Happier Abroad Forum Community

Hi all,
I'm working a new contract job now for two months as an Editor for an online gaming company in Asia. They are paying very generously but have a very tight deadline of two months for me to edit nearly half a million words of their gaming scripts and dialogues. I'm not sure I can make such a deadline with that kind of load, and I might have to work every waking hour everyday to try to meet it. Whew.

Anyway, what this means is that I won't be on here much. So if you need something done, such as a thread deleted, PM Jamesbond, one of the moderators here.

Thanks,
Winston

Try to build good relations with the company and ask for a letter of reference/recommendation when you're done.

Btw, one of my advisors here in the Philippines referred me to this job through his connections. So what this means is that if you network around in a foreign country, you can find opportunities like this. Remember that most jobs are not advertised.

Whew. I'm finally done with the project after staying up all night for four days in a row. The company moved the deadline forward so I had to try to get it finished asap. To do that I had to pull a lot of all nighters. I finally finished yesterday at 8am after doing another all night. The work was so much. It seemed endless. Anyway, what a relief.

Now I will have more time to devote back to this movement and to traveling and other plans.

Btw, I want to tell you all about the new game I'm working on, but the company hasn't given me permission to publicly announce my involvement in their project yet.

But anyhow, most of you are probably not into online gaming anyway. lol

An update:
The gaming company liked my work and is giving me more work now. So I'll be busy again the next few weeks. But I'll make a lot more money to save for future travels as well. With this income and my website income, I'll be saving up a lot. So things are looking good for me financially now. I won't be posting here as much, only periodically to check in on a few threads.

good, taking a leave of absence means we won't have to ban you. I'm in charge now, you heard it here first.

Linux SHUT UP YOU IDIOT. You're not taking ANY forum YOU GOT THAT. Believe me the last thing that all of us want to see is you blasting the forum with your CT Videos and your negativity. And btw go ahead, show me a video on how i'm wrong

That's awesome news, Winston! Shows that the traveler who is really interested in doing it can find ways to make money and live life happier abroad!

Terrence wrote:That's awesome news, Winston! Shows that the traveler who is really interested in doing it can find ways to make money and live life happier abroad!

Well it's all thanks to Mr S. He referred me to it. He has a lot of professional contacts around here. Just the other week, he even referred Ladislav to an audition for voice-over work here. lol

I guess the lesson is that it pays to network.

You can also try bidding on projects here:

http://www.elance.com/
http://www.guru.com/
http://www.freelancer.com/

Winston wrote:Well it's all thanks to Mr S. He referred me to it. He has a lot of professional contacts around here. Just the other week, he even referred Ladislav to an audition for voice-over work here. lol

I guess the lesson is that it pays to network.

So true! Did I ever write on here the story of how I was waiting in the queue for the CR, at a club in Cebu, and met a movie producer from Big Foot Entertainment? He invited me to the studio and later I met the leader of that outfit and he turned out to be a friend of my publisher back in LA.

LinuxOnly wrote:good, taking a leave of absence means we won't have to ban you. I'm in charge now, you heard it here first.

LinuxOnly,
I elected not to ban you per others' suggestion here, cause I didn't see a legitimate reason to. But when you make fruitcake comments like the above, I gotta wonder. Being totally insane and beyond the ability to reason with, is grounds for banning here. And when you make bizarre statements like that, it makes me question your sanity. Should it?

Insinuating that I should be banned from my own forum is a fruitcake thing to say. Also, declaring yourself "in charge now" is also another fruitcake thing to say. I gotta question if you lost some marbles when I hear statements like that. Sane reasonable people don't say stuff like that out of nowhere.

Anyway, I've noted this and will keep a lookout for any other nutty things you say. However, you have contributed a lot of good content and videos here too, so I gotta consider that too, that your contributions have some value as well. That is why I am more lenient toward you, even when you make off the wall statements.

I think taking this job was a mistake now.

So far, I've lost nearly five months of my life not being able to go anywhere or get my other work done.

And even worse, I have a had time working because I have a hard time forcing my mind to concentrate and focus, cause I have so many problems and things on my mind, and other online errands/projects to do. Yet the harder I try to concentrate, the less I can concentrate. Instead, I start getting drowsy, daydreaming and doing other stuff online. It's kind of like biology class, where you try to force yourself to memorize all the terms for the test, but your refuses and rejects it and spaces out instead (the school calls that ADD).

