What's up pubs. Happy Wednesday, it's scorching out here in Baltimore. Fam My parents have been separated for about 8 years, though never divorced. My mother has always been the breadwinner, and my dad is one of those hurricane-type folks who can't manage his life, let alone a budget. But he's getting there. He's got a setup now where he's working and renovating an apartment that he's living in, and he managed to get his $550 monthly student loan payment down to $50, which is great (even if it means he'll be paying off his loan forever at that rate). The main thing is, I'm trying not to worry about him. He tells me not to. But it's hard not to be concerned when he's so bad with money. So I'm trying this radical form of unconditional acceptance. Maybe it's not so radical to other people, but the thing is, it really helps. I've been spending a lot of time with him and being happy just to see him. I mean, he is fucking awesome. Money I have no debt to speak of, but that situation is set to change drastically. I have about 5 semesters of school I'm about to enroll in, at $5k a semester. My car just went belly-up, so I want to replace it, but not with another junker that'll give me cause to worry about when some crucial engine component will fail on me. So I'm thinking about getting a car loan. I've never had one of those. I have about $3k I'm setting aside for a downpayment. A really knowledgeable friend thinks that I can just find undervalued cars in the neighborhood of $15-$18k, buy, then flip them for a tiny profit every few months. He did it all throughout college. To me, that seems like biting off a lot more than I know how to chew. Oh, and I need braces. WEAR YOUR RETAINERS KIDS. Love Life lol Fitness I work 7 days a week. The only thing that keeps me sane is playing soccer, which I do anywhere from 1 to 4 days a week. But I haven't been inside a gym in two months and I can't stop thinking about that. I'm trying to wrestle away a day off or something, just so that I can take a little more self-care. On the plus-side, I just timed my mile-time and I'm at 5:50, so that's surprisingly awesome. Work I'm essentially a personal assistant to a guy who owns a bunch of higher-end apartments in the city and he pays me under the table. And I work at a busy restaurant on the weekends. And I still don't make enough money. The cool thing about work though is that it sort of keeps me sane. This weekend for July 4th I had two days off and I almost went crazy. I've been working so much recently that I forgot how to relax. ----- Shoutout to _refugee_ for saving my mental health about a week ago. This website abounds with concrete effects and improvements to my life. (I really could shout-out to more people, but I don't want to turn this into a mush-fest this early in the morning.)
Careful with that one. Put all that loan math in a speadsheet, and you might think twice. Do you have to drive far? If not, I'd suggest getting a used car from an elderly person. Debt sucks.To me, that seems like biting off a lot more than I know how to chew.
So, the unfair advantage I'd enjoy is access to a dealership owner who spends his weekends going to dealer car auctions. These places are shutout to the public, and for a flat $600, he'd buy whatever car at whatever parameters I set. This is the unfair advantage my friend enjoyed all throughout college. He bought something like 8 or 10 cars, selling each one at a $1k-$4k profit, and then buying another. It seems crazy. Like, all I need is the Kelly Blue Book app to scope out deals? Too good to be true. Also, I don't know shit about cars other than Honda Civics, which is reason enough to not even consider selling cars. The tiny voice in my head, though, tells me that fortune favors the bold. And I'd have someone providing some guidance.
Lol, I'm not sure I understand. What do Maximas have to do with sweet tapes?
Boiiiii, I have a tape deck now. Send me some sweet tapes.
We once had a Hubski mixed CD/Tape exchange. We should totally do that again. mk, what do you think? Anyone want to organize it?
A couple things to keep in mind. Taxes can be killer as transaction costs. Dealers get an exception on registration and associated taxes you probably wont so you have to be smart about managing that. You might be able to finance the car from your buddy since he is a dealer but typically that kind of arrangement requires cash in hand so that he can go out and buy the car. Kelly Blue Book does a pretty shitty job pricing cars. Its like a rating agency for cars, its trusted by large institutions but its off by enough to eat your entire margin. And obviously if you are buying used, you need to have some buffer cash set aside in-case shit happens.So, the unfair advantage I'd enjoy is access to a dealership owner who spends his weekends going to dealer car auctions. These places are shutout to the public, and for a flat $600, he'd buy whatever car at whatever parameters I set. This is the unfair advantage my friend enjoyed all throughout college. He bought something like 8 or 10 cars, selling each one at a $1k-$4k profit, and then buying another.
Yea, I don't fully understand tax liabilities when it comes to selling cars. If you sell it for less than the original purchase price, it's a loss, so you don't have to report it. But if I sell it for more, which is the point of the exercise, then... I'll pay income taxes? Or sales taxes? And is it only on the amount above and beyond the purchase price? As for registration costs, isn't that generally the purchaser's responsibility? Since I'll be buying from a dealer, he'll have it registered to me each time, so I'm not dealing with that expense (except for the $600 flat rate I pay him each car). Also, I'm looking to get preapproved for a car loan from USAA. And I'll be buying used cars, but if they're from dealerships, does that mean that they've gone through some sort of minimal servicing? Are dealers, at these dealer-only auctions, buying these cars blind?
And I'll be buying used cars, but if they're from dealerships, does that mean that they've gone through some sort of minimal servicing? Are dealers, at these dealer-only auctions, buying these cars blind?
I believe they do some sort of inspection at auctions and allow you to return them if you take them back to your shop there is some sort of major unlisted defect but that only works well for an actual dealer. If you are buying from an actual dealer and not an auction always get your car inspected. Dealers are no more trustworthy than a random dude on Craigslist and that 100 bucks can easily be negotiated off based on what your independent mechanic finds.
Every car auction I have been to is a "bought as-is" deal. Period. No returns for any reason, whatsoever. You bought it, get it off our lot in the next 4 hours or it gets towed and you pay the fees. Dealers aren't much better. They just get cars, shine up the outside, and put them on the lot. Used cars at dealers don't necessarily get any sort of inspection. (And what kind of inspection could your average Ford dealer give a Nissan Juke - for example - anyway?) The only way to buy a used car is to know something about it. I suggest finding a common car - an Acura Integra, or Ford Taurus, or whatever - and learn basically what goes wrong on them, and what to look for. Then go look at 10 of them. Check out the things you know how to check, and then - if they pass that cursory look - take them to a dealer and pay the $250 for them to do a pre-purchase inspection. Then you will know EVERYTHING wrong with the car, and be in a better position to haggle. (Of course, a lot of sellers don't let you do that any more. You pay cash now, or you go away.)
blackbootz Two more things to tag on with this, a lot of those auctions are open to the public one day out of the month. Call around and ask. I'd recommend bringing your friend as he is auction savy and can probably help you find a good car and a good deal. You'll want to be careful, because a lot of those cars might not have titles or might be salvage titles or insurance write offs (flood survivors for example) and basically have no resell value beyond scrap and can be a huge maintenance risk. If I could recommend, trying getting a truck or car that was owned by a government agency. The miles will be higher, yes, but they've also seen regular maintenance making them a bit of a safer bet. If you have your friend buy you a car as a proxy, make sure you do everything legitimately. I don't know if there are any legal consequences or not, but you'd be amazed how convoluted the registration process can get sometimes.
