Returning to University, achievement hunting and need to reorganise myself

In a couple of weeks, I'm heading back to university to return to my environmental science degree. I really wanted to do Climate Change, but there weren't enough students so this is the next best thing for now.

I've also been playing my Xbox 360 games over the last few weeks. The reason for this has been to finish unlocking the achievements on these games as on 21st December 2021 the servers on the legacy titles of Halo will shut down. This means that matchmaking, filesharing and challenges for some of the games will no longer function and that means certain achievements will no longer be obtainable.

Here is the video describing it in detail.

The OG Halo Games Are Shutting Down - What This Means For You & Is There Hope? - YouTube

I know it's a little late to the news but better late than never. To help me with the achievements I've joined a discord group dedicated to the completion of the achievements in a time when the servers are sparsely populated and getting them now would be through luck if you did this on your own. This youtube channel also shows you how to complete each of the achievements.

Halo Completionist - YouTube

It won't just be Halo either, Rockstar has announced shutting down servers for some of their games on December 16th.

I've also been into a few issues with my parents but I won't go into details. Suffice to say that they still think me trying to earn money online isn't worth it. It hurts but there must be a way to sort something out.

I don't want to think it's impossible but who knows.

It gets worse. Now my timetable is released and it's clear that all the weekdays are taken up with lectures of various periods of time. This means that my road sweeper job has to adapt to this. My boss will have to recruit other people to do my work as well. I don't mind as long as there is something to sweep up and clear up during my 8 hours, that's fine by me, just as long as I don't have to do it in pitch black. The worst possible scenario is to let go of my carers and that's going to be hard but I guess it was inevitable in retrospect.

Lastly, I've been taking up an exercise program that gave me a six-week challenge to help transform my body and I have to say, it's worked! I've lost quite a bit of body fat and gained muscle in the process. I would love to recommend it. Trouble is, my market is sort of restricted to my local area, so tall order to get people to join.

I hope to get my timetable reorganised to help myself cope but I know that sooner or later I will not be able to do stuff I've been used to doing over the last few months.

Shiny School, Shiny Games, Shiny Object Syndrome.

I recently finished my undergraduate year at university, yet, I feel confused about what I could do to make money online. There's no shortage of products that I could buy and/or sign up then share with others to see if they'll make a quick buck.

Throughout my time I've been using Swagbucks, a website that rewards points from their search engine, surveys online, and their games online, including a late-night trivia game. I've been using my iPad to achieve daily objectives to get some level of satisfaction. They seem to have more than one link, not sure if it's working either way.

https://www.swagbucks.com/lp-savings-button?cmp=695&cxid=swagbuttonref&rb=58419128&extRefCmp=1&extRb=58419128

https://www.swagbucks.com/profile/peterwatson19

I've also been using Current, an app that pays me to listen to music on various online radio stations. This ranges from meditation music sessions to radios dedicated to bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden, to soundtracks of blockbuster movie hits. Feel free to check the link, it's absolutely free.

https://crrnt.me/Y6nNht9Aegb

These require the use of Paypal as the wallet for these rewards. Not sure about your opinion of Paypal, but hey, it works so far for me.

Recently I've also been using Coinbase, an app that rewards me with cryptocurrencies but I haven't been withdrawing my earnings from it. I was told it's volatile, certainly seems to be, one day it was worth, £80, now, my earnings are just over £30.

I've also been using it for apps that also reward me with bitcoin. These are basically puzzle games that pump adverts towards me and I get a bit of bitcoin, I've only made pennies with it so far and there are no affiliate links towards these. Never thought I would think taking surveys made more money than Bitcoin, but I struggle with a frugal mindset. I keep thinking that I need to sort out my other expenses first, I recently sorted out my car insurance so there may be another insurance to sort out.

Not helping is that I'm getting approached by people on Facebook, promising that there is lots of money to be made on Bitcoin, I'm still not sure if I'll follow through. Still want to keep pushing with what u have just to make it.

I also don't know what to do to make a Youtube channel, all I've got is videos of my cat and dog, my litter picking and boxing gloves against a cardboard box.

New way to recycle boxes. Great birthday present. - YouTube

As for other things I've tried, I do have other platforms that haven't made any money yet, but I plan to explain them in more detail another time. Suffice to say I'm struggling to know how to convert people into getting involved and seeing if it works out for them. I want to help people climb up the ropes and make money and as such, I earn money as well, but I struggle to get rapport built and what have you.

