2016: A good year, or a bad year?

[Perd Hapley]

For the past couple of months, I've been thinking of 2016 as The Year of the Dark Horse. And I'm lovin' it. I didn't expect the Donald to secure the GOP nomination, and didn't really want him to, but he did. Along the way, we found out Britain had unexpectedly voted to leave the EU. I don't follow European politics, but I thought it was a great decision. I pay even less attention to baseball, but I thought it was pretty neat that the Cubs had finally won the Superball (or whatever). Then, of course, the delicious defeat of She Who Must Be President.

But I've heard from a few conservative pundits who thought 2016 has overall been a bad year. Which puzzles me.

What do you lot think?

[lee n. field]

Nothing catastrophic has happened in my personal life this year.

[Andiron]

Not a bad year at all,  I didn't lose any close friends or family and business and farm were both profitable.

[Ben]

I had to go with "meh" (I'm judging on the national stage, since I think that's your topic) only because it started out bad and was getting worse through the year in that not only was a criminal going to get away with multiple felonies, she was going to be our president. We were going to have higher taxes, more freedoms were going to be restricted, and likely my retirement investments were going to take a big hit. A guy who I thought was a bit out there and unstable got the Republican nomination.

The last 1.5 months have changed my tune on the guy, it looks like the good old USA might just do okay, and I can continue to be a gadabout and won't have to take a job as a Walmart greeter to supplement my income. 

[Perd Hapley]

I had to go with "meh" (I'm judging on the national stage, since I think that's your topic)

Thank you. Yes. I was talking about the national (or world) scene; not whether we individually got better jobs or lost loved ones, etc. I think the U.S., and much of the rest of the world, has been on a downward track lately. While we don't yet know where the BrexiTrump, anti-globalist, nationalist trend is going to lead us, I think at this stage it's just good to know that things can still change. (And I just despise Hillary Clinton so hard. It's personal. I admit that.  )

[charby]

Great year! I bought a house on a lake, got 2 enduro motorcycles, shot a Booner Pronghorn and didn't die.

[lee n. field]

Thank you. Yes. I was talking about the national (or world) scene; not whether we individually got better jobs or lost loved ones, etc. I think the U.S., and much of the rest of the world, has been on a downward track lately. While we don't yet know where the BrexiTrump, anti-globalist, nationalist trend is going to lead us, I think at this stage it's just good to know that things can still change. (And I just despise Hillary Clinton so hard. It's personal. I admit that.  )

In that case, I'd say it's a very good thing, that one side of our ruling political class has been shown to be as loathsome as we've always suspected they are.

[grampster]

I woke up alive every day so far, including this morning.  Some family issues have settled down.  Everyone who needs to work in the family, has a good job.  Hillary lost!!  Made it to Florida again this year and drove the back roads.  It was very relaxing doing so.  Lynn and I celebrated 50 years of wedded bliss.  Still not broke.  Our great-granddaughter continues to delight us.  She's 4+ now.  We had one of the best fall weather patterns in Michigan in many years; sunny and warmish.  Much to be thankful for.  My vast intellectual prowess continues to be tip top.  I got $300.00 in Barnes & Noble credits from an Amazon settlement.  I keep finding cheap books and interesting books for my NOOK.

[Jocassee]

I woke up alive every day so far, including this morning.  Some family issues have settled down.  Everyone who needs to work in the family, has a good job.  Hillary lost!!  Made it to Florida again this year and drove the back roads.  It was very relaxing doing so.  Lynn and I celebrated 50 years of wedded bliss.  Still not broke.  Our great-granddaughter continues to delight us.  She's 4+ now.  We had one of the best fall weather patterns in Michigan in many years; sunny and warmish.  Much to be thankful for.  My vast intellectual prowess continues to be tip top.  I got $300.00 in Barnes & Noble credits from an Amazon settlement.  I keep finding cheap books and interesting books for my NOOK.

I count myself similarly blessed beyond what I deserve.

Pretty much everything that went sideways this year was because of my own shortcomings. So to that extent, I hope for a much improved 2017.

