#but i have more to me than just customer service for the next 50 years or so?

[elibeeline]

Its uni season and im once again debating online courses i cannot afford

[wauzmons]

We have been Betrayed, Backstabbed, Bamboozled: The Future of Elysian Eclipse

So, if you are active on our Discord, you know that EE is made in the Unity Engine and the CEO just decided to massively fuck over all the devs who are using it...

Callum Upton made a great video explaining the situation:

But it gets even worse!

Unity since defended themselves, saying that these fees are only affecting 10% of their customers, because of the $200k and $1m thresholds, so Indie devs don't have to worry about that.

…which isn't true:

Unity Plus

They aren't only introducing these fees but also changed the regular pricing plans! They just removed "Unity Plus" which is the lowest tier and costs about $50/month per dev with taxes. This is what most indies use. The next higher tier costs QUADROUPLE that amount and is also required to remove the universally loathed "made with Unity" splash screen. Oh! And if you have the personal tier, you won't be able to use Unity offline anymore! It now needs to do a license check every 3 days to function!

Unity's Ad Service

The fees will hit devs that do free-to-play mobile stuff especially hard, since they still have to pay the fees even when the players don't buy anything, meaning they could end up owing Unity more than they make in income. But what's this? If you use Unity's advertising service for your game, you will get a discount on the fees! The majority of mobile games run on Unity, meaning they are trying to monopolize the mobile ad market with this!

Publishers

Elysian Eclipse has caught the interest of a really big studio and publisher, who is considering to handle the marketing and publishing for the game. They are obviously planning to make the game come out big with sales, going beyond Unity's thresholds. But since the game is made in Unity, they probably now have to reconsider that carefully, since that would cause a massive amount of fees with Unity's new pricing model. So any game using Unity is now an instant turn-off for publishers, also massively hurting indie devs who don't reach that income threshold yet.

What will happen now?

So, Unity can't be trusted anymore and should be seen as a major threat to us and the gaming industry. Even if they walk back on some of these decisions, what has been said, has been said. They showed that they don't care about destroying thousands of games, as long as it nets them profit, so who knows what they are going to do next?

I will pause the development of Elysian Eclipse and release the Patreon demo, including all the prototypes like Aquatic Stage for free today. I canceled my subscription and it will run out next year, so Unity isn't getting a single cent from my games anymore.

Unreal Eclipse?

In the meantime I'll focus on improving my C++ skills, so I can work more effectively in Unreal Engine 5. Unreal is the current industry leader, offering much better solutions for graphics and performance for 3D games. It is also partially open source and completely free until you reach $1 million in revenue.

It is unlikely that I will be able to just translate the game from C# to C++ and port it over, since it is using a lot of engine-specific features. This basically means, we will start from scratch... I can't tell yet how much work this will be or in what ways the game will change.

But one thing, you can always be certain of: I will NEVER BETRAY MY DREAM. I will finish this project, no matter who or what stands in my way. I hope you will continue to support me on this journey.

That being said,

FUCK JOHN RICCITIELLO!!

Fucking cunt.

[littleststarfighter]

You don't have to answer this at all, just wanted to give some perspective/info from someone who's been doing illustration commissions for about 15 years: in my opinion, it's always better to work backwards from an hourly rate rather than doing value-based pricing.

When working with private individuals as clients, US$30-50/hr is pretty standard for custom freelance stuff depending on experience, but since you're new to commissions I'd recommend offering a discount for the first few slots (both to get things moving, and also to give yourself lower-stakes "training" until you get used to the process—sometimes your workflow will change in ways you didn't expect under the conditions).

Personally, I prefer to offer a fixed quote based on my hourly rate, because that gets any kind of sticker shock out of the way. I estimate the amount of time it'll take me, add ~10% as a buffer, and apply my hourly rate. The fixed quote also gives me a little freedom not to stress out if it's taking more or less time than anticipated; I just make a note for my next quote and adjust accordingly.

The hourly rate might seem high to you, as it often does to people who are used to more traditional salary structures. But keep in mind that as a freelancer, you're also your own admin support: you don't bill for time spent emailing, researching, invoicing, etc. Tax can also get a bit complicated if you start doing a lot of freelance work.

My own base (non-commercial) rate is US$60/hr, because I've been doing this for a very long time. Frankly, the reason I have a lot of long-term repeat clients who pay my rate is because I communicate well and deliver on time. I set out a timeline up front with scheduled check-ins at various stages, and then I stick to that timeline no matter what. As someone who's also hired many freelance artists in the past, I know that reliability will win over genius every single time.

Speaking of timelines, ALWAYS be specific about the number and scope of revisions you offer. Depending on the project, I might phrase it as "2 rounds of revisions, with up to 1 hour of work per round" or similar. I bill anything beyond that scope at a higher hourly rate, usually about US$90/hr, billed by the half-hour. This also gives you leverage to say "Sure, I can add a whole new character and completely change the background; that will take about X hours which will put us into hourly billing territory at X rate." Either they'll back down or you'll be well compensated for the trouble, and most importantly (from a client services perspective) you've not told them no, you've given them options and reminded them what they've already agreed to.

In terms of payment plans, I normally require 50% up front (non-refundable) and 50% on final delivery. Since you haven't yet built up a rep as a commission artist, I recommend a lower up-front rate (maybe 20-30%). I do strongly advise getting SOMETHING up front to lock clients in and make sure they can't completely ditch if something happens. Plus, refusing to pay a small deposit is a major red flag.

I offer a 5% discount for complete payment up front, because it's honestly worth that 5% just to not have to deal with chasing people down and sending invoice reminders and whatnot.

