Back when I was in college, I used to work for the K-Mart warehouse. It was my job to fill the orders that specific stores sent us. This meant that I got pretty handy with a box cutter. However, I have a difficult time with the hand tape dispensers. To this day, I still tape up the box then use a box cutter to slash the tape from the roll. We use those types of tape dispensers in the shipping department at my current job. Luckily, I don't have to use them very often. It's probably not particularly safe to cut tape with box cutters.
Game review: Coffee Rush
Coffee Rush is a weird sort of mash up between a time management game and a match-three game. Your customers come up to the counter and request a specific drink. In order to make the drink, you need to collect a certain amount of each ingredient. The ingredients are collected by matching three like items in a row. Once all of the ingredients for a drink are collected, you click on the drink to serve it to the customer. I found this game to be extremely annoying. Mostly because there are certain ingredients that are impossible to collect, which results in ticked off customers. If there were more opportunities to match three of an item, it wouldn't be so difficult. For example, the sugar ingredient pops up all the time so you can have tons of sugar. However, the whipped cream item doesn't pop up very often so if your customer wants something with whipped cream, they will have to wait a long time for three of that item to come together.
This is definitely an interesting concept for a game. I wouldn't mind seeing more of these sorts of mash ups between different types of genre. However, the developers need to make the games fair. If you're going to force us into creating recipes with specific amounts of specific ingredients, give us the tools to make it happen. Don't let the player flap in the wind, hoping that what they need pops up now before the customer storms off.
I have talked before about needing more indoor lighting in my house. After looking around a bit, I'm trying to figure out if some sort of ceiling light would be better for my living room instead of a floor lamp in the corner. It would light the entire room, after all. On the other hand, we don't want too much light or it'll put glare on the television. This would be a whole lot easier if the room would just kinda light up on its own but just enough so we can see but not too much. Argh!
Game review: Jane's Hotel: Family Hero
Last week, I told you about the announcement of the sequel to Jane's Hotel. Well, the game has finally gone live and I tried out the updated version. In the game, you play Jane, a hotel owner. Your grandmother has lost four of the family's hotels. It is your job to run the hotels successfully enough to pay back the loans on the properties. You only have a couple of weeks to complete your mission. Can you do it?
Admittedly, I didn't like the original game at all. However, the sequel fixes everything that was wrong with the first! You can upgrade you and your workers now so they will move faster or get better appliances for them to work with. Not only that, there are more options for upgrading your hotel. You aren't just stuck with "buy a plant" or "offer dinners to your guests." There are a multitude of options for you and you are only limited by the amount of money you bring in.
There is also a new employee to help offer new things to your customers. The bellboy will fix things when they break (yes, things break now), take pictures of your guests if they request them and carry their luggage. My only problem with this character is that he is not used quite as much as the maid. It would be nice if he could also help water the plants or something instead of leaving all that to the poor maid, who must hate her job.
Overall, this was a much better game. I actually had fun trying to decide what I wanted to upgrade next. Realore Studios has learned their lesson. More options for the player is a good thing.
Favorite Friday
Here is the opening to one of my favorite Japanese dramas, Densha Otoko.
Spring is a-comin'!
We're still having a whole bunch of weird weather up here in Pennsylvania but there are signs that spring is definitely on the way. There's even been a couple of robins out and about. And this means that grilling season is coming soon! We probably should have bought a grill cover last year to keep the rain and snow and everything off our grill. Ah well, at worst that means we get a new grill. That's fine with me! A better grill would be a nice thing to have anyway.
Movie review: Hitman
My husband and I finally sat down to watch Hitman last night. While it is based on a video game, neither of us have played it. So we're familiar with the basic premise but not the actual storyline of the game. Basically, 47 is a hitman who, as a child, was trained to obey and assasinate. He doesn't know how to do anything else. In the movie, he is hired to kill the Russian president. After he successfully completes his mission, he is told that his shot missed and the president is still alive. As he tries to figure out what is going on, he is chased by the Russian police and two INTERPOL agents. He also finds out that someone has put a hit out on him so there are other Agents chasing him as well.
Overall, the movie wasn't all that bad. The storyline was fairly believable. I had two problems with the movie: his bald, tattooed head and the boring fight scenes. See, 47 is very bald and has a bar scan tattoo on the back of his head, as does every Agent. However, this makes him extremely noticeable in large crowds. Why doesn't he buy a wig or a hat or some cover-up makeup to hide it? You would think that whoever trained the Agents would train them in hiding themselves.
As for the fight scenes, they would have been good for a Bond movie or something along those lines. However, we're talking about hired killers who have been trained since childhood for this sort of thing. There should be a little more 'oomph' to their fights. The scene where the four Agents fight each other was OK but nothing spectacular.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie. I expected it to be terrible but I actually found it somewhat compelling. I truly wanted to know what happened next. Of course, the ending left an opening for a sequel. Though I'm not sure this one was a big enough hit to warrant a second one. It would be nice to have a prequel though. Give us some more information on who trained the Agents and who it is that sends them out on their missions. Background information is a good thing. Seriously.
Top Five Favorite - Television Shows
I watch a lot of weird television shows. Here are my top five favorite, along with what stations they play on in the US: 1. Top Gear (BBC America) 2. Chuck (NBC) 3. Torchwood (BBC America) 4. Doctor Who (Sci-Fi) 5. Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (BBC America)
As you can see, I watch a lot of British TV. I do watch a lot of US shows as well but most of them just aren't as entertaining as I find these.
Music review: BoA - Kimi no Tonari de
Artist: BoAAlbum: Outgrow
Release date: 2/15/06
Video link: Via YouTube
English translation: Beside you, for you I want to do something for you I don’t care when Just tell me
Why does the mere thought of you Make my heart jump like this? Why does the mere touch of your hand Heal all my pain?
Did you move the wind When you suddenly sneezed? As the sunlight streams through the trees Our two feelings become one
Beside you, for you I want to do something for you I don’t care when When you feel like crying Just tell me
I hope that this time When we can talk about things Like what we were doing this time last year And where to go on the weekend Continues forever, without changing
At the crossing, you put your arm around me To protect me from the stream of people That ordinary kindness …Made me so happy
There’s so much more That I want to tell you We’ll be able to see each other again tomorrow But would it be luxuriant of me To wish I could stay by your side longer?
Beside you, for you I want to do something for you I don’t care when When you feel like crying Just tell me
I want us to share Our happiness and pain Can I say something just a little bit selfish? My heart’s trembling a little So hold me tighter than anyone else About the song: Another sweet ballad comes from the BoA camp. However, since this song is so slow, it seems like it is way too long. It is pretty and the lyrics have some nice feelings but there is nothing spectacular here. I would easily pass up this song for one of her pop songs.
Too many computers!
My husband is a Network Administrator by profession. Needless to say, we have a lot of computers. The current count: 4. His computer, my computer, our laptop, The Geek Within's server. However, there will be more computers coming shortly. I will be getting my own laptop and we are supposed to be setting up a computer for our daughter. In the future, we could probably use a KVM switch. Especially if we decide to upgrade The Geek Within's server to two boxes instead of just one. Ah, geeky computer parts are so cool.