Monday, December 12, 2016

November 2016 Entry

November 2016 Entry 

Lots of stuff happened in November. Sorry for being late, but time to catch up. 

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- Watching Gary's last episode on Running Man was hilarious and sad (11.06). It was definitely one of those things that you didn't want to end. Hearing the emotions from everyone as they were sharing kind words, good stuff. 


- I had  ordered some Korean ramen from Amazon a while ago, but didn't eat it right away. Tried the Neoguri Ramen (11.12) and you can tell the difference in quality. Even the cup feels better. This one is spicy, but tolerable. Still waiting to try the extra spicy ones I have. It has fire graphics on the side and has been used in challenges before.  


- It's rare that I take time off from work, but I did for my cousin's son's birthday (11.13). It was held at a bouncy castle place. I actually hurt my ankle while racing one of my younger cousins (still hurts). But it was fun seeing all of us get into it. Afterwards, I carpooled with one younger cousin and found out she was into Running Man and Kpop. I didn't know that, but that's awesome. Ended up at my cousin's in League City and watched TV while making jokes and catching up. I stayed to watch all of UFC 205, which turned out to be very entertaining from top to bottom. 


- Normally, I don't get excited for movie trailers, but the trailer for the live action Beauty & The Beast looks great (11.14). It's one of my top 3 Disney animated movies so I will put some effort to actually see this when it is in the theaters. 

- Caught up on NXT TakeOver Toronto and Survivor Series on the same day (11.21). That was a lot of wrestling to take in. I only saw one spoiler accidentally, but that still didn't ruin those hours of wrestling for me. TakeOver was great from beginning to end and Survivor Series had a lot of unpredictable outcomes. 

- After 5-6 years of not celebrating Thanksgiving, I actually went to my cousin's and had a great time (11.24). Short explanation is that stuff used to always happen during Thanksgiving so I just stopped attending parties. Then I was playing different Zelda games each year Thanksgiving rolled around. When my cousin invited me, I figured why not. Nothing bad happened and that's a relief. 

- Friends gathered for a friendly game of Uno (11.25). Insults, smack talk, back stabs, and betrayals happened all around, ha. 

- I've been posting less of products I buy lately. It's not always good to show everything you buy. But I still do it every now and then. Like these new wrestling shirts (11.28). 

 

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- Finished the Spirit of Justice DLC (11.06). The game did freeze on me once and so I put off getting back into this case until later. Just another crazy case in the world of Ace Attorney.  

- New amiibo added to my ever growing collection (11.06). They added 7 more to the Super Mario Bros series. Got all except the 2 Kongs. Just not that big on them. I would gladly accept them if anyone got them for me though. The only Kongs I have are the Skylanders ones. 


- The First Skunk Bundle was free so I had it downloaded for a while, but did not play until November (11.07). A collection of 5 horrible games. Honestly, Snake was the best one. If it's free, download it for the My Nintendo platinum points. 

 

- I had been seeing and reading reviews for Gunman Clive and they have all been pretty good. I saw that the Gunman Clive HD Collection was on sale and already fairly cheap. Downloaded it and then played both and beat both (11.25). Pretty simple concept and had enough of a challenge. At the cheap price it is going at, I'd recommend it.  


 


 

- And I posted this at the beginning of December (12.01), but I'll link it with this month's entry. Click the link to read why I will stop using my WingedVoX social media accounts. My posting of game stuff on this blog will remain the same. 

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- Filmed Community Testimonials and released them publicly this month (11.01). While I enjoyed doing these, I will not like reminiscing about the editing and behind the scenes critiquing process. I actually don't want to go about them here either. All I will say is that they are getting views and generating interest, which was the goal of these videos. 
  

- We were still doing Facebook Live streams and we did our highly anticipated Silent Library (11.03). Unfortunately due to Agents being sick, we had to rehash how to go about it and change up the cast. It still went off well. We haven't done many live streams since then. We've just been busy with other stuff.  

- Hot Cop is alive and well, ha (11.04). Originally I wasn't going to do this group, but they started it with a joke and I was in to take over the session. I had fun, they escaped, and I got a hug, which was a first. Then I was bold, but she wasn't single. Oh well. Definitely my favorite group of women I've ever had. 

- We started a new series of social media posts for Instagram only. It is called Heard At HER (11.04). That new hashtag is to quote all the crazy things we have heard from customers over the years. It's...not gaining the traction that we had assumed it would. I kind of figured, but still wanted us to produce something new and different. 

- Not to leave any other exclusivity on other social media accounts, Facebook gets Weekly Escape Stats (11.07). This one isn't getting a lot of attention as well, which is disappointing. At least we are generating new content that our competitors are not.   

- We extended the Soft Opening for Episode 4 (11.13). Needed more testers and feedback. My fears for this room definitely came true... 

- We celebrated one year of the Hunks of HER (11.17). Can't believe something this silly we did is now a year old, ha. 

- Another new idea we started is the Design Jam (11.23). Basically, we hold sessions on puzzle creation. I'm not the biggest advocate of this idea, but I do understand the potential. 

- Our Thanksgiving turkey post-Thanksgiving. That is my hand. Other facilitators took a finger and added on. 


