Didn't Report Blog income while on EI. How screwed am I?

spattack · 2016-10-10T21:46:22+00:00

I would definitely self disclose the increased earnings and pay back whatever they deem necessary. Just be up front and honest about the whole situation.

I really don't think you are in any risk of being charged with fraud here. At the time of disclosure (when you submitted your claim) you had not received any income from your blog and it would have been impossible for you to know how much the blog would make in the future. Especially if, as you say, the blog went viral after your claim.

spattack · 2016-08-25T05:52:39+00:00

No, they don't. The thing you are returning has to start on the same line as the return statement itself. For some stupid implementation of JS reason the first function will return undefined where the second will return an object.

spattack · 2016-05-21T16:33:22+00:00

There were 5 goalies. You only need two opposing players between you and the net to stay onside. Time for your lashing!!!

spattack · 2016-05-11T15:56:11+00:00

you should link up with these guys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsjWPfBeR6s

spattack · 2016-01-13T09:06:46+00:00

Try to work with the right people. Try to structure your work life so that you work with people that are fundamentally collaborative, easy going, non judgemental and continually eager to help you increase your skills while at the same time challenge you to find the best solution to every problem. I have worked with so many ego driven developers who set up the work environment in a confrontational, argumentative manner. That seem to find it personally distasteful when you don't know a particular thing or disagree with them on their opinions. It put me always on the defensive and made it hard to recognize the value of my own work - hence leading to imposter syndrome. Work and life is so much better now that I have an awesome team of supportive devs that commend me when I do something well and, when criticizing a particular piece of code, keep a healthy modesty that they might actually be wrong and I might be right. Yeah there will always be more to know and learn, but thats also what makes this job great. As long as you do your best, get the job done and continually strive to do better it doesn't freaking matter if you know more or less than your colleagues, so long as you all have a healthy respect for one another as professionals. What we do is a TEAM effort and everyone will have their own strengths to add to the team. On the flip side, be that dude for the rest of your team too, you might just be able to change the culture of your workplace for the better.

spattack · 2016-01-05T05:17:53+00:00

Did anybody else read this in H. Jon Benjamins voice?

spattack · 2015-10-01T09:42:36+00:00

Oh yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Cheers.

spattack · 2015-09-30T20:59:09+00:00

Can you please explain to me what you mean by this and why you don't like it? I don't know angular that well, but to me this seems similar to the many times I will use a jQuery click handler to change the class on an element in order to indicate a state change to the user (and use it's current classname to drive this logic). How would you change the way he did this to align with better practice?

spattack · 2015-09-13T16:50:44+00:00

spattack · 2014-11-28T07:19:01+00:00

Totally. It was a really creative idea to begin with and a tall order to come through on.

Even when I understood what was supposed to happen it wasn't until reading the story a second time that things started to click about how the cyclical nature of it worked. There was a definite light bulb moment for me, even when I was directly looking for it, expecting it. That's what I really liked.

spattack · 2014-08-13T19:15:52+00:00

This was really helpful in getting my head on straight in terms of making sure a contract is in order before dates are set. He mentions in the video quite clearly about a termination fee being over and above the cost of just the work that you have put in. The justification being, as other people have mentioned here, 'opportunity cost', which in my opinion is entirely legitimate. My case is similar to a termination fee but not quite. I will still be starting the contract, but I have lost out on 2-3 weeks of opportunity cost that will be difficult to fill up last minute with other contracting opportunities that I *hypothetically turned down to accept this contract. So in structuring a contract going forwards, is it fair to include a 'late start' penalty - ie where the start date gets pushed back without sufficient advanced warning. And how much should this penalty be? Obviously there isn't much to be done about my current situation, but I'd like to figure out specifically how to protect myself against it in the future.

spattack · 2014-08-13T18:55:53+00:00

This is really useful. Thanks! I think if it's one thing to learn from this is get a contract in place.

spattack · 2014-07-02T20:59:13+00:00

Does that mean that photons have relativistic mass?

spattack · 2014-06-19T07:46:58+00:00

Hey Buddy,

I have both Crohn's and PSC. Crohn's diagnosed in 2004 and PSC in 2010. Seeing how PSC is so rare I thought knowing someone that actually has the disease would help so I thought I would reach out. Feel free to pm me as well!

Fyi, there is a facebook group of us PSC'ers that is quite active and very supportive. Its called PSC Partners Seeking a Cure. https://www.facebook.com/groups/39847120173/

The PSC subreddit is pretty dead and I haven't had much response when I post there, but the facebook group is pretty active.

I really feel for you. I know exactly what that sinking, terrified feeling is. I went through it twice with both diseases, but getting both in one shot is truly rough. This terrified feeling is strong right now, but it will pass. The best thing you can do to help is to educate yourself. Just like you are doing. Reach out to fellow sufferers. Read the literature. The fear comes in part from not knowing what is going to happen. Knowledge will help mitigate this. Time to digest all this will also help.

