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My desire to just chill extended into today, so I didn't make it to church. But I'm leading the service next week, so will HAVE to get my arse into gear!

Following from yesterday's launch of yet another FFVIII adventure (I have no clue how many times I've played this game), I spent an hour or so fighting fish on the beach to harvest their AP and, once Quezacotl had learned 'Card' turning them into cards. I also drew lots and lots of magic and refined it into the next level. Thank goodness for x3 speed! Then I defeated Ifrit but I forgot to give Quistis the GF ability so, although she had Shiva junctioned, Ifrit couldn't comment on it - doh!

With my Ifrit card and a Trauma card I got from carding a Caterchipillar, I then entered Garden ready to do battle and quickly gained the Mini Mog and Quistis cards. I also ran into Balamb itself and played a few hands with the singer near the entrance to the town. Ma Dincht isn't ready to play cards, yet, because I haven't officially met Zell. Did you know there's a chap near the harbour who can nix 'Open'?! Well, I didn't - thank goodness I saved just outside Balamb! I'm looking to collect Blue Dragon and Elnoyle cards.

So, three hours in, I'm ready to head off on the Dollet mission :D

I also got Chapter 3 finished - 10 days and 15k words. Still slightly behind - and I have Things To Do the next two evenings :( There's an outside chance I can get to 25k on 15 Nov, though...

And that really is the sum total of my day!
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I tried Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 - probably fun if you're a fan of racing games, but not enough to make me one. Then I tried Rise of the Tomb Raider, which I think I could play but I'm not in the mood to.

So... I've just loaded up FFVIII! The comfort blanket of video games <3

I'm watching the end of Lincoln Lawyer S2, and I've managed 1k words - hoping for some more later.

Mostly, though, I've just been slobbing around. A very good day.
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Husband and I went into town and made a start on Christmas shopping. We got something for everyone, so that was good.

After dinner, I tried again with the bit in Stray Blade I was stuck on - still couldn't jump the gap. I began to wonder if I was doing the right thing, so I found a YT video that covered this part and then remembered that there's a sprint function... Sprint at the gap, jump across, easy as pie... Frustrated Rosa is frustrated.

Last night when I finished watching S3 of The Lincoln Lawyer, I realised that I hadn't watched S2. I didn't even remember that I'd watched all of S1 - the only reason I knew I did was an old DW entry saying I'd finished it! Which, when I realised there was a S3, I assumed included S2. Anyway... now I'm watching S2. Winston is the best doggy <3

I also managed to get another chapter done. It took a while - not because the words wouldn't come, but because I was trying to work out the logic and logistics while I was writing. But I got there, eventually.

And that was today.

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Started the day with a bath. Such a luxury.

Got in an hour on Stray Blade, defeated part 2 of the boss, and found an out-of-the-way trophy. Next time I play, I find a way to track down part 3... or give up and watch a LP :D

I've also managed to make 2k words - now just under 8k. If I had written the minimum number of words per day, I'd be at 10,002; if I'd written my own target, I'd be at 12k. But the important thing is that the words just flowed, today.

And I've binged on The Lincoln Lawyer. I love the judge :D

My very left-wing fb friend had this to say this morning:
Too Big To Rig. Apparently, Harris won't concede any time soon, but there's no plausible steal here. The forward march of totalitarian-liberalism has hit a major bump in the road. Good. Hopefully, Tulsi and RFK will hold Trump's feet to the fire over Ukraine, Big Food, Big Pharma and he will put himself on the side of righteousness in the Middle East by demanding Netanyahu stops his carnage in Gaza and the Lebanon. Anyway, it's an amazing political comeback and only the truly joyless will begrudge him his victory. It's always nice when the People, anywhere, don't vote the way the Establishment tell them to, as with Trump and Brexit in 2016. Whatever happens now, we should celebrate and thank our Ameican cousins, especially Trump's overwhelmingly working class base.

