PYF: Post things that Happened!

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:06 am

So a little over a year ago I started up a new, one-man business. I've been freelancing since then, making trailers, animations and the like.
More recently I added things like crowdfunding videos and live-action promos to my repertoire and around September I got the idea of producing a multipart documentary series about game development in the north of the Netherlands.

After dozens of emails, phonecalls and instant messages I've finally managed to land a presentation to an organization that may very well fund a few episodes

It's all been building up to this!!

(?) · Post by **Perrydotto** (?) » Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:23 am

Nice!! Rooting for you that it works out!

Octavia · Post by **Octavia** (?) » Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:13 am

Best of luck!

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:22 am

You're living the dream!

Good luck!

Kronos · Post by **Kronos** (?) » Tue Nov 28, 2017 1:01 pm

So, just got word back that I'm still in the running for an interesting programmer/analyst position located in town, which is a good sign, but part of the job requires knowing functions of Excel I've never used before. VLookups, VBS, and pivot tables are new to me, but looking them up they seem simple enough to learn.

I'll hear more about the next steps in the job later this week, but until then I need to learn more about Excel.

(?) · Post by **Perrydotto** (?) » Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:32 pm

Best of success, Kronos! I believe in you to kick that Excel butt

theGECK · Post by **theGECK** (?) » Tue Nov 28, 2017 9:12 pm

Bitcoin hit $10,000! We sold most of my Bitcoins and paid off half of our student loans! For 5 short hours I had more money in my account than...several of my previous account maximums added together - and that includes the time that we deposited a downpayment for a house from my parents-in-law!

Not having to pay those student loans frees up money, and because of that we should be able to be done with the rest of the loans in 12-14 months. I've been paying student loans for over 10 years now. Over that time we've paid out almost $30,000 in interest, and I'm ready to be done with that. Once student loans are done I can actually save for retirement, donate to charity, maybe even take time off of work just because.

Now to hope that we actually waited until the price would also cover the taxes, or we're going to be very sad once tax time comes around.

(?) · Post by **Fizzbuzz** (?) » Tue Nov 28, 2017 9:28 pm

theGECK wrote: ↑
Tue Nov 28, 2017 9:12 pm
Now to hope that we actually waited until the price would also cover the taxes, or we're going to be very sad once tax time comes around.

I'm gonna be really damn surprised if there's a single bitcoin exchange anywhere online that reports transactions and income to the IRS.

Sailor Yue · Post by **Sailor Yue** (?) » Wed Nov 29, 2017 12:43 am

If I had just ONE bit coin it would solve every one of my problems. But I never got into it when it came out...

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Wed Nov 29, 2017 5:25 am

Perrydotto wrote: ↑
Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:23 am
Nice!! Rooting for you that it works out!

Octavia wrote: ↑
Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:13 am
Best of luck!

Mr. Big wrote: ↑
Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:22 am
You're living the dream!

Good luck!

Thank you!! I'm currently working on a one page pitch doc, along with a proof of concept video and a presentation. That's enough to distract me from the fact that I'll be presenting it to a bunch of experienced big wigs and that I really need to get my story straight lol

I mean it'll be fine but there's this uh... realization slowly building up in the back of my mind that this is actually pretty big.
But I'm the one who made it happen

(?) · Post by **Perrydotto** (?) » Wed Nov 29, 2017 6:57 am

Fizzbuzz wrote: ↑
Tue Nov 28, 2017 9:28 pm
I'm gonna be really damn surprised if there's a single bitcoin exchange anywhere online that reports transactions and income to the IRS.

Well Germany made Bitcoin income taxable last year or so, so I'd look it up just in case.

theGECK · Post by **theGECK** (?) » Wed Nov 29, 2017 1:55 pm

Fizzbuzz, I think you're correct, but for very different reasons. It's not the exchange's responsibility to report income on taxes, it is yours, and then if you don't report it and get audited you'll pay a big fine plus the taxes. There are 2-3 exchanges that are registered with states in the USA (because investment and insurance isa state level thing and not national), but only one registered in Minnesota to make it easy for me to report the income on my taxes. We're definitely going to a tax preparer this year though, I've done self-employment taxes, but I'm not about to take a stab at doing taxes for something that not even 1,000 people have included on their tax forms yet.

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Wed Nov 29, 2017 3:05 pm

Finished a couple of freelance projects this month, so I'm expecting some big money. Good timing, with Christmas here.