Outside, I recently got a new job as a road sweeper and got my first monthly wages with it. It certainly feels good to be finally paid for what I enjoy doing my favourite hobby which is litterpicking. Well, I do it because I feel like someone has to do it. I just wish people weren't such litter bugs. I

Beginning of June

 It’s been a long time since I made a real essay on myself. I figured that since a lot has happened, well.

I should be reaching the end of Exitus Elite, I haven’t made a single sale with it. Probably because I’m not really using it. I felt like it didn’t work out. I can’t explain it in more detail.

Since then, I’ve been using Swagbucks, a website that rewards me points for completing surveys, games and quizzes, among other things. I have earned a few hundred pounds with it, but over a span of at least three months. I have also been playing games that reward me for bitcoin, I never thought I would say this, but I think Swagbucks is more profitable than Bitcoin. I hope I can be proven wrong.

This has been rather addicting to a degree. I see people online saying that they’ve earned high income commissions. I can’t help but think I can do it, but I’ve struggled. I obviously need a strategy if I am to succeed.

My parents have said it before and they’re going to repeat it, I don’t need money and I don’t need another income, but I want to pursue a few means of income.

What’s hurtful is that I still haven’t been pursuing my YouTube channel dream and it’s been months after my parents gave me three books for making a YouTube channel, and it’s been nearly a year since my Elgato capture card.. There’s got to be a way to overcome the issues of complexity and mindset. I need to get someone to help me get the system set up. I feel like an idiot not understanding how to do this.

I have also been having difficulties in relation to my litter picking. Utilitywarehouse has started offering out litter collection bags, so I can go litter picking on their behalf. Problem is that my football club manager thinks they’re not acceptable bags for clearing up rubbish where we play football. All fine and dandy, except I recently ran out of official green bags and the man who can supply me with them has been increasingly unreliable to me. My football manager is going to chase him up and see if she can get them. If she succeeds, she’ll let me know.

My Mac, suffered a catastrophic hardware failure a long time ago. I recently sent it to an electrician. Although it can now be accessed, it’s now got a software error that causes it to restart frequently. I should’ve been pursuing the issue but I’ve been focused on irrelevant matters, such as MMO games and Swagbucks on my iPad. It’s still annoying to look back. 

This is causing me to stay awake way past midnight and it’s going to cause havoc on myself. There’s other things. But I’ll be back for it later.

Exams are over and one I did well and one I did not.

 There were two exams I did last week. Both were for chemistry and I think I did well for one but not for another. I find revising really hard but I my parents say that I did my best. I think I can do better but I know that it takes practice and experience.

I return to university tomorrow.

It’s my last day of the winter holidays. I’ll be going to university in the morning. As the days have passed since Wednesday, there is a growing fear that I’ve failed the exam. The amount of times I say to myself I didn’t do well is in the hundreds, they just don’t shut up. According to those who believe in the law of attraction, if I keep believing that I’ve failed, I will fail the exam, so I have to keep telling myself that I have passed, or just find something to occupy my mind. If I did fail, I should be able to redo it. If I passed, then my fears weren’t justified, but either way, my experience may improve and I’ll be able to take the exam again with less fear and anxiety. Regardless, my feeling was that I wasn’t satisfied with how I could’ve prepared myself for this exam. 50 multiple choice questions. It’s frustrating to think that I couldn’t remember everything from the lectures. Nor the full extent of the rules of how to do this exam, something I need to triple check with my tutors. What makes it bizarre was that last night, I woke up thinking about my Mother’s school Bible, and that I thought it was missing. It was at my parents’ house as I had suspected after half an hour of searching. I don’t understand why. I don’t plan to read it again. I’ve already read it from Genesis to Revelations. My only explanation is that it’s part of Mum’s history, but I really doubt she’d cry if it was lost forever.

I’m still trying to pursue a way to earn money online. Utilitywarehouse tells me their free LED light bulbs incentive will stop by March 31st. Magda, promises a way to approach people through social media networks with a link, we are told that signing people up has never been easier. I hope so. Switching providers has always been considered a massive hassle and I doubt Utilitywarehouse itself can convince people to join straight away. I spoke to another entrepreneur who lives in England, but was born Slovakia 🇸🇰. It was a nice conversation and she invited me to her Facebook group, I still think of my other Facebook entrepreneur friends, Andy Walker, Jonathan Wilson, who are both British social marketers. Come to think of it, I can’t help but wonder if they’re still doing what they’re doing last I checked?

