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Dec. 26th, 2023 05:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmxratedThis year for Christmas, I started off after texting Brian, Marie, and Drew, by heading upstairs with a spare key simply to look into subscribing a month to Hidive through the TV, after verifying that to be the only legitimate channel that streams Made in Abyss dubbed. Turns out it doesn't have that channel, and my computer turned out to be unplugged when I tried turning that on, which I correctly chalked up to Drew having hooked the wires up to what was supposedly his own machine, that Mom told me the previous day after work he was doing some banking on.
Also noticed my old computer that recently broke down, on some boxes of new radiators that Dad has yet to open up. (Brian said that he's still at it with that one.)
Marie complained how underwhelmingly I started Christmas off this year, before she and Drew read my texts to them. She then asked me to boil some coffee for them, from some boxes that Aunt Allison gave me for Christmas, I poured a tube of mix each of mocha latte and cappuccino into a mug, before boiling the water in the regular electric kettle.
Upon arriving back downstairs, I noticed Mom had texted me to make some coffee for not only them, but her and Brian as well (Mom herself was gonna make some tea for Dad).
After either Mom or Brian had a cappuccino, one of them mentioned that it was all froth. I mentioned that I simply boiled some water to pour over the mix, as opposed to using the full-fledged coffee maker, and that's when Mom pointed out that they're supposed to be used together, as opposed to being alternative methods.
-----
The only physical gifts I got anyone this year were a sprinkler for Mom and a backsaver snow shovel for Dad. However, at Mom's suggestion from before, I gave Brian, Marie, and Drew (and Emily later on) a card offering to take them to IHOP Thursday morning, my other day off this week. (There is also where I will hop over to Stop & Shop to redeem some winning scratchoff tickets, instead of possibly raising a minor red flag at work.)
Got a good few things myself. Most notably, Mom got me a new phone in my stocking, and Brian, Marie, and Drew had built me another custom computer, the same one I saw in the apartment the day prior, that has a glass left side to display something inside and should also be easy to upgrade with a new graphics card or something.
From work, one of my supervisors, Tara, had wrapped up what turned out to be two packs of handwarmers. One of my coworkers had previously mentioned those, but when I asked about those at customer service, I was simply told to look in sporting goods. (Another supervisor, Michelle, had given me a zip-bag containing some Hershey kisses, a candy cane, and a packet of Swiss-Miss. I ate the Hershey kisses on the spot, hung the candy cane on this tree inside the righthand entrance, and taped the Swiss-Miss packet to Tara's gift before handing to CS for until my shift would end.)
One thing I didn't get, though, after Mom asked me recently if there's anything I'd like to read, was more volumes of Magical Girl Raising Project, either physical or digital. She told me that by the time she got around to ordering them, they wouldn't have arrived on time, nor did she know how to buy gifts through Kindle.
-
Emily came over shortly with Maris, and I brewed her a cappuccino (correctly). I specified that I'm down to one tube to three pods left of that, but Mom said she could get more mix.
She and Brian had gotten Maris this stuffed horse with hair and a hairbrush.
Maris also started drooling, and I made a few jokes along the way about her being poisoned or having been stung by a scorpion. (More specifically, I do recall foaming at the mouth being something Cherry did at the end of Cries Unheard, chapter 1, after Satoshi fed her a poisoned doggy biscuit.)
-
After transferring what data I could to my new phone, I still have yet to try my luck again with the Charley's app, after having failed to log into that on my old phone. However, the first thing I attempted, once Marie and Drew set up my new computer upstairs, was to set up my wallpaper and ringtone. Had a hard time setting the phone up to import files from the computer, before Marie invited me to William Floyd Estate with her, Drew, and Mom (Brian and Emily had gone out somewhere).
As Drew drove us around, the place turned out to be closed, and it even said on someone's phone that Christmas might affect the hours during which it's open. We ended up driving to Smith Point as usual, and had a trek around the trail before arriving on the beach and coming full circle.
