I made a google betting spreadsheet template for anyone wanting to keep track of their record.
It features: - A stats tab that automatically updates. - 12 sheets, 1 for every month. - It looks nice and is organized. Link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MHtUFVoB1yg_GXD3ugmNq2nYnVw-3IS7i6fLk4V7bdk/edit?usp=sharing If you plan on using this template or want to know more about it then it is crucial that you read the big text box, otherwise ignore it. Feedback appreciated, happy betting! :)
Since this started as, and still is, a mod of his work, i want to start by giving a Shoutout to Paper_Platoon and his original Bitcoin Betting Spreadsheet https://www.reddit.com/csgobetting/comments/4xckn2/igomango_bitcoin_betting_spreadsheet_v10/ It will provide more than enough information for most people, and probably be better for people starting to bet, since i could see why the spreadsheet i am about to show you would overwhelm people without much expierence. What does it do? A couple of things.
It gives tells you how often you bet on a certian type of bet, how your winrate is for this type of bet, how much you profit from it and what your Return of Investment is. http://i.imgur.com/lqa7F56.png
It tells you how many bets you placed on a day, how much you profited on that day and what your winrate was on the day. http://i.imgur.com/1Fnz0rH.png
It also gives you statistics for your last 7 Days http://i.imgur.com/gVkhfHq.png (you will see what i mean by the bottom right when you see the sheet without the data i enterd for screenshots/testing)
And the obvious, tells you how much you've bet on what game, gives you a graph of your inventory development, tells you how much your bankroll is, etc. How can you get it? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NN0D62_Ibxu2luP4oQXgTOXONdK9nD7Go92boV2fb7Y/edit?usp=sharing Open this link, click on "File", select "Make a Copy" and follow what it says. You will need a google account for that. It can take a while to load because there are quite a lot of calculations going on. Explanations Bettype - While this works with what ever you enter, my intention with this were things like Pistolrounds, Over, Under, ML, Handicaps etc. Region - Same thing, works with what ever you enter. My intention were to have it be the region the team you bet on is from, CN, KR, EU, NA, SA, CIS, SEA, AU etc. Tail - There is a sheet named "Tail", tailing a bet means betting based on someones advice. Other Bets - This is a esports Betting Sheet. There are dedicated pages for the 4 biggest esports. The "Other Bets" Sheet is meant for everything that isnt in those 4. That can be anything from traditional sports, to smaller esports, to politics. For the "Last 7 Days" Page, the last 7 Days total will be based on the last bet placed on any page. The others will be based on the last bet placed on the page for the game. Known Errors When no bets have been entered there are problems with the Last 7 Days page. They fix themself once something has been enterd. When you want to enter a positive Handicap as Bettype, it doesnt work. You will have to type this: ="+4.5" For it to work properly.
Analytic eSports Betting Spreadsheet v1.1 and v1.1C
3 Months ago i published v1.00 of my Spreadsheet template https://www.reddit.com/csgobetting/comments/5l47fanalytic_esports_betting_spreadsheet_template_v100/ without properly using it before. I built and tested it, but never used it on a day to day basis. While being functional, i was not happy with it, Stat overview didnt make much sense. At the time i said that i would use v1.00 at least until the second major of the year, but in febuary i already finished the layout for v1.1 but didnt release it to not make the same mistake twice (kinda am going to make the same mistake twice). There are two versions, v1.1 which i personally have been using for a while and v1.1C which i build in about an hour this week. v1.1 is the full 6 bet page layout with a dedicated stat page for 5 of those bet pages, one with daily overviews and two for general stuff. v1.1C is a compact version, which only has 2 bet pages (one for your own picks, one for tailing) and a decidated stat page for both. The rest is pretty much the same, except some adjustments because some things arent tracked anymore or tracked different. What changed?
Changed tracking by region to tracking by tournament to make it more accurate and easier to track multi region tournaments.
Added a Bookie overview, telling you how much/how many bets you have inplay on which sites and what your balance should be to make it easier to track down bookie errors. http://i.imgur.com/UIcIpuY.png
Added Buttons that run Scripts to hide finished Bets (one for each bet page and one for all). Those scripts will recognize W, L, P and C in the Results row as finished and hide the row (you can unhide them by clicking the arrow on the left side of the page) http://i.imgur.com/cAT0nDL.png (hard to screenshot, clicking the button runs the script)
Made it possible to leave cancelled bets by marking them as C (for Cancelled) in the Results and bets that ended in a draw by marking them as P (for Push). Cancelled Bets will have no impact on your Winrate or ROI but Pushed bets will. Both have no impact on the profit since the bet was returned in both cases
Started tracking Average Odds for everything.
There are probably some more things, cant think of everything since i have been working on/off on this for the last two months Those things are in both versions. The full version is available here : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nHkyeQptGm_XOqVwWFU32GMqqUzZWfc-pwxc71lYqPg/ The compact version is available here : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1I7aXfs4If6HkOoHnFxgVafj2t8SQ5lJHLD1vs56xhCo/ You can use them by clicking on File on the top of your page and than clicking Make a Copy To the people that use v1.00 Since more things are being tracked and that they have to be input somewhere, its not fully backwards compatible, which means you cant just copy paste everything from the old sheet. You will have to make sure that you are copying to the column where its supposed to go. I tried to move things arround as little as possible but somethings just had to be moved for it to work. Known Errors Positives Handicaps still cant be entered easily. After 1000 Bets a error with some parts of the stat tracking might show up. Those will only happen on the tailing statistics in the full version, and on both stat pages in the compact version. Unless i get a sudden boost of motivation (unlikely, Excel sucks), this will be the last update this year. Update
Fixed multiple Errors that i didnt notice while testing in the Bookie and Monthly overviews in the compact version
Hello LiverpoolFC! For the 5th year in a row, I am now posting my annual LFC Charitable Bets thread. The goal is simple: you bet now on what you think/hope/pray LFC will accomplish this year. I am accepting bets on all kinds of accomplishment and some redditors made some funny bets over the year. You can bet on LFC position in the league, champions league result, number of trophies, players signed, number of no look goals scored by Firmino, and more. At the end of the season, you have to donate money to a charity for each bet that you had right. Feel free to look at last year post or last season results to better understand how it works and for betting ideas. I know that for some people it's difficult to donate money that they might not even have for themselves. If someone would still like to participate in this event, feel free to pledge your time for voluntary work in your local community.
Win the League: If we win the league. Champions League: If we win the Champions League. CL Final/Semi/QuarteR16: How far you think LFC can go in the Champions League. Europa League: If we win the Europa League. FA Cup: If we win the FA Cup. League Cup: If we win the League Cup. Champions League Qualification: If we qualify for next year Champions League, so basically a top 4 finish, or a top 5 if an English team wins either the Europa League or the Champions League. If we win the league then I will use the "Win the League" bets instead of this one. Europa League Qualification: If we qualify for the Europa League from our league position. If we win the league, win a cup, or qualify to the Champion League then I will not consider this column. Single/Double/Treble/Quadruple: Bonus for winning any trophy (single) or multiple competition. This is in addition to whatever you bet on each separate competition. See also the spreadsheet below or previous posts for additional ideas.
Currency:
Rough approximated currency conversion used for simplicity, you can post with your local currency and I'll use this conversion to show all bets in GBP:
Creating a "database" referencing other google sheets, is such a thing possible within Google Sheets?
I'm looking to make a spreadsheet system between me and some team mates. I would have two files in my name, while everyone would have their own files copied of my template. In this case, I have two files: a Template Master which the team would copy, and a Database Master which would import specific data from each copy. The goal is that a checkbox exists on each row within the Template Master. When the Template Copies have a row with a checkbox set to true, the Database Master would import that row. On the other hand, if that row has been imported into the database master, and then the template copy has a box later unchecked, the database master would then delete that row. The scale we're talking about is perhaps some 150 copies of the template master. And thousands of rows of data entry. Which makes my concern be that google sheets won't be the best bet for this. But on the other hand, we're only talking about perhaps "dozens" of items having their checkbox be set to true. So with that being the case it wouldn't be *that much* needed to be imported to a Database Master. I've created an example of the logic below, as well as some pseudo code that I think would be on the *right track* but not there yet. Any assistance is appreciated in the matter! https://preview.redd.it/f6iczpxapxm51.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=494d3abe2e72ec57be1e9be6d5ca6236470d7048 I should also mention. The skill level as far as computer literacy, is VERY low within the team mates. I *think* that if I need to get a link from them that shouldn't be an issue, but much more than that as far as importing and exporting data would be very difficult. So this system would need to be as intuitive as possible for them.
Why Paying for a Course (or a Tutor) Isn't Going to Automatically Get you a 700+ (article)
This is going to be a controversial post, I think. 😁 I notice I am sometimes downvoted when I speak negatively about signing up for courses, buying books, or doing a million practice questions. And in a sense, it's understandable. We want that magical one-size-fits-all GMAT plan that will tell us exactly what to do so that we can get a perfect Quant and a perfect Verbal score. And, don't get me wrong, courses can be very good. Some GMAT study books are awesome. I constantly recommend videos and books and articles that I find helpful. It's amazing what's out there (often for free!) that can help students on their GMAT journey. And darn it, sometimes, the only way to cement your knowledge of CR Assumption is just to DO a whole bunch of CR Assumption! BUT I want to discuss an important (and oft overlooked) aspect of GMAT studying that I really don't see discussed enough: the art of reviewing your own progress. 👈 I have tutored the GMAT for over a decade (I know, it's a little scary how time flies!), and one thing I have noticed in that time is that students who improve the fastest are not the ones who do the most questions. So let's examine a few important ideas and facts that I think can really help anyone working towards their GMAT score reach their maximum potential:
Students who improve the fastest are the ones who have the best system in place for reviewing questions. When an automated course "reviews" your questions -- all it does is tell you what questions you got right and what questions you got wrong. It doesn't tell you WHY. And, it doesn't even require you to put in the elbow grease to find out WHY. And that "why," my friends, is EVERYTHING!
When you don't know what to do next, look at your most recent CAT/s. Think of yourself like a doctor and your "student-self" is the patient. What is going on with the patient's GMAT? Is it a lack of content knowledge, or is it more about poor strategy? Perhaps bad pacing management is playing a part?
You need to zoom in before you can zoom out. Let's say you've done a couple practice exams, but haven't really Error Logged them, but you're scoring much higher in Quant than you are in Verbal. Don't think, "Hmmm, well I'm not doin well in Verbal, so I'm going to sign up for e-GMAT's Verbal course and I'm going to buy the OG Verbal review and do it cover-to-cover." Those aren't bad resources, but WHY are you making a major study plan decision like that before you've really analyzed what's up on a micro-level? Maybe you don't need a full course, because the vast majority of your incorrect Verbal are in a specific area. Perhaps you think you're super awful at RC, but when you go back through your three most recent CATs, you notice that it's really just the RC Inference questions that you're missing. Probably don't need an entire RC book to get better at that one question-type! And you know what, maybe you DO need that course after all! But make a decision based on all the information, not out of confusion and panic.
The most common email I get is, "I've done 4,456,343 practice questions, and my score isn't going up." I'm serious. Okay, I may be exaggerating the number a tad. ;) But I think the reason for this stagnation is that students just don't know their weaknesses well enough. They just keep running on that hampster wheel.
The point of regular practice tests is to help you stop and take stock. It doesn't matter that you scored a 450 on your last practice test. It doesn't matter that you scored a 750 on your last practice test. The work is the same. A "score" that is churned out for you is not the true value of a CAT. Sure, it FEELS good to see improvement, but you need to go into the practice tests like a cold clinician (I know, easier said than done!).
