LadyCrimson

Me, repeatedly the past week or two: "I need to remember to get baking powder." Hubby on the weekend: "Going to get coffee filters, need anything." Me: "A few things, thanks. I'll write a short list." Hubby: "Did you actually want baking soda? I thought you keep mumbling about baking powder." Me: "I want baking powder. What did I write?" Hubby: "Baking soda." Me: >.> Sigh.

Enshrouded 1.0 - ok I figured out the wand timing thing is dependent on how long one holds the mouse click. If I rapidly (and I mean rapidly) spam the mouse click, it does the fast single wand shot like before. If I use a longer click, it starts the longer animation. I guess it's a charge-up mechanic. But it's really easy to mouse-click for a micro second too long. Anyway, went into the new cinder biome. I suppose it's ok, but it's dark and dreary because it's, y'know, volcanic like. Jumps over lava. Black/grey stone/dirt. Darkish lighting. Common mobs no biggie for a lvl45+ chr, my frost wand and staff frost spells seem op'd in early areas/encounters, at least. Gameloop repeat of all the other biomes - new dirt type, new stone/ore types, new gem types, new spark levels, to craft new/stronger blocks/gear/foods and whatever else. And max clvl is up by 5, so now max gear lvl is 55 instead of 50. So far not as fun to explore, to me, because of design (more elevators, more leaping/gliding/jumping) - reminds me of some of the lava-shroud areas already in existence. New enemies so far are robotic looking. Feels like when an ARPG gives one a new Act/area and the game loop continues. So if one really likes the cinder biome, it's great. If one finds it dull and dreary to wander endlessly among many poorly lit twisting paths, looking for chests and loot and quest markers, not as much. Yeah, I think I just OD'd on it last time. New blocks and craft items not motivating at this point. Again, not bad or anything. Just more of the same. It's not different enough to feel worth bothering with as someone returning to it.

Enshrouded 1.0 -- the "can't change difficulty settings" is fixed. I now remember mostly how to play, but since it's been at least a few "big updates" since I last played, there's a lot of small stuff that's changed/isn't what I remember. I don't like how the basic magic wand attack, on the 3rd or 4th attack/cast/fire, it does this different fancier animation for the next attack that's longer - it throws off my sense of timing and drives me batty re: mouse-clicking. I'm guessing it does a little extra damage? I don't recall wand base attacks doing that before, certainly not to this extent. Other very minor UI stuff like changed recipes and a plethora of auto-UI messages popping up (you can disable a lot of them but there's lots and I'm finding it difficult to figure out what controls what). Or if this or that in the list is even what I'm bothered by. Not saying it's bad per se - more like a lot of minor irritations, vs. what I knew before plus just in general (not UI things I would ever like). Sometimes it feels like more clicks then before, which to me isn't an improvement. Some might like all of these things more than me, ofc - who knows. Anyway - all of this is making me grumpy re: the game. It does look nice and the general sandbox/exploration is still nice, but I feel like I'm constantly fighting UI/usability issues. Maybe it's time to try Space Haven and make my "backlog" be zero, again.

RJ Mitte - 34 - apparently suicide (no details given) Was Walt's son in Breaking Bad. Shame, so young, seemed like a nice young man and advocate for disabled actors.

^ all games feel like work these days, with all their multi-systems/skill-perk trees and 30 attack combos and 9999 items/resources, and/or too many decisions of any kind etc - at least outside of really simple clicker or "boomer" games. ;p =================== Enshrouded 1.0 - updated (backed up old/saves, ofc). Seems fine. Reset my perk points and had to re-do those (slightly changed perk pathing than before). Performance on my old faithful PC is about the same. Maybe slightly better. Visually it looks better, LoD and object detail, yet also looks kinda ... dimmer. Hard to explain, must be a lighting thing. There's a few bad bugs (can't alter difficulty settings atm) but I'm sure that'll be fixed quick. My main base appears unaffected by any changes, which is cool. But I've practically forgotten how to play. The max flame altar (base claim-build-area thingies) has increased by four or five apparently. Which is great. Still not enough, but any increase is a good increase. ================ Scritchy Scratchy - forgot I bought this cheap incremental type lottery ticket game. Gave it a shot. I first thought it was going to end up as a simple "scratch various levels of tickets and then just endlessly make money" idle type thing, but apparently what you do is progress until a death ticket, which ends a session, gives you perk points to use on a perk tree - then you restart with those perks and some new tickets/levels/tools gained at points, to speed things up. Repeat several times until you get this one tool that lets you ultimately defeat/win the death ticket, which gives you an ending. And then if you want, you can start all over all maxed out (or completely start over). It's silly and not really replayable, but for an incremental progression/idle it hits an obsessive note for 2-3 days (depends how obsessive/fast/slow one is) until win. I guess I got my 5-7 bucks worth or whatever I paid.