I'm sorry to hear you've been going through such a tough time, and I hope this was helpful and not too overwhelming; it's just stuff I wish someone had told me when I was first starting out, and I think it's important for working artists to share info about business practices. I wasn't strict about a lot of things back then (like number of revisions), and it always ended up coming back to bite me. It might seem counter-intuitive, but I promise that thinking through and setting a lot of rules/boundaries up front will save you a lot of stress and trouble in the end.

I seriously want to thank you for this. It's incredibly informative not just for me but I'm sure other start out artists too. You've gone over things that I'd have no idea to do, thank you.

I'm certainly looking into how to pay tax as being in the UK I've never had to work that out before as we have it done for us in most jobs. So that would have been something I'd have forgotten about and it's not something you want to miss. I definitely have to time myself working as I don't know how long I take as I've never thought about that either. I just know I'm slow. It's interesting to see what you'd charge hourly as I see a lot of fan commissions having a low fixed rate depending on what you offer.  So definitely have to look whether to offer that or like you suggest a more freelance rate of pay. I'll admit US$30-50/hr made me gasp but that's because I'm used to working for UK minimum wage (roughly $13 a hr) so that seems a lot to me. Gives me something to think about. Though I worry about pricing people out to begin with what with being quite slow and a nobody. And yes! Never forget about getting a deposit. I learnt that the bad way decades ago when I did try to do a commission and was never paid. That's what made me nervous to even begin as I can be a pushover. So need to be more strict in what I can offer and of course revise too.

Seriously thank you this is so helpful. Like you say there's so much people don't share about getting into freelance and commission work. Getting that step up, even if it's me doing it, is something I've no idea how to even start on. I get people saying why aren't you working in art? But my answer is always 'how?' It's something no one's told me about. How to sell yourself and your work. Even commission work confused me. So please don't worry this is beyond helpful and I'm very grateful for you taking your time to help me. It's been a very rough few months but I'm trying to stay positive. This may help me while I find work. Much love, Lucy 💖

[belles-non-wallpapering-content]

Until Midnight- Nick Andopolis x FEM! reader

Overture- Nick Andopolis (Freaks and Geeks) x waitress reader, during a long shift

CWs- Cutting school to work, reader wears a dress as part of her work uniform, smoking mention, mentions of fake IDs and sneaking into bars (No alcohol mention)

A/N- Halfway through the October writing challenge, and this is my first time writing for this character! I'm a little excited, please go easy on me

It was hour 2 of the dreaded 12 hour shift you had to do at least once a month. It was hell, but by the end of it you had enough to pay for your car insurance, so you had to. This month it couldn’t even fall on a weekend because you put it off so long, so you had to ditch school at lunch to put on the cheesy 50s style uniform and wait tables, practically begging for money along the way. 

You’d just finished with one of your tables when someone walked in and sat at the bar, right next to the cash register. 

“I’ll be with you in just one second!” You did your best to keep up the overly smiley customer service voice while you went to grab the coffee pot. You got through filling the mug at his seat and half of your little welcome speech before you actually looked at him. But you knew him. Sort of, anyway. He didn’t know you, but you’d had a major league crush on him for the better part of the school year. 

He went to your school too, and even though school was still going on, you weren’t all that surprised to see he wasn’t there. But finally realizing he was here threw off your whole little monologue. 

“Oh—um, sorry, what can I get for you today?” 

“I’m actually ok with coffee for now. Thank you.” You were just getting ready to walk off when he gestured to the small candy bowl at the register.

“Can I?” He continued pointing to it, until you laughed and told him ‘sure’. When you went to print out someone’s check about 15 minutes later, he was still sitting, but when he caught your eye he immediately perked up. He pointed back to the candy bowl, and quietly muttered another “can I?” You just moved the bowl closer to him. 

“Have as many as you want.” 

“So you go to McKinley right?” It hurt just a little bit that he didn’t even know your name, and it honestly killed your mood a little bit. 

“Yeah.” 

“You cut just to come to work?” He laughed, and even though it didn’t feel totally directed at you it still stung just a little. 

“You cut just to come to a terrible diner?” He was just about to say something back but the check you'd been waiting on finally printed and so with a smile, you had to get back to your other tables, you needed the money more than you needed to flirt on the job. Even though flirting would be way more fun. 

Another few hours passed and other than refilling his coffee, you didn’t really talk to Nick all that much, there were hardly any other tables, so you could hang out in the back, even though you wouldn’t make any money. 

 On the bright side, it was finally time for your 30 minute break, and you could get out of the ridiculous outfit long enough to do a little bit of homework in one of the booths before you had to finish your shift. You just had to let Nick, your only remaining customer, know that someone else would be his waitress for the next half hour in case he needed anything or wanted to go. You knew him just enough that you let yourself change first though, he was right at the counter anyway. 

“Hey, I’m heading out for my break. Is there anything I can get you before I go?”

“Oh, no” You couldn’t tell if he was just surprised about the change in outfit, or if he was checking you out just a little bit. You definitely had your hopes. 

“Ok, well the other servers are around if you need anything for the next half hour.”

“Ok” 

You sat in a booth to the far side of the restaurant, doing homework as best as you could, but every once in a while you’d catch Nick staring at you. It wasn’t hard, he’d fully turn around in his seat so he could see you. 

Once your break was over, you grabbed your uniform and changed back before heading back behind the counter. Grabbing the coffee pot to refill Nick's coffee for the 10th time since he got here.

“Everything still ok? Anything I can get for you right now?”

“No I’m good, how was—“ he cleared his throat and readjusted. He really was way too tall for that stool. “How was your break?” 

“Boring. But at least I could get out of this ridiculous outfit for a second.” And he laughed at you again. But this time it didn’t sting, it was nice. Like you guys were actually friends. And as soon as you looked towards the register, you saw he’d managed to completely empty the bowl of free candy since you’d been gone. So you made yourself useful as you refilled it from the giant box before pushing it back towards him. 

