How Was 2013 For You?

Happy New Year! New thread as nothing will ever top Tenderloin Minimise.

It's all in the past! Reflecting back, how's your year been? A good one? A great one? Happy to see the back of it? Been a complete write-off year or highly eventful? What's been your biggest accomplishment of the year gone past?

~

When I started the year I was determined to get out of my current job (bartender) and do something more consequential and worthy with my life. I felt things were going OK - I had a few interviews lined up, I'd lost a little bit of weight and I was generally a lot happier than I was in 2011-2012. That said, where my enthusiasm and skills were being demonstrated through my casual admin job(s), in the wider labour market I had been suffering from a loss of confidence brought on by persistent underemployment as a bartender. For too long I'd underestimated the graduate labour market and its entry routes and was unable to find a way to apply my non-vocational undergraduate degree skills to paid employment. I'd had enough.

It was around about March/April this mood ultimately led me to retrace my steps and rediscover what it was I had been happiest doing – which was developing my skills in study and effectively helping others. Understanding that I did not want to pursue a full-time career in hospitality as it did not provide me with the fulfilment or rewards that I was after, I was instead driven to move forward with a renewed focus that was relevant to my socially-inclusive views. After three years of more-or-less fannying about, I felt I was ready to take responsibility for my own career planning and felt that I possessed the potential confidence, initiative and manner to make something of myself.


That's what I'm doing now. All going well, at this time in six months, I'll be a qualified careers adviser. I've also got another casual admin job with another charity (paid, but usually only one day a week) and a school mentoring job (almost fifteen quid an hour, which for me is mental money), but that's just to tide me over until I finish my postgrad. That's the main thing that's going on in my life. From about May onwards, 2013 was all about buidling up to 2014, where I'll hopefully enjoy an exciting year of change and new employment. Things stayed pretty much the same otherwise in 2013, but 2014 is going to be a year of transition. It has to be. It f**king better be!

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

Happy New Year! New thread as nothing will ever top Tenderloin Minimise.

Agreed.  It's sad in a way, that the best thing of 2014 has already happened.  It's all downhill from here.

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My year's been pretty static too.  Same job, but I'm starting to get a bit more tired of it: partly due to a new person in the office, whose work is tightly connected with mine and who is the most annoying person I've met in the office so far.  My new boss is more apathetic about my work than the old one was, too.  Also I'm still living with parents, but at age 24 and no longer "just out of uni.", starting to feel a bit more guilty about doing so.

The big change was breaking up with the girlfriend.  On a more positive note, I was asked to compose a proper piece and did so (which I guess counts as my biggest accomplishment), and tried NaNoWriMo and met a bunch of new odd people through there, one of whom I have a second date with!  (And another of whom I had to tell that I would never have a first date with her.)  So it's been a good year on the creative front.  Also Attack on Titan happened, which was a thing.  A good, if bloody, thing.

From a videogames perspective, the 3DS has been doing pretty well (ALBW, LM2, PW:DD and Pokémon X being stand-outs), but continual stories about the Wii U's slump and a dearth of Wii U games I was keen on have got me down.  However, I did discover Phoenix Wright, which by itself is a plus point.

Oh, and we moved from CVG, which was obviously a good thing.  Love this place.  I think I met ZJ and Fronky in the flesh for the first time this year?  And definitely met Beemoh for the first time.

Also I got into cricket but I'm not particularly proud of that.  I'm still not going to watch any of it.

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So that's my 2013.  A pretty good, if static, year, were it not dramatically overshadowed by that one negative.  I was definitely happier starting 2013, but that just means there's more room for improvement.  Here's to 2014 being better, and more dynamic (in good ways)!

Best of luck with the degree and in the job market next year, Cappa.

You sound pretty driven, kid, so I'm sure changes will come.

@Balla 2013 was a pretty cool year for games, and this place was a big deal. It's so weird to try and describe to people that I exchanged Christmas presents with a group of internet buddies who I met through a now-defunct videogame magazine. Crazy as it seems, I probably spend more time talking to you guys than I do anyone in the real world.

Been a weird year for me. A lot happened but seemed to disappear really quickly anyway. I got my driving licence in February, which is pretty cool! I was promoted to Team Leader at the end of 2012 ,and since then I've made good progress with getting onto the management course where I work (Tesco). Hoping to go through with that as quickly as possible this year and start earning a proper grown up wage.

