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So, um -- guess who was part of a car accident today?
Let me start out by saying I'm all right, didn't have to go to the hospital or anything. Just -- I was driving up the main road as per usual, watching the traffic and listening to the radio. Ahead of me, just past an intersection with a side street, I see the line of cars putting on their brake lights, and a guy waiting to pull out. So I stop a little earlier, just before the street, to let the guy go. He waves, and I prepare to go again once everyone starts moving --
And then this big white van SMACKS into the back of the car. Like, proper SMACKS.
Cue me, suddenly a terrified panicking mess, trying desperately to find my phone so I can call my parents and 911 and all that fun stuff. Guy comes to see if I'm okay, we get into the side street I stopped in front of, I FINALLY find my phone (pro-tip -- don't have a black phone in a black car; it had flown out of its usual pocket in my bag when THAT tipped over from the hit), call my parents, call 911, and proceed to just barely hold it together until the cops and then my mom and dad arrive. According to the other driver, there was a bee on his windshield that he was either trying to kill or get rid of and he didn't see me stop until the last moment. Our car is driveable, though the bumper's been sprung and the trunk fucked up -- the lid no longer closes because part of the bottom was bent out of shape by the bumper popping. Mom gets it home with me in tow, and I start crying as I call into work and then we get home and let the insurance know what's happened. I proceed to spend most of the morning getting myself to stop crying and reading TV Tropes to try and just -- chill. I managed to bounce back by this afternoon, but -- fuck. Of all the shit to happen today. . .
Anyway. Let's just take a quick look at my usual weekday "update form," shall we? I mean, I did manage some fun stuff today. . .
Work – As stated above, I was too fucking rattled by the end of the whole incident and called in on my way home. My boss was very understanding, at least – probably could hear me just barely keeping it together on the phone.
Instead, after finally getting myself together and watching a few thematically-appropriate videos (see below), I went ahead and played some Sims 4, getting a jump on Emmett and Nikal’s portion of the Newcrest Adventures! I set Likes and Dislikes (Emmett likes Orange, Retro Music, Rocket Science, and developed Video Gaming as a like right before I went into CAS; he dislikes Gray, Tween Pop Music, and Skiing. Nikal likes Green, Summer Strut Music, and Cooking; she dislikes Pink, Hip Hop, and playing Violin), then proceeded to spend a good portion of the day in the Magic Realm. They both found the Minionize tome in the bookshelves, and Emmett was able to discover gardening spell Floralorial and ghost-calling spell Necrocall from practicing magic, while Nikal experimented with potions and picked up some ingredients to brew her own. They also celebrated New Year’s Even successfully – decorating the house, sharing some Festive Spirit, making resolutions (Emmett’s is to gain a skill point, Nikal’s to get a promotion), and watching the countdown.
Most important of all though – their baby daughter, Julia, is now their toddler daughter! :) I gave her the “Inquisitive” trait, as that seemed appropriate for a child of two scientists. She’s already well on her way to learning her skills, wandering around the house and playing with her triceratops. XD Also, discovered that Sims will drink tea in the bath if one is available – Nikal did so after brewing some Healthy Green, which surprised me. O.o Well, you do you, girl! All in all, a satisfying Saturday for them. Good times.
Beanbags – Not today, weather wasn’t exactly cooperative. It didn’t rain MUCH, but it did rain a little, and it kept threatening to do so throughout the day, so. . .we’ll see about tomorrow!
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – didn’t do anything more difficult than 25 on the bike. Watched another Sims 4 mods video – and damn, do I see a lot of the same ones come up in a bunch of these videos. Basically everyone agrees MC Command Center is a must-have, so I guess I’m glad I have that one already. :p Also Wonderful Whims, a UI Cheats Extension Mod (not really interested in that), and that ultrasound mod from Little Miss Sam. Plus a multi-columns mod in CAS, which – tentatively interested. Might be useful as I have a decent amount of wearable CC. This one also mentioned Sacrificial’s cute romance mods (along with their other, more famous, much LESS cute violence mods), which – yeah, I really think I should grab those. More adorable ways for my Valice Sims to interact? Yes please. Should really start making a list. . .
2. Post Chapter 4 of “In A World Of His Own”: Check! Did that this evening – the infamous Chapter 4 is up and ready to read! As I have previously mentioned, the DDR segment was cut, but you still get Victor and Alice discussing the possibility of solarpunk, a brief rain shower for the sole purpose of getting them a little wet, a concert from Victor’s musical side, and the Paino vs Awful Orphica fight. I consider that decent bang for your buck!