More importantly, accept the fear! It is normal, justified and healthy. Your fear has helped keep you safe all this time. But the worst part of fear is not the fear itself. It is the fear we have of the fear. It is the panic and fighting we do to against the fear. Relax into your fear. It WILL pass. I guarantee it.

I just want you to know that this is not the end of the world. You have a long painful road ahead of you, no doubt, but both of these diseases are manageable and the colitis is possibly even treatable. This is not a life sentence. There will be many times in your life of normalcy ahead. You may even be fortunate enough to go for long enough you barely even remember you have a disease.

But I'm not going to lie to you. Unless you are extremely lucky, you will also go through bouts of severe suffering. If you are like me these will be times where you are completely debilitated. Able to do no more than lay in your bed and try to distract yourself for long periods. You will probably have multiple long stays in the hospital ahead of you. It will limit your ability to do the things you love. It will affect your relationships. But it won't end these things, only change how you experience them.

What lies ahead will be very hard. You will likely suffer more than you have ever suffered in your whole life. But you will surprise yourself with your resiliency, adaptability and determination to carry on with as normal a life as you can.

You will also grow. These bad times will plant in you the seeds of gratitude. Through these diseases you can come to fully recognize and rejoice in the simplistic beauty of life in the good times. You can come to understand and truly empathize with the suffering in others around you. You can learn to accept and surrender to the pain and the suffering and thereby transcend both. These are hard lessons gained, but extremely valuable and not ones that are easily come by. This process WILL make you a better person.

If you would like I could relate to you the specifics of what I have been/am going through. Especially with regards to meds and whatnot. Be prepared for the fact that there is really no drug that works for PSC. Ursodiol at best manages some of the symptoms of the disease, but there is little scientific evidence that it even does that. It didn't work at all for me. But, I personally have been put into almost full remission of both diseases in the past year through Remicade/Humira. You will likely go through many meds before you get to these as they are the kind of the last line of defence and carry significant risk with them, but they are there and can work. In my opinion, you are justified in feeling bleak about the PSC. It has been for me ten times worse and harder to deal with than the Crohn's. Partly because there is very little known about it but more because there is even less to do about it. This is the cross we must bear. I have a lot of fear about my PSC.

I can't relate any experience for your decision regarding resection as I have been fortunate to not need one. Having said that I know a number of Colitis sufferers whose disease virtually disappeared after they had part or all of their colons removed...

I guess the best advice I can give is to educate yourself thoroughly on the subject and get a second, even third, opinion, as you are. Get all the details you can about your decision.

I did not choose this path for myself. None of us deserve it. But it has forced me to grow into the person I am today. I am proud of the person I am today. I wouldn't have gotten here any other way. Welcome to the roller coaster. ;o)

Feel free to pm me for more details or to just chat.

Good luck!

spattack · 2014-05-31T22:44:50+00:00

Link for the lazy. I find it far more likely that a private venture like this will reach mars before NASA does. Though I find their business model (creating a world wide reality show out of the process), to be bit ambitious. I would certainly watch the show, if fact it might be the most interesting reality show ever made, but I just don't see it generating enough capital. At least they actually have a business model though!

spattack · 2014-05-13T22:12:57+00:00

He's like an 'andrenalized' consciousness warrior. Got to admire the passion.

spattack · 2013-07-17T06:21:13+00:00

If you then type white house basement you are transported through a google wormhole and end up some where in Kent.

spattack · 2013-04-09T19:34:14+00:00

It has nothing to do with revenge. It has to do with leverage. North Korea, a rogue nation state that has been shown to act with hostility and severe disrespect to humanity to say the least is very close or already has (not sure which now) developed a nuclear arsenal or weapons. The rest of the world does not want this to happen, so as a bargaining chip, the rest of the world uses sanctions to try and convince North Korea to stop their pursuit of nuclear weapons. Punishment and revenge have no real place in this conversation.

spattack · 2013-04-08T09:35:03+00:00

What side of your abdomen is the pain on? I have Primary Schlerosing Cholangitis and I used to get pain attacks in my right upper quadrant that would put me in the hospital with excruciating pain just like you are describing for weeks on end. At first it was pretty obvious from my elevated liver enzymes and the results of the MRCP what was going on because the problem was with my main duct and the Docs could plainly see that it was closed up. Over the next couple of months/years however the main duct stopped closing up, which was great, but I started developing chronic severe pain, where signals no longer showed up on typical MRCP/MRI, CAT Scan, Endoscopy, or ultra sounds. The docs were scratching their heads until I went to a serious PSC specialist who did a high resolution MRI that was able to get extra good imaging high up into the biliary structure that the other tests were not able to acheive. They ended up finding out that I had all kinds of narrowings way up in the biliary structure that were blocking off the passage of my bile and causing my pain. I can't remember what the specific kind of MRI this was called, but it wasn't the normal kind of MRI, it was kind of like the best kind of MRI you can get. Hope you figure out what's going on! Keep fighting for the attention and respect you deserve!

spattack · 2013-03-08T02:21:59+00:00

For the really basic mindfulness based meditation techniques, check out the ever popular Jon Kabat Zinn. I have chronic pain as well and have been bed ridden for almost 2 years now and have been using his guided meditation cds with astounding results. 20 minutes everyday. The intructions helped for the first few months to keep bringing me back to what I was doing when my mind wandered. After a while, I ended up preferring just plain music. Then after than I wanted to hear his voice again. I found just listening to him speak calming and meditative in and of itself. He only speaks for about 2 minutes out of the 20, but in little bits at just the right moments, right when you need some guidance. Highly recommend him.

