Thursday, October 31, 2024

October 2024 Entry

 October 2024 Entry: 

- October went by in a flash.  

MISC========================= 

- First show at the Improv in years and it was to see Anna Akana (10.03). Agent Ocean came along for his first ever comedy show. Beforehand, we went to try the Immersive Birdbox and specifically their Escape AI game. It was impressive at first, then it felt gimmicky. The story itself also started well like an escape room, but then ended with minigames for points. 

We were then first in line for the comedy show. I saw a mutual Kpop friend who was also there for the show and he chilled with us in line and ended up sitting behind us. We were front row with the stage being reachable. The opening act was Jenn Sterger. Never heard of her before, but her set was really funny. Good crowd interactions too. Then it was Anna Akana's turn and that was awesome. At one point she accidentally called the crowd Dallas and there was a bit of an uproar. She then talked to Agent Ocean to ask why it was so bad and he explained. She continued asking him about dating app stuff since that was the original subject and boy did that take off with Agent Ocean sharing about his recent break up and the crowd chiming in, ha. It was crazy. 

After the show, we decided to go to the back of the VIP line to be the last ones to talk to Anna. The whole time I couldn't think of what to say to her. I made sure to say I had been following her on YouTube for over a decade and that she was the first show I had seen since the pandemic. Got pictures with her, yay. Unfortunately the person taking the photos sucked, boo. On the drive home I thought of a bunch of stuff like how I tweeted her with the HER account. We then went to the merchandise table where Jenn was. Talked to her for a bit, bought merchandise (poster and socks), and took pictures with her too. She's coming back in December and I might go see her again. 

Great night of comedy. 


- And a second night of comedy happened. While we were there for Anna Akana, Agent Ocean saw that Martin Amini was going to be performing that weekend. He bought tickets for us and his brother and friend to go to the show (10.06). Fun stuff. I was shown a bit of his act and how he brings people on stage to make a match and "beso beso." Some of the audience participation was interesting in a good and bad way. We definitely laughed and cheered some people on, but there were some that we thought didn't need to talk or be up on stage. We probably could have had more people participate if some didn't take so long. I did picture what would happen if Agent Ocean or I were on stage. He would have definitely had multiple women come up on stage, I believe that. I would have been worried if anyone would come up if I were on stage especially since the crowd was a younger audience (20s-30s). 
 

- The HERetirees have planned to go to Dough Zone for the longest time. It was supposed to happen before the hurricane hit. Then a few reschedulings happened because of work or other events. Even the date we actually went was in jeopardy since Agent Ocean was supposed to work. But he was able to adjust things and we combined it as a pre-birthday celebration for Agent PQ (10.13). We first went to Activate. So much fun. We played some of the games we didn't the first time and we replayed our favorites. The biggest highlights I could recall are when we threw balls at increasing numbers and for hoops trivia, ha. 

Then we went to eat at Dough Zone. It was actually within walking distance from the GameStop I used to work at. We got a good amount of food and carried on some good conversations. Finally stopped at Kim's Teahouse for drinks and more talk before calling it a day around 6PM-7PM. Always a pleasure hanging out with them. 


- Went to Niko Niko's with the GGSN crew (10.16). Good talks and good food (I couldn't finish mine). It was good catching up with each of them. Not everything that has happened over the last few months has been great for everyone, but it was good to forget a few of our troubles and enjoy our company. 
 

- Agent Ocean informed the HERetirees about The Great Big Game Show having a launch party tournament. Agent Blue wasn't able to join us so it was just four of us. We planned to meet at 9AM when they opened (10.19). I was on the scene first and there was only one person (not team) in front of me. I signed us in and told the staff that the rest of the team were on the way. PQ and Majordomo arrived about 10 minutes later and we had not heard from Ocean yet. Another call later, he missed his alarm. The three of us chilled in the sun for about 20 minutes as Agent Ocean made his way over. Shortly after we needed to determine if we were to face-off against the staff (knew the answers), a team of two young girls and two staff members (who didn't know the answers), or against each other, which we did imagine rigging it to help one team get a really high score. We ended up going against the girls and staff. The experience for the launch party was an abbreviated 15-minute experience. The first round was a block stacking challenge (highest stack won), we lost. The second round was trivia while trying to make it across a board (each letter was the beginning of the answer), we won. The final round was shooting darts at a screen to get as many points as possible by hitting your colored balls, we won. Our final score was 5900 and we were first out of two teams, ha. Got our freebies and left. 

Agent Ocean left for work while the rest of us went to Snooze for food. Never went there before because I'm not the biggest breakfast person, but there was stuff I saw I liked. The drink I liked ended up not being as good as expected. The chocolate pancakes were good, but I couldn't finish it and gave the rest to Majordomo. We just caught up a little more before needing to split. Chilled in the car for a bit before heading off to work. 

At some point during work, I thought to check TGBGS' social media to see if they posted anything. There was a video and at some point you can take a peek at the current scores at around 7PM. We were fourth. Cheers to us for holding on to a top 10 spot, but that also meant we weren't first and were out of the running for the $1000 prize. The next day, I got an email congratulating our team on being 8th place and for winning four free tickets to get the full experience. We have yet to determine if/when we'll use them. 


- For the first time in years, I missed doing my daily push-ups (10.19). I thought I could possibly do them after work late at night, but I was too tired. But I also missed doing them in the same week (10.22). You'll read why later in the blog under the work section.  

- 10 years sober (10.24). The day itself wasn't going all that great as plans and timing (traffic, more customers, etc) were thrown off. The one thing I wanted to make sure was to get a passion fruit green tea to celebrate. And at the beginning of the day, I did text back and forth with MIM. While it was about other things, I did thank her for being there for me. She was the last person I drank with, she was there to bring me to an emergency room when I needed help, and she is still in my life. Thank you. 


- Dad asked me to assist on another fence (10.28). Different person (mom's friend), different part of town (half an hour away). My main job was to saw the wood planks for the fence. He measured and set a frame for me to easily set the boards in. Then he showed me how easy it was and always encouraged me to take my time and not go fast for obvious reasons. Other than that I also brought the wood over to him as he was nailing them to the frame and other small assists. There were a few times where our steady progress was halted due to different reasons (not leveled, having to move the support beams, etc). We started at 9AM and actually finished around 2PM. He has to go back another day to fine touch a few things, but my part was done. 

One thing that bothered me was my mom's friend. She called me by name and I felt bad that I didn't recognize her. Later after she brought us lunch (Popeye's), she asked what I do for work now. As I was wiping my mouth to speak, she mentioned if I still worked at the blank store. My dad replied, "that's his brother." Not too big a deal because it happens. But then she responded with "oh, I don't know which one you are then" and laughed it off. Overall she was kind, but that got to me. She's of an older generation and probably thought it was nothing. I just thought she could have responded better. Thank you for the food though. Your big dog was nice and playful. 


- Watched the Resident Evil series (10.30). My investment was up and down so much throughout. The first couple of episodes, not into it. The next couple of episodes, into. Then it bounced back and forth until the end. The main thing I didn't like was how they kept jumping back and forth from the past to their present time. Part of me wanted to see it play out sequentially. Another part of me wanted to just see the past parts. They did reference some things from the game, which I got a kick out of. Unfortunately, there won't be a season two and they were obviously aiming for it. It's not horrible, but I won't go out of my way to recommend it. 
 

GAMES========================= 

- Demo Showcase Shorts continue. It wasn't a full month due to work and other things. One thing I will start to keep track of how many are left. As of typing this (10.31) there are 68 demos left to try. Of course more keep getting added, but the number itself has caught my eye a few times. So it'll be interesting to see how this goes.  


- Started playing the Castlevania Advance Collection and started with Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (10.02). I had played this on the Wii U, but never finished it. It still felt as if I was playing it for the first time. I liked how it was simple to play. I didn't like that the DSS system was never explained so I never used it. I'm sure it would have made some parts easier. And as much as I would have liked to 100% the map especially since I was less than 10% away, that battle arena was very tough. Again, if I utilized the DSS system, maybe it would have been better. 


- Next in the Castlevania Advance Collection was Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (10.06). I never played this nor had I heard much about this specific title. The map was intimidating and I do wish there was a way to mark the map so I knew where certain locked doors were. That last bit I was missing was almost defeating, but thankfully I found it. And I got all the endings. This ended up being my favorite game on the collection.  

- Third on the Castlevania Advance Collection was Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (10.07). This title was the one I heard the most praise for so I was looking forward to it. At some point, I realized I was at the final boss door and thought that was easy, but I stopped to fill in more of the map. And then I did some research only to find out that some of the map was locked behind needing certain souls. That's when I decided to finish the game sooner rather than later. At first, I thought the soul collecting mechanic was interesting. Early on I had to stop myself from trying to collect the soul of every new enemy I encountered. Thankfully I did because I thought once you killed X amount of an enemy, you get their soul. Incorrect. It's based on your luck stat if that soul drops. Even though finding enemies in certain spots wasn't bad and there were items to increase your luck, I did not want to spend possibly an additional 5-10 hours (or more) hoping to get the soul I needed. I may be the outlier, but that made my playthrough of the game sour. Great game overall though. The evolution of controls and graphics was apparent. 


