maker Posted September 8, 2016 Author Share Posted September 8, 2016 The two day 'team building' event with guys from work was better than expected, even though the "hotel" that was booked for us was downright bad and the go kart track looked dodgy at best. Had a ton of fun regardless of how the place looked, plus a couple sore spots and burns since each of us was free to drive up to one hour total on the track. It's a very strange feeling to be pulled down a narrow track in a thing that doesn't even have safety belts, smells of unburned gasoline and the rumbling engine over to your right drowns out most other sounds. From what I was able to piece together, I'm pretty lucky that I don't work directly at the company HQ. The CEO started acting out after his affair with a female quality manager became public, now he's handing out termination letters left and right for stupid infractions - one guy got fired for breaking the dress code, a guideline that's so poorly worded and composed that it sound like someone put it together in the second half of their lunch break. Fingers crossed that his expected transfer over to the parent company works out. If you can't fire the stupid, get rid of them with a promotion. Still trying to catch up with all the commissions and requests that I've lined up for this fall, it should be rather interesting if I have to keep this pace up for long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted September 18, 2016 Author Share Posted September 18, 2016 Some positive (or at least not entirely negative) news at last. I've had the opportunity to make prototype parts for my company and they turned out OK, fingers crossed that this becomes a regular thing. Plus it was refreshing to work on a completely different project than usual, a really nice (and paid!) distraction. I've set myself a challenge of cooking only new things for the entire week, let's hope that every meal done with the help of Tasty and Proper Tasty will be as good as the first one. There are times when I need a little nudge in order to really explore new things and these two channels have done just that, now I'm really looking forward to making myself a dinner. Dating apps seem to be full to the brim of flaky, fickle women and so I've set my expectations accordingly, there is absolutely no need to get excited over someone new if they'll stop responding out of the blue or outright block me after exchanging a couple messages. I might be paying more attention to it thanks to John John's diary but aside from the mandatory keyword "travelling", more and more profiles seem to list height and their expectations. Lucky me that I'm taller than that magic number. I suppose the last bit is nothing new but there seems to be a special code for body types, if a dating profile even includes that bit of important information. Let me preface this by saying that I don't want to shame anyone or make people feel bad, I just find it funny that women include full body pictures and still pick an option that clearly does not correspond with reality. Now that I've solved the code, it's saved me from a number of disappointing discoveries. Slim = slim in most cases Few extra pounds = usually overweight Plump/full figured = on a fast track towards morbid obesity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted September 20, 2016 Author Share Posted September 20, 2016 A replacement print bed for my 3D printer arrived today. Long story short, I took it out of the packaging, made a couple pictures and requested another bed from the manufacturer because the "replacement" glass substrate is cracked and chipped on one of the edges thanks to poor packaging. Let's see if the next one actually survives shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 If something looks way too good to be true, it usually is. Has anyone else noticed the proliferation of fake pictures on dating profiles? I'm not talking pics that are taken from just the right angle or ones that are five years out of date, just using someone completely different as a 'picture reference' of sorts. Old habits die hard, I reverse search most pics out of curiosity and I seriously doubt the girl lives in the US and in my country at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WithLove Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 I don't think I've ever encountered this before; if I have, I've been lucky and things never progressed to the meeting stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WithLove Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 I do think it's smart to reverse search the pictures anyway, though. Also, after the first meet, I ask for last names and Google search them. If it progresses to more dates, I put them through the court database (gotta love having a parent that works for the city). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted October 3, 2016 Author Share Posted October 3, 2016 Yeah, reverse searching pics can bring a number of interesting facts to the surface. Or save you from a disappointment, like in this particular case. Wish I had access to court files, the best I can do is pull vehicle records from our DB I've been working, doing more projects in my spare time and my mood has been surprisingly stable over the past couple days. Dating ads still serve as a source of entertainment more than anything else, so I go through the new stuff every couple days and then it's back to the usual, a life without dates. Since imsuperman mentioned it in his journal, I've been reading No More Mr. Nice Guy and I came across a rather educational channel yesterday, called "An Ear For Men". His description of borderline women and how they abuse people around them is absolutely on point, matches my experience almost word for word. Definitely have to go through more videos. Didn't have much chance to do wargaming in a while, my good buddy and gaming enthusiast is at the proving grounds over in US, so I'm left with all of my other hobbies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted October 7, 2016 Author Share Posted October 7, 2016 Today I woke up to a frighteningly vivid nightmare involving my mother, good thing that I remember my dreams very rarely, who knows what's going on in that head when I'm asleep. My semi-annual employee review was due so I didn't know what to expect. In the end, I came out of there feeling much better. Aside from being praised for my initiative with a project that took up on top of my usual responsibilities, I should be getting some hard cash and not just a 'feel good' talk that wouldn't cost my boss anything. For one reason or another, my company still refuses to buy a 3D printer for small scale