October 2025 Entry:
Looking back at this post, lots of things happened. Whoa.
MISC=========================
- Had a dentist appointment (10.01). This was rescheduled from July 23rd at 10:15AM to this day. I don't remember why it was rescheduled, but it was for October 1st at 10:45AM. The day of, I was concerned that I had not received my text notification to sign in. I called them around 9:30 in the morning and it's a good thing I did because I wasn't on their schedule. I let them know that this is maybe the second time (in many years) that a reschedule resulted in me not being in their books. Plus I had to take a day off in order to have the appointment. Thankfully they had open slots available and I took the soonest one at 2PM.
After readjusting other plans (GameStop, friend visit), I eventually went to the dentist for a routine cleaning. At least I thought it was a routine cleaning. It was odd as the main doctor came to see me first before anything was done. Usually he comes afterwards to talk about any issues or future plans. He suggested I do a deep cleaning since the last one was in 2017 (had not realized I'd been going to them for that long). I was confused and asked the person that was going to work on it why the change. They explained further and that we'd be only doing the bottom and then the top a week later. I signed and paid, which was another thing I wasn't expecting to do (yay for insurance covering a good chunk of it). But I also asked how long it would take and they said 30 minutes. That was the amount of time a normal cleaning took, but we were also 15 minutes into the appointment so I had to text my friend about the delay. Thankfully they were okay with it because the deep clean had commenced. I did mention to the dentist about the plans after and they apologized and even made sure to do a light cleaning of the top. Wrapped up, scheduled the next appointment for the following Tuesday...and that's how that trip to the dentist went off.
- Went to the place I bought my glasses from (10.02). Got these glasses in June, visited them again in August, and two more months later I'm seeing them again. Same issue as last with the screw coming out. I let them know about the two month gap and we talked about how I take off my glasses, how I put them down, etc. They fixed them and even made it tighter than before. They recommended I adjust how I remove them because the way I do it is removing it from the left side of my head, which puts more tension on the right. The suggestion was to remove them straight off my face. I'm trying my best with that since I have to fight against my muscle memory. Hopefully you won't be reading about another glasses situation in December.
- SNL KPop Demon Hunters (10.05)
- An item I made an offer for on eBay was sold off (10.06). I've actually eyed this item and a bunch of the same series related items. I even complimented their avatar as it was something I recognized. The initial offer was generally reaching out to ask how much they would sell the whole lot for. They never responded over a month ago. A couple days into October I figured to make an offer on the main item I wanted. I only asked for $5 less off of $25. I had to click on the item to find out it was sold off. Didn't even get a refusal of the offer or counteroffers. Bummed out because that was the lowest I had ever seen it for. Should have bought it right away. Other auctions are either double that price or triple digits.
- Second dentist appointment (10.07). 10:15AM because I prefer it being in the morning. Deep cleaning for the roof this time. This went faster than the previous one. Originally they said a half hour like last time. This was 20 minutes at best. They also mentioned how the bottom healed faster than expected and that things were looking good.
Left early and waited for G to reply to messages. They asked last week if I was able to help them with a cosplay shoot. I said I'd be free after the dentist appointment. The plan was to meet at 11:30AM at a park, but they were running a little behind. So I ended up going to their place and we left in one car a little after noon. This probably was better as we got to talk it up during the car rides. The shoot itself didn't take too long (half an hour), but it sure was hot. I sweated more than I expected. After we were done, we went to Two Hands Corn Dogs. I had these style corn dogs before elsewhere, but G had not. I got the original Two Hands flavor with half sausage and half mozzarella inside and a lemonade slush. G enjoyed their Injeolmi flavor with half sausage and half mozzarella and a lemonade slush with kimchi fries. Good stuff all around. Headed back to their place and drove off to meet another friend at 3:30PM. After that quick stop, went home and took it easy for the rest of the day. The heat definitely wore me out.
- TWICE concert tickets procured (10.09). Me and the other members of HeXagon were queuing up even with some on the road on their way to another concert. I was in the 8000s when it began, but one member was in the 1000s. Once they got in, they found a spot and asked if anyone wanted in on the row (6 max). I was the last one to jump in as by then I was still in the 5000s. I Venmo'd my part and that was it, tickets for Austin are secured. I stayed in queue to help look for tickets for other members, but they eventually found their own, but not around us unfortunately. But hey, road trip with the crew in April.
And then a second night got announced, ha. A few of us were talking about whether we were going or not, but a good chunk were in. Tickets went on sale on the 16th. While I was waiting for the site to transition over, it wasn't happening for over a minute. A few of us were advised to refresh. It did work, but then we were way behind in the queue. I was 6810. One HeXagon member was in the 500s, but this time we were all getting our own. I did want a different view and spoke with NRM about getting seats closer to our bias' solos. We agreed on sections and they got in before I did. Ultimately he got two front row seats for us. I was able to spot decent seats elsewhere when I was in a minute later. He did get some buyer's remorse, but I mentioned how he could sell his ticket off to another HeXagon member if he really wasn't sure about it. Not only that...night two tickets weren't selling out as fast. Even days later, there were plenty of front row VIP tickets still up for grabs. So for him and any other HeXagon members waiting, they'll have plenty of options.
- Eggs exploded (10.12). My parents left to get groceries in the morning and left the stove on. I did get a hint of a burnt smell in the house, but figured it was something they overcooked in general. But around 11AM was when I heard something pop. I looked around and saw the mess in the kitchen. The pot was tipped over, there were egg pieces scattered on the floor and stove, and there was egg stuck to the top area of the stove and surrounding areas. Turned off the stove, which I didn't realize was still on at first. I started to open the windows downstairs and turn on the fans. I took the pot with burned eggs and filled it with water in the sink (no smoke as it was already cooled down). Grabbed a broom and pan and started sweeping things up. That's when my parents returned wondering what was burning. I let them know what happened and pointed out what needed to be cleaned. I finished sweeping and they said they'd take care of the rest as it was their fault. Now I'll think twice next time I smell something burning in the house instead of assuming what's going on.
- The ending of the Hardys VS Dudleys at Bound For Glory brought tears to my eyes (10.12). Thank you.
