2017: In Review

It's finally here!! Surprising how many people seemed to look forward to this post this year.
Maybe because it's the 150 year?
Or maybe because its a novella read. Whatever the case...

January: The year started with news of a Hometown trip for my cousin's wedding! Now, Hometown in the winter is notoriously brutal, and her wedding was the middle of winter, so...
I caught something from the martian temperatures. But the wedding was nice!

I continued work on soccer tales, and Dyland landed himself some work, which was a breath of fresh air he needed. I also blurbed about a project which as of this post is another development hell vaporware thing, but I always have fun ideas that once I try doing, I realize require a monstrous amount of work.

(That project specifically needed an entire game mapped out, all objects drawn and coded in, a storyline figured out more deeply, a battle system and leveling system and items system planned, coded, balanced... the list goes on, and for lil ol' me... no bueno. One day I'll learn.)
The month ended with a Schrodinger post.

February: Ya like Jazz?

It was this month that Gamer Jay brought another part of the radio project alive: Enter Gamer Jay FM. All VGM, all the time.

Jay made sure to put his spin on it to make it even more realistic. It was a slick and cool thing, and soon became PTE's official radio station.

Then my sister and her fiancee,  and my uncle and his girlfriend came to visit, with trips overlapping. Posting stopped as chaos ensued.

March: I started with explaining how the last weeks of February were a blur. I skiied, my sister skiied (and did great, but refuses to ski again haha), her (spoilers) husband skiied, the other duo skiied, etc. etc.

I continued to try to keep busy, seeing friends, doing projects and obtaining a new Wii. (new to me, hush you console nerds)

My infamous network was finally replaced. The month ended bitter-sweetly with me getting interviewed and ending up on the evening news. (It was about a store I liked closing down, and my interview was negative...plus being interviewed by broadcasters. If you die twice inside, are you just respawning?)

April: Walls were getting painted. With plans for downnsizing in the pipeline, and wanting a house refresh, the entire main floor got a facelift. (And part of upstairs)

I anticipated the return of the car, as winter was nearly over, meaning I could visit friends more often.
And PTE became the dog clicker website of the future. 
...Except I forgot quickly after and the feature hasn't been implimented since that and maybe one other post. (The gimmick was any posts with dogs would link to whatever music I was listening to while making the post.)

Oh yeah also I went blonde again. Went south as it always does, and my hair was some level of Velma sweater. (But I learned now about purple shampoo, so next time...!)
I had a birthday and a little party for it to boot! Fun times and Dyland suffering were had. (Mario Party)

I tried doing some video recording, only to find both my machines were too weak-sauce. I mean, nothing explains it better than that one banner. So that put a kink in my plans.

The month ended with celebration of a certain someone's birthday. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

May:  Another wedding was upcoming, this one being my sister's June wedding. I had to get all measured up for a suit. I got "Promoted" to co-emceeing, which speaking from hindsight, was pretty awesome. 
I continued watching the garbage things I like and wishing I could do that, and then whined about creative whatever. I dunno I stopped reading too.

I got hired!! The month was a real turn-around, especially as the pressure around my unemployment and the growing feeling of failure was gaining exponentially. 
Dyland had really come through, recommending me (As well as another awesome friend of mine recommending me) for the job.
My parents reaction to me getting the job was unsatisfactory. (Insert sodium chloride here)

June:  We geared up. My sisters wedding was fast approaching, and we were road tripping. 
A beautifully long break occurred as the wedding took place. Hometown was beautiful and green and the trip was a chaotic beautiful mess that somehow turned out great. (Special thanks to a certain someone for being infinitely awesome.) I did the emceeing with no issue, despite being a ball of anxiety leading up to it. Everything went better than expected!
During the trip as well, I redid my wardrobe. Insane sales meant I could afford to essentially reset it, it was wonderful. 

Also, it came to my attention that trip that people want ample notice that I'm coming to visit Hometown, so.. SOMETIME IN 2018 I WILL BE VISITING or better HOMETOWN.
DETAILS TO COME LATER.  

The month ended in me getting in a car accident, because of course it did. And I was sick from the insanity of the month. Nothin' like ending on a high note.


July: Weddings are expensive. Car accidents are expensive. Life is expensive.
Luckily insurance covered the accident, but it was a real hotel California getting the van fixed right. Speaking of fixing, the AC was also freezing itself over constantly. I think we deciphered the issue as low freon, which has yet to be resolved. 
I finished that first post hinting at a certain visitor from across the pond coming.

