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Battles with "fixes" and other misadventures


On 01/19/2019 at 01:02 PM by Ranger1

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Late to the Party: As always happens after I finish a game that I've spent over 100 hours immersed in, I really hadn't been able to settle on my next game to play yet. So I booted up the 360 for the first time in months (mostly to see what was available as the current Games for Gold download), and cycled through what I had stashed on the hard drive. I frequently download the free games and then forget about them, so I went through and deleted a couple that I'd finished and knew I was never going to play again, and then decided to give Borderlands a try. And surprise! (please read in a sarcastic tone), there was an update. Oh, yay. So it did its thing, and I tried to get the game to play, and it made it as far as the Gearbox logo screen and froze my 360. OK, I'm used to the occasional freeze, usually when playing LEGO games, so I shut down the console and restarted and tried again. Same result. Hmm... Off to the internet; Yup, update breaks the game on the 360. Solution found, third time's the charm. However, I can't play the game online, which I'm mildly disappointed about. Now, I'm not normally into FPS games, but Borderlands is fun so far. I haven't made it very far into the game and I die a lot, but fun is being had. We'll see how far I get and if I continue to have fun before the whole FPS thing gets to me.

My mom got me a $50 gift card to GameStop for Christmas, mistaking GameStop for Game Box, I think, but whatever, I'm thrilled she supports my habit. I haven't set foot in a GameStop in five years and I didn't feel like it now, either, so I just went to the website and ordered AC: Odyssey and the Spyro collection, which were the two games I was waffling between, and got AC:O on sale and was able to get them both for just $8 over what was on my gift card.

Reading: The new glasses make me oh-so-happy. I put myself down for 50 books in the Goodreads 2019 reading challenge. I started at the New Year, and I'm on book five already. The Mistress of Death is a mystery set in medieval England. Think Bones or CSI but in medieval times. I enjoyed it so much that I ordered the other three in the series. Unfortunately, the author died in 2014, so there won't be any more being written. The second book was The Last Kingdom, the book the TV series is based on. I haven't watched more than the first episode because I'd rather read the books first. Bernard Cornwell has always been an author I've enjoyed, so it's not going to be a chore at all. Book number three was an alternate history/fantasy novel set in medieval Scotland called The Temple and the Stone. I got it because I've really liked Katherine Kurtz's books in the past, but this one was only meh. The last book I completed was called Sky Burial: An epic love story of Tibet. It purports to be a biography, but it's been kind of debunked, so really a novel. Whatever. It was still a good read. And now I'm back in medieval Europe reading Rite of Conquest, another alternate history/fantasy novel by Judith Tarr. I've enjoyed almost all of her books, probably because she has a degree in medieval history and knows what she's talking about as well as being a good writer who can make her characters come alive.

Watching: Watched a really cheesy syndicated series that aired in the late 90s called The Lost World, very loosely based on Arthur Conan Doyle's novel of the same title. Three seasons, each getting more and more improbable as time goes on. It was a fun watch requiring zero brain power, which was just what I needed at the time. Now I'm watching the second season of The Punisher on Netflix. Definitely my favorite of their Marvel series. Continuing with the medieval Britain theme, I also watched all of the Brother Cadfael mysteries. Which of course led to a British mystery series kick and included Grantchester, set in the 1950s and Midsomer Murders which are more or less contemporary. Did I mention I needed mindless there for a bit?

I now have the entire Avatar: The Last Airbender series on tap. I bought it on sale on Bluray with some of my Christmas gift cards.

Other stuff: Completed my first snowshoe race of the season last Sunday. I was 87 out of 92, which was better than I expected, as I hadn't been training at all this year. And it wasn't my worst time, either. And I've been chipping away at the morass of clutter that is my house.  I have a large box going for Good Will, and I'm almost caught up on the laundry pile from hell (my mom gave me three rolls of quarters for Christmas, I think it was a pointed hint). Today, I'll make a dump run (my town doesn't provide municipal trash or recycling pickup, which is a major pain in the ass, as the dump is only open four days a week and only until four pm) before I go to work, where I will have to deal with the pre-snowstorm panic and we will sell out of bread and milk and TP before we close at 8 pm. One really has to view it as dark comedy or one will bash one's head in on the grocery belt.

Have a great weekend, Pixlbit Nation!


 

Comments

Super Step Contributing Writer

01/19/2019 at 02:47 PM

I really want to play Odyssey as well, but I doubt it will ruin on my PC after what happened with Origins (which I bought by mistake, but would have rolled with if it actually worked). I did get Spyro for Christmas though. Sorry Borderlands didn't work for you. That's a bummer. 

50 is an impressive goal and I don't think I'll ever read 5 books before a month ends unless I'm really invested in them and they're short. Set my number at 24 (one fiction/one non-fiction a month) and that's about all I trust myself to do.

I still have to watch Daredevil season 3 before punisher season 2. I'm surprised it's your favorite, but I did like season 1. 

I need blu rays of all A:TLA plus Legend of Korra. Jealous of your collection as it stands. At least I have the A:TLA comic books, but I'll need to pick up the Korra titles as well. 

I remember the last time you mentioned the quarters being a hint gift. Lol At least you're getting it done. Hoping work doesn't stress you out TOO much. Here in Dallas the Dallas Morning News reported the "heaviest flurries" leading to "some snowfall sticking to the grass in some locations." The reactions on that Facebook post so far have been along the lines of BAHAHAHA. "Snow."