“What? I mean this is—this is great.” His over the top gesturing to your outfit made it clear he was kidding, and it actually got a solid laugh out of you. Then he turned the gesture to him actually just reaching for more candy from the bowl and you laughed even harder. 

“Thanks, yeah this whole situation is not ideal.” You gestured again to your own dress, trying to smooth out the wrinkled fabric. 

“So-um, so I was wondering— if you would want to do something when you get out of here?” 

“I’d like that.” 

“Cool.” His laughter became noticeably more relieved when you said yes. 

“I’m stuck here until midnight though.” As soon as you said it, he looked downcast, so you thought of something you could do together that late as quickly as possible. 

“But there’s this band playing at the rusty nail tonight, we could go if you want.” 

“I heard about that, but I don’t have a fake ID, aren’t they carding tonight?” 

“Oh me neither, they’re so expensive and they look terrible. But they leave the back door unlocked so the employees can go on their smoke breaks and stuff. We can just walk in that way.” 

“That’s so cool, I’ll come pick you up then?” 

“Yeah I’ll um. I’ll see you then.” He put a 10 on the table and you awkwardly waved goodbye, before he grabbed another handful of candy on his way out. 

[cidthesquid]

Best If Used By.... |Fashion Dreamer #1

[TrendSetters]              [First Post]              [Next Post] Hello all! I spent a few days playing Fashion Dreamer, and have been having a blast! It's not 'Style Savvy', but it ever meant to be! I have some concerns.. But first... Outfit(s) of the day! (Fashion Dreamer ID: a8xv8rRA3A)

Nothing Fancy yet, Here's my second muse: (WIP)

Alright, so my thoughts on the game as a whole. (not a review) It's super fun..if you know what you're getting into. It's closer to most modern 'Dress-UP' apps than classic Style Savvy. But that's really what I was looking for! You can think of it as Shining Niki, Covet Fashion, etc, But with no microtransactions, and a much heavier emphasis on community! The game DOES NOT require a paid switch online subscription, It ABSOLUTELY requires wifi to get the full experience. All the events are online-only, you can see and dress up other players characters (muses) based on their stated preferences, And you can even put in requests from people you've met, or you can just list your preferences for anyone to style. You specify your style, colors, patterns, etc, and other players will send you custom outfits!

(sorry, this filter looks really bad in screenshots) I played the game for a few days via emulator, while waiting for my copy of the game to arrive. And honestly, 'Offline Mode" felt like an entirely different game. You can still dress up your character, and fulfill outfit request for NPC's, and design your own showroom, but that's it.

The world feels much smaller when just cycling through the same small handful of NPC's with very similar dialogue. You still play the role of an "influencer", looking to grow their online following and brand, But without any other real players, it just becomes a grindy numbers game.

You make check the billboards, grab the items, make an outfit, take a photo, and get automatic 'likes' from the game's imaginary public. Then you just keep doing it over and over to increase your 'follower count. There are a few bonus things you can do, such as take pictures with other people, and 'pin' the post to boost incoming 'likes' and 'follows', But without the online community aspect, it's extremely repetitive.

And that's where the title of the post comes in, The game was clearly designed similar to a live service game, the players are expected to be online almost all the time, and new features and items become available over time. However, while this game is $50, it doesn't feature microtransactions

That's a HUGE plus for me, But it makes me wonder how financially viable this game will be for the publisher in the long run. When the sales start to slow, they'll have far less money coming in, And that may make it harder to keep updating the game. And if they stop updating the game, older fans may stop playing Less people online means the 'community' aspect will lessen ...And at the end of the day there are server cost to consider.

So it really makes me wonder, how long they'll choose to support this game. Will the game end up with a "best if used by date", because the game costs the devs some amount of money just to keep it running, ...not even including the time it takes to make more items to keep people interested. I've been having a lot of fun now, but I think they should have focused a bit more on the single player experience, and implemented more interesting offline goals. As who knows, 3, 5, 10 years down the line, the game I'm enjoying now will may longer exist. ---- Sorry for the more 'bleak' post, I'd still highly recommend this game to those who think it sounds interesting. I've just seen a ton of VERY Strong opinions on this game, but no one mentioning the live service trappings. Anyways, feel free to leave your thoughts or comments down below!

[Next Post]

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

y'know im about to go feral on how EVERYTHING is under subscriptions. want this viddy game to run better??? get *insert viddy company name here or or viddy game title here* plus or extra or up your plan to get access to EXTRAS!!

bc the other day, i was making a list of all the different games i might download on my xbox in the future. fallout 76, which has fallout 1st.... which is a $22.99 per a month or $179 a year subscription, just to get better skins etc in the game. i want to download trivial pursuit for me and my dad. but xbox and ubisoft keep recommending "get ubisoft+" which is ANOTHER subscription service through ubisoft. another like $25 a month. like given it could be worth it for me if i got into assassins creed on a bigger level than casual. get EA play to get exclusive sims content!! for ANOTHER $6.99 a month. get xbox games pass (which i have) for $18.95 a month!!! and to be fair, i get EA play for free through xbox game pass. but still.

for example, the other day i updated my nintendo online sub account to the extras pack or whatever.... all bc i wanted to look at the gameboy advance online thing...... but instead of letting me look at it and play super mario world 2 on it on my NORMAL SUBSCRIPTION (which i already had access to on nintendo online snes/game cube or whatever.... and plus i though the GBA platform would have more games than it did (like 10 games but i thought it'd have like 50 or something) i had to change my subscription to the nintendo online plus extras pack for GBA online. but that subscription, was $41.95 this year bc i bought it on sale,... however, next year it'll be $60. like at least its $60 a year and not a month. but i'm still pissed off. i should've been able to get access to this for the $30 a year i was already paying!!! and for a measly 10 games not the like 50 games on the game cube/snes online game offerings.

