Well, I know that I've been promising to get some information of a better sort out for awhile now. I've finally got a chance to do a pretty decent dump of some. You may have seen bits of this in other echoes, so I'll keep portions of this brief, but there are some other things that I can expound a little more on in here, as well.
Obviously, given my few years of significant financial struggles as a single father, the biggest positive right now is the fact that I nailed down not just one, but two job yesterday. One is a 'paycheck'... That is, doing some kitchen work now that I've passed the requirements for security badging at the airport where the place is that gave me the promise of hire. It's not a lot of money, but it's enough to try to make sure that the gleaming axe of homelessness over my head is starting to dull a little bit.
Next up, I finally broke into the world of IT. I thought that the personal recommendations bit and how some people were saying the job was pretty much gold was overstated with this guy who was looking to outsource some work, but the phone interview yesterday _started_ with a 'you're hired, this person's word is good enough for me', and ended with some really great words about pay. I should be able to not just tread water, but work from home, when I am most productive, for a significant enough source of income to be able to finally start saving again. It'll be so nice to be able to do some nice things for my son and get him a new wardrobe that I don't even know how to start... I'm still kind of in shock about the whole thing. I mean I've applied for so many friggin' IT jobs over the past 6-8 months, courted so many recruiters, and then this one just falls into my lap and it's like ideal. I'm very happy and optimistic about it. Looks like it's going to be some simple wordpress and e-commerce stuff for starters, and then after that short 'proving ground' period a little more challenging work and definitely more hours to be had.
So... Other than that. I got my son's bike into working order and we got everything we need to be street legal. Finally got his bike modified for his slightly smaller stature, too. So we're going on a nice bike ride today and we did several miles the other day. I'm having an interesting time teaching him the rules of the road, being as this is a metropolis and I'm used to smallville, but I'm trying to make sure that he knows how to use the roads the right way, and making sure that he also knows the proper techniques for riding in the road, as I'm pretty sure sidewalk riding is illegal here. I'm hoping to be confident enough in his ability to start letting him out to ride to the closer parks that aren't beyond any major thoroughfares fairly soon here. I'd say he's about ready, actually, it's just that I'm nervous because of the assholes that park so close to the corners that you can't see when there's traffic until you're out into the middle of the intersection. Drawing that line between being a good parent and overprotective is tough, especially with the only kid I've got.
Anyway, there's some other stuff, too, but I'm gonna leave it at this for now, and write a little bit more later. I've got some other things I need to get done in the interim. :) I hope this is a nice change after all the shit of the past few months/years of disaster and stress.

-D
--- SBBSecho 2.27-OpenBSD
* Origin: Tinfoil.synchro.net - now at FTN (1:340/200) (1:340/200)

Quoting Damon A. Getsman to All on 07-Mar-2015 07:33 <=-

Well, I know that I've been promising to get some information of a
better sort out for awhile now. I've finally got a chance to do a
pretty decent dump of some. You may have seen bits of this in other echoes, so I'll keep portions of this brief, but there are some other things that I can expound a little more on in here, as well.

Where besides ASIAN_LINK (and here) are you posting...? (I think I did
spot you in Survnet chat, where I only lurk.. anywhere else...?)

Obviously, given my few years of significant financial struggles as
a single father, the biggest positive right now is the fact that I
nailed down not just one, but two job yesterday.

All right! :) That's very good news... :) Congratulations.. :)

One is a 'paycheck'... That is, doing some kitchen work now that I've passed the requirements for security badging at the airport where the place is that gave me the promise of hire. It's not a lot of money,
but it's enough to try to make sure that the gleaming axe of
homelessness over my head is starting to dull a little bit.

A relief, for sure... and something to fall back on... passing the
security check is also a good sign... :)

Next up, I finally broke
into the world of IT. I thought that the personal recommendations bit and how some people were saying the job was pretty much gold was overstated with this guy who was looking to outsource some work, but
the phone interview yesterday _started_ with a 'you're hired, this person's word is good enough for me', and ended with some really great words about pay. I should be able to not just tread water, but work
from home, when I am most productive, for a significant enough source
of income to be able to finally start saving again.

