Mah tail is getting to many rings!

Birthday 'kat, huzzah. Although it hasn't been great so far. Mostly just due to work shit. All I wanted was an easy day at work, but instead got about the shittiest one I've had in about a month. Oh well. That's why I say I have bad luck.

Other notable things; I get an insurance discount for turning 25. I went to Megaplex and had a wonderful time last month. I played Ultimate Werewolf for over 14 hours total between two days, played lots of cool games and met lots of awesome people. I'm looking to get back into playing Warmachine. I had been considering Warhammer 40k because someone at my work who I'm friends with wanted to play it, but I decided, and convinced him, to play Warmachine because it's just as good and it's cheaper.

Thanks for those who've already sent birfday wishes :D

I'm looking to upgrade my mattress as part of my tax return. Anyone got a memory foam, or sleep number, or another one of those fancy beds that cares to chime in on how its working for you?

As I listen to the sound of Snows overly supercharged LS1 engine driving off with the Diamondstripe Combo to the airport, I look around my once dirty, than clean, and now dirty again kitchen, littered with the remnants of our con activities. Dice, little multifaceted plastic gems litter the table from our short, but hilariously off track Dungeons and Dragons (In Space) game. A lonely cardboard box, the image of a pots and pans armor clad 'hero' wielding the Orc-B-Gone chainsaw lays forgotten in the corner. Empty soda cans, enough to fully caffinate a small herd of furries for three whole days lay on every surface imaginable. Leftovers, dismembered couches, and an unlit Christmas tree, present-less.

And a sad little 'kat that has to get back to real life in 13 hours.

Back to a job with too much labor for too little pay. Back to a 'routine' schedule. Back to having no one around in the hours that I am awake, and being woken up by the sound of claws scrambling at hardwood floor right as I fall asleep. A return to opening the back curtains and seeing an unfinished tent-shed, dreams slowly fracturing every time it's looked at and nothing is done about it. Back to inadequacy.

I find myself thinking occassionally if it was a mistake to move. Should I have stayed, and taken the job offer, knowing my motivational issues, or should I have come down here to try to strike it out on my own, free to work on my own time, if I could actually get around to it? My greatest success in four years has been correctly making the food for everyone over this weekend. I haven't done anything with myself since I got out of college, and it's getting harder and harder to try. Injuries accumulate, energy is lost, it gets harder and harder to break out of the routine that is just so easy to follow. Why am I like this? I'm not happy. The one time I ever feel happy is during cons, when the flurry of activity, the feeling of comradity, the spirit of excitement whisks me away. I know that no one can fix this but me, and yet I find myself not trying to fix it, or letting things that shouldn't get in the way completely derail all enthusiasm or drive. I say I'm not afraid to try and fail, but is that maybe what it really is? That I really AM afraid, and not knowing because I've never tried is somehow more easy to deal with than knowing I've failed? What happened to that person in his senior year of high school, freshly accepted into a good art school, eager to work, so sure of where he was going?

I want him back. I need him back. I just can't figure out how to find him.

PCD sucks. I partially blame watching Wolf Children before everyone had to go, but I was already feeling it by then.

I'm sick of this damn walmart sub 40 hours bullshit. Working all year with the hours they gave me, I've only made 13k and 2k of that has gone to taxes/medicare. It's bullshit. I need to get a degree, a certification, or SOMETHING. I just don't know what to get or even look for. Colleges don't tell you what you can get with your degree or what the degree even does.

Long and the short, what do YOU do and what did you need to do to get it? Associates, technical certification, something?

Just wanted to get someones first hand account on it. I heard it was good, but also that there were huge server problems. Been thinking about getting it, so...

So, while I was at Megaplex, I had the pleasure to play a game called Buck Legacy. It's basically a pony version of Munchkin, although a little more serious. You know, a dungeon delving card game kinda thing. It's awesome, and really neat if you are a fan of MLP and such.

Well, it did so well they are making an expansion of it! Usually it would cost about 55$ to get the regular version of the game, but in the kickstarter, if you pledge 59 pounds, which is something around 80$ I think, then you get the original game, PLUS the expansion, plus a bunch of limited edition stuff.

I might have already dropped 117$ on it so I could get Thunder Drift on an official card >.>

Anyways, check it out if you want!

Kickstarter Project!

