shattered. The kids are doing well at school and I never get bored seeing how their personalities develop on a daily basis, it's the best thing in life. Had a cracking time in Disneyland Paris over the summer and a nice break in Edinburgh with the missus too.

 

I've probably watched more wrestling in 2016 than I have in years because of NXT still being excellent, the Cruiserweight Classic, the new brand split and AJ Styles. I've watched a bit of Lucha Underground, Wrestle Kingdom and some of the Broken Hardy stuff too, I've enjoyed this year overall.

 

It's been a pretty remarkable year for sports too, I was really into the Olympics and got caught up in the emotion of Leicester City winning the league- which was my favourite Premier League season that didn't end with Arsenal as champions. Plus Murray winning Wimbledon and topping the rankings.

 

 

But bloody hell Gus, you've had a right year haven't you? Ups and downs to the extreme. You're always positive regardless so let's hope 2017 pays off for you.

[Keith Houchen]

Shit.

 

Got divorced in February and lost months to alcoholism and drug abuse. However I've cleaned up now and I'm working again and relatively sober and "Dirty but clean" in regards to the other stuff.

 

On the plus side, I did see Springsteen with Butch and Frankie. Make of this what you will, but that was one of the highlights of the year, so thanks for helping me through

 

Also thanks to those on here who were and still are there for me when I needed it. You're good people.

[NorthSeaTiger]

A pretty shitty year for me. Started the year off with horrific flooding in the village I live in, river burst its banks and poured through a sewage works into loads of houses. Spent 2 days up to my thighs in boggin water, helping pensioners rescue what they could from their shit filled houses. Lost 5 days wage as a result as my house was at risk too. Thankfully it didn't flood. But lost my car as it got flooded up to the seats and was a write off.

Then my grandfather-in-law died a month later, which was devastating for the whole family as expected.

 

March came along and I was told I was another victim of the oil industry downturn. So that was shit. Got a decent payoff, but I'm now working in a local golf club restaurant for about 60% less wages than previous. So everything is tighter than a ducks arse now. Then my wife had to go into hospital for a hysterectomy at just 34, which meant 4 months off work( she just went back 2 weeks ago) which obviously meant that Xmas is a hard one this year. Fingers crossed 2017 isn't as big a cunt as this year. It's been one shitty event after another for us....

[HarmonicGenerator]

It's been reasonable. Usual trials and tribulations at work, some incredibly cool days I'll never forget, some that I'd rather not remember. Personally been a bit tricky as plans to finally move in with the g/f never took off as she couldn't find stable work round here and ended up having to move further away again to get it. 2017 will be the year of figuring out how we can be somewhere that's workable for both of us.

[Mr.E]

This sort of time last year, I fell into a deep depression.

 

I basically spent the most of this year tied up in that. I've been taking medication for my issues, but have managed to (very slowly and with 1 failed attempt along the way) finally come off of that as well. As of writing, *touch wood*, I'm doing much better and am in a good place. That added in with my debts slowly chipping away, my credit rating finally improving enough to get a credit card for the first time in my life and my daughter doing much better in her second year of school, it's not been too bad.

 

I also managed to bag a new job, which is a huge improvement on my last one, in terms of the people/atmosphere and I got a small pay rise as well.

 

 

Aside from all the garbage from politics and celeb's passing away, it's been not too bad.

[SiMania]

Work wise it's been crazy, restructures, new management team, budget cuts, redundancies....it's been like starting a new job with none of the perks.  Thankfully it's worked out well, i get on great with my new boss, I've avoided the chop, just had a great review and have some decent work in the pipeline.  

 

Family wise I couldn't be happier, 2 great kids who astound me all the time with their development.

 

Music wise, I saw The Boss again which was awesome, it was a great out day with 3 of my friends, horrifically one of them (who I'd known since primary 1) took his own life 3 months later.

 

AImost by accident, discovered Sous-Vide cooking which has resulted in more kitchen gadgets and some tasty meals, more to come from this in 2017.

