The Network did post duplicate blogs in 2019… until now. Tune in for a brief update.

This is the final full chapter of The Network That Never Was. The Wowzers Empire fizzles out in front of Leo Heinrich, in the back office where he’s spent hours facing the glare of an old junker, hunched over typing out “rare” books wedged an inch open so their precious spines don’t break. Justine has one big, fat, wanna-be-manipulative breakdown. I’m sorry for delays promising this, but here it is. I fudged a line of audio and had to delete it at the end, and you shouldn’t use headphones, but here is what happened when this ill-directed web project came to its living death. My ears literally hurt editing, just because that’s the sort of vitriolic crybaby Justine is in this final chapter. In closing, know the people based Justine and Dieter did a lot of what this podcast said. They did defraud one of New Hampshire’s greatest collectors, an elderly woman on an oxygen line, out of a 50,000-book collection, liquidating it for $5 AFTER THEIR “AUCTIONEER” FEES. They kept me up from 6 AM to 2:30 AM in doing so, heaping verbal abuse on me at that point until I came up with a programming solution at that hour. They subjected me to an increasingly poor paycheck while she chased the sun and blamed ME for “Dieter’s” health, all while putting a 1964 Mustang on credit. “Dieter” threatened to take my head off at 50 yards. They yelled - literally yelled - at me because I made them $150 in the 5 minutes THEY were running late. They accused me of autism because I couldn’t look two losers in the eye. They even burned through their town’s good graces and became legal laughingstocks... And you know what? I loathe them with every ounce of strength in my body. I dedicate this series and this book to you, Janet and Peter. PS I had to watch Crystal Skull. BS.

Justine’s benevolent plan to let Leo proudly fling new websites about like a 1099 wizard hits one huge snag while she lurches through mounting debt. How does our omfg-what-am-I-doing-here hero react? Click play, or better, check out Episode 1 if you’re new! Like the podcast? Please visit Anchor.fm/network/support or mention it to a friend. Or mention you don’t. Reverse psychology works wonders.

Much like a coronavirus layoff, work dries up and Leo tries to get a plan in place to keep the money coming in. Unreliable tools become a thorn in his side and he even winds up subcontracting in a rush. For a thousand-website project, funding is looking pretty pathetic - not even one test website is monetized - and he becomes little more than an anxious antique store spook, watching his last few dollars sit in a hesitant pile. He can’t even tell anyone what he’s doing to survive at this point. Please become our first supporter after 25 episodes at anchor.fm/network/support... Believe me I’ll update the description the day you do and thank you by your preferred name here! I’ll even add a fan thanks section at the end for all episodes!

When you have a distant, arrogant, incompetent pair of employers who starts faltering on your payments, leaving you trapped above a first-floor antique store, things begin to warp, rot and fester inside you. Maybe you’ll turn to drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes (Leo didn’t). Perhaps you’ll spend all day sleeping in a shut-down abyss much like a coronavirus quarantine (Leo couldn’t). Or maybe you’ll scrape together your remaining dwindling funds in a final, spiteful eff you to your employers. Leo did. This episode is brief but heavy. It is a damning admission to himself that Leo Heinrich’s million-dollar dream is spray-painted garbage. It is a doomed attempt to launch himself to financial safety again. It is a repulsive vote of no confidence in his hoity-toity employers, who’ve led him from doing important website work to menial, obsessive and ultimately pointless tasks. Imagine a dog instinctively ready to chew off his leg to escape. Imagine that dog holding a digital camera. Please share and subscribe. Leo needs to tell his story. Thank you.

Justine and Dieter save Leo from a delicious calzone and an enjoyable night at home. Leo chafes at the state of his labors to no avail. Further lunacy simmers. The podcast is nearing an end with just a few chapters more. If you’d like to help support this endeavor, please buy the ebook of the same name at Kindle or visit anchor.fm/network and press that Support button. Thanks.

What does a sweaty 20,000-book auction have to do with an amazing project that seeks to unseat Amazon, Facebook, LiveJournal and Plurk? Don’t ask Leo Heinrich. His dream tech job has turned into a stay in a Bates Motel of an antique store working for a boss who’s 1% Donald Trump, 29% Grimace, 30% Hyacinth Bucket, 40% Leona Helmsley, and 110% psycho. Leo’s done his best to keep his nose down and be a good soldier, but in these chapters, the seams of The Wowzers Project come splitting apart and he sees his million-dollar dream is dead. There’s still more to come in this tale of revenge and ruination, six chapters worth. Please like/share/support the podcast at anchor.com/network. Thank you. Chapter spoilers: 17 - Leo helps set up the auction four towns away despite his employers denying him money to register his car. He takes a nerve-wracking trip home at night waiting for cops to remind him of his poor choices. 18 - Leo spends 22 hours awake with an increasingly ineffectual and erratic Justine before she finally shows her true d-bag colors at 2 AM. 19 - Justine melts down and blows up after Leo does everything but pay someone to stand at Justine’s desk to show her her Word files. 20 - After being savaged at 2:05 AM Leo gets to triumph in the results of his auction sabotage. 21 - The auction limps to its painful end with damage even Leo’s actions couldn’t have caused at their very worst. 22 - After the disaster Dieter simper-storms the apartment finding fault. Justine’s paranoia ramps up to a 12. Audrina validates that yes, these are dangerous and delusional people, and it’s time to escape.

Leo receives definite proof he’s on the right track working for his eccentric employers... or does he? The Project remains as cryptic, distant and massive at it has before. Is he really funding over 1000 websites with a dinky digital camera? Is it being funded just by interest from Justine and Dieter’s real estate sales? What ridiculousness is about to come through the fax machine?

In the middle of this isolated tech hell comes an awkward respite. Leo meets fellow human being Audrina, an enigmatic New England administrative assistant. The date starts with a hellish breakfast and devolves into an hours-long attempt to crack Audrina’s fortress-like demeanor. Leo comes to realize that ice can be as bad as hot water. If you like this episode please subscribe. I really haven’t gotten any response so if you could please support the podcast I will have more time to complete the last few chapters. Anchor.fm/network I haven’t made a dollar in probably 100 hours of recording and editing. Thanks.