Honestly, if I had any feedback at all on my journals, they would probably be posted closer to the time that things actually happened in my life. But that doesn't change a thing about what has just happened in the past 3 weeks for me.

In that time, I interviewed at a couple job offers, quit a decent paying job, moved out of a studio apartment 60 miles into my parents house, applied to a handful of new apartments, moved another 60 odd miles into a 1 bedroom apartment, and started a new job. During the whole process, I've felt like a bastard, a traitor (tp my boss, not my country), and hauled large weights further than I have trained for more frequently than I care to count. I've also spent my entire life savings to get out of a situation that would have left me in debt with no way out if I had stayed.

That's the overview. More specifically, it's fair to start much earlier, and describe my situation leading up to this mess. Since August of 2017, I was living in an apartment in San Jose, California, which was asking for a rent equal to the mortgage payment for a large house in most other parts of America (there's a lot that can be done with $1200 a month, but not rent in San Jose). This was actually manageable with the job I had starting in February of this year, which seemed to be a good place for me. For a time, at least. Problems started to arise after my fiancée had her vaginoplasty, and getting full nights' sleep became more difficult to get, causing lapses in my concentration and ability to check my own work. Perhaps it is fair to say that they were asking me to use a method of AutoCAD that rubbed me the wrong way too, and the number of things I had to check myself on was enormous compared to other jobs. Maybe this was simply a difference between the cabinetry industry (where I learned my trade) and the windows & doors industry (the job I was in). Additional frustration came from my commute, which was over 45 minutes in the morning before rush-hour, and 1.5 to 2 hours in the evening if there weren't any accidents. Icing on the cake was that in the summer - before I had even lived in my apartment for a year, the landlord decided to up the rent a couple hundred dollars per month.

My dearest Nelly pressured me to leave that situation hard, and by August, even I got tired of constant stress at work where I could never seem to do a satisfactory job. So, I started looking for the second time this year for a new job, this time in a different region of California; the Central Valley. There were two problems I had to overcome however: there were fewer jobs in my field of work, and getting to an interview while working full-time and more was problematic. By using sick-days I was able to get to a couple interviews, and eventually land a job, but not until halfway through the month. that gave me just enough time to give my two weeks notice before the end of August, and start looking for a new place to live near the new job. Even before finding a place, we started packaging our thing so we could move out and hopefully not pay for rent for September. That didn't quite work out, but we still left anyway to stay at my parents which was closer to my new job while we searched for a new apartment. THE TUESDAY BEFORE STARTING MY NEW JOB we found a new place, a 1 bedroom unit for about $500 less than the studio we were at, and a fraction of the commute away. That didn't leave much time to move, but we managed it, again.

That was last week. This week, I've been starting my new job with a totally new CAD software for me - Cabinet Vision. Hopefully, both the job and the apartment are keepers, but only time will tell.

Another unanticipated lapse from being on this site for me has occurred. This does not please me, but I have my doubts that anyone was terribly affected, myself included.

The truth is, I made a significant shift of gears, artistically speaking since I was last active. I still want to be a woodworker, but I currently live in a studio apartment without access to my tools, so I have branched out to different art subjects. last journal, I was working on trying to establish a habit of daily drawing sketches. Those were fun, but received little attention or feedback. Then, life became a bit chaotic for me with my job, so I stopped uploading what I was doing here to focus on my own mental health.

In that time, my dear Nelly made a request of me. She asked me to add to a writing project I was doing - one that I intend to upload here after I finish editing it - and write an autobiography.

An autobiography.

I'm only 27, and our life events as a couple are significant enough to write about. This has blown my mind in some ways. Too bad I can't call in sick to work for astonishment.

To be completely honest, this autobiography isn't including much Furry lifestyle references, and if I can publish it, there won't be much. However, I think I may upload an edited version of this project here when I am comfortable doing it. Fundamentally, I think it may be important to this community, even if not many people find it, because I met my dearest fiancée through the furry fandom - Furfling to be exact.
The two of us have indeed shared a remarkable journey, and we decided that the full autobiography will be the story of our journey from when we met up to our marriage - whenever that is. Therefore, the project will not be finished for publication until said event happens.