Angel Beat · Post by **Angel Beat** (?) » Wed Nov 29, 2017 4:21 pm

!saak wrote: ↑
Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:06 am
So a little over a year ago I started up a new, one-man business. I've been freelancing since then, making trailers, animations and the like.
More recently I added things like crowdfunding videos and live-action promos to my repertoire and around September I got the idea of producing a multipart documentary series about game development in the north of the Netherlands.

After dozens of emails, phonecalls and instant messages I've finally managed to land a presentation to an organization that may very well fund a few episodes

It's all been building up to this!!

Oooh, this is so exciting!

Congrats!

Octavia · Post by **Octavia** (?) » Fri Dec 01, 2017 9:00 am

48 hours until I leave for Maui!

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Fri Dec 01, 2017 11:33 am

Angel Beat wrote: ↑
Wed Nov 29, 2017 4:21 pm
Oooh, this is so exciting! Congrats!

Thanks!

I've been preparing for most of the week, today I filmed some shots at two studios for the pitch video.

On top of that a friend invited me to join him on a 4 day stay in Barcelona later this month. That's gonna be a great send off for this year

Sailor Yue · Post by **Sailor Yue** (?) » Sun Dec 03, 2017 2:55 pm

I'm FINALLY approved for my unemployment.

Princess Flufflebutt · Post by **Princess Flufflebutt** (?) » Sun Dec 03, 2017 4:17 pm

Aw yiss!

Kronos · Post by **Kronos** (?) » Sun Dec 03, 2017 7:03 pm

So, at the start of the week I learned I needed to take some kind of Excel test and up until five minutes ago, I was sweating bullets over it, trying to cram and everything to learn how to do things.

The email said it should take about 45 minutes (not limited, but time was recorded), ended up doing it in 25 because I panicked on time near the end during the harder ones. So about a question per minute.

Still got a 90%, somehow. Super happy about it, but now the trick will be trying to keep on top of all that when the inevitable questions come as I move forward in this job interview process. And I have an interview tomorrow as well for a different position. So hoping I can land a job before Christmas because this year's milking me dry!

(?) · Post by **Perrydotto** (?) » Sun Dec 03, 2017 7:24 pm

Best of luck, Kronos and Yue! Glad you're making progress!

Angry Critter · Post by **Angry Critter** (?) » Mon Dec 04, 2017 6:08 am

Sailor Yue wrote: ↑
Wed Nov 29, 2017 12:43 am
If I had just ONE bit coin it would solve every one of my problems. But I never got into it when it came out...

same

Kronos · Post by **Kronos** (?) » Mon Dec 04, 2017 1:50 pm

The interview was only 30 minutes - a fourth of the time taken roundtrip (the place is an hour's drive away) - but it went over incredibly and the mere fact I got an interview after four months of straight failure to attract attention is the biggest victory here. The shadow of Atlanta is finally behind me.

Now to see which job gets back to me first. As much as I liked the people I talked to today, I'd have to semi-relocate to another town because otherwise I'd have to drive through some truly bad congestion on the freeway during rush hour, whereas the other position I took the test for is located only half an hour away in the city. I also don't know the rate they'd pay me yet for this position whereas the other I know it's well above my minimum boundaries.

However, I win a cool job no matter which of the two I get and this close to Christmas I can ratchet down the job search. I should hear back from at least one of these groups by the end of next week at the latest.

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Wed Dec 06, 2017 9:23 pm

Got another storyboarding job today!

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Fri Dec 08, 2017 5:26 am

!saak wrote: ↑
Fri Dec 01, 2017 11:33 am
Thanks!

I've been preparing for most of the week, today I filmed some shots at two studios for the pitch video.

I LANDED IT!!!!

I uh... need to let this sink in

(?) · Post by **Perrydotto** (?) » Fri Dec 08, 2017 8:10 am

Wow!! Congrats!!

Aramek · Post by **Aramek** (?) » Fri Dec 08, 2017 9:28 am

I just put an offer in for my first home.

Fingers crossed, and we'll see where it goes from here.

theGECK · Post by **theGECK** (?) » Fri Dec 08, 2017 10:09 am

Good luck Aramek! Owning a home has been one of the better things in my life, although finding reliable maintenance people is a pain.

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Fri Dec 08, 2017 10:47 am

Congrats, Isaak!

Good luck with the house, Aramek! Hope you find something good

Kronos · Post by **Kronos** (?) » Tue Dec 12, 2017 1:49 pm

It's HALFWAY TO THE DAY BEFORE THE BIG DAY

Octavia · Post by **Octavia** (?) » Wed Dec 13, 2017 12:01 am

Aramek wrote: ↑
Fri Dec 08, 2017 9:28 am
I just put an offer in for my first home.

