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7 months later
9 years ago
I guess it goes without saying that this update is lagging a little behind. Considering, I presume, that a lot of you have seen me around, especially
since my watcher count has gone from 500 to 600 since my last update, and I have been bidding on art and buying commissions. I guess it also goes
without saying some people possibly feel a little cheated that there was a raffle promised (shortly after Christmas which has yet to materialise). I just
wanted to put some words down on "paper" and clear a few things up. It's not much of an "apology" per se, because I do feel pretty bad about my
hiatus, I just wanted to give a little bit of insight. Bear in mind, I do feel very bad and am beyond grateful for how patient people have been with me.
I've had ZERO questions about the raffle I promised, which is pretty outstanding, but, I digress. I will add a TL;DR at the end.
Raffle and activity
The raffle is still on. I have got all the titles promised lined up and have added more titles in to make it up to you all for your patience so there are more
lovely things to win. I haven’t really got a “valid excuse” why I haven’t been active here and haven’t been following through on the promises I’ve made. It
feels like every time I decide to upload some art of hit the raffle I have something else I want to focus on and straighten out. Part of the issue being my
work (detailed below and only recently sorted out). Further, I am an admin for a busy roleplay chatroom and feel I ought to spend as much time as possible
running that place, since there are roughly 600+ visitors per 24-hour period. To be brutally honest, as with most furry community, there is a lot of
drama and trouble. We’re currently looking to find more moderators, add a Discord function and potentially recruit a new admin. It’s a weak excuse, but I
honestly feel like I’ve just been putting you all off for way too long and I just want to extend my apologies. Lastly, in more recent news, my grandpa recently
passed away and me and Cho Cha only just came back from Sweden for the funeral. It was 4 days of madness that felt like weeks. I haven’t cried like that for
as long as I can remember, but it feels good to have been there with my family and shared with them all as we honoured and remembered a great man.
Education
As some of you know, I am a uni student (late bloomer, I guess) who just finished my first year of uni last summer, 2015. I was planning to take a short break
and work for a bit while I figured out a few things. You see, I was studying Psychology, but I wasn't sure where that would lead, so I changed to Social Psychology
(because the first year courses were identical and the biological part of psychology, the actual scientific part, if you can call it that, was not my strong suit).
However, I kept thinking about it and what I wanted to do. What would I do with a Social Psychology degree? And after a lot of thinking, I realised that the part
about psychology I kept defaulting back to in real life was the therapeutical applications. I realised that I should be a therapist, wiggling in to peoples' heads and
help them untangle the knots they've tied their brains in and supply them with the tools to help themselves get better. It finally felt like everything fell into place.
There are so many creative things I've wanted to do, writing, game designing, that I've come to realise, these are hobbies I am never sure I could make sustainable.
I realised that if I had a strong career path to fall back on, I could do the other things as and when I like. So I changed my course again, and felt pretty good about
myself, figuring "I'll enroll to the January courses and be on my way". But, of course, there were no January courses in Psychology with Therapy this year. Bummer.
So I just kept working instead, figuring, I just needed to last a little while longer and enroll in October instead. Which neatly brings me into my next topic:
Employment
Some of you know that I used to work at a college, I've been deliberately vague about what I did and where, since I didn't particularly want it associated with my
online persona and activities. I should clarify that when I say College, I mean in the UK way, which isn't a Uni equivalent, but means I worked with 16-18 year olds
(and a few mature students too). I left that position in July 2015, voluntarily, following restructuring we as a work force did not really support, but it was all amicable,
so no hate. I didn't pick up anything fancy after that, I spent a month enjoying the end of summer and my saved up holiday days. Then I just happened to stop by a
local cafe and asked them if they were looked for a barista. I am not going to name and shame the company, people can possibly guess who they are, but I quite like
the company itself, just not this particular branch. Still, I had worked for the franchise before so I was fully trained and pretty skilled (if coffee can be considered a skill).
I was hired pretty much on the spot, which was quite an ego boost; I've never been in demand before.
Things turning sour
I guess it is clear by now I soon learned I wasn't going to enjoy this job. Things seemed to just spiral more and more, but when I joined I was literally told by the store
manager that she wanted me as an assistant manager. That was amazing, first week of work and already I was needed and welcomed. I worked 6-day week and overtime
daily, but before long I came to realise the manager was just full of shit. I loved my colleagues, they are still great friends. The manager on the other hand. I am not
going to go on and on about why I hate her, but I have never felt so badly treated by one of my bosses before (including being fired from a job translating Swedish
Websites because suddenly I was working on websites in every language known to man!) Suffice to say, she is spectacularly bad and has been running a brand new store
into the ground and turning a lousy profit despite prime location and talented staff. She made us break company policies left and right to cover hr inadequacies, and even
broke health codes by selling out of date food stuff and breaking recruitment laws by hiring underage staff and paying people under the table. it was shockingly bad and I
kept doing it out of feelings of guilt for my friends. I kept looking for work and stepped down to 3 days a week, which worked great but I dreaded every day I had to work.
Things going my way!
It does seem suddenly the stars can align. I happened to see one of my old colleagues from 2008 and kind of waved to him while serving him. He was a little awkward and
silent but waved back. He messaged me later that night on Facebook and told me he was actually being interviewed for a job in the shop so he didn’t feel like chatting was
appropriate. What he did add was that he had been told by the interviewer was that they were looking for others, so my friend suggested they should inquire about my
availability. I was chuffed! Me and him hadn’t spoken properly for 6-7 years and he was looking out for me. I then found out that the interviewer, and my future manager,
was married to one of the new girls at the café, whom I’d been helping out and looking out for, so she and my friend put in a great word for me. I got an interview which
felt like a formality. I suddenly have a new job, and it is amazing. I earn a graduate level salary without a degree, taking my hourly earnings from £7.50 / hour to roughly
£10.20 / hour. Further, it’s a young, successful, growing company and it seems with the rapid expansion my team seems prime for promotion, with new specialised roles
already being carved out for us.
TL;DR
*The raffle is happening and is extended to make it better;
*My RP chat is busy and thriving :3
*My degree is on hold until I can straighten my brain out;
*I hated my old job;
*I love my new job;
*I will do better for you all;
There is so much art from so many amazing artists I want to share with you all. I honestly believe you’ll all find something you’ll adore.
There have been some pieces that have turned out so well I am amazed every time I see my characters in those beautiful pieces.
Love you all,
Robby
P.S. Take a drink every time I say "Realise".
But I'm really happy to hear that you're doing so well for yourself. I honestly think you'd be a great fit for clinical psychology, when you get your brain sorted out and get back into classes.