My group sat next to another coworker, she’s older in age than most of my group, from another generation that would often work more than the others unprompted and at the same time complain that she’s doing too much and nobody else does anything. At least that’s what my coworkers say about her when she’s not present, but I don’t really see a reason to share the critiques.

She’s rather friendly at lunch time and my group and hers get along well, even if they throw shade at her, they do that for pretty much everyone—I suspect every single group at work gossips about each other in the same way.

Today, she made a question directed at me, the title of this post, and people started to give answers and share their thoughts about me.

They said things about how I eat carelessly and don’t really gain much weight. I am a bit fat but it’s true that I don’t look it, though people who know me for a long time can see my body has gotten bulkier than in my early college years. They also said I’m young and naive, even though I’m quite aware of some things they are not, and just because I rarely talk, doesn’t mean I don’t listen or think about things.

Perhaps, they said, is that my first job has been very acomodating, that I didn’t have to fight as much as them to get where I am. I never had a job where I was heavily pressured into things or shouted at or with the usual Mexican work culture of getting overworked and underpaid, and of course, I am in no danger of losing my position anytime soon.

Eventually they made a few questions and realized that I am not married, and that I still live with my parents. That ended up becoming a joke and sort of a final answer to close the topic. And well, it’s true, I can use my money in a lot of ways that bring me joy, and not having to worry about rent or buying groceries is a huge plus.

Many of these things are true, and some are not so true, but neither reason is why I’m always “happy.”

By the way, all the shade and critiques and jokes like these are very common in my country, we call it carrilla and while it can get close to bullying, it’s actually playful and friendly, and doesn’t mean to hurt anyone. Mexicans can be very offensive and is hard to accept for a lot of people, just wanted to mention it in case anyone here feels like this is wrong, abusive or something.

During the discussion I did answer questions, I laughed at some ridiculous claims, I acknowledged how I hadn’t gone to the gym for ages and many other things. I participated, but I never actually answered why I am like this most of the time.

Honestly, it’s kind of a corny answer, and it’s also an incomplete one. There are many factors that have made me into who I am.

I kind of wanted to reply in a playful manner, give them carrilla, point out how they’d be happier too if they stopped complaining about everything and actually did something they were passionate about, besides drinking or partying when they are all five years older than me!

Again, carrilla is not something serious, they’d get it, I obviously lack knowledge about their lives and ignore a lot of things, but we would laugh which is what matters.

Though a part of me finds it true. I wish conversations didn’t revolve around work gossip and complains sometimes.

A topic of conversation that popped up was about the new generations, how we are stuck to our phones, how we have so many means of communication yet we remain silent and shy. It was an interesting observation, and I wondered why that is.

I can’t easily bring up what videogame I am playing at work, it is difficult for me to share which book I’m reading, and even if I mention a somewhat popular TV show or movie, these adults just don’t seem to be aware of what’s new! Or they’d ridicule me for doing that instead of adult things, I guess.

Like, seriously, I would love to chat about things, anything that I am passionate about. Or listen about anything they are passionate about, but nobody seems to do anything interesting, or at least nobody is interested in opening up and talk about it.

And even then, when I am almost always silent and rarely talk about me, they can tell how happy I am all the time.

Of course this isn’t true, I am not always happy, I get stressed out about many things, I worry about the future of the world, I care about my friends and people around me going through difficult times, many losses have been had this year than I ever expected. I am sad when people get into dumb arguments online, I have cried because of moments like that before.

I’m human going through life and wants people to get along with. I guess focusing on different things, trying to see them through different angles. I also write, and that really is great, even if I can get a bit smug because of it. I’m not better than them, or superior in anyway due to this mindset.

I don’t know, it’s not just videogames or books, which I enjoy don’t get me wrong. I have true friendships, online, and in person. I have a hope that things will get better. I am content with what I have, and I have faith, which sustains me through it all.

I am curious, what is the impression you cause on other people? Are you also a cheerful person? or are you often seen as a grumpy one? It’s funny because I always thought I’d seem grumpy and serious, but I guess I’m just happy during lunch time because I get to eat!

In any case, it’s more than being single and living with my parents—but I can’t deny that helps a lot too.

This is day 94 of #100DaysToOffload

So there’s this girl I invited to watch a movie, and I do kind of like her, and I do know that my parents are already okay with it (which isn’t a must but it’s appreciated because I generally trust their judgement), so we’ll go tomorrow, and see how it goes from there.

But here’s the thing, my family will be there, my parents, my sibling, everyone will go to the movies.

Now, I don’t intend to be romantic, I simply invited her as a friend, should I be intentional and say I’d like something serious already? There is nothing wrong with that. I also know she likes my parents, and would happily chat with my mom forever. I get kinda embarrased about it.

Basically, she’s kind of a childhood friend I only met for like a month before she moved elsewhere more than a decade ago, and somehow we live relatively close now, and it’s kind of like everything has been served on a silver plate.

Due to the internet I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many people, many women included there who I’m happy to have as friends! I have some great connections but never really tried like, dating through this medium, or in any medium. Still, some of those friends have told me how dating is hard and such, and I won’t deny I have been interested on pursuing a long distance thing. But at the same time, I don’t really know how anything is supposed to be done.

When my dad met my mom, he was direct, he told her his intentions and that he wasn’t playing any games. But me? How can I be sure? Is the fact that I’m insecure about this a good or bad sign?

And now, just like it happened when I got my job, things seem to fit together like a puzzle, and, just like my job, I am not sure I’m comfortable with how it could go.

Maybe I am overthinking it? Maybe I am just blind and she already just sees me as a good friend and we will go nowhere anyway? I think her life is way better structured than mine, from what I’ve seen, so perhaps she will think I’m still like an adult kid and a good friend and leave it there.

Another problem is that she lives a city away, and I don’t drive. So if things actually go somewhere from here and we actually start something more than this sort-of-date-with-my-family-there. Would I have to get a car or just take a bus whenever, ask her to pick me up? That feels a bit too much.

Another thing, should I tell her I’m serious from the start? I want to be serious, I don’t really feel like getting into the “dating” people thing like some seem to be about. I have a feeling she’s serious about it too, like, whenever she dates she will not mess around either.

But I don’t know, I’m just a little worried and a bit excited, and also conflicted. I like her, perhaps, but I can’t deny I’ve liked others too, and there are so many things that I’m not sure I’ll be able to be without.

Like, I want someone to share my hobbies with, and while I feel like we will get along with anime and movies and the like, I’m not sure what her feelings are on videogames. Am I already thinking too far ahead, I guess I wouldn’t mind keeping those for myself.

Oh right, but my parents will be there. Is that good or bad?

Like, I know my mom will cause a lot of conversations to spark (she is super talkative) and I will technically get to know her through that. But should there be a moment where we just part ways for a bit just to talk between us? Or should I just not force that? Talk it out with my parents that I’d like to be left along? that I don’t want them to interfere? But also, what if I do? What if I can’t say enough by myself?

For some reason I also act like I don’t want my parents to realize I like her even when it’s kinda obvious. I actually messaged her out of nowhere last Monday, and we got to a call from there. It was after work, I stepped off the bus early and literally walked from downtown all the way to my house, for more than an hour, and we talked the whole time! So I can hold a conversation, yay!

But! I also did it, because I didn’t want to be in a phone call with her while at home. I didn’t want my parents to be like “tell her hi for us!”

During our conversation, I had to hang up for a bit, and when we returned she actually talked about how she was so surprised I reached out, that she told her mom about it. She told her mom I called her! Like, was it in a casual way?, was she so happy she had to let her know? I have no idea.

Why am I kind of ashamed of this? Oh right… I also feel like I could hurt someone else.

Yep, there’s another girl, and even though I only see her like once a year during some big church events, we are cool! We don’t really chat or anything, I’ve been shy to pursue anymore because she’s even farther away, but I’ve known her longer and feel like she likes me, maybe I do too. But still, we are just friends, maybe it’s all me. Also, they know each other, and they are good friends too, what am I even doing aargh.

The drama continues I guess. I won’t be posting this to my big account, an exclusive for avid readers of my RSS or my blog or those who may see it shared in a smaller account, feel free to reach out in private if you have some advice or thoughts. I have been told to not trust the internet when it comes to things like this though, so whatever.

Now, if you are someone who maybe has somehow developed a crush on me because of my blog and the posts I’ve shared, and you are interested on videogames and share a lot of the same hobbies and thoughts I’ve expressed here, and you were hoping to someday confess your feelings and that I would share the same interest on you. This is probably your last chance, who knows!!?? I don’t.

Until later. This post doesn’t count for #100DaysToOffload.

Anyway, I haven’t really gone to a lot of new places lately, but I have done and seen some cool things nonetheless.

