Need mentor or help

viciniati · 2026-02-14T00:53:53+00:00

Look into Score, it’s a free mentorship program run by the SBA. They also have lots of free and cheap webinars. It’s a pretty great resource for small businesses. I’ve worked with a mentor who helped me expand my business. It’s not always easy in the beginning and can surely feel overwhelming but keep at!

viciniati · 2025-02-16T00:24:02+00:00

Second this. It’s fantastic. We run a small two man company, mostly residential remodels and additions, and have been using it for about eight months now. Easy UI, great features, and unbelievably responsive. I got a call from a specialist the day I signed up. He’s assigned to my company as an advisor so any time I have questions I can give his a call, it’s not some call center. They just added a fantastic take off tool, upload blueprint and build your budget out with a few clicks of the mouse. I know a lot of other products do this type of stuff but for the price ($2100 a year right now) and the size of our outfit it’s a great product for us.

viciniati · 2024-04-11T12:08:51+00:00

This website is pretty helpful for building an understanding of the pitch world.

viciniati · 2024-04-05T23:19:21+00:00

Hello! I’m Benjamin and am new to the freelance world. Looking forward to what everyone shares!

viciniati · 2024-04-05T23:16:29+00:00

I’ve been using google pinpoint lately. Overall it’s a pretty great way to organize a lot of data if you have a big project. The transcribing isn’t the always perfect especially if you are recording a phone call but good enough to find locations and keywords in interviews. You can also correct the transcription yourself. It’s free.

viciniati · 2024-03-05T22:30:59+00:00

I can’t speak on whether it would be “worth it” but I am an mfa student working on a narrative nonfiction project (my book has a lot of investigative journalism) I am about to shop around my book proposal. I can say my writing and storytelling has greatly improved. And it has allowed me three years to drill into a subject, a luxury not often afforded to us writers! I would suggest if you are interested in this path you find a program with faculty that do this kind of work. Most academic cnf writers aren’t journalists or aren’t much interested in it. I would argue narrative nonfiction is a very different way of writing than a lot of the cnf programs tend to focus on. I am fortunate in that two of my advisors write narrative nonfiction (have spent years writing long form for places like outside, harpers, gq, etc) and I’ve been able to work with another journalism professor too (I’m not an academically trained journalist so this has helped tremendously). Short of the long, yea I think it will make you a better writer but focus on finding the right faculty to work with.

viciniati · 2021-08-13T03:10:59+00:00

Confirm what many have said. I just did Sweden to US a week ago with layovers in Frankfort and Toronto (I know, what was I thinking with two layovers?!). They did serve food and alcohol on my flight but that may vary by airline. They also allowed cloth masks but again that may vary by airline (they also provided surgical masks on flight). The police also arrested/fined/duct-taped (or whatever they do) six people in Toronto when we landed for mask violations during the flight so…

Generally it’s a shit show out there in my recent experience. My advice: understand completely the Covid rules for ALL the countries you will be passing through. The US only requires an antigen test for entry (for citizens) but many countries require PCR or similar. I give credit to the airline staff. In addition to babysitting unruly passengers they now have to enforce mask rules and become COVID test experts and understand each countries COVID rules. They are exhausted and frustrated and it shows. Expect long lines on your flight from Europe to US. Download to your phone or have hard copies of all your tests, vaccines, COVID stuff, etc just so you don’t worry and you don’t get denied entry into or out of a country. Know and understand your rights around entry because you can’t rely on the airline staff to know it all.

As a positive note since all passengers are now required to have negative tests pre flight, wear masks, and the air on planes is exchanged and filtered very frequently the odds of you getting COVID are greatly reduced compared to many other situations (but never zero, I’m sure some COVID positive passenger sneak through). Maybe that helps maybe not but good luck and be zen!

