I’ll have to buy the White Album again…

I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I’m 25 years into my career and I’ve only just started to put this into practice. (I say “slightly” because, hey, I’ve been doing this without any advice or mentorship, and, maybe, one can be forgiven for not finding this stuff self-obvious…)

Took a new position and got tired of people scheduling my lunch four out of five days a week. In addition to the meetings before and after, it often meant most of my day in meetings without a break.

So, I threw a tentative meeting for that time slot and the number of lunchtime meetings cratered. Somehow, folks were able to figure out another time or solve it without a meeting. Only twice in four months have I been asked if that “meeting” could be moved.

Needless to say, I’m a convert and would wholeheartedly recommend the practice—of scheduling a self-meeting, for any purpose, be it lunch or even just productive time—to folks well before they hit 25 years.

“Mr. Sansweet didn’t ask to be saved. Mr. Sansweet didn’t want to be saved. And the injury he received from Mr. Incredible’s ‘actions,’ so-called, causes him daily pain…”

It’s this scene—dark as the implications may be—that really drives the point home.

With how well the “every accusation is a confession” adage seems to hold up, I’m pretty darned sure that lizard people are real at this point.

I was put in mind of my favorite episode: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Happiness_Patrol.

Maybe not a direct match for the camera bit, but probably the kind of culture they’re trying to create.

…so far.

If by “help” you mean buy cool toys and beat the shit out of people while wearing skin-tight rubber and lycra (not that I’m kink-shaming, mind)…

I feel like this really the killer feature.

I’ve seen a ton of digital ink spilled on all manner of positives, such as how amazingly-portable it is, or how it’s been doing wonders for the advancement of Linux gaming.

But, I’ve yet to see anybody—outside you—speak about how amazing the suspend/resume is. And, that for me, is the reason why I play on a SteamDeck almost exclusively these days—even though I have a small collection of games I can play on Mac. I have such small windows of opportunity, and appreciate I can still play a game, even for a little as a few minutes.

I’m a pretty emotional dude. I tear up at a lot of things, happy and sad. But, there are very few things in this life that have caused me to totally break down, ugly crying. The ending to “To the Moon” is one of them. Too visceral a reminder of saying goodbye to people I’ve loved very much.

Nier: Automata.

Tried to get into it earlier this year after I got it on sale. Was not in the right mindset then to have to replay the whole intro just because I died to the first boss.

Retried again this past weekend and have since been enjoying a pretty decent action RPG.

I want to play a game like Fallout, with perhaps a light plot, but a much heavier settlement building mechanic.

Like, you found a settlement, and it’s filled with trash, debris, and burnt-out structures. As you scavenge and collect things, and attract people to your cause, the place slowly becomes cleaner and more structured. You can have settlers scavenge for themselves and fix up structures, farm for food, treat wounded, lead small armies against mutants and generally secure an area of a map, and really be able to treat the settlement as a home base.

Playing Fallout 4, I was bothered by how I could build out all these settlements, place structures and whatnot, help these people, and still no one had the sense to pick up a broom and sweep up the pile of trash in the street.

I fall squarely into that 3-year cycle. My old iPhone 12 Pro, which is—as others would very plainly say—still pretty capable, is liable to go to my mother. My husband’s will go to one of the nieces or nephews.

For me, this “slap in the face” upgrade is shaping up to be a pretty substantial upgrade. And, I’m good with spending my money on that.