That is all that is left of 2012 for me. Other parts of the world (in fact a reasonable majority of it) are already in 2013. The weird thing is once I wake up in 2013 tomorrow some people I know will already be on January 2nd. Where does the time go these days? Not that I mind, it helps things arrive quicker but when I think that I'm half way through my life it is kind of what???!!!? inducing. I want much more time with my wife than I've had and have to do my best to make that happen.
So to anyone out there reading this have a good new year. I intend to do so with the woman I love and wake up in the new year loving her even more.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Spending money
I find spending money both very easy and very hard. Easy in that if I see something I or my wife want I buy it. Hard in that there is quite often nothing I want to spend money on. Take my amazon gift voucher I have, it has been almost a week and still nothing I can find to spend it on. I don't want to spend it on any old crap but finding something I really want isn't just happening. I suppose it isn't a bad position to be in, not wanting that much more than what I have already other than the obvious.
I've gotten to the point in my life where I am very content. Sure it would help if we lived somewhere else quieter and I didn't have to work so much. But considering everything else about my life with my wife I could do this for decades more hopefully. Life hasn't been that terrible for me overall compared to what it could have been. It has allowed me to look after my wife and our pets without having to worry if we can get by. I'm quite proud of that, sure it was a struggle at first but once I proved to people what I could do it got much better.
Now I just need to prove to a new set of people what I can do and I can make one final improvement. Until then though it doesn't hurt that life is comfortable. So much so that I don't need to spend money on all sorts of stuff.
I've gotten to the point in my life where I am very content. Sure it would help if we lived somewhere else quieter and I didn't have to work so much. But considering everything else about my life with my wife I could do this for decades more hopefully. Life hasn't been that terrible for me overall compared to what it could have been. It has allowed me to look after my wife and our pets without having to worry if we can get by. I'm quite proud of that, sure it was a struggle at first but once I proved to people what I could do it got much better.
Now I just need to prove to a new set of people what I can do and I can make one final improvement. Until then though it doesn't hurt that life is comfortable. So much so that I don't need to spend money on all sorts of stuff.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Best of year
It is that time of year for all the videogame stuff I follow where they all decide what the best and worst of various games throughout the past calendar year was. It is fun to watch the various outlets try to cover their bases and show that they are the one place for the definitive list. Personally I just agree with a couple of places in their opinions and generally agree with the lists they decide on. However other than the obvious choices each year the variation in personal opinion of games is very clear. You end up with games that are on one sites top ten list only to appear on another sites list of biggest disappointments. Indicators of the taste in games of people having a big influence on what people thought was best.
It is such an objective thing to put up saying "this is the best", there will always be people who vehemently disagree. Some games this year that everybody put high up on their list I simply don't like. Some I've played and wouldn't classify them as the best and others I believe are better games. The only real thing most people can agree on is the bad games, those that simply don't work or are just not fun. It doesn't help that a large proportion of the good games each year come out in the last few months of the year in the build up to Christmas in the hopes of getting lots of sales from that timing.
Not sure where my mind is going with this, just scribbling down something since I've been reading a few different articles on this subject. At least one site I read though is moving away from the stupid best of categories and on to one list of the best games and other more interesting awards that showcase the fun and important and stuff that should be known about during the last year in games.
In the end though it all leads to lots of good games for me to play and isn't that the most important thing? :|
It is such an objective thing to put up saying "this is the best", there will always be people who vehemently disagree. Some games this year that everybody put high up on their list I simply don't like. Some I've played and wouldn't classify them as the best and others I believe are better games. The only real thing most people can agree on is the bad games, those that simply don't work or are just not fun. It doesn't help that a large proportion of the good games each year come out in the last few months of the year in the build up to Christmas in the hopes of getting lots of sales from that timing.
Not sure where my mind is going with this, just scribbling down something since I've been reading a few different articles on this subject. At least one site I read though is moving away from the stupid best of categories and on to one list of the best games and other more interesting awards that showcase the fun and important and stuff that should be known about during the last year in games.
In the end though it all leads to lots of good games for me to play and isn't that the most important thing? :|
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Click click click
Click, click, click, click etc. We just went on a quick trip to the Zoo to see the red pandas again. My wife used her new camera and it is very good and fast, lots and lots of clicking. 642 pictures in total distilled down to only 508 when bad or close duplicates were removed. Not bad going for an hour and a half at the zoo. Of course while we were there we got more plushies for my wife to complete her collection. It is a required staple of zoo visits.
Now we just have to decide what to do for the rest of today. Games and films I suspect. That and try and find something to spend an amazon voucher I have on. Can't find anything immediately I want, my wife having gotten me everything already but I suspect I'll think of something at some point.
At some point we are going to have to get a bigger house, we have too much stuff. We have plushies coming out of our ears, piles of books, discs (DVD and blu ray), games, pictures to go on walls, craft stuff, Lego and all sorts of other odds and ends. We can't even get all our kitchen stuff in the kitchen. That and the 4 cats would appreciate more room although with a larger house we could get even more cats :| .
So to the sound of a snoring cat in his basket I'm going to find something to do. Need to keep myself busy and occupied during my relaxing times.
Now we just have to decide what to do for the rest of today. Games and films I suspect. That and try and find something to spend an amazon voucher I have on. Can't find anything immediately I want, my wife having gotten me everything already but I suspect I'll think of something at some point.
At some point we are going to have to get a bigger house, we have too much stuff. We have plushies coming out of our ears, piles of books, discs (DVD and blu ray), games, pictures to go on walls, craft stuff, Lego and all sorts of other odds and ends. We can't even get all our kitchen stuff in the kitchen. That and the 4 cats would appreciate more room although with a larger house we could get even more cats :| .
So to the sound of a snoring cat in his basket I'm going to find something to do. Need to keep myself busy and occupied during my relaxing times.
Eat, sleep, play and other fun things
Guess what I've been doing the last few days. So much food has been eaten, in fact Christmas dinner was repeated on boxing day since we had lots of left over food. As usual my wife made a great dinner to be had by us.
I did manage to surprise my wife with her main Christmas present as well, something I try to do if not always succeed. She has been trying it out already and getting some good pictures with it. The present is a camera by the way, a step up from the current one we use that can take even better pictures. The cats have already been selected to model for her.
My presents are great, a big pile of games, blu ray films, t-shirts and a pair of lovely warm socks. Oh and some gloves that you can still use touch screen phones with. Very handy when you are out and about in cold weather.
Still have 6 days off including today until I have to go back to work, almost half way through my time off. Seeing emails appear on my phone that I can just delete reminds me of all the poor saps that go to work at this time of year. Why bother people, get some well deserved rest and time off.
Checking my game playing progress and I've already got 25 trophies over the last couple of days. 2370 is the official count now, I expect by the time I'm done with my new games that will go over 2500 in total even if I don't get every single trophy in every game (bloody multi player trophies). The new TV has really shown its stuff with the TV programs, films and games we have watched on it. They look really good, glad we decided to upgrade to a good 1080p set from our good but old 720p one.
Anyway, more relaxing is required from today so until I next write something here farewell for now.
I did manage to surprise my wife with her main Christmas present as well, something I try to do if not always succeed. She has been trying it out already and getting some good pictures with it. The present is a camera by the way, a step up from the current one we use that can take even better pictures. The cats have already been selected to model for her.
My presents are great, a big pile of games, blu ray films, t-shirts and a pair of lovely warm socks. Oh and some gloves that you can still use touch screen phones with. Very handy when you are out and about in cold weather.
Still have 6 days off including today until I have to go back to work, almost half way through my time off. Seeing emails appear on my phone that I can just delete reminds me of all the poor saps that go to work at this time of year. Why bother people, get some well deserved rest and time off.
Checking my game playing progress and I've already got 25 trophies over the last couple of days. 2370 is the official count now, I expect by the time I'm done with my new games that will go over 2500 in total even if I don't get every single trophy in every game (bloody multi player trophies). The new TV has really shown its stuff with the TV programs, films and games we have watched on it. They look really good, glad we decided to upgrade to a good 1080p set from our good but old 720p one.
Anyway, more relaxing is required from today so until I next write something here farewell for now.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Santa is coming
Its official, he is on his way, I have the Lego to prove it.
Now lets take bets how early my wife and I wake up to open our loot. Happy Christmas all.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Freedom
Fully escaped from work yesterday afternoon. The day itself was one of those days that everybody has to be at work but nobody is really working, they are all ready for the time off coming up. Unfortunately it still didn't mean that I didn't get bothered about various things but I did manage to leave work for other people to do while I'm off. Hah.
Now starts the doing what my wife and I want to for the next 11 days or so. All the presents are wrapped, food is ready and mostly prepared and any external obligations taken care of. In theory we should have the time to ourselves and the cats. That is a great thought.
Got a quick trip out to the cinema again this morning, Jack Reacher this time and we should be able to get to the mall where the cinema is before it gets silly busy from last minute shoppers. Really hoping to avoid other people as much as possible this week, it was bad enough coming home Friday even leaving as early as I did. Lots of people heading off for Christmas and the roads around town were full as people dashed around doing stuff. Everyone had something to do and somewhere to be. It was the proverbial mad circus.
So expect future blog updates full of details of food eaten, films watched, games played and general laziness partaken in.
Now starts the doing what my wife and I want to for the next 11 days or so. All the presents are wrapped, food is ready and mostly prepared and any external obligations taken care of. In theory we should have the time to ourselves and the cats. That is a great thought.
Got a quick trip out to the cinema again this morning, Jack Reacher this time and we should be able to get to the mall where the cinema is before it gets silly busy from last minute shoppers. Really hoping to avoid other people as much as possible this week, it was bad enough coming home Friday even leaving as early as I did. Lots of people heading off for Christmas and the roads around town were full as people dashed around doing stuff. Everyone had something to do and somewhere to be. It was the proverbial mad circus.
So expect future blog updates full of details of food eaten, films watched, games played and general laziness partaken in.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Too easy
Sometimes it is too easy to argue with idiots. Take this whole NRA thing, just a second of thought can rip apart their points and show how ridiculous their position is. By sticking to what they want they have no rational argument for it so they have now gone of in to la la land in order to try and support it. Think that is all that is needed there for obvious reasons.
Final day of work for this year today including a pot luck lunch. Full turkey and stuff so I can eat lunch, veg out from food and then go home. So looking forward to turning off work for almost two weeks straight. Really need the time not working and with my wife. It leaves me feeling so much better.
So a couple more Lego picture, the first of a cool fireman that came out a bit blurry and the second of a unique wheel barrow I've not seen before.
Final day of work for this year today including a pot luck lunch. Full turkey and stuff so I can eat lunch, veg out from food and then go home. So looking forward to turning off work for almost two weeks straight. Really need the time not working and with my wife. It leaves me feeling so much better.
So a couple more Lego picture, the first of a cool fireman that came out a bit blurry and the second of a unique wheel barrow I've not seen before.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
It's simple really
One question I get asked about what I do for a job is why do things have so many bugs. I think a quick explanation of that could be assisted with this picture here about the C++ language.
This picture just covers the basic groups (18 of them) of concepts (189 in total) in use for the C++ language. All that just to understand how a programming language is used let alone the syntax, libraries and just general good practice requirements to write code that always works. Then try and make a program that has to deal with every single possibility that could ever happen and you have something that is far beyond the complexity of anything any person or group of people could possibly hope to understand. The best you can do is be vigourous in testing and design to try to cover all potential trouble areas. Even then you don't have enough time to do everything so you do the largest and/or the most likely troublesome areas you can think of.
