The house slid off quite well, as was the norm. The polycarb sheds snow better than metal. This was taken a day and a half after the drive home.
All over the previously cleared stairs of course.
I didn't get the whole driveway cleared for a week. Just a very narrow bit to get up. Turned out my head lamp was broken, so I was just doing a little bit before work every morning. I didn't finish it until the following weekend. The next day was all rain. We got about an inch according to the weather. It didn't melt everything off though.
Right after the rain we got more snow (that was supposed to be rain). After clearing this, I have now gone through approximately 15 shear pins already this year.
I did get the car out too. I still need to finish cleaning it out so I can sell it.
A bunch of small things since then: I got my HSA card finally so I can go get new glasses. I discovered that I am out of checks. I need to run to the bank tonight and tomorrow to get enough cash out to pay the septic loan this month since the new checks won't arrive before that bill is due. I have gotten all my Christmas stuff done. I ended up with another shaker from the Yankee swap at work (that matches my existing shakers), and the Bascom box (which I will bring down at Christmas) at the friends one.
I even got myself a gift of a new game. Everything works despite UPS leaving it out in the rain and ice all day.
We have been continually getting rain, so everything is clear now. I also apparently need to do more turkey hunting.
I have also noticed a problem with the heat pump. When it goes from 50 and raining to cold, stuff freezes on the fan and makes a real racket. It clicks when it runs, and sounds like it didn't survive percussion maintenance when it starts. Fortunately it works despite the noise, but it has happened twice already this season, and both times it prevented me from getting a good night's sleep. This video was taken at 3AM, thus being groggy.
Unfortunately time is getting short now before leaving for KY for Christmas and I have a bunch of stuff to do tonight before it snows (we are supposed to get 4-6 late night). I will probably take Thursday off since I worked a Dad week last week, and maybe leave early on Wednesday (work remotely for the morning and that is it) so I have time to get everything done before I leave.
Maybe you could add a poly awning over the outside part of the heat pump to help keep the rain off it?
ReplyDeleteyeah, I wanted to put up some awning things this year, but never got around to it. Originally I only planned on the windows and doors, but it would hurt to put something over the heat pump as well.
DeleteFor those curious, the game was a Nintendo Switch. I have played with it for about a week now. My reviews are below:
ReplyDelete----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nintendo Switch Console review:
Disclaimers:
* Have only played ~1H Smash, ~2H Links Awakening, and ~28H Breath of the Wild (BOTW)
* Haven't run on battery enough to know how long it lasts (I got -001 model with the better battery)
Pros:
* Convertible console and handheld.
* Small footprint. Dock is compact.
* Comes with everything you need
* They don't ding you for the handle that turns the joy cons into a controller for example.
* Note that it doesn't come with an SD card (one is not required), though I prefer not to download games.
* Has many USB ports on it for charging controllers on the dock.
* Quiet; no fans or humming.
* Works without network connection. Games (can) come on a flash card.
* Console has been stable even without doing updates.
* You can plug in the pro controller and use it even when its battery is dead.
* Initial console setup was quick and easy.
Cons:
* Joy-con use crappy joysticks. They are small, click too easily, and don't grip the finger well.
* I don't like the joysticks on the pro controller either, but they are better.
* As a result, I find myself constantly clicking the joystick button unintentionally or my finger sliding off the joystick.
* I have died many times in Breath of the Wild because I started crouching in the middle of a battle, which put my shield away.
* The joy-con controller adapter could have been designed to make a better feeling controller.
* The controller has the buttons backwards from prior Nintendo controllers.
* The buttons are laid out like the SNES, but the controller feels closer to N64/Gamecube which had A and B laid out differently.
* For those who still play older consoles, this may lead to button confusion. I am constantly hitting B when I need A.
* Joy-con shoulder buttons suck.
* Either you can't put the console behind something (my TV) or the joy-cons go less than 6ft. I do not have range problems with the pro controller (which isn't included when you buy a switch)
* Pro controller must use a Nintendo cable to charge, I tried using the cable from a third party controller and the pro controller would not charge.
* Seems to lack power; if you burn stuff (for example) in the BOTW the game gets laggy and framey.
* Door for installing games feels kinda cheap.
* You have to be very careful when removing the joycons from the switch while it is docked. It is very easy to undock the console while doing so.
The console seems to be decent. BOTW certainly pushes the console to its limit. I would say that the graphics in BOTW are between Borderlands2 and Oblivion, which are both very dated, it indicates that the console is lacking in horsepower, but horsepower has never been Nintendo's MO. Honestly, my biggest gripe (remember I haven't used it portable yet) is that I wish they had spent as much attention to detail on the controllers as they had the console itself.
Breath of the Wild Review (Part 1 of 2):
ReplyDeleteDisclaimer:
* I have not beaten the game. I have beaten 2 divine beasts, the Zora and Rito.
* I never played any of the GameCube or Wii Zelda games. My analysis compares largely to Z5 and Z3 (OOT and ALTTP) and the original (Z1).
Pros:
* The game is very pretty, even despite the graphics style and the relatively simple textures used.
