Caffeinated Gaming: The Sims 4

I love The Sims, brainchild of Will Wright that hit store shelves in February of the year 2000. At least as far as I know, it was the first of it's kind, taking the world management of Sim City and making it all about the people and their lives. As the franchise went on, it got more and more elaborate, becoming not so much a game about simulating day to day life for digital entities, but putting said digital effigies you created into crazy situations and telling stories with them.
Why else would you kill off an entire family dressed up in stereotypical indian costumes, just so you could move in a new family and have the ghosts of the previous family haunt them as though it had been built on an Indian burial ground?

Whereas the original focused solely on the household, and later on in it's expansions, visiting community lots to shot, eat, date, shag, and play, you were always sort of tied down to one area of wherever you wanted to go. It eventually began to open out starting with The Sims 2, until the Sims 3 presented to us a seemless open world to explore with our Sims, even taking control of their jobs directly.

Now it's fourteen years later and with the release of The Sims 4, gone now is the open map, as well as a good many other things, on top of the cool things that you can do. But underneath it all, I have begun to sense a return to the series roots in the original, for better or worse.
For starters, the Open World is gone, as I pointed out, a fact that sticks in my craw. Instead, we are given the ability to explore the surrounding neighborhood our Sims occupy, littered with the expected collectibles. The focus is more on the Sims, because they are ten times more lively than they have ever been thanks to multi-tasking. We can do up to three things at once if they're manageable. You can read on the toilet. You can have a drink and watch TV while talking with the bae.
You can tell some very personal and interesting stories with The Sims 4. For instance, I made a sim with the Bro quality, who wrote Bro-related books, and romanced a local hottie. They saw a lot of each other, and had a great time...but when they got married, because of their work schedules, the only time they saw each other, was when they were going to bed. It was sad, and almost too real a situation.

Though, then I reflect on The Sims 3, where my Sim would get home from work, have a quick bite, and then pop down to the watering hole for a bit. To do that, my Sim would just get in his car and drive across town to the bar. In The Sims 4, with the removal of the open world, we have to go through a loading screen to get to the community lot where said bar exists. If you wanted to check on your other Sims in Sims 3, you'd just right click their portrait and it would just zoom in on them, because they still existed in the same game space zone. Sims 4 has to load the lot they are in. It's all minor annoyances, done for the sake of making the game run smoothly and require as little from computers as possible. And I appreciate that, but all the changes feel like such a step back. Three generations back...As though I'm playing a retro version of the original Sims. There is little reason to visit community lots at all except when your Sim wants to via their Whims. You can fill your Sims social needs just hanging out in your neighborhood, and unless your Sim is just really keen on doing stand up at the local bar, your day to day will be a lot of going to work, and coming home.
That is unless you get in on a good crafting ability to make money from home. Like writing books, or writing songs, or selling the collectables that spawn around your neighborhood (like magic, at dawn there are a slew of new fossils, crystals and ores. Laws of physics and geography be damned)

Granted, we are in the age of Vanilla Sims 4. Pre-Expansions. The expansions have always been what makes the series shine, expanding on existing features and heaping on new ones. I have some serious high hopes for whacky and insane adventures to put my Sims through in the years to come, just as the Sims 3 and previously, The Sims 2, had before it.


Should you buy it?
If you're a Sims fan, you've already bought it. If you're on the fence, to be honest, I'd wait and see what expansions come down the pipe to flesh out the experience.

Blog's not dead

Sometimes, life happens.
Sometimes things get put on the back burner.
Sometimes you lose that spark and have to go find it again.
Sometimes, you have to take the time to take care of your own business.

All in all, my job has been really keeping me tangled of late, while at the same time trying to maintain SOME kind of social life.
Hoping to get some things written and posted here in the coming days as they come.