I suggest that EVERYONE who is serious about improvement creates an Error Log spreadsheet to review every single incorrect Quant and Verbal question from the moment you start studying for the exam to the moment you finish you last practice question the night before your test (side note--please don't do too much the night before your test!). Will this be tedious? Yes. Will this mean you will do fewer practice question? Definitely. Is that a good thing? Abso-freaking-lutely! And if you feel like you just can't do it for every single practice problem, then you should AT LEAST be doing this for every single Official question you get incorrect, whether it's from one of the Official Guides or from the GMATPrep practice tests. In fact, I bet if you did this for every single practice question in the official guides, grouping all the similar questions together (doing all the CR Weaken first for example, then all the CR Evaluate, etc.), then carefully reviewing them once, twice, perhaps even three times, that might just be all the studying 80% of GMAT test-takers need. Finally, remember that a GMAT course or a tutor is a gym membership. It's not liposuction. But even outside the gym, you need to be thinking about HOW to use that gym, and deciding if you're really making the kind of gains you want from the way you're using that gym. What a great opportunity right now during all this quarantine-time to take stock and make sure that the way you're studying for the GMAT is the smartest, most efficient way of studying. And if anyone would like an Error Log template for free, you can email me at gmatrockstar[at]gmail.com. No strings attached. You won't be asked to sign up for tutoring with me, or put on a mailing list (I don't even have a mailing list 🤣). Here's to getting your scores locked down in 2020 as efficiently as possible! 🙌 Tl;dr: Too often, students just throw money at courses and books hoping they will "do the trick" without doing the necessary self-analysis. DO THE SELF-ANALYSIS WITH AN ERROR LOG. edit: grammar edit#2: OMG, thank you for all the upvotes!!!! I'm really glad so many of you found this post so helpful!
The post title might bring to mind quotes by Buffett where he makes a dichotomy between gambling and investing on the basis of a proper valuation. He's right of course and the lesson is a good one, but I always chuckle to myself when I hear that contrast from him or others. Having spent over a decade gambling professionally and successfully, I draw the line differently: Any time you make a decision about what to do with capital, you're gambling. The question is whether you are gambling with an edge. I'm guessing many of you are familiar with advantage play, but for those who are skeptical, here's a really mundane example: Many casinos offer video poker that, when played with correct strategy, carries only a 0.5% house edge. If you join their player's club, you'll earn points as you play, and those points can be cashed out. Those points might be worth 0.25%. So on net the house still has the best of it by 0.25%, but if you only come to the casino on the days when they're offering a 6x points multiplier promotion, then you have a well-defined 1% edge on each bet you place. So now I'm considering gradually transitioning from casinos to markets and I'm trying to get a handle on the prospects for investing or trading from home (with no intention of ever going to work in the financial industry). I mean for someone with my background specifically, not for people in general. The word from those who have done both is that advantage gambling is an exceptional background for markets. It certainly looks that way to me. Basically I suspect some of the key pieces of the puzzle for successful investing (or trading) are simply ingrained in me at this point. I want to mention a few, for one thing to find out if you guys see carryover that could be a beneficial foundation for markets, and also in hopes that the perspective from the pro gambling world might be useful for you in your investing and trading.
I hear a lot about not letting emotions get the best of you as an investor or trader. I heard the same caution when I began gambling. Could just be survivorship bias, but I rarely encounter pros with this issue and I never had to "struggle" with it. I don't think it's a matter of self-control but rather an almost automatic consequence of the advantage gambling mindset. Simply: When we don't have an advantage, we don't bet.
On a related note, we spend a lot of time scouting for opportunities. Just because we show up at a casino doesn't mean we're going to play. There have been times when I literally scouted through casinos for a month without playing a single round because I just couldn't find a "game," to use the vernacular. That sucked but again, I don't chalk it up to exceptional self-discipline that I didn't break down and start playing keno or something. Going hungry is no fun but it doesn't make shit suddenly sound appetizing. I believe there is overlap here with security analysis and Buffett's "Don't swing at every pitch." Again, the kind of advantage gambling I've gone after doesn't require the depth of discipline needed to be a great batter. You simply need a template for approaching casinos that makes money in the long run and that is very different from the approach used by casual gamblers. As one friend-turned-coworker of mine said, "You've ruined casinos for me forever."
I do some kind of valuation or risk assessment almost daily. Some I can do in my head, others on a napkin at the (complimentary) buffet, some via spreadsheet, and once in a while I have to code it up to get the answers I'm looking for. Obviously very different from the kind of valuation you do, but it's valuation work nonetheless.
With that comes a ton of decision-making under uncertainty type work. Along with various rapid judgment calls during play, I also do a lot of sizing up potential opportunities. Like your work, these involve finding answers and synthesizing disparate sources of information. Lots and lots of practice deciding what to do with a given opportunity: dismiss outright, place on back burner, gather more info, pursue in-depth analysis, or simply head straight there and throw as much money at it as I can. Lots of errors along the way too, ie learning the hard way what it means to be operating outside your circle of competence.
I'm accustomed to committing lots of money in situations where I know the edge is strong. Betting small when you have a monster edge is the wrong play, because monster edges are few and far between. The actual session by session wins and losses almost generally don't even register with me any more, I only pay attention to them insofar as ex post analyses are required for further confirmation of the thesis of the play or some other reason. The win or loss doesn't tell you anything, they're almost statistically meaningless as single data points. What registers to me is the expected return for the session. Repeating my broken record theme for this post, I don't ascribe my willingness to bet big to courage, nor my indifference to variance to an iron stomach. Rather, they happen as naturally as riding a bike once you have a proper mindset.
That's probably enough. As I write, it sure seems to me like the habits and skills and experience would carry over nicely to investing and trading, but having never done it myself, I'd like to hear what you guys think. How good of a foundation does it seem like to you? What types of investing and/or trading are best suited for at-home investing as a long term side hustle, and what kind of prospects do you see for seriously pursuing it compared to passive indexing? What types of investing/trading aren't even worth bothering with unless you're looking to work on Wall Street?
May 1st will mark 1 year since I started my store. I consumed as much as possible before starting the store and continued to learn while running it. The most disheartening part about the information I receiving was that eventually, creators would put the info I really needed behind a pay-wall aka a course. So, I've made a point to give it all to you for FREE. My podcast documented all the wins and losses along the way which i highly recommend but I realized that I needed to aggregate everything for a novice to get started today instead of listening to my 60+ episode podcast. Hopefully you find this info informative and beneficial. Feel free to ask any questions or point out any mistakes or inaccuracies I may have made. Good luck! P.S. #6 has diagrams which you may need to see. You can see the original article here
eBay Dropshipping 101: Your 2020 Ultimate Guide Have you tried different ways to make money online and nothing seemed to work out well for you? I bet you have heard of eBay Dropshipping and you are probably wondering what’s all that about… If there’s a person you’d like to learn about dropshipping from, it should be from someone who does it every day. There will be things that you may stumble upon and find a little daunting, but there’s nothing to worry about since it’s not as complicated as you think it is. That’s why I’m here! I have been an eBay Dropshipper for quite some time now and have successfully earned 6 figures in revenue in 2019 alone. I’ll walk you through this process and help you start your own dropshipping business through simple and easy steps! You don’t need to grab a pen and paper, just make mental notes of these and you’ll have your own business up and running by the end of this article!
What Is Dropshipping?
This is a method known as product sourcing. Basically, this is a great way to have your own business without ever having to worry about the inventory, packaging or wondering what’s the best way to ship your items. We are all used to brick-and-mortar businesses that need to stock up inventory. But if you want to create an online business that does not require you to keep tabs on how much is left in your stock. Or when you need to buy more of them so you can continue selling the items, dropshipping is a great way to free yourself from all that hassle. All that you need to do is look for a supplier you can work with, purchase the merchandise after your customer pays you on eBay and let your supplier deliver them to your customers. Sounds easy? I told you, it’s not going to be that complex! This is a legitimate way of generating profits online! And the best platform to do that is on eBay. You might not know this, but most sellers on eBay are actually sourcing their products from a supplier. Dropshippers are basically middlemen existing between suppliers and consumers. What makes it more interesting is that you can set how much the products are worth at your desired prices. Are you ready? Then, let’s get started!
Steps To Start eBay Dropshipping!
1. Create An eBay Account
Of course, you’ll need to create an eBay account to get started. This is the first step to success and it saves you the hassle of setting up your own e-commerce or online store. I recommend an account name that reads like a brand: “Mark’s_Electronics” or “Top.Notch.Deals”. I have to remind you that every new eBay account is limited to listing 10 items only. For starters, it’s typical but you can eventually raise your limits by asking eBay to increase them. If you’re wondering if starting with only 10 items for listings will hurt sales, it does not make any difference.
2. Create A Paypal Account
You need a platform where you can receive your profits and that’s why you need to create a PayPal account. This will be linked to your eBay and once it’s fully activated, you can easily access your earnings. Here’s an important note: for starters at eBay dropshipping, Paypal sets a probationary period. They will hold your profits for seven days from the sale date. This is just to make sure that you do ship out the items you’ve sold to customers. As soon as Paypal releases your funds, you can then immediately use the money you’ve earned. Do not worry, because this happens to everyone and the probationary period is only a couple of weeks. After that, you can instantly access your profits.
3. Create A Business Entity
Are you a resident of the United States and is adamant in becoming an eBay drop-shipper? Before you can make a tax-exempt purchase from your supplier, you’ll be required to have a Sales Tax ID that you can get from your local government website or visit your local county clerk’s office. This authorizes you to charge sales tax from any of your buyers. This is applicable even if the transaction is done online. \As sellers because our purchases were tax-exempt, we were required to charge our customers tax and remit(give) the tax money collected to the government. eBay now collects sales tax from most your customers on your behalf.* **WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND CONSULTING A TAX PROFESSIONAL*\* From eBay: “If you sell to buyers in the US, some states may require you to collect applicable Internet Sales Tax on your transactions. By January 1, 2020, a total of 38 states require the collection of sales tax. In such cases, eBay collects and remits Internet Sales Tax on your behalf. Learn more about Internet Sales Tax, on ourHelp pages, or from your tax advisor. Starting in November 2019, the way taxable transactions are processed and how taxes are collected for remittance will change, as follows:
In states where eBay is required to collect Internet Sales Tax from buyers, order totals sent for processing will reflect the gross order amount inclusive of tax.
Once settled, the tax amount will be automatically deducted for remittance to the applicable taxing authority.
A record of the sales tax portion of the order will be available on theSeller Hub Orderdetails page and through our Download order report.
Please note the applicable tax will continue to be paid by the buyer and you do not need to take any action. These changes do not apply to sellers inmanaged payments.” This except can be found here. The full list of states can be found hereeBay Tax Collection\* TaxJar is a service that you can connect to your paypal account and it will keep track of which states you collected tax for in the event that eBay does not. TaxJar can save you a lot of headaches. TaxJar.com Starting a business can be difficult and there will be instances you are not sure if you are doing it right or not. It will only get easier if you have the right people to connect with or ask questions to. As an aspiring entrepreneur, you don’t have to feel lost in your journey to success. If you are looking for the best ways to come up with effective strategies to leverage your business, I have the right place you can do that. Easily schedule appointments at Christal’s Business Consulting and learn about the best ways to maximize your business!
4. List Items To Sell (before you start dropshipping)
\*If you try to skip step 4 your account may get suspended by eBay.*** For brand new sellers on eBay, it’s ideal that you start selling items that you own. This is an effective way to build your reputation on eBay. You should not immediately start eBay dropshipping. As I have mentioned before, you are limited to 10 items in total. What you can do is look for items in your house that are in good condition to be sold. You shouldn’t immediately put just any item on sale because you’re not using it anymore. That’s not how this works. Doing this first will help you learn the platform and how to address any issue that may arise when you do start dropshipping.