Elsewhere I started an Open University degree (for which I've taken a long-term sabbatical from the Special Constabulary), wrote a first draft of a novel, which I plan to push for publication in 2014, lost the belly then got it back, got regularly drunk and read the entirety of A Song of Ice and Fire.

The only area in which I had a somewhat unsatisfying 2013 was my love life. I broke up with my girlfriend of three years over a long, arduous couple of months of optically getting back together with her, trying to explain how I felt and just buying her over and over while having a couple of mayor crushes elsewhere which never got particularly far off ground. I'm still friends with my ex, and would love to stay that way, but I don't think she's got it in her, which is a shame. I've said a couple of times, if she'd been less of a stalker and given me more space, I probably would've gotten over it and we'd be back together. But having to break up with someone over and over makes it hard to think of them in a positive light.

Should we do resolutions as well, or take all that over to the HNY thread?

Buskalilly wrote:

Crazy as it seems, I probably spend more time talking to you guys than I do anyone in the real world.

So you said in your Tenderloin Minimise post.  But you're probably right. I don't socialise that much, whereas I'm on here every day.

As for resolutions, I don't have any, so I don't care!  

I can sum up my terribly exciting 2013 very easily. I went to uni, I played some games and I moved in with my girlfriend. Otherwise a very uneventful year that's left me thinking I've wasted the majority of my uni life by doing a spectacular amount of nothing! On the plus side I've played a tremendous selection of games in a year that's been full of brilliant ones.

@TCK - Sounds like you're in a good spot mate, keep pushing on and that dream career will be yours.   

@Balla - Second date! Promising start to the year, no?

@Buska- A book! That's awesome man, must have felt so refreshing to finish that first draft.

@Andy - I felt the same in my first couple of uni years. Was wondering if I'd made the wrong choice and was freaking out, but then I remembered I'm still young and even if I have made the wrong choice with what I'm studying, there's plenty of time to progress down another road.

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My 2013 wasn't a good one, all told.

I'd lost a lot of weight in the latter half of 2012 - 4 stones to be exact - and whilst the year started off well, I ended up putting most of it back on. It didn't do anything for my self-confidence, which wasn't particularly at an all-time high as it was.

Socially, it stank. I still had a core group of mates, but due to the fact I took languages in my first year before switching to just an English Literature degree, most of my friends are languages. Now, it just so happens at Edinburgh Uni, languages students spend their third year abroad. There was a girl who I'd been growing really really close with who I met through languages, but now her and most of my friends from languages have scattered across the globe for a year. Things tailed off with her, and I've struggled to make any new mates at uni. I still have a solid small group of friends, which I'm eternally grateful for, and rediscovering this place helped heaps too.

Academically (likely probably tied to the social situation, now that I think about it) I've improved, moving from a predicted 2:1 to a potential first. I also had a good run in the summer with a job, which whilst it was temporary really helped me financially.

I'm going to have a blinder of a year, hopefully. 2014 means all my languages friends are returning in the summer, I'm fully prepared to kick a diet and exercise regime into gear and my uncle is apparently arranging me a summer internship at a newspaper, which would be fantastic. So, whilst last year was a bit of a write-off, I'm expecting good things from 2014.

JayMoyles wrote:

@Balla - Second date! Promising start to the year, no?

We'll see. I'm apprehensive. Then again, I've been apprehensive about everyone I've ever been on a date with, apart from the first two.

The "languages year" is a bit rubbish, but as you say, it's almost at an end. Chin up! (And keep it to the one chin.  )

Strangely similar to Buska,

Same job but now a Section Leader for ASDA which is fine hope to continue and maybe in next few years get a mangers job.

Still live at home which is fine as rent is cheap and allows me to buy thinks like a PS4 with 6 games at launch but would like to move out and in with the right girl.

Women still as bad as ever, split with girlfriend whom I've told you about but I think we are going to try again hopefully she doesn't go on about how i need to find religion or wanting to move in after about a week of dating. But do feel it could end up like Buska and his EX.

Nothing else of note, joined this site met Buska. Played a lot of games the normal really.

I'M SO LONELY.

