I'm back to playing Baldur's Gate 3. We started talking about it at work yesterday so I decided to load up my most advanced save (7/5 human cleric/fighter, Karlach, Astarion, Gale), whom I left standing outside Gortash's door after making meat pies out of his supporters on the floor below probably more than a year ago. It took me about a half hour to figure out where I was and what I was meant to be doing and I finally had to ask the google to tell me where to find Gortash. I killed Gortash last night and will now scamper off to find and eliminate Orin. My goal is to finish the game with this playthrough so I can go back and mess about with side quests and stuff with other playthroughs. I overloaded myself trying to do EVERYTHING and that's a recipe for burnout in a game so full of stuff. Happy to be back in the Forgotten Realms.
Youngest boy's best friend graduated from college yesterday. She did it a year early. It feels like just yesterday that I was driving the two of them to their first day of 7th grade!
Never been much of a "puzzle game" guy, to the point where I'll even google the solution to most puzzles in games like Neverwinter Nights or BG3. I'm currently playing Hollow Knight. I'm in Greenpath and I have 1,352 geo and am desperately searching for somewhere to spend it!
I fully support your coworker in her act of defiance against this random act of management. Reminds me of a coder I worked with at a previous job who sat in the coldest cubicle in the building. He was, of course, forbidden from plugging any kind of heater in, so instead he requested a machine which would run Solaris so he could write code at his desk instead of having to go into the lab. These things were big, beefy SunBlade 2000's and the put out TONS of heat. I don't know that he ever actually used it to write any code ..
We joke that one of our guys here is our "union rep," and this week we were jokingly spreading the tale that our "union rep" had decreed Friday to be a day off. Of course, we knew we were going to be open but we (well, me) were hoping (maliciously) that it would at least rise to the level where someone from management would have to address the community that yes, we'd be open despite what people may have heard.
Alas! It seems everyone has gotten used to our shenanigans.
Kinda looks like maybe it's going to be a dud, apart from the cold...but it's early yet! It could still happen! We've had windows open and the heat off all week and it's been nice, but this morning I woke up and realized that, although I'd closed all the windows, I'd neglected to turn the heat back on.
We've hopefully got our usual Friday Night Magic gathering tonight (it's been a few weeks due to illnesses and travel) and tomorrow a member of our regular D&D group is coming over to give Commander a go. And then Sunday, of course, is Wrestlemania!
I was a massive fan of Castlevania while the vast majority of my friends were into Metroid and Rygar (which, I suppose, was more akin to Ninja Gaiden than Metroid). Not really sure why that was...I suppose it was a combination of not wanting to compete with my friends in trying to beat Metroid and preferring the D&D-adjacency of Castlevania. And I never played Simon's Quest...
I, also, believe I have Hollow Knight floating around in my Steam collection. Suppose I should check it out.
I read up until the spoiler warning and stopped. I'm definitely in for a good Jason Statham movie. He's got some stuff out on the streaming services that I'd never heard of (The Beekeeper comes to mind--another good Jason Statham movie).
We did rewatch the first John Wick movie last night. I'd forgotten how near-perfect that movie was up to and including the soundtrack (which I purchased while watching the movie).
Tomorrow after work I believe we are running up to Denver to go to the glass blowers and pick up some artsy things K and her friends made a couple of weeks ago. Maybe we'll try to stop and have dinner while we're out and make an evening of it. Saturday I don't think we've got anything planned. As you say, it doesn't look like it'll get warm enough to take the dogs out for a much-needed walk. It's an FA Cup weekend and Arsenal are already out so I'll have to see if any of the games catch my interest. Sunday is, of course, the Super Bowl, and if I wasn't watching it with friends I may not have gone out of my way to watch it despite my (sort of) team being in it. I'm finding that I have less and less time I'm willing to give over to watching sports these days (Arsenal and the opportunity to hang out with friends being the exception), and less willingness to endure the stress and agony of watching a team I actually support. Blah.
I picked this game up on the strength of your recommendation...but I haven't played it yet! I've gone back to BG3 and that's where all my gaming time is going right now.
Oh yeah. Our house was built in 1971 and I have no idea how the previous owners coped with the heat and the cold. Over the past 20 years we've replaced windows, re-insulated the attic, added AC, replaced the entire HVAC system, and insulated the garage over which two bedrooms are situated. We've managed to make the place quite pleasant regardless the weather outside, though during this cold snap I reinforced the drapes on the big front window with a couple of blankets and the back door remains closed unless the dogs are outside.
Anyway, I continue to maintain that what we're calling "AI" is nothing more than a clever search engine capable of skimming the internet and copying what it finds.
I got an early start on tuning out/disconnecting. I got rid of twitter. I've stopped participating in political discussions online, and do my best to be quiet and non-participatory when people I'm with want to talk about politics. I'm finding better uses for my time. I simply no longer care, though I leave myself the option to come back later. Meantime, I hope everybody has the future they deserve.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Weekend Plans Post: The Last Graduation”
Yeah, CU Boulder is doing this as well...the big ceremony with everyone but you only walk and get your diploma at the smaller "school of..." ceremony.
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: Death Roads Tournament”
I'm back to playing Baldur's Gate 3. We started talking about it at work yesterday so I decided to load up my most advanced save (7/5 human cleric/fighter, Karlach, Astarion, Gale), whom I left standing outside Gortash's door after making meat pies out of his supporters on the floor below probably more than a year ago. It took me about a half hour to figure out where I was and what I was meant to be doing and I finally had to ask the google to tell me where to find Gortash. I killed Gortash last night and will now scamper off to find and eliminate Orin. My goal is to finish the game with this playthrough so I can go back and mess about with side quests and stuff with other playthroughs. I overloaded myself trying to do EVERYTHING and that's a recipe for burnout in a game so full of stuff. Happy to be back in the Forgotten Realms.
