Wednesday, August 1, 2018

July 2018 Entry

July 2018 Entry 

July went by fast. Didn't realize it until the last week.

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- Met up with former Agent X for brunch (07.08). Despite the heavy rain, we still met up at Jupiter Pizza & Waffles. I had not been there in a long time and both of us really like that place. It was a 30-40 minute wait outside, but we were catching up the entire time. He's a good guy. Always got along easy with him from his interview and after. We're going to try to meet up more often just to check in and update each other on life. 
 

- Had a jury duty summons scheduled (07.09). Slept early the night before, but could not get a lot of sleep. Woke up early and drove out to be at the courthouse at 7AM. Went into the building with a few others filing in and we were told that the jury duty selection was cancelled. Would have been good to know ahead of time. That's time I spent going out there and I could have gone karaoke the night before. 

- My cousin had her baby shower (07.14). I had actually purchased items from their wish list and had it sent to their home as early as possible so they got them a week before the shower. Drove with my parents to the log cabin-ish building they rented. As soon as I got there, I immediately started helping and continued throughout the day (blowing up balloons, taking care of trash, helping with drinks and food and cake, etc). It was great seeing everyone. 


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- Congratulations to the women of WWE. You deserve the all women's PPV; Evolution (07.23) 


- Reading the spoilers as they were coming in were crazy, but actually seeing Tommaso Ciampa win the NXT Championship was magnificent (07.25). 
 

- Couldn't believe that both Nikolai Volkoff and Brian Christopher passed away on the same day (07.29). Rest In Peace.  


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- Picked up Crash Bandicoot 'N Sane Trilogy at the end of last month. Finally got around to playing it. Beat each game one after the other (07.01, 07.04, 07.05). Having not played the series in the past, I was excited to play them now. But my excitement quickly went away during the first game (it took over an hour to beat Road To Nowhere...). The controls weren't great. I never felt like I had complete control of Crash and had compensate when needed. I will say that the games got better with each installment. Overall, glad I got to play the Crash games, but I would have been fine not playing them at all. 
 
- My arm was hurting a lot, so I caught up on some more of SGDQ2018 (07.03) . The even ended with a run of Final Fantasy VI. The crowd was awesome especially as the goal for the event was reached towards the end. Very fun.


- Death Battle - Ryu VS Jin (07.04) 


- Pocket Rumble finally came out (07.08). I had been interested in it when it was announced and was surprised when it was announced for release days before. The game...was okay. It was an interesting fighter, but not the most intuitive. I liked the characters and style, but wasn't impressed. I did beat the game with everyone within a couple hours. 
 

- I won my third prize from Toreba (07.12). It was a Moogle dressed up as a Tonberry. If you look at the video linked, it seemed so simple...and it was. I was just trying not thinking it would work and it happened. The plush arrived 10 days later. 
 


- Had some extra free time, so I played more Fortnite (07.12). Played it when the new season update went live too. Found a spot I like going to in solos and also started to explore the map more. But I was doing well in my matches (picture below is my solo). Also got to play more with Agent Striker. The last time I played was a duo with him and we were doing so well. I think we ended up 6th place. Haven't played since then, but that was a great way to end it for now. 
 

- Downloaded the update for Sonic Mania to turn it into Sonic Mania Plus (07.18). While I wasn't high on Ray, he was alright. I liked Mighty since he had a better defense so I could be more reckless. After beating their respective campaigns, I took on and beat Encore Mode (07.22) Remixing the stages and being able to swap partners was pretty cool. The special stages for the Chaos Emeralds were tough, but was able to get them all. It was fun jumping back into that game. I did contemplate buying the physical copy (still might at a lower price), but I opted for the Limited Run Games release of Thumper (Limited Edition). 


- Got Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1+2 (07.24). Was looking forward to this one for sure. It was great completing X1 and X2 on the same day (07.24). No problems with either one. Then I completed X3 (a little tougher than from when I last played it on Wii U) and then X4 for the first time since it was released on the Playstation (07.25). I only beat X's story that day, but beat Zero's the next day (07.26). 

On that same day, I got to play X5 for the first time and completed it and got X's good ending. X5 was rough at first, but I grew to like it. Was able to go back and completed X's bad ending (07.27) and then Zero's ending (07.29). 
And then I started X6. I do not like X6. I could not believe how much trouble I was having. But after doing some research, it's not my fault. The game is not good. The picture below was only the 3rd stage I was trying and I maxed out the timer. That has been the worst so far, but there are far too many difficult and easy death situations throughout the game. I keep hitting these roadblocks and spend a lot of time on them. Because of that, this was the first game in the X Legacy Collection that I did not beat in a single sitting. I knew before beating the game (07.30) that I already decided that I will only beat the game once, not bother getting everything (although some things are mandatory to proceed), and not replay it to get the other 2 endings (watched them on YouTube). Even though X7 is supposedly worse, I'm glad that I'm moving on from X6. 
 