Even better... :) Very good news indeed... :)

It'll be so nice to be able to do some nice things for my son and get
him a new wardrobe that I don't even know how to start... I'm still
kind of in shock about the whole thing. I mean I've applied for so
many friggin' IT jobs over the past 6-8 months, courted so many recruiters, and then this one just falls into my lap and it's like
ideal. I'm very happy and optimistic about it. Looks like it's going
to be some simple wordpress and e-commerce stuff for starters, and then after that short 'proving ground' period a little more challenging work and definitely more hours to be had.

Got your foot in the door, and looks like a good door to have started
with... ;)

So... Other than that. I got my son's bike
into working order and we got everything we need to be street legal. Finally got his bike modified for his slightly smaller stature, too.
So we're going on a nice bike ride today and we did several miles the other day. I'm having an interesting time teaching him the rules of
the road, being as this is a metropolis and I'm used to smallville, but I'm trying to make sure that he knows how to use the roads the right
way, and making sure that he also knows the proper techniques for
riding in the road, as I'm pretty sure sidewalk riding is illegal here.

You might want to check out the actual rules... while adult bike riding
is usually limited to the street, children are often allowed to ride on
the sidewalks, as they may well be safer there...

I'm hoping to be confident enough in his ability to start letting him
out to ride to the closer parks that aren't beyond any major thoroughfares fairly soon here. I'd say he's about ready, actually,
it's just that I'm nervous because of the assholes that park so close
to the corners that you can't see when there's traffic until you're out into the middle of the intersection. Drawing that line between being a good parent and overprotective is tough, especially with the only kid I've got.

It's a balance, to be sure... :) If he shows good judgement, and
exhibits careful watchfulness, he should be fine... but it's a
judgement call at best.. :) You could monitor his judgement etc by
letting him make some of that sort of decisions when you are out riding
with him, like one might with a student driver for auto driving
lessons... :)

Anyway, there's some other stuff, too, but I'm gonna leave
it at this for now, and write a little bit more later. I've got some other things I need to get done in the interim. :) I hope this is a nice change after all the shit of the past few months/years of disaster and stress.

Certainly is nice to see changes for the better... even if I am jealous
of the nice weather you guys are having... ;)

ttyl neb

... All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt

--- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F
* Origin: Tiny's BBS - Oshawa, ON, CA http://tinysbbs.com (1:229/452)

Re: Re: Some good things going on in the land of poverty and confusion
By: Nancy Backus to Damon A. Getsman on Mon Mar 09 2015 16:24:54

Where besides ASIAN_LINK (and here) are you posting...? (I think I did spot you in Survnet chat, where I only lurk.. anywhere else...?)

Yeah I think you spotted me in Survnet Chat, too. ;) As far as other FidoNet echoes that I post in, they vary... If you've got any more regular or quasi-regularly active echoes that you'd like to suggest to me with decent discussion, throw 'em up; I need a few more areas to be active in. I guess I'm probably most active on areas involving solar/space weather other than the places you've already mentioned.

All right! :) That's very good news... :) Congratulations.. :)

Hell yeah and thank you muchly. I was steamrolled by more than one job in a day. Quite honestly I would've been steamrolled by the IT one alone, though. It's been since 2008 since I've worked in IT, and the pay, as compared to what I made before, is... Well it's at the industry normal level. Which is more than I've ever made before. I'm very much looking forward to it. I can't help have a little bit of anxiety about it, but it's tolerable. More than anything I just want it to start so that I can begin ploughing through it to blow away the insecurity and start getting enough income to not only survive but maybe even do it comfortably and with the ability to prepare for horrible things in the future.

