I've actually had an idea to do stuff like this for a while now (posting my reactions to articles that I stumble across on Facebook here, rather than just real-lifey stuff), but ended up never getting around to posting my first one a while back when I originally got the idea.
But anyway... this is a pretty long ranty post, and may not be "Mormon safe" (in the sense that sexual stuff is discussed, though not explicitly or anything, and a blogger who some of my Mormon friends seem to frequently share posts from is called out as being full of crap... though for the most part, this post isn't about him. It's about a really awful misconception that's taken root across much of society, which both he and the person he's arguing with both somehow agree on.) So those who are easily offended and prone to posting angry, insulting comments on anything you disagree with, run away and never look back.
Anyway... those of you who are still reading, this post refers to this blog post. All that you really need to know, though, is that both of the people who say some stuff in said post agree that "monogamy is unnatural" and humans (especially male humans) are naturally predisposed toward screwing everything that moves. The difference being, one of them is a college professor who you've probably never heard of unless you're in one of his classes (taking the "we're all naturally non-monogamous so let's go ahead and mindlessly screw everything that moves!" stance) and the other being a religious/political-ish blogger that you've probably never heard of unless you've seen your religious/political-ish friends share his posts on Facebook (and his stance, of course, is something along the lines of "monogamy isn't natural, it's a commandment from the Old Man in the Sky and his son White Jesus to test our righteousness by making us do something hard!")
And now that you have that much information, there is no longer any reason to read that article I linked, so you can continue on to the rest of my rant. XD
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Okay, a lot of this Matt Walsh guy's blog posts are full of crap from what I've seen (this one included, honestly; I only included a link to the article for context purposes, not because I'd actually recommend it! XD)... but this professor claiming that "monogamy is unnatural" and trying to say that all men are just inherently geared toward wanting to have sex with as many people as possible might be even worse.
...Actually, scratch that--Professor Widespread McMisinformation is definitely worse. The "all guys are pre-programmed to be ravenous sexmonsters" line of thinking is probably one of the most horrible untruths to become accepted "fact" by a depressingly large segment of society in a loooong time.
If monogamy is "not natural," how the heck do either of these guys (who somehow agree that it is "not natural" even if they don't agree on anything else) explain ME?
I'm only interested in monogamy when it comes to relationships. I've only ever been interested in monogamy. There was no "party phase" earlier in my life that I've since grown out of--I just have never seen any appeal in the typical "go out (drunkenness optional but encouraged) and have sex with as many people as possible" thing a lot of people (especially guys) get into starting around high school. When other guys would brag about stuff like that, it always seemed so strange to me that they would think that was a GOOD thing. While other guys were being all "aw man, when will I lose my virginity?" my concern was always something more like "when will I find a girl who actually likes me?" instead--losing my virginity is something that'd be more of a nice bonus that would ideally come along with finding someone who actually felt as strongly about me as I do about her, not an end goal in and of itself (even now, the only concern related to that is "if I DO actually find someone, will she reject me just because I'm still a virgin at age 28 or will she actually be a decent person and try to understand and work with me on that instead?")
Oh, and that's not all. Just having strong feelings for one person (even if they're one-sided feelings which that person doesn't share at all!) basically blinds me to all others, to the point where I'm pretty sure by now that I've missed a few people who may have actually liked me because I just couldn't turn my attention away from someone else long enough to notice. Even on the rare occasion that I start to like multiple people at once, that only lasts until one of them manages to push ahead of the others in my mind and become the lone person that I end up mildly obsessed with. I can't imagine how much MORE focused I would be on that one person if I actually was in a relationship with someone, rather than just an "I like her but she doesn't feel the same way" situation. This is literally the exact opposite of the supposedly "natural" walking stereotype guy who can't help but have his eyes drawn to any nice-looking girl he stumbles across, even if he's already taken.
And I'm pretty sure at this point this is something that's built in for me, not something I've learned. I haven't gone to church (occasional visits alongside friends at SVU aside) since I was 12, and even then I barely believed most of what they said in church, so I definitely didn't pick it up from religion. My old church rarely (if ever) talked about what they thought was right or wrong in relationships anyway from what I remember, so that makes it an even less likely source. And I'm not a "traditional" person at all, either... so it's not like I was taught that monogamy was the only way or anything (I wasn't taught hardly anything about relationships, actually--I didn't even have a clear concept of what a date was until I was in my 20s.) And it's not even likely that I just sort of unconsciously absorbed it at a young age, because I remember hearing a lot of stories about historical figures who had both a wife and mistress, or wives and concubines, or various other "more than one person" sorts of situations for at least as long as I've been hearing about monogamous relationships.
Maybe it's not the same way for everyone else; maybe some people are "programmed" to tend toward some polyamorous sort of thing and have difficulty only being seriously attracted to one person at a time. But it seems to me that, for me anyway, monogamy is indeed "natural." Am I just this rare weird sort of person that's "programmed" for monogamy? Or are a lot of us like that to start with, before society manages to reprogram the majority with that "as many as possible, as often as possible, as early as possible" mindset when it comes to sex/relationships?
It's hard for me to even guess about how it is for other people... but I know how I work, at least, and that alone blows the "all guys are like this naturally" nonsense out of the water. I mean, what are the chances that I'm literally the only one like this, out of 7 billion humans? I'd say not that high.
Friday, September 19, 2014
Friday, September 5, 2014
Yep, I think I've recovered from summer now.
As the title says--all the awfulness of summer seems to have pretty thoroughly disappeared at this point. I'm pretty well settled in at my apartment here in Buena Vista, with all my stuff unpacked and set up and September's rent paid so I won't have to worry about that again until the first week of October (which is... still a good ways off.) I'm also no longer suffering from the horrible boredom/loneliness/lack-of-motivation stuff that was hanging over me for most of the summer, and have actually gotten more work done on Okédoké! (not enough for a late-August release sadly, but early/mid-September should still be doable) lately, to the point where I should be out of "actually adding new stuff" stage and into "final playtesting before release" stage within the next week. Speaking of Okédoké, here's a few random screenshots of new stuff:
Also, some pretty big news: I've got a job now!! As of... last Thursday, I've been working at the Papa John's in Lexington. Did training for answering calls and operating the computer system on that Thursday, then worked a few hours this past Monday... and then immediately got a second day (Tuesday) added on to my schedule, during which I did some more training (for topping pizzas) and got to practice answering the phones and taking orders a bit more. And then right near the end of my original Tuesday shift, I got more hours added on--coming back in around 5:30 and staying until 8:00ish. Thursday was another "short day that turned long," since I was originally signed up for 10:30 to 2:00 (was supposed to do training before the store opened... but it was the training I already did, so I didn't have to be there until 11) but somewhere along the line that transformed into 11:00 to 7:00! Long day, but it was nice to have something to do during the day for once that isn't "sit around alone on the computer and I hope I actually get stuff done." Actually managed to get some drawing done during that long shift's slow periods; I sketched up some of the gods from the ancient K'hyurbhi religion (...which hardly any K'hyurbhis believe in anymore) on the back of some napkins.
...yeah, I just posted all of the drawings there. The old K'hyurbhi religion (along with a lot of other Nummorrian cultural stuff) is getting a lot more fleshed out now, and I'll probably continue to add more onto it over the next few weeks/months/years until I can finally say "okay, this is pretty much the whole thing" like I can with the Blurby religion I came up with a few years back.