just. im so sick and tired of EVERY company demanding customers to pay a monthly or yearly subscription for access or extras or for something to run better. who the fuck is made of enough money to afford fallout 1st??? ubisoft+??? like dgmw, i get it if you're SUPER into any of these games. like it's worth $22.99 a month to access extras across the library of ubisoft+ if you're a hella fan of assassin's creed or their other games (ie trivial pursuit). or $6.99 for EA play for the love of sims or every single sports game ever.

just i guess it's burn out maybe that EVERYONE wants your money. a section of your wallet continuously until you cancel. i have to subscribe to my area's local newspaper for $179 a year. i subscribed to an app by the adf (australian defence force) to do job aptitude tests (im ignoring it tbh lol). i subscribe to the NYTs games app for $2.99 a month. i WAS paying $15 a month (but now it's closer to $20) for scribd, which is now everand, for audiobooks. for better use of my xbox, i subscribe to xbox games pass, as i said earlier, for $18.95 a month. and from next year, i'll pay $60 a year for nintendo online (unless i drop down back to the cheaper option to get rid of GBA online). i subscribe for $100 a year to microsoft for the essential apps of microsoft word/powerpoint etc. i pay $100 a year for norton antivirus on my windows laptop that i barely use now.

there's adhd apps that I keep getting recommended on fb that are like $150 a year or something. astrology app subscriptions (that i'll NEVER buy) that are like $15 a month.... as examples of apps that i won't use, but I get suggested all the time on social media. once i get a job, i'll be constantly asked about what tv streaming apps im subbed to as well (none). WHY does EVERYONE want my fucking money???? i am so sick to death of subscriptions.

[cazort]

Ugh. Awful day. Six months ago my wife and I bought a washing machine and chose to buy a Speed Queen, which was much more expensive than most other brands, because it had a top-notch reputation and long warranty and we just didn't want to have to deal with breakdowns. This was a tough choice that we did not make lightly. Buying a house was a huge financial burden and my finances are now tighter than they've been in years, and the amount of money at stake matters. We were hoping to buy stability and leave us with one fewer thing to worry about during a stressful life transition.

Well a few days ago, it broke after 6 months, which is irritating enough, but the company has been hellish to deal with. They keep over-promising and under-delivering. Tuesday they said a local service company would reach out to schedule an appointment within 48 hours. Over 72 hours went by with no call. I called again today and the system said the wait time was 1 hour 6 minutes. This is literally the longest wait time I have ever had from any company. I put my number in the queue and they called me back...1 hour 50 minutes later.

The rep was barely helpful. She did not seem to understand the gravity or magnitude of the situation and spoke as if what happened to me was business-as-usual, rather than a rare, once-in-a-blue moon occurence that the company wanted to bend over backwards to fix. She tried calling the contractor and couldn't reach them. She did switch the ticket to a different contractor, who called me back later that afternoon, so now I have an appointment set up for next Thursday.

But I'm upset. I'm upset that I paid over twice the price for what I thought would be a premium product unlikely to break, and with a commitment to outstanding service, and instead I got a company that provides the longest hold times I have ever seen in my life, repeatedly makes promises it fails to deliver on, and reps that have no authority to escalate the issue or do anything to right the situation.

And I still don't know what is going to happen on Thursday. Will the contractor show up? Will they be able to fix it then and there, or will I have to wait days or weeks for a replacement part? Am I going to need to drag our laundry to the laundromat and incur additional costs doing so?

I have already filed a BBB complaint. I would like a partial rebate of the price I paid, because the value I have received is not worth what I paid for. I also am talking about my experience online.

Speed Queen has a top-tier reputation. They are a brand mainly used by laundromats, supposedly made to handle a heavy volume of use and last for many years. But the way they have treated me as a customer makes me feel like I've been cheated and would have done better buying a cheaper brand available at any box store.

I'm a reasonable person. I don't expect top-tier service if I buy a cheap, low-end product. I can even forgive mediocre service. But paying premium prices and then getting unspeakably bad service is just unconscionable to me.

If they had told me it might take a week to get contacted, I would be annoyed but it wouldn't be as bad as saying I would expect a call in a certain time frame and then have that call not come. And I might feel better if they did what most companies do, which is to at least apologize profusely and tell me they are really concerned with what is going on and escalate the situation. Like earlier this week I called my bank about something they messed up and the woman was like "Yeah you are right, the interface is actually really bad. I get why you are upset. We really need to improve that."

Like sometimes that's literally all it takes. Someone saying "Wow, we really messed up. I'm really sorry that sucks so much."

But no I didn't even get that.

And of course if this happens to me I'm gonna talk about it everywhere. So right now I am warning people about Speed Queen. They may have an amazing reputation but my experience with them so far has been awful.

[wandaswigglywoes]

i’d read 20+ pages of your work incidents and i’d still ask for another 20+ 🤲🤲

One time when I worked at McDonald’s, I was once again working the drive thru but this time I was handing out food. This girl pulled up and everything inside her car was pink. Pink fluffy steering wheel, pink seat covers, ect. My brain fixated on that and when I went to tell her to have a good day, I just blurted out “PINK!” and then closed the window without making eye contact.

Another time it was either New Year’s Day or Eve and I wanted to say “have a great day” and “happy new year” but instead I said, “have a happy new day!” I just closed the window.