- The new AJ Lee shirt arrived (10.14). I know when I'm going to first where it to too.
- The new car has hit 5000 miles (10.16). I was surprised that it's already reached that many miles. I knew it was happening soon since there was a pop on the display mentioning to get maintenance soon. I have to hit a return/cancel button to make that message disappear every time I start the car. Maintenance appointment was originally going to be late November (over a month later), but it got rescheduled to October 22nd.
- Went to watch the ONE IN A MILL10N documentary with a few HeXagon members (10.21). I came home from work, ate an early dinner, and went to the theatre. This was the same theatre where I watched the first Sonic movie before the pandemic. There were maybe 10-15 other ONCEs there. Great watch. Time flew too. The way all members did a specific thing to celebrate their 10th anniversary for this was a great touch. Mina's was the one that caught my attention the most. Towards the end of the movie, the lights turned on early (not all the way). I thought something was going to happen like a random flash mob performing along with what was on screen. But no, just the lights coming on early. We talked for a bit in the lobby before going our separate ways.
Afterwards, I followed NE to his place to get the gift card for what he owed me from a while ago. He forgot to bring it and he also didn't know there were other options when he traded-in his stuff for it. Even though it meant I was out later than expected, I was glad to finally get that payment back.
- 11 years sober (10.24). To celebrate, I bought a Nothing Bundt Cake (Triple Treat made with Reese's & Oreo, limited time flavor) the day before to eat throughout the day. Spent time with a friend later on in the day to catch up.
- Watched the first Castlevania series on Netflix (10.1-10.31). I had heard some things about it and it did well enough to get the Nocturne series. I liked season 1. I liked season 2 especially the big final fight. I absolutely did not like season 3. And I liked how season 4 ended with more big fights. I was not invested throughout. Mainly because of the writing. I kept thinking "why" to myself. To top it off, I did not like Trevor. There were even times where Trevor wasn't even a major part of episodes. And that was another thing; there were too many characters I didn't care about. If I liked anyone, it was Dracula. He was portrayed the best. But yeah...I did not like this series. I'm concerned to watch Nocturne, but my hope is that it's better than this series.
GAMES=========================
- Demo Showcase Shorts continues. 17 demos this month with 4 being a thumbs up (technically 3 since one game had NS1 and NS2 versions). I do think over the last few months, I have been more critical. If I wasn't interested in the first few minutes, I knew there was a high chance I wouldn't like it. Not only that, but I would start early if I had the opportunity to (normally play them at 8:30AM).
- Picked up my copy of FINAL FANTASY TACTICS - The Ivalice Chronicles (10.01). Could have picked it up the day before on release date, but I had other errands to run so why not put them all together. I did trade in my iPhone 11 and got more than what I was expecting ($30 more). That took care of Tactics and the leftover was put towards the Mario Galaxy games I'll be picking up the next day. Also reserved Remake for Switch 2. Figured pre-ordering a Final Fantasy game after picking up a Final Fantasy game was fitting.
- Picked up my copy of Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (10.02). Paid about half of it thanks for the trade-in the day before. When I came in, the staff asked if I was there for Ghost of Yotei, but it wasn't registering to me so they kept saying it a few times until it sounded familiar. Told them no, ha. Pre-ordered Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment and left for work. Scheduled to be played in March and April.
- Working through the Castlevania Dominus Collection with the first one being Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (10.01-10.03). Never played any of the DS Castlevania games, but heard good stuff about them in general. Dawn of Sorrow...was okay. I liked it as much asI liked Aria of Sorrow. Similar positives like the game feel and music. Same negatives like the soul catching needed for story completion. Didn't want to do that for this game either. Only got the bad ending. I don't mind how they changed up the touch screen mechanics, but that felt unnecessary. Same with the weapon forging. Overall, not great, but not bad.
- Next on the Dominus Collection was Portrait of Ruin (10.05-10.08). I was intimated at first because you control two characters at the same time, but it wasn't that bad. The AI wasn't always up to snuff, but they did their job when needed. I did like how there were quite a few quality of life improvements from Dawn to Portrait. The fact that there were multiple ways to keep track of your progress (maps and quests etc) helped out. Speaking of the map, the fact that each portrait level was a seperate map made things easier to remember and backtrack around to. I had a good 800% of the maps done before I referenced online maps to check for missed spots (mostly breakable walls). It was frustrating at the end as I was missing 0.30% after doing the post-game dungeon. Took about 20 minutes checking online through maps and videos to find the last spot I missed and it was something that could have been discovered early on. My biggest gripe was some of the sidequests as some needed you to destroy hordes of the same enemy in the same spot or hoping the drop you needed dropped sooner rather than later. But I really liked this one as it clicked with me.
- Order of Ecclesia was the last of the three DS Castlevania titles in the collection (10.08-10.12). I had always heard how good this was back when it originally released from friends and from review outlets. So the bar was already set high...and I think that's why it didn't completely click with me. It wasn't horrible by any means. Expectations were there and I get why others liked it. I didn't like the level design as a lot of it was simple. The glyph system was okay, but I didn't see the need to experiment. Had they not allowed you to equip the same glyph on each arm, I probably would have been more inclined to try, but once I found something strong, I'd replace the other preset I had with it. Quests were all fetch quests for the most part for the villagers. At least it all controlled well. Again, not a bad game. It just didn't resonate with me as much as I would have hoped.
- To wrap up the Dominus Collection, we had Haunted Castle + Haunted Castle Revisited (10.14). Haunted Castle was a Japan arcade only game. Knew of it, but never played. It is as arcade tough and rough as others have mentioned. I don't think it is as bad, but I would not be able to beat it without rewinds and save states despite it being a short game. Haunted Castle Revisited was amazing. The remake looked great, sounded good, and played better. They did almost everything they could to improve every aspect, make notable changes, and stay faithful to the original. I suggest playing the original to understand why the remake is as good as it is.
And with those two games done, the Castlevania Dominus Collection is now completed. Great collection. Ranking the DS games from bottom to top; Dawn, Ecclesia, and Portrait.
- Pinball M was the free-to-play game of the month (10.14). Much like the other free pinball games, lots to unlock and challenges to try that take time to do. If you want to pay money for the different themes (in this case horror themes), go for it. Otherwise you can get a lot of mileage from the free table, but I can see how that can get tiresome without a fresh coat of paint at least.
