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Work, Cons, Plans
2 years ago
A meaty journal ahoy!
That Darn Work Schedule
I’ve mentioned this in private to a few people, but the start of this year has been a “hit the ground running” sort of ordeal. I work at a factory as a quality technician, and my job is to test the stuff we make to ensure it’s good before it’s sold. Our department is pretty small, such that if one person calls off sick or quits, it throws us for a little bit of a loop. In January my coworker on my shift called off a significant amount of time due to Covid or his son with Cerebral Palsy needing to get to an appointment and his wife can’t do it - then in February a coworker on the shift after mine quit.
While the obvious dark cloud of that is the fact that since then, I’ve been staying over for overtime hours pretty consistently every Monday and Wednesday (and more when my shift’s coworker calls off)… The silver lining is the worker who left was an absolute dick. Disrespectful, arrogant, and thought little of everyone he worked with (while also being a sexist transphobe but that’s just my guess based on some very obvious things he’s mentioned about why he left the navy and his own daughter) — we’re glad he’s gone.
His position finally was replaced and we’ve been training the new guy up, but the full training period for this job is close to like two years in total with how much we take care of and the time needed to reach high competency with it all. In short, I’m ready for some fun and relaxation… If I wasn’t a workaholic masochist when it comes to recreational activities!
Fursuit Relearning
On June 1st I’m heading to the anime convention, Colossalcon, with my brother. It’ll be my first con since 2019 and his first anime convention period! As part of the preparations (starting back in February) I decided to make a cosplay/fursuit of Grafaiai, and between the long work schedule, personal burnout, and a myriad of other fun and important activities, I’m now in crunch time to wrap it up in time for the convention. I’m sure I’ll manage it, but doing so is cutting into time I would be using for gaming or sleeping (and I guess drawing haha).
Pictures will come when I finish him! He’s the first thing I’ve sewn or crafted since Rhett back in 2018/2019, and I’m not only relearning how to do any of this, but also I’m learning all kinds of new things. Patterning, garment ease, spider-man style lenses, it’s a lot to take in an learn. All of this is important though because I need to refurbish and put back together CornDog.
At the beginning of the Pandemic, I took apart my fursuit of CornDog — it was at the suggestion of my mother, who thought I would be quarantined at home for the pandemic. Instead what happened is my company decided to ramp up production because of some early numbers. Because Capitalism promotes “indeterminate growth is the norm” this led to me working a fair amount of overtime during the Pandemic and didn’t actually get time to work on personal projects - like the fursuit I took apart to fix fitting and wearability issues.
Chilling Out
I’m not going to lie and say that I’ll take a week of chilling out after I get a bunch of these projects done - I always slip into a depression cycle or get hyperfixated on a video game when I do that, and any creative production grinds to a halt. If I don’t create, then I slip into depression, and it just cycles over and over. It isn’t fun, so the best I can do is try and manage some creative work at a steady enough pattern to stave off the depression.
This is why I take so many projects, and everyone that I’ve worked on a request or gift drawing for is warned about being patient for it (which you guys have all been amazingly kind and patient and I love you all for it ;u; ). I love having something waiting for me to work on in the future. That being said, I am going to be taking a needed family vacation to Michigan in July, with my plans being “take the sketchbook and see what happens”, “Go swimming in Lake Superior”, and “See what local realtor options there are up there”. It should be fun!
AnthrOhio and Social Media Plans
As a final note, I’m going to be popping in at AnthrOhio this year to meet up with a new friend, do some shopping at the dealers den and artists alley, take a picture or two maybe, and maybe check out a panel. I have no other plans set in stone; I don’t know if I’ll even be there more than one day, in all honesty!
I’m also planning on setting up accounts on some more social media options (itaku, Mastodon, and maybe cohost and a telegram art channel to name a couple), and set up a Ko-Fi as a tip jar. I honestly love making art and having freedom to draw whatever I want, and I’m sure I’ve said before social media is just my way of sharing it with people. I don’t know when I’ll be setting these up, but I’m hoping before summer’s out. When I do make the new accounts, I’ll be re-uploading stuff I’ve posted to the other socials I’ve had longer - good ol’ Postybirb has been an absolute lifesaver for multi-platform uploads and scheduling them.