I have zero faith that their 'hopes' will come to pass, but... well, if nothing else, Trump is a force of chaos, so you never know... And if he DOES engineer peace in the Middle East... Well, it would count for a lot, right...?

I keep this person on my friend list so I can avoid living in an echo chamber. I have to say, they DO live in an echo chamber but there has only been one 'like' on this post and no comments. I avoid challenging them - I tried with Brexit (they voted 'leave') but, whilst I agreed with their very socialist reasons, I was hugely sceptical that the Tories would deliver on them. And I am yet to find a positive outcome of THAT event.

This morning, I had a very similar feeling to the morning after the Brexit vote. And this is all I am going to say about American politics for the next four years.
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Just watched a bit more of Rex playing FFVIII and he finally got round to reading Selphie's diary - but because he's at the point where Garden becomes mobile, there was quite a lot to read :D He described it as a boss fight, which I don't think is fair - but then I'd have read as I went along. Oh, and he got the bad date because he mismatched the music. Irvine tapdancing is still the funniest thing in a video game ever.

I managed another 2k today, so keeping at it. There are a lot of moving parts to this one and 'Chapter 1' (aka, the first 5k words) reflects that fact. Hopefully, readers will be intrigued by the switching between characters and won't feel like I've given them whiplash!

I made progress in Stray Blade and we are now in The Desert Section. We've done The Mines and The Icy Place already. There is some poisonous gas to navigate, which led to me dying. Oh, well, we'll have another go tomorrow.

I've found a new series to binge on - Anatomy of a Scandal. Very much 'she said, he said' at the moment. I am debating whether to watch the end of it... it is Saturday after all... Arguments against - it'll give me something to watch tomorrow, and just because I CAN do something doesn't necessarily mean I should. AND I still have my evening prayers to do, and I can read more of S&S. And there's just exercising a little discipline over myself. There - it can wait for tomorrow.

Liverpool are back at the top of the table after what sounds like a rather fortunate win for them, and losses for City and Arsenal. In fact, Arsenal are now fourth, with Forest(!) sneaking up into third. So, what was all that about a two-horse race between City and Arsenal?

And that was today. See you tomorrow, DW.
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It was a 'coffee roulette' day, today - but we both had hot chocolate :D We'd arranged to meet at one of the uni's cafés but it was closed due to building work, so we went to a teeny, tiny café just round the corner. The hot chocolate was hot! and absolutely delicious. This time I met a colleague who I already knew slightly but it was nice to hear a bit more about them and their life and their work. And it prompted me to book catch ups with gamer colleague and favourite colleague before Christmas!

Back at the office, one of the PMs and I met a colleague from a different department who wanted to take advantage of the uni's 'shadowing' programme. It's designed for people who maybe want to move into a different career to get a flavour of what's involved. I'd quite like to do it, but more as an info-gathering exercise, just to understand a bit more about what different teams actually do. Anyway, the request was to spend a day a week with a PM seeing a project from start to finish - but they might come on a day when all the PM is doing is updating their plan and replying to emails. Not a lot to learn there. And anyway, they seemed to pretty much be doing the role now, just under a different title. We suggested a) have a bit more confidence in yourself and b) begin small with a simple process map. I also sent links to the PDT webpages with the new PMF, the request form and various other useful stuff, Laura Barnard's podcasts, and some YT videos on using P4W.

After dinner, it was on to another PM who wanted to talk through what they needed for their next stage gate. I said I'd be comfortable with them getting on with dev even if we delayed the SG meeting, as long as they'd completed the form for linking all the deliverables. PMs only come to the SG when they're ready to go through it, so in some ways it's more a formality than a decision point. It's more about getting the governance in place ready to move on. I really think we're on to something with the current PMF - it might even last longer than the 6 months I've given us to bed it in!

The other point we made to the would be shadower was that we ARE still bedding in, and our SA is still very new in the role. In another 6-12 months, the ground will be a lot firmer under our feet.

I rounded off the day by tackling the update to the portfolio dashboard and beginning to draft the monthly report to ELT.

