2024 Begone you horrid miserable year. 2025, please be gentle.

[jknaus]

I can hardly wait for this year to finish and be done and pray and hope 2025 is a better year. Started 2024 with some strife at work just in time for my younger brother to go into hospital and die a week later. Then being the Executor of the will and trying to do the job from another Province and with other issues tested me. Started getting things under control in the summer to have our oldest cat Abbott get sick and $3000 later have to be put down. Then washer and dryer packed it in and more money gone. Finally things going better and Father in Law gets sick and hospitalized only to pass away. Wife spent a couple of months at home seeing him off and then helping to clean up his house. A nice quiet Christmas and yesterday one of our young cats, Sam was listless and not eating or drinking. $2000 later after having surgery to remove a 12 inch piece of ribbon from his intestine we are on the cusp of a new year. Just hoping nothing else will happen in the next 18 hours and for 2025 to usher in a better year. I guess if I get the job that just opened in the next few weeks I will know. If I dont then chances are I'll be let go in current job as I'm too broken. So now it the good ole Hurry Up and Wait.
James

 

[Barney]

Praying for a better year for you, plastic brother. Our year was rough finacillly and Carol is the executor of an estate, but nowhere bad as your's.

 

[moon puppy]

Hang in there James. 2020 was like that for us, then 21...24 wasn't bad. Neither of us had ambulance rides and we got some major bills paid off so we're able to squirrel away more money. Cindy loves retirement and I love her being home. My WFH situation keeps getting better, corp dictated that WFH people need to show up at their office at least 2 days a week but several of us in IT got exceptions considering several of us are no where close to a local office nor do we have space in those local facilities. Gotta hate it.
Planning on work bench upgrade soon but I got to get the roof of the garden shed fixed. Considering the region is still recovering from Helena there's little chance I have to get a contractor to git'er done for me.
It's gotta get better!!

 

[Rhino]

People may try to tell you "Don't worry, everything will be all right." It won't. I am not the kind of friend that will try to blow sunshine up your backside.

When our loved ones pass away, it is never "all right" again. That space that was filled by your son and your Dad-in-law will never be the same. "Normal" becomes something different. Of all people, the author of Doctor Who, Jamie Anderson, once wrote "Grief, I've learned, is really just love. All of that unspent love gathers in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and the hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go."

Going forward is key. You don't forget and get over it, you go forward a little everyday. "The pain passes, but the beauty remains". A some guy named Renoir said that, I think. A fact I dislike is that the only constant in Life is change. I don't like change.

If your Cold Lake house is snug and warm, and your sweetie is still dear and lovey, your pantry has satisfying food in it and your health is almost pretty good, there are still things to be grateful for. "Gettin' old ain't fer pussies. you gotta be tough." Sam Elliot.
These phrases bring me comfort as Teresa and I "move forward" from sorrowful events in our own little chunk of this World.
They make me sound wise. I am not. I just remember lots of things.

On this New Year's eve, I offer a toast.

Here's to the Men who cheat, steal and lie.
When you cheat, you cheat death.
When you steal, you steal a lady's heart.
When you lie, you lie to save a friend.

I believe 2025 will be vast improvement over the last 4 years here in "The Colonies".
Getting criminals that set people on fire out of our country (in tiny pieces) will be a dandy start.
Keep yer stick on the ice. I'm pullin' for ya.

 

[Impisi]

Well in Germany we say "Ich drücke dir die Daumen" (I'm pressing my thumbs for you) whitch I think is the english "crossing fingers" - So I'm pressing al my thumbs for you James, all 4 that 2025 becomes a better year.

 

[Brokeneagle]

Well I am hoping with you James as I had a 'bloody awful' 2024 as well.
Jan - Sister in Hospital with gall bladder syst and malfunction - operation and bag for another 3 months until they could work out how to fix.
Feb - mini tornado that knocked down a lot of trees in my area and cut the power for a few weeks - had to buy a generator and petrol and throw out the food in the freezer and fridge.
- Mum in Hospital with heart attack.
March - local council made it impossible to move forward with my new carport (after it was paid for as a kit) so had to wait for my paperwork to expire and fall off the radar. Had it built /assembled in June finally, without approval.
- Mild heart attack and 5 days in Hospital then rehab for 8 weeks.
Jan - April - Leaking new renovated bathroom - finally fixed.
- Laundry hose came off during a night wash and flooded our newly renovated laundry and flooded the room downstairs, underneath, my daughters room while she was staying over for the wekend.
May - possum feel from our tree next to where the carport was suppossed to be and crushed a section of the roof of my wifes new car - repairs took until July.
August to current - Anti- chloresterol meds that the doctors put me on for my heart but didn't monitor, sent my liver into toxic melt down. Back into hospital for 11 days in Sept and steriods and tests to get down to normal again- nearly there now.
Then while in hospital I was diagnosed as border line Type 2 Diabetes. Now on diabetic diet and testing.
November - brand new tap in laundry started leaking everywhere. We found we had to get a plumber to fix the high water pressure and replace tap unit as the cartridge damaged by the water pressure will cost more to replace than the tap. Special pressure filter fitted to water line outside as well - $$$$$
December - Mother caught covid and had to isolate as well as my sister and her family, as they were staying with her(My sister lives on the other side of the country). I had invited them up for Xmas day lunch and organised all the food and finished off reno work on the deck for the day. We had to cancel 3/4 of the food order and miss it for another year as the same thing happened with them last year at Xmas - My wife and I have not had Covid but are trying to avoid due to possible negative medical ramifications. We may not get to have a Xmas catch-up in 2025 if we have another year like the last.
GOOD RIDDANCE 2024!

 

[moon puppy]

Good riddance indeed.

I know things are different in Ausie but your possums must be huge!

And your contractors sound like the same caliber as contractors around here.

We did pretty well this year. No ambulance rides for either of us but we did have an infestation of squirrels in the attic. Unfortunately we didn't know they were squirrels, thought they were rat/mice so we baited for them. They got in the bait and died but stunk up the house. Had to get trapper out to get dead squirrels out but he couldn't find them all, smell finally dissipated.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Only thing I had was we had a mini tornado that ripped up some fences nearby. Tore up the roof on the guys house across the street. He had tarps over parts of it for most of the year. I ended up with a 2x4 through my roof up towards the peak. Told my boss and he contacted the guy that replaced the roof in 2020. He sent out one of his guys and it was fixed before I got home. Ended up being about $500 to fix it, but can't even tell where it was.

Now several months later the "new" shingles have weathered and look the same as the old ones.

@Brokeneagle I went through the water leak with the washer hose back in 2020. Did a load of laundry put it in the dryer and started a second load. Set my egg timer (the clutch in the dryer timer slips and can't turn the dryer off) Came into the front bedroom and got online for about 50 minutes. When the timer went off I went into the rest of the house and there was water everywhere. All the wood laminate floors were damaged except my master bedroom. As the laundry is in the middle of the house I replaced all the flooring with wood grained porcelain tile. Not going to worry about water leaks again. The connecting hose to the hot water spigot got old and burst. My 5 gallon shop vac got well used that night.

 

[Brokeneagle]

Good riddance indeed.

I know things are different in Ausie but your possums must be huge!

when I said crushed I should have said just the drivers side roof. No marks, scratches or blood, so it walked away fro this 30ft drop.

And your contractors sound like the same caliber as contractors around here.

They must be a world wide problem

 

[Barney]

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