Sunday, May 22, 2016

"Beer Money" apps and programs have provided me with over $200/month in passive income

How I Make Over $200/Month Passively (plus extras to make way more!):

As an introduction to this list, I have been working on it since around April of 2015.  Apps come and go, so I constantly work on updating this with what is relevant, what takes the least amount of effort, and what simply looks fun to try.  I have made thousands of dollars in cash and in Amazon gift cards using all of these apps and programs (and that isn’t even using them to their fullest!  I have been able to do a lot through the use of these apps and programs.  I hope you get as much, if not more, out of them as I have.  I will try to do individual posts of each item with much more details and specifics of how I get the most out of each program with the least amount of effort.

Email me at euxinus7@seznam.cz (I am in the USA) with any questions, suggestions, or to request the invitation codes for some of these programs to get their sign up bonuses.

Highlighted Program of the Month:

Meer: WIN $300 in this Month’s Contest!!!!!  This program is in beta, which means that early subscribers/testers could potentially get some sweet incentives once it starts rolling out.  With investing beermoney, I want to use every tool available.  This program lets me follow my favorite investors and copy their trades and investing so I can reap bigger gains.  They are also having a contest to win $300 which ends on May 31, 2016!


Signup Bonuses:

Seashells:  It’s a round-up app.  You link your bank account and when you shop, it rounds up the total of the transaction, and puts the rounded-up amount into an account and then rewards an extra 15% on top of that (example: Spend $1.50, rounded up to $2.  $0.50, the round up difference is put into the account, and you are rewarded $0.075).  The rounded-up amount and the reward total go towards purchasing gift cards through the app.  Use code xVO-lH when you sign up and we'll both receive $2 FREE after you reach your first $20 rounded up!


Circle App – We both get $10 after you send $25+ from your debit card to whoever (it won’t reward you if you don’t transfer money from your debit card through the Circle app)!  You can get the $10 within the same day!

Email/PM me for the invite as it is a one-time use code rather than a link anyone can use.

Bitcoin Wallet - We both get $10 when you buy $100 or more worth of bitcoin from the app.  I bought mine then cashed it out after I got my $10 bonus.

Email/PM me for the invite as it is a one-time use code rather than a link anyone can use.

Cash App - We both get $5 after you send $50 to whoever from the app.


Acorns Investing is a program you can do from your phone through their app or your computer. Sign up; you get $5 to begin investing. No need to do any more than that if you don’t want to, it’s an easy $5! If you are a student signing up using your .edu email, or you are age 24 or under, any fees they have are waived when signing up.  They recently introduced a new earnings program within the app called “Found Money” which awards you for purchases made to different stores with your bank account that is linked to Acorns.  Some award a percentage of the purchase, others reward a specific amount.


Qapital is an app for automatic savings to whatever goal you have. It is similar to Acorns, but not investing, and therefore, no investment management fees. It does the round up option, and through the IFTTT program, you can automate funding your savings when you do certain things. I have been using this one for a while and have built up quite a savings because I don't notice the pocket change being paid into it from rounding up my purchases and depositing the difference each time. It is easy to set up and fund (it requires linking to a bank account in order to fund the rounding up savings as well as seeing what amounts are spent to calculate the round up amounts). Once you fund your first savings goal, you get $5 from Qapital (and email them if it doesn't show up right away).


WiseBanyan is a free investing tool used to build up an investment account.  Transfer month amounts of at least $10/month to your account for 6 months and you get $15!  No minimum balance required.  You have to do the minimum $10/month transfer to the account or you don’t get their $15 bonus.


PeepTrade: This is for Investors/Traders who have an account with Interactive Brokers.
You get a signup bonus of $50 from the site itself, and when you become a Guru, people who will follow your trading methods and watch how you trade pay you. Some current Peeptrade Guru's are making $99/month/subscriber (rates vary depending on your skills and rating)! Depends on how skilled you are and how they rate your trading.

Email me with the email address where you want me to send the invite.

When you sign up, apply to be a Guru. You have to link the brokerage account you use to their site so that your subscribers can see how you trade and follow what you do. Complete all the steps and let me know if you aren’t getting your $50 bonus for becoming a Guru and linking the brokerage account you use for trading.