I started helping Dyland with freelance work. The summer sun made sure to remind me of its dehydrating abilities. Around this time, air quality was dipping hard as the west had been on fire for months, so that didn't help.
I also tried being a FPS player, but that was short lived.

While out with Dyland filming, I had an oopsie moment. Too close to athletes, I got decked, and caught my camera with a single finger. As amazing as that sounds, the entire weight of a camera on a finger is skin piercing. 
I'm still super proud how well I handled it, figuring it was real bad, but I managed! 
The month ended with my mom still up and down health-wise, and a certain visitor coming for adventures! The real fun began in August... 

August: There was one post? NICE!

ok anyway

There was a cabins trip with the usual family drama and other silliness. I enjoyed it regardless, trying to avoid the tornadoes as much as possible. Having our cross pond visitor with us added to the enjoyment much more as well. And we got to visit with friends and relatives from out east, so that was wonderful too!

The cabins ended with the crying milk incident, which I post here as an eternal reminder to never, ever take opened milk in a cooler. Might become a Riccy Rule even.

I got a bit more time in Hometown, which I used to spend more time with a certain someone. (Note: As long as the LD exists, visiting Hometown will always be affected by this monopoly. Feel free to join the chorus that pushes for me to return living in Hometown.)

I also "Squandered" two opportunities, though in hindsight, I may have dodged a bullet with one. The other, well, paragraph above applies. So I'm over it now lol.

September: PTE got meta as I felt guilty for August having only one post (And maybe hearing about it..) I decided it was time to improve PTE, and do a major overhaul. I chose to make the remake on PTE's 8th Anniversary, and thus, after trial and error and breaking everything multiple times with different templates that were ultimately garbage... now the blog is as you see! (The Hub update, though in hindsight the Endless 8 Update would've been a way cooler name. DAMN)

The end of the month ended with our cross pond visitor bringing her bf to visit us after they had their adventuring in a neighbouring city. It was a wonderful time, and I made a new great friend!
The week was a blur of chaotic fun.
And then came work, as my job changed to the real deal task.

October: I went through a Cuphead phase, a Back to the Future phase, and made an entire post about putting insoles in shoes. (Hey it worked shh)

I was re-re-reminded that every time I do errands before work, hell breaks loose and demons make sure that I'm late. And so I was, having a rough day.

The month ended with me revealing my secret other favourite color.

November: In a ditch effort to pump PTE with lots of posts, and because I was considering the idea ever since I had seen it on social media, I decided to go with a gimmick. Enter: THE MUSIC MONTH!
Every day, a post with a youtube video of a song, fitting the description of the Music month guide. I even made sure to make small commentaries on each post, just to try to give more content.
I succeeded, and ended the month displaying all 30 posts at the same time, killing PTE's load time. (And it was beautiful)

December: A certain someone came for a visit, and we celebrated our 6th anniversary together! It was a wonderful week and as always, time escaped us.
I dropped hints of plans for the future. And hinted at upgrading the linux machine.

New City got blasted with snow, and I helped shovel the driveway for a solid 2 hours. I twisted my knee in the process, but now it's recovered so yeah. (It snowed more since so I gotta go shovel more and repeat history, woo)
I mentioned holiday plans.

K-Day? Maybe next year.

And since I haven't posted since Christmas...

Bonus Post: Christmas went well! Spent it at a relative's, and I relearned the game of Dice. I ended up with a boatload of quarters from card game playing as well, which I really didn't need, but that's always how it goes with me. I'll win the lottery the day I give up on it permanently, which might be physically impossible for me, so there you go.

We also had a mini get-together with relatives and friends on the 28th, which also went nicely. There's now plans for later today, and for the 2nd, so I will get ample time to visit with others before work starts back up. I'll be back at it the first weekend of January.

Oh yeah and linux machine is still a WIP. It's a bit complicated, but essentially I know now that I need to upgrade a part, but I have to convince someone who might be a little stubborn thinking I don't need to...

Also GamerJay FM is gone for now, sorry!

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 Two Weddings. A Car accident. A saved camera. 3 Hometown Trips.
Six Year Anniversary. Eight Years of PTE.

PTE THE MOVIE COMING 2018

ok but jokes aside, it's been a wild year as always.
Here's to 2018 being a year of great (That means positive, life. cough cough) change!

