The life and times of a real life Alchytect

[Alchytect]

What is an Alchytect, you ask? I suppose that it's something of a mix between an Alchemist and an Architect. The goal of both is design: one tries to shape an environment, place, structure to house and provide occupancy, as in building a home from the surrounding land (trees, dirt, stone, etc). One tries to transmute the things around him to create something better, as in turning the environment around him into what he desires (turning lead into gold).

I've found over the years that I possess the ability to do neither of these things. At least, in the literal sense.

HOWEVER, I've learned a great deal from what I have done so far. Without jumping too much into my past, as I'm sure it will come out eventually, let's just jump straight into it.

I will try and update this journal weekly to keep a log of what I'm thinking of, or what I've been up to. This may include any anime I may be currently watching, games I may be playing (although not much of either gets done lately). That's simply due to the fact that I've just recently (last week) started a new job, and am getting used to the new hours, the further drive to/from work, etc.

What I've been up to as of late: I've been very money-focused. As in, I don't necessarily want more than one primary job (as in one main job), but I do want multiple streams of income. I have an eBay store, and a couple of investment accounts, and a 401k. I've been looking at Shopify and considering starting a store there, and also helping my girlfriend get started with her goal of pursuing a strong social media presence doing what she loves to do. I've also been pondering the idea of writing an eBook, which if well written and interesting enough, could be a nice source of passive income.

I'm not wanting to be a bazillionaire, but it'd be nice to have the means to do the things I enjoy, and to have a decent health/wellness factor going into old age.

Also, just watched all of the Castlevania series on Netflix. There's two seasons, really short (12 episodes total). Really REALLY cool if you haven't seen it!

[Mantis]

I suppose I wasn't far off when I thought of an alchemist who can build things.



I hope all your transmutations go well though. And best of luck with the new job. You enjoying it? Also, e-book writing sounds like an interesting pursuit.

Castlevania's on my watch list on Netflix. Is it really that good? Figured I should finally play the games first. Hmm.

[Zemekis]

I suppose I wasn't far off when I thought of an alchemist who can build things.



I hope all your transmutations go well though. And best of luck with the new job. You enjoying it? Also, e-book writing sounds like an interesting pursuit.

Castlevania's on my watch list on Netflix. Is it really that good? Figured I should finally play the games first. Hmm.

Start with Symphony of the Night and thank me later.

[Alchytect]

I hope all your transmutations go well though. And best of luck with the new job. You enjoying it? Also, e-book writing sounds like an interesting pursuit.

Castlevania's on my watch list on Netflix. Is it really that good? Figured I should finally play the games first. Hmm.

So far I love the new job! My last job was more physically demanding; this one just requires me to sit, in a rather comfy chair. It's much more mentally demanding though, but the pay is phenomenally better than what I'm used to, and it's more rewarding at the end of the day.

Also... I feel like by now I should have played at least one Castlevania title, but...never have.

From what I understand though, the show is based on Castlevania 3, which is a prequel to the first. And I thought it was good, definitely action-packed and Trevor Belmont is a BEAST. Anyone that can fight an archer from 50m away WHILE FIGHTING a few other bozos is a badass.

[Alchytect]

So this weekend was consumed by being as relaxed as I possibly could be. I wore a cozy robe, sat on the couch, ate junk food and drank sodas, and played Runescape (dxp weekend - been playing since I was 15). The only real responsibilities I tended to included going grocery shopping this morning, doing some dishes and feeding the cats. Other than that, I didn't do a damn thing, and it was great!

A friend of mine tried to get me to go hiking yesterday, which I declined. Felt kind of bad about it afterwards, but it's been a while since I've just relaxed like this. Also me and my girlfriend started watching American Horror Story: The Coven. She's seen the first two seasons already, I'm just coming into it. Not a bad show so far if you haven't seen it: it's on Netflix.

I'll be heading back to work tomorrow, and it'll be a 4-day week this week as well (thursday off)! I have to say, having two 4-day weeks back-to-back is pretty amazing!

[Alchytect]

Happy thanksgiving everyone! I have the day off of work here (paid!). Apparently we're about to lose two team members at work (I work in IT, small team of six). One being our lead (not our manager, but directly under him) and it appears the responsibilities are going to be divvied up among the remaining four of us. I have a lot of admin things to learn so it seems, and being the extremely new guy still I do feel pretty intimidated by it. At the same time it's exciting because it means I'll get to learn a whole lot really soon, since I won't really have a choice.

Also, just want to thank you guys for providing a platform for me to interact with others, share ideas and the like. Aside from going to work and interacting with each other (and the cats) at home, me and my girlfriend don't get out much. It's cool to have a place like this to come to and just breathe, and talk about my day. So thanks!

[Mantis]

To be honest, who says you actually have to leave your place in your free time if you don't want to? It might be what's expected of people in general, but if you have loads of fun inside just stay in. Ah, you have a cat! Cats are awesome.

I worked in a small IT team once and I know what it's like to be given stacks of books (figuratively or literally!) to learn from. It can be a bit overwhelming to say the least. I'm sure you'll have nothing to worry about since you seem to be in high spirits.

I'm glad you're enjoying the platform! I'm equally thankful for your participation. Activity's been a bit shaky lately, so it's always nice to meet a new outlaw who's also friendly.

[Alchytect]

Got busy there for a little while, but I have today off due to government closing for the day of mourning. This gives me plenty of time to focus on getting some items relisted on my eBay store, pay rent and cook later on. My gf is off too, so last night we stayed up late watching Mortal Kombat and Constantine until we fell asleep.

I finally got my postal scale this morning, so I can print my own postage from home! I just ordered it last week too, so it came fast. This is going to save me at least 1-2 hours/week of standing in line at the post office, or 2-4 days/year.

Other than that, deciding what to get her for Christmas is on my to-do list (last minute shopping this year). It's just the two of us here, so it's nice just having to worry about each other for the holidays when it comes to gift-buying. Our family lives in various directions, hers a couple states northward, and mine one state east and south of here.

Not sure what else to write today, plus I've got a bit of a headache. I'll hop on again later though I'm sure.

[Alchytect]

Alright, so...I found it hard to keep this journal weekly. A lot has happened in the last month. The new job I started is still going well, and now that I'm more settled in, the responsibilities have tripled in the last 5 weeks since I've been on here. I'm no longer the new guy, as we picked up our 6th team member. Also, I rekindled a very old passion..

I started training martial arts again. I did it for most of my childhood/teenage years, and I thought it might be good for me to come back to it, work diligently and give something back to it before I inevitably leave this world (surprise ending!). Not to sound bleak; on the contrary, giving back is a very important thing for all of us. Martial arts has survived centuries by being able to evolve with the times, and if I can help it do that then I will. Plus the potential of getting paid to instruct before the end of this year entices me to want to train harder!

I'm going to need the extra income because...I just became a father. And this little outlaw can't see his old man and be like 'dang dad, you can't even open a jar of pickles' No...it should be 'dang dad! teach me how to front flip/axe kick a throat, grab the arm and ARMBAR THE HELL OUT OF IT!'