It was the Best of Times, it was the Worst of Times
 

In this thread, name your personal best and worst experience of 2006. Or alternatively, you can name the best and worst real events, movies, games, whatever. I'll be sticking with the former.

It was a good year for:

Jobs. After nearly 12 months of being unemployed, sending hundreds of resumes, going to unsuccessful interviews, I finally got a callback for some work. It wasn't until afterwards that I realized what a great job I had. Sure, filing papers in a small office can get dull or monotonous, but I have my own computer, everyone there is very nice and approchable, I can change my schedule anytime, they close during holidays (and I get paid for those days off!).....this job was definetely the best thing to happen to me this year.

The runner-up was being able to reserve the PS3, then casually walking into the store and picking one up without camping in the freezing rain or getting mugged.

It was a bad year for:

Technology. It was one material disaster after another. My year old CRT HDTV displayed some nasty blotches after being moved during remodeling, causing me to seek out a new TV. I thought I hit the jackpot with a Westinghouse 37" LCD with 1080p, but I soon took notice of the horrible color banding issue. Fortunately I finally settled on the amazing Samsung 40" LCD, and haven't regretted it since.

But then between dropping my camera (the good news; it was under warranty and the repairs were free), my keyboard controller crapping out, and even getting a freaking dead pixel on my DS Lite (again, the good news was it only took a day to exchange), it's been a really shitty year technology-wise. I also failed to acquire the Wii today, as if God wanted to drop one more technological failure before the year was done. Almost makes me want to take the hermit route.

The Good-

Best day of my life happened this year on October 20th when I saw two of my favorite bands perform live at the same show - Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Mars Volta. AH-MAY-ZING day and even better concert.

The Bad-

Spending an entire school year on a piece of shit film only to have the final insult swing down at us like an axe - being the only crew to ever NOT have their film premiere at the school's festival. And to think, I was the ONLY one to get their shit done on time!

The Ugly-

Spending 11 of the past 12 months chasing after a girl who doesn't know what the hell she wants.

The Good-

This luckily covers pretty much the entire year. I'm thinking it was karma throwing me a 'thank you' for putting up with its shit during '03, '04, and '05. It was good for love and happiness, at least.

The Bad-

I guess money is always the college student's issue... unless you're the valedictorian and practically have scholarships thrown at you despite your family being quiet wealthy (not bitter about my high school, noooo). Tuition is has been ebbing away, even after working 2 jobs and the average 60 hour work-week over the summer.

The Ugly-

Sprouticus. (Just kidding, jeez! He knows I love him! :p)

The Good- Graduating from highschool. Seriously, I was so happy to get out of highschool; not because of the work but because of the people (annoying as heck).

The Bad- Errr I can't really think of anything you know..that bad but I guess working on my mold piece in Ceramics class was frustrating. I never got to it because everytime I tried working on it, all the plaster just kept leaking out and splattering on the floor. I was defintely pissed.

The Good ~ I managed to get a job after 3 years of unemployment, umpteen stupid courses that were no help and 3 work placements that were useless. But I got there in the end.

The Bad ~ Wasn't a particularly bad year for me, well at least I can't remember anything bad that happened.

The Good - The second half of the year has been amazing, despite the fact that all of my best friends scattered throughout the country for college. I have amazing friends at school, I love my roommates and I have a pretty awesome boyfriend.

The Bad - The first half of the year. I thought about getting back together with an ex and I crused on one of my best friends. I also finished high school, which was pretty depressing. I actually liked it there.

LOL!!!!! You're actually glad high school is over? Damn, someone must have had it pretty rough.

I hate the fact that high school is over; people don't care about you in college. Just your money; espiecally Arizona State.

So ya

My good: Getting a new car! Scion tC i love you!

the bad: graduating from highschool... I MISS BEING 17!!!!!! i feel sooooooo old.

The Good -

There hasn't been anything drasatic this year, and there hasn't been any huge problems with me and my family, which was great. I had some time to work on personal projects, things that I'm surprised turned out amazing, which goes to show myself that if I put effort in it (mainly my plastic kits and stuff). For academics, I now have a Certificate in Accounting, which I thought would take forever.

Night classes have been alright as well, which I'm surprised I've been able to pull of As and Bs despite a full time job. Oh yes, my full time work, our company has granted us a raise and a bonus, so that's nice.

For fun, finally FFXII came out. This is a tiny and insignificant matter to most people, but I've been waiting for a good two or so years for this. Heh, some people have been drooling over next gen, so let me over my FF game ;__;.

I finally got to really push myself and do the JLPT Kyuu 4 test, which I don't have the results back, but it was an unforgettable experience. It's something where I told myself I'm going to do this right to the bitter end, and see to it, and that I'm surprised I managed to pull it off and not slack off.

Joining back on GFF was also a big thing for me. I was worried whether I should really stick back with GFF or just quit right out. It’s long past now, but I’m glad I chose to stick with GFF, I’ve met more than enough cool people this year. :psyduck:

The Bad -

This has been one hell of an expensive year, and it really tested how I handled money, and I miserably failed at this in this field. It's terrible how much money has been wasted on rash and unplanned decisions on money spent. I really need to shape up and not being a buying binge for everything that I perceive as a deal, but ends up biting me in the ass.