- Last game in the Castlevania Advance Collection was Dracula X (10.10). I thought I had played it before, but I had not. I was familiar with how it played since it was closer to classic Castlevania. While I beat Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow only a day apart, I could have done that with Dracula X as well were I not scheduled to work a lot that week. I pretty much got one ending a day. Not perfect, but definitely a good Castlevania game. 
 

- Capcom Arcade Stadium was the free-to-play game of the month. This had been out for a while and I held it off for some reason that I don't recall. But since we're in October, it was appropriate to knock out a set of games/series like I had done for the last few years. 1943 - The Battle of Midway - came free with the initial download (10.11). I've definitely played the arcade version, but I never beat it. If I did, it took a lot of quarters because I spent at least 20+ credits beating this one. It's challenging and repetitive and free. 
 

- Ghosts 'n Goblins was next in my Capcom Arcade Stadium collection (10.11). This was free for a limited amount of time and I know I made sure to download it. Never played the arcade version of this. I'm definitely more familiar with the NES and SNES versions. Seeing the differences was neat. It still has that high level of difficulty especially in the latter half of the game. 
 

- STREET FIGHTER II - The World Warrior is also part of my Capcom Arcade Stadium (10.14). This was also free for a limited amount of time so I made sure to get it. Played this tons of times in the arcade, but I don't think I ever beat it. Mostly played against others. Blanka was my main before I knew anything. I thought he looked cool and that he could bite opponents, ha. But I made sure to beat the game with everyone. It took about 20-30 minutes per character. Having to unlearn each one of their moves to get back to the basics was bumpy at first, but things were smoother after at least 2 fights. Using old school CPU methods still worked for the most part. Yay for muscle memory. 
 

- Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium was the other free-to-play game of the month. Lumping this with the other Capcom Arcade Stadium. There has only been one game offered for free up to this date and that was  SONSON (10.14). The only experience I have with Sonson was using them in Marvel VS Capcom 2. I would have never expected the game to be a side-scrolling shoot 'em up. Simple for what it is, not bad mechanically. It just wasn't too interesting to do more than a single run. 
 

- My copy of Contra: Operation Galuga arrived (10.15). I double checked to see if I had this penned on the schedule. It was for June. I have since pushed it up to April, but it might get pushed more simply because it's shorter than other games in the backlog. 
 

- NecroWorm was a game that I wasn't specifically looking to buy. It was part of Demo Showcase 47 August 2020 and it was a thumbs sideways. But it was part of a deep sale combo with Liberated. For $2 combined, it was hard to pass up, especially since the sale for them separately was about $2-$5 each I think. I didn't expect to be blown away and I wasn't. Similar to Snake; eat all the items on screen and don't run into yourself. I only had to look up about 25% of the levels online. Thankfully everything was single screen so it was easy to follow paths. Played it to completion (10.16). I was underwhelmed with how it ended since it was a small text bubble congratulating you. Oh well, got my money's worth. 


- Liberated: Enhanced Edition was the favorite from Demo Showcase 71 in August 2021 (10.18). This was the game that was bundled with NecroWorm. My positives and negatives from the Demo Showcase still stand. While I liked seeing the story play out in the comic panels, I wasn't motivated enough to replay it to see different dialogue options. It's definitely not perfect, but it has potential to be great if it was better polished or if they made a sequel that was more refined. 
 

- Continuing going for Fitness Boxing 2 achievements. The latest was a big one with Sophie hitting 50 hours (10.20). That is the last hourly achievement to attain and I have 8 more characters left to do that with. Those are the major ones left, but I really should be "playing" it here and there to get more punches in. I'll think of something. 
 

- Played through Luigi's Mansion 2 HD (10.23). I was a little worried about this going in as I didn't have fond memories of the 3DS version. Apparently I gave that a 4 out of 5. Other than that, I didn't recall much from it. As I was playing this time, I could tell how it's been improved upon outside of quality of life. The one thing I did not like was the completion process. Unlike the first and third game, there are split levels instead of an overall connected world. If you reach the end, you get booted out. If you missed an item or a few, you have to play that whole level again from start to finish. Sure you can speed through and not suck up everything, but some levels are still long and would require 10+ minutes to wrap up a second or third time through. Thankfully I realized that early on and had a guide handy to make sure I didn't miss any...but I still missed some. Had I not decided to go for 100% (not including ScareScraper), my playtime would probably have been cut in half. 
 

- A Little to the Left was one of three Game Trials available this month (10.25). While I knew of this, I wasn't keeping it on my radar. Thanks to the Game Trial, I knew I could at least give it a shot. The concept of arranging things in a certain manner is good. Figuring out those certain manners was another thing. It wasn't always clear and I had to use an online guide to figure about half of them out especially for the alternate solutions. The thing that got to me the most was having to be very precise with a few of them. To me I had the solution, but because it was a little off, it didn't count and I'd have to figure out what was wrong. I did everything except for daily challenges and the DLC. It's not bad, but not particularly for me. 
 

- Tried out  Cursed to Golf (10.27). I had heard some good stuff about this. I see why people like it. I've played my share of golf games and I'm not the greatest at them. But I had fun with them. This is not for me. Mainly because it is a rougelike. If I could learn a hole to be better at it, cool. In this, if you lose, you have to play a completely different set of holes. Some could be similar, but I didn't run into that with my time with the game. And if it was just the one hole, not as bad, but you start over from hole one. Again, I see why people like it, but it's not for me. I wouldn't have tried it if it were not a Game Trial. 


- Played Vampire Survivors was the third Game Trial this month (10.30). The hype is real. I see how people get addicted to this game. Were I not that busy, I would have played more. I think I got about 10 games in. While it's not super expensive, I'll still wait for a larger sale. For now, it has been wish listed. 
 


WORK========================= 

- I have now worked 1 year at Escapology (10.04). There have been ups and downs throughout. It's not perfect, but I am in the industry I was well suited for. 
 

- We had two birthday parties (10.05). Nothing new there, but I didn't realize I hosted both of them and that they were all for young girls. I do recall one employee saying "this is all you" because they didn't want to host the one for the 10 year olds. They were fine. Once they listened it was all good. If I recall correctly, I actually in-room facilitated this one about halfway in. The second birthday of girls, some remembered me as they had been there before. They even gave me a Halloween ring to be part of their crew. As I left them after hosting, I said something like "good luck, fam/bruv" because they wanted me to say some current slang, ha. After their game, I was helping with bringing food into the party room. One time I left and walked into the glass door. I just continued off and tried to compose myself. As I was washing dishes, they all came out and gave me part of their birthday cake. I thanked them, but I thought of something to say after they left. Them giving me the cake was a good representation of how much they enjoyed me and a nice way to celebrate a year of working there. 
 

- A short week day (10.08). Other than a few sessions, my big task was to fill up lab bottles with different color resin for the second location. Agent Ocean had a hand in them too, but he also had his own tasks. It took the majority of the day and boy were my hands sticky after, ha. Since we closed early, I suggested we go to Zero Degrees nearby. It's not bad. Good boba options and familiar food options. Too bad they don't do split cups anymore because I've always wanted to try that. 
 

- I wasn't originally scheduled to go there, but I was asked to come to the second location to help out (10.09). They caught me at a good time because I was literally about to leave for work. Changed my clothes and it took about an hour to get there and help Agent Ocean and the ladies move heavy props from large crates into the building. It was definitely tiring, but I was glad to be available to help them out. Afterwards, Agent Ocean and I got some ShareTea in the area (it tasted so good) and went our separate ways. 


- A slow, but productive day with RB (10.10). I took on the task of all the game mastering so that she could get some social media stuff done.  

- Another group of customers offered us cake (10.12). The following Saturday, we also were left with some cake, but it was hit or miss with the staff. 


- Used another CVS coupon to get some work snacks for myself and Agent Ocean (10.17). Not bad. 
 

- Did work at the second location (10.22). Originally we were all to meet there at 9AM, but there was a huge traffic jam due to an accident. We started to show up a little after 10AM. But we made a lot of progress as we worked from 10-7PM. That definitely was not the original plan as I recall being scheduled until 5PM. But when things are flowing, don't stop the momentum. Plus the drive home was the shortest ever. Still was around an hour, but not 1.5-2 hours like other times. 
 

- 5 sessions back-to-back (10.29). Not necessarily a bad thing, but it was only myself and RB. While we preemptively planned what sessions we'd be game mastering, we didn't think of when the teams finished. While I had 2 teams and she had 3, when I had to exit out my first team she had to watch 4 at the same time. In the end I exited the first 3 teams and she got one or both of the last two. The biggest downside was that we had to ignore the plethora of phone calls that happened during that time. Agent Ocean was also texting to do a few things and I didn't reply until way later. 

Speakers got packed up, papers were organized, tips were counted, phone calls and bookings and made (and remade, ha). No other sessions were booked and we were ready to leave until we realized we didn't reset one of the rooms. And that's when there were issues with some of the tech in there. There was a technical issue that occurred during a booking. Even though I reset the game, the issue still persisted. My solution at that time was to read out the clue for the team to figure out, which they did. We couldn't fix the issue with our knowledge. Not only that, but two other similar issues popped up. Message the group chat and one of the owners replied with what to try. I had never done that before so we FaceTimed each other so she could explain and see what needed to be done. It did fix the issue for 2-3 issues. RB tested it a few more times as I packed away what I was to bring to the second location into the car. Came back and joined RB and we came to a conclusion. The issue needs to be reset at the beginning of the day every time until we replace the PC stick, but it will run properly until everything is turned off for the day. That was 1 hour of testing and fixing and packing. At least we figured out what needed to be done. 