It gets scary when you think about it. All this complexity doing things that could potentially cause all sorts of real world physical problems. With physical products you can see you can think of the possible problems, it is something you can hold and look at. With software unless you can visualise what it is doing in your head it is hard to imagine what can go wrong.
Not a very good explanation I know but it shows the fundamental problem with trying to make sure software always works. You simply can't conceive and test every possible real world situation, just as many as you can feasibly think of. Take my companies current software release, it has 398 known bugs (ranging from broken stuff to potential improvements), 631 potential code problems (from static code analysis) and about 1500 compiler warnings across roughly a million lines of code. Yet as a product it works incredibly well for the vast majority of potential applications.
Finally lets get back to important stuff, Lego. This time a little more silly, a Lego dog and fire hydrant.
It gets scary when you think about it. All this complexity doing things that could potentially cause all sorts of real world physical problems. With physical products you can see you can think of the possible problems, it is something you can hold and look at. With software unless you can visualise what it is doing in your head it is hard to imagine what can go wrong.
Not a very good explanation I know but it shows the fundamental problem with trying to make sure software always works. You simply can't conceive and test every possible real world situation, just as many as you can feasibly think of. Take my companies current software release, it has 398 known bugs (ranging from broken stuff to potential improvements), 631 potential code problems (from static code analysis) and about 1500 compiler warnings across roughly a million lines of code. Yet as a product it works incredibly well for the vast majority of potential applications.
Finally lets get back to important stuff, Lego. This time a little more silly, a Lego dog and fire hydrant.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Slog work week
This work week is becoming one of those you just have to slog through. Nobody really wants to be here due to the upcoming holiday and everybody is just doing busy work to make the days pass by. The annoying thing is that we have actual work to be getting on with but everybody is looking forward to the time off rather than concentrating on the work at hand. Just waiting for this week to be over with so the vast majority of us can take some time off. Its always weird when it gets like that. My wife also gets the jitters with barely being able to sleep coming up to Christmas itself. Wish us luck lasting out until next week.
With the colder weather upon us (for California, it isn't even getting to freezing overnight) the cats have taken from their usual sunbathing positions to finding the warmest softest places to curl up. It has led to some situations like this one with Fudge and Lucy sharing the same blanket, something unheard of earlier this year.
Then we have our littlest one Daisy using her small basket pretty much all the time. She doesn't even fill it and the boys can barely sit in it. Here is a close up shot of her curled up checking me out as I took this picture.
Then finally we have the Lego picture for today. This time a Lego snowball throwing contraption, complete with warning picture in the instructions not to fling the Lego bricks at your eyes.
With the colder weather upon us (for California, it isn't even getting to freezing overnight) the cats have taken from their usual sunbathing positions to finding the warmest softest places to curl up. It has led to some situations like this one with Fudge and Lucy sharing the same blanket, something unheard of earlier this year.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Can't think about it
I've not said much about what happened on Friday because thinking about it just makes me so angry and want to cry. You'll know what I'm talking about if you know anything about me but I can't even read about it. It is one of those things that I just have to block out, something I literally can't deal with. That's all I'm going to say on that subject.
Now for better things like The Hobbit. I really enjoyed it, it covers a lot of detail from the book with some embellishments to expand the details from the book, like bringing in things that really only are described in the other fiction covering middle earth. Still it was fun and a lot more light hearted than the Lord of the Rings films. A little bit silly and cheesy in some bits but a good film never the less. It also was pretty damn good looking with some scenes really showing how good the scenery in New Zealand can be. That is a place my wife and I really would like to visit one day. The only downer was that something gave me a stonking migraine headache by the time the film finished. It may have been something in the sour patch kids we were eating but whatever it was I just managed to get us home and then curled up asleep in bed for a couple of hours to recover. I really hate it when something gets me like that, you can't do anything and it wasted some time at home with my wife. Good news is that after this week though I'm off work for a week and a half.
Finally we have the Lego from yesterday. Another cool little minifig this time.
Now for better things like The Hobbit. I really enjoyed it, it covers a lot of detail from the book with some embellishments to expand the details from the book, like bringing in things that really only are described in the other fiction covering middle earth. Still it was fun and a lot more light hearted than the Lord of the Rings films. A little bit silly and cheesy in some bits but a good film never the less. It also was pretty damn good looking with some scenes really showing how good the scenery in New Zealand can be. That is a place my wife and I really would like to visit one day. The only downer was that something gave me a stonking migraine headache by the time the film finished. It may have been something in the sour patch kids we were eating but whatever it was I just managed to get us home and then curled up asleep in bed for a couple of hours to recover. I really hate it when something gets me like that, you can't do anything and it wasted some time at home with my wife. Good news is that after this week though I'm off work for a week and a half.
Finally we have the Lego from yesterday. Another cool little minifig this time.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
More Lego
Just a quick couple of pictures right now before we go out to see The Hobbit. First up a fire for the fireman to fight.
Then another wall of stuff, this time with fireman accessories.
Only an hour until we leave for the film now and an hour and a half until it starts..... Sorry dear wife for subjecting you to this :| .
Friday, December 14, 2012
Sleeeeep
Just spent the night in the spare bedroom with Lucy since we had to keep her away from food last night due to her teeth cleaning today. Good god that cat needs to learn to chill. It was a night of continuous playing. Being in a single room with just me allowed her to explore the whole room (noisily), pounce on any part of my body that moved (something made very awkward when protecting delicate parts since it caused another attack in that area), trying to climb behind the head board, sniffing at my face when I was trying to sleep, licking my eyelids, nipping at my cheeks, nipping at my hand when I stopped fussing her, using me as a leaning post as she spent 15 minutes cleaning herself. You get the idea. A little brain dead and frazzled today because of that.
Still dropping her off at the vets is never fun. She was meowling all the way and when she got there. She calmed down a little bit once she stopped moving and saw other people and the resident cat at the vets. I think she will be very keen to spend time with us once she gets home, very similarly to how Daisy was when she got back.
Another simple lego advent from yesterday, this time a work desk and chair.
So think I'll leave this one here. My brain can't deal with too much thinking right now.
Still dropping her off at the vets is never fun. She was meowling all the way and when she got there. She calmed down a little bit once she stopped moving and saw other people and the resident cat at the vets. I think she will be very keen to spend time with us once she gets home, very similarly to how Daisy was when she got back.
Another simple lego advent from yesterday, this time a work desk and chair.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Some answers
Seems I finally found out why work is stalling on doing stuff for moving me to the east coast, they laid off some people involved in older legacy products this week. Clearing out people so that the company as a whole is more efficient. It seems they can't do that and move other people around at the same time, it is quite startling how slow parts of this company move compared to what I'm used to. Still it does give some hope that something should happen soon.
On a totally unrelated note it is strange to hear GLaDOS in this trailer for Pacific Rim. It is the same voice actress using the same filter so it really throws me off hearing it as I expect it would anybody who has had some exposure to Portal. The film itself looks quite bizarre, some sort of western style Japanese monster movie with giant monsters and robots.
In other weird film news we watched Dead Snow last night since it was free on amazon prime streaming. Slightly strange Norwegian horror film. It was classified as comedy but other than a couple of silly things towards the end with fighting the Nazi zombies it really wasn't that funny. A bit strange and went the usual route of killing everybody off that modern horror seems to go for. Also extremely slow in the beginning and being Norwegian a bit awkward with watching the subtitles.
Finally on a busy work day lets do the Lego advent. This time a cool female minifig which came with an extra accessory so I have her holding two of it rather than just the one because that is cooler.
On a totally unrelated note it is strange to hear GLaDOS in this trailer for Pacific Rim. It is the same voice actress using the same filter so it really throws me off hearing it as I expect it would anybody who has had some exposure to Portal. The film itself looks quite bizarre, some sort of western style Japanese monster movie with giant monsters and robots.
In other weird film news we watched Dead Snow last night since it was free on amazon prime streaming. Slightly strange Norwegian horror film. It was classified as comedy but other than a couple of silly things towards the end with fighting the Nazi zombies it really wasn't that funny. A bit strange and went the usual route of killing everybody off that modern horror seems to go for. Also extremely slow in the beginning and being Norwegian a bit awkward with watching the subtitles.
Finally on a busy work day lets do the Lego advent. This time a cool female minifig which came with an extra accessory so I have her holding two of it rather than just the one because that is cooler.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Fudge
It's weird for today to make it a day that we have not just one but two cats that are now 13 years old. Happy birthday little Fudge.
Considering before I met my wife I was not a cat person I can't see being without them now. Especially after having a cat like Fudge who does nothing but love being with my wife and I. He wants nothing more than to be fussed and to spend time with you. He doesn't complain or meow noisily about things and purrs happily every time you stroke him. Here is to another 13 years Fudge.
Also to prove what a psychic I am and that I can predict the future here is the Lego car to go with those wheels from the day before.
Also to prove what a psychic I am and that I can predict the future here is the Lego car to go with those wheels from the day before.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
2 weeks
Only 2 weeks until Christmas. I'm ready for it, the time off, the time spent with my wife, the presents, the good food, all of it. I only have presents to send to my parents and all the shopping is done. Even that will be buying something online and sending it to them so not particularly difficult.
Christmas is fun since it is the time when I can give my wife even more stuff. I love giving her things and seeing her smile. It is really good since too many crappy things are happening with neighbours et al at the moment that don't make her smile. Letting her get away from that mentally and forget the bad things is something I strive for.
So on to other cool things, the latest Lego advent. This time it is a cool little collection of tyres and a trolley to move them around on. I've not seen that little trolley before, pretty neat. Hopefully a small car to put them on is upcoming.
Christmas is fun since it is the time when I can give my wife even more stuff. I love giving her things and seeing her smile. It is really good since too many crappy things are happening with neighbours et al at the moment that don't make her smile. Letting her get away from that mentally and forget the bad things is something I strive for.
So on to other cool things, the latest Lego advent. This time it is a cool little collection of tyres and a trolley to move them around on. I've not seen that little trolley before, pretty neat. Hopefully a small car to put them on is upcoming.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Parents
I spoke to my parents this weekend over Skype, like I do most weekends. In the end though it all ended up pretty much the same, talking about what we had been up to (not much), what we were going to do (Christmas) and most fascinating of all the weather (wet). Add on the fact that my father is a bit of a braggart and it is a bit of a chore sometimes. It is nice to see them although it reminds me how old I'm getting. Dunno, just weird knowing they had so much influence on me growing up and now it really is a case of 'meh'.
Still on to more important things, Lego. Three pictures today for the advent stuff. First a nice tiny fire engine that came with something that I have no idea what it is meant to be.
Then comes another little wall this time with skiing stuff.
Then finally another minifig who I have nick named SpannerMan.
Still on to more important things, Lego. Three pictures today for the advent stuff. First a nice tiny fire engine that came with something that I have no idea what it is meant to be.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
All wobbly
I feel quite wobbly and weak at the moment and have no idea why. No real other symptoms just that general extra bit of effort it takes to lift my arms up and move around. I had a boost of chocolate earlier but even with that I just have no energy right now. In fact I'm yawning as I type this, my body really doesn't want to do anything.
