How has your decade been?
Discussion
Quite coincidentally I met my now wife in 2010 and the story of us and our marriage, children and family that followed has been what it's all been about.
Started two new businesses with mixed results but at present, I'm the happiest I've ever been in my entire life I think. Family is the biggest part but work plays it's part too.
Cars? Well I've gone from a 911 to a pick up-take from that what you will!
Started two new businesses with mixed results but at present, I'm the happiest I've ever been in my entire life I think. Family is the biggest part but work plays it's part too.
Cars? Well I've gone from a 911 to a pick up-take from that what you will!
Europa1 said:
I'm 47.
f
k! I'm nearly 48 going on 18...In 2010 life was good, the M5 had bugger all miles on it, the Rolex was only slightly battered and the Trumpet didn't need an MOT.
Then I was made redundant from a job that was 'money for nothing' to quote a certain M Knopfler.
Being a selfish/stubborn b'stard I refused let to life beat me down, I watched various friends lose their jobs and beat a path to their doctors for prozac.
I got up off my ass and made life happen for me.
The first job I took after redundancy was s
t but it just about covered the bills, I told them to poke it and landed a holy grail of a job within the precision engineering industry, ie a desk job!You can't and won't get a desk job in precision engineering unless you know how to cut metal at the sharp end so when the CNC miller retired I got 'promoted' back to the shop floor.
The company relocated to darkest Lincolnshire so it was either back on the dole or move. My flat in Hertfordshire was worth enough to buy a detached bungalow in Lincs mortgage free.
The M5 now has over 200k on the clock, the Trumpet has had a £5k engine rebuild from Bob Farnham and the Rolex is just as battered as it was before but is ten years older.
I'm older, wiser but just as un-marriagable as ever.
Life is good.
I was 23 years old in 2010 and had just bought my first house with my girlfriend. Two years later she wanted to move back ‘home’ to Lancaster - even though she moved down South to escape - and I didn’t fancy following! Suffice to say, the following few years consisted of various relationships, but I met my amazing wife in 2015 and we married last year! 
I was in the same job (Network Manager) from 2010 to 2018. The last year was incredibly stressful, as it appeared as though my job was at risk. In essence, I was promoted to Network Manager of two large sites! However I wasn’t given a department budget, 2 techs (of 4) left due to all the changes, and one of the remaining techs was fairly useless ... As such, I was doing 1st/2nd/3rd line support across both sites, as well as management duties and attending various supplier/leadership/internal manager meetings.
It was unsustainable. I worked out my 3 months notice and left a fortnight ago. As such, I finish 2019 and start 2020 with no job! I fancy a short break to enjoy life and I’m looking forward to new challenges and a new environment when I secure a job in a few months time ...
I’ve been incredibly fortunate on the health front; possibly the most important factor of all. I have experienced large bouts of anxiety (borderline depression?) over the last 12 - 18 months, but I believe this was due to work. My parents have been up and down, my best mate received news of a brain tumour, as did my MiL a month later. Both are doing really well now, so end the year on a high!
Travelled a fair amount; Canada, France, Italy, Maldives (in two days time!), Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Monaco three times ... Also, completed a few road trips to the Alps, one of which was with a mate in separate cars, as my stag do. Excellent adventure!
On the car front, changed several times. As for the more interesting, sold my Elise S1 and bought an Elise S2 111S, which I then sold to purchase another Elise S1, albeit with 270 BHP! I still have this Elise, although I’ll most likely sell it next year ... mainly as I bought an F-Type V6S this April, which I just can’t stop driving!
I end the decade at 33 years old. It’s been a busy, but overall enjoyable 10 years! I honestly hope the next 10 years are just as good ...
I was in the same job (Network Manager) from 2010 to 2018. The last year was incredibly stressful, as it appeared as though my job was at risk. In essence, I was promoted to Network Manager of two large sites! However I wasn’t given a department budget, 2 techs (of 4) left due to all the changes, and one of the remaining techs was fairly useless ... As such, I was doing 1st/2nd/3rd line support across both sites, as well as management duties and attending various supplier/leadership/internal manager meetings.
