OOC Discussion

[AleBelly]

We're doing OK. I've been really busy - my job is in diagnostics development and we recently launched a rapid antigen test for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. It's basically the exact same flu test you take at your doctor's office but for COVID instead. I've been pretty tired as the hours have been brutal.

Our bit of sad news is that we lost a dog to cancer a couple of days ago. Given how badly off others are it feels almost petty to mention it, but it's hit us hard. But otherwise everyone's healthy and we're in a pretty stable situation here.

Marullus, I hope your family crisis resolves itself well, and redwarrior I share your concern about the state of our economy and the well being of other Americans over the next few years. We need to get a handle on this pandemic quickly to minimize suffering and our country has done a terrible job of it to date.

[greyarea]

Could be better, could be worse. Moved this summer across the country (partially, at least) with a long pause so we could find a house. Now we have one and finally got our stuff (it took nearly a month for them to get it out of storage and shipped to us), and are settling in. Still need to find a job here, but hopeful. And I'm still working to set up the side hustle.

And the pause wasn't lacking for excitement as well, with my family all getting COVID. Made things interesting, that's for sure. We're fine now, but I don't recommend contracting it.

[Samwell Turleton]

Redwarrior - It is good to hear that you have been given some flexibility with your work! I am curious about all the side hustles that people have been mentioning

AleBelly - I don't think it is petty to mention it and am very sorry to hear about your loss. We have had a few run ins with our pets' health this past year and think we are getting close to their last days as well. It is painful when you are going through it.

greyarea - I think I noted that you were making a move at the same time as we did. We ran into a similar situation with the belongings lagging and it has been a long process to settle in. Also curious about your side hustle

Marullus - Seconds or thirds to hoping that everything is alright with you and your family!

I would define my family and myself as very cautious and very concerned about the pandemic, politics, and fascism. We started isolating ourselves for a few weeks before the closures due to an illness going around our kid's childcare in Washington. We lost care soon after that to closures and have been struggling without childcare to balance the responsibilities of two full time jobs since. We made our move across the country by renting an RV and driving to avoid too much exposure to other people. We are still trying to sell our house in Washington and adjust to Maine. We recognize that we are both fortunate to be employed but really uncertain about work after this year as I work remotely for an office in Washington and my partner has a year-long contract here.

Prior to joining the Unseen Servant I had not played any RPGs so this has all been a learning experience that I have really enjoyed. Our kid is a bad sleeper and my partner is unable to get her to sleep so I usually have a window of time while I am sitting with her at her naps to write posts to the forum.

Since joining I have also been enjoying creating illustrations and have been doing some black & white drawings for tibbius' Tiny Dungeon modules as well as misc. illustrations for threads here. I don't know if there is a future in that but I am trying to explore that a little more. A side hustle of my very own!

[ybn1197]

Like greyarea said, could be better but could be worse. I work IT for Radiation Oncology at Hopkins so while my work hasn't changed in the least (I'm considered essential since we have to be onsite to work on the treatment machines) the way we conduct work has changed. Our patients are already immunity compromised so we all have to take extra steps to make sure we don't pass ANYTHING on to them. In that regard we only had to step our methods up. The most difficult thing for us was working with non-essential employees who are now working from home.

Alebelly, its not petty. Our animals are our family and losing them is just as painful. We lost our 2nd bulldog back in the beginning of April to cancer as well. A tumor burst in her abdomen and we had to put her to sleep. It's not easy but everyday is a new day.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all.

[redwarrior]

Redwarrior - It is good to hear that you have been given some flexibility with your work! I am curious about all the side hustles that people have been mentioning

AleBelly - I don't think it is petty to mention it and am very sorry to hear about your loss. We have had a few run ins with our pets' health this past year and think we are getting close to their last days as well. It is painful when you are going through it.

Seconded on the loss of a pet. They are definitely family members. I lost my best friend since JR High almost a year ago as well as pet a bit before. They both were real loses. I won't say they were the same, but they were both significant.

I don't think I realized you were from WA! I remembered the mention of moving to Maine, but didn't notice where it was from! I'm a WA native and currently in Sumner, which I love for now, but expect that I'll be moving somewhere else in about 10 years when I "retire."

