Today, I am putting aside Blizzard gaming news in this post to kinda update all these loyal fans who visit Blizzplanet. By the way, Blizzplanet recently turned 9 years. Happy Birthday!

I have read a lot of emails in the past year from many of you who do care about me. Especially those who have followed my situation since December 2009. I remember posting about my apartment issues just prior to the New Year’s Eve. However, I’m shy at heart and felt a bit embarrassed the first months.

All the encouragement and great words some of you have shared with me over the past months via email or chat is very appreciated. Recently, someone told me he launched a Runic Games fansite inspired by me. That’s cool [it could have been a Blizzard fansite, dude … j/k]

I feel I do owe all of these fans a update on my whereabouts and musings. It’s now been a year since my last update on personal life matters. I would be more comfortable talking about this in a forum, but Eldorian and Mith haven’t installed one [rises fist to the sky and threatens the wrath of doom]. Thus, I’ll use the website’s front page to express my thoughts and summarize this year in progress.

Sadly, on June 18, 2010, the landlord managed to somehow convince a judge to evict me from the apartment I lived for the past thirteen years in the Bronx, New York.

The sad part of that story is that … I never owed rent. We kept paying the full rent ($1,018 / month). Just a couple months after we were evicted, I heard from our neighbor the landlord was trying to rent him our former apartment for $1,500. I’m not sure how legal it is to rise a controlled rent to that high, or how legal it is to evict a disabled woman on SSI. I guess, it’s up to divine justice down the road.

Some might not believe this, but ever since June 18, 2010 — I have been living in a shelter for the Homeless. That’s 8 months. For someone age 39, that’s kinda touching rock bottom.

The food is sometimes really bad. Other time’s it’s edible. No cooking facilties. It has to be picked downstairs at the shelter’s cafeteria three times a day. I still had a job while in the shelter, and acquired a 4G wireless modem service to stay online. That’s how I update Blizzplanet. On September 21, 2010, my job came to an end.

It was an amazing two years since October 6, 2008 when I got hired at the press room of the Blizzard Worldwide Invitationals in Paris. I think it’s the first time I get a job without applying to it. The company came to me in person and offered the job position. While I disliked a few things in the final months, I do have to thank them for the opportunity. At least I did get to thank them a few times while we still kept in contact in good terms.

I have been unemployed nigh five months. It’s not easy to find a job with some physical limitations. Standing all day long is not an option, so that limits the amount of job types I can apply for.

Since November, I have been attending a job search program specific for people with physical limitations. Kinda took them too long (3 months) to assess my skills via tests. Today, I finally finished that phase with a vocational specialist. Apparently, I don’t qualify for state training because they found I am very capable already for a job in my job range: Computer Tech (Repairs/Build), Web Content Manager, Data Entry.

Starting next week, I will undergo a one or two weeks job interview training, followed by two intense weeks of job search assisted by a job developer. I guess I haven’t been so optimistic in the past five months. Things look good. Once I get a job, I will be assisted by the state to get an apartment where I will pay a 30-50 percent for a year or two while I get back on my feet. So yea, looks promising. ETA: a month from now I might have a job, and move out of the shelter if things go well. I’m open to options if you have a job opening in New York City, though, before my job developer gets me something (for as long as it’s on the books).

How do you survive all these months hitting rock bottom? Sometimes something as simple as those emails you have been sending me the past months does the trick. Eldorian, Mith and Miaari have been very supportive keeping Blizzplanet afloat when I’m down. Many thanks guys. I must also thank all of you who have purchased WoW, Starcraft II and Diablo III T-shirts for the past two years. Especially these past five months since I became unemployed. That’s my main income nowadays.

Inspiration is a nice way to reinforce one’s moral. Fantasy is the driving force to make reality possible. An idea combined with action can change the world. An idea by itself can be inspiring. If you don’t know where I am getting at, well, the characters of Warcraft, and StarCraft (Thrall, Varian, Jim Raynor, Garona, Zeratul, Jaina, and others) — these stories about people with life hardships, and impossible odds overcome are inspiring. In real life, we do live our own hardships.

Thanks Chris Metzen, Micky Neilson, Brian Kindregan and James Waugh for inspiring stories. Jim Raynor is the man. Marvel Digital Comics has also been a great read: Thor, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hulk, The Avengers, and other titles. Spider-Man who is also jobless, and stretching his pennies to the max to survive, yet continuing his selfless hero gig.

Each of us have tough personal problems, and heavy weights on our shoulders. I say: We persevere, and don’t give up. We keep fighting the good fight, and live life meaningfully regardless of how grim things around us may be, hoping tomorrow it will be a bit better than today, a day at a time.

Hope I can tell a different story, in upcoming weeks, now informing I have a job and a stable housing.