The Patent Dragon's Zone of Soul Retraction

THIS JUST IN: Oh, holy crap. I'm getting a big slice of back holiday pay this month (or so it seems). If so, I'll be making arrangements for several special events, and probably some other cool stuff as well.

This Week, I Am Mostly Watching a whole bunch of "Let's Play X-COM APOCALYPSE" videos on YouTube. The narrated play-through is moving to its dramatic conclusion, and seeing this, I'm reminded of just how much fun the original UFO/X-COM games were. Hmmmm - Steam has a collected edition, which may just have been updated enough to play...

However, I'm trying to not do some much gaming right now - but dammit, do these videos make ...APOCALYPSE look so damn easy. Arrrggghhh.

Doing a bare-bones mobile post, so bear with me...

Ohhhkaaay, at about three hours into X-COM Enemy Unknown, I get the awful feeling I've just hit that "falls out of love" moment. You have to expect hard knocks like losing your entire squad - it goes with the territory in these games - but it was TOO easy to Quit To Desktop and go and do something else...

("But not do a blog post", I hear you mutter. Shut up - I'm in mourning... :-p)

This is why Legend of Grimrock is listed on Steam with 45 minutes play time elapsed. This is how I utterly failed to lose any sleep when I had to use a Restore Point to sort a laptop problem... and it wiped a several-day download of DC Universe Online. I've acquired a VERY low piss-off threshold these days...
...to be cpntonued

Posted via m.livejournal.com.

( And the updated version... )

Not A Surprise... Hmph. Some painting was needing done in the work office this morning, so I decided to come in to work later, closer to lunchtime... but apparently the work isn't actually done, and needs continued tomorrow. Tomorrow morning? Tomorrow afternoon? When? If I hadn't spoken to one of the janitors, I wouldn't have known all this wasn't over and done.

Frustrating. I'll do a late start again tomorrow, in the hope that it will all be done by then. Grrrr...

And half my blinds have been taken down, meaning that I am now bathed in unhindered sunlight, unless I hide from it, which isn't always easy.

At least I was able to do some Star Trek Online catch-up this morning, 'cause I was up late (also facilitated by my deferred work-start) pre-loading X-COM Enemy Unknown, the new version of the glorious classic UFO/X-COM series. Downloaded the demo, played the demo, and knew at once that I had to have this... ooooh, the misson zone view rotates!

Currently Listening To... The fantastic Bat For Lashes in a live session for Radio 6. A new album is semi-imminent, and I hope that "stripped-down" doesn't mean that Natasha Khan's music loses its undeniable magic in the process. This is someone I'd very much like to see live - and maybe a new album means a tour... Update - AGH! BFL touring THIS MONTH, and I just don't have the time to make arrangements. Dammit! (And if there are gigs next year, they better not just be bloody festivals!)

Grrr... This sun is really getting to me. It's a lovely day outside - but I'm not outside, am I...?

I might just take tomorrow off - pity it's not the 12th, 'cause I know I could spend a whole day playing X-COM. Failing that, I can always rack up a whole bunch of raw Dilithium for Walks-With-Storms.


I have about three days' worth stockpiled for refinement right now...