What kind of things should I look out for? Man, these unknown unknowns are popping out all over the place. I don't know if there are any legal consequences or not, but you'd be amazed how convoluted the registration process can get sometimes.
KEEP COPIES OF ALL DOCUMENTATION. My girl got fucked selling her car for cash. The guy said "Well hey, I'm going to the DMV tomorrow, want to just give me all the paperwork to switch the registration and I'll file it?" He never filed the paperwork and began using the car (which was still getting billed to her on EZ Pass, because apparently they use the registration to figure out who to bill to) to commit activity which looks suspiciously like drug running between MD and DE - hitting the tolls between the states 3-4 times a day within an hour or so of each other each time - and she had a bear of a time fixing it, especially without any of the documentation, as she needed stuff like his name and address in order to tell the DMV who the registration should rightfully be under instead of her, etc.
Good lord. I'm speechless. Not that I was ever in the market for $20,000 restoration vehicles on eBay, but consider me a little bit more educated.Also, this vid talks about how much people can try and screw you over.
Why would the previous owner try to register the car again after I bought it? Unknowingly bought a salvaged car. How much have I screwed myself? Question from a first time buyer. No title, buying from auctioneer. Help on abandoned vehicle title There's tons more, some stuff rather interesting. Just go to r/cars and search for keywords such as "register," "title," and "inspection" and see what you hit.
Read These 2 Threads on fatwallet, you can get a pretty good idea of how the process works and fees associated.
Indeed! I tried a few times to cover a mile in six minutes and couldn't hack it, at least not in July. lap 1 lap 2 lap 3 lap 4 mile 6/22/2014 95 115 108 97 6m55s 7/03/2014 91 112 107 97 6m47s 7/06/2014 101 109 108 101 6m59s 7/31/2014 105 112 108 101 7m06s Got any tips? I was running in the second lane of a high school track. It's a brutal workout, but at least it's over quick.I just timed my mile-time and I'm at 5:50, so that's surprisingly awesome
seconds per quarter mile
Tips, a.k.a., what worked for me: 1) Quit smoking (cigarettes in my case, and I would say lay off the bong hits, but Michael Phelps would take umbrage with that). 2) Intervals. They suck. The more typical interval training I did was (a) running up hills 10 or so times, once or twice a week, and then (b) sprinting the 100-yard distances between the lamp posts that round a 1.3 mile path near my house. The sprints would take however many seconds, and then the next 100 yards I'd walk/jog super slowly, and would take something like 90 seconds to cover. And I never fully rounded the 1.3 mile path doing this, I'd always get way too tired by 65% of the way through. 3) Play soccer, or ultimate frisbee, or basketball. The thing about the interval training in tip (2) is that I did it for three months, tops. But I play soccer, which is sprinting and jogging, all the time. I do it all the time because it's so much fun. Whereas I had trouble punching the clock on my more formal interval training, I have zero trouble driving 40 minutes one-way to a turf field under stadium lights to play for 90 minutes at 10:30pm on a Friday night. I think this is what really does it for me. Find an aerobic sport that really engages you. For me, it beats the hell out of running around a track or, ugh, a treadmill.
I read somewhere that some trainers used to encourage runners to smoke. They knew it was bad, there was some kind of theory about stressing the lungs. Of course you wouldn't smoke while competing, so your lungs would open up and gulp oxygen, like the Mexico City futbolistas that have an advantage at away games that are played close to sea level and without all the smog. I think your approach makes more sense. Tip #3 is key. If you hate your training, it's almost impossible to keep it up. Far better to do something, anything, that you enjoy and can make routine, then risk burnout. Treadmills are the worst, but I agree with your assessment of intervals too. Still, I would like to hit that 6.
I do a mile workout every week. My times usually bounce between 6:20 and 6:40, depending on my training load and conditioning. A few things that could help are losing weight, running at night, and watching your diet. I feel if I lost 5 or 10 pounds, I'd cut a significant amount of time; after all, there'd be less of me to haul around. Sadly, I love food too much to cut out my beers/burritos on the weekends. Similarly, consistently eating nutritious food will provide you with a hell of a lot more energy during your runs; junk food will leave you feeling sluggish after the first 400m. Finally, especially now that it's summer time, running when it's 10-15 degrees cooler and you don't have the sun beating down on you is a huge plus. Saving the stress from the heat should save you a not insignificant amount of time.
Just got one, not that scary, especially if your credit isn't trash. I assumed mine would be because hey, student debt mountain whattup, but it turns out that's not the case. So many people are up to their nethers in that kind of debt it's actually affected the way credit scores are calculated, or something.So I'm thinking about getting a car loan.
My credit's aight. I stupidly missed my first student loan payment after my 6-month grace period ended when I stopped being a full-time student, and my credit tanked. Except I didn't even know it at the time. It's taken like 3 years to improve back to what's normal for someone my age. But I have a consigner, and my mom has insurance through USAA, which is an insurance company (among other things) that provides services to veterans of the US Military. That includes super low rates on car loans. So, that's freaking awesome. I'm finding out later this week if I can qualify for one. But yea, the prospect of "car loan payments" is kind of scary, until you realize that it's only a few hundred dollars a month. Except the danger in thinking of monthly payments rather than total loan amounts is that you let yourself pay a lot of money in interest. That said, I think the utility of getting $12k or so upfront for a super reliable car is kinda worth ~$2k in interest towards the bank.
The $2000 you are giving to the bank for peace of mind is $2000 you could keep in your own bank account for peace of mind. There's a chance a cheaper car will need a "crucial engine component" now and then, but there is no chance you'll avoid that monthly payment. If you shop carefully and have a little luck, I think you'll come out ahead paying cash for the best used car you can find. But I have a soft spot for beaters. I checked Craigslist in your area and found a lot of options under $3000 (including a familiar-looking white Civic hatchback with a stick). Many are German and cool, but if you want to avoid headache I would simply upgrade your Asian ride. You can make money flipping but it's hard if you're not a jerk. You have to be pushy both buying and selling. Transaction costs (taxes and registration) take a bite; I knew a guy who would simply resell within 60 days and never register anything, but that strategy comes with its own risks. I don't think you can do better than USAA and with a cheaper car you save on insurance too. A $100 prepurchase inspection can give you some peace of mind too, but it's not much of a guarantee. Asking if a seller is willing to let you get an inspection can be revealing. If they refuse, you might want to walk anyway. An inspection will always turn something up and provide some leverage to negotiate a discount.