Last weekend was the first time I put some air on my tires. They were already feeling low on my previous trip—I think that’s one of the reasons I couldn’t catch up to other commuters before—so I decided to check them today. In my country, there are quite a lot of vulcanizadoras. They are small workshops where cars can patch wheels, put air on them and some other basic car maintenance. They really can be super simple. The one I went to is literally just a roof, no walls, no nothing, just a couple of guys sitting on top of some wheels by the side of the road.

Something I realized about my bike is that the valves are different, and they have different stems. (I had to look that up, that’s the name of the hole through which you inflate them). I wasn’t sure if the place would have an adaptor, but things worked out in the end and it wasn’t even expensive, they let me pay whatever I wanted. I probably went beyond their expectations by at least a dollar or two, everything happened in just a couple minutes, and riding away felt so awesome with my wheels gripping much better and feeling swifter than before.

The streets were full of puddles and some mud too, but I went carefully—no fenders, remember?—and avoided most damage. There was another commuter there and I followed him up for a while, this time I managed to surpass them eventually.

I went through some big puddles rather slowly and got to stay balanced despite the slow spin, it was rather fun, to be able to do all that. I hope getting fenders gives me even more confidence in the future to just ride through it.

The ride was fun, went downtown again and even visited the shop where I got my bike from. I wanted to check right then and there if I could get the hardware I wanted, but they were closed. No big deal, I rode back home, following the same path I took the first time I got on this thing.

The bicycle culture I’ve gotten to see in my city has been rather pleasant. A week before inflating my tires, I wanted to go to the park downtown again. On the way there, I was among a cluster of commuters, three going my way, another two going in the opposite direction. It felt cool to be among so many bicycles for a brief moment, in the same street!

When I got to the park, I actually saw another bunch of bicyles parked together—none of them were locked. Even if they hadd been, they were leaning on the weakest possible fence ever, pretty much just wires. There was nobody around, nobody seemed to be worried at all.

I kept riding and saw the park was rather filled with people this time. Some were doing excercise, some people were jogging around the same road I cycled through, and there were a few other parked bikes inside.

I’m shameless and made sure to ride along every bicycle I see, I love to know, how many of them are fixies, how many of them have disc brakes, what brands are common, which ones are less known. My bike continues to be the only Fuji around. I have seen two Specialized, one looked like a mountain bike, the other was a city bike with a retro look. I have seen a bunch of Giant bikes too, with quite basic designs. There’s also Mercurio, Alubike, and some Green Plus—all of these seem to be Mexican bicycle brands. The latter is a bit of a higher tier, judging by the prices online.

After so many videos from Europe and the US, or about my own country, from Guadalajara or Mexico City and how bike theft is so abundant. Seeing my city be so non-chalant about it was a bit of a relief. I already had my suspicions this would be the case, as it feels like everyone here knows each other well.

As of now, I am yet to leave my bike parked for a significant amount of time without a direct line of sight, I don’t know if I’ll ever need to do that either way, but I feel confident knowing things are likely to go just fine.

After this many trips, I continue to be pleased by the culture in my city, the cars have been pretty respectful, although I’ve had a few close calls at slow speeds when I get careless. Nothing serious would have happened, other than the scare either way. Being aware of surroundings is still important, slowing down and looking at both sides of the road, stuff like that.

Still, the freedom of just going wherever I want by powering this machine, the spin of the wheels, the force of my legs multiplied and turning into motion. It’s all awesome, I love this. I want to do it more. I need to try that commute to work, I just fear getting sweaty at work.

Perhaps a change of clothes is all I need.

This is day 86 of #100DaysToOffload

These writings force me to write in a certain way, and I enjoy doing so, but it’s not the only way I like to write.

Some of my favorite artices here have been prompted by the most random things, I really appreciate getting to that state. Like sharing actual thoughts on things happening or on the message of a book or a series of videogames that go beyond what a review often has.

A part of me was going to reminisce on some of my favorite posts of that type, but that would just end up being another listicle, another task that would require me to do extra work. Like how game reviews need screenshots or categorizing critiques, or how weeknotes require me to check my gallery to see what I did.

I guess I just want to ramble again without any sort of defined path.

This post is just a short—future me here, not that short—acknowledgment of that. It has been happening for the whole month, so things don’t feel as fruitful as I’d like. It feels like I’m going through chores. Don’t get me wrong, those reviews are 2K words each because I had a lot to say about those videogames I loved, and because I am very happy when people put those games in their radar.

Writing those reviews and notes gives me joy, but it can feel daunting sometimes. I just want to write about writing for once, I get to do it every once in a while. I get to do it on my blog.

How have you been? What have you enjoyed? When was the last time you were in silence and contemplated the way you went through the motions of some task without any extra thing going on?

I keep reaching for podcasts, or some video in the background, or music, many times, but absolute silence while doing the dishes? Embracing boredom? It can be difficult today to do so.

As I write this though, I am in complete silence. A rare ocurrence for me lately, and it has been awesome. This paragraph is written on top of another five paragraphs I had already written, interestingly enough. I don’t always skip and write all over the place! I guess I really needed to ramble.

Yesterday I watched Rocky, one of those classic movies everyone should see some day, and I was surprised at how simple it is. There were a few scenes that happened in silence, with only some background noise and the characters doing things without saying anything. That morning scene where Rocky just swallows five raw eggs and goes to run actually hit hard, not joking! what a movie.

Reading reviews, I agreed with one of them saying it’s not really a boxing movie but a slice-of-life, that of a nobody who gets the chance of his life at challenging the champion. A lot of things happen just because Rocky decided to, he was not just going along either, but building himself up to train for this fight. Even then, he doesn’t think he can win, but he just wants to stay up for the whole 15 rounds.

And he went from a nobody, to the one guy who managed to resist Apollo Creed. He didn’t get the win, but he prevailed, and despite the fame and glory, he just went looking for Adrian, his girlfriend. Rocky didn’t care about winning or losing, he was conscious enough to call her name, and so he did, reunited with her again when credits rolled. What a finale, what a simple thing, simple storytelling is beautiful and rare, they don’t make movies like this anymore, do they?

Perhaps I am also tired of saving up spoilers on my reviews—sorry if I ruined the finale of Rocky just now, it’s still worth a watch—because it is through those bold choices in media, where I get to think the most, where I get to awe at what’s happening before my eyes. Maybe I should just do that from now on? A spoiler section where I get to gush about how unbelievable and awesome the art humans create can be?

Maybe that’s on order, not a list of things, not a top 5 or a favorites, just write about whatever things have gotten me to think just a bit more about this world, about hope, about how to keep moving forward.

There’s this sense of sadness when I begin to write about what I wish I could write about, but I am overall happy, because I’ve already written this much in the first place and writing is what matters to me, and for the most part, I love it.

This is all a ramble, but those are the kinds of posts I enjoy the most. Looking back, I think part of this was inspired by a post by isa where she talks about her personality affecting what she writes about, unable to write about what she likes because… idk? that’s just how it is sometimes? But she will try to do it in the future (maybe).

Funnily enough, I have the same problem sometimes. I already wrote about drafts that just don’t quite feel like something I want to publish. Part of that is the superficiality of it all.

Like, how I disallow myself from writing of some topics because of the sort of image of me it may create on a vacuum. When I shared my full physical Nintendo Switch collection, I kept thinking about how it probably makes me look like a guy with money to spare and a privileged life, meanwhile it’s just me with a stable job, still single and living with my parents. Even saying that feels like I am being a show off, I guess it’s true in a sense.

A long while ago I read about how X or Y is a privilege, and it feels wrong because privilege feels like a bad word nowadays. I have enough time to spend it writing here saying nothing, and I have done this dozens of times in the year, across more than 600 posts, and I keep going. Not many get to write like I do. I was about to go on a tangent on AI, but I won’t, moving on.

If you are still here, you may be about to say the same thing I’m already thinking: just write.

So, I am doing so, I am writing and considering where to go from here. To be honest, I’m already quite satisfied, I am just letting my thoughts flow and my fingers type and it’s working out pretty well. I wonder if I should add some breaks between these paragraphs, although there’s not so much of a theme between them, I wasn’t going to say more about LLMs, but they don’t get to top this raw aimless river of words, yay!

No need to remember what the book was about, no need to look for graphics or pictures to represent a theme. This is all just text, and there’s no point to it, and I love it so much.

Perhaps I should make a Junited post too, just for good measure. Or shut up, let you simmer these words in silence, get drifted away by something else, something worth your attention, or mine, and move on.

Enough, for now?

This is day 85 of #100DaysToOffload

My mom wanted me to go with her to some place, and even though she would just take me with her on the car, I decided to simply go ahead and take my bike to meet her there.

It has been raining lately, but that only made the weather comfy and cloudy overall. Riding with a purpose felt quite cool, and as always, the ride itself was awesome and freeing. I must admit though, I felt a bit sluggish, as the air was going against me and I had to work my legs a bit more than expected. Still comfortable enough.

