Jon the VGNerd

I'd avoid Reddit at all costs because its become nothing more than a complete cesspool, and Reddit's mods favor trolls over users, the latter of which they're rendered helpless because moderators will do nothing about trolls, even when reporting them, and instead lay out bans on the victims just because they can. And Subredditors aren't any better as the majority of them are just as bad and are more than happy to lay on the hammer just because you're making valid points. That's what's everything wrong with Reddit. And after having been with Reddit for 4 years, it seems this "popular" site has gotten increasingly worse over time.

Oh, and don't bother with Reddit's support. They will apathetically dismiss any and all claims, even with valid proof with a screenshot because of how cynical they can be. So if you have a Reddit account, I suggest deleting them because as bad as it seems, Reddit has gotten increasingly hostile and toxic, namely from its moderators that opely support trolls and the community being incredibly abusive (and reporting them will do nothing, trust me. I've done this several times and Reddit mods and support alike didn't even bother to look into said reports and just ignored them altogether). You'll be thanking me for this.

Here's to my 11 years in the MLPForums despite my lacking presence!

So for anyone wondering why my activity has been increasingly sparse, let's just say that I have a lot going on in my mind right now. Namely my current living situation because I wished that 2024 would've arrived instead of 2023. But no, I have one more year of pure misery until I can put my house up for sale in February of 2024. Sure the year could go by fast, but its not going by fast enough. Normally I would've posted my life issue on my Blogs, though nobody reads them, even if I share them publicly. Same with Life Advice because that's considered a rule-breaker.

The reason why my activity has been sparse is, apart from gaming as means of escape, that Puerto Rico has gotten increasingly unstable to the point that I want out of here sooner than later, and move to the states, namely in Florida. Yes, the US has problems of their own, and I'm sure Kyoshi will agree with this. The problem is that Puerto Rico has gotten progressively worse, and it still is too. Now, I know what you're thinking: "Why not sell your house now instead of waiting?" Because if I did that, the bank will take a sizable chunk and I'll be left with a lot less alongside with my parents, thus making me poorer, not richer. Specifically, the bank takes $25k for buyer fees if my house was ever sold before 2024, which only worsens these aforementioned issues UNLESS I have that kind of money to pay off the bank ahead of time for them to give me the ok to put my house up for sale for a willing buyer to purchase the house for me to leave Puerto Rico for good, taking all of my important essentials with me while selling a couple of unwanted items to at least pay off the moving fees. If that ever happens, of course.

Normally I should've started working because I shouldn't be lazy and start being productive. That's easier said than done when there's little to no job opportunities for me, and their wages are incredibly stagnant as well. Not to mention that there's no English-speaking available jobs, if at all; I tried an office job, but the egregious working hours and erratic days were not working well for me, and that's before the pandemic happened three years back a month after I turned down that job. Yes, that would've been regretful of me to not work, but an office job like this is more of a nightmare job than a dream job. Yes, I could've worked for Amazon, except Amazon doesn't exist in Puerto Rico, and they're not very friendly or supportive with US territories (and maybe Alaska and Hawaii as well since both are far off from the mainland). So now as a result of me being jobless over the years because I haven't yet moved to the states, I'm basically stuck in a quagmire because of how inefficient Puerto Rico has become. And the longer I live there, the worse it gradually gets.

And my main reasons as to why Puerto Rico has been getting worse are something that I've listed out the obvious problems PR has:

1. Constant power outages: Puerto Rico is incredibly notorious for constant power outages due to decades old electrical grid that's never been given any proper maintenance, much less an upgrade. And LUMA Energy is the sole electric provider that are more than happy to not only overcharge their customers for their atrocious services, but whenever a power outage occurs, the recovery times are insanely lengthy. Power restorations can range from at least 15-30 minutes, to 4-8 hours. And they can last from a day, to a whole week, or in a worse case scenario, a whole month. And this is not even from 2017 when these outages lasted for 3-4 months because of their inconsistent recovery, along with aid being nonexistent because of you-know-who who instead of helping Puerto Rico, made it worse than it already was. And Puerto Rico's government is completely brain-dead, as with many other politicians that clearly have no idea how to do their jobs right and instead circle-jerk around so much that they have no idea that they're causing irreparable damage year after year.
    
2. Buying food from groceries are expensive along with taxes being too high: Now unless this is a US problem, this is nothing compared to PR. Yes you can find quality foods, but their prices are jacked up to no end so unless you're rich, you are royally screwed, thanks to high taxes along with high price tags so unless you want to go deep in the red, you might as well buy so little in order to save money. Though because of how high utilities are, its impossible to escape from these outrageous prices.
    
3.  Not a lot of job opportunities: Unless you're a qualified doctor or a highly-skilled technician, jobs are too few and far between, and if you can't find the one that speaks your language, you're out of luck. Yes, there's tourism, but it feels second-hand given the economic inadequacies. So overall, its a matter of chance and luck in finding high-paying jobs and none of them works well.
    
4. Police are unprofessional, lazy and corrupt: Basically makes Detroit and Baltimore look like Disneyland because police in Puerto Rico are far too few patrolling around, and many of them are not only underpaid, they have no professionalism and are sleazy so if you're a victim of crime, don't expect swift justice because this island is broken and of beyond help. And people on the roads... sheesh. Even New York City's traffic weren't that bad.
    