Video Game Wood Carvings

Another personal blog. Around this time last year I got into doing wood carving when I was out of work and my mother suggested I take some old derelict barn wood and do some kitchy signs and whatnot that could be sold in her farm store. Sadly, before that could really take off, I wound up getting a job, even more sadly, one that had almost eaten all the time I had to wood work.
Then just recently on a day off I was poking around the garage and found a choice piece of rosey wood, and spent a good hour contemplating what I wanted to put on it. Being an avid gamer, my first instinct was to find something relevant to my interests. A logo or something. Being an even bigger fan of Bethesda Softwork's Elder Scrolls series, I decided to opt for what is commonly now known as the Skyrim logo.

The symbol is known as the Seal of Akatosh or The Imperial Dragon, and if I am remembering correctly, it first showed up around imperial bases in TES 3- Morrowind, before becoming the cover icon for TES 5- Skyrim.

Little bit of gaming trivia for you.

The second photo is the first one I did. Not very deep, as I would have liked, but it WAS a rather thin piece of wood so I didn't want to push my luck. Minutes after posting a picture of my efforts on facebook, a friend asked if she could have one, and how much it would cost her. I told her twenty dollars, to cover labor and everything. By lunchtime I'd found a decent piece, drawn the pattern, and by 4pm that afternoon, I had the first image you see above, which I feel is a better, more accurate rendition of the iconic image.

At my friends recommendation, I tossed the pictures up on the Phoenix Comic Con facebook group, and the response has been positive. I've even offered to do up some for people if interested once I get some fresh material, having used my last two good pieces for what you see.
Even have some friends curious if I might do other woodwork for them. It feels good getting back into an artistic swing of things.

Though I hope Bethesda is cool with me making these.

So, what are you Grateful for?

What are you grateful for?

It's a question that's always given me a moment of pause. There's a lot of things in my life that get on my nerves, but what am I honestly grateful for? It's the part of Thanksgiving that always puts me on the spot in my family where we go around the table before grace and talk about a thing that we are happy to have in our lives. And we want that to be a meaningful thing, even if the thing that comes to mind is "I'm grateful the Diamondbacks at least made an effort this last season".

But it doesn't have to be something astronomically meaningful on a grand scale. Who are you trying to impress? There's no shame in being grateful for smaller, even insignificant things. After all, as I keep saying, it's the little things. When you wake up, before you start cursing the day and everything it's going to deluge into your life, take a second to think of something to be grateful for.
-"I'm grateful I have clean socks and underwear this morning." (I am notorious for forgetting to my laundry the night before)
And then just make a mental list of things to be grateful for.
"I'm grateful there's still some milk for my cereal."
"I'm grateful for the existance of coffee."
"I'm grateful my favorite Webcomic updated on time."
"I'm grateful we'll have a full team at work today."
And so on and so on. The idea is to take stock and count of all the good things in your life, rather than putting all of your innermost passion on the things you hate, or the things you're dreading. Even if you absolutely despise what you do for a living, you can at the very least say "I am grateful I am employed", because you are. You are at least grateful for that.

It can be a bugger to just compile a big list of things like that. So I recommend starting with just one thing. One thing that you're grateful for. And take a moment to appreciate this thing, or person, and love it. Love coffee? Have a cup of coffee, and really savor it, or enjoy it in that one coffee house you rarely get to go to.
And now that you have that one thing, you can start adding other things you find in your life that you're grateful for. Even if it's a situational "The carpool was on time, today was a good day". Or something not even relevant to you ("I saw a bunny on my way to work"). You will be amazed at what you can find a bit of gratitude for in things around you, or the things you take for granted.
And never forget to always take some time every day to be thankful for the things you're grateful for, even if it's just two seconds of silent reflection. Do this for yourself, focus on the good, and the good will start coming back to you.

Have a great and prosperous day.

Upcoming: Gratitude and trying to find it

So, I haven't been all that active of late, my job has been getting increasingly taxing these last few weeks and it's kind of been draining my creativity and I've been at a loss for a topic to work off of. But, I've been seeing and hearing a lot of discussion about the importants of Gratitude in the creative process, that I've made that my next topic. Hopefully to have that to you soon.

