April 8 to April 29, 2022

Overcooked! 🙂

We are still playing Overcooked! We have now finished level 4, but we are sooooooo stuck at level 3. We have played level 3 for literally hours before we are able to get a little past our last score. It seems hopeless. Colleen hates the one we are stuck on. The ones you like go by so fast but the ones you don’t seem to last forever. That is life really.

Roe v Wade. Taking a woman’s right to choose doesn’t solve the problem. Women don’t decide to have an abortion because being pregnant doesn’t go with their outfits. The difficult decision is made for various real-life situations. I feel that if you are totally against abortion, then you need to fix the problem. Women need to see a life that is good for themselves and child. Women need options. It’s easy to say no you can’t do that but it is another to fix a problem. Single moms often live below the poverty level. Don’t take abortion away, fix that. If you really care about the lives of children then help them. The rich won’t be affected, they can afford to go to another country if need be. Are we really going to throw women in jail for essentially being poor? These are my views, not Colleen’s.

May 6, 2022

Overcooked! Annnddd we left the house!

We went to Flames a Brazilian Steak house!

At Flames, they have a salad bar with various foods. I really enjoyed the potato salad, it had bits of cooked carrots in it. I am going to put cooked carrots the next time I make potato salad. I wish though I didn’t eat so much.

Here is my plate from the salad bar. The chicken salad was really good. I didn’t think I would enjoy the raisins in it but it was good!

The salad bar was good but the star of the show is the meat. Colleen and I aren’t really meat eaters. If you go I suggest you get the full rodizio and don’t fill up on the salad bar. Maybe take a side or two to go with the meat. With the full rodizio, you are given this little sign. On the other side, it says no. From time to time, one of the servers will come out with a spit of various meats. If your sign says yes, he will ask if you want some of the meat. He will then slice you off a piece of meat. For slices of meat, you are given little tongs to hold the meat while he slices it. Colleen and I both agree that the chicken with bacon and top sirloin are some of the best. The chicken with bacon is so juicy and the bacon gives it a nice smoky flavor. The sirloin melts in your mouth. I had to call it quits too soon. Colleen enjoyed the lamb. She said it was the best of the whole meal. It felt good to get out.

Also, we played Overcooked and we beat the level we were stuck on for days! Next time we don’t have to start with that one. It was a good day despite the rain!

December 24, 2021

Christmas eve, we really didn’t get a chance to play. We exchanged Christmas presents. I got to see Colleen in real life! She really does exist :).

Storytime. This isn’t really a Christmas story but a Halloween one and I want to tell it before I forget it. It is one of my favorite stories from our adventures before we made the blog. We went to Westfield home of the creator of the Addams family. Colleen had seen on tv that there was a big Addams family festival in Westfield for the Halloween weekend. Most of the festivities were happening on the weekend, but we could at least see the Addams family house that someone made to resemble the Addam’s family house from the show.

First I must tell you that Colleen LOVES her iPhone. She relies on it for almost everything. The phone has managed to get us to almost every destination (except when it decided not to tell us anything when we were going to Luna Parc). So we arrived in the town center of Westfield. There was a small park, next to the police station. Stores to the left and right. The park was centered around a pond, and in the center of the pond was a small wooden replica of the Addam’s family house. We are excited! Colleen puts the directions in her phone for Addam’s family house. We go to the right of the park. We pass many storefronts with Halloween-themed windows. We walk a couple of blocks. “How much closer,” I ask Colleen. She tells me “It’s close”. We walk another block. She then tells me it is further away. This can’t be right, we go back to the park. We walk around a block of residential houses. This can’t be right, we go back to the park. We go to the left of the park. We walk a couple of blocks. “Are we close”, I ask. “Not yet” Colleen responds, “let’s walk a few more blocks”. We walk a couple of more blocks. “Are we there yet?” I ask. “It says we are further” Colleen responds. “If we are further away, we should go back,” I say. Colleen responds, “Let’s walk a couple more blocks.” We walk another block. “If it says we are going further there is no sense in keeping on walking,” I say. We go back to the park.

