August 2022 Entry:
August was a heck of the month. The COVID part will be talked about at the end of the entry so if that's what you care to read about and not the stuff in between, head over to the end.
MISC=========================
- Went to the ENT for the follow up on my CT scan (08.04). No major changes, but I did have more build up than usual in my left ear. He took some time to dig it out and I got dizzy. It was the second time that ever happened with these ENT visits (first visit was the first time). They prescribed some ear drops that I ended up not being able to get until a few days later.
Before I left, I wanted to find out if one of the new receptionists was single. She was new to me as I had never seen her before and she was cute. When she checked me in, she asked if that was my dog on my shirt. I was wearing my Cowboy Bebop shirt that had Ein on it. I explained who it was and where it came from and we chatted a bit about how she likes Studio Ghibli movies and stuff not heavy on action. I mentioned how Cowboy Bebop was full of action, but if she does watch it that she'll meet Ein. The whole visit (minus the part the doctor was digging in my ear) I thought about how to ask her if she was single. As I was going to check out, she was with another patient and the other receptionist and the person she was training signaled me over. Had fun with them as we went back and forth numerous times about when to schedule my next visit. They asked if there was anything else and I pointed to the cute receptionist and asked if she was single. They said she wasn't, oh well. I thanked them and thanked the cute receptionist as I was leaving. It's been a while since I put in that kind of effort for something like this. It was nice.
- Wasn't able to get all 3, but I imported 2 of the Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak amiibo (08.12). This isn't the first time it has happened, but I wanted to wait until a certain date to order them just so a lot of purchases weren't happening at the same time. But once I saw Malzeno was no longer available, I wanted to secure the other 2.
- My second gift to myself for the Ravva world records came in; a Shantae shirt (08.14).
- Got my 4th IceTokki polaroid (08.14). I forgot what was going on, but I think it was Ponyo's birthday and I was one of the many who won a polaroid. It was a huge stack in the end.
- Thanks to G, I now finally own a copy of Bust A Groove (08.21). The game that got me into rhythm games. And with that, collection complete.
- After a break, I am now level 300 in Ring Fit Adventure (08.21).
- A memory of a friend and her puffy jacket popped into my head so I texted her (08.25). It was a road trip from over 2 decades ago and it was cold so she had a puffy jacket. Myself, her boyfriend at the time, and his sister playfully were hitting her since it was very well padded, ha. Thanks to that initial text, we started catching up and realized a few things about our friendship that helped solidify it more. Here's to one of the few 20+ year friendships that are still intact.
- Round 29 of free content on Prime was a good one. My top 3 were the first Deadpool, The Swindlers, and Love and Monsters. I am thinking more about when to stop doing this though. It's mainly because I don't order things as much anymore and Prime costs quite a bit per year. I can easily go back to not watch movies or series. And I think there would only be a few occasions that if I need to order something, I can pay a little extra on shipping to get it quicker. Round 30 would be an interesting time to stop, but I might keep going until my Prime is set to update, which would be at the end of April (Round 37).
- Got an insurance refund in the mail for a whopping $4.30 (08.29).
- Picked up the TMNT Cowabunga Collection from GameStop (08.30). I probably could have waited on it since I don't plan to play it anytime soon. No lie, it'll probably be next October if the streaming schedule continues consistency.
- 900 posts on Instagram (08.31). I realized at some point that I'll be running out of clips to post daily so I strictly went to one a day. But this does make me wish I at least was posting only twice a day rather than up to 3. I think once everything has caught up, I'll only post clips to Instagram and Discord.
H.E.R.========================
- The time I helped an old man pay his parking. I don't recall exactly when this happened and this really wasn't a big deal. But it was a busy Saturday and lots of staff were in attendance. I was helping all around as the other Agents were mainly doing sessions (I probably had 1-2 towards the end of the night). I think it was around 4-6PM when a family came to check-in. Others were in sessions and someone was handling the check-ins while I was there to back up as other teams were waiting and this was a transition period as other teams were leaving. As the family was using the restrooms and settling in, who I could only imagine being a young grandfather came in and sat with them. I greeted him and asked how it was going and he mentioned how he couldn't get the meter to take his payment, but figured to chance it and not do it so he wouldn't be late. I mentioned that it wasn't a good idea as (at the time) I recently had a boot put on my car for parking where I wasn't allowed and that those enforcing the parking rules were being very strict lately. He asked if I could help him figure it out. While I thought to explain it to him, I looked around and noticed that the lobby had simmered down and offered to go out and help him. He was delighted and we left as he told his family what we were going to do. As we walked over, I asked if he remembered the license plate number of the family's car. He didn't so I suggested we go take a picture of it first and then go pay. He took a photo and we walked to a different parking meter as the closest one he tried using wasn't working. It was a little farther away. I explained the steps and assisted verbally as he was doing what was necessary. And his payment was received. He thanked me as we walked back saying that it was a family day so getting a boot would have put a damper on plans. Any other day, he wouldn't have minded paying the fee. We returned to the building and he gave me a firm handshake and thanked me. If you've ever received a handshake where you knew it was heartfelt and genuine and not just a casual greeting, this was one of those. Hence me remembering this story. It's one of those gestures that mattered a lot to one person that no one else would have known unless you told someone.
GAMES=========================
- Welcome to Ball-gust. Every game this month (some demos) will have a ball or round shape associated with it.
- Glyph was a favorite from Demo Showcase 85 (08.02). The game is very challenging and demands precision. And there's a lot to do too if you were going to complete it. Other than some of the challenges, I spent too long on the final boss fight. But I still enjoyed it overall.
- Who knew that Demo Showcase 94 was going to be the last stream for a while (08.05).
- Sonic The Hedgehog Spinball was the return stream (08.16). Not too difficult and not too demanding. A good one to ease back into.
