November 22nd
This month went really well overall, even though there were a few setbacks along the way. Let me walk you through everything that happened:
On November 1st, I was on track to make around $150 profit for the week. A few days later, though, I got temporarily banned from one of the sites I use because I used an automated process to speed things up. Without that automation, the whole job would've taken something like 20–40 hours straight of manual work, especially since I didn't have a computer at the time. Support took forever to get back to me, and by the time I finished everything manually, the profit ended up being only about $70—mostly because the earnings were tied to BTC, which recently crashed. Still, better than nothing
.
I also separated from my ex-girlfriend on our half-year anniversary. What she did was pretty unbelievable, especially considering we were together almost every day since we met, and both of us knew we had a better chance of being struck by lightning than finding someone more compatible. But it is what it is
In the end, it was necessary, and honestly it let me progress even faster this month without needing to take care of her.
Around the 12th, the gym owner gave me a keyboard, so I could finally set up my Mac Mini. I actually did the entire setup completely blind, without a monitor, using VoiceOver—which I think is pretty impressive
. I managed to install remote-access software so I could view the screen from my phone, and I've been using the Mac Mini ever since. It has definitely boosted my earnings, just like I expected. I still can't do everything I want with it yet, but now that I have the computing power, it's only a matter of time until I get the right tools to make full use of it.
My friend and I have been working together using the same online methods to make money, but because of his special abilities (which I'm not going to explain here—most people wouldn't get it), he's been making wayyyyy more money than me. It's insane
. I want to get to his level, but it takes practice and doesn't come naturally to me. Still, I made around $600 again this month, though because of some issues with another site, that might be all I'm able to make before the month ends.
About the monitor situation: on the 8th or so, I had my friend order a monitor for me on Amazon. Unfortunately, Amazon lies about the shipping times—it claims a week, then it really takes two months. The gym owner warned me about this after I confirmed the monitor was being routed through the San Francisco port. By then a week had passed, and right on cue, Amazon announced it would take "much longer than expected" and told us to request a refund but keep the item if it didn't arrive within 20 days. We didn't wait—I had my friend immediately request a refund so I could order the next monitor sooner. The refund came in three days, and this time we shipped it to his house, then he used pirateship.com to send it to me with the best priority-mail discount rates. It arrived about 10 days later, which was this past Thursday. I picked it up Friday morning and it's great for my needs—although I don't currently have a keyboard because the gym owner needed his back after his wireless one stopped working. Still, it's a massive upgrade from trying to work off a laggy 2 FPS stream on my phone or the library computer.
Right now, he's doing the same shipping method for the two power stations I ordered so I can use my Mac Mini anywhere even without an outlet. I mentioned this in a comment on another post before, but they appear to be the only power stations TSA will allow for carry-on flights—they're 99.9 Wh, just under the limit, and they charge fully in 2 hours. With the upcoming year in mind, those power stations are going to be extremely useful. They were also some of the cheapest ones I could find, and honestly a crazy good deal even if they cost more. I also ordered super-cheap M.2 enclosures to transfer my data off my old drives onto the Mac Mini and onto my friend's NAS, which he set up for me. I'm waiting on one more purchase before he sends everything at once: a 2TB drive replacement so I can dual-boot Windows and macOS and have enough space. I still need Windows for a lot of tasks. Once that's installed, I'll finally have everything I need to accept commissions again, and my income should at least double—if I manage it
I'm sure you all also want to hear what's been happening in "real life," so here are a few stories:
There's a shed on the gym owner's property that he lets me store stuff in. Until recently, before it got repaired, people had been breaking in through a broken wooden panel. Thankfully they opened only the bags with my clothes and not my food, but they ransacked everything again, and a lot of my clothes were stolen. So now I only have about three pairs of pants left. This was happening right when the government shutdown started affecting food stamps—which was extra tough because I couldn't buy food, since my money was locked up on the site I was banned from at the time. I'm extremely lucky the last of my food wasn't stolen, and some kind locals gave me money to get through the few days I completely ran out. Everything's fine now, but I really do need more pants. So if anyone has 30/36 pants I'd happily buy 3 pairs for about $15 depending on the fit. I prefer loose/baggy cargo pants so I can move easily and keep things in my pockets without them falling out.
