I'm Still Here!

Greetings fellow otakus, I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates on the blog and for turning down a number of commission requests sent my way over the 1st half of the year. I really wish I had the time to help you with your projects, but my life has been pretty chaotic since the start of the year.  Allow me to elaborate...

Click on Read More for the rest of this post...



It's been a little over 6 months since I started at my new job and things have been going good, up until recently. Some time ago my boss decided to call it quits, the circumstances of which did not allow us to do a proper turnover - and I now have the *satisfaction* of managing an entire department alongside eleventeen simultaneous projects and issues all by myself.  The situation has me digging through my former boss's files, trying to make sense of all these scripts and figure out what goes where...it feels like I'm playing Russian roulette with the damn data. At the same time I need to stay on top of my team's workload, and make sure all ongoing projects are moving according to schedule. I'm treading in deep water here, and I think my legs are a few kicks away from cramping up...

my calendar...just keep swimming..just keep swimming..

I've had to resort to some newfangled project management tools like Trello to help me keep track of things, but it might not be enough. I now report directly to the CIO, and he say's he's got my back and understands that I've only been here for 6 months and can't be expected to be as efficient as my former boss right away - his encouragement would have taken some of the pressure off, had he not plopped several more assignments on my desk immediately after. Despite all that, I actually want this job to work out, so I'm trying to be optimistic - but if it starts taking a toll on my health and my personal life, then I'll have to start looking around for a new job. What's a fat paycheck if it ends up going to medical bills, right?

Trello is a big help...

The workdays are long and grueling and occasionally topped off by dinner with the head honcho himself, followed by copious amounts of expensive liquor. I honestly believe the total cost of scotch I've consumed in the past 6 months out-values all the alcoholic beverages I've had since I had my 1st beer...

scotch is nice, but I prefer a PG kit for the same price. easier on the liver...

What else has been keeping me busy? Ah yes, my wife and I have decided to buy a house. We found a good deal on a humble 108sqm (1162.5sqft) property in a fast developing neighborhood just south of Manila. The house is smaller than what I thought my first house would be - but in these times it's adequate for a family of three, and we can always pretend we're part of the Tiny House Movement. Construction has just started, and it's supposed to be done by the end of the year.

I'll be paying it off for the next N years, so a huge chunk of my salary will be locked into that. My son is already 2 years old, very smart, and I expect he will start schooling in the very near future, so that's another thing that takes precedence over my hobbies. Modelers are people too after all - regular people with mortgages and tuition and utility bills to worry about.

Is there still room in my life for this hobby? There will be. When the house is done and we get to move in, my wife promised I could set up a small work corner - nothing too fancy, just a hideaway desk near a window where I can build and paint stuff on weekends. For now though, it looks like my plamo activities will be limited to admiring other people's work over the internet and sharing what useful info I can find. So to everyone who thinks I've quit - I'm still here! just waiting for the right time to do my thing again.

Until then, keep building plamo!