I think whatever I post here will be an early choice segment of the story. However, here's a teaser of some of the content, so that whoever stumbles upon my journals may send me feedback whether this is actually interesting to be seen here:

"Dating The Real Person" - A story of young love, gender transition, acts of quixotic adventures, rescues from life-threatening circumstances, and sexy times. All of it true.

....

There are other things happening in my life right now, like employment upheaval, but I'd like to save that for my next journal here. Whenever that happens.

Ha! I dare do another journal within the same month again!

In the spirit of becoming more active on an artist's social site, I want to put down a list of projects I'm currently working on. This is, admittedly, mostly for my own benefit. Partly because I like seeing what artists are working on, and feel like I should reciprocate, partly because I don't want to forget, and partly to make a record for myself that I was working on these things even when I was totally without a workshop.

Alright, so the list of things I'm working on, the order based upon how often I return to them, think about them, or how important they seem to me right now.

+Daily practice sketches during my lunch-breaks at work (a good number of which have already been selectively uploaded here, but certainly more will follow). Since they are daily and their subject is literally decided the moment I start, I cannot list what I will work on for this project.
+A yet-untitled novel-length story drawn from the role-play my fiancée and I (and a couple other friends) started on Final Fantasy XIV. This is one of the few pieces of art I actually intend to make NSFW on account of detailed sex and combat
+Another untitled written work, giving a real-life account of what it's like to date and help a person who is transitioning gender from biological male to female, based on my life with my fiancée, Nelly (only mental drafting has yet started)
+Uploading old finished sketches and other art, possibly including wooden pieces, if I find any good pics
+Sketches (part of the dailies) of all my friends on FFXIV and possibly a few from the Furry community
+Nelly and R'atoh (her in-character father) in a family portrait when Nelly's character is a youngling (drafting has not yet started)
+"What I believe In", a presentation of why I call myself 'not religious' - not necessarily atheist, but more agnostically existential nihilist (and that's the short version)
+There's probably a few short stories I don't recall the titles of that may get uploaded soon.
--At this point, the list is mostly projects put on hold, but not abandoned yet--
+A complete digital rendering of Nelly's furry reference sheet
+"Daenil Broken-Paw", a short-story super detailed description of my personal fursona with his mannerisms
+Reference sheet for Daenil (pictorial)
+Creating a CAD model and drawing for a couple whole acoustic guitars - classical and steel-string. Maybe even posting usable plans here.
+"Break-Up Poem", a poem which might not be entirely fictional about the most memorable break-ups I had when I was dating, which I have doubts about finishing
+"The World's Heir", an ambitious novel I started in college, and even in draft form completed NaNoWriMo 2013 despite not being complete. Unfortunately, I have reservations that it will ever be completed because it was too ambitious, and starting to feel childish as I reflect back on it. Bits and pieces may resurface from time to time.
+"Tales From a Furry Cantina", an even more ambitious project which I'm on the verge of trashing which I had originally intended to be a premier for outsiders on the furry fandom and also a multi-perspective anthology on the same murder-mystery. However, the complexity and subject matter make the concept seem almost too cringy for me. I also started making a full set of architectural plans for the central building it takes place in. I might return to that after a while though.

This list looks long (by some standards it is. Believe me that my current employer's project list makes this look like a slow period). However, I don't think of myself as tasked to capacity yet. If someone has a really good idea they want to pitch to me, I might just humor it.

So, in time relative to the Internet attention span, I've been quiet here for figurative eons. To be clear, I'm not dead, and I didn't leave/give up on being furry.

I've just been busy with life OFFLINE. Very busy. So busy in fact, that a synopsis of my life since my previous journal here could probably be written as a novella and no one would say there was undue amount of filler information.

By the way, there's no good explanation for why I'm returning. There actually isn't any event that one could say is a pattern-breaker that would push me back here.

