My Week XXIII

 This week wasn't as tumultuous as two weeks ago (when I wrote the last My Week post), but man, it was NOT smooth sailing.

Resurrection Sunday was the kick off to the week. We had foregone going to our usual Sunday church and had turned down an Easter Dinner invitation to go support one of Mrs B's friends who was going to be in a choir. Only we found out the night before that she had gone to the first practice and didn't like how much work was going to be involved and so quit and hadn't told us. There are personalities involved, so there was no way I was going to sit through a Resurrection Service with this lady the whole time. I really like her husband and he and I get along great, and Mrs B gets along great with him and with her. So I ended up not going to church that Sunday. I felt terrible about it, but I knew I would have felt even worse if I had gone.

Work went well the entire week, but it was very unsettled. Monday I worked with Tall Guy (he's 6'4" and I'm 5'3". For you non-imperialists, that's 33cm). We eased into the week gently and even had an hour's drive each way. Tuesday I was by myself. I had to drive 90min to meet a client, show him a lot corner (an iron rod in the ground) which took 15min, then drive 90min back to the office. I hate driving that much, that quick. Bleh. Wednesday and Thursday I was with New Guy. The very FIRST thing he says Wednesday morning is "did you miss me?", like we were best buds or something. I just looked at him for 10seconds and then said "No". Blabbermouths who tell my boss everything I say out in the field will never be my friends, ever. Work went well with him though, but man, he can't stand the quiet. He always had an earbud in or when we had some down time, would walk around talking on the phone. Today, I am back with Tall Guy. No idea what I'm getting into for the job itself. Guess I'll be finding out in 2hours.

In the last couple of months I've had an itch to play some video games again. It happens every 5-10 years and is pretty intense. I was considering going for a Nintendo Switch 2, but then Aywren did an article on it and at the price point, that was a deal breaker. I then wondered about going with a Steam Deck (a portable, independent gaming system) and docking it to my tv and playing that way. Well, the top of the line Steam Deck, with all the supplies, was even more expensive than the Switch2. What's a fellow to do? I then decided that I could hook my laptop up to my tv using an hdmi cable. That way all I needed was an hdmi cable, a wireless Xbox controller (they work automagically with Windows machines) and the actual games.

Since I had investigated the Steam Deck, I looked into the Steam website, which sells computer games. I had joined up YEARS ago when I was playing Magic the Gathering online (before that blasted Arena ruined everything), so I just had my password reset and started looking. There were some pretty good deals on the Heretic/Hexen franchise (first person shooter, like a Medieval Doom) as well as the whole Doom franchise. But to use them, I had to go through Steam's portal and be forced to be connected to the internet to play them. THAT is the whole reason I avoid the big-name consoles now anyway. I won't have my actions be dictated like that. So I ended up finding out about Gog.com and joined them. They do have a portal system, which helps with upgraded graphics and stuff, but most importantly, I can download the games themselves in drm free form and play them as I wish. And they were having a sale on Heretic/Hexen and some of the Doom stuff. So I ended up buying:

• Heretic
• Hexen: Beyond Heretic
• Hexen: Citadel of the Death Kings
• Hexen II
• Doom I
• Doom II
• Final Doom
• Diablo I
• Diablo: Hellfire (unofficial expansion)

All that for about $15. Even if I only played Heretic, the time I put into that and the enjoyment I know I'll be getting is worth every cent. I mean, how can you not enjoy shooting mummies, dark wizard priests and other horrific monstrosities with a magical crossbow?

I played the first couple of levels with just the keyboard to make sure I actually would enjoy the game and oh yeah, it was a blast! Now I just need to get my butt in gear and start hooking things up and programming the Xbox controller. I doubt I'll become a video gamer, but much like my foray into Marvel Champions, this will give me another outlet besides reading. Multiple hobbies keeps things fresh.

And honestly, that's it. I'll end this post with a nice nature'y picture from work on Monday.