It's New Year's Eve... and what am I doing...well, I'm working, and although I thought there was a shot we'd be able to go home early, it's not looking likely. It is definitely a lot busier than it was on Christmas Eve, so probably be working til 6... and of course, we have dinner reservations at 6... soooo i'll be late for that as well, super.
I got to bed last night at 9:30, which is unusually early for me, and I haven't been feeling the greatest, still recovering from a horrible sinus infection, but today, thus far, have been feeling good... I think that extra sleep helped out, who would've thunk it?... (except everyone who's always said to get plenty of sleep...) maybe they are on to something.
VR... I couldn't let a post go without talking about VR, so yes, I will talk about it, thank you.
I've gamed a bit over the weekend in the Oasis-sphere, had some good times, was in VRChat a bunch, some Altspace, and played a couple other games like Pistol Whip and some others... Hope to get back in sometime tonight or tomorrow since we're off work tomorrow, and definitely this upcoming weekend, whenever that comes (I'd be willing to bet in like 3 or 4 days.)
Oh yea, Dallas won easily over Washington on Sunday, was a good game... but it was the last... the only way we would've stumbled into the playoffs was if the Eagles lost and of course, they won... so the stupid Eagles will be heading into the playoffs this year, we shall see what happens with that.
Anything else? Sure. The kids are both sick, upper respitory infections or something like that, poor babies, hopefully they get well soon... especially since Syd is set to go to Longwood Gardens on Thursday with my parents for 2 nights. That's a nice break and gives me and Jen some needed alone time!
We keep looking into new houses as well, there are a couple that have jumped out but there's always some kind of hurdle. The one that I really liked would pretty much require a $16,000 down payment... which is just a bit outside our price range. Therefore the hunt continues.
I guess that's all I wanted to spill for now, Happy New Year to all, I expect 2020 to be an amazing year! And don't forget #Trump2020
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Friday, December 27, 2019
Happy Holidays!
Another Christmas has come and gone - it was a good time for all and to all a good night.
The kids excitedly opened their presents, got things they always wanted and things they didn't know they wanted, things they didn't want and things they didn't need, but it was a great time. I got some wonderful things myself, mostly money, which never hurts, especially when trying to save for a house. Got an awesome handgun safe, some Switch gear, some new clippers, underwear and some other goodies!
Dad got his Oculus Quest, which we really didn't set up or play around with until the day after Christmas, just due to the abundance of people around and things going on. I think he's going to absolutley love it the deeper he gets, and of course, sharing the joys of VR got me once again into the obsession. It also seems my earlier year prediction was fairly accurate - looking online it seems that A LOT of Quests were given as gifts, hell the backorder date is into late Januray/February now because stock everywhere is depleted. It's about to be MAINSTREAM, Baby!
Sorry to spin this write-up in the VR direction again, but that's exactly what I'm doing.
This may very well be the kick-off to a huge new audience which will only spread. VR has been peaking and valleying since 2016-ish, and now with amazing games, apps and experiences in the library, game-changing games coming soon (Half Life: Alyx) and headsets gaining prominence as well as prices slowly coming down, the adoption is going to grow exponentially (it also has me looking into what companies will be potentially prospering and looking into buying some stock.)
'Ready Player One' isn't far away and as developers start making more advanced, and smaller form-factor headsets, we are currently looking into the future and it looks bright!
I guess that's all I wanted to really say about VR... for now. Have also lately been listening back to OLD episodes of Video Game Outsiders, starting in 2006 when the crew was John, Michelle and Kyle... and they still mostly referred to each other as Blackdog, and Jerk... Michelle has always been "Michelle"... :P... although sometimes, Me-Shell. John just started saying "You Muthas!" and the highlights of the time are Animal Crossing on DS, Xbox 360 gamertag and achievement points, and talking about HD TV's, which none of them had yet (Michelle might have had one actually.) Fun times, love this gang!