I took the ideal path and even though I did arrive later—cars are fast after all—the timing was ideal. And just like that, I had done the first actual trip from X to Y. We went to a park for a class my mom gives to some kids in that neighborhood, it was in a public park and I just left the bike nearby on sight, since there were no good spots to lock it.

When we were done, I took the bike and returned. All this time I’ve rode my bike and went pretty much on a circle, never staying anywhere, simply riding and then going home, until now, a trip with a destination!

Later my church was going to do a small charity at a nearby hospital, giving away food and praying for those in need. I decided to head there using my bicycle once again. This time things got fun.

The waters were set free, and rain fell upon me, but honestly? That just felt awesome, it was a light rain and it didn’t really disturb me much. The feeling of the raindrops against my face felt rather great, I didn’t bring any sort of jacket, just the usual shirt and jeans, but I didn’t care. I made my way to the hospital and this time I decided to actually park the bike. I bought a u-lock a while back, so I locked things up against a hand rail nearby. Since we were outside the building I had it in sight at every moment anyway.

There were not a lot of people outside this time, but after announcing it to some people, even nurses and doctors showed up. It was kind of fun a dozen of them in a row with their medical attire. Don’t worry, there plenty of food for actual patients and people waiting outside.

Then the rain got stronger.

I decided to unlock the bike and bring it closer with me, all the rain soaked it completely, and my seat was not in the most comfortable state. A couple minutes later I was told I couldn’t have my bike in the entrance area—where we were—and that I should go park it in a different place. The guard explained to me that she had no problem but she was told by a superior and I kind of understood. Instead of parking it, I just carried it with me and stayed with it nearby as I judged what to do.

I didn’t want to leave my bike in the rain, but I also couldn’t stay there forever—maybe I could but I didn’t want to get the guard in trouble. I saw a trash can that was located far from the entrance, and decided to just put it there. It was still covered from the rain, although I couldn’t lock it properly. Still, it was on sight and soon enough we were done.

The return home was quite fun! I went ahead and the rain was much stronger, there were puddles everywhere and I had to go through a couple of them. Alas, the commute was very fun! Not a lot of cars to cause me trouble in any of my trips either.

It was not until I got home when I realized my back, and the lower section of my jeans, was full of mud stains…

So, I need to buy fenders now, I guess!

This is day 76 of #100DaysToOffload

I often call myself an introvert, and due to yesterday’s post, I got some helpful feedback, advice and opinions about it, which I appreciate a bunch! Some got me thinking about how introverted I really am, and the sort of behaviours I often adopt when facing different situations.

Maybe I could make a quiz or something—but nowadays most of those websites are just AI slop. I’ll just write and describe what goes through my head, and I’ll let you judge what you think of me in this regard. Obviously, as I’m the source of these descriptions there’s a bias here, but anyway, my interactions in real life and online differ a bit, depending on the context.

First of all, I consider myself to be much more active and outgoing online. After 6 or so years on Mastodon, I am somehow close to 3K followers. There are a lot of duplicates and people who migrated and follow me from multiple accounts, or are no longer active, but the point is that there’s people who have found me interesting and worth talking with, which is cool! Number go up, brain happy.

I love to get comments and (usually) reply to them, I like when my posts get some attention—unless that translates into toxic Hacker News replies—and people are inspired by me or reach out to me about many topics. I have made online friends and I can name many of them, they are real persons and I’ve had some honest chats, some that are only technical or superficial, but many have been really significant and valuable to me too.

As for online gaming, when I was a teenager I would happily spend hours on Monster Hunter Freedom Unite with strangers all over the world, many times I used voice chat and had a lot of fun. There is a YouTube stream archive out there from some small Spanish YouTuber where I played with him for a couple of hours straight! It was epic. A while back I wrote about the Guild Cards I had which contain information of fellow hunters I played with, including a column with the date we last interacted. Thinking about how it’s been almost ten years since then makes me feel very old…

More recently, I haven’t had a lot of issues playing Peak with some friends from the Fediverse and also the TWG Discord server. The game has proximity voice chat, and it’s an essential part of the gameplay to cooperate with each other, I’m rather active, constantly seeking to help (or be helped) by the people I teamed up with, joking and bantering about random stuff. Some of the people I had never even met, but there was always someone I knew, which brought me confidence to be myself. The goofy nature of the game helped to build a chill atmosphere, everyone was super friendly. I did not fear joking around with my teammates a bit nor trolling them a bit (and helping them out afterwards). I died plenty of times myself and got to be a little ghost haunting the surviving players. Haven’t played this game in weeks though but whatever.

Be it Discord, Signal, Threema or XMPP, I don’t have a lot of trouble interacting with groups of people I know, and I am often the one who will try and start a conversation there, by sharing a blogpost I wrote, or something I’m currently doing (right now that means sharing videos of my Tomodachi Life island). The same goes for messaging specific people, I have plenty of chats on Signal that have been going for a long while and that have helped me develop some true friendships I appreciate a lot.

However, I don’t have interest on long-running online threads where I keep being mentioned about things I have nothing to do with. My friends in the Polymaths’ instance often get into “hellthreads” talking about rather deep stuff, or some TV show I don’t know anything about, or politics; and I rarely engage after the first three or four replies—which turn into dozens and dozens by the end of the day—even worse when more random people get involved and things end up blowing out of proportion. It’s usually harmless banter, but the notifications do build up.

I don’t interact much when I don’t care about a topic, and I try to not switch themes on a chatroom until it’s been a while since the last message on Discord. I often stick to one or two channels, and get familiar with a few active users there. A common practice of mine which you may already notice, is that I love to share my blogposts everywhere, and to spark conversations about them. I can’t help it, I do like to have some attention after all, I’ve even been called out on it by the mods of some communities a couple of times, especially when I am constantly sharing progress updates on a game and such (sorry TWG). I’ll often share and photos of books or manga I’m reading, and stuff like that.

Online group calls are very varied and heavily dependent on the group, but the latest ones I joined were for the Homebrew Website Club. The circumstances there have been rather dire for me though, as I am often on a busy place, only able to listen. At the same time sometimes the topic goes to places where I don’t have anything to add. There’s a bit of technical chatter sometimes and I can’t add a lot since I’m unfamiliar with it.

It’s one of those times where I feel kinda out of my league. Even when blogging and playing around with my website is one of the things I do the most, I am really terrible at talking about it. I feel like everything I say is pretty obvious, but I’m sure if any one of them reads this they’d say the opposite. Either way, I’ve not had the chance to talk many times, I enjoy being a listener though.

Where it goes a bit different is in the TWC Discord’s voice chats. There is a reading club and a gaming club, and both hold meetings where there are discussions and everyone gets to share their thoughts! I’ve participated on these for Soul Reaver and Resident Evil 2, and talked quite without many issues. However, there was not a lot of exchange required from me, I said what I had to say during my turn, and then I didn’t provide much feedback, simply listening. There’s also the podcast episode I participated in, which was I still can’t believe I did, I am told it was pretty good, but I am yet to relisten to my own voice, I remember saying my piece and nerviously laughing at whatever my cohosts said during their turn, again, I just enjoy listening.

One-on-one calls with online people have been rather nice. I rarely do these, but it has happened on Discord, with random conversations here and there. I recall one where we just rambled about the PSP for almost an hour, it was quite a fun time though, and I even learned about a couple games that are now on my backlog, like Black Rock Shooter. There was also that one time I watched a movie with a friend I randomly met on some app where you meet random people, and then we talked about manga, anime and videogames for a long while. Tt was one of the few times where I could give all sorts of recommendations, ramblings and suggestions to someone who was pretty new on all of it and had a lot to learn and experience in those hobbies yet.

Perhaps talking comes easy to me when a) It’s about something I’m interested on and b) I don’t need to look at anybody’s face while chatting. These voice calls do have one deterrent though: The language barrier.

I am a bit iffy on my pronunciation and self-conscious about structuring spoken sentences in English. It’s not that I don’t know how, I write these paragraphs without any problem, but the process of saying the words continuously in conversation makes things weird for me. It’s not the main factor anymore though, just something that lingers from time to time.

The more I write this the more I feel it’s just a simple matter of being familiar with the people I talk with. A single common interest or goal is enough for me to hold a conversation and go from there.

But the problem is I don’t like to reach out to someone for the first time. I don’t know how to start conversations in person. I can write something here but I don’t get to just recite it in some public place until someone stops to listen and wants to talk, after all.

Once I am with friends in real life, I have no issue being loud and joking about things and suggesting we play some card game or setup my Switch for some multiplayer fun. But what gets me to actually talk or make friends in the first place? Well, being in a situation where it’s better to interact than not, perhaps?

