Coz strazer said so! (UPDATE: 12 October 2011)

monkey0506 · Wed 12/10/2011 09:04:39

I'm raising this thread from the dead (heh, rhyme) for a double-post by the way of a two month update for you folks. It's been a long and hard two months, but things are certainly looking pretty good from where I'm at now. This Thursday I start a second job. Don't worry, I'm not coming up so short as to need another job just to make ends meet. As a matter of fact, pizza delivery has proven to be quite sufficient in covering my month-to-month bills.

So, the second job is more about getting out of debt and saving up money (improving my situation) rather than just stabilizing my finances. It's a 3-6 month contract job in a call center making $13.50/hr. full-time (40 hrs. a week). Who knows, making that much I might even decide to get a better vehicle by the time the contract is up, as a step in preventing this whole vicious cycle from cropping up again. When the contract is up, I'll have the opportunity to extend or renew the contract, or just get hired directly through the company I'll be working with (it's a temp job, so my direct employer is not the company I'll be working for). Hopefully I'll prove a decent enough employee to make that a viable option at the time, but for now, I should be good. Oh, and also since it's the same place that the female portion of the married couple I stay with works at, we'll be able to carpool.

Thought I'd let you all know that my situation is now immensely better than it was when this thread started. To be honest, I owe a lot of it to you all for the kind words and support you've shown me...emotionally at the time I was kinda jacked up, but you've helped more than you might all ever know. So once again, thanks!

-Michael/monkey

bicilotti · Wed 12/10/2011 11:48:38

"Greece, this is monkey_05_06, you should behave like him."

Your good mood is getting me in a a good mood monkey! Hooray!

Dualnames · Wed 12/10/2011 13:34:54

Quote from: bicilotti on Wed 12/10/2011 11:48:38
"Greece, this is monkey_05_06, you should behave like him."

Your good mood is getting me in a a good mood monkey! Hooray!

Leave greece out of this plx, kthxbai.

Also you see, you loaned monkey some money, without interest. Only taking the interests from the loans that greece has taken, we would have paid you back and saved our economy. But as long as banks go, there's always interest.

Snake · Wed 12/10/2011 15:27:53

Never loan monkey's money.

monkey0506 · Wed 12/10/2011 20:26:58

Are we really going to argue over who loaned me the most money? I mean, sure, bic's loan was somewhat larger than the contributions given by Dual, but am I gonna hold it against him? Nah!

With this new job I shall be starting tomorrow, there's a good chance that I will be out of debt even sooner than I had previously projected. Famous last words and all that, but this is looking to be a very good step for me, financially speaking anyway.

And Dual, if you're really that worried about the economy, I can repay you with interest if you'd like, but only if you're willing to "reinvest" (read as: "spend") that money back into the economy.

Bror_Jon · Wed 12/10/2011 22:24:04

Awesome news Monkey!

Grim · Thu 13/10/2011 00:47:59

It always puzzles me why there are so many smart people stuck in dead end jobs... I always figured Monkey would be some sort of high-up IT guy... and yet, there he is delivering pizza. I don't consider myself an idiot either, but there I am, an auxiliary nurse, band 2 in NHS, same as cleaners. Speaking of cleaners- recently I met one who has a Phd in quantum physics, and yet he mops the floors every day and wipes the toilets clean...

Then we have the rich people, so often total assholes, two-faced, back-stabbing morons, who have got so high in life by sucking up to their superiors at the price of their own dignity, the doormats who were all of a sudden handed a whip....

This world ain't right........... is it?...

Snake · Thu 13/10/2011 00:57:36

Grim, when I worked at my brother's farm a friend of mine was looking at a bunch of "comics" I had done and he says, "What the fuck are you doing milking cows?!"

After that it dawned on me how many times similar comments had been said to me through my life. Here I am several years later a stay-at-home dad. Not that I don't enjoy spending every day with my daughter, but I'm still just the same as I was back then (although in a better place). Life is a funny thing. Maybe things will change in the future, you never know.

Grim · Thu 13/10/2011 01:25:14

You see, I had that all my life, too... People saying: what the hell are you still doing here? But here we are, stuck in a moment we can't get... no no, wait, that's a U2's song. What I mean is.... oh, fuck it. I did a 13 hour shift today. I feel so angry! I swear one day I'm gonna break out of this miserable life of a servant... I too love my son and even though it's now a lot harder to work full time, be a dad, be a husband, and have a dream of making a living using my mind rather than my hands... I will get there, even if that means sleepless nights and losing friends and... and even though I might fail terribly and be told I suck... I will still give it a damn good try.

monkey0506 · Thu 13/10/2011 03:02:07

Grim, I hereby vow that if I ever get my game company to the point of Dave Gilbert's (he makes a living off the proceeds of Wadjet Eye Games), I will take you under my wing and employ you.

