Death of a (Computer) Salesman

My excuse for never updating is actually quite simple.

I died.

...well, my computer died. Same thing really.

And I mean like, dead dead. Not coming back dead.

I honestly have no idea how it happened either! There I was, minding my own business, looking up some random Youtube video or something when bam! blank screen.

Literally... that was it. And I'm fairly computer savvy. I don't go to virus-giving websites, I keep up my firewall, and I just generally don't behave like an idiot on the internet. I'm usually rich in blessings from the great computer gods for that last one, but no.

Bam. Dead. The end.

My dad said he might be able to fix it, but insisted that there really wasn't a point since my computer was a friggin' dinosaur.



Perhaps I'm being dramatic, but you get the picture.

So, I was told I'd be getting a new one. Eventually.

The next few weeks of my life are a bit fuzzy... I tend to suppress bad memories...

But then, a few days ago- bang! (notice I used "bang!" and not "bam!". There's a difference. Go with it.) My new baby was born! ...er delivered... sorta...




I'm sensing some progress.

Anyway, that's about it. Although I did see Harry Potter at midnight... and a pre-showing of a 3D movie based on a show I would never ever watch... and developed an addiction to Redvines... and lots of other totally awesome things.

Oh, and college. Well, that's not until next week. More on that later, eh?

Random Blurb: The Sims 2

As you've probably gathered by now, I get bored a lot. I mentioned previously that I've recently come across this thing known as "time", although the more accurate term would be labeled "free time", and, as you've also probably figured out either from previous posts or from the title of this one, I do strange things when I'm bored. Such as play Sims 2.
Aw Sims 2. How I really generally despise thee so. Except sometimes when I enjoy you. It's not a healthy relationship.

Anyway, my sister's got this game about a year ago. I played it for two days, got bored, and never touched it again.

That is, until Christmas, when my sister's got the Pets Expansion.

(That's one thing that kind of bugs me about the game. I mean, you buy the game itself, but it's not actually fun until you starting paying for all the various expansions, which I swear, pretty much cover every subject known to man. You got Sims Nightlife, Sims Pets, Sims "Open for Business", Sims HotDate, Sims University, Sims Season, etc. I swear, the list does not end.)

Anyway, them getting this expansion reminded me that we actually owned the game, and I, being the strange sadist that I am, started thinking. And, as you know, that can be very dangerous. I started wondering about all the horrible, twisted, borderline-illegal things you could potentially do on this game, and decided to give it a nasty whirl. So, I created a family with varying ages, genders, and relationships, and went on my merry way.

Sadly, it wasn't as scandalous as I thought.

You can't do anything illegal (no incest, no adult/child relationships- Hey, don't give me that look. These are fake, computer people K? You would try these things too), and although you can be a professional thief as a career, you can't actually follow them to work, so I don't really know all the details of their jobs. I don't have that expansion pack.

However, you can have gay sims, make your sims have affairs, make your sims have like, 50 different lovers, etc. I'm actually rather impressed with the amount of freedom you do have. Most people based video games (I'm looking at you Harvest Moon, bane of my existence that you are, but that's a post of a different color) generally have a set amount of goals or a place you'll end up or even just a plot in general. Not so for this one. Within the bounds of legality, you're pretty much limitless. Especially if you cheat, which frankly, is the only fun way to play this game.

Also, building houses is actually way entertaining. Seriously, I've built some pretty bombin' things.

So you're probably thinking, "Shauntel, you've really only said good things so far about this game. Doesn't that make it, you know, good?" The answer is yes... and no. My biggest question/concern is "who the heck was this thing meant for"?

Understand, this is something I only play maybe twice a month. Most teenagers would probably play only slightly more, more than likely less if not at all. Adults would have little interest. So is it for kids? No, 'cause this game is kinda naughty. Can it be played innocently? Sure. But will it be? Naw.

So that's really the question of the universe at this point: Why? Why does this game exist? Why do people think it's fun?

Admittedly I don't really know. What I do know is that it does exist and that it is fun.

Sometimes.

Anyway, I gots ta go. Two of my lovely gay sims (they're not "married"- apparently it's referred to as "joined") are in the process of adopting another baby. So yeah.

PS: I like comments. You should leave some. Just so I know you're there.

Holy Freaking Cow! An Update!!

Yes, it's me again. After over a month I've finally returned and actually updated. It's a miracle, I know.

But anyway, quite a few things have happened since I've not updated. So, I've decided to tell them to you with semi-humorous commentary.

The Pioneer Trek - A difficult but worthwhile experience that I never wish to experience again. Now, there were somethings that were great! But dang, it was hard. I'll not go into much detail though. I'm planning on writing a post about this one.

Girl's Camp - *shudders* Please don't make me elaborate. I'll tell you this though: I'm certain you are all aware of a certain Bible story about a certain unfortunate man named Daniel who was thrown into a certain den of lions for certain reasons, right? Well let's just say I can relate.

Not going to by grandparents...yet - As many of you know, I was supposed to go to Ramah and visit my grandparents about a week ago. Well, as you might've guessed by the title, I haven't left yet. Which is somewhat unfortunate, I do want to see my relatives and the heat is going to kill me soon. But you have to understand our predicament which will be answered in the next section.

We have a new car... sort of - We've had our old car, the green one, for almost ten years now (and we got it used). It is dying. The AC doesn't really work, it overheats about once a week, and it's just old. (Sounds kind of like my computer.) Anyway, my mother, for good reason, refused to drive six hours in something as miserable and unreliable as that. So, we've been trying to get a new car. Event after event has tried to stop us. It's been pretty crazy. Anyway, at this point, we have the car sitting in front of our house and we can't drive it. Our latest setback, no lisence plate. And the car had all it's bin numbers scratched off, it had been stolen, recovered by the owners, and sold at an auction, which makes it difficult to get one.

I'm all by myself, kind of, until Thursday - Ok, not completely by myself. Dad's here and Max is also. But Dad is at work most of the time and Max is, well, a dog. This story is basically a continuation of the previous two. See, my aunt, Marlie, decided at the last moment that she was going to leave on Sunday morning and offered to take some of us. Origionally, it was just going to be Sheridan and Brenna. But then, shortly before they were supposed to leave, Mariah and Mom decided to leave also. I might've gone, but there was no more room in the car. We'll be going up on Thursday though. I don't know how long we'll be there.

New Computer - Ok that's kind of a lie. I actually got two new computers. So now I have three somewhat functional computers in my bedroom all serving different purposes. My old laptop, the pretty looking one, is dying and turns off at random but has all my stuff on it. My new/old laptop plays Starcraft and is very portable. My new computer, it's a desktop machine, is for my online math class and it can play DVDs.

That's really all for now, I'll update more as I remember too. Cya later!