And welcome all who are now in the spiffy new PTE Network! (Note: Only your latest post will show up, and whoever posts latest gets bumped to the top. It's a code thing I didn't make it and sorry in advance when it glitches out.)
Shout-out to MissBrekel surviving new school adventures and the wonders of room-mates; to Snowfire for buying her own first place and balancing the 3 jobs banana business HOW DO YOU EVEN; to Sophie for managing life in New City and the glorious retail world; and to Dyland, for putting up with me, haha.
I wish you and your families (And everyone reading this right now) good health and prosperity.
Hope 2018 is a great year!

And just to cap things off, Here's one more dog clicker picture:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DviID8Ni7Ns


Achievement Unlocked: Music Month

All 30 songs will now be displayed at the same time on PTE's front page, so you can enjoy the music list with ease!
They will be on display as I take a 'quick' break from PTE to scheme posting more.
Posting will resume ~December 15. I say "~" because I plan to post that day, but life happens so you never know. If its not that day for whatever reason, it will be close!

I mean ultimately I still have a year in review coming... heh.


Music Month #30


Back to the Interests

I've become a tad obsessed with the new Cuphead game. I don't own it on steam yet, but the story is intriguing, the art style is pure eye candy, the music is pure ear candy, and I'm a sucker for boss fights.
It's igniting my inspiration, though I've already been told and promised I wouldn't say anything vaporware-y. But just know if life is a series of arcs, this is my Cuphead arc lol.
I've watched walkthroughs of it multiple times, and have been jamming out to the music. I do enjoy that we live in a time where all this can be achieved so easily. It has made me want to invest in the game when I'm able to though.

Aside from that game, I recently also watched all 3 parts of Back to the Future. I dunno if I'm going to bother with the animated series (Which seems backwards, since usually I watch animations over live action), but I definitely enjoyed all 3 movies.
And have figured out I enjoy sci-fi action/comedies quite a bit. What a niche. Crap.
Netflix will never figure that out though, since a certain someone shares my account with me ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). 
But figuring this is a website powered by a google service...you're welcome google.  

I also have thanksgiving dinner coming up this weekend, planned for Saturday since I have a work-heavy weekend.That's the rest of everything going on for now.

at this point i accept pte is a dog blog. oops



Return of the update!

This past week has been awesome. My relative from out of town and her boyfriend have been visiting. We've done adventuring around New City, a bit outside of it as well. Her bf had never travelled this far before, so it was very fun showing off New City and such.
They got to meet Dyland and his gf as well, and we had a few group hangouts.

They went home today. I miss 'em already, but they got school and life and such, so I understand. But I hope to travel and visit them again someday soon. Of course with a certain someone, c'mon. 

Work's going well, and now training is coming up for my main role.  I'll soon be in the know of what I'm up against with my main job. I'll be working weekends as I have been, but posts could still pop up any day.

This last bit has been such a chaotic fun blur that I honestly can't think of anything else to post about for now. So this will have to do!


PTE: The Hub Update

What you see now may or may not be the final version of this update. It's super late and essentially I'm content with what I have so far, but this is far different than I had envisioned.
Abridged version is if I want what I imagined, I'm going to have to dismantle lots of codes. Or import from another service, if I can build it somehow.
The Navbar is also not included in this template.  

The idea of this new PTE is it will serve as a hub of sorts. The Nemesis blogs will have a spot with their latest posts updated, giving a further eyeball boost for them, and making it easy for PTErs who follow those blogs to check up on them with starting by visiting PTE.
Which in turn means I gotta keep the posts rollin' so people keep coming here first, heh.

Other things planned include an automated banners page, revised Eric Riccy page, revised What is Pte page, potentially a page dedicated to Gamer Jay FM, and a few other things. I'll post as more updates come out, which should help pump post counts while I also plan new post types and other business.

Oh yeah, and there's now reaction faces for post. Another experiment, a new and simpler way to interact with posts.

Try em out!

Change is Coming.

19.09.2017

(Disclaimer: Change is coming to PTE. Any real life changes that happen outside of this blog to anyone are a coincidence.)

PT8

It's weird to be at monthly blog posting. But there's been factors slowing me down.

School was a lot easier to write about. I could post anything, and what did it matter? I paid to be in the class, and no amount of salt could backfire. Work is a different story, and the internet is littered with tales of bosses who comb employees pages to see what their employee says when not at work.
So work, even as work becomes my main point of interest, it cannot and should not be posted about. And therefore, will not. So that leaves me with everything outside work.

Daily life for me is mostly appointments and errands with my mom. She's needing less often appointments now, which is wonderful! But, for what remains my presence is just as required. It's not a hardship on me per say, (albeit boring at times, but other stresses will make waiting rooms a pleasure..) but it's definitely not something that I can write posts about. Spam button posts would probably do better at that point.