Enough musing however! I'm writing now to announce that I intend to begin uploading again.

That's the good news.

The bad news is something that started in 2016, and will continue for an inestimable amount of time. My workshop is gone. Most of it was put into storage, and moved to another storage after that. However, a lot of the materials are now gone, and just about all of the tools are inaccessible, even if I could find the appropriate space to use them. The result: no more new wooden art/crafts/products to be made, for the next few years. Which bums me out, I was just starting to get the hang of acoustic guitars.
Also bad news; money has become a hard thing for me to collect. I've been hired and left a couple jobs since my last journal because I thought they could pay the bills and wasn't able to get enough work to earn what I need to survive. But, if anyone besides myself reads these, I'd like to reassure them that I am currently employed - as a draftsman/potential project manager at a custom windows and doors business, and earning a living wage.

So...what will a guy like "Woodworker Dan" be uploading, if not wooden art? Well, until I find another medium, I have been working on sketches, both of product features/components/patterns, and more general things. Like animated topics, such as living things. No lewd stuff - I don't want to do that for a while, if at all. Actually, in the next couple weeks I plan to upload various sketches of characters my Fiancée has inspired/created (I mentioned I'm engaged, right? Maybe not. Well, it wasn't something we made a big deal about. Not nearly as big a deal as her downstairs transgender surgery).
Anyroad, one of the things I've been engaged in since starting my relationship with my Fiancée has been Final Fantasy XIV (FF14). Since I've been doing more sketches lately, I've found that game and the friends I have there to be a good source of inspiration for drawing subjects (but hardly the only source).

Therefore, expect me to upload drawings using species from Final Fantasy 14 soon. That's the primary news of this journal.

It's 2017 according to most current calendars (insert blurb on how arbitrary that is and something philosophical). I think everyone can agree 2016 had some bad times for everyone, and so it's good to move on.

Except...well...I cannot keep that line of thought going. I...NEED...HELP.

...

I don't know where to turn to anymore. At the end of 2016, most of my life fell apart except for love and pre-existing conditions. Now, I am scheduled for a major surgery in March to correct a disability in my life, I have a trans girlfriend who lives thousands of miles away from me who wants to marry me, and I have no job while my workshop facilities need relocating.

Please, someone help me.

A word, some encouragement, an idea, a parable, or something...I don't know how to survive when I can't use my best skills, and there are people I love depending on me.

Help.

P.S. I turn 26 on the 13th. Yay for that? I'm not sure anymore

Help, reality has set in, and I want out!

That may be a touch melodramatic.

Here's an update to my story:
> I have a lovely trans-girlfriend, and we love each other deeply (yay!)
> My girlfriend lives 2 time-zones away from me (uh oh...)
> Said girlfriend will be kicked out of her father's house when he learns about the transition (not good)
> Said transition is happening anyway (problems rising)
> I just lost my day job this past Friday due to company downsizing because the major client is restructuring and pulled out of their contracts (wait, WHAT?)
> Above mentioned girlfriend lives in a region with housing about 1/10th the cost of my current area (that's tempting)
> My wrist pain continues, meaning I'm limited in what I can actually DO in the winter (Houston, we have a problem...)
> My 26th birthday is next month (January), which means that even if "Obamacare" isn't repealed, I no longer have to benefit from my parents' insurance...and without a job, I will need to get a private insurance for myself (the cost of living is getting pretty high now)
> My job skills are widely applicable (whew!)
> Finally, my psych therapist disapproves of LDRs, making it hard to bounce ideas off him for what to do next, and totally doesn't get furries (that first part hurts)

So, am I right is saying "to Mordor with these problems, LET'S ACKBAR THIS THING!" - or not? Also, can someone give me a convincing argument why NOT to move closer to my girlfriend, please?

Um, I know this is an art site, but it's also a social medium, and I have no where else to say this.

First, I'm in love. She may not be an artist, but she is beautiful all the same. I intend to be by her side during every stage of her physical transition, and when the time is right (at least a handful of moons from now), I think I want to propose to her.

