Definitely Not The Greatest Monday

Work wasn't great (as indicated below), I had some bullshit with my phone bill, and a lot of stuff ran late tonight, preventing me from answering Moose's latest crop of messages (HAVE to block out some time for that tomorrow). But I did manage to get everything on my to-do list done, at least --

Work – Meh Monday – while I was free of the Talky Coworker for the day (she doesn’t come back until tomorrow), it was one of those days where whenever the phone rang, it would be at least a couple of calls back-to-back, and whenever I started to get going on one thing, another thing would end up interrupting me. Rather annoying but not too rage-inducing – especially since I did get an uninterrupted lunch. But yeah, spent the day keeping up with the calls, doing the GL, and working my way through the exceptions that came back to us on Friday. *shrug* Typical for this time of year!

To-Do List –

1. Get in a workout: Check – back on the bike, and back with Oxventure: Deadlands for the next episode – “Forty Times A Killer, Part I!” This one was an Edie and Silas adventure (apparently taking place at the same time the others were in Dead Man’s Worth taking on Ben Bellows), and it opened with Silas telling Edie in detail about why he disliked horses so much. XD It’s mostly their creepy black eyes and their ability to kick a man apart. Edie tried to sell him on the idea of maybe getting to know a small horse – like a Shetland pony – and work his way up to getting to know bigger horses, but Silas was pretty iffy on the idea. Not even Victoria showing up and talking up her own little pony was able to sell him on the idea. The ladies smartly decided to leave it be, and Victoria got down to business, unrolling the wanted poster for their next target – Daisy “Shit-Can” Ducrow, the titular “Forty Times A Killer.” While other members of the former Red Hand gang were more openly cruel (like Bellows), Daisy was easily the deadliest – a nasty woman who favored poison (“the coward’s way,” as Silas put it) and who had actually murdered those forty people BEFORE she joined the gang. Silas wondered if she’d calmed down after joining, and both women were like “pretty sure she did not.” XD When the gang broke up, she fell off the cowboy equivalent of radar, and so the only thing Victoria had to offer was the name of the town where she’d last been seen – Sublimity Falls, a pretty nice place not far from Croyt’s Wrath. Edie and Silas said that they’d head out there and see what they could find, with Silas declaring that he would drink nothing but alcohol to counteract the effects of any poison they came across. Edie was pretty sure that was NOT how it worked, but Silas went ahead and downed two fingers of whiskey anyway (it was a free action). XD Victoria provided them with train tickets (having figured that Silas would not be keen on riding to the town) and – after Edie requested some snacks – a couple of nice packed lunches (Silas was particularly keen on the hummus), and the two set off! They arrived in Sublimity Falls a couple of hours later, finding that it was both a very nice town (with real brick buildings and everything) –

And also a bit of a ghost town. Like, there was basically no one in the streets – and on a good Notice roll, Edie spotted that a few houses were boarded up, with red X’s painted on the doors. *grimace* Yeah, not a good sign. There were also three buildings of note – the saloon, The Diamond Bell; the pharmacist across the street; and up the road a large Gothic building that looked very sanitarium-like. The pair decided to go to the saloon first (Edie saying that all the best gossip is in there), and entered the Bell to find it empty save for the bartender and a kid sweeping the floor. Silas ordered a bourbon, Edie a sweet tea, and over their drinks they began to grill the bartender, with Edie pretending that they were a couple touring the West and looking for a spot to settle down. The bartender admitted that Sublimity Falls used to be a wonderful little town, but about a year ago some bad shit started happening – like people vanishing in the middle of the night, apparently snatched straight from their beds. Some just disappeared outright, while others came home full of so much disease the other townsfolk had no choice but to quarantine them in their houses so they didn’t get any one else sick. So, naturally, a lot of people had started selling up and moving out. Edie then mentioned looking for a friend of hers, Ducrow –

And the bartender revealed that she was apparently the director up at the Sanitorium, the big creepy building they’d seen before. Silas asked what that was, and was informed it was apparently a rich person hospital – rich folk from out-of-town came in, stayed in the Sanitorium for a few days, then left, fit as a fiddle. The place hadn’t been doing much business before, but after Ducrow took over a couple of years ago, it’s seen a pretty steady stream of clients. Though no one’s seen much of Ducrow herself – apparently she never leaves the place. Silas noted that the disappearances and Ducrow taking over were pretty close on the timeline, and – with a little persuasion – managed to get the bartender to admit to a rumor around the town that there was a specific person stealing all these people away – some fellow lurking around in the darkness in a mask. The bartender wasn’t sure what to make of it himself, but then again, he wasn’t sure how long he was going to be sticking around here anyway. Edie and Silas both agreed that, if sickness was the problem, they should go speak to the pharmacist next, and put back their drinks (Edie getting a sugar high from her sweet tea) –