Anything else happening? Nah, not really... this week kinda was rough because Christmas fell on a Wednesday, which chopped up the work-week and made it a pain in the ass, but today is Friday, so after this day is complete, get to enjoy the weekend with my brand new toys, muahaha. Going to defiitely hit up some of the VR social spots, VRChat and Altspace to see how things are with all the newcomers. Will try to help my dad as well with more of his Quest set-up. I do want to try to get him into something like VRChat maybe and meet up with him online, although it can sometimes be awkward enough being in person, not sure that's a good idea, but technically speaking, I could have the whole family in VR and meet up in Cyberspace... ideally Altspace would probably be a good idea. We'll see how it goes.
That's all I got for now... might write up more later. Might not.
The kids excitedly opened their presents, got things they always wanted and things they didn't know they wanted, things they didn't want and things they didn't need, but it was a great time. I got some wonderful things myself, mostly money, which never hurts, especially when trying to save for a house. Got an awesome handgun safe, some Switch gear, some new clippers, underwear and some other goodies!
Dad got his Oculus Quest, which we really didn't set up or play around with until the day after Christmas, just due to the abundance of people around and things going on. I think he's going to absolutley love it the deeper he gets, and of course, sharing the joys of VR got me once again into the obsession. It also seems my earlier year prediction was fairly accurate - looking online it seems that A LOT of Quests were given as gifts, hell the backorder date is into late Januray/February now because stock everywhere is depleted. It's about to be MAINSTREAM, Baby!
Sorry to spin this write-up in the VR direction again, but that's exactly what I'm doing.
This may very well be the kick-off to a huge new audience which will only spread. VR has been peaking and valleying since 2016-ish, and now with amazing games, apps and experiences in the library, game-changing games coming soon (Half Life: Alyx) and headsets gaining prominence as well as prices slowly coming down, the adoption is going to grow exponentially (it also has me looking into what companies will be potentially prospering and looking into buying some stock.)
'Ready Player One' isn't far away and as developers start making more advanced, and smaller form-factor headsets, we are currently looking into the future and it looks bright!
I guess that's all I wanted to really say about VR... for now. Have also lately been listening back to OLD episodes of Video Game Outsiders, starting in 2006 when the crew was John, Michelle and Kyle... and they still mostly referred to each other as Blackdog, and Jerk... Michelle has always been "Michelle"... :P... although sometimes, Me-Shell. John just started saying "You Muthas!" and the highlights of the time are Animal Crossing on DS, Xbox 360 gamertag and achievement points, and talking about HD TV's, which none of them had yet (Michelle might have had one actually.) Fun times, love this gang!
Anything else happening? Nah, not really... this week kinda was rough because Christmas fell on a Wednesday, which chopped up the work-week and made it a pain in the ass, but today is Friday, so after this day is complete, get to enjoy the weekend with my brand new toys, muahaha. Going to defiitely hit up some of the VR social spots, VRChat and Altspace to see how things are with all the newcomers. Will try to help my dad as well with more of his Quest set-up. I do want to try to get him into something like VRChat maybe and meet up with him online, although it can sometimes be awkward enough being in person, not sure that's a good idea, but technically speaking, I could have the whole family in VR and meet up in Cyberspace... ideally Altspace would probably be a good idea. We'll see how it goes.
That's all I got for now... might write up more later. Might not.
Monday, December 2, 2019
Communication and VR
Getting back into VR and thinking how amazing it truly is, especially looking back at technology and communication in general. It's crazy! Allow me to expound on these thoughts!
At one time, the only communication was face to face interactions, people from neighboring villages or tribes or whatever, were confined to know only what was happening right around them and their connection with the outside world was minimal if at all.
Evolving to eventual symbols and an alphabet opened things up, but were still restricted as far as sending messages via carrier pigeons or by slow means, such as the pony express. It could take weeks or months before one group would know what was happening elsewhere in the world.
Newspapers and Telegraphs opened up things even more, getting more information out to more people at quicker speeds. With Newspapers, a huge amount of information could be disseminated to a large number of people, and telegraphs, namely morse code, could get information out quickly, although that was primarily used by military or higher up, important people.
Radio broke open another evolution and gave people the ability to mass transmit information in real time and shortly after that, telephones became the norm, connecting people to other people across vasts distances.
