Hey everyone! After about 2 months of barely any streaming, I am happy to say I am back! If you’re curious about the details, read on! If not… well, if not, then why are you here, eh?
Grad school (August-December)
In August I failed my qualifying exam. They were very impressed with my research presentation and understanding but decided that my background knowledge of some undergraduate classes was not good enough so I left with my master’s of science in applied mathematics instead of my doctorate. However, as a nice gesture, they let me TA for another quarter while I looked for a job. During this time I streamed for long hours, usually over 40 hours each week.
Job hunt (August-December)
I applied for teaching jobs, as teaching is both something that I love and something that comes naturally to me. While applying for jobs, I stumbled upon a job for doing math for slot games, which sounded fun but I didn’t think I would get it. I received almost no interviews for about ~4 months, but then got about 6 in December. I was offered a few jobs and decided upon being a mathematician for Konami Gaming Inc in Las Vegas. This involves doing slot design and probability (with a little bit of programming) and I start(ed) on January 16. NOTE: Konami Gaming Inc (slots) is connected to Konami (the video game company) but they are also separate so no, I don’t know anything about their video games.
So… Streams?
As you may have noticed, I have almost never streamed in from December to January. During this time, I was completing as many applications as possible, stressing, packing, moving, dealing with internet, stressing, and deciding whether I should even continue streaming at all. This will be my first time trying to stream while also working 40 hours a week, and I’m not sure how I’ll schedule it. I was very close to ending my streaming career due to time constraints and the fact that I believe that anything that’s worth doing is worth doing to the fullest. I don’t like to half-ass things. However, I eventually decided that although I would not miss League, I would really miss all of you. I really mean it when I say I don’t like League that much, but streaming is incredibly fun and it’s great to interact with all of you.
Most likely, I will stream during the weekends (hopefully 5-6 hours) with maybe a 2-3 hour stream on weekdays, but we’ll have to see. Follow me on Twitter and Twitch, but really the best way is to use Discord. That’s where I’m the most approachable. Side note: I have been MIA from Discord the last 2 months too, but I am back.
Second Monitor
Because of a story that I won’t go into, I don’t have my second monitor so it will be difficult for me to read my chat while I’m in game. Please be understand and write “Melyn”, “MelynMeron”, or “Jason” to highlight your message in red so I can see it when I tab.
House tour!
Here it is! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43BQ2nOmWfE
The internet story
So… I had some exciting times getting internet set up. I’m a very frugal person (to put it in a positive light) and also pretty cool headed (which will turn out to be very nice!) so I researched some options and decided to go with CenturyLink. They had terrible reviews but so does Comcast, and I had a great experience with them for the last four years despite what everyone says. The earliest they could activate my internet would be a week in the future, which I thought was fine. I had stuff to unpack/organize, a new Las Vegas to explore, a new cat to torment (playfully of course!), and extra time to pick up old hobbies like disc golf.
Side note: they forced me to either buy or rent a router/modem even though I have two of each.
Anyway, a week goes by just as quickly as I expected and I had a great time. Still, no internet. I’m not a tech genius, but I know how to follow instructions and plug things in. They say not to call until 8 PM on your activation day (note that their hours that they take calls end at 6 PM). I call the next day, and they apologize saying that something didn’t go through on their server and that it will be fixed by the end of the day (again, 8 PM). Eight rolls around and guess what? No internet, but I can’t call because they’re closed.
So I wait ANOTHER day and call and they say the same thing: something was wrong with their system and that it would NOW be activated. I do all the steps again and it still isn’t working. They offer to transfer me to a repair assistant and I say yes. Before they transfer me though, they try to get me to subscribe to their cable. I can’t even get my internet working after a week, 2 days, and 3 phone calls and they’re trying to sell me more. I politely decline and he keeps on going. I decline again, more forcefully, but to no avail. He asks me a question and I decide to just not say anything for 10 seconds. Finally, I say, I am not going to talk about this. Without a word, I finally get transferred.
The repair technician follows the steps to make sure I’m not technologically illiterate, with nothing I hadn’t tried already (which is what I expected but I figured I may as well try) and they tell me they can send a technician (who may charge me) on Monday or Tuesday (2 or 3 days later) but only while I’m at work and I need to be home. Luckily, Dani will be home.
I’m not willing to wait again for a CHANCE that it will work. I check Cox’s programs, and they are significantly more expensive for almost the same internet. I am frugal, but I also firmly believe you get what you pay for, so I sign up. Within two hours, I have internet.
NOTE: I am not upset with any of the customer service representatives from CenturyLink. They were doing their jobs to the best of their ability and are forced to try to sell cable and whatever else they can. I have even heard of some people getting fired because they were not insistent enough. I bear them no ill will, but I do have a lot of displeasure towards the company that forces them to do so.
Conclusion
All in all, it’s been a wild ride but I’m excited to be back. Thanks for your support and I’ll see you on Twitch!
-Jason/Melyn
Melyn 