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Non-NEC Console Related Discussion => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: esteban on June 24, 2008, 05:09:41 PM

Title: Hey :)
Post by: esteban on June 24, 2008, 05:09:41 PM
So, I've been MIA for a few days, but I'm back. I briefly skimmed some of the past threads... has it been kinda slow here or is the "show unread posts" function still 50% accurate?

:)

What's up with you folks? What have you been doing?

Myself, I went to a wood-turning demo yesterday (long story) and it was awesome, plus everyone at the meeting was 70+ years old... saw this dude: http://www.turningintoart.com (http://www.turningintoart.com/) .

I think I'm going to plan a camping trip for the summer, since my daughter is old enough to handle it / enjoy it now... Vermont/Maine most likely, though I'm tempted to be lazy and camp in our front yard :).

Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: ParanoiaDragon on June 24, 2008, 06:02:09 PM
I've been real busy, hot n' sweaty!  Though, it's cooled off for a few days.  For the record, honestly, it's been a few weeks since I've been able to work on anything for finishing up Mysterious Song.  I'm almost always exhausted when I get home from work.
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: rolins on June 24, 2008, 07:51:26 PM
Hey Esteban (Steve666) :)
Been a while since I've seen you around here, but same goes for me too. I've just been busy.

Constantly on the move. I'm getting pretty damn exhausted packing up and hauling heavy furniture. I could really use a back massage especially around the neck, but no money for that now. By the end of this month it will be the second time I've moved within 3 months. From my small apartment in Northridge, CA to my parents house in Las Vegas, NV and eventually to another apartment (in the same city). I don't feel ashamed to live with my parents again. I'm actually glad because I can finally relax and feel financially secure for a while. The whole point about moving back was because I wasn't making enough money to stay in California. My parents are very cool that I'm back though. It's been about 6 years and nothing hasn't really change, although my parents definitely has been visiting the casino buffets a little too often. It's so good to have home cooked meals again something that fast food and top ramen can't imitate.

Bad news though, my parents filed for bankruptcy and they'll be losing their house like millions of other Americans. Bastard Countrywide. :evil: This is why I'm moving again to another apartment. I'm rather pissed that this has happened to us especially since my parents had good credit for 15 years. Well at least my parents get to keep the majority of their money, and we'll be saving more money living in an apartment. So I guess I'll be alright, I'm gonna miss the fancy kitchen.

I still make time to play some video games whenever I can. Lately I've gone back to playing a bunch of DOS games and bought a $12 laptop for my dedicated dos machine.

Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: Joe Redifer on June 24, 2008, 07:56:53 PM
Hi.
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: Tatsujin on June 25, 2008, 12:47:15 AM
hi over there.
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: ceti alpha on June 25, 2008, 01:52:54 AM
So, I've been MIA for a few days, but I'm back. I briefly skimmed some of the past threads... has it been kinda slow here or is the "show unread posts" function still 50% accurate?

:)

What's up with you folks? What have you been doing?

Myself, I went to a wood-turning demo yesterday (long story) and it was awesome, plus everyone at the meeting was 70+ years old... saw this dude: http://www.turningintoart.com (http://www.turningintoart.com/) .

I think I'm going to plan a camping trip for the summer, since my daughter is old enough to handle it / enjoy it now... Vermont/Maine most likely, though I'm tempted to be lazy and camp in our front yard :).




Cool esteban. I didn't know you were into woodworking. As for camping this summer, I won't be too far from where you want go this weekend. I'm going up to New Brunswick (Canadian province next to Maine) this weekend (as it stands) for a camping trip. Should be a good time if it ends up happening. There are still a few things to work out with other people, so you never know.

Rolins, that sucks about your parents getting sucked into the US real estate collapse. :( But it seems like your parents made out better than some. And enjoy the financial security of living at home and save some coin. Lots of my friends have done that - I've done that. lol. That's what parents are for. :D

Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: Necromancer on June 25, 2008, 03:21:26 AM
Howdy, esteban.  It has been a bit slow around here, but I like to think that we're shooting for quality, not quantity; whether or not we hit that target on a regular basis is open for debate.  :)

Camping is good fun, though I haven't done enough of it lately (nor fishing).  What kind of camping do you do?  Camper?  Tent?  Bear skin rug with pointy stick?
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: nat on June 25, 2008, 04:08:27 AM
Camping in Maine sounds fun, I'll be in Maine in September, you guys should come visit me. I have vacation property there on the bank of the Sasanoa River.
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: ceti alpha on June 25, 2008, 06:32:07 AM
Camping in Maine sounds fun, I'll be in Maine in September, you guys should come visit me. I have vacation property there on the bank of the Sasanoa River.