On our way home, right before we stopped at the 7-Eleven back on Station Road, Mom asked me about certain interest I've recently raised in growing a beard. No coincidence that such a thing would come up with certain plans to record myself in person for my next YouTube video, but to be honest, I didn't even like the photo I took of myself for a one-off video interview with Target all those months ago. For some reason, I just find my own face to look rather underwhelming, for lack of a better word. (I only ever lightly considered it until now, because even when I neglected to shave during my first, month-long stay at Brian's apartment in 2017, Mom pointed out that at least Brian keeps his own beard tidy, but even his was starting to look slightly unkempt just two days ago.)
-----
Managed to figure out how to set things up on my phone after we arrived back home, but checking the ring volume only played my new ringtone for barely a second. Marie and Drew came up while I was seeing how long my old ringtone played for, and I asked them to ring me, before showing Drew the actual song in its original context (Marie was in the bathroom that whole time).
Drew commented that the game in question looks like my kind of game, after Game Gourmet had come up during our drive out. However, he was actually judging by two of the girls' names, Yuzu and Lime (the former being some kind of Japanese fruit), but I specified that that trope has to do with eating actual food as a game mechanic or part of one. (Not likely to bother with the actual game personally, though; while it does in fact utilize it (and is also about magical girls), each actual food item makes only a few appearances throughout the game, since they serve to give permanent stat boosts. Its sequel, meanwhile, lets you cook your own foods, but has an exact player character count of ten, one of several dealbreakers I had mentioned earlier on given how easy that number is to default to.)
-
After Marie came out is when I introduced them to Made in Abyss.
-----
Back downstairs, Marie started playing with Maris, who was surrounded by a bunch of toys. Dad decided to show us an episode of Betty Boop, and then two of Popeye, before letting some restored and colorized footage run of New York in the 1930s.
While me, Marie, and Drew were eating dinner, Brian and Emily decided to watch the pilot of Northern Exposure.
-----
Got around before going to bed, to downloading Kindle onto my new phone. Tried to show Mom how to buy stuff to that, but ended up buying Limited II myself upon tapping 1-click pay before I had a chance to change the card on my account. Mom was too tired to look much further into it, and decided she would try it today on her iPad. (Will probably remind her after we both have a nap upon coming home from work.)
Also noticed my old computer that recently broke down, on some boxes of new radiators that Dad has yet to open up. (Brian said that he's still at it with that one.)
Marie complained how underwhelmingly I started Christmas off this year, before she and Drew read my texts to them. She then asked me to boil some coffee for them, from some boxes that Aunt Allison gave me for Christmas, I poured a tube of mix each of mocha latte and cappuccino into a mug, before boiling the water in the regular electric kettle.
Upon arriving back downstairs, I noticed Mom had texted me to make some coffee for not only them, but her and Brian as well (Mom herself was gonna make some tea for Dad).
After either Mom or Brian had a cappuccino, one of them mentioned that it was all froth. I mentioned that I simply boiled some water to pour over the mix, as opposed to using the full-fledged coffee maker, and that's when Mom pointed out that they're supposed to be used together, as opposed to being alternative methods.
-----
The only physical gifts I got anyone this year were a sprinkler for Mom and a backsaver snow shovel for Dad. However, at Mom's suggestion from before, I gave Brian, Marie, and Drew (and Emily later on) a card offering to take them to IHOP Thursday morning, my other day off this week. (There is also where I will hop over to Stop & Shop to redeem some winning scratchoff tickets, instead of possibly raising a minor red flag at work.)
Got a good few things myself. Most notably, Mom got me a new phone in my stocking, and Brian, Marie, and Drew had built me another custom computer, the same one I saw in the apartment the day prior, that has a glass left side to display something inside and should also be easy to upgrade with a new graphics card or something.