- FINAL FANTASY TACTICS - The Ivalice Chronicles finished (10.15-10.26). This was originally going to be scheduled for February of 2026. But since I didn't pick up Little Nightmares III and the other games for the month weren't a priority, I decided to reserve the rest of the month for Tactics. The original time frame I had was 10.15-10.25 (10 days). That possibly could have happened had a few fights weren't restarted multiple times and taking 1-2 hours total because of that. And that's after bumping the difficulty to Squire. Originally I was playing on the default mode, but changed it towards the end of the first chapter.
This game holds up really well. The difficulty was still there obviously so I knew I wasn't going to do everything. I pretty much did what I did back in the day. I did every single errand, I unlocked all jobs, and I recruited all possible units. Were the Squire difficulty any easier, I would have attempted to get the Zodiac summon. Not this time. I was lucky enough to get the Mime job to unlock as I was running out of errands to send my team to. And while I did have a nice set of default human characters (outside of recruitables) I was leveling up and getting jobs for, it boiled down to three that were farther than the rest that solidified them the team to do errands and get points for.
The voice acting kept me engaged in the story more so than back in the day. Played it with the Japanese voiceovers because that's what I normally would do and they were outstanding. I remembered a few story beats, but not a lot. Definitely remembered the final scene, ha. The modern touches of retrying (either from the beginning of the fight or to rearrange your party) was very helpful. The difficulty took me in and out of it a few times as I sure did retry some a few times, but I knew what I was in for (that's why I made sure to have the rest of the month to beat it). I can't stress how it is a challenging game. I never had to worry about equipping certain items until the final battle.
27 years later, this game is still wonderful. If you like tactics games, this one will give you a run for your money. The story is crazy and full of surprises. There are a lot of nods to Final Fantasy games preceding it. Apologies to all the Chocobos I had to release for recruitable units. Big thanks to Wineburg who started as our main Black Mage, but ultimately unlocked all the jobs for us. Special thanks to Penelope who started as our main White Mage, but was just behind Wineburg with unlocking all the jobs. But Penelope made the big sacrifice in the final battle and ultimately was our only casualty (couldn't revive in time and I didn't want to restart the final fight after making so much progress and damage to the final boss). And after 45+ hours (probably 50+) I was glad to have beaten this game for the second time in my life.
- Disney Illusion Island was a last minute addition as a Game Trial (10.29-10.31). I was curious about it and figured there was a chance I could beat it in one sitting. I was close. The last day I played it was about an hour, but I didn't know how much was left and by that time on the first day, it would have been close to midnight by the time I finished it.
This game was so boring. I felt like I was just going through the motions. It's a platformer/Metroid traversal game. I was surprised with how large the map became because it seemed well contained, but gradually grew and grew. The map did a good job in having pins/filters to make sure you can go back to what you missed or couldn't access. The fast travel unlocked towards the end of the game would have helped earlier as there were many times you simply walked back and forth from area to area. But what made it less interesting was that there was no combat. There are enemies, but you can only avoid them while they can attack you. Even then, there were tons of checkpoints so losing all your health wasn't too much of a penalty in lost progress. The camera is mainly pulled back far throughout the majority of your playthrough. I get it if you were playing with 4-players at the same time, but when playing solo, it highlighted how there is a lot of nothing. Boss fights were okay, but not difficult. And the final dungeon didn't feel like it built up to a grand finale. You put all your skills through the stage, fight a boss that does everything previous bosses did, and do an escape sequence. It never felt harrowing and I ultimately felt underwhelmed when credits rolled.
Cheers to the animated scenes and voice acting when they happened. Other than that, this is for a younger audience that isn't very skilled at platformers. I was bored the majority of the time beating this. Thankfully I didn't have to pay to play it. I would have rather played what I was going to slate in after Tactics, which was Ghouls 'n Ghosts on Genesis NSO/NC.
WORK=========================
- Slow Thursday (10.02). Some of the Halloween decorations have gone up in the lobby and one of our rooms was decorated for the month just like last year. I spent most of the day deep cleaning three of the rooms throughout the day. But I did secure some nails that were sticking out of a big prop that was fixed a few days prior (someone didn't screw them in the day before even though they were asked to). There was only one booking before me when KH was there and there was one I made over the phone and they chose the last possible booking of the day. They were cool. Ended up talking to them a lot beforehand as I served them drinks. It was good to know as they have played escape rooms and had high expectations especially after their last one wasn't good. They were a very good team in their room only needing assistance three times at best. They had a great time and they stuck around to talk after and even schedule another room on Sunday. One of them asked my nationality and we're both Filipino. They ended up leaving reviews unprompted and even gave me a few dollars for a tip. The way they were talking seemed like they wanted to know when I'm scheduled so that they can book when I'm there (yay, more loyal customers). I ended up leaving at 10:40PM...and I was scheduled to leave at 10PM, ha. Most of the closing procedures were done by the time they finished their room. Just had to reset theirs and make sure everything else was properly closed out. I don't think I've ever gone home this late on a Thursday, but it ended very well thanks to those two cool customers.
- Busy Friday (10.03). It started with the inflating of a large lawn skeleton. We scouted around the building to see if there was a way to climb up to the roof. There was not. It was suggested that maybe climbing up the attic would take us there. As I went to bring the ladder down from the attic, it was folding out onto the racks in the back so I tried to put it back up...but I couldn't...and I was standing on a small step stool already. I did my best to hold it up and take out my phone to call Agent Ocean simply asking for help and to hurry. He thought I fell, but his height helped in putting the ladder back up. That was rough as it was either let the ladder fall on top of a bunch of things or I take the small with the ladder possibly falling on me after hitting the racks. I then took the next few minutes to rearrange the back room so that the ladder can come down without anything obstructing it.
During that time, Agent Ocean and HL inflated the large lawn skeleton in our lobby. It fit, but not in a comfortable way. We kept it up for the team that was leaving to see and take a photo with it. They deflated it and then the idea of putting it in the parking lot was decided on. With the extension cords we had, it was possible. The issue was that the stakes to hold it down didn't have long ropes. The closest patch of dirt was right up next to the building and that didn't look good. We deflated it again and put that project aside.
