I had a Sega GameGear as a kid. Yeah it was a Sega system, which Sega was major back then, but the GameGear was nothing compared to the Gameboy. Very cool system, in that it had a full color screen and was backlit.

Now that was at the expense of being heavy as all hell and a monster eater of AA batteries. 6 of them at at time!

I think that was basically the only non-major system I had.

My first DS was the DS Lite. I bought it when the game “Contact” came out. Played various JRPGs on it, as I’m wont to do with handhelds. IIRC, the DS Lite was backwards compatible with GBA carts, which was great. I loved the look, feel, and size of it. Honestly, DS Lite is probably my favorite Nintendo handheld, with the Switch a close second.

After that, I think the next DS that I had was the 3DS. Which I still have; I even booted it up earlier this year to try to play “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice.” I didn’t end up playing it on the 3DS, since I have that anthology on Steam, but I wanted to see where I was.

Games or series that I played a lot on the DS line were practically all of the mainline Ace Attorney games, and even some of the spin offs like the Professor Layton crossover and AA:Investigations. Fire Emblem was another. I think I played Awakening, Fates, and Echoes. I played at least one Pokemon game, too.

Congrats! I know what you mean about the imposter syndrome. I just started a new job, and was super worried. But having got here, seeing the work, doing it, I’m like, “why was I even worried?” I’m sure there’ll be something new, but given that the “base job,” is familiar, I have confidence I’ll be OK. And I’m sure the same will apply to you.

Enjoy your time off. I took 4 weeks off. I miss it already 😭

I’m a week into the new job. And so far it’s fine. In some ways, very different from my last job, but in other ways it’s very familiar to me. So far, the work doesn’t seem like anything crazy. It’s mostly stuff I’ve done before.

I’m having to commute again, which kinda sucks, but at least the commute isn’t any longer than what I used to do before I went full remote at previous job. At least by car. I still need to give public transit a try, though I have my suspicions that that’ll be longer.

And at some point, probably soon, I’ll be able to do a hybrid schedule, at least a couple days a week. So that’ll be nice.

Not gonna lie, after a month off of work, it was tough to have to wake up early again and work! I need to win the lotto or something.

Getting used to living in my new city. After 3 weeks of living here, I’m still liking it. That said, I haven’t gone out as much as I’d’ve liked because 1) I’m still trying to get things unpacked and situated, and 2) I’m a homebody hermit. Easier (and cheaper) to just stay home and chill.

Huh didn’t know P1 and P2 were SMT games. Good to know. I’ve tried at least one entry in the SMT side and just could not get into it. Don’t even remember which it was. I get they’re both dungeon crawlers, but I don’t think I’m a fan of the more old-school SMT-style games.

Maybe that’ll be the reason I go back to visit: BBQ!

I’ve only played P3 Portable and Persona 4, on PSP and Vita respectively (though I also have these on Steam now). I have Persona 5 (also Steam), but I’ve yet to start it, since I have quite the backlog to get through. Including P3 and P4!

I got fairly far into P3P before stopping, while I didn’t get as far into P4 before stopping, then restarting, then stopping again (though I got a little further than the first time). My last attempt must’ve been during the pandemic, so not that long ago. It’s not necessarily that I didn’t enjoy them; I just have a thing with JRPGs where I intend to take a short break…which often turns into years-long breaks.

P3P was more enjoyable than P4, IMO. P4 just seemed really slow at the start, while P3, I felt had much better pacing. If I’m remembering the correctly, the latter just dropped you straight in to the weirdness, and it just kept going, where I felt like P4 had more lulls in the action.

I don’t mind the school stuff, though I’ll admit it’s not my favorite thing in the world. I do try to make an effort, rather than just breeze through it. I do hope to one day complete both of them and then get to P5. I very much enjoy their visual styles and music. I also like games that take place in the modern world, so the series is right up my alley.