- Went to the second location two days in a row (10.30-10.31). First day was 11AM and that day went by fast. Agent Ocean and I got drinks at Dave & Busters during our break. Got a lot done, which was with the speakers. I became super itchy as I was doing stuff in the ceilings. It was tough to avoid the insulation and I wasn't properly dressed to be protected from it. It was mainly my hands and arms. Thankfully I wore a hat that day otherwise I'm sure I'd be scratching there a bunch. The second day was a short day (9AM-3PM). It was the continuation of what we were working on with the speakers the previous day. Ran into one hiccup where we couldn't get cables through the wall. That took a while. After that was figured out, Agent Ocean and I went to Walmart and Home Depot for a few supplies before returning to wrap up our final hour. 


ETC========================= 

- ITZY - GOLD (MV) 

One of their best. The song, the music video, the performances, and their outfits. It was a rare instance where I liked it immediately before seeing any performances. Way to go, ITZY. Welcome back, Lia. 


- ROSÉ & Bruno Mars - APT. (MV) 

Such a super fun song. 


- aespa - Whiplash (MV) 

- ITZY - Imaginary Friend (MV) 

- TWICE MISAMO - Identity (MV) 

Good stuff. My only negative was that the song was short. Other than that, wonderful music video and outfits. Can't wait to see performances. 


- SooYoung - Unstoppable (MV) 

Similar to Run Away from Tzuyu, I nodded in approval. This fit her so well. 


- Something I've felt recently and I could be wrong on this. I feel I've been part of conversations where there is obviously no interest in my part of the conversation. Not going to name names, but let's say there are three of us and I'm engaging with person 1 and person 2, but person 2 only really responds or says anything to person 1. Other instances with more people involved are the same except sometimes person 2 and person 3 aren't responding to me even though the conversation was turned to me or I know the answer etc. This isn't everyone, but I've noticed it from a few specific people and I can bring up multiple examples. I feel like it's been more so this past month, but again I could be perceiving things incorrectly. We'll see. I hope to be wrong about this. 

That's a wrap on October 2024. Thank you for your support. Be cool and be kind. 



"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits." 

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Tuesday, October 1, 2024

September 2024 Entry

 September 2024 Entry: 

- Whoa, this month was all over the place. 

MISC========================= 

- Got a massage at Cloud 9 (09.01). It had been a while since I first went there. I always meant to go back, just never did. Got a foot and Swedish combo and it was great. While I have daily pains in my lower back and feet, there was way more tension and pain in my right shoulder. 

Afterwards I tried a new (to me) boba place called Teapioca. I wanted to go to Gyro Hut a few buildings down, but no one part of CAB DJ was available and I still don't like eating by myself. I got the Cherry Blossom Lemonade Blast. Normally when I try a new boba place, I get the Oreo shake, but I originally planned to get it elsewhere soon. Plus the lemonade was a limited time deal (seasonal I assume). The drink was refreshing, but not one I'd recommend to someone over something they're used to. But I do want to go back to try their Oreo shake. 
 

- Plans didn't go well this day, but dinner at Made In Medellin made it better (09.02). I pass by Made In Medellin almost every work day. I do like Colombian food, but I was always putting it off. Went in and it was a nice small atmosphere. Literally heard music from when I went to Colombia. Although the workers mainly spoke Spanish so communication was tough. Basically their English was as good as my Spanish, ha. The worker that was helping me took out her phone and pulled up Google Translate and I did the same. I typed out a message letting them know I went to Colombia many years ago and wanted something that reminded me of it. Ended up ordering a Bendeja, which had beans, rice, arepa, plantain, chicharron, avocado, and beef. It was rich and filling. Took about a third of it home. I'll be back and might visit their other location and food truck. 
 

- Had a $4 coupon for CVS about to expire so I got some new snacks (09.04). It's been a bit since I've had Cakesters, but I haven't had the peanut butter ones. They're fine, but a little dry. Reese's Popcorn is as advertised and is a delicious combination. Most of the coworkers were surprised how much they liked it. 
 

- Linkin' Park is back with new members (09.05). The new singer is really good. She makes old songs sound refreshing and does the vocals justice. Got goosebumps during certain songs. 


- Tried another new boba place called Kravin' (09.06). Apparently they've been around for a bit, but I never knew of them. Nice small place. Good customer service. And a drive thru if you need your boba on the go. I of course got the Oreo Smoothie to see if they passed the test and they did. 
 

- Watched UNCONDITIONAL (Papa Joe) (09.29). This was full of emotion. Of course something suggested by supershigi makes me cry, ha. I'm glad I watched it. It made me think about things in my life. 
 

- It wasn't that long ago that I mentioned Diggnation on this blog (08.04). Seems like I wasn't the only one enjoying the reunion. They're now doing shows regularly again, yay. Not weekly, but at least once a month and that's more than enough for me. It's just cool to see them doing this again after so many years. 


- It has been 1 year since I last streamed (09.28). I knew the day was coming. I had gone back to old posts around that time and even watched the last stream a few times over the past six months to get a refresher of things I said. 

One thing I was looking forward to was the end of daily archive posts. All YouTube VODs were scheduled to go up a year after the original stream. I had a reminder set on my phone on when to post to Facebook and Twitter/X. While it was a small thing, it did feel good to permanently delete those reminders. 

I made a post about the one year anniversary (?). Link provided. But it was something I wanted to put out there. And after changing the subtitle of my social media name, that should be the final stamp on streaming. I don't think there's anything else to do or so about it. 


GAMES========================= 

- Demo Showcase Shorts were all over the place. Lots of reasons to not do a long continuous streak. I did have to re-sort the Demo Folders on my Switch since one filled up (200 max). Might have to re-sort them again since a few letters have more than others. As of typing this (09.28), there are less than 80 left. 
  

- The Best Friend Forever tradition continues (09.01). New year, new partner, new dog. This time it was Sacha and Mist (FKA Titan). I had already seen Sacha's story when I played it with Rannchan on her stream years ago. So I knew how it was going to play out. The main difference for this playthrough was me not voicing it out and learning of the fast-forward function. Streams were 5-7 hours long. This run was under 3 hours. Fast-forward only works for dialogue you've read before so that's the bulk of it. The issue that comes from fast-forward is sometimes characters don't appear/disappear from screen timely and sometimes dialogue choices are incorrect. Other than that, Mist became one of my most balanced dogs too with all 5s and a 6. Two more runs left. 


- My Brother Ate My Pudding! completed (09.03). Got it on sale for 50% off and thought it would be fitting to play it this month since I played the other 3 games on stream back in 2021. It plays pretty much like Mom Hid My Game. The silliness is there for sure. But just like the others, this is a short game. Going through all 30 stagest took about an hour. Getting all the Game Over screens added close to an extra half hour to it. Did I enjoy it, yeah. But I wouldn't recommend it at full price. 
 

- Added more to my Bust A Groove/Move collection (09.03). Got a demo for the first game, the alternate red cover for the second game, and a key holder of Frida. Out of those, I only knew of the red cover as I had seen it available to buy online. The demo is a nice addition. The key holders, I never knew they existed. Did some research and there are two sets. A-set has 9 and B-set has 8. Too bad the majority are alternate color versions of certain characters. I found a few on eBay and the cheapest goes for around $50. While I'd like these to be the next big thing I collect, I don't know if I'd pay that much for them. I technically got Frida for $25-$30. And while researching those, I found other Bust A Groove/Move strategy guides I wasn't aware of. Those are going for less than the key holders so I might aim to go for those because I've seen all those available where I have only seen a few of the key holders being sold. 
 

- Disney Speedstorm was the free-to-play game of the month (09.03). I think it was originally pencilled in for February, but it got bumped up to go along with the theme of the NSO games being played (not all). It's...fine. Seriously, it plays well. Lots of characters and customization too. But you either play the seasonal cups or random races to increase your stats and receive in-game currency. Were there incentive to beat things rather than buy things (in-game money or real money), I would have liked it more. 
 

- Got the new Splatoon amiibo (09.05). They're awesome looking. I especially like Pearl's outfit. I really want to see fans cosplay these outfits. And the amiibo collection is once again completed, ha. 
 

- R.C. PRO-AM was the NES NSO game of the month (09.05). One of my older cousins had this and we played it as kids. It was tough back then and it still is now. I only got as far as I did thanks to the rewind function. The CPU cars will naturally be faster than you even with maxed out stats. Which meant precision driving and slowing them down with missiles (if you had enough). I only got as far as I did (stopped after 24 as levels loop after) thanks to the rewind function. A few hours later I was informed that the maximum trophies you can get is 36 so I technically should bump this down to a finished rather than complete. But there was no way I was going to go for more. I was satisfied with what I did. 
 

- Picked up my copy of Ace Attorney Investigations Collection (09.06). Not sure when I'll play it, but I'll get around to it. But while I was there, I met one of the new workers who was Filipino. Not only that, I got to catch up with the manager who has been bouncing back and forth from another location. Glad he's doing well. I also made a snafu when reserving games. I accidentally reserved Echoes of Wisdom a second time. I realized it when I got in my car and checked my notes and saw that it was already marked off. Thankfully they were able to switch that second reservation to another game. 
 

- Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages was the Game Boy NSO game of the month (09.09). Only my second time playing it. Previously had it on the 3DS Virtual Console. I didn't recall much of it and wasn't completely invested in it as I was playing. It's not that it was bad either. They did a good job putting this adventure on the Game Boy. I did know that it links with Oracle of Seasons and that Ages was more puzzle based while Seasons was more action based. I chose to go alphabetically. See you in a few months, Seasons. 


- While cleaning and rearranging things, I found a Super Famicom (09.12). DC gifted it to me 10 years ago when he was cleaning stuff out. I remember picking it up and having a brief chat with him and his wife and saying hi to his son. But I'm lost on why I simply tucked it away in a corner rather than putting it with all the other game stuff I had been collecting. It's part of the collection now at least. 


- As part of the cleaning process, I unfortunately had to put away the majority of my amiibo collection (09.13). It took a few hours to dust and wipe down each one (minus a less than 20). Even the latest Splatoon amiibo are in there. Thankfully they all fit in the bin I was provided. The only ones I kept out were all the Zelda amiibo (reorganized and made to fit together, they were previously split), Detective Pikachu, the Yarn amiibo (Mega Yarn Yoshi, the 3 smaller ones of different colors, and Poochy), the cereal box, the Monster Hunter Stories Japan exclusives, the larger Monster Hunter amiibo (Magnamalo, etc), the Super Nintendo World Power-Up Bands, and the Qbby amiibo with the box. The new set up is less cluttered, but it really does suck to have this big collection simply relegated to a bin. 


- Mario Kart 64 was the N64 NSO game of the month (09.15). This still holds up for better or for worse. Rubber-banding in Mario Kart was never an issue I'd complain about, but they were so close all the time even in 50cc and 100cc. Muscle memory clicked in so much except for some of the short cuts (I took none of them). But this felt incredible to replay. I wish I still had my previous list of game rankings to know where this fell on the scale. If it's not in the top 3, it's definitely in the top 5. 


- The Last Friend was the favorite from Demo Showcase 104, stream 857 on 01.18.23. Got it for 75% off making it about $4 in April. Finally played and finished the game this month (09.17). Tower defense games aren't my normal jam, but I've liked a few especially if they had an interesting gimmick like Dillon's Rolling Western (hard game). The demo was fun and the fact that you get dogs with different abilities and weapons sold me. The actual game itself was as advertised. It never took itself seriously with the story and dialogue. The tower defense was simple to understand and offered enough of a challenge. There were only a handful of levels that I actually lost or didn't get 3-stars in. My main enjoyment was rescuing the large roster of dogs. Not only was it interesting to see what they offered, but I named them after Kpop artists/groups. I named them after members of TWICE, BabyVoX, Girls' Generation, ITZY, BoA, Cheon Sang Ji Hee - The Grace, and Red Velvet. For those unfamiliar with Kpop, that's 41 artists total. I named them simply in order of age rather than looking at the dog and thinking who it best fits (that would have taken too long). And I could have done everything in the game if it wasn't simply replaying older levels to earn bones to level up each dog and to get the remaining stars I missed. Solid overall. Try the demo if you're interested at all and judge from there. 
 

- Tried the SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream OPEN NETWORK TEST (09.21). Another free-to-play beta so I had to push it up the timeline in order to try it during the beta periods. I know nothing of the Sword Art Online series other than the name, but I enjoyed what I played. It's similar to a musou game, but you play with others online to complete quests and take down bosses with large pools of health. The tutorial was slow, but did a good job in teaching the player the mechanics. Co-op quest was fun, especially seeing so many other players at the same time striving to do the same thing. I did not get a chance to do a Boss Raid because not enough people queued up for it (I waited for 10 minutes). I felt this would have been what Phantasy Star Online could have evolved to (faster, more players, etc). If you're able to get into the beta trials, give it a shot (might not be available when you read this or there might be a newer beta trial or the actual game may be out to play). 
 

- Picked up my copy of Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (09.26). This will be the first Zelda game in a while that I won't play on release date. I honestly can't recall the last time that happened. I'm pretty sure if I wasn't still following a scheduled structure because of streaming I would have played it right away. But I do have my hesitations about it. Other than the initial announcement, I've kept my expectations tempered as part of me is worried I won't like it. It could be an after effect from how Tears of the Kingdom turned out for me. We'll see. Echoes of Wisdom is currently slated for December. 
 

- Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice finished (09.18-09.27). Second playthrough ever since the 3DS in 2016. I read an old review I did for it and my opinion has changed for the better. The review was for the most part positive, but now it's more positive. The story was done really well. As it kept unfolding, I thought how cinematic it was. While I might have thought the characters were shoed-in previously, I liked them way more. That may be due to only being apart from them for a month rather than years. The pun names were wonderful, some of the best in the series. And I still agree with what I've said even back then; this is a good bookend for Apollo's trilogy. Speaking of that, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy finished. 

And this was never planned, but I beat each game in the trilogy on the 27th of the month. 


- And minutes after posting images for beating Spirit of Justice, my import copy of Ace Attorney Investigations Collection arrived (09.27). Currently I have these games scheduled for almost a year from now. I'm excited to finally play a legit localized version of the second game so I might push it up, but we'll see. 
  

- Super Mario Land was an extra Game Boy NSO game completed this month (09.29). The reason I chose to play it was because last year in August was when I played Super Mario Land 2. I almost played it last month, but it didn't happen. The game was shorter than I remembered. And I never knew there was an Expert route to play (second playthrough). More enemies mainly, but I was still able to run through it all. Good nostalgia kick. 
 

WORK========================= 

- The ladies bought a bunch of books for the new location. 187 books to be exact (09.04). Other than helping bring them in, we removed all of the book covers and sifted through them in case there was money in them, ha. We did find a few things like boarding passes and coupons. I made sure to put aside a Guiness Book of World Records from 1982 and a yearbook from 1950. The yearbook was interesting to flip through. And the Guiness Book is in the lobby now as a talking piece for customers. 
 

- Cheers to a group of ladies that were a walk-in towards the end of the night (09.07). They came from across the building to see if any spots were open and we had a few even though it was beyond the original time spot. It was one of their birthdays so they were out having a bachelorette party. The leader of the group, she definitely was the leader, ha. She was good at making sure the ladies were doing things, took care of payments, directed things, etc. She helped make the process smooth. Unfortunately for me, she had a wedding ring. But they were still a fun crew to end the night with. 

- I was keeping an eye on the latest set of Oreos to come out; the Oreo and Coca-Cola collaboration.They originally released on the 9th and I was checking stores nearby or on the way to work. A lot of places didn't have them or they had one or the other. Decided to check once again before work and found a Target that had both (09.10). Before that, I found the cookies at one store and the soda at another. I had never been to this Target before. It was 20 minutes away from work and not too out of the way. It seemed like a really nice one. I had not seen one with a pick-up section that was canopied off. Got in, waited for less than 5 minutes, and the worker brought out my stuff. Easy. Brought them to work. Agent Ocean and I tried the cookies and both had impressions about it. Specifically that it didn't taste as expected. Side note, we tried the soda the following day. He liked it and I had a tiny bit. It tasted familiar, but the little sip I had was bringing about a headache. I would have drank more, but yeah. Side side note; coworkers were back and forth on the cookies (some preferred the Sour Patch ones more like I do). And apparently none like the soda (I should have only bought one pack). 


The day was slow so we went to HEB to buy snacks. Been a bit since I've been on a snack run. The day itself was slow. So we did take that opportunity to close up early and try a food place Agent Ocean had been referred to by customers; Roll-Em-Up Taquitos. It was a ways away and it started to rain. But the place was nice. I liked their aesthetic. The worker that tended to us was nice and chatty making sure we got what we wanted. It was delicious. Definitely want more so I'll keep that as another place to return to in the near future. Agent Ocean and I walked around the area for a bit after before parting ways for the day. 


- Simple slow day (09.11). It was only myself and Agent Ocean. It reminded me of old HER days with us handling things. Thankfully we had 5 bookings total with 2 of them being replays. 

- Unfortunately I had an extra day off (09.17). Agent Ocean messaged me that we were going to close for that Tuesday since no one booked. It reminded me of old HER days when we simply went home early because he had no bookings.  

- Worked on a Friday (09.20). Haven't done that in a while, but we were low on staff. Plus having lost a day previously this worked out. It wasn't overly busy, so some staff stayed home and even were asked to leave early as they day progressed. At the end, it was myself and Agent Ocean. We had a cool team to end the night on. One of the team members said it was good to see me again and I played along. It took a bit before he said he wanted to do the room I showed him before that it clicked who he was. He was there a couple weeks ago with his son and friends. We were chatting with the team before sending them in. They were fairly good in the room. I complimented them on the teamwork I saw with one puzzle that usually takes other teams a long time to do. In the lobby, we gave them free small bottles of water and a coffee. Then I brought up if anyone wanted to try the Oreo Coke drink and someone did. I brought out a one can for them to share and they gave the puzzled reaction most give. Some liked it, some did not. Then it was more friendly banter about their kids. They were there for maybe 20-30 minutes after their booking before they decided to call it a night. We'll see some of them at a future date for some of their kids to play again. 