 

After selling some shares, I upgraded my Home Brew kit to a GrainFather, resulting in some cracking beers that have gone down a treat with family and friends, really surprised myself with how good a stout I can make where the ingredients for 40 pints cost the equivalent of 3 pints in London.

[PunkStep]

Spent 2 days up to my thighs in boggin water, helping pensioners rescue what they could from their shit filled houses.

 

This is commendable, what a great thing to do.

[Slapnut]

Crap, for the most part. I spent most of it without my girlfriend because she fell into severe depression and moved back in with her parents 3 hours away. I was stuck in a dead-end, boring job for most of the year that I was only staying in because I was getting paid. A close family member was diagnosed with cancer, only months after my uncle (his dad) was wrongly accused of being inappropriate with the teenage girl he was foster caring for. Wales didn't win the Six Nations. I know half of this isn't anywhere near as bad as what some of you have been through, but it was still pretty shite.

 

However, it wasn't all bad. I went to Dallas for Wrestlemania with my best mate, and a few months later went to New York and Washington DC for a wedding. I left the job I hated, and have moved to London with my girlfriend to see how that goes. My cousin got the all clear last week, and my uncle was cleared of any wrong doing. Plus, Wales will definitely win the next Six Nations. Things seem to be looking up.

[Retro Red]

 

Spent 2 days up to my thighs in boggin water, helping pensioners rescue what they could from their shit filled houses.

 

This is commendable, what a great thing to do.

 

Whole community came out in force those bad few weeks, was really great to see. I live in the same area but thankfully nowhere close to the river. 

[bAzTNM#1]

Was an alright year until about November when the shit hit the fan and I got every illness going. Had a doctor say I had AIDS without a blood test, that was fun. Found out I had a gallbladder full of stones. Need an operation. Found out that the liver department of your local hospital is a very depressing place, filled with 1980s AIDS posters.

 

I've got a good feeling about 2017 though.

[mim731]

Pretty good, with a few shitty moments I suppose, but mostly very good.

 

Went to Tokyo in January which was a life-long ambition. Myself and my wife bought a new house, moved to a new area which is great. Got made redundant in June with no pay off, which led to a few months of uncertainty and struggling, with a few dark moments for my mental health. Finally got a new, better job in November, but it's a near two hour each way commute from home. So a mixed bag, but I shouldn't grumble, I know a lot of people are far worse off. 

 

We lost a lot of my heroes this year, Bowie was particularly heartbreaking, and still is. Also Trump, Brexit, terrorism, and a whole heap of other real-world awfulness has made this year a scary one. On the plus side Leicester won the league, and that was quite the story. Every cloud.

[NorthSeaTiger]

 

 

 

 

Spent 2 days up to my thighs in boggin water, helping pensioners rescue what they could from their shit filled houses.

This is commendable, what a great thing to do.

Whole community came out in force those bad few weeks, was really great to see. I live in the same area but thankfully nowhere close to the river.

[NorthSeaTiger]

Thanks. Just doing what needed to be done as the local authorities were non existent. Left all the locals to get on with it.

 

Bicurious Dad, where do you live? Do we know each other?

[Grecian]

Pretty decent, all in all.

 

My kids are happy and healthy, my wife is happy and out of the job she hated and doing something she enjoys, my best mate seems to be coming out of his mental health problems, I've started a Masters degree which is going okay so far. I still enjoy my job after 9 years of doing it, even if my boss is an utter cock, and I'm still nicely overpaid for doing it. I went to New York in April (lifetime ambition fulfilled), I lost a few stone in weight over the past couple of years and my goal this year was to not put any of it back on (I haven't).

 

Bad stuff - looking past the political crap, my grandmother died which should be sad but she'd had a massive stroke around 30 years ago and a succession of health problems ever since, so it was almost a relief that she finally went. It'd been expected for most of the past 15 years, to be fair, so not the biggest shock.

 

Not much to complain about, I'm quite content with my life.