Second, I have not given up on art, I'm just slow being a perfectionist woodworker. I also have a few distractions in my life such as love and physical pain during the cold weather.

Third, despite being a bear fursona, I am the Alpha of a pack on Kik. You may inquire to me about membership, but it's a tightly knit group. SFW only too.

Fourth, I'm interested in getting my reference sheet made, and maybe one for my mate. I have a start on my own, but I'm not very practiced at 2D art. I'll take suggestions for whom to commission...

Seriously, someone validate my suspicion that I am, in fact, comatose and dreaming that the last 3 weeks happened. I feel like I'm in a badly planned dime-store novel, where in one month I loose control of most of my life, only to stumble into a life of incredible joy and happiness.

For the description of the events, I advise you to see my previous journal, "Heartbeats". The purpose of this journal is more of an update to it.

The story; I'm head-over-heels in love, moving to leadership of my pack, and numb from so much change in my life. I would consider elaborating, but there's not much more to say that I have authority yet to speak on, and the feedback I get on my journals has been practically non-existent. I'm not even very sure why I am writing these, honestly, except to give voice to my feelings at the time they happen - for my own reference.

A lot has happened in my life recently. I have been on such an emotional roller coaster that I'm reminded of being in High School all over again, that and...other things. I don't know if anyone reads my journals, and until now, I would have been fine not getting any responses.

It would be lovely to get some feedback on this one though.

Why? Because a lot of the things I'm about to describe are important to me...like super important to my life. In fact, these are the things that can define the existence of a person, and a part of me would like validation for the experience of these things.

First thing that would make my heart skip a beat: at the end of October, I had a crush on  thelonesergal - a person who is most definitely a strongly developed character. However, things went sideways over a dispute that generated other disputes, and caused me to reverse my feelings for her and her for me. The havoc that followed caused me to question my impression of Ferzu and the ENTIRE Furry community. It would also make for a cheesy rom-com if anyone needs plot material for a story.
As that was happening, thing two happened: the client I work with at my day job had some internal shake-ups and pulled all their contracts, leaving me with nothing to do. So I was politely given a lay-off for the rest of the year, with a possibility of loosing my job entirely.
Third thing to happen is I joined the pack Lunar Shadow. They are an awesome group, but membership is by invitation only. I am not alpha, beta, or even gamma there...but you may ask  userarmirashane98 for more information.
Fourth - the US election. My country democratically elected a leader who is famous for being divisive, crude, and hurtful. I have a number of friends in the Fandom of many diverse qualities, and I am afraid for their peace of mind. Hopefully, this fear is unfounded.
Fifth thing to happen is I got a termination notice for the place I rent for my workshop. After more than 5 years, the guy I pay rent to decided he wanted a closer friend there than me. Now I need a new place to put my scores of thousands of dollars worth of material and equipment before starting any new projects in wood, metal, or stone. Ugh.
Sixth and final thing to mention is something that has caused me to skip quite a few heartbeats. I started talking romantically to another person, and fell. The two of us are now mates - in the Fandom, elsewhere online, and hopefully, we will meet in reality. She is known as Shadownelly in some places, and I would brave all the torments nature can throw at me to support her and her transition. <3

I am glad I am young, or the number of missing heartbeats I have had this November could have put me in cardiac arrest. For now, I am simply trying to adapt.
On a final note, I am in progress of developing a reference sheet for my 'sona. I may make one for my mate too.

I'm going to try to keep this short and tidy.

I found Ferzu from a list of sites recommended by the folks at Feral Attraction for looking for romance. I left because of various failures to communicate effectively. On the whole, the system there is theoretically good at promoting a healthy community (user age 18+), with perhaps an inherent flaw of being TOO tolerant of allowing (nearly) every topic known to humanity to be discussed openly. This has had an unexpected side effect of encouraging a community that resorts to hard-line tactics in discussions and interpersonal communication, rather than moderation and civil debate tactics.

In short; there's not really anything unique about Ferzu compared to other places on the Internet, except the diverse range of Furry...interpretation. I don't recommend it.