It doesn't help that there is a large cat outside the library door (where I am typing this) meowing because he wants his attention that involves following him to the biscuit bowl and staying there while he eats some and then takes a drink of water. Why and how he got in to this habit I don't know but it is becoming very annoying.
So I think this evening will involve as little effort as possible making dinner (which is mostly made anyway, chilli) and putting the rubbish bins out for tomorrow. Then sitting on the sofa trying no to move, I don't think my body can put up the energy and effort for anything else.
It doesn't help that there is a large cat outside the library door (where I am typing this) meowing because he wants his attention that involves following him to the biscuit bowl and staying there while he eats some and then takes a drink of water. Why and how he got in to this habit I don't know but it is becoming very annoying.
So I think this evening will involve as little effort as possible making dinner (which is mostly made anyway, chilli) and putting the rubbish bins out for tomorrow. Then sitting on the sofa trying no to move, I don't think my body can put up the energy and effort for anything else.
Game difficulty
I'm running through an old game on the hardest difficulty again, Killzone 3 this time, in the run up to not playing any new games until Christmas. It isn't too bad with one of two harder sections that take several tries to get right.
When I'm doing this kind of thing I go read the game message boards and see how other people found it. You always get the people who go "that was too easy, they need to make it harder". Most of the time they are simply bragging, games nowadays have a way of making them easy enough for most people otherwise the game maker severely limits themselves in the audience they can get to buy their game. However it is gratifying to know that the vast majority of comments about what parts were hard etc align with what I find when playing games on the hardest level. This latest one isn't too bad if you take your time (yay for regenerating health) with one or two sections that there simply isn't enough cover to hide behind. Fortunately for me there are no real annoying sections that have some form of artificial time limit. Being forced to play a game in a certain amount of time ruins the fun for me. I like game that let me play at my own pace.
What am I saying here? That I still have skills despite my age? Probably :) . Still it is amazing how many games nowadays where the normal difficulty really isn't that difficult so that the vast majority of people can finish the game on the standard difficulty (seriously, the stats companies get on games now that there are online stat tracking has shown fewer than 15% of people finish a game sometimes). It used to be there was no difficulty setting and the game was the game. You do get that a bit still (hello Demon's Souls and Dark Souls) but not often.
Now if you will excuse me I need to think about what game to do on the hardest setting next once I finish this one. I'm close, probably 70 to 80 percent done now.
When I'm doing this kind of thing I go read the game message boards and see how other people found it. You always get the people who go "that was too easy, they need to make it harder". Most of the time they are simply bragging, games nowadays have a way of making them easy enough for most people otherwise the game maker severely limits themselves in the audience they can get to buy their game. However it is gratifying to know that the vast majority of comments about what parts were hard etc align with what I find when playing games on the hardest level. This latest one isn't too bad if you take your time (yay for regenerating health) with one or two sections that there simply isn't enough cover to hide behind. Fortunately for me there are no real annoying sections that have some form of artificial time limit. Being forced to play a game in a certain amount of time ruins the fun for me. I like game that let me play at my own pace.
What am I saying here? That I still have skills despite my age? Probably :) . Still it is amazing how many games nowadays where the normal difficulty really isn't that difficult so that the vast majority of people can finish the game on the standard difficulty (seriously, the stats companies get on games now that there are online stat tracking has shown fewer than 15% of people finish a game sometimes). It used to be there was no difficulty setting and the game was the game. You do get that a bit still (hello Demon's Souls and Dark Souls) but not often.
Now if you will excuse me I need to think about what game to do on the hardest setting next once I finish this one. I'm close, probably 70 to 80 percent done now.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Fuck yeah red pandas
We finally got to see some red pandas today at a zoo nearby (ish). Last time we went there they were not on display and so we missed out. Not to mention the otters were also not out so the two main reasons for going there were a failure.
This time however we go to see 3 different red pandas for quite a while and lots and lots and lots of pictures. They were hard to capture from the front since they actually moved around a lot and went behind branches at just the wrong time. Still definitely worth the trip to see.
This time however we go to see 3 different red pandas for quite a while and lots and lots and lots of pictures. They were hard to capture from the front since they actually moved around a lot and went behind branches at just the wrong time. Still definitely worth the trip to see.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Repeating
I have a weird habit sometimes. I get in to this repeating pattern in my head of zeros and ones (no, I'm not a computer :| ). I start off going 0 then 1. Then I do the reverse 1 then 0. So now you have 0 1 1 0. Then I repeat that but swapping round the 0 and 1 so it now goes 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1. Then I take that entire sequence and repeat it backwards again so you get 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0. Then I take that sequence and repeat it flipped again ad infinitum. I've done this for years and have no idea why. I do it in my head, I do it tapping my fingers, all sorts of ways of just repeating this pattern. Might explain some of how I think but it is a little strange.
Now on to less strange things, this cool little Lego minfig in the advent yesterday. I like how they do kids and short people by giving them shorter legs with a normal size body.
Now on to less strange things, this cool little Lego minfig in the advent yesterday. I like how they do kids and short people by giving them shorter legs with a normal size body.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Almost done
For some reason I just want to get this week over with. Nothing really happening just want to be at home with my wife doing things I enjoy. Since the weekend is when that happens for me getting the week over with so I can be at home is mainly on my mind right now. My wife did do some things to cheer me up when I got home yesterday, freshly baked best cookies ever included. It helped a lot I think although it didn't help that the drive home was yucky due to drain and a major intersection (with 4 to 6 lanes in each direction) having the traffic lights stuck on flashing red. When you have someone who can cheer you up like that you know you are have the right person in your life.
Did another Lego yesterday obviously, this time a nice little wall with tools thing for the fireman minifig. I like the brick textured bricks, not had any of those before in the sets I have.
Did some more Skyrim playing last night after watching TV, still had far too much fun with it even though I know exactly what I'm doing in the game. That and it looks really good on the new TV. Looking forward to the best of the expansions actually coming to PS3 next year. There have been others but for some reason or another Bethesda had problems getting them to the PS3 so they haven't been released yet despite the xbox 360 one month exclusivity period being up.
I've been looking at other possible games to play as well. I know I've got some coming for Christmas but I'm feeling the need to play something new. Got that itch again, addiction itch maybe but screw it, it makes me happy. Not as happy as my wife does but nothing could ever approach that level. Oh well, I'm just glad I have my wife in my life and someone else didn't get to be with her.
Did another Lego yesterday obviously, this time a nice little wall with tools thing for the fireman minifig. I like the brick textured bricks, not had any of those before in the sets I have.
I've been looking at other possible games to play as well. I know I've got some coming for Christmas but I'm feeling the need to play something new. Got that itch again, addiction itch maybe but screw it, it makes me happy. Not as happy as my wife does but nothing could ever approach that level. Oh well, I'm just glad I have my wife in my life and someone else didn't get to be with her.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Fed up for some reason
No idea why but feeling kind of fed up today. Not sure with or how but I am. Got the grump as it were. Too much niggly shit going on with all the other stuff I'm trying to sort out is leaving me like this maybe.
Bah humbug would be the appropriate saying for this time of year.
Got another Lego advent yesterday, a set of stairs and a star to go with the tree from the previous day.
One of those meh ones you get in these sets it seems.
I need to clear my head somehow, distract myself with something fun. Not an easy thing to do at work.
Bah humbug would be the appropriate saying for this time of year.
Got another Lego advent yesterday, a set of stairs and a star to go with the tree from the previous day.
I need to clear my head somehow, distract myself with something fun. Not an easy thing to do at work.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Lego and cats
Not a bad combination of things I think. First off lets go with a very festive little Lego piece from the advent calendar yesterday.
Then because she is an adorable little thing our tiny ginger ninja Daisy posing after capturing her "kill".
Then another story I saw the other day here about Lego. More about the company themselves than the product really but it shows why they are still around. There are certain companies that just get how to treat their customers. Treat them like human beings, help them out when they need it and go beyond just what should be done to what can be done and you end up with a much better chance of a customer becoming a repeat customer in the long term. It is the reason my wife and I use amazon so much but try to avoid walmart. The world needs more people like the ones that work at Lego than the chavs that sulk around at walmart.
Then another story I saw the other day here about Lego. More about the company themselves than the product really but it shows why they are still around. There are certain companies that just get how to treat their customers. Treat them like human beings, help them out when they need it and go beyond just what should be done to what can be done and you end up with a much better chance of a customer becoming a repeat customer in the long term. It is the reason my wife and I use amazon so much but try to avoid walmart. The world needs more people like the ones that work at Lego than the chavs that sulk around at walmart.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Skyrim again
Played a little bit of Skyrim last night. My wife and I had finished watching a fair bit of Poirot and didn't want to go on to the next series due to time constraints (the episodes were long 1hr45mins ones). Because of that I decided to play some Skyrim for a bit before we went to bed to read and fall asleep.
Seeing that game on the new TV made it look really good. I know the PS3/360 versions don't match up to what a PC can put out nowadays but just playing through little bits of it again reminded me why I spent an incredible amount of time playing that game. Just doing the odds and ends that I was last night I fell in to that groove of running around the world killing things and looting treasure. I really have no idea why I enjoy it so much wandering around in a world like that interacting (well mainly killing) with the NPCs/monsters. It is just a damn shame it takes them so long to put out those games, after Oblivion, Fallout 3 and now Skyrim over 6 years of time I wish they could put more of them out. I might get tired of them if they did too many I suppose and they keep their uniqueness by coming out as infrequently as they do but they have that draw to me that I just can't get enough of them.
It's a bit like spending time with my wife. Being around her and knowing she is there. I can't get enough of that and am lucky enough to be the person who is always with her when I can be (damn you work). It isn't just the familiar surroundings of her being there but something else. I'm not sure how to describe it really. It just feels right like playing Skyrim feels right to me. Something just clicks in my mind and the world is how it should be for me. Bah, I suck at explaining why it feels that way but it just does.
Seeing that game on the new TV made it look really good. I know the PS3/360 versions don't match up to what a PC can put out nowadays but just playing through little bits of it again reminded me why I spent an incredible amount of time playing that game. Just doing the odds and ends that I was last night I fell in to that groove of running around the world killing things and looting treasure. I really have no idea why I enjoy it so much wandering around in a world like that interacting (well mainly killing) with the NPCs/monsters. It is just a damn shame it takes them so long to put out those games, after Oblivion, Fallout 3 and now Skyrim over 6 years of time I wish they could put more of them out. I might get tired of them if they did too many I suppose and they keep their uniqueness by coming out as infrequently as they do but they have that draw to me that I just can't get enough of them.
It's a bit like spending time with my wife. Being around her and knowing she is there. I can't get enough of that and am lucky enough to be the person who is always with her when I can be (damn you work). It isn't just the familiar surroundings of her being there but something else. I'm not sure how to describe it really. It just feels right like playing Skyrim feels right to me. Something just clicks in my mind and the world is how it should be for me. Bah, I suck at explaining why it feels that way but it just does.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Did it again
Managed to make a mess of cooking something again it seems. Still more evidence of my naffness of cooking. I suspect my wife will be able to save it but the roast potatoes with dinner tonight may not be up to her usual standard due to my contribution to cooking them.