Choosing The Products
First, you need to consider whether or not the item you have chosen is on high-demand. For example, electronics are more likely to be faster to sell than a couch that has been sitting in your basement for years. We know that there are buyers who choose to purchase from sellers who have better feedback. Since you are new on eBay, your feedback is absolutely zero but this does not mean you can’t make some sales. Every account starts with zero feedback.
Competition Research
Here comes the next step. That’s why it’s important to do competition research and make sure that you are offering buyers a better deal. You can do this by going over to eBay’s listing of sold items similar to your product or the same brand as yours. Check the average price. Make sure you have sorted the listing as recently sold items. Then, check the ones that are currently listed or being sold. From there, you can strategize on how you can offer customers a better bargain than your competitors. Do not aim for a higher price, this will only cause buyers to settle with those who are listed cheaper and have better feedback than you do. Remember, your goal in this beginning stage is to establish your account as trustworthy with eBay. Aim to give exceptional service over crazy profits for now. $1 – $2 profit is just fine!
Writing Product Descriptions
Remember to be truthful in creating your product descriptions and include the flaws. In providing photos for the items, make sure that it’s you who have taken them and not a stock photo of the product!
Listing Your Products on Sale
Make sure to list it as “Buy It Now”! Make sure that you have the supplies to package and ship these products. You’ll only have to do this to increase your feedback status as a seller on eBay. Lastly, it’s important to let your customers know that you are an actual person. You can do that by adding a thank you note for every package you ship. Also, include statements that will let them know they can reach you if they have problems with the item. And if they are satisfied, ask for feedback! After you make a few sales, move on to step 5. If you try to skip step 4 your account may get suspended by eBay. *Feedback hack: Buy stickers on eBay for .05 to .10 cents. After you make the purchase the Seller will leave positive feedback. The feedback you receive as a buyer will be tallied with the feedback you receive as a seller. It’s an easy way to get some feedback early on
5. Create An Account On Supplier’s Website!
You must know what products you want to sell in your eBay dropshipping business. You can focus on one category, let’s say electronics. Or if you want to have a variety of products to offer, it’s up to you. Finding suppliers is as easy as searching for them on Google! But if you want to, you can actually source products from Walmart, Lowes, even from Home Depot. Whoever you want to source products from, you must create an account on their website. Note that eBay will charge 10% per sale as a “Final Value Fee”(Unless you upgrade to a store. If you upgrade to a store eBay will charge less per sale.) and collect the tax on your behalf. In order to make a tax-exempt purchase, you will need to apply on the supplier’s website. If they do not have that option then call and ask if they offer tax exempt purchases for businesses. Most states require sales and use tax numbers, in some cases your tax ID is all you need but there are also some that do not require sales and use tax numbers at all. These are Alaska(Don’t ship here. Suppliers tack on extra shipping fees), Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. Your supplier will let you know which states need which document numbers. It seems intimidating but it’s a fairly straight-forward process. IMPORTANT NOTE:Do not immediately start dropshipping unless you have sold 4 items you own and got from your home. If you do not keep this in mind, there is a huge chance that eBay will end up banning you.
6. Start Sniping Dropshipping Items From Other Dropshippers
Let’s say that you have chosen Lowe’s as the supplier for your eBay Dropshipping business. Search on Lowe’s website for their store brands such as Allen + Roth or Harbor Breeze or Kobalt. Then click on an item to see the product overview. Make mental notes of what photos are included in there and copy the product title. For example, I have chosen this item. Then I copied the title and pasted it on eBay to Search. The results below show the exact product from other sellers, and this means that these accounts are also drop-shippers. They also have the same photos from Lowe’s, so that could mean that it is their supplier as well. To verify that this account is also a drop shipper, click their listing and navigate to their other items. If you see any other Allen + Roth or any of the other Lowe’s brands, you’ve found someone to snipe from. If you think it’s a great product and want to sell the same item, there’s a button within the listing that says “Sell one like this”. Once you click that, you’ll be redirected by eBay to a page where you can create your listing. Most of the form will pre-fill with the other seller’s information. Double-check that they have promised the same thing that your supplier did. For example, if Lowe’s states that this is a Queen bed, don’t just copy King bed from the other drop-shipper. Make the correction. It doesn’t pay to be unorganized, so make sure that each product you drop ship is recorded so that you have an overview of how many items were sold, how much profit you made, etc. If you have no idea how to get started with that, don’t worry I have the solution for you! You can easily download our FREE SPREADSHEET TEMPLATE. Utilize it for setting product prices as well as managing inventory and orders placed. As mentioned previously, to find other products you can sell, go check the stores of any of the drop shippers you’ve seen on the searches you have made. You can repeat this process for every product you are interested in selling. Make sure to weigh out any possibility and that each item you are aiming to have in your eBay dropshipping business are highly-desirable and are on demand. IMPORTANT: NEVER EVER! EVER! LIST ANY BRANDS FROM eBay’s VERO LIST
7. Repeat Step 6
If you are constantly having worries about what items are more likely to sell fast, and what great offers you can give customers, just repeat step 6. Do not worry about the feedback you have since you are just starting out. People are more likely to look past that once they know that you are offering them a deal that is good enough or if it’s better than your competitors. This is a strategy of effectively maximizing your competition research. It is a must to do your research, look for the right items, list it at the right price for a guarantee that you can sell fast and successfully. Now that you know how to get started with eBay Dropshipping, I believe you’ll eventually reach success as I did. You can learn about my journey as a drop shipper and how I have reached the point of financial stability at Hustle and Motivate Podcast on iTunes! Do you have inquiries or you want some ideas on how to maximize your eBay Dropshipping business,? You can schedule a consultation with me right here at HustleAndMotivate.com!
[Resolved] Duet is probably the best option, and it’s currently on sale for $9.99. Hello! Currently I’m a project manager, at work I have a Dell laptop with 2 external monitors (which almost doubles my productivity). In light of the viral epidemic, there’s a good chance I’ll be required to work from home - but I have to leave the monitors. I have a personal iPad mini 4 that I’m interested in using as an external monitor (not mirroring). I’ve seen a few apps (AirDisplay, SideCar, Duet) that promote this very thing, but I want to make sure it’s what I’m looking for before making a purchase, if needed. Primarily, I would like it to be for my work laptop - a Dell Latitude 5490 running Windows 10 Enterprise. The iPad mini 4 is running iPadOS 13.3.1. Both will be on the same network, but I can also use a lightning cable if needed. The iPad would mainly be used for spreadsheets and templates as references, so the refresh rate (“jitter”) does not have to be super smooth - I’m mainly looking for very basic functionality of a second monitor. The bonus would be that, using the same app, I could separately also use the iPad mini 4 as an external monitor for my personal MacBook Air. For MacBook-to-iPad, I get the impression that SideCar is going to be the best bet? However, I’m 100% open to suggestions. Thanks! Stay safe and well ✌🏽
[Resolved] Duet is probably the best option, and it’s currently on sale for $9.99. Hello! Currently I’m a project manager, at work I have a Dell laptop with 2 external monitors (which almost doubles my productivity). In light of the viral epidemic, there’s a good chance I’ll be required to work from home - but I have to leave the monitors. I have a personal iPad mini 4 that I’m interested in using as an external monitor (not mirroring). I’ve seen a few apps (AirDisplay, SideCar, Duet) that promote this very thing, but I want to make sure it’s what I’m looking for before making a purchase, if needed. Primarily, I would like it to be for my work laptop - a Dell Latitude 5490 running Windows 10 Enterprise. The iPad mini 4 is running iPadOS 13.3.1. Both will be on the same network, but I can also use a lightning cable if needed. The iPad would mainly be used for spreadsheets and templates as references, so the refresh rate (“jitter”) does not have to be super smooth - I’m mainly looking for very basic functionality of a second monitor. The bonus would be that, using the same app, I could separately also use the iPad mini 4 as an external monitor for my personal MacBook Air. For MacBook-to-iPad, I get the impression that SideCar is going to be the best bet? However, I’m 100% open to suggestions. Thanks! Stay safe and well ✌🏽
iPad Mini 4 as an External Monitor for a Dell Latitude 5490 Running Windows 10?
[Resolved] Duet is probably the best option, and it’s currently on sale for $9.99. Hello! Currently I’m a project manager, at work I have a Dell laptop with 2 external monitors (which almost doubles my productivity). In light of the viral epidemic, there’s a good chance I’ll be required to work from home - but I have to leave the monitors. I have a personal iPad mini 4 that I’m interested in using as an external monitor (not mirroring). I’ve seen a few apps (AirDisplay, SideCar, Duet) that promote this very thing, but I want to make sure it’s what I’m looking for before making a purchase, if needed. Primarily, I would like it to be for my work laptop - a Dell Latitude 5490 running Windows 10 Enterprise. The iPad mini 4 is running iPadOS 13.3.1. Both will be on the same network, but I can also use a lightning cable if needed. The iPad would mainly be used for spreadsheets and templates as references, so the refresh rate (“jitter”) does not have to be super smooth - I’m mainly looking for very basic functionality of a second monitor. The bonus would be that, using the same app, I could separately also use the iPad mini 4 as an external monitor for my personal MacBook Air. For MacBook-to-iPad, I get the impression that SideCar is going to be the best bet? However, I’m 100% open to suggestions. Thanks! Stay safe and well ✌🏽
Twilight's Ultimate Guide to the MLP Fandom (version 3.0)
Hello everypony, Twilight again! Seeing as it has been about two years since my last compiled guide, enough time for the show to finally end, I feel it is time to pull out the old guide, blow the dust off, and revise with some more modern fandom relics on top of all the old ones! Nothing has been removed from the old guide, but a lot has happened in two years, and in light of recent copyright laws being passed, and the takedowns of several World Heritage Videos, I feel a revision is in order. So, without further ado, here is...
Twilight's Ultimate Guide to the MLP Fandom (version 3.0)*
Hello there! For whatever reason, it seems you've stumbled upon this humble guide to the My Little Pony fandom. Perhaps you're a new brony looking to see what the fandom has to offer, or maybe you're an outsider coming to see what all the fuss is about. Or perhaps you're already an experienced member of the fandom, just looking to see if there's anything important you might have missed. Whatever your reason for reading this might be, I hope you'll find this guide enlightening. A good chunk of this guide is basically just a list of what I consider to be the best original animations, songs, comics, artwork, and stories created by the fandom. It will almost certainly be missing some things, as I definitely can't claim to have seen everything the fandom has to offer, but I'm confident I've covered a good chunk of the more popular works. Keep in mind that unless otherwise stated, the links posted here make no attempt to avoid spoilers for new members of the fandom. The list itself should be reasonably spoiler-free, but click on one of these links without having seen every season of MLP and all the movies and all bets are off (again, unless otherwise stated). That means if you're viewing this list on Reddit using RES and you're concerned about spoilers, make sure none of the below links are expanded before proceeding. Feel free to check with another member of the brony community if you want to be sure that a particular fan work is spoiler-free before you view it. Anyway, read on (and into the comments!) for a massive list of some of the greatest works in the MLP fandom! *Version 3.0 Edited and Compiled by u/str8aura with gracious permission of template usage from u/Ajedi32
Animations
The MLP fandom has a number of very high quality (sometimes even as good or better than that of the original show) animations depicting all sorts of things, including original stories, crossovers with video games, interpretations of events from the show, and more.
