Still driving truck and listening to Audiobooks. Was working for a trucking company subcontracted with Coca Cola hauling aluminum cans for the bottling plant, but that account fell through and my subcontracted company got canned, so they transferred me to their Walmart account. Let me tell you folks. If you work at a Walmart and your job ever involves answering the back freight door to receive freight deliveries for truck drivers, please understand that when truck drivers knock on the door to deliver to your store, this is not an opportunity for you to find ways to fuck them over. Some of us are furries and your refusal to let us in the building or let someone know we are there costs us a lot of money. On average, I lose about 300-500 a week because we aren't paid per hour, but instead paid per delivery or in my case, paid per mile. You see someone delivering freight getting treated like this, please be willing to stand up for us. I was recently made to stand outside a store in the middle of the night so long that I ended up crapping my pants because I was forced to hold it. Our trucks don't have bathrooms in them and we rely on shippers and receivers for bathroom access. When you don't give us access, whether because you don't think it's that big a deal, or because you somehow feel you need to give us the shaft, you actively ruin an entire day for what would probably have been a nice guy just trying to do his job.
Other similar things to have happen were Walmart associates slamming the door in my face and making me wait hours, or just going on break and making me wait in the rain and snow. I'm required to stand outside and ring the buzzer the whole time. You get the comfort of a warm breakroom.
I'm officially done working for Walmart and turned in my notice to my company and gave them to ultimatum to take me off the Walmart account immediately or lose me. Don't have a clue what I'll do from here, but I'm pushing for either another account my company has with Joanne Fabrics or an entirely new job doing Ace hardware store deliveries as I guess they have their own trucks.

I still have Telegram and Discord if anyone is interested. Got that movie server running if any of you want to sit and watch classic movies with me and some buds. It's not furry specific, so expect some various types of normies and generic dorks to be in there. Link will be sent upon request as I have reasons for not posting it publicly....
Other than that, if you wanna talk about books, please contact me on Discord cjkrythos#4337. I can use Discord for it's voice chat features while I'm at work.

So, with some new attention acquired now that [faicon]fwbrown61[/faicon] has so kindly shared a link to my book list, It occurred to me that now that I apparently have some semblance of a reputation, I should stop with my usual approach of keeping my head in the sand while I work. Ive decided to try to make some more friends, and with that end, Im posting my Steam name and inviting anyone who uses steam, to friend me.

the name is "crimsonjackel" You'll know my account as being the one with the blue glowy wolf icon.
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/.....61198055187833

On a similar note, Ive been trying to figure out how I can fix the damage to my personal projects. When I lost the PIN drive, I didnt just lose the most recent book additions, I lost two other projects I was working on. One of them was a small review and recap of my observations and experiences in dating outside the fandom, along with suggestions made by others that I found to be helpful. The second project was a small idiots guide to living by yourself(getting out and away from your parents and such) it is in the same way as the first, a recap of my own observations and experiences living away from parents. tips and tricks and such. I was thinking of combining the books into one big guide called "the Rodent's guide to living single" but I had tossed the entire thing aside when I made the mistake of picking up a copy of Skyrim. As im sure some of you are aware, it is much like cocaine, and impossible to put down. Got about a quarter through the game before my save was corrupted, and I had to start over. Now that some of that video gaming vigor has died off, Im remembering some of the things I was supposed to be doing, and trying to catch up on my projects. If I can find the manuscripts on sections of the Rodent's Guide, Ill probably just combine it and start releasing sections of it. And in the interest of curiosity, are there any bits anyone would like answered, like observations and such relating to moving out on your own. Right now Im focusing on the psychology behind living on your own, and the aspect of conserving resources so as not to waste everything on stupid crap, and finally, Ive kinda done a halfhearted attempt at summing up what Ive learned about home decorating. I might get a friend of mine involved as he is fully off on his own, whereas I share my place with someone else. he could at least help with the stuff relating to apartments.

so, while I think its silly to need a letter of recommendation in order to get some roommates for furry cons, I am more than willing to type something up to make things easier for someone who desires a reference for getting to a convention.
Pyrocanis, also known as Dave, or David Mastiff(not his real last name, but for all intensive purposes, his name is really Dave, and that and the added FA name, should suffice for identifying him) roomed with me about 3-4 years back on multiple years, the exact dates escape me as Ive been to AC so many times now I cant remember who I roomed with on what years. He proved to be a capable and reliable room-manager for the year that I put him in charge of a room, despite the huge mistake I made of letting Aquafox in the room.... yes, he was in the same room as this poor pup. He kept the peace quite well and informed me of any issues that cropped up, and after coming to me with questions the first few times problems popped up, he watched how I handled them and began doing so on his own. He is clean and comes equipped with magic lighter tricks to entertain your drunken room-party attendees, or can reside himself with quiet entertainment with no need to crank up obnoxious music at odd hours of the day or night. I actually shared an apartment with him for a brief period of a few months while I settled into a new job and can personally attest to everything I just claimed.

