The every-6-months-or-so "what's going on in my life now" post

...actually it's been a bit more than six months since my last post, but... yeah.  Close enough.

A lot of stuff has changed since the last time I posted anything here -- I lost the Papa John's job in August due to manager-related bullshit (basically: when one of the regular shift-lead managers was promoted to Assistant Manager, she became a different person who was nearly unbearable to work with and it basically seemed like she was trying to get me fired for quite a while before it actually happened... her scheme just didn't end up working out as quick as she expected, I guess XD), was jobless until mid-September when I got another job at a recently-opened Popeye's in a truckstop in Raphine...

...which lasted about a week, as it turned out that when they hired a person they actually thought they were hiring a forklift.  Basically, they had extremely unrealistic expectations about my ability to lift insane amounts of heavy stuff (several dozen 40-to-50 pound bags/boxes of various ingredients) and I ended up straining myself to the point where my back seriously hurt after getting about 75% of the way done with the multiple-people's-worth of lifting-and-moving-stuff work they dumped on me one day because somebody who came in earlier that day didn't do their job.  At first it seemed like I would've been okay, some of the managers seemed like they were willing to work with me on that and not dump so much lifting on me all at once in the future, but then out of nowhere at the end of my first week a different manager randomly fired me.

So... I was jobless and pretty much broke (I only just barely managed to pay rent for October) for the next month.  Until I got a new job at Wal-Mart in mid-October, that is.  As it turns out, Wal-Mart is not nearly as bad as everyone said -- I've always heard they don't pay well (which is bullshit by the way, the lowest the Lexington Wal-Mart pays anyone is $9/hour which is the same as what Popeye's gave me and a dollar more than the maximum I ever could've made at Papa John's), but I'm getting $1.30 more than that, by far the highest pay I've ever gotten from a job.  They're also giving me pretty consistently good hours (usually 28 to 33 per week; so far I've had one unusually short week and one unusually long one, with another of the long ones coming up), so it's not another situation like Papa John's where the pay might be okay but the hours are so absurdly short that I still can't hardly pay my rent.  I actually have extra money for pretty much the first time ever now -- I even managed to buy Christmas presents for family and a couple of friends this year, and that's not something I'm usually able to do.  So job-wise I'm doing pretty well, finally.  Let's hope this one lasts -- it's been three months so far (I just got my "you've been with us 90 days so you count as a real person now!" discount card in the mail the other day), which is already my second-longest-running job.

In November, I started working on NaNoWriMo, this time writing more of my alternate-universe Kingdom Hearts-ish story Organization XIII: Fangirl Extermination Squad (which you can read here, if you want.)  More recently, I've also started a third blog-thing on here which will mostly serve as a replacement for the old Fangirl Extermination Squad wiki which went under when wikkii.com died, just like my old Fnrrf Ygm Schnish wiki -- that is here, if you want to read what little is there so far... mostly character profiles at the moment.  But anyway, back to November -- unfortunately, just 4 days into the month my old laptop stopped working.  And I'm pretty sure it's permanent this time -- the hard drive appears to have died, and it won't even start up anymore.  So  I managed to make it somewhere into the 47,000 range on NaNoWriMo without even having my own computer -- relying on library computers (both at SVU and the Buena Vista public library) and keeping the files saved on a flash drive the whole time.  I actually managed to get a pretty solid chunk of the story done during that month (and another couple chapters since), finally getting to several things that I've had planned for a long time but hadn't gotten around to writing.

Oh, and my car has also had a series of issues starting in -- yep -- November.  First there was a problem with the alternator (a bolt was missing) and then it turned out that wasn't all of the problem, as there was also something wrong with the battery -- even when jumped the car would not start.  A bit of towing later, and I was able to get a new battery, more powerful than the old one, which has worked very well since then.  But then, during a visit back home to Alleghany County, the muffler fell off.