Ranger1

01/19/2019 at 09:38 PM

Oh, I got Borderlands to work. I just can't play online, so single player campaign only. Whatever. It was free.

I used to polish off three or four books every other week until my eyesight got bad. With the new specs, I fully expect to get back into that habit. The local library is great, and I've known some of the librarians for 20+ years.

I think Netflix hit the jackpot with the casting of The Punisher. I had a hard time taking Charlie Cox as Matt Murdoch seriously, I dunno, he just doesn' do it for me. And I dislike the character Jessica Jones, so that show wasn't going to be my favorite. Luke Cage is good, and I may be one of the few people who actually enjoyed Iron Fist. I guess I just like the character and the darkness of the show.

As for work, oh my god. You'd think it had never snowed in the state of Maine before. We've only known about this storm for a week and half, so I just don't get the last minute panic and need to buy 20 loaves of bread, ten gallons of milk, and 60 gallons of bottled water. My storm precautions? Make sure I have TP and dog biscuits. Back the car into my driveway, and lift the windshield wipers. Pick up any stray junk on the porch and put it away or dispose of it. Clean out the back of the car so I can put Beau's crate in there instead of putting it on the porch like I usually do. Fill the mop bucket with water so I can flush the toilet if the power goes out. And done.

KnightDriver

01/19/2019 at 07:17 PM

I've been getting weird yernings for Borderlands lately. I may play one of the old ones, but I really want a new one. When?

I'd like to try AC Origins sometime. I'll rent it from my library. I definitely want that Spyro collection. It's on my must-have list. My library has the PS4 version but I want to play it on Xbox One. I'll just wait until it gets to $20 or so. 

Interesting books. I haven't taken that challenge on Goodreads. I'm already feeling like I'm spending too much time reading. I just can't help myself. You should see my breakfast table, a mountain of books on either side of me as I do my morning read. I've got a morning read and a lunch time read. Then there's school work reading. I must be reading almost all the time. I thought today I should only allow myself to read while in the library. That way I don't take out so many books. It would also limit my reading time. I don't know though. Maybe it's ok. I just need focus right now. 

I see the reason for dark comedy now. 

Ranger1

01/20/2019 at 10:32 AM

Wait. What? One can spend too much time reading? No, I don't think so.

I didn't throttle anyone today (but it was close), so we'll mark today's shift as a win.

KnightDriver

01/22/2019 at 11:09 PM

Honestly, I think there's some limit to the number of things a brain can keep track of at once. I've heard four. I feel like I'm pushing that boundary right now. 

Matt Snee Staff Writer

01/20/2019 at 07:05 AM

Chris Yarger has been playing Odyssey and loving it. He even said he thought it was the best game of 2018. Of course, he hasn't played Dragon Quest yet. 

I've been reading a lot too. I'm planning to get to city of thieves next month if all goes well. 

Ranger1

01/20/2019 at 10:34 AM

Chris and a whole bunch of my other friends have all loved it.

Yes, READ THAT BOOK! 

Casey Curran Staff Writer

01/20/2019 at 04:19 PM

I've been playing Spyro. They're really fun games, 1 is my favorite so far but I still need to finish 3. Hope you enjoy, did you play them on the PS1?

Ranger1

01/20/2019 at 10:57 PM

No, this will be my first experience playing them. So I'm pretty excited.

SanAndreas

01/20/2019 at 04:27 PM

I got Spyro for my friend's kids. I've mostly been playing Tales of Vesperia on my Switch. I no longer have a 360 so this is the only way I can play it now.

I don't miss the stockpiling for snowstorms, I say as I enjoy the 70 degree weather in Phoenix right now. When I did live in snowy areas I wasn't all that bad about it either. Amy and I kept pretty level heads. When I was a kid, my mom would buy MREs from the military commissary for snow and tornadoes. They keep pretty much forever.

Ranger1

01/20/2019 at 11:02 PM

I was really stressing about having to go to work today, especially since I don't think a plow had been through since 9 AM on the road, and our plow guy had yet to make an appearence to do our driveway, and I live on one side of the "Hill From Hell" known locally as Snake Hill because it's a hairpin turn going up and then down a steep grade. I finally decided I was going to call out, but the decision was made as I was on the phone to close the market an hour after my shift would have started, so they told me not to bother even trying to come in.

daftman

01/21/2019 at 05:17 PM

I picked up the remaster of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on Black Friday and decided to play some earlier this month. I figured it would be some visceral entertainment that I wouldn't need to think about too much (I played through it two and half times on the 360 back in the day) but it had to install 10 GB of language options (I think that's what they called it), which took over an hour. Then it needed to update but thankfully it let me play the single player, which is all I cared about, while downloading in the background. Still, I was pretty peeved.

Ranger1

01/22/2019 at 10:09 AM

I just bought two new games from the evil empire known as GameStop (my mom got me a gift card. I think she confused GameStop with my local indy game store of choice.) and they arrived last night. Both physical media, both needing massive amounts of space on my hard drive. We have a very slow internet connection and it's very frustrating when I can't just play a game out of the case. And I had to delete a couple of other games off my hard drive just to make room for these. This was kind of the point of buying a physical copy, so it doesn't take up massive amounts of space. Grr.

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