It's been a while, so I'll keep this simple; I have lagged in my uploads lately, and will today rectify that.

In other words; I have a boatload of submissions that I intend to input following the posting of this journal.

Okay, fair warning given.

I haven't died or quit...I've just been on vacation! (though I doubt anyone cares...I don't get too many views at the moment)

However, more to the point of this journal; I am at the end of my summer vacation from my normal job today. In the past two weeks , I've made many things - most not remotely connected to the Furry Fandom - and some of them will eventually appear here as submissions.

I say 'eventually' because I need to transfer the photos to a laptop, make adjustments , transfer them to my tablet, and scale them to fit here - a process that is quite slow for me now due (mostly) to my procrastination to use said laptop. Hopefully , now I'm going back to my day job, I won't be spending as much time at my shop, and get around to it.

As for my relationship status I'm giving Furrymate another week and Furfling another week and a half for the people I'm chatting with to respond before I delete those respective accounts.
Translation: I feel unbound in any way to mates, masters/pets, packs, or friends with benefits of any kind right now. Don't expect me to roll over and act desperate if you read this and propose something though: I'm unbound - not necessarily lonely.

We'll see what the rest of August brings, eh?

Before I get too far, let me say this will hopefully be an outlier among my journals for several reasons. First; I'm American - without being too indecent, I can say international politics is not something that affects my day-to-day life often. Second, I try to make a point of not discussing details of my relationships with females unless I have permission, or they really did wrong by me.

Well, there needs to be exceptions to every generalization, so here it goes.

If anyone is keeping track, I do have accounts with the same username on a few dating sites. I've been chatting lately with a charming lass who I would really like to know better, and who has recently been on vacation to Turkey.

*Breathes deeply*

Today, late in the afternoon in my part of the world, I learned of a coup attempt in Turkey... as if the news from Dallas and Nice hadn't put enough damper on the week's news. Naturally, my first thought is of the beautiful girl I've been courting, and hoping against hope that she's nowhere near the action, and that she can contact me soon.

*Raises glass* Here's to hope. Silly, childish, selfish, foolish hope...that no Americans get hurt in Turkey this weekend, especially a certain Furry from California, whom I haven't even rightly met except online.

Damn, I haven't felt like this for years.

Now that my first month as a member here is drawing to a close, I thought that I may as well put down a few things to know that I look for when I visit other users' pages. I also don't want to pollute my journals with complaints about my day job... too much at least.

The basics: I am fully and completely male (no intention of changing even my persona's gender identity), I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and (as of this journal) I am single. My passion is to make things with my hands, and I am most skilled with working wood (not to be <i>too</i> obvious), though I hardly exclude any material or medium.

My fursona [as of summer 2016]: California Brown Bear named Daenil Broken-Paw (residing in the here-and-now). The name comes from a phonetical mispronunciation of Daniel, my actual fore-name used by one of my younger brothers (I have two - they are my only siblings, and not members of the fandom to my knowledge). The surname is self-explanatory: one of my paws is broken beyond repair as far as current medical knowledge is concerned. In a little while, I plan on posting a reference 'sheet' for more visual and personality data.

Specifically, my character's broken paw is a reflection of my own...disability. I suffer daily from chronic pain in my left wrist, the result of a minor fracture in my freshman year of High School and two invasive surgeries since. I have been told that the pain could be caused by a misplaced nerve, mnemonic pain (phantom limb sensation often described by amputees), scar tissue swelling, weak tendons/ligaments, and/or hallucinations in the seven years since the last surgery. Whatever the cause, physical or mental, I have lived with it varying in intensity from a mild sprain to a full bone(s) fracture, and have been persuaded that there <b>is no way</b> to fix it, just to treat it. For a male, this is incredibly frustrating and depressing at times.

As far as conventions, fursuiting, and live role-playing go, I'm not too active now. I have never been to a Furry Convention (been to other types though). I do not own any fur-suit components, though I do own a few fantasy themed clothing pieces, and may consider acquiring and/or making suit components in the future. Obviously, I have not live role-played as my persona, but have participated in cyber cuddles and...more...in character.