We stand in front of the park for a long time. Staring at the wooden cutout of the Addam’s family house, it occurs to me that this is what we are looking for. “Is this the replica of the Addam’s family house?” I ask. “No it was life-size, I saw it on tv,” Colleen responds. I tell her that it was a good thing a bird didn’t land in the shot, it would’ve ruined the illusion. We see a policeman. Colleen asks, “Is this Addam’s family house?” After a long pause, he responds, “sort of”. I tell Colleen her phone is now fired for walking directions. It was a nice drive and at least we got some exercise.

Upon looking up the Westfield Addam’s family house, there is a house upon which the show’s house was influenced. Maybe one day, we can go into the real world and see it.

December 3, 2021

We played Overcooked 🙂

Yes, we played Overcooked again! Yes, we are still stuck on the last part, but it feels like we are getting closer. In the third part, we are starting to get faster at and we are even managing to get some of the last elements started. I am starting to have faith in us.

Ugh! The coronavirus just won’t go away. Now there is a new variant. It feels like a war. I sometimes imagine there is a corona general leading the virus. I picture the general talking to his troops, “Listen up people! We have to meet our quota, then I can have a cushy job where I hire a new variant once a year, like the flu. Good job Delta. New guy, Omicron what do you have planned?”

Omicron, “I have added extra spikes so that it will make it easier to take hold.”

As I understand it, the omicron variant is easier to catch than the delta, which is frightening. If you have had the coronavirus it doesn’t make you immune to other forms. In the same way that if you have the flu, then you can catch a different flu variant.

I want this war to be over. I want us to unite and win it. I don’t want anyone else to die from it. It’s tiring but we need to keep at it. Much the same way I think we will win at Overcooked, we will win this war against Covid. We just have to keep at it.

April 30, 2021

Overcooked!

This Friday we played Overcooked! We beat two levels too! We beat one of my favorite levels but somehow we didn’t manage to beat Colleen’s favorite level…..hmmm. Seems suspicious to me. We only needed two points to beat the level and we only managed to tie.

When I was a little girl, the policeman would drive down my street in the afternoon. I would wait for him to come, so I could wave hi. He was my friend. When I got older, I went to the shore with some friends. A guy who was obviously drunk, screamed, “pigs” when the policeman drove by. The policeman stopped his car. “What did you say to me?” the cop said. The drunk man screamed “pig” again. The policeman got out of his car, handcuffed the man and proceeded to beat him. That day I realized the police were not my friend.

It feels like some police think that they are law rather than uphold the law. It makes me wonder what makes someone become a police officer. Do they dream of being a hero or do they want power over others? Do they want respect or fear? I know it’s not an easy job. Every day there is a chance you won’t come home. Every day you see the worst of humanity. I’m not sure what the answers are to weed the bad cops from the good. I just wish I could go back to the day when I was a little girl waving at the policeman because he was my friend.

April 2, 9, 16 and 23

Overcooked, Overcooked, Overcooked and more Overcooked!

Each Friday we have made progress. On the 9th we finally beat the 1-3 level with three stars. We were stuck on that level since we began. So many times we almost had the last dish to push us over the star limit. We only needed maybe, a second or two. The next week, was really fun because we got to play all the levels. We either topped or tied the previous time we played. At some levels we only played once or twice. They seemed new all over again. The next Friday, we are stuck again on the next level that we need three stars, but there are a couple I’m sure we will beat. Again, we only need a second or two. We have the plate in hand and are just about to put it on the conveyor. Sigh….so close.

My printer story:

I only print something once or twice a year. I always have to buy ink, because it has dried out. I replace the ink and try to print. It only printed in yellow. I clean the printer heads. Again it only prints in yellow. I clean the printer heads and nozzle. It only prints in yellow. I take the ink out of the printer and take a damp paper towel and clean where the ink is. I replace the ink. Prints in yellow. I clean printer heads, nozzle, and run printer alignment. Finally, it prints in other colors! Yeah! I print two pages and now it won’t print because it’s out of yellow ink. Ugh!