So I'm trapped in an inertia:

- On the one hand, I can't go anywhere cause I know I have to stay home and get my work project done.
- But on the other, I can't get my project done cause I can't concentrate or utilize time management skills, so the time drags out unproductively.

Thus I lose time while time goes by and don't get much done, which is a lose-lose situation from the work/time tradeoff vantage point.

Holy shit. What can I do? It's frustrating as hell sitting here, feeling trapped, and not getting enough work done. I have 6700 paragraphs of text to check and edit for this last project, and it seems to drag on forever, which makes me even more weak and tired, which in turns makes me even work slower. I am already over halfway done, but it seems to drag on forever, cause I'm so impatient to finish it yet I can't! I can't tell you how frustrating that is. And it's a feeling of imprisonment as well. I hate it.

I don't think any amount of money is worth this. My life was already 3 years behind schedule, and I'm desperate to get out of Angeles, and I get delayed for another 5 months. Sheesh. The impatience in me is driving me mad!

After my project is done, what if something else comes up? Then what? Why can't I have any f***ing control over my life?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

The aggravation I feel sitting here and feeling trapped is beyond words.

It's also strained my relationship with Dianne. She has grown impatient waiting for me to finish my projects, and has gotten sick of being in Angeles too. So we've drifted apart during this time. Another negative impact.

Furthermore, when I finished my first project and finally had time to go somewhere, Dianne cancelled our vacation plans with my friend to Puerto Gallera, so she could go off on a vacation with her friends (or other boyfriend) without me (and refused to show me any pictures from her trip too, which is not a good sign). So you see, everything in my life is ALWAYS MISTIMED! f**k! f**k MURPHY'S LAW!

And on top of that, I can't stop coughing cause of the aircon in my room, which I have to stay in to do my work, but I can't work cause I can't concentrate, so I'm trapped and coughing for nothing! Sheesh I feel like such a victim!

I wish when I returned to the PH in January, that I hadn't accepted this job referred to by Mr S. It's caused so much entrapment and problems and delays, which dominoed into other problems. When I returned here in January, I couldn't even relax and settle back in on my first day here, before the stress of a job was put on me suddenly. Sheesh. I hate it when you can't do what you planned or wanted to do! As time goes on like this, it leaves me with a growing feeling of frustration and anger. Life sucks when everyday you yell and whine "Come on! Come on! Come on!"

Geez. Why can't things just go as planned?! I absolutely hate the feeling that I have no control over my life and the passage of time! I hate it!

Maybe I'm not cut out for such a harsh world.

Hope you all don't mind the vent. But please don't take advantage of it like scumbags and try to make me feel worse than I already do.

I think we've all been there.. but you have to put things in perspective. It'll be over soon and you'll have money to show for your efforts. Would you rather be in some of our positions, being frustrated as hell to get out of a country but not being able to do so yet. Or being unemployed. (Some members are both). Learn from your experiences but remember regret is a waste of time and gets you no where.

The strong desire to finish a task quickly and never have to go back to it, is an ADD trait. Like I said to get it under control you must eat well. No refined crap and as little dairy and gluten as possible. Try to exercise 30 mins a day, best in the morning.

Winston wrote:I think taking this job was a mistake now.
So far, I've lost nearly five months of my life not being able to go anywhere or get my other work done.
And even worse, I have a had time working because I have a hard time forcing my mind to concentrate and focus, cause I have so many problems and things on my mind, and other online errands/projects to do. Yet the harder I try to concentrate, the less I can concentrate. Instead, I start getting drowsy, daydreaming and doing other stuff online. It's kind of like biology class, where you try to force yourself to memorize all the terms for the test, but your refuses and rejects it and spaces out instead (the school calls that ADD).
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Disclaimer: I've never been to Angeles City, so you'd have to research this yourself.

Look for places within easy reach that offers a change of environment. If you need a quiet place to work, check local libraries, or school libraries. In the US, most colleges and universities open their library to community users and students from other schools. You'd have to pay for a community user library card if you want to check books out, but if you're just there to use the facilities, there is no cost. So look around your city and see what's avail.