It wasn't long after that that television became the mainstay form of information (and entertainment) and soon it became widespread and almost anyone who could afford it had a direct link to information, news and entertainment. This truly began connecting people all over to one another, although it was a regulated source of information and wasn't truly a direct back and forth flow of information.
The next big breakthrough in communication which began breaking the standards of being force-fed what one source chose to feed you, was the Personal Computer, the internet and email. With these innovations, anyone could now communicate to anyone else willing to listen/read their thoughts. The good comes with the bad, but this was absolutely the greatest evolution thus far for communication, enabling everybody the ability to convey their thoughts.
An off-shoot of the internet has been cell phones, text messaging and the invent of social media, which gives people more and more direct and immediate connection with others. There is no longer a waiting period for information, news, entertainment, or just communicating with a friend. Most people have phones on them at all times, and can instantly connect with these things, at any time or search through the infinite ledgers of knowledge available.
Virtual Reality, which is what sparked this chain of thoughts in the first place, is somewhat a branch of the internet and computers and cell phones and information and news and entertainment and in a lot of ways it brings things full circle by giving people those face-to-face experiences of old...sort of. There are games/apps (like VR Chat) that allow you to go into a virtual world and communicate with people face to face, although these people may be from different states, countries or continents.
The reality of Virtual Reality is that the potential is enormous and the bounds are few... We are still in the early stages of "True VR," and as it progresses, the abilities will only expand. When we get to a point where VR Goggles are as portable as sunglasses with hours (or more) of battery life and uninterupted internet connections, VR will truly be a turning point for technology, communication, information, entertainment and more. The book (and movie) of Ready Player One paints a VR experience that is not a matter of "If" but a matter of "When," and I can't wait.
At one time, the only communication was face to face interactions, people from neighboring villages or tribes or whatever, were confined to know only what was happening right around them and their connection with the outside world was minimal if at all.
Evolving to eventual symbols and an alphabet opened things up, but were still restricted as far as sending messages via carrier pigeons or by slow means, such as the pony express. It could take weeks or months before one group would know what was happening elsewhere in the world.
Newspapers and Telegraphs opened up things even more, getting more information out to more people at quicker speeds. With Newspapers, a huge amount of information could be disseminated to a large number of people, and telegraphs, namely morse code, could get information out quickly, although that was primarily used by military or higher up, important people.
Radio broke open another evolution and gave people the ability to mass transmit information in real time and shortly after that, telephones became the norm, connecting people to other people across vasts distances.
It wasn't long after that that television became the mainstay form of information (and entertainment) and soon it became widespread and almost anyone who could afford it had a direct link to information, news and entertainment. This truly began connecting people all over to one another, although it was a regulated source of information and wasn't truly a direct back and forth flow of information.
The next big breakthrough in communication which began breaking the standards of being force-fed what one source chose to feed you, was the Personal Computer, the internet and email. With these innovations, anyone could now communicate to anyone else willing to listen/read their thoughts. The good comes with the bad, but this was absolutely the greatest evolution thus far for communication, enabling everybody the ability to convey their thoughts.
An off-shoot of the internet has been cell phones, text messaging and the invent of social media, which gives people more and more direct and immediate connection with others. There is no longer a waiting period for information, news, entertainment, or just communicating with a friend. Most people have phones on them at all times, and can instantly connect with these things, at any time or search through the infinite ledgers of knowledge available.
Virtual Reality, which is what sparked this chain of thoughts in the first place, is somewhat a branch of the internet and computers and cell phones and information and news and entertainment and in a lot of ways it brings things full circle by giving people those face-to-face experiences of old...sort of. There are games/apps (like VR Chat) that allow you to go into a virtual world and communicate with people face to face, although these people may be from different states, countries or continents.
The reality of Virtual Reality is that the potential is enormous and the bounds are few... We are still in the early stages of "True VR," and as it progresses, the abilities will only expand. When we get to a point where VR Goggles are as portable as sunglasses with hours (or more) of battery life and uninterupted internet connections, VR will truly be a turning point for technology, communication, information, entertainment and more. The book (and movie) of Ready Player One paints a VR experience that is not a matter of "If" but a matter of "When," and I can't wait.
