Saturday, March 7, 2015

February 2015 Entry



A lot of things happened in February. For the shortest month of the year, it felt like a really long month.

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- A wonderful content creator, Monty Oum, passed away on the 2nd. While I wasn't always keeping track of his work, any time I saw his work, I knew it was of great quality. I'm more familiar with his Dead Fantasy series. And it was clearly obvious that he touched a lot of lives and was definitely one of a kind. You will be missed, Monty.

http://roosterteeth.com/members/journal/entry.php?id=3302319

- On the 5th, Jimmy Fallon finally got the Saved By The Bell reunion to happen. It was missing Screech and Lisa, but it was still incredible to see.


- I got around to seeing Justice League: Throne of Atlantis on the 6th. It was better than I expected, but not exactly spectacular. I am looking forward to Batman VS Robin coming out next year. 


- Also on the 6th, I went to see Jo Koy perform at the Improv. My cousin had invited me earlier in the week and we worked out our schedules. I met her and her husband there. We caught up as we had not seen her since our grandmother's funeral. This was also the first time I had been to the Improv ever since it moved years ago. I think the lobby/bar/waiting area is way smaller, but the inside is way bigger.

The whole show (opening acts included) was so fun. Jo Koy was absolutely hilarious. He had me in tears just with his opening jokes about Houston highways, ha. And then his bit about music just had the whole place singing in unison, so good. Thanks to my cousin for inviting me. It was a great night out.


- I got a new Running Man shirt. It arrived in the mail on the 13th. This one was a little special because it came with my own name tag.


- On the 20th, a friend and I hung out and caught up. We first went to Korean Noodle House and then to Main Event (both the first time for her). Korean Noodle House sure is super busy during lunch time. Main Event in the middle of the day is very vacant meaning no one was in the way of the games we played.

We tried out the Gravity Ropes, which is a set of ropes and platforms set on what would be a second floor. You're attached with a safety harness and rope and are suspended as you traverse yourself all around. I'll admit to being a little worried. It definitely looks higher than it is. I got around as much as I felt comfortable with. My friend actually fell off (still attached) at a certain section. 10 minutes later, we were done, ha. There was a game where you kick a soccer ball as hard as you can to get a score. I was gearing up for my last kick (taking off my hoodie and removing my wallet and keys. I was just about to kick it when the game said my time was up. We both stood there speechless.

After we left, we played some Hyrule Warriors and Smash Bros. She was pretty good at Smash, which made for some competitive matches. It was a fun day that we both needed to escape the stress we had been experiencing lately. 

- Ever since working at Houston Escape Room, I've missed a lot of wrestling PPVs live. While I ask for time off, something has always come up where I ended up going to work. But this month, I got to watch WWE Fast Lane as it happened on the 22nd. Not the greatest show, but it had a lot of good matches. It was just good to watch wrestling live.

And NXT has been consistently amazing. NXT Takeover Rival was a fantastic show (02.11.15). Almost everything from top to bottom was great. The 4-way Women's Championship match was a great showing by the ladies, Neville VS Balor was my match of the night (Balor's PPV entrance is just so damn awesome), and Zayn VS Owens for the NXT title was incredible story telling. I could not have predicted that outcome. Seriously, even watching NXT events the following day still has impact even if it gets spoiled for me. I still enjoy it.

- RIP, Leonard Nemoy (02.27.15). You lived long and prospered. Thank you for being who you were, sir.


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- I did manage to have more time to play games in February than I did in January. I haven't gone back to the Phoenix Wright Trilogy though. I'll come back to that when I have tons of more free time.

- The demo for Code Name S.T.E.A.M. came out. I was really impressed by it. While I won't be buying the full version, I highly recommend it to fans of strategy games. I even convinced a friend of mine who really likes strategy games to try it and he is now planning on buying the game.

https://www.facebook.com/WingedVoX/posts/769471523140850

- On the DLC front, there was the Majora's Mask pack for Hyrule Warriors (always fun jumping back into that game). And I also bought more DLC tracks for Theatrhythm Fnal Fantasy: Curtain Call. That $50 eShop card I bought for Christmas has been serving me well. Still have a few dollars left on it too (more DLC tracks).



