Ok, so comps only seem to last about 3 years in my household. Which is fine, I guess. Except I made the mistake of getting both me and DJ Struggs new comps within a few weeks of each other a couple years back. He got an Inspiron, which was pretty much shit, right out the box. Remember when Dell did the Studio? (It was sort of a crossover between Inspiron & XPS.) Those were the worrrrrrst. I remember paying extra for a BR player (when that was a thing) and I don't think we ever even used it because the comp was so crap. So, both of us need new comps at the same time. (NOW.)
ANYWAY, so I ordered this fucking XPS. I always use XPS. I've always wanted Alienware, but can't justify the cost. I HATE it. It has the smooth-surface touchpad/mouse buttons combo and I haaaate it. Also, it doesn't have a fucking ethernet port. Apparently, I can buy an adapter, but fuckin' 'ell, I shouldn't have to. UGH. Struggs has pretty much stolen it from me, anyway, tho.
Anyway-anyway, Beardo seems to think he needs an Alienware.
He doesn't game, he hardly even uses his stupid fucking computer. Why does he need a comp with a base price of $1,100? And really, ain't nobody buying that shit with a fucking i5, so you're *really* looking at $1,649.99 (on sale! and hey! free shipping!). GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT SHIT.
I'm like, take this oldass Inspiron and STFU.
He maybe researches purchases online, and maybe looks at photos he took with his stupid-expensive camera. He literally takes THOUSANDS of photos, but then never does anything with them. I'm like, A) Learn to use your camera. You bought a $3,000 5D and then just shoot in Auto? GET THE FUCK OUT. B) Learn to do post work. Clean up your images, you don't have to do full (what's the term? HDR? the photos that are Technicolor-bright?) <------ whatever that is, but I'd be happy to have prints made if there was something for me to have printed. I bought him fucking Photoshop and he never even used it.Why the FUCK would I buy him a $2,000 gaming comp (you know, tax and shit) for it to sit there and do nothing. FUCK FUCK FUCK.
GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT.
Everyone in my house is cranky AF lately. I know we're all pretty prone to seasonal mood swings, so there's that, but also, we've been moving stuff around and people have been travelling and stuff, so there's just a shitton of things out of place and/or unfinished/un-dealt with around here, and IDK about them, but I know that I'm SUPER-AFFECTED by mess/clutter.
It's a slippery slope, though. One person leaves [whatever] out, and then everyone just thinks they can just leave other shit out, making a clutter pile. Or one person doesn't do their daily chores, so the next person complains and then does a shit job, or in the case of the dishes, can't fit all the dishes in one load, so there's dishes left out and then the next person complains about that.
I bought some towels. They arrived in two GIANT boxes. Like, ridiculously large. I don't think I like them, but I wanted the rest of my people to weigh in on them. Do you like the colors (I ordered 'grape' and 'forest' but the 'forest' looked more emerald/jewel toned online, and I don't know if I like the muted, olive-y quality they have IRL), what about the size (they're 'bath sheets' which have always screamed "LUXURY!!!" to me, ever since I was a small Gin and I always wanted some. But now they seem too damn long and out of proportion.), what about the feel (the forest style seems more plush)? I kind of decided I'd return them all and get the forest-style in the grape color, and in a fucking normal-ass size. BUT in the meantime, these fucking giant-ass boxes are in my fucking tiny-ass kitchen. And then what happens? People put empty soda boxes on top. Because they can't break 'em down and put them in the recycling in the house, or take them out-the-fuck-side and put them in the big recycling bins we have. No, we're just constructing a bigass box-city monument or something. What the actual fuck? WE DON'T HAVE ROOM FOR THIS. Marv's room is just a fucking garbage pile. I gave her a pass because she was out of town for a week, and it does take a couple days to get back into the jam but now I'm like, I literally can't see your floor. And it's 98% clothes -- clothes I just washed (I don't want to say 'clean' because now she's just been walking on them for a week). JUST PICK UP YOUR FUCKING CLOTHES.