Cripes man. I love Maine too. I'm wearing my "I Love Maine" t-shirt as we speak.  :^o But seriously, I do love going down to Canada's 11th province.  :P I'd love to visit in September. I could very well have vacation around that time. When in September are you going to be there?
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: nat on June 25, 2008, 07:24:50 AM
The 1st through the 15th I think. Something along those lines. It's been a few months since I booked the plane tickets, I forgot the exact dates.
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: esteban on June 25, 2008, 03:56:37 PM
Hey Esteban (Steve666) :)
Been a while since I've seen you around here, but same goes for me too. I've just been busy.

Constantly on the move. I'm getting pretty damn exhausted packing up and hauling heavy furniture. I could really use a back massage especially around the neck, but no money for that now. By the end of this month it will be the second time I've moved within 3 months. From my small apartment in Northridge, CA to my parents house in Las Vegas, NV and eventually to another apartment (in the same city). I don't feel ashamed to live with my parents again. I'm actually glad because I can finally relax and feel financially secure for a while. The whole point about moving back was because I wasn't making enough money to stay in California. My parents are very cool that I'm back though. It's been about 6 years and nothing hasn't really change, although my parents definitely has been visiting the casino buffets a little too often. It's so good to have home cooked meals again something that fast food and top ramen can't imitate.


Yeah, now that I'm back on the east coast, I am able to visit my parents all the time and NOTHING has really changed with them. It really feels like a time-warp... back to the old days :). They are still using an ancient bottle of aspirin that expired in 1991 (I think it was a bottle that I left at their house). With each passing year, my dad uses a handful of Q-tips, thereby ensuring that I will inherit them (he bought a carton of 250 Q-tips at some point in the 80's). I opened up a jar of "OxyPads" a month or two ago... I swear I bought them when I was in middle school / high school, which was well over 15 years ago.

Why do my parents still have all of "my" old stuff?   

Of course, my dad has his old Brill Cream from the 50's or 60's lying around somewhere, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Quote
Bad news though, my parents filed for bankruptcy and they'll be losing their house like millions of other Americans. Bastard Countrywide. :evil: This is why I'm moving again to another apartment. I'm rather pissed that this has happened to us especially since my parents had good credit for 15 years. Well at least my parents get to keep the majority of their money, and we'll be saving more money living in an apartment. So I guess I'll be alright, I'm gonna miss the fancy kitchen.


Dude, that is crappy. I hope everything works out for you guys. All of my friends have been trying to live more frugally, for various reasons... thankfully (?) I've been able to stick to a very modest budget for the last year. One of these days I'm going to splurge and buy an mp3 player, dammit.


Quote
I still make time to play some video games whenever I can. Lately I've gone back to playing a bunch of DOS games and bought a $12 laptop for my dedicated dos machine.


Sadly, I've been playing most of my games on my friggin' cell phone. Neo Gradius and Might & Magic have provided some long-term enjoyment, despite the crappy buttons, controls. Yeah, I've sunk to a new low.

As for old DOS games, I recently revisited BLOCKOUT... I friggin love that game. I thought I'd quickly get sick of it (I overplayed it back in the day), but I didn't get sick of it...

Which reminds me, I've been wanting to check out Betrayal at Krondor (DOS) for a few months now, simply because I was curious about this (http://archives.tg-16.com/EGM/big_riftwar_saga.jpg)unreleased TG-16 game. I don't know anything about the author, or Riftwar, so I thought it might be a fun place to start.
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: esteban on June 25, 2008, 04:16:25 PM
Cool esteban. I didn't know you were into woodworking. As for camping this summer, I won't be too far from where you want go this weekend. I'm going up to New Brunswick (Canadian province next to Maine) this weekend (as it stands) for a camping trip. Should be a good time if it ends up happening. There are still a few things to work out with other people, so you never know.