I've explored some IT-related options, but they all require a piece of paper that says I know a bunch of stuff, quite a bit of which I already know. However, I lack that piece of paper. Survival, when living paycheck-to-paycheck, has been my greatest opposition in a way. If I didn't have to worry so danged much about that, I probably could have found the time, resources, and money to get said piece of paper.

My current goal is to get out of debt. From there, I'd like to imagine that I'll have my finances stable enough, in a stable job, to be able to continue moving forward, with an education, and then a career. In the meantime, I'll continue developing the skills I'll need to get said career. I've had some notable experience in programming efforts, especially that tied to commercial game projects, which I very much intend to use on a resumÃ© some day. As I already alluded to, the ultimate goal would be to get to a point where I could be my own boss. I think if I changed my last name to Gilbert that I'd probably be taking a step in the right direction.

A lot of people have tried to discourage me from my specific programming-related goals, supposing that if I've been at it this long and still haven't made a break into a career field, that I never will. There's a lot of things that I should have done differently that have led me to where I am now, but I'd like to think, and hope, that I can learn from those past mistakes. I feel your pain about being stuck in your job Grim...but don't give up on yourself. I've given up on myself enough times to let you know how much it sucks. Keep doing what you have to do, until you can make a way to do what you want to do.

Dualnames · Thu 13/10/2011 04:02:06

I've been asked lately what is that I want to do with my life, and what are my plans. I don't have an answer really. That's why this fantastic line from Brazil, really hit me in the face, and well, yes, Brazil again, but that's my life in a nutshell.

Sam: I don't want promotion. I don't want anything.
Sam's mother: Don't be childish, Samuel. Of course, you want something. You must have hopes, wishes, dreams.
Sam: No, nothing. Not even dreams!

I really don't know what to do. I am just doing stuff. And i feel like i am prisoned. And this is the part that I love Brazil. I felt related to Sam Lowry, and when he escaped, i felt i escaped too.

Dualnames hums Brazil

Ryan Timothy B · Thu 13/10/2011 05:05:57

Quote from: monkey_05_06 on Thu 13/10/2011 03:02:07
Grim, I hereby vow that if I ever get my game company to the point of Dave Gilbert's (he makes a living off the proceeds of Wadjet Eye Games), I will take you under my wing and employ you.

Just work on learning how catchy Dave's game titles are. Yours are missing the mark on simplicity.

(Joking obviously, I know they're joke games)

Chicky · Thu 13/10/2011 10:53:38

Haha, i didn't go to my stupid job agency temp work today, you guys are a bad influence! Twelve hours of checking deodorant cans for printing errors, standing up all day!

Everyone else there was insanely dumb, i was paired with a guy who a few years back stole a load of money off some mates of mine. Screw that.

Plus i have a bad knee and standing up all day yesterday caused it to swell D:

High five for having lots of debt!

monkey0506 · Thu 13/10/2011 13:06:44

Ryan, my next game project will have a name much simpler than my last two. Perhaps not as simple as Ben's "!", but simpler nonetheless.

That is assuming I ever finish writing the danged story...ah heck, I've got time before orientation starts. Google Docs, here I come!

bicilotti · Thu 13/10/2011 17:23:54

Quote from: Grim on Thu 13/10/2011 01:25:14
I will get there, even if that means sleepless nights and losing friends and... and even though I might fail terribly and be told I suck... I will still give it a damn good try.

I am planning to put that as my sig along the "praise CJ" one.

You rock man!

This thread rocks man!

You can do it!

tzachs · Thu 13/10/2011 18:47:41

That's great news monkey_05_06, I'm happy you're back on your feet.

Like Grim I also wondered why you're doing pizza delivery, since you're obviously a very good programmer. Since you lack that piece of paper, I was wondering if you considered or made an attempt in the direction of freelancing.
I'm not sure since I never tried it myself, but I think that in those freelancing websites out there, people can hire you based on portfolios/experience, and very likely that they will not care about degrees...

Grim · Fri 14/10/2011 00:51:55

Monkey... Bici... thanks. That means a lot.

monkey0506 · Fri 14/10/2011 03:40:40

Regarding freelance programming, my biggest issue in doing that, and it is something I've looked into, is that I've yet to come across a website that would actually allow me to properly portray my experience. Maybe I just haven't looked hard enough, or known where to look exactly for it, but a lot of the freelance sites I've encountered have seemed somewhat shoddy operations anyway, and a lot of the projects seem to never come to fruition.

I'd certainly be willing to take another look into it. And tzachs, coming from you, "obviously a very good programmer" is kind of an amazing compliment.

For now, I'm just going to relax a bit before I have to go to bed, but I will dig around a bit more and see what other opportunities I may be able to find.

(As a matter of fact, there's currently a payment for a freelance project en route to my bank account, but I can't discuss that just yet! 8))

Oh, and Grim, having faith that you'll realize your dreams comes naturally from my belief in my own dreams...it would be kind of hypocritical for me to say that your dreams are stupid only to turn, and in the same breath express a hope in mine. We'll figure it out, someday. ^_^