Tag Archives: CrankyOldPatric

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 – Bob Spills The Beans

Thank Grog It’s Firday!

OK…I know a bunch of you think that I am just going to string this along again, because I can. But, I won’t, even though I could.  But, you have all been very patient with my retelling of this tale. Much more patient than “Bob” was, when it came to flinging his displeasure about my constant haranguing of him, for what you are about to read.

And you will read it…if you do. Read it, that is.  So many of you seem to be “reading challenged.” You want your “facts” in 144 character tweets or less. The real world doesn’t work that way. Unless you are in politics…but, I digress.

Let’s recap.  “Bob” isn’t his real name. But we captured “Bob” at Greta’s (not her real name) apartment in San Francisco, with the help of Ali (my daughter) and Ryan (a very large, attractive former college rugby player). And trust me…beans were spilled!

And no…I’m not still talking about the Falafel that he was delivering with his “side hustle,” Door Dash.  I’m talking like an old 1940s movie “copper” who tells the “con” that the “jig is up…so he might as well spill the beans.”   I have no idea why there was dancing and beans in those movies…but the aphorism stuck.

Just like the beans.
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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 – Looking Forward To 2020 As Soon As 2019 Leaves!

Thank Grog It’s Firday!

Our little game has always had a bit of a problem with time as a construct.   Time is supposed to be linear…always moving forward.  But, of course, in our game, the time/space continuum has been off since they started having multiple versions of the same characters wandering around in the same space/time.

As any fan of movies like “The Time Machine,” or “Back to the Future” know, messing about with the past can have disastrous outcomes for the present and the future.  The fact is, changing even one tiny fraction of an event in the past, could ripple forward with cataclysmic results. People aren’t born,  inventions aren’t invented, and we have to deal with multiple takes of the same event from differing eras of the same person!  It’s like watching “Inception” on acid…which you don’t need to do, because watching “Inception” makes you feel like you’re on acid. But, I digress…

EA seems to disregard this fact, and has  apparently placed the game once again into some sort of “suspended animation” that is keeping us locked in Christmas 2019, without the ability to do most of what we love about the game.

Let’s take a look at where we are…
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Friday Filler – Giving Thanks Where Thanks Is Due

Thank Grog It’s Firday!

There’s one out of the way.  Because thanks is what this entire post is about.

And yes…the neighborhood turkeys are multiplying, and oblivious to the dangers of the season. THEY should be thankful that it is illegal to shoot them within city limits.  But, I have a sneaking suspicion they are acutely aware of this fact.

But, back to my thankfulness…

It has been brought up to me recently, that “these informational posts are great, and would be even better if a bit of the judgemental close-minded conjecture was slightly reduced…Alissa is my favourite hard worker because she sticks more to the facts and doesn’t lace a good chunk of her posts with subjective intense opinions…”   

Yikes. Words hurt HT! But you did make me realize that this time of the year we need to work on being thankful, and full of grace. In this fractured world, with so many opinions about everything, it is easy to start a conversation with the negative. Or even worse…do the “but, flip flop.”

“I’m very thankful that there is still a TSTO, BUT…”

See? It’s the “thankful, but syndrome.”  So not being truly thankful or penitent!
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