A bed of roses

I spent three hours progressing Tunic and I believe I'm now in the end game. And I feel like I have a decision to make. My original plan was to finish the game, then check the trophy list to see if I feel it's worth going for the plat. But now I'm wondering if I can face playing through it again. Getting around in the early part of the game is a real pain, and even now it just takes so long to get anywhere! Even with the 'fast travel' and short cuts and my latest ability. So, do I check the trophy list now and use a guide to finish the game, hoovering up the remaining trophies? But there may be trophies on the list that are timebound, and I've simply missed the chance - and I risk spoiling stuff in the end game by looking at the list.

I'm going to stick to Plan A. It's more authentic and... it just feels more 'right'.

One of the areas I played through today saps your health bar - whilst being attacked by enemies. Even with many, many healing items, I honestly don't think I could have done it without infinite health. There was a twist that I sort of saw coming. And I also made a good guess about the final ability. Now I get to revisit all the areas to a) use said ability to find the remaining spots I couldn't reach before and b) fulfil the current objective. The 'instruction booklet' has 51 pages and I have more than 40 of them. Some of the early ones in the booklet actually contain spoilers, so you can't access them until near the end of the game. Well done developers!

I'm not quite at the end but a quick review. The art style is utterly charming - even some of the enemies are cute! I'm a big fan of cartoony video games because I think they age so much better. The combat is very smooth and there's a nice variety of weapons. Building up my stats took a bit of working out - my Big Tip is to read the instruction booklet! And the booklet itself is a very nice touch - it's helpful and intriguing AND provides a bit of nostalgia :D The story is basic to say the least and, as noted above, the 'twist' wasn't that unexpected. Of course, I'm not at the very end so there's room for another one! The interest comes from exploring the different areas and uncovering all the secrets. And, for those interested in such things, working out the best strategy for tackling each enemy type. My hack and slash approach works, just about - but I am on 'super easy'! As also noted, navigating is a bit of a pain, but it also encourages exploration. There's no on-screen map, although all the areas are mapped in the booklet - as long as you have the right pages! It's included in PS+, and it's definitely worth a go.

I watched the Playstation Access Friday Feature - 7 bits we dread in video games we otherwise love. I've only experienced the Ship Graveyard in Uncharted 4, myself - but the others on the list are pretty good reasons why I haven't played those games :D I then watched some of the gameplay for the new Dragon Age game and... colour me VERY intrigued! I think I've found my Christmas game.

Otherwise, I had a bath, did two loads of washing, watched one episode of Psych and tried to watch Have I Got News For You - but it looks like the series has finished. Darn. So I watched something on my Tivo list about a new tomb in the Valley of the Kings - KV63. Only it's not that new - the programme was made in 2006 when the tomb really was 'new'. It was one of those programmes that promises to reveal wonderful secrets and then doesn't. I mean, there were some beautiful artefacts but they didn't get to open the two sealed coffins. I looked it up and it seems there weren't any mummies at all, which is a real shame. Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Ankhesenamun remain undiscovered, it seems.

Grandson #2 seems to be very much on the mend, poor little thing.

And that was my holiday. Tomorrow is a normal Saturday.

Monday feels like it was sooo long ago! But the week certainly hasn't dragged. Husband had zero appointments for the second week in a row - perhaps that had something to do with it?

For the next three weeks I've got the Fridays booked off. Three short weeks in a row sounds REALLY good.

Tonight I watched The Invitation. A couple of great British turns - Sean Pertwee and Ian Lindsay. Some vague racism - scripted, I hasten to add. Vampires. Watchable but not earth-shattering. Sort of wishing I'd gone for two episodes of Psych, instead.

Have I Got News For You was good. I even enjoyed Carol Vorderman! Ian and Paul are so loving the election high jinks.

I got in an episode of Fuzz's Rebirth LP - he stopped just outside Cosmo Canyon. CC is my favourite area in the OG and I've been sooo looking forward to seeing it in Rebirth. I decided not to watch the next episode, though, I've watched 27/30 and I don't want to catch up to him.