Often animators will set their animations to music. Sometimes music from outside the fandom, and sometimes original music from brony musicians inside the fandom. These animated music videos are referred to by those within the fandom as PMVs, Pony Music Videos
Fully-Animated PMVs
These PMVs are composed primarily of original animation from the MLP fandom. There is some overlap here with the "animated" category above, but I tried to put all the videos where the music is a large part of the focus of the animation in this category.
These are PMVs composed using simple motion graphics and/or carefully selected clips and screenshots from the show or other fan-works. These PMVs are much more common, as they're easier to produce than fully-animated PMVs. Here are a few select stand-outs.
As I mentioned in the previous section, there are a number of artists in the MLP fandom who create original songs inspired by the show. Some of these are remixes of songs from the show, while others are entirely original. There's lots of pretty amazing stuff here; definitely more than I can cover in this post, so here's a sample of some of my favorites. (I tried my best to cram these into just a few major categories, so sorry if the genres don't fit perfectly in all cases here. I'm open to suggestions if you've got any ideas on how to categorize these better.)
Some members of the fandom find it fun to critique episodes of the show, or to spend time coming up with theories and headcanons explaining details about the world of Equestria which are not fully explored in the show itself. Here are a few of the more popular ones (including a small sample of some of their best works).
Want to relive the joy of seeing the show for the first time? Want to hear what others thought of an episode? A number of people have recorded themselves watching MLP (and related fan works) for the first time (i.e. "blind"), and sharing their thoughts with you as they watch.
Bronies React (Not always blind, but super-popular.)
There's really so much great content in this category that I can't even begin to compile a comprehensive list of "the best". Below is a small sample of artwork the fandom has created. Beyond that, I suggest you check out what's on DeviantArt and branch out from there. I also have my own collections of my favorite artwork of canon and non-canon characters on DeviantArt which you're free to check out.
Some of the artists in the community have used their skills to create comics about the show. Some of these are random silliness and gags, while others feature original stories.
Character Blogs
These are basically blogs where the featured characters respond to questions from the readers. Try a few, you'll get the idea.
And of course, like just about every other fandom in existence, MLP has a number of fanfictions written about it. I personally haven't explored this area of the fandom too much, but here are a few works others have frequently recommended to me. For discovering more stories, FIMFiction.net is a good resource, along with some of the reviewer sites and groups out there like Seattle's Angels and the Royal Canterlot Library. Better yet, if you want an actual, physical copy of some of these, Ministry Of Image has quite the collection!
Fallout: Equestria (This one is big enough to actually have its own subculture within the fandom.)
A number of creators have teamed up to create full fledged video games based on the show. For discovering more games and mods, right now Equestria Daily is probably your best bet. Remember, most of these require Flash Players, and those won't be available for much longer.
Fighting is Magic - Street Fighter style fighting game (never finished)
Them's Fightin' Herds - Fighting is Magic ran into legal trouble and got turned into this
Some animators have created parodies of the original show. Lots of random humor and crazy shenanigans here. If you've ever seen any fan-created "abridged series" of other shows, you should a pretty good idea of what these are. Note that some of the videos in these series may include strong language and mature humor, so be warned.
There are a are number of popular memes in the fandom. I don't necessarily consider these to be "top quality" animations or photos (though some of them are pretty funny), but nonetheless they're important to understand in that they give you context for understanding cultural references and inside jokes in the fandom.
Throughout many episodes in the show you'll often see random ponies placed in the background for the purposes of filling out a crowd or livening up the town. They're basically nameless "extras". Except, thanks to the fandom, they're actually not nameless. In fact, most of these random ponies have names and backstories given to them by the MLP fandom. Here are a few of the more well-known background Ponies:
I’m 40 years old, live in Queens, NY, and make $80,000 a year as a Billing Supervisor
Apologies in advance for the wordiness of this. I’m wordy. *shrug* I also don’t really talk about what I do on a day to day basis at work, as I don’t want to get too specific. Billing Supervisor is only one part of my responsibilities, but to use my actual title would identify me almost immediately. Income: Salary - $80,000. This is my salary only, I am not eligible for a bonus. Side Income - About $5,000 a year. I proctor standardized tests a few times a year. This number also includes cash back from Ebates/Rakuten (paid out 4x/year), credit card rewards, mileage reimbursements, and cash incentives from work for wellness. Paycheck Amount (twice a month, after taxes & deductions listed below) - $1,930. This should go up after I move, when I will no longer have to pay NYC income tax (3%). Not sure what the net effect will be on my check yet. Probably small, but always welcome. Income from side hustles isn’t consistent enough to include on an ongoing basis. I treat all of that like bonuses. Assets: 401k - $18,500. I contribute 10% of my salary pre-tax, and my company matches 4%. I’m invested in a target date fund (2040, I think?), and am currently 50% vested in the match. I’ll be fully vested in a year and a half. I’m wayyyyy behind on retirement, but making a concerted effort to catch up as best as I can. Savings - $30k. This is spread between a few accounts, nothing earning much interest right now. I just purchased an apartment right outside NYC, and am doing some renovations, which this money will be spent on. Once I finalize all the costs, I’ll be looking to open a HYSA for the remainder. If there is one. Which there probably will not be. *cries* Checking Balance - $8k. Much higher than usual due to recent apartment purchase. Lots of money has been moving in and out (mostly out #sadface). I usually keep about $1,000 in here and only use it for bills, I don’t use my debit card for anything anymore. Equity - $40k. This is an estimate, based on what I put down on my apartment. Once my renovation is done, I’ll ask my broker to informally re-asses the value. Debt: Mortgage - $154,600. This is braaaaaaand spanking new. I won’t make my first payment until November 1. Student Loan - $3,880. Almost paid off. These make me mad. I’ve been paying them off for years but don’t have a degree to show for it. I do plan to go back when life calms down a little (lol! famous last words), and I’ll probably have to take out more loans but hopefully not too much. Car Loan - $12kish. My car is 4 years old and in great condition. I bought it 2 years ago, and have a few more years on the loan. No plans to trade it in anytime soon, although I may, if I have any money left after the reno, throw a chunk to this loan and refinance to get the interest down a touch. Credit Cards - $0. No credit card debt….for now. I currently run all expenses that I can through a rewards card and pay it off in full every month. I am going to try not to incur debt during the reno process, but I find it unlikely that it’ll work out that way. Monthly Expenses: Rent - $1,800 for a large one bedroom, I live alone. After the reno, I will move into the apartment I just purchased which is a two bedroom with a terrace. My combined mortgage/maintenance (like HOA) payment will be around $1785, before I add any extra payments (which I do plan on doing). Maintenance will include property taxes, heat & hot water. The last month I will pay rent is October, and the first month I will pay mortgage/maintenance is November. Utilities (Gas & Electric) - $125, this is what I budget every month. Comes in much lower in the non-summer months, and around that or a little above when I have the ACs in. My landlord pays for heat & hot water. No idea what to expect for gas & electric for the new place, but I am responsible for the same utilities. Renters Insurance - $13.50. This will be cancelled once I move. I pre-paid my first year of homeowners insurance upfront, and will likely cash flow this for the first few years. It was $352. Internet - $60.36. This will be $62.48 after I move, for a slightly faster plan. Since I work from home a lot and stream all of my TV, I am interested to see if this is better. Different provider as well, so it won’t be an apples to apples comparison. I’ll actually start paying for internet at the new apartment this month, I wanted to get it set up early, so I can work from there if needed during the renovation. Gas (Car) - $70 or so. This is what I budget. I try to get gas in NJ whenever possible, as it’s a lot cheaper. When I travel to our Philadelphia office, I am reimbursed for mileage which more than covers the gas. However, I like to include it as a budget line item so I can treat the reimbursement as bonus money. Hulu - $5.99. I mooch off a friend’s Netflix, and use my mom’s cable log in for everything else via Roku. I manage her account for her and claim this as my admin fee lol. Prime is listed below in annual expenses. Cell Phone - $95. On a family plan with my mom and grandpa. Account is in mom’s name but I manage this as well. The $95 is for my portion of the bill and my phone payment. My phone will be paid off in December, and I’ll probably get a new one soon thereafter because I like shiny things. Last time I paid a phone off, I dropped the insurance coverage (since if anything happened to the phone I’d just get a new one, and my monthly responsibility was down to like $55. I’d like to see if I can manage to settle for my two year old iPhone for a few months to save that cash but I have impulse control issues when it comes to shopping sometimes, as you’ll see). Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance - $181.22. Deducted from my paycheck pre-tax, $90.61 a check. Transit - $130. Deducted from my paycheck pre-tax, I pay $65 per check. I just requested an increase for this to $90 a check (after I move, my commuting costs will go up significantly. I am trying to adjust slowly to the increase, but not sure when it’ll go into effect in my check). After I move, I will increase to $125 a paycheck. My train ticket will be $246, and I will also need to fill a MetroCard, I will do so with cash. How often I’ll have to fill depends on how many days I am in the office (usually 2-3 a week, I work from home 1-2 days and go to our other office often). 401k - $666.66 Hair Color - $50. I have dark hair, and it’s going grey rapidly. The grey rudely sparkles in the sun, so I get my roots done every month. I go to a cosmetology school, and they always do a great job. The service costs me $30, and I tip $20. iCloud Storage - $2.99. 200GB storage plan. I started running out of room on my phone a few years ago and opted for this plan. Haven’t run out of room since. Not sure if I still need it, as my phone has more memory now, but it’s cheap so it’s fine. Car Payment - $265.98 Car Insurance - $235.72. This should change a little after I move, hopefully go down. I know it seems like a lot but welcome to NYC. This is actually quite good. It’s half the price of what any other company quotes me. I have a completely clean license, and take the online 5 hour course for the discount on liability every 3 years, so there’s really nothing I can do to lower it significantly except relocate, which isn’t really an option. Student Loan - $130.95. One of my loans is scheduled to be paid off in a few months, and this will drop to about $80. Gym Membership - $0, I don’t currently belong to a gym but there’s one near my new apartment that I am going to check out after I move, it’s around $40 a month. Not monthly, but recurring expenses: Therapy - $30 is my co-pay for a session, and I usually go every other week. I’ve met my out of pocket max for the year so I don’t have to pay any more co-pays this year. Prescriptions – About $35 every 3 months for a 90 day supply of 2 different meds. Same note, I don’t have to pay for these for the rest of the year. And yes, I’ll be stocking up towards the end lol. Freshly meal subscription - $60 for 6 meals when I choose to order. I have an overabundance in my freezer right now, so I won’t be ordering for a while. I usually get this every 6-8 weeks. Beachbody on Demand - I am on the every 6 months plan, so I pay $59 twice a year. After I move, if I get into a good groove with the new gym I want to try out, I may cancel this. I’m not currently using it, but I don’t mind paying for it to keep the access for now. Annual Expenses: Amazon Prime - $119 Car Inspection/Registration - $95. Car registration is $136.50 every other year, and inspection is $27 per year. I tend to just cash flow this instead of putting it aside in advance. My dealer has given me a free inspection for the last 2 years. I might be forgetting some! Not budgeted: Medical – I handle these as they come up. Thankfully I have good insurance, and usually just have to worry about a co-pay. I see a lot of specialists, so that adds up throughout the year. I’ll be opting into the FSA next year to set money aside to cover these. Non-Retirement Savings – Once I am done with the reno and have a better idea of what my new monthly costs are, I’ll re-jigger my budget to plan for savings. Charitable Giving – same as above. Everything right now is done on an ad hoc basis. Day One (Monday): 5:45 am – Up