SC was remoting most of the teams for the night while I hosted. Called her off for the last two teams as they were the cool customers from the night before. They were back for more and wanted to do two rooms. Agent Ocean got to meet them and left sometime after their first room. After they were done, they chilled in the lobby again to talk. They had more trouble with the "easier" room and almost no trouble with the "harder" room they played. Other than that, I asked them to help us out with something behind the scenes (something Agent Ocean and I talked about before he left). They agreed to it. After they left, I only had their room left to reset and I was done. I haven't left at midnight from work in a long time, but I definitely never left work at midnight on a Friday.
- Saturday was officially 2 years with the company (10.04). Thanked Agent Ocean for the employment and continued with the work day. Shout out to Agent Ocean for getting us some snow cones. I considered that to be a small present to celebrate 2 years. One of the tasks I had to work on was the secret project. Basically I took the company laptop and typed up stuff when I had time out of sight of others. Took maybe an hour total before showing it off to Agent Ocean for approval.
It was a busy Saturday overall. Basically we needed all hands on deck. At one point I turned to CS and mentioned how this is how it used to be every Saturday. While it was busy throughout, I did have a lot of fun conversations with several customers. And then a door broke. The team for 5:40PM was a group of young girls that were very loud to begin with. Their parents were in the lobby the whole time, but we didn't need to have them go in. But at some point they were doing the thing where some stood on one side of a door that opened while others were pushing from the other side. It broke the hinge, but we didn't know until we reset the room and by that time the team left. Agent Ocean did his best to fix it, but it wouldn't have been great. So the decision was made to reschedule any customers that had that room booked and block it off for a couple of days. I absolutely blame that happening on the Game Master that was in charge. My assumption was that the team was so loud that they were annoyed by them and muted them the whole time and didn't bother watching to see it happen. Because this could easily have been avoided had they simply seen it and said something. But no, we now have to lose days of business that room could have brought in. I clocked out at 7:30PM (half an hour early), but stayed until 7:45PM as we went through the footage of when the door broke. Crappy way to end the shift and my 2 year anniversary.
To top things off, I originally wanted to get some boba after work at a new place. I had two options in mind, but I didn't check when they were going to close. One was closing at 10PM while my top choice was closing at 8PM. If I left at 7:30PM, I would have made it. If I made the attempt, I would have been there 3 or less minutes before closing and I didn't want to take that chance. And while I could have gone to the other one, their options weren't as enticing especially since the flavor I would have been most interested in was the same flavors of the snow cone Agent Ocean got me; green apple and/or passion fruit. Decided to just go home and keep those places in mind for another day.
The team that was supposed to go in next was understanding in moving to another room. When they came in, one immediately caught my eye as I thought they were pretty. I recall turning to Agent Ocean asking if they had been to the venue before. I don't know why I didn't bother asking them. It wasn't until I got home that I looked up the name and yes, they had been with us before. They were last at the company on 12.23.23. And that's when I double-checked this blog. Pink sweater girl, wow. Had I known, I would have struck up a conversation...but part of me also wonders why she didn't. Reading back on the entry, we talked for a bit before and after. Did she not recognize me? I felt bad that I didn't recognize her outside of thinking she was pretty. To think that we could have at least had a fun talk about stuff after almost 2 years.
- 9 hour Monday solo shift (10.06). Not much in terms of bookings so I took care of emails and phonecalls, did a shirt and wristband count so we could order more, and sent an email to upper management regarding the secret project.
The last group of the day were our neighbors from across the street. It was nice to see a couple of the (I assume managers) who brought in their kids and/or younger family members. But the ones I met didn't go in. Unfortunately one was being quite rude about it saying things like "why would I go in and do that" right in front of me. Not only that...both of them thought I was Agent Ocean even though I've been to their facility (opening day and a few extra times) while they've met Agent Ocean once. I did correct them, but that hurt. At least the group did well and had a fun time.
Left early at 8:10PM and tried a new boba place nearby called Honey Teahouse. Quality of the drink was good. Quality of the service...they were just slow. Only two customers in front of me and it looked like they were waiting a while too. I think my drink finally came out 15 minutes later. Again, good drink, but slow service.
- Very slow Thursday (10.09). Only one booking in the middle of the day. Other than that I swept one of the rooms, the hallways, and lobby and then mopped them. I did place an order to restock our alcohol since it's been a few months since ordering any. Left a little an hour and 15 minutes early at 8:45PM. So I technically worked for less than 5 hours that day. Could I have found something to do for 15 minutes? I could have, but it wouldn't have been anything I couldn't put off for any other day.
- Early shift to help open (10.10). Originally I was supposed to come in at 2PM, but I saw that there were a handful of bookings at the beginning for HL alone. I double checked with Agent Ocean if he wanted me to come in and help and he approved. Could HL have handled it solo? Most likely, but it probably would have been hectic with having people come in late and early, phone calls, technical issues (screens not powering on properly), etc that happened throughout that patch of time. Not only that but the door that broke last Saturday was being worked on and literally finished 15 minutes after the first team arrived that was going to play it. Had to talk with that contractor as well as help clean and pack up his equipment to get the team in as soon as possible. I mainly hosted every team while HL was the Game Master during that patch of bookings and it went smoothly. Once things settled, I started to make a wine order over the phone. I didn't complete it since it sounded pricey and wanted Agent Ocean to approve it or make suggestions to lower the price. Then one of the ladies texted me about replying to a few emails asking for donations. One replied in two minutes so I prepped the gift cards for them to pick up in the near future. I left early at 7PM rather than staying until 9PM, which I was regularly scheduled for. It wasn't that busy plus I actually got a few extra hours since I was asked to come in early anyways.
- The ladies dropped by at the beginning of the day (10.11). They initially were there to check on the door that got repaired the day before. But all of us and Agent Ocean had a discussion. We talked about the secret project that took place and how we can possibly do it more often, talked about one staff member in particular and how we feel about them, how we're low on staff, and how I can be better as a manager. It was good to get some stuff out there because all four of us aren't usually together. The three of them definitely talk and see each other more often while I see Agent Ocean 1-2 times a week and the ladies only for brief visits.
