August 18, 2012

So I sat down to play Sims yesterday. Relax, unwind, & have some fun. HA! The game was harder than real life! My 1st gen Sim had gotten married the last time I played this game & his wife was expecting. When I started the game last night it was just a matter or waiting for the 2nd gen to be born. I had 2 names picked out. 1 if it was a girl, 1 for a boy. The time comes, she goes to the hospital & has a girl. I name her, choose 2 traits & reach for my Dr Pepper ... another box pops up immediately saying "CONGRATULATIONS! It's a boy!" I screamed "What?!" Yes, I screamed at the screen & scared the sleeping dog in my office. Twins? A girl AND a boy?! Oh NO ... I can barely keep up with ONE baby, a job, a house, pets, & taking care of myself in the game. TWINS? Well, luckily I was playing one of the houses I built so it was a 3 bedroom + a nursery. I have the space ... but not the time. I tried. I really did. I had 2 horses & the state came & took them away in the game. I just couldn't keep up. My poor adult Sims were always in a bad mood from lack of sleep, lack of food, & lack of showering. Then the sadness of losing 2 pets hit. My Sims mood meter was red-lining constantly which creates more problems. If the Sims aren't happy, they don't do things like clean the house or repair broken household items because their mood is too low. It's a downward spiral & a loop that's very hard to get out of. They won't clean or repair because their mood is too low, yet the filth around them contributes to their bad mood. ACK! When the babies aged up to school age, I wasn't able to choose a trait for each of them due to their modest early years. Couldn't keep up. I managed the time to teach them both how to talk, but lost points for not teaching them how to walk or potty train them. I tried. I really did! At least the game was nice to me & didn't give them whacked out traits. She got the artistic trait & he got the angler trait. Angler is a good trait because we live on the beach on an island in this game. He can fish whenever he wants. :) I had to delete a toy in the nursery to make space & buy another crib, but that's ok. I also (dumb luck here) happened to have a bedroom with bunk beds in it. How lucky is that?! Of course the master bathroom is going to have to be converted to a bedroom at some point now. Every house I build in the game is a 3 bedroom + a nursery. I've never had more than 3 generations (plus a baby) of Sims alive at the same time. Well, this is a problem with twins. Since I'm playing the HOUSE in this game & not a career or just a bloodline, I have to stay in the house. Which means the twins will each marry & move their spouse in. Right there I need 3 bedrooms. When they have children, I already have 2 cribs in the nursery, but what am I going to do when they age up & I now have 5 couples in the house instead of 3 which is normal? The nursery has to stay, but I get a feeling the house is going to undergo some major changes to make room for 5 couples & 2 babies. Now IF the game hasn't changed & you can still only have 8 Sims in a house no matter how large it is ... oh boy. I'm going to have to move the 1st gen out when the 3rd gen marries. I'll be over the limit in the house. I hate having to do that, but the game probably won't let me have more than 8 people still unless that changed in an update somewhere recently. I know previously it was impossible to have 1 boy & 1 girl when you have twins. It was ALWAYS 2 boys or 2 girls, so I know THAT'S been changed recently. WELL ... so much for a nice, fun, relaxing game. HA! I did work a little on the house I'm currently building in the Sims & it looks great at night! The house next door is beautiful too & I made the style match so they look good next to each other. Mine is the one pictured that's all lit up. :) At least in the middle of all that my son came home with dinner for me. A hot meatball hero. How sweet! And that was one GOOD meatball hero! LCFD business meeting Tuesday. FD EMS call this morning ... just got back.

78% of America's millionaires are 1st-generation rich. They started with nothing & became millionaires.

Accent:

The Accent necklace, with its prism cut links give a unique design to form a contemporary and distinguishing piece.

Before making a purchase, especially if you're shopping at a new store, make sure you know the store's return policy. Knowing this upfront could save you a lot of hassle & time later if you need to exchange or return the item.

Dogs can see movement up to 985 yards away. That's the length of more than 9 American football fields.

