W.A.S.T.E.d
So, where the hell have I been?
At some point, I think we must all understand that I am a teacher and being a teacher is akin to migratory worker, or if you prefer, illegal alien. Why do I say this?
Well, first of all, there are these three months out of the year where I have a Summer off. Haha. Oh, it kills me even to write that. That means, a Summer without work...or PAY. As a teacher, one prepares for the Summer by...Any guesses? No, not by saving a bit of my paycheck every month. How much do you all think I get paid anyway?
No. We prepare for the Summer by signing up to teach Summer school. There is generally one class for every fifty teachers or so, so cross your fingers! Well, I signed up. Sure, of course I did, but at the beginning of my Summer we went to Maui.
Okay, why haven't I been writing. Because going to Maui screwed up the three possible jobs I could have worked this Summer. Honestly, if I hadn't gone to Maui, I would have worked three different jobs and earned more than I normally do during the school year. That's no joke. So, in other words, I was put in a position to COMPLAIN about an all expense trip to Maui.
What's worse is that I am a good writer and I might have a:--garnered sympathy from you for having to go to Maui rather than work, or b:--made my wife feel bad about "making" me go to Maui. Do you see how ludicrous that would have been? But it is true, because I went to Maui, I have been working my ass off running up and down the stairs, working constantly just to keep my family above the poverty line. So, what do you do? You don't want to complain about the trip to Maui, but the trip to Maui has put you in the vicinity of the poorhouse. I needed time to resolve the conundrum before I could write again.
But it gets worse. As I knew some time before hand that I was turning down employment opportunities in order to take a trip to Maui, I decided to start up my own business making scenery for Warhammer 40k--a miniaturized futuristic wargame. My goal was to sell this scenery on Ebay. My research led me to believe that I could make $60 a day without much effort and that, I reasoned, would be enough. Plus, I would not be working fast food at 33 years of age, and that's always nice.
I made enough scenery to last a weeks time (21 items) and prepared to sell the stuff upon my return from Maui while I built up more stuff. My idea was fairly simple, build a days worth of things (3) while I sold a day's worth of things (3). Thus, I would always have 21 items up on Ebay.
Unfortunately, after my return from Maui, we had houseguests for the next two weeks and I could do no work. I sold my 21 items, but there was nothing to replenish them with, and thus began my grotesque attempt to catch up. Moreover, I found that making three things a day was a hell of a lot harder than I had initially planned. Now, at the end of the Summer, I have devised a system, and it all works pretty well, but then, I simply ran up and down the stairs. Up to my attic to get supplies, down to my basement to get raw materials, to my room (2nd story) to glue, to my deck (1st floor) to spray paint. I kept insanely busy and this helped because now I was complaining not only about the free trip to Maui, not only about a visit from my mother in law (who I really really like), a visit from my good friend, but also about the new business that my wife began at the Summer's beginning as well. With both of us trying to start up companies, child care required 50% of my time, and thus I was in a position to complain about every good thing in my life, because, simply put, I did not have the luxury of giving up a spare instant--my family needed money and that meant, I had to work. From the time my son got up in the morning (around 7) until I went to bed at night. While I sat with my wife watching TV in the evening, I painted and glued scenery together to stay desperately ahead of the game. Keep in mind, if I only have 50% of the days to work, that meant that I had to make 6 scenery pieces a day.
But then things started getting really fun. Despite all my hard work, there's no sense to the market. Some weeks, people just wouldn't buy anything. This meant that I, all of a sudden, had a surplus. Of course, it also meant that there was a lot of swearing and kicking concerning my bills and my situation (I apologize to you all for cursing your names), but suddenly I had enough room to breathe, which meant I had enough room to catch up in the work. I haven't had a spare moment to read anything for my Ph.D. and I've written, all told, maybe six pages of my novel.
I think the worst thing is the toll on my morale. I have seriously contemplated dropping out of the Ph.D. program at my low moments and I have seriously considered not writing any more. I have gotten over both of those defeatest attitudes, but it's very hard to imagine a whole scene in your head and know that it will be lost because you simply don't have an hour to pause and write it down, and it is very easy to imagine that you will never be able to sit down and read a book ever again when you never have more than an hours time to call free.
On the plus side, I am probably the best scenery guy on Ebay. I can say that without a doubt as I've seen the other stuff. There's one guy who makes better hills than I do, or at least he used to, I think I've gotten better, and besides, I make other things as well. Plus, I am now working less and less on scenery and still making about the same money. I have, I think, made it through the hardest part of this and have emerged on the other side with a business that takes a few hours a day to do and can pretty much guarantee me some money each and every day. In other words, I held on by my teeth, but I held on, and now I've got it.
Oh yes, and I squashed that itsy bitsy spider for good. You guys should see the size of the wasps, though, that live out by our landlord's trailor bed.
Anyways, I guess my point is that I did not eat from the fruit of Hades and so I was able to come back. I will be blogging again.