Passive Apps:

FreeEats is so easy to make a little extra money from. Basically you sign up, register your phone number to receive periodic texts from them. Each text you receive is worth at least $0.25!!! And they pay even more when you complete tasks like downloading an app or checking out a website. But if you don’t want to do any of that, you still get paid for the text you received. I think they still give an extra $1 for signing up. All payments are made immediately to your PayPal account, so if you don’t have one, get one!


SMSogram is a program to get your own SMS verification texts and other texting needs.  You pay per text, but it saves you the cost of paying someone else to do phone verifications.  And when you get others to sign up, you get 20% of the money they spend on the service.  They are also awarding $100 each month to users with the most referrals!


Paribus is a program that links your email account and your Amazon (or Target, BestBuy) account, and other online stores, and will track price drops and pay you the difference of your original purchase and the price drop! I bought a Nexus 6 and got back $150 when the price dropped a few days later.  No work besides linking the accounts (link the email account where e-receipts are sent, and your Amazon account):


Qmee is a program you install on your browser (Chrome, Firefox, etc.) and when you do regular searches on Google, Amazon, or Ebay, it rewards you. It will pull up links to products and stores related to your searches, and when you click on those results, you get paid. You need to have a paypal account to get paid. I have made over $5 just from regular searches in one month. You can cash out at any amount at any time.


Adme Lockscreen, Browser, and Social Apps: Every time you unlock your phone, browse the web, or check your social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), you get paid whether you click on any ads that are there or not. You get a sign up bonus of $3, plus using my code: oJifaWzhAE gets you an additional $0.25. So total you start with $3.25 just for signing up! Minimum payout is $10, but it adds up fast. I’ve gotten paid $40 so far from using them.  And using all three apps by them has increased how quickly it adds up exponentially!




Slidejoy Lockscreen App: I use this simultaneously with Adme. You can cash out for as low as $1 at a time.  I’ve made over $2/month using this lockscreen app.  I save it till I reach $25 worth of points, then I get the Amazon gift card, since it gives me 500 points back.  They call the points “Carats” in this app.


Fronto Lockscreen App:  This app has a lot of ways to get rewarded on top of the unlocking points.  I can download apps, watch ads, and other tasks.  Cashing out for a $20 Amazon Gift Card gives the most per point earned compared to lower cashout amounts.


Zeaton Lockscreen App:  I use this as well with the other lockscreen apps.  It pays $5 every 50,000 points.  It is rolling out new programs to increase the points/swipe, too, like surveys and swipe tasks.  I get 15 points every swipe, at least, plus 20 points per 15 second view I watch, plus they have other tasks and opportunities to make even more, and the points add up fast.  It’s surveys are super easy to do and award the most points, so don’t miss out on those opportunities when they show up!


MooLocker App: A lockscreen app that has you download apps or other tasks from the lockscreen.  Some apps only need to be installed and opened once (keep the apps running for at least 5 minutes to finalize the tasks), others require keeping them on the phone for at least 3 days to be paid out.  It is one of the faster earning apps I have as a lockscreen.  I made $10 my first week using it since I went for every task the lockscreen gave me.


S’more Lockscreen App:  This app awards 10 points per day ($0.10/day value).  You can cash out any amount at any time towards an Amazon gift card.  I use it on a spare phone since it awards without having to use it more than once or twice per day.


The Panel App is super easy, install it, and let it run in the background. It pays points per day and you can get gift cards for those points. I usually get the $25 Amazon gift cards through it (15,000 points).  That is the highest payout for the least amount of points.


ScreenWiseTrends Panel is run by Google and basically it tracks your search history... which they basically already do. So why not get paid for it? When you first sign up you will receive a First Week Install Incentive which is based on how many devices you attach it to. The number of devices attached also affects the rest of the weekly Incentives, up to $3/week. Cash out minimum is at $25.


ControlMySMS sends random texts periodically and pays you for each text it sends.  It pays up to $12/month by letting it do its thing.  I don’t have to do anything at all once it is installed and set up.  It may require a data/texting plan in order to receive the texts from them to earn money per text.


SmartPhoneMate runs in the background of your phone and pays $3-5 in Amazon gift cards per month.


Nielsen Mobile also runs in the background of your phone. It awards points per month that can be used to get gift cards or other prizes.  Points per month vary, and they offer different rewards at different values of points.


