Tag: gaming

Uncategorised

Baron Grinnit

I spent most of the morning at Oakland taking care of a few things before heading to the shop. Once there, I helped Ben move an enormous desk from the hallway into one of the offices for Brice to use as an office. It does feel a little odd that Amanda never got an office when she had all the elementaries, but I’m also guessing she probably never asked. He seems to really want an office space, and we have the extra rooms. I am a little surprised that such nice furniture just appeared for him, but I think I have a chance to grab something too if I hurry.

Dale, Allen, Ben, and I went to Taco John’s for lunch, and then I went to the junior high for the afternoon. There wasn’t a whole lot going on there, but I spent some good time messing with a testing software deployment that evidently needs updating. More on that tomorrow.

After work, I ran to PetSmart to grab some of the smallest crickets I could find and took them to Oakland for the frogs. They seem small enough, but several of the crickets were already dead. I dropped a few live ones in with the frogs, and we’ll see if any are left in the morning.

From there, I ran home for a bit and started a campaign on Breath of the Wild before heading to the high school for Autumn’s band concert. The PAC was packed, and I’m surprised they didn’t pass around a collection plate. Somehow I managed to survive and we went to Taco Bell for dinner afterward.

Back at home, I continued my campaign for just a little bit longer before bed.

So let me get this straight. Link gets a cell phone, then asks Ganon for help getting down the mountain?

Uncategorised

FailEx

It was a pep rally day at the junior high, so I didn’t start the day with a whole lot of ambition. I stopped by Oakland first to drop off the three frogs I pulled from my tank. Then I spent the rest of the morning in my office until lunch. I went to Wendy’s a bit late for a cheap lunch, but unfortunately the $1 fry deal was over. From there, I stopped by the shop for a bit and called FedEx about Summer’s Pixel 3 before heading back to the junior high until quitting time.

After work, I ran by Summer’s for a while to get Eaddie’s flute for her concert tonight. I stuck around for a bit to see if FedEx would show up, and then spent quite a while on the phone again to see if I could get an update on the trace. So far, we’re two business days behind, but that’s four calendar days without her new phone. While I was on hold, I chatted with a BestBuy rep to pricematch Breath of the Wild so I could use my $10 reward certificate along with two $10 gift cards to score the game for only $15.

When I finally left her house, Summer had already left the gym to get the girls and head to the concert, so I just took the flute to my house and met her there, then spent the rest of the evening smashing my head against the wall trying to understand why the Switch’s wireless is so horrible. Evidently forcing it into sleep mode gives you a huge bump in speed, even from an idle and docked status. That makes about as much sense as downloading faster while the console is powered off.

Nobody likes a smug plummer.

Uncategorised

It’s Magic!

We all got up and ready to go to Fort Smith for the magic club’s annual holiday potluck and show. We got to my parents’ house pretty close to when we planned, but Summer didn’t feel well by the time we left and we had to swing by Walgreens on the way out of town for some meds. The rest of the trip went pretty well though. If I had realized Mom’s car had both HDMI and an AC power outlet, I would have brought a Switch dock so we could all play. Instead, we all split up and took turns, which still turned out really well. It definitely made the trip feel shorter.

The party was at a new place, with plenty of room for eating and a large raised platform for a stage. There didn’t seem to be quite the variety of food we usually see, but at least we had plenty to eat. The girls seemed to really enjoy the show, but I really think Summer was the most excited of the three of them. Most of the performances seemed shorter than usual as well, but it was a good time.

We stopped by a couple Oriental food stores on the way home, and the girls actually really enjoyed looking at all the snacks and different things they aren’t used to seeing. Dad bought them each some snacks, and we headed home. Edna and I played some more INVERSUS to unlock some more maps. She got pretty good after a few games, so it was really fun to play a little competitively until it degraded to us trolling each other.

Once we got home, the girls went back to their house and I started cleaning up a bit. I had to fish three frogs out of the tadpole tank, which meant I had to find and clean another tank for them. The betta seems to be getting worse, and I don’t know what else I can do to help her. In cases like this, it seems way easier to care for them when you have a whole school of them rather than just one solo sick species. I gave her some more meds, but I think I need to find my aquarium salt as well. I really thought I used to have some somewhere.

Uncategorised

Ne’er Do Anythingers

Everyone but Brice met at the shop for the meeting this morning. We didn’t really have anything to discuss or work on, and instead everyone pretty well broke up and just socialized all day. I almost couldn’t believe we made it all the way to lunch doing that. I did get to school Allen and Jason on SCCM a bit, which felt both nice and aggravating, since they’ve both been doing this for years. I’m glad to have learned it myself though.

We unanimously agreed to Zona K Tracha for lunch since everyone else wanted to try it after Gary, Heather, and I went last week. The service was quite a bit slower, but the food was still excellent. My fajitas had more veggies, but the meat seemed to be seasoned a little differently. It was still excellent though. I hope they can get the consistency and speed down soon so they last a while.

