24 episodes
The Network That Never Was: A High-Tech, Low-Spirits Memoir Leo Heinrich
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- Technology
The Network That Never Was is a true memoir about a programming junkie who finds an incredible opportunity just after hitting rock bottom in a boarding house. What begins as an incredible opportunity to be part of a multi-million-dollar project slowly slides from money-making into madness.
Only the names have been changed.
This will be a 21-chapter podcast of the ebook I wrote soon after the real-life project collapsed.
Subscribe to experience the rise and fall of one of the most ambitious but unknown projects in modern times. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/network/support
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Years Later: A Brief Update
The Network did post duplicate blogs in 2019… until now. Tune in for a brief update.
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Chapter 27: Exit Interview
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.
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Chapter 26: Power From The People (Or, How Leo Came To Enjoy Total Darkness, No Phone & Warm Food)
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.
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Chapter 25: Stealth Mischief
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!
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Chapter 24: Picture Time (Or, Far From Model Behavior)
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.
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Chapter 23: Bad Movie Night
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.
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/network/support