3. Keep up with YouTube Subscriptions: This is admittedly a lot easier when it’s a) a Thursday, meaning GrayStillPlays doesn’t upload a regular video, and b) when you’re home for the day. So yeah, as you can imagine, solid check, and I got some stuff out of the Watch Later too –
A) Started with a trio of Plumbella videos about Dream Home Decorator –
I. “The Sims 4: Dream Home Decorator career hates me lmfao” – Plumbella’s ACTUAL first look at the pack, recorded before she did her review. She found a Sim on the gallery to turn into herself, then popped into the game and did a kitchen reno for the Harris family in Evergreen Harbor! It – didn’t go well. XD First of all, she thought she had to go to the lot HERSELF, instead of being directed there like a normal career; then, when she actually did the kitchen renovation, she gave it her all (with Country Kitchen Kit’s help) and got a failing grade and no money! Commenters are pretty sure the lack of a fridge in the kitchen is what doomed her. XD And then apparently she sent Simbella alone for her next gig and got a promotion. WTF, game. . .
II. “Is Dream Home Decorator enough to build a full house?” – a look at build/buy for the pack in terms of actually using them to build a home for a Sim! Her Sim, in fact, in between gigs to renovate other people’s lots. Plumbella was mostly pleased with the items on hand (especially all the sectional stuff and whatnot) but was disappointed in the lack of windows, floors, wallpapers (they had ONE), and the fact that the new kitchen set doesn’t come with a fridge, and we only get a bathtub and sink for bathrooms – no new toilet or shower. (Admittedly, we have lots of toilets, but who knows if any of them really match?) But it’s pretty good overall, and if you have this and basegame, you should be able to build a decent house. We hope, anyway!
III. “Oops I got revenge on The Sims 4: Dream Home Decorator x” – Jesse returns to actually looking at the gameplay with Simbella (or “Not Really Plumbella,” as the original Sim was only inspired by her). This time she did a couple of renovations – a whole level renovation for the Partihaus family (which she was happy to do as she loathes their in-game house), and a room renovation for Cahill in Strangerville – you know, the guy who lives underneath the wreckage of the plane? XD She encountered a few bugs – such as the “reveal” slideshow not working, and not being able to properly take some after pictures for Cahill because the camera wouldn’t return to the basement after snapping to ground level) – but was able to successfully finish both renovations! In the first one, it was because she made everything brown (at least one client’s liked color) and put a bunch of patio furniture around (including an indoor hot tub); in the second one, it was because Cahill just told her some hobbies he liked, so she just chucked the appropriate items down, deleted a wall to expand the room, then called it a day. XD Seems like it’s pretty easy to game the system if you know what you’re doing!
B) Then it was over to James Turner for “Rags To Redecoration,” Part 3! Hazel’s apartment is slowly coming together – she now has a stove and a couple of counters, and her own toilet! And a vacuum, because the dust bunnies were starting to spawn and James doesn’t want their help in becoming rich. XD Seriously, I don’t think they ever properly fixed that. . . She also went to the local rooftop bar with Lord, though things didn’t go great – they had a nice conversation at first, but then he decided he’d rather clean up plates than continue. Ah well, maybe next time! She also did a bathroom renovation for the Eclectic Arts Household in Strangerville – they apparently REALLY like gardening in that household, so she filled the room with lots of plants. Also some Mission-style furniture – James could NOT force himself to put a microphone in there to reflect one inhabitant’s love of comedy, so she ended up giving Hazel a bad review. The other two loved it, however, so Hazel did get all her money, and a promotion to boot! She’s doing pretty well in this career, gotta say. . .looking forward to seeing what comes next!