I'm not sure why I try it seems I always mess something up with it. I want to help, be of some use so my wife doesn't have to do everything but seem to screw it up somehow which then annoys my wife. She does manage to tolerate my ineptitude remarkably well though. Part of why we've stayed together and married for so long I suspect.
Still the main part of roast pork will definitely be good and yummy so looking forward to that coming up in just a few minutes time.
I'm not sure why I try it seems I always mess something up with it. I want to help, be of some use so my wife doesn't have to do everything but seem to screw it up somehow which then annoys my wife. She does manage to tolerate my ineptitude remarkably well though. Part of why we've stayed together and married for so long I suspect.
Still the main part of roast pork will definitely be good and yummy so looking forward to that coming up in just a few minutes time.
Lego advent day 2
Another day of advent today obviously. This time a little Lego chainsaw and log of wood. Nice how these little bits of Lego manage to convey what they are with so few pieces.
Did the breakfast making this morning as I try to do on the weekends so my wife doesn't have to do all the cooking. She pretty much cooks every dinner during the week so I try to give her a bit of a break at the weekend. My skills are not up to much though so sometimes I cock it up.
Today for instance I made her hot chocolate and toasted raisin bread. Shouldn't be able to mess that up too much you would think. Well thanks to my wonderful microwave skills I managed to make the hot chocolate too hot and she burned her mouth taking a sip of it. I have no idea how I did it, it was the usual thing I do for the usual amount of time. The only possible reason would be I didn't get quite enough liquid in the bowl and so it overheated. The fact is though I didn't see it at all, it just looked like a normal bowl of hot chocolate to me.
I wonder why I don't see these things. It looked fine to me and I just did what I always did and something messed up. I really have no actual skill when it comes to cooking, I follow the steps I expect and if something doesn't do what I think it should I'm usually done for. Oh well, I'm just glad I have my wife around to feed me :| .
Today for instance I made her hot chocolate and toasted raisin bread. Shouldn't be able to mess that up too much you would think. Well thanks to my wonderful microwave skills I managed to make the hot chocolate too hot and she burned her mouth taking a sip of it. I have no idea how I did it, it was the usual thing I do for the usual amount of time. The only possible reason would be I didn't get quite enough liquid in the bowl and so it overheated. The fact is though I didn't see it at all, it just looked like a normal bowl of hot chocolate to me.
I wonder why I don't see these things. It looked fine to me and I just did what I always did and something messed up. I really have no actual skill when it comes to cooking, I follow the steps I expect and if something doesn't do what I think it should I'm usually done for. Oh well, I'm just glad I have my wife around to feed me :| .
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Lego advent
It is that time of year again and I've started a new Lego advent calendar. This time rather than going for the star wars one I went for the Lego city one. Lots of little minifigs and stuff to build in this one and to start with there is a nice little Lego fireman.
Not a bad start, having yet another unique minifig for the collections is always cool. Mind you there are so many combinations of them that you can never get them all, just the interesting or rarer ones when they come out.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Really wet
For once it is really properly raining in California today. As in you can't go flat out on the road windscreen wipers going at full speed. Of course this meant accidents galore as people tried to do 80 and spun out. Idiots. Add to that the fun that one road had flooded across 3 of the 4 lanes on the way to work (thank god I have a high riding car, I got through it with no problem unlike the steaming small cars beside me) and it was an interesting journey. Looking at the traffic stuff now and it is lit up, quite festively, like a Christmas tree. We even have mud slides it seems. Also why do I keep typing flodded when I mean to type flooded.
So, on to nicer things. Like the dinner out my wife and I had last night. At our usual place where we are now close to getting a free meal after eating there enough times. Well $25 off a meal but that is enough for us to eat free considering the reasonable amount we eat between the two of us. Getting out every so often is good for us, it gets us out of the house and gives us time to be together, just the two of us. Even at home there are 4 cats so at one time or another at least one of them is with us. Not to mention going out means we don't have to cook or clean up :) . As an added bonus there is now left over pizza to eat.
Finally I am in full swing of Christmas shopping. Gifts for me wife have been bought and should be here soon. I plan to have everything here very soon so that all the last minute crap that goes on and the busy times at shops are something I can avoid totally.
So, on to nicer things. Like the dinner out my wife and I had last night. At our usual place where we are now close to getting a free meal after eating there enough times. Well $25 off a meal but that is enough for us to eat free considering the reasonable amount we eat between the two of us. Getting out every so often is good for us, it gets us out of the house and gives us time to be together, just the two of us. Even at home there are 4 cats so at one time or another at least one of them is with us. Not to mention going out means we don't have to cook or clean up :) . As an added bonus there is now left over pizza to eat.
Finally I am in full swing of Christmas shopping. Gifts for me wife have been bought and should be here soon. I plan to have everything here very soon so that all the last minute crap that goes on and the busy times at shops are something I can avoid totally.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
New TV
Well the new TV turned up and was set up with no problems yesterday. It is a little weird, it is a larger screen but since the bulk of the TV is less it feels smaller. The screen is much better than the old one though and things really show their true colour and resolution well. Now we just need to get used to the higher refresh rate and motion smoothing. It makes things look a little too realistic sometimes but maybe we can fiddle with it and get the advanced settings down right. With it as it is though it should last us just as long if not longer than the last TV we had which actually we used for longer than any other TV we've ever had. Seems strange that we used it for 7 years.
As an aside though, playing through the first chapter of Heretic more yesterday it was very obvious how games have improved graphical quality wise over the years. Even on a 15 inch laptop screen the resolution is so relatively low you can see every single pixel in the game. It can be a little jarring but the game plays wonderfully all these years later. Not to mention it loads up in less than a second since there is so little to actually load up. It makes it so much easier to use compared to when I first played it in the last millennium (another scary thought).
Now I just need to play some of my old games on the new TV and see how they look. Especially if I can find the few that actually run in 1080p as opposed to 720p that most games drop down to in order to keep the frame rate up. I wonder though how standard definition TV is going to look on it, hopefully some of the newer signal processing technologies in the TV can make up for the severe lack in quality of an SD signal. That and the amazon prime streaming my wife and I use to watch some things.
I was about to end this blog post like I do a lot of mine, some form of "anyway ...." but for now I think I'll just end it here and go look outside to see what the weather is doing. Meant to be lots of rain around here for the next few days although I did get to work before it really picked up this morning. I want to see how wet the drive home is going to be today so that I can prepare for the other California drivers on the road that seriously can't deal with water on the road.
As an aside though, playing through the first chapter of Heretic more yesterday it was very obvious how games have improved graphical quality wise over the years. Even on a 15 inch laptop screen the resolution is so relatively low you can see every single pixel in the game. It can be a little jarring but the game plays wonderfully all these years later. Not to mention it loads up in less than a second since there is so little to actually load up. It makes it so much easier to use compared to when I first played it in the last millennium (another scary thought).
Now I just need to play some of my old games on the new TV and see how they look. Especially if I can find the few that actually run in 1080p as opposed to 720p that most games drop down to in order to keep the frame rate up. I wonder though how standard definition TV is going to look on it, hopefully some of the newer signal processing technologies in the TV can make up for the severe lack in quality of an SD signal. That and the amazon prime streaming my wife and I use to watch some things.
I was about to end this blog post like I do a lot of mine, some form of "anyway ...." but for now I think I'll just end it here and go look outside to see what the weather is doing. Meant to be lots of rain around here for the next few days although I did get to work before it really picked up this morning. I want to see how wet the drive home is going to be today so that I can prepare for the other California drivers on the road that seriously can't deal with water on the road.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
All the p's
Our new TV should be turning up soon and we finally will have a main TV that is capable of displaying all the p's currently available. All 1080 of them. We have other displays, one in the bedroom, one in the caravan, one laptop and 2 desktop computers that can do the same but none of them are quite as large as this new one. The old 720p TV that has served us well for the last 7 years is being retired until it can be used in the new house for something else.
It is quite startling going from standard definition programs to HD ones. Even going to a 720p display the difference is quite profound, not just due to the resolution but also due to the better colour representation in HD signals than SD ones. I think going to 1080p won't be quite as much of a jump but it will be interesting to see if we can see the difference.
So we will now have all the p's as I said. Now they just need to move on to 2k, 4k and 8k displays (yeah they've already defined the specifications for them and have displays available for extortionate prices) to arrive at some point in the next decade before we can all move on again. Although why would you since we are getting to the point where you can't see the extra resolution.
It is quite startling going from standard definition programs to HD ones. Even going to a 720p display the difference is quite profound, not just due to the resolution but also due to the better colour representation in HD signals than SD ones. I think going to 1080p won't be quite as much of a jump but it will be interesting to see if we can see the difference.
So we will now have all the p's as I said. Now they just need to move on to 2k, 4k and 8k displays (yeah they've already defined the specifications for them and have displays available for extortionate prices) to arrive at some point in the next decade before we can all move on again. Although why would you since we are getting to the point where you can't see the extra resolution.
Our big boy
Just thought I would share this picture I took this morning that gives some idea of how big our oldest and biggest cat Boots is. This is him sitting on my wife this morning.
My wife is basically completely smothered by him, his body just about covers the entirety of my wife's torso. I don't think people realise how big cats can be without being fat until they see him. Admittedly he is one of the largest breeds but even then he is not as large as some ragdolls can get. His father weighed a good 6 lbs heavier than him. The contrast between him at 18 lbs and Daisy at barely 8 lbs is quite large (although I don't believe Daisy is 8 lbs, she is too skinny and small to be that much).
Monday, November 26, 2012
Being hassled
There is something about actually physically being in the office that makes people seem to want to talk to me more than when I'm working from home. I'm not always talking about coming up to me in my cubicle but even over IM as well. I can spend an entire day working from home, get a few things done and have nobody else talk to me about anything. Half a day in the office though and all sorts of people want to talk to me about various things, more than a fair share of them pretty inane.
It is amazing how much better it can be working from home. Not only do people rarely hassle me but most importantly I get to physically be with my wife all day. I may annoy her a bit but I know she prefers it as well. I don't have to commute, get a little bit more of a lay in in bed and can wear whatever I feel like rather than having to get work dressed as it were. I think for professions like mine more and more companies need to realise physical location doesn't mean much. The team of people I work with are split across three different locations in the US and we also interact with people in other countries. Despite this we are the most productive part of the company, achieving more with less than anybody else. It is frustrating to say the least.
So to all my work colleagues out there wanting to hassle me, don't :P . I like my peace and quiet and getting on with what I have to do. Oh and don't complain when I hassle you, I always have a very good reason for it :) .
It is amazing how much better it can be working from home. Not only do people rarely hassle me but most importantly I get to physically be with my wife all day. I may annoy her a bit but I know she prefers it as well. I don't have to commute, get a little bit more of a lay in in bed and can wear whatever I feel like rather than having to get work dressed as it were. I think for professions like mine more and more companies need to realise physical location doesn't mean much. The team of people I work with are split across three different locations in the US and we also interact with people in other countries. Despite this we are the most productive part of the company, achieving more with less than anybody else. It is frustrating to say the least.
So to all my work colleagues out there wanting to hassle me, don't :P . I like my peace and quiet and getting on with what I have to do. Oh and don't complain when I hassle you, I always have a very good reason for it :) .