- Majora's Mask finally came out on the 3DS and I'm finally playing the only Zelda game I haven't played/beaten. I will say that it was a little frustrating at first (that darn 3-day cycle took some getting used to). But I'm doing alright with it now and am impressed with it. I am playing with a walkthrough though because I figured I wouldn't have time to play it again and 100% it so I might as well do it now. I probably would be closer to beating the game had I gone on my own, but I'd probably be missing a ton of things and getting really lost. I'm enjoying it though. I should be beating it some time in March.

And the New 3DSXL is pretty cool. The biggest negative I had with it was the system transfer which took many hours for me to do (at least 3 hours). But the positives far outweigh the negatives. The 3D tracking is amazing and I'm playing games more in full 3D than I used to (not getting headaches). The sound is louder and more clear. It runs faster in general. And the C-stick works really well. I highly recommend the New 3DSXL.



- I had a gift certificate for Best Buy expiring so I decided to get one of the maybes on my list of wanted amiibo. Imagine how popular or the kind of special amiibo they would make were this still the Year of Luigi. More amiibo talk next month including the story of trying to hunt down a Mega Man amiibo.


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So much happened in February at the Houston Escape Room. It's crazy to think that all this happened in the same month.

- Parking outside of HER does cost a few dollars until 6PM and is free on Sundays (downtown parking rules). Workers have been told ever since we started there that it is our choice whether we decide to pay or not. Some of us do, some don't. After months of not paying, I finally got my first ticket on the 4th. Funny thing is that it happened 5 minutes after I parked there. Paying $30 instead of at most $5 sucks, but that is still less than what I should have paid ever since we moved to that location so I'm not mad.


- We had been contacted by someone at KHOU 11 about doing a news story about HER. It had been in the works for a while and we were all excited for it. We had decided to use Grandma's room for this, but change the story and puzzles to make it okay for broadcast as well as to not spoil the room for our customers. KHOU was going to come on the 5th. The weekend before, the project was given to me to do. It was...interesting...and stressful...

Making up the new puzzles took a while, but wasn't that bad. Once I made up the story, things fell into place a lot easier. I labeled it Episode 00: Grandpa Mo's Trials. The story was that Grandpa Mo needed a successor. He chose his granddaughter and locked her up in a room to test her strength, intelligence, and bravery. Sound a little familiar? She passed them with flying colors and was given a crystal heart to commemorate it. She has donated the heart to be the treasure given for future agents as they all must go through these trials to qualify as agents.

After getting approval on the story and puzzles, I recruited Agent Blue to help me shop and put together everything the Monday before it. We spent almost 5-6 hours driving and shopping for what we needed. We also had to alter ideas on the fly as we couldn't find everything we were hoping to get. Then from 6PM-10PM, we were putting everything in place. That didn't go over smoothly as certain ideas didn't work as we planned. More adjusting and thinking on the fly. But once things were done, we still had a few doubts that would need to be addressed the day of.

The day of filming was okay (02.05.15). Nervousness hit an hour before KHOU arrived. The team we had put together to go through the room are friends of the owner (whom he recruited).  One had to unfortunately leave, but we were still okay. We had already planned to stage some of the filming. As they came in, one by one I pulled them aside to brief them on what to not do. I also told each of them the answer to one puzzle and gave them all one part to a longer one. This still meant I did not give them everything and they still had to figure out how to escape. When the reporter and cameraman arrived, they wanted to make sure things were staged as well so we were all on the same page. It was better that way for both of us. That also meant that I clued the reporter in on one puzzle for her to do as well as give her one part of a longer puzzle. I was also put in charge of talking to them as well as instructing them on a few things. And since I am a former videographer, I had an immediate report with the cameraman even going as far as being a bit of a director.