I've never bought a car without having an independent mechanic look it over first, including the new whip. I share your love of beaters wasoxygen. I consider an '05 Malibu Maxx with 100,000 miles practically brand new, those things take a beating. My last one was sitting pretty at 211,000 and still getting 33MPG highway until it was slain. I actually got a new mechanic I can trust faster than I found a new PCP. And I literally work for the healthcare system my PCP is in.
Well put. I'm not generally opposed to a good beater. It's just that the amount of time I've spent worrying if the engine is gonna drop out from under me while I'm driving one has probably taken some sort of toll on me. The thing is, I only have $3-$4k set aside to spend on a car (and that's assuming I sell that familiar-looking white Civic for at least 80% of what I'm asking for it). And that amount puts me square in the territory of another beater. That's what's appealing about me entering the racket of flipping undervalued cars -- a few trades might make me thousands of dollars, so I could ideally end on having a really decent ~$14k car mostly paid off.The $2000 you are giving to the bank for peace of mind is $2000 you could keep in your own bank account for peace of mind.
If it was easy to do why isn't everyone doing it? If you want to make money you really need to be adding value in the process. A car that runs, is clean and has a good record will fetch a decent price every time. There are some pricing errors that occur on Craigslist but they may not be large enough to justify the risk of rushing into a car purchase to beat out the other guy. If you are picking up 200-500 a flip it only takes 1 bad car to eat your entire profit, plus there is a time value of money problem. You can add value by taking a car that is ugly inside, or doesn't run and fixing it. To get there you need to do good research and take calculated risks. Pick a few models you are interested in and then research parts, common defects and associated costs. You will also need a friend with a truck to help you tow and a place to work. You want cars that people are getting rid of and dont care about getting top dollar for but are still appealing to college students or poor people. My buddy used to flip bikes in college. Buy dropped bikes in the winter, replace all the panels, repaint and resell them in spring/simmer during peak season. Cars are probably a bit more competitive but there's is a niche there too.That's what's appealing about me entering the racket of flipping undervalued cars -- a few trades might make me thousands of dollars, so I could ideally end on having a really decent ~$14k car mostly paid off.
I think "everyone" in this scenario are car dealers. They created large barriers to entry for the rest of us, but obviously there's a market for it -- there are approximately 17.5k licensed franchise car dealerships in the US (quora link citing a National Automobile Dealers Association report), and lord knows how many car dealers with just the dealer license. I think the business angle that I would take, if I were to pursue this, is to use my car dealer connection strongly. He shops around for anywhere from a few to 20 clients a week, looking out for cars for them, mostly luxury vehicles. For him to find an undervalued car might not be worth the trouble for him to pick up, store somewhere, and look for and vet potential buyers. It's just not worth it to him. But my $600 is. I don't think I would do any repairs or investing into the car beyond a car stereo or changing a flat tire.If it was easy to do why isn't everyone doing it?
You would learn a lot following the red paperclip program, and if you have time and motivation you could maybe trade your way up to a nice car. But there's no reason you can't begin by flipping undervalued beaters you can purchase with cash, avoiding the expense, paperwork, credit report hit, and commitment of a loan. The prospect of an envelope full of cash has a considerable motivating effect on sellers; imagine how you would react to someone who wants to check out your car but will have to arrange a loan before making an offer. Some other thoughts come to mind: · Write a simple bill of sale, showing the date, vehicle description with VIN, mileage and price. Print two copies, one for each side. I have never needed these later, but they make a good record. · It might be different in your jurisdiction, but here you can figure out how much the seller paid for a car if the title shows the sales tax paid. · Don't buy a car you can't make legal. This probably means avoiding cars with a salvage title. · Don't buy a car you wouldn't be willing to drive yourself in case your interest in flipping fades. · If you plan to resell, shop for the mass market. Alas, this means an automatic transmission and A/C are essential. · There may be a limit to the number of buys and sells you can legally do per year without a dealer's license. I figure if you are well under this limit, you are a hobbyist and do not need to declare profits as income, nor should you deduct losses or expenses. Apparently when you say things like this online you must also say this is not legal advice and I am a random idiot and you must consult a tax lawyer within 24 hours. · Be on the lookout for opportunities. Ask people at gas stations if they are thinking about selling. Be ready to take promising chances that won't ruin you if they don't work out. · Update Pubski on progress.
Thanks w.o. Whatever I wind up doing, Pubski will be in on it.
ALRIGHT MOTHERFUCKERS. INSOM IS BACK. And, like Goobster, I'm going to fucking have some mofo HEADINGS. July: Moving We received this lovely piece of mail a few weeks ago. We were expecting a slight increase of 200-300 bucks and eat the cost until our wedding on October 23rd. Nope. That's not happening anymore. Los Angeles real estate, especially the rental market, is fucking bonkers. There's no other way to put it. They will absolutely rent our 840sqft studio loft for $2500 within a few weeks of us moving out. But we can't justify that cost, don't want to live here for another year, and certainly don't want to pay $3100 for that shit. Luckily, we found an amazing and super underpriced place back in Redondo Beach (where I love). We offered to move in August 1st, which is far earlier than ideal but they won't take us unless we commit to July 15th. 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2 stories, in a 5 unit building with an owner who has a first name, not a "Property Trust". So, now we're breaking our lease and moving out the weekend of July 16th. Because there's no way were going to find a place in that location for that price that takes dogs. Also luckily, our current building is super nice and popular and we really do have one of the best units in the building (external facing, 7th floor, nice layout) and so I am pretty confident that they will be able to move someone in to our spot by August 1st (we're letting them show our apartment starting this week). Whenever they move someone in, we stop paying rent here. Cross your fingers for us, or August is going to be a very expensive month. July: Geneva MyEtherWallet is doing fantastic, although we've taken a short little break for the past couple weeks to regroup. We've been in talks with another company that does BTC/ETH -> USD/EUR/CHF and we're going to partner up to allow users on MyEtherWallet.com to cash out and users on their site to create a wallet within their site. The guy who runs the company is a huge sweetheart, super intelligent business guy who I have no doubt will bring the best out of MyEtherWallet.com and help us take this "side-project" to the next level. That's exactly what we need if we want to get serious. So, pending an approved Visa application for my non-US-citizen partner kvhnuke, we're heading to Geneva July 22nd - August 2nd to build out APIs for both, set up a Swiss company, and meet our new partner-team. Luckily, kvhnuke and my tickets and lodging and car will be covered. But randomuser wouldn't miss out of a trip to the most expensive place on Earth so we'll be throwing a pile of cash at a plane ticket. We try to not spend more than $300/one-way-ticket which is why we end up in places like Budapest and Curacao without actually knowing that we want to go there. Geneva's going to be probably closer to $2000 for his