Mobile Performance Meter & Mobile Experience Meter are two apps that run in the background of your phone and reward points. You can get around $5-10 in gift cards per month when using both.  May require that your phone have a data plan.  I have used the apps on phones without a data plan, but some friends are telling me it hasn’t worked for them.  I know their support team has told me they are very picky about not only what phones they approve but also locations and other factors to approve activating the accounts to start earning points.



Mobile Media Insiders is another app that runs in the background. It rewards points to use towards gift cards. You can link 2 smartphones and one tablet to earn ~400-500 per week. That is literally $4-5 in gift cards per week earned when maximizing its usage.  Make sure that each smartphone and tablet are within a close enough distance to a TV when it is on so they can track the shows you watch.  You get surveys for extra points as well.


Drizzle SMS App I get paid for every text I send and receive with Drizzle. They also have an alarm clock, and an app to get paid for downloading apps and other tasks.  I made $5/month using the SMS app, and over $15/month using their app downloading app.  Currently under maintenance and not working until they finish doing their upgrades with it.


ChargerPay runs when you are charging your phone/tablet and not using it.  It plays ads during that time and starts accruing points.  Every 100,000 points pays about $3.50-$5.  On one device, I have accrued about 5,000 in about 4 hours.  In a 24 hour period, that could reach 30,000 points.  I have gotten paid over $30/month since using it. I use an app with it to keep the screen on all the time as well as diminish the screen brightness to use less power, called Power On.  Without it, usually the screen will time out after 30 minutes and the points stop accruing until I turn the screen back on.


App Downloading Apps:

CashPirate: Would you like to earn money by trying new free apps and games? 1.) Install CashPirate (link below 2.) Enter my referral code "PRBKHE" at signup. 3.) You get +50% coins for the first 1000 coins you earn (= 500 coins bonus) and can start making money right away!  I cash out at $5 increments since it is the most efficient use of coins.


WHAFF is another app that pays to download apps, which I like more than CashPirate but I still use both. It pays $0.05-$0.10 per app download that you open, if it is in their premium list. It then pays for daily use of 4 minutes or more, and a daily keep it on your phone payment. Plus you get paid for using apps daily that you might already be using! After it is down paying out for use and keeping it on your phone, you can uninstall the apps you don’t want to keep using.  Watch out for having any VPN or anything like that is running on your phone at the same time as using this app!  

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.whaff.whaffapp&hl=en and use code DV86936 to an extra sign up bonus.
They also recently released a lockscreen app.  Once I get my account resolved, I am going to try it out and add info here about it.

TryMyApps is the quickest earning app testing program.  In about a month I made about $35 from it, and it has not slowed down.  Download the apps using their app store search keywords.  You get rewarded the money after running the app for at least 4-5 minutes (usually $0.20/per app).  And then some of the apps pay extra by playing them daily for up to 5 days in a row ($0.02/day)..

http://www.trymyapps.com/share.php?uid=3536 and use code YASPF for an extra sign up bonus!

Cash Yourself is another app from Zeaton, but payout is a little different.  It pays out 5 points every 5 hours if you check in often enough to get it every 5 hours.  It also has surveys that pop up that pay a few hundred points as well.  It is pretty easy to get the points.  $1=1000 points.  Cashout minimum is $5.


Bitit App is another app to download and play apps but it pays you in Bitcoin!  I have earned at least $1-2 worth of bitcoin/week.  It has daily rewards for checking in, you can use the downloaded apps up to 5 days in a row for extra points towards bitcoins.  And you can watch videos or do other tasks for points, too.  App may be down as I am unable to cashout for bitcoin at this time.  I will update on the status soon.


FreeMyApps is another great tool to download apps for points along with other tasks.


BestReviewApp,  Reviewers can get bonuses between $0.50 to $1.50 by writing reviews of Android and iTunes apps. I’ve made $50 in a week from this, but the amount varies depending on the apps they have available for review. You also get the money back for the paid apps you review in iTunes and Google Play! It pays to your PayPal account on Fridays. Register as a reviewer by the url below, you can get $0.50 immediately:


Beneficial for Students:

BrowserU is a program that helps pay off student loans through different tasks and then contributions made from advertisers for browsing on the website.  So far I am getting $1,150 paid off of my student loans from this site and could potentially get $2,000 from doing this.  Like a scholarship that will go directly to your student loans once your spot comes up.  I was at spot #641 when I started.  The more people sign up and use it as well as their browsing site (it would replace Google search on Chrome), the sooner you get paid out.  Those in line get paid out from the use of searches and other tools from the site.