Why we tend to wake up before we need to

 This is a problem a lot of us probably have. You're asleep, you're comfortable. You might even be having a pretty good dream. And that's when you feel the kick and you awake...It's still dark, and you glance over to check the time, hoping you have maybe another hour...No. Alas, according to your alarm clock, you are about five minutes from having to get up.
It's irritating, it's infuriating...It happens for a reason.

We are creatures of habit, after all. It's only proper that our bodies learn our sleep schedules.

For further reading, I posted this particular article on an older now abandoned blogging project of mine. But I feel it's good enough to repost here.

It's a vastly interesting article regarding just how much of a bastard who does it's own thing our brain can be.

Good Customer Service begins with being a Good Customer

If you asked anyone who works in the service or retail industries what they dislike most about their jobs, it's very likely the top of their list is dealing with customers. Some of you may even be nodding your heads. Unless you are the kind of person who gets a profound sense of joy and pride out of being in a position of subservience to the whims and desires of every Tom, Dick, and Harry that walks through the automatic-sliding doors, work retail and service jobs can be both crushing, and soul draining. Can be. Operative term.
But, as I have touched on in other entries of this blog, it is all often a matter of perspective. Not just for you if you're in that line of work, but also you, the customer. It's a two way dance, so let's start with a right leg out.

As the customer, you are the sole reason for a business to exist. You're the person who purchases the goods and services and keeps people employed and recieving their paychecks. You are one of many, many stones that make up the foundation of economy and society in general. My first point will be not to abuse this knowledge. You are an important factor of any business, but you do not own or run the business. Don't let the revered status of Customer go to your head.
Never forget that every man and woman in any place you visit with purpose or desire, is a man or woman like yourself. You do not know their business, or their stories. The least we can do, for anyone, is to be civil and polite, if not just simply friendly.
Golden Rule of Good Customership 1: Be Humble.

It is also a good point to bring up, that there are two states you should never go out shopping in. One should never go shopping while hungry, or angry.

I once had a job where for a time me and several other people had to sell memberships to a club. It equated to a lot of standing around and being turned down. One day, I return from a bathroom break taken purely to break the tedium, to a woman seeming to give my partner at the table a hard time about the memberships that we were selling. To take the pressure off my partner, I interjected with a full explanation of the membership and what we offered, very matter of factly and simply. This seemed to offend the woman, and she became even more upset and began to storm off. Merely as a matter of courtesy I tossed out a "Have a good day", which made her spin on her heels and become even angrier. Apparently "Have a good day" is retail speak for "Sit on a tack and die" where this woman was concerned.
The rest of the day I turned the encounter in my head, more so in preparation if she came back for another jab. I came to a conclusion that, she was having a bad day, and she brought it with her and tried to rub it off on us. 
Don't do this. It's not going to make you feel better, you are only going to make things harder on other people, who are simply either going about their business, or just doing their jobs. Misery does not actually enjoy company, so there is little value in sharing your bad day with the rest of the world. In fact, according to the Law of Attraction, you are literally telling the universe you want more misfortune and more bad days. This is not a good mindset to have. The world is full enough of hard hearted, miserable people who just want to make other people just as miserable. Let us not add to the population of them.
If anything, these types of people are the scourge of retail and service.
 Golden Rule of Good Customership 2: Just be nice.

Now, for employee's, just take what we have talked about above, and apply it to your work day. Be humble and civil, and polite. Don't bring your bad day with you, because it will seriously hinder your work.

I could go on to talk about shopping habits and the aspects of people buying what they want rather than what they need, but that is your business. You are going to buy what you are going to buy and no one should be able to tell you what you should, or should not. You're an intelligent person, and it's your money.
...Just please don't manhandle the displays...