The only issue you may have with him is that being he is a large breed of canine, upon taking of his shirt, you will discover to your surprise that he doesnt need a fursuit, and also that you may need to lend a paw using a shedding brush if it happens to be shedding season, and that winter coat starts coming off. I specifically am unaware of when wookies begin this annual phase, so you are advised to inquire with him for the details. It is highly advisable NOT to attempt a man-O-lantern though....

Did I mention my silly attitude towards this? :P Also, in all seriousness, hes clean, well-maintained, and as an added bonus, is quite familiar with various brands and flavors of Vodka, so if you like Vodka, he can likely recommend a few good ones to try. Not to mention he likes Chess, so if you play, let him know.

FA link: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/pyrocanis/

Would probably make my relatives have a cow, but it would be SOOOOO worth it to see the looks on their faces.
http://tinyurl.com/6gx64f8

Im sorry, I had to tinyurl it or ruin some of the surprise of coming across this masterpiece. Of course, now someone is going to buy one. Good luck using it!

Pls share for a good laugh.

God help us XD

So, some people, who actually care enough to read these, will have heard something about me having cancer, or some such stuff..... and this.... is somewhat true.....

In September of 2011 I injured my back, i was informed that my back injury needed to be confirmed, so I got an MRI. While they found a herniated disc, and it was supposedly really mild in damage, I was also diagnosed with a spinal tumor. I was also told that if it wasnt removed, it would eventually paralyze me, possibly permanently. I had it removed in late October, whereas I spent a few weeks wallowing in pain(spinal headaches, google them :3), used a headache candle(google that too, its awesome) and was back to normal(nevermind the need for a cane). Moved in with my grandfather in Akron to get away from my parents, decided to stay, and when i was physically able, I started cleaning up a basement room to renovate into a new bedroom for myself. Moved in officially sometime after I got back to work at PAM. Found out after getting back to work that the tumor which was removed had been declared BENIGN!!!!

While I had the time, I worked on the room and just finished the room's final touches about a month ago, whereas I decided to seek out a new job. I found a job driving gasoline tanker, and quit PAM. 2 weeks in, got thrown out of the program because they have no patience. I made several minor mistakes involving what order I hook hoses up to their prospective nozzles and wells. I didnt hook anything up wrong, just several times I forgot to uncap it before I brought the hose over. He wanted me to uncap it beforehand to save time, and I kept forgetting and then having to do it while holding the hose. Wasnt a big deal, just meant more work and a smidge more time for me. But really, the money they were paying me, it wasnt worth it. I had gotten into it hoping to later, move into something better once I got some experience. Now im unemployed and pushing several places for a job. Best place right now is a location in canton that will hire me to haul trash bucket trailers. Sounds like a grungy job, but it ought to pay good, and thats all that matters to me right now.

Dating a person who is not even the slightest bit furry and wondering if I could find someone who is more nerdy(I miss having a girl I can talk nerdy to and make cheesy, dirty jokes and not have her look at me with that kinda oblivious look in her eyes). Also miss having nerdy sex doggystyle so we can both watch Xfiles(not that I ever did it to begin with, but I kinda wish the girl I was dating would at least get the joke)

and playing Star Trek Online right now. No, Ive no interest in joining either the Klingons or the Federation. I just enjoy blowing stuff up, and the ship Ive got is cool(fed, yes), so Im happy. Ive been dying to find a decent SCIFI MMO to enjoy for years now and glad I finally did. So yes, Beware for I shall unload my Tribbles in your cargohold. ;)

So, yet again, I find ways to save money. Don't know if anyone here actually reads any of these tidbits about deals, but In addition to my favorite "restaurant.com" site, A while ago, I signed up for Groupon, which arranges group discounts for certain products and services and then posts them to their site so people will check them out.

Just today, I finally got some time to seriously look through this site and I was stunned to find quite a few cool things. Im mostly posting this because I know a lot of you folks have Iphones, and there is a deal up there for a telescopic lens and tripod attachment for your Iphone. It wont be there for more than a few more days, so be sure to look into it.

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu12346390

So, enjoy that link. The next thing Id like to hurl out there for people to enjoy and look into is something a little less fun, and more of the "holy crap, wow, thats... certainly something" It's called Kiva. Im sure tons of you have heard about this, but I figured id post a link too because lets face it, if every furry put in 25 bucks into this site, Not only would that see a drastic increase in the next year, but it would help people all over the world.