I also ended up actually making some pizzas (well, putting the sauce, cheese, and toppings on them anyway--can't do the dough just yet) on Thursday, and after a few somewhat shaky attempts (which were not quite shaky enough to be rejected when they came out of the oven, thankfully!) I think I've pretty much gotten it down well enough to do it consistently as part of my job in the near future. I suppose the next step in training will be either preparing toppings (chopping up the veggies, filling the containers) or getting pizzas off the oven line and into boxes (which seems fairly simple aside from using the pizza cutter to cut the slices out right, which I haven't done anything really similar to before.) Apparently there's a chance I might be able to become a fill-in manager eventually once I get through all the training, and the more training I do the more my pay will go up, so... overall I think doing the full training is probably a good plan. XD
Oh, and I finally got to meet one of my formerly-online-only friends last week! Which means that I now no longer have "friends that I've talked to online but never met" (though there are still quite a few "friends that I unfortunately haven't seen face-to-face in pretty much forever.") I drove over to the Vinton area to meet her as she got off from work and then we headed into Roanoke to get some Mexican food (and my first ever margarita, which was pretty good.) Also stopped in to the Goodwill nearby before heading back, where I found some of the khaki shorts that I need for my job. And also... some kid's drawing in a book:
Apparently somebody forgot to check the book for loose papers before donating it to Goodwill... whoops. XD
But yeah, that worked out pretty well. Only issue was related to the traffic on the way back, which was pretty nasty (and made worse by me accidentally driving off in the wrong direction at first and having to turn around before I went into a city-ish area where it would've been even worse.) But aside from that slight detour on the return trip, I didn't have any trouble with the driving... though there was a lot of driving and I was a bit worn out when I got home. Still, it's always nice to actually see my friends (and hang around with them and talk and goof off for hours) and not just type messages back and forth online.
And today, my work schedule for next week rapidly expanded--first I was only signed up for Monday and Wednesday, then Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday got added to the list, and then finally I ended up on the phone with my manager while on the way back home for a dentist's appointment today and got a few hours each on this Saturday and Sunday. Thankfully, my three hours on Saturday don't butt up against the Doctor Who club meeting later (it's just noon to 3), though next Saturday's shift goes from 5:45 to 10:00 so I'll end up missing that week's episode. However, as a friend (who I hadn't heard much from in months, so it was nice to get to talk to her again--unexpected messages from people that turn into hours-long conversations about half a dozen random things are always appreciated!) just reminded me of today, there's probably places to find and watch these online... so I may actually manage to get caught up on Doctor Who at some point.
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| Gravestones in El Pueblecito and Frogbucket now have readable text, rather than just being scenery. |
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| A new scene added to an early part of the game if you do a certain specific thing. |
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| A little preview of an optional boss boss battle later on. Yes, those are maids. XD |
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| Hmm. Wonder who lives here... |
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| A new feature added: you can now talk to people from the other side of tables. |
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| This guy only exists to keep you from getting to that trash can from the roof. XD |
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| The "Wizdum Guy" hands out somewhat vague advice for only a few pesos. |
Also, some pretty big news: I've got a job now!! As of... last Thursday, I've been working at the Papa John's in Lexington. Did training for answering calls and operating the computer system on that Thursday, then worked a few hours this past Monday... and then immediately got a second day (Tuesday) added on to my schedule, during which I did some more training (for topping pizzas) and got to practice answering the phones and taking orders a bit more. And then right near the end of my original Tuesday shift, I got more hours added on--coming back in around 5:30 and staying until 8:00ish. Thursday was another "short day that turned long," since I was originally signed up for 10:30 to 2:00 (was supposed to do training before the store opened... but it was the training I already did, so I didn't have to be there until 11) but somewhere along the line that transformed into 11:00 to 7:00! Long day, but it was nice to have something to do during the day for once that isn't "sit around alone on the computer and I hope I actually get stuff done." Actually managed to get some drawing done during that long shift's slow periods; I sketched up some of the gods from the ancient K'hyurbhi religion (...which hardly any K'hyurbhis believe in anymore) on the back of some napkins.
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| Yikimahn -- believed to be the creator and/or ancestor of K'hyurbhis and all other round-bodied creatures. Hamhu revision added the nameless mother goddess drawn below him, while older versions had Yikimahn himself laying the original K'hyurbhi egg (which contained a lot more than just one K'hyurbhi, as the species wouldn't last otherwise. XD) Gatadz -- generally seen as the god of death and cold weather, who watched over the frozen cave-like afterlife known as "Lahnan." Hamhu revision made him out to be the bad guy, but originally he was just doing his job (much of which involved deciding how much ice to freeze the actual bad guys in when they ended up in his place after death.) |
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| Zhingaru -- seen as the god of Kihlah, who was originally the only being with that power but decided to hand it out to K'hyurbhis and various others so he could share it. Hamhu revision claims he gave it to K'hyurbhis ONLY, and that all others are using some form of "false Kihlah" or somehow stole actual Kihlah energy from a K'hyurbhi. Mozzu -- the god of war, and sometimes also of metal and stone. Minor earthquakes were thought to be caused by his footsteps, and thunder was the sound of him fighting somewhere in the distance (usually by throwing his mace up into the sky to hit some unknown attacker.) |
...yeah, I just posted all of the drawings there. The old K'hyurbhi religion (along with a lot of other Nummorrian cultural stuff) is getting a lot more fleshed out now, and I'll probably continue to add more onto it over the next few weeks/months/years until I can finally say "okay, this is pretty much the whole thing" like I can with the Blurby religion I came up with a few years back.
I also ended up actually making some pizzas (well, putting the sauce, cheese, and toppings on them anyway--can't do the dough just yet) on Thursday, and after a few somewhat shaky attempts (which were not quite shaky enough to be rejected when they came out of the oven, thankfully!) I think I've pretty much gotten it down well enough to do it consistently as part of my job in the near future. I suppose the next step in training will be either preparing toppings (chopping up the veggies, filling the containers) or getting pizzas off the oven line and into boxes (which seems fairly simple aside from using the pizza cutter to cut the slices out right, which I haven't done anything really similar to before.) Apparently there's a chance I might be able to become a fill-in manager eventually once I get through all the training, and the more training I do the more my pay will go up, so... overall I think doing the full training is probably a good plan. XD
Oh, and I finally got to meet one of my formerly-online-only friends last week! Which means that I now no longer have "friends that I've talked to online but never met" (though there are still quite a few "friends that I unfortunately haven't seen face-to-face in pretty much forever.") I drove over to the Vinton area to meet her as she got off from work and then we headed into Roanoke to get some Mexican food (and my first ever margarita, which was pretty good.) Also stopped in to the Goodwill nearby before heading back, where I found some of the khaki shorts that I need for my job. And also... some kid's drawing in a book:
But yeah, that worked out pretty well. Only issue was related to the traffic on the way back, which was pretty nasty (and made worse by me accidentally driving off in the wrong direction at first and having to turn around before I went into a city-ish area where it would've been even worse.) But aside from that slight detour on the return trip, I didn't have any trouble with the driving... though there was a lot of driving and I was a bit worn out when I got home. Still, it's always nice to actually see my friends (and hang around with them and talk and goof off for hours) and not just type messages back and forth online.
And today, my work schedule for next week rapidly expanded--first I was only signed up for Monday and Wednesday, then Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday got added to the list, and then finally I ended up on the phone with my manager while on the way back home for a dentist's appointment today and got a few hours each on this Saturday and Sunday. Thankfully, my three hours on Saturday don't butt up against the Doctor Who club meeting later (it's just noon to 3), though next Saturday's shift goes from 5:45 to 10:00 so I'll end up missing that week's episode. However, as a friend (who I hadn't heard much from in months, so it was nice to get to talk to her again--unexpected messages from people that turn into hours-long conversations about half a dozen random things are always appreciated!) just reminded me of today, there's probably places to find and watch these online... so I may actually manage to get caught up on Doctor Who at some point.
Friday, August 22, 2014
I've escaped! (hopefully it's permanent this time!)