I visited some seaside town in New Brunswick (I think it was there)... an old fort, with cannons facing the sea, cute cobblestone roads and a museum with ancient surgical equipment (fascinating stuff there). Ha! There are probably a dozen cities that fit this description, but it would have been north of Maine and east...



Howdy, esteban.  It has been a bit slow around here, but I like to think that we're shooting for quality, not quantity; whether or not we hit that target on a regular basis is open for debate.  :)

Camping is good fun, though I haven't done enough of it lately (nor fishing).  What kind of camping do you do?  Camper?  Tent?  Bear skin rug with pointy stick?

Good old sleeping bags + tent. One time, in the autumn/winter, I accidentally bought a tent (it was called "STARGAZER"). Hmm, that's a neat name.

11 pm, when we finally arrive at the campground and start to pitch the tent, I suddenly realized why it was called StarGazer: the entire top was friggin' see-through mesh! Yeah, there had a tarp you could throw on top (to keep out rain), but it was horrible at keeping out the icy drafts!

I prefer camping in the cooler weather, when the world isn't muggy or full of mosquitoes.

Camping in Maine sounds fun, I'll be in Maine in September, you guys should come visit me. I have vacation property there on the bank of the Sasanoa River.

Dude, that's awesome. I've spent most of my time around Arcadia National Park, but the Sasanoa River sounds really nice (never camped around there). September is tough for me, though (busy time at work). Damn! I'm not ruling it out, but.... damn.

;)
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: Necromancer on June 26, 2008, 03:07:52 AM
Good old sleeping bags + tent. One time, in the autumn/winter, I accidentally bought a tent (it was called "STARGAZER"). Hmm, that's a neat name.

11 pm, when we finally arrive at the campground and start to pitch the tent, I suddenly realized why it was called StarGazer: the entire top was friggin' see-through mesh! Yeah, there had a tarp you could throw on top (to keep out rain), but it was horrible at keeping out the icy drafts!

Sounds like a good idea in theory, not so much in practice.  I'm only in the tent to sleep or hide from the rain, neither or which is astronomy time.  Perhaps it was supposed to have included one of Jack Horkheimer's toupees to help keep you warm.  Did you check the box thoroughly?
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: ceti alpha on June 26, 2008, 03:11:52 AM
Cool esteban. I didn't know you were into woodworking. As for camping this summer, I won't be too far from where you want go this weekend. I'm going up to New Brunswick (Canadian province next to Maine) this weekend (as it stands) for a camping trip. Should be a good time if it ends up happening. There are still a few things to work out with other people, so you never know.


I visited some seaside town in New Brunswick (I think it was there)... an old fort, with cannons facing the sea, cute cobblestone roads and a museum with ancient surgical equipment (fascinating stuff there). Ha! There are probably a dozen cities that fit this description, but it would have been north of Maine and east...


I can't think of what town that would be. But yeah, there are a ton of fortress towns in the maritime provinces. One of the more famous and historically significant fortresses in here in Nova Scotia - Fortress Louisbourg. It was built to protect the French interests in the New World. The British finally captured it in 1745 with support from New England. I guess it was the historic equivalent to the siege of Normandy in WWII. I've read soldiers' letters to their families and girlfriends and they describe some pretty graphic scenes like in the intro to Saving Ryan's Privates. If the British didn't get Louisbourg who knows what North America would look like now? Instead of the O'Reilly Factor, would we have the D'Aubigne factor?  :-s

Here's a link for any history lovers: http://www.louisbourg.ca/fort/siege1745.htm

The "stargazer" incident is hilarious. Shitty at the time I would imagine, but funny nonetheless.  O:)  :lol:


Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: esteban on June 27, 2008, 05:40:58 PM
Perhaps it was supposed to have included one of Jack Horkheimer's toupees to help keep you warm.  Did you check the box thoroughly?


I would have been delighted to find a toupee, or even a handful of hairplugs.

I can't think of what town that would be. But yeah, there are a ton of fortress towns in the maritime provinces. One of the more famous and historically significant fortresses in here in Nova Scotia - Fortress Louisbourg. It was built to protect the French interests in the New World. The British finally captured it in 1745 with support from New England. I guess it was the historic equivalent to the siege of Normandy in WWII. I've read soldiers' letters to their families and girlfriends and they describe some pretty graphic scenes like in the intro to Saving Ryan's Privates. If the British didn't get Louisbourg who knows what North America would look like now? Instead of the O'Reilly Factor, would we have the D'Aubigne factor?  :-s

Here's a link for any history lovers: http://www.louisbourg.ca/fort/siege1745.htm

The "stargazer" incident is hilarious. Shitty at the time I would imagine, but funny nonetheless.  O:)  :lol:


I love finding out about stuff like that. Louisbourg, who knew? Certainly not I. I was actually trying to figure out if we would have gone out of our way to drive into Nova Scotia... it's a 50/50 shot, so I asked a few folks to see if they remembered.

