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.
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