I had to fucking BRIBE Operation Delta to clean up the fucking yard. And here's the thing: I don't do that. My children do get an allowance, but it's generally not tied to anything. Like, their chores and shit aren't jobs for which they get paid. Chores are because we're all coexisting in this cardboard shack, so don't be a dick and be courteous of your housemates, for the greater good (echo: "The greater good!"). Although, a friend did give me a good idea: if someone drops the ball on their chores, they should have to pay the next day's chore person, which hurts doubly--not only do they lose precious $$, but they literally have to give it to their sibling, which is maybe the worst punishment I can imagine for my children. (They like each other and generally get along, but they're very competitive about financial matters and who owes whom how much.) Oh, but anyway, I'm just SO FUCKING SICK of looking like the shit house on the block, that I resorted to monetary rewards for cleaning that shit up. And oddly enough, Operation Delta, whose face is always plastered to the computer monitorS in his room, took me the fuck up on my offer. Marvellina, who loves money and shiny things above all else (she's a Capricorn) did not. IDK why not; is the Supermoon makin' people act bizarrely? But also, I mean, she has the shitshow that is her room to deal with. Nink is at work, and I know he's going to be crab-the-fuck-y when he gets home (b/c how can you not walk into a garbage house and not be instantly sour??) and I'm just like, can I hire someone to come in ('hire' is a loose term, I don't actually have any money to pay said person) and clean, RIGHT NOW? Or can I burn the house down and just build a new one out of LEGO real quick? Maybe we can just all live in ODelta's giant goalie bag for the time being?
I just wish people (me included) would just put their (emotional/whatever) shit away and also put their (tangible household/personal item/whatever) shit away. I know everyone needs to play hooky or whatever every now and again, but we have to get back up and fight the good fight again.
This post has been brought to you by the words 'fuck', 'shit', and 'whatever'.
I've been sucked into a Kickstarter rabbit hole. A couple companies I like to support were set to launch Kickstarters and people in my game groups were like, "while we're waiting, there's this other thing I found..." and then once you click through to that cool thing, almost inevitably another cool thing pops up and then you're just down that rabbit hole, y'all.
Some projects were an absolute given--like Nite Team 4, of course. Because, let's face it, I spend a LOT of time alone (even though I know I often complain about not having enough alone time) so video games > table top games. But then, these table top games ('board games' for you olds) crept in. And some of them look AH-MAZING. And because table-topping is back in vogue for the general nerdpublic, there's gameplay videos. I've watched a lot of gameplay videos lately.
The thing is, these games are complicated. Like, Cones of Dunshire complicated. And I have trouble imagining how that would play out with my fam. I hate to tip my hand and reveal quite how nerdy I can be, but for example, Victoriana. I think it looks fun (and maybe a little stressful) but I feel like presenting it to my family would go over like a lead dirigible. "So there's these cards, and these cards, and these cards, and then this die, and this die, and these markers, and those markers, and then these little cubes?" I think my kids would flip the table and walk off. I know it usually takes a round or two to really get into it, and then it doesn't seem all that complicated, but my tabletop skill level is about at Candyland -- and I mean the old school one with just the cards and little gingerbread people and like 5 'special' spaces. For Victoriana, I'd have to make up a little task list crib sheet and check every turn to make sure we were actually doing all the things. Other games I've checked out, I can't even get through the gameplay video because I'm just like, whaaaat? And, these games are kind of expensive, and they take up space that I don't have to spare in my house.
And then there's the fact that the idea of having a family game night is super-appealing to me, and it looks great in my head, but in reality... the last time we tried to play a game, Marv literally got pissed and walked away, mid-Sorry (oh, the irony!!). There's always someone who's not really into it, but we needed another player, or something happens and someone gets distracted or we decide we're hungry, or whatever. I tried to start a game night with friends last summer (and by tried, I mean, I brought it up and my friend was like "YES!" and I texted like, one or two other people about it and didn't hear back and that's fine because really, who wants to organize that anyway?) but it never took off, and it can be tough to play games with people you're not really close to. Or maybe we just play mean games? IDK, I was just thinking about when we play Exploding Kittens with n00bs, and we're all, like, on our best, most passive behaviour because we don't want to make our guests feel bad or discouraged. And then the game sort of sucks because the whole goal is to blow each other up.
Anyway, I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, other than: my interest in board games is renewed, but I lack the funding and space to pursue this interest, plus games are really complicated nowadays. I tried to explain games like Victoriana and Illimat and Thornwatch to El Nate-o and I think he turned into a petrified muppet-mummy creature because it was exhausting just hearing the overview. He was like, "Y THO" and just fell over and desiccated.
