The little Inn by the wayside

[Zyx]

You know what's funny? Every single immigrant store in this area has 3-6 slot machines somewhere. It's gotta be good business.

At least around here, those slot machines are the most profitable square meters in any grocery store.

[Scythe]

You probably underestimate evolution which is speeding in an unbearable (unbarable ) pace nowadays.

Oh, please keep this out of the bar. Get another round instead.

[eMTe]

Slot machines and arcade games has been traditionally considered mafia business in Poland. I don't know how the problem looks now though, media lose interest in such topics quickly, no matter whether the issue was resolved or not.

[Zyx]

Slot machines and arcade games has been traditionally considered mafia business in Poland. I don't know how the problem looks now though, media lose interest in such topics quickly, no matter whether the issue was resolved or not.

In Finland, the state has the monopoly on slot machines and gambling. No reason to leave good money to criminals...

[eMTe]

Do you have plans of extending this system on other branches? You know, food supply and alike.

[eMTe]

I hope Pager will read this post in future.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!

[Chroelle]

YEp - good one to you PAgetr - wherever you are.

I missed a lot of good topics in the bar because I have been away again... Dammit. To bring you up to speed - we have rain coming in the roof and have 3 buckets standing around whenever it rains - and lets face it - I am in Denmark - it always rains... Most be something with how ALL the mountains around here wont let the heavy rainclouds pass without dropping its water storage...

I got a syndrome...Hooorrraaayyy. Ok its scheuermanns syndrome which more or less means a bad back, but its still a syndrome. I have enough things already with allergies and stuff to need anything more. We all have some level of different diagnoses.We are all a little depressed, with a little OCD and with different levels of being able to act socially or not. I agree totally with PA on this matter. Diagnosis is for us to put people in boxes - I know the desire myself. Please do know that I ahve been trying to put you all in boxes over the years - or even tried saying "Pater Alf is propably similar to...(insert nearby friend that I actually see on regular basis here). I never succeed with these games, as at some point we all turn out to be different or at least act out of "box".

I have worked with lots of kids with AS, ADHD, ADD, Tourettes, Autism and still do so now, and they are all kids with something "troubling" them, like socially finding it hard to break the code (like you described Raillo). Tourettes being the odd one out, as it seems to be more chemically/physiologically based than the rest. Boy is this a heavy topic for a bar. Good but heavy. Oh and my parents told me not too long ago, that they were very surprised that I ended up working with people, as I was always reading or playing alone in my room when I was young. I did have a few friends that I bonded alot with, but they told me that they always saw me as ending up either working with animals (zoo-keeper or vet) as I loved animals, or doing something with language and study - perhaps an interpreter. Now I am seen as the most sociable of my friends and family, and my mother called me the other day to tell me that I had been "the life of the party" at their recent birthday dinner party. Oh - nad I am very much aware that I am good at that, and also am very much aware that now I am just bragging.

So slot machines ay. None around here, except of course in the local pizzaplaces.
I found the pacman one to funny as well, but I like RAillos idea even better - you should try that.

[Zyx]

Do you have plans of extending this system on other branches? You know, food supply and alike.

Sure, way ahead of you there. State monopoly on alcohol, check. Oligopolistic grocery market, check. State monopoly on military, check.

[eMTe]

Oligopoly is unavoidable in some areas, even having in mind culture and law differences between countries. It's a natural consequence of market forces put in motion.

[jayenkai]

For Slots=Platformer, see JNKPlat Slots (Oct 2007 : 5 whole years ago!). But be aware, it's just as random as the Pacman one.

Today, I found out two things.
One. My boss has quit his job, no longer has a job, and has no idea wtf he's going to do next.
Two. Since my boss has quit, and I don't exactly get along with his brother who's now in charge, I pretty much am also now in the same situation! D'oh! Good thing I'm currently in a government funded state of unhealthiness!
Ugh..

[eMTe]

I don't know what you do for a living, but my wild suggestion is that you start your own company and produce games for iPhone. With your creativity and pace of work (and a little less originality on behalf of mass consumer's needs) you could earn serious money.

If it's not possible for some reasons I feel you have only the option to come to good terms with new boss - opportunism is sometimes the simplest way to resolve trouble.

[jayenkai]

Yeah, you'd think that'd be the solution, but with 8 games already in the AppStore, I'm not exactly raking it in, making around about £20 per month, on rubbished low app sales.
iDevelopment is only a bit money spinner once you happen to have "the next big thing"... And having to take 6 months off hasn't helped much, either

[Railwaymodeler]

Skoda came home for a few nights, now I'm feeling under the weather again, and Maria is a little worn down too. So she is back at her grandma's house. Maria and I both need some rest, though with a heavy rainstorm coming, I hurt too badly to sleep again.

Skoda seems to enjoy grandma's house, though. Her grandma spoils her rotten!

