The 2016 positivity thread

[jubal81]

Saw some more "2016, you suck" memes this morning and figured it'd be cool if we had a thread to share our good news.

Have a baby, get married, buy a new house, record an album, score your dream gear, have a build you're especially proud of, find an album you love?

If it made you happy, then let 'er rip.

For me, I landed a really great job in Washington state and it's a whole new environment - upbeat office working with great people and more scenic adventures than I have time for. Not to mention I met an amazing woman right off the bat. Picked out an engagement ring. Haven't pulled the trigger yet, but it's going to be soon.

[galaxiex]

Congrats jubal!  Nice thread! Wishing you and all the very best! 

For me, nothing earthshaking or life changing....

I just today got an old 60's-70's Airline/Valco/Montgomery Ward solid state amp head functioning again.
It came to me as a basket case.
Circuit board cracked, traces broken, 4 fried near unobtanium transistors, mucho dust, dead bugs and cobwebs. 
After 2 months of spare time tinkering it is now returned to it's former glory.... well... electronically anyway.
For SS it sounds amazing! 
Not a big deal, but very satisfying for me to electronically restore these old unwanted "worthless" SS amps from an earlier era.
I have a bunch of them now (old Teisco, Silvertone, Kingston, Heathkit, etc) and they have kept me busy for the most part of this year.
It's been a fun hobby for me, but may soon be time to move on to something else.   

Cheers!

[thesmokingman]

new town, new career, finally got my own place to live. most of the good has been since thanksgiving.

[m-Kresol]

For me, 2016 brought quite a bit of change and so will 2017.

* Finished my PhD, which took most of my time up till May. That were some crazy work hours, but it paid off. I won a dissertation award worth 3000€.
* Went for a beautiful trip to the US in June with friends.
* Found 2 jobs (took longer than inteded, but it worked out after all) and took the one that suited me more in the R&D departement of a passive electronics manufacturer.
* Moving to Graz because of that. It's the second biggest city in Austria, but still comparably small. It's more quiet than Vienna and I scored a nice flat.
* More pedal related, I did a few pcb layouts and I think I'm getting the hang of it. the PSU of my HiFi amp also finally started working, so I hope I get the amp itself up and running soon too.

all the best to all of you for 2017!

[wgc]

Congrats Jason!  Love that good things are happening for you.

For myself I just think of how lucky I am. Things could've been really bad for me in so many ways. Just full of gratitude and I hope I can continue to support my family with work that hopefully makes a positive difference to those that need it. (I design medical equipment).

[Luke51411]

I went to Mexico for a month and stayed for 10 teaching Enlish which is more rewarding than my last job. Oh, Imet a  girl there and I'm going back in January.

[Jules]

My second and last son Ignatius was born in August, it doesn't get much bigger than that for me!
Merry Christmas All

[EBRAddict]

2016 has been the best financial and career year of my life. I learned how to program microcontrollers in C, learned Linux, learned Python, rekindling the passion I had before I became a stuck in the soulless MS ecosystem as a career. I learned how to make and design DC power supplies of all sorts and built a half dozen. I've been clean and sober for 1,000 days. It's been a good year for me.

[Leevibe]

For me, I landed a really great job in Washington state and it's a whole new environment - upbeat office working with great people and more scenic adventures than I have time for. Not to mention I met an amazing woman right off the bat. Picked out an engagement ring. Haven't pulled the trigger yet, but it's going to be soon.

Congrats on the job and pending engagement!! What part of the state are you in? I'm in Washougal. It's 15 minutes east of Vancouver, WA. (the Vancouver that nobody knows about)

My oldest graduated highschool. I can't even comprehend that we're that far along in life. I'm super proud of him. We took him to LA and did a lot of Hollywood sightseeing because he's really into filmmaking. That was so much fun.

I got my Hammond C2 to C3(ish) conversion pretty much done. That was a super fun project and I really love the sounds this thing makes.

