December 2023 Entry:
Much of the year went by fast, but December came and went.
Here's a call-to-action right off the bat. If you read this, contact me however (comment, DM, etc). I know people read this, but I never know who outside of a few instances. It's been like this ever since I've been keeping a blog. Yes, this is mainly for me, but if this is a way that you keep up with me, I'd like to know.
MISC=========================
- Started physical therapy (12.01-12.22). Mondays and Fridays for 6 sessions. While it was mainly for my left knee that was popping, it was also to improve strength in my lower body. Most of the time I saw the same person, but the third to last one was with someone that doesn't work at that location and she was my favorite. It was her attitude and demeanor that made it fun. Then the last 2 sessions were with someone different as well and she was also very good and was talkative. Those last 2 were the most I sweat for these.
Over time, my knee was obviously getting better. There was a point that I forgot my knee popped at all. It happened very few times during the latter half of the month. Not only that, but I was scaling the stairs like I used to.
- Similar to the Pokemon Musical video, I said a few lines for the Gizmondo: Life and Death documentary (12.01). I recorded my lines towards the end of July. I almost forgot about it. I do remember thinking some people might give me guff about how I didn't want to be part of streams/videos for the rest of the year after wrapping up the last stream. But I figured this would be fine since my part was done while I was still streaming.
- Watched Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (12.10). I had some digital credit left on Amazon and it was about to expire. This was really good. Much like Into the Spider-Verse, the visuals and music were amazing. The story threw me for a loop as I didn't expect it to go where it did and end the way it did. Definitely going to watch the next installment to see how it all ends.
- Volcano Hot Pot dinner with ONCE friends (12.15). Made some new friends as we ate and shared stories and biases. I was so full and those couple of hours flew by. I'm not big on hot pot in general as well as KBBQ that you prepare yourself because...you prepare it yourself, but this was really good. Cheers to the ones helping with the meat. As we were leaving, I took a look at the crane games and it seemed like one was doable. There's video footage of me missing the first attempt, but (as far as I know) no footage of me getting the plush on the second attempt. Coincidentally that was my last single dollar in my wallet.
We then walked to Somi Somi to get ah-boong/taiyaki. Got the same thing I had last time I went there. Still really good, but I was still super full that I didn't finish maybe the last 8th of it. We chilled outside talking. It's obvious I'm not into all the Kpop things like others, but it's still nice to meet new people into Kpop.
It took a while for me to name the plush. I simply couldn't think of a name that matched well (to me) with hot pot and KBBQ. One of the friends referenced it being Mina as it has a penguin faced pouch, but I wasn't feeling it. For about a week, I kept looking at it whenever I came home from work thinking "I don't know what to name you." And then it hit me; Iono. It's kind of inspired by comfcomf's Iono emote, but I liked how it fit with the fact that I didn't know what to name it for such a long period of time, ha.
- A small CAB DJ meet up at Jupiter (12.22). It was only ABD and it was B and D's first time eating at Jupiter. Other than catching up and eating well, we also walked to a bar because D wanted a drink. We gave advice for D's latest photo jobs and dating ventures. I actually took his phone and did a predictive text (which I don't even have on my phone) and it produced a great message to send to someone he had met. I was so tempted to send it for him, but I left it and hoped (by now) he sent it). B left and D and I walked for a bit and I opened up about a few things. He gave me an earful on certain things, but understood that I wasn't being completely dumb about what I'm doing. Then we split around 11PM (I think).
- Came home from a long day of work to find my room reorganized (12.26). I'm not going to get into everything, but I have never liked when this has happened. It wasn't as much as previous times, but to see multiple little things moved and to still see clumps of dust around right after coming home from work is not welcoming. While I understand the reasons for cleaning and making space, it also comes with clutter, things misplaced or thrown away, and more. I have a reason for everything even if the reason is no reason, but that can not matter to anyone else. A sentimental empty box can seem like trash to another. Things being in certain spots can look like wasted space. The only person I would be okay with ever doing this is a girlfriend/wife because I'm sure there would be lots of intention behind it.