super early. Every other Monday, I go to the Philadelphia office. I drive there, so I can do it on my own schedule (and get reimbursed for mileage!), but to beat traffic, I have to leave at 6am. I make myself a large cup of tea in my travel mug and get dressed (I shower at night so my morning routine is suuuuper abbreviated: take thyroid and allergy meds, get dressed in clothes laid out the night before, pee, brush teeth, eye cream). I remember that I need to reload my Starbucks card, so I pop over to the computer while I am waiting for the tea to cool off a little before lidding it and leaving. I purchase gift cards via Raise, for a small discount. I buy a $50 gift card for $46.42, and earn 46 cents from Ebates which will be added to my account and paid out in November. $46.42 7:35 am – My dummy light comes on when I’m about 12 miles from my exit on the turnpike. Thankfully I make it to my preferred gas station (although I’m pretty sure I coast in on fumes). Hopefully this fill-up will last me til my next trip to Philly. $32 8:15am – I get to the parking lot, park my car (will pay when I leave), and place a mobile order from the Starbucks down the street for a Venti London Fog latte (I don’t drink any coffee, just tea), egg white egg bites, a bottle of water, and a smoked turkey protein box for lunch. I like to get my lunch in the morning so I don’t have to find time to go get something. I don’t usually eat lunch, but because my days in Philly start so early, I’ll starve if I skip it. $20.66 from my pre-loaded Starbucks card (expensed) 9:00am – I check my toll tag account, and decide to load money onto it a little early. I usually load $75 every paycheck, which covers the $52 in round trip tolls for my trips to Philly (reimbursed), and $25 of personal usage. Since I closed on my apartment, I’ve been using the toll tag more (it’s a bridge away, which is $12 round trip). This is just temporary, and I’ll use it a lot less for personal trips after moving. They just raised my automatic replenishment threshold and amount, so I keep a close eye on it and try to refill it manually. $75 11:30 am – After an obscene amount of tea, I run to the Macy’s downstairs to return some dresses. I ordered 3 dresses for my holiday party a few weeks ago. I know it’s freakishly early, but I have trouble finding things that fit me properly, so I want to start looking early. Two of the three didn’t fit, so back they go. The third fits, but don’t know if I’ll go with that one or something else yet. $279.27 gets refunded back to my credit card, and for some reason I also get $4 back in cash. OK. I wander through the dress section to see if anything catches my eye. I find something on clearance that’s meh, but when I try it on, it’s like 3 sizes too big. I didn’t love it, but for $50, worth giving it a shot. It was sequined, so it was itchy and heavy. Kinda glad. When I get back upstairs, I calculate what the remaining balance on my credit card is before what I spent today, and I schedule that amount for payment. 12:30 pm – I get my second contractor quote – this is the guy I clicked with and want to use. I’ll assign him an initial since he will probably feature a lot in my diary this week – R. It’s painful, $23k, but there’s a lot in here that I won’t do. It’s itemized, so I can remove items I don’t want. I email him a few questions, and he responds quickly, letting me know that a $5k line item isn’t truly necessary but he included pricing since I asked him to. I convert his quote into my budget spreadsheet so I can fiddle with the individual components and decide what I want to remove. Nerd. I live and die in Excel lol. 1:30 pm – While my computer is downloading a huge update package, I book my flight ($443.90) and car rental (155.39) for an upcoming long weekend in LA. I use points for one way, and pay for the other way. I upgrade my seats to extra leg room both ways, because #treatyoself (this is probably the last time I’ll travel for a few months). I pre-pay for the car rental, because it saves like $40. I go through Ebates for this and get an email later that I’ll get $4.26 added to my account. $599.29 4:00 pm – I wrap up and head out for the day. When I’m in this office, I usually leave at 5 or so, but I have a light day and want to stop by a few stores on my way home without getting home at 9pm. I pay for parking ($20.76 expensed), and out of the city approximately 7 minutes later. Yay for no traffic yet! 4:30 pm – I hit a few stores before settling into the highway portion of my drive. One of them is Home Depot, and I get 4 copies of one of my new keys. I find out that my top lock can only be copied by a locksmith. My building’s front door key can only be copied by my super, I left him a message earlier in the day asking him to make me 4 copies for when I see him on Friday. $11.09 6:15 pm – I stop at my usual rest area along the route home, pee, and get another London Fog latte and some madeleines ($8.05 expensed). I stop at one last store to look at some appliances and am thoroughly disappointed. I get back on the road, and am home around 8. Round trip tolls for the day are $52.24, expensed. My landlord’s kids are practicing the piano when I come in. *deep cleansing breaths* only 2 months to go. (No hate on the kids, I think it’s great that they play the piano, and are well rounded. It’s just that the sound of anyone practicing an instrument is the worst. I’ve asked my landlord if there’s any way we can soundproof a little better, and he dismissed it. Now he makes jokes about me not liking their playing. Don’t take it personally dude, my favorite musician could be practicing and I’d eventually tell him to go away as well if the sound came through my living room floor while I was trying to decompress from a day at work…) 9:15 pm – After catching up on emails that came in since I left the office a few hours ago, and browsing online for light fixtures (#somuchshopping kill me now), I make a sad but delicious dinner of Lean Pockets and head over to the couch for the season finale of The Hills. I am unreasonably annoyed that this week it started at 9, not 10, and I’ve missed the first 15 minutes. While I watch, I browse through some different shopping sites on my phone, and find one of the too small dresses I returned earlier today at another store in a bigger size. It’s more expensive, of course. I leave the page open to think about it. During the show, I also get the last contractor bid I’m waiting on (even though I’m 99% sure I’m going with R, I want to review all the bids before making the actual decision). IT’S FORTY ONE FUCKING THOUSAND DOLLARS. Not including any materials. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I had a feeling that one was going to come in high but this is ridiculous. I don’t even look at the itemizations, because there’s no way this bid can ever come into line with my budget. I text E, the friend who recommended R, and tell him I’m going with his bid, but ask him to not let R know until I do tomorrow. I stop by the computer after the episode to update this entry and see an email that my expenses from my last Philly trip have been processed and will be in my account on Wednesday. Yay! I take a quick shower, brush my teeth and do my nighttime skincare routine before bed - - St Ives Apricot Scrub, Clinique Mild Liquid Facial Soap, Clinique Exfoliating Lotion 1.0, Khiel's Midnight Recovery Eye Cream, Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair with retinol, Khiel's Midnight Recovery serum mixed into the first of two layers of Clinique DDML. In the winter, I bump it up to 3-4 layers depending on how dry my skin feels. I crash into bed around 11:30, after setting up my travel mug for tomorrow's tea and laying out my clothes. Daily Total – 763.80 OUCH Day Two (Tuesday) 8:30 am – I slept like total shit. Woke up around 2am, and then wasn't really able to get back to sleep. You ever had one of those nights where your body is beyond overtired and your mind is racing? Ugh. Alarm goes off at 8:30, and I get up to put the tea kettle on to boil, then lay back down while I wait for it to boil. Once it does boil, I pour the water, get dressed (same basic outfit as usual - our office is very casual. For most of the summer, it's been sleeveless top, jeans and sandals), pee, meds, brush teeth, eye cream. Check email quickly before heading out. I try not to leave before 9:15, as the subways are really crowded before then. My hours are super flexible. As long as I'm the office before I have any meetings, it's all good (and people generally don't put meetings on the calendar before 10). I put in a lot of time at home, as well. I finish making my tea (black tea with Splenda & half and half), grab my lunch bag with the food I prepped for the week the other day, toss my computer into my purse, and head out the door. My commute is either a short bus ride or medium walk to a 25 minute train ride. This will also change after I move. Thankfully the bus is a stop away when I get outside, so I take the bus to the train ($2.75 on my pre-paid card, that is funded using my pre-tax transit account). There's a free transfer to the subway. I make a mental note to refill my card on the way home. I don't do the unlimited MetroCard, I don't take the train often enough for it to be worth it. 12:00pm - A coworker needs to vent so we go up to the in house coffee bar - they make killer drinks for $1. Unfortunately, my tea latte is made incorrectly, and it has coffee as the base. Coffee, Earl Grey tea, steamed milk, and sugar free vanilla are not the combo I wanted. Blech. I make a valiant attempt but I just can't do it. I decide to eat late (even by my standards) breakfast. Every week, I make egg scramble kits (bacon, cheese and eggs) - they're an adaptation of those Just Crack an Egg things you can buy in Target but way cheaper. I tend to eat this around 11:30, skip lunch because I'm not hungry, have a late afternoon snack, and then have dinner. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I also talk to R, the contractor and accept his proposal. We talk next steps, and set a meeting for Friday at the apartment to nail down a few last details. $1 3:30 pm - I head to the kitchen to grab my breakfast for tomorrow (taking it home because I am going to work remotely), and come across leftover pizza. I am not hungry, but you bet your ass I eat the pizza. I pack up and leave a little early, deciding to work from home for the rest of the day. Before I get on the train, I stop at a nearby locksmith to copy the other keys I mentioned previously, and I also buy small key rings. $27.65 3:45 pm – On my way into the subway, I load $60 onto my MetroCard from my transit account (not counted since this money is deducted from my paycheck pre-tax. I’ve already “paid” for it.) 4:30 pm - I walk home from the train, and pass my ex's car parked along the way. It's def his, as it's pretty distinctive. Yay. Now I am going to suffer the temptation to text him for the rest of the evening. I stop at the grocery store and buy eggs, milk and craisins. I get home and get back online for a little while. I IM with some coworkers, check some emails, and call it a night. I'll probably go back online later on. I watch the first 15 minutes of The Hills that I missed last night, then collapse on the couch and put on Supernatural, which I finally started binging. $10.77 7:30 pm - After eating a lot of random snacks (I'm hungry but not in the mood for an actual dinner apparently), I wander back over to the computer to do some more work. While online, I order the dress I found last night, as there's only 1 left in that size. I do a lot of ordering online and returning. If this one fits, I'll decide between this and the one I have left at home and return the loser. If not, then I'll re-evaluate if I want to order yet another option. $270.01 8:30 pm – Shower, skincare, bed. I’m so tired I can barely think. Although I did manage to not text the ex. Small victories. Daily Total - $309.43.Better but still too much! Day Three (Wednesday) 8:55 am – I am sooo not feeling it today. Since I’m working remotely, I only have to drag myself out of bed, take meds, and put the kettle up, then sit right down at the computer. I have about an hour before my first call, and spend it going through emails that came in overnight, and checking my personal accounts. My expense reimbursement came in as expected, and I send that to my main credit card. I like to chip away at the balance throughout the month, this helps me make sure I can pay it in full every month. Plus most of the items I am being reimbursed for were put on this card. I also review a quote from my cabinet guy – a little higher than originally estimated (but that was a ballpark that was missing a few cabinets plus I added a few upgrades). I send him back a few questions, and update my spreadsheet like the lunatic that I am. I am going to try to make today a no spend day…..we’ll see how that works. 12:00 pm – In between meetings, I make some phone calls and send some emails regarding the reno. I set up appointments for Friday, get denied for multiple extra keys for my building’s front door (don’t get why but I am going to choose my battles. This ain’t one of them. Apparently no one is supposed to have extra keys?! But they’re making an exception to this to give me one extra. Kind of ridiculous but whatever.) I also putter around my apartment, straightening up a little (it’s usually very tidy but has gotten messy lately with paperwork and stuff), in preparation for packing it up. I eat breakfast (egg scramble that was meal prepped over the weekend), and run out to move my car for street cleaning. 