No pedals completed this year (that I remember) but I've been having fun with a 1590G modular board that I hope to complete in early 2017. The 1590G stuff has been the most fun of the 2016 BOTY winnings.

[dbp512]

Well I got into pharmacy school, and just completed my first semester. I passed all my classes, which for a brief period I wasn't sure was gonna happen. In fact, my GPA was higher than it was in undergrad, cause I actually cared about my classes and didn't skip studying to drink and play guitar.

I met some wonderful new friends, including one girl I'm hoping to see a lot more of.

A few people have talked to me about either making them a pedal, or in the case of one friend who works at a small mom & pop guitar shop, wants me to make some things to sell.

Hopefully in these next fews days I'll be able to finish up a few projects as well. That'll make this year end on a higher note. But overall, as crappy as this year has been, its definitely had its upsides as well. Its good to remember that.

[stringsthings]

Nothing real life-changing, but I've had a good year.  I learned how to etch enclosures and I'm learning to do SMD/SMT builds.
So the DIY hobby has given me a lot of joy.  My 3 cats continue to bring me lots of happiness.  ( except when Nemo jumps on
the computer and hits the reset switch! )

[pickdropper]

Congrats on the job and the pending engagement Jason!

I have a short, but good list:

- Getting more responsibility at work, which is nice.  I get to do more of the product planning and roadmapping, which I enjoy.
- Finally bought a house, which includes enough room for everybody and still has a very nice office space for me.

[bcalla]

Since I retired in 2015, I'm extremely happy to say that I have nothing to report on the career front.    
No major life events or changes.  My wife and I drove from Massachusetts to Georgia in October to visit my sister & her husband in their new place, and we got to see parts of the country that we hadn't seen prior to the trip.

I only managed to complete 4 or 5 pedals this year.  My good news is that I have been playing more shows.  I played bass in a duo, 2 different trios, and in a 5-piece band.  Probably only 8 or 9 shows for the year, but I think that's pretty good considering that 1) it's a hobby for all of us & 2) only one of the other people I play with is retired (see #1).

I did manage to score some new toys in 2016.  I picked up a Hofner Verythin bass (see THIS thread) which at 6.5 lbs. made my back very happy.

And I got 2 nostalgic toys - now that I'm (well) into my 60s nostalgia has increased in importance for me.  I bought the 1968 Guild Starfire V that the other guitarist in my band in high school owned (see THIS thread).  My Strat from that era is long gone.  I also bought a Kustom amp that is identical to the one that the same guitarist and I co-owned in that same band (see THIS thread).  I had been looking for one for several years.

[culturejam]

Great thread idea, Jason!

Big things for me this year:

• My daughter has gone from being a baby to being a little person with a unique personality. We now have simple conversations, which is a nice change from just screaming, crying, and not sleeping.   She really likes Star Wars, and her favorite character is Chewbacca. Score!

• I moved into a new position at my company late in 2015, and it turned out to be a total disaster. The last six months have been brutal. So I recently accepted an offer for a new job that is half the commute, more money, and I'll get to be a big fish in a small pond (my comfort zone) vs being plankton in the ocean. I start the second week of January. Can. Not. Wait.

• Despite a few impulse purchases of gear (see below), I managed to pay down debt more aggressively this year than any of the last several.  I also realized a decent return by actively managing my retirement accounts.

• Gear: This year I picked up my first semi-hollow guitar: Ibanez AS73. It's fantastic. I also got an AC-15 head and a Peavey 6505 Mini head. And an EHX M9. I'm pleased to report that all of this gear has exceeded my expectations.

[jubal81]

Man, glad I did this. Really does feel good reading some good news. Congrats, guys!


@Leevibe: Way cool. We'll have to meet up sometime. Looking forward to exploring down that way. I live in Ellensburg and work in Yakima. Been to Seattle 4-5 times, Rainier, White Pass, Chinook Pass, Leavenworth. Hoping to do a guided hike up Mt. St. Helens this summer.