C) Then, this evening, after getting my chapter up, I watched Linkara’s latest – a review of the “Flashback Arc” of the webcomic Sword Interval! It’s a Patreon-sponsored review – Linkara usually doesn’t allow webcomics as they’re more labors of love than actual products, but this one was made by an artist trying to self-publish, so he allowed it. And, happily, it’s a good comic! The arc covered was the backstory of one of the main characters – covering the death of her parents at the hands of the comic’s big bad, the Heirophant, how it did something to her, and how she was moved around the country in “witness protection” by the monster-hunting organization Atlas until a dragon and a witch smashed into her latest temp job and she ended up killing the dragon with a baseball bat rendered a “legendary” weapon due to being used and signed by a great. Pretty awesome, right? Linkara said in his ending crawl that he ended up reading the whole thing and can recommend, nice. :)
D) And then it was time for Call Me Kevin, playing – Garfield Kart – Furious Racing! Yes, someone made a Mario Kart rip-off with Garfield characters, because – um. . . The graphics are actually pretty good, though the gameplay is pretty much a straight rip-off of Mario Kart. Kevin played the first couple of tracks and found them too easy – then skipped to the last set of tracks and found them WAAAY too hard. Especially the one with a lake, as he kept whipping off the side into the water thanks to a poorly-placed boost. He eventually resorted to same-room split screen to beat the one character that kept beating him. XD He also tried out the original game (bought at the same time with the “Lasagna Bundle” on Steam), which was roughly the same, except super fucking laggy. Poor Kevin struggled to get fourth in that! I mean, I guess this MIGHT appeal to Garfield super-fans – but is it worth it to admit you ARE a Garfield super-fan?
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Check – what managed to lever me out of TV Tropes was deciding “I might as well get Eric’s next set of screenshots prepped for his last update” and doing just that. And then I went ahead and got the screenshots ready for another “Chill Save” update (or possibly the same one – I don’t know how many posts I’ll do on 7/7/2021), and the screenshots of the Ice Cream Conery for another update. So that’s all good at least.
As for actual queues, got my “In A World Of His Own” link and the reblog of the latest Wyrd Sisters Podcast episode into my Victor Luvs Alice queue, and a couple of asks and a sweet reblog of something very romantic into Valice Multiverse. Yay.
So -- yeah. Worst morning I've had in a while, and we get to deal with the repercussions of that for who knows how long, but at least the afternoon was okay. Nice to watch a few videos, play some Sims. I just -- this is NOT how I wanted to get an extra day off. Ugh. . .
Okay -- time to answer my last DW comment and then head to bed. I'm doing okay enough that I should be able to go to work tomorrow. . .I'll of course re-evaluate in the morning, but -- so far so good. I hope you're all having a better day. Night all.
Let me start out by saying I'm all right, didn't have to go to the hospital or anything. Just -- I was driving up the main road as per usual, watching the traffic and listening to the radio. Ahead of me, just past an intersection with a side street, I see the line of cars putting on their brake lights, and a guy waiting to pull out. So I stop a little earlier, just before the street, to let the guy go. He waves, and I prepare to go again once everyone starts moving --
And then this big white van SMACKS into the back of the car. Like, proper SMACKS.
Cue me, suddenly a terrified panicking mess, trying desperately to find my phone so I can call my parents and 911 and all that fun stuff. Guy comes to see if I'm okay, we get into the side street I stopped in front of, I FINALLY find my phone (pro-tip -- don't have a black phone in a black car; it had flown out of its usual pocket in my bag when THAT tipped over from the hit), call my parents, call 911, and proceed to just barely hold it together until the cops and then my mom and dad arrive. According to the other driver, there was a bee on his windshield that he was either trying to kill or get rid of and he didn't see me stop until the last moment. Our car is driveable, though the bumper's been sprung and the trunk fucked up -- the lid no longer closes because part of the bottom was bent out of shape by the bumper popping. Mom gets it home with me in tow, and I start crying as I call into work and then we get home and let the insurance know what's happened. I proceed to spend most of the morning getting myself to stop crying and reading TV Tropes to try and just -- chill. I managed to bounce back by this afternoon, but -- fuck. Of all the shit to happen today. . .
Anyway. Let's just take a quick look at my usual weekday "update form," shall we? I mean, I did manage some fun stuff today. . .
Work – As stated above, I was too fucking rattled by the end of the whole incident and called in on my way home. My boss was very understanding, at least – probably could hear me just barely keeping it together on the phone.
