Yes, yes, I am, once again, trying to break my own record for most commas in a sentence. The only other thing to note is that this post reflects my reinsertion into the Matrix aka my return to Empire Avenue! I have a lot to talk about but in the interest of brevity I’ll hit on a couple of the most popular questions that my friends, followers, and fellow players have had for me since I reentered the market last Thursday afternoon.
Why did I come back?
This is probably best answered by explaining my reasons for leaving in the first place. I don’t talk much about my life online but bear with me, I’ll keep it short. I have a full-time job that includes a 170 mile round-trip commute. I also have kids, and I like to indulge in my photography obsession at any available opportunity. That’s a pretty full plate for anyone! In September I returned to my full-time workload at school and I knew that something had to give. Instead of outright avoiding social media and fighting the temptation to spend my daily one hour ration on Empire Avenue I decided that it was best for me, my family, and my values in general to eliminate the biggest productivity killers from my schedule. I won’t be repeating this hell-quarter and have once again managed to allow (and allot) time for a few of the things that I really enjoy so here I am!
What is my plan this time around?
In the short term I have decided to hold off on connecting my social media networks to my Empire Avenue account until everyone has a chance to max out my shares so you can all maximize the profits you receive once my share price starts climbing. I don’t have anything to gain by doing this aside from the joy I receive knowing that I have engineered a little perk for my longtime friends, followers, and fellow EAv addicts. My only personal goals are to enter the top 100 list of Empire Avenue network scores and to net my first million before my newbie status wears off. This has been a fun and enlightening experience, but at the same time very humbling. It’s very difficult to stay in the green without any connected networks (who knew?) and nearly capping my Empire Avenue network score each day is only yielding about .10e/share in dividends. That really puts things in perspective for you when you stop to consider the recent changes and why the developers felt that the blogging system was (and probably still is, to some degree) completely out of whack.
I will continue to evaluate my EAv network participation and scoring and this will likely result in a future blog post. After my first week is up I will begin to employ my new and improved strategies and do my best to keep everyone appraised of my progress.
I am really enjoying the game again, I’m having a blast connecting with a lot of players new to “the Ave” and I want to extend a big THANK YOU to my #SocialEmpire crew who have assisted and supported me every step of the way!
Great, Ryan. And this was interesting. I didn’t know you have children!
I hope we keep connecting and raising the bar to more accomplishments.
Great insight into your plan, thanks Ryan!
Terri I thought the same thing ;D little Pandas. Glad to have you back in the vortex we call Empire Avenue
I do! My son is 14 and my daughter just turned 8 =)
Lol my daughter will giggle at that!
Glad you liked it, Mike =)
Indeed Jim! I count you among my most valuable contacts that I’ve made via EAv!
I never knew you before but I am glad someone pointed me in your direction. I look forward to watching you climb and already know it should be an interesting trip.
Thanks Candace!
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Have kids about that age too! It is great to have back on Empire Avenue
I have to say something like Happy anniversary. Its this time last year you entered EA for the first time and I returned to actually play the game. And we are still together, LOL! Glad to have your added insight and humor in the EA day.
A 170 mile round trip commute plus school?! Wow. I’m a slacker. Good luck and get it done!
Haha yeah, we’ve often been 2 ships passing in the night =p
Gosh! I know that grueling commute. We do what we have to for life and family. Interesting post. Very private but quite insightful. Takes real courage to share the private side. I continue to take lessons and learn.
Interesting! However… Doesn’t it remain a huge productivity killer (Empire Avenue)?
Yes and no. Everyone needs a bit of time to themselves each day. I don’t watch TV or mindlessly troll Facebook. I look at EAv more like a hobby now. When I have time for it, great, if not then no worries. When I do have time for it (like this long holiday weekend) at least it’s keeping me in the loop on the social networks. I’ve discovered a couple cool new tools that I’ll be reviewing on my Redact blog this week while surfing through profiles at EAv since I’ve been back.