Life Changes and Future Plans

You are tuned in to Steve on Altered Geek Hello

and welcome to Altered Geek I'm your host Steve

Phillips and yeah, I'm dropping the Megatron

moniker don't need it anymore to be honest and

Although I it's it gives me a pang of nostalgia.

I Think it's time for the next evolution more

or less So that being said, Altered Geek may

or may not be coming to an end or may or may

not be evolving. It kind of depends. I'm not

really sure where it's going at this point. Granted,

there's still going to be interesting conversational

pieces on here, on technology and some other

nostalgia -based things, but... I'm not really

going to be covering much of the news or things

of that nature anymore. One, to cover the news,

the movie stuff, I mean we have Cinema Geeks,

although at this point I don't know if they're

still recording or not. They haven't had an episode

in like two months, so I don't know exactly what's

going on. Nevertheless, I've been having fun

doing some stuff on tech and I think that also

a part of being an altered geek is not just the

content, but how you evolve as a person and what

you're geeking out to and how you're altering

your geekdom. I think that applies to myself

as well at this point. I think that the element

of having to change and evolving has kind of

hit this certain wall that I need to decide which

direction I'm going and I've kind of got it grasped.

I'm just still kind of on the fence of it. So

the point is I'm moving. I'm not going to be

a Michigander anymore. Going to be moving to

Colorado for my new employment opportunity, which

I'm very excited for Getting to be the director

slash producer of a or associate director slash

producer on a children's radio program Which

it's Bible based But there's a lot of good lessons

for kids in it it kind of Reminds me akin of

having You know like the old 80s Saturday morning

cartoons in a sense without the visual Although

you can go to their website and see like the

character designs that they have which are really

well done and You you get the They use instead

of like the you know don't touch an oven because

it could be hot. It's you know they use Bible

metaphors Or scripture in that sense. So it's

it's it's interesting to me and I'm excited for

it Plus I may end up getting to do some podcasting

on that side of things and Some voices so I'm

kind of geeked on on that whole side of things

So Yeah, we've been looking Next week. We'll

be flying out to Arizona not Arizona Colorado

to check out places to live and for, to kind

of scope out the job and kind of just see the

state. I mean, I've never been west of Wisconsin,

which has been different, to say the least. The

states I've been to have been, obviously I've

lived in Michigan, so I've been all over Michigan,

been to Ohio, been to Illinois, been to Wisconsin,

been to Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina,

and Florida, as well as Texas, which I flew to

when I was employed there. And I have to say

that the cost of living is about the same as

Texas, with much nicer scenery is what it's appearing

to. And while I realize that I'm not totally

getting out of the ice belt, I'm also not in

the insanely hot weather or the craziness of

a five expressway or six expressways stacked

high city. And so, regardless of the way you

put it, I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking

forward to the change. I'm looking forward to

seeing how it goes. And I think that It's been

an interesting process of packing things We we

had our yard sale the last two weeks the first

day I had it I was flying solo for a little bit

and I started recording the podcast and I was

doing it over my my speaker over my phone and

while it sounds not too bad I opted not to use

it I was planning on and like publishing them

and having like little short episodes and Having

something out, but I was like it didn't really

have the scream the the full continuity that

I was looking for or the full message So I just

I have it, but I scrapped it I maybe I'll I'll

save something from it, but there's really not

any bloopers, so it's not really a point bringing

it up But yeah, we're looking for We well as

far as the yard sales concerned we had We were

digging through things to pack things and find

things to sell and It seems like things were

just coming out of the woodworks of things that

we just didn't need I went through my DVDs pretty

much everything that we've Covered on the network.

I pretty much sold all the DVDs all of them are

gone Maybe one or two are left or a couple like

a handful if any I sold all of my comics, give

or take a couple, that I still have yet to decipher

whether to get rid of. I have one Transformer

left, I have no books, sold a lot of the extra

tablets we had laying around, sold a lot of the

extra cameras, a lot of the soundboards, just

a lot of things that were just around that either

were packed away in a tote, not serving any purpose,

they weren't really useful in any capacity. And

so we sold them. I mean, there really wasn't

a point in having it anymore. And while I love

nostalgia, and I remember all of these shows,

I just, the sheer amount of space that these

things take up, and the fact that I have to fit

everything in my house, now granted, my built

-in desk isn't going anywhere, it's stuck. which

I'm a little sad to say that it's going to stay

here, but I'll have to just build a desk again.