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Annoying habits
Apparently I have quite a few annoying habits. I tend to fiddle with something at all times, more often than not making noise of some kind of another. This doesn't bother me since it somehow keeps me occupied fiddling with whatever I am but my wife obviously gets distracted by this repetitive noise I make.
Take Lucy our cat as another example. This morning she jumped up on to my lap in order to get a fuss. While she was sitting there I tried to use my computer and put my arms around her. Since she still wanted fuss she decided to nip at my arm until I started fussing her again. All the while she was purring her head off but was determined to get her own way since she wanted fussing.
Boots has an annoying habit of demanding an audience when he wants to go eat. He knows where his biscuits are and can go and eat them at any time. However at some times he will walk up to my wife and I and meow at us until we follow him. He will then proceed to eat some biscuits, take a drink and go lay down somewhere. We are then safe to go back to whatever we were doing but if we don't wait for him to at least take a drink after eating then he will come back to us and meow at us until we follow him again.
It is strange the habits people (and cats) pick up that can so annoy other people. It is just a matter of trying to break those habits that is hard so you don't end up annoying the person you are with so much.
Take Lucy our cat as another example. This morning she jumped up on to my lap in order to get a fuss. While she was sitting there I tried to use my computer and put my arms around her. Since she still wanted fuss she decided to nip at my arm until I started fussing her again. All the while she was purring her head off but was determined to get her own way since she wanted fussing.
Boots has an annoying habit of demanding an audience when he wants to go eat. He knows where his biscuits are and can go and eat them at any time. However at some times he will walk up to my wife and I and meow at us until we follow him. He will then proceed to eat some biscuits, take a drink and go lay down somewhere. We are then safe to go back to whatever we were doing but if we don't wait for him to at least take a drink after eating then he will come back to us and meow at us until we follow him again.
It is strange the habits people (and cats) pick up that can so annoy other people. It is just a matter of trying to break those habits that is hard so you don't end up annoying the person you are with so much.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Pain
My wife doesn't really feel pain like most people. It has been scientifically proven, part of having red hair leads to pain receptors literally working differently. Because of this she really doesn't feel pain in situations that most people would go ow in. Therefore you can understand when I hear her scream in pain I know she is in real pain. I've only known her to do it when something really hurts or she has done herself a real injury.
Yesterday was one of those days where I suddenly heard that out loud scream that didn't stop. It seems my wife had hurt her back somehow during the night and couldn't move properly or sit down. There was something causing nerves to scream bloody murder in her lower back.
When this happens my heart sinks and I stop whatever I'm doing there and then to rush to her to see if there is anything I can do. When I find there is nothing I can do other than let her get better, since pain relievers don't do much for my wife (that redhead thing again), I feel so helpless. Here is the woman I love in severe pain and I can't relieve it.
At least my wife knows when I go ow it isn't serious. Seriously, I go ow when she pokes me. Not sure what I would do if I got seriously injured since it really hasn't happened yet other than migraines I suppose and those go away.
Yesterday was one of those days where I suddenly heard that out loud scream that didn't stop. It seems my wife had hurt her back somehow during the night and couldn't move properly or sit down. There was something causing nerves to scream bloody murder in her lower back.
When this happens my heart sinks and I stop whatever I'm doing there and then to rush to her to see if there is anything I can do. When I find there is nothing I can do other than let her get better, since pain relievers don't do much for my wife (that redhead thing again), I feel so helpless. Here is the woman I love in severe pain and I can't relieve it.
At least my wife knows when I go ow it isn't serious. Seriously, I go ow when she pokes me. Not sure what I would do if I got seriously injured since it really hasn't happened yet other than migraines I suppose and those go away.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
"Old" games
There was a big bit of videogame news this morning where it was announced that Grand Theft Auto Vice City (arguably the best GTA game due to it's 80s setting) is going to be released on iOS and Android platforms in 2 weeks. It feels weird that a game that I specifically went to a shop on release day to get since I was so looking forward to it is now going to be a $5 handheld game that can run on phones. I'm not sure how you can play a game like that on phones but still it is quite a fun thing to do.
Then take the fact that even older games just got released on the PS3 online store last night. All the Doom and Doom 2 various levels and expansion packs on one 100Meg download. I've played most of those (although never actually paid for them :| ) but it speaks to their influence and being still relevant this much later, almost 20 years later in fact. It's weird to see for one of the longer term older gamers like me. Still at least it means newer generations can enjoy the games.
I'm just glad I'm able to see quality when I do and hold on to it over the years. Take my wife for example, I found her quite a while ago now and am still with her since she is the best. Older things can be really good and get better with age. Not all that is new is the best.
Then take the fact that even older games just got released on the PS3 online store last night. All the Doom and Doom 2 various levels and expansion packs on one 100Meg download. I've played most of those (although never actually paid for them :| ) but it speaks to their influence and being still relevant this much later, almost 20 years later in fact. It's weird to see for one of the longer term older gamers like me. Still at least it means newer generations can enjoy the games.
I'm just glad I'm able to see quality when I do and hold on to it over the years. Take my wife for example, I found her quite a while ago now and am still with her since she is the best. Older things can be really good and get better with age. Not all that is new is the best.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Thinking logically
A lot of what I have to do at work is simply think logically. Take a known set of rules and requirements and make sure something does the right things at the right times in the right order. Pretty simple concept you would think. Given some of the questions I've had at work today I'm not sure that a lot of people can actually do that. I've had so much inane querying that given a minute of logical thought can easily be explained and whatever problem they are having can be resolved.
It is frustrating since it gives me less time for the actual cases where something is not happening in the correct logical order. Trying to find where the logic breaks down and then find a solution for it is far more interesting than explaining how something happens or how it should happen.
I'm just glad that I'm married to someone who can think logically. In fact she can see through things logically that I can't which is just one of the ways it is great being married to her. We can talk things through sensibly and come up with a logical plan of action and when we do it the end result is as we expected. It is frustrating that so many other people in my life are not like that.
It is frustrating since it gives me less time for the actual cases where something is not happening in the correct logical order. Trying to find where the logic breaks down and then find a solution for it is far more interesting than explaining how something happens or how it should happen.
I'm just glad that I'm married to someone who can think logically. In fact she can see through things logically that I can't which is just one of the ways it is great being married to her. We can talk things through sensibly and come up with a logical plan of action and when we do it the end result is as we expected. It is frustrating that so many other people in my life are not like that.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Saying I love you
Every morning when I get up I tell my wife I love her. She may be asleep still but I say it anyway. Then once I'm dressed and have all my stuff to go to work I crack open the bedroom door and tell here again that I love her and will see her later. I always want the last thing she hears from me before she sees me again being me telling her I love her. I do it if I'm going out to the shops for something, I do it via IM when I leave work to go home, it is something that is ingrained in me and automatic now.
It is a simple thing I think but it is a way I can make sure my wife knows I love her. That I want her to always know and feel it. It is important to me and to her. Three simple words that express a huge amount of emotion and feelings. It encompasses my reason for living and my world. Soppy words maybe but they are at the top of the list in importance.
So find someone to say those words to and mean it. Make sure they know and feel it. Let them know that there is someone out there who will always feel that way about them and be with them forever. It is amazing how something so simple can be so overwhelmingly important.
It is a simple thing I think but it is a way I can make sure my wife knows I love her. That I want her to always know and feel it. It is important to me and to her. Three simple words that express a huge amount of emotion and feelings. It encompasses my reason for living and my world. Soppy words maybe but they are at the top of the list in importance.
So find someone to say those words to and mean it. Make sure they know and feel it. Let them know that there is someone out there who will always feel that way about them and be with them forever. It is amazing how something so simple can be so overwhelmingly important.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Andy palace
Just did another of the regular rebuild of our littlest ones huge palace of a living quarters. For a member of the smallest species of hamster Andy has probably more habitat stuff than the vast majority of normal size hamsters. Despite that though she really seems to enjoy what she has, when she is awake she runs around the tunnels we build for her going to various places. Sure she uses her wheel for hours on end but she will also wander around doing whatever it is that hamsters do (eat, store food, pee and poop mostly it seems).
The one consistent thing seems to be her nest. More often than not it is in some little covered den area where she can drag a ton of bedding in with her and have just an Andy size hole to sleep in. Some times she has made a bed in one of the tunnels which has been strange, you can see her sleeping, with bedding either side of her, in a coloured transparent tunnel. Although when she is sleeping she basically becomes a ball of hamster almost perfectly round, a literal hamster ball herself.
Now if only someone could invent self cleaning hamster habitats then all the tedious washing and drying of so much hamster habitat could be so much easier. It seriously take an hour or two to get it all disassembled, washed, dried and reassembled. I'm just thankful we finally found a quiet wheel for her to run in, her first couple were bloody noisy once she got up to speed. She is fast for something so tiny so the amount of wobbling she can produce on her habitat is quite large with the velocity that the wheel reaches. Sleeping through that is hard.
The one consistent thing seems to be her nest. More often than not it is in some little covered den area where she can drag a ton of bedding in with her and have just an Andy size hole to sleep in. Some times she has made a bed in one of the tunnels which has been strange, you can see her sleeping, with bedding either side of her, in a coloured transparent tunnel. Although when she is sleeping she basically becomes a ball of hamster almost perfectly round, a literal hamster ball herself.
Now if only someone could invent self cleaning hamster habitats then all the tedious washing and drying of so much hamster habitat could be so much easier. It seriously take an hour or two to get it all disassembled, washed, dried and reassembled. I'm just thankful we finally found a quiet wheel for her to run in, her first couple were bloody noisy once she got up to speed. She is fast for something so tiny so the amount of wobbling she can produce on her habitat is quite large with the velocity that the wheel reaches. Sleeping through that is hard.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Yay
Just heard from the vets and our little girl is ok. No teeth extracted.
As for today it has been nice warm shower with my wife in the morning, some work, some shopping, lunch date out where we both ate something with relatively few calories (finding something with less than 1000 was hard) and then back home to do some more work and stuff.
I could get used to this kind of working from home. All that is left of today is for me to make sure the bit of work I did in the morning is working on my node, decide what to have for dinner (probably nice pate on good bread we bought). Considering later will be some TV watching and maybe game playing not a bad way to spend the day. All the while earning a bit of money as well.
I pity those people who have to slog to a physically exhausting job every day for minimum wage and have nobody to go home to. I think I've managed to sort out a pretty decent life overall. Especially the being with my wife bit.
As for today it has been nice warm shower with my wife in the morning, some work, some shopping, lunch date out where we both ate something with relatively few calories (finding something with less than 1000 was hard) and then back home to do some more work and stuff.
I could get used to this kind of working from home. All that is left of today is for me to make sure the bit of work I did in the morning is working on my node, decide what to have for dinner (probably nice pate on good bread we bought). Considering later will be some TV watching and maybe game playing not a bad way to spend the day. All the while earning a bit of money as well.
I pity those people who have to slog to a physically exhausting job every day for minimum wage and have nobody to go home to. I think I've managed to sort out a pretty decent life overall. Especially the being with my wife bit.
Little furry things
Slightly strange day today of little things. I had to take our smallest cat to the vets this morning to get her teeth seen to. This meant she couldn't have any food since last night which meant keeping her away from everyone else in a bedroom which meant my wife had to sleep in there with her to keep her company and not have her locked away on her own. She is so tiny and afraid to be away it is kind of sad. We got her from a rescue place so she had been passed around various places after probably being abandoned as a kitten. Having her away from all of us is kind of sad. Even when my wife and I go away she has the other 3 cats as company.
