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Just The Turkeys And I

    Hey, everyone. The weather has been just lovely all week, here at the green retreat. Sunny, blue skies and the leaves starting to turn a lot more. I noticed today that even the hickories were beginning to turn yellow. The oaks are turning, but not as much as the hickories. All told, it was an easy day to be happy. These turkeys seemed happy, making their odd, little 'Put,Put,Put' noises as they cruised the woods behind my house. Perhaps they haven't heard about their buddies down at Wal-Mart and the whole Thanksgiving holiday thing. Well, it's not my place to tell them.
     My wife worked today and I was off. I commend myself for doing a dreaded chore. My driveway is 300 feet long and made of gravel. It is up a steep hill and pavement would be tough to ascend in the winter. Ice can't really cause a problem on gravel, except in extreme situations, because there is no flat surface. The weight of a vehicle busts the ice and snow against the gravel. The problem is 'washboarding'. This is when the driveway gets waves in it and ruts so that it bounces your vehicle. The bottom line is a few hours with a shovel and a rake, unless you splurge for a bobcat. (Small bulldozer).
     At the end of my labors I retired to the deck for several ice cold beers and my I-Pod. It actually reached 80 degrees today here, a bit hot for October. That means that in the valley below me it probably reached 84 or 85. That 5 degree difference is not as nice when it is 36 and raining in the valley, believe me.
      I was browsing the games on my Padster last night. I counted 14 games of the adventure type which I am stuck on. That is, I have played them a significant amount of time and can not get past a certain level. This ranges from the very last level on my beloved 9MM to the very first level on Modern Combat, Black Pegasus. My much ballyhooed copy of Shadowgun is now incurring my wrath as I try to defeat a huge drilling machine, about midway through the game. Think I'm alone? My blog on killing the cyber lobster got more hits than any post I've ever had, save one.
      I am a pitiful player, I know. Really, though, when you select 'Easy' on the skill level, don't you think it would be beatable by almost anyone? As it is, I am really buying just a half of a game or less. Is this a marketing ploy? Oh, I see! You're saying that if I give up on a game, I'll go buy another one which keeps a nice flow of cash to Gameloft and their buds. Hence, the 14 adventure games I am taking turns playing, again and again, most of them not advancing any more at all. Sigh.
     Then there is a game called Silent Ops. I liked it real well at first. I made it a pretty good way without getting stuck, even. But when I returned to play a few days later, it put me back to the start. Only a gamer can appreciate how maddening that is. Or, get this. Star Battalion is one of my favorite games. I advanced steadily through it until I was around the middle of it. At that point there was a boring part where you have to cruise around this domed city trying to find a way out. After a lot of tedium I finally escaped. Then, when I returned to play a few days later, it put me back to the start of the hateful level. If my I-Pad wasn't so expensive, I would have thrown it. See why I normally buy the expensive games when they go on sale? That way, when they prove to be an issue, I haven't lost more than 99 cents and some time.
      My buddies, the turkeys, didn't seem concerned at all by my video game travails. They seemed perfectly content with their acorns, and the woods, here at the author's green retreat.
    Goodnight from CE Wills.

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