Sunday, September 2, 2018

August 2018 Entry

August 2018 Entry 

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- I've been using the same camera bag for almost a decade or more. It was slowly getting worse and worse. The fabric was ripping and some of the grips were breaking off. The final nail in the coffin was a zipper got stuck and it could not be undone. While I could have gone for something different, I ordered the exact same model, but in black. It actually arrived within a week when it was estimated to be over a month so that was cool (08.04). Still breaking it in as it was definitely tightly packed with all the items I would carry in it.


- Bought The Death of Superman and watched it the next day (08.07, 08.08). It is so good. Definitely makes up for Superman/Doomsday. The ending brought tears to my eyes. Highly recommend it. 


- Agent Blue and I went to the Ninja Sex Party Tour De Force Concert at Warehouse Live (08.10). We were in line 2 hours early, but there was still a big line in front of us. It rained while we waited and that was lame. Process of Illumination opened up the show and they were good. TWRP was next and they played a lot of songs and were awesome and funny. But NSP was amazing. There were probably only two songs they played I wasn't too big on, but it everything was high energy. They played something from each album and even their new stuff (they played "Heart Boner" live for the first time in Houston). Agent Blue and I were maybe 10 rows from the front (standing room). My body was aching and I was tired, but I had tons of fun and would absolutely see them again. 



- The following tweet is a story about the time I experienced love at first sight one year ago (08.11).



- Out of the blue, I decided to stop using my dating apps for the rest of the month (08.12). Was hoping to see if anyone would try to match with me while I'm not active. No difference unfortunately. I started using them again in September.

- I finally got a new Social Security Card (08.24). I was dumb for putting it off since February when my wallet got stolen. But I finally settled on a day to tie up a bunch of loose ends I was being lazy on and this was one of them.

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- I'm really excited to watch the Mae Young Classic 2018 (08.08). It has already been recorded, but I avoided all spoilers. It's cool to see some former Impact wrestlers in the tournament this time, some of the return competitors are great, and the rest of the field is stacked with talent. Kaitlyn got an awesome ovation. While I don't see her winning, I hope she wins a couple of matches and then stays with WWE for a bit.


- Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart passed away (08.13). He was one of my first favorite wrestlers that I can remember. I always enjoyed watching him wrestler and his look made him stand out. You will be missed.


- Caught up on NXT TakeOver Brooklyn 4 after it aired (08.18). Fantastic as usual. I got 4 out of 5 of my predictions correct. All the matches are worth watching again and again.


- SummerSlam was so good (08.19). From the preshow to the end, it kept my attention. Didn't take a break for dinner until the show was over. I got 9 out of 13 of my predictions correct, which is the most I ever had. There were tons of highlights, but seeing Finn Balor bring The Demon back was unexpected and had me the most excited. Becky Lynch turning on Charlotte Flair after the triple threat match was amazing too.


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- I started following a couple of game reviewers on YouTube; Retropolois Zone and Some Call Me Johnny. While I knew of Some Call Me Johnny, I began watching both of their videos while looking for reviews of Mega Man X6 (had to hear what others thought of the game). Retropolis Zone had long reviews and I did watch all of his stuff. For Some Call Me Johnny, I pick and choose from his old stuff, but for sure I watch reviews of series and titles I care about (Metroid, Sonic, Zelda, etc). Recommend both channels. 



- I picked up WarioWare Gold when it came out. (08.05) However, I did not get around to actually playing it until the end of the month (08.27). I wanted to finish up other games before moving to it. When I finally did, I was able to beat the story mode after a few hours as well as unlock more modes and collectibles. I thought to maybe play this off and on to collect the rest (play the microgames over and over to collect coins) as I have nothing planned to buy game-wise until Mega Man 11 in October. But I forgot I had The Messenger on my wish list. I was actually planning to get Hollow Knight during that downtime before The Messenger had a release date, but with the announcement of a physical copy coming out next year, I will wait until then. As for WarioWare Gold, it's more of the same, which is not bad. Recommended for WarioWare fans. For those that are curious, there's a demo to try out. 







- I finished the rest of Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2. That means beating Mega Man X7 (08.05) and Mega Man X8 (08.07). X7...was not good. The shift into 3D was poorly done. The stages and bosses were not memorable. X8 was better. I even considered completing this title until the rest would have boiled down to grinding for chips to buy the rest of the items. I'm glad I got to finish the series on a high note. The big downside was the Retry Chips over having normal lives. Not the best system by any means. 

And as for the entire Mega Man X series, now that I've played and beaten all of them, here is my ranking of the games from best to worst: X1, X4, X2, X3, X8, X5, X7, X6.
  






- The Super Smash Brothers Ultimate Direct was awesome (08.08). Simon and Richter Belmont, Chrom, and Dark Samus as playable characters, nice. Shovel Knight as Assist Trophy, rad. 


- A game I really enjoyed a few years ago was Child of Light. There was an announcement of it coming to the Switch (08.08). I was going back and forth about double dipping on this one, but the announcement also came with a tease of a possible Child of Light 2. That is something I definitely would be in for.