The 11 Lives Philosophy

I stumbled across this one day, from a webcomic called Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by a Mr. Zach Weinersmith and it struck a serious chord with me about how I look at life and what we do. Please to enjoy.

Hate your job? Let's work on that.

For some of us, going to work is not the highest point in our day. That is usually an honor saved for that moment when we clock out and are, for the time being, free once more to pursue our own adventures until it's time once again to fulfill our obligations to our employers. Some of us luck out, and we wind up in a job that manages to not only be rewarding, but enjoyable.

For those of us who practice the creative method, this is when we are really tested when it comes to maintaining positive affirmations and gratitude. It is incredibly easy to get overcome with the grubs, or panicked, flustered, or just overwhelmed.

And I will be honest with you, reader, I am very far from the finest source to inquire about maintaining good vibes in the workplace. My personal work history is decorated, and in almost every one of them I had uttered the dreaded phrase that would undo all my creative works therein-- "I hate my job."
If you're a believer in the law of attraction, you will want to avoid this phrase like the plague, even if it's something you're just uttering to yourself in the heat of a bad moment at work. You will immediately set yourself on a vibe of your job just sucking more and that explains a lot of my past experience, if I sat down and reflected long and hard enough.

So instead of attempting to BS you about how I would strive make the most out of a less than stellar employment situation, I hit the digital streets and byways looking for answers and varying points of view on the matter.

10 Ways to Survive Your Crappy Job
From: Lifehacker.com

How to Deal With a Job You Don't Like
From: artofmanliness.com (a personal favorite site of mine)

Survival Skills for a Job You Detest
From: The New York Times website
This article even provides a quiz that may help you determine whether you should just leave your current employ.

Hate Your Job? How to Cope With Bad Bosses Long Enough to Get Out
From: Havethelifeyouwant.com

One resounding message in these articles touches on the fact that in a lot of bad workplace situations, it's mostly because our attitude about it sucks and we could stand to get over ourselves. You may be shaking your head and have reasons, but just stop for a moment and think about it. If it's something we don't enjoy, you're probably going to grump about it, even if it's not that big a deal.

Furthermore, there's no shame in rewarding yourself for putting up with it week to week. At the end of my week, I like to treat myself to a nice sit down meal. Somewhere to relax, and stuff myself. Something I try not to do during the rest of the week.

So, you may not be rolling in the big bucks, or having the time of your life in the workplace, but you have a job, and in this economy, that's a step in the right direction. Instead of looking at it as something you have to endure, think of it as a resource that's keeping you moving forward to what you actually want to do. Be the advancing person, and one day you'll find that thing, that you didn't like? Not even an issue anymore.

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The Law of Attraction

There is a definite trend in studies and thesis about the law of attraction; how what we think can literally shape the world around us because of a connection we all have with the cosmic, be it god or the universe itself.
Wallace Wattles put it in a very factual manner. There is a universal thinking 'stuff', which works to align the universe to our wants in accordance to a precise science of thought, will, and perception.
As the mentors and professors written of in the infamous book "The Secret" put it, we are thought magnets, and radio towers keyed in to the frequency of the universe, putting out and attracting wavelengths of our conscious and unconscious wants, even so much that we can attract what we don't want, because it's not so much the desire, but the power we put into such thoughts.

To hate something with a great and fiery passion, by this thinking, therefore attracts more of a like something because we are putting out that kind of energy connected with that thing. Like attracts like.
That means that the Thinking 'Stuff' does not respond to the human words of affirmations, but the energy and passion that we affix on what we want, and what we don't want...the Thinking 'Stuff' does not discriminate.

In this, we would have to guard our subconscious and waking thoughts so closely if we are to seriously experiment with the science of manifestation. It doesn't help that often people find themselves in undesirable situations for a plethora of reasons. We work to pay the bills. We have bills because there are things we need and want. To have what we need and want, we must afford it. To afford it we must work, and often when we work, and gain what we need and want, we acquire bills. Thus many take jobs they do not enjoy, purely to step the severity of the cycle we get swept up into. As my mother would say, "I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go."