I think that’s about it, I hope you guys have a great day!
That Darn Work Schedule
I’ve mentioned this in private to a few people, but the start of this year has been a “hit the ground running” sort of ordeal. I work at a factory as a quality technician, and my job is to test the stuff we make to ensure it’s good before it’s sold. Our department is pretty small, such that if one person calls off sick or quits, it throws us for a little bit of a loop. In January my coworker on my shift called off a significant amount of time due to Covid or his son with Cerebral Palsy needing to get to an appointment and his wife can’t do it - then in February a coworker on the shift after mine quit.
While the obvious dark cloud of that is the fact that since then, I’ve been staying over for overtime hours pretty consistently every Monday and Wednesday (and more when my shift’s coworker calls off)… The silver lining is the worker who left was an absolute dick. Disrespectful, arrogant, and thought little of everyone he worked with (while also being a sexist transphobe but that’s just my guess based on some very obvious things he’s mentioned about why he left the navy and his own daughter) — we’re glad he’s gone.
His position finally was replaced and we’ve been training the new guy up, but the full training period for this job is close to like two years in total with how much we take care of and the time needed to reach high competency with it all. In short, I’m ready for some fun and relaxation… If I wasn’t a workaholic masochist when it comes to recreational activities!
Fursuit Relearning
On June 1st I’m heading to the anime convention, Colossalcon, with my brother. It’ll be my first con since 2019 and his first anime convention period! As part of the preparations (starting back in February) I decided to make a cosplay/fursuit of Grafaiai, and between the long work schedule, personal burnout, and a myriad of other fun and important activities, I’m now in crunch time to wrap it up in time for the convention. I’m sure I’ll manage it, but doing so is cutting into time I would be using for gaming or sleeping (and I guess drawing haha).
Pictures will come when I finish him! He’s the first thing I’ve sewn or crafted since Rhett back in 2018/2019, and I’m not only relearning how to do any of this, but also I’m learning all kinds of new things. Patterning, garment ease, spider-man style lenses, it’s a lot to take in an learn. All of this is important though because I need to refurbish and put back together CornDog.
At the beginning of the Pandemic, I took apart my fursuit of CornDog — it was at the suggestion of my mother, who thought I would be quarantined at home for the pandemic. Instead what happened is my company decided to ramp up production because of some early numbers. Because Capitalism promotes “indeterminate growth is the norm” this led to me working a fair amount of overtime during the Pandemic and didn’t actually get time to work on personal projects - like the fursuit I took apart to fix fitting and wearability issues.
Chilling Out
I’m not going to lie and say that I’ll take a week of chilling out after I get a bunch of these projects done - I always slip into a depression cycle or get hyperfixated on a video game when I do that, and any creative production grinds to a halt. If I don’t create, then I slip into depression, and it just cycles over and over. It isn’t fun, so the best I can do is try and manage some creative work at a steady enough pattern to stave off the depression.
This is why I take so many projects, and everyone that I’ve worked on a request or gift drawing for is warned about being patient for it (which you guys have all been amazingly kind and patient and I love you all for it ;u; ). I love having something waiting for me to work on in the future. That being said, I am going to be taking a needed family vacation to Michigan in July, with my plans being “take the sketchbook and see what happens”, “Go swimming in Lake Superior”, and “See what local realtor options there are up there”. It should be fun!
AnthrOhio and Social Media Plans
As a final note, I’m going to be popping in at AnthrOhio this year to meet up with a new friend, do some shopping at the dealers den and artists alley, take a picture or two maybe, and maybe check out a panel. I have no other plans set in stone; I don’t know if I’ll even be there more than one day, in all honesty!
I’m also planning on setting up accounts on some more social media options (itaku, Mastodon, and maybe cohost and a telegram art channel to name a couple), and set up a Ko-Fi as a tip jar. I honestly love making art and having freedom to draw whatever I want, and I’m sure I’ve said before social media is just my way of sharing it with people. I don’t know when I’ll be setting these up, but I’m hoping before summer’s out. When I do make the new accounts, I’ll be re-uploading stuff I’ve posted to the other socials I’ve had longer - good ol’ Postybirb has been an absolute lifesaver for multi-platform uploads and scheduling them.
I think that’s about it, I hope you guys have a great day!
