Original Orient

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Real Stories. Real Tools. Real Growth.

Tag: writing

  • Starting My AI Journey: Learning, Failing, and Building Along the Way

    This is the first post in my “Learning AI for Real Results” series, where I document my actual experiences using AI tools to build a business, create content, and hopefully make some money along the way.

    Why I’m Starting This Series

    Here’s the truth: I’m not an AI expert. I’m not a tech guru with years of experience. I’m just someone who’s been experimenting with ChatGPT, tried out DeepAI, dabbled with Google’s tools, used Copilot a bit, and now I’m exploring Claude.

    And honestly? My results so far have been… mixed.

    I’ve created digital products—a couple of 50-page books on mental health and money management based on my personal experiences, some todo lists, and I’m working on monthly affirmation booklets. I’ve listed them on Gumroad, Etsy, and Redbubble.

    Sales so far: Zero.!!!

    But instead of seeing this as failure, I’m viewing it as the perfect opportunity to document a real AI learning journey. Not the glossy “I made $10K in my first month” stories you see everywhere, but the actual, messy, trial-and-error process of figuring this stuff out.

    What You Can Expect From This Series

    I’m going to share everything:

    • The Real Numbers: My actual results, including the failures
    • Tool Comparisons: How ChatGPT compares to Claude, which one works better for different tasks
    • Prompt Evolution: How my prompts improve over time (and the disasters along the way)
    • Behind-the-Scenes: The actual process of using AI to create, market, and sell digital products My Current AI Toolkit

    Right now, I’m working with:

    • ChatGPT (my most used, though it’s been running slow lately)
    • Claude (what I’m exploring now)
    • DeepAI (limited experience)
    • Google’s AI tools (occasional use)
    • Copilot (some experimentation)

    Each one has different strengths, and part of this journey is figuring out which tool works best for what.

    The Personal Touch

    What makes my approach different is that I’m not just creating generic “how to make money” content. My digital products are based on my actual experiences with money management and mental health. They’re not perfect, they’re not written by experts—they’re written by someone who’s figured some things out the hard way and wants to share what actually worked.

    That authenticity is exactly what I’m bringing to this AI journey too.

    What’s Coming Next

    In upcoming posts, I’ll be diving into:

    • Comparing how different AI tools handle the same money-making prompts
    • Real-time experiments with product improvement using AI
    • My attempt to use Claude to finally get some sales on those digital products
    • Honest reviews of which AI tools actually help vs. which ones just sound impressive Join Me on This Journey

    If you’re also trying to figure out how to actually make AI work for you (not just play with it), this series is for you. I’m learning as I go, making mistakes, and sharing everything I discover.

    Because sometimes the best teacher isn’t the expert who’s forgotten what it’s like to struggle—it’s the person just a few steps ahead of you, still figuring it out.

    What’s your experience with AI tools so far? Are you getting real results, or are you in the “still experimenting” phase like me?

    This is the beginning of my documented AI journey. Follow along as I test, fail, learn, and hopefully start making some actual progress. Next post: “Why ChatGPT is Running Slow and How Claude is Stepping Up.”

  • Real vs Real events remastered with A.I

    this is going to be a small post and a random one in the week but i feel like being honest with the viewers i have and the ones i am hopfully going to gain. at the moment I am writing a bunch of blog posts and i am also seeing what the A.I. systems are able to creat and or reword the posts i am working on. so you could say these are remaster by Ai like Chat GPT, Claude, and my other platform i have been using is Windows Copilot AI. i am wondering what do you like the raw ugly and open hearted posts i have been trying to learn and post about or the rewritten A.I. versions?

    I am going to try and schedual them on different days but that is something right now as a beginner is totally out of wack.

    Can you tell what posts were the real ones and the ones rewritten by A.I.? What do you think i should improve on?

  • Part 1: When One Job Isn’t Enough

    A Real-Life Look at Hustle, Gig Work, and Providing for Family

    At 32 years old, I was working full-time — 80+ hours every two weeks — and pulling in around $55,000 a year before taxes. Not a fortune, but we made it work. My wife was the real breadwinner for our household, and she also handled most of the fun stuff for the family — vacations, birthday parties, weekend outings. I was more of the “boring dad,” keeping things steady.

    But then life shifted. My wife was forced to change jobs, and her income was going to be cut. Suddenly, the pressure was on me to carry more of the financial load. I liked my main job — I work as a Sales Loan Associate, writing collateral loans, selling items, and handling cash. (If you haven’t guessed, I work in a pawn shop — one of the oldest professions around.) It’s a job that keeps me on my toes and lets me interact with all types of people and situations.

    But as much as I liked my day job, it wasn’t going to be enough on its own. I’d tried working multiple jobs in the past, and I’d also dipped my toe into the world of gig work — apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and others that send you a 1099 instead of a W-2. These jobs are technically self-employed work, which means you have to do your own taxes and set money aside before it even hits your bank account.

    I’d driven for DoorDash before, but honestly, I wasn’t a fan. The constant fast food runs and drive-thru waits didn’t appeal to me. But now, with my wife placed on medical leave and our household suddenly a one-income family, I was motivated to try again — and this time, I was determined to find something that fit.

    I came across a few new delivery apps I hadn’t used before:

    Amazon Flex Roadie (which I believe is now a FedEx subsidiary)

    The first time I opened Roadie, it was a Friday afternoon around 4 PM. There were two deliveries available — one paying about $11.30, another around $23. Not bad for quick runs at the end of the day.

    But of course, there were requirements. You need a valid driver’s license, a reliable vehicle, and the ability to lift and transport packages. I had all that. But when I checked the Roadie app again over the weekend, there were no deliveries. That’s when I realized Roadie probably follows a more traditional schedule — no weekend runs, likely because it’s connected to FedEx.

