Lets list some of the 2008 happening here; In our lives, Our Cars, our forum.

I'll start.

• We lost a good friend and member when his young life was cut short in a motorcycle accident - SideZ.

 

Saw gas prices sky rocket to over 5 bucks US, then plummet to below 2 !!! Someone is blowin smoke up someone's butt.......The oil companies shall remain nameless !!!

 

- 1st African-America president elected.
-followed by 1st mass exodus of Americans to Mexico/Canada

- Chuck Norris successfully SC'ed a LTD xfire.

- New crossfire top speed, 184.

- Pirates attack oil tanker and other large vessels.

- Pirates then give the oil tanker back when price per barrel of oil drops below $60 because the cost of maintaining the vessel is too high in the

poor economy.

 

At the risk of starting another firestorm,
We organized a REAL Xfire club.

Thanks FP and all the board members.


roadster with a stick

 

President Bush, successfully ducked not one but two shoes thrown at him.

That guy can move!

 

2008 was an **** of a year for me. Far too many bad things happened.

On a plus side, I did buy a Crossfire, which in turn put me in touch with the good folk here, so at wasn’t a total wash out. I’ve had some fun with the car and the Crossfire owners in the UK.

 

Peggy and I were blessed with a second beautiful new grandaughter...and they are back in the states, within driving distance

 

Sidez - rest in peace.

Sucko year for medical bills.
Got a big fat raise.
Watched son get married.
Shoveled & blew more snow than ever before.
Passed a 4 semi-truck convoy in record time.
I'll miss George Carlin & Paul Newman & Bo Diddley.
Wife lost job after coming back from knee surgery - see above.
Read some great books.
Got blown away by 'No Country for Old Men' - yeah, I know it was released in '07 but I only saw it this year.
Drove on some wonderful summer days, arm out window, in a rare German-made car.
Added one more year to married life: 32 yrs. & counting.
Discovered the neighbor's dog chain left mark on rear bumper of '04 Coupe !
Got crazy drunk with friends in hunting cabin in middle of nowhere. Wait, that's anywhere around here!
-edit- forgot......met some GREAT folks on a wee little corner of the internet called www.Crossfireforum.org -edit-

 

I bought my first German made vehicle. (RIP '98 Infiniti i30)

At the cost of five months of unemployment, I finally left the restaurant industry. I got on at Garmin and have quickly been promoted into our second tier software / PC support.

I hit 135 mph for the first time. Twice in one day. I was even radar'ed, but I quickly evaded what could have been a terrifying 135-in-a-45 ticket / free vacation in a prison cell. If it weren't for those enormous tires, there's no way I could have made such a high speed turn to get off the street. This is the third time I've... um... evaded a ticket for traveling over 90mph.

Most importantly, this year I decided that I'm going back to college to finish my degree.

 

It was a year that many of us lost our shorts in the stock market

 

The forum gained me, one big fat +1!! lol

 

The great comedian George Carlin passed away on June 22....

He was always one of my favorites.
RIP George

 

I think Uncle Jay sums it up quite nicely:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWiXy55OHyY

 

Autocrossed for the first time and won my local novice division for the season

Lost 3 of my favorite local radio talk show hosts
Got to work with HDDP again

 

Old lady t-boned my BMW while the top was down. Scary moment.

 

That was pretty cool and only took 5 minutes.

 

Mine too Valk!

 

The best of years..... the worst of years......

February 2008; Met the most wonderful lady alive and we are currently engaged to get married

June 2008: My Mother collapses without warning. Day after taking her to hospital find out she has two to three weeks to live.

July 2008 (three weeks later) Mom passes away peacefully at home

July 2008 (four days after burying my Mom); I am informed that I am to be laid off from my job on October 1st, 2008 due to another company taking over the firm I worked for.

October 1, 2008; I am now amongst the vast ranks of unemployed.

December 2008; Still in total love and looking fondly to the future.

2008; Best of years.... the worst of years....

 

Chin up my friend, you are one guy with a great deal of optimism. All will turn out good for you.

 

Got my 1st speeding ticket, in 44 years of driving, Photo Radar top down wing up,