5. Other miscellaneous stuff: Because I'm not gonna list out too much but I will say this; Puerto Rico's music is terrible. No sense of creativity whatsoever. The people here don't even like music that are far better than the ones from here. And I seriously hate reggaeton with a passion because it involves repetitive beats with vulgar lyrics that are both offensive and derogatory that makes hip-hop/rap look like pure perfection. Every time I hear this with their car stereo at ludicrous volumes, it makes me wonder if they even heard of real music. Its why I don't listen to salsa, merengue, or the third genre, because they're too stuck in the past. I even tried listening to salsa and merengue, but the more I tried to listen to it, the harder it was for me to enjoy them. Thanks but no thanks.

I ended up pulling an ultimatum by setting up a GoGetFunding page (because somehow GoFundMe does not provide the option to make donation pages available for US territories, which is unfair and hypocritical), filling out each and every detail on what's going wrong with Puerto Rico, and why I want to get out of dodge instead of having to endure the prolonged pain and suffering just for 2024 to arrive in order to sell my house without the bank company breathing down my neck. Yes, $25,000 seems overly-ambitious just to pay the absurd fee so that the bank company will give me the green light for me to put my house up for sale and for it to be bought by a willing buyer. But let me ask you folks this: Do I really want $25,000 so I can buy myself a fancy car? Or even a pricey gadget? My answer is NO. I am NOT interested in buying lavish luxuries whatsoever because if I want those luxuries, I'll buy it with my own money and not the money earned by people who want nothing more than to help me get a new and better life. Because in no way would I want money for my self-serving needs, that's purely out of the question. And I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want just one person doing all of the donations for me because its not only time-consuming, it will not benefit me for the better unless there's at least large number of folks who are willing to lend a hand.

And in my 11 years in the forums, I can't believe I had to write down something like this, because I know most people will tell me to get a job and work, but there's a realization as to how increasingly unstable my living condition is. Especially given the broke and corrupt nature this island nation's become. And its proven unlikely that it'll ever be a state because its far too much of a liability to ever be qualified as the 51st state. Yes, I know it sounded too political, but I'd be lying if I said otherwise.

If you had read this throughout, then congratulations. I hope most of you folks are at least generous enough in helping me get the necessary funds for me to get out of this disgraced island for good, just so I can start a new life over again, even if it was long overdue. For those who are interested in helping me out, here is the link for my fundraiser page. And I'm also willing to donate my own funds, but the site will not allow me to do so and the only way for me to do it is for me to transfer my own funds to a willing person with a PayPal link, either from an admin/moderator from here, or from a trusted user.

Peace.

Right. So due to an ongoing life situation that's making normal living nigh impossible, here is the fundraiser link, it shows all the details given out. No, I don't like coming off as a beggar, and I will never take any and all funds for granted. Heck, even $1 is still more than enough for me to feel at least hopeful. 2024 clearly cannot come faster, and given the unstable living situation well... the description from said link should be more than enough to explain why.

I'm seriously contemplated in asking a moderator or admin because of an unforeseeable situation regarding real life, but I'm not sure if this is considered allowed. And I don't want to fill in too much detail either unless either a moderator or an admin (mostly admin) would ask me via DM about this.

Been 10 years since I was in the MLPForums. A shame to see old faces go, but appreciated to see new faces come in, at least.

Before you ask yes, I had just turned 30.

RIP my life in my 20s.

Okay so how do I even say this? My sleep was ruined because of my neighbor's unruly and aggressive dogs that doesn't know how to shut up for the past two months. I'm already at my limit, and the worst part is that animal control had failed to show up yesterday as these dogs were still around. I seriously cannot wait to not only move back, but to make huge plans in putting the house up for sale for a willing buyer. Once me and my relatives (as well as my parents) move to Florida, then I can finally say goodbye to a disgraceful island that is Puerto Rico. And I can also finally say good riddance.

Sent a friend request on your Discord. To put it simply is because you're someone I can definitely relate of the things going on.

Just leaving pokes!

Yep, lost my will to draw stuff (not just traditional, but digitally as well, especially that) at all. Wonderful.

Seems it's my fifth year of being in MLPForums. Goodness, I feel old.

Seems my Christmas Eve ended up disastrous before it begun.

Finally back! Alive and well, too!

WIsh me lots of luck, people. By 6 PM, power's already cut off and Hurricane Maria will make imminent downfall in Puerto Rico by tomorrow. Wish me lots of luck, everyone. Farewell for now.

Second Life is WAY too awkward for my taste. Not to mention that its not user-friendly in terms of user interface. IDK how can people even enjoy SL is beyond me.

Why can't Canada maintain a normal schedule like int he US? They're just letting spoilers run wild. 

eBay is suddenly of no help, apparently...

UStream is being a major pain in the back end. They provide no help whatsoever, and the username option is omitted, rendering it impossible to use with XSplit.

The new MLP Forums site... what sorcery is this?! 

I just wish Daylight Savings Time should just not exist.

Question: If there are new peeps here, how come the longtime users leave the forums from lack of interest?

Can Happy Forever Alone Day be a holiday?

Why do some people think Christmas is still a thing, even though Valentine's Day and Spring are nearing in?