    I decided to give it a real shot — check it multiple times a week, get familiar with the app, and see if it could actually help bring in some money. The app was simple to use and walked you through each step, from pickup to delivery. Payment is supposed to land weekly, just like DoorDash.

    At that point, I hadn’t tried too many other gig platforms, but I was motivated. I wanted to see if I could grind away at the bills, save some money, and maybe even build some connections in the process. Gigs aren’t just side hustles — they can be opportunities to learn and grow. That was my hope, anyway.

    But that’s just the beginning of the story.

    Coming next: Part 2 — The Reality of Gig Work

    Why things didn’t go exactly as planned — and what I learned from it.

  • Spinal Ridiculopathy 2: Three Years Later, Still Fighting

    Hey, I’m back — now three years into this journey with chronic back pain, and to be honest, not much has changed in terms of real relief. When I last wrote, I had just started a new medication: Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN), 5mg — a modified version of a medication originally used for alcohol withdrawal.

    It’s been somewhat helpful, but accessing it isn’t easy. I have to order it from an out-of-state compounding pharmacy. It costs around $90 for a two-month supply — not terrible, but I still wonder if there’s a local pharmacy that could fill it for less hassle.

    The Daily Meds Routine

    Right now, here’s what I’m taking (and it feels like a full-time job just managing it):

    Ibuprofen 800mg Tylenol 500mg Meloxicam 15mg Pregabalin (Lyrica) 100mg Nortriptyline 50mg Duloxetine (Cymbalta) 30mg Low-Dose Naltrexone 5mg

    That’s a pretty serious cocktail for someone who’s only 34. But if you live with back pain, you get it. If you don’t — consider yourself lucky.

    Let me break it down:

    Ibuprofen, Meloxicam, and Tylenol are for inflammation and pain. Meloxicam is a long-term NSAID, while Ibuprofen is more for short-term flare-ups. Duloxetine helps with both anxiety and musculoskeletal pain — though if I didn’t have the pain, I doubt I’d need it. Pain and anxiety go hand in hand. Nortriptyline is technically an antidepressant, but it’s also prescribed for nerve and joint pain. Pregabalin (Lyrica) is a controlled substance — not sure exactly why, but I have to show ID every time I pick it up. Maybe it’s because it can affect your mood, and stopping it suddenly can be dangerous. And then there’s Low-Dose Naltrexone, which I’m still experimenting with. It’s supposed to reduce inflammation and pain by calming the nervous system over time — we’ll see.

    Even with all these meds, I still have bad pain days. So yeah… sometimes I question whether they’re working at all.

    Trying to Stay Active

    For about a year, I was working two jobs — my full-time day job and a second shift as a shelf stocker at a grocery store. That meant lifting boxes, walking miles, bending constantly, and being on my feet for hours.

    The upside? I lost weight. I dropped to around 185–190 lbs, which is right where the doctors wanted me in terms of BMI. (Though let’s be real — BMI is outdated and doesn’t factor in muscle, build, or chronic illness.)

    The downside? I was exhausted and still in chronic pain. I wasn’t sleeping enough, and my pain didn’t improve. In fact, it probably got worse from the strain. The doctors told me to stay active and stick to physical therapy — but some of the exercises just made the pain worse. So I stopped going. And guilt followed.

    Even at a healthy weight, with an active lifestyle, I still didn’t feel “better.” That’s the part people don’t get: weight loss helps, but it doesn’t fix chronic nerve pain.

    Quality of Life — What Does That Even Mean?

    All I’ve ever wanted is to live a normal life. To spend time with my wife and kids, to be the dad and granddad I want to be. But my “quality of life” has been on a slow, downward slide.

    I can’t lift like I used to. I can’t run. I can’t even really play with my grandkids. Something as simple as picking one of them up could trigger a flare-up in my back or leg — sometimes it feels like my leg might just give out. It’s heartbreaking.

    What do you say to a doctor without sounding like a pill-seeker? All you want is relief. Not to get high — just to feel normal. To be able to do basic things without your body screaming at you.

    Still Here, Still Trying

    This is where I’m at. Still managing. Still hurting. Still showing up.

    If you’re going through something similar, I see you. I know how isolating it can be to live with chronic pain that most people don’t understand. You’re not alone — and if nothing else, maybe this post helps remind you of that.

    Thanks for reading. Until next time.

  • How I Bought a House at 26 – Keep It Simple, Stupid (K.I.S.S.)

    Hey everyone — today I want to share how I managed to buy a house at just 26 years old. I didn’t come from money, didn’t have a trust fund, and definitely made a lot of mistakes early on. But with patience, a better mindset, and one simple phrase in mind — “Keep it simple, stupid” (K.I.S.S.) — I turned things around.

    Back in 2008, after I graduated high school, I moved to Sacramento for a technical school. I used credit cards, student loans, and grant money to survive — food, bills, rent, tuition. At the time, I was working at a fast food restaurant as a cook. Even when I became a night shift manager, it wasn’t enough to keep up.

    By the time I was 19, I was flunking out of school and already a few hundred dollars in debt. Add in a relationship that didn’t help my financial decisions, and it all spiraled quickly.

    A New Job, A Better Mindset

    Eventually, I got a better job — one with more stability and better pay — and started dating someone who helped me stay focused. That combination gave me the clarity I needed to start taking control of my money.

    Here’s the part they don’t teach you in school: To build credit, you need debt. And not just any debt — managed, responsible debt.

    But schools don’t show you how to budget, how to read a credit report, or how to recover from mistakes. I had to learn the hard way.

    So I adopted a mindset that helped me get through it:

    “Keep it simple, stupid.”

    No shame, no insults — just a reminder to myself not to overthink or make things harder than they need to be. Because when you overcomplicate things, you make dumb mistakes.