Tag Archives: TSTO Friday Filler

Friday Filler – A New Look at Old Stuff to Recapture My Zazz

Thank Grog It’s Firday!

Like many of you, between the Covid-Craziness, more politics than any human should have to endure, civil unrest and a clear letdown in our favorite diversion from all of it (TSTO), I found myself trying to find new ways to make the old ways feel new again.

This is common with the modern version of humankind.  We seem driven to be discontented with “the status quo” and are in a seemingly constant state of “the next best thing.”  Unfortunately, this constant game of “wanting more, but enjoying it less,” has brought us to a point in our existence where more really is less.  Less fulfilling, less gratifying, and far less hopeful.  And yes…I am talking about the game this time.

But, as I talked about in my last Filler, I have decided to “go back a few clicks” to a more simple time, when I wasn’t obsessed with Bonus %, and could actually slow down enough to design my town, in spite of the Item Limits.

Here are my first baby steps to reclaiming my “Zazz.”
Continue reading

Friday Filler – EA Confidential – From a Corporate Perspective

Thank Grog It’s Firday!

Well…I’m back home. It’s been three weeks of full Jake immersion…three glorious weeks of living the life of a 2-year-old with endless energy and endless appetites for “new.”  It feels like 3 months. We were actually that busy from morning til night.  We did the things that you can still do safely in public…which isn’t much…but, every day was filled with smiles, giggles, “wrasslin’,” more viewings of “Dinosaur Train,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” and about a gazillion different audio and video versions of “Baby Shark.”  Every minute a treasure.

But more on that later…

Time to dive back into getting more answers about TSTO…this time continuing in “Bob’s Own Words,” but also using some of the EA’s own “Corporate Input,” regarding the nature of their decisions.  It’s dicey stuff, folks…but we do get closer to the truth.  Closer
Continue reading

Friday Filler – Really?

Thank Grog It’s Firday,

I don’t know about you guys, but I have to admit that I didn’t even realize it was June. Really.  May felt like one big 90-Day March…and then, all of the sudden, it was “something completely different.”

So, the Pride Mini-Event is over. The reason I knew it was June, is that I remembered that the event ended on June 3rd. And the event ended Wednesday, so I was able to deduce that it had to be June.  And probably the 3rd.

But there’s a reason for my confusion…and I think it’s legitimate.

I honestly don’t know if it’s 2020, or if it’s 1968.

And then I remembered, “oh…right…they had a Pride Event…so it can’t be 1968.”   And then I remembered that most of what I am seeing on TV is being broadcast over cell phone cameras, so it REALLY can’t be 1968.  Except it still kinda feels like 1968. They launched some guys into space. There were some riots. So it must be 1968!

But wait! I know it’s not 1968…because we are playing a mobile device game about the Simpsons. And the Simpsons didn’t show up for…wait…when did they show up?  How long have we been playing this game?  Is this just a bad LSD trip?  Is it REALLY 1968?
Continue reading

Friday Filler – Routines In Chaos to Conform or Rebel

Thank Grog It’s Firday!

I don’t know about you, but the biggest enemy for me during this pandemic panic isn’t the pandemic, but trying to find a way to adhere to staying home, when “home” is still in a state of perpetual chaos.

There is something weirdly comforting to being forced to play TSTO while the world breaks down around us.  I admit to not caring much for this mini-update…and yet, I am playing it, mostly out of habit and duty.  I am addicted enough, even at this level of “meh,” to log on and “do the stuff.” But, I also feel some “sense of duty and gratitude” that EA is still acting as if nothing is happening out there. TSTO is there. And, playing it isn’t that hard to do…and ignoring it would make me feel like a scofflaw.

I love that word. It’s an old word, but not as old as it sounds.  Unlike TSTO…which in game terms, is way older than you would think it is. The game is showing its age, just as this new state of normal is revealing cracks in our systems and personal abilities to do the right thing.

But, what is doing the right thing in this situation?  Do you conform? Or do you rebel, and simply not do the things that you are asked to do?  When do you become a TSTO or social human scofflaw?
Continue reading

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.
Continue reading

Friday Filler – On the Other Hand…Squirrels and James Taylor

Thank Grog It’s Firday!!

Did you feel it? Did you feel the earth shake, hell freeze over, and the moon turn blue?  The original “Ah Come On! We are still getting good stuff!” Queen of the Bliss Ninnies (and I use that term with the utmost of affection), wrote a pointed, pragmatic, and reality-based “Musings” yesterday on the “State of TSTO!”