- Decided to re-up my Prime Video service for a week to watch Invincible Season 2. Only episodes 1-4 are released so I'll probably re-up my Prime again when the final four episodes come out. I'm liking it. Still full of shocks and emotion. Can't wait to see how it wraps up.
GAMES=========================
- Continuing Demo Showcase Shorts. 12 total this month. Not bad. Close to almost half a month. Part of me feels like I need to speed it up because it's still on pace of doing 2-3 Demo Showcases a month. Maybe I'll extend it to work days when I don't have to work early to make more headway. If I do that, I'll start in 2024.
- Finished The Lightbringer (12.04-12.05). It was the favorite from Demo Showcase 97, stream 786 back in September 2022. It wasn't as good as I recalled the demo being. I was liking it alright until I had a couple of deaths. Dying means starting a full level over from the beginning. That means solving all puzzles, collecting all collectibles, and defeating all enemies again. If they were shorter levels, it wouldn't be so bad. Most are at least 10 minutes long even if you aren't trying to find everything. But on the second day of playing, I noticed that levels unlocked as long as you played the previous level. You didn't have to beat it, just play it, exit level, move on to the next, and repeat all the way to the final level where you must defeat the final boss. I did that for the last 2 worlds (8-10 levels I think) and I had no issue doing so. The exploit is actually well known in that community and has not been fixed or patched. It sucks because it's not a bad game overall. It's just underwhelming.
- Punchman Online was the free-to-play game of the month (12.10). Simple controls. Knock your opponents off the field to earn points within a time limit. But no one else was playing. I spent at best an hour doing the tutorial and then waiting in the lobby to play 2 games. The first game ended right away as the only other player quit before the match started. The second match was against one other person and once the time limit was over, I was done. If there was at least an active player pool, it would have been fun.
- Twitch Recap was interesting (12.11). I was surprised at my top 3 played games, but the hours match. Cheers on being the top 10% for Spiritfarer. And those 4000+ hours watched were definitely lots of lurking on multiple streams at the same time.
- ALISIA DRAGOON was the Genesis NSO game of the month (12.12). This was originally supposed to be played on stream as G requested it. I even had it penciled in for September. It was short. Not bad. I get why others like it, but I'd give it a sideways thumb.
- Nintendo Switch Recap had me scratching my head for a few reasons (12.13). First off, the game it said I played first, I did not own, ha. The second was the pie chart of categories until I realized how much I left Crush Crush on. I'm sure it would have been balanced better. Also, no one commented on the almost 5000 hours of gameplay (thanks to Crush Crush).
- Suika/Watermelon Game was the latest Game Trial (12.15). Knew about this one from watching others stream it. It is addictive. While I probably could have squeezed in a couple more hours here and there, I had my fill after the initial play.
- Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island was the GBA NSO game of the month (12.16-12.17). Yeah, still not big on this game. Maybe I didn't like it back in the day, I don't know.
- Natsume Championship Wrestling was the SNES NSO game of the month (12.21). I'm glad I didn't stream this one. I thought I would play it around Wrestlemania or any other big wrestling PPV/PLE. Tutorial went well as the opponent didn't attack back. But the CPU was relentless on Easy difficulty. There was some potential, but I think it would be fun with another human player.
- My Nintendo 2024 Desktop Calendar (12.23)
- All stream clips have been posted on Instagram (12.24). 1143 posts. I did like that the last post happened during the last month of the year. I did think to simply wait it out to make it closer to the end of the year, but the attention garnered with that project was minimal at best. Until I switch things to post other content, it's another platform with my digital footprint. It was also nice to completely delete this task from my phone.
- Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly was the final game I played in 2023 (12.27). I really liked the first Coffee Talk and was excited when a sequel was announced. This was penciled in to be one of the last streams in September, but the physical copy kept getting delayed. I think it worked out for the best. I could play at my own pace and not have to worry about chat and just soak it all in. In actuality, there were a few times I was falling asleep, but I'll blame that on the relaxing music (good stuff). As I continued and more familiar characters returned, I was recalling the voices I gave them. In my last stream, it was asked if I hear the voices I use for characters when I don't stream and the answer was no. But almost every single one came back for Coffee Talk 2. I do think I enjoy the first one more because it was new and I was meeting a new cast of characters. Again, it was awesome to see some return and meet a few new ones, but I knew what I was in for for the most part. The stories told were still good and relatable. I had an itch to try and 100% the game, but once I saw everything I needed to do, I decided to look up the true ending instead. Not that it would have taken way too long to do, but I figured I couldn't do it by the end of the year. I am definitely interested in more installments if they ever happen. Until then, cheers to Coffee Talk.
WORK=========================
- I have officially earned more than I have in 5 years of streaming (12.02). I had a long paragraph typed out, but I deleted it. It's not all about money, but I think anyone can understand or put themselves in this type of time spent relating to money earned.
- Worked my first Sunday shift (12.03). I was worried at first because I had heard how Sundays were, but it went rather smoothly. I even asked a few coworkers how it was compared to other Sundays and they were elated with how much better it was. Side note; kidnapping, ha.
- TaeYeon - To.X (Escape Room). While this doesn't specifically pertain to work, the escape room theme had me excited to watch this video. Afterwards, it made me want to do something similar or at least to make puzzles or another escape room.
- A manager meeting was held (12.14). My first one. I won't go into all the details, but we were all given time to vent, express concerns, talk about certain team members, and come up with plans/solutions. We also had one session that occurred around the time of the meeting. I took the initiative to be their game host and game master as I had said almost everything I wanted to say in the meeting. There was only one thing I added after the session started before parting with them to concentrate on it.
Since then, all that were present in the meeting have gotten to work on their specific tasks. Mine required old HER documents so I actually worked on mine at home when I had time and emailed them when I was done with them. One is already in play and that involves training. The other they like, but are weighing out how to implement it with the current company policies.
- The Company Holiday Party was fun (12.17). On the way, I missed my normal turns I take multiple times. It was dark so the route did seem off. I think I ended up taking a way similar to the first time I went to the building. The majority of the staff were there (Midori Hoshi ended up getting sick that day unfortunately). At first, everyone was sitting, talking, and waiting around. Once one of the owners came by, I asked if there was anything to wait on before eating and she said no and to tell them to eat. I grabbed our lobby bell, rang it 3 times to get everyone's attention, and simply yelled "EAT," ha. Food was good (I should have had more than one plate).
When the other owner came by, she started a powerpoint presentation. It went over some good things and bad things (how much Saving Santa was pulling in, low star reviews, etc). A contest was announced for fastest resets with a money prize. Standing outside the party room and seeing the reactions was interesting. Those that were excited and those that weren't were kind of obvious. While the intention of getting the team better at resetting, I do think a bonus like this is not necessary. They should be good regardless. A bonus was given to the S-Tier Employee of the Month (shout out to them). And a bonus was given to anyone that received a shout out that quarter. That went to me. While the owner was handing me the bonus, I decided to accept it with my mouth to the surprise reactions of others, ha.
We did some type of white elephant game in the lobby. We all got an envelope with a number and a question. All questions were about passwords/codes for various things in any of our escape rooms. The owners gave us a couple of minutes to check anything to make sure we knew the answer and to write it down. We removed the question and then had to pass our envelopes around so we didn't have the same one (left to right to left etc). One by one according to the number on the envelopes, we said the answer and then had to say what lock it went to. If we were correct we got to take a random gift from the Christmas tree. The gifts ranged from snacks, board games, and money (the most popular). Someone could also choose to steal a gift, but that same gift can only touch 3 hands (original owner and 2 stealers). When it got to me (cheers to Agent Ocean for telling me the answer prior), I was close to stealing chocolates another coworker got. He mentioned "steal mine, girls like chocolate." To which I replied "if it was your girl, I'd steal your girl" to the surprise of those that heard that, ha. I opted to get my own gift which was a board/card game called Over-Rated. I should have taken the chocolate, ha. By the end of everything, we were told it was okay to swap gifts with anyone.