I think I’ve mentioned before how I’m one of the more senior members in my friend group at church. I live closest to the building, within walking distance, so my house often hosts extra activities: Nintendo Switch gaming, tabletop games and, every once in a while, a session of Land of Eem. Not too long ago my “social battery” ran out rather quickly, I’d even escape home from everyone as soon as we were done, although my friends would walk there too and visit anyway. I rarely said no, but I knew that when I did they would get it, it’s just how we are lol

I don’t really mind having guests, I let my friends use my Switch or play while I am just using my phone, when I don’t really feel like socializing. My home is theirs and I’m happy to have some background noise and sometimes just watch what they do without feeling forced to say a thing.

Honestly that’s just the best for me, to be around people who are happy to have you among them but don’t expect you to force yourself into whatever’s going on. It’s a little weird after all since it makes me a bit of an “outcast” but it’s still cool. Sometimes, I am being grumpy for no reason they will tease and annoy me, but that’s often because I’m at fault and way too unfocused. For example when I agree that I’ll play with them but I keep scrolling and getting distracted on my phone and the like. It’s okay when things are made clear from the start instead of ruining what we had planned, after all.

Either way, I’ve made an effort not to be as grumpy anymore, and switching to more active board games that I bring to church instead of going back home where I can escape to my room and turn into a hermit has helped too.

Of course, I am also a complete hypocrite. When someone in the friend group pulls out their phones, I will very much be annoyed when they use it during a game and. Some times, since I’m the one in charge in my house I get to ban phones out during visits where everyone agrees to play together, except for mine of course.

At work most of the interactions happen during lunch, it’s the same group every day and I don’t really feel like I belong, nor do I feel that I want to. The chatter there is full of gossip, drama, complaining about workmates or the boss or some other topic. Sometimes they’ll talk about current events and things like that, but the focus is never where I’d like it to be. There’s also a lot of teasing and dirty jokes. These are often part of my culture, the kind of thing that gets one cancelled on social media especially in a place like the fediverse, but that’s just how things are here. I don’t feed those conversations, hence why I stick to reading or using my phone, even though I come off as quiet and shy, which I guess I am.

A few times some device I have or thing I do comes into conversation, and even then I’m like “this is going to lead nowhere, I’m only going to look like a show-off”, for example, as cool as the XTEINK X4 is and how I keep boosting posts about it and recommending it online, someone saw me using it at work and I just summed it all up as “it’s an e-reader” and said nothing more.

Basically, when a conversation at work focuses on me or requires my input, I try to make it die down as soon as possible… I don’t like to stand out, I’d rather they keep talking about whatever they saw on Facebook and such.

As an aside, I keep noticing how I do these sorts of dismissive remarks about normal people sometimes so I should make it clear, this is mostly for hyperbole and maybe comedic effect and I know—or want to believe—that most people have plenty of goals, activities and hobbies that bring them joy, and they are obviously not two-dimensional caricatures. Alas, they rarely bring those topics to conversations at work. I am not superior to anyone just because I have niche devices or hobbies, I am not better because I play single-player indie games instead of FIFA or Call of Duty or because of whatever hobby or craft I’m good at, and similar dumb comparisons I make sometimes. Maybe I feel guilty because a part of me does feel some pride about “not being like them” but I know it’s just a silly thing to think okay sorry bye.

In many situations I could have gone on and on about me and my interests—I mean just look at this post’s word count—but at work all I’d get is “ah so you use it to read during work hours”—which yes I totally do—but the teasing is just annoying to me, and I am sure at least one of the people there dislikes me or is jealous of me for some reason. Maybe I should just change my friend group, but I am not that bothered by it. I am used to how things are and I don’t hate the people I’m with, I laugh way too much at some of the random complaints and stories told there, I just don’t really say much myself nor do I want to spend any more time with them outside of work hours.

Then there’s the friends I’ve made ages ago, from high school or from previous places where I used to live. I don’t speak with the vast majority of them, but every once in a while a status update on WhatsApp (yes that’s what I have to use to communicate in my country) will spark a conversation. I don’t share links to my blog to people I know in real life, but I share photos of the games I play or the books I complete. The latest for example was a short chat of 4 or 5 messages with my best friend from University, when I shared the latest Lego I built. We haven’t seen each other in ages, but I did convince him to buy a Miyoo Mini Plus back in the day.

Also, if I know your birthday and I have you on my phone contacts it is very likely that I’ll send you a Happy Birthday message even after years without talking to you, for no reason whatsoever. Fine, maybe if you are a highschool crush of mine there’s a bit of a reason but I’ll shut up about that.

There have been times where I met those friends in real life, and I don’t have a problem talking as if we’ve never stopped! It has always been fun to catch up and see where we are at in life. Sometimes our interests and hobbies have completely drifted off, but I still manage to find common ground most of the time. I can’t recall an old friendship of mine that I would want to avoid nowadays.

Same goes for cousins and family members. I am extremely grateful about how nice my extended family is. There seem to be some issues between brothers here and there, but me and all of my cousins (there are dozens) get along extremely well. The age difference between us all is rather big, but small groups with similar ages are easily made and it’s always fun when we get to reunite during Christmas and the like.

I still don’t really come up with talking topics or anything, but I am happy to go along with what they talk about, and more than pleased when I bring my Switch and my cousins brings it too and we get to do some epic Mario Kart tournament. I happily annoy and tease and play around with my extended family all the time, which is fun.

Almost nobody in my family and real life people I know are aware of my blog. There’s only like five people who know it exists, but nobody is actively keeping in touch with whatever I share here that I know of.

Look at me, writing another blogpost about myself and putting you all through such a ramble. Perhaps I wrote this all for me more than you, but I appreciate if you made it this far. I am shy and introverted, but I also try and interact with the people around me, I am pretty outspoken online and even a bit of a troublemaker, I will barely be able to look at someone in the eyes, and I won’t even notice you if we find each other on the streets. I guess I could keep going on and on, but I don’t want to spend any more of your time. Introvert or no, I’m just another person trying to get by, living on this pale blue dot.

This is day 59 of #100DaysToOffload.

Write a blog post about this moment in time—what you see, smell, hear, feel, taste? Where are you? What were you doing immediately before this? How are you feeling both physically and emotionally in this fleeting moment in time? What do your senses notice about this particular moment in your life?

The weather here has started to warm up, no longer that cold—it’s never that cold compared to the north during my childhood—so I don’t need to wear more than a hoodie, and I take it off after I get to the bus to work. It’s warm enough during the rest of the day.

I’m at my workplace, sitting on a pretty comfy office chair, on a large desk with adjustable height and the usual peripherals as well as my work phone, ID and earbuds case—a water bottle too, of course. I plugged my laptop into the dock and the monitors light up, email, work chat and other programs already open—boring stuff. My backpack is by my side—I should probably leave it on the coat hanger behind me.

It’s an open office space so all I see is desks around me, some fake plants—they are rather pretty though—and some meeting rooms that are walled by clear panels. Six or so desks away to my left there are windows. The sun is out, but the air was still fresh when I got in.

I’m typing this up before any other coworker shows up. The only noise is the ventilation, which is always a bit colder than I’d like, so I put on my hoodie again—just to be comfy.

When I was getting ready earlier, I had a mug of coffee and a couple of cookies. It definitely woke me up, but I was chatting with some friends on Signal and kind of got distracted.

I ended up running late to the bus stop to work—which is ten minutes away when walking—but there’s a public bus that gets me closer and quicker, saving me like 6 minutes or so. The only risk is the public transport may not show up for up to ten minutes, which means I would miss my bus to work completely. A risk I was willing to take this time.

The bus arrived right on schedule and I got to my work transport—with a couple minutes to spare—without breaking a sweat! I was listening to the latest episode of Into The Aether from the moment I dressed up until I got to my seat at the bus.

I carried my Switch to work today, so I went ahead and played Into The Breach during the commute, I managed to get to the first boss of the first island before the ride was over. It was a perfect run so far with no damage to the grid, but I had started it on Easy difficulty, I still need to get better on Normal.

There’s a meeting where I have to speak and suggest solutions and I actually feel somewhat nervous about it. It’s literally nothing I haven’t done before, but I keep overthinking it, even though I’m like, the one “expert” there who knows what’s going on. It’s a weird feeling to have.

One coworker just showed up, I wished them a good morning, many more have started to arrive now, so it’s time to call it done, maybe I’ll write another post if I get more free time later. I’m feeling inspired.

This is day 32 of #100DaysToOffllad

Helping with the media and worship presentations during service at my local church is a common task of mine. I probably should have done more to prevent this and set some guidelines beforehand, but now that it happened, I wouldn’t let it fly. After a short explanation of why, I saved the day, and educated one more person about the horrors of AI slop. I wish that had been the biggest mess of the day…

The morning kept going, I finished the presentation, song lyrics, the usual stuff. I have no breakfast on Sundays, I dressed up—more formal than usual, I was feeling fancy—and headed out with my family!

After the service was over—with AI nowhere to be seen—everyone stayed to have lunch together.

