I think I had some goal I was working towards, but I completely forgot what the goal was. If I read far enough back in these blog entries, I know I wrote about it so I could figure out what it as and I could pick it up again, but that seems like work.
I guess I could just search. I’ll search real quick. Found it. https://grimtech.net/?p=2019
Haha weird, post ID 2019, same number as the year. Ok so the habit was to always work on a new habit. The habit I started working on was to write 1500 words per day. I’ve already aced this, so I think it’s time I come up with a new habit to work on.
In my ideal image of the future, I am financially self sufficient. I would like to be able to make enough money every month to the point where I don’t have to worry about money. I would like to worry about other things such as which conventions I’m going to go to every year, and which friends I’ll buy extraordinary birthday gifts for.
That’s a comf idea for the future. That’s not my idea. Allow me to reiterate. I would like to be living out of a vehicle. I’d like to be able to stealthily camp in the middle of a city, or out in the woods. Doesn’t matter. I can just camp anywhere and have everything I need and not a thing more.
So in my idea for the future, I would like to be able to sell things online, or make money from software development.
I’d be limited on space so I’m not sure if selling physical is the best way to go about this. Maybe selling small valuable items would be worth? Like cell phones or something. I could always buy broken phones and flip them. That seems like a lucrative business.
Anyway, I still have more development to do on the planning side of that idea. The goal none the less is to have some sort of system to where I can make enough money to live freely out of my vehicle.
To that end, I would like to do more online sales. I have a ton of junk in my apartment that I rarely use. It takes up space and I need to get it gone one way or another. I’m like a hoarder. I bring things in, but don’t take anything out.
One issue I have at the moment is that I don’t have a reliable online web presence. I have several listings on Bonanza, but few people actually use Bonanza. As a buyer I am turned off by Bonanza’s landing page. Their search is fine, but for a first timer visiting the site, it’s kinda gross looking.
Something about that shade of green and how the listings all look like stock images is a huge nono. It took me a few times of visiting the site before realizing it had a solid web interface. The landing page should really be redone to highlight live listings.
I eat my words now. Apparently all the items on the landing page are live listings!
So I’m changing my stance. I think Bonanza is marketed towards women. It’s all cute shit for sale. Holiday decorations, cute boots, and jewelry.
And here I am selling weeabo Waifu Wars cards.
I have actually made 2 sales of weeabo cards on Bonanza. I think I would make more money if I altered my pricing structure. Right now I offer free shipping on all items which makes the base price like $1.17 for common cards. Common cards which have a market value of $0.10! So people really don’t buy much from me, because every item has such a high base cost.
If I changed my listings to where the card cost $0.17, and the shipping was extra, there would be incentive for shoppers to buy more cards so they could reap the benefits of combined shipping.
I should probably get on that!
Ok, so from all this, I should come up with some kind of a goal. I’m thinking my goal should be to list 1 or more items every single day on Bonanza. I can always export my listings as a spreadsheet to make uploading my inventory to another webstore easy. I have got 2 sales which means Bonanza isn’t completely bad.
I think it’s worth the effort because it will do a few things for me. Firstly, I will become more efficient in taking photos and making listings. Efficiency is good for any business, because efficient processes aid profit margins. Secondly, I will become more experienced in marketing, which is an area I’m lacking in.
Thirdly, I’ll finally work through the thousands of cards I bought with the sole intention of sorting through and selling. I planned on keeping lots of them to finish my Hatsune Miku card collection, but selling everything else.
I have always thought that I could keep the cards around and they will only go up in value, but there is something about that plan which isn’t very good for my future.
I want to be nomadic, and not have extra stuff to carry around. Now I’m just feeling conflicted. I don’t live nomadic right now, so do I really want to be nomadic? I like having a bookcase which I have converted to a Miku shrine. I could haev such a thing in a vehicle, but it would have to be considerably scaled down.
Conflicted indeed.
I think I at least have to try it. It is very appealing in many aspects. Firstly, it forces me to be more active. I have to go places to shower, go places to poop, go places to park and sleep. That’s a lot more going than I do right now.
Busy busy busy. That’s what van dwelling life seems like. I really want to try, but I don’t do it if I don’t work towards it.
Selling cards isn’t going to get me there!
Neither is having a ton of cards in your possession. Get rid of them!
I can’t get rid of them though. They are PRECIOUS!
I’ll have to sit and think on that one.
Next order of business, oatmeal!