That leaves me with all outside of that, which is my spare time. As of late I've been in a Daft Punk kick for music, and Rick and Morty Season 3 kick for TV. Some have teased me to go watch GoT, or at least try it, so that could be in the pipes, but yeah.
Essentially though, from that you can see an entire post of my spare times can be cleared in two sentences.

Now, PTE is actually pretty formulaic. Might be hard to believe, as it's been organized chaos...always. But I digress. It's been at least formulaic for the last 2 years.
For the last while, every post I've aimed for 3 paragraphs, preferably connected to each other but with how things go most end up disjointed. C'est la vie.
And of course, a picture. That's a PTE staple, heh.
So my simple spare time doesn't exactly work, being 2 lines at best. Tricky tricky.

I've been pondering what to do to help generate posts. I know that people have mentioned before that "PTE doesn't just have to be about your life" and "post whatever you want (within reason)" and I'm sure that posts about different things could work. I mean, best examples being the weird posts like Initiators vs. Reciprocators and stuff like that.

I guess when I had the identity struggle with what PTE was supposed to be, I hard-line decided that it was supposed to be about my daily going-ons and occasionally about my hometown Trips to help people get a hold of me in Hometown. Now lately it's neither of those things. Hence us being here.

I guess I'm curious what people think, those of you still visiting this literally old site (It's almost 8, wtf) of where I should go next. Another thing I'm considering is making a way to search for posts by title, so I can link to old ones easier for more reading. (I searched through for those two I linked. Bleh.)

What do you think?


August Post™

I was out near Hometown for the week in cabins with family. It was a week of the usual chaos, went well overall but my mom has mentioned that she doesn't plan on continuing the trip. Health reasons and never-ending family drama just make it not as worth, plus next year a lot of things are up in the air. I might move. The rents might move. Who knows. For the next bit though, I will be here with them, working at my new job starting September.

As of late, with my amigo from across the pond, we've been watching lots of movies. Though she wasn't much a fan, we saw (read: I finally saw) the first Lord of the Rings movie. It was good! Felt epic and long, but I'm a big enough nerd now to enjoy that. I plan to see the other two parts, hopefully with her but otherwise on my own if she's not a fan, haha.

Also while out in Hometown I almost managed two work gigs, but managed to mess up both. I had good reason though, the first wanted me next day in New City while I was still far past Hometown. Much too far away. And my uncle wanted me for some reno work, paid. I wanted needed more time with my other half. Screw money, honestly.
 I'd have had no issue with helping him, had it not been potentially intruding on our time. The money really wasn't even a draw, tbh. I'm weird and clearly not dying enough.

ok steptember post next maybe

Slowpost

During the work I mentioned in last post, I managed to save a camera from destruction. Day 4 of filming and during games of soccer-tennis (tennis played with a soccer ball in a tennis court) a fly-ball flew over me, and I got plowed into. Instinct kicked in and I latched out and held the camera tight.

I ripped my finger. I won't go too deep into details, but as mentioned before, I'm confirmed hemophobe thanks to the Essay Class where I left in an Ambulance.
As in, I don't do so good with blood. And this was no tiny cut.
And I was surrounded by young people, who may or may not be so good with blood either.
I quick-thought to cover it with kleenexes from my lunch and asked my way to the Rec Center, where they had a proper first aid kit. Once home I used steri-strips, and now it is nearly healed! Probably going to leave a scar, but eh, it's one with a cooler story than 'I tried to balance on a balloon in a suitcase and nearly took out my eye'.
Or maybe that sounds cool too. I dunno lol.

On another note our out of town guest has arrived safe and sound and all has been going well. No big plans yet aside from going to a cabin early next month. I'll be stopping in Hometown briefly. My time is very likely already spoken for, heh.
Hopefully it's a good trip, as my mom's still battling more health issues. She can't catch a break it seems..

Ok see u next month


Rise of The Plant Man

As of late I've been helping Dyland with freelance work. He's become quite the expert at doing such, and the fact he lets me help him is wonderful. I've of course got work in later-August or early September, so I'm keeping busy. Plus a certain someone coming in 9 days... no idea how that will affect PTE posts, but hey, they could increase frequency!

The work itself has gone so far pretty good, today is the first of potentially 5 days of work. My camera skill is growing again which is great. I hate how unused skills get kinda rusty...
I'm very exhausted, and was a bit of a dolt, as I worked outside and didn't bring water. New City's got some hot weather and bad air currently, which dried me out like crazy.
But oh well, I tried to be prepared and was otherwise aside from the water.