This week's Friday Feature from Playstation Access was about gigantic bosses. FFXVI made the list, so I advise staying away from that one if you haven't played the game.

Daughter is due to visit tomorrow. It's been three weeks since we last saw grandson #2! Getting withdrawal symptoms. And I have Doctor Who to look forward to, as well.

It might not be a 'school night', but I still need my beauty sleep. Good night, DW <3

The service led by my two colleagues went really well but the tech let us down so we had to resort to paper :D Our discussion was around 'what does prayer mean to you?'. I decided to sit back and listen for a change but I think everyone in my group was saying something similar to what I would have said. Prayer is conversation with God, and we can access it at any time. There's no need for special words or positions - we just get to 'take it to the Lord in prayer'. But having 'special' times for prayer can be helpful because they take us out of ourselves, focus our attention on the divine, rather than random thoughts rattling around in our heads.

When I got home, the kettle, which was playing up yesterday, failed completely. I boiled a very small pan of water on the stove and it took 10 minutes! There was no way I was putting up with that until Tuesday, when I'm next in the office, so I headed into town for a kettle, toaster, and some other random bits I was going to pick up in the week. The most annoying thing was having to get dressed again after getting comfy in my PJs. I hate town at the best of times and Sunday shopping is perhaps the worst. Sundays for me are about rest and quiet - not quite a full-on Sabbath, but something close. These days, Sundays are at least as busy as Saturdays, perhaps even worse. Anyway, I got almost everything I wanted and left the rest for later, and got back home hot and sweaty but successful.

I'd left the washing machine on when I went out and it was ready to hang out when I got back. I considered putting it on the line but I knew we were due a thunderstorm, so decided to hang it out indoors. In the end, it probably would have had time to dry but better safe than sorry! We had a two minute downpour with perhaps one peal of thunder, but later on we had some real rain and LOTS of thunder. In between, we had the Man U v Arsenal match on and the storm arrived in Manchester, with live lightning and thunder! I've never seen that before.

After yesterday, I knew I was in no state to play Zau, so I watched the two episodes of Doctor Who that I completely forgot about yesterday *horrified gasp*

Thoughts on the new Doctor Who

I'd read some comments on fb, so I was a bit wary going in to it. But here are my thoughts.

Space Babies - if the babies were 'born' 6 years ago, why are they still babies and not 6yo? (possible RL reasons - perhaps 6yos command higher fees than babies? or it would have been harder to corral that many 6yos?) And how do they know - but don't know - how to operate everything? And wtf set up all the pulleys and levers? Actually - Nan-E is probably the answer to those two questions... I did like the prams. And saving the 'monster' (which looked VERY like a Propagator :D). One of my fb friends talked about 'virtue signalling', which I'm guessing referred to the stuff about a) insisting on babies being born but not looking after them after that and b) refugees are only refugees when they arrive on your shores. I actually thought that stuff was handled with SLIGHTLY more subtlety than similar issues have been handled in the past. Oh, and I did like the 'story so far' bit at the start - helpful even to those of us who've been Whovians for a while!

The Devil's Chord - an interesting idea. What would the world be like with no music? But it wasn't explored in enough depth because we had to have a song and dance routine at the end. WTF?!?! I liked Lennon and McCartney teaming up to play the final chord - although McCartney being played by Leafyard Man REALLY threw me. Anyway, amongst the 'there has to be a twist at the end' nonsense, 'Henry Arbinger' made a brief appearance, so presumably he'll be back later in the series. The Maestro was sinister in a way I found deeply uncomfortable rather than delightful. More Weeping Angel than Missie :D

I will, of course, continue to watch the series but it's going to take me a while to really get into Gatwa's Doctor, I think. In particular, I'm not getting any real chemistry between The Doctor and Ruby. Maybe the actors are too close in age? Or maybe The Doctor just hasn't been alien enough, yet. Time will tell.

After tea,

I came back up to continue with Zau.

I played for about 45 minutes, of which 30 were spent escaping the Black Cloud of Doom whilst trying to negotiate obstacles. I learned a new skill and had a few goes at using it when... hey, presto! The BCD was back!!! And not only do I have to run away from it, I have to use my new skill, too!!!