After some final preparations, we were set to film. It didn't go without any flubs. Agent K messed up some of her lines for the new story, some of the puzzles were solved without being filmed, and the lock to the crystal heart actually broke off by force. But it was good that things were staged as we could stop and reshoot certain spots (upon request). Not only that, but the cameraman gave me his GoPro to film what I could, which he really appreciated. It was odd to be directing and filming again after almost a year after I decided to quit doing that. But it went well.

KHOU also filmed interviews with the team after they escaped. Unfortunately, this was when I started to lose it a bit. A couple of coworkers were in another room talking really loud during the interviews. At first I closed the door thinking that would be enough, but we could still hear them. In my rush and stress, I opened the door and said in a low voice "I'm going to be an ass right now so shut up or talk somewhere else." Once I came back to the room, the cameraman gave me a thumbs up. Being a former videographer, I knew how bad it was that we could hear them talking. After that, we took a group photo with the team, KHOU, and some of HER's staff. Unfortunately again, I let a little bit slip out. As I was attempting to organize things, one of the owner's friends spoke up more and was just doing things her way instead. Again in a low voice I said to the owner "I guess I'm not in control anymore." So we took the photo and thanked KHOU for coming. Shortly after, the owner's friends left and we were back to business for the rest of the day.


After all was said and done, I was drained. I spent the next session on the couch trying to decompress. The owner and manager then pulled me aside to talk about my passive-aggressive comments. Totally understandable. I did defend myself in saying that my stress had hit a peak point when those incidents occurred. One, I was given the project under a limited amount of time. Two, the purchasing and putting together of items and puzzles did not go smoothly the day before. Three, the small flub ups during KHOU's visit. And four, the parts where I was passive-aggressive. I really felt that this was my project and that it was going well until those final moments where I lost control. All I wanted was for it to end smoothly and at those instances, they weren't. One thing about this company that amazes me is that they want the workers to improve themselves professionally and personally. They basically pointed out that I could have handled the passive-aggressive situations better and suggested how. While I defended myself at the time, I was still so drained that I wasn't thinking straight. Even talking to the owner about it days later, I still felt I was in the right, but handled it poorly.

We kept in contact with KHOU and they informed us that our news segment would air after the Grammy's that Sunday. I was very nervous as it was getting closer and closer to the air time. There was even a preview video that went up that got myself and others excited.

https://t.co/0i0e6dLzVt

Once it aired, I was relieved, but wasn't fully satisfied with the video. Of course a lot was left on the cutting room floor (I know how that is), but they also kept in a few things we asked them not to (we even refilmed some of those). So once I was sent the video from one of the owner's friend (I wasn't able to rip it so I'm glad he got it), I reedited it. Not only that, but I also set up our YouTube page to make sure it was operational and good to present to the public (subscribe, please).


Ever since the video aired, we had been swamped with bookings. Our booking site even crashed, crazy. While there were plenty of things stressful about the video, it is definitely a positive thing for the company.

- A lot of silly things happen in our escape rooms. One recent thing was I was offered a boob flash for a clue, ha. Not only that, but the person who suggested it offered her friend's boobs rather than her own. In the end, no boobs were flashed. I wouldn't have accepted the offer anyways.

- We also have two new employees/agents. One isn't always available (she has only worked on Valentine's Day). The other has a more flexible schedule and has (as of this typing) finished her training. She still needs to work on the briefing and debriefing parts of her job, but otherwise she has fit in and does her job well. 

- I had another project given to me. One lady asked if we could do a pregnancy reveal. After she went through the room herself with her husband, she continued her correspondence with us via email. All the employees were forwarded her email (02.20) with her ideas asking if this was doable or if we had our own ideas. I remember reading the email that night and just thinking of ideas. Fortunately, I couldn't sleep so I stayed up until 2 in the morning typing out my grand scheme. Rather than changing the room, my idea was to alter it and add some baby things to it (pacifier, bottle, etc). The biggest change would be editing the video that reveals a clue (not much a spoiler for those who have yet to come through the room yet) and to add something else to the item they find. Not only that, but I changed the mission briefing (Special Episode: Mo's Misconception). The other agents liked it and it was green lit by the owner. I was then given the go ahead to continue the emails with this customer and to see if she liked it, which she was head over heels for.