Then there’s just the weird shit I’ve seen in the drive thru. Had a man come through and he was wearing nothing but a pair of underwear and let me tell you, as a lesbian there is nothing I want more than to see a 50 year old man’s pasty, white hairy thighs at 7 in the morning. To make matters worse this man pulled up next to a trash can outside AND GOT OUT OF HIS CAR TO THROW TRASH AWAY IN NOTHING BUT HIS UNDERWEAR!!!!

Had some dudes come through who said they were from another planet. They were genuinely serious, too.

Then I have a lot of stories where I’ve almost thrown hands with customers. 🙃 don’t work customer services, kids—- it will drain your soul.

[crmsnmth-journal]

5/7/2024 8:50 PM

Another day, another never ending battle of stomach cramps. I thought we got this cleared up but it seems I get to deal with it again. At least this time, I think I can stop from going into the doctor's office to be told to go home and do what I'm doing anyway. Of course, it has to really act up the night I really need to get to bed earlier then normal. I've got probation at 8:30 in the morning and then I'll just end up hanging out at work until service. I'm leaving early tomorrow night at around eight. I just don't want to be there. And if I'm going to be there all goddamn day tomorrow, I might as well punch in and take care of all the extra maintence stuff. Maybe go over my inventory lists and check in on some product switching. It's that time of year where our distrubitor usually throws new products on and it's a good idea to try out new apps. Gives an incentive for new customers. That is, if my boss actually let's me do my job and bring people in. It's his pride that gets him. He needs to think he's better than everyone and I think it pisses him off that I've done a hell of a lot more in my life then he is. I got the fuck out of this town. Sure, my experiences were mostly horrible and depressing, but I didn't sit in this crappy little town and waste my time, running my father's business. And now, his dad is liquidating the business, and he isn't going to be able to say he owns it amymore. Not like he ever did. It makes me wonder how legal his ownership in the alley is. Anything I've ever seen doesn't list him as a co-owner, or his wife. The only person on those is the guy who actually owns the business. I'm sure he owns it fully.

I'm sure my mother is about to kick my brother and his partner out. Almost 100% positive. It's kind of weird, looking at from an observation stand point. He's turned into what I was. And somehow, out of the three of my brothers, I've become the most responsible. I guarantee there is not a single person who knew our family that would have guessed that. I've always been the starving artist, hedonist anarchist punk kid with a penchant for hard drugs and booze. And he was always the do good in school, make money, work a job and be responsible. And in the past two years he's lost his house, he has no job that I'm aware of, other than side jobs that never pay what you actually deserve. I rarely see him leave the house. It's really sad.

I refunded my concert tickets. Amigo The Devil will be back, and I'm sure Frank Turner will too, I just won't be seeing them together. It didn't really bum me out until it was official. These two musicians literally saved my life and came to me at the two very lowest points of my life. Amigo's Stronger Than Dead is my next tattoo, although every song off Yours Until The War Is Over is tattoo worthy too. Maybe I'll just get a huge Amigo piece. And Frank Turner has been an absolute favorite since THE BIG EX, ex-girlfriend played The Ballad Of Me and My Friends in her truck. We were on our way to Target to find a better shirt for me to wear to meet her mother and step-dad. The song held me and ever since then Frank is in constant rotation. The album "Tape deck Heart" came out right after she broke up with me, and I'm not sure I've ever related more to an album then I did with that one at that time. It's my favorite album by him, but god, does Side A still cut pretty deep.

[smallbusinessesbiglegacies]

Skinner’s Sugar House’s Sweet Recipe for Success

East Bridgewater, Massachusetts is a relatively small town located about 45 minutes south of Boston. Most New England residents are likely unfamiliar with this area, and will never be aware of its existence. Though the town is rather petite, there are a few local landmarks that make EB extra special. One of these landmarks is located at 24 Union Street, known as Skinner’s Sugar House. Specializing in delicious ice cream, roasted nuts, fudge, penny candy, and more, Skinner’s is definitely the town’s hot spot for a sweet treat. Whether you’re visiting after winning the championship little league game or sharing a strawberry frappe on your first date, Skinner’s is the standard for nostalgic moments in the suburbs.

Skinner’s has been bringing smiles to children, teens, and adults in the Plymouth county region since 1916, but took a special turn in 2000 when husband and wife Paul and Joanne Daley took the reins. In this interview, Paul Daley talks about what it’s like co-owning one of the most popular ice cream parlors in the area. He shares stories of the original blueprints and recipes drafted by the first owner, Leslie Skinner, who passed the shop down to his son, Kenneth Skinner, who eventually sold it to the Daley’s at the beginning of the twenty first century. Daley describes some of the trials and tribulations he’s faced in his 24 years on the job, as well as how he and his wife knew next to nothing about the ice cream business when they embarked upon this new venture. Daley shared stories of his most beloved loyal customers, hectic Friday afternoons with the middle school kids, and of course, his favorite ice cream flavor. In this interview, Paul Daley discusses his secret recipe for success owning an ice cream shop in a small, suburban town.

Did something in your past influence you to own your own business?

Actually, most of the influence was my wife who wanted to own her own business. We were looking for some different businesses, something she could have for herself.

It might have even been a candy shop, a breakfast or lunch kind of business, or something like that. She’s always had a knack for food preparation, but we ended up seeing this. We actually had her brother point out that the business was for sale and that it would be a good business for us to get into, in his opinion. So, we ended up pursuing it, talked to the local bank about a mortgage and all that, and ended up just buying it.

Would you say you faced any hardships over the years owning this business? 

Oh sure, plenty of hardships. Of course, first of all, I didn't have a lot of experience in this particular retail arena. I was a service director for a large multi line dealership, so I was certainly used to a lot of management type skills that I had. And personnel, hiring, that type of thing, because the previous job I had would have me in charge of anywhere from 50 to 80 employees at a time. So I kind of knew a lot of what that would be like, other than the actual candy making that was going to be involved, the nuts that we prepare, we roast our own nuts here, just a lot of the details of the candy making.