I’ll have to be much more stringent on my spending habits next year, especially if I keep eyeing on a new home theatre system. It’s scary of how small purchases of $20 here and there really add up over time.

In conclusion, I had a pretty good 2006. There were some bumps and things, but all in all, all the best for 2007.

The Good
- utterly wrecking my eyes in successful attempts to:
acquire and play Jump Ultimate Stars, start from scratch and catch up with long running manga Hunter X Hunter and One Piece, buy every single game I've wanted within a week of their release dates (read reviews, watch gameplay videos, etc.)


The Bad
- neglecting and trading in many games still, many times before finishing:
>neglected: Okami, Valkyrie Profile 2
>traded: I think it averages out to twice a month, or tri-weekly (my money might as well have went into a shredder)

- utterly wrecking my eyes, even after getting contacts because normal glasses would no longer be as effective.

-severe decrease in work ethic (eg. increase in available games) which led to much more cramming for every single subject :(

The Best:

Getting my new Computer near the end of November! It was worth every penny. I mean I hadn't had a new computer for 4.5 years and I thought it was long overdue for a new one.

The huge success of the Super Stock Special I organized on July 22nd, 2006. I was the coolest thing I had ever done in my life and I have to admit, I am definitely going to do it again next year.

Getting a B+ and an A in my two summer courses while working 60 hours a week.... I still cannot believe it.

The Good:

A girl I met while at home during the summer helped me believe in relationships and honesty again. Its too bad that she had to go back to Toronto. I will probably never see her again...:( No regrets though. I loved every minute we had together. We still keep in close touch on the phone and email.

The bad:

Getting yelled at a few meetings during the summer and the Winter over the Super Stock Special. Its a long and complicated story.



The Ugly...

Nothing really ugly this year. It was probably one of the best years of my life so far.

this year was good for me in the fact that a couple of decent movies came out: Cars, POTC: dead man's chest, and Over the Hedge to name a few, also 2 of my really good friends came home from the mainland, and I was able to spend time with them. my big highlight was I got married this year. the only really sucky side of 2006 was I didn't get a year long paid vacation from work, ah well, I can dream

The Good
- I would have to say one of the best things about this year, is that I managed to get out of a soul-sucking call center job that I've been stuck in for the last 2 years. I am now currently working as an environmental field inspector which I'm very grateful for because its a job that is directly related toward my field of study that I went to university for 5 years. The income I'm attaining from this job is giving me and my gf enough money to get our very own house, as well as a lot of other things.

The Bad
- The fact that with this new job, I have to be away from the woman I love, at the most for at least 3 months at a time. The province where I'm working people aren't very open minded and tend to be very selfish and greeedy over there, but thats just from my own interpretation; and during the time I have spent there I really haven't found a single friend that shares any of similar interests or attitudes toward life.

The Ugly
- Just being back home and seeing christmas shoppers be the worse I have ever seen them in my entire life especially when it comes to parents shopping for a wii for their kids. I have plenty of my friends who work at video game stores and its depressing to see and to experience anal retentive people and how their attitudes toward being selfish and greedy can really suck anything good out of christmas.

Good stuff:

--Got acquainted with God. In fact, I'm living a really awesome life now because of Him.
--My girlfriend. She's an amazing person. Absolutely adore this woman!
--Vacations. I went to a few concerts, conferences, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Kennedy Space Center, Georgia Aquarium, awesome movies, and countless other miscellaneous stuff here and there.

The not so cool:

--I experienced a spontaneous pneumothorax early last month. Basically my right lung collapsed for no reason other than me being "tall and skinny" as the doctors put it. They had to insert a chest tube to drain the escaped air so that the lung could reinflate. That really sucked...staying in the hospital over my birthday and being in the hospital for almost a week was annoying. Unfortunately, yesterday, I started experiencing the same symptoms and am currently having some minor pains. I'll be seeing the doctor on Friday...hope it's not happening again!
--other than that, everything was pretty good.

High School was a complete joke. (Kidding. I'm just one of those people who could care less what happened in high school and is glad I moved along)

Anyway:

Good things that happened this year: Just glad to be damn alive to be honest. But seriously though, having spare money for particular expenses (especially school) as well as having new friends at class was pretty good to me. Sure, I may not have the cash for something fancy like game systems (which now tire me out and will focus more on other things), computers, TV etc but I bought some good books for my infinite enjoyment (as long as they stand out) as well as an artbook worth over $200 (No, not of Japanese origin. Western). A particular good event for me was when I got my tax returns, enabling me to buy a new phone (which I rarely use), Gamecube (which I will return after this year) and another phone for my good ol' mother with some cash to spare was a good event. Last Christmas too was pretty good since more cash to blow and more events that happened; best Christmas in years. Plus I am in love (or borderline) with a woman (nothing mushy-wushy whatever here and it's one-sided. We're still good friends though and that what counts most).

The bad: One program that I have heavily saved money on went downhill and I was not in there anymore. I missed my old classmates (I still keep in touch with the few remaining) and went into despair long enough to find another job which could earn me extra dough - this time back into the old workplace I was last year. The conditions were still hell though.

Summary: With the failure of the program, I easily went to another program and making progress so.. 2006 was alright.