Friday, May 1, 2015

April 2015 Entry



April was filled with a lot of things. It felt like a slow month at times, but otherwise it was very active.

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- My copy of Girls' Generation The Best Live at Tokyo Dome arrived on the 7th. I ended up watching it on the 10th. This was the first concert filmed after Jessica's departure from the group. While the concert itself was fun, there was the air of something missing. The girls singing Into The New World was definitive proof of that. It was next to impossible to not cry during that moment.


- On the 9th of April, Girls' Generation released their first single and music video without Jessica, Catch Me If You Can. The song and video took some getting used to, but I'm liking it. Not a favorite by far. I need to see some live performances of the song though. My copy of the Japanese single arrived in the mail on the 24th for me.



- Had an adventure with a friend on the 10th. Windshield wiper/s came off, Thai food, running in the rain, Path of Tea and Princess Peach, catching up the whole time, and being bold. Definitely a memorable day. And now every time it rains, I think about this day.

- More Girls' Generation goods came in the mail. On the 13th, I got their Girls' Generation World Tour "Girls & Peace In Seoul" DVD. If I'm correct, this was the last one they did with Jessica before she left the team. Watching this one after the first one without her was definitely different. I have to say that this one felt like they were having a lot of fun together. Not that they didn't with previous concerts, but it felt more prominent in this one.


- Jinusean came back after 10+ years with a new song Tell Me One More Time. The video released on the 14th. I really like it.


- Normally I reserve my one Sunday off a month for wrestling PPVs. This time I used it for the Japan Festival on the 19th. This would make it my 7th year in a row going (I think). I ended up going with a couple of friends (who I had not seen in over a year) and their two children. I never met their youngest until then.

The Japan Festival was what it usually is. I do feel they organized the positions of booths better than previous years though. Otherwise it was pretty much the same affair. I happened to run into some of the kids I taught my last flash mob to and one was actually wearing the shirts we had made for the flash mob, ha.

Ended up going back to my friends' place to catch up more and to play with the kids. The may not have remembered me, but he definitely wanted to play with me ever since the Japan Festival. It was good catching up with those friends too. Nice to see that they've been doing fine with the kids. I ended up leaving right as a heavy rainfall descended.


- Finally got my Connor's Cure bracelet on the 20th. It ended up getting shipped elsewhere and came a week late. I proudly wear it every day I go out now.


- Started watching Food Wars: Shougeki no Soma on the 21st. I remember seeing previews for it beforehand and it caught my attention. It's ridiculous and over the top for an anime based on cooking. Hopefully it stays fun to watch.

- Sure, I only came by this song because Bora from Sistar is in it, but I really dig it. These ladies have excellent rap skills (04.27). Feedback is a great song.


- BoA has started to release photos (04.30) for her upcoming 8th album, Who Are You. Of course I'm excited for it to come out. 15 years strong.


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- Nintendo had a Nintendo Direct on the 1st of April. While there was a lot of good stuff mentioned, the amiibo announcement was what caught my attention the most. Reservations for the next wave were going up on the 2nd of April and I was supposed be at work early that day. I ended up calling my local GameStop (they recognize my voice already, ha) to ask if there was a way for them to reserve it for me. Ended up going there to put money down on another game (Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson). Then the worker said he would take money from that reservation and put it down for my amiibo that I wanted IF he was able to stating that customers in store get priority. I got a text message later in the day saying that he was able to do it, awesome. My Ness and Pac-Man amiibo have been secured. Seriously, my GameStop is the best GameStop. Those guys go above and beyond the call of duty and have done so for me multiple times.

As a thank you, the next day (after a brief stop at work) I ended up buying the worker macarons from Bite. I also ended up buying two more amiibo while I was there (Sonic and the SMB non-gold Mario). That brings my amiibo collection total to 17.


- Ultimate NES REMIX (3DS) - Review

Club Nintendo unveiled the list for Platinum/Gold status members for the final time (04.08). I ended up choosing Ultimate NES REMIX for the 3DS. The link provided above will let you know what I think of it. It was good to get back to.

- On the 10th, I picked up my reserved copy of Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. So far, I have invested 0 hours into it...yeah. Things have just been pretty busy at work that my free time has drastically diminished or I put other things in front of playing a new game. While I was excited to play the game, I kind of wish I didn't buy it as I probably won't get to it until late into the year IF nothing else good comes out by then.