I noped out of THAT (there's football on tomorrow, so I'll have a go then, I think), and watched an episode of Psych. I think there's an issue with the continuity because the Chief had her baby but I'm sure she wasn't pregnant in the previous episode... Anyway, this episode was about a Comic Con, which reminded me that we had one in Liverpool last weekend. Sometimes it's hard to know what's a cosplay outfit and what's someone's preferred way of dressing :D

Oh, and we have video evidence of grandson #2 walking <3

And that was my Sunday. Back to work, tomorrow *sigh*

Slippery when wet (aka TRT Spoiler Territory)

I have Ambrosia, which will make getting around easier.

With all the side quests done, it was time to return to the main plot. Clive, Jill and Torgal accompanied Shula to a very nice temple, destroying some nasty critters along the way, including a couple of Master Tonberries with humungous axes. Jill talked about her father having a worship hall, which seemed to pique Shula's interest (and, therefore, mine) but we didn't get any more details. I'm hoping we get more info on that, later!

At the top, we fought Shiva's Companion (I got the impression he was a bit like Lord Zaon), and managed to dispatch him fairly easily. Then the party split up - Jill, Torgal and Shula headed back to the village, and Clive went to face Leviathan. I had two attempts at the boss fight and failed both. I shall continue with that, tomorrow.

Daughter originally asked if we could have the baby for an hour whilst she and sil went into town to get his birthday present. Of course, I said. Now, with daughter 'an hour' is going to be somewhere between 2 and 3 hours in reality :D In the end it was 4 because they were trying to switch their Sky account to her name and there was a glitch in the system... or something... Anyway, entertaining a toddler is exhausting, both physically and mentally, but he's so adorable <3 I did manage to get him to sit still long enough to read 'Let's Go Home Little Bear', a favourite from when our kids were small.

The extended stay meant I didn't get all my cleaning jobs done, so they've become Tomorrow's Problem. Sooner or later, everything becomes 'tomorrow's problem' - and sometimes they become 'next week's problem' :D

I've just watched the first episode of 'Ripley' on Netflix. I have zero clue what's going on or why I should invest another hour of my life in this series. I'm going to try something else, next time I feel like some telly.

Son asked me in all seriousness how close we are to WWIII. I admitted that, when I stop to think about it, we could actually be very close - and he, sil and grandson #1 are, quite literally, in the firing line if it comes to people being called up. Even daughter...? I just pray with everything I have that it doesn't come to that.

We also had one of our semi-regular debates on what to call people who aren't cis-hetero-white folks. These have got more amicable over the years. Partly I put this down to me emphasising I'm only telling them what my latest understanding of things is, not trying to provide some form of diktat, admitting my own limitations of knowledge and tolerance, and that my position has changed in the past and could change again as my understanding changes. Partly, I think they're both more open to hearing what I have to say. At the end, son actually expressed sympathy for me, which I told him was much appreciated - and gives me hope :D

And now it's time for bed, Little Bear...

A few months ago, I bought a super-duper, windproof umbrella from Collar & Cuffs at the suggest of a friend. Although I've used it a number of times to keep me dry, it was only yesterday that it really got put through its paces. Although it did get blown inside out at one point, the ribs were undamaged. The main problem was the sensitivity of the open/close button, which collapsed the umbrella twice!

Today, it rained in the morning but there was much less wind. By this afternoon, it was dry and actually fairly mild, which was good because husband had an eye screening appointment at the Royal. He has cataracts (on top of everything else!) but otherwise they're going to leave him alone for 12 months. They did recommend he go to a normal opticians and get some glasses, though. It wasn't a fun trip but at least he got some fresh air. He qualifies for a free eye test as a diabetic, but not for free glasses.