Back to the VR
Ok, so I'm back in the VR mindstate - mostly due to the purchase of an Oculus Quest for my Dad for Christmas. I gifted my parents an Oculus GO many months ago, and he absolutely took it over and uses it almost every night. He loves it (this is a very technically challenged man btw.)
My Wife, Mom and me decided to pool together to get him the Quest, which I imagine he'll love, so in preparation I've been checking out all the games and apps that I think he'll use, which in turn has got me back into VR. It doesn't hurt that the recently announced (although not out until March) Half Life: Alyx is looking like it will be THE GAME to get, and may in fact inspire a huge surge in VR adoption in general, it certainly hyped me up a bit.
This feels like a great time for VR... it was slowly building up since 2016 with the original Rift and Vive, and has had some peaks and valleys since, but with the release of Rift-S, Quest and the Valve Index, and now Valve making the move of releasing a VR-Only Half-Life, it feels like a new breath of fresh air for the platform. I also think, as I keep saying and predicting, that the Quest sales this Christmas will take it to a new level as well. Very exciting times!
That's the majority of what I wanted to write, so now I'm just going to talk about some of the games I intend to get/try soon and some that I am looking forward to.
Here's some of the games that have been out, and recommended to me, that I want to try sooner than later:
Horseshoes, Hand Gernades & Hot Dogs: I'm not entirely sure of the exact premise, but it seems to be a shooter or target practice/range type of game with quirky and funny twists.
I Expect you to Die: Sort of a puzzle/room escape type of game. I've seen some online vids of people playing and it looks rather fun, it gets recommended a lot.
Pavlov: I don't think this was as highly favored when it first came out, but again, lots of people rave about it now, so maybe they had some crucial updates or something. Seems like a classic FPS of some kind.
Blade & Sorcery: The most I've seen played of this was from Pewdiepie, and he had tons of fun with it (knees!!.) Looks pretty decent, not sure if there's much story there, I might have to research that a bit more.
Subnautica: People talk about how amazing this game is... you do have to play it with a controller I believe, which takes away from it somewhat, but I keep hearing people talk about it, so maybe I want to try it, maybe.
Stormlands: To be honest, not much of a clue what this game is about, I believe you fly around or zip line around or something with hot-air balloons, but I could be wrong.
The Under Presents: This is some sort of social/performance piece, kind of game, with a live aspect to it and time travel or something. It is made by the same people who did Virtual Virtual Reality, so I anticipate it will be a bit mind-bending and entertaining.
Vacation Simulator: Job Simulator was fun and I hear this one is very similar. Not as highly favored, but seems like the kind of game I will enjoy.
As well as all of these listed, there are a couple games that I am looking forward to... although it's mostly just, Half Life: Alyx. I've been a fan of Half Life since Half-Life 2, shortly after it was released... I've gone back and played through a majority of Half-Life 1, but it never really captured my attention. Also have played through a lot of Half Life: Episode 2. I absolutely love and beat multiple times both Portal games, and Valve in general just does things right. The fact they are dedicating the next Half Life saga to VR specifically, and judging from the trailer it looks absolutely amazing and engrossing, but also, makes me worry that my computer will even be able to run it. I maxed out my PC when I built it, but that was over 3 years ago, and the only upgrade since was to my graphic card about a year ago (980 ti.) so I think I can run it OK, but now I'm thinking about upping my CPU and getting a 2080 ti (just to be safe.) I'm foolish, I know, but it's stuff like this that excites me, so might as well splurge occasionally. We'll see.
In conclusion... VR is breaking ground, it's a great time to jump in because we're at a good spot and it's only going to get better.
My Wife, Mom and me decided to pool together to get him the Quest, which I imagine he'll love, so in preparation I've been checking out all the games and apps that I think he'll use, which in turn has got me back into VR. It doesn't hurt that the recently announced (although not out until March) Half Life: Alyx is looking like it will be THE GAME to get, and may in fact inspire a huge surge in VR adoption in general, it certainly hyped me up a bit.
