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Post by squirmydad on Mar 22, 2015 9:25:25 GMT -9
TLDR version; My Macbook Pro died a horrible unexpected death last monday and I no longer have a functional work machine for projects nor do I have the funds to replace it.
The more wordy version; After some creative work I was able to extract all of the important bits and tuck them away on my backup drive, so everything is intact, just mostly inaccessible right now. I can't buy a new machine for quite some time as my bank accounts are empty due to losing an insurance appeal when my insurance company refused to pay for one of my daughters therapies. I have an old iMac (1st generation pentium) that I'm trying to work with, but it's extremely clunky and it's OS won't run the new web design app I just recently purchased to restore onemonk.com. There's been a slew of other really stupid and expensive incidents this week but those are the main ones.
I can't update the site, I can't update the forum banner, and I don't know if I can finish any of the projects I've been working on.
I've been pretty down this week as things just kept getting worse, but at the end of it I remind myself that I still have job, a house, and most of my health.
The forum has able moderators so this house is in good hands. The Papercuts showcase will happen in August. The forum hoards will totter along I'm sure, I just won't be able to do the layouts and uploads for some time.
Take care all, -Eric
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Post by cowboyleland on Mar 22, 2015 10:15:31 GMT -9
I`m sorry about your bad luck, Eric. I wish there was something I could do.
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Post by Christopher Roe on Mar 22, 2015 11:06:15 GMT -9
Aw, man. I know exactly how that feels. I hope things work out for you soon.
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Post by mproteau (Paper Realms) on Mar 22, 2015 11:06:26 GMT -9
You're living my worst nightmare - I always feel like I'm on the verge of a technology disaster... When it rains, it pours! But, eventually the sun's gotta come out again.
In the spirit of every little bit helps, I'll see if I can't pick up as many Mayhem in Paper minis as I can!
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Post by squirmydad on Mar 22, 2015 13:51:46 GMT -9
I`m sorry about your bad luck, Eric. I wish there was something I could do. Actually there is, Tom Tullis of FDG just posted this; Tom Tullis Just cleared this with Eric, next Sunday, March 29, all net profits (i.e. 70% of the sale price once OBS takes their cut) from FDG online sales will be donated to Eric/One Monk. Spread the word!Also I'm going to be putting my entire inventory on sale at 30% off for 30 days, because 30/30 sounds good.
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Post by berneart76 on Mar 22, 2015 14:11:34 GMT -9
Wish I could help more as well... Things have to get better for a few of us soon!
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Post by Christopher Roe on Mar 22, 2015 14:58:45 GMT -9
Actually there is, Tom Tullis of FDG just posted this; Tom Tullis Just cleared this with Eric, next Sunday, March 29, all net profits (i.e. 70% of the sale price once OBS takes their cut) from FDG online sales will be donated to Eric/One Monk. Spread the word!Also I'm going to be putting my entire inventory on sale at 30% off for 30 days, because 30/30 sounds good. Oh, awesome! That was classy of Tom Tullis! The sale is a good idea too.
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 22, 2015 15:48:18 GMT -9
I wish I could help, but as I find out on April 1 whether I am still employed, I'm a bit cautious with resources right now
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Post by squirmydad on Mar 22, 2015 20:52:46 GMT -9
I wish I could help, but as I find out on April 1 whether I am still employed, I'm a bit cautious with resources right now Sorry to hear that. Still being employed was one of the assets I listed friday after having having the laptop die, my Kindle Fire being stolen from a job site, losing the insurance appeal and having my accounts drained, then having water pour in through my bedroom ceiling, then losing half of my car payment in the parking lot of the bank, and it's not even my birthday. Seriously, all the crazy stuff is usually reserved for my birthday. By Friday I just felt beaten. Saturday I started reviving the clunker I'm using now, which unfortunately crashes a lot. But I don't despair as this community has proven itself to be amazingly generous; www.gofundme.com/pmlcpg I've started a gofundme campaign to try and raise funds to replace the laptop. Don't want to send money? No problem! Both Okumarts and Fat Dragon Games are doing special sales next sunday March 29th with the proceeds going towards a replacement laptop. that way you'll recieve something for your money instead of just my gratitude. All help is appreciated
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Post by oldschooldm on Mar 22, 2015 21:59:37 GMT -9
I'm in. This forum (more properly, it's community) was a big part of my adopting this hobby at a time in my life when I needed to enjoy something for myself (life was pretty crappy, as many of you know...) SquirmyDad was a part of that, and then stepped up even further when the original founders wanted to move on. He's refused direct financial support for things like storage fees, so I'm happy to be able to help replace the defective equipment. This is WAY better investment than several of the kickstarters I've backed before... :-)
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Post by migibb on Mar 23, 2015 0:34:06 GMT -9
I've dropped in a little to show my support squirmydad. Make sure to let us know when the sale(s) are up and running and I will go and pick up whatever I don;t already have!! (And maybe re-buy one or two of my favourites too!!!)