Aside from the work, not much else is happening yet aside from the usual. I've sorta gotten into CS:GO but I'm trash and every competitive game I straddle being kicked out. Casual mode is much more fun. I think it's just I'm a casual gamer.

I HAVE BECOME THE CASUAL

ok will try to scrape up some more news soon.




July Talb

While away in Hometown, our AC appears to have started having issues.
It keeps frosting over internally, and we had thought we fixed it a few days ago, but it seems to keep frosting up. It's a nuisance, especially since we're in a heat wave. (Though opening the frosted over bit helps it melt super fast...)

Aside from AC issues, things are pretty chill around here.The insurance and van are getting sorted out so that's good. The insurance went up, but not insanely, so that's another major relief.
That said thanks to someone's wedding, finances around here aren't hot, so the raise is still crippling. Buuut should be fine.

Later this month as well I have a visitor coming from across the pond. I checked old PTE posts and she's never been mentioned before, but it's worth noting she was the reason for my Germany Trip. It will be very nice to see her again, and it helps that this time I see her, I'm not spending my time working at Derpo and collecting the shambles of my life together.
I mean I will be training and working in late August-September and my life is as shambles as it could get but shhh details.
Actually I'm oceans healthier now, all is well lol.

ok time to steam games with cousins, peace



Bad Luck part VII

Pro-tip to you drivers out there: Do not try to turn around in a parking lot full of cars if you can help it.

So I got in a fender bender.

Abridged version is someone was in my blindspot and I braked when I heard their horn, but at that point both parties were moving still.
Luckily police arrived moments later and it was written up. I still have my license and neither party was hurt, so that's the silver linings.

Also I've been fighting a sinus infection. Likely a combo of Hometown, travelling, stress, and a hospital visit on the way back to New City, this infection has gone back and forth from chilling out to kicking my butt. Yesterday night was my longest sleep in the past 4 days, with a solid 4 hours straight.
I've seen the doctor and have meds, but it's still gonna take some time to heal.

In better news I'm going to a bazaar with friends tonight. Should be fun!
And I'm not driving...lol.


Back To New City IV: A New Beginning

I now have a sibling who is married.

It's nice, and I'm happy to have a new brother as it were. They're a great match and I feel they will continue being the powerhouse they are together.

I also have been gone since the 5th for a Hometown trip. It was a busy trip, but everything went better than expected. I managed to see a lot of friends which was very awesome. I ran into the issue of seemingly running out of time despite being there for almost 3 weeks. Hometown trips always feel like there's no time lol.
Also it was mentioned I didn't give enough notice before I got to town so I shall be working on that.

Now I'm back and Dyland has mentioned he may have some odd jobs to keep me busy. Aside from that though, I have my entire wardrobe to go through. While away in Hometown, a border trip was managed, and while there I bought a lot of clothes. They were so awesome priced, I couldn't resist. Like 4 dollar ties. 3 dollar cufflinks. 4 dollar jeans. 2 dollar sweaters. And everything fit.

So yeah I need to redo my wardrobe lol.
But it was a good trip on a trip.

Aside from those things I also have another hair-brained video making scheme. But I'm not gonna say anything more unless something happens. Since my laptop and my desktop aren't powerful enough machines for what I wanna do... I've found a potential 3rd machine with an 8-core. No idea if it'll do though...

Ok there nice long post since it's literally almost been a month but then again I'm terrible with consistent posts as of late anyway so oh well.


Party Month

Not that it will be all too noticeable, but June may be post-patchy as soon I'm heading to Hometown for my sister's wedding.

I dunno how busy I'm going to be or how hectic it's gonna be, but I'm also very excited for the trip and all it entails. By the end, my sister will be graduated and married, my gf will be graduated, and I will have been a groomsman for the first time. (Also will be first time Emceeing a wedding, or rather co-, though I'm glad I have a co-speaker so the pressures not all on me haha..)

Gearing up for the trip, I've remained the opposite of a potato. Packing still needs to be done, but the van (yep I'm road-tripping) has been prepared. Tomorrow the hotel will be booked as well. (That's not a reminder for me cough cough.)

 For PTErs looking for numbers, June 5-20th is the current plan as of this post.

ok cya next post

pic is hometown crow, a common sight

Rain on my parade

I've come to a realisation recently.

Every job I've ever had, someone has vouched for me before applying. I've always had some level of assistance in getting the job.

This latest job followed that. And honestly, there's no real problem with that occuring. If that's how it worked out, it is how it is.