- Busy day with low staff makes for quite a work day (09.21). It wasn't so bad, but there was an incident with a couple of the staff members where mistakes were made and voices were raised. I spoke to both at separate times to get their stories, how they felt, and what to do to improve. On a positive note, the two parties we had were simple to handle (compared to hellish parties). Shout out to the second party as the dad was part Filipino and we instantly bonded. Other than tending to them a little more, he and I had a 15-20 minute conversation as the party was winding down and the building wasn't too busy. Apparently he really appreciated it as he not only gave a big tip (so did the previous party), but he gave me a personal tip. Hopefully he'll come through again in the future. 

- We started to schedule staff to help the build out in the Woodlands. The first day it was myself and Agent Ocean (09.24). The drive there wasn okay. One hour as expected, but I forgot about school zones since it was an early day (got there around 9:10AM). We actually stopped by the Game Show Battle Rooms first to introduce ourselves and they were kind enough to show us one of the rooms that wasn't in use. I was intrigued. 

Then we went back to our location (a block down) and met the ladies there who gave a tour and a general plan of what was going on. They needed to buy something so Agent Ocean and I walked over to a breakfast place to get him some food. Ate outside then went to Dave & Busters (across the street from us) to check it out. The ladies returned with what we needed and Agent Ocean and I started on the metal sheet walls that were to go up in Antidote. We had a process of measuring, spraying, cutting, laying out (carefully to avoid bubbles and open spaces between sheets), and repeat. We did that until we were done with the roll we had and it was close to clock out time anyways. 

We cleaned up at Dave & Busters because our bathrooms have yet to be installed. While we walked around there before, I didn't see the DDR machine until this second visit. Agent Ocean and I played our 3 songs (Brilliant 2U, Afronova, and Break Down). We were tired (me more than him), but it warmed my heart to play DDR after so long. Then we walked over to eat at Crawfish Cafe. Never been to that location before, but Iiked the layout. And of course the food was delicious. Caught up as we ate. As we were wrapping up, I said we should go back to Game Show to see if the other room was available to preview. 

We walked in as another team of three (from a church group) were being shown the room and they said we can check with them. After being there for a couple of minutes, the manager we met earlier said "do you all have 45 minutes to spare?" Basically offered us a free game if everyone was able to. We were brought out to the lobby to get the full experience. Initially we thought we'd be in our groups we were with, but they mixed us up by picking different colored poker chips. Agent Ocean was paired with one other member and I was with the other two. We all came up with nicknames and team names and were brought in to play. It was super fun. I had a blast. Our team wasn't doing too well at the beginning, but we ended up winning thanks to the last game being conveniently enough points for us to win the whole thing, ha. Definitely want to come back with friends and/or coworkers. Thank you to the staff for allowing us to play. 

The drive back...around 90 minutes. It was traffic time so it was expected. 


The second day felt fast (09.26). NL was there first and I was there about 10 minutes after 9AM. The ladies weren't there until about an hour later so I gave a short tour of what I remembered. Then we walked outside so he could see what was around the area. Then we helped move some boxes in and then waited for the ladies to arrive to give directions. More of the metal sheets with what was left. It went by smoothly as I remembered how the process went with Agent Ocean. Although there were a few times NL would skip a step and I had to remind him. CG and SP showed up late due to bad traffic. They jumped in to help. Once we were done, we were tasked with replacing blue tape we used with gorilla tape as it was way stronger. It didn't take long to run out and NL and myself had to wait as CG and SP went to get more (and since they knew the area better than either of us). NL and I swept and vacuumed Antidote in preparations for setting up there. Yay for more gorilla tape. 

We all went out to lunch with the ladies at Crawfish Cafe. Good food again, but I'm pretty sure the ladies didn't like it. The others did for sure. Ate, caught up on stuff. Went back to start putting up the metal sheets in Antidote. It took a bit to get one up because we had to measure it, cover more of it, and work together to hold it up and nail it. Even then, we had the wrong nails for the nail gun so we had to stop. It was close to the time to end the shift anyways. Fast day. 

The ride home...was bad. There was just a vast amount of traffic. About half an hour of slowly moving along the feeder before there was a steady flow on the highway. It would have been a 2 hour drive back home, but I stopped by Tea Villa for a drink (always saw it on the way to work) and then went to GameStop to pick up Echoes of Wisdom. 


- 46 sessions (09.28). Only 2 bookings at the beginning of the day weren't made. It was going well with a few minor hiccups here and there. But then something happened around 7PM. We became behind schedule for a few rooms (teams were late and would still insist on buying drinks), some resetting mistakes happened, props were being damaged, etc. A few of us stayed 30-60 minutes after our shifts ended to help out. You could tell that myself and some of the night crew were exhausted. We have our suspicions when things might have gone awry, but we were able to push forward and make things happen. It has been a while since I've felt that exhausted during and after a shift. 

ETC========================= 

- TZUYU - Run Away (MV) 

I clap and nod like a proud father, ha. 


- aespa Karina - UP (MV) 

You have had my attention previously, but now I'm locked in. 


- HyoYeon - Retro Romance (MV) 

This is one of her best. Extra points to the stylist. 


- Late in the first week of September, I noticed I was itching more than normal. It was either in my hair or my back or legs or everywhere. Didn't think too much of it until it was more consistent and becoming more. It was only happening in my room. If I was out or at work, no itching. So I did start to plan to clean things especially since a lot of stuff did collect dust. One thing I thought was that my gaming chair was a source of dust. Reason being that when I did clean it, there was quite a bit of dust and hair stuck in the cracks. At one point I even realized "I'm really itchy when I sit in my chair." While I did clean it, there was still a frequency of itching in it. While I had been planning to get rid of the chair at some point, this was a turning point to swap it out. It seemed to have helped at the time. 

One night at 3AM, I woke up being incredibly itchy on my wrists and ankles specifically (09.12). I tried to sleep it off, but it was too much and I took a shower. Afterwards I brought down my laundry to make sure to get it ready because it was full. That day off, I spent it cleaning around (sweeping, wiping, etc), threw out a bunch of old boxes (was holding to use for gifts), and the laundry (clothes and bed sheets) were done. It seemed to have helped, but not a lot. 

Opened the windows to air out the room too. I wasn't itching as much. Then night time rolled in and the itching grew. It was getting late so I drank some ZzzQuil to sleep through it. The next day, I went out to buy cleaning wipes and dust mite spray (09.13). The main task was to dust and wipe down all the amiibo and pack them away in a tote. It was mentioned already, but it took about 2-3 hours to do this. I wore a mask the whole time so I wouldn't inhale the dust during the process. While I still don't like that the majority of my amiibo are packed up, the new setup isn't bad. Then I cleaned a few other things like old papers and organized a few parts of my room to make cleaning dust easier. Did it help? 

The next day, everything was fine (09.14). The itching went from 80% to less than 20%. Figured all that was done helped. The minor itching wasn't bad either so I wanted to ride it out to see if it would come back after I came home from work. Unfortunately, it did. It wasn't super bad, it went from 20% to 70% or more. 

The following day, the plan was to bring the mattress down and lay it out in the sun (09.15). My dad helped bring it down and we put it up against a wall outside in our backyard so that the sun beamed down at it. Then we beat the mattress to get any deep dust out as well as respraying it again with the dust mite spray. A couple hours later, we flipped it and did the process again. We also cleaned the bed frame as it also was carrying dust. About 5 hours later, we brought the mattress back up. To think my mom wanted to do this process the day before when I had work (she said it would take an hour). I'm glad I "got my way" because we took the time to clean things properly. And my bed sheets were washed again for the third or fourth time during this whole process. I also removed and cleaned my a/c vent just in case. This seems to have done the trick. The itching went down drastically. 

Am I still itching? Not as much. It still is relegated to my room, but it is tolerable. I'm just glad it's not incredibly harsh like it was at the peak of the issue. 

That's a wrap on September 2024. Thank you for your support. Be cool and be kind. 



"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits." 

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Sunday, September 1, 2024

August 2024 Entry

 August 2024 Entry: 

- Another month that went by fast, but felt long. 

MISC========================= 

- My PC died (08.03). It was in the morning and we had a rolling blackout. It has survived many of those in the past two years. However, this time the PC tower had a blinking yellow light. Never had that happen prior. Checked my phone for possible solutions such as trying a different power outlet, holding down the button for X amount of seconds, etc. Nothing worked. Went to Dell's website, but their online messenger and their phone tech options weren't available on the weekend. Went to work early that day and hoped everything fixed itself by the time I got back and it didn't. 

I ended up taking it to Geek Squad the next day. It did suck that I had to wait about 15 minutes after my scheduled appointment (it wasn't busy and no one was in front of me). But once the staff member finally analyzed my PC, she said most things I already knew. She did give me a few extra options to try in terms of getting an actual diagnosis (paid), trying to plug and play various parts to see what is and is not working, etc. I also chatted with Kai to get their opinion since they were the one that built my machine. They did offer to help, but did not have spare parts to do a diagnosis. So I contemplated whether I should buy random parts and hope for the best, which I did not want to do and possibly waste money on. 