WayUp is great for students who want to make some easy extra money doing different projects at their schools, like posting flyers, organizing events and groups, etc.  


MindSumo - students solve problems for companies and win cash for good ideas. The experience and prizes are awesome.  They are always expanding into new programs and possibilities, like freelance gigs, challenges, etc.


Bitcoin Earning Programs:

Qoinpro is more for fun. I have made a few bucks/month worth of different cryptocurrency over the past year with it, though. It automatically starts sending you bitcoin bits without having to do anything.  


Freebitcoin is an hourly bitcoin lottery.  I have made anywhere from $0.25 to $5.00 worth of bitcoin per week.  One time I made a few hundred worth of bitcoin because of getting a few high lottery payouts!


Moon Bitcoin is also one of the easiest bitcoin faucets I use.  It accrues whether you do anything or not.  All you have to do is claim it to have it sent to your bitcoin wallet.


Bitter.io:  This is pretty simple.  All I do is have a tab open in Chrome, and run each site this program suggests, and it pays out a few bits here and there.  It adds up faster than you think.


Additional Programs for Gift Cards, Points, and Cash:

Kickfurther is like Kickstarter, but you invest money to get paid interest rather than getting product.  You get a $5 sign up bonus and then another $10 by linking your bank account.  Minimum investment amount is $20, but you end up only investing a minimum $5 to earn the $15 plus the interest on the investment when it pays out.  You can start investing small and grow as your returns grow, too.   I have thousands invested through Kickfurther and weekly, I am seeing my money come back and the interest as well.  I have made gains of a few hundred dollars at an annual rate that easily beats good market rates (currently a 30% annual rate)..


SparkProfit and Tiql are fun investing app/websites where you can make gains or losses (a simulation, or investing real money), and the bigger the gains, the more you get in actual money rewards.  I bring in anywhere from $10-20/week per program depending on how good my trading skills are.


JStock Android – Stock Market is an app to track your investments and has great tools and information to help you make your beer money grow if you decide to invest it.  I invest most of mine through RobinHood and use JStock to figure out which stocks to buy and sell so I make my beer money grow even more!


VidFall It’s a great place to grab deals on gift cards like Amazon and Best Buy and even some tech items like an iPad Air. I know you like a great deal as much as I do, so you can check VidFall out by clicking my referral link below. Even better, if you decide to grab an item, we’ll each get 50,000 rewards points! Those points are good for $5 off our next purchase!


HitPredictor is fun for those into testing out new music.  I enjoy it cause I get $5 Amazon gift cards periodically (recently once a week, on Wednesdays) for listening to 10-15 song samples and providing a little review of them. (They will email you when those contests come up). They also have contests for $50-100 Amazon gift cards as well as Hidden Song contests for $25 iTunes gift cards (I use those to buy the paid apps on BestReviewApp).


SliceThePie is similar to HitPredictor, except it earns you actual cash per review rather than points.  The higher quality the reviews, the more you get paid, too.  You can also get invites to bonus opportunities and higher payout specials as you get your review rating higher.


FunBills is a way to track bills, pay them, and do other things (surveys, competitions, etc.) to earn points called FunBux.  These fun bucks can be cashed out or used towards paying bills.  If you use them towards paying bills, they are worth more than the amount you would get just cashing them out.


Google Surveys does periodical surveys that pay out in Google Play credit. I have gotten some amazing android apps all paid for because of this program. I use the Google Play money to buy the apps from BestReviewApp as well as buying the pro versions of apps I really like.


Swagbucks (most people already use it or know what it is) is one of the better payout websites.  You can do surveys, sign up for stuff, download games, and use coupons and get rewarded in points.  You get points for using the Coupons!!!!! I don’t bother with the surveys since they are coin toss of getting approved to complete them or not.


Grindabuck is another thing like Swagbucks: It has a few more ways to earn points towards gift cards and other rewards.  I get the most per point by getting bitcoin through it.


Snap, the grocery app from Groupon.
1) Download Snap.
2) Buy your favorite products at the grocery store
3) Snap a pic of your receipt for instant cash back


Receipt Hog to get paid to take pictures of my receipts. Check it out! You can earn up to 100 coins per week, and the max amount you can cash out is $30 for 4500 (the least amount of coins per dollar).