After lunch was more of the same until it was time to go home. I stopped by my house for just a little while before going to Summer’s to wait for FedEx to bring her phone. She found a door tag that didn’t seem to be registered online, but the original tracking number showed the delivery attempt was made Thursday, so I assumed they would try again. After an hour or so of waiting while she was at the gym, the tracking status changed to “pending” and as far as I could tell, no additional delivery attempt was made. I called to complain or trace the package, and we’ll just have to see what happens. I always have this problem with FedEx though. I absolutely hate them.

When she finally got back from the gym, we made some leftovers before heading to my house for the evening. I hooked the Switch up to the TV and, after resolving some super frustrating controller issues, we played Diablo III until bedtime.

Finally, level 10 again!

Uncategorised

Shattered Dreams of Corn Dogs

It was another day hiding away at the junior high. I got a few things done, but the highlight was 50 cent corn dogs at Sonic. Ronda and I went to pick it up. We had like 11 corn dogs, and I got the notion that I needed to get all three of my favorite snacks as well, so I got large orders of onion rings, cheese sticks, and cheddar peppers as well. I did really well until Ronda and Summer both backed out of their third corn dogs, so I skipped mine as well in favor of the sides.

After school, I ran by Walmart to pick up some avocados and an insulated backpack I ordered using Walmart Pickup last week. I “checked in” before I got to the store, as it instructed me to do, and then did my avo shopping before stopping at the pickup area. Then I waited. For twenty Earth minutes. I would have rather walked to the back of the store and gotten it myself, but instead I was stood next to a locked locker that had my UPS-delivered package in it, waiting for a rep to show up. I still don’t even know what took so long, but this whole service is a hard pass for me now.

From there, I ran home to take care of a few things before heading to Summer’s. She had just left the gym, so I offered to pick up corn dogs for the kids. A few minutes after placing my app order and checking in, a girl came out and informed me that they were all out of corn dogs, but offered to give me my drink order and her last singular corn dog for free. It wasn’t quite the 15(!) the kids wanted, but I took what they had. What she said next surprised me more than anything else I’d seen all day. She said she couldn’t refund my order there, and instructed me to open a help ticket through the app and explain there that I was unable to get my order because they had sold out. At least I got my free drink, because otherwise that would have been a horrible review as well.

Failing at Sonic, I called and suggested some Hot-N-Readies. Somehow surprised at the selling out of corn dogs on 50 cent corn dog day, they agreed and I placed another app order and made my way across town. What happened next was my biggest score all day. I pulled into the drive-through with only one car ahead, and was greeted by a friendly employee that literally pulled my pizzas out of the oven and cut them while I waited. Perfect timing. Even better, since they weren’t all stressed from being completely slammed, the pizzas were expertly made and precisely sliced. Best looking and tasting pizzas from Little Caesars ever. And a free 2-liter because coupons. Score.

Finally at Summer’s, I loaded the kids up with food, then had Summer spank them all at Super Mario Party. I’m certain that real family bonds were destroyed. It was a good game night.

The skill games are just there to throw you off the scent that this game is really a STEAMING PILE OF HORSESH–!

Uncategorised

Cold and Slow

I hid out at the junior high all day today. I didn’t have a whole lot going on, and I wasn’t motivated to do too much old stuff either, so I just kept up with what new stuff came in. Dale called for Taco Tuesday, so I met him there along with Gary, Zach, and Brice. I ordered three tacos, but only got and was charged for two, so I made it work. It made me hungry all afternoon though, so I ended up snacking on whatever I could find.

I stopped at Oakland on the way home to do a couple quick things, and then came home to see how the betta was doing. She was just sitting at the bottom of the tank, so I decided to move her out into something of her own just in case it was the other fish bothering her. I got a heater and bubbler going in a hospital tank, but I’m going to leave her in a tiny bowl overnight just to see how she does.

When Summer finally got home, we played some Diablo III on our Switches until bedtime. We made some decent progress and gained access to quite a few more things, so I think we’re gonna have a good time.

1000 corn dogs!

Uncategorised

S’More Scool

I spent some time in the graveyard this morning helping Ben sort through the things we removed from the field house. When I left there, Oakland was having a s’mores cookout, so I managed to mingle around there for the rest of the morning. Surprisingly it didn’t seem to be very popular, and I guess some people were too busy with other things, but I just can’t imagine not taking the time to toast a marshmallow.

My Soylent kept me going through lunch, so I just went straight to the junior high to work through the afternoon. I still didn’t get a whole lot done because what I did do was relatively time consuming. I stayed just a little bit late before heading home to set up the other Switch and clean up after the cats. Wendy’s still had any size fries for a buck, and I still had a coupon code for a $1.99 Dave’s Single, so it was too hard to resist my first solid meal of the day.

When I got home, my betta was still hiding, so I did a bunch of water quality tests between both tanks and ended up doing a water change with the hopes that it would help enough that I won’t have to move her in such a rush. I still have some tadpoles that don’t seem to have any intention of becoming frogs. There is one frog in there now, but he has a retarded leg. I don’t really know what to do with him other than maybe feed him to Autumn’s turtle. There’s no way he’d last very long with that deformity, and to put him in the cold would be near-instant death.