Went with a trip to Micro Center to do a diagnosis (08.06). Did a bit of research and it seemed like the fastest and cost-effective path to go with. Had to wait about half an hour to drop off my PC. Then it was just waiting. I was told I would get lots of texts about updates about what was going on, but that didn't happen. I waited 2 days just in case the status online changed. Finally reached out through their online chat to see what was going on. I think that's what kicked it off as it was within 24 hours I saw the status changing online and then getting a text saying what was wrong. The power supply crapped out. They mentioned the price of replacing it and how much it would be if I had them install it, which is what I opted for since I knew I couldn't do it properly and didn't want to wait for anyone else to do it. The next day I got another message to pick it up. Waited about 10 minutes before being called up. There was an issue with my account since there was another one attached to the address (family). Then they finally brought out my PC and told me the price. I questioned it because it was lower than estimated. The worker double checked with their manager. Once they checked, he looked at me and said "Merry Christmas." They didn't say why, but I assume it's because of the days of wait when it could have been done in less than 48 hours. Plus the case doesn't close properly anymore and that was their fault. It's not horrible, but it wasn't like that before I brought it in. Again, that's my guess. It was a nice surprise overall. Took the PC to work and brought it home after the shift. 

I didn't hook up my PC until the next morning because I didn't want to worry about setting things and checking to see if it was properly running and think about it while I slept. Hooked it up and everything was working (08.11). The next couple of days was spent catching up on a few things. Over a week without a PC was rough. I had to alter some routines and learn how to do stuff via mobile to keep track of stuff. Yay for learning new ways of doing stuff, but it's way easier on desktop.  

The biggest change since then (probably jixing it now) is being able to sleep without any white noise since then. I think I've got a routine to help with it, but I haven't gone this long without white noise in many many years. Hopefully it sticks. 

- Went back with my dad to repair the fence I helped him with last month (08.04). We basically had to remove the boards and reinforce them. At least I felt like I was doing something this time. Other than holding the fence up and handing over tools, I mainly hammered out old nails from the boards once they were removed. 
 

- Picked up my copy of TWICE 5th World Tour 'READY TO BE' in Seoul (08.08). It was my first time preordering from a local store, but I was pleasantly surprised with how easy and fast the process was. I guess this might be a regular thing for future purchases if they're available. Otherwise I still have the reliable YesAsia, which I've used for decades. 

I also stopped by a nearby boba shop (several in the area). I had not heard or seen any friends post from this place so I thought to see if they're good or not. What I originally wanted was recently removed from the menu, but I still found something I liked. Not bad, but nothing that stood out to recommend it over other places. 
 

- Chose to watch the Twisted Metal series (08.09). The main reason was because of the fast/racing games I was playing this month. It's not bad, but there was more of an emphasis on character and world building. Not every episode caught my attention as I saw myself reaching for my phone to check on other things. Shout out to episode four WHZDARE as I thought that was the best one. I also wanted more vehicular combat, but it definitely seems that is what season two will be about. I do hope that's the case. 
 

- Went for my annual CT scan (08.12). As I told the doctor, these visits get shorter and shorter. 40 minutes to drive there, 5 minutes to check-in and fill out paperwork (didn't even finish), 5 minutes for the scan, and 40 to drive home. That's not a complaint either. I'd rather things go smoothly with efficient visit/wait times.  

- Went out to eat with part of the HeXagon crew (08.15). We went to Sip Tea Boba, which NE had suggested months ago. There were no customers until the last few minutes we were there when the store was closing. Food was decent and so were the drinks. Worth trying out, but nothing super amazing. We didn't stay too long as we could only meet an hour before the store closed. It was good catching up with the guys. Haven't seen them since the ITZY concert. 


- For a change in scenery (I guess), I decided to make a small change to how I arranged things on my desk. It was a simple change, but kind of necessary now that I don't use my PC to charge USB devices. Basically things that have been on the left and right side of my desk switched spots. Not too long after, I accidentally dropped a mug (08.18). Granted it was close to 1AM so I wasn't really paying too much attention when I grabbed my water bottle. It's not the biggest loss as I do have other mugs I don't use lying around. But it was one I bought for myself on my birthday almost two years ago when I was in Austin. The handle broke off and that's it. It can still be used. I might shave down the rest of the handle and leave it like that. 


- Had my second biannual ENT appointment (08.21). The parking lot has been under construction for about two years now. This was probably the worst time I had finding parking. Usually there were attendants around. This time they were only at valet parking. Myself and a few other cars could be seen circling the lot and the garage multiple times to find an empty spot. There was one point that I found one outside, but due to people not parking properly, I would not be able to fit so I abandoned it. Thankfully my next trip back into the garage was the one. I found one spot next to a pillar. There are red/green lights above each spot to let you know if it was available, but I swear I saw two cars pass it. The whole parking part took 15-20 minutes causing me to be about 10 minutes late. My wait was actually only about 10 more minutes before seeing the doctor. Then it was less than 10 minutes before he said we were done. According to my CT scan and from what he personally saw, everything was stable. It wasn't worse and there wasn't a lot to clean out of my problematic ear. As I mentioned when I left, I spent more time looking for parking than the actual appointment. 

The ride home was...off. I had a hankering for boba and even thought of a place near home I never tried. Then I tried looking up spots nearby that weren't franchises and settled on one. Followed the GPS and it wasn't there. Not only that, I was in a small unfamiliar part of town next to the freeway causing me to go in a couple of loops to get back on. Then I decided to try another exit that wasn't normally riddled with boba shops. The thing is I chose a road that was devoid of boba places. By this time, I was out of the way from the boba place I originally thought to try. Decided to go for Dutch Bros since it had been a while since I had them. But then I glanced at the clock. While it normally took about 40 minutes to get home, it was close to an hour. I figured to just go home and not waste any more time. Not that I had anything pending, but I felt more time would be spent for no reason.  

Usually after my ENT appointments, my head would be in pain. Whether the appointment went well or not, enduring the hurt of getting my ear picked at would make the day in general rough. So I figured not to do anything big after other than watch Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Three. I liked it. Good bookend end to this trilogy of movies. Part of me was really curious how it would go down. Not only that, I was waiting for the one clip I had seen online; Kevin Conroy's last recording as Batman. Wonderful. 
 

- Rest in Peace, Sid (08.26). One of my favorites growing up. He was always opposing no matter what side of the fence he was on. You knew he was going to be hard to take down. And his powerbombs fit him so well. He was the Master and Ruler of the World for a reason. You will be missed. 


- Exercise has not resumed. Ever since the ITZY concert, my routine dance and Fitness Boxing never returned. However, I have upped the amount of push-ups I do. Last month I did increase the number by 5, which meant 80 a day. This month I added 5 more so now it was 100 push-ups a day. But I did more sets. On work days, I'd still do the 100. On off days, I did 100-400, but that's split every 3 hours. Sometimes I would skip a set, but I definitely can feel/see the difference. It's not a lot, but it's there. And I think I can maintain this for now before adding more (in general) next month. 

- Game Informer shut down (08.02). That sucked big time. I'll admit to not being the biggest supporter of the magazine itself, but I was a supporter of those that were part of it. While I've had a subscription to the magazine, I really got into things because of their videos on YouTube. The first video I remember watching was Smashed: The Guinness Marathon Documentary. I don't even recall how I stumbled upon it, but I liked what I saw and started to check their older videos. That's when I stumbled on their Replay and Super Replay series. The humor and personalities were fun to listen to and seeing them play games I was fond of or had heard of was awesome. The white noise I slept to for over a decade were those videos. For that being a staple of my life is something I'll be thankful for. Thank you for the laughs and the memories. 

Shout outs specifically to the I Watched the Entire Overblood Super Replay Facebook group. I may not have been the most active there, but I did make a few connections thanks to them (also with Overslam). And cheers to MinnMax for celebrating Game Informer and for doing what they felt necessary to archive anything and everything that was GI. 

https://youtu.be/qDl5Jl7ajdY?si=sd4HSmIqrFRpzGKF (Smashed: The Guinness Marathon Documentary) 

GAMES========================= 

- Demo Showcase Shorts continued, but had a lot of breaks (PC, appointments, etc). While my PC was out of commission, I didn't try to push and do these even though I could. A few days after my PC was down, I figured out how to do all the typing and linking through mobile. I never really used spreadsheets on mobile before outside of viewing them. Took a bit to get used to, but I did it. Another special note was we had our first 5 thumbs up in a row. Our last Demo Showcase on stream was 5 thumbs up and this would only be the second time it happened. 
  

- Arise: A Simple Story - Definitive Edition completed (08.02). Tried the demo in March and got it on sale for 85% off ($3). Only a few technical issues here and there. But there were a few times in the end where it was darker than normal. Coupled with the traveling light during those segments made it a tough end of the game. Not sure how co-op would have worked. I don't know if there is a difference from 100% the game or not. I would assume the ending might be slightly different. The story was the best part. 


- Tray Racers was the free-to-play game of the month (08.03). Functionally not bad. There weren't a lot of people playing online when I was on (4 at most including me). I still stand by wishing it was a normal racer with laps. Using your best practice run (which could vary in how many attempts you get) and your actual race time to determine placement is an interesting choice. As I've said on social media, not bad, but could be better. 