It was unsustainable. I worked out my 3 months notice and left a fortnight ago. As such, I finish 2019 and start 2020 with no job! I fancy a short break to enjoy life and I’m looking forward to new challenges and a new environment when I secure a job in a few months time ...
I’ve been incredibly fortunate on the health front; possibly the most important factor of all. I have experienced large bouts of anxiety (borderline depression?) over the last 12 - 18 months, but I believe this was due to work. My parents have been up and down, my best mate received news of a brain tumour, as did my MiL a month later. Both are doing really well now, so end the year on a high!
Travelled a fair amount; Canada, France, Italy, Maldives (in two days time!), Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Monaco three times ... Also, completed a few road trips to the Alps, one of which was with a mate in separate cars, as my stag do. Excellent adventure!
On the car front, changed several times. As for the more interesting, sold my Elise S1 and bought an Elise S2 111S, which I then sold to purchase another Elise S1, albeit with 270 BHP! I still have this Elise, although I’ll most likely sell it next year ... mainly as I bought an F-Type V6S this April, which I just can’t stop driving!
I end the decade at 33 years old. It’s been a busy, but overall enjoyable 10 years! I honestly hope the next 10 years are just as good ...
Edited by Ikemi on Saturday 7th December 10:49
Started in my late-20s, now late-30s.
In 2010, started my own freelance-consultant business and took a massive risk with a big pay-cut also changed industries (higher education)
Got my own first flat, refurbished.
Worked quite hard, until probably 2014. No summer holiday, yes nearly for 4 years!
Stopped cycling and started driving, mostly social though (in London!), in 2012.
Sold my first flat, and bought a bigger one.
Changed employers probably for 5 times until now, everytime with a better pay and post. - I guess, what 2008 taught us (my generation), work hard, enjoy your profession but if they do not value your skills/work, dump them and move on...-if you can.
Travelled a lot; all over Europe, Japan, Australia, U.S.A...
Got married in late 2017.
Got a dog.
Sold the flat, bought our first house.
In 2020, onwards, I'm planning to move to Australia or U.S.A (West coast). Looking for a bit better life quality and weather. Being British and also having multi-nationalities, I feel quite pessimistic in U.K. and mainly in Europe. Especially, If we would ever have a child, it will not be an ideal place to live/work or survive...
one can only hope
In 2010, started my own freelance-consultant business and took a massive risk with a big pay-cut also changed industries (higher education)
Got my own first flat, refurbished.
Worked quite hard, until probably 2014. No summer holiday, yes nearly for 4 years!
Stopped cycling and started driving, mostly social though (in London!), in 2012.
Sold my first flat, and bought a bigger one.
Changed employers probably for 5 times until now, everytime with a better pay and post. - I guess, what 2008 taught us (my generation), work hard, enjoy your profession but if they do not value your skills/work, dump them and move on...-if you can.
Travelled a lot; all over Europe, Japan, Australia, U.S.A...
Got married in late 2017.
Got a dog.
Sold the flat, bought our first house.
In 2020, onwards, I'm planning to move to Australia or U.S.A (West coast). Looking for a bit better life quality and weather. Being British and also having multi-nationalities, I feel quite pessimistic in U.K. and mainly in Europe. Especially, If we would ever have a child, it will not be an ideal place to live/work or survive...
one can only hope
If you’d asked me in the summer I’d have said that this had been a fantastic decade. I was 38 when it started , and in the first month we moved into the house were still in. A lovely Edwardian detached 5 bed. It needed a lot doing, and at the time was a bit of a stretch. It was also too big for the two of us really... But we got it the way we wanted it in a few years.
I’ve frittered away far too much money on cars; maybe not particularly PistonHead type cars, but an A4, M235 and MB E class convertibles. C and E class estates, and A3 e-tron, a MINI Cooper S, a VW Up! And too many £500+/- bangers - 2 Audi A2s, and Audi A8 and an Audi 80 cabriolet and, at the beginning, an E30 325 touring. I enjoyed all of them for different reasons.
