Almost Sold My Amiga Stuff Four times

[justthatgood]

Maybe it's the very slow pace of things that are going on in the Amiga industry? Could be the consistent pain of working VERY HARD, with really rude people, only to be broke week after week.

Be it the the agitation of an industry that is akin to a star that is about to go nova, or the desperation that only poverty brings, I've almost did it. That's right. I've had the thought of selling basically all my Amiga stuff, just so the girl and I could eat a decent meal for once  :-( .

The more I look at the, the realization of things that are, and NOT what could be are colonizing my thoughts. Just as I had to put in my mind that there were going to be no more Star Trek:The Next Generation, Futurama, or episodes of other shows I liked, there is going to be no final Amiga OS4.

I'm also starting to realize that the community that I'm trying to cling to so desperately is fading faster and faster. Yes there are a few new people coming in, but as a whole, I think the computer industry is becoming bleh. Few people actually chat on IRC. Yahoo is literally completely crowded with bots. The few ham radio/computer shows I do have the time to go to are boring anymore.

The increased cost of insurance, increased rent, the constant gouging at the gas pumps fueled by ignorant acts set in motion by an incompetant presidental administration, the fact I only get paid every two weeks to barely make enough to help my girl with the bills, does it to me.

I don't know how much longer I can hold out.
(PS, we need a spellcheck plugin or something)

[motorollin]

So sell your Amigas and spend the cash. Where will it get you? You'll still be doing the same job which you hate, and earning the same money. Once the few hundred $$$ you get for your Amigas is gone, you will have nothing to show for it. Sounds to me like selling your Amigas is not the answer, but making a more significant change to your life.

Sorry if that was a bit personal, but I can totally relate to your situation.

--
moto

[coldfish]

^Wot he said.

I had a bit of a cleanout recently, got rid of all my Amiga stuff because Im not that interested in Amiga hardware anymore and its a process of rapidly deminishing returns.

I joined some new social groups (inventor's association), and started a new hobby away from computers (propmaking for indi-films).  Its time to look at a new job too, not sure which way to go yet.

For me, it was nice to get rid of the clutter, but if the Amiga still makes you happy, keep hold of it and look at getting a new job or retraining.

Good Luck!

[Ilwrath]

Hmm...  I agree with the above.  It sounds like you're going through a hard time of things.  

And, more than likely, it sounds like you're burnt-out on the Amiga kommunity.  It happens to everybody.  Lord knows I've been sick of the nonsense enough times throughout the years.  You might consider thinning out the Amigas a bit, but I wouldn't sell 'em all.  In a year or two you'll get that urge to tinker with them again.  Then you'll want to find someone else who understands, and you'll end up here again...  

So put the Amigas up on a shelf for a little while.  Spend some time with the girlfriend, and do some things you enjoy.  

Don't sell the systems because you'd probably end up kicking yourself over it later when you want to tinker again.  (And it's hard to re-assemble any collection you've sold before.  Trust me.)

[justthatgood]

@motorollin

Any type of change that I can do will take at least six years to significantly change anything. That will include trying to scrape ANY type of money to go toward some education. Trust me, my credit is so screwed up, I can't a loan to pay attention to anything.

Most of the jobs that pay worth anything around here are either closing shop and leaving, or they require degrees short of PhD's (see situation.) There are other jobs that don't require a lot of skills, but then again they do extensive credit checks because they deal with finacially sensitive business.

Things are getting worse around here because of the ever rising costs of the fuel prices. Yes I know there are people that are paying around $7US for gas around the world, but in our little neck of the woods the economy was built around $1.10 gasoline prices. When prices reach $3+ for gas and diesel, that puts a huge shock on prices for stuff. In our state sometimes it gets bad because we have some pretty weird taxes on stuff. It might not be that bad at times, but when you are already struggling, it HURTS.

What has to be done about that is something that I can't do. I know I'm not the who started the hornets nest around the world. I suffer in my own little way, like many people are suffering around the world. I'm not going to say much, but a lot of this basically rests on the shoulders of a little man that lives in a BIG white house. That's all. If I say more, I might say something that will get more people pissed off at me, or give me some strange vistors.

[drewz21]

Well I recently sold off some of my Amiga stuff on Ebay.  Not all of it mind you.  I still use my Amigas every day.  However, I did make some cash and clear up some space but I've no intention of leaving the Amiga World.

It's a personal choice really.  I hope the best for you.

[doctorq]

@justthatgood

Sorry to say it, but the only one how can make changes in your life is yourself. Blaming other people for your own problems solves absolutely nothing.

As already mentioned before; if you have so huge problems, selling your Amigas gives you nothing, only a bit of time if your problems are financial related.

[x56h34]

Selling your Amigas is good only for clearing up space in your house or apartment, in my experience. :-)

It's nice to have a collection, however realistically, one probably needs only like one expanded Amiga and perhaps a backup unit and that's it. There's no practical need to use them all, other than admire your collection. :-)

[itix]

Hmm... I think we are paying more like $10+ for gas but on the other hand I get good meal every day and go to the college or university for free. And I dont have to go for pizza jobs and I have no intention to do real work until I get my degree.