This feels like a great time for VR... it was slowly building up since 2016 with the original Rift and Vive, and has had some peaks and valleys since, but with the release of Rift-S, Quest and the Valve Index, and now Valve making the move of releasing a VR-Only Half-Life, it feels like a new breath of fresh air for the platform. I also think, as I keep saying and predicting, that the Quest sales this Christmas will take it to a new level as well. Very exciting times!
That's the majority of what I wanted to write, so now I'm just going to talk about some of the games I intend to get/try soon and some that I am looking forward to.
Here's some of the games that have been out, and recommended to me, that I want to try sooner than later:
Horseshoes, Hand Gernades & Hot Dogs: I'm not entirely sure of the exact premise, but it seems to be a shooter or target practice/range type of game with quirky and funny twists.
I Expect you to Die: Sort of a puzzle/room escape type of game. I've seen some online vids of people playing and it looks rather fun, it gets recommended a lot.
Pavlov: I don't think this was as highly favored when it first came out, but again, lots of people rave about it now, so maybe they had some crucial updates or something. Seems like a classic FPS of some kind.
Blade & Sorcery: The most I've seen played of this was from Pewdiepie, and he had tons of fun with it (knees!!.) Looks pretty decent, not sure if there's much story there, I might have to research that a bit more.
Subnautica: People talk about how amazing this game is... you do have to play it with a controller I believe, which takes away from it somewhat, but I keep hearing people talk about it, so maybe I want to try it, maybe.
Stormlands: To be honest, not much of a clue what this game is about, I believe you fly around or zip line around or something with hot-air balloons, but I could be wrong.
The Under Presents: This is some sort of social/performance piece, kind of game, with a live aspect to it and time travel or something. It is made by the same people who did Virtual Virtual Reality, so I anticipate it will be a bit mind-bending and entertaining.
Vacation Simulator: Job Simulator was fun and I hear this one is very similar. Not as highly favored, but seems like the kind of game I will enjoy.
As well as all of these listed, there are a couple games that I am looking forward to... although it's mostly just, Half Life: Alyx. I've been a fan of Half Life since Half-Life 2, shortly after it was released... I've gone back and played through a majority of Half-Life 1, but it never really captured my attention. Also have played through a lot of Half Life: Episode 2. I absolutely love and beat multiple times both Portal games, and Valve in general just does things right. The fact they are dedicating the next Half Life saga to VR specifically, and judging from the trailer it looks absolutely amazing and engrossing, but also, makes me worry that my computer will even be able to run it. I maxed out my PC when I built it, but that was over 3 years ago, and the only upgrade since was to my graphic card about a year ago (980 ti.) so I think I can run it OK, but now I'm thinking about upping my CPU and getting a 2080 ti (just to be safe.) I'm foolish, I know, but it's stuff like this that excites me, so might as well splurge occasionally. We'll see.
In conclusion... VR is breaking ground, it's a great time to jump in because we're at a good spot and it's only going to get better.
Monday, October 7, 2019
13,870 Days and Counting
Another Birthday has come and gone... 38 years old, that's sort of a long time. Hard to believe at times, but it is the truth.
Anyway, had a nice little birthday, nothing too exciting, Mom made Chicken Pot Pie, which was delicious!! Nice little Coconut Custard Pie thrown in the mix for desert! MMM!
Jen shocked me the most, she ended up getting me a Nintendo Switch... out of nowhere, and I had no clue how she even knew I wanted a Switch, but she is amazing, I was blown away. She also got me Zelda: Link's Awakening (Remastered) which has been a blast playing through, and better believe I already downloaded and have been playing and creating worlds in Super Mario Maker 2. Such fun!
Great times all around. Dad had his birthday Saturday, which was nice, and the rest of the weekend was being dissapointed by the Cowboys as well as by my Fantasy Teams... ugh... Oh well, there's always next week. I did survive in the Survivor Pool though, so I got that going for me... Jen is still kicking too, we're down to 17 people (the initial amount of 'survivors' was around 72, so not bad odds!) Oh also, did a bit of music over the weekend too, I have some really good sounding music that is coming along nicely... just need to structure it, write lyrics, record and release the kraken.