ticket. Ouch. August: prepare for the wedding August is going to be another super fun month. Hopefully we'll only be paying rent for one place and we're going to get serious about all the final details about the wedding. We need invitations, hair, makeup, dresses, suits for the groomsmen, centerpieces, and I don't even know what else. Seriously wish we had just eloped at this point. Every time I turn around, it's time to write another check. August is also going to be stag party month, bridal shower month, my birthday month, and work as much as possible to try to offset the stupid amount of money we're spending. Another fun thing is we've been taking dance lessons. Which are awesome and super fun and amazing and ahhhhh. I love it. And I won't look a fool for our first dance. September: DevCon2 Ethereum's second conference is in Shanghai mid-September. Tickets are 900 bucks each, flights are ~800 bucks round trip, and you can get an AirBNB for like 50-100/night. So we're probably looking at another $5000 for that trip, if we go. I haven't decided if we are going. It's another thing before the wedding, it's another long ass flight, and it's another pile of money. I really want to go it just...man. Just sooooo much money. October: Get married Eeks. Where else is my hard-earned money going? I signed up for StitchFix (referral link just because there are so many girls on here đŸ˜› ) because I have NO business casual clothes. I've got business-business cloths and I've got sweats. That's it. And now that I don't have to see people everyday, I haven't gone shopping in like 2 years. So I signed up for a service that sends me clothes and then I buy them. My first one was freaking awesome. But (1) I realized that even my nice business clothes are cheap-as-fuck (both in terms of price and quality) and (2) I realized how awesome a service like this is. I hate shopping, but I also stick to clothes that I am comfortable with where this service just sends you stuff. Everything that they sent me I would have NEVER tried on myself, but they looked really great. You can see what they sent me here. In other news, I now have a Pinterest which is a tragedy in itself. So here's the concept. You tell them all your measurements and style and ideal price point, you make a pinterest board with outfits you like, and then they send you 5 items. You try them on and then you keep the ones you want to keep and send back the rest. If you keep them all, you get a discount. That's it. You can request certain items and you leave feedback on all the items you try on to let them know how you liked the style, fit, and price. I get my next one tomorrow so we'll see if they nail it again. My Brother I haven't been able to talk about this much but my brother got released after spring training from the Nationals. They released like 15 guys, most of them pitchers. When I first heard, I was really sad for him but it turns out he was kind of over it. The most enlightening thing he shared was this: So he got home and wandered around for a bit and talked about possibly going back to get his MBA. I told him he shouldn't do that until he works for a while. Then he started talking with my cousin and found out that there is an amazing warehouse space for lease for super cheap, but still close enough to the rich beach cities, and decided he should open up a private training / pitching / whatever space. So that's what he's doing now. Lease is signed, demo was completed, and turf has been bought on the cheap. He's going to have a few batting cages in the back, a softer sports area in the middle, and an entry way / lounge area in the front. He already does a ton of private pitching lessons but uses random fields. He's also thinking of doing events / birthdays on the weekends. As someone who used to dress up as Arial the mermaid for kids birthday, I can tell you that they are a big money-maker. So we've been helping out with that and doing logo, website, signage, marketing materials, etc. etc. Here's the space: Our dog is still adorable, but not the sharpest tool Last weekend she accidentally jumped in the hot tub, because she didn't know where her daddy went and didn't realize there was going to be a boatload of hot water when she landed. đŸ˜‚ And she still sleeps like a complete dork. Here's her this morning. Why? Can you breath?
When I played for Duke and stuff it was like we were a team and we were all working towards a common goal of winning. We'd all get up and run 5 miles at 5am and lift for 2 hours and then run to class. And then we would win and it would be awesome. Now, the team doesn't matter. It's all about your personal stats. And, as a pitcher who's stats are pretty reliant on the team behind me, that's not a good thing. There's no team anymore, you work out in this stupid hot Florida heat, and it's just not fun anymore.
That day when suddenly you have to go to an in-person meeting for the first time in years and the only shirts you have handy are band shirts. That day is not a good day. I have NO business casual clothes. I've got business-business cloths and I've got sweats. That's it. And now that I don't have to see people everyday, I haven't gone shopping in like 2 years.
We pay 2291 right now. The 135 is parking and 50 is dog which is part of that 2291, and that remains unchanged. So... A lot?
Dance lessons can be super fun! What sort of lessons have you been taking?Another fun thing is we've been taking dance lessons. Which are awesome and super fun and amazing and ahhhhh. I love it. And I won't look a fool for our first dance.
Another fun thing is we've been taking dance lessons. Which are awesome and super fun and amazing and ahhhhh. I love it. And I won't look a fool for our first dance.
What kind of dance lessons? They can be so much fun. I had a girlfriend who was dance-minded and so I went with her to a few classes -- who knew that the white man's overbite isn't the only dance move? That's really something about your brother. I loved a lot of aspects of my competitive sports past. The team aspect and the presence of a tough-love coach were my favorites. That space looks perfect for a pitching place -- it'll be a dream if he gets to do something he really enjoys... And meet the needs of well-funded parents.
v good. lil just flagged for me to make them a thing this week and if i'm at work i'll probably be first to a pub thread
Instead of being so sullen (as per usual), here's a silly update: I'm way too into Pokemon Go. I downloaded it last night at ~7pm (as soon as I knew it was available), and spent the night running around my neighborhood with my (equally as nerdy) roommate catching pokemon, checking in at stops, hatching eggs, and eventually conquering a gym! The two of us are determined to hold it for as long as we're living in this area! We're going on a run tomorrow to hatch some of the eggs we've accumulated. I feel like such a kid, but it was admittedly a lot of fun. On a serious note: I've been keeping a journal for awhile now. I think writing down particularly strong emotions helps me move through them a little easier, because I've noticed that once they're in the notebook, they don't last as long or control my actions. Kind of a neat coping mechanism, I've found! Sometimes I just draw, too. I have yet to go back and reread anything I've written, but I think that's okay. Hope everyone is doing well, sorry for being a day late on this like always :)
I've been keeping a journal for awhile now. I think writing down particularly strong emotions helps me move through them a little easier, because I've noticed that once they're in the notebook, they don't last as long or control my actions.
Excellent! When you write, you are also working through the issues causing the strong emotions. You loosen the hold they have on you. I have yet to go back and reread anything I've written, but I think that's okay.
That is more than okay. The notebook will keep them safe. You don't need to revisit unless you want to look for patterns and break the patterns. Look for instigating events and move through those events differently next time.
I do drawings, too! None of them are particularly good, but sometimes the words are just too much to assemble. I've tried keeping journals in the past, but got too caught up in how I 'should' be doing things instead of just doing them. I don't write in it every day, just when I think it will help.