Relationship-wise, I am an introvert almost to an extreme. Yes, I am looking for a romantic partner, and have always been honest and faithful to those I have had in the past, but I am not lonely. Indeed, I have been known to spend whole days in the company of myself and my craft, and been happy. Actually, the person who introduced me to the concept of the Furry Fandom was my High School sweetheart, whom I have not communicated with for many years, and expect to be totally divorced from the Fandom, to my disappointment.

Art to expect from me - aside from wood-crafts - is many and varied. Besides wood, I often craft metal, plastic, and stone. I also play around every so often with poetry and prose, and can use various styles with relative ease. Fundamentally, I feel every art form has roots in a common source, and that attempting other mediums of art can improve the one you are most passionate about. Therefore, I draw, I take photos, I paint, and I occasionally cook (sorry, eating-type vore is off the menu).
My day job requires I work with CAD <b>a lot</b>. I may have mentioned before I am experienced enough with both AutoCAD and SketchUp to teach college classes on these two programs, which is not an exaggeration, though I have limited experience in teaching as a general subject. That said, it is entirely possible I may post submissions created with CAD programs if the interest prods me.

Commissions and trades: at this point will be considered on a case-by-case basis, but be aware I have not established a value for my time, and that my day job often limits me to making art on the weekends. Simply put: I ask cheap prices, but will take a long time to do it.

Any questions? Please comment, I don't judge.

Before I start, does anyone who reads these and write their own ever find the Subject line to be intimidating? I mean, honestly, what if I want to use a particular subject line today, but find a much better use for it in the future? Meh, I'll think about it later...or not.

So; Team Motivation. There are plenty of examples for good and for bad, each side having high and low energy investment tactics. While I have enough education and experience to write a lengthy how-to, this is not the medium to do that. This is my journal-space - and now I am in the mood to rant, not lecture.

Therefore, what I mean to write about is a rather specific example of team motivation, and why it is one of the most toxic examples I have yet heard of.

As one whose current employment and skillset are closely matched, I expect to take pride in my work, and so do my co-workers. In this case, my work is in making retail cabinetry - an industry which the results of one's work can positively impact the environment and community - a fulfilling job if things go well.

Yet, things don't always go well. While I personally don't like watching TV shows about a renovation where there's lots of drama and heated yelling, I have seen that it's not always an artificial creation of a network imposing dramatic tension on a workplace. There are egos, and as I have pointed out, there are people with very justified pride in their work. Often, there are design changes to a project due to circumstance, legal or budget constraints, time, or (dare I say it here) artistic reconsideration.

Change can be a good thing, and easy to accept. It can also be very, very painful. In my specific case of demotivation; unexpected, unexplained, drastic change is only slightly less painful than chronic kidney stones.

This is the scenario; my client is in the process of re-designing the look of their brick-and-mortar stores. In theory, the designs were to be tested in a mock store before a standard would be adopted and my company could start manufacturing en masse. In practice, the mock-up appears to have decided nothing, as deadlines for two of the renovated stores' openings has dwindled from nine months to two (maybe three) weeks, and even after one job 'in the new style' was completed, EVERYTHING my company has made still seems to be on the drawing board.

If that's not disheartening enough, it got better! After using no small amount of expensive material, painted to match surprisingly exacting specifications, we learned that the client had someone else cover over the majority of our work with old, reclaimed wood of such quality that should never have been allowed to be seen in a high-end retail environment, much less on new products. On top of that, when we told the client we couldn't meet the schedule (because gee, we were only being given half the time we said it could be done), they threatened to pull ALL our contracts from us unless we committed to the necessary overtime to get close to the deadline.

Did I mention I work at a Union shop with people whose skills at making things rival the ability of certain WMD's abilities to unmake things? Or that I personally could TEACH a high-level college course on AutoCAD?