I remember we were going to some music festival in Montreal or Quebec and decided to take detours if we were ahead of schedule.

ASIDE: The only band I remember seeing was called "Caffeine" or something like that? They seemed to be a hit with the teeny boppers!
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: rolins on June 27, 2008, 07:09:55 PM
Rolins, that sucks about your parents getting sucked into the US real estate collapse. :( But it seems like your parents made out better than some. And enjoy the financial security of living at home and save some coin. Lots of my friends have done that - I've done that. lol. That's what parents are for. :D


Dude, that is crappy. I hope everything works out for you guys. All of my friends have been trying to live more frugally, for various reasons... thankfully (?) I've been able to stick to a very modest budget for the last year. One of these days I'm going to splurge and buy an mp3 player, dammit.


Thanks guys. Yeah, I plan to take it easy for a bit and watch my coffer get fatter. Though I better find a job soon, I can only mooch off my parents for so long. I'm praying for the day I'll move back to Cali. I seriously don't like it here in Vegas, people here give you more attitude than Angelenos.

Yeah, now that I'm back on the east coast, I am able to visit my parents all the time and NOTHING has really changed with them. It really feels like a time-warp... back to the old days :). They are still using an ancient bottle of aspirin that expired in 1991 (I think it was a bottle that I left at their house). With each passing year, my dad uses a handful of Q-tips, thereby ensuring that I will inherit them (he bought a carton of 250 Q-tips at some point in the 80's). I opened up a jar of "OxyPads" a month or two ago... I swear I bought them when I was in middle school / high school, which was well over 15 years ago.

Why do my parents still have all of "my" old stuff?   

Of course, my dad has his old Brill Cream from the 50's or 60's lying around somewhere, so I guess I shouldn't complain.


I can relate. My dad is a mild pack-rat. He doesn't want to throw anything way even if something is partially broken. The object would have to be shattered into tiny pieces for my dad to consider it thrash. If you were to see our garage we have boxes full of broken kitchen appliances, old knick knacks, TVs, chandeliers, fans, chairs, picture frames, candle holders, etc. The crap just keeps building every year. Not much I can do since he gets angry everytime I suggest downsizing his crap. I even mentioned donating the partially broken TVs and furniture to goodwill for the tax write off. After so many arguments, I gave up and let him do what he wants. My dad keeps saying he's storing it all for me when I branch out and have a family of my own. Gee, thanks dad... ](*,)

Sadly, I've been playing most of my games on my friggin' cell phone. Neo Gradius and Might & Magic have provided some long-term enjoyment, despite the crappy buttons, controls. Yeah, I've sunk to a new low.

As for old DOS games, I recently revisited BLOCKOUT... I friggin love that game. I thought I'd quickly get sick of it (I overplayed it back in the day), but I didn't get sick of it...

Which reminds me, I've been wanting to check out Betrayal at Krondor (DOS) for a few months now, simply because I was curious about this (http://archives.tg-16.com/EGM/big_riftwar_saga.jpg)unreleased TG-16 game. I don't know anything about the author, or Riftwar, so I thought it might be a fun place to start.


Neo Gradius? I wish I can get that on my phone but it's too low end. It gets crappy games and I crave shmups. Galaga and asteriods doesn't really help much to fill the void. :(

I also checked out Betrayal at Krondor. I got interested after watching a vblog of Spoonyone, he mentioned it was great RPG so I gave it a shot. I'll say off the bat that this game is not my cup of tea. I could never get used to RPGs in first-person view.
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: esteban on June 28, 2008, 01:41:12 AM
My dad keeps saying he's storing it all for me when I branch out and have a family of my own. Gee, thanks dad... ](*,)[/url]

Dude, we'll be stoked when we get our inheritance of 1 million rubber bands (you know, the ones that are used to hold produce, like asparagus, together at the supermarket). Oh, and the 8 million twistie-ties will be icing on the cake.


