Reflections - 2020

[dodj]

I generally like to stick to myself so all this social distancing didn't bother me a bit.

My wife and I live outside the city on 20 acres of land. We were commenting the other day how this being isolated from others isn't a hell of a lot different than our normal lives..lol

[Spikedog08]

I'm ready to leave 2020 behind . . . 

[72hemi]

2020 was an interesting year for sure and definitely did not go the way I planned! Started out awesome with a couple of trips to LA to go to Disneyland and the Petersen Museum. Attended a Ferrari event at the Petersen with over 400 cars in attendance. The week the pandemic hit I was getting ready for MATS in Vegas and literally 2 days before my departure it got cancelled. The next 6 months I had no real car show season which was a huge bummer! But that said we spent so much time on the lake with our friends it was amazing! This fall I was able to attend a few events most notably the CenCal Trucks annual Toy Drive which helped more than 1,000 kids this Christmas! I also spent this year launching my YouTube channel Life at Speed and it has been a fun journey learning the ins and outs of YouTube, plus it got me motivated to start wrenching on my 72 Challenger again. Most of this year for me is covered in the video I posted on Sunday (link below). Then the icing on the cake last week I picked up a 74 Barracuda project which will be my most ambitious restoration to date and I couldn't be happier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD3Q15t4TfY

[dodj]

A '74 low rider targa....

[jimynick]

2020, to paraphrase Franklin Roosevelt- a year that will live in infamy! The bride and I went to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand early in the year and were advised by all and sundry that we were lucky that the Chinese weren't allowed into those countries, due to their present from Wuhan; we got back in-country Mar.7th and they started closing borders Mar.8th, so I guess we were actually "lucky"? I started properly prepping my Challenger for final paint and tore it all apart (again) to do so, as son Jim thought the old car would make a good wedding car for he and his bride. They were to be wed in early May, but we all know how that turned out, eh? Losing the wedding date seemed to coincide with losing my ambition, funny how that goes, and the Challenger got put on the back burner. I was also all set to go to Carlisle, but the border guys thought otherwise and it seems like pretty much every other car show in Ontario also cancelled; at least that made me feel a wee bit better about not having my car to drive! It's been lousy watching local businesses go under due to the lockdowns and now they've reinstituted that and the bottom seems farther and farther away each time. It's tough to be cheerful when the government is setting up snitch lines for people to report others if they have too many folks at their home, but we also said F--k it and had our children and grandchildren over for Christmas. The upside, I guess, is that the boys and I revamped and cleaned the garage and got the poor, old Challenger out of her nest near the back door and got 'er on the skates and turned around with an eye to the old man getting back at it so that, God willing, I can drive it again next summer. I sure hope that you all have a better year in 2021 and that the Wuhan Flu goes by your door and leaves you and yours happy, healthy and having fun in the new year! 

[GoodysGotaCuda]

2020 overall, has been pretty good for us given the whole pandemic thing. We are lucky to all be in great health and though we have been far apart from extended family for nearly the entire year, we are all managing to keep healthy. It's working.

I started a new position within Peterbilt early in the year and that's been taking me for a fun ride. The kids [5 and 3] have enjoyed spending so much time at home. We've really learned to slow down..basically because we had to. Normally we "go go go" to this class, this event, etc. That essentially stopped, and it's not so bad really.

2021 is looking like more of the same, a lot of "home" time, but it can certainly be worse. My Wife was vaccinated today, that makes for a large leap back toward normalcy for us. The 'Cuda will likely do quite a bit of sitting in the garage like it did in 2020, but we picked up a small boat and plan to do a LOT of bass fishing in 2021 to make up for it!

Best of luck in 2021 everyone! Be careful out there! 

[71340RT]

Been a busy year with work being short a tech on 3rd shift and I worked 12 hours shifts till the end of August so money has not been a problem. Took  a vacation to Destin Florida in June even though work did not want me to. Never went to Carlisle and wished I would of as I never went to another show till September when I made the trip to Bowling Green Kentucky for the Holley Mopar show. It was a good show and only 5 hours from home so I will go again. From there I went to my time share in Indiana for some riding on my Harley with a two other couples which was very relaxing. I sold my 74 challenger which had the 5.7 hemi engine in it back to the guy I bought it from after owning it for 4 1/2 years. I do miss the modern drive train and now plan on pulling the 360 out of my 73 challenger to put a Gen 3 hemi in it as it is not numbers matching anyway and will make a great cruiser with a overdrive behind the hemi. The wife and I have not got the Covid-19 but do know some people that have got pretty sick from it. I have already registered for Carlisle so I can't wait for July and the 12 hour drive out. I have 7 weeks of vacation for 2021 so I hope I get to enjoy them.

[HUSTLESTUFF]

Well 2020 started off great for me.  Broke ground on my dream home.  60 x 100 x 20 steel building with a 3000 sq ft garage/shop, 1700 sq ft home and 1300 sq ft showroom with 1700 sq ft storage above home.  The slab took a little longer than told, 3 mo vs 3 weeks but building erectors only 1 week over their 3 week estimate.  So by April 1, I could start building the insides. But as you know we had a pandemic visit us.  As an ER RN things got a little sketchy in the beginings with not a lot of info, enough but not extra PPE and that was rationed.  No tests at first and the early ones were 2 day turn around.    But I started the build.  My girlfriend Sunnie lost her job as a server so she was able to help a lot.  Her brother a carpenter was also laid off in SoCal so Jessee and his family came up twice for a week each time and we busted out the framing and the Great Wall in those two weeks.  Luckily the Covid didn't hit Cali hard so no mandatory OT.  Missed all the car shows I was going to attend, but they were limited due to construction anyway.  Worked on all my days off from January through October except for 3, when the Covid struck me.  Wiped me out the whole month.  Recovered and have been back at it.  Had hoped to be in by Christmas but looks like early Febuary.  Still have a lot of work to do after we get occupancy but will be nice to not pay rent and mortgage.  Can't wait to work on a car again.