My church has been collecting money for a new building, so each week a different family prepares and sells a meal for everyone—we are a rather small group—to acquire funds and enjoy the time together.

I get in line for my serving—some great tacos de bistec that I couldn’t stop eating—and I sat on a different spot than normal, since most of my friend group helped prepare the orders, or handle cash. I was enjoying myself, listening to the chatter without saying much. I start to hear about violence going on in the streets, about drones flying above some areas, things start to get a little tense.

As much as I hate it, I install Facebook again—still the most popular social network in Mexico. I read the headlines, I read posts from the government in my state and my city. I hear the people around me, sharing their own thoughts and updates on the situation.

Some people with friends or contacts elsewhere start to get phone calls, people checking up on each other, people making sure everyone is safe. A few leave early, but things keep going pretty well.

I talk about it on the fediverse, in some group chats. I check up and see this is news worldwide. Flights are delayed, roads are blocked, hotels closed their doors— nobody in, nobody out.

The leader of the biggest drug cartel in Mexico died.

After this military operation, the narco is acting in retaliation with terrorist acts all over the country. The posts online from the local government are clear: go home and stay inside.

Things were going fine. People left at a rather slow pace, those who stayed finished their meal, and things went on as usual—the kids played and ran around outside. We were all rather calm, it was no big deal.

Perhaps is in moments like these where faith shines through, and being together brought a sense of peace amidst the chaos. Maybe it’s naive, maybe we are oblivious to reality. But we rest assured, beyond any despair this world may bring.

And the day went on, we returned home, and enjoyed a quiet evening. My mom decided to catch up on her current TV show of choice, my grandma joined her, even my dad. They made some popcorn too.

I wasn’t feeling like watchting TV, and I stopped reading the news. It had been a while since we had popcorn, so I got my own bowl and went to my bedroom to watch Resident Evil retrospective videos and essays clean up and get it tidy.

Later I returned to my playthrough of Resident Evil 2. It has been such an enjoyable experience, and it felt a bit surreal this time, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that I’m surviving a zombie apocalypse while there are vehicles on fire and buildings closed all over my state. At least I don’t think Zombies stand a chance in Mexico, I admit I chuckled at the intrusive thought.

Checking my emails, I realize I won’t have to work on Monday, and that my gym would be closed too. Not much to worry about, just an unexpected day off, a welcome development despite the circumstances.

A bit later, my church did an online call, where we prayed together about the whole situation going on, everyone arrived home well, and even though shops and the like were closed, we all had our needs covered. We prayed for the authorities, forgiveness for those committing these acts and their repentance, for the people who suffered a loss, and those who struggled because of it all.

My dad prepared some migas con huevo for dinner—probably my favorite way to eat eggs. I was happy that I wouldn’t have to wake up early tomorrow, and things went as normal, then it was time to go to sleep.

The thought about how I could have realized absolutely nothing if I hadn’t been with other people is also weird, I really am completely unaware of the news most of the time, but when stuff like this could happen all of a sudden, I see now why some folks are often very worried on what’s going on around them.

I guess I should try to find a balance. It’s easy to ignore that which doesn’t affect you, I guess, but then it does, and now what? I do hope that I’ll remain calm even then, maybe I can say it because nothing really affected me much, just the tension in the moment. I don’t know, I’ll figure something out.

I’d also like to thank those who checked up on me! I’m writing this last couple paragraphs a few days later now, and it really does feel kinda melancholic. I thought about writing about my day off too, but it really was just a normal time staying at home and playing videogames. That Sunday though, that was a day full of mixed emotions, but it kind of got me to see so some things differently, it was an interesting experience.

This is day 22 of #100DaysToOffload

As an introvert in real life—hard to believe I know—I tend to avoid interacting with people, even those that I should be familiar with.

If I see friends from work, I won’t engage with them unless we actually face each other and there’s no way around it. If I see friends from University, I will not talk with them—unless she was a crush and we somehow happen to sit together in the bus, maybe I’ll say hi, but that only has happened twice so far. Otherwise I’ll probably ignore.

However, this situation was a little different, because now there is a certain social imbalance that I had never felt before. Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s not a real thing, I know that we are equal, I know status based on the work you do is as vain as it gets.

And yet, I couldn’t help it. This person studied a similar career as me, could probably land a job similar to me, and yet he’s a cashier.

That is of course, absolutely fine, absolutely great for anybody. Who knows what other factors are at play here, maybe it’s only temporary, or maybe he’s still doing a Master’s degree and just needs some extra income and will surpass me eventually. Or maybe he just enjoys it. I don’t know.

But the truth of the matter is that, at least for a second. I felt bad for him. I just couldn’t look at him in the eye, I didn’t say Hi, as if I didn’t know him. I didn’t even bring it up to my parents, and I always say “oh that person works with me!” or “they were a classmate of mine!”

And then I felt bad about feeling bad, that I looked down on him like that. I guess a feeling of superiority got to me, the fact that I’m closer to some arbitrary ideal than them. A part of me wants to think I just felt bad not because he was lesser, but because this world is just kind of unfair. But well, I know part of me thought that, and it was wrong, or at least it felt wrong to me.

Or who knows, maybe it was actually insecurity of mine, mabye I felt a sort of imposter syndrome, for being in a better place because all of my circumstances just lined up better, even if he could do just as good a job as me. No idea at this point.

Maybe the other person didn’t even recognize me either, maybe they were happily focused on work and doing their thing. Maybe I just felt bad for being impolite and I am trying to justify myself just to feel better about it somehow.

To make matters more ridiculous. the reason I saw them was because the label on a product had a lower price than the one showing up on the screen, and they showed up to validate the price and change it. So not only did I not say a word to them because I felt bad about being in a “better position” than them, I did so while being a cheapskate who complains about a product being 2 bucks more expensive than what the label said.

Whatever it is, maybe it’s no big deal, maybe they didn’t want to talk to me either, I don’t know, I am terrible when it comes to reading social interactions, I just felt like writing something about it and move on, and well, I just happen to have a place that lets me do that.

This is day 11 of #100DaysToOffload

When heading elsewhere, my mom suddently had the desire to get a new case for her phone, a Redmi Note 11 by the way—a pretty okay midrange device. I have to admit I had zero hopes they would find anything at all, I tried to tell her getting something online going to be much cheaper and that we could find something she actually likes.

No point arguing with mom, she wanted to at least ask, and so we did.

After standing in front of the seller for way too long—I didn’t remember the device name and clumsily searched in the settings for longer than I’d like to admit—I was surprised they didn’t immediately said no. The guy got searching in a few drawers full of cases, under the stand, higher up, checking some sort of index every once in a while.

A few even more agonizing minutes passed where he kept searching but, eventually, he had to give up, tough luck this time around—and then my dad spoke.

My father saw a few cases in a shelf up above that started with “RN”, they were at the bottom of the pile, so only the spines of the boxes could be seen—I have no idea how my father even found them from where we were standing—the guy immediately checked closer and pulled out a couple cases for my mom to choose from.

She picked a golden colored one, and I was absolutely impressed. They did have something in the end, so they earned my respect.

I wasn’t too happy about paying like 10 extra bucks than what the case would cost online, but I digress, I took my losses and got my mom what she wanted.

I’m rather amazed by little moments like this, it really lets me know that even a tech enthusiast such as myself often ends up in a bubble when compared to other people who just use technology without being deeply interested on the latest and greatest.

The Redmi Note devices are fairly popular in some countries—I used to have one myself—and some folks who don’t follow tech as closely as I do, aren’t really tempted or in need of upgrading devices every one or two years, which means that even a device as old as the Note 11 has plenty of accesories and cases made for it, due to the marketshare these phones have among the less techy people.

The same is true for a lot of other things. Most people have not bought a Nintendo Switch 2 yet, most people won’t even realize that a Steam Machine is, plenty of regular folks don’t care their phone is 4 years out of date, and that is absolutely fine. I don’t know why I keep forgetting stuff like this…

My mom has showed signs of wanting a new phone, and I have felt like I should get something new to her, but at the same time, I think all she really needs is a nice factory reset to get her device snappy and fluid as new. I haven’t been the best example when it comes to sticking to a device for a long time, I know, buying like three phones since this blog got started… but alas.

For now, I spent more money than I wanted on a case, my dad has better eyesight than me, I should look at myself in the mirror when it comes to my assumptions, and in any case, my mom is happy.

This is day 5 of #100DaysToOffload

I was inspired by many people, such as Jeremy who was the one who gave me the final push, Jedda who was at it since earlier, or Ariadne, who was among the first I saw!

There’s also Thomas, TK, Tracy (woah that’s three T’s!), Cassie, Sylvia, Sam (wooah that’s CSS!?), and many, many more!

Since the day I started, I’ve asked myself how worth it is it to actually write down stuff like this, the random things that happen day after day, that are just a part of everyone’s life.