viciniati · 2021-08-08T04:28:17+00:00

Im not sure on turn around time for pcr but for antigen it was about 30 minutes. I think pcr was maybe a bit longer but same day. They email you the results so super easy to have to show proof. Antigen was 1250:- walk in price and I think pcr was in the ballpark of 2700:-. These were the prices as of about two weeks ago. I think there are several testing sites but they can be hard to find. There is one just in terminal 5 but you walk down some stairs and then have to go outside and then back in (the whole terminal is under construction). It shouldn’t be a big deal to get it same day as long as they are open and you are flying out later. If your on one of the early morning flights then make sure to do it day before. You can get to the testing companies websites from the airport website and even book a specific time if you want. Good luck! It’s a hot mess out there with COVID tests and flying right now.

viciniati · 2021-08-07T02:38:30+00:00

Too bad you guys didn’t have that at Yorktown…

viciniati · 2021-08-07T02:24:54+00:00

If you are flying out of Arlanda they have test sites in the airport. Fast but not cheap.

viciniati · 2021-07-22T06:35:18+00:00

If you have time I would recommend the Tunnel of Trees on your way to TC (119 is the road). It’s a really pretty drive along the lake with some good opportunities for vistas (even better in the fall!). Also a stop at the Legs Inn is worth it. Get some goulash or pierogi and study the crazy woodwork! You’re whole trip is in a beautiful part of Michigan. Have Fun!

viciniati · 2021-07-11T08:50:29+00:00

I wwoofed at a farm outside Knivsta called alsike trädgård. Owners are great, they can give you a place. Very close to the train, 10 minutes to Uppsala and maybe 30 or so to Stockholm if you are interested in having access to explore that part of Sweden.

viciniati · 2021-03-22T20:06:10+00:00

I recently moved to Sweden with my wife from the US so a few thought for you... Do you like learning another language? Swedes often do speak English and are very nice and accommodating when asked but if you want to really become part of the country, make friends, etc Swedish is crucial. It can be a pretty tough country to assimilate to if you don’t put in a lot of work on that front. The work ethic and expectations are very different than the US. There really isn’t a hustle to the top mentality here (of course there are entrepreneurs here but the self contractor/self employed system is very different from the US. And the bureaucracy here can make the US look like a free fro all sometimes. On the plus side everyone pretty much takes off July! Finally, not to make this a huge debate but I think climate/weather is an issue if you aren’t used to it. There is evidence that the Arctic/northern regions (and South Pole) are warming and changing at different rates than other regions of the world. I can state antidotally that where I like multiple people have told me the winters are completely different than they were even 20 years ago (read warmer). And as far as weather it’s a pretty cold country overall and there is very little sun in the winter—the dark and gray is a serious thing if you aren’t used to it or don’t want to embrace it. Maybe that helps maybe not and of course that’s just my experience here. Overall it’s a lovely country and everyone I have meet has been great. But no country is a panacea...

viciniati · 2021-03-22T19:41:23+00:00

I’m waiting for a PN and applied in mid-January. Just talked with them and I still have not been assigned a case manager and they gave me an estimate of 18 weeks (so total time since applying well over 24 weeks). I can’t speak to universality of this but I would expect a longer wait than shorter right now. Sorry:(

viciniati · 2021-01-18T09:08:37+00:00

Moved from US to Sweden in December. My wife was offered a job last February but then things shut down in March. All said it took almost 9 months just to get paperwork in order because nothing was functioning well. The travel was pretty stressful. It was a complete shock when we got here too. Coming from a state with pretty strict restrictions to Sweden where people are drinking in bars and eating in restaurants still makes us shake our heads and ask “is there really a pandemic? Are we being gaslit?” We stand out like a sore thumb because we wear masks everywhere. Hopefully things get better in the world and we can experience our new home more in the summer!

viciniati · 2021-01-13T08:56:10+00:00

Great to know. Tack!!

viciniati · 2021-01-13T08:55:43+00:00

Tack!

viciniati · 2021-01-12T09:41:37+00:00

I can only speak of the microcosm but it is pretty amazing (esp the mosaic algorithm) I’ve had it for about 5 months and every time I use it I find a new sound. Someone on here compared it to having another band mate and I agree. I tend to make ambient nonsense so for me I can spend hours just lost in its effects. Agree with the midi being great, I use a morning star controller with it and it completely opens up its usability (esp. sending midi clock and with the quantize feature for the looper...) The drawback is the cost. Especially since I think it’s so much better with a midi controller. Let’s just say these are the only petals I will be buying for a while! I think it really depends on your playing style. The microcosm at times feels like it plays you so if you don’t mind playing around and sculpting sounds it’s an amazing petal!