- And Agent Coda was our latest write for our monthly blog post (11.30). 

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- Happy Birthday, BoA (11.05). Forever love you.  


- Hyloyn - Paradise (MV) 


- TaeYeon - 11:11 (MV) 


- Took a road trip to Marfa (11.18). There was a lot of last minute planning although the plan had been stamped for months. The 2 friends I asked to go had not met until that morning when they carpooled to my place. We later called ourselves ARC Inc. I started the first driving shift. After about 3 hours, stopped at Buc-ees and switch with R. Then I got motion sickness (?) for some reason. I asked C to diagnose me and she suggested getting motion sickness medicine. We stopped at a CVS and I got some pills and a topical cream. Minutes later, I needed R to pull over as I threw up. The timing was just enough that I vomited while I hopped out of the car. Some got on my socks (left those at that curb side). It was similar to what happened on my road trip to Virginia. Felt sick, felt numb, felt dizzy, felt hot, and threw up. It was then that we figured I was allergic to motion sickness medicine. I still wasn't feeling that great so I took over the back seat for the rest of the trip to Marfa as C and R switched back and forth. Apparently I didn't miss much, but I felt bad that I was destroyed within hours of the trip. 

Once we reached Marfa (9 hour road trip), we checked in to our hotel, settled in, and I was feeling a lot better. I told both of them that this is what was going to happen. Since some of our plans were thrown off due to me being sick and needing to pull over a few times, we took some time to reassess our day one plans. After that was settled, I took on the driving duties since everything was close by and the others felt I could handle it. Our first stop was at Ballroom Marfa where we looked at some artistic displays. Then we drove out to the Prada store and took pictures around there and at the railroad tracks. We planned to return the next day as we didn't get the best shots at Prada since the sun was behind it. Then it was back to the hotel to change again and find a place to eat for dinner. I don't remember the name of it, but it was a little expensive. I didn't mind as I knew I needed more food in me. The darkness of night definitely came over us and the night time desert cold hit us hard. Back to the hotel again to bundle up (I had at least 5 layers on my upper body) as we prepared to see the stars at Marfa Lights. That was...incredible. The night sky was full of stars every where you looked. All 3 of us were in awe of what was in front of us. Words cannot explain everything, cameras could not capture it (we tried), but it was one of those in the moment experiences that I want others to see. That was a glorious way to end our first night in Marfa.  

Day two was a bit more structured. Went back to Prada and got some good shots there and along the train tracks and other nearby areas. Went to the Chinati Foundation and took more pictures around their structures. We then made a judgement call to eat at Marpho since we thought a good warm soup would do us well after the cold. Bad decision. Worst Pho I have ever had. Do not go there. After changing clothes, we made the 2-3 hour trip to Big Bend National Park. On the way, there were a lot of great nature sights. When we got to Big Bend, we pulled over often to take pictures and take in the sights. We climbed one rocky hill to get a good look at our destination canyon. That was a rough upward climb even with my walking cane. It was worth it. It didn't take much longer for us to reach the canyon and start our walk up to the deepest part of it. We were walking through mud, going through multiple paths, making our way through trees and brush, climbing stairs, and making occasional stops for pictures for half an hour to an hour. On the other side was Mexico. ARC Inc. took it all in and we were proud of our accomplishment. We even did a group hug on the way back. My knee started to hurt on the way back. Thank goodness for my walking cane. The sun was setting and the moon and stars were coming back out. We pulled the car over a few times to get out of the car and stare up at the stars. There were even more than at Marfa Lights. Magnificent. A nice Mexican restaurant was our last stop before the hours back to our hotel to end day 2. Although C went back out to Marfa Lights to see the lights one more time.   

Last day at Marfa came too soon. It was great that we did almost everything we wanted to though. ARC Inc. packed up and went to Marfa Burrito for delicious food to take on the go (highly recommend it). R took the first shift for driving to Waco. I took the second shift after a few hours and went the rest of the way. We passed by the escape room we were going to first before going to the suspension bridges in Waco. I got a little frustrated with being in an unknown place, the sun shining in my eyes, and a roundabout were all combined. At least I had time to cool off. The bridges were nice and looked great when lit up. We then went back to the escape room, signed in, and were informed that others would join us. 2 had done one of their other rooms there and they brought 2 friends that never had been to one before. We escaped The Santa Clause with 9 minutes to spare. It was alright. Not horrible, but definitely not the best either. My escape room record is now 15 escapes out of 19 rooms. After the others left, R and I thought to reveal we worked at HER since the owner shared a lot with us. He figured that we worked for one just by the way were talking and acting with him and the others. He showed us his other rooms and we invited him to come to HER if he was ever in Houston. C then took the helm and drove the rest of the way back to Houston. As it was the last stint of the drive, we all opened up and got into deep conversations bringing ARC Inc. closer together. R was dropped first and I drove back to my place where C left her car. I think it was around midnight that this wonderful road trip to Marfa ended.  






- And I made a bold move (11.22). The seeds are planted and now time will tell. Here is hoping for the best.  

- That does it for November. A very memorable month. Thank you to everyone that read. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved. 


"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits." 

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