I've finally escaped from the Middle of Nowhere, VA boredom/loneliness deathtrap! Back in Buena Vista now, in the same apartment I was living last time around actually (though I may end up moving in October, assuming I can find a job before then so I don't run out of rent money.) The little blue car is now parked outside (with apartment sticker so I won't get towed, heh), my furniture's set up, my cabinets and fridge are loaded up with enough food to last me a while, and unpacking... well, I'm still kind of in the process of doing that right now, heh.
I've only been here one day, but I can tell that my body's starting to adjust back to a normal sleep schedule already... despite my mom's paranoia that I wouldn't be able to get used to getting up/going to bed earlier. For some reason, she just can't understand that living back home is part of the reason why I go to bed (and get up) so late in the summer, and why I have so much trouble sleeping. It's not a good environment for me--other people stay up super late (making it very hard for me to not stay up late), cats thunder around the house at odd hours of the morning (I love the kitties, but they do make it hard to sleep sometimes... especially when I don't get to bed until an hour before they start), air conditioners sometimes don't get turned on when they need to so the house stays too hot for me to sleep comfortably, privacy does not exist (half the reason I stay up so late is that "downstairs in front of the computer, after everyone else goes to bed" is the closest to "my own private space" as exists there--my actual room doesn't have a door and is right next to the stairs, and the extra bedroom next to it is in a similar situation)... I just don't like living there anymore, especially now that I'm not going to Dabney anymore and most of the few friends I had before have disappeared off to who-knows-where, or I just don't ever see them or hear from them much (if at all!) anymore. As far as things that matter to me, Alleghany County is basically an abandoned wasteland where I will eventually shrivel away if I stay too long.
Here at my apartment it's completely different. It's only a little after midnight right now and I feel like I probably *could* go to bed if I really wanted, as opposed to "go to bed NOW? why?? I could never get to sleep this early!"
Hopefully the constant lack of motivation to do anything that kept hanging over me for most of the summer clears up pretty soon too (...I've already got a job interview with Papa John's lined up for next week and sent in another job application, so... I guess that's a "maybe" on that front until further notice. XD) Speaking of lack of motivation... yeah, I completely forgot to ever post that "stuff I did over the summer after Camp Shenandoah" post I said I was going to. Whoops. For the most part the later-summer was pretty uneventful, though, aside from learning how to drive manual (so I could actually drive my car.) That, and of course the weekend when I left camp, when I had an unexpected little "mini-vacation" to Staunton! Probably the best memories of the summer, really--got to go to a west coast swing dance in Charlottesville with a friend (and managed to learn some stuff, and didn't have any trouble at all with the crowdyness or anything!), swam in the hotel pool, ate some really good food (including once at a restaurant in Staunton I'd never been to before, Baja Bean Co., where I had some really delicious shrimp tacos), and just... walked around and saw lots of neat old buildings and such. Wish I had more days like those this summer, rather than the usual "sit around the house alone and bored to death, being unable to get stuff done even though I have a lot of stuff to get done."
I've only been here one day, but I can tell that my body's starting to adjust back to a normal sleep schedule already... despite my mom's paranoia that I wouldn't be able to get used to getting up/going to bed earlier. For some reason, she just can't understand that living back home is part of the reason why I go to bed (and get up) so late in the summer, and why I have so much trouble sleeping. It's not a good environment for me--other people stay up super late (making it very hard for me to not stay up late), cats thunder around the house at odd hours of the morning (I love the kitties, but they do make it hard to sleep sometimes... especially when I don't get to bed until an hour before they start), air conditioners sometimes don't get turned on when they need to so the house stays too hot for me to sleep comfortably, privacy does not exist (half the reason I stay up so late is that "downstairs in front of the computer, after everyone else goes to bed" is the closest to "my own private space" as exists there--my actual room doesn't have a door and is right next to the stairs, and the extra bedroom next to it is in a similar situation)... I just don't like living there anymore, especially now that I'm not going to Dabney anymore and most of the few friends I had before have disappeared off to who-knows-where, or I just don't ever see them or hear from them much (if at all!) anymore. As far as things that matter to me, Alleghany County is basically an abandoned wasteland where I will eventually shrivel away if I stay too long.
Here at my apartment it's completely different. It's only a little after midnight right now and I feel like I probably *could* go to bed if I really wanted, as opposed to "go to bed NOW? why?? I could never get to sleep this early!"
Hopefully the constant lack of motivation to do anything that kept hanging over me for most of the summer clears up pretty soon too (...I've already got a job interview with Papa John's lined up for next week and sent in another job application, so... I guess that's a "maybe" on that front until further notice. XD) Speaking of lack of motivation... yeah, I completely forgot to ever post that "stuff I did over the summer after Camp Shenandoah" post I said I was going to. Whoops. For the most part the later-summer was pretty uneventful, though, aside from learning how to drive manual (so I could actually drive my car.) That, and of course the weekend when I left camp, when I had an unexpected little "mini-vacation" to Staunton! Probably the best memories of the summer, really--got to go to a west coast swing dance in Charlottesville with a friend (and managed to learn some stuff, and didn't have any trouble at all with the crowdyness or anything!), swam in the hotel pool, ate some really good food (including once at a restaurant in Staunton I'd never been to before, Baja Bean Co., where I had some really delicious shrimp tacos), and just... walked around and saw lots of neat old buildings and such. Wish I had more days like those this summer, rather than the usual "sit around the house alone and bored to death, being unable to get stuff done even though I have a lot of stuff to get done."
Saturday, July 5, 2014
My 9 days working at Camp Shenandoah
This one's a little different from my usual posts--instead of writing it up for the first time right now, the entries about my time working at Camp Shenandoah are actually taken word-for-word from a notebook I had with me while I was there. I'd originally planned to do blog posts while I was there, but lack of frequent Internet access at camp (at first because I didn't know the password, and later because we weren't supposed to be online for long periods of time if we could avoid it to conserve bandwidth) meant that they went into my notebook instead of onto here... until now!
I'll post another one of these about the stuff from after Camp Shenandoah some other time, but for now, here's my Camp Shenandoah wasn't-online-for-a-while blog stuff.
Day 1
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Lots of work (setting up tents, carrying beds to campsite, loading tents/cots for the kids' campsites into the truck and unloading them at the sites), but seemed like a pretty good start! Lunch was okay (ham/turkey + cheese sandwiches), dinner was pretty "eh" (I only had chips, peaches, and pudding... "meal food" was green beans and those weird-ass chicken cordon bleu things.) Good thing I brought muchos snack-os.
Turns out I will need to come home this Saturday... or Friday night. Maybe. I'm still not 100% sure. Schedule throughout a normal week seems doable; if I can manage to wake up in the 7am -- 7:30 range I should be fine.
Got my own tent, muddafuggaaaaas!! It's a new one, too. Sadly, the staff campsite currently has no TP for my bunghole... so pooping will be happening in other places. It does have flush toilets, though! So does the dining hall, actually... that's new.
Randomly felt like drawing Numnums. Which I guess makes sense considering where I am.
I can hear frogs/toads from camp. And also thunder, at the moment.
Day 2
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Staff showers are kinda ghetto--built into the same almost-building as the latrines. Hot water works well, though!
Breakfast and lunch--more "eh" food. Fortunately there was cereal there at breakfast, but lunch had me on the "snack food diet," since the main "meal food" and the side dish were both inedible for ground beef and bacon-related reasons.
More work--moving up tents and cots. Left shoulder + upper arm are super sore now so I can't do much with those. Right wrist briefly started to hurt, but that seems better now.
Day 3
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Camp is much less empty now that the Junior Staff and CITs here here. There's only barely enough space for everyone in the staff lounge... also, I now have an extension cord if I need to charge my phone or laptop. Lunch was once again "eh," and I ate nothing but chips and applesauce. Good thing I wasn't all that hungry.
Still a lot of working, but less exhausting than the first two days. Don't think my arm will be sore tomorrow. Wearing the shorts I sleep in as underwear might be cutting down on the legs-rubbing-together soreness somewhat, which is nice.