Note to self - now might be a good time to offer to do more with the finance stuff...?

Liverpool are currently beating Brighton in the League Cup, so I managed to get 90 minutes with Stray Blade. Another boss down! There are definitely 6 and I've defeated 4 of them. Then I'm guessing there's a final boss - and possibly another before that...? I'm up to about 9 hours game time, and the internet told me it was an 18 hour game, but I don't know if that's main story or completionist.

So, all in all, a very good day!
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I've quit Skyrim. I'm just not feeling it. I've only played a few hours but when you know, you know, right? When a game lands, you find you've played 3 hours and it feels like half-an-hour - I'm struggling to do an hour in Skyrim without it feeling like work. So, that's that.

My new compost bin arrived - without a door <_< I got a text from the delivery driver saying, 'I'm outside - are you in the white house?'. Our house is a brick terraced... There isn't even a white house in view of ours. I'm guessing they mixed up my number and the person ahead of me...? Anyway, they arrived with the bin and the lid. 'Where's the door?' I asked. 'There isn't one,' they said. 'Well, there's one on the picture on the label!' I pointed out. 'Oh - I'll ring them and tell them they need to send you one out.' So, hopefully the vendor will be in touch soon.

Anyway, the plan is to get my bulbs planted tomorrow.

I've done two boss fights in Stray Blade. The first one was probably too easy, thanks to the difficulty being turned right down - but the second one would have driven me nuts otherwise. So, yeah - keeping the settings waaay down. I've also got my first proper ability. Zipping around like a good 'un, now. It's a metrovania-type game, so I expect to revisit every area about 50 times.

I'm now watching Rex's LP for FFVIII. He got upset with the chat for not knowing the difference between helping and spoiling :D And he's just met Irvine - still the coolest entrance for a video game character EVER!

OK, that's all for today.
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Caught up with a colleague today at Bean. I maxed out my old cardboard loyalty card last week, so it was time to get my e-loyalty card. The girl serving helped me use it - then mumbled something about opening my wallet... I got a free hot chocolate out of it, so that's something! I've just done a bit of poking around and the 'wallet' is my Google wallet, which I've never used and don't plan to use for paying for stuff - although maybe I have to now? I'll see next I go. My next colleague meet-up is coffee roulette but it's at a different venue.

I got the feeling the colleague I met up with today isn't particularly interested in just meeting for a chat. We originally started meeting as part of a PSO/PMO group, gathering colleagues from across the university in similar roles but we were the only two really interested in doing that. I shared all our docs and processes because they said they would find them useful for establishing some consistency in projects - but I don't think they ever used them. Now we've got some stability in the PMF, I think I'll refresh the doc suite for the group. We still share the dream of a central PMO, but have no idea how to make that a reality.

Had a chat with our new colleague and discovered they moonlight as a DJ! They had quite a good sideline going, apparently, until their kids were born. The eldest has just turned 18 so, to 'save money', they offered to do their disco rather than the friend of a friend they were going to use - but had to buy all the equipment again >D But now they're writing songs and are looking to put stuff up on Spotify. It's amazing what talents people are hiding.

Work-wise, I joined a virtual PMO conference for a few sessions, and started reading the Impact Engine book by Laura Barnard, which I won in a raffle at another virtual PMO conference a few weeks ago. So far, it's repeating the things I've heard her say so many times, but there are some downloadable worksheets. Some of the stuff we're doing really well - getting the organisation to own the prioritisation process has been a real leap forward, and showing how new projects tie in to the strategy will be another.

Liverpool are playing tonight, so I managed to get a bit of Stray Blade in. With the difficulty turned right down, the battles are a breeze - they're even a bit easy for me! But turning them up would require remembering to parry and dodge, rather than just beating enemies over the head until they give up their loot. It's a very pretty game and I'm enjoying poking around in the nooks and crannies. Part of me wants to give in and play TT... I mean FFVIII... though.
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Got to church for about 9.40am and everything was locked up :0 I sent a message on Whatsapp and got a response back that help was on its way. I think people forget I don't have keys any more, and I don't want them! Anyway, someone with keys arrived and let me and the couple of congregation members who'd arrived in. Everything was already set up, though, so that was something. And there was even a copy of the liturgy and a hymn book on the lectern, which isn't a given :D The service and talk went well.