- Even though I don't have a lot of time to play in general, I still made it a point to download and try Mewtwo in Smash Bros (04.15). It's cool to see him back in the game. I just did the usual routine of when I go through a character in Smash Bros.


- More StreetPass games became available to buy (04.16) as well as a few other things via new update. Ended up getting both Ultimate Angler (fishing) and Battleground Z (zombie beat-em-up). Both definitely add time to the casualness of StreetPass.

- Mario Kart 8 had their latest DLC and update available on the 23rd. I did make time to try out all the new tracks (all really well made) and try all the new characters and kart/bike parts. I haven't been able to complete the new cups on 150cc and higher and I haven't been able to complete a full cup getting first in each race on 200cc. 200cc is nuts, ha. Very much welcome additions to this already great game.

- amiibo Tap: Nintendo's Greatest Bits came out on the 30th. You can read my thoughts on it with the following link. Regardless, if you have a Wii U and some amiibo, get it. It's free so why not.

https://www.facebook.com/WingedVoX/posts/815041958583806

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- I was asked to come in early to work on the 1st. One of our agents was being promoted to Senior Facilitator and was asked to be part of it. Although once I got there, they said that I wasn't needed to be in it anymore. Odd, but they had a talk with me afterwards. I too got a promotion (Lead Facilitator). Not only that, but they gifted me the task of creating the 3rd room. It had been something I always wanted to do, but I just wasn't expecting it. Yay, promotions. Yay, 3rd room.  

- On the 4th, the whole HER crew (minus Agent Audrey) drove to Dallas for the Easter weekend. Even our newest recruit (Agent Yeti) joined us. I captained one car with Agent Valentine as my shotgun and with Agent Blue chilling in the back. Agent Blue soon tuned out and listened to his own music while Agent Valentine and I got to know each other better. She definitely moved up on my list of people I gravitate to easily as well as being someone who I can talk to about anything and everything with.

We actually arrived early in Dallas. The fellow agents didn't know I was driving at 90mph+ at times. We ended up eating at a nice Mediterranean restaurant with a very jubilant owner/cook. He treated us so well and kept calling Agent Valentine a princess, ha. We then went to our hotel nearby to wait for the rest. We all got settled in our rooms and met up in Agent K and Z's.

Other than just going out and bonding with the agents, we went to Dallas to try out the escape rooms there (Escape Expert). A new facility in particular caught our attention and we wanted to see how they ran things. Some of Agent Ro's family also joined us there so we split into 2 different groups to tackle 2 different rooms. Myself, Agent Valentine, K, M, Z, Yeti, and a few of Agent Ro's family members went to Chase Case while the others took on Secret Vault. Needless to say, we functioned well as a team and were able to escape with a couple minutes to spare. Not only that, but the other escaped as well. Very glad that we all got out. Much like it is for our customers, escaping is a thrilling experience.

We took a break for dinner at a BBQ place (I think) and to just talk about what we felt about the escape rooms. For me, I liked their rooms. I didn't like their customer service. After dinner, I wasn't feeling too well. I did take a quieter approach and just chilled for the most part as we were getting ready to take on one more escape room. Most of Agent Ro's family left us and there were 11 of us left for the Mind Matrix. While we were able to escape that room also, there were few hitches in the room that got us stuck (faulty equipment). We were complimented on how well we worked as a team (agree) before leaving. Agent Ro's family left us while the rest went back to our hotel. 


The agents all talked more about the rooms we went through and compared things to HER. After the business talk, a few agents retired for the night while Agent Valentine brought out Ticket To Ride to play. It was my first time playing and it was interesting. Ended up getting last place as I wasn't really trying for a win my first time playing. I did however complete one of the toughest paths in the game, yay. It was around 2 in the morning when we finished and called it a night. I would have kept doing stuff if others were up for it, but sleep was needed.

The next day, Agent Blue and I met Agent Yeti and Agent Valentine for breakfast. I didn't eat since we were going to have Dim Sum for lunch. We kidnapped Agent Yeti and met the others at the Dim Sum place. It was Agent Blue and Agent Valentine's first time eating Dim Sum and they enjoyed it. We also met Agent Ro's parents. They're cute. We got to ask them questions about their son and it was funny. During that time, I was able to get to know Agent Yeti a little better as we never had time to just talk since she had only been part of the company for a few days.