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Post by Christopher Roe on Mar 23, 2015 7:54:02 GMT -9
Tossed a bit in the pot too. It's the least I can do for all the support you've shown me over the years!
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Post by Christopher Roe on Mar 23, 2015 15:13:20 GMT -9
Oh, just thinking out loud: you might want to do a news announcement post with the link to the GoFundMe campaign and a brief recap/description of the campaign so it doesn't get completely lost in this thread. It seems to me it might be kinda easy to miss if it's buried down there in the publishers area and punted down the New list by more recently updated threads.
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Post by squirmydad on Apr 18, 2015 19:15:13 GMT -9
Campaign update: I've recovered from being speechless at the incredible generosity of this community. With all of the funds that were raised due to donations and my sales I was able to purchase a new Macbook Pro, it's a pretty nifty workhorse. However, the massive changes in OS means that none of my old programs work on it. Boo! Fortunately, during that first week of despair I purchased a ten-year-old surplus iMac* and updated the heck out of it. Unfortunately, there's only so far you can go with a 32 bit first generation pentium iMac; it runs my old powerpc apps but not my newer web design app, but that one runs on the machine, yay! Since I got the new machine I've been learning how everything works and teaching myself how to use replacement apps and creating new mental workflows and rhythms. I looked at how Photoshop works now, and when I got done laughing, (a monthly subscription? Hah!) I downloaded Gimp and purchased Pixelmator from the App store. Both are quite good replacements for Photoshop and the prices are nice; free and cheap. Now that I'm getting handle on the new setup I'm returning to work on the Desert Legion Outpost freebie, I should have a test model available in a week. My plans after that are to finish my fold-flat staircase model for oldschooldm's project and then get some Hordes uploaded to onemonk.com as I'm running behind in that area. Thanks again to everyone! Much love, ~Eric
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Post by squirmydad on Apr 18, 2015 21:55:45 GMT -9
*Forgot to add this part, the story of how I purchased the ancient surplus iMac. The University will occasionally do surplus sales at their warehouse, which are open to the public one hour after the sale starts so that university employees can get in first to pick through the items. I still have friends in the university and I left on good terms and I'd heard there would be an iMac going up for sale so I got their early to make sure that I would be at the front of the line when they started admitting the public. But the warehouse manager erred...and opened the doors wide for everyone at the start time...and I was the only one standing there at "go" time. "Hey Eric! Come on in!" I ran to the computer section and...no iMac, just decrepit Dells...so I wandered around...and found it in the display section instead. Snagged! By this time employee customers were starting to come in and were all expressing jealousy over my carrying the only iMac on sale, they probably thought I was still an employee too...until the woman who was one of the primary reason that I left the university showed up and saw me. She came straight over as soon as she spotted me and said, "You're not supposed to be here, how did YOU get in early?" I smiled, "The manager let me in." She visibly twitched, pointed at the iMac under my arm and said, "That's what I came here to buy." She had a page of stickers in her hand that said "sold" on them, so I reached over and peeled off one of her stickers and stuck it on the iMac. I smiled, and walked over to her department head to make my purchase, he smiled and was happy to see me. I'm sure there's a moral to the story in there somewhere, probably something about early birds and reaping what you sow. The old iMac comes in handy as I'm using it as an interpreter for old apps and converting the old files to formats that can be read by the apps on the new machine. It was a good use of $50.00.
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Post by Christopher Roe on Apr 19, 2015 11:23:29 GMT -9
I kind of have the same problem with applications--I switched to an iMac in 2013, fell in love with it, and can barely stand Windows anymore. I ended up buying Parallels and an OEM license for Windows 8.1 to tide me over, but keep wishing I could do everything in OS X.
3D modeling--Silo 2.1
Texturing--Photoshop CC
Unfolding--Ultimate Papercraft 3D in Parallels (Last time I checked, it was somewhat awkward filesystem-wise unless I keep all my assets on an external drive that both OS X and Windows can read/write to)
Instruction images--I can render those out in Carrara on OS X or import 3D instruction models into Photoshop.
Layout/publishing--Frames saved from Ultimate Papercraft 3D in PSD format, I just export them as PDF from Bridge CC.
I like Photoshop CC and have a subscription. At ten bucks a month under the Photography plan or whatever it's called, it's not a bad deal--considering that I paid something like $600 for Photoshop CS5, $120 per year for the full meal deal seems downright cheap and roughly equates to buying a new full version of Photoshop Extended once every 5 years, which I'm fine with.
I also own Pixelmator and like it a lot, but I'm too used to Photoshop.
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Post by lightning on Aug 22, 2015 7:24:40 GMT -9
Love to read stories like this. Humanity it not lost yet :-) Glad it all worked out like this.
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