Also, found out that I won't need fancy-schmancy clothes for the swing dance thing I'm going to with Angela this Saturday, which is good since I don't have any!!
SALAD BAR!! The savior of camp meals has arrived!! (Dessert is good too.) Also, apparently I like bacon bits... even though I hate bacon.
..."training" was actually more like "dinky games that went on for waaaaay too long" this time. Almost got into a borderline crowd-freakout situation. Some of it wasn't so bad, like the "this is a booger" bit... but the awkward "hey, let's get to know each other... except not" games were really dumb. Hopefully that crap thins out or stops over the next few days.
Day 4
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...Staff showers are a lot less nice when you're not the first/only one using them. I haven't had such a shitty shower in YEARS. And that was after maybe two or three other showers... can't imagine how much it must suck if you get in there right after "shower rush-hour" or something.
If the other showers are open already, I'll probably be walking over there to get showers from now on... at least if I'm not up early enough for a decent one here.
...And I just found a tick on my stomach. A little one, kinda dark brown... and it had already bitten on. Was able to get it off pretty easily (and its head didn't come off inside the bite or anything) so it probably wasn't there for long.
Also just realized that I seem to have forgotten to bring my comb back... that kinda sucks.
Breakfast slightly less "eh" this time--biscuits were good so long as you didn't contaminate them with gravy. Plus, there was cereal (as always.)
Went on a tour of camp, and got a map! Also: actual Assistant Ranger work started today. And lunch! Way better than previous meals--salad bar AND pizza! Supper was closer to "eh" again (unnecessarily beef-infested spaghetti), but salad/breadsticks/pudding saved it.
I got to drive the camp truck today. Took a bit of getting used to, since the shifter (from drive/reverse/park) is in a different place and the parking brake is completely different... but once I was used to that it wasn't hard at all, I just had to drive slowly + carefully on the bumpy camp roads. And they were very bumpy. Made a trip up to Archery to drop stuff off, and then to Scoutcraft and Nature, before back to Maintenance. Also, had to pick up cardboard boxes from the trading post and dining hall, to drop off where the recycling stuff goes.
Also: Got to play Munchkin! We didn't actually finish the game because it got too late, but still.
Day 5
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Woke up to find mysterious bugbites on some of my toes. At least, I assume they're bugbites... they weren't there last night and just kind of appeared overnight.
And finally--good breakfast food! Pancakes!! Lunch not so much... pale, suspicious-looking chicken nuggets that I definitely didn't trust enough to actually try. Just had stuff from the salad bar, since the salad's always good. Dinner also repugnante, menos la ensalada.
Suggestion to any super rich people who want to donate stuff to camp: new washer/dryer for staff campsite. My bedsheets (the thin flimsy things that always get dry) were still soaking wet after a run through the dryer on the setting I usually use. That is bullshit. Also bullshit: showers. How the hell are you supposed to get a hot shower around here!? What on Earth did I do right the first time I used the staff showers to make it work so well? Even the other showers sucked today...
After-the-fact edit: The dryer actually wasn't that bad, I had set it wrong the first time... it works differently than other dryers that I'd used, and in attempting to set it to a normal setting I actually set it to only dry for 10 minutes or so. When I tried again later making sure to set it for 30 minutes, it worked fine... I just forgot to mention it in here, I guess. The washer, on the other hand, actually broke later in the week...
Day 6
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First thing we did this morning: practice putting up/taking down flags. I got to put them up once, or at least help put up one (the camp flag.) Wasn't nearly as complicated as I thought it might be.
And things went horribly wrong. Water at Andrews is out, so no showers or washing clothes. Everyone's going to use the shower house until Andrews' water is fixed, which means no showers there for me either... just some cold rinse crap, if I can tolerate the cold water long enough for that. To make it even worse... this is the day when I really needed to wash clothes. I have zero clean shirts now. One is maybe tolerable, but the other two I have with me... no way. They stink. Not sure about the one I'm currently wearing.
Crisis averted, maybe--water is apparently fixed ALREADY, so I will be able to wash shirts tonight after all. Showers still suck, but... at least I'll have clean clothes. Also, some really good banana pudding for supper. Along with salad, as always.
Yep, washer/dryer work again. And actually talked to people (and showed off Okédoké!) later on today! Today actually turned out good, despite early problems. And I may have introduced a kid to the OHRRPGCE, too--he wanted to know where to download it and everything!
Day 7
----------------
Internet works again! Last night it was being weird. Also, I have a motel room booked for the weekend. Was surprisingly easy to get set up, and like I thought, a room was around $70 rather than this "over $100" nonsense my mom was assuming. Of course, she was probably thinking of rooms with two beds.
Lunch was great today--they had this fish with potato-strip breading and I ended up eating three of them, plus my usual salad. First meat-based food I've had (other than a hot dog and bacon bits... which probably aren't real bacon) since coming here.
Supper: also great! Best mac & cheese I've had in years!!
And got my swim test out of the way today, too. "Beginner" test was very easy. Will probably go back for "swimmer" later on in the summer.
And we had a campfire!! Went pretty well. I need to find out when Troop 2's going to be here so I can do the Poop Skit. Mwhahahahaha...
Day 8
--------------
Work continues as normal. Weather's nice today--cloudy and not as hot, but also not raining. Plans for Saturday are pretty much set, so the weekend should go well.
Kinda scary for a little while there--had a "Code Green" (someone missing) which turned into a "Code White" (medical.) I'm not sure what happened but I don't think it was just a drill this time... one of the girls was lying face-down in some leaves near the showers and not moving, and they brought the medic in on a truck to pick her up, or check on her at least--I didn't see her get loaded onto the truck or anything so I'm not 100% sure what happened. I think she's okay now though (she just walked back in), so it might've just been a drill, but... it was unexpected and very convincing if it was.
Yep, apparently that was a drill. I'm glad they sprung it on us--the "Code Blue" drill was kind of lame in comparison because we knew it was a drill ahead of time.
It rained. A lot. Like Outpost-level rain for hours. My tent got rained in a bit, but everything seems fine... except possibly my power strip. Now, my laptop charger still works (and presumably so does the phone charger) so this isn't the worst-case scenario or anything, but still sucks. Hopefully it will work fine once it dries out... otherwise I'll need a new one in August when I head back to BV.
Day 9
---------------
Last day of Staff Week! Should have plenty of time to wash clothes, dry them, and pack up stuff I'll need for the weekend... but just in case I don't I went ahead and packed some of it this morning.
...and it turns out this isn't just "last day of Staff Week" but "last day for me period." I've been "let go" for vague reasons. The only thing specifically mentioned was my driving, but... I specifically mentioned many times that I'd never driven a truck before (and I didn't go driving crazy or running over stumps or anything) so I'm not sure what the big deal was.
I'll post another one of these about the stuff from after Camp Shenandoah some other time, but for now, here's my Camp Shenandoah wasn't-online-for-a-while blog stuff.
Day 1
------------
Lots of work (setting up tents, carrying beds to campsite, loading tents/cots for the kids' campsites into the truck and unloading them at the sites), but seemed like a pretty good start! Lunch was okay (ham/turkey + cheese sandwiches), dinner was pretty "eh" (I only had chips, peaches, and pudding... "meal food" was green beans and those weird-ass chicken cordon bleu things.) Good thing I brought muchos snack-os.
Turns out I will need to come home this Saturday... or Friday night. Maybe. I'm still not 100% sure. Schedule throughout a normal week seems doable; if I can manage to wake up in the 7am -- 7:30 range I should be fine.
Got my own tent, muddafuggaaaaas!! It's a new one, too. Sadly, the staff campsite currently has no TP for my bunghole... so pooping will be happening in other places. It does have flush toilets, though! So does the dining hall, actually... that's new.