On “Weekend Plans Post: Graduation Season (One of the Last Ones)”
Youngest boy's best friend graduated from college yesterday. She did it a year early. It feels like just yesterday that I was driving the two of them to their first day of 7th grade!
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: Blue Prince”
Not yet.
"
Never been much of a "puzzle game" guy, to the point where I'll even google the solution to most puzzles in games like Neverwinter Nights or BG3. I'm currently playing Hollow Knight. I'm in Greenpath and I have 1,352 geo and am desperately searching for somewhere to spend it!
On “Weekend Plans Post: Caffeine Rituals”
I fully support your coworker in her act of defiance against this random act of management. Reminds me of a coder I worked with at a previous job who sat in the coldest cubicle in the building. He was, of course, forbidden from plugging any kind of heater in, so instead he requested a machine which would run Solaris so he could write code at his desk instead of having to go into the lab. These things were big, beefy SunBlade 2000's and the put out TONS of heat. I don't know that he ever actually used it to write any code ..
On “Weekend Plans Post: Fell For It Again”
Yes indeed. It's making an effort and the roads are wet but so far nothing is sticking.
"
We joke that one of our guys here is our "union rep," and this week we were jokingly spreading the tale that our "union rep" had decreed Friday to be a day off. Of course, we knew we were going to be open but we (well, me) were hoping (maliciously) that it would at least rise to the level where someone from management would have to address the community that yes, we'd be open despite what people may have heard.
Alas! It seems everyone has gotten used to our shenanigans.
"
Kinda looks like maybe it's going to be a dud, apart from the cold...but it's early yet! It could still happen! We've had windows open and the heat off all week and it's been nice, but this morning I woke up and realized that, although I'd closed all the windows, I'd neglected to turn the heat back on.
We've hopefully got our usual Friday Night Magic gathering tonight (it's been a few weeks due to illnesses and travel) and tomorrow a member of our regular D&D group is coming over to give Commander a go. And then Sunday, of course, is Wrestlemania!
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: Metroidvanias”
I was a massive fan of Castlevania while the vast majority of my friends were into Metroid and Rygar (which, I suppose, was more akin to Ninja Gaiden than Metroid). Not really sure why that was...I suppose it was a combination of not wanting to compete with my friends in trying to beat Metroid and preferring the D&D-adjacency of Castlevania. And I never played Simon's Quest...
I, also, believe I have Hollow Knight floating around in my Steam collection. Suppose I should check it out.
On “A Working Man Reviewed”
I read up until the spoiler warning and stopped. I'm definitely in for a good Jason Statham movie. He's got some stuff out on the streaming services that I'd never heard of (The Beekeeper comes to mind--another good Jason Statham movie).
We did rewatch the first John Wick movie last night. I'd forgotten how near-perfect that movie was up to and including the soundtrack (which I purchased while watching the movie).
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: Thunder Road Vendetta!”
That looks really cool.
On “Weekend Plans Post: The Longest Month”
Tomorrow after work I believe we are running up to Denver to go to the glass blowers and pick up some artsy things K and her friends made a couple of weeks ago. Maybe we'll try to stop and have dinner while we're out and make an evening of it. Saturday I don't think we've got anything planned. As you say, it doesn't look like it'll get warm enough to take the dogs out for a much-needed walk. It's an FA Cup weekend and Arsenal are already out so I'll have to see if any of the games catch my interest. Sunday is, of course, the Super Bowl, and if I wasn't watching it with friends I may not have gone out of my way to watch it despite my (sort of) team being in it. I'm finding that I have less and less time I'm willing to give over to watching sports these days (Arsenal and the opportunity to hang out with friends being the exception), and less willingness to endure the stress and agony of watching a team I actually support. Blah.
Enjoy your weekends, everyone!
On “SCOTUS Grants Reprieve to ‘Slut Shamed’ Woman on Oklahoma’s Death Row”
Interesting stuff, Em. Thanks for writing!
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: Menace from the Deep”
I picked this game up on the strength of your recommendation...but I haven't played it yet! I've gone back to BG3 and that's where all my gaming time is going right now.
On “Weekend Plans Post: Was Last Year This Cold?”
Oh yeah. Our house was built in 1971 and I have no idea how the previous owners coped with the heat and the cold. Over the past 20 years we've replaced windows, re-insulated the attic, added AC, replaced the entire HVAC system, and insulated the garage over which two bedrooms are situated. We've managed to make the place quite pleasant regardless the weather outside, though during this cold snap I reinforced the drapes on the big front window with a couple of blankets and the back door remains closed unless the dogs are outside.
On “Trump’s Ace in the Hole”
I LOL'd
"
Not for nothing, but "Masturbatory Outrage" would be a great name for a rock band.
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: Cryptmaster”
We have a longtime troll???
On “Short Status Report on the Abilities of AI”
Anyway, I continue to maintain that what we're calling "AI" is nothing more than a clever search engine capable of skimming the internet and copying what it finds.
"
I'm so pleased that we've got AI to write books and create art which will free us up to do laundry, pick up trash, and do the dishes. Great job, guys.
On “Saturday Morning Gaming: Cryptmaster”
Baldur's Gate 3...again! This time I'm running a human Colossus Slayer Ranger. Heck, maybe I'll even finish the game this time!
On “The Piketon Massacre Tragedy, Continued”
Thanks for this, Em. Good to see you.
On “The Virtue of Tuning Out”
Just so.
"
I got an early start on tuning out/disconnecting. I got rid of twitter. I've stopped participating in political discussions online, and do my best to be quiet and non-participatory when people I'm with want to talk about politics. I'm finding better uses for my time. I simply no longer care, though I leave myself the option to come back later. Meantime, I hope everybody has the future they deserve.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.