I played a bit of Stray Blade. Really not sure what it's about, yet, but I turned all the settings down, so the battles are a breeze.

And I watched the rest of S&S. Looking forward to reading the rest of it, now!

Hoping for a good night's sleep.

Just right

Oct. 19th, 2024 10:38 pm
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Treated myself gently today - and I think I'll be OK tomorrow.

I played a bit more of Inscryption. I think I'm getting the hang of the card game... The problem is, when you lose you go right back to the start, which is a tad frustrating. I'm still trying to work out what the heck is actually going on, though. It's one for filling in half-an-hour here and there rather than watching a YT video. Or maybe it's one for watching on YT...? It was a good one for today, though. Tomorrow, I may go back to Stray Blade.

I'm on my semi-regular readthrough of Jane Austen, starting with S&S and I've just watched the first episode of the BBC adaptation from 2008(!), which fitted very neatly with where I'm up to in the novel. For me, it's the definitive adaptation, although I'm struggling with the idea it's 16 years old.

And that was today.
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I feel like I'm getting a cold *sulks* Hopefully it's just a (very!) delayed reaction to the 'flu jab on Tuesday...? I'll take tomorrow slowly and dose myself with Beecham's. Having written this damned talk for Sunday, I want to be able to deliver it!

Looks like younger grandson is getting over whatever he had - and he's saying his baby sister's name! So cute.

I finished watching Rex Sterling's first stream of FFVIII. I do love watching people play something I love for the first time - it's the closest I'll get to playing it for the first time again. So, I'll carry on watching the recordings of his stream, now and then.

This morning, I watched a YT video about great games that were going really cheaply. The only one that piqued my interest was something called Inscryption, which is on PS+ so REALLY cheap! I had a go with it this evening. It's a card game... with some story... and puzzles...? It's definitely kind of out there! Very much not my usual thing but I might prioritise that over Stray Blade.

Turns out I've accidentally wandered into some DLC for Skyrim when I thought I was following the main quest! I think it's a symptom of how late to the party I am with this one :D

Work-wise, I had a 1:1 with my LM and we found a way to tweak the PMF - after saying it was going to be static for 6 months >D But it's more around the documentation than the process and will pre-empt a conversation with the PMs on Monday. I also have more MSForms to write for people to use to get stuff into P4W. And I want to look at the way Lessons Learned are displayed sometime next week. But I made progress with the governance doc today - it's still a WiP, though.

Well, time to turn in, I think. A good night's sleep will help with this lurgy!
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Got through my cleaning jobs by being sensible and doing a bit at a time rather than rushing at the whole thing. Then I finished Night in the Woods.

I've looked up the question of multiple endings and it seems it kinda sorta has more than one ending... But I'm glad I made the choices I did because it looks like I got the 'ending' that explains more things. I'm also glad I dug around in different areas because it led to some secrets. One thing I only discovered quite late was how to speak to the astronomer - I wish I'd worked that out sooner; but he did refer to the fact that he'd seen me running about but I hadn't spoken to him, which was a nice touch.

It's an interesting game because it deals with a very difficult subject in a way that allows the player to experience some of what Mae's going through. I don't think other media would get it across in quite the same way. A film is someone else's vision and a book is too much inside your own head. Video games allow a sense of identification with the PC and a level of interaction with them and their environment that other media just don't manage.

I know what I mean... For me, it's also a 'one and done'. That was my adventure and I'm happy to draw a line under it.

This evening, I started Stray Blade. The game offers the choice between a male or female body type - but the character is voiced by a man regardless. At least... I've just looked it up on IMDb and there is a female VA...? Maybe she's got a deep voice...? Anyway, I switched to the male body. The reviews on YT are referring to it as 'Souls-like' but it does have difficult options - and even a 'Customise' option that I didn't really look at but may make it even easier...? Something to look at tomorrow.

