Tag Archives: CrankyOldGuy

The Final Friday Filler – So Many to Thank!

Thank Grog It’s the Last Firday!

It’s not easy to step away from something that has been a part of your life for almost 8 years. I mean, that’s like 50 years in Internet Time! In all honesty, I already have a sense of relief, along with a smattering of “OMG!!! What have I done?” But, a smattering at my age, lasts about as long as it takes to book a tee time online.

In the end, it isn’t really about the game.  Not by a long shot.  It is about the community that grew from the game, and the relationships that will last well beyond the “final tap.”  There are TONS of people…real people…with whom I have become friends, who are longtime supporters of what we tried to do here. 

I have my detractors. It’s going to happen in a world divided in so many ways by politics, religion, social causes, and doing what’s right, even in the face of criticism. But, the fact is, I’ve never cared much about “keeping everyone happy.” The result was predictable. I have my “true fans,” as well as a handful of bona-fide “Patric Haters.”  I take the good with the bad.

This is complicated by the fact that we all play a game (some far more than others) that is silly, by any measurement.  But, we all know that. If you do something for 8 years of your life, and find yourself defending it to friends and family, you really do need to take a look at your motivations. 

But, as I have said repeatedly, my motivations for continuing to play, write and battle, have little to do with the game, and far more to do with the community. 

And, it is that network of friends that will get the rest of my attention in this final post. 

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Friday Filler – Does Marge Define Women’s Weaknesses or Strengths?



Thank Grog It’s Firday!

Like many of you, I had forgotten (or never knew) that Marge had tried her hand at authoring a romance novel. I had to do some research to find the information that I needed to jog my memory. But, then found myself still saying “Oh…right…” without really remembering the episode. 

As it turns out, and after a little more research, it seems that most women who read, aren’t really into the truth (non-fiction), as much as something to take them away from the truth (real life). And, the more tawdry the better!

Is the penchant for consuming vast quantities of hot, illicit tales of passion just a “women thing?” Or does it point out an actual major difference between men and women in general?

With Valentine’s Day coming up this weekend, it is worth discussing, if only to help women admit their weaknesses (for romance) and men to understand why they will never really meet the standard that women have set for them.

And more to the point… Does Marge actually exude a primary weakness in women, or a strength that actually insures the survival of the human race?
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Friday Filler – Time to Take A Reality Check and Some Perspective

Thank Grog It’s Firday!

So, let’s start with the fact that if you are reading this, you own a padular/mobile device or computer of some sort, along with some type of data plan or WIFI associated with said device. As 2020 continues to throw us more curves than Henry Rowengartner in “Rookie of the Year,” things that we take for granted (like a daily dose of tapping) shouldn’t be on that list.

I realize that many folks play this “silly ‘lil game” to escape some of the realities of our everyday lives. I would be included in that group.  However, with the game being as simplified and EAsy as it has been the past 18+ months, it offers little respite. But, let’s be honest…as I implied…just having the choice to tap puts us in a category of “entitlement” that we very much take for granted.

I can’t/won’t get into politics here. I can’t/won’t discuss my current opinion of the “state of TSTO,” as both topics seem futile. As a nation…we could do with a whole hellofalotta less debate(s). Topics that should be discussed, rarely are. But, I digress…

So…instead…I am going to veer off course (what a surprise?) and talk about the fact that TSTO turned me on to the discovery of a new relationship…while cementing my allegiance to the community that is TSTOAddicts!
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Friday Filler – EA Confidential – Story of Bob- Final Reconning

Thank Grog It’s Firday!

OK…I KNOW that right off the top, many of you think that I misspelled reckoning.  But, I didn’t…because I chose to use a word that sounds like something, but can mean a whole lot of other things.

In this case, we are going to “recon” the “Tale of Bob,” to do our best to poke any holes in the logic, divulge any hints or tips about the future of the game, and otherwise, bring this tawdry (and Lemon Drop Soaked) tale to a conclusion. Mostly.

There’s that word again.  “Mostly.”  Like mostly dead…or mostly true. I have to admit, I love when a word says so much, without saying anything specific.  There are LOADS of words like that…which we’ll get to in a bit.  But, for now…let’s just concentrate on the word, “mostly.”  Let’s do so, with a little “recon.”
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Friday Filler – EA Confidential – I Find Bob


Thank Grog It’s Firday…

This has been a week to remember. In between dealing with getting my wife’s Dad hospice care, shuffling flight tickets for our trip back East, forgetting my computer, which forced me to do the Filler on my phone, and finding Bob, it has been one of those weeks I’ll likely remember for some time.

The “forgetting my computer” explains why I had to recycle an old graphic from one of my old posts about another mystery…Chester Dupree.  But like I said, it has been one of those weeks. You make due…with what you have…and roll with the punches. Mysteries solved, often require adaptation.

As I prepare for another week of total unknowns, I know that adapting and altering plans is simply going to be the “new normal.” Right now, nothing is normal. In these times you just have to roll with the punches. Like Bob. He rolls with the punches. But, of course, I didn’t know that…until I found him.  Which I did.