Buck Legacy Website!

24 rings on the tail today. Yay. Don't plan on doing much of anything, but  werewolfss was awesome and took me to see Kickass 2, then to Chilis for dinner, and got me a cookies and cream pie thing today. Thanks hun! :3

Plan to probably clean today. Along with finish the box around the studio before my wood becomes totally warped and unusable. I think the plywood has already had that happen... Money down the drain. Oh well. I need to pick up citrus potting soil too. My avocado tree leaves are turning yellow, and I looked up the problem and its probably not enough soil drainage.

So, things are pretty much the same with me. Can't get up the motivation to do things, ect. Every time I do its a tough day at work and it drains it out of me... ANYWAYS!

Went to Megaplex a couple weekends ago. That was lots of fun. Spent most of my time in the board game room, partially because Megaplex only has a few panels and I wasn't really interested in them. I did the Charity Poker Tourny on Friday night. I was the big stack for a while until KP (The con chair) joined in and called one of my bluffs. Drove back hope late that night, which is a sucky drive to make twice a day. Hence, why I slept in my car Saturday night, which probably wasn't a great decision but oh well!

Saturday was more of the same. Went to see the Japanese Game Show Experience, which was hilarious. Run by a real Asian with fake authentic Asian accent! DISHONOR! I got to play a really cool card game called Buck Legacy, which is a fan developed card game sorta like Munchkin but with MLP. It was really fun. The only downside is that it's made over in Europe, which means exchange rates are a killer.

Sunday was wind down day. I got my sketchbook back (You've already seen the sketches). Left kinda early, around 7. The people with the games didn't come in, so there wasn't a lot to do. Overall, less than 300$ on the con though, which isn't bad because thats including gas and pre-reg. Met some awesome people, like  botsinlove and  kittybird.

But back to the grindstone. Gotta save money again because between con, rent and a 550$ student loan payment, my bank account is pulling an Azimuth on a hot day.

And its August. Which means another year onto the personal chronometer. Ill be 24 on the 20th, which is one year away from the insurance discount. Hurrah! So thats whats going on. How is all of you?

So, as some of you who know me a bit better might know, I have motivational problems. I can't seem to force myself to get up and do things that I want to do, and then get down because I haven't gotten them done, or in the case of some things, I'm just lazy. So, I'm going to put a to-do list here, and start crossing things off as they get done. Some things I can't do because my back is currently injured, but other things I can.

1. Finish the (explitive deleted) art studio that I'm trying to build UPDATE: Bought lumber for continuing construction
2. Call up Nelnet and actually make payments on my 6 month overdue student loans.
3. Go to the doctor and get the problems with my wrists figured out. UPDATE: Picked up application for becoming a patient
4. Clean. Again. Because I can't keep things clean after I clean them. UPDATE: Kinda cleaned. Then got sick :(
5. Fix my windshield and stop playing phone tag with progressive.
6. Get signed up for Megaplex.
7. Get a bank account down here.
8. Put the bookshelf together that I bought a week ago.
9. Fill out workmans comp paperwork.

I think that about does it? Idk. I'm sure when Snow ends up commenting, shi will remind me of something I forgot.

Think I'm gonna order this. Thoughts? Uses are gaming and general purposes. I don't want to run things on high, just make them run well enough and look good enough for a reasonable person to play them.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7829037&CatId=4910

Work on my art studio is finally starting to come along. I am getting some gravel delivered tomorrow that was stalling everything. After that, I need to get it down, then reassemble the garage port thing, then I can start furnishing it.

However, I don't think I'll make your May 4th deadline Vox. Sowwy...

*Proceeds to hack and cough all over you* There, now you are infected. Have a nice day :D

Soooo, I missed the whole Superhero/comics era :( What with all the rash of different movies coming out, such as the Batmans, the new Superman, ect, I want to get to the roots of all these things. AKA the comics or the more well done cartoons/movies that were done after them. Anyone here an expert for where I can find all this stuff, or where to start? I have a particular interest in Thor, Green Lantern, and the Flash.

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4227313/
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4227313/
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4227313/
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4227313/

Go enter!

Murr.

That is all.

 riptideshark is holding a holiday Steam Game Raffle! Go take a look!