Work wise I’ve had a great decade, doing a variety of interesting and increasingly well paid jobs over time. It’d reached the point earlier this year where I was in a position to step back, spend more time at home and ideally move into a portfolio career if non exec and advisory roles. My partner had been chronically ill for a long time, primarily renal failure and dialysis, and I just wanted to spend less time working and more time at home. Having said that, he didn’t let it stop him doing what he loved doing, which was travelling. He dialysed all over the world, in clinics, in hotels, on beaches, trains and in cars. This year alone we’ve been to Australia, Hong Kong, Boston, Israel, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Finland. We should be in Bali this Christmas.
But that all came crashing down when he died suddenly at home a couple of months ago after a heart attack. The paramedics tried (7 of them at one point) to resuscitate him, but couldn’t. He was 47. It knocked me sideways; of course I knew he was ill, and he spent more than his fair share of time in hospitals, but he always bounced back. Not this time
Now I’m sitting on a hotel balcony in a fantastic hotel in Kenya, all expenses paid, preparing for what will be a rewarding few days at work, financially more secure than I’ve ever been. I’d been offered the project (only 6 months) just before he died, and we’d talked about the travel opportunities from here..the Seychelles, Mauritius, Lake Victoria.... but now I have no one to go with. I’d give everything up in a flash to rewind to the beginning of the decade again (I almost said in a heartbeat, but that didn’t seem appropriate...)
Instead I’m here, going through the motions, but without a purpose
I’ve frittered away far too much money on cars; maybe not particularly PistonHead type cars, but an A4, M235 and MB E class convertibles. C and E class estates, and A3 e-tron, a MINI Cooper S, a VW Up! And too many £500+/- bangers - 2 Audi A2s, and Audi A8 and an Audi 80 cabriolet and, at the beginning, an E30 325 touring. I enjoyed all of them for different reasons.
Work wise I’ve had a great decade, doing a variety of interesting and increasingly well paid jobs over time. It’d reached the point earlier this year where I was in a position to step back, spend more time at home and ideally move into a portfolio career if non exec and advisory roles. My partner had been chronically ill for a long time, primarily renal failure and dialysis, and I just wanted to spend less time working and more time at home. Having said that, he didn’t let it stop him doing what he loved doing, which was travelling. He dialysed all over the world, in clinics, in hotels, on beaches, trains and in cars. This year alone we’ve been to Australia, Hong Kong, Boston, Israel, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Finland. We should be in Bali this Christmas.
But that all came crashing down when he died suddenly at home a couple of months ago after a heart attack. The paramedics tried (7 of them at one point) to resuscitate him, but couldn’t. He was 47. It knocked me sideways; of course I knew he was ill, and he spent more than his fair share of time in hospitals, but he always bounced back. Not this time
Now I’m sitting on a hotel balcony in a fantastic hotel in Kenya, all expenses paid, preparing for what will be a rewarding few days at work, financially more secure than I’ve ever been. I’d been offered the project (only 6 months) just before he died, and we’d talked about the travel opportunities from here..the Seychelles, Mauritius, Lake Victoria.... but now I have no one to go with. I’d give everything up in a flash to rewind to the beginning of the decade again (I almost said in a heartbeat, but that didn’t seem appropriate...)
Instead I’m here, going through the motions, but without a purpose
Edited by PSRG on Sunday 8th December 17:17
Edited by PSRG on Sunday 8th December 18:37
2010 living back in my home town Crewe after a short stint of living in Timaru, New Zealand.. Got a job working for Network Rail through an agency. Then relocated to Milton Keynes with work. Driving a 2008 MK2 Leon FR TDI PD170 with Stage 2 tune. Bought my first house.
2019 living in MK still working for Network Rail, now driving a MK1 Leon FR+ TDI as daily driver and have a Porsche 981 Cayman S Stage 2 tuned as a weekend car.