ReceiptPal is another app like Receipt Hog, but you can send it your e-receipts for online purchases and the points add up faster.  You can earn up to 300 points per week.  I forward all my e-receipts to them from my Amazon purchases.  The best exchange of points per dollar is 19000 points for $100 gift card or PayPal.  


Shopmium for iPhone or Android

http://shopmium.com/en/app  and use my referral code during sign up: YAHYFEVU

Ibotta: It's a free app that pays you cash for buying your favorite products.


FushionCash can get you money really fast. You can basically get $0.50 per app download, no limits to how many you download and open per day. You can easily make $20/day if they offer enough apps. There are other activities, surveys, videos, etc, to add to the revenue.  They offer a $5 signup bonus and a $0.50 text verification bonus, when using my referral link.  And you can cash out at a minimum $1!


Azearning: Azearning is an amazing app to earn money. It is one of the simplest and fastest ways to earn PayPal money. It pays you the money once you share the news or complete the small tasks. It gives you daily check in bonuses.  You are getting $3 in sign up and $0.50 per referral (for the first 2 referrals) plus a percentage of the earnings of all your referrals!  You can redeem your earnings via PayPal (minimum $20).  Use code 8QP5MM for an extra $1 for signing up:


GomezPeer runs on your computer in the background. I am making about $0.15 per day by doing nothing except letting it run:


eBesucher sends emails or other minimal effort things to do and pays you for it.  I have made a few bucks each month from just receiving and reading the emails they send.  Hardly takes more than 30 seconds per email.  They have a few other services to create a revenue, too.


WealRo: Using an innovative AI programming to help manage my savings and investments.  I put in my beermoney and let it work on making it grow more valuable.  Signing up enters you for a chance to win an iWatch and a year of free services from WealRo!


Offer Nation: Works similar to Swagbucks, Grindabuck, and others.  But this one also does daily rewards, so hardly any work to build up points and it has one of the lowest cashout minimums of many of these sites at $1.00 USD.  It works globally as well.


Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Stand Your Ground Without Destroying the Ground Others Stand On

Two points of argument have come across my Facebook News Feed.  One attacked the definition of marriage as being malleable due to the use and abuse of marriage by straight people.  It was the following:
 
The second was a quote about ridiculous beliefs deserving ridicule.
Both posted by the same person who argues that marriage is deserved by all because those who currently are married or have been married are doing it wrong.  I in turn responded to him that my marriage is good.  My wife and I love each other.  We are expecting a baby girl in November.  We have argued and disagreed on many topics and it hasn't been easy sometimes.  But our marriage works.  We honor the covenants we made to our Heavenly Father.  We also know plenty of people who hold their marriages in the same regard.  Marriage does not change and is perfect.  It is those who are married that are not perfect.  The poor choices of some should not put into question what marriage truly is.

The post of ridiculing that which seems ridiculous is literally promoting a negative behavior due to differences in beliefs.  Again, I responded to the person who posted this picture.  He said that we should ridicule and point out the errors of other peoples beliefs.  How else are they going to come to the realization that he is right and they are wrong?  I told him it is bullying to make fun of someone in order for them to think they are wrong.  There are groups and organizations who abuse the privilege of freedom of speech(KKK, Neo-Nazis, and other actual hateful organizations).  They make fun of others beliefs or ways of life because it is different and therefor inferior to their own.  I posted two definitions:
According to Wikipedia: Bullying is the use of force or coercion to abuse or intimidate others. The behavior can be habitual and involve an imbalance of social or physical power. It can include VERBAL HARASSMENT or threat, physical assault or coercion and may be directed repeatedly towards particular victims, perhaps on grounds of class, race, religion, gender, sexuality, appearance, behavior, or ability. 
Ridicule: the act of making fun of someone or something in a CRUEL or HARSH WAY: harsh comments made by people who are laughing at someone or something (http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/ridicule[1])

We do not have to harm or offend others in order to be who we are and believe what we want.  This country is built to protect our rights as human beings to live how we want, be who we want, and say what we want.  It doesn't mean that in order for our rights to be protected, we have to attack those of others. 