So it meant a very disturbed night of sleep for my wife. Daisy was all over the place in the bedroom and being a cat didn't really settle all night. Compare that to Boots at the moment. He is currently where he usually is, in one of the cat baskets literally snoring away while he sleeps. Just hearing him there is a great comfort. Fudge and Lucy are also dotted around the house fulfilling their lazy cat duties. Daisy though is down the road at the vets and we have no idea how she is doing. Weird that I only dropped her off less than 2 hours ago and her presence is really missed.
Lunch out today since I'm at home which will be nice. Spend some time out with my wife during the day and get a little bit of work done from home. Just looking forward to when we can pick Daisy up again and make sure she feels safe and happy back with us and the other cats.
So it meant a very disturbed night of sleep for my wife. Daisy was all over the place in the bedroom and being a cat didn't really settle all night. Compare that to Boots at the moment. He is currently where he usually is, in one of the cat baskets literally snoring away while he sleeps. Just hearing him there is a great comfort. Fudge and Lucy are also dotted around the house fulfilling their lazy cat duties. Daisy though is down the road at the vets and we have no idea how she is doing. Weird that I only dropped her off less than 2 hours ago and her presence is really missed.
Lunch out today since I'm at home which will be nice. Spend some time out with my wife during the day and get a little bit of work done from home. Just looking forward to when we can pick Daisy up again and make sure she feels safe and happy back with us and the other cats.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Wandering around
A new trailer for GTA5 came out today and it reminded me a lot of why I enjoy those games. The big sprawling open world games like GTA3/Vice City/San Andres, like Red Dead Redemption, also Oblivion and Skyrim, Fallout 3, I could go on with a large list. They are the kind of games where you can just go see what is around. Sure there are fixed missions with places to go but the act of just looking around and finding what is in this world that has been created is immensely fun.
Sure I play games that are linear and have fixed paths. They can be fun too but more often than not they don't last long enough. For real time spent give me the big world to poke around in. GTA4 fell down in that department. I didn't play the main game just the side stories released separately. They were apparently much more interesting than the main game story so it seems I got the good side out of that game. Its failures though were that it restricted you to where you could go too much until late in to the game and a lot of the gameplay mechanisms of traveling around where just not fun.
So here's hoping there are more games that get the formula right. With a game like that I can play it for months on end getting everything done and seeing all there is in the world. Far more game for the money than some other games for sure.
On that thought lets see how long before I give up with work and moving us to somewhere that my wife and I can poke around in and not bump in to other people. Not long now I think.
Sure I play games that are linear and have fixed paths. They can be fun too but more often than not they don't last long enough. For real time spent give me the big world to poke around in. GTA4 fell down in that department. I didn't play the main game just the side stories released separately. They were apparently much more interesting than the main game story so it seems I got the good side out of that game. Its failures though were that it restricted you to where you could go too much until late in to the game and a lot of the gameplay mechanisms of traveling around where just not fun.
So here's hoping there are more games that get the formula right. With a game like that I can play it for months on end getting everything done and seeing all there is in the world. Far more game for the money than some other games for sure.
On that thought lets see how long before I give up with work and moving us to somewhere that my wife and I can poke around in and not bump in to other people. Not long now I think.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Icky things
Manged to totally gross out my wife and make her shriek like a girl yesterday afternoon. It was totally accidental and just shows that sometimes things happen that you don't see coming. Getting home from work I brought in the rubbish bins as I do every Monday. The garden rubbish bin goes around the side of the house and getting there involves going through a small path with a bush to one side. The bush kind of sticks in to the path so you sometimes brush against it when going past it.
So after having done this, gone inside, put the shopping away and then went in to the bedroom where my wife was reading and saying hello it had been a good 5 to 10 minutes. At one point my wife then saw something on my shirt and tried to brush it off. It was then she realised it was icky and moving. Looking at it we noticed it to be a caterpillar and it was then that my wife shrieked. I managed to get it off of me, it being just behind my left shoulder, and put it outside. Since I had been sitting on the bed with my wife we then quickly checked the bed to make sure no more where there and satisfied there were none thought it was all over.
But no. A minute later I noticed yet another caterpillar walking up the front of my shirt. Another quick dash outside to remove it was required and I then went inside and removed my shirt to make sure no more of the little buggers were about. Satisfied I was all clear, including the trousers I had been wearing, a trip outside was required to see where these so and sos had come from. Looking at the bush I suspected they came from confirmed my suspicion. It was covered in them, I saw a dozen of them immediately all just sitting there not doing much. A little internet searching later showed them to be genista caterpillars that like to eat that particular type of bush so we will need to get some pesticide to deal with them.
Still it shows what random icky things you just come across when you are totally not expecting it. They even freaked me out a little since I was totally not aware two of them were on my shirt and god knows where they would have gone if not stopped. Thankfully we can deal with them even if the pest exterminate won't.
So after having done this, gone inside, put the shopping away and then went in to the bedroom where my wife was reading and saying hello it had been a good 5 to 10 minutes. At one point my wife then saw something on my shirt and tried to brush it off. It was then she realised it was icky and moving. Looking at it we noticed it to be a caterpillar and it was then that my wife shrieked. I managed to get it off of me, it being just behind my left shoulder, and put it outside. Since I had been sitting on the bed with my wife we then quickly checked the bed to make sure no more where there and satisfied there were none thought it was all over.
But no. A minute later I noticed yet another caterpillar walking up the front of my shirt. Another quick dash outside to remove it was required and I then went inside and removed my shirt to make sure no more of the little buggers were about. Satisfied I was all clear, including the trousers I had been wearing, a trip outside was required to see where these so and sos had come from. Looking at the bush I suspected they came from confirmed my suspicion. It was covered in them, I saw a dozen of them immediately all just sitting there not doing much. A little internet searching later showed them to be genista caterpillars that like to eat that particular type of bush so we will need to get some pesticide to deal with them.
Still it shows what random icky things you just come across when you are totally not expecting it. They even freaked me out a little since I was totally not aware two of them were on my shirt and god knows where they would have gone if not stopped. Thankfully we can deal with them even if the pest exterminate won't.
Monday, November 12, 2012
No more Midsomer
After watching untold hours of Midsomer Murders we finally reached the end of the free episodes we got with our amazon prime subscription. 10 series in all although there are 13 available. I can't remember when we first started watching but it had become a habit when we had nothing on the Tivo to watch. There were mostly enjoyable, a few iffy ones but overall nice to watch some British TV again compared to a lot of the drivel in the US.
I suppose it gave us a link back to our origin, even though the depiction of British country life is really no longer valid. The general style and attitude of the people as compared to how it is here. We do miss that some just not the chavs that inevitably come along with it in most of British society. I think if we can find somewhere reasonably out of the way in the US, without being in bumfuck nowhere, we can finally escape the chavs.
That is what it comes down to really, getting away from all the idiot people and through watching that TV program we had a bit of that. In our own world ignoring the world outside and just being together seeing what happened in this little bit of very high death count countryside.
Now the only problem is to find something else to fill the time like Midsomer did. We tried a short lived series of only 6 episodes yesterday and got through all of it. Something more substantial might have to be found.
I suppose it gave us a link back to our origin, even though the depiction of British country life is really no longer valid. The general style and attitude of the people as compared to how it is here. We do miss that some just not the chavs that inevitably come along with it in most of British society. I think if we can find somewhere reasonably out of the way in the US, without being in bumfuck nowhere, we can finally escape the chavs.
That is what it comes down to really, getting away from all the idiot people and through watching that TV program we had a bit of that. In our own world ignoring the world outside and just being together seeing what happened in this little bit of very high death count countryside.
Now the only problem is to find something else to fill the time like Midsomer did. We tried a short lived series of only 6 episodes yesterday and got through all of it. Something more substantial might have to be found.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Genius
I've just experienced the genius that is Llamatron again thanks to the genius of my wife. If you have never played that game you've never tried something that is truly nutty and fun and fast and frenetic and addictive and just downright silly. Mind you if you've played any other games from Jeff Minter you know exactly what I'm talking about but his take on Robotron is downright surreal sometimes. I literally died in 2 seconds some times it moves so fast.
Still my wife knew exactly what I needed to take me back to my childhood. She certainly listened to me playing that game an awful lot when she first met me. It was something I played over and over until I got good enough to finish it, once without even using a continue I believe. She really does know how to take me back and put a huge smile on my face.
Oh and a quick edit to update something I forgot. I'm now at 17 Platinum PS3 trophies :) .
Still my wife knew exactly what I needed to take me back to my childhood. She certainly listened to me playing that game an awful lot when she first met me. It was something I played over and over until I got good enough to finish it, once without even using a continue I believe. She really does know how to take me back and put a huge smile on my face.
Oh and a quick edit to update something I forgot. I'm now at 17 Platinum PS3 trophies :) .
Friday, November 9, 2012
Feel like being a kid
Filled out the health insurance selections for next year today. Another of those things where you really don't have too much choice. Just pick the option that makes sure that my wife and I don't have to worry about being sick. In the end it is just money being used for it. Still it is another of those things in life that is serious and needs dealing with properly. Just making sure it is all correct and stopping from worrying is worrying in of itself. A small bit of worry and decision for a longer term period of not having to worry.
It does make me want to just be a kid for a while though. No real responsibility and more time than you realise to do things you enjoy and not things you have to do simply because they won't get done any other way. That or lots of slaves to do your bidding I suppose. With me though the amount of time I enjoy just lazing around playing games and generally losing myself in what I'm doing is something I did a huge amount of as a kid. Now that I'm an adult, in body at least, all the problems and decisions that need to be made drag me down. I try to get them over and done with with the least hassle possible but some really drag on with no resolution for far too long. Usually it is someone else just not getting their end of the job done but sometimes it is my own indecision or reticence to do something difficult.
Those times are when I really wish I could act like a kid again. I never worried about what was coming up in the next week/month/year and just lived in the moment of what I could do there and then. I know with my relatively well off job and lifestyle I don't worry about the basics but making sure I can stay in that position can be worrying. I'm looking at how much longer I need to work before I can retire and get back to a life of leisure all the time.
It's just a shame so much of childhood is spent dealing with the other idiots you are forced to be with at school. Other than teaching me things I really didn't come out of school with much. Close to bugger all friends, very few actual good experiences and in the end knowledge that I have zero use for in my actual life. Can I get a dozen or so years back and use them more productively please?
It does make me want to just be a kid for a while though. No real responsibility and more time than you realise to do things you enjoy and not things you have to do simply because they won't get done any other way. That or lots of slaves to do your bidding I suppose. With me though the amount of time I enjoy just lazing around playing games and generally losing myself in what I'm doing is something I did a huge amount of as a kid. Now that I'm an adult, in body at least, all the problems and decisions that need to be made drag me down. I try to get them over and done with with the least hassle possible but some really drag on with no resolution for far too long. Usually it is someone else just not getting their end of the job done but sometimes it is my own indecision or reticence to do something difficult.
Those times are when I really wish I could act like a kid again. I never worried about what was coming up in the next week/month/year and just lived in the moment of what I could do there and then. I know with my relatively well off job and lifestyle I don't worry about the basics but making sure I can stay in that position can be worrying. I'm looking at how much longer I need to work before I can retire and get back to a life of leisure all the time.
