Hello again! =)
I'm back! And this is really more for me than for you, sorry ;P
You see, I have to get my head straight and writing has always helped me with that, so all you poor unfortunate souls are now my sounding boards... I hope you find it all at least mildly interesting ;P ...
Many of you are already aware that I have started a new job. I'm really happy about it because it is a new twist on something that has become kinda boring for me after doing it for 9 years (teaching English).
It involves me mentoring over 50 people who work at a publisher/editor. I get to do things my way. That is, inspire and motivate self-education, rather than delivering pre-planned lessons with generalised material. Don't get me wrong though: The school I worked at before getting this new thing was the best in the area, imho. I wouldn't have stayed with them for over 4 years otherwise, and in fact, I haven't quit there yet. If I do, it will only be because of time constraints.
But yes, being free to help others learn my language (I truly love English and have learnt a lot from learning how to teach it) in a direct, personalised way is truly enjoyable and I'm sure will yield much more rewarding results.
A big problem though, is that, with age, it seems, came being very comfortable with a routine. I've developed habits that are proving hard to shake, so that, the 5 hours every day in the morning at this new job are like a sudden plane-crash into my forest... Upsetting the ecosystem completely, forcing me to grow around and absorb the impact slowly but surely...
In the past... Well, I guess I was less of a foresty ecosystem and could take big changes in my stride more easily.
So now what?
Well, for the time being, the new job is Priority Number 1. I'm learning as I go, and don't want to stop at this one company. In the future, I'd like to have several contracts with multiple companies, with a few mentors working for me. But first, I need to lay the groundwork...; see what works, what doesn't, collect resources and identify the best habits to develop so that I can train said mentors, all of which takes time.
And so this means that a lot of what I was so focused on before has to take a backseat.
The @phoenixproject is currently paused... Kind of. I haven't been doing the report posts, but I continue to search out posts that are deserving and upshare them.
@whalecraft is up and running still, with a new server recently begun. I haven't promoted it yet because I wanted to build a fun spawn challenge first and get a few locations set up. There are currently three Master Architects creating three incredibly awesome, themed locations. (No spoilers!). My plan is to give some time every weekend to this and get more people playing. Right now, we're in need of a 4th Master Architect so if you enjoy building in Minecraft in creative mode, and have some spare time each day, let me know ;)
You might also know that I am part of @snug witness. My main role is to make sure all is well with the technical side of things, and indeed, recently, an update was needed and I managed to get it done. But otherwise I'm afraid I just don't have the time to be part of the community much anymore =( ... At least not for the near future. The one thing I really want to try hold onto is the Snek-Together, held on Snekky's Discord Server every Friday night. It's a way for me to stay connected to my friends I've made here in the community the last few months. If you're one of them but don't know what the Snek-Together is, you should really message me or Snekky and get yer ass over there on a Friday night! ;P .. (10:30pm UTC)
And of course, there's my art. I haven't done anything new in a long while and this will be a priority as soon as I start feeling more comfortable with the new job situation. I simply can't be creative when I have so much on my mind. I do plan on posting the last few pieces, and many of the mandalas, that I haven't yet shared here.
Oh man... And I just remembered the many little "to-do" things I have written down that need getting to... Backing up my HD, learning some basics of Python for a secret project a friend and I want to do, crypto-research for when I have some spare fiat for investment... Not to mention other projects like my Mandala book I haven't promoted yet and the Choose Your Own Adventure story I started with 
And then there's the reading, music and games I want to find time for too... :sob: ... It really does feel like a bit too much right now.
So if you left a comment on one of my posts or if you sent me a msg in Discord and I never replied, please do forgive me, and don't feel shy to send another one admonishing me for my sloppiness ;P
Bye for now! o/
Mandel