My mum thinks that I’m overloading my mental energy with this and I can’t argue with that. My mental energy has been focused on iPad screens with an average of more than 10 hours a day, mostly on online games on my phone and iPad. There will be a point I’ll need to let go of something, games can’t possibly earn me money right?

I’ve done an exam and I’m awaiting my results

 On Wednesday morning I did a chemistry exam for my university. I am waiting for my results and all I can say is that it’s a stressful wait to see if I succeeded. I should have no reason to believe that I failed, but waiting for results is nothing short of nerve wracking. What if I did fail? That’s what goes on repeatedly in my exam. I haven’t done anything like this in over 10 years. It’s nothing short of horrible

I had a horrible argument with my parents again.

Last night was a seriously horrible experience.

Earlier in my blog, September 19th to be precise, my university was offering an enterprise challenge where I could pitch an idea that could develop into a business and/or social enterprise. I brainstormed a new idea and wanted to pursue it. I don't want to go into details about the idea, only to say that I believe that I spotted a gap in the market of something lots of people do everyday to relieve stress.

I started filling in the idea and I was told to do a YouTube video which will explain my idea and how I would structure it with a timeframe of two minutes. Off course my idea is all theories and concepts. I would need to script the video and write a mind map to frame it.

Unfortunately, my parents were less then enthusiastic about the idea and they wanted me to stop. They wanted to list all the past experiences I had in terms of trying to make money in past and failed, not to mention that I was already putting too much onto myself and not focusing enough on my university course with my Dad screaming at me, because we had this issue over and over again.

I wasn't having it and I slammed the door. My parents told me to go back to my flat. I didn't want to and we were very angry with each other and I left the house without my keys to the flat or my phone. I didn't even go back to my flat, instead I went elsewhere and I even contemplated death trying to find the words to explain myself. I lied down under a tree in pitch black night under heavy rain for at least two hours. I didn't want to go back to them, I didn't want to feel like I'm not listened to. I find it so hard to feel like my confidence falters to the point that people reject me. I eventually did return to my parents' home to find a note on the door. It was them asking me to call me back. We love you. I did and I was screaming and crying. My next door neighbour wanted to know what was happening.

My mother was very upset, she was worried that she lost me. I would feel the same, I'm sure. This wasn't the first time I contemplated running away, I did walk up a farm field ruining a pair of shoes in the process because I argued with her, saying she was holding me back with her pessimism that she likes to say is realism, I wasn't convinced that she understands the distinctions. I did return that day and we know how hard it is to come to terms with our past, but we did. I somehow remind myself of a Pingu episode where Pingu runs away. His parents would eventually look for him and get him back home.

https://pingu.fandom.com/wiki/Pingu_Runs_Away#:~:text=Pingu%20Runs%20Away%20%28also%20known%20as%20Pingu%20Runs,refuses%20and%20splatters%20it%20all%20over%20her%20chest.

I still think our positions on this enterprise are still standing, but we agree that we both need help. Like we need another doctor appointment, I don't want to be prescribed another medication, the last time that happened was when I was convinced that humanity would be extinct from climate change by 2030. I didn't make this up, I'm not subscribing to that belief anymore but I do bare the weight of various environmental problems on my shoulders. I don't want to wait until my course is complete, nor do I want to give up on the idea of something that can help me with my financial wellbeing or perusing an idea that might be something no one has thought of before. When I was doing some writing, I actually went out of my way to conceptualise characters with unique traits and abilities. In the case of the enterprise challenge, I don't want to have my idea developed by someone else who managed to conjure up the idea and develop it without me.

I know that my parents want to help me, I'm not disputing that. I just feel like I'm inside a loop of struggles to keep myself holding together. Not helped by the fact my friend from Nigeria is in such a dire situation.

I didn't talk about this before but my friend in Nigeria, who is a real person I assure you, suffered a flood several weeks ago and her home was ruined. I had hoped that we wouldn't need to support her financially, but her daughter is now ill so in the end we did decide to send her money. So far it's a trial to make sure she would receive it without incident, we tried Western Union, but her bank rejected the money for reasons we don't know. So we tried World Remet, and it's worked, and we tried to send her another payment but that's not worked, I hope the issue is resolved soon.