My side gig is my consulting business (basically coaching managers, I could go in my longer rant, but basically most management sucks because nobody is ever taught the actual skills or that it is a profession. So they wing it. Poorly. /rant), which will become my "full time" gig once I "retire." Right now, I've got a whopping one client, who is a long-term friend, but it's actually been really good as a low-risk shakeout for my business model & flow. I learned a lot helping my wife start her business (she's a full-time freelance graphic designer), but it's different when it's yours - and our markets are significantly different. The one I'm starting up in a couple weeks is grading papers for a college.

[redwarrior]

Alebelly, its not petty. Our animals are our family and losing them is just as painful. We lost our 2nd bulldog back in the beginning of April to cancer as well. A tumor burst in her abdomen and we had to put her to sleep. It's not easy but everyday is a new day.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all.

Losing a pet is devastating. My condolences to both of you!

[Samwell Turleton]

I don't think I realized you were from WA! I remembered the mention of moving to Maine, but didn't notice where it was from! I'm a WA native and currently in Sumner.

All of my family is out west between Olympia and Stanwood-Camano Island but we weren’t really feeling like the area was a good fit for us in the long term.

I can picture going back to the Skagit Valley though

I am in architecture and do some project management/ team management work as a part of that job. It is a struggle to jump into management without the appropriate support or training. I fit into the suck at management category at the moment

[greyarea]

My side hustle is fiction writing. I have one published short story in an anthology and am working on a series (when I’m not interrupting myself with other ideas).

[Marullus]

It really touches my heart to have you all come out and share here about your lives. I love that this really is a form of community.

Pet losses are truly devistating. Glad our dogs are healthy. My daughter adopted a hampster today - "chubby Chester" is the cutest - and my wife and I are already worried about the impact of its short lifespan (they're only supposed to live two years). My daughter sobbed over the dead goldfish. Pain is real.

Thanks for the well-wishes. We have an extended family member with severe mental illness and had a whirlwind few weeks of police, courts, and emergency interventions. She got the help she needed, and we're still wrapping up some lose ends, but all is well. Not sure what school is looking like for my little one, but I have a supportive school system and a supportive job and my wife and I are operating on a lot of faith. It's a good lesson for me as a Christian; I've been led through worse and to better ends every time.

My wife's side-hussle is custom t-shirts for nerds and step-moms. She just opened an Etsy shop this week and is excited for the opportunity. I don't really side-hustle... I do volunteer stuff in my community, and I used to be an adjunct college professor, but real-job and fatherhood take most of the time. I wish I were a fiction writer but I've never had the discipline to push myself to actually do it.

My hope of extra time this week didn't materialize (my daughter and I got a lot of time, though, and I caught up on the honey-do lists). This coming week I will be taking my daughter camping for a few nights before school starts - we'll go a few hours west into the mountains and away from the East Coast city sprawl so we can really see some stars. My daughter's never seen them. So, you're likely to get a big update on the weekend again.

[Marullus]

Leaving now to spend two nights camping, probably in the rain.

Next updates on Saturday - go ahead and post moves until then!

[Samwell Turleton]

Have a great time camping - rain or no rain!

One rules question - does the deed die add a modifier to both the attack roll and damage done for a warrior’s roll?

[Marullus]

Yes - fixed!

I got so excited about the blindness I forgot that part.

[AleBelly]

Have fun camping!

[Faanku]

Pegg can narrate two rounds in the hold when Faanku returns; what's keeping her below?

I'll post something when I'm back after this weekend, but confusion will play a large part.

[Marullus]

Camping went well, but then was followed immediately by a trip to visit family for the long weekend. Cleaning up and recovering after a hectic seven days, which includes new posts!

[Marullus]

This last week was hell.

I normally push to update on weekends, but I'm taking a few days off to recover. Hopefully I'll get posts up later this week when I've recharged. (Next weekend I'll be camping with my daughter's troop, so no updates then, either.)

[Faanku]

Take it easy man o/

[Samwell Turleton]

We will be windsurfing with kraken parts til you get back. Take it easy and enjoy your time with family!

[Samwell Turleton]

I hope you and your family are doing alright Marullus!

[Marullus]

Thanks, we're recovered. I'll get some posts up today.