Yup, saw that a year ago or so. But early-access. I mean I'm more willing to try ea these days "just cause" or if it's a well-established ea title, or super cheap enough, but I still try to wait. The walkin' house is a nice idea but it also doesn't equal freedom of building. Seems more atmosphere/adventure/cozy oriented. The near constant low contrast greyish fog smear lighting/backgrounds isn't my thing, either. Picky, I know. Heh.

That's good news, Sarex. :D ================= Today: Cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Heard scuffle/objects moving noises outside, like it was far away. Thought nothing of it. Heard squeaks outside. Thought nothing of it (too busy cooking, could be wind, birds, angry squirrels). Finished cooking. Went outside to take out some garbage. Small dead mouse/baby rat on the bottom step. Oh, nice. Kitty left a gift. My main cat at parents used to leave birds on the doorstep once in a while, much to my mother's dismay. Since I've had only indoor cats since then, hasn't been a thing. But cat gonna cat. If she could hunt the larger rats that occasionally scuttle around the fences here, I'd give her many more treats. Just don't mess with the skunks. :P

Netflix's Below - my conclusion: not worth the time even as a short series. First 2 episodes were the best thing about it. By the end, it's not really a horror/suspense anymore, it's some kind of weird family trauma drama + social-political commentary re: global warming or humanity's influence or some such, where chrs. do a positional flip. I mean, it's still kinda watchable and could be someone's bag, but it's not mine. Shame. I also tried renting/watching the Coyote vs Acme film via Prime. I was expecting something OTP funny/whodunnit, ala Who Framed Roger Rabbit, even if it didn't match that old classic. For 45ish minutes, I smiled a few times but I generally found no funny. Most of that first half seemed to be about Coyote's inspirational bonding with the sad sack lawyer chr. None of it was very charming and it felt like there was no plot movement for far too long. John Cena looked like he was having fun, tho. Anyway, hubby and I both grew bored and turned it off. I might try finishing it on my own (since the rental was $19, dangit) - maybe it becomes bees knees in the last 30 minutes - but I might not.

Talisman is a trilogy, now? I think I read that novel near original release period as a mid-teen. I liked it ok at the time - or more accurately I ended up liking that one wolf-y chr more than the book itself, which about all I remember - but sequels? Meh. I remember trying to read Straub's other works after that. Never got into him.

Grew kinda bored with 7 Days again. Looked at my Wishlist. Looked at "new survival/sandbox+ other indie games" videos and store pages. Watched some TV for a while. Then went back to 7 Days 3.0, again. One of those periods where I fairly seriously feel Ike uninstalling everything left on my PC (well, except maybe 7 Days as my singular sandbox) and "quitting" gaming. Nothing feels icompelling/interesting anymore to my puny brain. I'd rather sip tea and watch the trees in my backyard. Maybe in another 3-5 years.

Watched a couple episodes (out of 6) of that Netflix Below miniseries. They were ok. A bit --- campier? not haha, just horror-film or old network mini-series quality, a bit? -- then I was expecting. Although, I'm not sure what I was expecting. They're obviously trying for somewhat "serious" dread (with bits of gore here and there) but didn't quite work for me. Some pacing/story aspects remind be a bit of Jaws (different sea monster) but moreso a cheaper/lesser Stephen King media quality. Not as good as something like From, say. At least from those two episodes. Josh and other actors are fine. Passable watch so far, nothing more. =========== Also finally tried watching Ssn2 of One Punch Man via Netflix. The first few episodes were ok, but I slowly lost interest because One Punch Man felt hardly involved for many episodes. eg, the "your hero is obviously too powerful/would solve everything in 5 minutes", problem. Which the 1st season had too but it was handled better. Also, the animation quality devolved, to a point even I noticed/found it a little distracting. Still has moments (I liked the silver-bat hero), but serious downgrade. I won't be trying Ssn3.

Postscript: that was probably way more answer than you wanted, haha. But it did make me think - maybe I could a get a job at some flea-b-gone service co as the "did it work" tester. Just walk into a treated home with long white socks on and sit in the living rooms for 10 minutes each. If they don't appear on me, you're clear! :D Seriously, I've been a guest in several ppl's houses (dogs/cats) where they'd talk about how they were sure they had no fleas this time, but they'd be all over my socks.

