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Update 6/4/13: Long break, but I'm back now


On 06/04/2013 at 12:44 PM by Ranger1

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Did anyone miss me? Probably not, there are lots of other really good blogs on here to keep everyone entertained.

What have I been up to in the past five weeks? Work. Lots and lots of work. Getting the park up and running and looking good for Memorial Day weekend takes a lot of time and effort, not to mention long hours. In addition to that, we rolled out the official Maine State Parks geocahes, led nature programs for almost 1000 school kids, plus weekend public nature programs, and are currently updating safety stuff to keep us in the good graces of the Bureau of Labor Standards and OSHA. All but that last bit is pretty fun, and keeps me in shape. That last bit is mostly time-consuming busy work that keeps me from getting the park maintenance done that keeps everything looking nice and running well.

During that time period, I didn't get much gaming in. I went to work, came home, walked the dog, ate dinner, and fell asleep on the couch in front of whatever I was trying to watch on TV, whether it was live or streamed from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. That's changed now, but I'll talk about that in a little bit.

The geocaching thing is really cool (follow the link to find out about geocaching if you're not familiar with it). Our geocache info is here. This is the big project Andy and I were working on that I mentioned in a previous blog. As of right now, this is the only legal geocache in the park. Unfortunately, people place these all the time without asking permission (even though guidelines posted on the official website tell them not to place without asking permission first). Frequently this encourages people to go off-trail. Not cool, people, not cool at all! However, geocaching itself is very cool when done responsibly.

There have also been lots of cool wildlife sightings and pretty wildflowers blooming, but I'll save those for another day (mostly because I haven't uploaded the pics to my flickr page yet).

What I really wanted to talk about today is breaking my gaming slump. Yay! For the last five weeks, I pretty much just played Bejeweled 3 on my laptop to relax. Then, two weeks ago, I rented Tomb Raider from RedBox. I wanted to see if I really wanted to spend the money on it. The answer is an emphatic yes. And lovely Amazon happened to have it for 29.99 as a lightning deal. I never hit that right, so I guess it was meant to be. I got in a little here and there, and then last night I decided I needed a good gaming session. I was having a great time, let the dog out around 8:30 PM, and then the next thing I knew it was 12:45 AM. Can't remember the last time I got that engrossed in a game. I got to the part where Lara is headed off to rescue Sam, and I kept getting killed by bad guys, so I decided it was time to go to bed, I think it was around 2:00 AM at that point.

I also ordered Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box from Amazon a while ago. Finally played it for the first time on Sunday. I like logic problems and puzzles, so I really enjoy the Professor Layton series.

Last but not least, I found a $25 gift card to Bull Moose Music in the bottom of my bag that I got for Christmas and totally forgot about. Jason and I went into Portland last Friday before I went in for my closing shift at the park and I spent half an hour poking through the place. I got a media remote for my 360, Casino Royale on Bluray, and a very intriguing PS1 game called Blazing Dragons. I have no idea if it's any good, but Terry Jones from Monty Python had a lot to do with it, and he and Cheech Marin both do voice acting for the game. Even if the game sucks, it was worth the $9.00 for the novelty value.

So what's every one else been up to?


 

Comments

Homelessrook

06/04/2013 at 12:49 PM

Nope have not missed you one bit... LOL.

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 12:54 PM

Hey Larry Smile

Chris Yarger Community Manager

06/04/2013 at 01:02 PM

I was wondering where you've been. I was worried that you may have ran off with another blogging site!

I loved Tomb Raider. I was stuck in Philly a while back for work. I took my Xbox with me and played TR non-stop while I was down there. The multiplayer isn't too shabby either if your into some competitive vs. matches!

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 01:04 PM

I suck at the combat, so I think I'll stick to solo. Thanks, though!

And I'd never run off without at least leaving a forwarding address, lol.

KnightDriver

06/04/2013 at 01:08 PM

I've missed you. You're the first person I think about when I come here.

I recently upgraded Tomb Raider from "just interested" to "must buy". Everyone keeps saying how good it is.

I'm going to Ohio on Friday to watch my neice graduate high school. My brother-in-law is driving, so I'll get to play some 3DS. I was thinking of playing one or two of the Professor Layton games. I've only played Unwound Future so far. I hope I don't cry this time.

I have Blazing Dragons, but haven't played it yet. I just saw there was a TV show too, but it's not available on Netflix. Damn. Also, Harry Shearer did a voice in the game. The more I read, the better this gets!

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 01:35 PM

Aw, shucks. Thanks!

I'm really enjoying TR, but I have to warn you that it's full of QTEs, and sometimes you don't get enough of a cue before your window of opportunity is up. It's caused a couple of cheap deaths, but nothing approaching controller-throwing rage. The story has me wanting to know what's going to happen next, and there's a lot of exploring within the maps. There's also quite a bit of hand-holding, which annoys some people. I do wish they gave you the option to turn off the in-game tutorial, but I can live with it.