I downloaded it last night but it's still 100 degrees + humidity in DC so I haven't run around yet. I have collected 2 eggs and 12 unique pokes though and I'm planning to hit the National Mall this weekend because apparently there's tons there :)
there are so many gyms near my house but i work on an army base and there are NO POKES even though there are THREE POKESTOPS. i am not amused.
idk people bring their kids in here on the regular and i wanna be like ummm is that baby cleared? does that baby have a need to know? there's resident geese though so i think digital pokemon should be allowed. although i understand why it wouldn't be permitted for data security. the military is a No Fun Zone.
gyms are still super glitchy for me because I have only been able to get to them during peak hours when the servers get swamped. ugh. go blue team tho
red team basically owns the neighborhood i live in so that was right out. but the team logos are based on the legendary birds and Articuno is the most aesthetically pleasing so it was a pretty easy choice after that haha
I have a cycling trip lined up for the afternoon, so I can hopefully get some Pokemans and some exercise.
I've been working on getting a new, big article published just like this one, two (!) years ago. Surprise: it's about self-driving cars and ethics. In a nutshell I want to explore kleinbl00's rants on the trolley problem, why it does/doesn't matter and what does matter. This week I've gone through the bulk of the research and articles on this topic. Just today I interviewed an ethics and technology expert which was a very enlightening conversation. On Monday I visited the HQ of The Correspondent to discuss the article. If all goes well they will translate and publish the article in English, so you guys can enjoy it too. I don't want to hype it but I have already made some pretty interesting observations. Stay tuned!
At some point today the clock will roll over and it will mark my first year on Hubski. I even remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I discovered Hubski. I was with my parents in Chicago visiting my brother (who has since set sail) while he was wrapping up his Navy education. I was screwing around on snapchat exchanging goofy pictures with my best friend / roommate / person I was developing uncomfortable feelings for (now none of those things) while sitting on a bench in a store, waiting for my mom to wrap up. In between pictures I'd browse reddit, where at the time everything seemed to be falling apart. On a list of 'reddit alternatives' was Hubski, a place I now know to be so much more than that. It's so crazy to me to think about who I was a year ago. In that time I've: - Moved twice - Put a pause on college to work full time - Dropped the mask I put on in college; I'm way more comfortable with who I am now - Acknowledged (some of) my faults - and the redeeming parts of myself - Switched to a different job with a boss I'm actually friends with - Shifted politically - Developed spiritually - Rekindled relationships with old friends & brought new ones into the fold - Put an end other relationships I identified as unhealthy for me I've been feeling like I've been growing stagnant, but looking back I've actually changed a ton in the past year. Must be all about perception. I wonder who I'll be a year from now.
I wanted to say that this is the most important one when I saw it, but you've been through a lot of positive change in that year, and none of it is any less important than another. Have another good year, my friend. Be well.- Dropped the mask I put on in college; I'm way more comfortable with who I am now
I love to use fixed, certain dates like anniversaries (and some holidays - for some reason, I can almost always tell you where I have been on the 4th of July every year, for instance) to look back over the past year or years and compare who I was then to who I am now. It reassures me that for the most part, who I was is radically different. I encourage such lookbacks. I think they lend perspective. They can also help you ask, "How do I still want/need/desire to change? How haven't I, that I now will choose to?"
WORK I've finally been told what's happening once I'm done with this program (kind of). Moving into the department I wanted to work in, and staying in the location I'm currently at. Thinking it's going to set me up well for what I want to do in the future. RADIO (OR, WORK PT. II) Holy fuck. One station I'm trying to get through the city permitting process and legal paperwork for board changes and equipment purchasing on a shoestring budget with support from two people and one board member who is sometimes around. Another round of fundraising is likely and two of our volunteer coordinators are leaving in the next month-ish. The other has $0 now that we're forming as our own 501(c)-3 to get out from under the completely uninvolved parent organization we're with, and this one I'm trying to set up an Indiegogo campaign and set up other fundraising while creating outreach material and trying to get people to actually give a shit about us since nobody else has already tried to do this work. It's making me lose my mind. If either of these stations hit FM I'll be very proud and happy, but right now that feels insurmountable. HEALTH Going to spend a lot of money and get fitted for running shoes and insoles, but it will be worth it in the long run. Have a couple of expensive, unplanned dental appointments which means I'm probably not buying a tent this year, which is a bummer. I'm thinking about signing up for a co-ed softball league for late summer/early fall as a way to be outdoors and meet people. Plus, I like baseball/softball. Haven't played in a while, though. REALLY THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS Free music festival this weekend with some awesome punk bands and some people I haven't seen in a couple of weeks. Built to Spill cancelled their tour so I didn't end up catching them. Kind of bummed over that one.
If you want to jam out to some iconic pop punk songs and are looking for a nostalgic experience, absolutely. I could see it being a fun show. Not exactly my cup of tea, but also never really got in to them. Also A Day To Remember is opening and...eh.
gettin' on that subheading jam Family Little brother with Asperger's is having girl trouble so now I gotta be on call to walk him through that. Dad just turned 68 this weekend. Health So I'm only 24 but my bones think I'm like 70 plus and I've been waking up with intense hip pain and hobbling a lil. I think it's a gluteus medius or minimus strain that may or may not have happened because I tried to take a picture of my ass once. #millennialproblems ? Work Sucks. 6 weeks til my predeparture orientation, then another week until I can give my notice, then 4 more weeks til I leave for Kosovo. Beyond Comfort Zone Edge Progress Report I'm really pretty nervous about being done with school because I haven't had time off from school in 18 of my 24 years. I need to relearn how to read for pleasure and not to skim through 200 pages looking for headings. I also need to embrace slowing down and not trying to get things done as fast as possible (as exemplified by me trying to bring my travel scrips to the pharmacist yesterday and having them tell me to come back 10 days before I leave for Kosovo lol) . So I guess I have my work cut out for me
I think a lot about my friends who just graduated or are soon to leave school. So I've been out of college since the fall of 2012 (dropped out, not graduated). In the period immediately afterwards I had the adjustment of "what the hell do I do with my life" now that I had all this undirected free-time. Then I did whatever seemed the most interesting. Then I travelled. Then I found myself a lot more ready for settling down for school -- shit, I actually can't wait to resume. I was going to try to finish school in another state but the more mature® me realized that there are a ton of resources and advantages to doing it at home, living with mom. So that's my plan now for the next 3 years or so. But here's the thing. It took me a while to get used to being a free, self-directed adult. And now I feel like I'm giving that up to go to school full-time again. And my friends, who are starting or are in the middle of their I-just-left-college-what-the-fuck-do-I-do adjustments, are going to, in three years when I'm done school, be in the middle of their lives. My point is that there's just a necessary and unavoidable amount of post-university discombobulation you have to get through. And the sooner you start it, the sooner you see it through to the other side. And I'm happy for you, because you're balling out (counter-radicalism?? that's awesome) and you're very young and that means you'll be very young when you're through the discombobulation. I really like the subheader life-categories jam, I might cop that too.