I have no real method, outside of my official kitties are always indoor only (except Mr. Black the last 2 years of his life or so). When with parents they were indoor/outdoor, until the discovery that I'm one of the especially delicious types. I could stick a hand/foot four inches above a carpet and within seconds a dozen would jump on, while they completely ignored my mother (hubby too, grr). I remember mom trying weird things like layers of eucalyptus leaves under my bed and other such but didn't do jack. At that point mom fogged the house and the cats became outdoor-only. >.> anyway I digress. Since I sometimes brought strays home, I've had a few house-flea times. Back then there was this Raid flea+egg spray (purple can) where I'd stick cats in one aired room and spray carpets, let dry, vacuum, air out, and all gone and stayed gone (until I brought another stray home). Miraculous stuff. Probably not healthy at all, tho, haha. So yeah, these days it would be initial mega-combing sessions, then maybe a single flea bath, then if that didn't work enough after a month or so, I'd probably fog the house, chemicals be damned. I simply am too much of a biting insect magnet to be able tolerate anything less than "totally eradicated in the house." Stray kitty is outdoor and not 24/7, so I'm only concerned about her general comfort (constant biting/scratching), not mine. :) She acts like she'd like to come inside but I am all "NooOOOooOOooO, you fleabag." EdITEDIT: I've used a topical like Frontline once (now twice, on this yard cat). But I don't think i'd want to use it constantly (every month). or those oral pills. Haven't researched them enough to decide if using such is better/worse than once in a blue moon house-fogging - and another reason I probably will never try a dog (indoor/outdoor/walks etc).

^ I don't know about race day, but it's supposed to cool off some point next week, 80's instead of 90+. Spent some time giving the stray kitty a good groom with a flea comb. She's been obviously flea-bothered recently. Got a lot of fleas off. Sure, being outdoors, she'll just get more, but maybe it'll make her feel better if I do it once a week or so. Then winter it'll calm down for a while. May get her a topical neckdrops flea thing, see if that helps for a while, too. Anyway, she really loved the comb/was very patient. Flea combs are great. She's still not MY cat tho. I'll keep telling myself that.

Oh, does that happen in John's era? I know of Parallax but not much re: story/plotlines. Probably googled once after that bad GL movie and promptly forgot. I do vaguely recall in the Return of Superman compilation book (years and years ago), destruction of Coast City and Green Lantern showing up all mad. But since it was a Superman collection, GL wasn't in there for long. But yeah - overall I liked Lanterns. We'll see! :)

Finished Lanterns. I found the final two episodes to be pretty anti-climatic, although I assume it's partly by design. Just the way the cookie crumbles re: the way they did plot structure. The 5th episode (I think it was the 5th) felt so much like a typical season ender in some ways that the rest felt like a lot of filler re: future considerations - decent filler, mind, but filler all the same. At least they didn't end it on some mega "NEXT SEASON" cliffhanger, just in case something happens and the currently expected next season never appears. Good enough to make me think I'd check out a 2nd season but not quite good enough to leave me really hankering for a 2nd season, if that makes sense. EDIT: also, the dynamic between John and Hal's actors was so strong, not sure if it'll survive no-Hal - assuming they do not find a way to insert Hal into a season 2.

Oh - what I did today: --dealing with an ever more depressed hubby etc --we are considering selling the small Bay Area house within a year or so. The renter wanted a year long contract this time (he's been doing 6-months) but we said no. Renter is an older retired fella, where our house is walking-distance from his progeny, so he really likes it. But not sure if he could afford to actually buy it. Any hesitation is mostly that once we sell, there is pretty much zero chance we'd ever be able to buy back into the Bay Area (at our age/years left). Zero. But it's more sensible and we could do more by selling. --decided perhaps a "new" hobby for me would be to get more into cooking. Mostly for hubby (back = difficulty standing/bending/hunching re: cooking even simple things). Trying to figure out/master hand made noodles/biscuits/dumplings. Soft ones for soups/stews, not pasta dishes. Can't figure out how to make them not taste like - well, half-raw dough. Maybe more butter in the dough? May be time to pull out all those currently unused mega cookbooks from mother's era. Searching the net gets irritating.

Vet prices have always been expensive (outside of very basic care) relative to time period, and I can only imagine what it's like even in the past 6-7 years since I paid attention. Never been one re: constant preventive care vet visits - just like me with human docs, heh - but regarding emergency and/or "symptoms: is something wrong", most of the time I'd be hit with $500-$1600 vet charges for initial exams/treatment etc.(California). Even spay/neuter/vaccinations could be difficult for many. Really gotta shop around for vets, too, just like human-care systems. I've had ones that charged twice as much for same things (and/or I didn't like the vets there) that I immediately tossed to curb. It's nuts.