A relief, for sure... and something to fall back on... passing the security check is also a good sign... :)

Hell yeah. I mean I read through the list of disqualifications and knew I was good; I've never been felonius, and the dumb shit that I did in my youth never really affected me on things like First Responder training, CPR certification, security guard certification for power plants, or anything of the sort. Still, airports are a different beast, and that man in black that talked to me sure as hell did scare the shit out of me. That was almost ten years ago now, though. Maybe I can stop worrying about that once and for all now... At least until they come to put us all up against the wall. ;)

Even better... :) Very good news indeed... :)

Hell yeah. ;)

Got your foot in the door, and looks like a good door to have started with... ;)

I am very much looking forward to it. Still, without the contract having been signed yet, I'll admit that I'm hedging my bets a little bit. It's been too long with repeated bullshit storms for me to just accept that this is going to be golden until I see the contract and put the first few weeks of work down. I was going to take a day off from coding today, originally; then I thought about the work that I've got coming up and got right to the grind with the other projects that I'm working on. ;) Want to make sure that I'm knocking as much of that rust off as I can every day.

You might want to check out the actual rules... while adult bike riding
is usually limited to the street, children are often allowed to ride on the sidewalks, as they may well be safer there...

I've actually got to get ahold of the bike 'rules of the road' here. It'd be a lot less stressful if he were able to bike on the sidewalks. He's still having a little bit of issue with the streets. Thanks for mentioning that, I kind of forgot that cities even as small as the last one that I was in put those out, so certainly there's something here. Plus sidewalk biking for just getting to the playground and stuff would be a hell of a lot better.

It's a balance, to be sure... :) If he shows good judgement, and exhibits careful watchfulness, he should be fine... but it's a
judgement call at best.. :) You could monitor his judgement etc by letting him make some of that sort of decisions when you are out riding with him, like one might with a student driver for auto driving
lessons... :)

Yeah, I think that the next time I go out with him I'm going to be letting him direct the ride, now that you mention it. I've probably been giving him a bit too much of a sheltered environment to this point. ;) Plus it's a lot harder to keep out a good eye for things that may be going wrong when riding in front.

Certainly is nice to see changes for the better... even if I am jealous of the nice weather you guys are having... ;)

Hehe. I'll trade you some weather for economic security? Well, hopefully I won't need to much longer, but still, with my past few years, I'll take a few months of crap just to be sure. ;)

-D
--- SBBSecho 2.27-OpenBSD
* Origin: Tinfoil.synchro.net - now at FTN (1:340/200) (1:340/200)

Quoting Damon A. Getsman to Nancy Backus on 10-Mar-2015 07:02 <=-

Where besides ASIAN_LINK (and here) are you posting...? (I think I
did spot you in Survnet chat, where I only lurk.. anywhere else...?)

Yeah I think you spotted me in Survnet Chat, too. ;) As far as
other FidoNet echoes that I post in, they vary...

I was wondering where other tidbits of info might have been being
strewed... :) I wasn't positive it was you in Survnet, as you were
using an alias, but I thought I recognized your style, and your origin
line... ;)

If you've got any more regular or quasi-regularly active echoes that you'd like to suggest to me with decent discussion, throw 'em up; I
need a few more areas to be active in.

If you are interested in cooking or food in general, there's COOKING and HOME_COOKING... good folks there, with overlap between the two echos..
There's also MEMORIES, where the chat tends to be more general, but
supposed to be at least generally tilted towards reminiscing... again,
good folks there... and new blood always welcome... :)

I guess I'm probably most active on areas involving solar/space
weather other than the places you've already mentioned.

There's also WX_TALK, for talking about all sorts of weather... tends to
be quiet, kinda like here... ;)

All right! :) That's very good news... :) Congratulations.. :)

Hell yeah and thank you muchly. I was steamrolled by more than one
job in a day.

I can well imagine... ;)

Quite honestly I would've been steamrolled by the IT one alone,
though. It's been since 2008 since I've worked in IT, and the pay,
as compared to what I made before, is... Well it's at the industry normal level. Which is more than I've ever made before. I'm very
much looking forward to it. I can't help have a little bit of
anxiety about it, but it's tolerable. More than anything I just want
it to start so that I can begin ploughing through it to blow away the insecurity and start getting enough income to not only survive but
maybe even do it comfortably and with the ability to prepare for
horrible things in the future.