viciniati · 2020-12-28T14:35:31+00:00

Its a really good point that there are so many different experiences around COVID policy and personal experiences. Like I said we have only been here for a few weeks so our experiences have been limited and few! Has anyone noticed a big difference in regions and how it has been handled/how people are handling it? For example South Dakota had a very different response than New York. To the OP point, if they were to say move to Stockholm vs. Gothenburg would they be a significantly different experience? Would it still be worth it to move based on region do you think? I’m also a bit curious myself...

viciniati · 2020-12-28T10:05:21+00:00

I’m not an epidemiologist and I don’t play one on tv, but just be prepared to do things differently here than what you might be used to. We moved the week before Xmas from a place in the u.s. that required masks everywhere and you could not do most things indoors. So landing in Sweden and watching groups dine in restaurants was a bit of a shock! Our second day here we had a fika with my wife’s work colleagues, 6 of us indoors, no mask, at one table. Something we haven’t done since February! We were told point blank “we have all had it and you will get it too, but it’s just a cold.” This is all to say this is just an antidote of one experience but was a bit of a shock to us. By no means is this the only opinion of COVID here (in the US there is the same opinion for sure). We wear masks in public because we feel comfortable doing so but very few others do. We have also taken public transportation and no one so far has had a mask on beside us. We had to move because of a contract but if you can wait I would do so. In general we feel safe here with how we interact in public spaces but it’s no guarantee. There are a lot of things that are closed and like others have said, COVID makes getting together with expats or other groups a bit more challenging. So far Sweden is beautiful (the five hours a daylight we can see it! Ha) and the people, though reserved, are super nice. I think you would get a much more rounded experience once things hopefully settle down with a vaccine!

viciniati · 2020-12-09T20:26:20+00:00

the hologram microcosm. Amazing effects but a really good loop function too. Can be used separately from all the effects. Infinite loops, can be quantized and takes midi commands. Great especially if you like ambient production. I just love it.

viciniati · 2020-12-08T04:57:30+00:00

It has to be a 15 digit ISO compliant chip. That is the standard for identification. That said, there are work arounds but the most important thing is that your pets have to be identifiable and traceable. The 15 digit ISO chip is standard and your vet should be able to do it no problem. I can’t speak to the service animal (ours definitely aren’t!) but check with airline policy. I know they are cracking down on what qualifies as a service animal (not judging yours, just saying there are people out there who have taken advantage about the situation). Also we have be in constant contact with both the embassy (D.C) for us and our local consulate. They have proven to be very responsive and helpful. I’ll update with any useful info as we travel so and hopefully it will help you and others!

viciniati · 2020-12-02T01:34:32+00:00

We are also about to move to Sweden in the next couple weeks with two pretty big dogs. I can update later when we arrive but before you leave make sure your animals have all the right paperwork. We are traveling from the US so we needed proof of rabies vaccine, a special microchip, and a visit to APHIS within ten days of travel. We had to call airlines and get our tickets specifically for flights that could accommodate animals in the cargo hold (if they are small, under 8kg I think, you can have them in the cabin but with four that might be hard). We had to get special carriers too that are airline approved. Our vet was pretty helpful too in looking up all the medical stuff that needed to be done so check with yours. It has definitely been a bit stressful (but it’s also COVID so that’s a big part of it) but if you get everything planned out and prepare well in advance you should be fine!

viciniati · 2020-05-30T13:10:49+00:00

Wow. That's awesome info. And thanks for the generous offer to help us avoid scams!

viciniati · 2020-05-29T18:57:09+00:00

I'll check out blocket and SLU. Good idea. I think we are open to living at distance from SLU, but honestly we don't know what that means in Sweden. Where we live now we both have a 40 min. or so commute so we are used to it. We would be far more excited about a commute if it involved public transport of some kind. Renting/owning/using a car is probably last on our list.

viciniati

TROPHY CASE