Why I Haven't Been Fulfilling My Duties (Potentially b'aww)

Hey, guys and girls. Spent a lot of time mulling this one over before grabbing up the courage to actually go ahead and get my story out. But, you guys deserve to know what's going on and why I haven't been serving you quite as well as you've come to expect from me. You guys also deserve an apology for the sometimes-ratty behaviour I display, and for the times I snap at people.

WARNING: POTENTIALLY UNPLEASANT DISCUSSION AHEAD. THOSE OF A SENSITIVE NATURE SHOULD BACK OUT NOW

The prime reason - the big 'elephant in the corner' reason - is my health. I suffer from something called 'constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome' - I won't go into the ins and outs of the problem, that's what Google's for. Symptoms aside, however, the effects it has on my body have been profound. Some days I can barely function properly through the intense stomach ache. It's ruined my appetite, which in turn makes me feel weaker and less able to participate in the activities I used to. I am constantly fatigued, and the pain makes me easy to irritate (particularly when answering the same questions over and over).

Pretty much the pain and discomfort has gotten to a point where I'd rather curl up with a hot water bottle and sulk than do any major forum work. Without a proper diagnosis on the cause of my issues, I can't get better, which leaves me having to endure this until such a time as I can have my problems cured.

The second, probably less-unpleasant reason, is work. As a few of you may know, I'm progressing through my visa, in the hopes that I'll be able to migrate from the UK to America. This means having a buffer of money behind me when I go, so that in my downtime between getting accepted and finding a job, I'm able to help my fiancée support us. It also means I have to be debt-free before I go - no bank bills and the like. This has led to me pushing on through my stomach pains to sign up for extra hours at work - often I'm working ten-hour shifts, for days in a row, without a break. When I do find some free time, I find myself wanting to spend time with my fiancée rather than work on the forum.

Please note that, for the record: this is not my resignation. I love working for you guys. I love contributing to the community. You're like a second family to me, and I can't think of any other group I'd rather be a part of. As soon as my issues are resolved, I'll be back to my old, happy self and you'll see a lot more of the major updates you've come to expect from me. I honestly can't say more than that I'm sorry for letting you guys down - you guys deserve the best, you expect the best, and I wish I had the capacity still to provide you with the best.

I guess, in closing... I just want to say that I'm sorry I've dropped off the radar, and I'm sorry that I haven't provided you guys with the content you all need and deserve. I'll do my best to get back into a routine, but... I'm going to need some patience from you guys in return. Thanks for your understanding and support - like I said, I can't think of any other community I'd rather be a part of, and you're all fantastic.

Until next time, Spartans.

Hey,

i hope they can help you with your problem and everything you planned works well.

Is always a problem to share free time for free for others.

But without those people where and what would we be?

:thumbsup

Hey, we get it. Real life always comes first, especially if you're working ten hours a day with suffering health. Do what you need to do, brother. We'll be here when you get back. XD

Chernobyl - I'm sorry that your health is such an issue. I personally know all to well how much it sucks and how life altering it is when you feel like crap all the time without knowing why. I've stuggled my whole life with similar-ish things. 4 years ago I did a RAST blood test that came back with several foods I should avoid like the plague. It's not well accepted in the medical community but when I cut them all out, I stopped being sick most of the time, so I don't really care if it's accepted or not. Until that time, test after test only revealed what I DIDN'T have and I was sooooo frustrated. I just wanted to know what was wrong. The struggle since has been trying to figure out how to eat well given the number of foods I can no longer eat. So I still have days where I'm unfortunately reminded of what things were like in the past and as much as it sucks to have to work around some really common food items, it's worth it.

Anyway, point is while I don't know what it's specifically like for you, I definitely can sympathize with what you're going through. It took me a LOT of years to even get this far and I'm going to hazard a guess that I'm a lot older than you so I'm gonna cross my fingers for you that they are able to figure something out for you way sooner. I hate to see people live that way.

Hang in there, chickadee.

Chernobyl,
I am sorry to hear what you are going through, but I'm glad that you shared it with us so that we can support you and let you know that we care!

Not sure where you are planning on trying to go in the U.S., but I'm sure that many of us here at the 405th, those of us in the U.S., would be glad to let you borrow our couch for a brief time if you needed it.

I wish for you the best of health, bowel issues are certainly not the easiest to overcome and I know it sucks. I hope that not only can you get better, but I hope you can get better sooner rather than later.

Don't think for a moment that we are disappointed that you haven't been able to keep up with our requests!
I certainly appreciate all that you have done for us here at the 405th.
You are simply 1 person and you have been working completely from your heart, not getting the thanks you deserve for all the help you have provided. We are undeserving of you and we take you for granted and forget that 1 person can only do so much.

I'm more than happy to be patient for any requests that I have.


I will end on one last remark though...
Have you ever given thought to writing guides?
I know it takes time to write them when you could otherwise be working on things, but the nice thing about guides, is it allows you to deflect those questions you hear over and over.
It allows others to take your knowledge and apply it themselves which could reduce the requests I'm sure you constantly receive.

The only drawback is, when you have 1 person contributing everything, you end up with the same quality of work for every file, but when othere is more than one person, some files could have either a higher or lower quality, or they are redundant.

Anyways, it's just something to consider.

WandererTJ said:

Chernobyl,
Not sure where you are planning on trying to go in the U.S., but I'm sure that many of us here at the 405th, those of us in the U.S., would be glad to let you borrow our couch for a brief time if you needed it.

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Virginia. My fiancee and I have got everything planned out, but currently it's a case of playing the waiting game (which is stressful enough) and working to be able to cover some of the costs while I'm looking for work in the US after moving over. I'm not dirt-poor, and things aren't as bad financially as they used to be (I'm not kidding you here - I had a spot a few years back where I had to eke out the final week before pay day living off of gravy), but things are still pretty difficult to juggle.

It's likely that a lot of my condition is down to stress and diet, and I'm working to see if there are any ways to alleviate the problem without resorting to expensive prescription medications. However, for the moment, pretty much the only thing keeping me 'going' are Audmonal pills, fibre supplements, and an absurd amount of fruit. As I said, it's pretty debilitating, and it utterly exhausts me to have to be in constant pain, which is why I haven't been quite as 'on the ball' as I used to be. But, things should get better.

WandererTJ said:

Have you ever given thought to writing guides? I know it takes time to write them when you could otherwise be working on things, but the nice thing about guides, is it allows you to deflect those questions you hear over and over.

Click to expand...

There's THIS covering File Archive usage, which is a thread that could desperately do with being made more visible, and there's THIS project, which aims to cover a broad range of beginner-level subjects and prevent the forum as a whole from being swamped with the same generic requests we tend to get from those few who are too lazy to do their research before beginning.

WandererTJ said:

The only drawback is, when you have 1 person contributing everything, you end up with the same quality of work for every file, but when othere is more than one person, some files could have either a higher or lower quality, or they are redundant.

Click to expand...

Without sitting down and compiling all of those tutorials myself, we're naturally going to have some variation in quality. However, I lack both the time, and the energy, to undertake such a project, which is why I've put up slots for people to write those tutorials under my supervision, and act as an editor before they go online.