What have your 2012 highlights been?

Less exciting, probably,

But getting a Arcam rDAC for my replay, recently. 

Ye Gods, it shows what can be done for a relatively small price - oh and a Brooks B 17 for my cycle. That was even cheaper, but makes one realise what is wrong with modern "plastic" cars ... Okay the B 17 was fitted in August 2011, so my life is not so exciting ...

ATB from George

The Olympics

For a few weeks my wife and I were gripped, and swept along in the mood that I think touched most of the nation.

Bruce

Climbed Kilimanjaro.

Ran a Marathon.

Visited Bali, South Africa, Tanzania, Venice and Moscow.

Bought a new car.

+1 .. never seen anything as good and probably never will again 

I think it must be the day out to the top of Box Hill, securing seats at the roadside, and then not putting them to much use as the men's Olympic road race came past 9 times - for a couple of laps it looked like Team GB were going to close the gap; and then you could tell they had given up.  Still, there was such a buzz from the occasion that it will live long in my memory.  Just great.

Peter

PS I had to get up at 3 a.m. to make it to the meeting point and then had to get up at 2:30 a.m. that night/ next morning to drive 400 miles to catch a ferry to Ireland.  Perhaps the most challenging moment in 2012 that I would care to share on a forum!

My wife and I went to the Angola Prison Rodeo in Louisiana, which is well worth checking out if you are anywhere nearby. It's pretty bizarre--you go thru the gates, and you are inside the towers and the razor wire. Lots of the prisoners make handicrafts, which they sell to the rodeo goers. They get back a portion of the proceeds, which they can use to buy things like better food. The rodeo can be pretty rough--if you are serving a life sentence, going to the hospital to get better food and to look at women might be worth the price of getting gored.

Lots of people pile their trucks high with cheap prisoner furniture and resell it.

We bought some Christmas ornaments from one of the prisoners. If you bought five, you got the sixth one for free. My wife asked the malefactor if he chose the sixth one. He said no, to pick it out ourselves, but he wanted to give us a seventh one because we were so nice to each other. None of the other couples he'd spoken with that day had treated each other very well.

My granddaughter.

Travelling across the USA from New York to San Francisco (mostly) by train.

steve

No longer having to wear glasses - I have been wearing them since when the old King died (1952)

1st January - grandaughter No 1 born

Jan/Feb visit to Canada to see her (and subsequent visits throughout the year)

I'm afraid that even the Olympics couldn't compete, although I really did enjoy watching some of the events on TV.

Cheers

Don

Is that as a result of laser surgery? Or have you just move closer to everything?

Son graduating with a 1st in Economics from Bath.

My wife's golf handicap finally dropping. 

Z-Plug for Superline.

DR upgrades.

GB & Europe winning the Ryder Cup, especially Ian Poulter's performance.

Wiggins winning the TDF.

The Olympics.

On my feet in a cauldron of noise a few rows from track-side as the crowd roared Mo home to take gold in the Olympics 5000m. Personally have never seen a spectacle like it in the UK including all sporting and music events i have been too.

As a Brit and Londoner nothing came close. London showed why it is one of the world's best and most iconic cities. Fantastic opening ceremony too with tributes to our music culture and the NHS amongst other things.

Still watch the highlights on the BBC website from time-to-time and so Steve Cram's commentary as Farah dug deep under pressure coming into the final straight is very familiar...'the arms are going to have to pump, the knees have got to come up high, he's got to find something extra....I think he's going to get there...Farah is going to make it two gold medals for Great Britain...beautiful, the place erupts.' Goosebumps. An incredible achievement and outpouring of emotion as he won.

Then the Jamaican 4x100 team waltzed a new world record with the ultimate showman Lightning Bolt doing the Mobot for the home crowd as he crossed the line.

Whilst on a sporting theme also:

-Ennis kicking on the final straight of final event to cross line first as gold medallist in the Heptathlon (and the nation's sweetheart).

-Mo's 10000m win

-Wiggo winning the TdF and the Olympics time trial (was there for that one)

Musically, Radiohead at the O2 and Bobby Womack at The Forum.

"result of laser surgery?"

No I had the lenses replaced in my eyes with dual focus plastic lenses, my own lenses had started to go yellow and crazed (cataracts) so I could not see very well.  

Getting an RP3, modest but great.

TdeF and Olympics beyond fantastic from start to finish. All other sports must take note, especially football.

Swopping the campervan and Renault Modus for BMW 120D M Sport, very fast and very economic.

Children doing well at school.

Returning to Apple with an iMac.

Moving the Kans onto stands.

A bad moment was seeing ourselves on the beach on holiday which led to both Mrs Jono and I losing over 2 stone each since September which must be the high point of the year!

Jono

The Olympics. - Most exhilarating two weeks I can remember - thanks BBC for the super coverage!

Wiggo's cycling exploits

Getting my second son back from Afghanistan intact.

Karl

Fantastic, would they make bespoke hi-fi furniture, (so long as they'd do some cheaper than NaimFraim)?

The rodeo happens every Sunday in October and every Saturday and Sunday in April. Y'all come on down! Buy your tickets in advance though, it tends to sell out.

Make up some blueprints, fly into Baton Rouge or New Orleans, drive north to Angola and ask around. But I suspect that equipment for bending and cutting heavy gauge metal may be in short supply.

Yeah the Olympics were great, seeing my eldest daughter really get her career started, and seeing Ryan Adams live with both daughters - fantastic music really transcending the generations.