Yeah, you read that right... the muffler fell off, as you can see in the above picture.  A bit of very careful driving in the emergency lane until we got to a parking lot, and then more towing, and finally the car was at a place where they could fix it.  Or rather, replace it with an entirely new one (along with the rest of the exhaust pipe system), since the old one had so many holes in it that it probably wasn't doing a thing for the car as it was even before it fell off.  Unfortunately, that didn't end up happening for a couple weeks, so once again I had to rely on the bus and rides from friends to get to work and such.  Eventually, though, I did get the Rabbit back and it worked fine... for now.  I know there's at least one, maybe two or three, other problems with it that will need to be fixed in the near future -- there is definitely a coolant leak somewhere along the line in there, as I put more in the thing just this past Saturday and upon looking under the hood earlier today it was already drained down to nothing.  There may also be something iffy about the brake pads (the brakes still work fine but there is an obnoxious scrapey-grindy noise sometimes when braking... not always but often enough to bother me), and I'm beginning to wonder if there might be another glow plug going bad again considering how hard of a time I've had starting the thing on cold days lately... not as bad as it was last winter back in the Papa John's days the last time the glow plugs went out, but it still doesn't seem to be cooperating quite as well on the cooler days as it was when I first got the new battery.

More recently, I've gotten a new phone... which was only necessary due to me messing up with the old one, pretty much.  I tried to switch to this phone that someone at SVU had given me a couple years before, only to find out that there were two problems... problem #1 being that it runs off of AT&T towers (which means zero reception in my apartment) and problem #2 being that I absolutely hate the interface of it (not just one of those touchscreen POSes that's all over the place now -- though at least it had a slide-out keyboard so it's not just that -- but the system on it was this "Windows Phone" thing which was just really annoying in every way... even the standard Android or iPhone sort of phone operating system would have been way better, which is saying something considering how much I dislike smartphones in general!)  Problem #3, as it turned out, was that once I had my number and Tracfone stuff switched to the new phone, it was pretty much impossible to switch them to another phone without calling their customer service number... which I couldn't do because I didn't have a working phone.  The new-old phone had no minutes on it (and there was no way to add them on without going through their website, either) and the old-old phone didn't work at all after being deactivated.  So the only other option was to just get a new phone -- ended up with another flip-phone like my old one.  A lot like my old one, as it's basically a newer model in the same series...

...on the left, new phone (LG236c) and on the right the old one (LG220c, which apparently is a model of phone that isn't even being made anymore.)  The new phone seems to be as good or slightly better than the old one in most areas, with the only major downgrade being the way texting works -- there is literally no way to get symbols other than a period without going into the symbol menu (though I have found that with contractions other than I'm/I'd/I've/etc., you can type them without the apostrophe and the phone will fill it in for you, so that helps.)  The flipping mechanism also doesn't seem quite as sturdy as the old phone's version, but it's still better than the even-cheaper one I briefly had (before realizing it was missing a vital feature: the little screen on the outside that's visible when flipped closed! I returned it for a refund before even activating it) shortly after I realized just how bad the second-hand one I had was.  I figure that while it may not survive quite as many drops on the concrete as my old phone did, it will at least hold up better than one of the fragile touchscreen things that ends up cracked all to hell from just one drop, so it should last for quite a while.

After Christmas came and I ended up with a nice little stash of extra money (some from Wal-Mart and some from family members who gifted me some), I also went out and got myself a new computer, which was much more necessary than the phone as far as keeping me sane.

Yep, this time around I went for a desktop rather than another laptop.  They seem to last longer (as evidenced by my mom's computer from... I think 2003?... still working fine to this day after just a few minor repair jobs, while my laptop from 2010 is dead as a doornail), and I generally didn't pick my laptop up and move it around much when I had it working anyway, so I figure losing the portable-ness isn't much of a loss at all for me.

And speaking of Christmas... I got some really near and unexpected random things...

 ...like this freaking IRON SNAIL from my little sister!  The shell even flips open so you can hide things in it!

Also: a can of chocolate-covered peanuts from Dad (not pictured), a hand-made watercolor Christmas card (also from Julia), another card from Mom, a candy bar, a Magikarp, a little wooden keychain version of my name, watercolors, and a new beer mug with an owl on it!  I'll have to remember to use that one if I ever get around to trying any beers from that Japanese brewery, Hitachino I think it is, that has a little owl on their labels. XD

But yeah... now that I have a computer again, I can finally get back to working on things like my OHRRPGCE projects (I intend to have Teekee finished this year and probably release a demo of Fnrrf Ygm Schnish: Alleghany Hell School as well... along with who knows what else may pop into my head before the year's over) and my already-nearly-done Zelda Classic quest Hand of the Sealed God, which at this point really just needs an ending sequence before it's ready to go out to the beta testers.  I may also get back to the whole "playing through my old ROM hacks" thing I had going on my other blog, though I may start off with something else rather than jumping back into KL Final Fantasy since I'm pretty sure I lost my save file for that one when my old computer died and I don't really feel like playing all the way through from the beginning all over again.