Randomly felt like drawing Numnums. Which I guess makes sense considering where I am.
I can hear frogs/toads from camp. And also thunder, at the moment.
Day 2
------------
Staff showers are kinda ghetto--built into the same almost-building as the latrines. Hot water works well, though!
Breakfast and lunch--more "eh" food. Fortunately there was cereal there at breakfast, but lunch had me on the "snack food diet," since the main "meal food" and the side dish were both inedible for ground beef and bacon-related reasons.
More work--moving up tents and cots. Left shoulder + upper arm are super sore now so I can't do much with those. Right wrist briefly started to hurt, but that seems better now.
 | |
| Some random goofy drawings from the first few days. |
Day 3
------------
Camp is much less empty now that the Junior Staff and CITs here here. There's only barely enough space for everyone in the staff lounge... also, I now have an extension cord if I need to charge my phone or laptop. Lunch was once again "eh," and I ate nothing but chips and applesauce. Good thing I wasn't all that hungry.
Still a lot of working, but less exhausting than the first two days. Don't think my arm will be sore tomorrow. Wearing the shorts I sleep in as underwear might be cutting down on the legs-rubbing-together soreness somewhat, which is nice.
Also, found out that I won't need fancy-schmancy clothes for the swing dance thing I'm going to with Angela this Saturday, which is good since I don't have any!!
SALAD BAR!! The savior of camp meals has arrived!! (Dessert is good too.) Also, apparently I like bacon bits... even though I hate bacon.
..."training" was actually more like "dinky games that went on for waaaaay too long" this time. Almost got into a borderline crowd-freakout situation. Some of it wasn't so bad, like the "this is a booger" bit... but the awkward "hey, let's get to know each other... except not" games were really dumb. Hopefully that crap thins out or stops over the next few days.
Day 4
--------------
...Staff showers are a lot less nice when you're not the first/only one using them. I haven't had such a shitty shower in YEARS. And that was after maybe two or three other showers... can't imagine how much it must suck if you get in there right after "shower rush-hour" or something.
If the other showers are open already, I'll probably be walking over there to get showers from now on... at least if I'm not up early enough for a decent one here.
...And I just found a tick on my stomach. A little one, kinda dark brown... and it had already bitten on. Was able to get it off pretty easily (and its head didn't come off inside the bite or anything) so it probably wasn't there for long.
Also just realized that I seem to have forgotten to bring my comb back... that kinda sucks.
Breakfast slightly less "eh" this time--biscuits were good so long as you didn't contaminate them with gravy. Plus, there was cereal (as always.)
Went on a tour of camp, and got a map! Also: actual Assistant Ranger work started today. And lunch! Way better than previous meals--salad bar AND pizza! Supper was closer to "eh" again (unnecessarily beef-infested spaghetti), but salad/breadsticks/pudding saved it.
I got to drive the camp truck today. Took a bit of getting used to, since the shifter (from drive/reverse/park) is in a different place and the parking brake is completely different... but once I was used to that it wasn't hard at all, I just had to drive slowly + carefully on the bumpy camp roads. And they were very bumpy. Made a trip up to Archery to drop stuff off, and then to Scoutcraft and Nature, before back to Maintenance. Also, had to pick up cardboard boxes from the trading post and dining hall, to drop off where the recycling stuff goes.
Also: Got to play Munchkin! We didn't actually finish the game because it got too late, but still.
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| The map. With drawings and terrain detail added by me, of course. |
Day 5
-------------
Woke up to find mysterious bugbites on some of my toes. At least, I assume they're bugbites... they weren't there last night and just kind of appeared overnight.
And finally--good breakfast food! Pancakes!! Lunch not so much... pale, suspicious-looking chicken nuggets that I definitely didn't trust enough to actually try. Just had stuff from the salad bar, since the salad's always good. Dinner also repugnante, menos la ensalada.
Suggestion to any super rich people who want to donate stuff to camp: new washer/dryer for staff campsite. My bedsheets (the thin flimsy things that always get dry) were still soaking wet after a run through the dryer on the setting I usually use. That is bullshit. Also bullshit: showers. How the hell are you supposed to get a hot shower around here!? What on Earth did I do right the first time I used the staff showers to make it work so well? Even the other showers sucked today...
After-the-fact edit: The dryer actually wasn't that bad, I had set it wrong the first time... it works differently than other dryers that I'd used, and in attempting to set it to a normal setting I actually set it to only dry for 10 minutes or so. When I tried again later making sure to set it for 30 minutes, it worked fine... I just forgot to mention it in here, I guess. The washer, on the other hand, actually broke later in the week...
Day 6
-------------
First thing we did this morning: practice putting up/taking down flags. I got to put them up once, or at least help put up one (the camp flag.) Wasn't nearly as complicated as I thought it might be.
And things went horribly wrong. Water at Andrews is out, so no showers or washing clothes. Everyone's going to use the shower house until Andrews' water is fixed, which means no showers there for me either... just some cold rinse crap, if I can tolerate the cold water long enough for that. To make it even worse... this is the day when I really needed to wash clothes. I have zero clean shirts now. One is maybe tolerable, but the other two I have with me... no way. They stink. Not sure about the one I'm currently wearing.
Crisis averted, maybe--water is apparently fixed ALREADY, so I will be able to wash shirts tonight after all. Showers still suck, but... at least I'll have clean clothes. Also, some really good banana pudding for supper. Along with salad, as always.
Yep, washer/dryer work again. And actually talked to people (and showed off Okédoké!) later on today! Today actually turned out good, despite early problems. And I may have introduced a kid to the OHRRPGCE, too--he wanted to know where to download it and everything!
Day 7
----------------
Internet works again! Last night it was being weird. Also, I have a motel room booked for the weekend. Was surprisingly easy to get set up, and like I thought, a room was around $70 rather than this "over $100" nonsense my mom was assuming. Of course, she was probably thinking of rooms with two beds.
Lunch was great today--they had this fish with potato-strip breading and I ended up eating three of them, plus my usual salad. First meat-based food I've had (other than a hot dog and bacon bits... which probably aren't real bacon) since coming here.
Supper: also great! Best mac & cheese I've had in years!!
And got my swim test out of the way today, too. "Beginner" test was very easy. Will probably go back for "swimmer" later on in the summer.
And we had a campfire!! Went pretty well. I need to find out when Troop 2's going to be here so I can do the Poop Skit. Mwhahahahaha...
Day 8
--------------
Work continues as normal. Weather's nice today--cloudy and not as hot, but also not raining. Plans for Saturday are pretty much set, so the weekend should go well.
Kinda scary for a little while there--had a "Code Green" (someone missing) which turned into a "Code White" (medical.) I'm not sure what happened but I don't think it was just a drill this time... one of the girls was lying face-down in some leaves near the showers and not moving, and they brought the medic in on a truck to pick her up, or check on her at least--I didn't see her get loaded onto the truck or anything so I'm not 100% sure what happened. I think she's okay now though (she just walked back in), so it might've just been a drill, but... it was unexpected and very convincing if it was.
Yep, apparently that was a drill. I'm glad they sprung it on us--the "Code Blue" drill was kind of lame in comparison because we knew it was a drill ahead of time.
It rained. A lot. Like Outpost-level rain for hours. My tent got rained in a bit, but everything seems fine... except possibly my power strip. Now, my laptop charger still works (and presumably so does the phone charger) so this isn't the worst-case scenario or anything, but still sucks. Hopefully it will work fine once it dries out... otherwise I'll need a new one in August when I head back to BV.
Day 9
---------------
Last day of Staff Week! Should have plenty of time to wash clothes, dry them, and pack up stuff I'll need for the weekend... but just in case I don't I went ahead and packed some of it this morning.