And I've only got 2 episodes of Nobody Wants This left to watch. I believe Morgan, but I think Rebecca is wishing rather than lying. And it looks like Noah has a BIG decision to make.
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Today I wrote four - count 'em, 1, 2, 3, 4!!! - sets of minutes. Two sets were really short, though - really not much to report with those projects. That used to be one project but got separated but we report to a single project board... Yeah, I don't get it either.

Another set were challenging because the person presenting created a slide deck that didn't really keep to the agenda we'd agreed last week. I mean, it covered the same points but in a different order and the official, centrally produced minutes template demands that things are done in a particular order, so the meeting got really hacked about but the minutes are a neat, orderly, logical representation of said meeting. Minute writing really is an art. The minutes are the official record of the meeting NOT a blow-by-blow account.

One of the meetings I had earlier in the week I ended up presenting the papers from my screen, which meant I couldn't take notes on my laptop. I did record the meeting and referred back to the transcript to write it up. Trying to work out the MEANING of the words people actually say from a transcript is nigh on impossible. When I'm writing notes, I'm filtering out a lot of the noise and capturing the sense of it, which I then turn into official minute-speak.

Anyway, the fourth set was from a meeting we had late on yesterday but there was a follow-up this morning because colleagues from another team threw a massive spanner in the works just before project board. This project has already overrun for various reasons, but we were due to put some functionality live this coming Monday. The other team chose yesterday, an hour before the go/no-go decision, to drop this bombshell. They've had MONTHS to raise this. Now, a lot of their points are valid concerns and there's one technical issue that does need to be addressed before go-live - but the way they've presented them is really not helpful to say the least. If they'd been raised even a week ago, some of them could have been resolved. I'm not going to speculate on their reasons for leaving it so late in the day, but I don't believe they only came up with them yesterday. So, I wrote up the minutes and added an addendum referring to the meeting today and the outcome.

My LM STILL hasn't sent a doc through that I asked for over a month ago. It's nothing vital - it's a summary of a project that's closed - but I want to put it up on the delivery team website. We have six previous projects there at any given time and I like to refresh them now and then. It's just the fact that I have to keep asking for it.

Coming on top of events earlier in the week, it's all left me slightly out of sorts.

In more cheerful news, this week's Friday Feature is on mistakes all gamers make. Rob was on excellent form :D And I watched another episode of Far: Lone Sails. It's such a beautiful little game. The muted colours add to the atmosphere and the PC's scuttling walk is perfectly animated. The puzzles are all very doable - I don't remember running into any real roadblocks. The second game - Far: Changing Tides - was a bit more of a mind-twister. I'm looking forward to the final game. There has to be a final game!

I played a bit more of Night in the Woods - I'm now up to 80%. There's a point in the story where you get to investigate in three areas; after I'd done two, I was automatically taken to the third - but I chose the order I did them in. I'm wondering a) what friendship-building events I've missed with the third companion and b) how they handle the other choices. But not enough to play it again - and a LP would be difficult to watch, I think. It's all text based and there are so many choices - dialogue options, who to speak to outside the main story; it would be a real mindfuck trying to keep track of all the paths. But I'm feeling so bad for Mae, now - hang in there kitten...

I'm glad I chose that and not Skyrim - or even my other option, which was to start a new playthrough of FFVIII. The more relaxed, narrative-driven game was just what I needed.

No grandbaby-cuddles today, but probably just as well given my workload! And now to sleep...
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I did one of my work things and completely forgot the other one. But I know what I want to do. I'll fit it in somewhere...