[Monkeyleg]

Bad for a whole lot of reasons.

[Perd Hapley]

I went ahead and cast my vote for good year. Obviously, some horrible things happened this year, but I am hopeful that the positive developments will lead to a better 2017, '18, etc.

[lupinus]

On a nation level and in general, it's had its ups and down but the last few months have been much brighter.

On a personal level, the last few months have also been freakin awesome.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wmenorr67]

I had to go with meh.

Ending a 20 year marriage and moving away for a fresh start.  But the new job has been great so far and I have a good group of friends for support.


On the national level, yeah politics have been up and down and I don't think the ride is going to slow down any time soon.

Plus we lost a lot of "celebrities" that helped define who we are.

[mtnbkr]

On the whole, bad.

Good:
Got a nice raise, bonus, and promotion.
Kids are doing well, Thing 1 is in the Jr National Honor Society, and is doing well while taking 3 Honors classes.

Bad:
My dad's diabetes caught up with him resulting in an amputation, nerve damage, and heart attack.  Nine months later, he is improving, but a shell of his former self.  For the first couple months, his survival wasn't assured.  Even now, his heart is weak and he's going to end up with an internal defibrillator.
My uncle (dad's BIL) passed away unexpectedly.
My maternal grandmother passed away after an illness and declining health.  She was my last surviving grandparent.
While I'm making more money than ever, my expenses have gone up, so the raise didn't really result in more money at the end of the month.

Chris

[K Frame]

All in all, meh to bad, primarily because Mom's Alzheimer's/Dementia/whatever the hell it is is progressing rapidly. She's entered the paranoia phase in a big way. One of my tasks this Christmas is to get her to sign power of attorney over to me so that I can adequately manage her finances. That's going to be a challenge because, even though I've been handling things for over a year, she still thinks she's paying all her bills and is doing a great job of it.

Financially for me the hits have kept coming this year, as well. I'm still doing well, just not accomplishing my personal goals for savings and debt reduction. I also had that one really good job fall through. I'm in line for another one, but not at the same salary level as the one that fell through.

On the plus side, and this moved the year from really bad a lot closer to the positive, is my baby Seren. Having a dog in the house again has greatly improved my mood and outlook, even though it's a real challenge at times dealing with a feisty puppy.

[K Frame]

And a little worse. Water heater crapped out. Jesus.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Andiron]

And a little worse. Water heater crapped out. Jesus.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Dude if you didn't have bad luck you wouldn't have any.

[MechAg94]

There are good and bad with my family and relatives, but overall things are working out for the best.  My current job remains in decent shape and I am getting my personal budget in better shape.  Outside of personal issues, the national politics took a big upturn last month with Trump pulling out an election win.  It has been further trending up based on the what he has been doing since.  That will all be confirmed in 2017. 

[CypherNinja]

For the past couple of months, I've been thinking of 2016 as The Year of the Dark Horse. And I'm lovin' it. I didn't expect the Donald to secure the GOP nomination, and didn't really want him to, but he did. Along the way, we found out Britain had unexpectedly voted to leave the EU. I don't follow European politics, but I thought it was a great decision. I pay even less attention to baseball, but I thought it was pretty neat that the Cubs had finally won the Superball (or whatever). Then, of course, the delicious defeat of She Who Must Be President.

But I've heard from a few conservative pundits who thought 2016 has overall been a bad year. Which puzzles me.

What do you lot think?

Well it did feel like we were well on our way to crazytown by the time the clowns showed up.

[K Frame]

A little bit ago Mom looked at me and asked 'where's your mother?'

She thought I was Dad and Grandma was still alive.

First time she's not known who I am.

*expletive deleted*ck.

2016 is now officially *expletive deleted*it.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Scout26]

I voted "Meh"  10+ months of contemplating Madam President for the next 4 years was truly depressing.  Watching Europe being overrun by a bunch of medieval animals, who believe that "it all has to go".

The Brexit gave some hope.

The Schadenfreude of our election has been nothing but continuous Super Happy Fun Time. 