Fingers crossed, and we'll see where it goes from here.

Hope you get it!

Let me know when your house-warming party is.

Sailor Yue · Post by **Sailor Yue** (?) » Wed Dec 13, 2017 11:17 am

My storage unit is payed in full up to January 16, and I'm pretty much done buying supplies for my taxi except a couple more articles of clothes. Now I can actually save money for a place. Here's hoping I can get into something by the end of the month

(?) · Post by **Perrydotto** (?) » Wed Dec 13, 2017 3:17 pm

Wishing you all the best, so much, Yue.

Kronos · Post by **Kronos** (?) » Thu Dec 14, 2017 12:54 am

Had a third job pre-screen talk over the phone earlier today (Wednesday), job isn't as great as the other two I'm waiting to hear back from ($38-42k, full time with on-call, would need to relocate) but it is a job at the very least. In-person interviews to be tentatively scheduled around Jan. 8th and 12th, but I'm seriously hoping it doesn't come to that. Namely because the top job I'm vying for I got confirmation today is not filled yet and the recruiter said the company was hoping to fill it before Christmas (or at the very least the end of December), so I've still got a shot at it since I did extremely well (92%) in the pre-screen test on excel.

!saak · Post by **!saak** (?) » Thu Dec 14, 2017 6:27 am

Belated thanks all!

Now I finally have some time off. Last three days were pretty crazy but it did result in me sending three invoices today with a fourth one expected to go some time next week.

Now I can finally relax this year lol.

minty · Post by **minty** (?) » Mon Dec 18, 2017 4:51 pm

I got some good comics at a secondhand bookstore today, which almost makes up for a horrible appointment.

The best thing I got was a storyboard book from the anime movie Metropolis. I've never seen the movie because I can't seem to find a copy of it aside from some shady Amazon listings, and it's all in Japanese, but it's so much fun to look at.

Even if I'm not supposed to have it.

(it says it's not for sale in the back of the book in English, so who knows how it ended up at a Canadian secondhand bookstore and got sold anyway?)

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Mon Dec 18, 2017 4:56 pm

minty wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 18, 2017 4:51 pm
(it says it's not for sale in the back of the book in English, so who knows how it ended up at a Canadian secondhand bookstore and got sold anyway?)

If a book has a "Not For Sale" label then they are usually advance copy sent to libraries or reviewers as review copies (and they're often un-proofed, so there may be differences to the copies released to the public). Libraries would sometimes add them to their collection and make them available for people to check out.

Sounds like you got a good haul, tho! Nice stuff!

minty · Post by **minty** (?) » Mon Dec 18, 2017 5:03 pm

Oh that makes sense! I also tried to look it up, and it's possibly (going through Google translate) a bonus from some fancy DVD set, which would be similar to boxes of snack bags telling you not to sell the snack bags individually.

Either way it's miiine.

SlateSlabrock · Post by **SlateSlabrock** (?) » Mon Dec 18, 2017 5:23 pm

minty wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 18, 2017 4:51 pm
The best thing I got was a storyboard book from the anime movie Metropolis. I've never seen the movie because I can't seem to find a copy of it aside from some shady Amazon listings, and it's all in Japanese, but it's so much fun to look at.

You can still get the DVD, although it's probably out of print by now. It was also released on BluRay.

Mr. Big · Post by **Mr. Big** (?) » Mon Dec 18, 2017 5:54 pm

minty wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 18, 2017 5:03 pm
Oh that makes sense! I also tried to look it up, and it's possibly (going through Google translate) a bonus from some fancy DVD set, which would be similar to boxes of snack bags telling you not to sell the snack bags individually.

Either way it's miiine.

Oooh, that also makes sense! Yeah, Japanese companies tend to go all the way for DVD releases of anime, filling it to the brim with as much bonus material as possible, including a booklet featuring behind-the-scenes stuff, such as production drawings, storyboards, interviews with cast and crew, and (if a TV series) an episode guide. It's part of why DVD sets in Japan are ridiculously expensive.

Those things tend to have "Not For Sale" labels as well, since they're not meant to be sold individually.

minty · Post by **minty** (?) » Mon Dec 18, 2017 8:09 pm

SlateSlabrock wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 18, 2017 5:23 pm
You can still get the DVD, although it's probably out of print by now. It was also released on BluRay.

Thanks for the suggestion. Amazon Canada can be a bit lacking, and I'm an old person who still doesn't have a blu ray player.

But I'll look into it.

And Japanese DVDs sound weird.