How did you learn how to roast the nuts, make the candy, and prepare the ice cream?

I kept Mr. Skinner on as part of the agreement to purchase. We kept him on for what was going to be six months, which I ended in a little over two months, because he had shown me everything, and I have kind of a technical knack for picking up things, working with my hands. So, I told him we were all set once he showed me everything once or twice. And so then I just went at it on my own. You know, little failures here and there until I worked on it and we got it.

Do you think that selling penny candy, roasted nuts, and chocolates has added to your success more than just selling the ice cream?

Yeah, this store, the way it's structured, it works very well. With everything that it has to offer, from the chocolates, to the other types of candy, the fruit slices, the penny candy room, and the ice cream department, where we sell Richardson's ice cream. Which is really well made ice cream that a lot of customers really enjoy, we've done very well with the ice cream. The ice cream part of it has grown quite a bit since we bought it. Mr. Skinner hadn't done ice cream that long. So, that was one end of the business that we saw a lot of growth potential. And, we certainly have grown the ice cream business quite a bit.

Did you end up keeping Mr. Skinner's original recipes and plans?

Yeah, I still have them. We still use them. That was part of the agreement, that I got all the recipes and I actually came in a little metal box and most of them handwritten. So, I still have all of that. 

Have you faced any competition over the years with other local shops?

Oh sure, we faced competition. We had East Bridgewater kind of to ourselves, other than Peaceful Meadows, they’ve always had a very strong ice cream presence in the area. They're not too far up the road, they've been there probably longer than this place, and this place has been here a long time. We knew if we could get our share, we'd do things a little differently than Peaceful did. We'll try to offer maybe a little more and make our sundaes a little more grand to try to capture our share of the market, which I thought we did quite well at.

But all in all, I tell my people, don't worry about what everybody else is doing.  This is the way we want to do it. Treat the customers great, smile, greet them. Be happy that they're coming here. Don't quibble or argue about anything. If they aren't happy at all about one little aspect of their ice cream, it's a very simple fix. You take the ice cream back and just give them another one. If the child doesn't like the flavor or somehow we scooped the wrong flavor, it's not even up for debate. Just take care of them happily.  

Do you have any loyal customer stories? 

We have a ton of repeat customers. One in particular, I was talking about earlier is Bob Cavanaugh, a retired Bridgewater police officer, and he's become a friend. He comes in and orders boxes of chocolates. He's an ambassador for our company, actually, because he's handing out boxes that say Skinners on them to people everywhere he goes, to professional people, doctors, people that work at the bank, the nurse stations. Everywhere he goes, he's handing out our products. And of course, people love seeing him come, right? I'm sure he has no problem getting appointments wherever he goes.

How do you think that you've stayed successful over the past 24 years? 

Well, I think customer service, taking care of the customers, and being fair. We have a lot of great young people that work for us. We're picky about who we hire. We have to make sure that they're going to be loyal to the company and be friendly and kind and all of those things to the customers. I have a reputation, I believe, for taking care of the customers and making them feel good when they leave here. 

How do you connect to customers in East Bridgewater? 

To be honest with you, we don't do a lot of advertising, it’s mostly word of mouth. Skinners has, I think, kind of become a fixture in town. It's a small town. This type of business is actually kind of a rarity these days. So when you're in a small town and you have a candy store with ice cream and nuts and all of that, I think it doesn't take long that everybody kind of knows it's here.

Do the middle school kids still create hectic Friday afternoons?

Fridays after school are still crazy. Even in the winter, in the cold weather, you might get like 50 or 60 kids, but in the summer when it's warm, and everybody wants to come visit their friends, it's like a social event. They're getting their ice cream, their frappe, and they run around the parking lot, and they're hooting and hollering, having fun with their friends. It can be chaos, I call it organized chaos. You might have well over a hundred kids in and outside the building. And you need these eyes in the back of your head to just keep track of everything.

Can you describe owning Skinners in one word?

Rewarding. It's pretty much a happy business. People are coming in here to watch their kids have smiles on their faces, to get them a treat. And you're kind of part of that. You get to talk to a lot of kids during the day, young people, and you get to talk to a lot of nice adults during the day too. I can be a bit of a gabber, so we could be talking about all different topics. By the time they leave, I know them, they know me. I would say it's been a good people business.

What's your favorite ice cream flavor? 

Well, I still say my favorite is, you're gonna laugh, vanilla with hot fudge and whipped cream. Just a good old fashioned sundae. Even if I'm out to eat somewhere and they'll say, oh,  what would you like for dessert? I'll say, can you just scoop me a little vanilla with some hot fudge and whipped cream? The combination of those three just appeals to me. During the fall we do the hot apple pie sundaes. Where it's vanilla ice cream, chunks of hot apple, topping, and then the caramel. And the combination of those three flavors is really awesome too.  

What’s your favorite candy or chocolate that you sell?

Probably milk chocolate and caramel, it could be milk chocolate cashew turtles. It's funny, I'll always put a little box of them in my wife’s stocking at Christmas. I've had the place for 24 years, and she still enjoys getting them. And she'll have one or two at night while she's watching a little TV later at night.

Do you ever get sick of the treats you sell?

No, I keep it in moderation. I don't eat a lot while I'm here, and so it's kind of special when I do bring something home. I do love chocolate. I don't know if I'm a ‘chocolate aholic’ or not. But, after dinner, uh, I do like a little piece of chocolate. You know, not a lot, just a little, to change the palette.

What are you most proud of in your work?