However, under that pretence, it makes sense why the job I applied for in the fall didn't work out. I had no vouch and had to make it on my own. And unfortunately, I didn't make the cut.

That job has appeared again and again in the classifieds online. My mom keeps bugging me about applying again for it. And my dad has now taken to reminding me that my new job is not going to pay any bills. Which is real grand since I haven't even started the damn thing yet, let alone being now pressured by both with thinking about other work and making something of myself.

Because clearly I haven't been trying. No. No. I moved here because I didn't try. I got through uni because I didn't try. I help my mother DAILY because I don't try.

I had to write this post because I'm all fuelled up on frustration. I normally run on quite a bit of frustration. I'm stuck in New City trying to work towards getting a solid paying job. And my own place. And my own vehicle. And someday hope to live with my gf. Which speaking of the LDR takes it toll. But not as much a toll as the plethora of appointments and chores. It's hard to feel like an adult when you're viewed as a manchild.

Tl;dr I'm proud of me getting my new job, even if my parents apparently are not.


Pivotal

Big news: I got hired!!
My new job will have training and start late summer.
It is an industry job and a paid position making it a solid start for my future.
Special Thanks to Dyland.

More posts coming soon ok bye


May May

I have my suit all measured out for the wedding in June. I had to get measured and send in the details since the place I'm renting from has no locations in New City. We makin' it work though!
I've also been asked/promoted to Co-Emceeing the wedding (I think it's Co-) so though it'll be nerve wreaking, it should also be pretty fun! ( I mean I took classes on every aspect of it so it's not outside my abilities, but I always sweat when the spotlights on me. In fact I full spaghetti out of the pocket. Even today I spilled a drink and a person who was close by see it happen and yeah I went red as an tsundere animu grill)

In other news I've been spending most of my time even more addicted to MC LP stuff lol. It's a bad habit but I'm always so fascinated by the design and programming work. Not to mention the server that most of what I'm watching has been recently reset and now has a story-line aspect to it too. I hate causing drama, or dealing with drama, but watching it in a video game with Youtubers in a faux sense...I enjoy maybe apparently.

 I really need to kick my own butt and work on some legit stuff though. I toil with ideas but I keep biting big ideas. Lately I'm trying to learn how to make a game in Unity, which at least there's good tutorials out there. The tough part is focussing, and remembering, and well... I mean what I want to do in unity requires learning concepts that will glaze over what I want to do and I need to keep doing that over and over til I have a handle on the actual things I need to make my project. Which is an undertaking in and of itself. Might try to make animations or something in the meantime maybe. I still wish I could make more BP, but with BP not swearing, with the characters not blatent copyright infringements, with a good storyline and comedy on point. Rule 53, as it were...

 

2x4

This past weekend I had my birthday, and it was really nice actually! Friends visited me on Thursday and we had cake and a mini party, and on Saturday my family had an Easter Dinner Party which lead to a second cake for me. There was good times and card games, and for the mini party; virtual mini golf until we hated ourselves and Mario Party until Dyland stopped suffering.

The main floor is also done, at least done to the point my mom wanted it done for the weekend. I'm sure more reno stuff will be coming up again soon. I'm just hoping the weather improves (it snowed on my birthday...) enough so I can borrow the car to maybe run off and visit friends houses again.

Also I did some testing. This paragraph is maybe more suitable for a certain other blog, but I'm letting that blog 'rest' as it were...anyway! I wanted to start up some series of me playing around in MC, I had some unique little takes for ideas that would make things "not just another LP". That said, my computerS are both...saddening. Linux machine doesn't have the CPU to run both recording software and the game. My laptop can run both, but the game runs horribly, and my laptop basically goes on fire. (Idling it runs at 40 Celsius, with the two programs...71 Celsius.)
As my laptop is also my animation station, Skype machine, Game dev machine, Faux 6th console for the TV downstairs, database for RO, and essentially my main work machine... I can't afford to have it go up in flames.

Long story short, if I do youtube, it's gonna have to be animation. Which means youtube is never gonna be a job for me. 

In conclusion, life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RGoXZvuUBw

PainT

A majority of walls have been painted. Dining room, Kitchen, and the living room are completely done. The front hall is finished on the lower part, but with such a high ceiling, the upper part is gonna be a task.
The main floor bathroom is also half painted.

So much painting has been a grind. My mom is determined to finish all painting by the end of the month. This Saturday is set to be Easter Dinner, so she's been scrambling to get everything done on the main floor for then.
This on top of all her usual appointments and such.