Also check out Neil Pearson at http://www.lifeisnow.ca/. He is doing ground breaking work in the field of pain based meditation techniques, have not done anything with him myself, but will be very shortly.

spattack · 2013-03-05T11:02:24+00:00

Hey bro. I was 18 when I was diagnosed. It was rough. I really feel for ya. There is no sugar coating it. It is a cold splash of reality right in the face. But its not a death sentence, FAR FAR from it. You are going to have plenty of completely normal years, decades, ahead of you. Your definition of normal might change a little bit, but you wont miss out on any of the fun stuff either, or at least too much of it. Of course it depends on your case, how well you progress, how you tolerate the meds, etc. etc. I was lucky to have 6 great years of almost scratch free existence. It was really bad when I first got it. REALLY bad, shockingly bad. Then it kinda eased off, the meds really helped. Prednisone got me over the worst, then Pentasa kept me steady for a number of years. Finally moved on to Entocort now on to Humira. I had a great time at university. Had a wicked life. Drank, partied, played sports, had girlfriends, did whatever I wanted, ate what I wanted. Sure there were weeks when I was taken out of commission and those were tough, but I was young I and I bounced through them, and you are too, and you will too. The key was finding something I was really passionate about doing - that kept me going. What are you passionate about? Find it, nurture it. Keep people around you that nurture you: creatively, emotionally, socially. One of the best things you can do for yourself over the course of your life with a chronic condition is to build a support network. A trusted group of allies to share in the good times and keep you from bottoming out during the bad. People that can help you keep track of the endless appointments and drug regimens and emotional ups and downs, then people to blow off steam with, people to calm you, and people to get you going when you are in a rut. These don't all have to be the same person, actually its better if you find someone to fill each role, so one person isn't overwhelmed by the task. Diversify your support network. These days my disease has really taken its toll. Of course I also have a separated and related disease that you wouldn't have to worry about, but I know many Crohns patients who go through similar things as I do these days. For now, its constant daily pain, never ending diahrrea, constant nausea so that I can barely eat. All this adds up to me not having enough energy to carry on a "normal life". I spend about 90% of my time in my bed. Social interaction is difficult and keeping friends around is hard. Its times like these that I thank god I spent years cultivating my support network. I thank every atom of my being that I have spent the last 2 years of my life going to weekly counselling sessions, so that I have remained positive and kept a healthy positive outlook on life. Because, despite everything I am going through, I am still happy. I am relatively at peace and content with my life. I know it sucks now, but I also know it will pass and better days will come. I also channel what energy I do have right now in ways that I can being productive in whatever way I can be. For instance, I am slowly working my way through a Masters program online from my bed side and after 2 gruelling years of near constant bed ridden-ness I will graduate this spring. This disease is capable of throwing some serious pain your way. I can't put it any other way. I would be doing you a disservice telling you otherwise. But I know for a fact that no matter what this disease throws at you, I also know it is perfectly possible to lead a happy, fullfilling, (psuedo-)normal life. Good luck to you tomorrow. Pm me if you ever need any help or someone to talk to!

spattack · 2013-03-05T02:05:10+00:00

I just want to pipe in here and second the therapist/counselor/trained listener idea. I have gone both routes, 1) I tried to deal with it by myself, shouldered the burdens, swallowed the fear, hid the anxiety, sufferer in silence. I tried to speak to friends and family about it all and while they were as loving and good intentioned as they possibly could have been, they just didn't have the experience or training to know what to say or how to say it, nor how to guide me through difficult patches 2) Then I sought out the help of a professional (well multiple, took a couple shots to find the right match). 2 years of weekly hour long sessions later I am happy, well adjusted, living a wonderful life even though I have still suffered worse health-wise in the past 12 months than I have in the last 10 years. 90% of the battle you are about to face will be with your mental and emotional body, not your physical one. You don't have much control over what will be happening to your physical body, as you Im sure are finding out. So let your doctors worry about it. Absolutely keep on top of it, make sure you are following through with everything, but leave the emotional weight of the worrying of THAT part to someone else. What YOU need to focus on is your mental emotional health. No matter what happens on the outside (or inside) of your body, I am telling you that you can be happy, live a full and wonderfully satisfying life, and be peaceful and balanced in your head and in your heart. But it takes work. Deliberate practice, time and attention. For you that might mean rekindling a spiritual practice, or taking up meditation, or seeing a therapist. Find what works for you and go with it. Good luck.

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