~rajanwolffang

Hey everyone!

It's ya boy Raj back with the remaining recap of 2023. Let's get it over with then!

July: The month of July wasn't bad. Mom and her siblings took a group vacation to explore New England for like a week and some days. Nothing bad happened this time other than dealing with people at the store I work at. Usual dumb customers trying to get something for nothing. Been a home owner for a month and I am unsure how to really feel about owning my grandparents place. The positive to it all is that I can be as loud as I want to be when playing games or talking with people. No need to keep it in and let it out. Otakon plans didn't follow through due to funds but i had enough to just attend a day (saturday) and try to enjoy myself. I managed to see the Macross booth when arriving in the dealers room and it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Models, artwork, t-shirts, animation and the creator himself attend. Sadly I didn't get there fast enough to either get his autograph nor attend the panels but I did manage to get an update on all things Macross including trying out the demo for the upcoming video game. Bumped into a couple of friends that were working the con and had a good time for a short while before having to drive back. Only negatives, dealing with DC traffic and a charity group that doesn't set up shop near the event. That shit is annoying. Set up away from the event cause people aren't trying to anything BUT attend a con. That is all!

August: The month of August was bad. The infighting has toned down but working together has its moments here and there. My birthday was trashed thanks to IHOP (International House of Pancakes). The cook/manager was a complete asshole. The food was cold, he was rude, the staff was terrified of him and had told us that he's like that ALL THE TIME! It was no wonder that the parking lot was so bare bones empty. That should have been a red flag. But alas.... Happy 39th Birthday Raj. September is gonna roll in on a negative note.

September: Mother and her sister fly out to Europe for what is essentially two to three weeks. No infighting or arguing takes places with my mom during this time. Running the store isn't too bad but I did have one employee turn in their two weeks notice when the boss/my mom was away on leave. So that certainly didn't put me in a positive mood. Got help from my sister for a few days but when my mom got back, I can tell I fucked this up. Needless to say, I'm not sure I wanna run the store when and if she decides to up and quit/leave it to me. She's been doing this kind of work for decades and to match her prowess and knowledge in my short three to four years is impossible.

October: New hires come and go due to not knowing what they are in for. A few stayed but they need time to know how things work and understand what to do quick. Sadly the quick part is something I can't force on them. People learn stuff differently from others. But this is the month that I finally get to go on vacation. I honestly meant what I said to my mom about leaving and turning off my phone. Before leaving, I did ask my friend if it was okay to crash at her place for the trip, she assured me that it was. Keep that part in mind cause I'm gonna bring it back up at the end of this. I touch down in California and post/call that I arrived. After that, I turned off calls from family after that. I didn't wanna talk to ANYONE related to me. I meet up with my friend and was all smiles seeing her after so many years. Come day time, she takes me around Oakland, San Francisco and Japan Town during my time there. Wonderful place. Decent people. Cool movie theater. Caught up with my friend in between walking to places and when we were done walking about place to place. Food there was great, especially the food trucks one night. The final day was slow but it was gonna happen either I wanted it to or not. But I had a wonderful time away. The only sucky part? Remember earlier how my friend said it wasn't a problem for me to stay at her place? Welp... turns out it WAS a problem. It stressed her out for me to be there. How did I know this? I was given a message when I had returned home. I swear I asked more than a few times regarding this matter! I didn't wanna be a burden to her or anyone I know, ever! But that message... it just soured my mood for a while. Made the decision to cut off talking to her. As of the time typing this, I still haven't bothered messaging her back nor saying anything to her via social media nor calling. Not really sure if I can call her friend at this time.

November: Infighting is bout the same. Nothing new until a store visit is told to happen. This is the period when it gets worse between me and my mom. She worries and panics. Honestly I love her to death but she has NO TACT! It's very hard to talk to her when she's fuming at the mouth and swearing every two sentences. I generally freeze up and don't/can't say anything. Mostly cause that was how my father spoke to me when my folks were in the midst of a divorce many years ago. Now, here I am getting flashbacks of that time thanks to my mother. Guess I never really got over it. Thanksgiving was nice with family. Was a bit awkward with the recent passing of grandmother but it was manageable. Over in the art world, a certain artist whom I won't mention but he is a Royal figure, keeps catching an attitude with me in regards of giving me updates on commission work that I paid for well over four years ago. But I'm the bad guy cause he had to have an ego trip and search his name and saw that I was talking with ex-clients (who apparently hate for reasons unknown aside from NOT DOING THE WORK!) and broke ties with me. Basically, don't do business with that artist who shall not be named nor give money to his patreon cause really, he's lazy, he'll send you nothing but porn links every day, talk bout public transport and how people act on world star level news and videos. That and maybe send you free art to make up for the actually work you paid for. If he manages to see this journal, know this: You cannot refuse a refund to a client if no work has been done. That's called theft. Do the work and stop re-inventing the wheel so damn much!

December: Here we are present day! In short summary of this month: Car broke down. Dipped into savings to fix it, got some help from folks but more problems inbound. Need a second job it seems. Magfest is right around the corner. Hopefully that'll be good and fun. Xmas came and went. Family get together was fun and nice. Next holiday season, talks of going elsewhere for christmas are in the works. Not sure if I'll go. Kinda dont wanna be in a hotel with family members again. Not after Vegas. Only exception is my cousin for Magfest. Needless to say 2023 sucked. From family infighting to breaking ties with people who steal from you and lie to you, 2023 will no doubt be remembered as a year of heartache.

That was 2023 in a nutshell. Commissions are in the midst of a halt due to funds. The MLP stuff will continue but that's gonna be restarted at an unknown future date and time. Right now, it's best to build up funding. Hope everyone has a happy new year coming up. Lord knows I hope I do.

Later!