I've only played the first Professor Layton game, but I've been wanting more in the series for quite a while. My poor DS has been suffering some serious neglect lately. Hoping to give it some more love soon.

As for Blazing Dragons, I may boot it up in the PS3 just to see what it's like. I just couldn't help myself, had to have it!

Matt Snee Staff Writer

06/04/2013 at 01:11 PM

of course we missed you!  I figured you were mad busy though.  I'm looking forward to some wildlife pics.  My family has been watching that "North America" show on TV that shows wildlife and they really get into it. really fascinating. 

Glad you are enjoying Tomb Raider.  I think it put off a lot of the long time series fans, but at the same time some people really like it.  I guess it all depends. 

I've decided to give game design a shot and have been spending all my days on that.  IT's tough work, but really satisfying. 

Welcome back!

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 01:39 PM

Thanks, Matt! I've missed you guys, too.

I never cared for the original TR games on PS1, but this reboot has me thinking I may give them another chance. I still may not like them, I loathe the character model.

I don't think I managed to get any wildlife pics, but I do have lots of pretty wildflowers. They're much easier to photograph - they don't run off before you can get the camera focused, lol.

smartcelt

06/04/2013 at 01:45 PM

I missed you! I saw you online playing Tomb Raider the other night and was hoping you would return. Glad you're enjoying it,I got very hooked on that game myself. I always loved Lara's adventures and I'd even play the stinkers like Angel Of Darkness. So this one was quite a relief in that it's so good. The multiplayer is tough going,I did not care for it much. Too dark and gloomy,you can't see but about ten feet in front of you in many areas. I look forward to seeing your new photos when you post them. I've been working a lot just like you have. And dodging tornadoes,of course. We have had far too many here already and I want it to be over.

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 01:49 PM

Yeah, I've been worried about you and Andrew, pretty much the only two people I know in Oklahoma, but I'm pretty fond of you both!

Are you on Facebook?

smartcelt

06/04/2013 at 03:11 PM

Nope. To me,this is Facebook. I barely have time to keep up with the sites I do follow. Facebook would probably get me hooked and I'd be in a real jam.

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 03:16 PM

In a way, that's too bad. I post a lot of my pics there.

smartcelt

06/05/2013 at 04:33 PM

I may reconsider and start a Facebook account. I suppose if I behave myself and don't start playing Farmville or something I should be okay. Now I just need a decent picture of myself to start off with.....

Ranger1

06/05/2013 at 06:43 PM

Nah, lots of people don't use their own pic on there. I'm currently using the osprey photo I took. I don't play Facebook games, I figure I have enough other places to play games, I don't need to play on FB.

mothman

06/04/2013 at 02:18 PM

Of course we bloody missed you. You're not supposed to run off like that. :)

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 02:28 PM

No energy for blogging, Peter, sorry! It's amazing what getting a full crew onboard will do, though! This is one of the first "weekends" in a while where I wasn't frantic about something that didn't get done at the park when it was supposed to.

mothman

06/04/2013 at 02:33 PM

I should talk. I haven't been that active lately either. Too busy with the new job and the move to a new place on July 2. I'll be glad when that's over but a little sad about losing the home we've lived in for 14 years.

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 02:35 PM

Ugh, I know all about moving! Good luck with it, and I'll make a blood sacrifice to the moving gods for you so that nothing gets broken or lost.

mothman

06/04/2013 at 02:41 PM

We're moving the smaller fragile stuff in the back of the Escape. The only thing I'm nervous about is the movers dropping my speakers. 

Aboboisdaman

06/04/2013 at 02:32 PM

Welcome back Tami! I was wondering where you were. Now if only we can get GH to come out of the shadows lol.

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 02:34 PM

He's been pretty quiet on Facebook, too. Might have to go hunt him down again...

Super Step Contributing Writer

06/04/2013 at 02:44 PM

I missed you! Glad you enjoyed Tomb Raider.

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 02:47 PM

Glad to have been missed! And I'm still enjoying TR!

jgusw

06/04/2013 at 03:06 PM

Hey, lady!  I was wondering where you were.  Welcome back! Cool

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 03:07 PM

Thanks, James! About the only use my PS3 was getting was watching movies, lol.

jgusw

06/04/2013 at 05:34 PM

Sounds like me a couple months ago.  Now, that I bought a bluray player, I moved my PS3 into my game room and I actually play games on it now.  Laughing

Coolsetzer

06/04/2013 at 04:27 PM

Nice to see you again. I took a break from being online for a little while, too, so don't feel bad. Gotta take care of RL, first. heh I've been on a retro kick lately, rediscovering my Super Nintendo. I'm going through Yoshi's Island right now, and let me tell you, some of those levels are really mischievous in their design! It's a lot harder than I remember.