From work, one of my supervisors, Tara, had wrapped up what turned out to be two packs of handwarmers. One of my coworkers had previously mentioned those, but when I asked about those at customer service, I was simply told to look in sporting goods. (Another supervisor, Michelle, had given me a zip-bag containing some Hershey kisses, a candy cane, and a packet of Swiss-Miss. I ate the Hershey kisses on the spot, hung the candy cane on this tree inside the righthand entrance, and taped the Swiss-Miss packet to Tara's gift before handing to CS for until my shift would end.)
One thing I didn't get, though, after Mom asked me recently if there's anything I'd like to read, was more volumes of Magical Girl Raising Project, either physical or digital. She told me that by the time she got around to ordering them, they wouldn't have arrived on time, nor did she know how to buy gifts through Kindle.
-
Emily came over shortly with Maris, and I brewed her a cappuccino (correctly). I specified that I'm down to one tube to three pods left of that, but Mom said she could get more mix.
She and Brian had gotten Maris this stuffed horse with hair and a hairbrush.
Maris also started drooling, and I made a few jokes along the way about her being poisoned or having been stung by a scorpion. (More specifically, I do recall foaming at the mouth being something Cherry did at the end of Cries Unheard, chapter 1, after Satoshi fed her a poisoned doggy biscuit.)
-
After transferring what data I could to my new phone, I still have yet to try my luck again with the Charley's app, after having failed to log into that on my old phone. However, the first thing I attempted, once Marie and Drew set up my new computer upstairs, was to set up my wallpaper and ringtone. Had a hard time setting the phone up to import files from the computer, before Marie invited me to William Floyd Estate with her, Drew, and Mom (Brian and Emily had gone out somewhere).
As Drew drove us around, the place turned out to be closed, and it even said on someone's phone that Christmas might affect the hours during which it's open. We ended up driving to Smith Point as usual, and had a trek around the trail before arriving on the beach and coming full circle.
On our way home, right before we stopped at the 7-Eleven back on Station Road, Mom asked me about certain interest I've recently raised in growing a beard. No coincidence that such a thing would come up with certain plans to record myself in person for my next YouTube video, but to be honest, I didn't even like the photo I took of myself for a one-off video interview with Target all those months ago. For some reason, I just find my own face to look rather underwhelming, for lack of a better word. (I only ever lightly considered it until now, because even when I neglected to shave during my first, month-long stay at Brian's apartment in 2017, Mom pointed out that at least Brian keeps his own beard tidy, but even his was starting to look slightly unkempt just two days ago.)
-----
Managed to figure out how to set things up on my phone after we arrived back home, but checking the ring volume only played my new ringtone for barely a second. Marie and Drew came up while I was seeing how long my old ringtone played for, and I asked them to ring me, before showing Drew the actual song in its original context (Marie was in the bathroom that whole time).
Drew commented that the game in question looks like my kind of game, after Game Gourmet had come up during our drive out. However, he was actually judging by two of the girls' names, Yuzu and Lime (the former being some kind of Japanese fruit), but I specified that that trope has to do with eating actual food as a game mechanic or part of one. (Not likely to bother with the actual game personally, though; while it does in fact utilize it (and is also about magical girls), each actual food item makes only a few appearances throughout the game, since they serve to give permanent stat boosts. Its sequel, meanwhile, lets you cook your own foods, but has an exact player character count of ten, one of several dealbreakers I had mentioned earlier on given how easy that number is to default to.)
-
After Marie came out is when I introduced them to Made in Abyss.
-----
Back downstairs, Marie started playing with Maris, who was surrounded by a bunch of toys. Dad decided to show us an episode of Betty Boop, and then two of Popeye, before letting some restored and colorized footage run of New York in the 1930s.
While me, Marie, and Drew were eating dinner, Brian and Emily decided to watch the pilot of Northern Exposure.
-----
Got around before going to bed, to downloading Kindle onto my new phone. Tried to show Mom how to buy stuff to that, but ended up buying Limited II myself upon tapping 1-click pay before I had a chance to change the card on my account. Mom was too tired to look much further into it, and decided she would try it today on her iPad. (Will probably remind her after we both have a nap upon coming home from work.)