If you're with the host in the kitchen as he prepares food, suggest a specific task: "I'd be happy to chop veggies for the salad or fill the water glasses." Even if your offer is refused, the gesture will be appreciated. When the party ends, offer to help with the cleanup.

Larry Bird hangs it up (1992):

On August 18, 1992, celebrated Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird retires.

Bird was a high school basketball star in his native Indiana. After graduation, he received a scholarship to play for legendary coach Bobby Knight at Indiana University, one of the finest teams in the country. However, Bird was homesick and uncomfortable in the spotlight in Bloomington and left the school after one month. He returned to French Lick, his hometown, and eventually enrolled at the smaller Indiana State, far from a basketball powerhouse. There, Bird was a one-man offense, averaging 30 points per game as a sophomore, junior and senior. He led the Sycamores to an undefeated record in his senior season (1978-79) before losing to Earvin "Magic" Johnson's Michigan State Spartans in the most viewed NCAA title game ever.

Bird entered the NBA in 1979 and had an immediate impact on the league, winning Rookie of the Year after leading the Celtics to a 61-21 record and first place in the Atlantic Division just one year after they went 29-53 and finished in last place. In his second season, Bird, playing alongside fellow future Hall of Famers Kevin McHale at forward and Robert Parrish at center, led the Celtics to an NBA title. They would win the championship again in 1984 and 1986, with Bird winning the Finals MVP each of those two years. He was the NBA regular season MVP three years in a row, from 1984 to 1986, and a first-team NBA All-Star nine times. In the process, he won legions of loyal fans in Boston and throughout the country. Bird was also recognized for his versatility on the court: He could pass, rebound, shoot from the outside and play tough defense. As his career progressed, though, Bird began to suffer from chronic back pain that, by the 1990s, limited both his playing time and his effectiveness.

The final triumph of Bird's career came at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, his first Olympics and the first in which professional players were allowed to participate. The much-hyped U.S. "Dream Team," which also included his good friend and rival Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley among other NBA greats, may have been the best basketball team ever assembled. They wowed the world with their amazing play, easily brought home the gold and appeared to have a spectacularly good time in the process.

In 1992, at the age of 35, Bird's back condition finally rendered him unable to play. At an emotional press conference in Boston to announce his retirement, Bird explained, "The last couple of years have been very tough on me, on my back and on my body. It was very hard to deal with, day in and day out." NBA commissioner David Stern released a statement that read in part "Quite simply, Larry Bird has helped to define the way a generation of basketball fans has come to view and appreciate the N.B.A. In the future, great players will be judged against the standards he has set, but there will never be another Larry Bird."

Bird did not disappear from the NBA after his retirement from the court. He remained in Boston, working as a special assistant in the Celtics' front office until 1997, when he was hired as head coach of the Indiana Pacers. In 1998–the same year he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame–he led the Pacers to a 58-24 record, the best in team history, and was named NBA Coach of the Year. Bird later became the team's president of basketball operations.

Rantipole:

Characterized by a wild unruly manner or attitude.

A group of rantipole college students were caught trying to steal the restaurant's sign as a prank.

In the 17th century, someone who must have found ranting ridiculous dealt with it by combining the word "rant" (or maybe the British dialect word "ranty," which means "excited" or "riotous") with "poll," meaning "head." The result was the whimsical "rantipole," a term that quickly found use as a noun for a reckless person, an adjective for wild behavior, & a verb for being rude.

The more I __________, the more I like __________. Your __________ is too much to take every day. Once a __________ would be much better.

What souvenir is traditionally given to a lawyer who argues a case before the U.S. Supreme Court?

A white quill pen.

What was the last cigarette advertised on American TV?

Which Thriller single came 1st, 2nd, & 3rd?
A. "Billie Jean"
B. "Beat It"
C. "The Girl Is Mine"
CAB. Thriller, the world's best-selling album, was estimated to have sold over 104 million copies.