Only other thing to speak about is a bunch of movies I want to see... including (but not limited to:) It part 2, Baby Driver, Joker and a couple others which escape my mind currently. Do also want to catch up on some missed TV, like the Wu-Tang Drama series, the Wu-Tang Documentary, Stranger Things and a couple other shows like Black Mirror and I believe Rick and Morty are coming back with season 4 pretty soon, which sounds like a great excuse to go back and watch the first 3 seasons all over again.
Anyway, had a nice little birthday, nothing too exciting, Mom made Chicken Pot Pie, which was delicious!! Nice little Coconut Custard Pie thrown in the mix for desert! MMM!
Jen shocked me the most, she ended up getting me a Nintendo Switch... out of nowhere, and I had no clue how she even knew I wanted a Switch, but she is amazing, I was blown away. She also got me Zelda: Link's Awakening (Remastered) which has been a blast playing through, and better believe I already downloaded and have been playing and creating worlds in Super Mario Maker 2. Such fun!
Great times all around. Dad had his birthday Saturday, which was nice, and the rest of the weekend was being dissapointed by the Cowboys as well as by my Fantasy Teams... ugh... Oh well, there's always next week. I did survive in the Survivor Pool though, so I got that going for me... Jen is still kicking too, we're down to 17 people (the initial amount of 'survivors' was around 72, so not bad odds!) Oh also, did a bit of music over the weekend too, I have some really good sounding music that is coming along nicely... just need to structure it, write lyrics, record and release the kraken.
Only other thing to speak about is a bunch of movies I want to see... including (but not limited to:) It part 2, Baby Driver, Joker and a couple others which escape my mind currently. Do also want to catch up on some missed TV, like the Wu-Tang Drama series, the Wu-Tang Documentary, Stranger Things and a couple other shows like Black Mirror and I believe Rick and Morty are coming back with season 4 pretty soon, which sounds like a great excuse to go back and watch the first 3 seasons all over again.
Monday, September 30, 2019
Just an Update
With Fall now upon us, and updates to this blog few and far between, I figured I'd write something...anything, to keep this thing going.
First off, we feel it's just about time to get back into the house hunting and start looking to move out of my parents' house, which I don't know if I even spoke about on here, but in brief, we were running into some financial issues and started to get overwhelmed, so we moved in with my parents for a while to get back on our feet. We've now been there for about a year and a half, and are at the point we are ready to get back on our own... for numerous reasons.
We have a meeting with a mortgage lender tomorrow to start getting the process flowing of how much we can afford and then will go forward toward checking out houses. We would really like to stay in the area we are in, but if an opportunity arises we will weigh all the pros and cons and see where we end up.
It's exciting starting to do the house hunters thing, but I certainly dread the actual moving process, so we'll see how that goes...
In other news - the Kids are doing good, besides the usual illness that seems to plague them, things are on the up and up... Sydney is getting smarter by the day, starting to do spelling and is very good with her numbers... I'm a very proud papa. Kenzie is also developing well, saying more and more words everyday and understands things as well, we can tell her to 'throw that away' or 'put that in the sink'... and she rushes off to either discard trash or throw her dirty silverware in the sink. So cute!
In other (Gaming) news -- I haven't had the amount of time I'd like over the last half of Summer to really have fun with VR, but occasionally I'll pop on the headset and play some Beat Saber or VR Chat or a couple other games. Still tons of fun, just not enough time in the day.
I've actually gone back and got quite into PUBG again, they have (and still constantly) update the game and optimize it, so as it stands right now, it is smooth, no network lag, better graphics and all around more fun. Been having a blast playing it again and I have to thank Dan Gheesling and Team Unity for inspiring me on this front, since they also got back into it somewhat recently.
Oh yea, back to VR... there was just another OC6 conference (Facebook's Oculus Conference) and the Oculus Quest is getting all kinds of interesting updates, including Oculus 'Link' which (soon) allows users to thether the Quest to their PC to expand the game library and play PCVR games. That is pretty huge, and almost makes the Rift-S obsolete...almost. They are also aiming to include 'hand tracking' into the Quest by next year... we'll see how that comes along.