- Pinball FX3 was great (08.18). Shout out to those that voted for it. It ended on a high note too of getting 60 million points. And it's free so you can try it yourself if you have a Switch.
- Roller Champions was our free-to-play game of the month for Ball-gust (08.20). Normally this would have been in the back of the line for free-to-play games, but it fit with the theme. I played 20 (or 30) matches and really liked it. Unfortunately I ran into quite a few matches in the end where teammates weren't passing the ball. Not cool.
- WHAT THE GOLF? was the favorite from Demo Showcase 68 (08.22-08.23). My goodness, this game is amazing. Creative, clever, and challenging. 100% everything possible and there is one more update that's supposed to give us a new scenario (don't know if I'll do that on stream or off). I mentioned it on stream, but if this isn't my favorite game of the year, it's in the top three for sure.
- Demo Showcase 95 is the second time the internet went out during stream (08.25). It always sucks, but I feel it is more lame when it happens for a Demo Showcase.
- The reason Ball-gust existed; SENRAN KAGURA Peach Ball (08.27-08.28). I've had it on my wish list for a few years and it never went on sale. And then it finally happened for half off. Fan service aside, I liked playing this. Chat seemed to like it too (thanks to those that selected outfits). Since then, I've actually played it off stream to try and earn more money to buy all the collectibles in the game.
- Magical Drop II was our SNES game of the month (08.31). It was different from what I thought it would be and it was actually clicking with me. Had lots of fun with it, but this stream also suffered from internet outages. I probably would have kept going and beat it with every character, but I didn't want to have a third part for this stream. It would have been fine if I did as the internet never went out after. Sucks that that's how Ball-gust had to end.
ETC=========================
- SNSD - FOREVER 1 (MV)
Everything about this Girls' Generation return has been wonderful. Great song, music video, and performances. Their variety show appearances were some of the best and funniest.
- ITZY - DOMINO (MV)
- Jang WooHyuk - ECHO (MV)
- TWICE - Talk that Talk (MV)
- TWICE - Queen of Hearts
Talk that Talk is a fun song. I like the concept and the dance too. But I might like Queen of Hearts more. If it didn't get a special video, maybe not, but one exists. And Mina with pink streaks, magnificent.
- I tested positive for COVID on the 6th of the month. My brother tested positive on the 4th (he was already sick, went to a concert, came back sick, and was coughing all over the house). My mom was doing her best to get us all ready for keeping him isolated and everyone else sanitized as we were moving around the home. I was actually feeling some of the symptoms creep in the day before, which was the last time I streamed before knowing I had it. The morning I tested positive, my dad also tested positive. And with 3 of us out of commission and my mom not being able to drive, I did have to ask Rannchan if she was able to go out and buy us some stuff. Thankfully she was able to make the delivery for us.
That first night was when symptoms hit me the most. Overly tired, overly dehydrated, overy cold/hot, etc. My mom (former nurse) was doing her best to care for all of us, but still was avoiding us as much as she could so she didn't catch it. It was rough because I really needed some help late at night when my dehydration (which I didn't realize that's what it was then) was making it insanely tough to just fall asleep. My mom gave me so many types of medicines to take care of different things that were happening (cramps, headaches, etc). I was still up around 4AM and thought to message DC who I had been talking to about COVID stuff in general and he was the one to figure out I was dehydrated. I was able to finally sleep for about 4-5 hours after that.
From the 6th-8th, I pretty much slept as much as I could while trying to eat as normally as possible. My mom tested positive a couple days later after all of us, but her symptoms were very minimal thankfully. The only big thing I needed to do was get a prescription from CVS delivered to me. They were for ear drops the ENT prescribed. Spoke with the ENT office first because I was still waiting for insurance approval and mentioned having COVID and they said I can have it delivered. Attempted getting the delivery order made and at some point it got cancelled. I called CVS and was bounced around a bit as I couldn't speak to a live person for a long time. Then I finally was connected to the CVS I would have picked it up from. They mentioned there was an issue with it getting cancelled, which I did not do. I had to mention that me having COVID was the reason I couldn't pick it up and they said they were going to figure things out. It took a whole day for them to get back to me, but I was glad it all worked out. They also waived the delivery fee for me. Thank goodness the prescription wasn't for anything incredibly vital so taking them a few days later (and then for the next 10 days) wasn't bad.
I do need to indirectly thank old school Game Informer Super Replays for being my white noise throughout these first few days. I use them normally for sleep in general, but this was when I needed it the entire day. Another indirect shout out goes to Girls' Generation. It's crazy that they were able to make me smile during 2 different times in my life (back during Gee and for COVID). It's crazy to believe how they are still energy pills after all this time.
I tested negative 2 weeks to the day of testing positive. My brother apparently was negative a few days prior, but told none of us. My dad was negative the same night I was. And my mom was negative a couple days later. It...was not fun. Thankfully the rough parts were the first 2 days. The rest of the time I was slowly recovering. I took my time with getting into things such as sitting at my computer for extended periods of time, playing games, watching streams, etc. I did adjust the streaming schedule obviously. Other than the first stream, which thankfully was short, it was pretty much smooth getting back into things. Some other plans had to be cancelled, but thankfully I was negative to keep future plans intact. As of typing this (09.14), I still have to clear my throat more often than normally, but it's less and less as the days go on. I had a lingering cough too, but that's gone.
COVID sucks. If you haven't had it yet, continue doing your best to avoid it. While masks are being worn less nowadays, I still wear them. However, I am being lenient in some situations, but will always still have one with me. But please do your best to take care of yourself and those around you.
That's a wrap on August 2022. Thanks for reading. Thank you for your support. Be cool and be kind.
"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits."