Quote
Neo Gradius? I wish I can get that on my phone but it's too low end. It gets crappy games and I crave shmups. Galaga and asteriods doesn't really help much to fill the void. :(

I also checked out Betrayal at Krondor. I got interested after watching a vblog of Spoonyone, he mentioned it was great RPG so I gave it a shot. I'll say off the bat that this game is not my cup of tea. I could never get used to RPGs in first-person view.

Yeah, Betrayal at Krondor is not my first love either. I'm going to give it some time this summer, though.

As for Galaga (my wife has that on her cell phone)... the controls totally destroy that game. It's the layout of the buttons on her phone...

We always buy these games in moments of desperation, of course. I think that is the whole business model behind mobile gaming... we're a captive, desperate, deranged demographic.
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: ceti alpha on June 30, 2008, 09:06:00 AM
My dad keeps saying he's storing it all for me when I branch out and have a family of my own. Gee, thanks dad... ](*,)[/url]

Dude, we'll be stoked when we get our inheritance of 1 million rubber bands (you know, the ones that are used to hold produce, like asparagus, together at the supermarket). Oh, and the 8 million twistie-ties will be icing on the cake.


Quote
Neo Gradius? I wish I can get that on my phone but it's too low end. It gets crappy games and I crave shmups. Galaga and asteriods doesn't really help much to fill the void. :(

I also checked out Betrayal at Krondor. I got interested after watching a vblog of Spoonyone, he mentioned it was great RPG so I gave it a shot. I'll say off the bat that this game is not my cup of tea. I could never get used to RPGs in first-person view.

Yeah, Betrayal at Krondor is not my first love either. I'm going to give it some time this summer, though.

As for Galaga (my wife has that on her cell phone)... the controls totally destroy that game. It's the layout of the buttons on her phone...

We always buy these games in moments of desperation, of course. I think that is the whole business model behind mobile gaming... we're a captive, desperate, deranged demographic.

I have Galaga on my mobile phone as well. Actually, my ring tone is the Galaga intro. hehe :mrgreen: As for the controls of the game on the cell phone, yeah, it sucks. Not only the controls, but the fact that you can't fire and move at the same time just makes the game totally unplayable. However, my Ms. Pac Man gets plenty of action.  8)

Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: esteban on June 30, 2008, 09:52:57 AM
I have Galaga on my mobile phone as well. Actually, my ring tone is the Galaga intro. hehe :mrgreen: As for the controls of the game on the cell phone, yeah, it sucks. Not only the controls, but the fact that you can't fire and move at the same time just makes the game totally unplayable. However, my Ms. Pac Man gets plenty of action.  8)

Exactly! You can't fire and move at the same time. Neo Gradius has an "auto-fire" option to compensate for this... you'd think the Du'Massio's working on the mobile version of Galaga would have thought of this, hmmmm, on an hourly basis.

Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: guyjin on June 30, 2008, 09:55:28 AM
you assume somebody gives a shit about the quality of cellphone games. you assume wrong.
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: esteban on June 30, 2008, 10:06:52 AM
you assume somebody gives a shit about the quality of cellphone games. you assume wrong.

:)

I've heard that, on average, the quality of cellophane games is better... perhaps I'll venture into this new territory for my gaming needs.
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: Sparky on June 30, 2008, 11:35:56 AM
Summer is always a busy time for me at work so i will be more scare at times on here :roll:. My boss who has about 6 weeks holidays takes them off and on during the summer which puts me next in line for being in charge which i freak'n hate!!!!!!! but there is good news for me i am going on an Alaskan Crusie in less than 2 weeks, :D sweet jesus i cannot wait but that will mean a full week without the old internet :shock: hmmmm…i wonder if they have some sort of public internet setup there, if so i will jump on the chat one night and let ya know how things are going :D
Title: Re: Hey :)
Post by: ceti alpha on June 30, 2008, 01:17:21 PM
you assume somebody gives a shit about the quality of cellphone games. you assume wrong.

Well, I certainly don't, but I do like the classic arcade games to keep me busy while I'm waiting for whatever it is I'm waiting for at the time, or while I'm sitting on the throne.  :mrgreen: But it is annoying when you pay for a game and you find out later it's completely useless.