As  you may have noticed if you live in Virginia, "Weather on Crack" has reared its head once again this year, giving us many 60 and even 70 degree days in the middle of December followed by freezing days and then 40-50 degree days in January... followed by more freezing days.  So far there has not been any snow, though I did see some brief flurries earlier today.  I'm honestly kind of hoping we'll get back to the warmer days once the current spurt of colder ones is over with, as the Rabbit does not do well in cold weather and I really don't want to end up having to shovel snow again like I did last year. XD

Also, this past weekend I got to visit a friend up in Bridgewater again, and in addition to getting to goof around with her kitties...

Serial leg-mauler Bridget and new addition to the kitty family Michael Meowers. XD

...we also went into Harrisonburg for lunch (I had a roasted veggie wrap which was really good) and then wandered around visiting several places.  First among them was a shop that sold... well, a little bit of everything it seemed.  Cameras, Halloween costumes, candy, rubber and stuffed critters, utensils and glasses, etc...

...including this somewhat terrifying Leprechonald Trump mask.  What the heck!?

Anyway, after poking around in there for a bit we ended up visiting two breweries! I'd never actually been to a brewery before (despite living within 6 miles of one and maybe 10ish of another), and our previous brewery-visit trip ended up getting interrupted by my car breaking down shortly before I was going to drive up there, so that was definitely something I'd been looking forward to.  First stop was Brothers Craft Brewing; I'd had one beer from them before (a fall seasonal pumpkin ale which was my favorite of the pumpkin beers so far, by a lot), but ended up trying a lot more since we ordered a flight and split it between the two of us.

Up front and almost gone is Li'l Hellion, a Munich Helles lager.  This one was good, very nice and bready flavor to it especially considering that it was only 4.4% alcohol.  Apparently this one was a recent addition to their lineup, but I'd say it was a good one (pretty sure I finished off the last of it shortly after this picture was taken. XD)

The nearly black one in the back is Coffee Breath, an English dark mild ale with coffee added.  Twice as non-Mormon as the rest on this page! XD (...though, at only 3.8% alcohol, I suppose this one more than the others would qualify as a "mild barley drink.")  This tasted, unsurprisingly, like coffee!... and also had a bit of a fruityish sort of thing, I'm guessing either malty or yeasty in origin.  Also pretty good (and I think this one was Angela's favorite of the bunch as she was raving about it even before we ordered. XD)

Third is Peaked Mountain Red, which seemed to be a hoppy red ale sort of thing -- definitely had a citrusy-hop type flavor to it along with some sweeter flavors from the malt.  The beer website I go to has it labeled as an Irish red ale, but I'm guessing it would be more accurately labeled as an American-style red ale considering the hops.

Fourth, getting lighter in color again, is Hoptimization -- which is the only one from this lineup I've seen in bottles, though I'd never tried it before.  This was an IPA, specifically of the piney-bitterish variety, though I remember the bitterness not being too strong and there being a bit of a sweeter malt flavor to balance it a bit.  Definitely leaning more toward the hops side, though.

And finally was Stabilizer.  This was a different IPA, lighter in color but interestingly also seeming lighter in bitterness than Hoptimization was.  More of a fruity sort of IPA than a piney one, it reminded me a lot of lemons but also a bit of... well, the only way I can really put this is soap.  It wasn't bad at all, but there was something in there that made me think soapy for some reason.

We also split one more little sample-size glass after these -- Raspberry Resolute on nitro.  This was the brewery's big Imperial Stout (13.5% alcohol!) with raspberries added, and put on a nitro tap like Guinness.  This was basically a perfect dessert after the other beers -- roasty and slightly chocolatey stouty flavors, with a jam-like raspberry thing peeking out too (like real raspberry, definitely not artificial flavorings at all.)  You couldn't really tell the alcohol was so high, either -- I mean, I might peg it at around 7 or 8% but I would've never guessed thirteen if it hadn't been labeled as such on the menu.  A full glass of this would've been a bit dangerous for our sobriety considering how quick the sample disappeared. XD

After walking around a bit more we made our way to the second of three(?) Harrisonburg breweries, the more recently opened -- I believe they first opened early last year, if I'm remembering right? -- Pale Fire Brewing.  Where we had another beer flight... a big one, it turned out, as they gave us the option of having a sample of all 9 beers from their menu! XD

The one in front that's almost gone is Saving Grace, their Belgian-style table beer.  This was a lighter one (only 4.2% alcohol) and tasted a little bit bready and a whole lot yeasty, not surprising considering the Belgian styles are pretty much always big on the yeast.