Instead, after finally getting myself together and watching a few thematically-appropriate videos (see below), I went ahead and played some Sims 4, getting a jump on Emmett and Nikal’s portion of the Newcrest Adventures! I set Likes and Dislikes (Emmett likes Orange, Retro Music, Rocket Science, and developed Video Gaming as a like right before I went into CAS; he dislikes Gray, Tween Pop Music, and Skiing. Nikal likes Green, Summer Strut Music, and Cooking; she dislikes Pink, Hip Hop, and playing Violin), then proceeded to spend a good portion of the day in the Magic Realm. They both found the Minionize tome in the bookshelves, and Emmett was able to discover gardening spell Floralorial and ghost-calling spell Necrocall from practicing magic, while Nikal experimented with potions and picked up some ingredients to brew her own. They also celebrated New Year’s Even successfully – decorating the house, sharing some Festive Spirit, making resolutions (Emmett’s is to gain a skill point, Nikal’s to get a promotion), and watching the countdown.
Most important of all though – their baby daughter, Julia, is now their toddler daughter! :) I gave her the “Inquisitive” trait, as that seemed appropriate for a child of two scientists. She’s already well on her way to learning her skills, wandering around the house and playing with her triceratops. XD Also, discovered that Sims will drink tea in the bath if one is available – Nikal did so after brewing some Healthy Green, which surprised me. O.o Well, you do you, girl! All in all, a satisfying Saturday for them. Good times.
Beanbags – Not today, weather wasn’t exactly cooperative. It didn’t rain MUCH, but it did rain a little, and it kept threatening to do so throughout the day, so. . .we’ll see about tomorrow!
To-Do List –
1. Get in a workout: Check – didn’t do anything more difficult than 25 on the bike. Watched another Sims 4 mods video – and damn, do I see a lot of the same ones come up in a bunch of these videos. Basically everyone agrees MC Command Center is a must-have, so I guess I’m glad I have that one already. :p Also Wonderful Whims, a UI Cheats Extension Mod (not really interested in that), and that ultrasound mod from Little Miss Sam. Plus a multi-columns mod in CAS, which – tentatively interested. Might be useful as I have a decent amount of wearable CC. This one also mentioned Sacrificial’s cute romance mods (along with their other, more famous, much LESS cute violence mods), which – yeah, I really think I should grab those. More adorable ways for my Valice Sims to interact? Yes please. Should really start making a list. . .
2. Post Chapter 4 of “In A World Of His Own”: Check! Did that this evening – the infamous Chapter 4 is up and ready to read! As I have previously mentioned, the DDR segment was cut, but you still get Victor and Alice discussing the possibility of solarpunk, a brief rain shower for the sole purpose of getting them a little wet, a concert from Victor’s musical side, and the Paino vs Awful Orphica fight. I consider that decent bang for your buck!
3. Keep up with YouTube Subscriptions: This is admittedly a lot easier when it’s a) a Thursday, meaning GrayStillPlays doesn’t upload a regular video, and b) when you’re home for the day. So yeah, as you can imagine, solid check, and I got some stuff out of the Watch Later too –
A) Started with a trio of Plumbella videos about Dream Home Decorator –
I. “The Sims 4: Dream Home Decorator career hates me lmfao” – Plumbella’s ACTUAL first look at the pack, recorded before she did her review. She found a Sim on the gallery to turn into herself, then popped into the game and did a kitchen reno for the Harris family in Evergreen Harbor! It – didn’t go well. XD First of all, she thought she had to go to the lot HERSELF, instead of being directed there like a normal career; then, when she actually did the kitchen renovation, she gave it her all (with Country Kitchen Kit’s help) and got a failing grade and no money! Commenters are pretty sure the lack of a fridge in the kitchen is what doomed her. XD And then apparently she sent Simbella alone for her next gig and got a promotion. WTF, game. . .
II. “Is Dream Home Decorator enough to build a full house?” – a look at build/buy for the pack in terms of actually using them to build a home for a Sim! Her Sim, in fact, in between gigs to renovate other people’s lots. Plumbella was mostly pleased with the items on hand (especially all the sectional stuff and whatnot) but was disappointed in the lack of windows, floors, wallpapers (they had ONE), and the fact that the new kitchen set doesn’t come with a fridge, and we only get a bathtub and sink for bathrooms – no new toilet or shower. (Admittedly, we have lots of toilets, but who knows if any of them really match?) But it’s pretty good overall, and if you have this and basegame, you should be able to build a decent house. We hope, anyway!