Anyone out there like secretly a doctor or something? My right wrist has been bothering me for weeks now and it simply won't heal. I cannot bend it back more than about 60 degrees without severe pain, like a nerve is being pinched in the radius side of the arm (the one closest to the thumb). I can bend it fully forward at 90 degrees, but there is a slight twinge in roughly the same area, a little more toward the side of the arm. Also, compression of the wrist into the arm amounts in the same pain, even if the wrist isn't trying to go past 60 degrees.

Ice isn't helping it, immobilization isn't helping it, anti-inflammatories don't seem to help. I type in a wrist neutral position. Its gotten aggrivated before but never to this extend, and I don't have insurance. I feel like whatever the problem is, if the doctor can't tell, it would need an MRI which is huge money. In the meantime, its extremely annoying, and I have no idea how to get it to heal.

:werewolf_ss: managed to find me an 88 camaro for very cheap, and they are on their way back with it now. By the end of my work shift, it should be here :) Fixes my car problem, because I can now sell my car and potentially come out ahead with it.

700$ for the camaro, which works and has very few issues.

If I can get rid of my car for like, 1100$, I should walk out about 200$ ahead :)

Transmission finally went. Can't shift into 3rd gear, so I'm stuck in 2nd. Looking for a new car now instead of fixing the transmission. Will probably sell it then buy something else. If anyone in Florida, around the Sebring or Orlando area is selling a car for 2k or less, I might be interested :)

So, its about 2 1/2 weeks since I got down here. Things are going ok. Car registered, all unpacked, organized, ect ect. Except the job I thought I had lined up at a pottery wasn't quite as lined up as I thought it was. Soooo no job for right now. Been applying to many places such as Michaels, Walmart, a couple Pizza Huts nearby. Walmart called back, but I missed the call, so gonna try them tomorrow. Also calling Michaels tomorrow.

Once I get a job I can start spending money on stuff to build myself a space to do pottery, or at least practice it. I don't see a practical place where I can set it up right now. In the meantime, I'm slowly getting back in to art. I picked up some vine charcoal at Michaels along with one of the big pads of drawing paper. Been fooling around with that a bit, and I'm doing more practice with suiting stuff again. Finished a pair of handpaws that I had been letting lay around. They are ok, but I'm making another pair to fix the mistakes I see I made.

So, I made it down here safely. Left on Wednesday morning with my bed strapped to my roof and the stuff in the back pressed against my seats. Couldn't even see out the back window, which really annoyed me. I didn't encounter any problems, really, other than a small hiccup in New York that cost us about a half hour, but most of that is due to traffic. Had to stay at an inn that night, because neither the guy I was riding down with nor me could stay awake any longer. Woke up 10am the next day and left within an hour. Dropped Aaron (The guy carpooling with me) off in Tallahasse, then drove the 5 hours down to Avon Park. I got in around 12:30am on Friday morning. Slept late, we woke up and Snow took me around to get things like license and registration for my car, to show me the area, and to try the Habitat for Humanity store for some furniture, which was a bust unfortunately. Actually everything was a bust that day, due to forms needing to be signed out for most of the stuff. The only thing I got accomplished was lots of food shopping. (Snow has NOTHING. Not even spices!)

Hung around most of the weekend cause I was reliant upon Snow for rides around. Had myself my first Icee in 4 years! Blue raspberry, the ONLY flavor that exists. Watched some movies, played some Xbox. Snow has a game called Dishonored, which is pretty interesting. Its like a steampunk assassination game.

Today we went and got a Florida license, and my car registered, which means I'm no longer on unofficial house arrest! Woohoo! Tomorrow I head down to Sebring to go to Brenner Pottery and inquire about a job. Hopefully that goes well because, damn, I am blowing through cash. 200$ at Walmart, 420$ for registration, 360$ in gas, 70$ for car parts, 150$ for insurance (60 of which was to get collision for the way down), 100$ in cash for the way down... overall about 1300$ in less than a week. I can REALLLLLLLLY feel that when I don't have a current job. Hell, that's more than I made in a month! I still need to get just a few things; namely some kitchen stuff, like a knife that I can't saw against my hand and not break skin (Snow), a cutting board (Snow...), and a few wooden/plastic utensils to not ruin my nonstick pans (SNOW!!!). Also, I need a dresser. I'm considering making my own bedframe, if I can get the materials for fairly cheap... But I also don't have a lot of the tools needed for that, soooooo....

