Week 12: The mild west

(Mar 19 – Mar 25)

One of those weeks where things just ticked along nicely. I finished watching season one of Westworld, which took its sweet time, but I nevertheless really enjoyed. The twists and reveals in the back half of the season didn’t feel like cheats, and I’m keen to see where they take it for season two.

I also shared my podcast demo with various people, and received some excellent feedback which mas motivated me to press on and make it a thing that actually happens.

(p.s. you can check it out at fifthquadrant.space if you’re so inclined)

Monday

Terribly unmotivated all day. Monday’s really are becoming a problem. The lack of motivation even extended into my sleep, which seemingly couldn’t be bothered to stick to the job and found me waking up frequently during the night for no good reason.

Tuesday

It’s time to buy new dishwasher tablets, as the depletion of my most recent bulk purchase looms. I know well enough now not to buy them in the supermarket, but the variety of bulk packages and prices available online overwhelms me and I have to resort to making a spreadsheet just so I can work out which option is the best value. I feel simultaneously disappointed and proud of myself.

Wednesday

Having recently transferred a credit card balance to an interest free deal, I figure it’s time to do a bit of financey stuff–mainly to remind myself which of my cards are still active, and which are either cancelled or paid off (and make sure I’ve stopped any future payments). Things aren’t looking too bad. The prospect of paying all my debt off isn’t in the immediate future, but it’s in sight.

That being done, I tinker with a logo for the podcast project. I come up with something that isn’t quite final, but still feels pretty damn satisfyingly close to the something I like.

Thursday

I spend a lot of time looking at dice, hoping to rid myself of a particularly treacherous D20. I find many, many lovely dice, all of which cost ridiculous amounts to ship over here. I give up and do some preliminary work on setting up a website for the podcast instead.

Friday

My Fridate friend has the flu, so we have no Fridate. I ask the Elderbeast if he wants to watch a movie, but we end up playing PS4 games instead. I’ve had the remastered version of Duke Nukem 3d on my wishlist for several months, and it’s finally turned up in the Easter sale at a price I like.

Imagine my surprise when I go to purchase the game, only to find that I already own it.

We play it and have a complete blast. I tell the Elderbeast that it’s one of the few games that I’ve played through (when it was originally released) and he exclaims: “You’re so much cooler than I remember!”

Not sure if insult or compliment …?

Saturday

Another reasonably productive Saturday. I’m having friends over in the evening, so I’m mindful of getting the place clean and tidy. For the most part it’s already clean and tidy, so there’s very little to do. The Elderbeast has some homework to do, and I insist that he completes it before he gets any PlayStation time. He does it with minimal complaint.

Then he remembers that I promised to buy him Subnautica as a ‘reward’ for completing his GATE exam last week. I get it downloading while he works, and he spends much of the afternoon playing it. Meanwhile, the Kinderbeast and I watch Moana.

The evening is pleasant, filled with lots of cheese fondue and a modest quantity of of wine. We watch Kick Ass, which I don’t love and I don’t think anyone else does either. It’s got some truly excellent moments, but the movie as a whole isn’t strong enough to glue them all together. Like Kingsman (which came from much the same creative team) it also has some dubious social politics which caused me to cringe as often as I laughed.

Sunday

Socialising is a game for the young. After a slightly later night than usual, and slightly more wine than usual, I feel tired all day. Luckily it’s raining, which gives me an excellent excuse to avoid using my morning to do any more gardening. We all have a relatively chilled out day.

After lunch, I insist that we all get together to watch a film and plough into some snackage. Both kinderbesten resist, but we end up on the sofa together watching 9, which is excellent, and much enjoyed by all of us. I love these occasions where we all get to discover a new film together.

In the evening, I introduce the Elderbeast to The Breakfast Club. It’s a tense moment. Liking The Breakfast Club, as a friend of mine puts it, is non-negotiable, and there’s a definite thread of randomness connecting the films that he does and doesn’t like.

We get off to an oddly good start when his mind is blown over learning that Don’t You Forget About Me was written for the film. Suitably intrigued, he gets quickly absorbed into the movie and we’re soon having discussions about who’s the ‘best’ character.

In a weird twist, the events of the movie take place on Saturday March 24. We were out by one day …

Things I Did Buy

• $28 Contigo Snap Seal Coffee Cup – my lovely Frank Green coffee cup has leaked on me twice in the last two weeks: once on my shirt, and once on my freshly washed jeans. It’s as if it actively wants me to hate it. After a fresh wave of research, I finally picked out a Contigo Snap Seal flask as the replacement. It will arrive next week.
• $50 dishwasher parts – I’ve also had enough of the dishwasher draws continually falling off their rails (due to worn, wonky wheels) and ordered a bunch of replacement parts. Dishwashers are expensive beasts.

Watched

I have a mid-week viewing break, which makes for a pleasant shift from the routine and allows me to catch up on … well, all the stuff you’ve just read about.

Read

Managed three consecutive nights reading The Anachronist, which is not bad given my recent track record.

Eaten