12 January 2001
I spent yesterday being sucked into various mindless games.
Early in the morning, Matt sent me a link to a game he called a "productivity killer." Boy, was he right! Luckily, it's a Java game, so I could play it from my work computer and at least look productive.
Then I went home and installed The Sims. (I have to say, either I did something wrong, or the tutorial ends a little abruptly.) But it's not too hard to figure out. It's really loud, though. I had to turn the music and voices off altogether, and had the effects sounds on their lowest setting, and they still came out too loud for my taste. I don't know if I'm going to be hooked by The Sims the way Kris and Elizabeth were. It moves a little too fast - by the time my Sims get home from work and eat dinner, it's already time for them to go to bed. When are they supposed to talk to each other or socialize? It's a little too much like real life. Heh.
(And what's the deal with the bed? I bought them the biggest bed they could afford, but they still can't both sleep in it at the same time! How dumb is that? I'm going to have to get rid of the nice bed, and use two cheap single beds. They're getting tired of sleeping on the couch, even taking turns.)
We'll see what happens, but I only played last night for about an hour and a half. Maybe that's just my game threshold - that's about how long I can stand to play any game.
But then I got sucked into playing Blobs. No, I'm not sure I can actually explain it, but the object is to build collections of color-blobs according to certain rules. When a collection can't be built any further, the blobs in it all explode (clearing the space they were using for new collections) and you get points for each blob you collected. Higher game levels present obstacles and impediments, and there are mystery blobs that can either lay down obstacles or give you little bombs with which to blow the obstacles to smithereens.
It's not mindless, but it's not hard, and it is hypnotizing. I don't know how long I played it yesterday, but when I realized that I was on level 12 and actually hoping I would lose that level so I could stop, I decided it was time to take control and quit - while I still could.
My office-mate Random had to send his computer back to the shop to be fixed. He won't get it back until Monday or Tuesday, and was bemoaning to me a three-day weekend without his computer to occupy him.
"There are things you can do without a computer," I laughed. He looked at me disbelievingly.
"Read a book. Rent a movie. Go to the movies. Go to the park. Go for a drive. Go shopping. (How come I can't think of all these ideas when I'm bored?) Buy your girlfriend a present to thank her for putting up with your computer obsession. Start a new hobby.
"Or you could do something really radical," I wound up, "and actually eat a few decent meals and get some actual sleep!"
Word of the Day:
smithereens - fragments; bits
Currently Reading:
- nothing
Current Projects:
- Kris' afghan. Very slowly.