I wasn’t planning to write anything today, but this thought has been in my head for the last couple of days. So, when I finally felt the words flowing, I thought I would take the time to sit down and write them down.
Yesterday, I finally received one of the government’s annual cash payouts (every citizen will receive a certain amount). It’s just part of the financial support scheme for the current cost-of-living situation that has affected a lot of low- to middle-income families. In some way, I suppose everything that happened after the pandemic has influenced the financial amount that our local government was willing to payout annually. Some time ago (prior to the pandemic), it was around 350 ~ 500 bucks per year. The amount would be directly transferred to our personal bank accounts. After the pandemic, the amount rose to 700. Among the cash payouts, we have one called the “Assurance Package”, which is relatively new due to the pandemic. The other one is called, “GST Voucher”, which is the more long-standing payout that started in 2012.
Now that we have that out of the way, I do want to talk about my current situation as well as what I’m trying to do at this very present moment.
Focusing on My Priorities
While I would not admit this in front of my family or relatives, I’d put it here that I’m currently still hunting for a job. After months of sending out applications (and being ignored), I had one response recently, but there’s still no clear updates on that. So, for now, I’m still going to continue looking. In the eyes of my own family members though, I’ve already lied to them, saying that I’ve found a job and I would be starting work on Tuesday (1st Aug). It’s clearly not ideal. Personally, I would’ve preferred it if I didn’t have to lie to them at all. But in order to “get them [my parents] off my back”, I’ve decided to lie to them.
So, on Tuesday, I’m going to start pretending like I actually have a job. I intend to wake up every day at 8.30am, and head out. I think it’s fairly certain that I’ll be spending a majority of my time at the nearby library. I’m not sure if the makerspace is still there on the second level. If it is, then maybe I can spend some of my time there tinkering with some of my STEM kits. Otherwise, I’m planning to use most of my time [at the library] to research and deepen my knowledge in THREE key fields under Experience Architecture. I’ve mentioned this numerous time in the past, but in case you’re unfamiliar, those three fields are:
- UX design
- UI design
- Front-end Development
Already on my mind this past week, I’m planning to bring along my tablet, a notepad and my mobile phone. If I’m able to find a micro-HDMI to mini-HDMI cable, I’ll bring along my Pi 400 kit and the external monitor that’s currently sitting in my cupboard. It would be able to serve as a temporary “laptop”. It’s not much, but it’s what I have to work with for now.
Getting a Simple Backpack + Pre-paid Sim Card
Earlier, I decided to make a trip to the nearby town center to get a few things. The first thing I wanted to get would be a simple backpack. I don’t care about whether it’s a brandless, cheap backpack as long as I have something to put my things into. So I went over to the nearby Challenger store to find me a backpack. I found a grey one that costs S$44.90. Thinking slightly ahead, assuming that I’ll be able to secure a proper job within the next few weeks, there’s a chance my new job would provide me with a work laptop, so I picked one that could fit a 15.6″ laptop.
The next thing that felt urgent and important would be to get myself a pre-paid sim card. It’s been many years since I last felt the need to use a pre-paid sim card. I have been using a subscription based mobile service for so long I couldn’t remember the last time I did the same thing. Anyway, considering that this would be the most affordable way for me to support my mobile needs, I got a quarterly pre-paid plan that would give me 100GB of data per month and 500 minutes of outgoing calls.
I hope that I would be able to land a job as soon as possible, but I’m also mentally prepared for the possibility that it could take me awhile to land something. So, in case I have to, I would probably try to secure some kind of freelance consulting gig while I continue looking for a job.
Plan A is obviously still the main priority, but it’s always better to have a backup plan ready.
Doing My Best to Resist Certain Temptations
PC Games
I won’t lie, even before the GST voucher was paid out, I was already having some thoughts about whether I would use a small portion of the funds to pay for certain PC games that I’ve been wanting to get my hands on. A few options included, “The Last of Us: Part I”, “Star Wars: Jedi Survivor”, “Tropico 6”, “Assassin’s Creed Origins”.
In the days leading up to the funds reaching my account, I began doing some online research between the different gaming platforms like Steam, Epic Games Store, and Ubisoft. The goal??? To look for potential discounts so I don’t have to pay the full price for some of those games. I was thinking to myself, “If I can’t get any of those titles at a discount, it would mean I can only allow myself to pay for one of those titles. I would have to make a choice.”
To my surprise, yesterday when the funds finally arrived, Epic Games Store was having a major Summer Sale. When I add to cart Tropico 6 and Assassin’s Creed Origin, I realized that both titles have been significantly discounted (like 50% to 80%). I got Tropico 6 at roughly 50% discount and Assassin’s Creed Origin at roughly 80% discount.
Replacement Nipper for My Gundam Building Hobby
The other thing I bought today when I went out was a nipper. For the benefit of those that don’t work with plastic model kits, nippers are basically just cutters that we use to cut out the pieces that we use to snap together.
After spending months away from one of my favourite hobbies, I thought it would be a good timing for me to get back to it. It’s one of those activities that would really help to get my mind off whatever may be stressing me during the day. Besides, I have a half-finished model, and two unopened kits.
When it comes to nippers, there are ofcourse different brands and options. From experience, there are the really premium ones that can cost around S$99, and then we have the cheaper ones like this “MANWAH” brand. I paid S$19.90 for it. It’s the very same one that I bought last time.
Closing Thoughts
Just to make sure that I don’t get any surprise financial deductions to my bank account, I have recently double and triple check some of my existing software subscriptions. My Bitdefender Premium Security subscription still has 126 days to go before I need to renew the subscription. So, nothing to worry there. The other software subscription that I have canceled is my JetBrains subscription. JetBrains is a company that makes software development and collaboration tools. I have been supporting the company for 18 years. This would be the first time that I’m taking a break from using/supporting the brand. Until my financial situation improves significantly, I’ll need to discontinue my subscription. According to the subscription cancellation notification, I can still use the older 2022 versions, so I’ll use them for now.
For now, I think that’s all. Hopefully I haven’t missed anything. The last thing I want is to check my bank account one day and realize that there was a deduction and I have no idea what it’s for. On the positive side, I have withdrew about S$100 which I intend to keep on-hand. That would be my meal money for the next one month. So yeah, I really hope to secure a job within the next few weeks.
P.S. I’m currently thinking about a title for my next post. The focus of the post would be to identify the potential scenarios why companies would hire an Experience Architect as an external consultant. It’s a way for me to market myself [my services] in the hopes that it would attract potential clients. This would go a long way to helping my current situation (financially) and towards my 5-year game plan to become an elite Experience Architect.
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