I have great friends and fellow bloggers who kind of don’t see the point of it, some people want to portray a certain character to their websites, which is perfectly understandable to me. But hey, my website is mostly about my life, not really just gaming or technology or reviews, if I feel like writing it, I’ll probably end up sharing it here, so weeknotes felt right to me.

Somehow, some people even said I’m part of why they decided to start doing their own weekly notes, a huge honor for me, I must say.

I am always looking forward to see what people are up to week after week sharing their story, slices of a life that are as familiar as they are unrelatable, as fascinating as they are stressful, and as fun as they are a chore. It’s life after all!

This act of documenting our day, each project, idea, event or shenanigan, is just so interesting to me, both to write myself, and to read up from others. My feed reader is almost like a weekly newsletter of everyone’s updates and thoughts, the same topic, and yet different all the time.

Of course, while some people I admire have lost motivation or gotten busy. Some others have continued to be fascinated by the everyday. In the end, not everyone has the time or the energy to commit on a regular basis, priorities are set somewhere else, and that agency is a beautiful thing too.

I will continue to write these for another year, and more, I hope! And I look forward to all of yours as well, to inspire new ones and uncover old ones, because those small parts of life are the ones that make us realize we are all just people living under the same sun, on this pot of land we call earth.

It went well last time so, yeah! I’ll even actually come up with a title that lets me search for whatever I was talking about on the post this time…

Updated Uses Page

Yesterday I took some time to update my uses page! I added some things like my music player and e-reader, as well as some apps, check the changelog at the bottom for a full list, I am not sure why I took so long to change some of the stuff there. Not even my current phone, the Nothing 3(a) was listed yet!

RL Dane suggested me to add my Fountain Pens to the page, but since I only have a couple of them, I don’t really feel like doing so. Besides, I am yet to create a page for my Casio watch collection, and that takes priority at this point in time.

I guess I could just add “Pen” and “Watch” there, list the model and leave it at that. Actually it may be already done by the time you read this post…

Innioasis Y1 shenanigans

I’ve been updating and adding music to my Innioasis Y1 and it’s been quite a fun experience. I keep thinking about switching to Rockbox now, since I am literally a couple of clicks away from giving it a go, but yesterday I forgot the device at the office like an absolute fool, and today I’ll be busy, so the switch to Rockbox won’t happen until the weekend comes.

Another reason I am interested in trying Rockbox is that one of my albums refuses to be displayed properly, no metadata is shown, it’s just the ugly filename, but for some reason three of the songs are getting recognized and grouped properly. I spent a while trying to tag it a certain way, with Kid-3 and MusicBrainz Picard, and even used ffmpeg to re-encode the file on Linux, checked the output with file and metaflac, comparing to working tracks, etc. No idea what happened yet.

Want to know which album is it? The Chrono Trigger soundtrack, dude!

Still loving the device though, my experiment continues!

Jana used Quick Reply!

It’s super effective!

Jana already wrote a reply to my reply with some extra thoughts on the matter. I find myself in a similar situation. During my Mastodon break in August—I wonder how many realized that happened—I uninstalled Tusky and limited myself to using the browser to access Mastodon only if necessary, which should’ve been never to be frank.

Initially it was just logged out, to maybe see posts linked to me in some chat. In the end I ended up logged into my accounts from the web client, and even though I managed to do it more purposefully—since there are no notifications—I still knew I was just getting around it and missing the point.

I’m not sure I want to go all in on splitting everything a phone can do into different pieces of hardware or techniques, but I guess I am kind of already doing it since I got a music playing device, a retro handheld console and my kobo e-reader. Where’s the harm in getting a camera at this point? Hmm…

For now, I’m good.

I actually already participated on this challenge, so in case you missed it or if you are wondering why I have not written anything about it, feel free to check out my answers, the seventh one might surprise you! 🤯

It’s interesting to see how themes come and go, just like how yesterday I wrote about friendships after the discourse going around it for months.

I remember a few years back everyone was talking about a reality without Javascript or CSS (including me), and it sparked a bunch of interest conversations from the webdev blogging scene. Simpler times…

Things come and go all the time, sometimes I was there, and sometimes I didn’t even know they were a thing everyone was discussing.

In a way, it’s nice to be unaware, there is some pressure that comes when everyone is saying something and you feel that you should do the same, but when a theme or idea sparks naturally instead of coming from a bandwagon, it’s nice too, it’s more you.

Anyway, not that long of a blogpost really, just wanted to share some links I guess.

What are some of the challenges or themes you wish to see again?

This morning I was catching up with tiramisu’s blog, who hadn’t published anything for a couple of weeks since September because of a trip. I’ve always appreciated the writing, the anectodes and quotes shared from time to time there, which is always inspiring, although I wish I could do more things like that. Check out their stuff!

For some reason I stayed awake pastmidnight yesterday—or I guesss today?—replacing some of my older music albums in MP3 format with some rips in lossless FLAC. I was staring at the download progress bar for some reason, I could have played a bit of Soul Reaver or maybe continue my read of Exit Strategy (Murderbot #4), but alas, I was hyper-fixated on transferring the audio files to my phone as soon as possible.

I used LocalSend—a great alternative to Apple’s AirDrop or Google’s Quick Share—to transfer the Album folders to my phone, and it was a flawless experience. I used the Flatpak package, although apparently there’s a web client, I couldn’t get it to work and didn’t spend a lot of time setting it up. After installing the app on my phone transferring everything only took 20 minutes or so.

I probably could have just used a cable, but I haven’t actually installed MTP support to my Laptop running Arch, and I’d rather not set it up if I can afford it. I do have USB drive with type C connector, but I did what I did.

I lied when I said I just stared at progress bars, I just remembered I watched a reaction to a reaction ranking which movie nuke is the most realistic, the algorithm is scary sometimes.

I was tasked with going to pick up our dog from the vet clinic after work yesterday. My parents were out of town again, so I had to ask a friend for a ride, he’s the one who actually gifted us the dog in the first place when it was old enough to be separated from the pack.

The dog was pretty much alright, no broken bones or anything, just some bruises and a leg that still can’t quite stand. I was given some medicine too. I wanted to ask what for, and the receptionist told me I should ask the doctor, but I forgot to do it so I am just hoping for the best.

As soon as we got home, my dog was quite excited to be back home, my other dog was also happy to see her friend back. She had been sad during the couple days of being alone in the patio. I was just glad both were OK now.

Giving the medicine was a bit of a pain, the pills were fine, I just wrapped everything in some ham, but I had to use a syringe for the liquid ones and getting it in the dog’s mouth was pretty hard to do by myself. I managed though.

I’ve noticed that my dog won’t move one of the front legs though, almost as if it’s not there

Because of the schedules, I wasked to leave early today to give my dog the required medication as soon as possible. I’ll be leaving shortly!

(This section was actually a short rant about the fact that TRON Uprising is a great show that didn’t get a proper ending, but I ended up writing so much about it, I decided to make it a separate blogpost instead, so go check it out!)

I somehow didn’t mention this anywhere in my week notes, but I actually really got into some daily puzzle games in the style of Wordle (remember when everyone was into that?). The ones I am currently invested in are:

• Tiled Words
• Waffle Game
• Reunion

I’ve had success on all of them and haven’t lost any streaks for the couple days I’ve played them, which I think speaks quite a lot to my increased English vocabulary, or my luck, but it’s definitely my lexicon, want proof? I know what lexicon means.

If you play these word games, let me know at once!

Earlier today as I checked my RSS reader I read this update from Steve, who wrote:

Last week I wrote about the two-sentence journal method, which I was generally optimistic about using.

I actually shared a link to this “two-sentence” journaling method in my last weeknotes, so that’s fun. Anyway, the next paragraph starts with:

Well…I really haven’t been using it.

So, I think, that’s literally me!

Then on the fediverse I saw another post from Matt about how buying a Steam Deck didn’t pay off for him, because he doesn’t even play videogames much, and he says:

I could sit here, and tell y’all that I’m going to be different this time. I’m going to sit this morning and play a bit before I have to get to work. But we all know that would be a big fat lie. Oh, maybe I’ll stick to that goal for a little while, but eventually, my attention will turn elsewhere, and the Steamdeck will go back into its case. Then the cycle will continue, as it has forever.

Once again, that’s literally me!

Commitment is kind of difficult. Even for something that should be easy like writing two sentences in a journal, or something that should be fun, like actually playing the videogames you have.

I’ve written a few posts about some of the issues I’ve been dealing with—which in the grand scheme of things aren’t really a big deal, I guess—such as:

• trying to buy less games—something I’ve failed at spectacularly.
• going to the gym more often—with really mixed and unpredictable results, and
• eating less snacks—which hasn’t really worked out, as I’ve barely lowered my intake.

Now, some of it is no big deal, I haven’t practiced cursive writing in a couple days, I haven’t finished Silksong yet and it’s still waiting for me.