I also cheered him up with some pictures of grandson #2 and his new haircut, done in readiness for photo' day at nursery <3

Work was good, today. The meeting to discuss future projects was short but generated two more meetings! One is to discuss with my new line manager how best to capture financial information, which is part of my new role. The other is to help the CIO with some sort of graphic. Both should be fun :D

And the meeting to agree the new PMF wasn't quite as shambolic as I feared. I do think it was helpful to meet everyone separately - although it didn't stop people repeating their pet theories :D But I spent some time thinking about the whole thing as I was drifting off to sleep last night and when I woke up this morning, including defining the stage gates. This meant I was able to argue that they're almost mini go/no-go decision points, in which case we want one between 'concept' (define what the project IS) and 'initiation' (build the governance around it). I received backing from Tigger, too, which helped.

BTW - 'Tigger' is definitely meant affectionately. I value this particular colleague for a number of reasons, not least their championing of the PMO role :D I understand why they rub people up the wrong way, and there are days when I'd appreciate being able to get my coat off and sit at my desk BEFORE being bounced! But I can see this being a very fruitful working relationship.

And I finished the day off with an article about the Irish influence on Liverpool - and the less comfortable influence of Liverpool in Ireland (mostly as a setting off point for English oppression). At least we've put most of the sectarian violence in this city to bed, these days.

I listened to a podcast today about 'Intercultural Church', as opposed to 'Multicultural Church'. The point was made that a) Britain is a multicultural country and being a multicultural church is maintaining the dominant culture, whereas Christians are called to be counter-cultural and b) in a multicultural environment, different cultures exist alongside each other but don't mix, whereas in an intercultural environment everyone mixes with everyone. There was also talk about how issues of race and racism are open discussion topics that everyone acknowledges and talks about. It's about not just recognising marginalised voices exist, but those voices actually leading the conversation.

All well and good - and something my church could do with addressing. However, the speaker was from an organisation called 'Evangelical Alliance' who are anti LGBTQIA+. I listened in disbelief as he talked about marginalisation and discrimination - but only in terms of race. And, to be fair, not just black v white, but also Asians. But nothing overt about women, or the disabled, and certainly no mention of queer folk. No - he did mention Hagar and the intersectionality of her being an enslaved, foreign, black woman. But she was mentioned as an illustration of how the Bible actually has a lot of stories about marginalised people (Naaman and the slave girl, Ruth, the Holy Family as refugees), and how God showed them favour.

So, food for thought, but I'll want to be able to quote a source that isn't the Evangelical Alliance! A very quick Google search brought up loads of stuff. Definitely something to progress with.

And sticking with church, progress is being made on the Parish Profile ahead of our meeting on Monday. We're inching closer to our new Rector!

In FFXVI, I've completed all of the hunts and spent a lot of money in the bar, and got another 2 trophies. Tomorrow, it's on to EotF.

We also get grandson #2 for an hour all to ourselves tomorrow while daughter is playing guinea pig to some trainee sonographers :) Very much looking forward to cuddles and giggles <3

Didn't get my conversation with my colleague due to pressures of work :( But we've moved it out to next week.

And now I'm heading for bed. Had another bad night last night and I want to make up for it!

Daughter and Grandson #2 made it down for a visit. We have some Baby Einstein magnetic blocks with extra heads and other bits and bobs, which I bought because I thought they'd be easier for him to manage than the Lego-type ones. The blocks have 5 magnetic sides and one non-magnetic with a letter printed on it. Guess which side he tried attaching the caterpillar's head, to... >D

Husband's cousin bought him (grandson) a pop-up ball pit with a few balls, which he enjoyed throwing various toys in to. He's such a tidy boy <3 And he's walking around the furniture and with his walker but still has zero interest in toddling off on his own. Oh, and he was greatly amused by me juggling two of his balls.

When they left, I had a go with 'Lake'. It is slooow - not tediously, but it's not the most dynamic game ever. But that's one of the reasons I wanted to try it! There are dialogue choices, though, which I always find unnerving :S We'll see how I get on. I've already got 2/12 trophies, with #12 being the plat and all the others hidden. As usual, I'll play through and see how many I get naturally, then look up the list and see how easy it'll be to get any remaining ones.