Headings?!? Psh. I only need one heading: WEDDING. After an abortive attempt at my usual 4th of July activities (shooting a professional fireworks show with my family) I went home and continued working through my wedding To Do List. The wedding is three days away. (July 9.) The woman making my custom tie did not do what I wanted her to do. But I am learning to be OK with that, and know that it will look fine... just won't look the way I envisioned it in my head. The shoes I had hoped would work - because I already own them and they are super comfortable - work perfectly with the tux. So yay. All the home renovation projects are done, and we are ready for guests. Friday is the wedding "rehearsal dinner", which is a catered BBQ event in our back yard for 30 people. It's going to be wonderful. If it doesn't rain. But it currently looks like it is going to rain... so we are figuring out how to move a lot of furniture around the house to make room for 30 people to sit down and eat while it rains outside... And, man, I love my family and my soon-to-be in-laws, but if one of those fuckers tries to "help" any more, I am going to have to kill someone. They are showing up the week before the wedding, assuming things aren't done, and - in trying to help out - are undoing much of the work we have done already. We have been planning this for more than a year. There is literally nothing anyone can do - or needs to do - at this point, but everyone is jamming their noses in. Case in Point: Father-in-Law (call him "Joe") has friends coming to the wedding. So he contacts them (call them Dick and Jane) and says, "I'll pick you up from the airport." The problem is that weeks ago the fiancee and I set up plans with someone else - Stacy - to pick them up. So now Dick and Jane think the plan has changed, and are expecting Joe to pick them up. Not Stacy. Ok, fine. No problem. We call Stacy and tell her she doesn't have to pick up Dick and Jane, and put her on a different task. Problem is, Joe realizes he doesn't have a rental car, so now he is calling around, sending emails, and trying to find someone to loan him a car so he can go pick up Dick and Jane from the airport. Joe is old, so he is up at 4 o'clock in the morning, sending a flurry of text messages and emails to everyone, and everyone else is like, "I thought Stacy was picking them up?" Meanwhile, Joe gets 4 or 5 messages back from other people who are lining up rental cars, or borrowing their neighbor's car so he can get to the airport to "pick up these poor wedding guests that we forgot about!" But Joe is backing off, because he has heard through the grapevine that Stacy is picking up Dick and Jane... of course Stacy hears about this, and gets back in touch with us to figure out what is going on, because she thought she had been re-tasked with doing something else. Dick and Jane are traveling outside of the country, and unavailable, except via email, on a different schedule from everyone else. I honestly have no idea how this is going to turn out, but right now I don't fucking care. I'm going to go put on a tux, drink three shots of fine whisky, and go up on stage and get married. They can be there or not. I don't care. Shit, I'll be standing with my back to them anyway! It's not like I'd notice one way or the other... And this is just one of the careful plans we have laid that is unraveling before us, with no obvious way to stop it. Now I am focusing on packing. "But goobster, why are you packing?" I hear you ask. Because my lovely, gorgeous, amazing, and wonderful bride decided a year ago that "something might happen" between our house and the venue 20 minutes away from our house, and so we should stay closer to the venue. So tomorrow night - TWO DAYS before my wedding - I am moving out of my house, away from my clothes, my bed, my bathroom, my dog, etc, and moving into an Airbnb which is 5 blocks away from the wedding venue. An Airbnb I have never seen, have no idea if it is a shithole or has a comfortable bathroom or bed, or anything, and staying there for two days before the wedding, because... well, because my fiancee wanted to. (And our dog can't be with us at the Airbnb.) I know which battles I can fight and win, and which ones to walk away from. My bed will be occupied by my ex-girlfriend (hey now... don't make this weird!) who is coming in from out of town to come to the wedding, and in our spare room will be another out of town friend, and in the third bedroom will be my fiancee's nasty-mean sister and her man-thing. And my dog will be in the house, relying on these people to take care of her. So now two of my friends will be trapped in my house as dog-sitters, with my soon-to-be sister-in-law, who is dedicated to destroying her family with psychological passive-aggressive manipulation. While I am staying in a cheap Airbnb that may or may not be wonderful. I slept about 1 hour last night, stressing all of this stuff. So this post is way more negative than intended. But weddings? Never again. I can't wait for it to be next week, so I can get my life back.
I just got back from my honeymoon yesterday. So by now I've forgotten most of the chaotic helpfulness. The day before or wedding we had brunch without the relatives and reminded ourselves to enjoy everything and let the little stuff slide. And from the wedding and reception I remember her, and I remember a happy blur of all our relatives and friends visiting and congratulating us. And be sure to enjoy how relaxed your honeymoon will be in comparison.
This is the second time I will be married. The first was more than 20 years ago, so it doesn't even really count anymore, right? (She and I are still good friends, and she loves my new wife.) My sweetie is a professional organizer by trade, so this is second nature to her. She has done 5 of our friends weddings. But our approaches to organizing couldn't be more diametrically opposed. My View: I sent you an invite. It has the date, address, and time on it. Sort yourself out. Her View: We need to make sure Susan can pick up Aunt Grace and Uncle Harry from the airport, but Susan has never met them, so we need to get good photos of Grace and Harry so Susan knows who to pick up. And I need to get all their flight info and print it out and email it to Susan so she has it in two different formats, in case one of them gets lost. And then she needs to know where to take them so I have a sheet with the address of the hotel and a photo of it and a map of the where to park, and I'll also email it to her as a PDF in case she loses the hard copy, but I'll put the hard copy in a binder with the photos of Grace and Harry, so she has everything in one place... and... Etc. So yeah. Next week, when we go out to the little town of Tieton, I am looking forward to having my sweetie back, and having most of her attention focused on me again. :-)
:-D Good point! Actually, my sweetie and I have been together for 7 years, and living together for 3 years. So once we get back from our mini-honeymoon next week, life will be "back to normal" for us... except the fancy new rings we will be wearing! :-)
Found that on Reddit today. It was too cute not to share. cgod, you have a lot of experience working food. There's a Mexican restaurant near me hiring for dishwashers. I know the job isn't fun and it's definitely not glamorous, but I'm beyond burnt out at this point and I need to hit the reset button. I figure something that has minimal responsibility, minimal problem solving skills would help me decompress a bit. What are your thoughts?
I washed dishes as part of a help-exchange (labor in exchange for room and board). It was a dinky restaurant that was only ever busy a few months out of the year. 3 days a week I served tables, twice a week I'd wash dishes. I did this for about two months. I found that with the earbuds in, a kickass pump-up playlist made the time fly. And there's something deeply gratifying about dirty work -- sticking my hand down the drain to pull out a fistful of food refuse would've made me squeal a few years ago.