...and it turns out this isn't just "last day of Staff Week" but "last day for me period." I've been "let go" for vague reasons. The only thing specifically mentioned was my driving, but... I specifically mentioned many times that I'd never driven a truck before (and I didn't go driving crazy or running over stumps or anything) so I'm not sure what the big deal was.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Almost time to head off to Camp Shenandoah...
Yep... Thursday is the day that I leave Middle of Nowhere, VA (...okay, Alleghany County, but close enough) and head... north... east... ish? I think? toward Camp Shenandoah, where I'll be working for 8 or 9 weeks this summer. I've already started (well, almost finished) packing my stuff at this point; all that's left to cram into my suitcase are the two Boy Scout uniform shirts (only not in there yet because they need to have a couple of extra patches sewn on, one of which I don't have... the other, I just haven't gotten around to yet), my toothbrush, razor, and comb (...because I still need those for tomorrow), and this solar-powered flashlight that I got for Christmas this past year and haven't actually used yet. Some other stuff (drawing supplies and maybe a couple books) will be coming to camp in my backpack, and these two huge packs of bottled water will probably just sit off by themselves since they're sort of self-contained already. I've stocked up on snack food (peanuts, Pop-Tarts, and granola bars) and drink mixes, so hopefully I'll be able to have a decent amount to eat even if the dining hall's food is iffy some days... which it probably will be, going by what I remember of it from way back when I was still young enough to be going to camp as a Boy Scout rather than camp staff.
I'm still missing some of the clothes I'll be needing, unfortunately. I have 4 pairs of the Boy Scout socks, but they're the excessively long ones that my dad insisted on buying when we were at the scout shop in Roanoke a while back, claiming that the camp would make me wear the long socks rather than the shorter, actually-comfortable-enough-to-wear kind. Turns out that Dad was completely wrong on that one--the guy who hired me outright said that sock length doesn't matter, all that matters is that they're Boy Scout socks of some type. I should've went ahead and gotten some shorter socks along with the awful long deathsocks Dad wanted. Fortunately, the trading post over there sells Boy Scout socks, so I should be able to get actually-wearable socks once I get there. I also only have 4 pairs of the Boy Scout shorts we'll be required to wear (and only two of those actually fit me, rather than just sorta fitting... those smaller ones were hand-me-downs from Dad), but I figure that those can be worn more than one day in a row (unlike socks) so I won't need to be buying more of them. Only two uniform shirts should be fine, since I'll only need to wear them at dinner and on Saturdays/Sundays (...or more accurately, "Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon," since Saturday nights are generally going to be off-work days.)
But yeah... I don't think I'll be bringing my laptop, so computer/Internet access will be only occasional during the summer. I may be able to access Facebook and such through my 3DS, since I know the dining hall has wireless Internet access now, but I don't know how well the 3DS will cooperate with that just yet so it's hard to say for sure. For the most part, it looks like I won't have much contact with people through my usual method (Facebook chatbox messages), so I may end up text-messaging some people more often than usual. I've already added another number to my phone just today, and I might attempt to track down another one or two people's numbers tomorrow so I can actually have some contact some of the people I talk to pretty frequently (or would like to talk to frequently but haven't really been in touch with that much lately, in some cases.) So yeah... people I've talked to at least semi-often, don't be too surprised if you see text messages from me a bit more often than usual this summer. XD
On an unrelated note... the OHRRPGCE game I've been working on since 2009, Okédoké! La Leyenda Mexicana, is pretty much finished at this point. In an odd coincidence, the date when I finished working on the game at last was the exact same date that the first released version was last edited before being uploaded (June 8th.) A public release hasn't happened yet, but I have sent the game out to three playtesters (who, amazingly, all showed interest within a day or two of me first making an official call for playtesters) and will be hearing back from them over the summer as they play through the game and point out any bugs/errors/etc. that they happen to find. If all goes well, a complete Okédoké release will finally happen in early to mid August.
And, I'm doing more painting again. Got one painting (for a friend who's going away on a mission soon) finished today and will be delivering that to her tomorrow; I'm also taking my painting supplies with me to camp and will attempt to get at least one or two more paintings done while there (one for another soon-to-be-missionary, and another for an SVU graduate which was already started earlier this spring but just hasn't been finished yet. Possibly another one for another graduate if I get those two done and still have time for another one while I'm there.)
I'll probably continue to post on here throughout the summer, probably on weekends when I'm back home from camp. Which means the next post probably won't be coming until the 28th--I don't think I come back home this Saturday, and the 21st is going to be a different situation than usual due to neither my mom or dad being able to pick me up from camp or take me back the next morning. So far it looks like a friend is going to pick me up from camp, we'll go to a swing dance event in Charlottesville, and then she'll drop me off at a cheapo motel somewhere so I have a place to stay for the night (before picking me up the next morning and taking me back to camp.) I'll need to bring it up with her again before that weekend to make sure everything will still work and iron out the specific details a bit more, but so far it seems like she won't have any problem helping me out with that, so hopefully that doesn't change (...otherwise I'll be kind of stranded over there at camp with no way to leave and no way to get back the next day if I do manage to find a way to get away... and I really don't want to have to try and mess around with getting rides from other people who work there and whatnot. I basically hate trying to get rides from complete strangers or people I don't feel like I can even remotely trust... which is basically everyone else who will be over there, since I don't know any of them! Yeah, I would not make a good hitchhiker. XD)
And this is completely random, but... earlier tonight, the entire downstairs area of the house randomly started to smell like a dentist's office. That sort of latex glove smell, pretty much. Really weird. We opened a window down here just to make sure there's good ventilation in case this smell comes along with something we don't want to be breathing in too much of, and it seems to have gotten weaker since then... but I still don't have a clue what caused it in the first place.
I'm still missing some of the clothes I'll be needing, unfortunately. I have 4 pairs of the Boy Scout socks, but they're the excessively long ones that my dad insisted on buying when we were at the scout shop in Roanoke a while back, claiming that the camp would make me wear the long socks rather than the shorter, actually-comfortable-enough-to-wear kind. Turns out that Dad was completely wrong on that one--the guy who hired me outright said that sock length doesn't matter, all that matters is that they're Boy Scout socks of some type. I should've went ahead and gotten some shorter socks along with the awful long deathsocks Dad wanted. Fortunately, the trading post over there sells Boy Scout socks, so I should be able to get actually-wearable socks once I get there. I also only have 4 pairs of the Boy Scout shorts we'll be required to wear (and only two of those actually fit me, rather than just sorta fitting... those smaller ones were hand-me-downs from Dad), but I figure that those can be worn more than one day in a row (unlike socks) so I won't need to be buying more of them. Only two uniform shirts should be fine, since I'll only need to wear them at dinner and on Saturdays/Sundays (...or more accurately, "Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon," since Saturday nights are generally going to be off-work days.)
But yeah... I don't think I'll be bringing my laptop, so computer/Internet access will be only occasional during the summer. I may be able to access Facebook and such through my 3DS, since I know the dining hall has wireless Internet access now, but I don't know how well the 3DS will cooperate with that just yet so it's hard to say for sure. For the most part, it looks like I won't have much contact with people through my usual method (Facebook chatbox messages), so I may end up text-messaging some people more often than usual. I've already added another number to my phone just today, and I might attempt to track down another one or two people's numbers tomorrow so I can actually have some contact some of the people I talk to pretty frequently (or would like to talk to frequently but haven't really been in touch with that much lately, in some cases.) So yeah... people I've talked to at least semi-often, don't be too surprised if you see text messages from me a bit more often than usual this summer. XD
On an unrelated note... the OHRRPGCE game I've been working on since 2009, Okédoké! La Leyenda Mexicana, is pretty much finished at this point. In an odd coincidence, the date when I finished working on the game at last was the exact same date that the first released version was last edited before being uploaded (June 8th.) A public release hasn't happened yet, but I have sent the game out to three playtesters (who, amazingly, all showed interest within a day or two of me first making an official call for playtesters) and will be hearing back from them over the summer as they play through the game and point out any bugs/errors/etc. that they happen to find. If all goes well, a complete Okédoké release will finally happen in early to mid August.