* Up close graphics are kinda meh, but the scenery is amazing.
* The world map is large, like you would expect a world to be. It isn't like Z3 or Z5 where you can cross the whole overworld in a couple minutes.
* In terms of difficulty and openness, the game feels like a combination of Z1 and Z3.
* The game doesn't coddle you. You will die. A lot. It won't stop you from going to areas where you shouldn't be yet and getting OHKO'd.
* That being said, it starts you off on the plateau and lets you get your feet under you before letting you completely loose.
* Even battles far outside of your equipment and heart levels can be won with careful planning, strategy and skill.
* I beat a major test of strength with no weapon higher than a 12 and only three hearts with no meal/elixir buffs. It took a while, but I was able to do it.
* The buffs (like temporary extra hearts or a defense up) also make tougher enemies that can normally kill you in one hit manageable.
* The ability to cook and make elixirs is kinda neat (especially given the higher level of difficulty), but see cons.
* The game promotes exploring, and rewards you with shrines and ingredients.
* Once I got off the plateau (not having the glider is really limiting), I literally spent 12 hours just exploring and hitting up map towers and doing shrines and learning the game.
* Once you have the glider, I would say 95% of the game opens up to you. You can make elixirs that can overcome a lack of stamina allowing extra climbing and cold resistance meals and so on.
* Despite the games' focus on exploring, I always knew roughly where I had to go to advance the story.
* Shrines are varied. Some are battles, some are puzzles. Some are easy, some are very difficult. Most of the puzzle shrines have a theme to them.
* Hunting without a bow is extremely satisfying. It is hard to sneak up on animals that are programmed to run away.
* Game is more realistic in the treasure drops than older games that always dropped a heart, rupee or ammo for a weapon they didn't have.
* You can get fish by defeating an octorok.
* There aren't a lot (any?) of refill hearts, the heart refills come as a steak or fruit.
* Rupees can be found in containers in enemy camps, but are scarce in the overworld (though for some reason they like to hide under rocks).
* You can also reclaim arrows that missed and stuck in a crate or tree or the ground if you really whiff.
* The battle system is much improved from Z5. Z-targeting made battle in Z5 kinda lame and easy, and the lack of camera control made it impossible not to use.
* The bow seamlessly integrates into battle plans, but takes skill unlike Z5.
* Z-targeting is still there but the whole battle system doesn't revolve around it anymore. Most battles I don't use it.
* You can define your style by using one handed weapons with a shield or two handed weapons that are slower but do more damage.
* While the weapon breaking thing is largely a con, at least they made it more realistic.
* For example, using a wooden club to break a metal crate will destroy the club and not break the crate.
Breath of the Wild review (part 2)
ReplyDeleteCons:
* Collision detection is wonky if you are near the edge of a bridge or in a tree for example. I've shot a lot of arrows that stuck into nothing.
* The camera does weird things if you are on a rotating platform like inside a hampster wheel.
* At first the weapons breaking thing seemed like a neat twist, but it happens far too often and rapidly grows annoying.
* A moblin club that can't even take defeating another moblin? That is not realistic.
* This also leads to very frustrating battles. For example, when I fought the Lynel, he broke every single shield I had, two bows, and all but one melee weapon I had. For one enemy.
* This tends to lead to "hoarding" good weapons and makes the game more drawn out and less fun than it should be.
* Some of the weapon customizations seem a bit odd. Hitting a tree with an axe makes almost all the apples fall out the tree, but hitting it with a giant sledgehammer does not. That is backwards.
* Cooking and making elixirs is cool, but it gets very tedious and kind of feels like grinding after a while.
* I am about 20 hours in the game, and I wouldn't be surprised if 3+ hours was just cooking.
* It would be nice if once you had a recipe, you could just scroll a list of known recipes and basically order them if you are at a cooking fire, or something that at least takes the tedium away.
* It is also worth noting that because meals don't stack in the inventory, I constantly have an excess of ingredients (which thankfully do stack) and not enough meal slots.
* Buffs don't stack (like you can't drink an elixir that gives you shock resistance and have an attack boost) outside of temporary hearts, and I haven't come across a reason for it.
* Even though I bought a physical copy of the game, it didn't come with a book or anything, causing me to learn things the old school way. (What happens if I jump in this? Dead)* It feels like an old disc game with regards to loading times.
All in all, I have very much enjoyed playing the game. My propensity to charge in headfirst has lead to a lot of deaths, but also forced me to get better and understand the combat mechanics better. It forced me come up with battle plans, better tactics, and simply be better with modern controllers (train that muscle memory...). I sometimes wish it was easier to find shrines and the like, the sensor built into the Sheikah slate is useless and annoying. But overall, the game has a nice difficulty level and harkens back to the older games in how the game feels while being more immersive like modern games. There is a nice balance of freedom to explore while not completely leaving you in the dark as to how to advance in the game. There are a couple of annoying and tedious things about the game, but overall the game is a marked improvement over many of the other titles in the series.
And on a side note as a software developer by trade: it is refreshing that the game seems complete and not-broken given that I haven't been able to do any updates for the console or the game.