Abrupt snowstorms that bring the entire city to its knees in twenty minutes flat

Double-digit unemployment numbers

City Hall sex scandals

Jiffy Lube

Squeakquels

Whatever gypsy curse that's taking down the Blazers one by one

Alpha Broadcasting

Outsourcing

Merritt Paulson

Shia LaBeouf

$4+ pints

Beaverton

I thought 2008 was rough but, good glaven, it had nothing up on 2009. It dished out plenty of setbacks and headaches for myself and many of my colleagues. Here's hoping that 2009's successor will be much better behaved. We could all use some time to recover from these past 12 months.