prototyping, so when a need came to quickly turn CAD data into a single prototype for demonstration purposes, I offered my machine and skills. The data had some issues, I ended up hacking away parts of the print in order to make things fit into an existing assembly but in the end, everything worked and the higher ups are pleased. I guess that doing those extra twenty hours on top of my monthly average really paid off. I'm listening to a couple videos from Paul Elam (Ear For Men/Voice For Men) every day and it's a real learning experience. When he mentioned "red pill", I was ready for some PUA bull and hardcore sexism but the dude is way better than that, addressing some important issues and giving advice without degrading women. Instead of canned lines and seduction "techniques", his suggestion for getting laid is to become really good at something, focus on that passion and forget chasing women just for the sake of women. Sometimes I wish that my love life would follow these gradual steps forward and successes in other areas of my life, but I'm more and more content with leaving things as they are. Still not convinced that the positives really outweigh all the possible pitfalls and landmines for men in our 'equal' society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted October 16, 2016 Author Share Posted October 16, 2016 I've resumed work on my own cosplay projects, mostly because some commissions are dones and other are postponed, might as well make the best use of my time. Yesterday was great, I got together with our Warhammer 40k group for a group model building event. To make up for our trashed/missing buildings, the guys have agreed to split the contents of a big 'Imperial Sector' box (one that can easily make four or five individual buildings) and we're building stuff in an assembly line fashion. So far it turned out great, just talking about whatever comes to mind while making scenery for our 'plastic soldiers' was pretty relaxing. One building down and finished, four more buildings to go. A female acquaintance from uni started working in a different department but on the same floor, it's no surprise what sort of drama started to unfold since she's the only woman in a department of over twenty guys. It downright saddens me to see the guys go at each other like hungry wolves, just because there's this slim possibility of getting together with a woman. From what I was able to piece together, six or seven guys asked her out on a date during a single day. Still haven't heard a single word about the delivery of my musket, I'm slowly coming to terms with the possibility of having to sue for the money that I paid in advance. No real news when it comes to dating. No Tinder matches at all, most local dating ads provide only little entertainment and not much else. Wherever I look, it's a mix of entitlement, desperation and good old crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 Reading up on strange things and listening to some of my subscribed channels is a surefire way to turn a meh Monday into an awesome day. The "Gender Master List" (courtesy of tumblr, so you know it is legit) is the best thing I've read in a while. Come to think of it, it's been quite some time since I laughed so hard that my face actually hurt. I wish I had access to whatever psychotropics the authors are/were using. Here's a short selection, best of the best. Anongender: a gender that is unknown to both yourself and others Antegender: a protean gender which has the potential to be anything, but is formless and motionless, and therefore, does not manifest as any particular gender Genderflow: a gender that is fluid between infinite feelings Glassgender: a gender that is very sensitive and fragile Glimragender: a faintly shining, wavering gender Magigender: a gender that is mostly gender and the rest is something else Vapogender: a gender that sort of feels like smoke; can be seen on a shallow level but once you go deeper, it disappears and you are left with no gender and only tiny wisps of what you thought it was As a cishet white male scum, I can't wrap my head around this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WithLove Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 I'll admit, those all perplex me!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 I'll admit, those all perplex me!! And the best bit? That list of over 100 "genders" fails to mention male and female. Guess I've been wrong all my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WithLove Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 We've been doing it all wrong, Maker! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 Rather interesting Friday for a change. Some stuff arrived in the mail so I should have plenty to do over the weekend, replenished my stocks of spraypaint and other consumables. On my way back from work, I've found out that a female friend from work actually lives maybe 100 m away, I had no idea that she moved or when did that happen. Still looking just as pretty as she was when were in touch almost every day at work, back then I was convinced that it would be a dumb idea to try anything, given that we worked on the same project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted November 13, 2016 Author Share Posted November 13, 2016 The more I spend time elsewhere, the less inclined I am to even post here, maybe that's a positive trend. The last three weeks have been really intense, one weekend dominated by a cosplay con, the other spent at the local library, presenting my 3d printer and doing a short presentation on cosplay. At least the latest iteration of my exosuit project did receive positive comments from people, that's the exact sort of motivation I needed to keep going. Made some new friends too, though nearly all of them are men, not that it surprises me. The most important bit of this library presentation was one of the other guests, a sorta-famous sci-fi writer. He was so impressed by the project that he wants to see both exoskeletons on a big event for book sellers in May of 2017. Can't wait to present my work in a venue with possibly thousands of visitors! Back when I joined ENA in 2015, my mind was a mess and I wasn't sure what to do about my romantic life. If anything, the past year showed me that desperation and a focus on trying to find romance are not the way to go. I'd say I am at my best and most focused when women are completely off my mind, so it is logical to keep things that way and work on the things that are already set in motion. No sense in trying to make up for things that I should have at least some experience with at the age of 28. TL;DR - maker is one year older