3:30 pm – Finish up my last call of the day, and re-organize my to do list. I got a lot of nagging things off my plate today. I like to save these for when I work from home, I can multi task without people trying to talk to me lol. I also drink some water because I remember I am a human and need to hydrate. Been bad about that this week. I get an email confirming that the referral bonus for someone I recommended that was hired will be sent to payroll for processing (her 90 day probation is completed today). I should see it in my 9/30 check. The bonus is $2,000. Assuming I’ll see around $1,200 of that after taxes. This will all go straight to the reno. 5:30 pm – Sign off for the day. I found an ad on Craigslist for a dresser I want for the spare room in my new place. The seller is willing to deliver it (score!). She’s asking $30, but I give her $45, she drove about 20 miles here in rush hour AND helped me get it into my apartment. So much for a no spend day, but this saves me about $250 from buying it new AND I don’t have to assemble it. $45 7:30 pm – I do the dishes, take out the trash, have dinner (Freshly Sicilian Chicken Parm with Broccoli from the freezer), set up my travel mug for tomorrow, lay out my clothing, and settle in for more Supernatural. Hoping to be in bed super early again tonight, but I have plans to chat with my old roommate, M, and we always end up on the phone for 2 hours. 10:15 pm – Off the phone with M. It was great to catch up (we haven’t talked in a few months), but now this girl is TIRED. Shower, skincare, brush teeth, another episode of Supernatural, and bedtime. Daily Total - $45 Day Four (Thursday) 8:50 am - Alarm goes off and I say no thank you. But I get up anyway. Put the water up, standard morning routine (meds, get dressed, pee, brush teeth). I check my email for a few minutes before heading out, and am in the office by 10:10. First call is at 10:30 today. Gonna try for a no spend day again lol. 12:00 pm – Finally make my breakfast and fill my water bottle. Busy day of meetings, mostly with senior leadership. There are not enough snacks in this office to make it through the day. 6:15 pm – I’ve had enough and pack up to go home. I decide that today is a good day to use my Starbucks Rewards to get a freebie. I mobile order my standard, London Fog latte, and hop on the train. When I get off the train, I’m tempted to take a cab home, but resist so I can try to make it one day without spending any money! There’s a line for the bus, and I decide I could use the walk, so I walk home. It’s misting lightly at the beginning of the walk, and has moved to full on drizzling by the time I get home, so I’m glad to be inside. I don’t have anything on my to do list for the evening, so I’m looking forward to a night of (let’s be real) TV and pajamas. Dinner is the same Freshly meal as last night, I have a bunch of that kind on the freezer and I want to start using them up. 9:30 pm – In bed at 9, but I don’t actually turn off the light until 11:30. Working from home tomorrow, and then have errands to run, so I’ll take a shower then. Brush teeth, eye cream, lights out. Daily Total - $0 WAHOO! Day Five (Friday) 6:00 am – I was planning to be up earlier than usual to get online earlier so I could go offline earlier, but I wake up at 6 and can’t sleep anymore, so I decide to get my day started. I have this afternoon off, so I will work until noon. Overnight, I got an email that a payment for the latest standardized test I proctored came in. I log into my bank account and realize that I also got paid (I get paid on 15th & last day, but if that falls on a weekend, it’s the Friday before). I run through my budget spreadsheet, pay what’s due to be paid this check (I don’t pay bills when they’re due, I pay them when I get paid – usually the check prior, it’s all scheduled out at the start of the year when I set up my spreadsheet). I also log into my mom’s cable account to pay that using her saved information. 8:30 am – after 2 cups of tea, I make 2 soft boiled eggs and toast for breakfast. Afterward I do the dishes and hop in the shower. It’s been a quiet morning so far, but I do have a few calls scheduled, and I want to get all of my personal life admin done before them. One of them ends at noon, so I am hoping to sign off immediately afterward and get right out the door. I get an email from the gift card site I buy my Starbucks cards from, that there’s an additional 7% all cards today. Was hoping to make it a no spend day, but I’m tempted….I have until the end of the day to decide. I don’t NEED to reload the card yet so I may skip it. I have to get myself out of the mindset of spending money just because there’s a good deal on something. Literally as I finish typing that sentence, I decide to check Macy’s to see if the 3rd option dress (I loved the smaller size I got, it just didn’t fit) happens to be included in their sale that I just got an email about. Not only is it included, so it’s 30% off, but Ebates is back up to 6% for Macy’s. I order it in the next 2 sizes. What was I saying??? This will bring me to 4 dresses for the party, I will obviously return 3. I’ll get a TBD amount added to my Ebates account in a few days. $242.36 12:00 pm – Last call over, out of office message on, and I head out to the new apartment. I have to stop at my mom’s to pick up some Home Depot items that were delivered there, and then I have appointments with the internet company to install new service, a carpet company I want to get pricing from, and R to finalize our plan. I have a few friends coming by this afternoon to see the place as well. 2:30 pm – I decide to purchase carpet from the company that came today. Not sure if this counts as an expense for this week or not, but I’ll include it for shits and giggles. I am carpeting 902 square feet of space, and the total comes to $3,887.41. This will be financed through them at 9.99% for 48 months. The payment will be $98.34, and I can pre-pay it. So much for not adding any debt for the reno… (although to be real, I knew this was likely. I wanted to finance it so that I can go back and see what I can pay off in full from the savings rather than committing to pay in cash). $3,887.41 4:00 pm – I meet with R to finalize his scope of work and to run some ideas by him. E, the friend who recommended him, also stops by to check the place out. My super comes by to meet R and chat, and gives me the one single extra key I can have. I’ll get billed for this in my maintenance, so nothing out of pocket now, but it’ll be $20. 7:00 pm – My cousin, T, comes over and we order dinner from a nearby bar. I pay. $33.47 8:30 pm – I head home to my real apartment, park my car, and walk up the stairs to see a LOT of packages waiting for me. One is the dress that I ordered on Tuesday (wow that was fast), and there are a few other packages that are apartment related that I ordered last week. Fun! It’s kinda like Christmas every day. There are two curtain rods from Target, and I do not like them AT.ALL. I’ll be returning those. I think they were like $18-$19 each. I go on Amazon and find comparably priced ones, plus I add one on for another room. I had ordered a rod for that room months ago, but I want them to all be consistent. I’ll find someone to give this one to, or I’ll try to return it. $60.02 (I hope I’m done spending money for the day!) I try on the dress quickly, and it might fit, but I can’t reach the back zipper, so it goes into the pile of dresses I need someone to help me with lol. $60.02 11:00 pm – After puttering around, and getting myself prepared for tomorrow (another busy day), I head towards bed. My body is trying to tell me that I’ve been awake too long, and I need to stop ignoring it. Daily Total – $3,980.90 (I am literally nauseous.Even though I’ve been planning this for a while, and knew the money was going to be spent, spending in it these large chunks is so painful…) Day Six (Saturday) 7:45 am – What? Whyyyyy…..I naturally wake up at this time but it’s actually ok, since I have a bunch to get done before I head out for the day’s errands and I won’t be staying at my apartment tonight. I’m puppy sitting!!!! Meds, pee, put the kettle up for my first cup of tea. While I’m waiting for the water to boil, I put bacon (that I defrosted the other day) into the oven to bake to meal prep for the upcoming week’s breakfasts. 10:00am – While I’m waiting for my breakfast to cook, I sit down at the computer, and check my work email (because I am a lunatic). I see a few things came in late last night that I’ll have to handle next week, so I add them to my to do list so as not to forget. I also put a few bathroom accessories into my Home Depot cart – a new shower curtain rod, a towel ring for the wall, the faucet, a new toilet paper roller thing for the wall holder, robe hooks for the back of the door, medicine cabinet. I initially intend to order, but get mad when I see that the price of the medicine cabinet has gone up by $75 in the few days since I chose it. I decide to wait until tomorrow night – I am returning a few things to Target that I’ll likely get a gift card for instead of a refund, so I’ll see if any of the things on the list are there. I have breakfast – 2 soft boiled eggs and toast, and do the dishes. I watch a few more episodes of Supernatural before heading out for the day. 12:00 pm – I make a travel mug of tea to take with me (I may have a problem), brush my teeth and load up the car with my laundry (I’ll do it at my mom’s house tomorrow), overnight bag, things I need to return, and a bag with some home décor items I am giving to a friend from elementary school. I’m heading back to the new apartment for an in home appointment with a Best Buy appliances specialist. They come to your house, measure, find out what you want and put together packages for you. It’s free so who am I to turn this down? I won’t buy appliances today, it’s a little too soon, but I want to see what’s what and then I can communicate with the guy as we move further into the process. 4:00 pm – Appliance guy called me at 3:45 to tell me that he had a family emergency and can’t make it today, but he’s very sorry and is going to give me sooooo many discounts. While I was waiting for him, I built out a package online. The level of appliances that I want is very well priced (and well under the budget I had estimated) once they’re bundled, so if he can cut me a deal on top of that, then all is forgiven. I pack up and leave, since that’s the only reason I came here today. I head to a nearby shopping center to do a return. There’s a Starbucks, so I mobile order a Venti London Fog latte, and pay using my pre-loaded card ($5.06). 5:30 pm – I get to my friend J’s house and let myself in the back door using the key she left for me. Her puppy is GORGEOUS but holycrap so much energy. I’m not really a dog person, I like the more laid back chill of cats, but this is fun. For the short period that it will be J I order some dinner – ravioli vodka, mozzarella sticks and tiramisu - $29.52 10:30pm – Puppy and I have been hanging all night but now it’s time for bed. Saturdays are wild, y’all. Change, pee, brush teeth, collapse into J’s guest room. Daily Total – $29.52 Day Seven (Sunday) 8:00 am – I wake up and get to clean up puppy poop. She’s still new to the housebreaking thing. No matter how often I take her outside, she doesn’t seem to get that that’s where she’s supposed to pee/poop. She’s so cute and just a baby….so it’s hard to get upset with her. J has no tea in her house, nor does she appear to have a tea kettle. This is like CODE RED. 9:30 am – I finish packing my stuff up, put poor puppy back into crate, and head out. On my way, I stop at McDonald’s to get myself some breakfast. And some tea. I also buy my mother some food, and order a meal so I can have a second cup of tea lol. Then I head over to my mom’s house. $14.65 1:00 pm – While my laundry is going, I run out to drop off the décor items at my friend’s, and go to Target. I return the ugly curtain rods from the other day, and some other stuff I had. I then buy ginger beer for my sister, beef stock, half & half, grapes and a tension rod for the shower. The total comes to $39.97 (after some gift cards, and my mom or sister may give me some money towards this….not worried about it either way). I don’t like the tension rod all that much, but I can’t remember how much the fancy brand was. When I get back to my mom’s, I check and see that it’s cheaper *facepalm* so I’ll include it in my Home Depot order and return whichever one I don’t like. $39.97 6:00 pm – Laundry is done, we’ve eaten dinner (cavatelli with Bolognese which is delicious but it’s still a little too warm for it lol), and I head home. I unload the car, go park, chat with one of my neighbors for a few minutes, then head upstairs to get my Sunday evening list accomplished. Laundry gets put away, I find two sets of towels in my linen closet that can go into the donation bag, and I clean my purse out from the weekend debris. 8:30 pm – I place the Home Depot order I started yesterday. Glad I didn’t order then, because the medicine cabinet I chose is too big for the space. I order everything else in the cart, and put another medicine cabinet onto the “to be ordered and picked up at the store by R when he’s ready for it” list. Total comes to $166.54. I make a note to make a template of the different medicine cabinet sizes that I like to bring to the apartment this week for when I meet with R so I can choose one and be freaking done with it. $166.54 9:45 – Time for bed, I’m pooped. Shower, brush teeth, lay out clothes, tomorrow’s breakfast/snacks (some of the grapes I bought earlier) put in a bag, good night! Daily Total – $221.16 Weekly Totals: Clothing – $512.37 Food & Drink – $135.83 Gas – $32.00 Home/Renovation – $4,197.71 Transportation – $75.00 Miscellaneous (Target Trip) – $39.97 Grand Total - $5,592.17 Reflections: Holy Jesus. I knew this was going to be a weird week but DAYUM. If I remove the clothing (dresses) and stuff I bought for the renovation out, I’m at $882, which is still high for the week. Another good chunk of that will be reimbursed (I didn’t include the expensed items specifically, but some of it is indirectly covered). I’ll say that food & drink is a little out of the ordinary as well – not the amount, but I didn’t do any significant grocery shopping, which is usually a big part of my food spending for the week. I happened to be able to eat out of my freezer most days that I was home, and I ordered food when I was at the apartment or at my friend’s house! It’ll be very interesting to do a follow-up after the reno is done and I am firmly in the new place!!!!
