House Wars V: The Flood

After so many years of everything going ok (well, other than a few trees growing from my rooftop gutter) this was a new one for me. My wife woke me up an hour or so after we went to bed because "it's flooding" and sure enough, a hose under one of the sinks had corroded to the point that (hot) water was gushing out and had reached at least half of our house, including some bits with carpet!

Had to turn off the water main to the house then spent that night mopping and toweling everything off, followed by spreading boxes and boxes of Bi-carb over the wet carpet, having fans going and putting dehumidifiers everywhere. It's all back to normal now and hopefully we caught that in time to prevent mold. Not sure how we'd be able to tell, (I'm guessing there'd be a mold smell?) but whatever.

However we've just undertaken a project that's revealed a second flood, not of water but of stuff that we've just accumulated over the years. Going through a major de-cluttering exercise now and I'm surprised at the amount of junk coming out that we can donate and/or throw. Apparently I am a hoarder of papers which is annoying because they are the least satisfying to clean out. On the positive side, I've been getting rid of clothes that are too big for me now because for a change I've lost weight (around 16 kg). Amazing what cutting down on carbs can do.

BDO: Settling Down

[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

With the refugees cured (or getting there, because vaccines like to be delayed) I spend a lot of time helping them get settled across multiple farmlands from Calpheon's Northern wheat plantation all the way across to Gilsh and up to the farms of Heidel and in the process I learn how to make a simple camp and grow some crops (omg, I finally found something worse than fishing).

I also venture back down to O'dyllita to test my increased strength against the rebel turos there and only manage to kill a handful as they are just way too tough. Even dueling them one on one lasts up to ten minutes, and given I have to defeat fifty of them to advance the Ahib quest line that will have to be something I slowly chip away at.

Instead of smashing my head against that brick wall, I busy myself hunting down the tome of an ancient bard in Dreighan, who supposedly could command dragons with his song. Getting this Chenga Tome involves zero fighting but a lot of searching and riddle answering, with some riddles asked by a telepathic llama. It's ultra trippy.

Lastly, I finally decide to buy a house! While Dreighan is my favorite zone, it simply is too far out of the way. By this metric I opt to buy a residence in a back street of Heidel, which seems to be the crossroads of the main land. Had I known it would only cost contribution points to purchase instead of actual silver, I might have done this much earlier!

I still wonder where these random airships come from...

Insight: I like how player housing works here. There are fixed, static houses/apartments for sale that anyone can buy and decorate (multiple people can "own" the same house), but the trick is the house "doors" themselves which let you pick what instance / which player's house you want to enter. This loads the selected interior without actually leaving the open world. It's awesome.

Extra points for functional appliances too such as advanced alchemy benches and beds that can only go into lodgings. Beds are especially handy as they let you recover energy at an increased rate!

House Wars IV: Heavy Stander

Just a small update from the last House Wars entry - a metal collar turned out to be the fix from the Storm King's attack, and while things have been quiet since then, nature has been slowly bringing its forces back to bear. Flourishing weeds and hedge plants have started going out of control, though these were easily handled with a couple of bottles of Roundup (it's super effective) and a few hours of intense hedge trimming.

My main problem are the huge trees in the back, sitting on neighboring properties. Their long branches now overhang my house which is somewhat worrying and annoying (due to critter poop), especially as I can't reach them myself. I'll need to hire some mercenary arborists to cut them back.

House Wars III - Hail to the Storm King

Been awhile since my last House Wars entry, which is good, but nature has once again gathered its forces and attacked my home... this time with elemental powers starting with hail! These icey stones are quite pretty, alas apparently they also can make holes in the roof which sucks. Especially if you don't notice right away! Yep, I failed my observation roll.

Pretty... if only they weren't so annoying!

This led to me waking up to a light switch making an odd buzzing noise and was also quite hot to touch. Electricity was arcing behind it; the wires damaged thanks to the leak caused by the incessant rain. To be fair, I did kinda notice the roof getting damp marks earlier, but no roofer I contacted was willing to climb up onto a wet roof in windy conditions. That's suicide apparently.

Hired an expensive electrician to repair the thing and upgrade a few other bits and pieces, lights mainly - but he said we'd need to do something about that leak ASAP.