But before they left, Edie spotted a young boy sweeping the floor and decided to grill him for information. Cue Andy putting on an absolutely RIDICULOUS little kid voice (worse than the hilariously squeaky one Luke used for Bugs, leader of the Gut-Cutters, in Blades In The Dark) and Ellen barely being able to talk with how hard she was laughing at it. XD She was able to eventually get from the kid that a friend of his had seen the mysterious figure lurking around, and that he was saving up to get himself out of here so he wouldn’t get snatched. Edie gave him a dollar for his trouble, and the kid immediately quit his job and ran off, causing the bartender to complain that he had to sweep his own floors now. Edie’s attempt at an apology and Silas trying to claim they were just saving him employment costs in these tough times just got them the stink-eye, so they instead headed over to the pharmacy. The pharmacist elaborated a bit on what the bartender had told them, explaining about how he’d tried everything for those poor people who came back full of disease – tinctures, poultices, blood-letting, blood putting-in, syrups with cocaine and opium (“that SHOULD have worked,” went Edie), and all those other sorts of cures, and nothing doing. He also talked a bit about the kid sweeping the floors and how he was always going on about his friend seeing that weird masked man, and how much whiskey he drank, and how the little scamp’s accent was PERFECT and how he TOTALLY recalled the kid’s name. (Cue Ellen and Mike cracking up again.) Edie mentioned that it was a good thing they had the Sanitorium in town, then, but the pharmacist just scoffed, saying that they only let in anyone rich – he himself had gone up there as a fellow practitioner of medicine looking for help, only to be turned away when he told them he had no money. Silas pointed out all he’d had to say was that DID have money, and the pharmacist was like, “well, that’s obvious NOW.” Fortunately a tincture of cocaine and lead made him feel better afterward. Edie, slightly concerned, was like “that’s a preventative, you should try something else” – Silas instantly suggested opium, and the pharmacist put in some opium eye drops and immediately started tripping. XD Silas and Edie then began discussing how to get into the Sanitorium (basically, pretend they had money and were there for treatment) or at least how to get close enough for a better look –

When, outside the window, they saw an opulent carriage come down the street and head straight for the place. Disgorging one Senator Waxman, a former lawmaker who’d stepped away from his duties due to TB. The pair immediately went over to the Sanitorium for a look as he was ushered inside by his attendants – the building was even creepier up close, with a pale yellowish cast and a lot of windows covered by blinds. The pair attempted to find stealthy ways to get in, but Silas was unable to spot anything useful, and Edie only spotted a VERY firmly locked up storm cellar. Seems like the only way in was through the front doors. Silas then realized the carriage was still outside –

And that it had a locked luggage compartment on the back. He suggested to Edie that maybe they could pretend to be porters bring in Senator Waxman’s things – Edie was more keen on the idea of finding something that Silas could use to dress himself up as a rich person seeking treatment. XD Either way, they needed into that compartment, so Edie attempted to pick the lock. Unfortunately, despite owning a lockpick, she was untrained in such thievery, and failed.

Fortunately, Silas was decently trained in “hitting things with rocks,” and succeeded in bashing it open at Andy’s suggestion. I left it with Andy proclaiming that there was a set of clothes in there that would be a LITTLE big on Silas, but still not a horrible fit. Seems like Mike is being bullied into playing dress-up. XD We’ll see where this goes tomorrow – though I think it’s a fair bet to say that the people getting kidnapped and Ducrow magically treating all these rich folk are related. . .

2. Continue editing “Londerland Bloodlines: Downtown Queensland”: Check, though I got to it much later than I wanted – still managed to get Alice out of the Last Round and over to Venture Tower, where she has had a surprise reunion with Therese’s former Gallery Noir night guard. XD Officer Chunk is at least a nice change from the nastiness of the Anarchs! Though soon Alice is going to have to go deal with the Evil Overlord himself. . .at least she knows how to handle him now!