*ahem* Anyway.

TBH, I preferred 2012- even with the bad bits. Present company excepted, the people I met in 2013 weren't as good as the people I met in 2012 and regarding employment, while I spent longer in employment in 2013 (10 months versus four and a half) the work was better.

2013 hasn't been bad, you understand- living in The South has been cool, going to things like the Zelda concert and Eurogamer and MCM more than makes up for being surrounded by big southern jessies. And I encountered Matthew Castle.

2014 might well go well.

2013 personally was a bit shit. 2012 was mostly personally awesome. That's the end of my detailed story.

JayMoyles wrote:

There was a girl who I'd been growing really really close with who I met through languages, but now her and most of my friends from languages have scattered across the globe for a year. Things tailed off with her.

She was back tonight lads - and nothing went my way, Horrid start to 2014. Load of WANK.

JayMoyles wrote:

Load of WANK.

Figuratively AND literally.

That's rubbish, Jay. My condolences.  

As Mas (I think?) said, we do need a GNamer Romantic Mishaps Thread, although it might be derailed by every third post being Beemoh shouting "I'M SO LONELY."

I thought Beemoh was just there to derail threads!

andyman949 wrote:

I thought Beemoh was just there to derail threads!

And as my objective has been found out, I must leave you all. It's been a pleasure.

*dissolves*

Oh god... Can we put into place a mandatory breathalyser test for posting after 2am?

Apologies all.

beemoh wrote:

JayMoyles wrote:

Load of WANK.

Figuratively AND literally.

 

I'm surprised Monty didn't come on here to complain about female moles.  

Monty was on! He posted a massive picture of Hulk Hogan in the wrestling thread. What a weirdo, eh?

2013 was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I turned thirty, which for some reason I was dreading but now just seems silly. Work remains the same. I grew a great deal closer to one friend in particular who was supposed to be moving away early on in year but due to personal reasons stayed in Yorkshire. I can honestly say I've never had better friends in my life than the ones I have now, I'm super grateful. I've also managed to save a hell of a lot of money this year, which went from hard work to something I've become extremely good at.

On the negative side, other family members' health has taken a definite downturn over the last twelve months. My grandad is now in a respite home for the foreseeable future, and sadly my grandma is showing the telltale signs of memory loss. I'm still living at home, which is something I've been in two minds about for several years now.

On the indifferent side: I'm still single. This has never truly bothered me, as in all honesty I love being able to do my own thing and have a crazy social life. Perhaps one day, though...

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The first year of GNamer Forum (up to now) has been a fantastic one, and it's great to hear that it's brought other people pleasure besides myself. You guys make this place what it is.

Stu_the_great wrote:

The first year of GNamer Forum (up to now) has been a fantastic one, and it's great to hear that it's brought other people pleasure besides myself. You guys make this place what it is.

Totally. Really glad I rediscovered this place - chatting about games, chatting about everything else, and being able to talk to people removed from my situations is really great. Looking forward to the GNamer Forum Awards.   

In a word it was rather "meh"..

Same old crap at work
Dad and his thing
No holiday this year
My car is slowly falling apart

Same old boring crap as the year before

2013 was a year of massive change for me. The main thing was asking my girlfriend Jo to move in with me, which she did. We also now have a cat, Rosie. Cats make me sneeze normally, but I've got used to our crazy kitten with only one more use of my inhaler a day! Go me. 

Job-wise, well... at the end of this academic year I'll have been in this job ten years now, and it is beyond time that I moved on. The results of the last OfSTED inspection dictated another one within 18 months, which we did manage to avoid in 2013 (yes!) but it will strike before the end of April this year (no!). It is high time I looked to get out. *opens a window for the TES website*

Went to Florence, which was lovely if hot, and Barcelona, which was lovely and hot. We also saw brilliant comedian Craig Campbell, but we've definitely got a resolution to be out more this year.

I also met more of you guys, which is always a pleasure, and got more StreetPass hits than I thought was feasible. Some great games came and went (whilst some still linger!) in 2013. Good times.

As the old proverb goes if you can't say something nice don't say anything. And that is all I will say about the year that was 2013, the last few months were decent at least.

And cricket aside?  

In all honesty I wasn't actually thinking of cricket when I said that.