Lost my dad aged 54 to NET pancreatic cancer in 2018 which safe to say has ruined the "decade"
2019 living in MK still working for Network Rail, now driving a MK1 Leon FR+ TDI as daily driver and have a Porsche 981 Cayman S Stage 2 tuned as a weekend car.
Lost my dad aged 54 to NET pancreatic cancer in 2018 which safe to say has ruined the "decade"
Decade started off pretty terribly.
Married someone who was vile, controlling and stole from me.
But the last half the decade has only got better and better. After finally divorcing in 2015 I went on to remarry, find an amazing job, have some lovely friends and spend far more time with family and the people I care about that I never got to do before.
I’m ending the decade looking forward to the next.
5 years ago I could never imagine that or even being here as all I wanted to do was run away or worse and didn’t expect I’d even be around for 2020.
Married someone who was vile, controlling and stole from me.
But the last half the decade has only got better and better. After finally divorcing in 2015 I went on to remarry, find an amazing job, have some lovely friends and spend far more time with family and the people I care about that I never got to do before.
I’m ending the decade looking forward to the next.
5 years ago I could never imagine that or even being here as all I wanted to do was run away or worse and didn’t expect I’d even be around for 2020.
Started the decade in hospital recovering from a stroke !
The decade has been very up and down but sadly mostly down .
Lost mum after a short bout of cancer 6 years ago and dad two years later .
Work wise I ended up driving all over Europe and the Uk doing delivery and collections for loads of interesting people from F1 teams to Sotherbys and exhibitions and music tours .
Things finally crashed when I closed 2 lanes of the M25 when I had heart problems that have been partially dealt with but along with other warn out bits of me restricted my lifestyle.
2020 onwards certainly must be an improvement.
The decade has been very up and down but sadly mostly down .
Lost mum after a short bout of cancer 6 years ago and dad two years later .
Work wise I ended up driving all over Europe and the Uk doing delivery and collections for loads of interesting people from F1 teams to Sotherbys and exhibitions and music tours .
Things finally crashed when I closed 2 lanes of the M25 when I had heart problems that have been partially dealt with but along with other warn out bits of me restricted my lifestyle.
2020 onwards certainly must be an improvement.
PSRG said:
Wilmslowboy said:
Sorry to hear your story, it shows how fragile life is.
Thank you, it definitely does. Most of what you think matters, doesn’t really in the sense. I’m grateful for the fantastic memories though I'd be very proud of that.
Edited by Mothersruin on Sunday 8th December 18:04
Mothersruin said:
You'e right, it doesn't but it seems to me that you made a fantastic partner in every sense so that he could enjoy all the things you both did before he left.
I'd be very proud of that.
I'd be very proud of that.
His mother said the same, which was nice. He certainly packed more than many manage into a lifetime in his all to short life. I was lucky to have had 23 fantastic years though
And it was of course meant to say “I’m grateful for the fantastic memories...” not ungrateful
Now fixed 
Started at 29, ending it at 39...on the whole been a good decade.
I've moved jobs once but now live 2mls from the office with a 5min commute.
Still with the wife but added 2 beautiful children in 2014 and 2017.
Had 4 or 5 cars in this decade - an Audi A3, A6, Lotus Elise S3 (which I had for 12mths and miss every day!) and currently have a Volvo V90 and a Mini F56 JCW.
Travelled a lot - on average 2 or 3 foreign holidays a year - highlights have been our 2 week California trip in 2013, Barbados in 2018 and surprisingly Belek (Turkey) which we went to at Easter 2019.
Only thing that has held me back this decade is this damn anxiety which I can keep at bay but can't seem to completely overcome.
Let's hope the next 10 are even better.
I've moved jobs once but now live 2mls from the office with a 5min commute.
Still with the wife but added 2 beautiful children in 2014 and 2017.
Had 4 or 5 cars in this decade - an Audi A3, A6, Lotus Elise S3 (which I had for 12mths and miss every day!) and currently have a Volvo V90 and a Mini F56 JCW.