It should work out just fine... and hopefully there won't be too many
horrible things in the future, either (though it doesn't hurt to have
some sort of buffer just in case)... :) You've got the qualifications
for the job, so you should be fine... :)

A relief, for sure... and something to fall back on... passing the
security check is also a good sign... :)

Hell yeah. I mean I read through the list of disqualifications and
knew I was good; I've never been felonius, and the dumb shit that I did in my youth never really affected me on things like First Responder training, CPR certification, security guard certification for power plants, or anything of the sort. Still, airports are a different
beast, and that man in black that talked to me sure as hell did scare
the shit out of me. That was almost ten years ago now, though. Maybe
I can stop worrying about that once and for all now... At least until they come to put us all up against the wall. ;)

Sounds like a story behind that... ;) I'd think, though, that if you
passed security guard certification for power plants, that would be
pretty similar to airport security requirements...

Got your foot in the door, and looks like a good door to have started
with... ;)

I am very much looking forward to it. Still, without the contract
having been signed yet, I'll admit that I'm hedging my bets a little
bit. It's been too long with repeated bullshit storms for me to just accept that this is going to be golden until I see the contract and put

Doesn't hurt to have a backup... especially since the IT job can be done
from home, and, I'd guess also, on your own schedule...? :)

the first few weeks of work down. I was going to take a day off from coding today, originally; then I thought about the work that I've got coming up and got right to the grind with the other projects that I'm working on. ;) Want to make sure that I'm knocking as much of that
rust off as I can every day.

Get that brain fine-tuned for the purpose... :) Besides, you might have
less time for your own projects once you start the new job in earnest,
you know... ;)

You might want to check out the actual rules... while adult bike riding
is usually limited to the street, children are often allowed to ride on
the sidewalks, as they may well be safer there...

I've actually got to get ahold of the bike 'rules of the road' here.
It'd be a lot less stressful if he were able to bike on the sidewalks. He's still having a little bit of issue with the streets. Thanks for mentioning that, I kind of forgot that cities even as small as the last one that I was in put those out, so certainly there's something here. Plus sidewalk biking for just getting to the playground and stuff would be a hell of a lot better.

Exactly. Should be able to get that from the city government... maybe
even on a gov website...? DMV (or whatever it's called there) would
have rules of the road for the roads themselves, I'd think... but might
not have anything about whether or not kids could use the sidewalk...

It's a balance, to be sure... :) If he shows good judgement, and
exhibits careful watchfulness, he should be fine... but it's a
judgement call at best.. :) You could monitor his judgement etc
by letting him make some of that sort of decisions when you are out
riding with him, like one might with a student driver for auto
driving lessons... :)

Yeah, I think that the next time I go out with him I'm going to be letting him direct the ride, now that you mention it. I've probably
been giving him a bit too much of a sheltered environment to this
point. ;) Plus it's a lot harder to keep out a good eye for things
that may be going wrong when riding in front.

Unless you have good mirrors, and eyes in the back of your head... <G>

Certainly is nice to see changes for the better... even if I am
jealous of the nice weather you guys are having... ;)

Hehe. I'll trade you some weather for economic security? Well, hopefully I won't need to much longer, but still, with my past few
years, I'll take a few months of crap just to be sure. ;)

Sounds like you should be getting some decent economic security now,
especially if the IT job works out well, as it should... :)

ttyl neb

... I'm not grouchy, I just don't like traffic, crowds or politicians.

--- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F
* Origin: Tiny's BBS - Oshawa, ON, CA http://tinysbbs.com (1:229/452)

Re: Re: Some good things going on in the land of poverty and confusion
By: Nancy Backus to Damon A. Getsman on Fri Mar 13 2015 16:00:14

I was wondering where other tidbits of info might have been being strewed... :) I wasn't positive it was you in Survnet, as you were
using an alias, but I thought I recognized your style, and your origin line... ;)

Yeah I used to bother to try to keep the alias and the real name separate, but that little security thing that had me concerned... Well I learned as a result of that that bothering to try to keep those profiles separated was pretty much doomed to failure, so why bother. I've learned to not quite be so loose with my flapping gums now, though.
I've been accused of distinctive style before. ;)

If you are interested in cooking or food in general, there's COOKING and HOME_COOKING... good folks there, with overlap between the two echos.. There's also MEMORIES, where the chat tends to be more general, but supposed to be at least generally tilted towards reminiscing... again, good folks there... and new blood always welcome... :)

I will actually have to add those *scrawls in the to-do notebook as the RAM on the computer is swapping badly already*. I need to find some recipies that incorporate more veggies that my son will eat sometime soon here before his growth gets stunted from munching on nothing but carbs when I'm not looking. The diabeetus could be strong in this one! Gotta try to steer him away from that. A little bit of reminiscing might not be the worst idea, so long as I stay on the beaten path, too. *grin*

There's also WX_TALK, for talking about all sorts of weather... tends to be quiet, kinda like here... ;)

Oh I'm active there every now and then. At least I think I am. If nothing else I read. I post bits about solar activity being tied to weather in one of the echoes, can't remember for sure if it's that one or not.

It should work out just fine... and hopefully there won't be too many horrible things in the future, either (though it doesn't hurt to have
some sort of buffer just in case)... :) You've got the qualifications for the job, so you should be fine... :)

Yeah, well the guy has a new baby in the house, so it's taking him awhile to get the work out here, and it's driving me a little bit batshit with the anxiety, but I know that it's something I should be able to ramp up to easily enough, it's just not being able to look at anything except the project issues without seeing the codebase behind them that is driving me nuts. That, and about 6 years being out of actual IT work, except what I'm doing on my own time.
Thank you for the votes of confidence, though. :)

Sounds like a story behind that... ;) I'd think, though, that if you passed security guard certification for power plants, that would be
pretty similar to airport security requirements...

Oh there is.
I would think they're the same, too, but it's hard to know, especially when the airport has TSA and um. Yeah you got a pgp key? *laugh*

Doesn't hurt to have a backup... especially since the IT job can be done from home, and, I'd guess also, on your own schedule...? :)

It is from home, and on my own schedule. If the damn work will just start coming in I'll have my dreamjob sitting right in front of me. ;)

Get that brain fine-tuned for the purpose... :) Besides, you might have less time for your own projects once you start the new job in earnest,
you know... ;)

I'm working on it. A med flux that I had recently destroyed my ability to concentrate on left brained things very well for a few days, but I think I'm over that now. I'm going to start making sure that I'm putting in a full 4-6 hours, at least, on a daily basis, coding from now on. I definitely need to make sure that those pathways are ready to get up to speed on something new. I even created a virtual server with the software that they're using in order to just try learning what I can about fiddling with it while I'm sitting here and waiting to start. :)

Exactly. Should be able to get that from the city government... maybe even on a gov website...? DMV (or whatever it's called there) would
have rules of the road for the roads themselves, I'd think... but might not have anything about whether or not kids could use the sidewalk...

Yeah I'm sure they've got one. My old city did, and that was less than 70,000 people. So I'm sure this place will have a better one. If I could just locate it now...

Sounds like you should be getting some decent economic security now, especially if the IT job works out well, as it should... :)

Hell yeah. I'm just trying to not count my chickens before they're hatched, as it were. I've had a couple of promises yanked out from under the rug on me a few times here; this one is signed and sitting in my lap, but it doesn't truly exist until I'm putting in hours on it, at least in my head. That's what I'm trying to do, anyway. Heh. For now I'll just concentrate on the fact that on Friday I start that nice minimum wage job doing work that I can handle. It won't give me economic security of that nature, but it'll help me pay the bills, and that's a huge start.
Sorry this took me so long to get out... Those days of fogginess took their toll on my correspondence backlogs, also. :P I really hope the rest of the fog is gone by tomorrow.
Best wishes!

-Damon
--- SBBSecho 2.27-OpenBSD
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