And sometimes I just can’t believe I keep digging myself deeper, I literally just got Super Mario Galaxy 1+2 and Suikoden I+II Remastered for some reason. Why are there so many great games coming soon???

I can say all I want, it doesn’t matter until I take action. I’ll keep trying even if I fail again, and maybe, eventually, it’ll stick. Or maybe I should stop considering all this a problem and just embrace the chaos.

But no, I refuse, I know I’m doing some things wrong, and I’ll keep on hitting my head against the wall until something clicks.

Clicks buy on the Dragon Quest I and II HD-2D Remastered for Switch.

To start with, I have no idea what people are dealing with, I am nobody to tell you how to process it, maybe I’m just an online stranger to you, or maybe you think of me as a friend, who can’t really do much when stuck thousands of miles away.

It is only natural for anyone who writes, to do so about those feelings, about the things that keep us troubled, the challenges we have to face in today’s world. The decisions others are making that seem to just ruin everything we work for.

I, too, am facing my own issues, from time to time. But sometimes I feel like I’m just a kid, complaining about totally random things, problems that only arise because I have the privilege of being able to face them in the first place.

I feel like I have a lot to learn, like I’ve never gone through anything that truly hurt me, I think I’m blessed for that, in a way, but it has also made it difficult to relate when everything I’ve needed has been given to me.

I’ve had significant losses, I’ve lost most of my grandparents. I wrote about that too, but never published it. My first dog passed away, also a while back now, I wrote, and didn’t publish it. I just never felt like sharing it. Maybe I’ll do it in the future, but right now, I feel no need to.

There’s also the time I almost died, I was still a kid, and I don’t even remember the whole deal to be that traumatic, I only have the scars over my body to remember what I went through. My parents could tell you how that changed their outlook in life, I can only say I’m still here, and I am thankful for it.

All of us need time to process the struggles we face, to go through them, to deal with them.

If you write or not about those negative feelings or thoughts, anger, stress, or pain. All of it is part of what makes us human. everyone chooses what to do with them. Even if I am picky about what I choose to share here from time to time, I’m not telling you to do it too. If you write about what you’re going through, someone might relate and find comfort thanks to you, but if you don’t, there’s no harm done either.

Well, I’m honestly just rambling, but what I really want to say is that I have a wish—something I hope comes true for all of us.

That you can write about something that brings you happiness, that you can read something that motivates you for the better, that you play something that makes you feel like a kid, or listen to something you wish everyone could hear.

I hope you experience something that brings you so much joy you want to share it with the world.

That’s one of the reasons why I like to just write reviews about things I like, even if I sometimes feel like they don’t fit that well in my blog—and some have been about things that didn’t bring that much joy. Most of the time I only have nice things to say about stuff anyway.

Some of my friends have told me they skip them, which makes me a bit annoyed, but I still do them because I want more people to enjoy the things I do and I love to know when they actually do it.

So, well, whatever you are going through, whether you write about it or not, I hope we can find peace, amidst all the chaos.

Morning, woke up, got a change of clothes and got ready for work, walked through the mud to the bus stop while listening to the last 20 minutes of Into The Aether’s latest episode, and then started an episode of Avatar: Braving the Elements.

When I got to the bus, I whipped out my PSP and unwired my earphones, plugged the jack in, and started a course of Ridge Racer 2, quite literally the most cathartic solo racing experience I’ve had in years. I have been playing it on and off throughout the year, starting with the original, but the sequel is literally the same with more levels. The earphones are a must because the music enhances the experience to the max.

The bus arrives, I walk towards the office, stop for a bit. I always get half an hour early to work, so I think about what to do. I consider reading, but not yet.

I take out my phone, and start a classic match of 20 floors of Slice & Dice, I play the whole time until 8 o’clock gets going. I turn on my laptop, check any emails and have my phone by my side again. I play a turn, I reroll here and there. and then real work shows up.

Slice & Dice is way too dangerous. It’s a roguelite where you control a party of characters, all of them represented by dice, each side does something like attack, heal, or shield. There are also status effects, like poison, losing 1 hp per turn, stone, which makes one side of the dice unusable, or pain, where you get damage back when you hit an enemy.

Each turn you roll the dice, and you can lock the ones with values you want, and roll the rest again twice more. The enemies are also dice, and will have their own turns and do a variety of attacks as well.

It extremely easy to pick-up and play. The decisions made are quick and you don’t need to do precise inputs or anything like that. Just roll some dice, choose which ones to pick, roll again and again, and then execute the chosen actions in the order you want to.

I start playing again for a little bit, and I die by some wrong decision I made 10 turns ago maybe. Okay then, time to actually get to work for a while, and then suddenly it’s time for brunch!

I’ve been making an effort to not use my phone much when I’m with my coworkers, and it actually goes relatively well. I picked it up after we were done eating and played a bit more.

Eventually, more actual works shows up, but I can always sneak a turn here or there.

All of this going on while I somehow got into this little idle game called Idle Slayer which I saw on a post from Wavelengths and I randomly decided to give it a go.

I unlock some stuff there and upgrade things and watch some ads to make things go faster and leave it again to do some other stuff.

Work shows up, I go to a couple of meetings, I sneak in another turn on Slice & Dice.

Somehow, it’s now time for lunch. And my coworker is leaving early today, which I knew since yesterday, thankfully, but he told me he didn’t have any extra unfinished tasks.

At this point, I’ve managed to achieve a victory in Classic Normal and Classic Easy, and I start another run in Normal.

After this, I share some screenshots of my winning runs to some friends who got into the game much earlier than me. They are all celebrating like crazy and sharing stickers.

I wanted to write my Top 25 Games of All Time today and ended up too distracted. However, I wrote the list itself, now I just got to write the thoughts and explain the why of it all.

On the way home, I finally read another chapter of Nemesis Games.

Also, I remembered Silksong is coming out soon, so I have to finally beat Hollow Knight after not having played any of it since July 3rd.

I beat The Hollow Knight on my second attempt, thanks to the Sharp Shadow charm and Unbreakable Heart. Life is good, I share some screenshots online.

I completed Hollow Knight after 46 hours and 18 minutes. I played Slice & Dice for like 7 hours on and off, I did a full tour on Ridge Racer 2, and I read 2 chapters of Nemesis Games.

Now I’m going to sleep.

The title should be clear enough, you will be able to hear my wonderful English pronunciation for the first time ever, unless I’ve sent you a voice message sometime ago on Signal or you were one of the 6 or 7 people around that one time I joined someone playing Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on Twitch via a Discord call.

I participated in episode 13 of The Worst Community Report podcast (here’s the RSS feed) and I kind of dread to link it here. Still, I have to admit that I expect some feedback out of it.

For some context. The Worst Community Report is a variety podcast hosted by members of the community on Discord of TWG (The Worst Garbage), which is kind of like a podcast network, mostly just in name and values, there are no ad deals or hosting services and such. Into The Aether, my most listened podcast show, is part of such a place.

Because of this, a fair amount of episodes can lack some context or talk about internal shenanigans that a 3rd party would be aware of unless they spend time in the server like I do. Overall, it has that “internet friends talking about random stuff” feel going for it, which I enjoy.

Honestly, I was super nervous all the time, and I haven’t actually listened to it since the recording, I am so afraid of hearing my voice, I don’t know if my small laughter showing up sometimes when others talked was left in, or that time I broke down midway trying to process what I was even saying lol. It felt like eternity to me, but maybe it wasn’t that bad. Any reassuring words or honest feedback is welcome. 😅

This episode was centered on bloggers, and a few of the TWG Discord members participated. Including:

• Brent, the main host, who writes about Linux, FOSS and weeknotes. I’ve exchanged emails with him, leading to some cool conversations across a couple months now! I still don’t reply back to the latest one oof.
• Cassie, who writes plenty stuff, from weeknotes, to blogging, books, technology and life in general. Also her website design is superb, absolutely lovely.
• Cameron Swingle, who mostly sticks to game reviews, all of which are about super niche titles. I took a look at the Top 25 Games series, and only recognized like 8 of them, crazy stuff.
• and me.

We talked about how we got started, our blogging setups, and stuff like that, so if you want to, give it a listen! Even if you don’t like my voice, maybe the topic will be enough to keep you interested.

This is it for now, have a good one!

Due to this, I thought it would be fun to share a little bit about every pair of glasses I’ve had in my life!

I couldn’t find good pictures of any of these glasses, so I decided to represent them using pixel art, just to have some visuals for this post.

I still remember when I finally got my first pair of glasses, I was 10 or 11 years old, maybe, I was just getting started on my 4th grade of primary school, and getting a desk that was further away from the whiteboard—maybe it was still a chalkboard, can’t recall—or maybe my eyesight was just decaying naturally as I grew old. Not sure.