At some point, I think we must all understand that I am a teacher and being a teacher is akin to migratory worker, or if you prefer, illegal alien. Why do I say this?
Well, first of all, there are these three months out of the year where I have a Summer off. Haha. Oh, it kills me even to write that. That means, a Summer without work...or PAY. As a teacher, one prepares for the Summer by...Any guesses? No, not by saving a bit of my paycheck every month. How much do you all think I get paid anyway?
No. We prepare for the Summer by signing up to teach Summer school. There is generally one class for every fifty teachers or so, so cross your fingers! Well, I signed up. Sure, of course I did, but at the beginning of my Summer we went to Maui.
Okay, why haven't I been writing. Because going to Maui screwed up the three possible jobs I could have worked this Summer. Honestly, if I hadn't gone to Maui, I would have worked three different jobs and earned more than I normally do during the school year. That's no joke. So, in other words, I was put in a position to COMPLAIN about an all expense trip to Maui.
What's worse is that I am a good writer and I might have a:--garnered sympathy from you for having to go to Maui rather than work, or b:--made my wife feel bad about "making" me go to Maui. Do you see how ludicrous that would have been? But it is true, because I went to Maui, I have been working my ass off running up and down the stairs, working constantly just to keep my family above the poverty line. So, what do you do? You don't want to complain about the trip to Maui, but the trip to Maui has put you in the vicinity of the poorhouse. I needed time to resolve the conundrum before I could write again.
But it gets worse. As I knew some time before hand that I was turning down employment opportunities in order to take a trip to Maui, I decided to start up my own business making scenery for Warhammer 40k--a miniaturized futuristic wargame. My goal was to sell this scenery on Ebay. My research led me to believe that I could make $60 a day without much effort and that, I reasoned, would be enough. Plus, I would not be working fast food at 33 years of age, and that's always nice.
I made enough scenery to last a weeks time (21 items) and prepared to sell the stuff upon my return from Maui while I built up more stuff. My idea was fairly simple, build a days worth of things (3) while I sold a day's worth of things (3). Thus, I would always have 21 items up on Ebay.
Unfortunately, after my return from Maui, we had houseguests for the next two weeks and I could do no work. I sold my 21 items, but there was nothing to replenish them with, and thus began my grotesque attempt to catch up. Moreover, I found that making three things a day was a hell of a lot harder than I had initially planned. Now, at the end of the Summer, I have devised a system, and it all works pretty well, but then, I simply ran up and down the stairs. Up to my attic to get supplies, down to my basement to get raw materials, to my room (2nd story) to glue, to my deck (1st floor) to spray paint. I kept insanely busy and this helped because now I was complaining not only about the free trip to Maui, not only about a visit from my mother in law (who I really really like), a visit from my good friend, but also about the new business that my wife began at the Summer's beginning as well. With both of us trying to start up companies, child care required 50% of my time, and thus I was in a position to complain about every good thing in my life, because, simply put, I did not have the luxury of giving up a spare instant--my family needed money and that meant, I had to work. From the time my son got up in the morning (around 7) until I went to bed at night. While I sat with my wife watching TV in the evening, I painted and glued scenery together to stay desperately ahead of the game. Keep in mind, if I only have 50% of the days to work, that meant that I had to make 6 scenery pieces a day.
But then things started getting really fun. Despite all my hard work, there's no sense to the market. Some weeks, people just wouldn't buy anything. This meant that I, all of a sudden, had a surplus. Of course, it also meant that there was a lot of swearing and kicking concerning my bills and my situation (I apologize to you all for cursing your names), but suddenly I had enough room to breathe, which meant I had enough room to catch up in the work. I haven't had a spare moment to read anything for my Ph.D. and I've written, all told, maybe six pages of my novel.
I think the worst thing is the toll on my morale. I have seriously contemplated dropping out of the Ph.D. program at my low moments and I have seriously considered not writing any more. I have gotten over both of those defeatest attitudes, but it's very hard to imagine a whole scene in your head and know that it will be lost because you simply don't have an hour to pause and write it down, and it is very easy to imagine that you will never be able to sit down and read a book ever again when you never have more than an hours time to call free.
On the plus side, I am probably the best scenery guy on Ebay. I can say that without a doubt as I've seen the other stuff. There's one guy who makes better hills than I do, or at least he used to, I think I've gotten better, and besides, I make other things as well. Plus, I am now working less and less on scenery and still making about the same money. I have, I think, made it through the hardest part of this and have emerged on the other side with a business that takes a few hours a day to do and can pretty much guarantee me some money each and every day. In other words, I held on by my teeth, but I held on, and now I've got it.
Oh yes, and I squashed that itsy bitsy spider for good. You guys should see the size of the wasps, though, that live out by our landlord's trailor bed.
Anyways, I guess my point is that I did not eat from the fruit of Hades and so I was able to come back. I will be blogging again.