Suffice to say, anytime there is major news in the VR world, I do get a bit excited and decide to play a little more VR, so I'm already counting down the hours until I get off work and can jump into my 'Oasis' tonight. Oh and I got Jen playing Beat Saber the other day too, she was impressed... I also think I'm going to get my parents (namely my Dad) a Quest for Christmas. He has been loving his Oculus GO, and I think it's time for him to get an upgrade. He's ready.
Other than all that, Halloween is coming soon, which is always fun... can't wait to get Kenzie out for trick-or-treating... she went last year, but obviously had no clue of anything that was going on... she still probably won't really get it, but at least she's a little more aware this year. Syd is excited as usual, and she keeps changing her mind on what she actually wants to be... so we'll see where she lands with that!
With Halloween also kicks off the holiday season, which is always a whirlwind, and throw our Disney vacation into the mix in November and we'll be busy little beavers the rest of the year. Oy Vey!
Also, Trump... the DS still keeps trying to take him out, but are desperate and sloppy in their attempts and thankfully the public is waking up, albeit slower than I'd like. #Trump2020.
Let's Go!
First off, we feel it's just about time to get back into the house hunting and start looking to move out of my parents' house, which I don't know if I even spoke about on here, but in brief, we were running into some financial issues and started to get overwhelmed, so we moved in with my parents for a while to get back on our feet. We've now been there for about a year and a half, and are at the point we are ready to get back on our own... for numerous reasons.
We have a meeting with a mortgage lender tomorrow to start getting the process flowing of how much we can afford and then will go forward toward checking out houses. We would really like to stay in the area we are in, but if an opportunity arises we will weigh all the pros and cons and see where we end up.
It's exciting starting to do the house hunters thing, but I certainly dread the actual moving process, so we'll see how that goes...
In other news - the Kids are doing good, besides the usual illness that seems to plague them, things are on the up and up... Sydney is getting smarter by the day, starting to do spelling and is very good with her numbers... I'm a very proud papa. Kenzie is also developing well, saying more and more words everyday and understands things as well, we can tell her to 'throw that away' or 'put that in the sink'... and she rushes off to either discard trash or throw her dirty silverware in the sink. So cute!
In other (Gaming) news -- I haven't had the amount of time I'd like over the last half of Summer to really have fun with VR, but occasionally I'll pop on the headset and play some Beat Saber or VR Chat or a couple other games. Still tons of fun, just not enough time in the day.
I've actually gone back and got quite into PUBG again, they have (and still constantly) update the game and optimize it, so as it stands right now, it is smooth, no network lag, better graphics and all around more fun. Been having a blast playing it again and I have to thank Dan Gheesling and Team Unity for inspiring me on this front, since they also got back into it somewhat recently.
Oh yea, back to VR... there was just another OC6 conference (Facebook's Oculus Conference) and the Oculus Quest is getting all kinds of interesting updates, including Oculus 'Link' which (soon) allows users to thether the Quest to their PC to expand the game library and play PCVR games. That is pretty huge, and almost makes the Rift-S obsolete...almost. They are also aiming to include 'hand tracking' into the Quest by next year... we'll see how that comes along.
Suffice to say, anytime there is major news in the VR world, I do get a bit excited and decide to play a little more VR, so I'm already counting down the hours until I get off work and can jump into my 'Oasis' tonight. Oh and I got Jen playing Beat Saber the other day too, she was impressed... I also think I'm going to get my parents (namely my Dad) a Quest for Christmas. He has been loving his Oculus GO, and I think it's time for him to get an upgrade. He's ready.
Other than all that, Halloween is coming soon, which is always fun... can't wait to get Kenzie out for trick-or-treating... she went last year, but obviously had no clue of anything that was going on... she still probably won't really get it, but at least she's a little more aware this year. Syd is excited as usual, and she keeps changing her mind on what she actually wants to be... so we'll see where she lands with that!
With Halloween also kicks off the holiday season, which is always a whirlwind, and throw our Disney vacation into the mix in November and we'll be busy little beavers the rest of the year. Oy Vey!
Also, Trump... the DS still keeps trying to take him out, but are desperate and sloppy in their attempts and thankfully the public is waking up, albeit slower than I'd like. #Trump2020.