We took a group photo and then the final reveal of work sweaters were handed out to the delight of the team. Most chilled afterwards slowly trickling out bit by bit. I ended up staying the latest with the owners, but I did want to mention a few things to them because I would usually forget or they weren't around long enough for me to have a conversation with them. Overall a fun time.
- It took 1 hour for a customer to pay for their party room bill (12.20). That's the end of the story. Rewinding to the beginning, a company booked a room and the party room for their company's holiday outing. Some of their staff were arriving and they were all nice. The owner and his wife arrived last citing traffic as the reason for being late. He seemed frazzled not in a bad way, but just out of sorts. I mentioned he should stop and breathe and order a drink. That seemed to do it. He joined his team and later came out to talk about how there were a few no-shows and sick employees that couldn't make it. Originally they had reserved 2 rooms, but would be reduced to one. He had some concern as it did exceed the 8-person limit. I showed him the room and even mentioned that he and his wife could join and play since they had the extra slots from those that couldn't make it. They still opted out of it and stayed in the lobby to relax while their staff played.
It was also at this time that I bought food for our staff (5 of us including me). One went to pick up the Chick-Fil-A order while the rest were doing their respective tasks.
As it was winding down, he came up to me and wanted to take care of the rest of the bill. That's when he seemed hesitant and frazzled again. I mentioned how much was left and he was silent as he pondered. Already at that point I could sense something was wrong. He asked for a print out of his bill. The printer is in our control room so I had to go back and get it. The staff was enjoying their food and mentioning where my food was, to which I was blunt and said something like "remind me later" as I took the bill I printed out. Before I left, I asked one staff member that wasn't game mastering to leave the lobby up on the monitors. I didn't tell them what was going on, but I wanted one to at least keep an eye on the guy that needed to pay. I also asked another staff member to stay outside with me doing miscellaneous tasks (organizing, cleaning, etc). That was purely to have someone other than myself outside. The customer constantly kept asking to knock the bill down. I had recalled at some point he said that he wanted to leave us a big tip and review. The review never happened as of typing this (12.29). Shouting out the company on your company's Facebook is not the same. But if his intention was to leave the staff a tip, you should know that you can afford to do so and not by hacking away at every single dollar and cent to make it happen. He asked about the drink tickets and the ones that weren't used because of those that couldn't make it. Those extra tickets were given to the staff that were present so they could enjoy more drinks. He asked about compensation for the no-shows and sick people. We give refunds and reschedule 48 hours before your booking, but I gave him some money back because the original booking said 15 and 14 was the actual number. He showed me numerous email threads to show what he was quoted. I read them and said that I'm relaying information I was given as I was not part of the booking process. Eventually, his team escaped and he heard them. So he specifically said that he's leaving his phone, ID, and credit card with me so I don't think he's skipping out while he celebrates and sees his staff off. That's when I told the staff in the control room to also put the outside cameras on the monitors.