Kiva is a site that forms what is referred to as a "microloan". Its best described as a small loan of a few thousand dollars to people all over the world who need money now for whatever reason, but don't have any major financial institution to pull their area out of poverty. It has been proven that with a little money loaned, these people can improve their living situation very quickly, and then repay the loan. Many of the best loans go towards creating industry or infrastructure in areas that simply could not afford to accomplish it on their own.

When you put 25 or so into a loan, you will, after so many months, get that money back WITH INTEREST. Currently Ive turned about $50 of my own money into just under $100, which is pretty impressive considering I signed up early last year. When Ive the cash to blow, I might just invest an enormous sum into this site just to see where it might take me. It will be an easy year before you see enough of that cash again to reloan another 25 bucks, but as soon as you do, reloan it and

Be aware of two things about Kiva. Kiva is a non profit organization and thus, it asks for donations when you register your contribution to a particular loan request. You can choose to leave the standard donation in place of a couple bucks, which go towards paying for the website, OR... you can choose to remove the donation and donate some other time. If you dont want to pay extra each time you register a loan, make sure to remove the donation. Personally I plan to donate a large sum later all at once, so I can use the donation on my taxes rather than a large number of smaller donations.

And also, there is always the concern that some of the people asking for loans will be unable to repay them due to any number of factors. There are pages on the site that report the conditions of certain countries, and you might also want to take into consideration things like wars. You really wont know just how bad some of these places might be until you check. I do all my research before loaning.

For those of you wondering what I get out of this, and why I throw out a shameless plug, I dont receive any money or credits for referring people. A non-profit organization does not have the money to throw out free cash to people just because he got his friends to join too. This is not an attempt to get extra cash. This is nothing more than a fellow furry asking to see how many of his fellows are willing to dish out a little money to help a fellow human being. Yes, there are two reasons I loan to Kiva. I look forward to the investment potential of the site and the chance to make money, just as much as I look forward to Helping people(which is why I generally only invest in business, industry, education, agriculture, or infrastructure). But, because they don't give me money for linking you, I cannot possibly benefit from your invite. I simply wanted to see furries doing something positive in the world. Help me help everyone!

http://kiva.org/invitedby/spook4530

So, lots of stuff has happened since the last post. Ive continued working with PAM, been bumped up to a newer truck when my old one crapped out. Oddly enough, the newer one is prone to more problems than the older one. Finicky as hell too. it likes to develop all kinds of error codes and bitch at me to go get them fixed. Its constantly developing ABS problems, and ive had to take it into the shop no less than 6 times in the 2 months ive had it, while my older freightliner century gave me absolutely NO trouble unless it was a service call(oil change and such). The newer one is a international pro-star. I just put it in for an oil change and general AF service, which means its going to be checked for serious problems, inspected, and then had the sticker on the side of the truck replaced indicating its been inspected on whatever date.

This one is a better truck not just because of the fact that it has a more powerful engine, but because it also idles straight, rather than having that frackin smart-idle system. meaning the truck will automatically shut itself off and try to run everything in the truck on batterypower to save fuel. Sounds like a good idea, but this wears down the batteries, which eventually screws up the transmission(namely the clutch) because it doesnt have enough power available to shift properly. You are supposed to set the smart idle whenever you stop so that it will start up again, but if you just need to run inside the receiving dock and give them the paperwork, or you sit in a traffic jam for enough time, it just shuts off thinking you are parked and it doesnt need to run. This is a useful feature to save fuel while parked at night, but when your truck randomly starts in the middle of the night and starts revving to high RPMs, you instantly wake thinking it is being stolen and you with it. Yes, this gets annoying, so im quite glad to be rid of that particular system.

Thankfully the newer truck doesnt do that, it just demands regular trips to the shop to have them glare at me and sigh that I happen to be back for yet another visit. It also has an APU, which is a diesel-powered electrical generator that powers heating, cooling, keeps the batteries charged, heats the fuel to keep it from freezing and generally makes my life a lot easier when the damn thing actually runs as it should. It allows the driver to shut off the truck at night and save fuel, which is a good thing. Mine is rather finicky about starting up in cold weather, but once its warmed up, it seems to run fine. I havent had the opportunity to run the air conditioner part, so i dont even know if that works yet.

As for other things. Im single again. Those of you who pay attention to Partywolf09's and halorising's profiles would know that I broke up with her a few months back and those two eventually got together, which I think is a good thing. They seem to be happy, and ive moved on. Im currently flirting voraciously with several individuals, including a cat(yes, dogs hitting on cats, world is ending, we know).

