=exsecror

Since last Friday, I've been on a week's paid vacation from work. I only get this once a year and it's generally towards the end of summer (when my schedule is the least packed). I haven't done much with it to say the least other than taking care of some critical errands that I couldn't do due to schedule conflicts and attempting (quite poorly) to relax. Originally I was supposed to go out of town this week but I canceled those plans some months ago for reasons I won't voice publicly. I wish I could have done more with it but there was not much to do on my list as this was a last minute schedule change in my plans so I didn't have any real time to prepare, it sort of sucks because this is the second year in a row I haven't really done anything with my time off but every time I've made plans, they generally get re-arranged or dropped so I don't know what the hell is up with that.

Honestly, I am not really looking forward to going back to work on Monday because I'm going to have to deal with a plethora of bitching and a stack of paperwork about as tall as myself that has to be squashed in 2 days or less so I don't fall behind on my other projects (can anyone say Ulcerative Colitis relapse?) so we'll see how that goes...

In addition to that, my 24th birthday is in 26 days and this is the first time in 15 years that I'm not actually looking forward to it. Maybe it's the fact I'm getting closer to my late 20s or shit has really hit the fan for me in the last several years, I dunno. All I know is that I'm seriously not looking forward to it.

I had planned to do at least 1 or 2 deviations this week but my copies of Vue Infinite 6 from E-On Software decided to shit their brains out on me and I have to get new copies (which is not cheap as it's $700 a license) but will have to wait as they are considered low-priority expenses right now. Kind of a damn shame but honestly I'm not really stressing over it right now as my creativity flow has been utter crap the last 2 years anyway.

I do not know if anyone else has been having these problems but more frequently I'm getting those god forsaken Automotive Warranty scam phone calls both on my business line and my personal cell which is driving me up the wall because they've decided it's a damn jolly good idea to call my ass at 3am in the fucking morning from random phone numbers from all over the country. I sincerely hope the FCC jumps on this thing soon because I've been dealing with this (as well as other people in the country) identity theft scam bullshit for the better part of a year. My providers aren't willing to do anything about it other than changing my numbers (which won't do any good anyway) and they ignore the fact I'm on the "Do Not Call List" and am protected under the TCPA due to that so bah.

So yes, I took a break from deviantART (sue me, people do it and I tend to do it quite frequently for various reasons). Too much bullshit was occurring and I needed to get away so that my job wasn't affected by it (which it was starting to be). I managed to finally get more shit in order again. I got out of that god forsaken 110 year old house I had been living in for almost 2 years and into a much nicer, more modern complex about 128km from where I used to live.

It adds a longer commute to my day but it's more worth it honestly to be in a metropolitan area again rather than in the suburbs. It cost a fortune to do the move though, nearly $6,000, but I had to pay a large premium to get in and replace a majority of my furniture I had to get rid of as it didn't fit in the old place. I have made some decisions on how I practice various things in my life and one of those is relationships. Due to the last debacle that was created some months ago (for those who know) I've decided that the long distance crap is just a waste of my time and isn't worth the trouble. Too much shit happens and everyone turns into a damn shark about it (which was the case with this particular one). I've cut ties off with most of the people (I won't name names) involved because frankly (and excuse my french), they can go fuck themselves. They made the situation a lot more drama riddled and full of bullshit than it needed to be but hey, that was their decision, they chose to take that route rather than the private one when they had the options of private contact. Anyway, enough of that little story.

I got my finances back in order after 2 years of crap that it went through from both unemployment and recurring issues with my ex-wife that happened in 2006. I re-ordered my bank accounts, changed and closed several investment accounts and moved stocks around to hopefully repair the $80,000 I lost between 2004 and 2007. It'll take me about 5 to 10 years to come back to normal (and the economic recession doesn't help since it hurts stock and dividends earnings) but at least then I'll be stable again and back on the road for my retirement.

My future with deviantART is still uncertain. Things have been strained since 2006 in terms of my activity on this place and any form of contributions. I'm not even honestly sure if I'll even make attempts to get more involved or not with the community other than my general activity in the forums and gallery maintenance. There's just too much back-door politics that occur here that I'm not exactly thrilled about so I'm thinking keeping a lower profile is better for my interests. Whether or not I start submitting artwork again is uncertain but I would like to, I've been so strung up in getting into a higher place in the community I faltered in that area so hopefully with that change in outlook I'll be able to submit again, what that will be and what I do here though is still unknown to me. In all honesty, I'm trying to spend less time on the computer outside of the office but that tends to never work given my hobbies and other obligations. What I do know is I would like to get back with @yashachan about rebuilding #h3lp when our schedules permit but with @yashachan starting classes back up in Clarkson and my rabid changes at work that's unknown still.