And, I'm doing more painting again. Got one painting (for a friend who's going away on a mission soon) finished today and will be delivering that to her tomorrow; I'm also taking my painting supplies with me to camp and will attempt to get at least one or two more paintings done while there (one for another soon-to-be-missionary, and another for an SVU graduate which was already started earlier this spring but just hasn't been finished yet. Possibly another one for another graduate if I get those two done and still have time for another one while I'm there.)
I'll probably continue to post on here throughout the summer, probably on weekends when I'm back home from camp. Which means the next post probably won't be coming until the 28th--I don't think I come back home this Saturday, and the 21st is going to be a different situation than usual due to neither my mom or dad being able to pick me up from camp or take me back the next morning. So far it looks like a friend is going to pick me up from camp, we'll go to a swing dance event in Charlottesville, and then she'll drop me off at a cheapo motel somewhere so I have a place to stay for the night (before picking me up the next morning and taking me back to camp.) I'll need to bring it up with her again before that weekend to make sure everything will still work and iron out the specific details a bit more, but so far it seems like she won't have any problem helping me out with that, so hopefully that doesn't change (...otherwise I'll be kind of stranded over there at camp with no way to leave and no way to get back the next day if I do manage to find a way to get away... and I really don't want to have to try and mess around with getting rides from other people who work there and whatnot. I basically hate trying to get rides from complete strangers or people I don't feel like I can even remotely trust... which is basically everyone else who will be over there, since I don't know any of them! Yeah, I would not make a good hitchhiker. XD)
And this is completely random, but... earlier tonight, the entire downstairs area of the house randomly started to smell like a dentist's office. That sort of latex glove smell, pretty much. Really weird. We opened a window down here just to make sure there's good ventilation in case this smell comes along with something we don't want to be breathing in too much of, and it seems to have gotten weaker since then... but I still don't have a clue what caused it in the first place.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Last post for the summer?
Well, I'm back home now! Well... have been since last Wednesday, but I only just now got around to actually posting something on here again. Whoops... XD
Anyway... the past couple weeks have gone pretty well! As mentioned in my previous post, graduation went well (no crowd-freakouts, got to see a bunch of friends before they disappeared off to who-knows-where.) Also managed to get a storage unit in town for my stuff without any real difficulty (turns out that the indoor units were actually $1-per-month cheaper than the outdoor units, oddly enough.) Oh, and the Sunday before last (the 11th), I did end up meeting someone that I'd been talking to on OKCupid for a while... and that went really well too! We went and got lunch at Don Tequila's in Buena Vista; I showed up several minutes early and waited, and before too long she showed up as well. Of course... I didn't recognize her at first (her pictures on the site were older ones, I assume--she had shorter hair in both of them, while when we actually met her hair was longer and in a ponytail), but when she walked away from her car a bit, looked over toward where I was sitting, and asked "Eddie?" then I was pretty sure that she was the right person and not just some random stranger. XD
But yeah... I was slightly worried that "talking on and on forever online" wouldn't carry over to "talking on and on forever in person," somehow, but it turned out that wasn't anything to be worried about after all--we got along really well in-person after all, and started talking almost immediately. The waiter in the restaurant had to come back a couple times before we were ready to order because we just kept getting distracted talking and forgot to decide on what food we wanted (...which, now that I think about it, is a lot like what happened on the first date I ever went on in my life, actually!) After a couple hours of talking (and eating--chimichangas, the usual free chip basket, and this dessert thing that we got for free because they were doing some kind of special thing that day) we finally left and walked around town a bit, seeing the random junk robots and other random stuff. She had to go around 3:00ish, but she gave me a ride back to my apartment first. And of course, there were hugs. So... yeah, I'd say my first attempt at actually meeting someone in-person after talking to her online for a while worked out pretty well! XD
Moving out (which happened last Wednesday) went okay too. Took a lot more time and work than I had been expecting, though--I knew my dad was going to help me move some of my stuff out to the storage unit, but since his hippievan wasn't working he had to use a rented pickup truck instead, which took two trips to get everything up there. Here's some pictures:
Yep... there's my storage unit, the truck crammed full with (the first load of) stuff, and finally the way the unit looked AFTER I'd moved all my stuff into it. It was a 10x10 unit, so probably a bit too big for the amount of stuff I actually needed to put in there... but I'm not sure if all my stuff would've fit into something much smaller without piling things up to the ceiling (and plus, this was the smallest unit they had available), so it works.
Also have gotten more of my stuff for my summer job at Camp Shenandoah figured out; almost all of the paperwork is done at this point (just need to get the direct-deposit form filled out with my bank information, then get a physical so I can fill out the medical forms... that's all that's left at this point), and I now know exactly what stuff I'll need to bring with me. Which includes a ton of Boy Scout clothes (which I currently don't have... so unfortunately I'm going to need to buy a bunch of them. two full Class A uniforms, plus several pairs of scout shorts--no long pants needed, thankfully!--and a few other shirts... the camp will be giving me two camp staff shirts, so I won't need to buy a full week's worth of them at least)... and even the absurd socks (they recommend having 8 pairs.) Hopefully they have shorter-length socks, because I can't stand to wear the kind that comes way up on your leg.
Have also been working more on Okédoké! La Leyenda Mexicana lately. The playable portions of the game are 100% done at this point, and I've made some good progress on the ending credits and the little scenes that go along with that. Here's some bits of Okédoké-related stuff:
Once that's done (probably will take another day or so?), all that's left is some short scenes that happen after the end of the credits (showing what various characters ended up doing after the game ended), and then the game will be completely done and ready for final "for somebody else's eyes" testing before the final release. This means that complete Okédoké will be done before 2014 is over, and I'll finally be able to say that I actually finished one of my games for the first time since 2003!
Anyway... the past couple weeks have gone pretty well! As mentioned in my previous post, graduation went well (no crowd-freakouts, got to see a bunch of friends before they disappeared off to who-knows-where.) Also managed to get a storage unit in town for my stuff without any real difficulty (turns out that the indoor units were actually $1-per-month cheaper than the outdoor units, oddly enough.) Oh, and the Sunday before last (the 11th), I did end up meeting someone that I'd been talking to on OKCupid for a while... and that went really well too! We went and got lunch at Don Tequila's in Buena Vista; I showed up several minutes early and waited, and before too long she showed up as well. Of course... I didn't recognize her at first (her pictures on the site were older ones, I assume--she had shorter hair in both of them, while when we actually met her hair was longer and in a ponytail), but when she walked away from her car a bit, looked over toward where I was sitting, and asked "Eddie?" then I was pretty sure that she was the right person and not just some random stranger. XD
But yeah... I was slightly worried that "talking on and on forever online" wouldn't carry over to "talking on and on forever in person," somehow, but it turned out that wasn't anything to be worried about after all--we got along really well in-person after all, and started talking almost immediately. The waiter in the restaurant had to come back a couple times before we were ready to order because we just kept getting distracted talking and forgot to decide on what food we wanted (...which, now that I think about it, is a lot like what happened on the first date I ever went on in my life, actually!) After a couple hours of talking (and eating--chimichangas, the usual free chip basket, and this dessert thing that we got for free because they were doing some kind of special thing that day) we finally left and walked around town a bit, seeing the random junk robots and other random stuff. She had to go around 3:00ish, but she gave me a ride back to my apartment first. And of course, there were hugs. So... yeah, I'd say my first attempt at actually meeting someone in-person after talking to her online for a while worked out pretty well! XD
Moving out (which happened last Wednesday) went okay too. Took a lot more time and work than I had been expecting, though--I knew my dad was going to help me move some of my stuff out to the storage unit, but since his hippievan wasn't working he had to use a rented pickup truck instead, which took two trips to get everything up there. Here's some pictures:
Also have gotten more of my stuff for my summer job at Camp Shenandoah figured out; almost all of the paperwork is done at this point (just need to get the direct-deposit form filled out with my bank information, then get a physical so I can fill out the medical forms... that's all that's left at this point), and I now know exactly what stuff I'll need to bring with me. Which includes a ton of Boy Scout clothes (which I currently don't have... so unfortunately I'm going to need to buy a bunch of them. two full Class A uniforms, plus several pairs of scout shorts--no long pants needed, thankfully!--and a few other shirts... the camp will be giving me two camp staff shirts, so I won't need to buy a full week's worth of them at least)... and even the absurd socks (they recommend having 8 pairs.) Hopefully they have shorter-length socks, because I can't stand to wear the kind that comes way up on your leg.