3. Keep up with YouTube Subs: Check – another GrayStillPlays-only today, with “Cars vs 90 degree turns in GTA 5!” This one was an Alex Torture PUZZLE Board, that was – okay, let me try to explain. Instead of just having a selection of cars to pick from, Gray had a selection of women to pick from, each linked to a certain car and each with a special ability (one was really good with directions, one could break things, one worked in a kindergarten, etc). And Gray had to find the right combination of three ladies and their cars to make it through the following challenges –

I. L Turn But You Don’t Know When To Turn – a timed challenge where Gray had seven seconds to make it around an L-turn. . .but once he drove onto the road, Alex had the view switch to TOP-DOWN mode, meaning Gray couldn’t actually SEE where the L was. And if he didn’t get there in time, an L-shaped wall popped up to inform him that he “took the L.” XD A simple, early spirit-breaker for Gray.

II. Icy L Turn – another simple spirit-breaker, this time Gray had seven seconds to make it around a wet, icy L-turn before the wall popped up (this time with no mocking message at least). This one he needed some traction for – or enough speed to get around before he slid off.

III. Rotating L Turn – this one was Gray’s favorite, and it genuinely was pretty cool. Alex had put a rotating L-turn between him and the next platform, and Gray had to hop on the L-turn as the L part rotated toward him, drive UP it as it turned underneath him, then jump OVER it and land on the other side before driving down to where the L met the other chunk of the road before it rotated again! Or, if his car was fast enough, he could just launch himself off the top and jump to the other roadway. XD A little cheating is allowed occasionally!

IV. Slipped My Mind L Turns – another timed challenge, Gray had eighteen seconds to make it around a series of multicolored L-turns before the wall at the end of came up – however, Alex had hidden slow-down circles in the road at various places. Fortunately, he’d left Gray a little map next to the course showing where all of them were, meaning Gray had to figure out how the yellow dots on the map corresponded to the slow-down circles hidden on the actual course. This one took some thinking, and Gray ended up just jumping the gap on the last corner to shave off some time. Again, a little cheating is allowed occasionally!

V. Girlfrieds’ [sic] Crossroads L Turns – and this is where it got REALLY interesting. This challenge was actually THREE challenges – Multiple Choice L Turns, where you had to find your way through a twisty-turny course of L-turns where chunks of the road didn’t actually exist (as Gray proved by throwing around some grenades); the Unfinished L Turn, where you started around the L-turn – only to find that the road was incomplete (though Gray IMMEDIATELY noticed a chunk of road spasming beneath him and realized that it was probably attached to the guy telling him the road was closed); and the Festive L Turn But You Can’t Open Red Gifts, where you had to run over an L-turn made of present boxes where every red-wrapped present fell out from under you, then choose the correct gift or get sent back to the beginning. So – after getting there with the offroading girl, only to discover she couldn’t help him select a present, complete the unfinished road, or get through the multiple choice area, how did Gray beat the challenge?

Why, by finding first the girl who was really good at picking presents (tied to a nice green supercar), who told him that the smallest gifts often led to the most valuable rewards – that directed him to a gray gift that, when pushed, moved part of the roadway on the unfinished L-turn into place so he could jump into the winning circle at the end of it; then the girl who could attract any man (tied to a nice red sports car), who, when brought onto the Unfinished L-turn, distracted the guy proclaiming the road closed and made him follow the car, moving the second section of road into place; and the girl who was really good at directions (tied to his beloved side-by-side), who told him exactly where to go on the multiple choice board until he could finally reach the end and knock off the guy waiting there, which removed the final barrier on the unfinished roadway! Well, sort of – as it turned out, the Unfinished L-Turn was timed, and the side-by-side couldn’t get around it fast enough to outrun the wall that popped up. Buuuut, because Gray had had to leave his red sports car at the end of the course to keep the final chunk of roadway in place, he just climbed over the wall and got in THAT car instead to complete the board. XD 1000 IQ play there! What a weird but interesting board – I’m in favor of more challenges that make Gray think. :p

4. Get my tumblr queues sorted: Thought this would fall by the wayside tonight, even with me only having to worry about Victor Luvs Alice. . .but since a few of my webcomics didn’t update today, I had a tiny bit of extra time tonight, and I used it to draft up a post on my Duskwall slang in the Valicer In The Dark AU over there. *nods* So that’s something! Still needs to be tweaked, but that can happen tomorrow.

So yeah -- not ideal, but at least I got everything important done. And now it's time to hit the sheets and prepare to do it all over again tomorrow. Hopefully with less bullshit. *sigh* Night all!