Thats whats going on so far. Feel like I'm gonna get crispy fried every 2pm, but thats about it!

...Or something like that anyways. I play to leave on Wednesday morning, between 5am and 7am. I've got someone riding down with me, my dads cousins son, who lives in the upper part of Florida. He will be splitting gas costs with me for the ride down. Yay. Also, I don't need a trailer, so that is going to save me 210 for the trailer hitch, and 270 for the rental.

Almost all the car maintenance is done. Just need to replace the engine belt and put the hood latch back on and we are good to go. Tires got aligned, for free (yay), so thats taken care of. A little bit of packing, some laundry, and some cleaning, and I should be all ready to head out. Still need to...

1. Stop by the bank, cash checks and arrange for the money transfer to a new bank in Florida.
2. Look into temp tags for my vehicle registration. It ran out ><
3. Figure out if I am coinstaring this change or what exactly... it took 2 1/2 hours just to organize it into pennies, nickles and dimes.

For those of you that don't know where all this comes from... I'm moving in with  werewolf_ss, who lives in Florida. I live in Maine. Its quite a drive.

Got my front end fixed. It is due to be aligned this time next week. But I figured out what the 'engine' problem was; my transmission is starting to slip. Its sometimes having trouble slipping out of 1st and 2nd gear. Higher gear speeds do not seem to be much of a problem.

Yay for me...

So, I got my car looked at by a mechanic friend of ours, just to check it over and make sure nothing catastrophic is going to happen to it on the 1500+ mile trip to Florida. There was nothing like the transmission going or anything, but he did find some stuff that needs to be fixed.

1. Engine belt needs to be replaced. Cheap.
2. Both inner tierods need to be replaced. Cheap.
3. Idler arm needs to be replaced. Cheap.
4. Pitman arm needs to be replaced. Cheap.

All together those parts were about 110$. The labor to get them replaced probably will total less than 70. However, a couple things that he pointed out to me were.... not so cheap.

1. My tow hitch was broken at one point or another. There is a big crease on the driver side of the hitch, and he said I really should replace it if I plan to tow anything. Needless to say, I don't want the hitch holding my trailer to break off while said trailer has ALL my stuff in it. 210$ for the hitch.

2. The inner tierods, idler arm, and pitman arm all have to do with the front end steering. If you don't know much about cars (I don't either, this is what I was told) then a single one of these parts being bad means you can never get your front end properly aligned. I just got my front end alignment done at the Ford Dealership in my town less than 2 months ago. According to my mechanic, they should have NEVER done the alignment because it is not possible to get a true alignment with those parts bad. In addition, its also not possible that they didn't NOTICE those parts were bad. So I now need to go bitch out the service department for a free alignment after I get all those parts replaced.

I guess it wasn't so bad. 400$ probably in car repair, but its something I wasn't planning on >.> All this with T-16 days and counting.

The good news; I'm carpooling with someone who needs a ride down to Florida, and he will split the gas costs with me. Yay!

As of writing this, I have less than a month before I stop working, and a little over a month before I move out. I plan to leave on either the 2nd or the 3rd of October, towing a Uhaul trailer down in my Chevy Blazer. Some things aren't going quite as well as I had hoped though...

Gas prices are going back up. The gas stations in my town are listing 3.95 a gallon right now, and I just don't see that going down enough to matter within a month.

My funds are not quite where I expected them to be. I have 4800$ right now. Another month of work puts me at 6000$, which is about right from my calculations that I made earlier in the summer, but bills and such were a bit more than I expected. I was hoping around 6500$ before the move, and I wanted to get 8000$, but never got a 2nd job. The Uhaul trailer is a 250$ rental, and I'll probably need about 400$ in gas to get down there, so 650$ of that is just moving expenses. I haven't received any call from Brenner Pottery, which I had applied to, either, so having a job when I get down there is looking a bit shaky.

Kilns. Building one is more expensive than I thought. A pallet of 450 kiln bricks is about 800$ before shipping. You need closer to probably 1500 to make a good sized kiln.... I think. I'm not quite sure, but 450 kiln bricks isn't very much.

So yeah, thats what I'm looking at right now. I hope this all works out, cause I would hate to just have to end up doing the same job, in a different location.