- Sonic The Hedgehog 2 was the Genesis NSO game of the month (08.04). Played through it once getting Super Sonic and then used stage select to get a Tails and regular Sonic ending. Felt like a glove. There's a reason this is one of my favorite Sonic games in general. I played this so much back in the day. 
 

- Mario Kart: Super Circuit was the GBA NSO game of the month (08.07). I've only played through this game one other time on the 3DS thanks to the Ambassador Program. I think I would have liked it more had I played it when it originally was released. Not that it's bad, but having played other Mario Karts that came after, it was tougher to unlearn what it has evolved to. But it's still at the bottom of the list of my favorite Mario Kart games. 
 

- Super Mario Kart was the SNES NSO game of the month (08.08). Played it when it originally came out...a lot. It definitely is different to how the series has evolved to. But muscle memory was kicking in. I also liked how the tracks were short. Mario Kart definitely got better over time, but this (to me) is still a great jumping off point. 
 

- Got a copy of Sonic Superstars (08.15). It was on sale for 80% off at Best Buy brand new. Awesome deal. Currently have it penciled in to play towards the end of this year.  


- Finished Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (08.18). I was looking forward to this and I wasn't. It's been 20 years since I beat the original on Gamecube (still have the game and strategy guide that I used while playing). What I wasn't looking forward to was what I've grown to dislike about Paper Mario games in general; they're slow. There were some additions made to help speed things along, but it's overall still slow. Fights take a long time, having to backtrack is still not fun even though there are modern enhancements, and the story itself rolls out at a slow pace. All the good still holds up like the characters and presentation. I think I should have not opted to do the Pit of 100 Trials after beating the game or at all. An extra 3-4 hours of game time, one death, and the boss being easier than some of the enemies leading there. After beating that, I pondered for a few minutes whether or not to do the additional secret boss. It would require doing the last 50 floors again and then fighting the new boss, but I was drained after the original run down there. I enjoyed the revisit overall, but it ended on a sour note. 


- Nintendo Museum Direct happened (08.19). It looks so cool. Part of me would prefer going to see this over Super Nintendo World. I would still like to go to Super Nintendo World, but I don't feel like I'm missing out (although I know I'd have a blast there). But that museum looks really well thought out and would make me go wow looking at and experiencing everything. 
 

- The Indie World Showcase + NIntendo Direct: Partner Showcase was really good (08.27). I will admit like others have pointed out, the Indie Showcase was a little weak while the Partner Showcase shined. I did find quite a few things I liked and have definitely added more titles to my wish list. 

NEVA 
Coffee Talk Tokyo (oh yeah) 
Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope DX 
Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Training (guess I have a reason to stop Fitness Boxing 2 now) 
Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (originally I wanted just a CVS collection, but holy heck) 
Suikoden I & II HD Remaster (amazing) 
Castlevania Dominus Collection (finally will get to play these) 


- Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies finished (08.27). I've only played this game one other time and that was when it was released on the 3DS (2013). I did remember some of the bigger plot points, but definitely forgot the new cast that were in these cases. When they popped up, I was all "oh yeah, that person." But I did remember who the big evils were and I definitely knew how it ended. The music surprised me the most because they're really good. But the game does still rank low for me in the overall series. It may be the reason it's one of the few Ace Attorney games I never went out of my way to replay. I have a better appreciation of it though. 


- Minecraft Dungeons was a Game Trial this month (08.29). It showed up late in the month, but figured to wedge it in. There's a possibility it was offered before and I missed it (had it already listed on the spreadsheet). It was easy, but mindless. I felt there was a possibility I could finish it in the next couple days, but decided not to. 
 

WORK========================= 

- We held a surprise event for the owners (08.01). Agent Ocean put it in our group chat (that the ladies aren't part of) that we should do something for the ladies before some of the staff leave for college. I came up with an idea where we surprise them by me asking for a meeting where they're worried about what it may be about, but then reveal it's a set up, take them to each room where one of the college-bound staff members is hiding, they say nice words, and give them a letter that's part of a puzzle that ultimately leads them to our party room where everyone is. This has been in the works for a little over a month. First part was secretly telling the staff about the idea. Had to do it whenever I was able to pull them aside when it wasn't busy and if I was working with them (Agent Ocean and CG told a few that I never saw) or ultimately text/call a few. Then it was texting them in our group chat of the details of how the plan would carry out. We also had Agent Blue call us to "make a corporate booking." But we had to alter plans a bit because once the ladies saw that booking, they decided to block the rest of the day to have a company meeting. So our original plan of getting snow cones and snacks from a vendor across the street changed as we didn't know the food plans the ladies were going to do. Then there were updates here and there to the plan as some that were originally going to be a part of it couldn't anymore, making sure of the "payment" for Agent Blue's booking, and when I was going to ask for the meeting, which was the day before. They agreed to it and I was relieved as I worried they wouldn't be able to. During that time, they were worried I was going to quit, ha. 

The day of...they asked if we could move the meeting time to later like before the meeting. Agent Ocean and I were texting on the side about what to say. I said I couldn't do it any other time because my family needed the car. They brought how I RSVPd to the meeting and I countered that things changed within the last 24 hours and I had to fight for the time I asked to meet. They agreed with the original time. Then my mom actually asked me for a favor close to when I was getting ready to leave and coincidentally that happened to Agent Ocean too, ha. And then there was construction happening on the road leading to our venue so we had to delay things by about half an hour. Then there were a few mishaps with one staff member forgetting to wait and started walking over (I caught them). One that was the son of the owner had to come up with an excuse because he ended up being in front of her on the road. Another wasn't checking the updates in the group chats. And of course everyone was waiting for the signal to go in. After I put my things away, I secretly let the staff that were scheduled to do what they were supposed to do as I went into the party room for the meeting. 

I was nervous. Waiting in the parking area for a bit due to the construction traffic, I typed out a list of bullet points so I wouldn't forget anything. I actually used that as part of what I was going to say. I started by saying that nothing has been decided, I was seeking advice and guidance, and that I wanted to say everything first before they chimed in. Basically I talked about how the former owner of HER, Agent Raynor, has been catching up with me and wanted to revive the company. This part went on for maybe 5 minutes as I wanted to lay out the whole story and give time for the surprise to be set up. When I referenced Agent Raynor, I said something to Agent Ocean because he knew the type of person he is. Later in the day he said he had to look away because he wouldn't be able to keep a straight face if I kept looking at him, ha. But the ending was that I was to play an audio message that Agent Raynor wanted me to play for the ladies. As part of the planning process and to keep it as authentic as possible, I contacted Agent Raynor and we had a call while he was on the road. He really liked the idea and recorded the message in one take. The message was him mentioning how busy he was (pickleball), he sold his last business, and how now is the time to revive the company. He mentioned how me and Agent Ocean had been holding it down where we were now, but he wanted me to work with him full time to bring back HER. He also gave me a time frame to give him an answer (hence me needing to have this meeting). And towards the end of the two minute message, he said how he wanted to play the message for the ladies saying how they're wondering who he was and what's going on. He ended it by saying how it was all an elaborate set up and that he was turning it back to Agent Ocean and myself. 

The whole time I was doing my speech and playing the audio message, I was paying attention to their faces. One was stoic and the other couldn't hide what she was feeling. As soon as Agent Raynor said "this was a set up," they immediately yelled "what?!" and their faces lit up and were caught by surprise. All my nervousness went away at that moment. I asked them to stand and confirmed with Agent Ocean of what he needed to do; message the group chat to let everyone know to come in after I lead the ladies away. I told them we were going on a tour of the venue. They were wiping their tears away and making comments like "I'm not dressed for this" and "my hair is still wet" as we were going down the main hallway. We stopped in front of the first escape room and I said "this is my favorite of all our rooms," but let them know we needed to see what was inside. Inside was one of the college-bound staff members. The ladies exclaimed as RL said some kind words to them. I stayed outside the door to give privacy, but kept the door ajar so I could hear when I needed to lead the staff member out and take the ladies to the next room. But before each member left, they presented a letter of the alphabet to the ladies. Before each room, I said something, but I actually forgot what I originally wanted to say for a few of them. After RL was CP. Then it was copy and paste to each room. Of course the ladies were catching on to what was going on, but the surprise now was who was going to be in the room, what they were going to say, and what letter they were going to get. From CP to OW to RB to PH and ending with AO. The ladies then had all the letters they needed and easily deciphered that they needed to go to the party room. And that's where the rest of the staff that were available were waiting to surprise them. The reactions the ladies gave were what we were aiming for. A few words were said and then Agent Ocean played the audio message from Agent Raynor for everyone else to hear. That's when I got the laptop ready to present a Kudoboard on screen. We each read our messages out loud for the ladies (for those who weren't there, someone else read it). And that was it. Mission accomplished. 

A few more things were realized like the corporate team that didn't show up (thanks Agent Blue) and why I needed to have the meeting when I asked. Of course the company meeting was still happening, but it wasn't happening until a few hours later. The ladies said we could buy some Chic-Fil-A and chill in the meantime as they went to go take care of things and prepare for the company meeting. All of us went to Chic-Fil-A to get something (I got a shake) and came back to work to play Jackbox. This was amazing fun. It's been a while since I've played Jackbox with a group of new people. It was so good to see our senses of humor and to hear everyone laugh it up. 

