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GRYNN WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN???
2 years ago
General
Uh... hello! Sorry for not being super active on here.
I wish I had a good excuse, but the truth is that... I... don't? Okay, that's a bit of a lie, so let me explain.
Since my last update, things have been quite stable and I've been able to do most of the things that I outlined: I built up some savings, I bought a new computer that's great as hell, I still have a job, I have a nice little car for city driving, and I've been coasting for the past while. For a while, I was getting a couple new commissions but nothing at the same speed that I used to while I was rebuilding from my larger purchases, but then there was a sudden blip where I just sorta... vanished for a while. That was because I had to deal with THE BIG BILL.
What was THE BIG BILL?
I'm being facetious for dramatic effect, but for context, phone plans in Canada are on a two year cycle and while it's possible to purchase a phone right away and simply pay for your monthly plan afterwards, practically all of the major phone companies push VERY STRONGLY to enter into leasing plans. Telus has Bring-It-Back, Rogers has Upfront Edge, Bell has the Device Return Option, etc etc. You "save" money upfront on the phone itself because you're expected to bring it back and change to a new phone, where you "save" money upfront on the phone itself because you're expected to bring it back and... you get the idea.
If you're a normal person and just want to keep the phone you have because an S21 is virtually no different than a S23 because innovation in the cell phone industry is dead and tinkering with the camera a little is all that's supposedly needed to justify new flagship phone models these days, then you have two options: return it and upgrade anyways, or pay the money you "saved" at the start of the plan to keep it and finally own the phone.
In my case, that ended up being almost $700 CAD.
But you said you were fine monetarily just now.
Oh, I am! You have nothing to worry about, promise. But do you know that feeling when you know you have an appointment halfway through the day, but because you don't want to be late for the appointment, you end up completely PARALYZED and unable to do anything else until you go do what you need to do?
I had that very thing happen, but with spending. I got notification that my 2 year plan was ending in April and I owed the $700 soon. So, I preemptively began to save so it would take less of a hit on my account once it finally came. I expected to pay it off in May, and despite going directly to a store to try and pay it off sooner, they told me to just "wait for the bill and it'll automatically show up there". May came around and... no $700 bill. I'm still trying to save and wait for this big payment to come in, but then I learn there's an entire month "grace period" window to give people more of a chance to return the phone. Even though I want to keep it. So that paralysis lingers until I finally get to pay it off at the beginning of JUNE.
But now that means that due to the feeling of "gotta save gotta save here comes the big bill", I wasn't reaching out to commission virtually anything during that time period... hence the sudden blip in nothing for a while.
So... THAT sucked. With the way an artist's workflow usually goes, I tend to commission roughly 5-6 pictures at a time so I have a steady flow of new art coming in of varying subjects and degrees. Sure, that sounds a lot in text, but when you account for an artist's queue, then the sketching and vetting process, then colors, then shading, and that each artist has a different rate at which they complete their pieces, it means that (normally) that art doesn't come together in one burst. My current commission count that I'm waiting on is currently sitting at... zero.
So, with ALL of that being said, I've got some more backlog pieces to post for the time being, and I'm gonna try and rev up the commission list again and get some fun things. As for what... I dunno yet! I can only hope that you all enjoy it.
Oh, and expect a new journal rather soon - I need to discuss some future big ideas and some other things that have happened over the past while.
For now, I hope y'all are taking care of yourselves, and Happy Canada Day!
I wish I had a good excuse, but the truth is that... I... don't? Okay, that's a bit of a lie, so let me explain.
Since my last update, things have been quite stable and I've been able to do most of the things that I outlined: I built up some savings, I bought a new computer that's great as hell, I still have a job, I have a nice little car for city driving, and I've been coasting for the past while. For a while, I was getting a couple new commissions but nothing at the same speed that I used to while I was rebuilding from my larger purchases, but then there was a sudden blip where I just sorta... vanished for a while. That was because I had to deal with THE BIG BILL.
What was THE BIG BILL?
I'm being facetious for dramatic effect, but for context, phone plans in Canada are on a two year cycle and while it's possible to purchase a phone right away and simply pay for your monthly plan afterwards, practically all of the major phone companies push VERY STRONGLY to enter into leasing plans. Telus has Bring-It-Back, Rogers has Upfront Edge, Bell has the Device Return Option, etc etc. You "save" money upfront on the phone itself because you're expected to bring it back and change to a new phone, where you "save" money upfront on the phone itself because you're expected to bring it back and... you get the idea.
If you're a normal person and just want to keep the phone you have because an S21 is virtually no different than a S23 because innovation in the cell phone industry is dead and tinkering with the camera a little is all that's supposedly needed to justify new flagship phone models these days, then you have two options: return it and upgrade anyways, or pay the money you "saved" at the start of the plan to keep it and finally own the phone.
In my case, that ended up being almost $700 CAD.
But you said you were fine monetarily just now.
Oh, I am! You have nothing to worry about, promise. But do you know that feeling when you know you have an appointment halfway through the day, but because you don't want to be late for the appointment, you end up completely PARALYZED and unable to do anything else until you go do what you need to do?
I had that very thing happen, but with spending. I got notification that my 2 year plan was ending in April and I owed the $700 soon. So, I preemptively began to save so it would take less of a hit on my account once it finally came. I expected to pay it off in May, and despite going directly to a store to try and pay it off sooner, they told me to just "wait for the bill and it'll automatically show up there". May came around and... no $700 bill. I'm still trying to save and wait for this big payment to come in, but then I learn there's an entire month "grace period" window to give people more of a chance to return the phone. Even though I want to keep it. So that paralysis lingers until I finally get to pay it off at the beginning of JUNE.
But now that means that due to the feeling of "gotta save gotta save here comes the big bill", I wasn't reaching out to commission virtually anything during that time period... hence the sudden blip in nothing for a while.
So... THAT sucked. With the way an artist's workflow usually goes, I tend to commission roughly 5-6 pictures at a time so I have a steady flow of new art coming in of varying subjects and degrees. Sure, that sounds a lot in text, but when you account for an artist's queue, then the sketching and vetting process, then colors, then shading, and that each artist has a different rate at which they complete their pieces, it means that (normally) that art doesn't come together in one burst. My current commission count that I'm waiting on is currently sitting at... zero.
So, with ALL of that being said, I've got some more backlog pieces to post for the time being, and I'm gonna try and rev up the commission list again and get some fun things. As for what... I dunno yet! I can only hope that you all enjoy it.
Oh, and expect a new journal rather soon - I need to discuss some future big ideas and some other things that have happened over the past while.
For now, I hope y'all are taking care of yourselves, and Happy Canada Day!
Unlocked phones only, paid up front, and I'm on a suuuuuuper cheap monthly plan that I can cancel any time.
But that aside happy Canada Day, I'm glad you're free from that stress now, and looking forward to seeing stuff from you again!
Unfortunately, I'm a sucker who tends to like gacha games way too much, so I wanted a good phone that can handle games better than my previous one since it was starting to lag and chug on newer games, so I had to spring for a better model. But now I 100% own it and things aren't coming out that really justify a beefier phone. Probably not for at least a few more years, anyways.