IB had their first shift in a couple of weeks. I took it upon myself to coach him throughout the majority of my shift since there has been criticism about his performance. Did the same with CS as the three of us were Game Mastering for a good chunk of the day. CS still had a few questions and I provided the necessary answers while making sure they smoothed out some rough edges on their overall performance. IB did well and I made suggestions for them to be better. I also do think that there is definitely a difference with how others help fellow staff members. Where I would provide answers, give assurance, and mention how they can be better on things, others would provide answers and criticize them behind their backs...yeah.
Other notes about the day include RB's doppelganger showing up (literally wore their casual outfit and braided their hair the exact same way), I showed multiple birthday teams vacant rooms to give them reason to come back, there was a loud bang that IB and I both heard but could not identify, and a power blip occurred where we had to refresh the screens in the rooms. Originally I asked to leave a little early at 7:30PM, but I stuck around since another team member wasn't feeling good and possibly would have wanted to leave early. Took care of things until 8:10PM, which was 10 extra minutes...and that's when that other employee asked to leave as well even though we asked and they said nothing so Agent Ocean had to end up staying the whole day (salute to you, sir).
- Surprise 11 hour work day (10.14). The original shift was 11:30AM-9PM. The day started with no food. That's on me as I assumed there were leftovers. I did eat something, but it wasn't much as I remembered there were cups of noodles at work. Thankfully I was correct about that and I prepared a cup after getting the rooms ready before the customers arrived. I was also able to complete the wine order before the real work began. At first there were about 5 bookings spread throughout the day. Gradually more and more started to pop up where Agent Ocean and myself texted each other saying we would need remote assists. We were both scheduled solo with him at the sister location. We had a plan and I even mentioned it to one of the ladies that stopped by. She did suggest blocking a few spots just in case such as blocking the third session if there are two booked in a row.
And then the bookings trickled in. I made those blockings where necessary, but at one point Agent Ocean said he most likely couldn't remote for me since he was just as busy. He then put it out to the staff to see who could work remotely. While some could, they couldn't do it for the timeframe needed (3PM-5PM). Thankfully HW was able to come in. He was given the option to remote, but he preferred being at the venue, which I also preferred. It's been a few months since he has worked since he has gone off to college, but he recalled almost everything he needed to know as a Game Master. While he was there, I was Game Host for the majority (at one point we had 5 teams so I also GM'd) as well as resetter so I was literally running around a lot. At some point HW asked if I wanted him to walk a team in so that I could sit down for a few minutes and relax and that small gesture meant a lot. There was one moment where we did get a breather and were able to catch up. Someday we'll go get some shaved ice together, ha. HW did stay a little longer, which helped but he needed to leave at 5:45PM as his mom was making sure he was getting enough time to drive and head to where his college was. Thank you so much, HW.
There were only four more bookings after HW left. Three of them were alright with no issues. The last one...what a way to end. It was their first time and they chose a room that they weren't sure of since the others were already taken. I let them know that their original choice was available and that I could switch them to it and they were cool with it. I should say one of them was as the other didn't know as the visit was a surprise in general so she was skeptical most of the time she was there and even glaring at me throughout my entire intro speech (I wasn't saying or doing anything different). He got her a shirt and bought them drinks. They were not good. They were also ignoring hints. I went in and brought them walkie-talkies to help and they said "we're trying to figure it out" and I mentioned that I was trying to help them. It ended up being a kids mode the way I was assisting them. It didn't help that everytime the girl would say negative things like "we're so stupid" and wouldn't talk directly into the walkie-talkie and so much more. By the time they finished and I got them, she kept glaring again. And I absolutely believe she did this on purpose, but she was playing with her cup and the lid came off and she spilled the rest of her drink on the floor in front of me. She apologized and said she'd clean it up and I said I got it because...yeah. At that point I wanted them to leave ASAP. She kept fighting taking photos to which I said I won't take one, but her boyfriend (I assume) wanted to so I took one on his phone. Then she wanted to buy him a shirt and didn't have a card (we're cashless), but she just gave me the cash and said to keep the change (less than a dollar). She wanted to buy another drink, but she forgot that we didn't have "the good stuff." Just so much negativity.
When they finally left, I wrapped up closing duties. I was open-resetting most of the rooms while GMing the last one. By the time they were gone, I only had two left. But before tending to those, I swiffered the spilled drink...and the drops the customer left walking down the hallway. Restocked the fridge, put other things away, and did my lap around just to be sure. Tip tracker was done (accounted for HW's time there, he got a good chunk of it). Last thing I did was leave a voice message to Agent Ocean giving him and others that helped out their props, mentioning we had 15 teams on my end, letting him know about the last customer, and apologizing in case anything was left undone because I was exhausted. Clocked out at 10:45PM, got home at 11:25PM, ate a small late dinner, caught up on a few things, and went to bed around 12:30AM.
- 4 hour day (10.15). Originally scheduled for 5 and I normally don't like working less than 5 hours, but there was only one booking at the end of the night. All previous ones were done before I got there. I helped reset the rooms, HL left, I restocked the wine (arrived early), answered phone calls, GM'd my one session, restocked the new shirts we got (arrived on Monday), took out the trash, and restocked the drinks. I only had two tasks planned ahead of time for that day and one was the shirts. The other would not have been done by the time I left (8:45PM) so I decided to save it for later.
- An interesting Thursday (10.16). It unfortunately started off bad as KH asked about the cleaning sheets. Nothing changed ever since we started using them to keep track a few months ago, but she assumed that since no one wrote their initials that it was all done. Never have we erased the initials until the beginning of the next week. At least she apologized for assuming and should have asked ahead of time. But I questioned what she ended up doing to which she replied "almost nothing." That's crap. You did nothing except set up the rooms and GM for half an hour before I took over. You got paid to do nothing. I did leave a voice message to Agent Ocean and the ladies to keep them in the loop about it because that is inexcusable.