- Ridley, Inkling, and Wolf amiibo for Smash Ultimate were finally available for reserve at GameStop (07.26). I had been waiting and skipping the Amazon and Best Buy preorders, but I was worried and preordered through Target. But once the GameStop skus went live, I got those and then cancelled my Target order. And then I cancelled my GameStop orders as they had a bundle that was cheaper (saved money on shipping). Glad to have those preordered. 


- More Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero DLC announced (07.31). And it's free. Yay. 


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- Work had been done at our second location. I was growing frustrated that I wasn't actually there helping and that I was getting very limited hours. But I did get one day to go there (my second time there) to help set up the banner (07.03). It took a while as we had to drill into some cement, sheet rock, etc. Plus we had to take a trip to Home Depot to buy stuff. After doing that, I helped break down, move, and clean some stuff. Agent Ocean took a photo of me while I was drilling and I have added it to my dating profiles. 
 

- Had another monthly meeting (07.06). I was actually named Agent of the Month. Wasn't eligible when I was Personnel Manager and I never wanted it. I still don't think I deserve it as I was barely getting any hours and others were doing way more than I was as my list of tasks and responsibilities were greatly diminished. 


- I was actually given hours. I came in the morning to help paint set pieces (07.16-07.20). It was hot down in the basement. But it was good working with Agent Widdershins and getting time to zone out and listen to music the entire time. 

My big complaint that happened at that time was on Friday when I was supposed to go to the second location, but was told last minute to go downtown (literally got a text message as I was about to leave the house). Then there was nothing for me to do there as Agent Widdershins wasn't there to lead me with painting. I texted with Agent PQ to see if they needed me at the second location. If they didn't, I requested to just go home. But I was told I was needed so I started to leave. In my car, Agent Raynor called and asked to see if I can call Agent Widdershins to see if anything can still be done. Called him up, and he gave me directions. But by this time, I was pissed that my schedule was changed multiple times within an hour. It probably was a good thing that I was painting in the basement by myself as I didn't want to talk to anyone. 

The next day I was able to go to the second location for real this time (3rd time only). More painting and cleaning. But I also helped Agent PQ put together a desk and helped Agent Ocean put up some insulation (check the links below as he livestreamed some of it on his Twitch channel). This would have been a 40 hour week, but we left an hour early as we were all tired and had nothing major to be finished. Went to eat dinner at Sushi Pop with former Agent Majordomo. 
 




- It was finally announced that we are having a soft opening at the second location (07.29). Our first beta test happened a few days later (07.31). Despite a few things not being ready, it went off well and the teams enjoyed themselves. Good start. Hopefully it keeps getting better. 
 

- And of course we have another blog entry (07.31). 
 

- As I mentioned last month, I have frustrations with work. I actually got the lowest amount of hours ever with 10 one week. It would have been only 6 had we not had a customer ask to do a last minute mission where Agent Wolfman and I were able to come in for 4 hours. I was glad to get a lot of hours the week after. Would have been the first time I hit 40 hours in a couple months (close with 39). It has kicked up more now that things at the second location are happening. But I still have my concerns and complaints about things are being handled there. We're not ready for the soft opening (we haven't tested everything and have to purposely leave things out etc). They actually wanted us to run a session (07.28) and we had not even finished putting some of the crucial set pieces together and made sure the puzzles actually worked. So many things like are incredibly frustrating for myself and Agents PQ and Ocean. 

This doesn't even include the frustrations and concerns with the downtown location. There was never a plan to train and transfer knowledge of responsibilities and tasks when the 3 of were going to leave. It slowly become a realization. The 3 of us had talks with Agents Blue Heeler and Striker as they were the ones most concerned and were to be taking over in our stead. I know my talks with them were long and extensive as we needed to plan things out in regards to how to run things and handle the new staff members. Basically, there was no plan in place and we made one. They both brought up how that's unfair that they were getting these tasks dumped on them without compensation. So I pushed for both to ask for a pay raise and/or a promotion (they deserve it regardless). But over the last month, I slowly pulled away from my duties so that those 2 can do them and the team can be familiar with them running the show. It was rough during one incident (required a long talk and a short meeting with the new team members and Agent Ocean). Things seem to have gotten better since then. Wishing them the best as the transition of us leaving is happening. 

And...I am still unsure of my future with the company. So many things have been going wrong with the company and how it effects me. The latest is that the company can no longer provide health insurance. So I have contemplated on various days that I can just quit and get rid of all this stress at once. I have thought of possible plans for if I do quit. But right now I'm sticking with my plan I've had for a while in regards to the company. 

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- Tiffany Young - Over My Skin (choreo dance video) 

 

So damn good. I have also never been so attracted to Tiffany than after seeing her in this video. Can't wait for her music video. 

Also, Over My Skin was played on a radio station in Houston. She also came on Facebook Live to do an interview with that station. Yay, Houston. Hopefully this is a nudge to her visiting the city. 


- TWICE - Dance The Night Away (MV) 

 

Fun summer song. Really like the music video. 

- That's it for July 2018. Thanks for reading.


"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits." 

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