Blogger's note: Today's blog is posted at both Innovating Common Knowledge and Finding Raymond Mar.
The late Steve Jobs said, "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." There are sayings regarding a person living a bad life. It can't get worse; it can only get better. Everyone must experience hell before heaven. Frustrations, mistakes, and pain are part of growing up. Be prepared for failures before success. Everyone has bad years and everyone has good years. You win some and you lose some. Sometimes bad years are nobody's fault--it's life. The bottom line is everything we do today affects tomorrow; in particular, if life is bad today, then do something for a good life tomorrow. Trust hard work intelligently, good luck, and favorable timing everything goes well soon. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Hope for the best.
I share my past bad years which became future good years. I hope my past history dictates what happens for the rest of 2017 and beyond because I'm unemployed and I live with my parents.
2000. The Y2K catastrophe never happened. My company moved to a new building for which everyone settled in slowly. The dot-com stock market crashed creating a recession. Most people didn't know how to handle the uncertainty beginning a new millennium which included myself. Fanime Con 2000 which took place at a convention center and held for four days both for the first time was bad. Anime Expo 2000 which took place at Disneyland could be considered one of the worse big anime conventions in anime convention history.
An event in San Francisco brought all my friends closer together a few more years. I created Innovate Infinitely which became my personal webpage innovateinfinitely.com in May 1, 2004. These two happened in Sep.
2002. 2002 was a year of mistakes I corrected years later. It was like 2001: The Sequel which flopped. My manager was fired for incompetence. I learned one lesson: have nothing, do nothing, get nothing, be nothing, and people treat you like nothing. Never be a nobody. Working at my company became comfortable up to late 2006. Two small events affecting me today were I created an eBay account and I discovered the importance of financial education.
2004. Wait. Why is 2004 on the list? 2004 Was [Actually] A Good Year. I admit I made a mistake. The anime conventions I attended were bad thereby 2004 was a bad year. The blog link tells otherwise. For instance, I wore a costume to an anime convention for the first time which delayed anime retirement to Sep 2014. I met lots of new people, made new friends, and created memories.
2007. The second worse year in my life. The year started sad because my grandfather died. The permanent downfall started in late May. I took life for granted. I said to myself 2007 was going to be a good year no matter what because I started to wear braces in Jan, started a new job in Mar, and purchased my first car in May. On the one hand, I have a new smile when my braces were removed in Aug 2009 and my car is still in good condition. On the other hand, my job was terminated in Nov 2008 because of the financial real estate bubble.
I was introduced to Japanese MahJong or Riichi in Aug. I quit because it was too hard. A friend challenged me to relearn Riichi in one week on Oct 2009. I play Riichi today. Also, I was introduced to social live chatting at AOL's AIM. I created social networking accounts Facebook in Apr 2009 and Twitter in Nov 2009.
I played The Settlers of Catan board game for the first time. The game reintroduced me to board games as a top hobby. Click Top Ten Favorite Board Games to read my all-time favorites which includes Puerto Rico, Chess, and Dominion.
I played Team Fortress 2 (TF2) video game from Oct to 2011. TF2 was the first time I played online with other people. Side note: I played Starcraft offline and with people on a local network.
2007 was a foolish year I acquired life wisdom. Don't take life for granted. Don't take life too easy. I didn't take responsibility seriously. I didn't earn my successes sincerely and honestly.
Is 2007 the second worse year in my life? I wonder is 2007 actually a bad year?
2008. 2008 was one of three years which started bad and ended good. I realized I must grow up on Sat Oct 4. 2008 continued 2007 taking life for granted, living with too much fun, being irresponsible, and being dishonest. I made changes which impacted my life immediately. Some of the changes included new clothes, new desktop PC, new mattress, and new blog Finding Raymond Mar. I started to read fiction books. I found new hobbies such as hiking, ballroom dancing, and listening to classic jazz. Taking ballroom dancing class in college resulted in earning an AA degree in Accounting in Mar 2011. Almost all the changes and new interests positively influenced my life today.
2013. The second of three years which started bad and ended good. 2013 was too much fun. It was like I graduated from college to take a long vacation. Some memories were created. There was nothing to write home sharing those memories. I continued getting calls and interviews for jobs; unfortunately, no offers.
One mistake I made was job training at Accountemps' self-taught courses. Some of the courses I enrolled were business analyst, Excel, PowerPoint, and accounting. The courses were a waste of time. I learned nothing. However, I corrected the self-taught attitude by watching YouTube tutorial videos starting on Aug 2014. I have been learning new job skills such as Python, CSS, and JavaScript on YouTube today.
2013 ended good because I found a job working at a retail start-up which sold wine. I drank wine for the first time on my second day. I learned almost all wine sold at supermarkets and drug stores are terrible. I drink wine on special occasions only. Also, I wrote work blogs which continued at my next job on Nov 2014.
2014. The third of three years which started bad and ended good. The accounting degree I earned in 2011 helped me at my retail start-up such as purchase orders and accounts payable. The start-up went downhill in May. My contract was terminated in Sep. 2014 ended good because I worked at Palo Alto Networks in Nov learning SAP and Salesforce.
I retired from anime in Sep. The free time is devoted to new interests, new adventures, and new experiences. For instance, more time to read books, more time to workout at the gym, more time playing MahJong, and more time learning new job skills.
Two small events affecting me today were watching Breaking Bad and podcasts. I rarely watch TV. Breaking Bad sets my standards which TV series I watch. I listen to four podcasts which are Sex With Emily, CarTalk, Awesome Etiquette, and Freakonomics.
2016. It's too early to say how 2016 affects my life as of today. 2016 life continues today: job searching, learning new jobs skills, reviewing existing job skills, working out at the gym four to five days a week, reading books, minimizing eating processed foods, and writing blogs. Social life can be more active. 2016 is the worse year of my life because I'm not independent. I'm not giving up living independent.
Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com
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