Travelled a lot - on average 2 or 3 foreign holidays a year - highlights have been our 2 week California trip in 2013, Barbados in 2018 and surprisingly Belek (Turkey) which we went to at Easter 2019.
Only thing that has held me back this decade is this damn anxiety which I can keep at bay but can't seem to completely overcome.
Let's hope the next 10 are even better.
2010 - was living with someone in reality i didn't love and her soul sucking parents, out of work and no prospect of a job. Staring down the prospect of not having any money and with a rattly old Citroen C4 coupe and hating my life.
2011 - caught her cheating on me and decided to get revenge but still no prospect of anything concrete i was kind of stuck in the situation until she met someone else. That was me thrown out and sent packing 3 weeks before Christmas. Lowest point that day and nearly the end but thats another story for another time.
Fast forward to 2019 - met someone 7 years ago, got married almost 5 years ago, got three step kids and 2 grand daughters. Became an orpan in 2015 6 days before we got married, so very very very hard day and for that reason possibly the worst day ever but then i had just married my soul mate so it was the best day ever too, lots of emotions that day.
Been working ever since the person i used to live with and her family threw me out, company i am working for now is a big player in the dental industry and been abroad with them training although my role has changed somewhat not to my liking but could be worse.
Health isn't great but then i am classed as life long chronically ill so it wont be
Driving about in a 6 months old car
So overall, started crappy and improved immeasurably, starting to get a bit shaky here and there towards the end of it but i'm wise enough to know some of that is down to me so i just have to get my st straight and stop being a berk. Rating: 9/10
2011 - caught her cheating on me and decided to get revenge but still no prospect of anything concrete i was kind of stuck in the situation until she met someone else. That was me thrown out and sent packing 3 weeks before Christmas. Lowest point that day and nearly the end but thats another story for another time.
Fast forward to 2019 - met someone 7 years ago, got married almost 5 years ago, got three step kids and 2 grand daughters. Became an orpan in 2015 6 days before we got married, so very very very hard day and for that reason possibly the worst day ever but then i had just married my soul mate so it was the best day ever too, lots of emotions that day.
Been working ever since the person i used to live with and her family threw me out, company i am working for now is a big player in the dental industry and been abroad with them training although my role has changed somewhat not to my liking but could be worse.
Health isn't great but then i am classed as life long chronically ill so it wont be
Driving about in a 6 months old car
So overall, started crappy and improved immeasurably, starting to get a bit shaky here and there towards the end of it but i'm wise enough to know some of that is down to me so i just have to get my s
t straight and stop being a berk. Rating: 9/10Edited by slopes on Sunday 8th December 19:46
Not been a good decade for me. Too many deaths of family and close friends .
Redundancy in Jan 2010 meant I was able to help my Dad when my Mum was ill, and who eventually died later that year.
Started a dog walking/pet sitting business, which I'm still doing and enjoy. Though I need to be available on a nearly daily basis and so haven't had a holiday this decade.
My Dad remarried 4 years ago and died earlier this year. His sister, my aunt, died a short time after.
Health wise, not been too good for me either. I'm still alive though
Redundancy in Jan 2010 meant I was able to help my Dad when my Mum was ill, and who eventually died later that year.
Started a dog walking/pet sitting business, which I'm still doing and enjoy. Though I need to be available on a nearly daily basis and so haven't had a holiday this decade.
My Dad remarried 4 years ago and died earlier this year. His sister, my aunt, died a short time after.
Health wise, not been too good for me either. I'm still alive though
Tango13 said:
In 2010 life was good, the M5 had bugger all miles on it, the Rolex was only slightly battered and the Trumpet didn't need an MOT.
Got to be honest, I read "Trumpet didn't need an MOT" as a euphemism for having a very personal prostatey moment with your Doctor...PSRG said:
Sad things
Very sorry for your loss.I'm inclined to think your partner would be proud of you for going out anyway.Edited by Smitters on Monday 9th December 17:06
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