III. “Oops I got revenge on The Sims 4: Dream Home Decorator x” – Jesse returns to actually looking at the gameplay with Simbella (or “Not Really Plumbella,” as the original Sim was only inspired by her). This time she did a couple of renovations – a whole level renovation for the Partihaus family (which she was happy to do as she loathes their in-game house), and a room renovation for Cahill in Strangerville – you know, the guy who lives underneath the wreckage of the plane? XD She encountered a few bugs – such as the “reveal” slideshow not working, and not being able to properly take some after pictures for Cahill because the camera wouldn’t return to the basement after snapping to ground level) – but was able to successfully finish both renovations! In the first one, it was because she made everything brown (at least one client’s liked color) and put a bunch of patio furniture around (including an indoor hot tub); in the second one, it was because Cahill just told her some hobbies he liked, so she just chucked the appropriate items down, deleted a wall to expand the room, then called it a day. XD Seems like it’s pretty easy to game the system if you know what you’re doing!
B) Then it was over to James Turner for “Rags To Redecoration,” Part 3! Hazel’s apartment is slowly coming together – she now has a stove and a couple of counters, and her own toilet! And a vacuum, because the dust bunnies were starting to spawn and James doesn’t want their help in becoming rich. XD Seriously, I don’t think they ever properly fixed that. . . She also went to the local rooftop bar with Lord, though things didn’t go great – they had a nice conversation at first, but then he decided he’d rather clean up plates than continue. Ah well, maybe next time! She also did a bathroom renovation for the Eclectic Arts Household in Strangerville – they apparently REALLY like gardening in that household, so she filled the room with lots of plants. Also some Mission-style furniture – James could NOT force himself to put a microphone in there to reflect one inhabitant’s love of comedy, so she ended up giving Hazel a bad review. The other two loved it, however, so Hazel did get all her money, and a promotion to boot! She’s doing pretty well in this career, gotta say. . .looking forward to seeing what comes next!
C) Then, this evening, after getting my chapter up, I watched Linkara’s latest – a review of the “Flashback Arc” of the webcomic Sword Interval! It’s a Patreon-sponsored review – Linkara usually doesn’t allow webcomics as they’re more labors of love than actual products, but this one was made by an artist trying to self-publish, so he allowed it. And, happily, it’s a good comic! The arc covered was the backstory of one of the main characters – covering the death of her parents at the hands of the comic’s big bad, the Heirophant, how it did something to her, and how she was moved around the country in “witness protection” by the monster-hunting organization Atlas until a dragon and a witch smashed into her latest temp job and she ended up killing the dragon with a baseball bat rendered a “legendary” weapon due to being used and signed by a great. Pretty awesome, right? Linkara said in his ending crawl that he ended up reading the whole thing and can recommend, nice. :)
D) And then it was time for Call Me Kevin, playing – Garfield Kart – Furious Racing! Yes, someone made a Mario Kart rip-off with Garfield characters, because – um. . . The graphics are actually pretty good, though the gameplay is pretty much a straight rip-off of Mario Kart. Kevin played the first couple of tracks and found them too easy – then skipped to the last set of tracks and found them WAAAY too hard. Especially the one with a lake, as he kept whipping off the side into the water thanks to a poorly-placed boost. He eventually resorted to same-room split screen to beat the one character that kept beating him. XD He also tried out the original game (bought at the same time with the “Lasagna Bundle” on Steam), which was roughly the same, except super fucking laggy. Poor Kevin struggled to get fourth in that! I mean, I guess this MIGHT appeal to Garfield super-fans – but is it worth it to admit you ARE a Garfield super-fan?
4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Check – what managed to lever me out of TV Tropes was deciding “I might as well get Eric’s next set of screenshots prepped for his last update” and doing just that. And then I went ahead and got the screenshots ready for another “Chill Save” update (or possibly the same one – I don’t know how many posts I’ll do on 7/7/2021), and the screenshots of the Ice Cream Conery for another update. So that’s all good at least.
As for actual queues, got my “In A World Of His Own” link and the reblog of the latest Wyrd Sisters Podcast episode into my Victor Luvs Alice queue, and a couple of asks and a sweet reblog of something very romantic into Valice Multiverse. Yay.
So -- yeah. Worst morning I've had in a while, and we get to deal with the repercussions of that for who knows how long, but at least the afternoon was okay. Nice to watch a few videos, play some Sims. I just -- this is NOT how I wanted to get an extra day off. Ugh. . .
Okay -- time to answer my last DW comment and then head to bed. I'm doing okay enough that I should be able to go to work tomorrow. . .I'll of course re-evaluate in the morning, but -- so far so good. I hope you're all having a better day. Night all.