I had things to do. After I finished with the team, I answered emails all while a walk-in team was playing in their room. I made some more gift cards in reply to some of the donation emails. The team after was easy to watch as they were very good and needed little help. The final team was a Filipino family. Two had been there before and they were celebrating one of the kids' birthdays. It was funny because the mom really reminded me of mine by the way she talked and how she introduced everyone (insisted on letting me know what they do for work). They did a great job in their room. After they were done, I let them know about the replay discount. It was enticing enough for them and they went for it. As a thanks, they all (except the dad who isn't tech savvy) left a review for me. They had a little more trouble in their second room, but still escaped. Lots of laughs and lots of fun. The parents jokingly invited me to go with them to the Philippines in March, ha. One of them got my number as I told them if they want to go to the sister location for me, I'd let them know when I was working there. Add another set of customers that will only go there when I am there. They were a great way to end the work day for me. Hopefully they return sooner rather than later.
- Semi busy Friday (10.17). Bookings were sprinkled throughout, but I had enough to keep myself busy. One was rearranging the back room. I wanted to do that before the latest beer shipment arrived, but they arrived before my shift that day and were immediately put in the back. The plan was to move the workbench from one wall to the opposite side where there actually was an outlet to plug things into and have all drinks on the same side as the fridge. It didn't take as long as expected, maybe half an hour at best. I asked HL to take a look and suggest any changes. She made a good one with moving the workbench over more. The reason I had it next to the door was because if anyone needed access to the attic, it wouldn't be in the way. But HL pointed out how it's easy to move the workbench so whenever the attic is needed, anyone can move the workbench.
After that I started to restock the new drinks. Some of those we had been out of for a while now. As I was arranging some of the cans in the drawer by the lobby fridge, I noticed they felt sticky. I pulled the cans out and saw that one had exploded. That was the sound IB and I heard last Saturday. Thankfully nothing else was ruined considering that the explosion stayed in that corner. But that meant I needed to dispose of the other cans that also experienced bulging (had to look up the term). The sheer amount of foam that came out of the majority of those cans was insane. Pretty much filled up a quarter of the sink each time. I made sure to take a video for proof.
Then it was on to my main task; creating the evaluation form. I took the HER one and made a few adjustments (bolded some wording, replaced HER with the current company, etc). I then decided to test it on myself. I think it works, but it's not perfect. Me performing it on myself didn't give a chance for feedback from those above me, but I think the scoring system will work out. I worked on this as much as possible while still doing my hosting duties. But I finished it and emailed it to upper management around 8PM.
And at some point during the day we ran out of bottles of water to sell. I figured to go that night instead of trying to cram it into an already early morning shift. Went to the nearby HEB (maybe my 3rd or 4th time doing some shopping for the company there), quickly grabbed two 24 bottle cases, and made my way back within 10 minutes. I almost lost the receipt when putting them into the car, ha. I brought the water in, stocked it, took a picture of the receipt to get reimbursed, and left around 8:40PM. Originally I was hoping to leave at 8PM since it wasn't super busy and I had to open early the following day, but I had to finish the evaluation form.
- Early morning opening shift...and I woke up late (10.18). My alarm was set and I even recall it going off the night before for another alert. It just didn't this time. I was up at 7:40AM instead of 7AM so I had to adjust things. Brushed my teeth, shaved, showered, ate breakfast, and headed off to work at 9:15AM. I had to disregard my morning stretches, watching videos, and checking on some social media. Good thing I got water the night before.
Opening duties were fine and HL came in an hour later during their shift. I got to reply to an IG message the company received (hopefully that happens soon). The beginning of the day was fairly easy and slow with HL being the GM and me being the GH. Even when more staff came in and more customers were present, it wasn't bad. We had two parties and those went off well (despite apparently one customer not being easy on the phone, they were great in person) and some easy-going and kind customers. During any downtime, I and marked a bunch of backed up emails as read. One category had 600-700 while another had close to 7000. It was daunting at first, but once I found a groove it was simple, just time consuming. And these were automated emails for bookings that weren't pressing. But seeing those numbers on the side of our emails always stood out. I'm sure no one will notice those numbers are gone though.
And then 6PM was when the rush came through. We were a tiny bit behind on some rooms, but nothing too egregious. It was just a rush of teams showing up early and teams getting out around the same time. Plus one staff member was away getting drinks for themselves so we were down one during that rush when we were already low staffed. Shout out to the one customer who mentioned the toilet was clogged because no one ever likes admitting it (it wasn't him) and no one ever likes walking in to see something like that. It was only toilet paper so it was simple. After I cleaned up after the second party and threw out the trash, I left early at 7:40PM. Only 20 minutes early, but I let HL know I was originally going to leave at 7PM.
Even before the long day, I did want to visit a new ice cream place I passed by late at night a couple weeks ago. They stay open long, but I didn't want to go when I originally saw them since I was tired. This time I felt I deserved it. Not a bad place. They unfortunately had signs posted about the smell in their building due to bad landowners not fixing things. It wasn't too bad, but noticeable. They had a large variety of things, but I got a Kitkat-Nutella rolled ice cream. I've only had rolled ice cream a few times. This was great, but small in size and higher in cost. And while I enjoyed it, I ate it too fast since I knew I couldn't have this while driving so the rest of my night I was not in the greatest of shape. Waking up late, the 6PM rush, and the feeling after eating ice cream too fast...that was three strikes. I was done for the day. I ate when I got home, I caught up on social media, watched a few videos, and retired for the night early-ish. I wasn't feeling great and I was exhausted.
- 10 hour Monday shift, but not busy like last week (10.20). The ladies were there with a new employee they hired to take care of parties, handle communications with the chamber of commerce, and a few other behind the scenes tasks. They might occasionally be in the venue, but a lot of the stuff they will be given can be done from home. They won't be a Game Host/Master. I'm supposed to train them on a few things, but it might not be much. After the introduction and a few idea spitballing, I got ready for some tasks.
One of the ladies approached me about the evaluation draft and really liked it. They made some suggestions to be more matter of fact and then we discussed how to go about raises, when to conduct the evaluations, the process, and who would be first. Got those lined up, emailed the others that needed to know about the updates and began to clean for the majority of the day. At some point, two of three donation requests came by to pick up their gift cards.