[Resolved] Duet is probably the best option, and it’s currently on sale for $9.99. Hello! Currently I’m a project manager, at work I have a Dell laptop with 2 external monitors (which almost doubles my productivity). In light of the viral epidemic, there’s a good chance I’ll be required to work from home - but I have to leave the monitors. I have a personal iPad mini 4 that I’m interested in using as an external monitor (not mirroring). I’ve seen a few apps (AirDisplay, SideCar, Duet) that promote this very thing, but I want to make sure it’s what I’m looking for before making a purchase, if needed. Primarily, I would like it to be for my work laptop - a Dell Latitude 5490 running Windows 10 Enterprise. The iPad mini 4 is running iPadOS 13.3.1. Both will be on the same network, but I can also use a lightning cable if needed. The iPad would mainly be used for spreadsheets and templates as references, so the refresh rate (“jitter”) does not have to be super smooth - I’m mainly looking for very basic functionality of a second monitor. The bonus would be that, using the same app, I could separately also use the iPad mini 4 as an external monitor for my personal MacBook Air. For MacBook-to-iPad, I get the impression that SideCar is going to be the best bet? However, I’m 100% open to suggestions. Thanks! Stay safe and well ✌🏽
Hi. I have a job. I am a high-school drop out. Whenever you take advice from anyone, it is important to consider the source. A school guidance counselor likely has a lot of information and background, and could give really solid advice... on becoming a school guidance counselor. That being said, I can give my experience and background and answer questions about what I do. A person who works in HR is likely to have information I don't have, and might have advice that contradicts mine. Different people have different experiences, make your decisions and your perspective be based on thinking critically about what people tell you and you might go far. WHAT I DO: I work in IT, maintaining linux servers. I am decidedly middle class. I also do not have a high-school diploma, I dropped out and have a GED. As such, I can give you general advice on getting jobs without a degree, and specialize in computer fields. q: How do I get a job? a: For any job, I don't care if it is a McDonalds or a bank executive, I believe you should have a good resume set up. That may seem silly for entry-level positions, but trust me, it's the right thing to do. There are templates online, but just remember the purpose and function of a resume: To get you a job... INTERVIEW. Not a job! A job INTERVIEW! q: But I don't have anything to put on it! a: Yeah you do. For me, if I had zero experience working an actual job with computers, I could put, "Computer enthusiast, capable of building HTML websites, familiar with anti-virus installation, proficient with UNIX systems". You fill it up with that. q: But the education section would be empty! a: So don't put in an education section. What are they going to do, ignore a perfectly good resume because it doesn't cite your education? They might, but if they do, you're dodging a bullet, screw them. Any company that actually will not hire the perfect candidate because they don't have a BA in basket weaving is a bureaucratic mess that you don't want anything to do with anyway. q: What does a resume need to have? a: I'm not the grand master resume writer, but my resume contains my name, a description of what I do, past work experience (you don't have this yet), and some hand-picked references. Make sure to tailor the resume for the position and the company that you're looking to get an interview with. The best way to do this is to have a "Master Resume" that has every bit of information you might want to put in a resume, then creating a new resume in LibreOffice or Word or whatever, and taking the relevant sections of the previous resume and just plopping them in, lining them up, and exporting as a PDF. (Btw, send resumes as PDFs if you don't want to look like a silly willy) q: Okay, so now that I have a resume, what do I do with it? a: Deliver it to the hiring manager. There are a couple ways to do this. If it's an online job posting, you can reply to the posting directly, or you can go to the company website and look in their career section, find the job, and apply that way. You can also e-mail who you guess would be the hiring manager if they list their employees on their website if you want to skip the queue and get straight to the guy in charge. This might piss them off. It might make them go, "Huh, wow, kid, you got gumption!" and give you an interview. You do whichever you think works best. If there is a building nearby for the company, you might want to put on a nice tie and waddle on down there with a printed resume and cover letter and ask the secretary to speak to the hiring manager. I've had more than one interview given on-the-spot by doing this, and was hired once in the process. Your mileage may vary. q: Cover letter? What the hell is that? a: A cover letter has the purpose of explaining to whomever has your resume why the hell you sent them the resume. If a manager sees a resume without any real purpose, they're not going to go, "Ah, this kid is looking to be considered for the QA position that I have posted on the Craigs List, good show I shall call them immediately!" They're much more likely to stop, think, "Wait, are they applying for the QA position, the data entry position, or the janitor position?" Thinking wastes calories. Human brains take the path of least resistance. In this case, it means your resume just gets chucked. Now, what if you had a COVER LETTER? One that said, "Dear sir or ma'am, I recently came across the listing on CraigsList for a position in QA, and I would like to learn more about this position. I have attached my resume for your review, please contact me at (555) 867-5309, or alternatively send me an email at [email protected]"? Why, suddenly the mystery of the biography in the envelope is solved! They know just what to do with your resume, and onto the spreadsheet you go! q: So I sent the resume, now what? a: Now you open YOUR spreadsheet and put the date you sent the resume, the name of the company, and the phone numbeemail address/whatever of the person you sent it to. 3 days, not including weekends, from the day you sent it, you FOLLOW UP with another e-mail asking whether they had it, and when a good time to speak on the matter would be. This shows the employer you're not some dude who is just mailing random companies with the shotgun method (even if you are, at least you don't look like it) and that you might be seriously interested. q: They called me! What do I do? a: Act very polite but very confident. If you are neither polite or confident, act as though you are a person who is. "Thank you for your call, yes, I remember looking into that, can you tell me more about the position?" Employers like questions. Try to get them to do most of the talking by asking them lots of questions, such as, "So what are the major responsibilities of someone on the team? What are the current pain points with your company? What would be the best way for me to assist within your organization?" When they answer, ask more questions, "Oh, you say that there is a lot of trouble dealing with call volume? What are the best ways to handle large call volume in your opinion? Oh, you've been with the company for 4 years? How do you like it? How long have you been in the industry?" Employers like this because it shows that you are engaged with the conversation mentally, that you're capable of listening, and that you're not a dumbass. If you seem motivated and cheerful, they think, "Gee, this kid seems like he has a good head on his shoulders, I'd bet he'd do a great job in this company" q: I got the interview! Now what?! a: Get into a suit. Make sure you know how to wear it. Make sure it fits as best as you can. Get a haircut. Brush your teeth. Tuck in your shirt. Wear a tie. I don't care if the job is McDonalds, wear a damn suit, it's a job interview. You need to take it seriously if you want the job. Bring your resume in a folder, bring a pen to write stuff with (employers love it if you start writing down notes when they say stuff, it makes you look like you really have your shit together), and get there 30 minutes early. Why 30? Because you're going to have trouble finding the place and that'll make you late, and you'll end up being 10 minutes early instead of late. If you are late to an interview, 9/10 that's an instant game over. You can usually call them and they can re-schedule but you are putting a strain on the whole "reliable" front. q: Okay, now that I'm in the interview, now what? a: You interview them, they interview you. They are asking you questions, answer them simply and accurately. Make eye contact, and be sure to smile. Ask them questions in return. If they speak, let them speak, don't speak over them. Firm hand-shakes. When you're sitting in the lobby, someone will come over, stand up, shake their hand, and smile while looking them in the eye. By the end of the interview, you should be really buddy-buddy with them. If you're not, don't stress, there's always more fish in the sea. q: They rejected me? What the fuck? a: It's okay, because you learned something in the process, or you will if you ask them politely to what you should work on to be more employable. They normally will be gracious enough to let you know. Sometimes it's as simple as, "You were great, but there was just someone who was a better fit for our organization". Sometimes it's bigger, "We don't think you have the background necessary to do well in this position". Take the advice, don't argue with it, say, "Thank you, good luck in the future", and try again. You're new to the job market. You will get rejected. It will happen more than once. Sometimes, you'll reject them in the future. They are looking for a good employee, you're looking for a good employer. If your interests align, you'll get hired. If not, you won't. *q: They gave me a job offer! Now what? * a: Is it your first job ever? You should probably take it, even if it's minimum wage. Is it not? Then do what you think is best. Once you start putting more work experience on your resume, you'll start being more attractive to other employers and you can dick around a bit more during negotiation time, but if it's your very first job, I suggest saying, "Wow, thank you, when can I start?" Congrats. You're employed! Now, focus on doing your best in your job, and down the line, you can be decidedly middle-class like me, even without a degree! TL;DR: If you really need a TL;DR for this then I guess... sucks for you, you'll never get a job. I took time to write this because people requested it, if you're too lazy to read it then you might just be a victim of the public school system. :P
What am I supposed to do with all these leftover seasonal Galar starters now? Valentine's day is long past, and now everyone knows they're bootlegs anyway. Maybe I'll just cancel the warehouse lease and let the next guy deal with it. Lightweight link Regular link Each unofficial starter replica comes wrapped in a complimentary love ball. Typing and movesets may vary from official products. Shipping details:
Brand
Contents
Nature
Egg Moves
Possible HA?
Grookey™
Chimchar
Jolly
Blaze Kick, Fire Punch, Quick Guard, Thunder Punch
Yes (Iron Fist)
Scorbunny™
Buneary
Jolly
Fake Out, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Power-Up Punch
Yes (Limber)
Sobble™
Wooper
Relaxed
Curse, Encore, Recover, Stockpile
Yes (Unaware)
There's only 90 of each available, hurry while supplies last! All stock will be liquidated as afull FFAonce TSV requests die down significantly.
⚠️ ~ ~ ~ Rules and guidelines ~ ~ ~ ⚠️
Requesting eggs - Please post both your FC and IGN with your request(s). See 4th bullet point for info on semi-FFA reservations.
Listing the egg box/slot isn't required but it can help me avoid sending the wrong egg(s).
If you have a match, please show proof and confirm to me that I sent the correct egg after it hatches; I've made mistakes in the past! Proof can be either a permalink to the comment of whoever checked your TSV or a hatch thread of yours with at least one fulfilled hatch request (doesn't have to be active).
Semi-FFA reservations may be made alongside TSV requests or in their own comment at any time. But please don't edit comments I've replied to, I probably won't see it if you do. Until the giveaway goes FFA, there will be a limit of 3 reservations per person (excluding TSV matches).
If anything is unclear, feel free to ask about it!
[Announcement] Final Whistle for White_00 | [LONG POST] | Unbiased Analysis on the State of the game [IMO]
Hey Oblaks (it's been a while uh?), During my stay here, I've met awesome people who made the time I spent here much more enjoyable than I anticipated. Thanks to them, we grew into a big community both here on Reddit (from 5k to almost 22k subscribers!) and on Discord (so close to 4k members!). I believe that in the two years we spent together in this beautiful subreddit, we all grew a lot. As a community, but I hope more importantly as people and gamers. We went through many events, positive and negative, and I can't express how thankful I am to have been here, helping and learning. Unfortunately, I believe my time here has come to an end and I'll try to explain in the best possible way the reasons why I'm quitting the game and stepping down as a mod. I want to make a few disclaimers:
this will be a long post and I'm probably going to make typos. I'm not a native speaker either so I'd like to apologize beforehand in case make some mistakes.