For quite some time, my parents didn’t believe I actually needed glasses. I was the kind of kid who just wanted to have new shiny things, so they probably thought I wanted to look smart and that my eyesight was actually just fine.

Turns out, I had myopia! Short-sightedness. I could see fantastically from up close, but everything turned blurry when I looked at something far away. So, my parents decided to take me for a vision exam.

~2011

I changed glasses in the same eye clinic for the first three times, it became a pretty common place because we were friends with the doctor there. I remember the place very vividly, first it was me, then me and one of my siblings, and eventually all of us, who would get our tests done, and we always had to wait some time in the reception room.

We would play around with some toys there. All of them were didactic ones, for kids in kinder garden, but even a grown-up kid like me could find some fun with those colored wire mazes, moving beads of different shapes from one end to the other.

There were also some magazines, and newspapers. I never forgot the name of one, Algarabía, a beaufiful word in Spanish I must say—which means “commotion” or “shouting”, but with a distinct elegance to it—without a true equal in English, in my humble opinion. It was a magazine filled with a variety of articles about culture, news and opinion pieces. I remember reading some of it, but I can’t recall any specifics. I do remember liking the cover artwork, which wrapped around the back and front of the magazine. During all the visits I did, there was always an issue of these to flip through.

My first glasses were silver-colored and oval-shaped, I don’t really remember why I went for such a weird choice but alas, I was—and still am—weird. Going with that style inevitably ended with comparisons to Harry Potter and nerdy-ness in general at school, but I didn’t mind and wore them up until middle school.

~2016

Eventually, I think my head turned too big for them, or I simply had to do another vision test. I got the chance to update the frames too, and I somehow got a pretty neat pair of Ray-Ban, that I also really liked for quite a while.

A year or two into high school, I got hit in the face with a basketball, and well, one of the legs broke. Don’t worry, it didn’t hurt that much, I was already used to getting hit in the face as a goalkeeper in middle school.

I remember all trying to fix it in a couple of different ways, most of them were using a mix of crazy glue with sodium, since my mother said that would turn the glue into a stronger plastic compound. It was actually pretty cool, and worked well, until it broke off again after a few months, maybe in just weeks, I can’t recall.

As an aside, a thing I love about Mexico, is that a lot of stuff that would cost hundreds of dollars in the US or Europe, is actually an everyday thing here. Right to repair thrives, from washing machines to furniture upholstery, small workshops where that gets done are pretty affordable overall.

My dad found a glasses repair shop, and got that leg fixed in place for 3 bucks, and off we went for another while.

Unfortunately, I felt a bit annoyed by the slight imperfection in my glasses. The fix worked fine, but the leg had a small bump, it was fixed by a staple welded in place, and the resin was slightly melted around it, it wasn’t a smooth finish, and I guess I just got bothered by the aesthetic, even if it was functional.

~2018

At some point I was given another metallic frame for oval-shaped lenses. It definitely looked like it was made for grandpas. It was gold colored and the legs had wood-textured temple tips. Honestly, I kinda liked how quirky they were, I got the lenses on my Ray-Bans and got them cut to fit on this one, so I could use them in case of an emergency. This means I didn’t go to an eye clinic and got a new eyesight check at the time, so, while they could work, it wouldn’t be ideal.

I eventually went to the eye clinic again, and had another chance to update my frames, and didn’t get to use these very much, for now…

~2019

My new glasses were from some other brand I can’t quite remember, I want to think they were cheaper, can’t confirm. I remember them because the resin had a matte finish, they were dark blue on the top bar and bridge, and frosted/transparent on the rims—yes, I had to look up the part names for these things.

I really liked these new ones, and I wore them all the way to University, actually. I liked the look, I loved the feeling and I then stopped liking them.

Honestly, I should have seen this coming. The clear plastic always ends up yellowing, especially when in constant contact with my nose and stuff. Also, the finish in the plastic ended up peeling off overtime, maybe it’s just my skin, but it was probably just the constant exposure to sunlight, and, the environment? I guess?

Finally, one of the rims broke, and since it’s a rim, it could not be welded back into place as easily, I remember the technician telling me it was way too thin for it too last, so I only used it for a little while like that.

As the plastic kept getting worse and no good fix could be made, I ended up going back to my golden colored glasses for a while. Until a friend of the family decided to gift me and my siblings a new pair for each of us.

2022

This was the first prescription that I didn’t get from the eye clinic that I had gone to since my childhood. We went to Costco instead.

I liked the gold grandpa glasses, but I still wanted a change of style, I was definitely not going to buy anything plastic or transparent this time around, so I picked these from the available options.

These are the glasses represented in my profile picture, I love the dark blue color of them. I’m still wearing them today, as I’m still waiting for a notice from Costco to go pick them up. The brand is Bulova, which is actually a watch brand. I don’t really have any loyalty to it, but the new ones I got turned out to be Bulova too, so I guess I just like the minimalist designs they offer.

Honestly these glasses (and the golden ones) are still in pretty good condition, I am considering paying just to get new lenses with my updated prescription on them so I can swap styles around whenever I feel like it. Could be fun!

This is it for now, what glasses have you had in the past? which design do you like of the ones I shared? Let me know your thoughts!

For more, feel free to check my about page, I guess, or any of the blogposts with the personal tag on this website, I guess that would work too!

Anyway, this one will follow the format of Alexandra’s introductory post, just sharing some random fun (or maybe not so fun) facts about me. Plenty of other bloggers have done different types of introductions as well though.

I decided to leave the titles of mine a bit open ended, so you can, if you want, try and fill it with your own random facts too.

FACT 1: I simply cannot…

Stay put.

Or at least, I have a hard time not being in constant motion. Even right now as I thought “what fact should I start with” I was fidgeting with my work id card, throwing it around and doing twirls and flourishes with it, until I started typing and I accidentaly dropped it and caused a bit more noise than I expected…

Really, I still touch the walls as I walk alongside one, and I keep flipping my phone, spinning my keys or glancing at my watch when I have nothing to do.

Ok random extra fact, as I wrote this fact, it felt like a deja vu in progress. That was weird.

FACT 2: I had an accident where I…

Almost lost a finger!

When I was a kid, I was playing hide and seek with a friend at church. There was this room where I thought my friend was, and the door was locked, the window was one of the vertical tall ones, and it could easily be slid up to open it. I tried to do that, it was locked, I forced it, it broke into big chunks of glass, and I sliced the base joint of my pinky finger. My friend was not even there!

I had stitches for quite a while, and due to fact 1, it was definitely a chore, but I learned to do origami one handed, at least. Thankfully, everything ended up fine in the end.

FACT 3: My favorite plushie was…

Bear, from Bear in the Big Blue House, which was a show I really enjoyed as well as a kiddo. I loved it so much, and I played with it quite a lot. Apparently, my parents had to buy me a new one at some point because of how much I had used the first one. I admit I didn’t even notice, or I forgot.¹

Eventually, they took it away from me and I was sad for a while, I eventually grew up and accepted it… or did I?

Looks at prices online

Yes, I did.

FACT 4: My favorite videogame is…

Most of my usual readers already know it’s Chrono Trigger, but for whoever is seeing this blog for the first time, feel free to reach out and talk about anything related to Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter, or JRPGs and Metroidvanias in general!

I still need to write a blogpost about my personal Top 25 Games of all time… soon.

FACT 5: My favorite food is…

Difficult to choose, but what I say most of the time would be Tostadas, specifically Tostadas with beans, cheese, chicken, lettuce and tomato, with a bunch of cream on top!

But I also like Flautas, Tamales, and Tacos al Pastor, and all my Mexican food, except for Menudo, no thanks.

FACT 6: I don’t follow them much but..

Sports are fun to play!

I like volleyball, football (not the american one), badminton and ping-pong. I’m not good at basketball (or any of the others, really) but I’ll participate if I have to. Sadly, I don’t go out of my way to play these often though, but when there’s the chance I’ll take it.

I do like watching football during the World Cup though, but Mexico never goes beyond group phase nowadays so whatever.

And I have read and enjoyed sports anime like Hajime No Ippo, Haikyuu and One Outs, and read manga like Blue Lock, The Boxer and Eyeshield 21, the latter is as close as I get to american football.

FACT 7: I have a collection of…

Watches, sure, you probably already know that one if you read me. There’s around a dozen of them nowadays, which is kind of crazy. Still, not an expensive collection at all since most of them are Casios well under 40 bucks.

But, I also have a collection of twisting puzzles! or Rubiks cubes, or whatever the general term is when not all of them are cube-shaped…

Anyway, I have cubes from 2x2 to 6x6, I have a Skewb, a Square One (probably my favorite besides 3x3), a Pyraminx, a Megaminx, and some 3x3 mods like the Mirror, Fisher, and Axis cube. I want to get a Ghost cube at some point.

I guess I also have a collection of Nintendo Switch games, but that’s for later…