For something like Civ or Stellaris, I’d count “completion” once I’ve won at least one game. Because, ideally, I’ve shown some mastery of knowledge, skills, and mechanics that allowed me to win. I don’t need to play and win as each leader in Civ or every race/trait and combo in Stellaris to say I’ve completed it.

This is similar to how I’d view “completion” in open-ended games like Cities:Skylines or Banished. Having played a city or town for several hours, was I able to keep the residents alive, stabilize the city if there were any issues, and also grow and develop the settlement for a significant, though arbitrary, length of in-game time? If the answer is Yes to all of these, then I’ve “completed” the game. I’ve understood how things work in the game. Doesn’t mean I have to understand every nuance or know every little trick. But I know enough that things are going well and largely continue to go well. And every time I start a new map, things tend to always go well.

Earlier this year, I stopped playing Eve Online for the nth time after mostly playing straight through since 2019. Because I viewed my time during this last 4-5yr stint as “complete.” I achieved practically all the goals I set out to do: join a major alliance, join massive PVP fights, engage in smaller PVP fights, make money that I ever had before, buy and fly ships I’d never used before, learn how to explore and navigate wormholes, try out specific types of industry, play with IRL friends, own and run my/our own station, and more.

In all of these, “completion” obviously doesn’t mean I’ll never go back. There’s always more to do, new things to see. But for now, I am satisfied with my progress, experience, and understanding. I’m no longer a noob.

I use it since I subscribe to Proton for email. It seems fine. I used to use Windscribe – or rather still do since I have a lifetime subscription – but I tend to alternate between the two services these days. Proton seems to have tons more servers though. I’ve torrented on both and have had no issues with either.

I finally moved! Made the 16hr journey from Kansas City to the Washington. DC. My dad and brother flew out last Thursday to help me load the truck and drive across the country. Got into town late Sunday and unloaded the truck on Monday. Still unpacking and setting things up, and of course getting my bearings, but so far it feels good. I will say that the drive through the Appalachians is stunning. Obviously not the Rockies, but in some ways, I think the Appalachians are more beautiful.

It was definitely a little sad leaving a city that I’d grown up in, that I’d been at for like 30yrs. As I passed through suburbs where I lived or went to school at, I was definitely tearing up a bit. I’d driven east out of the metro to visit St. Louis, Chicago, Columbus, and beyond many times over the years. But this time I wouldn’t be coming back “home.”

I was the last of my family to leave the area, and while I have a few friends there still, we’ve grown apart as we’ve gotten older as they’ve got their own families and such. As such, unless I move back, I’ll probably never return. Or at least, very rarely.

Anyway, I still have like 10 days before I start my new job, so in the meantime, I’m just relaxing and enjoying it. Hopefully this move will be worth it. I think it will be.

I thought alcoholism would be it. And someone would be at least making money off it (sans bootlegging).

We’re being flippant, but god, what a waste of human potential. Absolutely pointless war.

It is. Additionally, my co-worker who made the comment is like 33-34. I’m 37. Another person on the committee is 40. HR is like 64. So it’s not like we’re a bunch of young guns ourselves lol. We should want experience, and with experience tends to come age.

But yeah, I getcha on the management thing. I’m technically a manager, but I don’t have any subordinates. Because I told them, they’re going to have pay me way more to become an actual manager with direct reports, especially since I’d lose my non-exempt status. To make me exempt, they’d need to make it worth my while. We’re a non-profit, so we already get paid crap (though benefits are excellent).

My work is in the process of hiring someone to replace me since I’m headed to a new job. After a recent interview, a co-worker on the hiring committee made a comment on Teams, “His age seems OK.”

Uhhh, maybe we shouldn’t be talking about age in hiring decisions. Especially on a written medium. Pretty sure that in the US, age discrimination laws starts at like 40yo, including hiring and firing. That interviewee seemed to be over 40yo, which is probably what prompted that comment.