Second is Red Molly, their Irish red ale.  This one was interesting -- had the sweetish, toasted malt flavors that I would've expected, and also a little bit of something cherry-like that made it pretty unique among beers I've had.  I've had an "Irish red-ish" beer only once before (George Killian's, which is not quite an Irish red ale due to actually being a lager rather than an ale!), so I'm not sure if that's a feature that pops up in a lot of them or if it's something about this beer in particular that gives it that flavor, but it was good either way.

Next up was Electric Sheep, a Belgian amber ale.  Like the only other Belgian-inspired amber ale I've had (Fat Tire) there was definitely a nutty taste in this one, though there was also something else that I can only describe as tasting/smelling (mainly smelling) "leather-y"... not sure why.

After that was Deadly Rhythm, their pale ale, which was the first of several hoppy beers in the lineup (Angela takes the first sip... "yep, it's a pale ale." Not her favorite style of beer. XD)  I found this one to be a bit more on the citrusy side, kinda orangey.  Pretty good.

Next was Major Tom, an IPA which I'm pretty sure was made exclusively with Galaxy hops.  Yep, they were definitely going with a space theme for this one to match its namesake song (speaking of which... RIP David Bowie.  Was definitely not expecting that news yesterday.  Also had no idea that he was nearly 70 years old... I mean, if you think about it in terms of when songs and movies and such came out it makes sense, but still.  He was one of those people that just doesn't seem to age as fast as most, it seemed.)  Based on past experience, I've found that I really like beers where Galaxy hops and their "walking through the fresh fruit section in the grocery store" sort of smell/flavor are one of the primary elements, and this one was no exception to that.  Really good IPA.  Also, they should can it (if they don't already; I'm actually not sure if they're canning/bottling any of their beer at this point) to continue the song reference even further... Major Tom, "sitting in a tin can..." of course. XD

After that was Loop & Lil, their Belgian tripel.  This one was a bit odd.  Good, but definitely odd.  We both were reminded of meat-based dishes, with Angela comparing it to some sort of curry dish while I couldn't help but think "hotdogs."  I guess it was something about the yeast/citrus/spice mixture going on that came across that way, I dunno.

Nearing the end (at which point I realized that I was beginning to be a little wobbly and that I'd probably have to put off driving home for another hour or two just to be safe... XD), third-from-last was Salad Days, a saison.  I'd only ever had one saison before, but it was an old bottle of a Samuel Adams version which I suspect might not have been anything special even when fresh, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  It turned out that this one was pretty tasty, though -- the smell seemed like peppery veggies, and the flavor had a bit of that sort of thing going on (along with hops adding to the "green-ness") as well as some other flavors, and maybe just a hint of sourness in there somewhere.

Second-to-last was probably my favorite beer of the night -- Village Green double IPA.  This one used six different hops going by the description on the menu, and it didn't say which, but I know for sure that Galaxy hops were among them as that "tropical fruit skins" thing I like so much was definitely present... along with other fruity flavors and a nice malt sweetness balancing out the hops so that even though it was 100 IBU from the sheer amount of hops added, it didn't seem bitter to me at all.  Really good, and probably my favorite of the "IPA family" that I've tried so far.

And finally, the black one on the end is Momo, a Belgian chocolate stout.  Interestingly, I didn't really get all that much chocolatey flavor from this one, though it was certainly "stouty" and had some Belgian-style yeasty things going on too.  Was still pretty good, but I guess coming right after my favorite of the whole lineup made it seem a little less impressive than it might have otherwise.

It turned out that even waiting a couple hours to sober up to "able to drive" levels after all the beering was over wasn't a problem as far as the Rabbit being able to start (it didn't get all that cold, just a bit rainy), and the drive home went by without any problems.  Just a really good day all around -- I definitely need to have more "spend a lot of time doing random things with friends" sorts of days.