Abbridged version is this month is busy somehow. I also age another year soon, so that's a thing. I dyed my hair blonde for it, despite what others may tell you.


April Snowers

Walls are getting painted. That's the news as of late in my house. We've been trying to make the house look nice as possible. Partly to enjoy it, partly because my mom really wants to downsize.
(There's claimant that she just wants less space to deal with but I sense maybe a boot down the line..)

Soon I'll have easier car access again, as it's becoming bike season. The weather has been stupid as of late though, snowing today because it can. Second winter is such a bother.
Once the car is around more, I should theoretically be able to visit friends more often.
My time is still easily claimed by family though, as the job search continues. I've been doing more research into the industry and its direction itself, since it seems as much as school tried to hint at reality, even it couldn't capture the gravity of what I (and others) are now up against.

Also my april fools joke was a totally legit router. PTE is actually a dog clicker website of the future. I won't explain what that means, because without mystery, what fun would life be? Also adding a new feature from april fools seems somewhat tradition, since the way PTE looks and functions today (and for the past 4 years), the 'stable' design so to speak, is thanks to an april fools prank from 2013.
So there's some trivia for you.*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18JQUYgpOlw&index=6

*Not real trivia

(PS: Inspiration for making this real post and maybe others again brought to you by a certain someone.)

I was on the news!

no im not telling you where to find the clip


Busy?

I have felt busy as of late because of how much has gone on.

I held a little party over the weekend and had most the New City crew over. We stayed up near 3am, gaming on the (new addition) Wii. Sunday was a shopping and chores sort of day, and Monday started as appointment plans but turned into a mall trip among friends as well.
It's been really nice to see people as much as I have. These past 3 days paint a stark contrast to the New City of the past.

I'm still at the usual business as well. I'm finding more little projects to also keep busy with, such as reorganizing for the new system, repairing a charger stand, repairing a controller, etc.

I have more grand ideas as well. I mean, there's the game, but I'm still learning map design... small ideas are good ideas. There's wisdom from a post for ya. And for me too...

ps tim

THE GREAT RETURNA

hello hi how are you?

ok so

As you noticed PTE hasn't had a single post since Valentines Day, and that's sorta my bad. I've been super crazy busy with my sister visiting then my uncle visiting. The guests timing overlapped, and both came with their significant others, so the house was a party these past 2 weeks.

I did the usual throwin' off a mountain fun times. My abilities have improved to a point that even I'm surprised by. And no fainting, as you'd expect. Such a safe sport.
We even got my sister to try skiing again, and she did great!

 Friends here in New City also were very helpful in making my sister feel welcomed. We did pretty much daily visits up until my uncle arrived.

Lots happened but all was overall a good time and it went by like a blur (so if I'm forgetting some details I'm sorry). I'm still exhausted from skiing adventures and waking up at crazy hours.

I will be making updates to PTE soon

Happy Valentines day!

My sister and her fiancée and my uncle and his gf are all coming to visit me soon, so pte might get spotty or extra posts, depending on how things go.

also hey remember those banners i made lol


Return of the Radio!

Way back in the day, I made the Radio Project.

As a refresher, I made up about 9 radio stations. They had names, FM numbers, slogans and genres. Then the project was finished as I didn't know what to do from there.

Then came going into broadcasting, which led to the resurgence of the project, and the radio show that was Radio Free Riccy. It ran a solid 8 months, on Shift Radio. Once over, I began focusing more on video, animation/graphic and video game content again. (And kinda sorta comics?)

Now enters the re-resurgence: Gamer Jay found a site called Radionomy, and has used it to bring another of the 9 station ideas to fruition. Gamer Jay FM (Available now and indefinitely unless the station shuts down) is his brainchild, a Video-game-music based radio programme. I've been conscripted into helping him with making jingles and working out whatever kinks we can. Give it a listen if you'd like music while you PTE! (Feature also available on mobile)

GJFM FB: https://www.facebook.com/Gamerjayfm-230344707371396/



Also any feedback/input is always appreciated! Have been racking my brain trying to remember everything I learned in uni...

I'm in a Jazz kick again

Not every post needs paragraphs.

Not every post manages comments.

I'm in a Jazz kick again.


Busyish

Dyland got a job! I'll leave any further details to him, (Technically he still has the ability to post, laziness is a core value of mine) but reason I mention this is now he's busy focusing on work (As he should be), which means CanucksFC is now a back-burner project. Which means Soccer Tales production is probably slowing down immensely.