And, the shift you felt, wasn’t so much us swapping magnetic poles, as much as the fact that even “She who is the perpetual cheer leader” has come closer to my side, while I have slid closer to the middle.

Let’s be honest…to say that TSTO is on a “downward slide,” is like maneuvering half-way down Stelvio Pass in the Italian Swiss Alps, with no breaks, in the dark…and saying, “Well…this isn’t as fun as it used to be!”

But, I really do think there are a lot of redeeming qualities to continuing to keep TSTO active on my padular devices...especially if I remember James Taylor.
Continue reading

Friday Filler – New Land, New Questions, and the Future of TSTO

Thank Grog It’s Firday!

First of all…yes…the snow is still hanging around.  Not happy. But, that’s life…right?  Something pretty, turns ugly, and dangerous, and then won’t leave.  Sounds like my first wife.  (*snare drum/kick drum- Ba Dum!*).

This has been a very odd mini-event. It was ridiculously EAsy…even by today’s mini-event, mini-expectations. I finished the whole thing on Tuesday. As in, more than a week ahead of schedule. And, I didn’t even tap regularly.

I was so busy ignoring the game in my downtime, with a couple of exceptions, that I wasn’t even aware of a HUGE SOMETHING that transpired…that may not just be a Game Changer, but could also be… (Gasp!!) The End Of TSTO as we know it!
Continue reading

Friday Filler – It was the Best of Tools, it Was the Worst of Tools…

Thank Grog It’s Firday!

Look. I’m gonna cut right to it. I’m not in the best of moods to be writing today, as I am dashing this out, before heading off to a funeral for a friend.  If you think you are tired of hearing me writing about maudlin stuff…imagine how I feel, living through a bunch of maudlin news. But, it seems to come with the age.  At this stage in life, the lottery for a long life and the “expiration button” seem to be just a click away. But, I admit to being rattled a bit by the “selection process.”  So many really good people gone…early by most standards…when so many jerks are still around.  But, that’s life. Nobody said it was fair. And the randomness of “who goes when,” is what should keep those behind appreciating the little things in life that make us happy…like TSTO and this great community of tappers!

And….let’s face it…most if not all of the news we got in TSTO was anything but maudlin! We finally got an answer (we think) for the final stage on the Golden Goose Realty.  AND (speaking of “Finally”),  we got a tool that we have been asking for in TSTO, almost as long as there has been a TSTO!

Let’s take a look…
Continue reading

Friday Filler- The Future of TSTO Looks Bright…and Young!

Thank Grog It’s Firday!!

I had to travel more than 3,500 miles to do it. But, I have met the future of TSTO. The future looks bright, hilarious, and a bit drooly!

When someone actually takes the time to stop tapping long enough to take in life, it is amazing how enjoyable life becomes…even while tapping.  As I mentioned last week, I did an East Coast whirlwind tour including some great music, a great game (football…not TSTO) and 4 days of complete “full baby immersion” that was better than I could ever have imagined.

And near the end of my stay…I was able to witness the very first meeting of two icons of the “Future of TSTO.”  It was amazing… I couldn’t stop smiling…they couldn’t stop drooling. It was epic…
Continue reading

Friday Filler – Taking the Time to Chillax And Celebrate My “Tappiversary”

I have to admit that I often get that panicked feeling when I think I am going to miss a “tapping cycle.”  I end up “talking myself down” with a pep talk of “Hey…it’s not that big a deal if you get 4 in today, instead of 5.”  But, I know myself.  I know that if I start to slack off, it’s a very slippery slope.

It’s very much like buying a bag of Halloween Candy and promising that you will only eat 2 Kit Kat bars or 1 Butter Finger bar a day…wait…did I say 2 or 3? They’re tiny…and probably don’t amount to even a half of an actual size bar. So…maybe 4 a day is no big deal if I hit the rowing machine sometime today. But, I don’t have time to row…and I really want 4…so what the heck…4 it is…I’ll row longer tomorrow.

See?

But, tapping isn’t the same as Kit Kat bars.  The fact is, I get a whole lot less satisfaction from tapping, but I am a whole lot more addicted to it. Which presents a problem when you travel. Which I am going to be doing…

In fact, I am writing this early. By the time this posts, I’ll be in New York, with my friend Dave….after battling a week when I had 3 weeks of work to do, in one week, before I took off…knowing that although I SAID it would be a “working trip” I most likely wouldn’t do much at all.  Like I said…I know when the slope is slippery…and I am used to knowing when I am going to slide.

BUT, WE ARE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A HUGE UPDATE!!!!!!
WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?????
Continue reading