Good News Everyone!

If you were or are currently a fan of Futurama, you probably just read that title in the Professor's voice. No worries, that still happens to me around 80% of the time too.

Not surprising it started appearing on the internet everywhere

Anyway, onto the good news itself.

The first thing is that the Lime-Green Nintendo DS Lite replacement that was sent from China arrived the other day, and I'm pleased to report that the unit has no defects that we can see! The top screen isn't warped, the touch screen is actually responsive, and the volume slider directly controls the sound output. Skye says that the speakers sound a bit off to her but from our brief testing period I couldn't hear what she was talking about. I'll reserve any judgment as to whether or not that's the case when we pop a game in. It's a very minor issue if so, and can be easily remedied with headphones. I'm glad that it all turned out all right in the end - the internet would have suffered a severe maelstrom of my wrath otherwise.

Or so I would to think, anyway. In reality it would have just been a heated discussion with the seller and eBay representatives, but I digress.

The second bit of good news is that Skye and I have decided to invest in acquiring internet at our current place of residence, so that should be set up sometime in the next week. Now Skye doesn't have to worry about finding a place with a secure connection so she can do her work, and as for me, well, now I'll be able to webcam with my family (and check my emails) from the comfort of home. We're getting a pretty spectacular deal since Skye's Nan already is using Bell Aliant's phone service - the internet only adds around $35 a month, and between the two of us that's at most $17.50 each. Not too shabby eh?

Skye bought The Last Story as a gift for me and so far I am enjoying it. It's a different kind of JRPG from the likes of Xenoblade Chronicles - they're both good in their own ways, and The Last Story is all about getting into the thick of the plot immediately. The characters are more dynamic or at least their development seems more intricate than those of the Xenoblade ilk, but I can say that I do prefer the environments and soundtrack to Xenoblade overall. The Last Story keeps to more traditional aesthetics whereas Xenoblade has fun making visuals as surreal and memorable as possible. I'm also more a fan of Xenoblade's gameplay because it felt very tight and responsive (and you could choose to play as any character you wanted in the party at any time) while TLS feels a bit heavier and the battle mechanics are all right. I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here - there are a lot of potential exciting avenues for it to tread, and we'll find out soon enough how it develops.

Also, you can change the colours of their outfits. That's a feature that Xenoblade probably could have used to dull the sometimes ridiculous clashing of parts of their outfits. Still, it made for some hilarious cutscenes.

Work has been treating me well for the most part; most of the co-workers seem to like me and I can easily say that the same goes for the other way around. I always try to put forth 100% in any task that I am given, though I am definitely better in some roles over others - trying to take cash while simultaneously taking another order is not my strong suit, nor do I particularly like it anyway. I feel that it is rude to the customer currently paying - I like interacting with each person to give them a uniquely personable experience, but it's hard to do that when you're trying to input an order from the next in line. I still prefer front counter to the other roles for that reason, but I've never been assigned there since joining the team. I've been exclusively on drive-thru, and while I've become used to it, I would like to take orders face-to-face once in awhile.

Random note: Skye is becoming more interested in Game of Thrones. EXCELLENNNNT.

My glee when she asked to watch an episode this morning

Every Sunday I look forward to the new episodes of Downton Abbey and Once Upon A Time. Unfortunately I will not be able to see them until tomorrow night as I work 5-11PM tonight (I'm already tired now, so this may be brutal) and 12-6PM tomorrow, but still. I'm looking forward to my day off on Tuesday. I haven't had one since last Tuesday, and I'm starting to feel it.

Skye bought a Blackberry Playbook (tablet) for herself this past week and is finding a lot of use and enjoyment out of it - so much so that I feel half-tempted to invest in one myself. It's cheaper than most tablets (the 32GB model is around $150) and works very well from what I've experienced so far. I am trying to resist that temptation in order to deliberate whether or not I wish to purchase the Wii U still. If I did, I'd be going for the 32GB Deluxe model (which is $350) and honestly I've never had many faults with Nintendo so it will likely turn out to be a worthy investment, but at the same time I don't know. If I pre-order one now I would be able to secure a unit for its release. If I don't and it turns out I want one later, it will probably be very difficult to come across, similar to how the Wii did in its first year and a half. I guess we'll see how I'm feeling after my next pay cheque.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the last two hours of freedom before work, so ta-ta for now!

These Be Crazy Times

A lot has been going on in October since my last entry (I do not mean to let the time pass between entries exponentially, and will try to curb that in the future) and I'm not going to touch base on all of it for varying reasons, but even with being selective there is plenty to share so let's dive straight into it.

I've been working at McDonald's for the past month now and I feel like that's a decent enough range of time to judge my experiences and what I think of it. Overall, it's not too bad. We were under construction for the first two weeks of my employment so we weren't hit by the usual high traffic levels that an establishment like McD's often receives - it gave me the wonderful (and slightly intimidating) opportunity to learn drive-thru, and tested my abilities in multi-tasking with order-taking, taking cash, cleaning, running, and presenting. I have still not quite mastered the art of taking an order and taking cash simultaneously, but I'm getting just a tad bit better at it each day and will soon be a pro. The dining room was closed until last week so now I may be placed on front counter occasionally in the future; that position was always where I felt most in my element so I'm actually looking forward to the time I'm assigned there.

