General 'how ya doing?' thread

[Scarab]

I thought it'd be nice to have a thread where our fellow Outlaws can post general anecdotes about their day, good or bad; let us know how life is treating you. What'd you get up to over the weekend? Been watching any shows/playing any games? Find a penny on your daily stroll? Feel free to share it here!

As for myself, my uncle has gone on holiday which means we 'get' to look after his dog while he's away. She's a sweet old girl, don't get me wrong, but I've never been much of a dog person and naturally the task of taking her out for her hourly walk has been handed to me. Haha, at least it's giving me a good bit of exercise and fresh air I suppose.

[Mantis]

Nice idea. Hell, I'm sure most of us have plenty to talk about given the time that has passed. On the bright side, maybe you can build some activity up on Pokémon GO while you go on the walk! *evades incoming gunshots for that* Yep, the fresh air is a bonus. For the first time in ages it's actually sunny here in the North West. I don't know about you.

About a week ago I got a pretty nice gaming PC, so naturally I've wanted to spend a lot of time testing whether it's an XGP of the gaming world. Well, it's not quite that good, but perhaps an El Dorado. It's handled everything I've thrown at it at 60fps and higher with ultra settings, but I've got plenty of other things to do around my house, not to mention this virtual house I'm maintaining: the forum I still need to exterminate bugs from and renovate a little too. I should probably get a life right about now. But I've been a lot worse. My cat, Mel, has been pretty happy today as I got him a new toy. It's like a mouse on a dial in a plastic case that he can bat about as the hand rotates. I'll have to record a video sometime.

I suppose this thread should just be about small recent events, so apologies for writing a journal entry here.

[Scarab]

Oh, don't worry about writing too much or anything like that-- anything goes!

It's funny that you mention Pokemon Go-- to be honest, I'd like to give it more of a try (I've only used it around my house so far) but I fear that going out hunting for Pokemon in my village may result in me either being mugged or stabbed if not both. Plenty of chavvy kids who spend their time skulking about in dark alleyways around here, which is a big reason why I'm as agoraphobic as I am.

Haha, that gives me an idea for a new feature: How about Monthly Mel? Or even Mel Mondays? I kid, I kid. I bought something similar for my cats a while ago, only it didn't take very long for Scampi to destroy it... She much preferred batting the mouse around by herself, until it inevitably went missing under the fridge or something.

[Juneberry]

I only really use Pokemon GO in my house too, but that's because I'm virtually a hermit crab from my agoraphobia and only have it on my tablet, not a phone- meaning it only works if I have WiFi anyway.

I like the idea of Monthly Mel- but that's because I love animals in general, and Mel always entertains me just by hearing about 'im. Sadly I don't have a pet myself, but maybe a pet day in general someday would be fun. We can share stories about pets we've had in the past, too, or something...?

Anyway, I'm doing okay. I think I got a chill last night, and I slept in rather late today even for me (until 1PM- normally I get up at least a little before noon). My dad's spent the past couple hours going nuts because we got some stuff he was really excited for from Amazon- namely some flashlights/motion sensor lights that were on sale, and I finally have a case for my tablet (I got it in March, haven't had a case for it until now. Finally!). Besides that...I'm just a bit headachy and still half asleep I think. But I have some soda and took my meds, so I should be fine.

This thread is a great idea, by the way. It's good to check in with everyone regularly! Also if anyone answers that they're 'fine', I'll probably get mad. But that's a story for the future.

[Scarab]

I love your idea of a pet day Juneberry, that's a great idea! We could even have a dedicated thread for posting photos and sharing stories about our lovable (and sometimes not ) little friends. Is there any particular reason you don't have a pet? I know some parents can be very stirct about that sort of thing. Would you like one of your own someday?

I've been feeling headachy myself, my head has been feeling sore all day which I suspect may have something to do with how eratic the weather has been, it's been raining on and off all day today. Ah well, nothing a nice damp cloth won't solve.

Here's a photo of Scampi I took a little while ago, she always rolls around in front of me while I'm playing on my PS4 which can be very distracting I must say. xD

[Juneberry]

We don't have a pet because of cost right now. Our apartment complex requires $300 USD as a down payment per pet, plus about $50 per month added to your rent. We can already barely afford our rent. So sadly, it's just too expensive. My dad would love a pet as much as I would otherwise. He always enjoyed having them when I was young.

Scampi is adorable! How old is she? Looks sweet. I wanna hug her. But that's because I wanna hug all cats...and dogs...and birds...xD

I have a bit of a headache today myself, but I do tend towards cluster migraines, so that's nothing new really. But my computer hasn't been listening to me today- it's closed two programs as soon as I opened them now with an error- one I use daily (and it does that once in a blue moon), and the other one I'd uninstalled and just reinstalled for the first time in months to actually try to use it finally. Both are for game dev...But I'll probably get them working again later. Just too lazy right now.