The weather is getting nicer and the virus is starting to go away. It is time for us to start exploring again, but I really don’t want to stop playing Overcooked. I am slowly starting to get over my fear of seeing strangers and worrying about getting sick from them. I wonder how long it will take to feel comfortable again. I want to get the vaccine before I start to explore again. I guess we will play Overcooked until then. It will be interesting to see what restaurants have survived and what haven’t. I think maybe we will start by going to our favorite places. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

March 12, 19, and 26

Overcooked, Overcooked and more Overcooked 🙂

We have played Overcooked all month. You would think we would be tired of the game, but it feels like we are just getting started. Most games, I find in the beginning, leave you with a sense of wonder, everything is new and exciting. What is over here? How does this work? Overcooked feels to me like it only gets better over time. At first, it was just confusion, but now it feels like we are starting to figure it out. We play the levels where we have two stars and try to improve on them Many levels we are close to getting three stars. We just need one more menu item or one less failure. Colleen tends to get better the more we play, where I tend to lose focus. The best chance for success is when we can meet in the middle.

I am grumpy. I have been locked up for too long. My interaction with the outside world consists mostly with driving. Driving in New Jersey is not fun. There are a few stretches of road where you can just drive. People often cut you off or drive like idiots. I find myself grumbling a lot. I want to see the good side of people. I want to go out and see something I haven’t seen before or taste the food I haven’t tasted before. I want to explore. I can’t because the coronavirus is getting worse here. I was hoping the virus would be getting better with the warmer air. I am not sure why the virus is getting worse. I think people are letting their guard down. Often I see groups of teenagers with no masks outside talking. A lot of the restrictions have lightened up. It could be getting worse because different strains of the virus have made it to the USA. They say the European strain is 70 – 100% more contagious, but I haven’t heard what makes it more contagious and what can we do to safeguard ourselves. I think we are relying on the vaccine too much. I guess I will just have to wait longer.

February 26, 2021

This Friday we played Overcooked again!!

The game and everything have been working for us! It’s amazing to have it work for so long. Usually, there are a few hours it just refuses to work. We are having fun playing and are working together again. It takes a little while to get our rhythm back when we first start playing. We now try to get two stars on the levels we like, which is most of them. I think there is one where we didn’t want to try, our ideas were just too different for the level. It’s funny how when you first start something, it seems an impossible task, but as you go on it gets so much easier. I always think we will never be able to do this and Colleen will say yes we can. So we try and a few tries later we have improved so much. Then it usually doesn’t take long for that second star.

For me, I found that it seems it takes me longer to learn something in the beginning. I remember when I first started cooking in real life, some dishes took me all day to prepare. Now when I do them, they take a few minutes. I wonder why it took so long. I take my time and try to learn each step thoroughly. Once I learn though, I can become quick at it. Other people pick up things quickly, but their work may not be the best.

February 19, 2021

This Friday we got to play Overcooked again!

I think we are getting better at the game. It doesn’t take us as long to get to two stars. There was one par,t I think Colleen thought I got disconnected. My character wasn’t moving. I just was laughing so hard. I saw the setup and I was thinking this is a bit difficult but doable. Then smack, out came the obstacle. I don’t want to give too much away in case you want to play the game. This game makes me laugh so hard sometimes 🙂

9/11 caused us to change the way things were done. What will this pandemic cause us to change? Will we always have to wear masks? I doubt shaking hands will come back into fashion. It probably wasn’t a good idea in the first place. Hand sanitizing will become normal after going anywhere? Will things be spaced out more? Will restaurants change the way they do business? I can see more family-type meals included in takeout. More people are working from home. I think that will stay. Will children have no more snow days? I wonder too if all these measures stay, will we get sick ever again? If some disease figures out a way to get past the defenses, will our immune systems know how to fight it off? I guess change is inevitable. The outcomes of these changes are unknown.

February 12, 2021

We got to play Overcooked again!

This Friday we played Overcooked. We are having a lot of fun playing the game. There was a level that I thought, “this isn’t going to be so bad. Maybe this is our reward for getting this far in the game.” Ummm…..no it was not a reward. Just when I thought this is doable, then chaos strikes! You just never know what it is going to throw at you. It’s what makes the game so fun, the randomness of it all.

Fridays I leave everything behind. I don’t worry about anything but having fun. It feels good to give the brain a rest from stress. For a couple of hours, I just enjoy myself. The worries try to creep in, but I tell myself these couple of hours are not going to solve anything. I can worry when it’s over. I think that is what people miss the most, spending time with friends and forgetting about life for a little bit.