Yes. Is SketchUp in danger of returning to its underfunded Google days? Layoffs are always a sign that revenue isn’t meeting expenses.
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Wow, what a shock! I hope you are OK and can get through this situation. I will miss your world weary, I mean wise, comments on the live streams, I hope Trimble realise their huge mistake soon and bring you back on double the wages.
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Hey gang, Sorry, i’ve been radio silent. I still exist, I’m still unemployed, but starting my own entrepreneurial endeavor. I figured I should stop by and see how folks are doing and if the community collapsed without me.
I’ve checked in on a couple of livestreams but honestly end up busy through that time a lot of days. I need to prioritize, but I have a bit of a sour taste still with some SketchUp stuff, so I’m not always super motivated.
Anyway, have i missed anything exciting? Is that new guy as charming as me?
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Don’t know about that new guy, whoever he might be, but I am, so my wife keeps telling me.
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“Catamountain”, Jody Gates, ?, August, George Knowledge, Tommy Ancierno, Jean Lemire, “Gaius”
Those are legendary names. I’ll never forget how Catamountian introduced me very kindly to forum ethics.
The exciting wait for sketchup 2024. If you have any information, you could be able to tell us since you’re no longer a Trimble employee.
haha …worth a try
What I can say about SKP 2024 is this:
Basically AI is taking over! We’re all going to be slaves to the robot overlords before this decade is up. Minecraft was a training tool for kids to learn to use AI, so they don’t need adults any more. The World’s about to turn into Never Never Land. Pull the plug now while we still can!
Alternatively, we will get an update to the Follow Me tool and some new icons for LayOut.
Sad news to read about your layoff.
Do hope you’ll find a nice opportunity in which you find some fun, happiness, motivation and a big fat salary 
Anywhoe, welcome to the Members club!
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I’m extra sad to say that apparently my role at SketchUp DOES was necessary, but they hired someone else at half my rate. I was too expensive for SketchUp apparently and they didn’t need my wisdom anywhere else.
Currently I’m ‘building my brand’ to be a writer, content creator, multi-media mogul. We’ll see where it lands. All my socials are on my landing page at jodygates.com
I’m writing every day on Medium.
I’m writing once a week for my newsletter as well.
Be sure to Follow AND Subscribe while you’re there.(c;
I don’t have any good SketchUp projects going on atm though. I’m currently building a bigger desktop for my standing desk and doesn’t really need a SKP. I’m going to work on overhauling my office to be conducive to 3D Printing, Laser Engraving and YouTube videos, so maybe I’ll make a model for that and share it so you can virtually see where I’m working and have been all along.
I think the thing I miss most is the interactions with all of the SketchUppers, especially the live streams. Maybe I’ll convince @TheOnlyAaron to invite me back for a guess session one of these days.
As far as secrets about the SU 2024 release, I have no news. I was kind of surprised to see that it’s about to be April and there is still nothing to report.
I’ll try to visit more often, this was always such a great community to be in… SketchUp models or not.
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it’s always a bit hard to take time to model stuff when you don’t really have stuff to model. I mean, HAVE to model.
Sure, you can find the odd 3d job out there, but if you just need to scratch the 3d itch, you don’t necessary want to embark in a 4-weeks remodelling project for some designer. I don’t have the attention nor patience for that right now 
time to play the uno reverse card and make your own stream where you can invide Aaron 
I’m actually surprised, there are a lot of people making 2d art on twitch, not sketchup.
Right now, 156 persons making art, and @alsomar holding the sketchup flag alone.
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We streamed the SketchUp livestream on Twitch a while a couple of years ago, even in peak pandemic there just weren’t many people interested in SketchUp on that platform. I wonder if it’s changed.
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it’s the same as youtube & al, people won’t stumble on your livestream, niche themes like that you need to bring your community, and only then can it grow.
you can see the effect with most artists streaming, the one with a crowd usually have a community outside.
(some of them even actually went outside at some point 
)
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Jody, I’m almost laughing reading your Medium content - I can relate to much of what I’ve read so far.
*Notes:
“Five Areas I Focus on Every Morning”
“… still working out that Afternoon Routine…”. I too have Routines. Not just routines, but Lists in Microsoft ToDo:
Morning Routine,
MORNING WORK PREP @Home,
WORK SUPPLIES EN ROUTE,
LEAVING JOB SITE / GOING HOME ROUTINE,
STUDY ROUTINE,
QB - BALANCES, EXPENSES, RECEIPS,
PLAN TOMORROW ROUTINE,
BEDTIME ROUTINE.
These are like my Getting Things Done processes… the ones that can be ‘codified’ ahead of time. I’m the type of person who has flowcharted my morning routine in Visio down to all of the steps in making coffee. Because I can’t figure out how to make coffee? No! I’m just wierd like that. Due to some recent situations in my life, I’m not using my ToDos or lists/routines as I’d like. But the point I’m trying to get to is the Flow state. That’s my ideal ‘Afternoon Routine’. It would normally be the Project I’m working on (where a Project is just a bunch of little steps, aka, ToDos). And the ‘Afternoon Routine’ - the flow state - can be anytime of day or night. I love creating a monstrous flow state that creates its own tide for me to ride on. It’s like gravity is on your side, helping to pull all of the pieces of your project together. But when the gears slip, or break? It’s frustrating. The ToDoNothing state. One of my mentors taught me that depression is, “the mood to do nothing”. I’ve heard it said that losing a loved one, moving, and losing a job are 3 of the most difficult situations people deal with. So, I sympathize with your posts.
Your post reminds me of, “Miricle Morning”, with the notion of using Notion. It’s one of those books that’s somewhat forgettable (the summary is practically in the title), but “scribing” (aka, journaling) is one of the prescribed tenants. I don’t do that. Don’t know if I ought to. But I do review Yesterday as far as what ought to be done today (I always redo, My Day) and usually sort ToDos, no matter how many, so that the top 3 are the ones I’m really going to do. Might even drag them over on the calendar.
Looks like I need a subscription to read more… time to go feed the chickens! See how I did that? Yeah - better read the ADHD post next.
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ADHD? Hyperfocus we all suffer from occasionally.
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Are you suggesting that you can sum up ADHD with the word Hyperfocus? Or is there more to that statement?
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ADHTAS:
Attention Defi… Hey, There’s A Squirrel!
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ADHD sounds better in french, it’s TDA/H.
so basically you say you have tadaaaaah
(don’t throw confettis at the same time, neurotypical don’t find it funny)
It’s a good thing. My ADHD companion suggests I’m autistic. I don’t believe him. We both ‘suffer’ from this thing called Hyperfocus.
Edit: it’s pretty confronting to be explained you’re autistic.
I’ll take the bait… I don’t conceptualize ADHD in that way. But I’ll tell you a little story… I listen to LOADS of audio books and one of them was, Hyperfocus, by Chris Bailey. It actually helps me to pay attention to audiobooks if I listen at 1.5-2x speed. That way if I stop paying attention for even a moment I’m reminded that I’m missing content. Conversely, if I want to focus on something at the computer I’ll sometimes play YouTube videos as that gives me something to intentionally ignore. ;^)!
@JodyGates are you considering Notion Design Templates that are SketchUp specific?
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There are so many assumptions and associations both with Autism and ADHD, I completely agree that having someone “diagnose” you unsolicited is enough to rile you up. It’s also hard to admit you’re either of those if you’re talking to someone who either thinks they aren’t real, or who talk ill of those that are diagnosed.
I’m a fan of the Hyperfocus when it works for me, it’s still fun when I’m pursuing a distraction, just frustrating when I could have channeled it into something I wanted to finish. (c;
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