Then it was the actual meeting. Talked about new things we'll be trying, some stats, the second location (we were told of the month it would hopefully launch), reviews, etc. They took a nice jab at me since I was the person that got a 1-star (mentioned in a previous blog entry). I thought I had more, but they reminded me the other one was a 3-star. Cheers to everyone that got a reward and recognition. I was actually the male with the most review mentions and got a cash reward. I offered to give part of it back due to the 1-star review, but they mentioned they already did that, ha. And one of the last things shown was a surprise to the staff that I had a hand in. Part of it was a distraction sidequest for the ladies to put together while we had their surprise stirring, but I knew it would be a fun surprise for the staff who wouldn't think they'd get one since they were part of one. Over time, the staff had idolized the creator of the company. Those that got the chance to meet him took photos with him and those have been posted in the control room wall. Those that haven't met him gush when one of us does. He's basically reached celebrity status with them. The surprise was a video of him giving the college-bound staff a personal shout out, thanking them, and congratulating them on going to college. Their faces, priceless. I wish I took a photo/video of them. The meeting wrapped up and we were told about our team activity; laser tag. 

Thanks to Agent Ocean for the ride. I haven't played laser tag in decades. Never been to Battlefield before. It was fun. I didn't do well in terms of kills or anything. I know I got killed a bunch, ha. But there were moments where I could help direct people and provide cover. The music being played was a lot of wrestling music so I was singing those out loud. We sweat, we shot at each other, and we had fun. My thighs were in so much pain for the next few days (darn stairs). Others were as well, ha. We walked over to have a company dinner at Soto's Cantina. Never been there before, but the food was so dang good (I took some home). Good food and good talks to end the company gathering. Cheers, everyone. Agent Ocean and I went back to the work building to clean up a few things and because my car was there. 

Thanks to everyone that took part in the surprise. It was a reminder of why I like doing stuff like that and a reminder of why I don't. It's stressful especially with more people involved. The end result is always fantastic, but I don't think it's always understood how much it takes to coordinate things like this. It has been a long time since I've set up something like this and it felt great and that's what matters. 


- A couple things happened this day (08.13). First, I was given a secret project to work on. It was prefaced with I might not like the task, but I'm the best person for it...and I can see what they mean. The second was Agent Ocean was without a car. It was thought to be stolen, but a couple days later was found in a tow lot. But he asked the first day for a ride home. I had never taken him back to his current home before so I was totally lost with where we were. When I went home, the path was more familiar, but still not one I normally took regularly.  

- A long Saturday as summer comes to an end (08.17). It wasn't particularly bad, but you could tell the staff was getting worn out as we were getting closer to closing. Shout outs to ROCKS, ha. And the silliness of thanking each other for doing a good job as we left. 

- While the previous Saturday was busy, the first Saturday post-summer vacation was slow. It was the first time in a long time we were able to close early on a Saturday (08.24). That was due to the lack of bookings. This might have been the first time some of the staff ever got to leave early on a Saturday if they were familiar with staying until close to midnight. It was a fun day regardless because we were all being silly, but it did suck that we didn't have many bookings. Cheers to all the reviews we received though. 

- Little by little, the college-bound staff members were leaving. We knew it was coming, but it did suck to see some of them off. I didn't get to see all of them off due to scheduling, but knowing that we don't have a solid set of consistent employees around anymore is an odd transition. Some aren't far away, but they'll still be missed.  

Along with seeing a chunk of staff leave, we have a small set of new trainees. As of typing this, there are three new members on the team. As of typing this (08.25), I have my reservations for them. Some more than others. All of them have potential, but some are stronger in some aspects where others don't. Together, they're one good employee, ha. But hopefully more time and seasoning will get them to be reliable. 

- The last work day of the month was rough (08.31). More like a rough sandwich. The beginning was good, especially as one coworker came back from vacation and a former coworker visited and helped for a bit. Then there were all these little problems that consistently happened. Resets weren't solid, props broke, etc. It just reminded me that this wasn't my week. I had to just be silent otherwise I would have had an outburst. However, there was one set of customers that enjoyed themselves, but mentioned how they weren't told they could do something by their game master. I defended her as she is new (and I let her know about it after). After I exited them and took their photo, one of them asked if I was the owner. I asked if they thought I was. She replied with "you seem like you really care about all of this." I thanked her for the kind words and let them know I've had a rough week and hearing those words made my day. They all shook my hand and left with smiles. That made the rest of my work day better. And thankfully the last couple of teams were fun and easy to manage for the remaining staff members. 

ETC========================= 

- BoA Debut 24th Anniversary (08.25) 

- HyoYeon (DJ HYO) announced a show in town. I immediately got my ticket as soon as it was available. Got that cheap early bird price of $25. Only one other person in HeXagon was going. I passed the information about the show to MC and he decided to go as well. The plan was to eat at Dough Zone (5 minute walk from the venue) at 7:30 and then head over at 9PM. 

KQ and MC got to meet for the first time. We shared Kpop stories and general stories in general as we ate some good food. During that time, we talked about the show. Earlier in the day, I was curious how long the show would be and I saw that other places advertised it from 10PM-2AM. KQ was more familiar with the scene and he said that sounded about right. He said we'd probably have 1-2 openers before HyoYeon's set and that most likely that would be after midnight. That concerned myself and MC. KQ already said he'd stay the whole time. MC was hesitant and wasn't sure. I had already given myself a hard leave time of midnight because of plans for the next day, but that was before the realization of when HyoYeon would perform. I was hoping we'd have an opener for an hour at best before HyoYeon's set and if she went on the rest of the night, I'd at least see her for an hour. Also the original plan of leaving my car at Dough Zone was derailed as the staff member we asked about parking said they weren't sure if towing would be enforced. KQ was already parked at the venue so he rode with me. MC and I both got street parking nearby (I was 2 cars behind him). KQ needed to move his car since he originally was in the valet lot before they were starting. He ended up behind me. We were waiting in line for about an hour (literally they let us in at 10PM). 

We were one of the first (maybe first 10) in there so we immediately got to the center of the barricade. The DJ was already playing as the crowd was filing in. We were having a good time, but I was keeping tabs on the time. The DJ went for about an hour and forty-five minutes. At that time, I was okay with staying an extra hour if HyoYeon was next on stage. She wasn't. Another DJ went up and started. I was thinking maybe she was getting a trial and would only be on for ten minutes. KQ found the DJ's IG story and it showed her set time ending at 12:50AM. Midnight struck...and I had to tap out. I told the guy's I was going and they understood. I walked out and headed to my car. One of the workers said bye to me before I got in and I should have asked if there was a chance I could see HyoYeon and why I was leaving, but I didn't think about it until I started to drive away and she was gone. 


Why did I leave when I did? Why didn't I stay the whole night? I needed to take my mom to the hospital the next day to get her pacemaker battery replaced. It was the earliest date she could have it done. Not only that, but the hospital she was going to get it done was over an hour away. Her appointment was at 9AM and we were going to leave at 7:30AM. I got home from the club a little over 12:30AM and didn't sleep until 1AM. I got about 5 hours of sleep before getting up to get ready. We hit traffic on the way there, but we were thankfully not late. Then it was waiting from 9AM to about 1PM. During that time in the lobby, I just caught up on social media and watched YouTube. I did go to the in-building Starbucks and wanted a turkey sandwich (saw it on the menu and haven't had turkey in a while). Unfortunately it was a day that sandwiches weren't being made due to the doctors only performing surgeries and it wouldn't be super busy. Ended up eating banana nut bread and marble bread with Gatorade. My dad and I were asked to come talk to the doctor at close to 11AM. We were surprised it was already done. As the doctor was talking, we saw them wheel mom away to another room, but the doctor brought us in another direction to see her. He opened the door and it obviously was not her. There was a mixup in names and that was unprofessional. It was about another hour later when we were officially brought back to see her. Procedure went well. Then it was another ninety minutes of them getting her ready to leave. Another hour to head home. Took another route and we ran into traffic again. Stopped by Walgreens to pick up her medication and they told us it was sent to another store, which was two streets behind us and away from home. Mom and dad started to complain and I already had enough. I wanted to go home and did and they went to get the medication. The rest of the day, I was lying in bed and watching YouTube videos. I was out of energy and my eyes were heavy the entire day. Thankfully I went to bed a couple hours earlier than normal and got a good night of sleep. 

However, it is not lost on me that I missed out on another opportunity to see HyoYeon. The first time was 13 years ago for the Soshified Field Trip (link provided so I won't have to explain it all). This time, she was in my city. We were literally in the same building at the same time. I just couldn't stay. If I did, I would not have been good to drive my mom to her appointment. I would have been more miserable that day. I still felt miserable in general for missing HyoYeon, but I needed the sleep that I got otherwise I would have been a liability while driving. Well-being and medical appointments take priority. I do wish the venue advertised it better because there were clearly fans in attendance wanting to see HyoYeon. Some even cheered for her between the first two DJs thinking she was coming up next. I think if I knew ahead of time, I wouldn't have gone. Plus things felt off the entire day (scheduled tasks were mostly pushed back, my left eye felt swollen, etc). While I had a good time with KQ and MC, it really hurts that I missed out on seeing my Girls' Generation bias again. 


That's a wrap on August 2024. Thank you for your support. Be cool and be kind. 



"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits." 

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