Redwolf's Journal (continued)

 Too many thoughts, too disjointed and generally not very positive... State of the World I've never been much of an optimist, but damn the world feels bleak. Technology progresses - we've got these ubiquitous and amazing smart phones - but that feels like about it. The economy is increasingly divided between the few who have and the masses who have not. Society is turning in on itself, perhaps for lack of a clear outside threat and the ease of blaming "them" for problems rather than looking for a solution. This year's pandemic has been a boost to the very ills already assailing us. Perhaps "us" is only the USA, but it feels even more widespread than that (perception bias?). Personally, I'm fortunate on most of the points by not ending up at the bottom of the barrel. We've gotten off lightly here as far as infections. We're not locally plagued by wildfires or natural disasters. I've avoided the most divisive of political demonstrations or

Let's see, I did get through some series on Netflix recently... I finished She-ra . It was enjoyable overall. Catra remains my favorite character even though her "redemption" (and really all the relationships) felt a bit over-simplified. Entrapta's up there, though, with her quirky lack of focus. And Double Trouble pretty much carried a season on his/her own. The overall story worked fine for me even if certain aspects lacked any depth and the Eternia/Greyskull stuff leaves a massive, unresolved mystery to the universe. I do have to say Adora and Catra being a "thing" at the end felt a little... hmm... "incestuous?" Sure, it's clear through the series they love one another, if in some muddled ways, but their shared background and youth painted that as more sisterly than romantic to my eyes. I also thoroughly enjoyed Aggretsuko season 3. The OTMGirls storyline worked so well and was so largely positive for Retsuko I was sad to see it end. The H

 Wasteland 3 is a good post-apocalyptic, squad-based RPG with tactical combat.  The story isn't anything truly remarkable - Arizona's "Desert Rangers" go to Colorado to help a territorial ruler there in exchange for supplies and support back home. Hijinks ensue in dealing with various quirky individuals and factions. There are decisions with consequences, but most of them don't feel like huge branches (even though something like not doing a mission soon enough can result in a hub being wiped out). Mostly, the affect the epilogue summaries. And yet, it's one of the few games I've felt compelled to play through twice in succession. The combat and progression are quite satisfying to me in spite of how it comes across as largely "whoever goes first wins" and there are a lot of one-shot downings on both sides. Being able to do things a little differently and play through more of the combat was interesting enough to draw me in for a second run, so that

Between watching an ongoing lawsuit connected to work and a rather large misunderstanding about an upcoming system upgrade, I have some thoughts... Read (and understand) the damn contract! With this upgrade issue, we've had something blindside us because someone did not read and understand what was signed. The contract has a vendor hosting part of the systems and our company hosting other parts when everyone I've talked to expected them to host it all. Big difference there in some cases. If a contract says you'll pay your part with a 1999 five dollar bill, that's what you do. Doing anything different weakens your argument if there's a dispute later, even if you gave the other party stuff worth ten times as much. On the other hand, if you act like a contract is valid for over a year, you may be on shaky ground arguing it was never valid to begin with. Maybe define how a contract can be cancelled and what happens if it is rather than leaving all that vague. If you wor

 After twelve-ish hours of dog sitting over the weekend, I'm thoroughly reminded of reasons I don't have dogs. Or kids for that matter. Sure, dogs aren't allowed at my home, but I could have lived elsewhere if that was a priority.  There's the big overarching reason that I dislike being responsible for others. I am, in some ways, deeply selfish. Being hemmed in by things I "must" do is acceptable on a work basis as that provides money which is necessary for everything else, but beyond that... I'm pretty notably resistant. I mean, I am fully capable of coordinating with other people or taking care of pets. I just don't like it. I can enjoy situations in which I am in some way responsible for other beings, but it's in spite of that rather than because of it. Then there's the issue of communication. Watching over dogs, I find myself very much wanting to understand what they want. Not unlike babies, though, they have a fairly limited ability to com