Also, because of the truck driving job going uphill with the bonuses, finishing with the school payments(no longer have to pay back the truck driving school as my year contract is up), so the money goes into my pocket instead of into theirs. This all adds up to around $500-$800(usually around $700) a week AFTER taxes. Considering this juicy fact, ive funneled a buttload of it into my credit cards to get them paid off, and the result is $5000 in card debt(previously $14000) and the existing $5000 in student loan debts, which shouldnt take me much longer to get paid off.

Taking the above into account, i realized that with my income at its current state, I could actually AFFORD A FUCKING HOUSE!!!!! so..... I found one in medina: $65,000, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, new and dry basement, new windows, almost fully rennovated(rooms need painting and some woodwork), 2 1/2 car garage(plus another old hinged door section for a small car/motorcycle/or mower), large barn with a shop setup for either mechanic work or woodshop work. Both major garage/barn outdoor structures have an upstairs for storage or playhouse area(for kids obviously as I do intend to have at least one or two rugrats sometime down the line)
Because the third door is old and on hinges instead of the traditional tracks most garage doors work on, Id probably not use it for a car. But, it would be perfect for mowers and snowblowers, maybe a rototiller if I can find the space for a garden. Its really close to the Medina square too, so its in a good neighborhood.

---

Taking all this into account, I often wonder something about furries in general. JUST HOW DUMB ARE SOME OF YOU PEOPLE!?!?!?!? I went from shoveling shit at a walmart, got fired one day, and pushed and shoved my way into a better job and am making enough money to move out on my own, find a girlfriend, afford good stuff(hell, I could afford to buy a LV fursuit if I wanted to throw out 3k, but fursuiting is something that im not sure I want to do anymore), and generally move on with my life. Yet, every day, i see furries complain that their life sucks, they dont have money, they hate their jobs(most of which work at walmart or other retail/fastfood), hate living with their parents(who obviously dont like their kids spending a grand on a fursuit), and generally whining about all kinds of things that can be changed so fucking easily.

I know it gets tough sometimes, but if you think I have any pity for you, go grow up, walk outside and take a breath of fresh air. Oh yeah, and take a bath too. Seriously, if youd pull your heads out of your asses long enough to realize you can do anything with your lives that you want, you would start to notice that the reason your life seems to suck so much is because you are making it into EXACTLY FUCKING THAT!!!! Stop whining about what goes wrong in your life, stand up, and go outside and do something with yourself.

Dont tell me you cant get a job. Goodwill and McDonalds are ALWAYS hiring. All you got to do is survive in one of those for about a year, and then go start pushing for a job somewhere else. By pushing for a job, I dont mean simply fill out an application and go to sleep. I mean, fill one out and call so damn much checking on said application that the company will consider a restraining order or hiring you JUST TO SHUT YOU THE FUCK UP. Call daily until you get told they arent hiring anymore, then get in your car/bicycle and show up and ask in person. Dress up real nice when you do it too. Companies like to see their job applicants wearing nice clothes. Dont show up in ragged jeans and a torn Metallica shirt unless you are applying for a job as a Tattoo artist or some other job where you think the manager will dress worse than you.

There is an idea for some of you artists too. Tattoo artists get paid fairly and if you can draw something you think a normal person would want permanently imprinted on their chest, you too could afford all the random junk your heart could possibly desire, especially if you learn to do the actually tattooing part, instead of just drawing the shit for them to use. there are hundreds of jobs out their if you just look hard enough and be willing to push your way into a program to train you. Ive seen programs to train people to become court reporters, which would work wonders for some of you who have excellent typing speeds.

Grow up, get out, and do something with yourselves. And also, if you are reading this, thought *hurtly* that you "thought I was your freind" and "why are you saying so many hurtful things"..... again, grow up, learn to take things with a grain of salt and understand that at one point I thought the furry fandom was a wonderful thing. That has long since changed and I personally hate how so many furries can be so wasteful of their lives and expect everyone else to clean it up for them. If I offered to help you, would you do the work on your own, or would you make excuses why nothing got done. I dont mind helping people, but if I dont think you will do the work and expect me to fix all the problems, I will drop your ass so quickly you wont know what happened. My existence(nor is the existence of everyone else around you) is the sole purpose of wiping your ass. Your mommy was bound to of raised you better and im sure you have so many big reasons to be who you are, but there is no excuse for how many of the furries out there have acted except pure lazyness. Furry fandom was there for me when I needed it badly as a lonely kid desperately searching for people to socialize with who had the same dream as myself. Now that Im not a kid anymore, I'm surprised to find that many of the people who helped me grow up, never grew up themselves.