Played quite a bit of Night in the Woods - 66% of the way through, now. I think I've played about 7 hours...? I've got 4/32 trophies - go me! There are so many random things to pick up on, and I've probably missed lots more. I'm wondering if there are different endings, like one for spending all your time with friend A and another for B, and one for never hanging out with any of them... and then doing a bit of mix 'n' match like I'm doing? The game has taken a turn I was not expecting - but maybe I should given the time of year it's set in. When Mae runs, she kicks up piles of leaves, which is cute. The latest dream was quite different from the others, which was a relief because I got totally lost in the one before that.

I've got over the bump of not liking Mae. Rather like Squall, she's at a point in life I've never really been at myself, so I don't find either of them particularly relatable. In fact, I sympathise a lot more with Mae's long-suffering friends! I do have lots of experience of saying the wrong thing, though, so there's that. Well, I've done 1/3 of the investigations. Not sure if I'll get to play again before the weekend - we shall see.

I'm speaking at church in a couple of weeks. We're loosely taking the theme of BHM - and I want to say something about how annoyed I get with the fact that it exists. I'm not annoyed with black history - in fact, knowing my church was probably built using the profits made off the backs of enslaved Africans, I'm more ashamed than anything - but it shouldn't have a month. History is history - we should have the opportunity to learn all of it all the time. Same thing with women's history or LGBTQIA+ history. But we're not there yet...

And on the other hand, I find myself in sympathy with white, straight, working-class men, because all of the 'identities' that exist define themselves in opposition to them. Either my boys don't get to claim an identity for themselves - or they look like racist, homophobic, misogynists. I get the whole 'pride' thing - if you've been told all your life that something about yourself that you cannot change is shameful, you should stand up and take pride in it. But now the WSWCM can feel they're being shamed for something they didn't choose - but they shouldn't feel 'pride', either... The world is fucked up. I pray for the day we value one another as glorious human beings, and accept everyone for who they are.

Will we ever reach it...?
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I'm 46% through Night in the Woods. It's definitely growing on me, but I have to keep reminding myself that the PC is supposed to be an adult. She runs around in t-shirt and jeans all the time - and sleeps in them, and goes to parties in them. Do you really not have any other clothes, Mae?! And every other adult in the game goes on about money all the time. I mean, yeah, a good chunk of adulting is money related but not EVERYTHING. But one of her friends said something about wanting to hang out with her because it took them back to being younger. I like running and jumping. Mae's arms flop up and down in a very comic manner. Her nightmares are actually quite scary, though. The little pillars you have to light up remind me of hattifatteners from the Moomins. I very much approve of the local pastor.

I watched Quasimofo finish Ender Lilies. The final boss took him by surprise :D I've just looked at his channel and he's also playing Far: Lone Sails and Plucky Squire! I shall have to check those out. But first I need to finish watching Fuzz' LP of Rebirth...

Took husband to get his 'flu jab this morning but we didn't stay out long because it was quite chilly - and Liverpool were the early kick off. I've just booked one for myself, too.

And that was about it for today.
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Met with favourite colleague and chatted about work (so glad they've got a real job and they're enjoying it!) and Doctor Who (we're both pushing ourselves through the old-old stuff, knowing it gets better at some point :D).

Then prepped for a project board with the relevant PM; that particular project has gone really well and is nearing completion. After that, I had a conversation about the service catalogue with the colleague in charge of the Helpdesk and we agreed a structure for it. It'll be next week before I get to grips with it, though.

I managed to get the minutes from yesterday's prioritisation meeting done but had to cut my dinner time short :( It doesn't happen often - but that's one lost dinner time last week and a shortened one this. Still, busy is good!

The colleague running this month's cascade meeting asked me to talk through the PDT's work and how it relates to the uni's strategy. I'm always happy to talk about the portfolio! There were also some of the more junior members of other teams talking about their particular areas. Very nice to hear some different voices.

Chat buddy shared a video about the classes and sub-classes in DAV. Multiply that by the number of races and background/alliance/thingies, and it looks like the game definitely has replay value!

Then I had a RAPID meeting and a project update meeting with one of the PMs. After that, I cleared out some emails and it was time for home!

A full day but it didn't leave me feeling worn out, so that's good. A solid night's sleep last night helped, too.