I have friends who are gay or straight, Jewish or Christian, men and women, different colors, backgrounds, and lifestyles.  I love and respect them and their differences.  They know my beliefs and lifestyle as well.  I disagree on many points with some of them.  They disagree with me on many points as well. 

These differences should not be dividing lines between anyone.  We are all human.  We are all imperfect.  What good does it to pushing others away and calling them out on their mistakes or your opinion of their alleged ridiculous beliefs?  There are actual bad people out there that need to be called out for their actual crimes and not bickering amongst ourselves for things like religion, sexual preference, etc. 


Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Does a double negative make a positive? It does in math!

The past few years have been insanely rough.  The one constant has been my wife.  A positive influence, a huge supporter, and, well, she's awesome! (I promise it's me, Jonny, not my wife, writing this)

I have been going through a lot of changes.  Employment, places we lived, and figuring myself out. I figured out one of my struggles was not feeling like I could be myself around people out here.  I would watch cartoons and read comics behind closed doors.  I didn't get to talk much with anyone because I worried about being made fun of.  Steph had a hard time trying to be accepting but she had her own interests, which I hypocritically would make fun of.  She's a hippie, how can I not make fun of that?

I will say my record stands of never being unemployed for more than two weeks, ever.  I lost my job at Sharma-Crawford (immigration law firm), Kiewit (a construction company), quit Shook Hardy & Bacon, and quit Devkota Law Firm.  I had stayed employed with the Dream Works.  I don't know how, or why, but in attempts to quit, or get fired, they begged me to come back.  In all honesty, it is a good company, and they are doing their best to support people with disabilities, special needs, and the elderly.

And as for where we have been living, I struggle because nothing has seemed permanent.  I want to buy a house because I can do what I want with it.  I love to build, destroy, and build again.  I have sketches and plans of the perfect man cave.  A man cave so epic, it will be spoken of in legend hundreds of years from now. Until then, it's hard to call any house a home.

But the two struggles I really had were my identity and my employment.

First, my identity is something that had, many times since being married, been put into question.  Not from my wife, or anyone else I have come to know, since being married.  But from myself.  As a husband, can I go out and spend hours at a comic book store? Or go to midnight premiers of movies? Or have alone time?

It wasn't noticeable at first.  I loved spending time with my wife.  We went to the movies together, we watched shows together, we went to parties and game nights(old people card games...), and we had fun.  But almost a year into it, I found myself wanting to have my own time, to watch my shows, read my books, or just relax alone.  It was scary at first cause I thought I was losing touch with the marriage I signed up for.  But the universe was looking out for me.  That same summer, movies like Thor, X-Men First Class, Captain America, Transformers 3, and others, were released.  I found myself conversing with people about these movies, about others coming out the following year, what different things in each movie meant, etc.  I suddenly found myself not worrying about who I am or what I liked anymore.  Even my wife had the patience one day to listen to me explain the backgrounds of each character of the Avengers.

I became an open nerd.  It was glorious! I make no comparison to what it must be like for someone with a different internal struggle to come out into the open about it and not sure how people will take it.  But I could be myself.  I stopped worrying about how others felt.  I realized I was really happy.  Like a giddy happy that doesn't go away because this is a passion I get to enjoy and be a part of in all aspects of my life.  It has also opened up my mind a lot more.  Not as much as the effects my death still have on me, but it was significant.

I have been a Superman fan.  I have thousands of comics and took great efforts to collect them.  Many are rare and valuable and are somewhat hidden gems because they show things about Superman that few people know.  There are a lot of amazing lessons to be learned from these fictional characters. Which leads into the second struggle.

Employment.  Who isn't struggling? Whether it is struggling with the job you have or the job you are looking for, we all struggle.  Losing a job takes a toll on even the most confident man.  Doubts sink in so deep, and it affects any future job.  Being treated poorly at a job will affect how you look at any future job you have should you be fortunate enough to escape the abusive job.  Loving a job and losing it hurts.

I thankfully chose to leave Shook and Devkota law firms.  One was full of rumor spreading and politics.  The other was unorganized, not being handled like a business, and very unstable.  It was hard and scary leaving these jobs because I didn't have a backup plan.