I've bought games that start out mixed, go up to mostly positive, go down to mostly negative, then back to mixed (and so on and so forth). And I liked the game the whole time. Many games, after release, that Steam rating changes every month, for several months. It's no different than film reviews (any format). Assuming it's a genre you know you generally like, one can never know until one sees/plays it. The problem with Steam user reviews is it's too open (to abuse). There's a reason Netflix removed user reviews years ago. And a reason why people don't trust Amazon/other reviews anymore (fake review abuse etc). Does it mean all user reviews are useless. No. But if you aren't going to curate it, or have more limitations re: access, it's always going to end up a big sloppy mess. EDITEDIT: Trying to curate steam reviews would be a mighty task, I also understand that. Although at this point they might be able to use AI for it, haha! One thing they could try tho is to separate reviews into at least two categories (and ppl would have to tag their review as such before being allowed to post it). ---gameplay review (must have 4-8 hrs gameplay time, or whatever) --general or technical etc A viewer can currently separate by positive/negative and a few other simple things, but it's still too broad.

You missed my point of "and that's it." A review that goes "I have (cpu/gpu/O/S) and couldn't get this game to run. It starts to load and then (black screen, closes etc). I tried (a couple things) and then deeper research told me I had to have (this or that hardware or software version/update/thingie) and my hardware doesn't support (said thingie) (or I'm unwilling to update to said thingie). So for me this is a negative/I refunded." Or even more minimal, but something. I'm fine with that. "OMG THIS GAME WON'T START SUCKS" gives me zero information outside of "didn't start". For all I know, they're trying to run a new AAA game on a 20 year old PC or their PSU is 10+ years old and underpowered or they forgot they'd unplugged the internet or their PC is organized/maintained like a hoarders house. It is completely useless to me as to whether or not my own PC might have issues. It is simply a rant-spam. EDIT: hence why I would like more curated user reviews. Steam did stick in, very recently, that feature where players can get that tagged info re: their system specs, and that's nice - but it's voluntary and most people don't use it, still. And it still doesn't replace the user actually giving more details about the problem they experienced. But that is how my brain works. shrug :)

I'm generally a lvl 3 to lvl 4 sort. Occasionally some aspects of 5 appealed briefly in the past, rarely now. When you get up to lvl 6 (stuff like Factorio or anything that requires me to start thinking in spreadsheets or whatever) my brain now shuts down. Although these days, there's also a ton of the "don't want to spend 20 hours to learn systems of a new game even if (or perhaps because of) it's often similar been-there type systems from 99 other games." So I just play/stick to already familiar game. Edit: I was talking to hubby about this kind of thing the other day, and realized one thing I weirdly like is the pattern recognition in some games. That is, noticing AI or design patterns and taking advantage/abusing and amusing myself with them. Even that Minesweeper, there was a pattern recognition element that once you figured it out, you could beat it almost every time/get the speed records quickly etc :P Or old RTS games, abusing the AI patterns to win. Heh.

I wouldn't mind some heavily curated player reviews, but the allowance of just anyone who purchased the game to review at the drop of an emotional hat, or allowing reviews that are "Couldn't get it to run, uninstalled, game sucks" and that's it, yeah, how helpful, I don't like that. I mean they have put in various filters re: review bombing at this point, but eh. In a way probably better off just having a star rating players can give but no text input. :P Edit: also, shouldn't have thumbs up/down/cutsie award icon ability. I think some folks post reviews as popularity.

lol - hadn't seen that one before. I was thinking doc. narration would be a great occupation for Cumberbatch if wants a quieter more home focused life vs. acting-travel - guess he needs some pronunciation classes first. Heh.

@Sarex Missed that/didn't notice, earlier - sorry to hear about your pet. I think that's yet another reason this has been the longest time without a pet again, for me. 14 times (or something, lost count), it's been enough and I selfishly really don't want to go through it again. As always, they don't live long enough (vs. us humans) :/ With cats it's often some kind of kidney failure process (even with a no-dry food regimen), or heart failure, + simple general old age. Daily meds and such gave me a 2-3 more good years with Mr Black. Hopefully your dog gets some good news and you can have some months or more yet.

So that cat in our yard. When it first started getting physically closer, I noticed it had a funny ear. Like it had been almost sliced off at the tippy top. We just thought it was some old cat fight injury, although I did think it was pretty "clean" (not jagged) for such. Recently saw some video that mentioned ear-tipping. I knew of the v-shaped notch concept, but apparently this "tipping" is much more popular method now. So I'm guessing at some point this cat was trapped//neutered, maybe vaccinated etc and marked with the ear-tipping, like in this little random 'net pic. Whether she was ever adopted after, or is still a "neighborhood stray colony" type cat, I have no clue. There is the river/river parks within a few/several miles, maybe there's stray colonies around there. I feel less bad about giving her some food or her liking our yard too much (eg, I don't want to 'steal" someone's cat). Maybe in this case she really is a stray. Definitely not super feral tho. Initially months wary, sure, but now she rolls around/shows belly, plays. Doesn't like hands moving towards her face tho.