But yeah, I mean, I was kind of... I'm kind of

sad to... It's bittersweet to see everything

go, but it also feels refreshing to kind of go

almost minimalistic with things and kind of get

rid of the clutter. if that makes any sense at

all to anyone. I mean, granted, I had a lot of

stuff that I'd collected over the years, and

looking back on it, not only, I had to write

an article recently about Amazon, you know, your

orders that you've done over Amazon in the entire

lifetime, and they build out like a spreadsheet

type of thing. and I saw like everything I've

physically bought on Amazon and then how much

I've turned around and sold it back for whether

it's Amazon or something else and it's like pennies

on the dollar like everything just loses value

the instant you buy it and which just goes to

show you that it's not really worth what you're

paying for to some degree but I realized how

much money I've wasted on stuff And I guess that's

kind of my point here is I have my computer,

I have my technology, I just actually ordered

a, now when I'm recording this, it's on a Tuesday

or Monday, so I have not yet received my Google

Pixel 3a XL, which just came out the previous

week. We were trying to get the 3A, but unfortunately,

those are all pre -order or backlogged because

they're all sold out everywhere. We tried to

get it at Best Buy. We have AT &T for our internet.

And more or less, in Colorado, Verizon is rated

number one with AT &T at close second. Now, mind

you, it's all mountains in certain areas, so

you're going to have zero cell reception. And

T -Mobile is like following like they're about

like two thirds of the way down on that list.

And then they're sprint like another notch below

them. And then it's like everybody else. And

so like getting these phones, I didn't want to

be locked into a Verizon version of the Pixel.

So we went to go buy this thing. at Best Buy,

and we were intending on buying two of the 3As

to upgrade our aged Galaxy S5s, which have signal

issues, sound issues, text issues, just a lot

of issues. It's five years old, go figure. So

we've talked ad nauseum about phones on this

podcast over the last three years. But that being

said, I finally pulled the trigger on it, mostly

because I'd been driving my wife crazy about

it for the last year and wanting the Pixel 3

and then that's just still too far out of our

price range. The Pixel 3a XL is still out of

our price range. Originally why we were going

to get the 3a was because they had a deal at

Best Buy for $299 activated. But what they don't

tell you is when you go in there there's a lot

of fine print that totally screws that entire

number up. The only way you get it for $299 activated

is through Sprint. If you go to do it through

Verizon or you go do it through AT &T, it's $349

.99 plus your SIM card package and whatnot. And

then they were supposed to give you like $100

gift card and some other different various free

things. So none of it actually took place. And

so it kind of was frustrating. And they didn't

have the 3A on top of it. So we were gonna do

the 3A XL. Well, that bumps at another 90 bucks

or 80 bucks. And so we went to go do that and

then certain other stipulations were underway

that you could not use or get some of the freebies

or the $100 off or something of that nature.

And so we... opted to pass on it and we were

going to order them online and when they were

going to come in was when we were going to be

in Colorado. And so again, opted not to do it.