again, sees the bright future with zero p*ssy chasing and a clear focus on the important stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted November 18, 2016 Author Share Posted November 18, 2016 Sometimes life can really put things in perspective for you, like it or not. I got woken up at about 2AM since my flatmate brought in a girl and they were not exactly silent. Now that I can hear her moan over three walls, it makes me wonder whether I'm ever going to experience something like that, if I can even find a woman who will want to get to that level of intimacy with me. What's a fairly common or even boring experience for most people is a completely unknown territory for me, not sure how and if I can change that, ever. Good thing is that I do realize this is my problem, not his fault. He is scoring an ONS because he can, not the other way around. I suppose I should stop wondering about nonsense and try to get at least some sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted November 18, 2016 Author Share Posted November 18, 2016 Oh well, instead of trying to get to sleep with all those conflicting thoughts racing through my mind, I decided to do something productive instead and pulled an all nighter, working on scale models and some of my prop work. Is it possible to eventually detach from the need for female companionship and intimacy, even when life shoves it in my face like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 Now that I'm back after taking a much needed break from ENA, I might as well sum up the last couple months here. Nobody will read this anyway, but here we go. The weeks before Christmas were pretty damned hectic, not only because I took additional duties and responsibilities as a project leader, but also due to my costume work and prop commissions. And even though I got sick a week before the deadline for my Jedi knight costume, somehow I managed to pull it off. I took it to our company Christmas party, which turned out to be fairly interesting as only ten or so people out of the two hundred actually arrived in a costume. For a while, I had a feeling as if a woman from the catering staff (fairly close to my age, though I'm terrible at figuring that out) was flirting with me, but I brushed it off as wishful thinking and moved on. Nothing transpired, aside from a fun evening and a following midnight screening of Rogue One. I went back to my home town on the 23rd, since I'm still stuck with the idea that I am supposed to spend that time of the year with my awesome family. This year there was no major incident or an explosive conflict, possibly because I bailed out at the first opportunity and headed back home. I feel like I'm getting too old for crazy parties and drinking till I'm sick for an entire day, maybe that's why I've decided to spend the New Year's Eve with the same group of friends as last year. Again, it was just a casual evening and one really long, freezing walk back home. My first ever bullet casting adventure turned out surprisingly well - no burns or other injuries. I made about two pounds worth of .69 cal musket balls, more than enough for a single day at the range. The musket arrived right before Christmas and I have to say that it's been worth the wait. It might not be a high tech weapon or a super reliable one, but loading and firing from paper cartridges feels like going back in time, right into the time when this particular weapon led a revolution in land warfare. Now I'm tempted to join some sort of reenactment society, even though not a single one in my country seems to focus on British infantry units. Ah well, I'll probably buy a period correct uniform anyway. Things are still busy for me even now, three weeks into the new year. While I got royally paid for showing initiative and taking on new responsibilities at work, I'll now have to go through even more mandatory training than the other guys, not to mention the slightly higher workload as I have to help out my boss every now and then. And when I'm not stuck at work, I'm back home, printing and designing stuff. A friend of mine got in touch with the company he works for and now I'm contracted to print small figurines of a character from one of their apps. Since the company specialises in learning apps and games for kids, it is a welcome change of pace and a whole new realm of things. Futuristic weapons one week, pink kid's toys the next. The only downside of this contract is that it has added two more weeks to what's already a serious backlog of work. I'll probably have to work even harder on the weekends to make up for that. Again, I suppose it is a good thing. Busy hands mean a busy mind, with no time to be worried about feelings and relationships. Finally, I've decided to keep the beard that I've initially grown for my Jedi costume. Even though I will never look like Obi Wan Kenobi, I've shaped it in a style similar to what Ewan McGregor had in Revenge of the Sith and I kind of like the look. While most women probably don't dig this amount of facial hair, that is fortunately not an issue for me. That's it for now, enough with the ramblings of a guy who makes stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WithLove Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Hi Maker! I've got some stuff I want to type out, but it's after midnight here. Will put more down tomorrow. Nice hearing from you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted January 21, 2017 Author Share Posted January 21, 2017 Hey WL, I'm surprsied that anyone still reads my journal and is bothered enough to reply. Thanks for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maker Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 With the latest project finally done and in the hands of my friend, I can kick back and relax for a bit. It's nice to know that I'm not only helping a friend out and earning some money on the side, but that work of this sort might get me noticed by another company. It'll be at least another week till I can publicly unveil what I've been working on, but we've talked about it and there's no problem with being credited for my share of the work. No news on the dating front, I've been so busy that I barely had time to eat. Not that I feel all that excited by the prospect of more internet dating and being blocked/ignored without warning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WithLove Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Your projects are incredible, maker. I am certain that you will be approached by other companies, just based on the work I've seen. Keep at it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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