For us, it is kind of refreshing to get a few days to catch up on rest. Chroelle, how long did it last for you, getting very broken sleep with a baby in the house?

[Chroelle]

Last...? You are insinuating that it is over...

You just get used to it, and then it sort of becomes the way you live, and you wouldn't want to trade it for anything.

Now to give you some color back in your face - the reason its not over for us yet is of course that we got a second one, and also moved, and so on... So if I was to only look at when Molly wakes me up - then it is most nights once or twice for 2 minute durations. But we have lots of nights where she keeps sleeping. Most of the time it is all about habits.

But remember to get nights off. You will keep needing those. We still go away on boyfriend-girlfriend trips overnight.

[eMTe]

Did I ever share my observation that most people are born in Autumn?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DL!!!

[Scythe]

Well, the reason I was born in the fall is because my mother was not.

[Railwaymodeler]

Last...? You are insinuating that it is over...

You just get used to it, and then it sort of becomes the way you live, and you wouldn't want to trade it for anything.

I've noticed. Few years ago, I would have never thought I'd actually enjoy this. Right now, despite being perpetually tired, I wouldn't trade it for the world! As long as there's no shortage of coffee, I'll be OK.

Now to give you some color back in your face - the reason its not over for us yet is of course that we got a second one, and also moved, and so on... So if I was to only look at when Molly wakes me up - then it is most nights once or twice for 2 minute durations. But we have lots of nights where she keeps sleeping. Most of the time it is all about habits.

But remember to get nights off. You will keep needing those. We still go away on boyfriend-girlfriend trips overnight.

Well, Maria and I figure there will be a few years as Skoda is in grade school where we will get sleep. Perhaps as soon as first or second grade for her. Of course, if she turns out like me, she'll get up in the middle of the night just to play quietly with building and construction sets.

Then when she gets into Junior High school, and starts discovering boys, then no, we won't sleep for the next six or seven years. Then again, with our money, we could build an armed, heavily guarded compound for our home. Any hormone-crazed teenage boy coming within 500 yards of our home will be destroyed. If the heat/hormone seeking missiles don't get him, the moat filled with crocodiles and piranahs might. Of course, if he gets through THAT, then there's the "obstacle course", of randomly firing shotguns, mechanical hand grenade launchers, and poison gas outlets that trigger at the drop of a pin.

If he gets through all THAT, then he meets ME at the door, with a look that would make a deranged cannibal serial killer look like Mr. Rogers.



Kidding aside, though, we plan to teach Skoda early the value of deep, meaningful relationships, and how to respect herself and not sleep with boys until she's ready and mature enough to understand and accept any potential consequences.

For now, she is cranky tonight again. Maria and I are taking turns comforting her. My turn was 20 minutes ago, and I just stayed at my work desk. Maria's turn right now. There's nights where Maria and I are snuggled up and really don't want to get out of bed, then Skoda cries. Tonight was one of them.

Been building Skoda some dollhouses for when she is a little older. Handmade out of thin plywood and veneer. Printing up texture paper for the wallpaper inside and been handmaking furniture for the houses too. Also carving wooden dolls for inside the houses. Been handmaking a lot of toys for her lately too. Many of them are in the style of the hand-me-down toys my parents and grandparents played with as kids too. Block wood construction with paper lithograph pasted over, much in the same way early model trains were also made. At least I have experience making the stuff!

Crazy part is, the paper overlays on these toys I hand draw and paint. Coming up with some remakes of classic toys from the 1920s - 1950s as well as toys that could have been made, but never were to my knowledge. When she is older, I hope she appreicates the craftsmanship going into them, and perhaps then passes them down to her children when that far off day comes.

[jayenkai]

I seem to be in some kind of slump. I'm not entirely sure what's causing it, except perhaps the abysmal condition of my PC!
Seems that if you leave a PC sitting for six months, it's not exactly happy when you return to it.
It's now horribly slow, awkwardly confused at random times, and the number of updates I've had to sit through is unbearable! Poor system. The Mac has coped well enough, but even that needed a dozen updates before I could properly use it again.

It's really downheartening to see systems in this condition, and I've found it rather difficult to "want" to get back into my old weekly coding style. But I've done the Pacman slots, I've started an iOS version, and I did a silly little box-opening game a few weeks ago, too. So I AM moving, just really really slowly. .. About the same speed the PCs going at.

[Railwaymodeler]

Running slow and running updates might go hand in hand, especially with web browsing. Probably running a lot through the connection just with those updates. I know I sound like a doctor saying this but "Keep an eye on it and check back in a week or so".

[jayenkai]

Either that, or come to the conclusion that you seemingly have lost all faith in your ability to sit at a desk, appear to prefer the cumfy couch, and then order yourself a nice new laptop! Today's been a slightly quirky day, as far as money-based decisions are concerned! I've never had a laptop before. This might be fun! ... Maybe..