So fast forward a few days later, I ordered the

3A XL through Best Buy and it's like two day

delivery. So they give you the $100 Best Buy

gift card, which is better than the Google one,

which expires. And it's an e -gift card so they

send it to you after they ship your phone or

your device And so I'm not I'm still waiting

no mind you. This is Monday They say it's supposed

to be here tomorrow. We'll see and They'll activate

or send you the the voucher to get the hundred

dollars off so what the plan is is To order the

3a for my wife using the hundred dollar thing

if it works and so We'll see how that goes. I

don't know she may end up just using my galaxy

s5 which works infinitely better than hers at

this point Cruz gets a lot of junk on it. She

uses it when she cooks for Like the ingredients

and the instructions and everything else so it

gets used for a lot of things and it's been dropped

and so yeah her phone is is in worse wear than

mine and So I'm gonna have the 3x L the 3a XL

and Get to use it once I set it up after I get

it to Be the maps and do everything else while

we're in Colorado So that's the plan and the

whole thing was is we wanted an unlocked phone

because if we have to switch services from you

know AT &T to Verizon to You know Sprint or whomever

it may be that to get a better signal We wanted

to have phones that were not tied to a carrier

so that we could take them wherever we want and

we own them so The ends justify the means and

the cost on that so We get that done and You

know, we've been packing stuff. I finally figured

out a place to sell my Star Wars cards for it

Which by the way, I didn't get diddly squat for

I did manage to sell them along with like a handful

of comics and some Old sports cards for around

For around 40 bucks And the whole thing with

it, you know, it's just, the phone thing, it's

been crazy. So anyways, as we've been going through,

yeah, I know I just jumped in a weird tangent

here, I get distracted by a text message. No,

as far as the trading cards, the Star Wars cards

are concerned. I knew I was gonna take a massive

hit on them because they're not worth anything

especially because and the guy kind of explained

it that when decipher went belly up and lost

the The license to the Star Wars collectible

card game that all of the cards because it went

to another company they produced the Star Wars

episode 1 2 & 3 cards which are infinitely worth

more and more rare than the other sets and so

he was like, you know, eh, it's just kind of

how it is. And so I just took it because I didn't

want them getting thrown away, but I also didn't

want them taking up space anymore. And so, yeah,

that was the end of that. So I literally have

like barely anything left as far as collectibles

are concerned, but it doesn't honestly bother

me all that much. A lot of my content, I've gone

digital for a lot of things that has changed.

And honestly, I don't even consume all that much

video games or television anymore. But it's a

little crazy. Just... Whole like I just don't

even collect all that much of anything anymore.

I don't watch a lot of TV anymore Don't play

a lot of video games anymore just I don't really

have time which is you know, there's I looked

at it too and the amount of hours I have dumped

in Like I mean I haven't played this in a couple

years, but like Battlefield 4 I dumped 295 hours

Into that game And 295 hours, divided by 24 hours,

I played for 12 .29 days of my entire life straight

of that game. And although it doesn't seem like

much in the grand scheme of things, I literally

played a lot when there were other constructive

things I could have been doing on some degrees.

And so it's been... eye -opening having things

change over the last year and I'm having to kind

of refocus and kind of re I don't know to some

level I'm having to reevaluate some of how I

spend my time and so it's it's been difficult

to Kind of figure that out which is also why

it's been very difficult to Have the The podcast

recorded I've been trying to get to this like

I've honestly it's been driving me nuts My wife's

like you ain't got time for that right now Legots

to go get ready for moving and I'm like, uh This

is this is what I do. I like to do this So yeah,

my goal is when we move I want to Record While

driving on the road not like literally while

I'm driving but while I'm I'm traveling So that

I can have kind of that live conversation like

maybe have a live stream have a conversation

and Yeah, it's I've really been wanting to Do

something different and I feel like this will

give me that opportunity Which is kind of cool

So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna do some video

content. I'm gonna do You know Do more of the

the random podcasting It's funny, sorry, I just

got notification my order was shipped And I've

gotten my gift card so Mary might be getting

her phone sooner than we thought So anyways,

yeah, so and then also with with the whole You

know house thing trying to sell the house and

we've got showings and It's it's been Not ideal

because we've had to like we're dealing with

we're having we had ordered windows prior to

this even though I was unemployed because my

son almost chopped his fingers off by dropping

a window on his hand in February and so we ordered

them and March and before I got noticed that

I was getting a job out of state. And so now

we're having that. And then our water heater

was leaking. And so now Wednesday I get to replace

that. Well, it's actually, we bought it. We just

haven't gotten it yet. So yeah, I'm... It's a

little overwhelming, like the whole process of

moving. I honestly cannot stand the process of

it, but it's gonna be great once all is said

and done. I'm really looking forward to something

different in the change. To be honest to have

more like of a conversational podcast more than

the just me reporting on news constantly I'm

not sure how much of all of this resonates with

everybody But I sure hope it's not boring I've

I've got this whole like idea of things like

The nostalgia of opening up your your stuff over

the years and seeing what's there is totally

eye -opening and different. Yes, we hear you,

cat. We hear you loud and clear. Your voice is

so clear. But anyways, the digging out, like

I saw comics I couldn't remember I had, I found

toys I didn't remember I had, I had to reshuffle

things to fit things in different totes because,

again, Some of it I decided to keep some of it

not mostly like I have a couple Lego creations.