If I were to compare my experiences of this McDonald's with the one I worked with in Victoria (which happened to be my first job!), so far I'd have to say that the management was much more consistent and understanding in Victoria - that's not to say that the management here is bad (some of the managers are quite awesome, actually), but they don't operate on the same wavelength like they should. The most current example of this is actually from yesterday; Skye's Nan has recently returned from the hospital and Skye called them to schedule Wednesday off to look after her - and, of obvious importance, take her to her blood-work appointment - but whoever answered the phone was not understanding at all and demanded that Skye find someone to fill the shift or she couldn't take it off. When I heard that, it honestly blew my mind - the Victoria team, no matter who took the call, would never have responded like that. They would have expressed their sympathies, been grateful for at least a two day notice, and called around to find someone to fill the shift themselves. Fortunately Skye talked with the head honcho today and he was much more understanding and now she officially has the day off, but still. Not much credibility to their compassion or their leadership (or those 'flexible hours') if some managers react to that situation in such a manner.

On a completely different note, the lime-green DS Lite that I ordered back in August from eBay for Skye's birthday has yet to arrive. Well no, that's not quite it; it did arrive on my birthday (September 10th) but the unit they sent was defective. The top screen was warped; the touch-screen was unresponsive (sometimes it worked, but it was incredibly glitchy and useless when so), and the volume slider was broken as the volume level stayed the same no matter where you moved it. Skye found the whole thing humorous but I was unhappy about it - when I buy things, especially as a birthday gift, I like them to work. There was around a week and a half discussion about it with the seller before they sent a replacement which has yet to arrive - on my end, I had to pay for return shipping of the defective unit and oh lord, my rants at the post office were not pretty. [The cashier sure did find it amusing though.] The seller is very highly rated and no one else has had any problems with them, but I should have known better despite their feedback to trust a seller from China - it takes forever for anything to get here, and it sure is expensive and takes a long time to send anything back. I wasn't too bothered that I had to buy a $3 bubble envelope for the handheld box to fit in, but when the cashier listed my options in mailing it out there... oh my. The first option would cost $10.75, would take approximately six weeks to arrive, and offered no tracking. The next option was $20.34, would take two-three weeks to ship, and offered tracking. The last option clocked in at a wonderful $41.44, would take 3-5 business days, and also offered tracking. After the annoyances and grief I had been through, and knowing that the replacement would take "at least" 20-25 business days to arrive here, I looked at Skye and proclaimed "Fuck China" and selected the first option. They weren't going to receive their defective unit back in a reasonable time (and cost me a lot of money for their mistake) when the replacement was easily going to take a month plus to get here. It's been over 20 business days already. If I don't see it in the next two weeks I'm going to contact eBay to change my feedback back to a blood-curling, scathing red review. The whole thing is obnoxious, and I'm going to let everyone know about it.

In entertainment news, Skye and I are now entirely caught up with Downton Abbey and are eagerly awaiting the next episode - so glad we took the plunge! It is a high-class British historical drama and I highly recommend it to everyone. It has very high production values, a stellar cast, a superbly written script (which weaves together the lives of the servants and their lords and ladies seamlessly), and beautiful cinematography that proclaims its artistic nature as soon as you watch the intro. The musical score is nothing to scoff at either and very elegantly sets the scenes up for hilarity or tragedy. You can feel the intensity of the characters' plights from the soundtrack itself.

I have inducted Skye into the world of Westeros recently (ala Game of Thrones) and have watched the first five episodes with her so far. I'm not entirely sure what she thinks about it to be honest; there's enough interest that she's willing to watch another episode if I suggest it, but I don't feel that it grabs her in quite the same way that it did me or Sophia (or my brother and parents, for that matter). Sophia and I were obsessed and would watch at least four episodes at a time because we were invested immediately - Skye's more content to just watch one every couple of days or if there's any free time. That's all right though, at this rate she will be caught up by the time season three airs and will hopefully be a tad more interested then. Medieval fantasy stories aren't really her thing, but at least she's humoring me.

They're finally back, to get some tail...

On the subject of games, after traveling through the perilous (and beautiful) world of the Bionis and Mechonis in Xenoblade Chronicles, Skye and I felt like taking a retro trip back to one of our nostalgic loves on the Nintendo 64 - Donkey Kong 64. For having only played through the game back in 2000-2001, I have a very fond memory of the different worlds and where to find the golden bananas. I'm currently at a 90% completion rate (187 out of 200 golden bananas acquired; only have a few left to acquire in Creepy Castle and the DK Isles overworld) and aiming for the 100%. When I was younger, I never would have had the patience to get to 100% - some of the golden bananas require getting past really difficult mini-games or obstacles, and back then I'd be inclined to skip the ones I couldn't beat in  a few tries because I'd rather explore and progress through the rest of the game. I wasn't much of a completionist then, and I technically am not that way nowadays either, but in a game like DK64 where collection is the core element of game play, I figured I might as well play through it properly. It's been a fun adventure and some great reminiscing for both of us. I will eventually purchase The Last Story (and Paper Mario: Sticker Star in November, eee) and play through that too; only a matter of time now.

I don't really know if I'll be doing anything for Halloween yet; I haven't done anything for it in years so I'm not too bothered, but I know it's an occasion that Skye likes to celebrate so there's bound to be something on the way. I may go as far as to buy candy corn (t'is the season!) if I can find it, but that's about as far as I usually go where Halloween is concerned. If one of my friends throw a party, that might change, of course... :)

October has been good to me for the most part, and there are plenty of things coming out in November (movies, games, other potential happenings) that I'm excited for, so there's bound to be good times ahead. 

I hope that you're all doing well, whoever you might be and wherever you might hail from. This American-Canadian sends her love. <3