Until we decide when pet day should be, I guess we'll just talk about them here in general. So, adding to the pet memories...When I was small (around seven through nine years old) I had a puppy named Cuervo- and I only say puppy because he was young, he was a golden retriever and the same size as I was. He loved distracting me and gaining my attention- so much so that the moment I'd return home from school, he'd knock me down before I could get through the door in excitement. I was also the only one he listened to with no questions asked for some reason...When my dad got him to do something, he had to yell. My mom? He just peed the moment he was told to do something by her. But if I told him? He just did it immediately. That dog really loved me the best.

[Scarab]

Aww, I'm sorry to hear that it's so expensive. :c

She's 3 this year! We decided to get her after our other cat Simba passed away, we've always kept two cats at a time so they can play and keep each other company. It's great fun watching them dash around and play fight every morning, though they have accidently hurt each other on a few occasions. I almost feel like slapping down money like it's some kind of back alley fight club... forget I said that. xD

Aww, Cuervo sounds like a cute little pupper. ^^ Do you have any photos of him? I had a similar experience when I was a child, we had a Collie called Tilly, who neither my mom or dad could get out of the chair she decided she was sitting in. This was just after we got her, she was a very anxious dog and she didn't want to move. Eventually though my mom looked outside and saw me playing with her, somehow I'd gotten her out of the chair I guess!

I think this picture more or less summarizes Buddy and Scampi's relationship... Nah, they do get along really!

[Juneberry]

We might have some on old cameras, but we haven't had him in over a decade and a half, so it'd be hard to find him. He was certainly a good dog though. There were some violent bullies (at least one I remember, who I later became at least moderately friendly with) at my bus stop for school...And my dad actually would purposely bring Cuervo with us when he'd bring me to the bus, because he'd bark a lot at the bullies and my dad apparently threatened he might cause trouble if he saw them doing what they usually did- throwing hard basketballs at the girls that were there. So they slowly stopped. Mostly because they were terrified...Though they didn't dislike him either and would often pet and play with him until the bus came, I think- over time.

I can tell Scampi and Buddy get along- and I can see that Buddy sees (himself? herself? I can't guess easily) as the alpha between them based on positioning, though. But it's kind of like they're adorable siblings, you know? I'm sorry to hear about Simba though. Big hugs and warm wishes.

My godmother has always made sure to keep two cats too, ever since I was tiny. I used to be really afraid of cats though, because for some reasons the ones she got always hated me (maybe because I smelled of dog?) and would always give me a death glare if I got even a few feet too close to them. Eventually one of them started to like me that she had when I got older, and some friends had cats that were friendly, so I eventually got over that fear. I always feel bad when I remember one in particular, because I seemed to scare the daylights out of one of the cats by entering the house- but the other cat of the house adored me and decided I was his personal chair the moment I sat down. They both passed some time ago, and I miss them both even if they weren't mine. :/

[Scarab]

Aww, it sounds like he was a special little dog. That's one really nice thing about having a dog-- the sense of security. I love my cats, but they aren't going to protect me if a burgular breaks into my house, or some crazy guy starts hassling me on the street.

I think you're right about him being the alpha of the pair, it's only fair since he was here first! It wasn't that way when we had Simba though, back then he'd have to wait on him when it was milk time. And they are totally just like brother and sister, haha. Thank you very much for the warm wishes, I do miss waking up to his little head 'massages' but he was suffering through in his later years (we think he may have had cancer) and I'm glad he is at least at peace now.

Cats can be very fickle, huh? One minute they're purring away and rubbing against you, then they stick their claws into you when you try to pet them. xD That's what Scampi's like, for some reason in my experience boy cats tend to be a lot more laid back. I'm sorry to hear about their passing, too-- it really is like losing a friend when a pet dies, even if they weren't 'yours' you still obviously had a special bond with them.

[Scarab]

Anyone who's known me for a time might think of me as 'that pizza guy', but the truth is there's another thing I love: burgers! (Seriously, if we ever go out to eat expect me to order a burger and chips if it's on the menu. )

They do these delicious burgers down at a pub in my village, funny story about that, usually they come with one of those long cocktail sticks with a tower of onion rings on top, but one time for some reason it had a knife stuck through it. xD I have no idea why, must have run out of sticks. Anyway, I didn't feel like going down there today so I've decided to cook my own. We just happen to have these frozen angus burgers and BBQ pulled pork in the freezer, so I'll see what I can do.