Once the house was in order, I headed to Summer’s house, and we all played a little bit of Super Mario Party. The party mode was going to take too long, so we backed out of that and played some mini games before the girls headed to bed. Then Summer and I played Diablo III until bedtime. I’m not really sure how we both managed to play together since I only redeemed one copy of the game code, but I guess it doesn’t really matter for now.

That almost seemed like genuine excitement!

Uncategorised

Switch Things Up

I got in to work a couple minutes late this morning after traffic was backed up a quarter mile up Fairway. I have no idea what was going on, but we actually cleared through the intersection relatively quickly. As I suspected, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of conversation about work going on. When we finally did split up, I volunteered to help Zach and Amanda hang a TV for the resource officers at the high school.

I ended up hurting my leg just barely above my right ankle when I tripped over a rolling chair. Zach caught me and kept me from face planting, and luckily the damage didn’t seem to be on my ankle itself, but it definitely sat me down for a little bit. We finally got the TV hung though, and then went to the field house to help Ben, Allen, and Brice remove a bunch of old equipment before they renovate the place.

Gary, Heather, and I went to a new Latino restaurant called Zona K-Tracha that was super good. Gary had most of a 14-inch burrito that looked amazing. My fajitas were great, and it was probably the first time I’ve eaten at a place that had a noticeably different flavor of seasoning in their meat. I was a little disappointed by the quantity of vegetables in my fajitas, but the flip side was that I had a lot of meat instead. The restaurant had more of a polish than most of the others in town, which made it that much stranger to see so many mistakes or inconsistencies in the nicely made menus. It just made me want to fix it all for them.

After lunch, I went to the junior high to take care of a few things. Summer was out at a meeting all day and didn’t get back until around the time I finished working. When she did finally show up, she took Autumn and I took Eaddie home with me for a couple hours. My Blue Yeti shock mount and my Switch screen protectors came in, so I spent my time setting those up while Eaddie watched her last episode of Arrow.

Eventually we loaded everything up and headed to Summer’s for dinner. She made some chicken breasts encrusted with French onions, along with a mixture of some vegetables and some mashed potatoes. I think Eaddie ate more than all of us, but she just couldn’t behave at the table and kept aggravating everyone. After we ate, Summer frustrated herself even further trying to peel some hard boiled eggs, and I had to make her take a break for a bit.

I tried downloading some games to the Switch, and got a few things going that we could do, but Autumn was so tired that she went to bed early, and Eaddie eventually got dishes done, then played computer games until bedtime. Summer and I finally got the eggs peeled and deviled, and it was off to bed with her. The storm riled her up for a little while, but for the most part it was over pretty quickly.

Of course it’s 70 degrees outside with a thunderstorm and tornado warning. Why wouldn’t it be, on the first day of December?

Uncategorised

Cleanup for Company

I got up this morning and continued working on chores all day. By the time I got to a good stopping place, I was late getting to Summer’s. Autumn had her boyfriend, Adrian over for dinner, and I don’t think I’d ever seen her room, the bathroom, or the rest of the visible house so spotless before. Summer had me sit in on her hand of Uno so she could start dinner.

The kids all gave up, since they were barely paying attention to the game anyway. Then we had a chicken alfredo with weird vegetable pasta. It wasn’t bad I guess, if we’re making healthier choices. Autumn had to go to her grandmother’s house for the evening so she could help with something the next day, so Summer took her and Adrian to drop them off, and I took Eaddie to my house.

Eaddie started to feel a little sick again, so I made her some Swiss Miss and let her watch Arrow while I started up some more laundry. When Summer got here, she started playing Torchlight II on her laptop until I got to a point with my laundry that I could watch some TV, and we put on The Office. Eaddie passed out eventually to some Nyquil, and we called it a night.

But I don’t want to turn the alarm on again!

Uncategorised

Home Sweep Home

Summer and I got up and played some more Torchlight II this morning. I put on The Christmas Chronicles for the girls while they munched on whatever they could find for breakfast. Eaddie still wasn’t feeling the best, but she pretty well kicked it by the end of the day. Evidently she had a rough night though, and I had to get my carpet/upholstery cleaner for her bed.

While I was at home, I started up some laundry, cleaned up after the cats, and did some work on the aquariums. I didn’t get to visit PetSmart like I wanted, but I guess it was just as well. I don’t have the time or space to put much more effort into my tanks anyway. I got to a stopping point and headed back to Summer’s with the cleaner, then went to my parents’ house with Julie for some leftovers.

After dinner, I headed back home and did some more laundry and picking up. There’s still so much more to do. I also got a reminder that I have to call Sunday night to find out what day I have to go to Little Rock for what I’m assuming is jury duty selection. I’m tired of coming back home to so much anxiety.

At least I was successful in my controlled laundry shrinking experiment.