I originally asked Agent K if she could buy all the baby stuff we needed, but she was too busy with school and her HER schedule. So I took the venture myself to Babies R Us (02.22) to get all the items. It was a bit odd being by myself in the store. I'm pretty sure the workers thought I was just a single dad or something, ha. The oddest thing to me was that I just bought one single bottle of baby food rather than a whole lot of food.

Since the video was to be changed, I asked Agents K and Z if they could stay longer (02.25) so we could do this. They did really well as they didn't mess up a lot. I did make them do it 5-6 times just so I could have different angles to use. I then edited it that night (until 2AM), uploaded it as unlisted on our YouTube channel, and emailed all the agents to get some feedback. They all liked it. I then tested the DVD after work (02.26). Unfortunately, it was the wrong aspect ratio and I could not change it on the TV. I reedited it that night. Then I went to work the next day (02.27) on my off day around 11AM to test it. It worked. I do find it...lame...that I spent an hour driving to work (and an hour back home) to test something out in 2 minutes. I did do a few other things while I was there, but only stayed for about 20-30 minutes. I just needed to make sure it worked because there would be no fixing it if it didn't work the day of.

Finally, the day came (02.28). It was already predetermined that I would be running this session solo (even though others wanted to be there as well) to make sure everything went well. Once their group started arriving before 7, that's when I started to get nervous. We changed all the items that needed to be switched after the last group. The pregnant lady was playing the role of observer since she had done it weeks prior. My big thing was telling the revised briefing not so smoothly. There was actually a part that I stumbled a lot and I blurted out "I'm so flustered that this is happening to us" referring to the new briefing, but I really was flustered at that moment. The owner and his wife arrived just as I started bringing the group in so I couldn't even greet them.

Inside, the mother-to-be was very excited. She applauded every time they realized something went to something rather than them completing the task first, ha. There was only one time I told her to sit back and relax. I did tell her a few times not to clean up anything (she attributed it to her OCD). While there was a worry that her group of friends would realize she was pregnant by some of the alterations to the room, they weren't. As I had predicted, they were too engrossed into the game to notice. They actually thought that Agent Mo was pregnant, ha. But once they were at the final part of the reveal, I had the expectant mother hover around them. The reaction and looks on their faces were priceless as they discovered the news and started cheering and hugging her. I even heard the other agents outside cheering as I knew they were outside listening in. I gave the ladies 2 minutes to be caught up in the moment, but I reminded them that they still needed to escape, ha. They went right back into the game and escaped with 59 seconds remaining.

After all the normal business stuff was taken care of, we gave the ladies a bit of time to just reflect on what happened. The mother-to-be clued them into the planning process and I shared a few stories about how it all came together as well as point out a few things that they might have missed. I also presented the mother of the future a card that was signed by all the agents congratulating her on her pregnancy. Talking about this experience to others has been great. This is easily the proudest moment in my professional career. I still tell others about it. I'm just glad to have been part of this process in creating a memorable moment for others. If we ever do another pregnancy reveal, which we could, I already coined the phrase "Houston Escape Womb."

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- Amber of f(x) released her solo album. I really like the main title song, Shake That Brass. It's not the best song in the world, but it's definitely a fun one.


- I received the latest BoA concert on blu-ray on the 28th, Who's Back. I have yet to watch it though. I will some time in March.


- February's sleep schedule is still off. I still have to have background noise on to help my fall asleep. Does this continue in March? I know the answer. Find out in next month's entry.  

- The Houston Escape Room has been crazy for February. I didn't realize that I had these two projects to take care of. But it's good we had them happen. March is already crazy so expect a write up about it in the next entry.  

- That's it for February of 2015. Tune in next month for the next thrilling episode.

Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved.

 
Take care. DFTBA.

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