castironguy Well it looks like two days of effort paid off. The #sourdough for Christmas Eve dinner is ready… and it’s only 8am!

castironguy After an overnight proof the Christmas #sourdough is looking like she might be ready for the oven. I picked up this groovy loaf pan a couple weeks ago and so this year’s format is a sandwich-style, like it or not (but it all tastes great whatever shape!)

8r4d It’s never really #christmas until the #runcrew holiday lights #walk in Summerside

gamerdad With my changing free time, I reinstalled Death Stranding earlier this weekend (after offloading it about a year ago because of shifting interests in other games) with the intention of playing something besides a perpetual game of Farming Simulator.

Of course when you don’t play a game for a year and your last save point was mid-mission there is the problem of jumping back into things and hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.

I survived.

But just barely.

Tho to be fair I’m still very early in the game and the difficulty is still pretty low as the narrative continues to just barely unravel.

I’m not a huge fan of the story. I mean in these wacky times, rah rah save america—as a Canadian—is like, um, ok. Sure, but jingo-bingo-bam. Who cares?!

The mechanics on the other hand are right up my alley, and the idea of building a persistent techno-ecosystem in the process of playing seems unique and curious enough to call me back to this back catalogue game. At least for a while…

castironguy Maybe you already knew this, but making #sourdough is a days-long process. The starter spent the morning warming up on the counter, and this afternoon it was ready to be incorporated into the flour mix. That needs a rest for about an hour (with a couple folding steps along the way) and then it will go into the fridge until tomorrow evening.

8r4d Ok, so admittedly we have a ways yet to go on this year’s 2000 piece #jigsaw puzzle.

8r4dsfeets fabulous footing on a festive five-ish kick #winter #running morning

8r4d #winter #running is adventurous sort of proposition between the trail conditions and your willpower

pixelazy scenes from a #winter #sunrise #running adventure

pixelazy a frosty #winter #downtown #yeg

castironguy Alright, starter, you’ve been training for this all year! You’re getting older and wiser and more cultured. This is it. Time to start the christmas dinner #sourdough

gamerdad In my little farming universe it is mid-April, and having survived my first winter by doing soil cultivation contracts, chopping down trees, and speeding up time to 5x in the settings, summer is approaching quickly and with it new cycle of harvesting.

I am sure there is some play logic about it, but I do find it a bit interesting now that I am about sixty five hours (yeah really) into this first save that the game plops you down near the end of the year and just as you get into a groove for that first month or two of in-game time, whamo, you are dawdling through winter looking for ways to make money. I mean, for my own part I have been playing the game in just 2x speed with months set to two days—call it my 2x2 settings—so one day in game can take literally six to eight hours of real time to play through. Others definitely speed this along.

But, I mean, it’s a simulator and sometimes I will just sit here playing wondering what the point of the game is. Like, am I aiming for better equipment so that I can earn money faster to buy better equipment until I own everything and everyone in this small town—or am I just chilling out on a small farm?

Part of me kinda thinks that it might the latter.

That said, real time and no rush and just building what I can as the cash flow allows seems like the whole point. And I’m kinda ok with that too.