Tonight, I played about an hour on Night in the Woods, which... hasn't really grabbed me... It includes a guitar mini game, which I'm terrible at, although I was sort of getting it towards the end. I've played 20% but haven't triggered any trophies, of which there are 32. Not that getting trophies is the reason I play games, I'm just used to getting one for going to bed on the first night or something. Anyway, I'll see how I get on with it.

Heading to bed, soon - and hopefully another good sleep!
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The son's company ran a one-day football tournament and his shop's team won! He was a really useful player when he was little. Like people would stop and watch him when we were out-and-about, and when he was in infants (under 7yo) the older juniors (11yo) let him play with them before school started. I honestly thought he could make a career of it but had no idea how to get him started - and he wasn't pushing for it, so it didn't happen. Now, I'm hoping he'll find a way to take it up again because, frankly, he needs the exercise.

I finished Plucky Squire, thanks in no small part to the ability to skip the mini games. I am very comfortable with this. I also think it's a game I want to introduce the grandbabies to in a few years - and hope that being young will give them the necessary reflexes to get through the mini games :D A few thoughts:
  • I loved the art style - I know I've said it many, many times, but give me cartoony/stylised over realistic any time
  • I loved the story-book feel to the whole thing, and the dire warnings of how dull life is without good stories (younger grandson is already protecting himself :D)
  • I loved the story itself - not exactly unique but (as with Trek to Yomi) telling a familiar story in a new way, and doing it well, is a skill in itself
  • I loved that all the companions had their part to play, even if I skipped over their individual battles
  • And I loved all the characters with their little quirks and different skills
  • I loved the LOTR reference at the end (I'm sure there were others but I've either forgotten them or didn't spot them), and the self-deprecating humour of the game as a whole
  • I loved that 'story mode' really did mean 'focus on the story without having to struggle with annoying mini games'
  • I loved that I could make Story Mode even easier by making myself invincible
  • I enjoyed using light bulbs as currency
  • I was less than enthusiastic about some of the mechanics - particularly throwing, or rather the lack of explanation about throwing
  • I didn't like finding stuff out by accident - but whether that's about my brain or the game design, I'm not sure
  • I don't think there's much replay value, unless you want the plat (there are separate trophies for completing the game in Story Mode and Adventure Mode) - or want to speed run it, or set up contests between family members or something
  • Overall, I give it 8/10 - a solid little game that isn't too taxing but does have some puzzles that require real thought
My miniature tea shop is nearing completion! and the roof doesn't fit together properly... I'm not going to buy a kit like this again. But when it's sitting on a shelf, I can admire it from a distance and not see all the imperfections :D

I watched a couple of episodes of New Amsterdam. I've decided this is my go-to 'brain dead' programme, so a good way to round off the weekend.
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I had another quick go at Plucky Squire and still couldn't get the thing to do the thing, so I switched to Skyrim. Last time I played, I had collected the quest item but couldn't find a way out of the cave other than trekking all way back the way I'd come. Thankfully, today I spotted the handle for opening the back door :D So, I have the shout thingy and I'm now outside the monastery of the Greybeards who will show me how to use it. And then, as I understand it, I can spend the next several years of my life wandering around doing anything except the main quest. Oh, I bought a horse, too, for an exorbitant fee. Then the Jarl appointed Lydia as my house carl and I felt guilty riding whilst she was running along trying to keep up, so I left it at the stables. <_< Anyway, I fulfilled my aim of at least playing a bit here and there.

Then I had another go with Plucky Squire - I even looked up a walkthrough and YT video, but neither really helped. Then for some reason I tried jumping before throwing the thing at the thing. And... it worked... So, not a bug exactly but definitely something I feel wasn't properly explained. Anyway, I have made quite a bit of progress. I like working the puzzles out, but I feel a bit disgruntled when I get the solution by accident - but whether it's with the devs for making it so obscure or with myself for not thinking of it, I'm not sure! Anyway, I'm back on track, which is the main thing.

