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!