Might be a lot of very straight forward responsibilities. If you get it work your ass off until you get good at it. I was born to do physical and social work, I like restaurant people and usually have a lot of fun doing the work but could never dish wash because the money is so meager and it can be surprisingly hard work.
Eid Mubarak Or I'd say that if our mosque didn't receive a threat in the mail from someone saying they'd burn all the Muslims that'd show up to pray. So prayer was canceled. I'm not particularly spiritual but Dhuhr is the only thing I really look forward to during Eid. The gift exchange is nice, dinner is cool, but you can do any of those things on any given day. Seeing everyone - everyone at the Mosque is a one time a year thing. At this point I don't have a particular direction to point my anger at. I'm just really fucking exhausted. It's bullshit.
Subheadings are what all the cool kids are doing. Family I'm the oldest of five. Baby brother number 3, second from the youngest, leaves home for his early-admit orientation for college in a few weeks. He's going to the same school baby brother number 2 has attended for 3 years, and I'm less than a 15 minute drive from their campus. This kid has had serious problems with school pretty much since he started reading, and seeing him graduate, happy, with lots of friends, lots of good experiences and a few instructive mistakes, well it makes me really proud of him. He wants to be a history teacher one day. Health: I can never ever never neglect my diet anymore. That is to say, I can indulge in crappy food, but not for multiple days in a row. And especially not when paired with alcohol. I woke up tuesday with an extra 5lbs of water hanging off me, which makes life difficult in all kinds of ways. Managed to do yoga and take a short walk regardless. I'm not sure this is healthy, but my perspective is essentially 'If you're going to feel bad, do it in a way that you can feel good about afterwards.' Work: One of my patients wants to drop out of the study. She hadn't ever taken medication regularly before becoming involved in research and at one year on blinded study drug, she has decided she doesn't want to take pills anymore. I can't and wouldn't want to coerce someone to be in research who genuinely didn't want to be, but in this instance it feels like a childish decision, admittedly one being made by a 15 year old. I'm going to talk to her this morning, and her cardiologist is going to talk to her to confirm her decision, maybe get her to change her mind, but probably begin the process of taking her off study drug. Even if she's on placebo we don't want people to just go cold turkey, for consistencies sake. Beyond Comfort Zone Edge Progress Report: I pushed back my baking class a few weeks. Challah seems way less important at the moment than... Not learning how to make Challah I guess. I can't tell if I'm feeling genuinely overwhelmed (A lot has happened since I got back from NYC and very little of it is really resolved), or if there's a childish element in me that just wants to petulantly leave some things broken for a while.
D.C. is getting warm for a bike commute, pushing 90°F/32°C today, but it still beats taking the train, especially after the bus route close to home was discontinued. Yesterday evening I was taking it easy after six or seven miles when a guy zoomed past me. This happens all the time, but something about him caught my eye. He was sitting upright, on a hybrid-style bike with flat handlebars. His pedaling seemed too comfortable. I had to work hard to keep him in sight, and couldn't catch up until he stopped at a light. Sure enough, there was a big hub on the rear wheel, about the size of a bundt pan. "I thought there was something different about your bike," I wheezed, gasping. "Ha ha, it makes it easier to pedal" he replied, then the light changed and he zoomed off. Hidden motors and batteries are apparently becoming an issue at races, known as mechanical doping. This morning we had to share the trail with a bunch of fearless geese. They blocked the way, hissing and forcing cyclists to almost stop.
I guess these subheadings are p cool Music Most recent thing: Restructured my Soundcloud this past week, and uploaded most of the things I have recorded the past few years. I have never used one consolidated page for all my music before, partly because my main three projects are very different - folk as Benjamin Fraser, math-pop as Hot Without Glasses, and beats as Kells. It is weird how scared I am of just making music as "Brendan Rooney", I think because I still don't know if there is any one type of music that I view as my music. Am still dipping my toes everywhere. Adding some stuff to that new thenewgreen track today! (Baths retweeted the cover of his song that I made and I died a little inside) Love I DON'T GET ENOUGH OF IT Except I actually do right now, which is very nice. Have been in an open relationship with a friend in Providence the past month or so, and it has been a very good thing for me. Life in general I am moving to Chicago mid-September to live with a friend and start really focusing on making music. A bunch of folks have been offering me gigs out there, and I took it as a sign. I already have a job as a waiter lined up out there, and a place to crash for a month or so while I find an apartment. This feels like the right thing to do right now.
Sweet! Can't wait to hear what you come up with. I've been digging your music flac
I wanted to write something, but fuck if I know what I want on the internet any more. I'm watching three kids deal with a dead dad while their (two) mom's fight over about $30K. Which will be $10K when the fight is over. Which will be $5K in parties and drugs and $5K in shitty life choices and bail if history is a guide. If I can give any of you young people out there any advice that you should set in stone it is this: Write out a will, get it notarized, make it available to at least SOMEONE outside your family. Do you have more than $3,000 net worth? You need a will. Do you have a 401(k)? IRA? Roth? Stocks? You need a will. Do you own a car? Yea, you need a will. House/land/property? You need a will. Student loan debt? You need a will listing assets at least so that the feds don't go after your family. Also, check on cosigners and make sure they are listed as a beneficiary. Kids? If you have kids and don't have a will you are a fucking idiot. Full stop. List the people who take your kids if you die. Set them up as your beneficiaries. If you don't have a will stating where your shit goes, the government will take over your estate (depending on state and national laws, ask when you get your will done).
The wife and I have talked about the need for wills, not necessarily so we can distribute our assets -- we really have none -- but so that we can make our wishes known, what we want to happen if we due, where the children go etc. In the UK, so many people do not have wills that there are charities running free wills months and some focus on young adults especially, this year is the year we get this sorted.
Hey dude, haven't seen you on the Hub in a while, but then I've also been busy. Awesome timing as I just recorded a song with your lyrics. Will post in a minute.
Politics The issue of the day is the release of the Chilcot Report, which is the result of the Chilcot Inquiry, a public inquiry into Britain's involvement in the Iraq War between 2001 and 2009 (the year it was commissioned). It took ages (because of its size, and the fact that persons who are to be criticised in an official report have the right to respond prior to publication). It's damning. I could make a whole damn post about the current state of British politics but I would still end up missing so much out. Holy shit, I did not imagine so much could happen in two weeks. Life I moved to Hackney, for the time being (about a month). It's not so bad! I live right on the edge of working class (ex-) council estates and fancy schmancy gentrified housing developments. There is a lot of green space around here. I can't wait for the weekend. If all goes to plan, I'll be spending most of it lounging around in a park drinking very cold drinks and reading a book. Might fit in a badminton session as well. I need to be a bit more consistent with that. Work Work's going alright, I think. This week's been pretty tough because we grossly underestimated the magnitude of my current task when allocating time during planning (we use Scrum). These things happen. I can't let myself be bothered too much by setbacks but perhaps there are some things I could be doing to work a bit more efficiently. One thing I've considered is abstaining from social media for all but certain periods of the day. That's a tricky one, because sometimes I have to run unit tests - so there are little patches of time where I'm not really doing much - only a few minutes - but it really increases the temptation to switch windows to something immediately engaging. I've asked my friends and this seems to be the norm in software development. The problem is, I've also found that spending too much time idly browsing can drain your energy because of information overload! Wouldn't that make me more stressed, more tired and less effective at working? Why would I want that? Come to think of it, this would be a good idea for a post.