I have gotten the other side-project I mentioned though, so soon I'll be working at that, which should keep me occupied. The only catch is it's a massive thing which means nothing will see the light of day unless the monolith gets finished. GO BIG OR GO HOME, as it were.
I also still gotta work on learning sprite-palettes. dont tell zoo k.
In summary: I'm keepin' busy still.

I'm trying to not be all-"work" either though. Recently I started a 7 Days to Die server for Zoo, his gf and myself. We haven't actually lasted a week yet, and have needed to reset time a lot, and I've died about 10 times already, however...
It's fun!

 I also say "work" as according to my sister and potentially employers and maybe even some of you PTErs, my animating and game making and other creative things I keep doing isn't a resume boosting mechanism like I like to imagine it is. Which if that is the case, uh oh. Buuuuuuut it's still mid-winter so progress on the job front continues to be frozen.

I'll let myself out.

Future Plans Part 17

The Hometown trip has come and gone. It was a blur, as most trips are. I managed to see quite a few people, but those I missed I'm going to try to see the next trip, in June. That one I'll at least have a car maybe...

It was a good trip though. I was sick most of the time as things go, and am still fighting something even as I type this. The weather in Hometown was insanely cold, so that's probably a factor. New City has made me a baby.

The trip was also pivotal in how the next few months will play out. I know now that it's very likely I'll be back in Hometown eventually. I have a time-line in mind, but things working out will depend on how it plays out. (i.e. job find, long-term living arrangements, etc.)
Abridged version, if you're one of the PTErs who hopes I move back to Hometown, here's your hope. (And also hope of me getting the Ecobat back.)

For the shorter term future, aside from still applying to whatever's available in my field; I'm continuing working away on whatever projects I can. The 5th episode is -HOPEFULLY- sent successfully and should be up sometime soon. I'm waiting on the next episode to work on, I have another side project that will take a good chunk of time to do. (It's going to be 7+ minutes of animation, and if you think 'lol you're never gonna finish that; I'm gonna try chunking it into manageable ~1 min pieces and combine them together in a video editor to master it. I'M THINKING AHEAD THESE DAYS) I'm waiting on the raw audio for that side project too, but soon soon.
I'm also still working slowly at a game. I'll be playing with graphic palettes, which seems like a tricky thing, but once I get a method down it'll be better. The game is still very far off, I'm technically still testing to make sure it's a plausible thing. I don't want to spend literally days on something, only to drop it because I get caught on something annoying or something that could have been forseen. Again, I'm thinking ahead. If it's too much I have another idea in mind as well. Ultimately, though I'm ditching flash for games, I'm going to keep experimenting with different programs and see truly what my limits are. I still think I can develop games, just no AAA bueno lol.

 I guess technically that above blurb could be construed as RO crap but whatever I'm going for palpable resume boosters at this point lol. That said, my sister certainly thinks I'm wasting my time, and so do other family, so maybe I am, but I'd rather waste time producing things than sulk about the job market.

I'm trying, I swear.

PS Any projects I've mentioned in this post you are good to bug me about now. Maybe I need a kick sometimes, I dunno lol.

PPS oh yeah I'm still looking into uni/college stuff again too. RURP is technically a thing again. Day by day, we see what happens.


Rhythm

I've managed to get back in the animation rhythm, and made episode 5 of Soccer Tales. I dunno when it'll be released, but it'll likely not be released until I'm on my trip. Something to maybe look for during that time! (Since no PTE posts lol)

I also recently got an xbox one controller for my PC. I mangled with drivers and got it to work on my laptop! My Linux machine however...it's close. I mean, everyone who I talk about the Linux machine to tells me "Why do you bother with Linux" but honestly, it really works amazing when it does! And arguably, it's my own knowledge shortcoming that I can't get the new driver installed...yet.
(Short story: I installed a kinda outdated driver that doesn't recognize my controller, so I gotta install the new one, but the new one is so new that it's more steps and a little complex to do.)
I can ramble about my Linux machine almost as much as I can ramble about RO stuff.
Take that as you will.

Packing soon, so that's all for now...


2 Liners

My cousin is getting married in less than two weeks. I'm attending, and going to Hometown from the 11th-15th. With my posting habits, I guarantee its affect on PTE will be unnoticeable.

I'm back to animating Soccer Tales. Somehow it feels like I'm still managing the same humor and style, whether that's the actual case is yet to be seen though. Perhaps it's an easy enough style for me!

I've also made the decision to help friends out...by driving them to a bus station at a very early hour. I mean, they gotta be up too, so we suffer together...but tomorrow morning will be interesting lol.