Not that I think the candidate will sue us if we don’t hire him, but it’s just unnecessary risk. And I don’t even work in HR or legal; rather I’m in IT. Surprised HR didn’t say anything about that comment.

I finished reviewing the whole thing about an hour ago. Looks good; went ahead and signed it! Of course, when I go on to the resident portal to pay the first month rent and such, it has the wrong amount -.-

I text messaged the specialist – because no joke, that’s their preferred method – and told him that once he fixes it tomorrow, I’m ready to pay. Let’s see if that gets done in a timely manner.

Welcome to Beehaw!

So I finally got this stupid apartment complex that I’m trying to move to respond to me. Had a couple questions on the lease, but the most important was that I was supposed to get like 2wks free rent, but the lease didn’t show that. They sent me the lease last Wednesday, expecting me to sign within 24-48hrs, while promising to “answer my questions promptly” but then it took them 4-5 biz days to get back to me. I emailed, called, and texted every day. I told them that I’m not signing anything until I get my questions answered. I was getting worried as I already put down a small deposit.

When they called today, I was half expecting to have to argue with them, but luckily the leasing specialist said “Sorry about that; I’ve sent you a new lease with the concession.” And it was there. Still need to review this new lease in its entirety, in case they added anything that wasn’t in the first lease. Which has happened to me before elsewhere; I had the apt managers redo a lease twice, because they kept messing it up. Only signed it on the third try. Don’t know if they were incompetent or trying to pull as fast on me; honestly, probably the first given how that place was run. Anyway, always read over your entire lease, even if they just corrected one little thing.

Hopefully get this signed by Friday. Once this is finished, I’ll be able to book a truck and fly some of my family out to help me.

OK, but what’s the neutral news?

So much weirdness. The box fans inserted into the walls. On Pic 38, the shower faucets are outside of the shower itself. All the ceiling fans. The “conference room” or perhaps church space. In Pic 28, using the carpet as “wallpaper,” and similarly in 29, the carpet for the top surface of the half wall. Using PVC pipes as handrails on stairs or in the closets and hanger bars. And it looks like the vehicle in the garage might actually be a hearse!

Good find!

When I was a high school, I had a friend who lived in a very similar house, sans siding mania. My friends and I were there to pick up our friend, but we ended up going inside for like 10min. The house was super long and just had so many room and doors. Didn’t get the grand tour or anything. As far as I knew, there were only like 5 or 6 in their family: 2 parents and 3 or 4 kids. But I think other family members lived there, too. It’d be too big for one family, and there was enough stuff that made it look like relatives lived there as well.

I remember thinking, “How do you not get lost in here?” And, “Was this always a house, or was it like a converted apartment or boarding house, like for assisted living?” I never asked because I didn’t want to embarrass my friend. The rest of us lived in SFHs or duplexes. Didn’t want to put them on the spot or anything.

Safe travels!

Still waiting on the reimbursement. It ended up being over $1700. I’ve been following developments on the Delta subreddit and some people had even higher, eyewatering amounts of expenses, due to traveling with families or being stuck abroad. There was one person who said they were stuck in Scotland and maxed out a credit card for $7500 on last minute airline tickets on another carrier and was of course livid. But a lot of others are reporting being made whole, plus getting compensatory SkyMiles and/or flight credits.

What I would love to come out of this whole thing, now that it’s happened twice in 2yrs, is better regulations on the airline industry, particularly with consumer protections. So much of the stress and anxiety was because no one knew if Delta was going to reimburse. Just require it in cases of delays of over 3hrs. If people knew that the airline was going to reimburse ahead of time, they probably wouldn’t have spent days in crowded airports, running out of food and diapers for their kids and all that. They can at least be frustrated in basic comfort, with the ability to shower, sleep in a decent bed; a bed, at all! Which helps A LOT. I was a lot more chill about things because I was able to get a hotel. And even if Delta wouldn’t pay for it, I could afford it. Not everyone has that privilege.

We’ll see.