Big Personal Pluses:
I'm still above ground.
I became a foster parent, and while the first one didn't work out, the 2nd one seems to be warming up and opening up more.

Negatives:
Mom 's dementia is really getting worse.  She hates where she is, and I hate having her there, but there is no way I could care for her.  (Which is why my age range for fostering is 12-18, they are pretty self-sufficient by that age.)   Mom requires a lot of work.  If she had her way, she would just lay a in bed all day.  Although the staff reports that, on occasion, she "packs up" because she's going to come live with one of us.  The last two days when we've gone to visit her, she thinks we've come to take her "home", but we have to remind her that the house was sold back in June.  So then she thinks we'll take her back to the apartment she lived in the last year.   "No Mom, you live here now."  "No, I'll come live with you."  Ummmm, no Mom.  This is your new home.  See all your stuff is here.  "I don't like it.  I'll go live with Kelly/Jerry/Gloria."   Well, you'll have to ask them about that.   

At least she was "pleasant" and not angry or rude.

She also stated that she took a piano lesson, (she didn't, the staff took her down to the lounge to listen to Christmas songs on the piano, played by a staff member.)   Then she said/complained that she had to "work" going around drawing labs on all the patients.  (She didn't.)

You ask her questions and she gets confused.  Being very hard of hearing makes talking to her worse, because she can't hear most of what you saying, so rather than asking you to repeat what you said, she guesses and answers based on her guess.  Which, of course, makes no sense.   

My niece recently had foot surgery, so Mom is convinced that she is waiting for surgery, because she needs foot (and hip and knee) surgery, and she wishes the doctor would hurry up because she's in pain.  (She all those areas x-rayed less than a month ago.  Diagnosis:  Nothing broken, sprained or strained.  But, she is 88 years old.)

If she got up and got out of room, she would do much better, but she's closed herself off and wants everyone to pity her.   Many of her fellow resident are active and just eating a couple meals there (and the food is really GOOD!!!), there are residents who get together and at least enjoy meals and conversations together.

The staff seems to be very good and care about the residents.  I observed that wait staff knew the residents by name, and even brought them their "usual" shortly after they arrived.  They had Carl's glass of Chocolate milk waiting for him on "his" table when they spotted him coming down the hall.  Drinks were delivered to the appropriate places after Carl took his seat and before they rest of his "posse" arrived.

I was so impressed with what they offered, that I'm thinking of selling my house and moving into a place like that !!

Anyway, Mom hates it.  Just like she would hate living with any of us, because it wouldn't be all about her.  Us trying to live our lives and not wait on her hand and foot, would make her (attempt to) inflict guilt on us.  It would be hell.

[K Frame]

Your Mom sounds a lot like my Mom right now, Scout.

It's a horrible thing to see and experience.

[lupinus]

My Grandmother went through much of that before she passed a couple weeks ago. Been there, done that, got the t shirt. It's a cruel and evil *expletive deleted*ing condition.

[wmenorr67]

Well after going and visiting my Grandparents on Christmas it just got worse.

Grandma had to ask me at least a half dozen times why I wasn't working that day and then asked me at least another half dozen times if my boots were new.

Grandpa was a little better but not much.  They were upset that they couldn't go to church because the weather was foggy but found out later from mom that they were out on Saturday when it was worse.

Found out that Grandma had been taking Grandpa's pain pills because she didn't have any of hers, come to find out she hasn't been prescribed any.

Mom went and approached the subject of taking away their car from them and that caused the expected uproar, Grandma went to crying and Grandpa all but said over his dead body.  The thing is there isn't anyplace that they need to go to that mom can't take them, she is retired and lives maybe 10 mins from them.  Only places they do go is church, doc appointments, grocery store and grandma's hair appointments, which she has canceled the past couple of weeks.

I have a feeling that 2017 is going to actually be worse than 2016 in some ways.

[K Frame]

The car was also something of a fight with my Mother.

She finally realized that she wasn't capable of driving anymore, though, when she was pulling into a parking spot and hit another car.