I explained how I was ready for something because I felt this guy would not pay one way or another. Either he was going to sneak out because he gave me a fake phone, ID, and credit card or he's going to punch me in the face and run. Once he bid his team a farewell, it was back to business as his wife waited. He asked if money could be refunded because someone had to leave early. That's not how it works. But he really was trying to get as much as he could taken off. I ended up taking the cost of one more person off and told him something along the lines of "I'm eating $100 right now." At that point, I was fine owing anything if the company felt I handled that poorly. I just wanted this guy to pay. And I had not mentioned it yet, but he was already saving 40% by being allowed to use a promo code. He was already saving so much. Again, if his intention was to leave a big tip for staff with that $100 he saved, the staff would have actually received more had he written an actual review and mentioned all our names. But he finally settled and paid. The whole process took more than an hour. I went back to talk to the team after that guy and his wife left. They expressed concerns and their thoughts about it. They said I handled it well, but I was so drained. I brought up the hypotheticals of "what if he did punch me and leave, what if he had a gun, what would you all need to do as staff, etc." I thanked them for doing their jobs as I was entangled in this situation. I did get teary-eyed and needed a few minutes. Called Agent Ocean to let him know and he agreed that there was something up with that guy when they were making the booking. Finally sat down to eat my Chick-Fil-A about an hour later.
That was a crappy situation. Thank you to the team that was there doing what they needed to do and for trusting me.
- Cryptic note to self; Christmas gift/quest and birthday present delivered successfully (12.22).
- 3 things about this day (12.23). One, everything was booked from 5:40-9:50. Midori Hoshi worked the morning shift and offered to work a double if needed. Originally I said yes and they took a break to get food. During that break, 2 other staff members said they'd work doubles. When Midori Hoshi came back, I mentioned how they now had a choice to stay or not. They decided to clock out to take care of last minute Christmas shopping, but offered to stay on call if needed. While I definitely could have texted for them to help, we managed. It would have been easier and less stressful if they were around, but I was glad we pulled it off.
Two, there was a pretty customer that came through. There have been plenty of good looking customers that have walked through the doors, but the number that I've actually thought to possibly approach is less than 5. She caught my eye with her bright pink sweater, but my immediate thought was that she looked like a streamer I knew. But then her and (who I assumed was) her little sister started playing Shoot The Moon. I never caught it when pink sweater hit the moon, which apparently was a lot. But I almost caught it every time her sister did. I even challenged to see if she could do it again in two tries. If she did, I'd give her a free drink (she asked if she could have a Dr. Pepper when her mom ordered a drink). And she did it. Again, I missed when pink sweater did it. Usually when people play Shoot The Moon, I mention how I've never been able to hit it in 4 years and how most of the staff can. Pink sweater mentioned that she should be able to work there then joking how she was trying to steal my job. That's when she had my attention. I can't remember what else we said, but I'm sure we quipped back and forth for a bit. When I brought them to their room (Scooby) it was warm so she took off her sweater. Not going into details, but wow. After I gave my briefing and was leaving, she quipped once more saying "you better practice that game out there." To which I stopped and mouthed "wow" right at her. I wanted to make sure to host them out and did. Took their photo and tried to figure out when to talk to her. Thankfully her little sister went back to Shoot The Moon and pink sweater joined her. Unfortunately, I didn't think of a good moment to simply ask for her name. I thought about it afterwards. I would ask her little sister's name and congratulate her on Shoot The Moon. Then I'd ask for pink sweater's name. The family was leaving and they were the final two of the group, so I walked a few steps behind to maybe tap pink sweater on the shoulder and ask for her name and tell her she's pretty while the rest of her family were out the door. I didn't do that. Simply wished them a good night like I do for other teams. Darn. Hopefully they'll return and we can banter back and forth again and maybe I'll make an attempt. We shall see.
Three, I shot the moon. It was towards the end of the night and we're slowly closing things. Me and another coworker were talking and the topic of Shoot The Moon came up. I mentioned how I haven't shot the moon in 4 years, took a random try, and it happened. I stopped and smiled big. I texted Midori Hoshi and Agent Ocean. I hugged my coworker who was there to witness it. My only regret was that I did not make a wish. I started doing that shortly after we got Shoot The Moon and I wished for the same thing every time. And...I didn't wish for it. I didn't think I was going to shoot the moon randomly like that, but maybe because I didn't have that wish as pressure is the reason it happened. Either way, I was very elated for it to finally happen. I have yet to try again, but I kind of like that being my last interaction (outside of moving it around or watching others play it) with Shoot The Moon.
