2010

With just 6 hours to go til the greatest fireworks show on earth on the finest harbour on earth, it's time to say goodbye to the year. Just days before heading off to the First World Wad battlefields, the good folk at Stanley Black & Decker threw away the book about how much they value their staff and made me amd many others redundant.

It did not stop me appreciating many of the events that occurred on the Somme and elsewhere on the Western Front. It was here that the Aussies, alongside other great soldiers from NZ and Canada made up for the equally brave but poorly trained British soldiers. Spearheaded by the Aussies and for the first and only time in history, the Americans were led into battle (by a foreign power) under the Australians and began a series of battles that ended in a non loss. Non loss, because nobody wins wars. So much mor could be said, but this was a huge influence on me in 2011.

As a result, I joined the FFFAIF (Family & Friends of the First AIF) A Vietnam digger, read some of what I wrote, and asked if he could publish that in their journal of the Vietnam Veterans Federation) and I have now been placed on ther VIP distrbution list.

Getting back home, I was in a spot of bother trying to find work. Took a while and I found one- all this time keeping in touch with the ORS crowd. I suspect some wondered what I was doing on the forum at all with only a MY99 WRX. My beloved MY05 Forrie had been sold, but this new job mean I could choose my new work car, and so the MY04 became mine. Still not quite as nice as my MY05, I certainly enjoyed getting offroad as a driver with the ORS crowd. But I hope we do more in 2011-especially more overnighters.

Thanks for a good year in ORS and a better 2011

Yes, I'm looking forward to 2011 & glad that 2010 is behind us.

2010 will always be remembered as sad for us as it's the year I lost my step-son / my children lost their step-brother.

"Waves & Babes" was his motto - RIP

Happy New Year folks.

Yes 2010 had it's up's & downs for me too.

Lets hope that 2011 is a better year for all.

Happy New Year everyone

Regards
Mr Turbo

I've got to back up a couple of years for this one;

Early on in 2009 I was laid off from a job that I truly loved and that just started of an incredibly suckish year. Mid way through the year, and still no job, I decided it was time to straighten up a bit and I quit drinking at the end of August. Giving up alcohol proved to be quite stressful, and along with some other things going on, put a lot of stress on my marriage and home life. I worked a couple of part time jobs, but then in Dec. I finally got a job offer that looked promising and paid enough, sooo...

I started that job right after the new year in 2010;

I quickly learned that this new job was not nearly all it was cracked up to be and, in fact, potentially dangerous. I sucked it up and kept on with it all while keeping my eyes and ears open for something better. During this time sobriety sunk in and the wife and I were able to reconcile our differences, family life was on the upswing. We also got a DOG!!!:ebiggrin: Right at the beginning of Dec. I got a call from my old boss at the company I loved working for so much, they wanted me to come back.

Now starting right off the bat in 2011;
I go back to a great job, my family life has gotten to be in a great place again, more money, better benefits, and a fresh outlook on life, and the coolest dog in the universe, 2011 is going to be awesome!!!

Everyone, y'all will have to have one for me, don't be shy.:iconwink:

Put a bun in the oven in 2010
It will be ready in 2011 :banana:

^ congratulations!

Yes 2010 did have its ups and downs, but overall a very interesting year for me. I had many good things happen; finished high school, got my car/ licence, discovered modifying and offroading, changed so much (personality wise), lost 20kg, had a girl friend for most of my last year of high school and got upto some interesting things :iconwink:, went on leavers, the only year of high school that I wasnt in a boarding facility away from home :biggrin:, got a great job.
Anyway the list could go on for me, but there were a few bad things that happended (nothing serious). Im looking forward to 2011 as its a new beginning for me out in the real world :biggrin:

Eat **** 2010, one of the worst ever & glad you're gone.

E.J. said:

Put a bun in the oven in 2010
It will be ready in 2011 :banana:

Click to expand...

Congratulations!!!

Yeah, 2010 sucked for the most part, glad it's gone!
I left my good paying sales rep job to join on with my father-in-law at his insurance agency, which i will at some point take over. However, I'm making only 1/3 of the money that i was before. At first it put a ton of stress on the wife & myself, but we have adapted. Kinda pisses me off now realizing how much we took everything for granted and excess spending. I can only imagine for the people who lost out on their jobs all together...
Working & living in the same small town that my in-laws live in has just about drove me to the brink of insanity. Although it has given me new goals of getting out of here once we take our business completely web-based & shooting up to the Rocky Mountains! I look forward to what this year has to bring & accomplishing a few goals.

D_Generate said it best... Eat S*** 2010!

Hate to be the odd one out but 2010 was pretty good for me.
Kevin I'm sorry to here of your tradgic loss mate , E.J. Well done mate, i know it's hard tiring work but I'm sure you loved every minute of it , Tony and Carl good to see you back on the tools after sh1ty circumstances. Everyone else have a safe and prosperous 2011 wish you all well and may gods smile down
apon you all.

P.S. Hope to see you on the dirt a little more this year.

Good for you Eden. Seems like 2010 was not a great year for many people- and I guess that is no surprise considering the ways of the world. While I was certainly caught up in it, pictures like these remind me of some great things I did.

Seeing my national flag flying above the main entrance of a town hall in a country on the other side of the world instead of their ownn national flag certainly had an impact



As did this photo in the school playground.


But this one with the blue marks representing war cemetries from WW1 had the biggest impact.



So that, and that my father survived a serious heart operation and cancer in the one year at age 85 is how I will remember 2010 most

very cool Rally, what country were you in?

They were in France, but it was similar in Belgium. I was speaking to a French army officer- they were visiting the Australian Memorial at Fromelles in northern France- and I was quite taken back when he told me that he considered this part of France to be a part of Australia. I feel very warmly to our friends in Belgium and France as a result. Very few people realise (even in Australia) that despite the vast difference in population, more Aussies were KIA than Americans in WW1- but it seems that the French and Belgiums do know

Had one of my world history professors not been an aussie - from Perth, i would never had known this. It may have been world history, but he sure did us all in when it came to you guys down south. I wish our schools had more like him to teach the realities of history, rather than just the one side. I am proud from where our country came from, but not so where we are going...

After the war, the people were so sick of war that they wanted to forget it. The government, anxious not to let on how they allowed the staggering losses to occur, did not want to know either. And the diggers, having lost their mates and suffered as they did- they just wanted to forget or keep it to themselves. The result being almost none of this is taught in schools- well, not when I was at school at least and having spoken to many people about it not before or since either. The diggers wera all volunteers. Despite being 2 years shorter than WW2, we lost 50% more in WW1.

Well now I'm a bit taken back. What you said about casualties was as i remembered back in highschool (2002-2003), but as i research now im finding out otherwise. 116k american lives were lost compared to 62k australians. However, our 116k represented only about .16% (+/-) of our population as opposed to the 62k which represented over 1.3%. Maybe the % being greater for you guys is what i recall rather than the total #. I do know the aussies were in it from day 1 though.

The 116,000 includes non combat deaths- see wikipedia below:


United States The official figures of military war deaths listed by the US Dept. of Defense for the period ending Dec. 31, 1918 are 116,516; which includes 53,402 battle deaths and 63,114 non combat deaths.




These non combat deaths could include, I assume, merchant navy, civilian, etc. Seems only the US includes these in their total figure?

civilian was only about 700. The americans also lost that amount in about a third of the time the aussies did, seeing that we didnt join in until 1917.

Yeah, well I am not sure what the non combat means. How do you have military deaths that are not in combat- unless they mean the flu pandemic that hit around then.