What is Happening?

     I don't really have much for free time. In my limited free time I have so many things that I want to do, and definitely not enough time to do them all. Occasionally I focus on one thing for a while, recently it has been reading. But if I am extremely tired, or if the book I am reading is not great (which the one I am reading right now is not great) I read a bit less. There are many other things I do, though some of them have turned into work (like jewelry making) and I am trying very hard to have a work-life balance. And I am trying not to spend a lot of money. 

     This past weekend it popped into my head that I wanted to play Resident Evil. I own an ancient GameCube, a copy of Resident Evil, and I end up playing about once every year or two. What also ends up happening is that I hook up the console, as soon as I figure out/remember how to do it and then the controller often doesn't work and I need to mess with it, sometimes repair it, and so on. It's a huge ordeal, which makes me want to play even less. But I do like the game. So I started thinking about maybe getting a new game system, and I went back and forth with Elecktra (she has more than one platform, maybe I could borrow one?) and looked up which platform had Resident Evil, I discovered there are currently at least 7 Resident Evils (why???) and back and forth, with both Elecktra and I landing on why don't I just buy a new controller for the GameCube? Elecktra did also say I could borrow her PlayStation 4 for a bit if I wanted. 

    But the thinking continued. And then this happened...

      This is not Resident Evil. This is not Elecktra's PlayStation. It is also not my GameCube. This is Breath of the Wild. And this is my Nintendo Switch that I bought to entertain myself. I feel like I am going to blame Jackie for both of these things. At the beginning of nearly episode of Mares in Black, for quite a long time at this point, Jackie and Heather talk about what video games they are playing. Anyone that knows anything about Jackie AT ALL, knows that she is a big fan of The Legend of Zelda games (among other things). I also know that Jackie plays Breath of the Wild on the Switch, and Heather has one, and both seem to like it. So I did some research. While doing that I discovered that I can download the original Resident Evil on the Switch.

     This is still not Resident Evil. 

     I briefly considered ordering a Switch, because sometimes I really don't want to leave the house, but then I decided I would go to GameStop and just buy what I wanted. Boy was that either a really great idea or a really bad idea. Because when I got there the one and only employee in the store greeted me and I told her what I wanted, but when I found out she was the only person in the store I let her take care of everyone else so I wouldn't hold them up while I asked questions. The result of that was I spent A LOT of time in GameStop and though I didn't buy all the things, I did buy more than just a Switch. Clearly, because these pictures are not from Resident Evil (which is a download). 

     I bought the Switch, the year of protection because everything I have gotten lately and not paid for the protection has broken within 2-3 months. I bought Mario something because maybe I can get Travis to play a game with me (well Anne, you need a second controller which you didn't think to buy...) and I bought Breath of the Wild. And while I am soft-blaming Jackie for this, I consciously did this to myself. 

     And I have no regrets. Actually, I have one vague regret. When I first set up my Switch, which was super simple (it's very user friendly) I decided to play Breath of the Wild for a while. I had no clue what I was doing and spent a lot of time running around. And running away from things that were trying to kill me. And looking for food. I am starting to feel like this is just a big part of the game, though I know some people just face the things that are trying to kill them. I am mostly trying not to die while I figure things out. Anyway, my regret is that I spent the money to buy Resident Evil. I played for 5 minutes and went right back to Breath of the Wild. This game is fun. I should have saved my money and just bought this. 

     And since I have figure out how to catch horses, I have been spending a lot of time riding around. Sometimes I stop and look for food. Sometimes the horses help me run away from stuff faster. But it's been a lot of fun. And I must be doing something right. I finished the 4 shrines on the Great Plateau and moved on to... whatever the next section is. Now there are towns, more people... horses. I have found some weapons, I have lost some weapons (I still forget sometimes what button does what and I have thrown my stuff more than once while I was holding it. And then not been able to find it, lol). I have drowned several times, fallen off of cliffs... and yet I do still find the game really fun. I run away from most of the monsters. Especially big guardians. Though I was trying really hard to defeat the small guardian in the shrine I can't remember the name of so I could get the guardian sword. I know these things because I do sometimes cheat and Google how to do things. Which is how I know how to catch horses. The problem with that little lazy guardian in the shrine is I broke all my weapons. I am pretty sure I can't defeat him with a soup ladle. And I have done the side hop thing the game wanted me to learn, I have hit it a whole bunch, including with some really fancy swings that have extra power behind them (can you tell I am bad at remembering what stuff is called?) and I still can't beat it. So I left, and went on my own quest to try to find some more weapons. I found some guys, in some town, demolishing a house and I really wished they would put their hammers down. Those look like they might do some damage. 

     Anyway, I wish I had more time to play this game, it's been a lot of fun. I also wish that playing games didn't make me dizzy. I thought it was just playing games on the computer that bugs me, but even sitting across the room from the game gets to me. And then I am extra sensitive to technology for days, until I basically barely use it for a while. Even just typing this is a bit of a strain. And nothing is moving on the screen. I tried my blue light glasses yesterday, but I don't really think it helped. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them. Not only would I really like to play a game without it making me sick, but it would be great to spend more time on the computer, if I need to, also without getting sick. 

    I have been making dolls still, and I was incredibly efficient last week. It helped that we had a holiday followed by a snow day. This week so far I also seem to be getting a reasonable amount done. I didn't accomplish all the things today that I wanted to, but I got one extra thing done that wasn't on my schedule. It doesn't quite equal out, but it's not bad. I still have two more official work days this week so there is still the chance that I can reach my goal for this week, even though I didn't reach my goal for today. And hopefully I can stop feeling dizzy every time I look at a piece of technology. I want to go ride my (virtual) horse.