As it turns out, things with Bob are the kind of “weird” that makes a word like “weird” seem normal.  And, what’s with that word anyway?? It’s supposed to be “I before E, except after C” in the English language.  Except, apparently, when it isn’t…like with weird.   Which is weird. But, I digress…

On to Bob.
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Friday Filler – Sometimes You Hafta Do the Hard Stuff- Even If It’s Easy


Thank Grog It’s Firday!

Holyfreakinshirt!  What day is it anyway?  I know I’ve complained about this before, during this “interesting new version of normal.”  But dammit…nothing is normal right now…except for TSTO.  It is sooooooo normal, that it is making me insane.

There is little doubt that we are stuck in a rut…and the people who are “coming back to the game,” after layoffs of  year, or even two (especially those who have been gone less than two years) have GOT to notice.  If you are paying attention, you will notice that almost nothing has changed in format in months, and months and months.  This isn’t a new observation…but, it really is like seeing an “Under Construction” sign on a new building…leaving for a year or two, and coming back to see that only the sign has been repainted.

And I’ve had enough. I’m going to get answers.  I’m going to call “EA Bob” and find out what the hell is going on, (besides very little.)

Here’s my list of things I’m going to ask, when I grab him between pizza runs on his side hustle, from his clearly part-time job at EA.
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Friday Filler – If You’re Still Reading This…

Thank Grog It’s Firday…

“If you’re still reading this, the world didn’t end…”

I have to crack up at the Mayans.  Really. I think the fact that they apparently were wrong, TWICE is hilarious. But then again, was it the Mayans who were wrong, or was it us?

Back in 2012, when the world was supposed to end (after it didn’t for Y2k or about twenty other times prognosticators of doom got it wrong), there was more than a passing obsession with the “End of the Mayan Calendar” which then proffered with great certainty, that when the Mayan Calendar ended…so would the world.  Of course, this logic is tainted with the reality of what actually happened to the Mayans, which had nothing to do with their calendar, and everything to do with hubris and overconfidence.

And weirdly, while it seems that we have lived through yet another expanded version of the REAL end of the world, via the altered prophesies of the Mayan Calendar, we might learn a thing or two from the authors.

Are we destined to repeat history? Was Homer right?  Should we be more afraid of the SIMPSONS PROPHESIES?????
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Friday Filler- Wait…So This Is Still A Game??

Thank Grog It’s Firday! 

I had to laugh at the opening screenshots of this new “event.”  The whole bit with the mysterious “TGM” (The Game Master) revealing that their reality was a simulation.

With the response being a very appropriate “Duh!

But, of course, as I have discussed in many other posts over the years, I absolutely loved the possibility that there may not only be different versions of our reality, but that all of what we know is but a simulation…like a video game.

Until recent events.

If this is all just a simulation, then the “player” (our own version of Sky Finger) is a total jerk.

But, let’s be honest…this event also proves once again, that “those who make our reality” in TSTO, are also a bunch of lazy jerks.  Yes. I’m talking to YOU BOB!!
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Friday Filler – I Can See Clearly Now…YIKES!

Thank Grog It’s Firday!

I’m writing this a day early, because tomorrow I will once again be “under the laser” for cataract surgery Part Deux.

Let’s just admit from the top, that during these very odd and trying times, anything that seems “normal” is a bit of a miracle…especially when the normal is a miracle of science.  And, come on…the speed and precision with which cataract surgery takes place is pretty damn miraculous (as well as an amazing light show that took me back to the 1970s..far out, man!).

But, the problem with having “One Old Eye and One New Eye,” is that you spend a lot of time comparing.  It’s like so many other things in life. If you spend all of your time looking back at the way things used to be, you can’t appreciate the way things are now.   And, contrary to what current events would have you believe, there are plenty of good things that have come out of “this very bad thing.” But, they take perspective…and being able to see that things really are more clear now, even if that reveals cracks in the details.

And, certainly on that list, is the fact that TSTO is still alivemostly.  I guess that is all in the way in which you see things. But, for me…I am lucky enough to see things from two perspectives…at least until tomorrow (which is actually today, or yesterday, depending on when you read this).
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Friday Filler – The Dangers Of Too Much Nuthin’ To Do…

Thank Grog it’s Firday…

So…yes…I am starting to see a clear delineation between how people are “dealing” with the current Covid Pandemic Pandemonium.  Some are bored out of their minds, and have binge-watched more TV in the past month than they have the previous year. Others are so busy “Zooming” their way through jobs and meetings and other volunteer work, that they have started to really dread even thinking about opening another screen…especially to play a game.

Count me in that second group.

I’m not trying to be a martyr, or whine about doing things that are important…but, damn…I admit that mostly I am sick of people. And that is really weird, because I hardly see any people live and in person.

Having my wife home 24/7 is a blessing that many wish they had. She is a lovely person, when she isn’t driving me batshirt crazy with “her ways” of doing things.  We never comes to blows…but, it comes close.  She is like a family cat…who is ALWAYS under foot…placing herself in the direct line of traffic, and plopping her computer down for HER zoom meetings…in the middle of kitchen.

And yes…it’s all my fault.
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