We then departed for Houston around 1PM. Same riding teams. Again, Agent Valentine and I got to learn more about each other while Agent Blue listened to his music in the back. The ride back was a little slower due to more cars on the road, but we arrived back at HER a little after 5 to drop off Agent Blue. I then dropped off Agent Valentine at her place and went back home. I was very tired as I didn't get a lot of sleep in our hotel (a/c was loud).

That weekend was an absolute blast. Made some great memories and met some cool people. I hope we do another HER outing some time soon.

- On the 16th, we reached a milestone on our YouTube video with KHOU. Over 10,000 views. That is something to be proud of.


- Unfortunately, there has been a lot of stress at work (at least for me) lately. A few of our agents were/are taking finals so they weren't as available for shifts meaning some of us had to work more hours. For me, I had to find a way to balance that with consistently working on the 3rd room. It really was a stressful time as there were other issues within the rooms themselves and some not-so-great customers.

To add to that, on the 25th, I had to assist emergency personnel for one of our upstairs neighbors that had assisted living. The emergency personnel asked me to open doors for them so they can get through and to help get the elevator working (which we couldn't get to work). We were able to hear noises from upstairs as this was going on. They were using a defibrillator on him. Unfortunately, I saw as they were wheeling him out on a stretcher with the defibrillator still pumping. While they were continuing to resuscitate him, they were also calling for a time of death. It didn't hit me until later that night that I saw a dead person in front of my eyes. They held memorial services for him on the 28th.

- A friend brought in another group of her friends to experience Grandma's room on the 26th. I was hoping the girls would get out and they did. They were fun to be around, but it was just great to see my friend there. The stressful week/s have been a bit much lately and just seeing her gave me a burst of energy that I needed. Thank you.  

- If you didn't know, we also do corporate events during our day hours before retail hours. I had never been sold on it before as I felt they were a bit boring and unnecessary. That changed on the 27th as a team from HEB came. While they didn't escape (very close), they were very energetic and into the corporate debriefing afterwards. I had never seen a team so invested and into it until then. Watching that unfold definitely opened my eyes.

The following day, we had another set of corporate teams come through (Unique Digital). One woman had done it previously with her family and got her work team to come out to try. They were enthusiastic and competitive the whole time. Not to say that previous corporate teams had not been, but there was definitely something about their energy that I enjoyed. So bring your corporate teams in so we can have fun and analyze you.

But not all corporate teams are great. While this wasn't an official corporate booking, another company (who I won't name) came in with a group of 30 to try out the rooms for a company outing. The majority had been drinking. Them just being loud in the lobby was a bit much to handle. Thankfully the person that put it together saw that and we were able to get the teams that weren't going in yet to get back on their bus. But once things calmed down, the teams were fine in the rooms. The first team enjoyed themselves as well as the team that I took in. During my debriefing, I did apologize for putting on a "stone cold bitchiness" face for them. They understood as they knew they would be a bit to handle. I was expecting the worse and was glad they shattered my early expectations of how they would be. I even spoke more afterwards with some of the managers about their experience and coming back with more employees. Unfortunately, their last team was not allowed into the room. The woman who put it together saw that right away that the final team was too drunk. They took advantage of their free drink offer and she didn't want us to have a bad impression of them or for them to cause chaos for us. I am so glad that happened because while I thought the other groups would have been a lot to handle, I knew whoever was to facilitate the last team would have been in for hell. It harkens to why I have reasons for customers that ask why we don't serve alcohol at HER. Never going to happen.

- In case you aren't following us on Instagram (or other social media platforms), we usually post silly behind-the-scenes photos there. We had a few silly ones this month.

https://instagram.com/houstonescaperoom/



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- My PC is running on its last legs. I'll need to look up something cheap and effective soon. I could keep using my laptop, but that needs to stay plugged in to use at all.

- Stress has effected sleep. I have had to revert back to playing background noise to help me sleep. Although my tiredness is starting to take that over making sleep a little easier.

- "A Reminder To Myself."

- Even though I knew before, looking for the proper Thank You/Greeting card takes time. Forgetting to write a few extra things after sending it out, nice, ha.

- More Houston Escape Room news as they develop. The 3rd room is starting to shape up so I'll be updating more on that as it happens...or not to keep more of the secrecy. Just know that it will be up (if there are no major hiccups) by the end of the summer.

- That is all for April. A lot of things, a lot of things. May will definitely bring more.

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

 
Take care. DFTBA.

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