So now, as my last ditch effort for those of you who actually read this far(or just scrolled to the bottom to get the links, which is pathetic because I simply googled job training to get them)
http://www.jobs.state.ak.us/training.htm
http://www.careeroverview.com/court.....r-careers.html
http://medical-careers.org/
http://www.greatcdltraining.com/default.aspx (what I used to become a truck driver)

remember folks, jobs wont just land in your laps, You got to push, shove, and kick your way through the door. and if you fall, be willing to get back up and keep trying. I very nearly failed to become a truck driver for the simple reason that i couldnt get the handle on gearshifting and I nearly failed all 3 times. The second time I failed, I almost broke down and cried, but after pushing myself to admit I could have done better, I finally DID BETTER!!!!! I got the job, I worked my butt off the first few months, and I made the best of it. Eventually I made it work for me and I've never been happier. The only thing left that dissapoints me is how many people I know who havent done similar things with their career goals. Grow up folks, or the world will leave you behind.

for those of you who wonder, a lot has happened in the past year. I got fired and hired at a much better and far more dangerous and stressful job, but it pays easily twice as well and pays based on how hard I work, not how much they feel I am worth(which with walmart, was always absolute crap).
Also, fair warning, there will be cursing, as this is part rant, part update, part commentary on all kinds of stuff.

Im now a truck driver, and all the fun shit that goes with it. I spent 2 months in fort wayne, IN busting my ass to get certified to drive the damn thing, then spent 3 months in a truck with one of the most offensive pieces of shit imaginable. imagine a man who has a spectacularly hot girl, abuses her over the phone calling her all kinds of shit, argues with her over the use of his truck after he let her use it after she got into several DUIs and because of this, lost her own vehicle. He gave her a brand new truck knowing that she would likely get smashed and do plenty of smashing with said truck. So, when she got drunk and took it on joyrides, and he finds out, he argues with her for hours while im supposed to be sleeping so I can drive all night. After this, he puts me in the drivers seat and periodically wakes up so he can bitch at me about all manner of things clearly taking his anger out on me. He even had the balls to tell me that the reason he was such a total ass was simply "because he was italian" and apparently according to him "all italians are like that" I honestly never new racism existed in one's own gene pool, but apparently this is living proof that anyone can be racist about anything. Also, he insisted that almost all of the maintanence on the truck didnt need to be done, and regularly refused to teach me how to do pretty much anything, claiming that "because I wasnt going to become a truck driver, I didnt need to know anyways". He was thoroughly convinced that because I was a bit of a geek, that Im gay, and therefore too dumb to drive a truck. he even told this to my face.

I could go on for hours about this asshole, but ill stop there, because other stuff happened and im sure you all get the idea that driving with him was pure hell and since then, ive learned that Im too damn good to put up with crap from people I barely know. Everyone should feel this way about themselves, but years ago, if someone walked up and made fun of me, id just sit there and take it. Now, I have a lot more self esteem. I suppose thats one thing he did for me I can be thankful for.

next, in the middle of all this, I started dating someone. Halo_rising, or halo for short. Shes probably got more energy than a spidermonkey on crack sometimes, but shes cheerful to my dark spite. A yin to my yang if you will. Im currently pushing her to get out and do stuff other than on her computer *pinches her when she reads this* Oh yes, and im a cancer, so I pinch, and shes a taurus, so apparently I pinch her and she impales me on her horn. I naturally giggle and tell her she doesnt have a horn cus I havent bought one for her yet :P /end dirty thoughts XD

Im still a truck driver for PAM, and now im getting a hazmat, which means ill be hauling all kinds of toxic crap all over the place. Plus im already on a dedicated route, which means im home almost every weekend and I get a steady stream of good money and I regularly drive the same roads, generally from northern Ohio to Tupelo, Mississippi.

My debts are being paid off slowly, im signing up for debt management on one of my credit cards to get the interest rate lowered so I can handle it easier. Im also slowly checking houses on the market trying to find a good one and when my debts are paid and ive about 10-20k in the bank, Ill make a down payment on a house and Im gonna look into getting a job with Airgas or some other driving related job where I can be home regularly and make use of my hazmat. hoping I can get away from driving a tractor trailer as its quite stressful. Id get a house now while the market is good, but with my current debt, I figure if I pay stuff off, my credit score will go up, and I can get a better loan, plus ill be able to handle particular loans better. besides, im out on the road most of the time, so there is no point in having a house if I wont even be sleeping in it but one or two nights a week. FYI to those of you youngins, living with your parents is a pain, but trust me when I say, its a heck of a lot cheaper, and eventually it will pay off, with having your own place sooner than if you spent a lot of money on rent.

Overall, now that im through with training, im doing pretty good. I just have to get rid of my debt and make some other decisions in life, personal decisions that id rather not discuss in public atm.

Like always, I saw a need for something, so I began investigating how to keep my books from getting damaged when i loan them out, or do my own reading. This is what ive found so far.