I watched the first couple of episodes of 'Nobody Wants This'. Kristen Bell in a series dealing with religious matters. That's never happened before! I definitely like Joanne more than Eleanor, though, so that's a good thing. I also noticed D'Arcy Carden is in the cast, so I'll look forward to her popping up. I feel like it's requiring me to engage my brain much more than 'New Amsterdam' does - but I might keep watching that when I've got nothing else.

I also started watching 'Movie 43'. I don't often turn something off - I think I can count on one hand how many times I've done it - but this was a big fat 'Nope!' after about 10 minutes.

Instead I found a documentary about reading some ancient scrolls found in a house in Herculaneum that I'd taped a while ago and watched that. One of those where the 'discovery' takes about 10 minutes to tell you about but they manage to spin it into 45 minutes (an hour with the adverts). The advantage of recordings is that you can fast forward the ads. I mean, what they've done is extraordinary. The scrolls were carbonised by the ash and lava from Vesuvius and are impossible to unroll physically without destroying them. So, they've scanned them into a computer using ultra strong x-rays, and then extracted 'segments' to read the text. The first word they deciphered was 'purple' :D It could be about absolutely anything - but there's a good chance it's about someone wearing purple, so someone with clout. But really, I'd rather they waited a couple of years until they'd got a full document worked out - or at least to the point where they know what it is. Is it a history of Rome? Or a laundry list?

Oh, and LFC managed to hold out for a win, so we're currently top of the league!
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It was good to be in the office, today. I caught up with a former colleague (still at the uni but not in our department), talking small children, gaming and a bit of work first thing. Then I had a hand-over meeting with a current colleague, and had another gaming chat.

I made some good progress with Patel's character chart today. She's becoming much more real to me. I've discovered that her favourite saying is it-tikraar yi3allim il-Humaar. Repetition teaches (even) a donkey. (Practice makes perfect.) :D

Really not much else to say...
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I've run into some difficulties with TPS. The first was a training session using one of the companions rather than the PC. You had to hit vases with drumsticks - after several china ones there'd be a metal one that you could hit back at the boss to defeat him. There were three stages, each with more china ones and extra hits to the metal one. I tried, I really did. I even got to the final metal vase but couldn't hit it back the final time. Thankfully, there's a 'skip this minigame' option! This was repeated with an actual boss - again, I tried it (this time it was seedpods(?) and snakes - I think if you timed it right you threw the snake back at the boss. I didn't) but gave up quite quickly. In between, there was a battle where the PC was dressed up as a space warrior with a laser gun and lots of spaceship-type enemies. He didn't fire the gun. At all. I pressed all the buttons AND the shoulder buttons, including in combination. Nada. Zip. Nowt. So, I don't know if I could have done that one.

Now I'm at a spot where I need to use Extra Strength Weedkiller. I have the weedkiller - but can't throw it at the weeds like I did in the 'tutorial' on the previous page. Just did a quick search on t'internet. Looks like there are a number of bugs in this chapter - I may have just triggered one. I'll see if it works next time I play, which will probably be next weekend, now. Or maybe Wednesday - Liverpool are playing. If it doesn't work, I'll give Night in the Woods a go.

I watched another couple of episodes of Ender Lilies by Quasimofo. There is no way I'd have got through it. I'm so grateful for other gamers. I have a bad feeling about how things are going to turn out for Lily, though...

Wrote the email LM's LM has been asking for - I just didn't read the original request properly. I'll leave actually sending it until tomorrow. I don't want people to know I work at the weekends. It's neither required nor expected and I've only done it because I was being Granny on Friday afternoon. I don't want to look like I'm sucking up, or something. And I don't want questions asked about my Friday's :D

I made a rather nice Scouse for tea. I'll take the leftovers into the office tomorrow. Swapping my Monday and Tuesday round this week because a) husband has an appointment on Tuesday and b) there's a has-to-be-in-person meeting tomorrow - so it's turned out rather well.

And that was Sunday.

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