So we went to the not so local hardware shop, bought rope and tarp, recruited DL's assistance and followed through on my wife's plan to throw the ropes across the roof clear to the other side and yank it from there, removing the need for roof climbing. We needed to increase our throwing skills though, as mine kept falling short of the top (I have a slanty roof). At least I could tug it back down and try again.

DL managed to clear it with his basketball skills, but it wasn't enough to clear the other side. We couldn't pull that one back which meant... roof climbing time! In the windy rain! Yep! I channeled my inner ninja and Spider Joe, equipped with socks and shorts of climbing +2/int -2, was up there in no time and getting the huge tarp in place which my wifey and DL secured down below amidst evil mosquitoes.

I succeeded in my luck roll to not die up there. Now I just need to find someone to fix the damn thing properly.

House Wars II

I just had a somewhat expensive weekend having to do upgrades on the house, with more maintenance bills to follow. Our main water heater exploded (literally) so that needed replacing since cold showers in autumn are generally not a good idea. Replacing all the old taps on top of that is a hefty drain on the wallet but  hopefully one I won't need to do again any time soon. Also after defeating the germanic bug tribe that was our problem last year, nature is now sending its second army in the form of plant life. Creeping vines, spidery weeds and heavy branches used as highways by the local possums all encroach into my territory and in some cases are beginning to dislodge the stone and woodwork. Taken to hacking the damned things back, but I'm beginning to suspect poison is again going to be the best answer - at least for the weeds. Gotta say it's pretty good exercise though. :P

Also just for fun some random blog stats as of this posting:
- 245 posts (wow they really pile up)
- 10101 page views so far.
- Top 5 countries where visitors view the site from are Australia, USA, UK, Russia, & Canada.
- 6 comments (half from me, no surprise there)

What is intriguing though is that the most searched keywords that lead here are:
"Skyrim Hamburger" and "pile of ash"

Not sure how that works, but I found it pretty funny. :)

Winter of my Disconnect

A lot has happened since my last post. Ok maybe just two things... firstly I'm now a married man and have moved in to my new house with my wonderful wife! Woohoo! Secondly, my home compy is not hooked up to the internets yet and it may be awhile before it is (need funds for house upgrades x.x), meaning my online adventures will be put on hold for a bit.

This is ok as it means I can focus a little on creative works again instead, possibly alternating with a run through Stalker Soup - a massive and hardcore fan-made patch to Shadows of Chernobyl (which I had previously won, but it was so awesome I'm willing to do it again). I'll most likely start a journal of that too when I get the chance. :)

Game of Homes

My fiancee and I recently purchased a nice little house and over the past week have begun what I shall call "the game of homes" (so unique, I know). The neighbours all seem nice, most have cute doggies too, and the water and power in the house was all running a-ok. Alas, I think during the previous owners move they introduced House Bugdaryen to this territory and now there is a minor infestation of the germanic creepers. I've gotten pest-control group "Fumapest" to try handle it but so far their spray and my traps / supporting poisons have had little effect I think. My cousin recommended a gel option as that was how they defeated the Bugdaryen's they encountered previously but on Fumapest's return visit they still opted to spray again anyway. Hopefully the guy knows what he's doing, otherwise I am going to make good use of his 6 month warranty.

In the meantime I've gone and upgraded the locks and kitchen flooring but am still missing a few utilities. I'm slightly annoyed at IKEA as they apparently sell incomplete bed frames which is going to result in me trekking all the way out there to find the missing pieces again. I do like their shop though. The whole walk-through part is neat and the warehouse section (where you pray to God you have written down the correct location of your item, lest you be lost searching for it forever) is quite impressive.

Welcome to IKEA.
Lastly it seems there was an electrical anomaly drifting in the area last night as a number of power points have suddenly failed, and even devices not connected to wall sockets (completely remote infact) were playing up. We'll need to get an electrician in to sort that out. With any luck he may also be able to fix the non-working TV.

Poor Nervous Sloth

Yeah, that's me. Getting totally caned by Sloth in the form of high level stress. :( So much so that I've not even gotten the game with my namesake yet. So, what's causing all of it? Well, I just bought a house! Woohoo! :D *PANIC! STRESS!*

Paperwork, deadlines and large amounts of money are not a good combination. We'll only be getting the keys early next year if all goes according to plan. *crosses fingers* In the meantime, I think I'm going to go lie down. x.x