09
May
2021

We are eventually going to finish this game.

categories: RPGs; word count: 372 words

So Bub and I actually started Pokemon: Sword with the intent of finishing it.

The last time we started it, we didn’t get that far, and when I had to fix our Nintendo Switch I lost our save file for… whatever reason. Luckily though, we hadn’t even gotten that far, so it wasn’t that big of a deal — we just had to pick it back up and resume playing, which we eventually did. Predictably, Bub chose the Fire starter as our introductory Pokemon, which I had a feeling he was going to do anyway since he generally does choose Fire starters. A friend of mine was nice enough to trade the boys their two favorite Pokemon (Growlithe, Meowth… although they like Arcanine and Persian too for obvious reasons), and I immediately put those into our party with the intent to level them up. I also have a Vulpix in there that I eventually want to evolve to Ninetales, so we are a bit Fire-type loaded, but I’ll make substitutions as needed. Like when we get to the Water Gym, I know for a fact that we’re only going to have our Fire starter in there… the rest of the Fire-types that we have are going to go back into the box and wait until we’re done. Bub shouldn’t mind.

Since I’m running a classic Meowth and not a Galan Meowth, which he doesn’t like, he shouldn’t mind.

I also want to get a Galan Vulpix for myself for entirely personal reasons, finding it fascinating and pretty.

I try not to “load us up” with a lot of games that we’re playing that… might not get completed due to the number of games that we’re playing, but I felt like I had to make an exception for this because it’s Pokemon. I’ve already pre-ordered the remakes of Diamond and Pearl for the boys that seem like they’re coming out later this year, and I got them the Arceus game as well. I’ll eventually remember the names of the remakes (Brilliant Diamond? Shining Pearl?) as launch date gets closer. And I pre-ordered them Pokemon Snap months ago, which should actually be shipping soon now that it’s been released. It’s just their kind of game.

08
May
2021

This post is brought to you by prednisone.

categories: personal; word count: 259 words

So I am on my third antibiotic for this wound of mine that will not go away. Augmentin did absolutely nothing, and fluconazole was a laugh. Now I am on fifteen days of Omnicef, which is only possible to take being on 60mg prednisone because of the severity of headaches and stomach troubles that came with it. I was seriously about to throw in the towel and stop taking Omnicef were it not for prednisone, because I was having headaches so bad that Fioricet didn’t help at all and stomach troubles so bad that I could not eat. Strangely enough, prednisone has ameliorated all of that and made taking the antibiotic tolerable. I know that it’s used as palliative care with cancer patients to help them eat and… make some of the side effects of cancer go away (gee, how would I know something like that?), so I figured that it was worth a shot in my case since I have some prednisone stockpiled here at the house. And I was completely correct guessing…

I don’t feel 100%, but I can get out of bed, eat as needed, and do things. I will gladly take that as a win.

I do think that I’m going to warn my doctors about this going forward, because it’s not tenable to have to take prednisone just to take an antibiotic. Omnicef may be something that I am not tolerant of, that I can not tolerate. And that’s okay. As long as we know about it we can work around it, prescribing different things.

07
May
2021

In a move that surprises almost no one…

categories: consoles; word count: 161 words

Sony has gone back on closing the PlayStation Store for the PS3 and Vita.

On one hand, this surprises me — they went back on this. On the other hand, it doesn’t, because it would have been a poor business move for them to block people out of the PlayStation Store who were still playing those consoles. It was just a matter of seeing how thoroughly Sony wanted to shoot themselves in the foot alienating themselves from their older player base, because both of those consoles are still being played (or else there wouldn’t have been the uprising that there was over them stating that they would close the PlayStation Store for them). They’re still going to close the PlayStation Store to the PSP console, but hey. A lot of people can play PSP games on the Vita, so that isn’t and won’t be a complete loss. I can deal with that.

Clearly, no one comes between a Bub and his game.

06
May
2021

DoorDashing on Bub’s dime: Subway!

categories: personal; word count: 243 words

Bub and I have a new… thing that we do, although we readily invite Monster into it as well.

It seems to be our special thing, and a way that we’ve begun to bond.

We use some of the child support that he receives on DoorDash. It’s a great way to broaden his palate, and it avoids actually having to go out and get the food, which is even greater in a global pandemic. So far we’ve tried Subway to everyone’s satisfaction, and I budgeted this into his child support payments as a weekly thing. At this point, I think Bub is “down” for anything that has copious amounts of bread in it. The person that Dashed Subway for us also read the instructions that I left them, which stated not to ring the doorbell because I didn’t want it to scare our dog or my kids. I told them that I would periodically be checking to see if our food was out there, and then I found out that you can actually track deliveries, which makes DoorDash even greater as far as I’m concerned. I think we’ll try some fast food items, to include ones that I haven’t had in years (does Bub like Arby’s? would Bub like Arby’s? let’s find this out at some point). This will be really fun.

I mean, this money has to be spent some way. Why not spend some of it on fun, educational, yummy things?

04
May
2021

The state can stop playing these games now.

categories: personal; word count: 411 words

Normally, as part of some of the state benefits that we receive, cooperation with child support is mandatory.

You have to let them at least attempt to enforce a child support order if one is on file.

However, if there is any risk to the child(ren) or you that could come about as a result of this, you can get what’s called a good cause waiver against enforcement, and having one of these means that any child support order your child or children have will not be enforced as part of “cooperation” to get state benefits. My oldest son’s case has had a good cause waiver on it for nearly the entire time that he has had a finalized custody order because there absolutely is no safe way to attempt to enforce child support — the one time the state accidentally did, which is a story in and of itself and part of the reason that I am making this post, he quit his job in retaliation, and I was made aware of the fact that he… retaliated in and of itself when he did this. When this happened, it was also made clear to me that behavior from Bub’s paternal family met the criteria for emotional abuse with the risk of it becoming physical abuse “if provoked”, and a good cause waiver was placed on his child support case as well. As time went on, it was also stated that it should have qualified for one from the start, because the behavior from Bub’s paternal family was never… not there.

Anyway.

The only thing is that when these state benefits are renewed, the cases temporarily open and have to be closed back out by the child support office. This isn’t even a thing that should be happening. It’s gotten to the point that if my sons’ names cross the desk over there, their cases are immediately closed back out, and sometimes the child support office contacts Health and Human Services (HHSC) over them being “referred”, complete with the good cause waivers, in the first place. The child support office even went so far as to file motions with the court terminating their office’s assignment to both cases so that if HHSC “accidentally” refers them, they can’t work them. All they can do is close them out. The cases are not in their jurisdiction.

We shouldn’t be playing the game of “close them back out every time benefits are renewed” though.

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