It's just a shame so much of childhood is spent dealing with the other idiots you are forced to be with at school. Other than teaching me things I really didn't come out of school with much. Close to bugger all friends, very few actual good experiences and in the end knowledge that I have zero use for in my actual life. Can I get a dozen or so years back and use them more productively please?
Thursday, November 8, 2012
A lot of money
Saw an interesting link this morning showing how much debt the USA has. It also has a link to various other country debts as well but it shows some very large numbers. Even though the USA has a huge GDP, trillions of dollars worth, it still pays over 258 billion dollars on interest payments on its debt. Holy crap. That isn't even the largest single item in the budget either.
Even though the USA debt is quite large the debt of some other countries is astounding. Obviously troubled economies like Greece and Ireland have ratio of GDP to debt in the 150 to 250 percent range. To think that even if you took every bit of money the economy in your country produced in a year it would still not pay off your debt is scary. The only debt item I have that large is my mortgage. Even then it isn't something that goes up over time like most countries debts. Scary.
So, who wants to give me a few million dollars. When you look at the bigger picture its not that much really.
Even though the USA debt is quite large the debt of some other countries is astounding. Obviously troubled economies like Greece and Ireland have ratio of GDP to debt in the 150 to 250 percent range. To think that even if you took every bit of money the economy in your country produced in a year it would still not pay off your debt is scary. The only debt item I have that large is my mortgage. Even then it isn't something that goes up over time like most countries debts. Scary.
So, who wants to give me a few million dollars. When you look at the bigger picture its not that much really.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Glad thats over
To nobodies surprise (except maybe rich old white men) Obama got reelected last night. It also seems most of the country didn't go mad and was actually sensible in their voting. The rape idiots lost, Maine and Maryland legalised gay marriage, Minnesota voted against a gay marriage ban (take note idiot Californians) and the US Senate has its first lesbian member, its first disabled female member and first Asian American female member. It seems that women voters held a lot of sway this election, there are more of them overall, and the results speak to the downright hideousness of the republican position.
What strikes me as silly though is all the media who called this as a close election. The electoral college makes sure it is not close. Even if each state was won by a single vote it is possible to win all of the electoral college votes and win by a landslide. The final result now shows this to be the case, a sizable win even though the total number of votes for each candidate only just favours Obama. There really wasn't much doubt about the outcome as long as Obama won a few marginal states which he did handily.
In other important news I got my 16th platinum trophy on my PS3 last night. Seems strange to have that many given how hard some of them are to obtain. Oh and I also started reading another book last night. A sequel to a series of books I read when I was younger and that was written almost 20 years after the first 6 books. Interesting so far but we shall see how the author links it back to the original ones considering the "hero" died at the end of the 6th book.
What strikes me as silly though is all the media who called this as a close election. The electoral college makes sure it is not close. Even if each state was won by a single vote it is possible to win all of the electoral college votes and win by a landslide. The final result now shows this to be the case, a sizable win even though the total number of votes for each candidate only just favours Obama. There really wasn't much doubt about the outcome as long as Obama won a few marginal states which he did handily.
In other important news I got my 16th platinum trophy on my PS3 last night. Seems strange to have that many given how hard some of them are to obtain. Oh and I also started reading another book last night. A sequel to a series of books I read when I was younger and that was written almost 20 years after the first 6 books. Interesting so far but we shall see how the author links it back to the original ones considering the "hero" died at the end of the 6th book.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Finished a book
I actually finished reading a book last night, one that I started reading this year. When I was younger I read a lot of books, so much so that part of our family weekly routine was to go to the library on the weekend. Even through university I was reading a lot although by that time it was more buying cheap second hand books than the local library. At my age now though I would rather spend my time playing a game than reading. Seeing the story visualised in front of me rather than having to picture it all in my head helps me concentrate on the actual story more I think.
So me actually finishing a book is a big deal to me. My wife still reads a hell of a lot of books, not physical books anymore obviously, and her collection in our library shows her years long habit of being able to read through a book in a day or two. It is amazing to me the rate at which she can absorb words and retell all the pertinent details later. Me I just can tell you the rough story of what happened whereas my wife can give you details about the who/what/why/where etc. Switch that to a videogame though and I could probably tell you various excruciating details that very few people I know actually care about. Yay differences in people.
Still wherever you get your entertainment there is something about it that sticks in your mind. I can still recall details of games I played where the story was actually decent and I had fun playing the game. Other ones which weren't that fun I tend to not remember the details so much even if the story is halfway decent. Same thing goes for books, I could probably tell you more about the stories of some I enjoyed reading that others that supposedly had better story telling. If they are boring or poorly told then you just won't recall them. Being traumatised by a book is not a way to get you to remember what happened. It needs to be interesting and entertaining to you. There is a reason "pulp fiction" as it were is popular. It is fun to read and you more often than not actually remember the overall story arc. Bet you not many people can actually tell you what happens in War and Peace.
So, more random waffling about something that popped in to my head today after realising I actually read a book this year. And yes I did say year, quite a few years of the last decade I've not actually read a book. Played lots and lots of games though.
So me actually finishing a book is a big deal to me. My wife still reads a hell of a lot of books, not physical books anymore obviously, and her collection in our library shows her years long habit of being able to read through a book in a day or two. It is amazing to me the rate at which she can absorb words and retell all the pertinent details later. Me I just can tell you the rough story of what happened whereas my wife can give you details about the who/what/why/where etc. Switch that to a videogame though and I could probably tell you various excruciating details that very few people I know actually care about. Yay differences in people.
Still wherever you get your entertainment there is something about it that sticks in your mind. I can still recall details of games I played where the story was actually decent and I had fun playing the game. Other ones which weren't that fun I tend to not remember the details so much even if the story is halfway decent. Same thing goes for books, I could probably tell you more about the stories of some I enjoyed reading that others that supposedly had better story telling. If they are boring or poorly told then you just won't recall them. Being traumatised by a book is not a way to get you to remember what happened. It needs to be interesting and entertaining to you. There is a reason "pulp fiction" as it were is popular. It is fun to read and you more often than not actually remember the overall story arc. Bet you not many people can actually tell you what happens in War and Peace.
So, more random waffling about something that popped in to my head today after realising I actually read a book this year. And yes I did say year, quite a few years of the last decade I've not actually read a book. Played lots and lots of games though.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Don't know
Not sure what to write. I like putting something here most days if not always every day. Today though I'm not sure. I could talk about all the good food my wife and I had this weekend a lot of it being slightly fattening (cookies and creamy pasta). I could write about all the TV murder we are still watching or the game playing I got done in the evening. In the end though I'm not sure it is all that to write about and so sit here pondering what to express.
One thing on my mind though is this freaking election. I've already voted but it would be nice to get it over and done with. Then the media could stop pretending it is a close race when it isn't. It is only a close race if Romney can win over 85% of the close races. That isn't going to happen despite various attempts to fiddle the election by Republican state officials in various places (hello Florida and Ohio). It is especially telling when the rest of the world doesn't want Romney to win and would vote for Obama. That would tell you something you would think.
I'm going to go sulk about not getting any fucking news about moving, which had better happen soon, and chase up the few people who are meant to be doing something about it. I might not make it to 20 years at this company at this rate. Some things in life are more important.
One thing on my mind though is this freaking election. I've already voted but it would be nice to get it over and done with. Then the media could stop pretending it is a close race when it isn't. It is only a close race if Romney can win over 85% of the close races. That isn't going to happen despite various attempts to fiddle the election by Republican state officials in various places (hello Florida and Ohio). It is especially telling when the rest of the world doesn't want Romney to win and would vote for Obama. That would tell you something you would think.
I'm going to go sulk about not getting any fucking news about moving, which had better happen soon, and chase up the few people who are meant to be doing something about it. I might not make it to 20 years at this company at this rate. Some things in life are more important.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Nothing to see here
Just one of those days where nothing is really happening. Nothing much on my mind other than the usual stuff. Lunch yesterday was alright buffet style fajitas and I did get home a little earlier than usual which was nice. My wife and I went out for a date night meal and only shared an appetizer and one main course between us. We are so light weight when it comes to food sometimes, being older we really don't eat much.
It's good thinking about it how much my wife and I just enjoy being together out doing stuff. It feels right being with each other doing whatever we do. We know each other so well you never have to really ask WTF are you doing to the other person. Occasionally I may be really naff in expressing what I am saying but that is just me and my wife has learned to interpret what I say and/or take the mickey out of how I say things :-P .
Anyway I'm off to do boring stuff that it isn't even worth writing about on here. Maybe I'll post again if something actually interesting happens today.
It's good thinking about it how much my wife and I just enjoy being together out doing stuff. It feels right being with each other doing whatever we do. We know each other so well you never have to really ask WTF are you doing to the other person. Occasionally I may be really naff in expressing what I am saying but that is just me and my wife has learned to interpret what I say and/or take the mickey out of how I say things :-P .
Anyway I'm off to do boring stuff that it isn't even worth writing about on here. Maybe I'll post again if something actually interesting happens today.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Weird day
A slightly weird day today. Lots of traffic this morning due to rain and an accident not even half way to work so it turned my 50 minutes morning commute to an hour. Not that bothersome just had to be careful due to California drivers losing their brains once there is a little water on the road.
Now add to that the fact that my company is actually giving us a lunch and afternoon out at a local Dave and Busters to celebrate the successful latest release of the software for our product which hasn't happened for years and there are good and bad things about today. Not that I suspect I'll partake much in the celebration, the food their is way bad for you and the "games" there are kind of crappy.
A good thing though is that if I can get away from this celebration early enough I can get home early to my wife. More time at home with her is top of my list of ways to spend my time. Not much longer left at work before heading off to lunch so looking forward to getting that over with and going home.
In other weird news there seems to be a sudden rash of Nissan Leaf breeding here at work. After one guy got one last month two more have turned up this week. All in the same colour. So of course they all decide to park near to each other in their little collection so we have 3 identical electric cars out in the car park. Really weird and seems to be something to do with the rebates possible from the state and the federal government at the moment. Shame they don't have the range for me to use where we currently live since they seem fairly decent.
Now add to that the fact that my company is actually giving us a lunch and afternoon out at a local Dave and Busters to celebrate the successful latest release of the software for our product which hasn't happened for years and there are good and bad things about today. Not that I suspect I'll partake much in the celebration, the food their is way bad for you and the "games" there are kind of crappy.
A good thing though is that if I can get away from this celebration early enough I can get home early to my wife. More time at home with her is top of my list of ways to spend my time. Not much longer left at work before heading off to lunch so looking forward to getting that over with and going home.
In other weird news there seems to be a sudden rash of Nissan Leaf breeding here at work. After one guy got one last month two more have turned up this week. All in the same colour. So of course they all decide to park near to each other in their little collection so we have 3 identical electric cars out in the car park. Really weird and seems to be something to do with the rebates possible from the state and the federal government at the moment. Shame they don't have the range for me to use where we currently live since they seem fairly decent.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
A better song
Yet another song today since I'm just in that kind of mood, something from the younger days of my wife and I. This one that was popular when we were much younger. Lyrics for it are:-
Look into my eyes - you will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart, search your soul
And when you find me there you'll search no more
Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you
Look into your heart - you will find
There's nothin' there to hide
Take me as I am, take my life
I would give it all, I would sacrifice
Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for
I can't help it, there's nothin' I want more
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you
There's no love like your love
And no other could give more love
There's nowhere unless you're there
All the time, all the way, yeah
Look into your heart, baby...