There was also this guy I thought was chill, but he eventually started harassing me for help constantly. He disappeared for a while, and when he came back, he said he'd been kidnapped by a store owner who thought he stole something. Even after asking his family and confirming he wasn't the guy, the owner still took him, drove him to Laulau Bay, and left him there. Pretty messed up. Up until then he used to be chill, so I tried to help him out—like getting him free water when he needed it since he's banned from a lot of stores. But eventually he started waking me up all night. I'd fall asleep for 10 minutes and he'd come back needing his phone charged to 5%, or asking for water, or wanting me to buy something with his money. He even borrowed 50 cents for the transit bus.
That night I was exhausted. I told him repeatedly not to wake me up anymore, but he didn't listen. Then he did the unthinkable. I finally fell into a good, peaceful dream that was helping me recover mentally, and he woke me up again asking for water and charging his phone. I told him I was tired and wanted to sleep. He kept poking me, and when I didn't respond, he started yelling, "He's dead! Oh my god, he's dead!!" Obviously I wasn't. Then he asked if I was gonna drink my soda (paid for with food stamps, so I won't share—I already explained that to him) and I said "of course," still half-asleep. Then he asked if he could have it, and I said no clearly. The man then ran off with my soda.
If it were something I bought with my own money, I wouldn't have cared much. But the principle of him stealing from me after all I'd done for him triggered me. I dashed after him, snatched the soda from his hand, grabbed his wrist so he couldn't escape, and looked him dead in the eye. I asked him "what are you doing?", but all he could say was "sorry bro." No amount of sorry would excuse that, but he's lucky I let him go. If he had gotten away, the darkness would've come out —it wouldn't have ended well for him.
I went into the gym to cool down because at that point I couldn't sleep even though I was completely exhausted. Then he had the nerve to walk past the gym, like he was trying to scout me out or something. I went outside to find him, circled the entire block, and found him hiding in a corner. He tried to walk away, but I followed him to get my money back. He kept refusing and even tried to bother a woman at the ATM, standing so close to her it looked like we were going to rob her. She started screaming. Then he walked into a café and basically robbed them of 50 cents to pay me back. Whatever.
I also have a local friend—someone most people here know, but I won't name him. He's had a really rough life and ended up damaging his body and mind when he was younger, so he struggles with his mental health. I brought him into the gym on a free day-pass, but unfortunately he happened to be "acting up" that day—breaking rules nonstop, ignoring everything we said, and basically going wild. He got kicked out and wouldn't leave, even when they threatened to call the cops. He told me before that if he doesn't have his meds, things like that happen. Then last night someone punched him in the face at the beach because they didn't want him there. He called the cops and then had me call an ambulance so he could go to the hospital. He says he can't go back there now because they'll beat him up.
Still no home for me yet—might happen, might not—but it's fine, and I'll figure out a solution soon. Right now, I'm prioritizing rebuilding my setup so I can make money wherever I am, even when I travel again. I'm also saving up for next year's big projects. If those are the only things I manage to accomplish, I'll be satisfied
.
That's everything for now. Thanks for reading
Feel free to ask questions—there was a LOT this time, even though I left out a whole bunch of stuff honestly…
Rewritten by ChatGPT
things are moving, slowly for sure due to the remote/isolated nature of this island (as opposed to one like Guam), but they're still moving and I expect to make progress in time to return to Japan in late March! I'll be in Tokyo until the second to last week of April, at which point I will take a trip to Aichi to visit a friend and get my stuff back from there, then I will go to Osaka where my heart resides 
I'll be on from now on daily, I think (except Sunday/Monday)
had my stuff stolen many times and even lost the entirety of my own clothes except what I was wearing, but luckily people are so nice that I was able to get clothes donated to me, and I think what's really important here is that the community feels like a family compared to Japan, so that's definitely its strong point even if there's more theft, break-ins, drug addicts and whatnot, people here help each other out and help strangers just because they want to see nobody left behind
, we're all eager to know how you have been! Also, please share more about life in Saipan. Any pictures or perhaps a journal entry? 
i love japanese style bakeries, we have a store in saipan called himawari which has some baked goods as well 