They all left before the two sessions. Before those sessions arrived, I continued cleaning. There was a phone call from a mother who asked if anyone found her daughter's glasses they lost the day before. Since I just cleaned, I knew I didn't find any. Texted the team from yesterday and they mentioned how they tried looking for them yesterday where the little girl was around (the room, hallway, etc) and didn't find it. I called the mother back and told her no one found it yesterday, but that I'd keep looking as I cleaned. For some reason my brain thought they probably didn't check under the couch...and that's where it was. Literally two minutes later, I called the mother back and told them I would text them a photo of them to verify, and they eventually said that was theirs. The mother came by as I exited the first of two teams and they thanked me with a bar of chocolate. That was very kind of her...but it was melted. That kind of felt...off considering I saved them hundreds of dollars from buying replacement glasses...and I got melted chocolate. I was at least hoping for a review, but no.
The two teams of the day were fun (I jotted down nothing else except that) and was a good way to end the day. Left at 9:30PM.
- Been a while since I've worked a Tuesday (10..21). Started with no bookings so I was trying to clean as much as I could before our new employee DQ stopped by. They wanted to gather things for a gift basket and to talk shop and get insight on how I saw things. We also decided I should come up with a list of things she needs to learn and to plan to play the rooms sometime so she could give proper feedback on them when she talks to customers. A couple hours later, she left and I continued cleaning until there was a walk-in. After they were done, I left half an hour early when KH arrived. Definitely wanted to leave early because of the TWICE documentary. Originally I assumed I wasn't going to work this day since I haven't been scheduled for Tuesdays, but thankfully it wasn't too busy to make me stay any longer than needed.
- Short Thursday (10.23). Only one booking and they were a cute couple. I noted how the guy said "howdy" in the same tone as Agent Ocean. They later replied to a question I asked with "yes, sir" in the same tone as Agent Ocean. It was funny.
The other thing to note was a Carraba's order I had to make. I check for parties the following day every day I work. I text Agent Ocean and he said to text SP. She didn't put in the order as she only put in orders for the sister location. So I had to figure it out, but needed the email thread to make sure about the timing of when the food was to be delivered. I had to wait a good half hour for her to send the thread and it's a good thing because there was a final change to the headcount that day. But the instructions for the food...weren't as detailed at least to me. It didn't match the online menu either as I didn't find options for the extras that were written down. So I ended up calling Carraba's to have someone help me. They were very helpful and assured me that what I was asking for was available. Placed the order and then I wrapped up for they day by leaving at 8:45PM (75 minutes early).
- Busy Saturday (10.25). It was me and HL at the beginning and there was a section where we did have five sessions at once. She took the bulk of GMing while I would host and reset. Thankfully the parties that day were easy to handle. But I did have two bad couples that weren't fun to GM for. One couple...it really seemed like they were going to break up (he would interpret instructions rather than read them and she would misunderstand him and get frustrated). The other couple was decent, but slow. Another example of a team that could finish the room if given double the time.
I did leave half an hour early. Before leaving, myself, Agent Ocean, and HL talked about the leftover Carraba's food. I found out earlier in the day that an order was placed earlier in the day when I placed mine hours later. The unfortunate mishap was that the notes weren't properly updated. They were there...but hidden...or something. I did feel bad and even offered to pay for it, but multiple people were at fault. I do wish Carabba's saw the double order and did something about it. But as I was leaving HL mentioned how KH took 6 out of 10 extra lasagnas. That...is garbage. She gave one to a former employee who is her best friend...but why does she get to have some? She doesn't work for us anymore. Plus if you count everyone currently on staff for our location, there are 11 of us (including the owners). There wouldn't even have been enough for everyone to eat. IB ate one that day so we were down to 3. I only asked that one be left for me to eat on Monday...and part of me feels like that won't happen. We shall see. At least I ate one of the extra big cookies that was there.
- Short shift for Monday unfortunately (10.27). Went in at 5PM, left at 8:40PM. Started off by putting together a new table for one of the rooms. It's similar to one at the sister location so I was familiar with how to build it. It wasn't 1:1. The thing that sucked was one leg was longer than the rest and it wouldn't fit in properly. So the table is technically off balance if you don't leave the other feet out a little. Carried it all the way in and then brought the other out to dismantle and place in the storage space. That was the bulk of my day.
Then I made a checklist for DQ and their training. In doing so, I learned that one video was removed from the company made courses. I also double checked the processes of the evaluations of HER to make sure we mirror it. I mopped up the areas KH didn't do in their list of things they cleaned. And I changed a few prices that were wrong, but I waited for Agent Ocean to reply about it. I was correct that the prices were supposed to match, but after a few minutes of fixing it, he replied that it was okay because the customers couldn't choose less than what the incorrect prices were. Oh well, they're changed anyways just in case someone bypassed it.
Made use of my three hour work day. I also got to eat some of the leftover lasagna. Not bad.
- Somewhat busy Tuesday (10.28). The beginning of the day I spent cleaning until DQ showed up. We talked about more ideas to get the company name out there, how to reach out to more customers, promotions, giving her access to a spreadsheet about businesses around the venue/s, etc. After she left I continued some cleaning before I started on an email to send her with contacts from HER. It was crazy going back through old emails and seeing familiar and unfamiliar names that were suggested for a testimonial video that never happened. They at least reached out for quotes for a business brochure. I also worked on fixing the fridge door as the string broke a week ago. PH worked on it when it initially broke and I wish I saw how he did it because I wasn't sure. I figured it out eventually, but it's not perfect.
Agent Ocean showed up for the late shift. We caught up, I mentioned the old HER contacts to see if he recalled them (he knew of some), and I asked if he wanted me to stick around. Reason being was that there were four sessions in the same time block when I was supposed to leave. He left it up to me and I decided to stay. He would have managed by himself, but it was definitely smoother with me around. Customers were late, plenty wanted drinks, and the timing of games finishing were all over the place due to half being good and half being bad. Once the last team left, we were already closing up even though there was still a few minutes left before we were supposed to wrap up early (to save labor). Talked a bit more about evaluations, his family situation (grandma passing), the reason the schedule is the way it is (wow...), the upcoming Wendy concert, etc before we left. And as we were leaving, a jeep pulled up. He did notice the "closed" sign was up, but I opened the door to greet him. He said his friends bailed on him and they didn't have a booking anyways so he was going to leave. I mentioned how next time to make a booking ahead of time so we know to expect you and so that your friends are more committed to going. Clocked out at 7:45PM, but left around 8:15PM with Agent Ocean.