Well, there are two options for keeping your books in good condition. you can get plastic display covers for the books, or you can make some book covers for the books when you take them off the shelf. Because for the most part, the only time a book gets damaged is when you take it off the shelf to read it, you wont really have to worry about buying display covers unless you happen to have the money to do so. Unfortunately, not all of us are that wealthy to go buying nice book covers from brodart and such, you tend to want to find the cheapest option. So, Here is the info.

Making a book cover:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4466608_nyl.....utes-less.html

Use nylon fabric or whatever is cheap and strong. Decide on some colors, and buy the fabric according to the guide above. Cut and sew the covers into place and go from there.

if you want to buy some transparent covers for displaying the books on the shelf, You have several companies to choose from.
http://www.vernonlibrarysupplies.co.....rotection.html
http://www.shopbrodart.com/site_pages/bjc/
http://www.colibriusa.com/

Unfortunately, while these covers tend to seem cheap at first, when you have a few hundred books to cover, you find yourself spending upwards into 200 bucks to get covers for all of them. If you do buy these types of covers, remember to buy in bulk. Its easier and cheaper to deal with collections when you have all the materials to cover new purchases already purchased and on hand, than if you bought covers individually for each book you own or buy in the future. Its also slightly cheaper too in the long run. Granted, yes, this will mean spending a few hundred to cover your collection, but like I mentioned earlier, you only need to cover books that are going to be going off the shelf.

So, my suggestion is to use the guide above to buy some materials at a fabric store, and make a few covers that can be removed once you are done reading the book. You can consider putting zippers on the covers to make it easier to remove them too. You want to remember that you should make a series of covers, each one about 1-2 inches larger than the last one to allow you to have covers on hand for varying sizes on the books you read. Remember that some books can be wider, thicker and/or taller than others, so account for this when making the covers. You can even design adjustable covers using buttons to account for the increase or decrease in size between books. I would even suggest considering using the buttons as an additional way of getting the cover off the book.

Im not a religious person, but there are rare occasions when I feel that I should pray for help. This happens to be one of them.

See, a while back I was convinced into thinking that college would fix all my problems, id come out of college with some grand old degree and magically have a job, or at least thats what everyone told me when I went in. Also, they told me that if I didnt go, i would lose my medical insurance through my parents.

So.... i went.

About $15K in debt(not counting the credit card debt), I realized this wasnt working, not to mention I still didnt know what I wanted to graduate with.

So, I picked the degree that I was closest to, and decided to graduate, get my debts paid off, then go talk to some people about finding a tech degree. I had all the prep courses out of the way to do a tech degree, I just was out of funding, and needed to replenish the funds.

Well, its a year after I graduated and my total debt went down by a whole 3K. See, I was an idiot, and pursued the rennovation of a room in our house thinking that i could rebuild the room and have myself a bedroom that didnt feel like the cupboard under the stairs. I was also told that if I bought materials, my parents would reimburse me for them because... naturally, it was their house and something they should have done many years ago in the first place. So, I bought materials, did all kinds of work, and then got told that they couldnt reimburse me. In the mean time, I was racking up all kinds of fees because the credit cards werent being paid off because i was putting my money into my college loans and my parents werent paying the fees on the cards(the same cards I used to buy the materials) Finally, after months of this, they paid off what they owed, and refused to pay off the fees, leaving me with an additional 1-2 thousand on the card, which I couldnt afford to pay off.

Now, here we are today. I got fired from walmart because not only did I like to argue with my managers, but they screwed up on their inventory and realized they needed to cut people. My name came up because I was considered to be someone with an attitude and therefore a liability, so Bye bye.

Yes, it was stupid to argue and to pull stupid stunts with them, but when someone throws away your food every other day and then tells you to just go back out into their store to buy more, do you honestly expect me to not tell them to go fuck themselves.

anyways, back to being today. Im jobless, so I find an ad that says if I pass all of their tests, they will train me for a job in truck driving. Mind you, Im not worried that much about the job itself, its passing the tests(ive passed the written ones and the drug tests and such) Now ive got to pass the actual pre-trip check tests and the driving exam. If I dont pass these or if I pass them, they graduate me, and the company that was supposed to give me a job... doesnt give me said job, im probably going to go over the deep end.

So, this is a request. Anyone who has any semblence of belief in god or Buddha, or whatever kind of being you believe in, Im asking that you pray for good fortune of CJ Krythos in getting this job as a truck driver. he promises that if he gets this job, he will totally do some sort of really good deed. Dont care if its buying a Christmas dinner for the homeless. But ill find something to repay this fortune. If I get this job, Ill definitely be able to pay off all my debts, help my parents with the bills, and then possibly have enough left to buy a house in a few years(that is of course if the world doesnt end in 2012). Hell, ill even start attending church when I can(will be difficult considering that ill be on the road most of the time, but im sure I can manage something).

hell, tell kage that if he can get all the furries praying, and if I get heard and get this job, ill totally buy him an electric scooter for use around the con.

yes, I know most of you furs probably dont care for religion, and neither do I most of the time, but its more or less just the organization that bothers me. Ive always felt that god existed, but he was probably rather upset with us for how we behave so often.

