It has been quite a year! Started the year in the Milwaukee VA Hospital with a diagnosis of Leukemia, found out in early Jan. that I was a candidate for a bone marrow transplant. That happened April 4th at Froedtert Hospital (also in Milwaukee). Three weeks of in-patient recovery followed by 2 months of out-patient recovery which required that I stayed in the Milwaukee area. We were able to get home for a couple of weekends later on in the recovery but we weren't home for good until the 4th of July weekend. I still wasn't able to do much and had to go back weekly for tests. By fall I was finally starting to feel like myself again. We did manage to do some summer car events including the Indian Uprising at St.Charles IL and Pontiac Adventures at Wis. Dells.
When you are laying in a hospital bed you have a lot of time to think about all sorts of things, things you have done, things you haven't done and things you hope you get a chance to do. One of the things that Mary and I always talked about doing after retirement is some serious top down cruising. Well my illness pretty much put me into at least semi-retirement and Mary decided to call it quits the end of Feb.
The only problem with serious top down cruising is the Firebird. It has well over 100K on the clock, very little heat, no A/C or cruise not to mention the safety features that aren't there (Shoulder belts, air bags, ABS etc). Something newer seemed necessary with only one thing mandatory, other than being a convertible, it has to be a Pontiac. My first thought seemed logical, a last gen Firebird. However with the exception of the FireHawks I'm not really a big fan of the newer 'birds. Buying a g-6 never crossed my mind.
That pretty much left the Solstice. The problem there is the lack of storage space. We discussed it very seriously and decided that somehow we would over come that obstacle, and the search was on.
There were a few nearby but either too many miles, wrong color, auto trans, you know the drill when looking for a car. Then, a couple of weeks ago one turned up 100 miles from here that seemed perfect, 2008 GXP 5speed gray (Sly) with only 13,900. miles.
We trailered it home a week ago before the snow and cold arrived here.
Don't worry I'm not abandoning the '69! It is currently at my brother-in-law's shop for some paint touch-up and will be used probably as much as it always has been.
Here are a few pics of our new ride.

Good for you. Sometimes you choose a life path and sometimes it chooses you. Not 5 minutes ago my wife was just freaking out( again ) about how broke we're going to be after I retire next year. Looks like a 30% cut in income from working to pension. I told her she needed to get a better job that actually pays something.
Sorry to hear about your health problems but it sounds like you kicked it's [censored]. Way to go. Amazing what good health care can do these days. Gotta live it like you stole it!

Thanks for sharing Hank. Nothing but the best wishes and prayers to you and your family. Enjoy the new Pontiac, and may the wind forever blow through your hair!

2017 just plain sucked for my wife and I, but luckily nothing related to our health. Ended up involved in a full federal investigation for decisions made before I was even the boss, so I was reassigned during the 2nd quarter of the year to a menial (but actually no stress) job. (Guess what, I worked at a VA hospital), I was pretty sure the hammer was going to fall on me anyway, so I retired about 1 year before I planned. The quick sale on our house in OK almost fell through at the last minute. House hunting in Phoenix was a seller's market nightmare. My mom had a significant stroke in the late summer and passed away in November. I was involved in an EEO investigation in December due to charges from an ex-employee. And finally, the Gov has taken 7 months to get me my full retirement pay, jeopardizing my new home loan...

We are so going to toast good riddance to the year today.

Early 2018 will see us finally in our new house, for one thing.

I really hope your 2018 is equally better.

Best of luck in the New Year, I hope it is smooth sailing for you two.

Don't worry I'm not abandoning the '69! It is currently at my brother-in-law's shop for some paint touch-up and will be used probably as much as it always has been.
Here are a few pics of our new ride.
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Wishing you good health Hank, and the new ride is awesome.

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We are so going to toast good riddance to the year..[/quote]

To the new year........DILLY DILLY!