Time flies

 There is a novel recently released by the poet Ocean Vuong that was in the news and it made me think of my time in Connecticut when I started this blog. I had actually hooked up with Ocean one night in Connecticut. He had told me he was a poet and that he did some readings. Then one night I saw him on a late night talk show and I was so surprised. I even told my sister that I had hooked up with him!

A lot has happened in the 4.5 years since I last posted. 

My brother passed away June 2017 from an overdose. That has taken a toll on all of us, especially my Mom and Sister. His daughter was four and I think wasn't able to process emotions at that age. My Mom adopted her and she's technically a younger sister to me now.

I wasn't negatively impacted by the pandemic, fortunately. I actually benefited from saving money working from home. I decided to invest some this past winter and I had frequented the Wallstreetbets Reddit forum in the past, so I browsed for some tips. I came across the Gamestop due diligence and decided to put all my money into that stock. I'm sure you all heard about what happened, so yeah I made a life changing amount of money. 

I live next to my grandparent's house and they recently had to move out into a nursing home because they couldn't take care of themselves anymore. So now it looks like they will sell the house to me. So coming into that money came at just the right time for me to afford it. I'm not one to think too much about divine plans, but I sometimes feel like the timing was crazy.

I'm 35 now and sometimes feel like I've wasted the last 10 years by not dating/starting a family. I know I've been helping out with my now litter sister and Mother so it wasn't totally wasted, but those years of my youth are gone. Now that I may have my own place I can think about dating again.

Is this still a thing?

It's nice to go back and read some of the posts I've made while living in CT on my own. It's been almost 5 years since I left and moved back with my Mom near Pittsburgh, PA.

Things have been going well, I think. I recently bought my first new car - a 2016 Honda Civic with leather seats and that's exciting. I remember driving my blue clunker Oldsmobile in CT and always worrying about paying for inevitable repairs. Even my second car I bought used I had to get repaired a lot. I kept with the theme and my new car is a blue, 'cosmic blue metallic'.

I'm getting comfortable with my job in Pittsburgh, learning a lot and was recently promoted a level.

I've been staying with my Mom and my brother's daughter Ava, or my niece. She's 3 now. My brother's in jail for almost another year. Ava's mother's rights were recently terminated but she's trying to appeal. So we're in limbo until the appeal fails and my Mom can adopt. It will be rough though because she's paying the mortgage, a car payment, and now daycare costs - which are crazy high.

My sister on the other hand is doing very well. Recently got a new job with a bump in pay and will be getting married next year.

I still play FFXI in my free time. I think I'll save other updates for later posts! Maybe I'll post again? Is this still a relevant media outlet??

Thinking of starting a Youtube Channel

So I've been inspired lately to maybe start a Youtube Channel where I can upload vlogs maybe once a week.  I'm really an introverted person but I've always wanted to be more extroverted.  I'm also pretty self conscience so this a hurtle I am going to overcome.  I've been watching Tyler Oakley, Shaytards, Troye Sivan and a lot of other Youtubers and although I know I can't match the energy level that they put out, I wonder if this is something I can do.  I'll have to look into getting a flipcam and a tripod or something and figure out video software stuff and where I can find legal background music and work on an intro and outro.. seems to be a lot of work but hey, you only live once right?  Might as well give it a go.

Anyone out there have experience starting a Vlog and would like to give me some tips?

Happy New Year

Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays.  I enjoyed giving gifts and recieving a few.  My sister and I got my mom a Kitchen-aid mixer which she's always wanted.  I got my sister a Keurig coffee maker that she wanted for her office - but ironically the day before Christmas it was announced that coffee makers are not allowed at her workplace!  I was happy though because now I can use it everyday at home :)    I got my dad a wort-cooler to help with beer-making. 

I got a bunch of gift-certificates including $200 from Amazon that I used to buy a Kindle Fire HD 8.9"!  Just got it today and already purchased Ender's Game and a horror novel Summer of Night.  I also wanted House of Leaves but it's not available for Kindle at the moment.. There will be a lot of reading in my future!

Lately I've been growing detached from Final Fantasy XI.. haven't been playing as much and instead I've been looking at Magic the Gathering again.  I've been watching streams of people playing instead of jumping back in because well, it's incredibly expensive to play intensely.. which was the reason I have had extra money the past year since I quit!  Maybe the Kindle will hold my interest from either for now.  I also have the option of making a trip to Vegas with some friends over the summer for a Magic event, although that could be quite expensive as well.  We'll see.

Thanksgiving

My mom has been sick this week so instead of making Thanksgiving dinner herself, she instructed my sister, brother, and myself on what to do.  I made pumpkin pies the night before so I got out of most of the work :P  The pies were great though.. I need to make those more often.

I didn't do any black Friday shopping myself, but I am indeed thinking about what I will buy my family.  I'm thinking a Kourig machine for my sister at least so far.

Today my Dad and I were going to start brewing our homemade beer, but when I got to his place we realized we didn't have a big enough pot.  That gave us some time to look over what else we needed to do at least and we're going to try on Sunday after we get a 5 gallon pot.   This will be the first time brewing for the both of us so we are excited.  He's done wine before so he has some experience.  I'm doing a Fireside Winter Warmer and he's doing an IPA.  Hope they turn out.

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving too!

One year and a dream

It's been one year this week since I've started my new job in Pittsburgh, and I haven't posted since - imagine that!  I'm going to be posting more often, but truthfully I'm not doing much these days.  I've been playing Final Fantasy XI a lot, probably too much, but it's fun and it passes the time.  Right now most of the players and myself are ogling at the FF-XIV trailer for the second launch of the game.  I have high hopes they will do this one right.

A lot has happened the last year though, it's quite amazing what can happen in a year and I seem to notice that all the time.  I got a new (used) car - a 2006 Honda Civic which I really like and is a huge upgrade over my 94 olds lol..

Random, but I had a weird dream last night.  From what I remember there was a space shuttle that was set up to launch soon.  It was night-time and eerie.  I've had dreams once in a while centered on night-time, the stars, space and spacecraft that are always on the verge of turning into a nightmare.  Frankly I like them.  Anyway I remember finding an overcoat or a button down shirt with a lot of blood on it over a chair in the basement of the house I was in.  Something about my brother being the one who left it.  That's all I can remember.


-Shane

New Chapter in Life

Well, it's been forever since I last blogged but here is an update. I am now living back at home with my mom and sister! I took a job in Pittsburgh to be closer to family. Plus, it's expensive to rent/live in CT so I'll be living at home for a bit until I pay off some of my student loans. It's not too bad; I get home cooked meals and laundry done without having to go out! I have given up my competitive Magic scene in New England which is definitely a sacrifice, but I'll get to play once in a while.

One big change is that I have to go to bed early and get up real early to avoid Pittsburgh traffic. I travel about 45min to an hour and get to PNC Park at about 7AM! I park there since I have to pay to park in the city and the baseball park is cheaper. It's a small walk across the bridge and it'll suck in the winter, but saving about $7 per work day is worth it.

Truth is I'm already tired of my job! I took a job in software testing, but I really want to do application development. I only took the job because it got my foot in the door and allowed me to move back home, but I'll be applying for an App Dev job soon.

Well, I only have to work 3 days this week then get Thanksgiving and the day after off (like most people), but that will be nice.

I know it's been forever since I posted, so I probably missed a ton, but I'll try to update more often! You probably read that a lot.

-Shane