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Update on my life:
11 years ago
Well as much of these posts that different folks place on the various blobs and online journals I figured it was time for an update beyond just the occasional blurb.
First off I want to thank all my friends and family for the continued support over the years, especially since 2007 when I made that really big commitment to change.
Some rather important changes in my health as I age, trust me if you have not already figured out, getting older does have as lot of drawbacks. The most noticeable one for me right now is I need bifocals now. When my parents were kind enough last year to take me to the eye doctor to get a new checkup as well as new glasses I asked the optometrist at the time if he felt I needed them as I have been struggling to see things up close. He assured me I did not need them yet so I went along with the single vision prescription. Well, it seems I do see bifocals. You see I have pretty much stopped drawing and painting miniatures due to the fact that in all honesty I have been struggling to see well enough to produce anything of quality and that is something I just am not comfortable doing. So because of that several commissions I took wound up being on hold and I was too embarrassed to come forward before to say as much and to those I still owe I apologize, you are not forgotten. Good news is that a couple of weeks ago my wonderful fiancé, Northpaw, purchased some reading glasses for me that work over my current eyewear. It has been an amazing thing to be able to see everything again. I have even attempted to practice drawing again, with some minor success. What does this mean? Well it means that I can get back to work on finishing the commissions that I had started and get the work to those that were so generous and understanding to pay me up front for the work because I was in need to money.
Need of money is what leads to my next update. As some may remember I was working part time at a counselor’s office for gas money really. Well that ended in November last year due to the office having to close. I understand completely what happened and why it happened but it still makes me sad. It makes me sad more that I would not be able to help others in that capacity anymore. Anyway, I am now going through my comic collection and starting to prepare them for sale. I stopped collecting over 20 years ago and these books have been quietly sitting in their comic book boxes in a dark cool place all this time. I am not exactly sure how many I have but I do know that I have several gems in there including the first appearance of the Marvel character Deadpool along with Cable and several others. At this point the first ones I am going to put up for sale is my New Mutants collection which includes those two first appearances. I am making these posts about those books being available for purchase here first among my friends before going to eBay. If I do not hear any interested parties in a week or so that is where I will post them for sale. I am in need of raising funds to help with gas, food and medicine here at my parents home where they have been so gracious as to have taken me in back in 2011 in order to keep me from becoming homeless, I am forever grateful.
Next is to let you all know, if you did not know already I returned to college, again, for the last time (I hope) In order to get a career that is not only something that will be substantial but is something I enjoy doing and am kind of good at. That career is in accounting. Back in 2011 when I initially lost my job I went to the Missouri Career Center (Great place if you are in needing assistance in finding a career path) and went through their program. I learned that my aptitude was for Accounting as well as Social Work and the Medical Field. Now while I know there will always be a need for folks in medicine I just was not sure I could handle all of the terminology as well as the emotional stresses of caring for folks in that way. I grew up with a mother dedicated to the care of the sick and she even worked in Hospice in her later years. She is an amazing woman and I so look up to her at the strength she has and ability to do that vocation, I know I could not do it. So for me it came down to accounting. I learned that Accounting is a growing field and has good pay generally as well as something I was good at. Unfortunately at the time I did not qualify for any Pelgrants due to my income the previous year. I tried and failed over the next year to find work elsewhere, anywhere, but I either did not fit the companies needs or I just could not perfume what was needed (see earlier posts about my adventures in the trucking industry.)
Anyway fast forward to last summer. I was finally able to go back to the community college which I had attended many years ago and re-enroll in their accounting program. I found out I only needed 40 credits to graduate with the degree due to all of the credits I already had from previous classes (146 credit hours I think at the time of start) and I could start that summer. I enrolled in my first class, Accounting 101, and learned that it was to be taken online. Now this whole online thing was totally new to me, mo mother, and my dad. I really did not know what to expect or exactly how the heck I was supposed to learn without sitting in a classroom. Thankfully my instructor, Mr. Randall Kidd, had video recorded his lectures and it made it a lot easier to do the homework. I also had great help my two friends of mine who one is an accountant and the other a business major who had taken accounting classes. With all of that support I managed to get an ‘A’ in that class. To say that did not make me feel good would make me a liar. It felt great, my first time coming back to school, in 14 years and after starting a new life rejuvenated me. I was eager to get enrolled in the fall so I could dive deeper into this thing called education. The difference I found going back to school for me now, living as the person I am supposed to be as opposed to the one before, is that I am taking a real interest in everything to do with the education process. I am a very active participant in my classes, much more than I ever did before. I am taking notes, paying much closer attention to everything. I am learning so much more than I ever thought I could. At the rate I am going I will have my associates degree at the end of December 2014 and will be well on my way back into the workforce, being a productive member of society.