I got a call from a temp agency.  I am not a fan because working as a temp, you are treated differently.  You aren't a part of the team.  You have to fight harder than the rest to even be considered an existing component.  But we scheduled an interview.  I met with the temp agency first.  The lady interviewing me was bubbly and energetic, but she had a look that told me she meant business and would break me down to my core to find out if who I am is worth what they are paying.

I got a second interview.  Normal interviews are very cut throat, competitive, straight forward.  Normal interview questions are mind games and we all hate them.  We lose sleep trying to figure out how to answer them in a way that will make us stick out better than the hundreds of others competing for the same job.

This interview was different.  It was special.  One I will never forget.  One I will hold dear to my heart.  It started out serious.  Normal series of painful questions.  But something happened.  At first it was a smirk to one of my answers.  Then it grew into talking about a dance off to show who was a bigger nerd in the office. All of a sudden I felt like I had come home.  I met the supervising attorney, the team lead, the manager, and the HR manager.  All of them have personality, spark, and their own nerdiness and geekiness.  It was unbelievable how fun the interview was.  It barely qualifies as an interview as much as it was a round table of laughter, discussing the finer points of superheroes, etc.  I still doubted if I was going to be hired or not, but I knew I had the best time during that hour with them.  I wanted it to happen again.

A few days later I got the call and was hired as a temp.  Never had a temp job gone by so fast.  Before I knew it, I was a full-time employee with the company.  I had been given a different position, not a move up, but a lateral move which at this time, in my opinion, was the a great step towards the possibility of moving up.  I love this job.  I love showing up early and leaving late so that I can spend more time with the people there.

I was recently nominated as Employee of The Quarter.  I haven't been there a year.  It amazes me.  During team meetings, I have some of the best stats.  I keep asking for more work.  They are an influence in my life that I can't really explain well.  My desk is literally a mini Man Cave.  I have Superman and other nerdy stuff hanging up around my desk.  During the week of the premiere of Man of Steel, they showed me support and were excited more for me than the movie itself.  I got to dress up as Superman the day of the pre-screening and showed off my cape.  The look on their faces was a memory I will cherish and hold onto.  I felt like I could really fly.

Above all, and what has made my journey worth it, through all the struggles, is finding out I am going to be a father.  It's a girl! I think about what I will do with my daughter and how much I will do my best to support my wife and help her during the pregnancy and when our little girl is born.  We fight over names and parenting techniques, but this girl is going to be the first to represent what my wife and I are together.  I don't even know her name and I love her.  I don't know what she will look like, and I love her.  I don't know what life she will lead, and I love her.  I do know she will be with parents who will do our bests for her, even when we are still figuring out what we are doing.

There are so many stories to tell, and more details that had to be left out so you wouldn't get bored and stop reading.  But I will do my best to find the opportunity to tell them.  But for now, the math has been in my favor, as much as I didn't like the negatives that got me here.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Wizard Con Chicago 2012

My friend, Roth, and I decided to go to comic con in Chicago a few weeks ago.  It actually started when I got my Man Cave at our duplex.  Going even further back, ever since I had met Stephanie (my wife for those who don't know her), I had begun to put away "childish things" such as my comics, toys, etc.  In fact I had sold most of my toys, a few hundred of my comics, and a lot of other possessions before moving to Kansas.
So up until 10 months ago or so, I had not read a single comic, bought any collectibles, not been in any meaningful discussions about the complicated issue of if Han Solo shot first or not.  In being married, I admit that to a degree, there is a loss of identity.  My wife picked out my clothes, fed me her foods, cleaned my messes, did my laundry, washed my dishes, and took it upon herself to take over my desires to work hard.

But something amazing happened.  Something so wonderful and exciting, that it shook the very foundations of the life established for Stephanie and I.  I got a Man Cave.  I had personal space.  I had my own messes to clean.  I had a place to put my comics for easy access.  I had a place to watch my shows.  I had a place to spread my wings.
As the Man Cave helped me grow, I began to make friends with people of similar interests and hobbies.  Conversations of what the next Star Trek movie will be like, and how DC Comics New 52 Universe has made Superman more of a jerk than a humble farm boy.  And let's not forget that I now know how to dress in clothes of my choosing which also seem to be on the approved list my wife has.
That very summer was a huge summer for comic book related movies.  Stephanie and I went to most every one of them, even midnight premieres.  It was during those movies that she got to see a part of a world I once knew and loved.
A few months ago, Stephanie and I had talked about being ok with our individuality and our differences of interests and hobbies.  I finally convinced her to give me permission to start going to comic book stores again. I was having guys nights more.  I even started a group on Facebook called Always Nerds, Never Hipsters.
I read different blogs about movies, TV shows, comics, and other assorted things.  I have always been into what happens at comic book conventions.  San Diego Comic Con was going on and I had been reading all the events and announcements, and even shed a tear watching the two versions of the trailer for Superman: Man of Steel.  I had promised myself that I will go to comic book conventions and start enjoying some of the fun events going on.
Roth and I met when Stephanie and her friend, Jamie, wanted to do a double date.  He and I talked about WWF, no called WWE for legal reasons, some of the movies we had seen, and other topics that Stephanie and Jamie quickly zoned out of.  We decided we would go to Chicago's comic con together.