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 05:50 PM

I introduced my nephew to the Sega Genesis collection a few years back, and his comment was: "old games are hard!" I will probably end up going retro this summer, as my little cottage heats up like an oven and a previous tenant lost or destroyed the screens to all of the windows in the front.

Coolsetzer

06/04/2013 at 06:43 PM

haha. Yeah, I have to rebuy the old games. They're getting expensive. 

Caesar

06/04/2013 at 05:26 PM

I got my arm cut open a few weeks ago!  There's a picture of my awesome scar on my most recent (or second-most recent) blog post.  Other than that...sadly not much with me.

Are you back on here for a while, or should we expect some more radio silence soon?

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 05:54 PM

That is one serious scar! Glad things worked out better than you'd hoped. Now just make up a really good story to go with that scar, lol.

I'm back, amazing how much easier it is having six people to run the park instead of only two. Plus, we got all the hard stuff done, so I no longer fall asleep in my dinner plate after work.

Cary Woodham

06/04/2013 at 06:49 PM

I went to Alabama over Memorial Day holiday and visited relatives and went to a hot air balloon festival.  You can see pics of that at the GamerDad site.  Later you'll be able to see more pics of Project A-Kon, an anime convention I went to last weekend. 

Gaming-wise I finally beat Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon.  Such a sweet ending.  Now I'm just waiting for Animal Crossing 3DS...

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 08:24 PM

Cary, that sounds really cool. There used to be a hot air balloon festival near the town where I was born, but I have no idea if they still have it. We only went once, but I remember liking it.

ThatKidOverThere

06/04/2013 at 07:02 PM

Oh gosh, you're back! Quick, everyone hide the drugs! 

Lol, in all semi-seriousness, its good too see you back and I'm glad you have got outta your gaming slump. I got out of mine with my purchase of the Sega Genesis Collection which I'll blog about later. Blazing Dragons looks interesting. It's based off of a tv show so it might not be the best, but it might be good for some mindless gaming if you're bored!

Now all we need to do is get GH back...

Ranger1

06/04/2013 at 08:29 PM

Both the game and the cartoon were done by Terry Jones, so I have hopes that it will be at least amusing. Ah, the SGC! It's kind of scary, but I still have a bunch of those games on the original carts, lol. One of the best compilations out there, in my opinion. A little something for everyone. And it looks like I'm going to have to email GH and let him know that he's missed.

smartcelt

06/05/2013 at 04:31 PM

That whole geocache thing is interesting. It gets people outdoors and exploring parks by making it a challenge. Had no idea that amatuers were placing them about. My luck would be the one I was hunting would be hidden in a bear den! I'm going to see if Oklahoma has any of them.

Ranger1

06/05/2013 at 06:41 PM

Should be lots, it's an international craze at this point. Just go to the website and type in your zipcode, I bet at least 20 pop up.

FAF101

06/05/2013 at 11:22 PM

Yeah for being busy! I am with ya girl! I have been trying to find time to want to blog and do other things as well but there is never enough time in a day for me.

Ranger1

06/07/2013 at 10:58 AM

Thankfully, things have evened out a bit at work for me with the whole crew onboard now.

Chunopo

06/06/2013 at 03:09 AM

Of course you ve been missed, thats why you have so many comments to reply too! It's good to see you back again Tami, at least when your absent I know its all for a good cause, what would those beasties do with out you. Glad to hear you able to get a little gaming in again, if only we could go back to school days when gaming time wasn't an issue!

Ranger1

06/07/2013 at 10:56 AM

Thanks, Adam. And I actually have more time for gaming than when I was in school. My parents didn't belive in TV, so I wouldn't have had anything to connect a console to, even if I'd had one back in the day. And the only computer in the house was my step-dad's office computer and he was self-employed, so I only got to use it after he was done for the day, and homework and chores were done. So here's to more free time, lol.

Michael117

06/06/2013 at 05:44 PM

I saw on Live that you were playing Tomb Raider, I was wondering what you'd think of it since you don't often like games that are too chaotic or open, I was thinking that maybe Tomb Raider would be just perfect because it has barely enough exploration to sink your teeth into but it's not an open world game, and the combat and shooting seems like it might be difficult for you but with some repeated efforts you could overcome the encounters and still enjoy the game.

Ranger1

06/07/2013 at 10:53 AM

Hey Michael :)

I'm loving it! It's just the right mix of exploration and combat. The combat isn't too bad, when I get my butt kicked and die, I just go back and try doing something a bit different. Plus, the enemies pop up in the same spots, so I know where to expect them the next time through. The story has me intrigued, too.

NSonic79

06/29/2013 at 02:26 AM

Busy ranger! Did you all get refreshed on fire prevention. Given what's going on in Colorado I'd think they'd brush up on that now.

Ranger1

06/29/2013 at 10:05 AM

Given the weather in northern New England this summer, forest fires aren't really something we have to worry about all that much at the moment. And we have a completely different ecosystem than that of the Colorado forests. 

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