- Stayed longer than my shift (12.29). Not that it would have been impossible for the team of 4 closing could handle when I was supposed to leave, but I did make it a priority for Midori Hoshi to finish a project I gave that involved social media. Could they have finished it if they were hosting and resetting; possibly. But I think being afforded the time to sit down without multiple interruptions was beneficial. I even clocked out once things settled down to the last few sessions and stayed until closing even though I was still helping and giving feedback for Midori Hoshi. PS: Sharks.
- These last 2 weeks of the year, I've worked 5 days per week. This happened during Thanksgiving week as well. But 2 weeks in a row was draining. I'm glad it never was 5 days in a row although it came close on one of those weeks. Agent Ocean also pulled a few 5 day work weeks and even did 6 days in a row before Christmas. I do hope the team appreciates our efforts.
Have I been perfect throughout it all; no. I have been making some mistakes in resetting. I thank others for catching my mistakes after I rectify them. I forget to do certain closing tasks. I thank those that pick up my slack. I do hope that everything else I do isn't overshadowed by those few things I drop the ball on. Because there are times I think all the little things I do, all the things I don't complain about out loud, or the fact that I don't sit down and take as many breaks go unnoticed.
During these weeks, my energy is super low towards the end of the shift. The drive home isn't bad, but once I walk into the house, my body realizes it almost right away. I need to be quiet to not disturb others, I need to eat a late dinner, and I need to catch up on a few things. I usually stay up for about an hour when I get home before deciding to end the night.
- And on the final day of work, I game mastered the most I ever have thus far (12.31). Not only did I facilitate 6 (I think) sessions, but it was the first time I did two at the same time, which I'm not as good at yet.
ETC=========================
- TWICE - Dance Again (Special Video)
- Nicole - Gravity (MV)
- Jessica - Get it? Got it? Good (MV)
- ITZY - Born To Be (MV)
- ITZY Yeji - Crown On My Head (MV)
- ITZY Ryujin - Run Away (MV)
- 2023 is over.
Streams have ended and I don't miss them. I currently don't plan on coming back to it. The door is always open, but I don't see a need. I do think I'm pulling away from streams in general. I am less active in others' streams and mainly lurk. I can see myself doing that more in 2024 especially as more of the final year of streams are live on YouTube.
Work has begun and I'm all-in. It hasn't been perfect. I still make mistakes. I can still improve. But I'm hitting a stride where I can take on more responsibility and motivate the team. A lot of confidence has been regained. Two special shout outs. Thank you, Agent Ocean. Thank you, Midori Hoshi.
Life...I'm lonely. It hasn't gotten easier. Has it hit me like it did going home from work on Saturdays? Not as much. But especially as the year is ending, I'm reflective. I see what is happening for/to others around me. They have plans. They're doing things. It's hard to make plans with others. It's rare. And if I plan to do something, it's simple and done and not a big deal. Plus I still would rather do stuff with others than being solo because I'm tired of being solo. I don't know where the assumption of "I'm always doing something" came from, but that's never been true. If I was busy, it was because of streaming or work. The in-betweens were me mainly doing nothing outside of routine.
My big thing now is work and it's important, but it may not seem like much to others. If I haven't mentioned it, I am earning money, but don't know what for. It's not like I'm buying more either, but it was nice to put a large chunk of my earnings so far with the rest of my savings. And I do have one big expense that will happen at the beginning of 2024. That might be a kickstart to other things from a mental aspect. Outside of that was gaining self-confidence back. It's not all there, but like I mentioned it's getting better. I'd like to say it's around 80% now, which was what I was aiming for back in October.
I keep hoping I'd find a reason to do the things I do, but there is not one presently. I really hope I will have a reason or reasons to do what I do in the new year.
That's a wrap on December 2023. Thank you for your support. Be cool and be kind.
"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits."