I'd done I have like a enterprise a that I'm

keeping which It's been a staple of my desk for

some time actually about Ten twelve years at

this point, so it's not going anywhere But it's

been it's it's been interesting and so I've really

been taking a look at everything that I've collected

or that I would want to have. But, that being

said, now that I've just blown out your ear holes,

I'm not really sure where else to take this particular

episode. This is kind of just more or less an

update of how things are going, like, you know,

we've had TFG1 Mike have, you know, literally

brain surgery, have his brain drained of liquid

on it. During this time, I've had a lot of articles

I've written, prepping for a move. You know,

new concepts of programming, you know, for, for

vlog series, like I'm going to start doing stuff

like when I go out to Colorado for the first

time and then following it. So it's it's just

been just been interesting So yeah, it's It's

it's it's been a wild ride this past year. That's

that's for sure The fun part is I did get to

go work for my ex -employer Recently and I keep

getting calls or notifications to talk to them

Because they've needed my help for a variety

of things which goes to show you I don't burn

bridges I didn't I didn't I left amicably like

you wouldn't believe at any of the jobs granted

the The blaze when I left there They I mean it

was amicable, but they you know I've never been

contacted since my severance run out for that

and The the second job the health food store

It's It's been fun because I set up all the technology

and all the point of sale and the websites, so

they need my help whenever it comes to any of

that. Even though the guy somehow found money

after I was unemployed to hire another marketing

and IT person, which is hilarious to me, but

he's also friends with his son, so that goes

to show you, you know, sometimes things don't

work out. in your favor in that. But it did end

up working out because I was blessed with a new

opportunity where all of the doors surrounding

it were closed other than this one opportunity.

So it's been awesome to have this come my way.

So although I have to move and things do have

to change, it's going to be great. I did see

some article the other day, somebody had posted

about every gaming YouTuber and parent seems

to be excited about the US government getting

involved with loot boxes and gaming. And he says,

the way I see it, gaming publishers and developers

should be able to monetize their games as they

see fit, self -control, people just don't buy

them. And it's that I feel is true. He says the

way I see it is, if you do not like the system

of loot boxes in the games you play, the best

way to show the gaming industry that you don't

like it is to not spend a dime on them. Speak

with your wallet and don't get your government

involved with our entertainment. And if it's

the children that the parents are truly concerned

about, how about this? Be a parent and monitor

what your kids purchase with your credit card.

Don't be a lazy parent. Claim that your kid is

gambling and getting government involved. And

I totally agree. That's why I essentially do

not play any games that require a loot box or

have since quit playing them over the time because

I used to be one of those people that got grasped

into that whole thing and ultimately it's real

money going to virtual causes and I just It was

like throwing bad money at something that probably

not gonna be around forever, and that's kind

of how I saw it It wasn't like you just buy the

game and you get everything and it's it's there.

It's it's you know Oh, we got a one -up yet.

Oh, we got a one -up yet, and it really is gambling

I mean it is but you know you're you're taking

that chance to try and get something better I

mean they do give you something. It's just not

what you want But yeah, I don't know so And then

it's kind of funny, you know, as far as old tech

is concerned, like I have an older computer and

I really want to upgrade it, but it's not really

a high priority because it still works. The phone

thing is more of a high priority at this point.

And I do have my portable computer and the other

room and funny enough, I'm not too sure how many

are interested in plasma TVs. I have a 50 inch

Samsung plasma that I'm thinking about selling.

because I'm not sure if it's gonna make it in

the move and I'd prefer just to off it before

and then just buy an OLED TV later on down the

road if I need to. But yeah, I mean, I'm not

really sure if it's gonna last the move. So,

but yeah, I mean, there's, like I said, a lot

going on, a lot to stay on top of. So anyways

guys, thanks for listening. Thank you for paying

attention and tuning into this update episode

where I've kind of rambled and given latest perspectives

on things. I'll have some more kind of techy

stuff and conversation pieces and things to consider

in the next episode of Altered Geek, which I'm

hoping should be back on a regular schedule,

but don't quote me on it, so... Until next time,

get altered, get geeky, with the Altered Geek.