Personally, I feel you can have and be what you want, just as we were told when we were children, and be there truth top the science of the law of attraction, we only need desire, passion, and the willingness to act on our passion, while not allowing the things we do not want to interfere with that desire.

That is the reason I began dissecting and analyzing ways to "make the most" of life's ups and downs. When we can take anything life throws at us and make good on it, then there is nothing that can get in the way of out passion, when our begrudgements give way to being the things we can be grateful for instead.
And how awesome is it to say "Bring it on" to life's toils, seeing them more as challenging of our skill and resolve, rather than burdens that weigh us down? Or to be able to take the smallest of life's pleasures and make them the things that we look forward to the most?

Life goes on, with or without us, I like to say. Take hold of the reigns and ride it. Come high or low, let's make the most of it.

Life up to bat

Does a situation have to be so bad? This is the founding question of my "Make the Most of It" series. Every day, thousand of people let themselves get wrapped up and bent out of shape when life tosses them a curve ball. Well, life is full of ace pitchers in that regard and to go further with the ananlogy, you either strike out at the plate, or swing the bat.
Sure, you can either hit or mess even then, but the batter is there to swing, never knowing whether that next pitch might land him a home run, or bounce into the foul line.

Making the Most of it: The morning Routine

=Making the Most of It: Where we take the little things in life and make it all worthwhile=

It's finally happened. The moment you've been dreading has at long last rounded the corner. Just a moment ago, you were snugly burrowed in your bed, maybe having an awesome dream, when right through the ether you're jolted awake by the sound of your alarm.

It's time to get up...

The morning routine can, if you allow it, be as bad a drudge as going to work itself can be. But it doesn't have to be, if we just make the most of it.

Like a lot of things in my life, I find that I appreciate the little things more, when I have time to appreciate them. I am not like my brother, who has the uncanny ability to simply roll out of bed and right into his work clothes and tie and be out the door in thirty minutes. For my current job as a baker, I have to be in to start cooking at 4:00 in the sodding morning. I am sure I could get away with waking up at 2:45, giving myself just enough time for a small cup of coffee and some toast in my belly and one or two ten minutes youtube clips while I'm packing my lunch for the day before having to be out the door for the five minutes drive (small blessing) to my place of employ.

However, I don't like to be rushed in the morning. I like having a little big of wiggle room, time to enjoy the toast and coffee, and time to relax just a little before having to bounce out the door.

I wake up instead at 1:50am. In that time, I go to the bathroom (I am convinced it's a universal law that you have to pee when you first get up), and put on the clothes I've laid out the night prior. There is simply something refreshing about a change of clothes, even if I don't have the mental faculties yet to master the art of putting on socks. Loin's girded, I venture forth into the kitchen and beseech my Keurig to make my morning coffee. While it brews, I packed a simple lunch and make a little something for myself to eat...Usually yogurt, toast, or a humble bowl of cereal. By now, it's 2:05am. I have a little more than an hour to myself before I need to even provide thought to finalizing my pre-work arrangement. That hour is mine. And it comes with coffee. What I do with that hour varies, and for you, your situation is more than likely different...And, my condolences if you are a kindred early rise employee. We're all in this together, mate.

Getting up that little bit earlier before work. You effectively create some 'you' time before your time becomes your boss's time. It is YOUR time. You can do with this window as you please. Some people exercise. Some people meditate. Some people try and squeeze a little gaming in, if you're the gaming type. And some people just kick back in front of the TV with their coffee. It's all cool.

-Prepare for Tomorrow before it's Tomorrow

I tend to suffer regularly from the need of a cup of coffee before I can make a cup of coffee. That's why I make sure to prepare the coffee maker to be good to go for when I'm ready for it.

I also make it a note to have my clothes for the day ready for when I lurch forth from my bed.