Let's Go!
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Summerish
Been a minute since I last updated here, likely due to summer being a bit busy, but have still been doing my share of gaming here and there.
VR is still in the mix, but I must admit, a large portion of my summer thus far has been engrossed with Minecraft, thanks to PewDiePie resparking the passion for the game. There have been a lot of cool updates since I last played too, so it's been fun discovering and exploring.
The VR games that have occupied my time have been a lot of Beat Saber, which I use as the occasional exercise machine. Also have been playing a large amount of VR Chat, which is great fun because you never know what you're going to get. There's been a couple others which I have tried/jumped into including (but not limited to) Virtual Virtual Reality, Spider-Man: Far From Home (demo), No Man's Sky, and a couple others.
I have been garnering interest in going back to some games of a forgotten era, and have been dusting off my consoles lately as well.
I jumped back into Super Mario Maker for the Wii-U after watching so many people on-line posting video of Super Mario Maker 2 for the Switch... has been fun playing this again, and kind of makes me want to get a Switch now... damnit... debating this currently!
Also, jumped back into some GTA games, which I always seem to do every now and then. But just like usual, I feel they don't hold up... tried to start up at GTA 3... i played it out, and the controls are too elementary, same with Vice City. San Andreas has caught my attention a bit more and I could see myself playing through it, but more than likely I'll tire of those controls as well. GTA 4 was able to keep me more enthralled, but even playing through that made me just want to play more of GTA V, so that's where I currently am, playing through one of my various save games on GTA V. Perhaps I'll give GTA Online another go, since they just recently added the Casino DLC... I really really really just wish they would've released a Story-Only DLC, but doesn't look like it, that boat has probably sailed.
Speaking of GTA... the rumor mill has started turning for GTA VI. Tentatively titled, GTA Americas, it is supposed to take place in Vice City as well as Central America in the 70s and 80s. Sounds interesting, but it's still so early, I don't think a lot of the rumors hold weight. Guess we will see, and it will still probably be a while, speculation has it released in 2021 at the earliest... ugh.
Other than gaming, have been having a fun summer doing fun summer stuff with the kids. Life is grand.
VR is still in the mix, but I must admit, a large portion of my summer thus far has been engrossed with Minecraft, thanks to PewDiePie resparking the passion for the game. There have been a lot of cool updates since I last played too, so it's been fun discovering and exploring.
The VR games that have occupied my time have been a lot of Beat Saber, which I use as the occasional exercise machine. Also have been playing a large amount of VR Chat, which is great fun because you never know what you're going to get. There's been a couple others which I have tried/jumped into including (but not limited to) Virtual Virtual Reality, Spider-Man: Far From Home (demo), No Man's Sky, and a couple others.
I have been garnering interest in going back to some games of a forgotten era, and have been dusting off my consoles lately as well.
I jumped back into Super Mario Maker for the Wii-U after watching so many people on-line posting video of Super Mario Maker 2 for the Switch... has been fun playing this again, and kind of makes me want to get a Switch now... damnit... debating this currently!
Also, jumped back into some GTA games, which I always seem to do every now and then. But just like usual, I feel they don't hold up... tried to start up at GTA 3... i played it out, and the controls are too elementary, same with Vice City. San Andreas has caught my attention a bit more and I could see myself playing through it, but more than likely I'll tire of those controls as well. GTA 4 was able to keep me more enthralled, but even playing through that made me just want to play more of GTA V, so that's where I currently am, playing through one of my various save games on GTA V. Perhaps I'll give GTA Online another go, since they just recently added the Casino DLC... I really really really just wish they would've released a Story-Only DLC, but doesn't look like it, that boat has probably sailed.
Speaking of GTA... the rumor mill has started turning for GTA VI. Tentatively titled, GTA Americas, it is supposed to take place in Vice City as well as Central America in the 70s and 80s. Sounds interesting, but it's still so early, I don't think a lot of the rumors hold weight. Guess we will see, and it will still probably be a while, speculation has it released in 2021 at the earliest... ugh.
Other than gaming, have been having a fun summer doing fun summer stuff with the kids. Life is grand.
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