I would just say the fact that it was a new venture for us, and it has been a success for us over the 24 years. Going into it, my wife and I never had experience in this particular type of business. She actually ran a doctor's office for 12 years before this. So this is like a totally different thing, and I was in the automobile management business before this. So, to jump into something totally different and have it be successful, you know, it's something to be proud of.

What advice would you give to others who are looking to own their own business? 

Just do the right thing, take care of the customers, and the bottom line will come, and the repeat business will come, you just have to take care of the customers. Profits will come, but it's a people business, you've got to take care of the people.

[leadgen-lu]

The Power of Leadfeeder for B2B Lead Generation in Luxembourg

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In the world of B2B marketing, few things are more frustrating than realizing your site traffic and leads are coming from the wrong places. Unqualified visitors and contacts just waste your precious time and energy.

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Some key advantages that set Leadfeeder apart for me:

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[asterlizard]

UK Trip October 2023 (Part 14)

This is the final post! We head home!

Saw a lot of these parakeets during this leg of the trip. These ones would keep squawking to each other

We then made our way back home, though not before we decided to get another suitcase for our new pile of things to bring home.

We ran into another problem with the Tube on the way (signal failure?) but we eventually reached a place that sells luggage bags (we found a British shop with an entire floor downstairs dedicated to luggage (the guy even said, 'Welcome to Luggage Paradise!') A bit of haggling went on before we decided on a 50+ ￡ bag, which I nicknamed Strawberry due to the colour (our other bag I retroactively nickname Custard). We then go to buy some sweets for me to bring home, and there was a pick-n-mix which I took advantage of!

So cute!

Woke up a bit earlier than usual the next day to get to the airport. Mum's friend's husband helped us out until the bus stop while mum's friend rode with us on the Tube to our destination. We were riding until we, yet again, ran into some rail issues! While waiting for another train, a few people asked us how to get to certain terminals (mum got chatting with an older couple from Calgary Canada where she used to live). Got on the Elizabeth Line to get to our destination Heathrow T2. A nice chap who works on the Tube escorted us to the lifts so we could get to the E Line, which was a relief for mum's friend who doesn't enjoy the long escalators (also we had huge luggage with us which would have required the lifts anyway). On the way down, he respectfully brought up how there are services for those who want to get over their phobias, and escalators are a common one they get.

Once we were at the airport, we checked in (I had to use my US passport, because it was too confusing to use with my UK pass) and they had a couple of coffees before we had a bittersweet farewell before going through the security check.

A reference to this Heinz luggage ad (brief pulsing light warning at the 39 second mark): [link]

Customs was a little different during this entire trip, both coming and going. I didn't need to take off my shoes, and didn't need to take my computer out of the carry-on bag. But I forgot to remove my belt before walking through the scanner. BUT I didn't get beeped (I was also wearing the trousers which didn't get me in trouble during my last visit) so ???????

Saw an automated floor cleaning robot doing its best!

It was about 2 hours before our flight left, so Mum and I wanted to get something to eat in the meantime. We had a look around at what restaurants and other food places were available. There were some interesting places, but in the end we got sandwiches at Pret a Manger (I got a falafel veggie wrap, yum!) Someone at the tech + headphone shop let a remote controlled toy car run loose (a few feet from the shop) before going to pick it up

It was time to head to our plane, so we walked over to board it 30 minutes before planned takeoff (the sign said 'Closed' around when we were boarding, just made it!) Initially we sat in the same aisle as another bloke (who had the window seat and closed the window! No!!!) But thankfully mum and I got our own aisle to ourselves again (though it was a 2-seater rather than a 3-seater, so no lying down allowed!) There were some more people compared to the previous flight, but it still wasn't too crowded. We were an aisle and segment away from a sick child though (hoping we didn't catch anything, but as of writing this, nothing happened!)

This weather reflected my feelings of having to leave...

I got to watch two films:

'Yuudo': a calm, charming story about a bath house that brings the locals together

'Corpse Bride': a film I wasn't interested in at first when it first released, but have gotten vaguely interested in in recent years but never had a chance to watch until now (Typically I would choose foreign films to watch on the plane because they had subtitles, but Corpse Bride didn't come with any captions, so I had a bit of trouble hearing it over the airplane noise, but I got the gist of it)

For once I got an airplane meal that actually tasted pretty good! (Raviolini with tomato sauce) Unfortunately I felt nauseous for no reason for the rest of the flight and didn't want to eat any other meals (apparently I missed out on eating a wrap that I might have enjoyed)

I saw these islands off the coast of California and wondered what they were. Apparently they're the Farallon islands, which has research bases on them. I had no idea there was more off the coast!

After landing, we made our way over to the bag carousel to collect Strawberry and Custard, and then went to catch another ride from the same ride-share service. This time someone else drove us home, though this time our journey was silent.

We got home in good time, and I had a quick small dessert before going to bed at 8:30 PM.

A great trip overall, there were some things I wanted to do that I didn't get a chance to do, so I'm hoping another trip will be on the horizon soon!

[sextoyshowforherandforhim]

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[valkerymillenia]

I'm hearing the dumbest takes at my job.

"Tattoos shouldn't be allowed at work, or they should be covered. That dude in the butcher service has tattooed arms and he's touching food, it's gross. This isn't discrimination, I just don't like it."

... What the fuck? What does one thing have to do with the other?

"When I first got hired we couldn't get hired with relatives or lovers or spouses in the store."

... the married couple next to me just looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"when I got hired we couldn't get hired if we were older than 35. We couldn't have phones on us, we couldn't have dyed hair, tattoos, piercings or even earrings, we could only have wedding bands."

... Ma'am, you work at a grocery store in the lowest positions. You make minimum wage. The pay you get is not enough to justify them policing your body like that, not in your position anyway (I get that piercings can be dangerous in some types of work, this is not the case).