- Okami HD came out on the Switch and that was an immediate download for me (08.09). I passed the original Okami on the PS2 for some other game (can't remember which). The aesthetic was wonderful and the style of play was similar to Zelda. Took my time with this one, but that was mainly because I was working more. But any free time I had was spent on this game similar to when I was playing Breath of the Wild or Odyssey. Then when I had a couple extra days off from work, I was able to finish the game (08.24). I did think to possibly complete the game until I realized I passed up a few things that were time sensitive and would not come back (lame). Other than that blemish, I really enjoyed Okami HD and am glad to have finally played it.




- I was on a roll playing Toreba this month. I won a total of 5 prizes (08.09, 08.15, 08.19, 08.21x2). Yes, I won 2 prizes on the same day. Haven't won anything since the last win, but I'm definitely paying closer attention with how prizes are laid out. Plus I will wait for more free tickets. I did spend some dollars to attain some of these prizes as I botched a few turns and didn't want to leave the game since I knew I could win the prize. Only one prize has arrived as Toreba's shipping has been backed up. That sucks as I was hoping to get a few of them sooner. But take a look at the videos and pictures of my wins with the links below. 


- After beating Okami HD, I finally got to try the DLC for Shantae, which was called Jammies Mode (08.26). All the extra modes/DLC that Half-Genie Hero has produced were great and Jammies Mode was no exception. It is not the best mode, but it was a nice reason to jump back into this world.




- Whoa, Streets of Rage 4 was announced (08.27). Incredible. This is a definite buy whenever it comes out. 

- Onimusha: Warlords got announced (08.28). I was always curious about this series, but skipped it when it when it was originally out. Now that I'll have a chance to try an updated version of it, I'm excited. Onimusha comes out 01.15.19.


- The Messenger is fantastic (08.30). The day it was released, I spent 10 and a half hours playing it. I've got over half of the main collectibles, all the upgrades have been bought, and somewhere between 100-200 deaths already, ha. Since I have no other games lined up for September, I am heavily considering 100% completing the game. 




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- During our second beta test, I was going to go check on the team, but actually smashed my finger in between the door while heading there (08.02). We have large office doors at the second location and that hurt bad. I actually had to tell them team I needed to go outside and scream. Spent the rest of the session watering my finger down with cold water (didn't have ice). This made me recall when I smashed my finger in a car door many years ago. That actually hurt worse as my nail got ripped out. But this middle finger getting crushed in the office door hurt for a couple days, but only stopped feeling weird towards the end of the month. 

- For the first time in about 3 months, I got 40 hours (08.04). Unfortunately, we reduced hours at the second location due to lack of sessions. So the hours fluctuate. Not only that, we leave early if there are no sessions. Have lost 2-4 hours per day because of that. Not good.  

- 4 years at the Houston Escape Room (08.09).

- The team went to Holmes Escape Room (08.15). It was the team activity for that month's meeting, but done days later. It was a nice small place. First time doing an escape room with the new kids. We split into teams and the company allowed us to swap rooms afterwards. Both teams succeeded in both rooms. Not a bad place. I would definitely recommend them for first timers. My escape room record is now 22 escapes out of 27 rooms which is an 81% success rate.

- An unexpected surprise came in the form of a stray kitten (08.29). As Agent PQ and I were leaving for the day, we couldn't help but hear multiple meows coming close by. We started to inspect the bush in front of our building as that is where the cries emanated. I was a little skeptical thinking it was a prank device as the meows sounded similar every time. But after further digging around, the little kitten popped up. We took it in and had Agent Widdershins join us as we started looking after her. We later named her Ame (Japanese for rain). I stuck around to take care of her as Agent PQ went to buy some cat supplies from a nearby. We did ask around if anyone we knew could take care of her. In the end, she became Agent PQ's new kitten. She is now a proud mother of 3 cats. 




- Frustrations, still got them. Other than summer ending and school starting again, I don't understand why customers aren't coming to us. We offered Naval Warfare for free, 50% off, and still at a lowered price and the response has been lukewarm. I'm glad that anyone is coming at all, but we should be booked completely. The lack of sessions lead to the cut hours and a change in schedules. Agents PQ, Ocean, and myself have been rocking it and we're such a great team...but no one is coming... 

Plus the new concept still has bugs. It's like we go a few steps forward and then a few steps back and it fluctuates all the time. I know we're only a month in, but I was hoping it would be more solid than it is at the moment. 

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- Tiffany Young - Over My Skin (MV)


Good Day LA (08.21)


Interview (08.23)


Tiffany, you are killing it. I can't wait for more from you.

- Red Velvet - Power Up (MV)


The song didn't catch me at first, but I've grown to really enjoy it. Their variety show appearances have been fun too. 

- TWICE - [BDZ] (MV)


- Can't believe we're at 18 years of BoA (08.25). Been there since the beginning. 


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


"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits." 

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