Your can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
I can't help it there's nothin' I want more
Yeah, I would fight for you, I'd lie for you
Walk the wire for you, yeah, I'd die for you
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you
Look into my eyes - you will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart, search your soul
And when you find me there you'll search no more
Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you
Look into your heart - you will find
There's nothin' there to hide
Take me as I am, take my life
I would give it all, I would sacrifice
Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for
I can't help it, there's nothin' I want more
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you
There's no love like your love
And no other could give more love
There's nowhere unless you're there
All the time, all the way, yeah
Look into your heart, baby...
Your can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
I can't help it there's nothin' I want more
Yeah, I would fight for you, I'd lie for you
Walk the wire for you, yeah, I'd die for you
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Another song
Only one of the three podcasts I get on Friday released an episode last week so I've run out of podcasts again for the commute. Therefore I'm listening to music on my iPod again. Another song came up today that made me think about my wife. Queen again I'm afraid dear.
I was born to love you
With every single beat of my heart
Yes, I was born to take care of you
Every single day...
chorus:
I was born to love you
With every single beat of my heart
Yes, I was born to take care of you
Every single day of my life
You are the one for me
I am the man for you
You were made for me
You're my ecstasy
If I was given every opportunity
I'd kill for your love
So take a chance with me
Let me romance with you
I'm caught in a dream
And my dream's come true
It's so hard to believe
This is happening to me
An amazing feeling
Comin' through
chorus
I wanna love you
I love every little thing about you
I wanna love you, love you, love you
Born - to love you
Born - to love you
Yes I was born to love you
Born - to love you
Born - to love you
Every single day - of my life
I was born to love you
With every single beat of my heart
Yes, I was born to take care of you
Every single day...
chorus:
I was born to love you
With every single beat of my heart
Yes, I was born to take care of you
Every single day of my life
You are the one for me
I am the man for you
You were made for me
You're my ecstasy
If I was given every opportunity
I'd kill for your love
So take a chance with me
Let me romance with you
I'm caught in a dream
And my dream's come true
It's so hard to believe
This is happening to me
An amazing feeling
Comin' through
chorus
I wanna love you
I love every little thing about you
I wanna love you, love you, love you
Born - to love you
Born - to love you
Yes I was born to love you
Born - to love you
Born - to love you
Every single day - of my life
Monday, October 29, 2012
Enthusiasm
Just saw this and thought that this polar bear has way more enthusiasm in what he/she is doing than me.
Here we go again
Another day at work and already I'm feeling the urge to ditch it and go play games. This is especially true since it is coming up to the time of year when several good games get released close together. I'm tired of what I do and can't wait for a change to come. Sitting around here while other people get their arse in gear is exhausting mentally.
I think it is becoming a bit of an obsession with me. I just want to sit and play games and it is gnawing at me that I don't have time to do so. I played a little this weekend after my wife went to bed but not the whole day going by type of playing that I have done before.
Even though I love spending time with my wife I just get this itch and it is bugging the hell out of me.
So there we go it seems I'm just a neurotic game playing withdrawal layabout at the moment. Sigh.
I think it is becoming a bit of an obsession with me. I just want to sit and play games and it is gnawing at me that I don't have time to do so. I played a little this weekend after my wife went to bed but not the whole day going by type of playing that I have done before.
Even though I love spending time with my wife I just get this itch and it is bugging the hell out of me.
So there we go it seems I'm just a neurotic game playing withdrawal layabout at the moment. Sigh.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Waste of time
Sometimes I feel working is a waste of my time. Sure I get stuff done but it doesn't ever seem to achieve much for me other than allow me to earn money. I would much rather be playing a game or something fun. Today I've really got that feeling. I just want to go home, sit down and play a game for hours on end. Not sure why I have the urge but I do and I would feel accomplished at the end of it.
Strange how working on what I do, which helps untold number of people communicate with each other, is not really giving me a feeling of accomplishment. True I rarely see the end product of what I do in use but even knowing how and where it is used doesn't give it to me. Yet some form of electronic game that has a form of progression in it gives me a sense of getting somewhere. Kind of speaks to how I feel about my job at the moment doesn't it?
Strange how working on what I do, which helps untold number of people communicate with each other, is not really giving me a feeling of accomplishment. True I rarely see the end product of what I do in use but even knowing how and where it is used doesn't give it to me. Yet some form of electronic game that has a form of progression in it gives me a sense of getting somewhere. Kind of speaks to how I feel about my job at the moment doesn't it?
Thursday, October 25, 2012
With my wife
Got home a little early yesterday since nothing was happening at work so I decided the better place to be would be home with the woman I love. It was definitely worth it in the end since I found my wife in her usual sexy self reclining on the bed. A little while later I found myself tired and almost falling asleep. Strange how some time with my wife in bed leaves me like that. I can feel my body literally telling my to rest and sleep.
And because I just randomly came across this I had to put this animated gif in my blog. Yay Pingu.
So where was I? Oh right, loving my wife. Being with her is what makes my life, that is all there is to it. Now if only I could do just that life would be perfect. Well, be with her and play games and eat chocolate and do cool stuff but mainly be with my wife.
And because I just randomly came across this I had to put this animated gif in my blog. Yay Pingu.
So where was I? Oh right, loving my wife. Being with her is what makes my life, that is all there is to it. Now if only I could do just that life would be perfect. Well, be with her and play games and eat chocolate and do cool stuff but mainly be with my wife.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Rich old white men
Sometimes I think a lot of the problems in the world come from rich old white men. They have only ever known their own little world and since they did well in it the rest of the world must be forced to conform to how they lived. Never mind that they are usually contemptible people. Take this idiot for example. He is so used to living in his world he doesn't think about what he says or believes affects other people. To think that something like rape is intended to happen and should be left as is if the woman becomes pregnant is a totally repugnant thing to think. Thankfully I didn't vote for any idiots like that recently.
I do know the irony here as well, I'm almost an old white man. Maybe not rich but still :| .
I do know the irony here as well, I'm almost an old white man. Maybe not rich but still :| .
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Not up to much
Another normal day today. Nothing really different happening other than a bit of rain which is finally here after months of nothing. It's weird thinking about it that so many days like this one go by and nothing of note happens other than the normal routine. Days like this I really get the urge to play a game for some reason. Do something to entertain myself and not have to do what I've done for so many days in my life.
Really a sign of getting bored with work I suppose. Not that this is news to me, I've become so good at what I do (brag brag) that I can do what I need to do without breaking a sweat too much. It is incredibly robotic in the actions I perform that it really doesn't challenge me. Even technically complicated or difficult issues bore me since I know if I just do the right things I'll be able to solve them. Yet to escape that I look to something like a game where I can do things I know and get no real achievement out of it other than my own enjoyment.
Oh well, my brain seems to be in a funny place right now. This waiting to see what kind of deal work will give me and when we can get going on making the arrangements and things to actually happen has me in a restless mood. Even the new iPad mini (woo 8 inches instead of 10) is kind of boring. Still it does seem strange that the current iPhone and iPad are no more powerful than the computers my wife and I had 6 years ago. All that in a tiny form in your hand. Yay the future.
Really a sign of getting bored with work I suppose. Not that this is news to me, I've become so good at what I do (brag brag) that I can do what I need to do without breaking a sweat too much. It is incredibly robotic in the actions I perform that it really doesn't challenge me. Even technically complicated or difficult issues bore me since I know if I just do the right things I'll be able to solve them. Yet to escape that I look to something like a game where I can do things I know and get no real achievement out of it other than my own enjoyment.
Oh well, my brain seems to be in a funny place right now. This waiting to see what kind of deal work will give me and when we can get going on making the arrangements and things to actually happen has me in a restless mood. Even the new iPad mini (woo 8 inches instead of 10) is kind of boring. Still it does seem strange that the current iPhone and iPad are no more powerful than the computers my wife and I had 6 years ago. All that in a tiny form in your hand. Yay the future.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Literal brain hurts
Had a literal brain hurting episode last night. After a nice easy day with my wife my head started throbbing like a mofo in the evening. I took some tablets and that didn't help so finally declared defeat and went to bed. At 7pm. A very early night for me but found that the cure for me of just sleeping through it got rid of it no problem.
It's weird how that works for me, when I get a really bad headache if I go lay down and go to sleep it goes away. Not sure if it came from my childhood migraines where that was the only way to survive, shut away in a dark quiet bedroom until I could think again. Still I felt much better this morning and very well rested. I don't even remember my wife going to sleep after she had finished reading beside me in bed. As usual though as soon as she realised I wasn't feeling great she got me in bed and made sure I had what I needed. Feeling safe beside her in bed is a large part of the reason why I can fall asleep so quickly. Knowing she is there and we are both there for each other if need be is a great comfort.
Still it would be nice if my method of recovering from headaches worked for my wife. It really is a simple case of sleep for me, something that is incredibly easy to prescribe.
It's weird how that works for me, when I get a really bad headache if I go lay down and go to sleep it goes away. Not sure if it came from my childhood migraines where that was the only way to survive, shut away in a dark quiet bedroom until I could think again. Still I felt much better this morning and very well rested. I don't even remember my wife going to sleep after she had finished reading beside me in bed. As usual though as soon as she realised I wasn't feeling great she got me in bed and made sure I had what I needed. Feeling safe beside her in bed is a large part of the reason why I can fall asleep so quickly. Knowing she is there and we are both there for each other if need be is a great comfort.
Still it would be nice if my method of recovering from headaches worked for my wife. It really is a simple case of sleep for me, something that is incredibly easy to prescribe.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Lots of sleep
Had a really good nights sleep last night. None of that waking up in the middle of the night a couple of times that usually happens. This was go to bed, fall asleep and then wake up as my wife is making breakfast (pretty good timing on my part I thought). I don't feel completely worn out like I did yesterday. Even after staying up to the middle of the night (ok, 10pm) playing games.
Not that I'm going to use my rested state to perform huge feats of physical activity this weekend that is. Given how much rest I seem to need maybe the back garden will get hacked at tomorrow but for the rest of it I think more relaxation is called for. It's strange how just sitting around using your brain leaves you so worn out. That and the various stresses going on at the moment with trying to get the best deal for moving and so on.
Still at least there is a few worries going away. My wife won't need to see her surgeon any more, health insurance it cleared up for the change over in the new year and the people next door don't seem to be noisy chavs so far.
So time to go lay around not doing much with my wife and ignore the outside world some more. Time for just me and her to be together seems to be the general master plan.
Not that I'm going to use my rested state to perform huge feats of physical activity this weekend that is. Given how much rest I seem to need maybe the back garden will get hacked at tomorrow but for the rest of it I think more relaxation is called for. It's strange how just sitting around using your brain leaves you so worn out. That and the various stresses going on at the moment with trying to get the best deal for moving and so on.
Still at least there is a few worries going away. My wife won't need to see her surgeon any more, health insurance it cleared up for the change over in the new year and the people next door don't seem to be noisy chavs so far.
So time to go lay around not doing much with my wife and ignore the outside world some more. Time for just me and her to be together seems to be the general master plan.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)