I did a really cool thing yesterday. I replace a phone screen on a smart phone! I have never done anything like this. It was a real challenge indeed. I’m not done yet. The digitizer works, but neither the LCD of the backlight are turning on. Hopefully I just gotta crack it open again and reset the wire. If not, I could have a faulty screen unit. That would suck. It would mean I have to wait for a replacement.
But yeah, I did a cool thing. I bought a cellphone for a fraction of the cost, and repaired it with $4 worth of prying tools.
$21.77 is what I paid for the phone. It’s normally a $150 phone.
Here’s the phone right after I got it. You can kind of see the crack in this picture. The digitizer was completely non-functional.
Here’s the phone as I started disassembling it. That yellow opener tool was really nice for the job. I broke off a piece of the outer shell though. I don’t think it’s my fault, I think the material was just brittle. I think I could superglue the piece I broke off once I figure out the screen issue.
I didn’t take any other pictures. I’ll have to do that when I open it up again.
This phone isn’t really meant to be opened by the user. The battery for example doesn’t just pop out like you might imagine. It actually has a ribbon cable with a small connector that goes up to the motherboard.
It took several hours, but I wasn’t feeling rushed or anything. I felt calm and just took my time.
In the past I would become impatient about this sort of repair. Everything is so tiny!
I wonder if my exercise routine has anything to do with feeling an extra sense of calm. On Thursday, I walked/ran 20 laps around the campfire, and did one burpee per lap. On Friday, I walked 20 laps around the campfire and did 5 squats per lap.
Today is Saturday, and I plan on walking 20 more laps. I wonder what sort of strength training I will add in there? Definitely not burpees, since my shoulders are still sore from Thursday.
Oh, since I’m sharing camera pictures, here’s one I took to share with N. as we compared portable gaming consoles.
Miku is bae. Those three games on the screen are truly the only games I play on PSVITA. I was playing Gravity Rush for awhile, but I grew tired of the closed world, jenky combat, and LONG LOAD SCREENS! Seriously, the load screens on PlayStation games are so strangely long. I don’t think much optimization is put on load screens.
I ranted about this on tuesday. Anyway, I beat Project Diva f on Normal. I still have 3 or 4 songs to clear on Normal on Project Diva f 2nd. But they make me rage and I think I’m a little traumatized so I’m just playing Project Diva X at the moment. X is a very satisfying game and it is relaxing to play.
Very lovely indeed.
Oatmeal tastes extra good today. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I was hungry. Maybe there’s some secret ingredient that subconsciously added which makes it extra yummy? Now I’m just writing nonsense!
Check out this shirt I found on Etsy.
How brilliant are these product images? They didn’t just take a picture of the shirt, they went out their way and had an artist draw it worn on adorable Miku!
I want it. I don’t even think it would look good on me, but I want it!
Just look at that look of it tucked in. I would wear it like that with my black Dickies pants. I like Dickies pants. I just need a belt for those pants.
I’m not sure they would go with my Dickies though. I think I need some more stylish pants. The kind that get tight as they approach the ankle. I don’t even know what those type of pants are called. Now I gotta research.
Whatever those are. But not fleece. The above pants are fleece, which would be too warm!
“Mens Fleece Jogger Pants Elastic Active Basic Urban Harem Slim Fit”
Something like that. With sneakers. I don’t even want to browse amazon because doing so hurts my wallet!
I can’t believe how expensive clothes are. $50+ for some pants. $40 for a shirt. It makes me want to put my sewing machine to work!
Yeah, I have more time than money, so I might as well do just that. Go to the fabric store, pick out some black fabric. I have a ton of elastic already so I’m good there. Then I just need a pattern. I could find some for free online, but I would need a printer. Or I could buy the patterns. They are pretty inexpensive, like $3 or less if they are on sale.
I would totally wear that Miku shirt to a convention. Oooo I want to go to a convention! As long as I’m not carpooling with B. I should be good LOL. That actually would be tricky to pull off… I could always go to distant cons and not even tell her!
Hmm. Oh yeah, there’s Miku Expo. omg if I could make that next year I would be so happy. But I’m not planning on it. Miku Expo 2018 was a huge expense for me. I can’t possibly hope to afford that expense now.
I’ll plan on Miku Expo 2020! In Japan! Ooo, that’s a cool goal.
I’m grateful for my PSVITA, and my new phone even if it doesn’t work correctly (yet.)
Oh yeah, I accidentally broke the speaker too. I ordered a new one already. $7.
I’m grateful for the place I have in my parents back yard where I can walk, run and do strength training.
I’m grateful for today’s lack of snow!
