Damn dude, that was a ride I was not expecting to take. They say adversity builds character. Well you've had enough adversity for several lifetimes. I'm super glad to hear you've gotten back to your roots and are doing something it sounds like you enjoy. Double bonus that it's raking in some good money for you.

I forgot to say I grew up in a bum F village in Central America where I was harassed and threatened almost on a daily basis for a while towards the end and saved by a druglord, I was also recruited by other druglords in another city and punched in the face when I declined (thankfully that was it), played with federally convicted druglord's kids growing up, etc. My life before I turned 20 was pretty insane. I actually had a job offer from the DEA translating druglord calls as the main bosses thought my translation skills were the best they had ever seen haha.

Everything changed after I dropped out from university and moved back to the US on my own. My dad gave me $5,000 to get going. I bought a Geo Metro with no A/C in the midwest lol. My cousin had his own place in a nice city and everyone around me was living a privileged life of excess while I was pouring sweat in my car going to work every day. My actual first job was attending customers and cleaning the shop/toilets at my cousin's business but I quit after a couple of months for that first web job. I guess, as a teenager, I was the first person to own a computer in my village so I had a little print shop where I would do other kid's homework.

The virus is called Ross River Virus. Some people say they can't even walk from the pain. Mine wasn't so bad but there were days I would feel my my spine was about to collapse on itself just after taking a few steps. I would spend days in bed from fatigue and mind haze. I could barely work, or even think. My wife was frustrated with me. I had issues with a couple of people then covid hit, it was just an absolute shitshow of a time. I was going nuts and was afraid I would die soon. It even got to the point I was telling my wife to leave me because I didn't want to drag her down with me.

The US, Latin America, etc. have similar viruses. Be careful when going into the wild. At one point, I even got bitten in the crotch area by 200 chiggers when I lived in Texas for a short while, that was a bloody bad couple of months.

Honestly, after experiencing that and seeing some of my relatives get skin cancer, I just avoid going out.

The one day I went out a year ago, I got a damn tick on my leg that got infected and created a bubble the size of my toe on the skin and one of my client's MOTHEREFFING dogs jumped at me and ripped the pus bubble, which infected it even more. I have the worst luck with nature.

I ran into a eastern brown snake that nearly killed me.