I guess some countries are less dependant on the oil than other countries.

[Tomas]

I feel the same way about many things these days..
The main difference here is that i am unemployed and atm recieve zero. But then again, i still live in my parents house, so i still usually get some food on the table.
I also seem to have a similar taste in tv shows  :-P
But sadly these days not much is aired on tv with exception of {bleep}ty reality tv shows, which i truly hate. My favorite shows was farscape, star trek, firefly, futurama, buffy, angel and a few more which was cancelled. The only shows i watch now are family guy and battlestar galactica 2003, but no tv stations in my country import any of those, so i have to download them illegally using p2p.

The situation with gasoline prices here in Norway is even more insane. Not only do we have the highest road taxes in the whole western world, but we also have to drive through a bunch of toll stations, even though the road standard is horrible. Most people would gladly pay a bit to drive on a high standard motorway, but not on a road like this:  http://gfx.dagbladet.no/dinside/2003/06/03/bomstasjon.jpg
And this is ontop of the insanely expensive yearly road tax which all car owners must pay. Also our cars is atleast twice as expensive than in most countries, so we also have the oldest car park in europe, even though this country is also one of the richest countries in world. "you can see evidence of that by clicking the previous picture as well"

This is also a oil country, but still our gasoline prices are insanely high. These prices are so insanely high because or government put taxes on everything and most of the price goes straight into the gov cash box. The price is now currently between: $1.91-$2.07 according to todays currency rates. It is expected that the price will raise to around $2.40 later this year.

I have much more to rant about, but i guess i should stop before i ruin this thread completly.

[Plaz]

(If you like Indy don't read this :-) )
Indiana sucks, get out. Take if from someone who went through some of the same things your talking about. It has nothing to do with the white house or your Amiga. Job opportunities in Indy are.... well... I can't think of the words to describe how bad they were for me. You have to be related to the right people or have major degrees to hack it there. If you don't have the resources to get that degree, you're going to be stuck in the same situation doing some thing that doesn't pay any better than detasling corn. Find some way to get some certifications in some thing and think about moving.

The prez has nothing to do with our oil dependant economy, that was a done deal before he was born and we've all done it to ourselfs. Get ticked, get a plan and hop to it. You can't tell me you're not smater than a politician. You own an Amiga for god's sake.  ;-)

Plaz

[tonyvdb]

Hey justthatgood,

I can totaly relate to your problem. I was in your shoes about 7 years ago and came very close to declaring bankrupsy.

There is light at the end of the dark tunnel so dont give up all hope you will pull through it. The one thing I have not done is sell my Amiga (its just not worth it) I am so glad I refused to sell it when I was at that point. I get alot of joy out of working on my Amiga doing videos and things in Lightwave.

Dont sell, You will regret it down the road.

And remember that decisions you make now will affect the rest of your life if your still young go ahead and make some changes like a new job even if it seems the scarry thing to do it most likely will help in the long run.

[Nycran]

Howdy all, I've been sniffing around here for a while but hadn't signed up, but after reading this post I felt compelled to reply, even though I don't have anything meaninful to add.

I just hope life gets better for the poor guy in question.  Hapiness I think is a state of mind, but having a dead end job and not enough money to make life comfortable certainly makes things hard.

I wish you well and hope you can hold on to your Amiga.
Andy.

[KThunder]

justthatgood wrote:
, but a lot of this basically rests on the shoulders of a little man that lives in a BIG white house. That's all. If I say more, I might say something that will get more people pissed off at me, or give me some strange vistors.

too late for me you pissed me off with your first post, you want to slag off our President fine. dont do it on a website that is frequented my many people in other countries. they are being polite and i thank them.
you are depressed and that is understandable, but i can assure you that the president does not set the price of gas at the pumps. the situation in iraq has not increased the price of crude it has acutally helped it from going higher as there is more production because of it.
the President of the United States deserves respect because he is the man We elected into the position. i disagreed with many of former president Clintons positions but i respected him and the position he held and even placed myself directly under his leadership by joining the military. i fought for this country and many have died for it so that you have the right to mouth off to the world. but having the right to mouth off is not a duty or obligation or requrement.
if we had a perfect president would gas be under a buck again? no opec wouldnt allow that, nor would the oil companies who do have a right to make a profit. would  you be rich if only Mr. Bush wasn't our leader? i doubt it; were you rich when Mr. Clinton was in office?
if you are suffering from depression get some help there are many places that provide free or low cost counciling in mental health and financial areas, throwing the blame around as much as you have in your posts isnt helping you at all.

[KThunder]

BTW dont sell all your amigas. i have sold off amiga stuff but never everything because i know i would regret it. I f you need money sell some stuff maybe one of your systems, im sure there are people here who would give you a fair price ( not me im close to broke too)