Happy Humpday Hubski Hubski Photoshop Battles Mini-Announcement: The first Hubski Photoshop Battle is underway, and you're invited! Currently crowdsourcing for next battle's stock photo. Feel free to post any shots of yourself, your travels, pets, or anything that fits the guidelines for a stock photo (essentially, good lighting and 2MP or greater). School Jammin' to a classmate's blasting earbuds from across the room. They're so kind to share their music with us. :) Classrooms are pretty quiet waiting for professors. Gives something to pass the time whilst typing this baby up. Diving into another bout of "what-the-hell-am-I-really-doing-here" recently. Figure this weekend I'll actually ruminate on the whole thing with a blog.kantos post or thereabouts. On another note, three cheers for starting a study group. Accountability to and for others is a real help . . . naturally facepalm. Life Renewed lease to stay in my current apartment, thankfully the roommates are headed out and an old friend is moving in - from childhood, but we haven't really kept in touch. I'm coming to find keeping in touch isn't really 'my style,' for the worst. If anything, having a roommate(s) who's a bit more mature in area's stereotypical frat boys (old roommates) are is comforting. Really the only thing that Matters July 4th weekend was cut short due to the rest of the family being sick and having a bad time where we all stayed. But, it was nice to see the whole family together, even if for a day.
I've made a mess of myself today. Literally. There was an isle of land furthest from the shore that's reachable if one's willing to jump a bit. I was one of willing, but my sneakers have holes in them that I don't care to patch. That a lot of water come through them didn't bother me - it will dry away - but on my way back I stepped into very much wet dirt while trying to cross the small creek back to the big land. I did get over it, but on my way I almost lost of the sneakers to the dirt: it gripped onto the sneaker right as my foot made the motion out, taking it off with ease. Then, after I've cleaned the dirt-clad sneaker with a small tree's leaves and branches, I took my bike directly into another pile of mud, which almost stopped me in my tracks. Thankfully, momentum rushed me forward quickly enough to escape it, but my wheels have been throwing out dirt and small rocks for a long time afterwards. :) On the plus side, I got to eat strawberry sitting on a secluded piece of land away from most life on the riverside. Made me wonder just how quiet and peaceful it is to be away from the city even by this much. I've been thinking about my addictions lately: sugar and masturbation. Both I've acquired at a very young age and to both I rapidly lose interest at the moment. I don't enjoy sweet things like I used to - in fact, I notice just how repelling the piles of sugar in them are. Still, I'm compelled to eat those things from time to time, but as the time goes, I do it less and less. As for masturbation... It has its whole story. A couple of weeks ago, when I had my last exam, I've been going through the material with a girl from the Chinese language group (our faculty houses many languages, and many subject we go through together regardless of our main language of study). She's pretty hot and she has a beautiful smile, but she's also utterly rude and uncaring for others' personal space in a way that makes me quite agitated. I haven't had sex for a long time now, so, despite my alarms telling me to stop, I went on and invited her home. I wasn't straight with her, which is something I regret but don't believe that it would've changed things. She declined, saying that "we could take a walk, though". I wasn't interested. We've been riding the same bus home, and when I quit (not denying myself the opportunity to be the nice guy beforehand), I started thinking on the whole situation. It took me a few days to realize this, but I wasn't looking for sex. I enjoy it highly and with the right person, I wouldn't hesitate, but she wasn't the right person for me because I wasn't looking for a good body: I was looking for a soul to connect with; I was looking for intimacy through physical contact, which I how I bonded with a good friend I used to have (the first real friend, too). Since that realization, I notice myself paying less and less attention to the naked and to the sexy: not that they don't interest me anymore, but they, in themselves, aren't what I'm looking for, so I might as well not look at them if I don't want to. Oh, and I've released the Alpha version of my first game a few days ago - a Hubski exclusive, you might say, since nobody else knows yet. Thrilled to have come so far, even if it's only a prototype at this point. For a person who's barely finished anything to any capacity so far, it's great progress. I'm proud of having done that.
I had one job and quit, because I hated it. Now, I have another job and I kinda hate it, too. The people there are fine and the work isn't that bad, but I'm at that point where I feel like I'm in robot mode all day. I graduated high school, signed up for college, and now I'm sure I don't even want to go. I know I'll be better off getting a degree, but with my track record so far, I'll probably flunk out within my first year. I love my major, and my school is pretty cool, but there's something in my head that doesn't allow me to do meaningful work. I can start 100 different things, and push them to a point, then I just get burnt out and quit. I tried to stream on Twitch, and loved it for a week or so. I did it last year, so I started this go with 59 followers. Over the course of 10 days, I got to 75, which is some pretty good growth. However, I realized that there's really no game I want to stream, and I was tired of the games I was streaming, so I haven't streamed in almost a week. I've gotten to the point where I really can't commit to anything. I've started probably 100 things in my life, and I've only seen a handful of them to completion. It's not even me dropping when things get hard, I've been kinda decent at a lot of things, but have just given up on them when I got tired of it. If I could do at least one thing in my life without quitting it, I feel like I'd be so much happier. Maybe I'm not cut out for this life thing.
Really the Only Thing that Matters This is not about the only thing that matters - I just love that particular heading. Wonderful to see everyone checking in this week. To everyone celebrating 1000 days or one year or five years on hubski: donate a couple of bucks on your #hubday - no reason why this should be outofpocket for the Founders. Beyond Comfort Zone Progress Report If you use subheadings, keep this one in mind. There are times for consolidating and strengthening and times for pushing beyond comfort zones. I'm tempted to believe that magic happens only beyond comfort zones...but what do I know? Weddings I saw this last night. This was totally a surprise for the bride. The wedding guests practiced for a couple of weeks. goobster insomniasexx
I leased a new car, my trip to Canada is pretty much all ready to go (Sadly I couldn't get all the time off work that I wanted so the trip is shorter), I did something rather reckless a couple of days ago, and I'm still looking for a job. For the most part I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself for the general election in the fall because I just can't imagine it being anything short of the claymation Celebrity Deathmatch's of old.
that's a good car! it was high on my list when i was looking at cars but lost out to the honda fit. i'd still like one some day.