Day 1 of Wizard Con, as it is sometimes known, was an overwhelming, exciting, and fun time.  We met John Cena, a WWE wrestler.  We went to all the different booths selling comics, toys, memorabilia, movie props, etc.  I bought a kryptonite crystal like the one on the first Superman movie.  The one he throws into the ice in the North Pole and it creates the Fortress of Solitude. I also got to meet George Perez, who is a comic book artist that has done cover art for different comics.  
I walked around to meet a few other famous people including: Avery Brookes, who played Captain Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; Kevin Sorbo, who played Hercules on the same named TV show; Lou Ferrigno, who played the Incredible Hulk in the old TV series of the same name; Kevin Nash, aka Diesel on WWE years ago.
We got to a friends house where we were staying for the weekend.  I was so exhausted and didn't realize how much pain my feet were in from all the walking.  We went to Mr Beefy's and stuffed ourselves with their fine cuisines!
Day 2:  We met and got pictures with William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk on the Star Trek original series.  He didn't say much but we shook his hand and I said my mom and dad say hi and are extremely jealous of me.  He told me to tell them "hi back"; Dean Cain, who played Superman on Lois and Clark: the New Adventures of Superman.  We watched him help people to the photo op room and hug people and act like an all around cool guy.  He was a lot of fun to talk with.  He asked about what kind of Superman shirt I was wearing.  I explained the storyline of Blackest Night and how Superman had become a zombie.  He said he would like to play that Superman sometime.  And we got to meet and get pictures with Stan Lee, one of the biggest creators of the Marvel characters like Spider-man, Iron Man, etc.  He didn't say much but we didn't care.  We got to meet STAN LEE!!!!!
In between photo ops with them, we went around taking pictures of and with others in amazing costumes, also known as cosplay.  It's amazing the details and effort put into some of the cosplay people wore.  I bought a few more collectibles as well.  A Star Trek phaser from the original series, a few Superman toys, and a Star Trek: The Next Generation combadge pin.
Day 3: We met CM Punk, another WWE wrestler.  He looked tired.  I didn't care.  He was still funny and nice to everyone.  He was also helpful with some of the special needs fans.  He is also a Chicago native who promotes being awesome without having to do drugs or drink.  After the photo op with him, we took it easy, taking a few more pictures with cosplay people and then heading home.

Mom and Dad, I met Captain Kirk and Captain Sisko! Scott Bakula was there, but I don't consider Star Trek Enterprise an actual valid Star Trek series, hence he is not a Star Trek captain.

And so this story ends, I have found my place among the humans.  I know more about who I am, and my place in the world.  I thank my wife mostly.  She doesn't always understand my interests or hobbies, but she does everything she can to support me and make sure I enjoy what I do.  Being married to her is the ultimate high of my "nerd" career.  What more could a nerd like me ask for than a beautiful, tall, red headed goddess?






Monday, February 7, 2011

The Wonderful World of Wii

We recently adquired a wiifit game. I got it cause the balance board can be used in a bunch of other games. But then I tried the wiifit game itself.
I have never been so amazed as I was that first time at how distracting and fun they make that game. You don't realize you're working out until you step off the board sweating and catching your breath.
Citlali and I have now begun a regimen of working out on that thing daily. I am a lot better at her in hoolahoop and the obstacle course while she womps me on some of the yoga and boxing games. I am put to shame even more when we compare our scores overall.
Little does she know, I am practicing really hard to beat all her high scores before she plays again. Then she will know that I am the champion!!!!!!