These two acts help me effectively get started into my morning routine so I don't have to waste time fussing over them when I'd rather just kick back with my coffee and breakfast. Get those pesky little bits out of the way early, and you'll feel a lot lighter when you wake up.

-Do something that makes you happy

It is YOUR time. Not your boss's time (yet). Don't start your day on a glum note. Kick it off with something that brings a smile to your face. Listen to some good music, watch something funny on Youtube, catch up on the news or some podcasts. Read some blogs. Heck, catch up on a few chapters of that book you've been taking a break from for awhile. Leave the house early and visit the 24 hour coffee shop. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that you enjoy yourself during your time.

-Hate your job? Don't think about your job until you have to

Finally, don't stress during your 'you' time. Work hasn't taken control of you yet. If it helps, set a time when you allow yourself to focus on getting ready for work. Until that time comes, don't even give a single thought towards your job, and any anxieties or worries that might entail. You can deal with those when the time for them comes. Just sit back, and enjoy your breakfast. Work doesn't even exist yet.

Remember, the time you have before work is your time. Make the most of it.

Making the most of it: Shower time

=Making the Most of It: Where we take the little things in life and make it all worthwhile=

Living in Arizona, it does not take long, or much, to wind up sweaty, smelly, and a little bit sticky. Especially during the summer months. Coupled with a hectic work schedule, I look forward to a good hot shower to wash away the dredge of the day. A sign that the day is over and I can relax.

Even if you shower in the morning before your day begins, that doesn't mean a shower can't be just as relaxing and enjoyable.

One of my big rules is, give yourself enough time to actually enjoy it. Nothing ruins a good time than rushing through it. May as well not even have done it, I say. For a good shower time, in my opinion, you need at least 20 minutes.

To start, get your water going. I personally prefer to start my shower water at a moderate temperature, and then once I'm in, to gradually increase it to nice and hot. But this is also depending on your preference. You might prefer a more middling temperature, or maybe you like a cold shower. I hear that a cold shower is good for the skin. It's what you want.
While your water is getting ready, lay out your clothes. If you take your shower at the end of the day, pick out some nice comfortable clothes. Your day's over, time to relax. If you take it at the beginning of your day, well, I personally prefer to have my days clothes set out and waiting for me when I wake up from the night before-- and that's another blog entry.

So we have our water prepping, our clothes set. Do remember to grab a towel from the linen closet, you have no idea how many times I've had to sneak to get a towel dripping wet and naked. Next, why not set a little music? I personally will put on a podcast. My current work situation doesn't leave me with a lot of opportunity to kick back and listen to them as much as I used to, so this gives me an excuse to put on, say, Good Job Brain, or even Never Not Funny.But once more, it's whatever you want.
Shower drowning out the sound? I put my ipod in a clean glass on my bathroom sink. It naturally enhances the sound and volume.

Invest in a good body sponge or loofah. Not long ago, I bought one that was made of bathcloth material. At the time I figured this would be a reasonable and logical item to have. After two weeks, I was afraid to even touch the sodding thing, with how mildewy and disgusting it had become, plus it didn't lather worth anything What's the point of washing if you can't get a good lather going, right? I dropped three dollars on one of those more common, poofy loofah's, and have been much more happy.

So we have everything we need, now it's time to just...enjoy it. While the water rolls over me, I like to just imagine all the dredgery of the day washing away. The only issue you should have at this point, is negotiating when you should get out.

For us men, once I'm out of the shower, I move on to getting a good shave. It's the perfect time, as a shower gets the whiskers all nice and soft for the razor. I'll cover making the most of a good shave soon enough. A shave is also one of those little moments in life worth not rushing.

Now as you take this with you, I emphasize, it's all about what you want. Alter or add on to what we've talked about here to your satisfaction. And in doing so, you can make something so mundane and simple as taking a sh ower, into one of those little things that we look forward to that make life all worthwhile.