Showing posts with label Real Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Real Life. Show all posts

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Spring break from the blog!

 I am off to spring break vacation!  See y'all in a week!  

A little AI fun as we go out the door:

AI: Microsoft co-pilot

Prompt: a gamer going on vacation

Result:

Certainly! Here's a playful depiction of a gamer embarking on a well-deserved vacation:

🎮🌴 Gamer's Vacation 🌴🎮

In the pixelated world of games,
Where quests and battles endlessly unfurl,
Our dedicated gamer, controller in hand,
Decides it's time to escape the digital whirl.

🌅 Destination: Sun-kissed shores,
Where palm trees sway and waves gently kiss,
No respawn points or save files here,
Just golden sands and ocean's bliss.

🕶️ Gamer dons shades, inventory intact,
Sunglasses as epic as legendary loot,
They trade their headset for a sun hat,
Ready to explore, adventure afoot.

🏖️ Beachside quests await:
1. **Sandcastle Construction**: Gather resources,
   Build fortresses against the tide's assault.
2. **Seashell Collection**: Rare shells hidden,
   Like legendary drops, waiting to be caught.

🌊 The gamer wades into azure waters,
   Swims like a mermaid, no lag or latency,
   The sun's rays level up their tan,
   XP gained: Vitamin D proficiency.

🍹 At the Tiki Bar, they order a potion:
   **Mango Mojito +10 Refreshment**,
   Sip, recharge, and watch the sunset,
   Pixels fade, reality's enchantment.

📸 Selfie time! Gamer strikes a pose,
   Sand between toes, joy in their eyes,
   Caption: "Logging off, embracing life,
   Vacation mode: Activated. 🌴✨"

And so, our gamer finds balance,
   Pixels and pixels of a different kind,
   For even heroes need a break,
   To recharge, reset, and unwind.

🎮🌴🌊🕶️🏖️🍹📸
```
Bon voyage, gamer! May your vacation be legendary! 🌟🎒🌞

Tuesday, July 04, 2023

Happy 4th of July!

 Crazy to think this is someone's last day with all of their fingers!

Friday, June 23, 2023

Summer Camp

 Getting ready for summer camp with the oldest kiddo so expect some autoposts in the next week!

Sunday, June 11, 2023

Saturday, June 10, 2023

Vacationing!

On vacation.  A couple posts scheduled to go out but otherwise see y'all in a week 

Sunday, May 07, 2023

Emergency Room; No Gaming

 What a week.  My phone died (original Google Pixel was 7 years old) and then my youngest ended up in the Emergency Room.  No gaming this weekend.  My youngest is good though; just had to rule out something more serious than a common stomach bug.

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

No Rodgers News

Where is the Aaron Rodgers trade!?

Still no Rodgers news so I guess the answer to the question I posed before vacation, "I wonder if we'll have final Rodgers news before I get back?", was a no.

Trump was also not arrested as he told me he would be.

New World's Season 1 update was also delayed from March 28th to March 30th.

Diablo 4's beta actually ran a day longer than expected so I got to give it a whirl.

I guess I should say thanks for the universe pausing while I enjoyed not catching any fish while on vacation.

thanks funny

 


Friday, March 17, 2023

Vacation

Rodgers news before I get back?

 Getting ready for a little vacation here.  I wonder if we'll have final Rodgers news before I get back?

aaron rodgers jets
???

Thursday, January 19, 2023

Sidelined!

 Doozy of a stomach bug rampaging the house.  Blogging will return afterwards!

Sunday, January 01, 2023

Happy New Year and some Axis & Allies & Zombies

 Happy New Year everyone and welcome to 2023.  One of our household traditions is to play Axis & Allies & Zombies .... and... I wanted to share my Axis victory image from last night. As my son would annotate his version of the picture "w for dad"!

 This should teach him not to get greedy with the Soviets in future games.  Moscow can fall quickly and is the most reasonable target for the Axis to win.  In the picture you will see black (Germany/Axis) in Moscow where a hard fought battle was won after a northern blitz move.  

 It was looking pretty bleak for the Axis before this which is why my son tried to start pushing into eastern Europe with the Soviets.  A move he certainly regretted when the tanks rolled into Moscow.

 What a great way to start off 2023 (for me at least)!



Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Monitoring our 13 year old's game time and software to limit time spent on his computer

 As my oldest has hit the teen years (13!!!!) we've needed to better manage his electronics time.  After all we cannot have him becoming a real gamer like his old man... at least not until it's on his own dime and time.  So I've been on the look for technical options that offer management over the home network and scheduling aspects whereby we can let him have his space but have a say in when he can "game on".

 What I ended up with and what we are trialing right now is the Time Boss Pro software.  This software

Example schedule from Time Boss website.

allows you to set a schedule per user on up to three PCs on the home network.  It also has features to monitor further with event logs and such, but that's over the top for our use case as we engage with our son on what he is doing, who he is talking to and so I turn it off.  

 I really keyed in on the scheduling aspect of the software.

 In the software I can set time per day and total time per week.  I can do that whether on his gaming laptop ("his" aka the one he took over from dad now that I don't travel much) or from my main home computer.  There is a clear visual display on his end of time remaining and a built in warning system.  There is also the ability to get and give bonus time.

 Some parents may say this is overboard and "helicopter parent-ish", but I'd disagree.  One of our key jobs as parents is to prepare our children for the real world.  Regulating and managing your time and using tools to do so is a key to success as an adult.  Kids also need to learn and a tool like this helps them learn what, for example, "an hour" of actual gaming is. 

 Thinking everything can be solved through "just talking to your kid" is fine, but you cannot always be there to talk to your kid.  And as they get older the ability for them to have their own space is critical (and heck as parents we need our time apart).  Tools like this help build that trust from a distance.  Note: it still critical to talk with your kid about what they did, who they are talking to, and all that good parenting jazz.  Otherwise how else are you going to stay hip to the Minecraft lingo?

 Long term the goal is to get our oldest to a point of self management with no tools, but until then I will keep working on technical solutions on top of talking/teaching about healthy habits.  That may even require me to be a little more conscious about my own gaming/electronic habits so I can lead by example. Quick don't let my wife see this post.


Monday, December 26, 2022

We gave our 13 year old a phone for Christmas

 We gave our 13 year old a phone for Christmas.  We went with the Pinwheel phone for the parent portal and controls.  It is an extra cost but worth it for peace of mind.  No gaming on this phone though (mobile gaming is terribad anyways).

Thursday, November 24, 2022

A New World Tip and Happy Thanksgiving

 Happy Thanksgiving (to those that celebrate)!

 And a relevant New World tip.  Make sure you get your Feast-O-Plenty Food Trophy from the Turkey Terror event.  This buff is great and combined with the same buff on your bags can almost double your food buff duration!  Players have until Dec 6th to obtain this from the Turkey Terror event.



Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Player 3 has joined the game!

A little late to the blog but my second son has joined the game world as of Jan 18th!  For the astute observers; yes that is 9+ years since player number two (i.e. my first son).

I probably should say "player 4" as my wife counts but couldn't find an applicable image!