I "know" some of the developers that work on the game, like Amt and Bluerex. They are good people and devs and are trying really hard to make the game better. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for the job they do and the attention they put. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the rest of the team.
Remember, the few devs you'll find here, on Discord or on Twitter aren't responsible for the game just by them so don't ever, EVER, insult or threat them.
Let's start from the game. We all know that Fifa Mobile (or FIFA Soccer, as it's called on Play Store) has always been full of bugs. Everywhere, in each iteration of it. Starting from the glitched LvL achievement Lewandowski in season 1 to Weekend Tournaments rewards in Season 2 to the League issue at the start of the current season, but I could mention the "baby" football field, being able to use the main team in WC mode, dynamic logos crashing down Leagues... It clearly shows how "shallow" their testing is. At this point I'm not even sure if they test every build. We saw the consequences: people abusing WT glitch bumping their Skill Boost levels to 18 and above (later banned), a free TOTY starter in WT, making the market crash, card duplication on market which lead to another crash of every master card, VSA Rose as ads reward and so on and so forth. This game has also always been clearly open to hacks of any kind: OVR and stats change, improved chances, time hack and many others. Titas Brazil say hi. Since FIFA Mobile is supposed (!) to be a football themed game, anyone would expect a mid-high gameplay level. Instead, we had to wait 2 years for decent looking graphics. While graphics slowly got better, we are stuck with broken gameplay for ages: how often does a pass go in the wrong direction, to the wrong player or even when it lands correctly, the recipient fails to lock the ball? They had to make the main TOTY Starters have roulette due to how bad Rainbow flick is this season. By the time an issue gets fixed, a new one arises. Their negligence brought them to make bad events, without doing any calculation and whenever something positive happened accidentally, they'd rush to fix that instead. Carniball masks (when they even blamed us for "exploiting" a plan that was added clearly by them), VSA Rose, WT free TOTY Starter are the ones off the top of my head. The way these issues were handled by them is pretty peculiar and in my humble opinion, rushed and inconsiderate. Moving on to the next topic, I'd like to discuss about the core of the game. As you are aware, this game is mainly focused on Seasonal Events that follow one another. Without them, the game has close to zero content. While they tried to improve on this matter this season, adding Champions League and completely revamping Team Heroes, the content offered can be considered abysmal, with the little content we can play being monotonous. Is there anyone who actually enjoys logging in every 1/4/6/8 hours, play 4 skill games, watch 1-3 ads and close the game? You could argue that it lets you play more VSA or H2H, but then again, are those rewards worth it? Or even enjoyable? Last time I checked, games are played to have fun and currently all I see around me is people raging. Raging about losing games, raging about h2h bugs or issues, raging about matchmaking. I'm still trying to understand where the other Scouting leagues are by the way, anyone found them? Going back to Seasonal Events, the recent ones have proved to be a cash grab and the further we go the clearer it becomes. The game has become a gambling machine and it's under everyone's nose, although I never thought it'd be this obvious. *Stares at TOTY Roulette* Gambling, or more generally the random aspect, never gave us a clear view of events, thus making planning really difficult. It's ironic to see EA censor bet companies from players' kits because it's illegal in some States and then do the same thing, if not worse. The top tier rewards are locked behind a paywall and there's no way to get there for average players. "Buut cards are tradeable you can buy them whenever you want!". And where is the average 92 ovr team player going to find 50 millions to buy a 97 Ronaldo? "But the 96 one is much cheaper and has the same stats!". And what about the skill boost? You need 10 times the amount of Legendary SB to max out a Common SB. Not exactly an easy task, right? Same goes for the "freebie" TOTW De Gea released last week and many other popular players' cards. I've been stressing out the importance of this matter for a month and nothing has changed. What to say about currencies? At the start of the season we saw a new currency, Gems, being added. It's purpose, they said, was to give back Fifa Points their exclusive value and at the same time giving us a way to save coins and FP by using the new currency to buy packs and certain offers. Almost 3 Months in and we saw basically no good offers, while the now exclusive currency starred in most events, especially in New Year's Eve. They overloaded the game with fake and temporary currency very few got to use: all kinds of buttons, league scarfs, snowballs, points. I didn't see many mention this but the more spread resources are, the more difficult completing an event becomes.There are so many little details that we don't think about that actually make a huge difference. How can I not mention the most important currency of them all though? Coins have been fundamental throughout the 3 iterations of the game, just like in any FIFA game. It's such a valuable and flexible currency: you can do almost everything with it: cards, txp, skill boost and therefore OVR. But how does a player acquire this currency? "Well, since it's so important and players need so much of it, the game must be rewarding players with huge amounts of coins from events" Wrong. The amount of coins gained from VSA/H2H/Daily Events/Seasonal Events is again, abysmal to compete. And that's where Market comes into the equation. Just like in any FIFA, the main coin source of the game is Market. But how many people actually know how to play the Market? Most importantly, why is people forced to play the Market to stay "competitive" in a (supposedly) football game? Truth is, this is a Football-themed Market game. Before I conclude this totally unbiased "analysis", I'd like to mention a few other issues. The game lacks transparency. As previously mentioned, it's inadmissible that an event isn't fully visible from the start. It's not fair towards the whole community. It's unfair to F2P players who can't plan properly, it's unfair for P2P player because they have no idea how much what they're paying for will be worth in a day or two. Furthermore, the ban reasonings are totally obscure. I'm sure that the people they ban actually deserve to be banned (actually not, prk2help was banned for a totally bs reason in Season 2), but the banned players deserve to know why, if they ask, and be given a chance to be cleared in case they were wrongfully banned. Let's now talk about aspects that are "external" to the game but are still important and related to it. As you may know, in Season 2 we had 3 amazing Card Databases: Futhead, FIFARenderZ and FIFAM1K. Did they get any help from EA? No. Instead, EA brilliantly decided to encrypt the only known way (at the time) to get the data needed to keep those websites active. The result? 2 out of the 3 websites had to close down their service for Fifa Mobile. The third one, our dear FIFARenderZ, kept knocking at EA's door to be given a way to keep the service active. While the few devs Rendy (FIFARenderZ) and I knew tried to help, they had no authority on the matter and at the end of the day, RenderZ had to find a brilliant workaround to save his work. This is a clear example on how to NOT run your business. The game is so rudimental and fragmented code wise, there is no API or service provided. Have you ever had the need to contact EA Support?I hope you never had the necessity, because if you had, contacting them would bring you nothing but disappointment and frustration. The staff there is completely incompetent as they don't even know what game you're asking help for. You're lucky if you find someone that speaks English fluently. They don't even have the tools to help, 99% of the time they'll reply with a template message saying how they feel you for your situation but can't help you. Eventually, if you're determined enough to keep opening tickets and lucky enough to find someone competent, you might get something out of it. Personally, it took me more than 2 months to get my missing 99 Reus token in Season 1. I've been told the situation isn't better currently. Overall, the game definitely has some good aspects and I'm positive they have good intentions, at least few of them. But it's not enough. I've waited 2 years to see something change positively and I can't say it happened. The game is a raw diamond, it has insane potential but this dev team doesn't seem to be able to handle it properly. Or if they are able to do so, they're doing a really bad job. Okay I'm done, sorry for the long post but I had to convey these thoughts into a post. Let's now get into the future of the Sub and the Discord Server. Although I already quit the game since the start of the month, I'll stick around on the Sub and the Server at least for another month, while the Mod Team and I decide exactly what to do, so hopefully things will go as smooth(-E) as possible. Next week there will be a post so those who believe are a good fit for the Mod Team of this sub can finally apply. There will be more updates soon! I wish you a happy stay on the sub and on the game, although my hope now is that this post made you reflect on whether you want to keep playing this "game" or not. White_00 out. P.S. TL;DR: The game is in shambles, dev team doesn't look capable of handling the situation and I got fed up with the game. Still, go read the whole post you lazy noob.
Actual Microsoft SharePoint 2013 (77-419) Certified Exam
Microsoft SharePoint 2013 (77-419) certification is for SharePoint site owners who need to polish their skills and knowledge by creating SharePoint subsites and managing access to the content. This certification is intended for information workers who are actively working and contributing to SharePoint environment. This certification mainly focuses on empowering users to perform common day-to-day tasks when working with SharePoint 2013. This certification presents new features and functionality.
Microsoft SharePoint 2013 (77-419) certification defines how to Create and Format Content in which it briefly explains that how to navigate the SharePoint Hierarchy and this may include to Quick Launch, using All Site Content, using breadcrumbs, adding content to Quick launch, using Content and Structure for navigation. Create and Format Content also describes how to manage lists and libraries in which it briefly explains creating lists or libraries, editing properties for new items, enabling email notifications on lists/ libraries, providing shortcuts to a mobile site URL, managing document templates, handling list views, creating alerts on libraries or lists, using ratings, adding columns, managing column properties. Candidates also learn how to manage List Items that includes creating new list items, editing content, deleting list items or documents, publishing assets, managing existing workflows, uploading documents, creating and managing announcements, collaborating with Microsoft Office assets (calendars, spreadsheets, web apps). They also learn how to Manage Document Sets that how to add documents to documents sets, creating document sets, activating and deactivating document sets. Overview of the Exam: Microsoft SharePoint 2013 (77-419) certification focuses on Managing SharePoint Sites that how to manage Pages. Manage pages may include creating new site pages, using templates, editing and deleting existing site pages. Candidates perform Administrative Tasks on Sites and Workspaces that include creating new sites or workspaces, by using the templates, configuring and managing Content Organizer, configuring site or workspace structures, updating Look and Feel, recovering assets (Lists, Libraries, documents, list items), viewing site web analytics, viewing detailed reports. This certification also explains how to manage Web Parts on a Page that includes adding Web Parts, configuring Web Parts, hiding and removing Web Parts and importing these Web Parts. Candidates learn to manage content types that are not limited to associating content types to lists, extending and creating custom content types. Microsoft SharePoint 2013 certification also demonstrates how to participate in User Communities in which candidates improve their skills in configuring My Site that includes adding keywords, adding colleagues, selecting themes, configuring Colleagues Tracker web Part, RSS feeds and My Profile. Candidates learn to Collaborate through My Site, in which they learn to update profile status, sharing pictures in My Site, managing personal documents, sharing documents in My Site. Candidates add tags and Notes to the Content by adding notes to the Note Board for list and libraries, adding tags for list and libraries, using tag clouds, reviewing tags on My Site. Exam Topic Distribution: This certification also improves to configure and consume Site Search Results in which candidates learn to Perform Search Administrative at the Site Level that includes configuring searchable columns, list searches, site search visibility. View Search Results include browsing search results, using Best Bet results, Refinement Panel, using alerts and RSS feeds with search results. Candidates perform Advanced Search in which it is defined how to use Boolean operators in searches, using Wild cards in searches, using property searches, using phonetic searches, using advanced searches. Where to Find Training Courses? CertsWarrior is also providing online training Courses, Study guides and preparation materials for the 77-419 Exam and the information of these exam training materials are available at MICROSOFT CertsWarrior website. Sample practice or self-assessment tests are also available at MICROSOFT online for measuring the level of skills and knowledge. Road to the Achievement by Using our Latest and Workable Study Material Regarding MICROSOFT 77-419 Practice Test and PDF Questions. CertsWarrior Loves to Write & Provide the Valid Material to its Customer.https://www.certswarrior.com/exam/77-419/
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How To Make THE BEST Bet Tracking Spreadsheet There Is in ...
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