January 31st, 2004 - where were you?

Fresh out of design school, living in San Fernando Valley, DINK (dual income no kids) and commuting in a modded e30 M3 (affordable at the time) Working on a 55 Bel Air. - GRM reader at the time. 

on the 31st I was at Daytona for the 24

Next morning I hauled butt back in my 93 turbo MR2 to catch the superbowl at my buddy's house

Good weekend!

Just a few days after my 42nd birthday, there’s  a 50/50 chance I was working. According  to the Teamswift archives on web archive I was diligently developing camshafts for the G series engines in my spare time which I’m still grinding today. So if I wasn’t working I was in the shop, though I recall some very cold days in the wrecking yard digging for cores

2004 was one of my best years ever. I had lots of work, tons of energy, made the most I've ever made, and we enjoyed every minute of it.

I sure wish I had that energy today

I guess I was living it up as a high school senior with my 1990 bronco. V8, 5-speed, no carpet, vinyl seats, LOUD flowmaster. Pretty sweet for an 18 yr old. We had a program called college where seniors could take their year at the community college. High school classes were 8a-12p, and you had to take at least 6 college units. So my schedule was 8-12 Mon, Wed, Fri; and then longer days Tuesday and Thursday. My buddy was in the same program so we had a fantastic year with all that free time.

Since we bought our only new car 2 weeks after that (a red MINI Cooper on Valentine's Day), I probably checked out The Italian Job at the RedBox, for my wife. I think she was celebrating not having a college tuition payment, between our daughter and our son. I was driving (and racing) 1st gen CRXs then, so I was probably shopping for a good junkyard engine. I had thrown a rod at Summit Point at the end of the 2003 season.

No clue. I'm not even sure what I was doing Jan 31 of this year. 

2004 was a pivotal year in my life. The 6mos previous I was fed up with a career turning wrenches, made a decision to go back to school, and completed all preparations to do so.

January 31st I would have been less than one month into the new school program, living half a country away from everything I had ever experienced, owning roughly 20% of my previous belongings, dealing with 4 roommates instead of living alone, but still young, single, and very likely drinking away the day. I don't think I had found a job at that point yet, but I'm sure it was on my mind because I had truck and insurance payments to handle.

Later that year I would meet my future wife. We were married before the year was thru, and my first child was born the following spring.

2004 was amazing. Some days I am not sure how I physically survived that year. The other days I am thankful I took the step to make a massive shift as I may not have survived another year where I was.

Probably counting the days until I finished my MBA.

My oldest was only 8 months old so probably dealing with that fun.

Living in the same apartment as I am now.  Watching the 24 hours of Daytona on cable.  Also watching Pens lose. But I was pumped because it was the day before the Super Bowl and the Cowboys were in it.

I was stationed at Camp Eagle in Korea, the post was given back to the Korean military a few years after I left (06-08 I think) and still riding the red sox first (in a long ass time) world series win.

No idea what I was doing on that exact day, I would've been 16 then, just finishing up high school, since it was a weekend I most likely would've been at home doing homework or playing video games, maybe getting a driving lesson or riding a bike around the neighborhood.

A Saturday in late January? Most likely I tagged along with my dad to get an oil change done at the Toyota dealer that day.

Oooof, that’s tough. I must have been a junior in college in Moscow, Idaho. Hard to remember much from those days except that it was cold, dark, and I was frequently drunk.

I as into cars then but didn’t have one. I liked Vw GTIs and BMWs. I don’t think I was on an forums yet.

Working at a residential wilderness treatment camp for juveniles in the foothills of NC.  Probably talking at length with one of my "kids" about the crappy hand life had dealt them.  I was also preparing my second "less than successful" run for NC State House of Representatives. 

I was ~4.5 years out of college, reading GRM, and living in Portland in the first home I had bought roughly 1 year prior (my first real estate purchase.) I had two AE86s, one rallycross/TSD/beater, and another that was (and somehow amazingly still is) a low/stiff autocross/trackday/restomod streetcar project. On that day in particular, I was on an Amtrak train from Portland to LA, with plans to visit my ex-girlfriend in LA, fly to NZ for a couple weeks of exploring, and then return in time to attend one of the first Japanese D1 drift events at Irwindale before returning home.

On the 31st in particular, I awoke after a poor night's sleep somewhere North of Sacto. The enduring memories of the day were the beauty of rolling oak savanna hills around S.L.O. and later in the day, flirting with a gal across the aisle a few rows forward. She really seemed to be digging me, and although I am typically a dolt around the ladies, when she pulled out her rum and winked at me, I managed to hop up and hustle to the lounge car for a few Cokes that managed to make the rest of the train ride fly right by for us during the rest of the ride into LA.

Here's a couple pics from the trip:

Finishing the first month of the worst job I've ever had. Fish out of water combined with managers and coworkers with zero honesty or integrity. I ended up toughing it out for 6 months.

I was still married to ex SWMBO, so probably nothing fun.  Especially January in Ohio.

I was married and my oldest was 9 months old, so I was likely inside taking care of him.

He's 17 now and doing well. Youngest wasn't born yet.

All great responses, thanks guys! A wide arrangement of things.

I was not aware we had so many service members here.

Probably just another Sat. in upstate NY unless it snowed.

GF might have come up, not sure.

A little early for ice racing.  On second thought no it wasn't.

In reply to BoostedBrandon :

So, whats the project?

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to BoostedBrandon :

Ok, now I'm curious. I wanna know about the project!

I too am wondering of the dates significance.  

Was this the day the Unintended Victim ask the question, "Can we please stop hotlinking pics?"  

 

The internet says that on the following day, Feb 1 2004 it was the Super Bowl.  Carolina Panthers loose to NE Patriots  29 to 32.  Considered the be a great game.  Also famous for Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction.  

I honestly could not think of what I was doing that exact weekend until you mentioned the wardrobe malfunction. I was living in Huntington, WV but got invited to a Super Bowl party in Cincinnati. That Saturday I drove to Cincinnati a day ahead of time. I think earlier that week (that day?) I had installed a new Alpine CD player in my truck that let you play burned .MP3 CDs and I had burned a CD with 150 songs on it. This was boastable, so I made sure to tell my friends that I had driven all the way in from WV but was only on the songs that started with the letter C!

I wasn't looking at the TV during the wardrobe malfunction so my friends had to tell me about it right afterward. We didn't think it was a big deal at all initially since she had a pastie on. But we were wrong!

At the time I was in grad school and had a weekly show on the college station. When I got back we were all greeted with memos that showed all the fines that the FCC could levy on us for misbehavior and their amounts. Due, of course, to the wardrobe malfunction.

Motorsports-wise, I was idle after a summer of bracket racing and my car was up in the garage at my parents' house in Columbus. It was January and all. Though a few months later I would be walking down the street and surprised by an autocross taking place on campus. This was the first one I ever saw. Definitely stuck around to watch that for an hour or two and see my fellow 3rd Gen F-Body owners spin at least 5 or 6 times. At the time I figured their suspension and tire combos weren't very well set up and would later learn I was right.

That was the actual day of occupancy for the house we had bought (and still occupy). I was -just- out of a roboboot with a broken foot, and we were moving in.

2004 was going to be the "Farewell Tour" of my B13 Sentra Autocross escapade.

That summer would be the "SkinnyG Childhood Misery Tour 2004" whereupon I took my sweetie to see all the placed I had lived in.

I can actually answer that - I was in the process of building Kimini. From the build diary