- Thursday solo 11 hour shift (10.30). IB was scheduled, but I called him off as there weren't a lot of bookings I couldn't handle solo (more on that later). I did spend time before any groups arrived editing hints in our system. I had been shown how, but I always forgot since I never actually did it. Plus I needed to finally start doing this to wrap up my proofreading project (for the main venue at least). 3 out of 7 rooms down. I'll work through the rest gradually and then get to the sister location.
One highlight of the day included a back and forth phone call with a customer that wanted to make sure they were saving the most amount of money and getting the best options in terms of what we offered. They apologized many times for all their questions, but since it wasn't busy, I was okay with taking the time to assure them of everything. They even asked if I get commission because they wanted to thank me somehow, ha. Even when I mentioned coming in to see the venue and the party space, she wanted to make sure I was there for it rather than anyone else.
A lowlight was the fact that all the wristband bags were emptied out (minus one room). I was told to keep them in bags to make the inventory count easier. Yet the person that said to do that said the reason they opened them up was because they were falling over the ones that were loose. I mentioned how there was plenty of space to place the bags in the drawers in general and that's where they will go now. The last message I sent was being confused why all the bags were opened was the solution when they said not to do that. The last message I received back was "k" with a thumbs up. Horribly dismissive without giving an answer. I do the thing you ask, you don't like it, you do the opposite of what you wanted, and you provide no viable reasoning. Lame.
Another highlight was a couple that unfortunately arrived late due to traffic, but were very easy to talk to. They never beat an escape room before, but they were able to for the first time with my help. Afterwards, they asked a lot of questions about escape rooms in general and I was in such a good mood that I gave them free sodas.
Another lowlight was a walk-in at the end of the night. The thing is, there were two teams already in I was watching. There were phone calls coming in, but I chose to ignore them to stay focused. But then I see cars pull up through the cameras and the group walking to the door. When they arrived, I had already performed a few closing duties including locking the door. After a couple of minutes of them trying to open the door and call, I opened up and let them in. I told them the times had passed so we weren't expecting anyone. They stated it was last minute and that the website showed we were still open timewise. Couldn't deny that, but I had to scramble to see if anyone could remote watch my teams, check in and have this group pay, and set up their room. If IB was still here, this would have gone smoother. Thankfully the other two teams were doing well without my persistent supervision. I was able to set up the other room with no issues. But I told the walk-ins they'll need to wait a few extra minutes as I was going to exit out a team. Then the second of two teams escaped first. Went to take them out and as we were walking, the first team escaped. I peaked my head in and asked them to wait as it was busy and they were understanding. As the original team I walked out were picking their posters, I went to the other team that escaped and told them they could wait in the party room instead, which they walked themselves too. Took the team photo, walked the walk-ins to their room, and then took the photos of the other team. During that time, I reached out to Agent Ocean to see if he could remote since the sister location closed early. He replied many minutes later that he couldn't help and to reach out to others. By that time, I was down to the walk-ins only. As that team played, I reset all the rooms while watching them on an iPad. While they were making comments about no one picking up the phone and the store doors being closed, they were good in the room. Only a few times I had to mention not to do something, but they escaped with about 20 minutes left. They did ask if they could do another room after. If it were earlier, yes. But not that I've done an 11 hour shift. I wrapped up after they left and clocked out at 10:30PM. I was exhausted.
- Last work day of the month on Halloween (10.31). On the way to work, Agent Ocean text me asking if I pass any Chick-fil-As along the way. I knew I did, but had to look it up as I was driving. There was one 10 minutes away. He placed the order and I waited in the parking lot for an extra 10 before he said it was being worked on. Went into the location and waited another 5 minutes. The order came out different from what he originally said and I had to wait a couple minutes for him to reply to mention that it was correct. It took another half hour to get to work since there was traffic, but I told him I'd be late regardless picking up the order. He was cool enough to check me in when I was supposed to since I was getting the order. I ate my tortilla soup (so good) later on at night, which was good since the night went late.
Throughout the day, I spent time continuing my edits to the clues. I got through a chunk leaving one and half rooms left before teams showed up.There were only four teams booked for the majority of the day with one extra getting added and then we ended with eight as some were walk-ins or late bookings. Shout out to the Mindies team as we joked from beginning to end when they were at the venue. The walk-in team was skeptical. It was one of the kids' birthdays, but they wouldn't decide on which room to play while the mom emphasized how much everything cost so she needed to decided whether to play or not. Thankfully they ended up being really good at it.
Towards the end of the night, I had to fix a couple of props. One was a pill bottle a customer dropped. When it happened, I gave them the part of the answer they would have received from it. It took a bit to fix it to be the proper weight. Cleaning it was easy at least. The next prop was for another room where a pillar was removed from a wall. Couldn't find the screw, but we had plenty. As I was drilling it back in was when Agent Ocean came in saying a team called coming in for the latest booking. That team called back saying they couldn't book it online so I did it over the phone. I emphasized that since it's close to closing and their start time that we'd have to deduct time if they were late. They were 20 minutes late (booking was at 10:50PM). They arrived thinking they booked for 11PM and I further emphasized that we'll be deducting time, but will help with nudges to compensate the time loss. Agent Ocean watched them as I was taking care of closing duties and finishing up my clue edits (yay, done). They weren't good, but ended up winning with lots of help. My joke to them after was that they were in there for so long that it was now November, which was true. After they left, there was only a little bit to left to close up. We were out the door around 12:15AM. Bid each other adieu and left. I got gas on the way home and finally made it back a little before 1AM. Leaving work after midnight hasn't happened in a long time.
ETC=========================
- ITZY - ROCK & ROLL (MV)
- TWICE - ME+YOU (MV)
- Plans are in place for a special project. What's it for? Who is it for? You'll know in a future post.
That's a wrap on October 2025. Thank you for your support. Be cool and be kind.
"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits."