This morning at church, we talked about how God transforms us a bit at a time - not to take away who we are but to make us more fully our true selves.

And I realised tonight that the person I want to see most in Dancing on Ice is Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards! Tonight he did a Phantom of the Opera routine. If you didn't know who was skating and I asked who you thought it was, I guarantee he would be the last person you'd think of - but he's just SO great. Eddie to win! 

Today would have been our niece's 36th birthday. Still takes me by surprise.

And so sad to hear Jurgen Klopp is moving on. He's been such a great leader for our great club.

You know those days when this morning feels like it happened a week ago but suddenly it's way past your bedtime and stuff - so MUCH stuff - has happened in between? I have a lot of those.

Today actually started with me sleeping through my alarm - or turning it off in my sleep, not sure which. But I guess I needed the sleep...? And since today was a WFH day AND mostly desk-based, it didn't matter too much. Got through some work and two loads of washing, feeding husband, son and myself at various points.

Then my chat buddy turned up an hour earlier than usual, which was nice because I had a meeting that lasted most of the afternoon and it gave me more time to chat with them before it started. The meeting was pretty productive but ChatGPT let me down again. It has a limit on the size of file you can give it and when you have a meeting that runs for 75 minutes with 4 people all talking a LOT (in the way I noted yesterday), you have a) too many words and b) almost no way of knowing how to chunk it up. Maybe it's because I'm using the free version? But there's no point upgrading because when we move to Windows 11 we'll get Copilot to play with, and that will be happening pretty soon. Anyway, by some miracle I remembered all (most?) of the actions and was able to check the transcript for bits I wasn't sure of, and got everything I remembered I needed to do boxed off before the end of my working day.

This evening, I wrapped grandson #2's presents and used up all the non-Christmas wrapping paper. I don't normally wrap presents - I've been using (and reusing!) gift bags and tissue paper for years. But the husband likes seeing small people rip things open, so we go with paper. But note to self - invest in some wrapping paper!

I did a bit more on my miniature tea shop. There's no real deadline on it but I do want to finish it! One of the items is a dresser with 6 shelves, none of which are straight or correctly spaced ROFL. I did my best but it is what it is. I'm now working out how to fit all the bags and tins of tea on it, when nothing can go where it's supposed to.

And we rounded the night off by watching the final of Traitors. It was sooo tense and... I can't say any more because SPOILERS but it was really good.

Right, time for bed. Night, DW!

I had three nights on the run where I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep for a couple of hours. One, or even two, isn't too bad - I can catch it up. But three... And then yesterday my left hip got a bit stiff. By bed time it was really achy and I just couldn't get comfortable. I ended up taking paracetamol, which is almost unheard of. It wasn't so much painful as uncomfortable. I'm going to start with the painkillers tonight - I take them so rarely, it's not going to do me any harm if I don't need them. If I do, they should kick in quickly enough for me to get some proper sleep.

It's been a good week at work. Just pottering around the edges of my new role.

Had a nice afternoon today playing with Grandson #2. He's the most enthusiastic eater ever. He had some of his proper dinner out of a pouch, then some of Pop Pop's fishcake, which he shovelled in with glee (I have a photo of him with fishcake all over his face <3). Then he caught a glimpse of his spoon - well, obviously spoon = food, so he demanded food. Immediately. ROFL! So, he had some pear and custard. And then a bottle of milk. He is just the cutest baby ever.

Yeah - it's been one of those weeks.

Now I've finished FFXVI, I have some time for telly. I'm back to watching The Witcher. Dandelion is just brilliant.

And my news - my regrade has finally happened! Let All Rejoice!!! Best of all, I didn't have to really do anything in the end because it came about as part of a department-wide exercise. There are some other 'winners' and, in theory, no losers - but if I was in some people's position, I would feel I'd lost.

It may also result in yet another line-manager :D

Had some lovely cuddles with grandson #2 yesterday. He's about 6 1/2 months old and is now in 9-12 months sized clothes :D My new nickname for him is Samwise because he has second breakfast ;D We've invested in some toys for our house.

Really don't have much, this week.