Have also been working more on Okédoké! La Leyenda Mexicana lately. The playable portions of the game are 100% done at this point, and I've made some good progress on the ending credits and the little scenes that go along with that. Here's some bits of Okédoké-related stuff:
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| George W. Bush: President for Life (...he wishes, anyway. XD) |
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| Yeah, you didn't do anything. Except help build that giant robot... |
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| From left to right: Schnee McBoobs, El Garbanzo, Señor Rialgo, Alejandro, and Señor Death. |
Once that's done (probably will take another day or so?), all that's left is some short scenes that happen after the end of the credits (showing what various characters ended up doing after the game ended), and then the game will be completely done and ready for final "for somebody else's eyes" testing before the final release. This means that complete Okédoké will be done before 2014 is over, and I'll finally be able to say that I actually finished one of my games for the first time since 2003!
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Well... looks like I've graduated now.
Yep... today was the graduation ceremony for SVU, and (somewhat surprisingly) I actually managed to get through it without any problems at all. Even though three of my least-favorite things (getting up early in the morning, extreme heat, and crowdedness) were all involved, none of it really got to me that badly and I was actually feeling pretty good even by the end of it. Well, I was a bit overheated (which I suppose was unavoidable considering the combination of black graduation robes, black button-up shirt, black long pants, and sun+heat type weather!), but not to the point that it was making me miserable or anything. I managed to find someone who was okay with sitting with me during the graduation, and (after a bit of work...) managed to convince the school's people to actually let that happen rather than being alphabetical-order Nazis and shoving me into a really uncomfortable position (surrounded by people I either don't know or barely know, in the middle of a row. ugh.) And after the graduation, I found out that my mom, dad, and little sister had all managed to make it out to Buena Vista this morning, so I got to see all three of them for a while (and lots of hugs happened, of course.) After getting pictures of/with a bunch of friends and talking and goofing off for a while and eating some random fruit they had at the reception afterward, Dad took me and Julia to eat some Italian food (I had stuffed shells... and a salad... and cheese sticks... XD) and I think we all ended up pretty much stuffed.
And now, going in backwards order again--before graduation! I actually managed to finish a whopping thirteen of those gift paintings that I was making for people before graduation day happened and everyone disappeared. And even though I got three paintings done in that last day, my hand only briefly felt funky; it was only the "slightly uncomfortable stretching" feeling when I moved it certain ways and not actual pain, nowhere near as bad as it was toward the end of last semester. So I should probably be able to paint again after the weekend or so without any risk of things getting worse. I only have 8 more people remaining on my current list, though I'm sure I'm missing at least a few that probably should be on there. I won't be just letting those people go without paintings this time, though--I'm planning on getting all of these done and then mailing them out to people over the summer.
Oh, and speaking of paintings, here's a few that I did:
Those were probably my three favorites of the bunch, at least as far as the ones I managed to scan before giving them out. The last two I finished turned out really well too, but I forgot to even get a picture of them first so unfortunately, I no longer have any record of their existence. But eh, the people I painted them for have them, which is the whole point of this anyway, so I guess that's not a problem. XD
But yeah... things in general have been going pretty well lately. Got to say goodbye to a bunch of my friends before they disappeared, got a ton of paintings done, graduated with no problems, got to see my little sister again for the first time in a loooong time... and this Sunday I'm going to actually meet someone from the online dating site, which will be the first time that's ever happened. Well, I suppose there's a chance that I'll actually end up meeting two of them this weekend depending on whether the one girl who basically asked me on a date actually ends up going through with it or not (apparently "I don't have a car" wasn't a problem for her, but I haven't heard back from her after the last message--it's been days--so "I don't have a car, and I also don't know where any places to go get coffee are around here, maybe in Lexington or something?" might have scared her off. XD) But anyway, the one I'm really looking forward to meeting is the one who I've actually set a specific day, time, and place to meet already, so it's pretty much a guarantee that it's actually going to happen at this point. Hopefully that goes well; I know we seem to get along well online, at least, so that should transfer over to real life. I can't imagine getting along with someone better online than I do "offline," anyway (it's certainly never happened before!), so things should go pretty well.
Should also start looking into the possibility of renting out a storage unit for my couch, table, chairs, mattress, and other random junk I won't need back at home over the summer. I know there are a couple of places around here like that, but I don't know how much they cost off the top of my head or whether or not they'd have enough room for all of my stuff. I suppose I'll end up putting things like my TV, whiteboard, and such in there too along with the big stuff, so I don't end up having too much stuff to take home with me. Of course, I'd probably need to find somebody with a truck who could help out with moving the couch and bed out of here, because otherwise I don't know how I'd get those bigger things to the storage units in the first place!
And now, going in backwards order again--before graduation! I actually managed to finish a whopping thirteen of those gift paintings that I was making for people before graduation day happened and everyone disappeared. And even though I got three paintings done in that last day, my hand only briefly felt funky; it was only the "slightly uncomfortable stretching" feeling when I moved it certain ways and not actual pain, nowhere near as bad as it was toward the end of last semester. So I should probably be able to paint again after the weekend or so without any risk of things getting worse. I only have 8 more people remaining on my current list, though I'm sure I'm missing at least a few that probably should be on there. I won't be just letting those people go without paintings this time, though--I'm planning on getting all of these done and then mailing them out to people over the summer.
Oh, and speaking of paintings, here's a few that I did:
But yeah... things in general have been going pretty well lately. Got to say goodbye to a bunch of my friends before they disappeared, got a ton of paintings done, graduated with no problems, got to see my little sister again for the first time in a loooong time... and this Sunday I'm going to actually meet someone from the online dating site, which will be the first time that's ever happened. Well, I suppose there's a chance that I'll actually end up meeting two of them this weekend depending on whether the one girl who basically asked me on a date actually ends up going through with it or not (apparently "I don't have a car" wasn't a problem for her, but I haven't heard back from her after the last message--it's been days--so "I don't have a car, and I also don't know where any places to go get coffee are around here, maybe in Lexington or something?" might have scared her off. XD) But anyway, the one I'm really looking forward to meeting is the one who I've actually set a specific day, time, and place to meet already, so it's pretty much a guarantee that it's actually going to happen at this point. Hopefully that goes well; I know we seem to get along well online, at least, so that should transfer over to real life. I can't imagine getting along with someone better online than I do "offline," anyway (it's certainly never happened before!), so things should go pretty well.
Should also start looking into the possibility of renting out a storage unit for my couch, table, chairs, mattress, and other random junk I won't need back at home over the summer. I know there are a couple of places around here like that, but I don't know how much they cost off the top of my head or whether or not they'd have enough room for all of my stuff. I suppose I'll end up putting things like my TV, whiteboard, and such in there too along with the big stuff, so I don't end up having too much stuff to take home with me. Of course, I'd probably need to find somebody with a truck who could help out with moving the couch and bed out of here, because otherwise I don't know how I'd get those bigger things to the storage units in the first place!
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