First off I want to thank all my friends and family for the continued support over the years, especially since 2007 when I made that really big commitment to change.
Some rather important changes in my health as I age, trust me if you have not already figured out, getting older does have as lot of drawbacks. The most noticeable one for me right now is I need bifocals now. When my parents were kind enough last year to take me to the eye doctor to get a new checkup as well as new glasses I asked the optometrist at the time if he felt I needed them as I have been struggling to see things up close. He assured me I did not need them yet so I went along with the single vision prescription. Well, it seems I do see bifocals. You see I have pretty much stopped drawing and painting miniatures due to the fact that in all honesty I have been struggling to see well enough to produce anything of quality and that is something I just am not comfortable doing. So because of that several commissions I took wound up being on hold and I was too embarrassed to come forward before to say as much and to those I still owe I apologize, you are not forgotten. Good news is that a couple of weeks ago my wonderful fiancé, Northpaw, purchased some reading glasses for me that work over my current eyewear. It has been an amazing thing to be able to see everything again. I have even attempted to practice drawing again, with some minor success. What does this mean? Well it means that I can get back to work on finishing the commissions that I had started and get the work to those that were so generous and understanding to pay me up front for the work because I was in need to money.
Need of money is what leads to my next update. As some may remember I was working part time at a counselor’s office for gas money really. Well that ended in November last year due to the office having to close. I understand completely what happened and why it happened but it still makes me sad. It makes me sad more that I would not be able to help others in that capacity anymore. Anyway, I am now going through my comic collection and starting to prepare them for sale. I stopped collecting over 20 years ago and these books have been quietly sitting in their comic book boxes in a dark cool place all this time. I am not exactly sure how many I have but I do know that I have several gems in there including the first appearance of the Marvel character Deadpool along with Cable and several others. At this point the first ones I am going to put up for sale is my New Mutants collection which includes those two first appearances. I am making these posts about those books being available for purchase here first among my friends before going to eBay. If I do not hear any interested parties in a week or so that is where I will post them for sale. I am in need of raising funds to help with gas, food and medicine here at my parents home where they have been so gracious as to have taken me in back in 2011 in order to keep me from becoming homeless, I am forever grateful.
Next is to let you all know, if you did not know already I returned to college, again, for the last time (I hope) In order to get a career that is not only something that will be substantial but is something I enjoy doing and am kind of good at. That career is in accounting. Back in 2011 when I initially lost my job I went to the Missouri Career Center (Great place if you are in needing assistance in finding a career path) and went through their program. I learned that my aptitude was for Accounting as well as Social Work and the Medical Field. Now while I know there will always be a need for folks in medicine I just was not sure I could handle all of the terminology as well as the emotional stresses of caring for folks in that way. I grew up with a mother dedicated to the care of the sick and she even worked in Hospice in her later years. She is an amazing woman and I so look up to her at the strength she has and ability to do that vocation, I know I could not do it. So for me it came down to accounting. I learned that Accounting is a growing field and has good pay generally as well as something I was good at. Unfortunately at the time I did not qualify for any Pelgrants due to my income the previous year. I tried and failed over the next year to find work elsewhere, anywhere, but I either did not fit the companies needs or I just could not perfume what was needed (see earlier posts about my adventures in the trucking industry.)
Anyway fast forward to last summer. I was finally able to go back to the community college which I had attended many years ago and re-enroll in their accounting program. I found out I only needed 40 credits to graduate with the degree due to all of the credits I already had from previous classes (146 credit hours I think at the time of start) and I could start that summer. I enrolled in my first class, Accounting 101, and learned that it was to be taken online. Now this whole online thing was totally new to me, mo mother, and my dad. I really did not know what to expect or exactly how the heck I was supposed to learn without sitting in a classroom. Thankfully my instructor, Mr. Randall Kidd, had video recorded his lectures and it made it a lot easier to do the homework. I also had great help my two friends of mine who one is an accountant and the other a business major who had taken accounting classes. With all of that support I managed to get an ‘A’ in that class. To say that did not make me feel good would make me a liar. It felt great, my first time coming back to school, in 14 years and after starting a new life rejuvenated me. I was eager to get enrolled in the fall so I could dive deeper into this thing called education. The difference I found going back to school for me now, living as the person I am supposed to be as opposed to the one before, is that I am taking a real interest in everything to do with the education process. I am a very active participant in my classes, much more than I ever did before. I am taking notes, paying much closer attention to everything. I am learning so much more than I ever thought I could. At the rate I am going I will have my associates degree at the end of December 2014 and will be well on my way back into the workforce, being a productive member of society.
I too hope to become a productive member of society one day!
I've come to a few decisions, and maybe I'll be able to stick to them. I want to lose some weight, I want to get back at least to part time writing, and I want to figure out a few things yet. For now, I'm working though a giant stack of books.... LOL.