I thank you all for reading. Im gonna go back to studying and reviewing for all the crap im gonna have to go through this week(yes, im in the second week and we are going to start learning to actually drive the truck)

Occasionally I come back accross old stuff, so I figured id share this one with everyone.

This is a database created by the all awesome Fred Patten. Otherwise known as the creator of yarf

Everyone knows that furry has been around since the dawn of mankind. Cavemen were drawing anthro sabertoothed tigers mounting each other, and the cavemen since they were smart enough to pick up a burnt stick and use it as a writing instrument. Granted, im sure their porn was a far cry from the wonders of such masters as Doug Winger and Narse(yes, im being ornery), but seriously, furry fandom went back for quite a while, and its quite interesting to see that someone sat down and wrote out the last 50 years of influence that we have seen, especially the flux of cartoons that appeared in the late 60s and onward.

http://yarf.furry.com/chronology.html

I just figured id share this with everyone. and yes, feel free to post odd links like what I posted. Im looking for information on the furry fandom that we all probably dont know about, like dates of major events, names of major people involved in influencing or building the fandom into what it is today. Im quite surprised that there arent that many furries who are curious about our history.

have fun folks

I hear a lot of folks tell me that they are having trouble finding book stores in their areas. Or, I hear a lot of talk of how expensive some books are to come across.... well.... seeing as how my collection has hit the 100 book mark and it keeps growing, I figure whatever Im doing seems to work pretty well and I think ive spent on average, 2 bucks per book, sometimes a lot cheaper. Sometimes I get them for free. Granted, occasionally I have to fork over a decent wad of cash for a really good book in excellent condition, but thats kinda rare as those particular books are usually WORTH said amount of cash. Knowing all this, I think Its only right if I share my methods with the rest of you folks so you can enjoy all kinds of books for dirt cheap too.

First, the best way to come across random books to read is to hit up any local book sales. Basically, some library or local organization decides to take donated books to supply libraries and efforts to teach kids how to read... etc... etc... All kinds of reasons to open up book donation options to the public. People are constantly wanting a place to take their used books after reading em. Not all books can be traded in at used book stores and sometimes people just dont know where to take them other than donating them. So people take em to libraries and stuff, and eventually, they build up into a massive collection of several thousand books, which have to be gotten rid of sometime. These organizations will open up massive sales every so often and sell off books for as cheap as 25-50 cents per book, maybe a dollar if its hardbound or a really large paperback. Ive come across plenty of werewolf related books in these sales, so its an excellent way to get some books for cheap. Sometimes, on the last days of their sale, they will have a bag sale, where you can fill a paperbag full of books for like $3-$5. Make mental note of this particular fact because Ill tell you how to make good use of this option to get the books you want.

To find one in your area, sign up to this website, receive their newsletter and make sure your spam filter is set to allow messages from them or the automated newsletters on the local bookstores will end up in the spam folder.
http://www.booksalefinder.com/

On a side note, goodwill has some decent sales on books if you check their larger stores regularly.

Next, Keep an eye on that site, find some book stores and go hunting for whatever you can find, looking in particular for books you want to read. But also, keep an eye out for any books that are in good or perfect condition. If you see one, then get it too, regardless of if you plan to read it. Ill include a list of books that work well for trading at the bottom of this post along with another list of books to avoid. Pay attention to how cheap its going for because you dont want to spend too much on a book unless you intend to keep it. What you are going to do is take the books you dont want to a local used book shop, and trade books you bought for 25-50 cents a piece for $1-$3 in trade credit at that particular book store. ****NOTE**** Pay attention to the books you dont intend to keep. Sometimes they will have little notes at the beginning to their previous owners. If it has a name or a message, put the book back down and dont get it. These make for horrible trading material and many bookstores will either deduct huge amounts of money off of what they will give you, or not take them at all. If the note or name was written in pencil, sometimes you can erase it, and no harm done, but remember that if you cant, you might not be able to get rid of the book. Avoid buying hardbound books for trading material, but if you hit them at that bag sale I mentioned, its a perfect time to bag up some good quality hardbounds for trading material. just dont overdo it and id suggest researching the local used book stores before you go piling up on used books for trading.

