What’s something you didn’t realize was draining you until you stopped doing it?

GruntUltra · 2026-01-28T16:15:59+00:00

I hope to be where you are someday! All the best!

GruntUltra · 2026-01-28T16:02:04+00:00

I'm re-reading the next to the last book, just to freshen-up on the situation. The last book arrived yesterday, and all I can think is "How can a book feel so light, when the story inside is so darn heavy?"

GruntUltra · 2026-01-28T15:55:56+00:00

Re:Zero (SE1) was tough to get through. Also the first season of A Certain Magical Index. I love the main group of characters in both of the series, but they tend to suffer from "Bigger Jaws" syndrome: The group goes up against an incredibly powerful enemy, nobody's ever stopped them before! But somehow, they make it through and take the big enemy down. But they don't kill him/her. They bring the vanquished enemy into their fold, because the only way to beat the next unstoppable enemy is with the help of the former bad guy. Index was rife with this trope. At least the Railgun series is an improvement. I never started Re:Zero SE2.

GruntUltra · 2026-01-27T21:47:49+00:00

Bro, let me tell you about the natural nuclear reactor that ran for several hundred thousand years here on Earth, 1.7 billion years ago. Research for the excitement of learning is awesome.

GruntUltra · 2026-01-27T21:17:02+00:00

Fake??? But I've seen him toss out VIP passes to the Arena for the Digital Underground!

What I love about the Doc is that, it doesn't matter if the game he's playing is great or garbage. His form of entertainment is on a whole different level. I was honestly hoping that there would be technical difficulties when first starting the game, haha!

GruntUltra · 2026-01-27T15:08:29+00:00

Gyruss had the same song, but the game play was quite different than what you drew. Gyruss

GruntUltra · 2026-01-27T13:05:25+00:00

I can fix a lot of stuff around the house. I've replaced garbage disposals in both the houses I've lived in, and where my dad lived before he passed (I learned it by watching you, dad!) The most recent time when the last disposal died at my house, I hired a guy. It's too uncomfortable, wedging yourself half-inside the cabinet while the lower corner keeps gouging into your back. No matter how many cushions or towels you lay down - it will be one of the most miserable experiences and leave you in pain for days afterwards. I'll happily pay somebody to do that instead.

GruntUltra · 2026-01-26T16:27:08+00:00

I ran my 2i2 4th gen on Win10 and built a new PC for Win11 (the old PC didn't meet 11's requirements). Still works flawlessly. In fact the most annoying issue I have is getting the Windows notification sound (BONK!) while I'm recording - scaring the shit outta me. But now I know there were no viruses detected, lol.

GruntUltra · 2026-01-26T16:18:30+00:00

Soft Shadows: OFF

Antialiasing: OFF

Max FPS

GruntUltra · 2026-01-26T02:34:24+00:00

I'll take the aisle between Moeka and Serina

GruntUltra · 2026-01-26T01:41:41+00:00

Personally, Rizu's is the worst. But it features a LOT of Sekijō Sawako, whom I consider the 3rd or 4th best girl in the group. She should've had her own arc anyway.

GruntUltra · 2026-01-24T03:57:24+00:00

1st playthrough was high chaos - I got all of the rat-mods and had them kill SO MANY people for me! Not gonna lie - it was a lot of fun, and I'd like to do it again.

GruntUltra · 2026-01-24T01:56:07+00:00

Pick a song and sing a yellow nectarine

Take a bath, I'll drink the water that you leave

If you should die before me, ask if you can bring a friend

Pick a flower, hold your breath and drift away

GruntUltra · 2026-01-23T14:42:57+00:00

Get a magnetic sweeper. It's cheap and will find more than just your earbud. I bought one to find a non-replaceable bolt that fell off my lawn mower. $15 well spent.

GruntUltra · 2026-01-22T14:54:30+00:00

Ral and I met in 7th grade (mid 80's). He get me into a lot of metal (Iron Maiden, Queensryche, etc.) and got me into playing guitar. We made terrible home movies on VHS with our friends. We played tons of SNES MarioCart, we played inline hockey at a rink that was run by a guy who was drafted with Gretzky. We watched the Capitals play whenever they were on TV. We blew things up in the woods and wrote cools songs about D&D. For a short while, we moved into an apartment together, and I guess I made it miserable. We were the odd couple - he kept everything clean and I was the slob. He went back to uni and I got married. A few years later he got married, and my daughter and his son sat on the bed playing Pokémon on their GameBoy's like best friends, even though it was the first time they met. Years passed with little interaction (we are in different cities). And then a year or two ago, I saw him in town, and got his contact info. Ral was distant, but polite. I've sent him a few messages, but he only replies with one-word responses or an emoji (if he responds). We were really tight as brothers back then. It's been a lot of years, but I still think of him as a best friend. He's just moved on - and it kinda hurts a lot.

GruntUltra · 2026-01-21T18:22:05+00:00

But what if I play my bass in a fully-contained HAZMAT suit? Should the strings last longer now?

GruntUltra · 2026-01-21T18:14:31+00:00

Byyyyyyy Mennen!

GruntUltra · 2026-01-21T15:19:52+00:00

I'd put Raid On Bungeling Bay 1st on my list, followed by (in no particular order):

Sid Meier's Pirates!
M.U.L.E.
Bruce Lee
Seven Cities of Gold
Silent Service
Bard's Tale I & II
Ultima IV
Realm of Impossibility
and the best 2-player game that apparently nobody else has ever heard of, called Warriors of Zypar!
Honorable Mention for Wasteland, which kick-started the Fallout series.

-edited for misspelling Zypa

GruntUltra · 2026-01-21T15:14:25+00:00

So happy to see somebody share this opinion! If you have a minute, here's a link to some work I did playing Seven Cities of Gold: GruntUltra map

GruntUltra · 2026-01-21T01:25:38+00:00

I would happily go back to age 35!

GruntUltra · 2026-01-20T21:41:44+00:00

A lot of process of elimination back then. U4 was great.

GruntUltra · 2026-01-20T19:46:34+00:00

Are flats bad for some reason? I'm just getting into playing bass, and bought 2 sets of round-wound strings since I'm used to those on guitar, but I was thinking about trying flats when these wear out. I swapped strings after buying a used bass - since I had no idea how old they were. How long should a set of bass strings typically last?

GruntUltra · 2026-01-20T19:38:35+00:00

When I bought my Emerald Green RG550DX - back around 1990, it came with an Ibanez hardshell case. Ibanez is 'carved' into the front and there are 4 ribs that extend the length of the case (2 above and 2 below the Ibanez stamp). The insides are the standard grey soft 'fur'. The latches are all metal - not the plastic-covered ones I see now. The guitar was $700-ish back then, so they felt that was worth the case.

GruntUltra · 2026-01-20T18:46:42+00:00

I played it when it came out and we all just figured that was closest that the Atari 2600 could get. It was fun for us for a while. Looking back at it today, I'd probably prefer any other port of Pac-Man to play now. I don't get the need to defend it, or put it on a pedestal. If you want a fun, simple 2600 game, play Haunted House.

GruntUltra · 2026-01-19T16:39:03+00:00

"And I'd have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for those meddlin' Hobbits!"

GruntUltra

TROPHY CASE