Also, I'm right here! Me, with my purple hair, tattoos and piercings. And I do my job well, I even get compliments for my hair from the customers. What the fuck are you taking about?

Of course the people with these shitty takes are all ladies in their 50s that think they're right just because they've been here longer. Ok, boomer. Maybe when you a promotion where you get paid more than your 33 year old boss, then you can complain.

[fahrni]

Saturday Morning Coffee

Good morning from Charlottesville, Virginia! ☕️

My time as a pinch hitter on my current project comes to an end next Wednesday but I’ve enjoyed the ride.

My next project is undecided at the moment but I know there are two possibilities. I’d be happy to work on either.

Lisa Respers France • CNN

Paul Reubens, who found fame as the quirky man-child character Pee-wee Herman, has died, according to an announcement on his verified social media.

I liked Mr. Reubens as the flatulent “superhero” Spleen in Mystery Men. Pure sophomoric comedy.

RIP 🪦

Naomi Nix and Will Oremus • Washington Post

Initially, the team carried just two product managers and one or two designers alongside dozens of engineers — a flatter and more coder-dominated group than most Meta product teams, Mosseri said. (At launch, it had grown to three product managers, three designers and 50 coders.) Instead of 30-minute presentations on a single design decision, typical at Facebook and Instagram, “It would be like, ‘Here are six things we need to go through this week.’”

Lean teams can often pull off amazing things if they’re extremely talented. I’d imagine this team is extremely talented. The other thing that helped them succeed was the freedom to cut to the bare minimum allowed to make a great 1.0.

Also, 50 engineers isn’t a small team. 😃

Raymond Chen • The Old New Thing

Depending on what version of Windows you have, you might see a body of water where Poland should be.

Mr. Chen has been involved with the Windows team for 30 years and has been sharing his stories on The Old New Thing for 20. He’s a real gift to us old guys who wrote Windows apps.

His title should be Microsoft Historian. 📜

Gleb Tsipursky • Fortune

Unispace found that nearly half (42%) of companies with return-to-office mandates witnessed a higher level of employee attrition than they had anticipated. And almost a third (29%) of companies enforcing office returns are struggling with recruitment. In other words, employers knew the mandates would cause some attrition, but they weren’t ready for the serious problems that would result.

This doesn’t shock me. Once you settle into a routine at home it’s really difficult to muster the desire to go back to the office. Some folks need to be in an office with other folks but other, like me, don’t need it.

I like the control I have over my environment. My desk, my chair, heck I even bought my own monitor so I could make my setup just the way I want it. Couple that with no commute and the convenience of walking up stairs to our kitchen for lunch or coffee and it’s hard to beat. 🏡

Kim Zetter • WIRED

The backdoor, known for years by vendors that sold the technology but not necessarily by customers, exists in an encryption algorithm baked into radios sold for commercial use in critical infrastructure. It’s used to transmit encrypted data and commands in pipelines, railways, the electric grid, mass transit, and freight trains. It would allow someone to snoop on communications to learn how a system works, then potentially send commands to the radios that could trigger blackouts, halt gas pipeline flows, or reroute trains.

Wow. This is a nightmare. We work really hard to make sure our code isn’t exploitable and here you have a company who intentionally made their software just that, exploitable. If you have a back door it’s an invite to every bad actor to walk right on in. 🫣

Jim ODonnell • Barn Finds

Before I could get this post completed, this 1947 Lincoln Continental cabriolet disappeared from Facebook Marketplace.

I love this car! Design in the 40’s and 50’s was beautiful. Lots of curves and fins and just plain style. Restoring a car like this would be a real honor.

Beyond the beauty of the design it sported a whopping 125 horse power from its 292 V12. 😆

Kylie Robison • Fortune

But in June, Bluesky found itself embroiled in its own controversy after a user signed up for the service with a racist handle incorporating the N-word, and had apparently been permitted to use the platform for weeks without anyone at the company seeming to object.

Bluesky seems to be attracting a lot of the folks who make Twitter so attractive to many and with that it’s also attracting the terrible people.

I miss some actors and writers from Twitter and some seem to have taken to Bluesky. But if Bluesky is going to allow racism and hate to exist on the platform then I really don’t care to use it.

Yes, I have an account but I rarely use it. I’ve found a home in Mastodon.

Joshua Sokol • The Atlantic

One dusky June evening, two days before the 2022 Pennsylvania Firefly Festival, the biologist Sarah Lower sat on a back porch, watching the sky for a specific gradation of twilight. A group of Lower’s students from Bucknell University hung around her, armed with butterfly nets and stopwatches for counting the time between firefly flashes—a way to differentiate between the multiple lightning-bug species that live here at the edge of Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest.

I love fireflies! It’s one of the things I’ve come to love and look forward to here in Virginia. Little critters with butts that light up! What could be better?

I feel fortunate to be able to walk outside and watch these beautiful creatures at work. Alas, it seems they’re almost finished for the season but watching them was a real joy while it lasted.🧡

Justine Bateman • The Daily Beast

Hollywood CEOs Would Sooner Wreck an Industry Than Suffer Bruised Egos

It feels like this could get really ugly and I hope for the sake of the writers this whole mess will work itself out in their favor, but I’m not holding my breath. 😮‍💨

Lauren Forristal • TechCrunch

Warner Bros. Discovery reported its second-quarter earnings results Thursday, revealing that it dropped in 1.8 million streaming subscribers across HBO, Discovery+ and its new combined streaming service Max.

This is a real bummer. Max is my most watched service, but only from the HBO perspective. To see them combine the catalogs of Discovery and HBO feels like a bad idea. Why not have two apps with one set of credentials? 🤷🏻‍♂️