Beware, my fellow makers, of the scenario I am in. In the course of the projects I have mentioned, good people have simply quit their jobs, wishing they had a microphone simply for the purpose of dropping it in a crowded auditorium full of their client's executives. Because there is a thing worse than doing nothing to build team motivation; making a team work insane amounts of overtime to make things that go straight to the dumpster. As Tolkien wrote: "There is not curse in...the tongues of men to describe (this)" - honestly, there really aren't.

This coming Wednesday will be the three year anniversary of my employment at my current job. Three is not a terribly important number for me, but at my age (25), it is a noteworthy length of continuous commitment. Even more noteworthy to some may be that despite my age, I am only number 4 or 5 in the pecking order of a company that is 93 years old, and the foremost drafter for half of the company's work. These are not exaggerations, and I am immensely proud of my job.

However, sometimes it's a pain in my under-exercised glutes.

My official job title is 'Assistant Project Manager' at a retail fixtures manufacturer. This means I am the peon that has to turn the clients' ideas into something my company can use to make things from. It is a worthwhile job, particularly since I get to work with some very big name companies, whom I will leave nameless as a professional courtesy for now. For most of my employment, I've been working with a company I'll call 'Crockery Stables' (an obvious substitution of words; if you can figure it out, please don't go about making direct connections between them and I - I do have a job to keep).

Now, Crockery Stables has been renovating and creating retail stores for a few decades now, and they have a fair amount of experience with the kind of projects my company works on. However, for some backwards, inane, cross-eyed, parasitic, diseased reason, this amount of experience apparently doesn't include the necessary process of self evaluation. For whatever reason, the executives with monthly salaries in excess of my supervisor's yearly salary think that it is appropriate to change their minds on design and layout whenever they feel like it. This includes quite literally up to and past the time a cabinet is finished and loaded into a truck to deliver to a jobsite.

Annoying, but not worth a big fuss, right?

It would be, if these were isolated incidents. At some point however, it becomes a pattern, and an awfully expensive one at that, particularly when they have vendors with union labor. It becomes infuriating, then, when they make these changes (or hold back design approvals), and require the job to be finished on the same schedule. The icing on the cake then came this month when they started asking for all of this and cabinetry made too bleeding big to be made (not to mention used) with ordinary materials. Really, who wants a freaking 12 foot tall, 8 [b]foot[b] wide cabinet for displaying merchandise?

Excuse me, I seem to have lost my sense of reality. If found, please approach with caution, and tell it to return to a certain office in Oakland. Do not attempt to feed it or pick it up; it may bite, rabidly.

I write this during the first hour of being a member of FA.

To be clear; I have no intention of regularity or schedule to my journals here, nor to limit myself to any topic, format, or diction. I mean to use the future journal entries for my own rants; justified or not, civil or crass (within reason), and I don't expect anyone to read them, and certainly don't want to bind myself to answering comments. I also will not hold myself above hypocrisy here: human memory is about as reliable as weather predictions, and for about the same time scale - mine is no exception.

Now, I can be less clear; this is not the first time I have tried being active on an artists' social media site. Some time ago, I was a user on DA, but I doubt anyone will recognize me, and only a handful of people who know me offline knew me there. Only one person, therefore, might possibly recognize me from DA and also use this site. She knows who she is, and I invite everyone else not to speculate openly - that persona is dead and buried.

On a different note, anyone who knows me through the same user name on various dating sites is welcome to communicate with me here, on any topic. I know of at least a few choice descriptions of the communication services of some of these sites, most of which are unflattering.

My last note today is a declaration of what to expect my art to be. I am a woodworker first, a fiction writer second, a general craftsman third, and a bit of a general artist in most fields after that. At the moment, I create slowly; most of my days and weeks are occupied by a full time job, not to mention that I am a perfectionist in very labor intensive arts. My heart would love to live in the world of Tolkien, studying under the great craftsmen of the Noldor or Numenoreans. (Yes, I know I missed an accent mark or two; names of Middle Earth were not made for Windows 10 users).

Not a bad start, so let's see how things go.