Now, by the end of the day, you should have about 10 books in addition to whatever ones you intend to keep and read(give or take). The books you dont intend to keep should be put in a box and reviewed one last time for any marks, torn pages or anything you think might not get you a lot of money. Try to divide them into piles based on both what genre, and what quality the book is in. If its perfect or near perfect, then put it in one pile, if its a little rough around the edges, then put it in another pile. Also, separate books that are hardbound because as I mentioned, very few stores will take these.

third step. Go find some used book shops. bring a few of the books you hunted down with you. Mix the qualities(suggestion is bring one badly messed book, one middle of the road book, and one book thats in perfect condition) to get an idea of how the bookstores handle different quality of books. Some stores will give you crap in the way of trade, but take all kinds of quality books, but others will only take pristine books and yet give great trade credit. Pay attention to this as you want to get the most out of the books you have. Make sure to get a detailed explanation on how their trade system works because a lot of stores do it differently. ive seen two major variations on the trade system.

1.) full trade: credit is given on each book you bring in based on several issues regarding the book. It just varies, so pay attention to what they tell you. When you pay, whatever you've got in the store credit is applied to your total before you pay the rest in cash. Sometimes you have to pay tax yourself though.
2.) Half trade: same as above, only when you pay, you can only take half of your total amount due out of your store credit before paying the rest in cash. So if you owe $20, you can use up to $10 in store credit and pay the rest yourself. There are other smaller variations on this system, but they generally follow that method.

Once you understand all the stores in your area and know which ones take what quality of books, then refine your methods and go to the ones that favor the best books first. Take you best quality books and figure out how many books they have you want. Use your trade credit to get as much as you can without spending too much out of your pocket. Do the same with other book stores as you move down the quality level until you get to the bare minimum and trade off the ones youve got for whatever you can find that takes your fancy.

Refine this method as you see fit. There are a lot of different shops out there and a lot of book sales to hit, so keep an eye on things and go have some fun. As a final note, if you are nervous and think you might be cheating the book stores out of their money, stop it. Ive talked to some book store owners about this very issue and they admit they themselves hit up book sales sometimes for good used books, but they cant always go to them, so they dont mind when people bring in books they bought cheap just to use as trade material. I know people who work at the library who do this too, heck, they gave me a few pointers when I asked.

You might however want to remember that getting the books that the stores are looking for helps them as well as helping you. If you find romance novels for a bookstore that specializes in science fiction, you wont be doing them any good. You usually have to ask them what kinds of books they are trying to get the most of. In my experience it is usually either science fiction/fantasy OR mystery.
In full, the major genres to keep an eye out for are gothic romance(vampire, werewolf and other supernatural stuff), sci fi, fantasy, and SOME mystery novels. Remember to ask the store owners what mystery novels they get requested a lot, because sometimes you wont be able to get rid of certain mystery writers because the store either has too much of a surplus of them, or no demand at all.

And.... WARNING........ AVOID THESE BOOKS....: All Harlequinn romance novels unless the local book store owners say they are looking for particular series. And avoid any John Grisham novels. There are hundreds of these particular books floating around, and you will likely find yourself with copies of books you dont know what to do with if you pick any of those up.

I invite all of you to post your methods for acquiring books cheap. Amazon is a good method, but remember no matter what, you will always end up paying at least $3 for a book because of shipping charges. But using the methods I just detailed, you can get books from used bookshops for as cheap as 50 cents. Enjoy folks, and have some fun.

Here are a few sites to help you find some book stores. Id suggest calling the stores before going to any of them. Also, ask the book stores if they know of any others. They often stay in contact with each other and some of them support each other with advertisements and organized events.
http://maps.google.com/maps
http://bostonreview.net/bookstores.html
http://www.yellowpages.com/

In general if you are looking for furry fiction. You wont have much luck finding it used. Furry fiction that came straight out of the fandom is next to impossible to come across in a used book store or book sale. These books will very likely only be found on amazon.com if anywhere other than the publisher's website. Youd be hard pressed to find any used furry books for sale. Most furs sit on their books and only sell them when in absolutely dire straights, plus the ones that generally exist are fairly rare in contrast with books that sold several hundred thousand copies. Furry books in general will be doing good if they hit the 2k sales mark. Furry fiction is a niche market, and doesnt see as much demand as the rest of the science fiction market. You can however occasionally find furry related books used on furbid and such.

Remember, the less you spend on a book, the better chance you have of having more to buy another book for you to continue reading.

If you want a list of furry books to read, check out my submitted "story" which is actually a massive list of furry related published novels. The list is over 1500 books long, and is likely the largest and most up to date book list in existence consisting of furry related novels. I invite people to review and add to it if you happen to know of a book that isnt on it. I dont take comic books, but I will take graphic novels if the graphic novel is at least 50% text based.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2804583