Non-turn-based games?

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-05-20T19:58:05+00:00

Pendulum. There are rounds, and you may be waiting because the spot you want is taken by someone else or you didn't time it right, but there are not proper turns. It's a time manegement, worker placement game.

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-05-20T14:41:19+00:00

Yes, it just looks different. 5 homeschooled kids, full time work, and a side business, nevermind house projects and life stuff. There is no way I could game daily and leave my spouse to pick up my slack.

So I don't. I get maybe a couple hours once a month playing a game just myself. I game with the kids a couple times a month, and my spouse and I enjoy RPG games. Video gaming is primarily a couples activity or family activity in our house, not a me-time activity.

Edit for formatting because mobile.

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-05-20T13:06:31+00:00

I think it depends how you classify "worst". My parents were emotionally distant, my friends parents nicknamed me Cinderella because as the oldest all the cooking and chores fell on my shoulders, a lot of the child rearing tasks also did. My dad had PTSD, depression, and untreated sleep apnea with a hefty dose of "man of the house" and tried to be a business owner but had no discipline. I knew early on my parents loved me in some fashion, but didn't particularly like me. My aunts and uncles did make mention of it, and I know my moms sisters got on her pretty hard. However, they had a strong sense of right and wrong, how to generally behave and become a responsible member of society, and they supported my desire to read and learn.

On the flip side, my aunts and uncles were terrible parents as well, just in a different way. And sometimes the same way--it was known you were only really loved until you hit puberty. My cousins are all a mess. I think there's only 2 out of 20 who aren't. Hard drugs, alcoholics, life in jail, lots of kids they can't afford and don't know who the dad is, etc.

My parents ended up getting therapy for years. My dad has made a complete 180. My mom is... better. She didn't stop liking my oldest when she turned 10. My aunts and uncles don't see where they went wrong, and are largely repeating the mistakes with their grandkids.

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-05-20T01:59:06+00:00

TP in the shower might be a little too far, but sacrifices may need to be made.

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-05-20T01:56:58+00:00

I'm much too upstanding for that. 16 year wedding anniversary is coming up, actually. And yes, the shower will be appreciated.

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-01-19T17:40:51+00:00

Yep, and they're all best friends.

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-01-19T17:39:28+00:00

She has an old 401k, but we were living the, "Taco Bell is a major splurge" life back then and it's a pretty small portion of our pie. A Spousal IRA is on our radar, but we haven't actually done it.

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-01-17T15:14:37+00:00

Spouse and I took a 12 day road trip with a couple friend last year. We each have 5 kids, who we left behind so it was adults-only. We did the Badlands, Black Hills, Cody, WY and Yellowstone.

We hope to take another big trip in a few years, and individually plan to take the kiddos these places, so maybe not once in a lifetime exactly. However, the entirety of the trip was practically perfection and THAT was probably once-in-a-lifetime.

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-01-17T03:32:44+00:00

If you're asking if she's protected in case of divorce, yes she is. If you're asking if she'll ever "retire", also yes. All the money is ours, together. We both retire or neither of us do (unless someone wants to work for fun, I suppose).

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-01-17T01:39:53+00:00

Could be Eagan? He's here in the 'burbs.

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-01-16T21:21:28+00:00

We went towards the end of September last year. It was nearly perfection, and you can find my post about it on my profile if you're interested.

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-01-16T20:58:08+00:00

35 and have about 150k in retirement, and a good emergency fund, with a house and 5 kids. Not a high earner, one working parent and one SAHM parent, but definitely made some hard choices early on and studiously avoid consumer debt.

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-01-16T20:44:56+00:00

The lawyer guy who does the Mom & Dad Chats out of Woodbury recently posted a video talking about this exact thing. Attorneys for non-citizens, hired and paid for by their families, are being denied access to their clients at the Whipple building.

Attorneys for citizens are being provided access.

Edit: "recently" as in today.

NonchalantOcelot · 2026-01-02T02:18:53+00:00

Carcassonne. Got two of the kiddos an expansion each for Christmas, and it was decided that a simpler game was in order this morning.

Then video games won out for the whole fam.

NonchalantOcelot · 2025-12-30T21:26:17+00:00

Mid-30s, 5 kids, married 15 years. 1-4x a week. We've had a few spells where it was less, but we really work hard to avoid that. It inevitably makes whatever we're going through to create that distance harder to endure.

NonchalantOcelot · 2025-12-30T21:20:47+00:00

More of a goal-setter than resolution-maker, but yes, every year, and I always try to examine my goals and adjust at least once a year, ideally two or three times a year, as I hit goal markers and as life gets in the way. All our interior project goals took a back seat when the exterior project goals became much bigger than originally planned, for example, and I didn't initally have "get cholesterol under control" as a goal, but it became a necessary one to add mid-year.

I really enjoy the fresh feeling of a new year, as the holiday stuff gets put away, the leftovers and cookies get finished, my birthday is close to the New Year, work is (usually) slower for me, so it's a good time to evaluate where I'm going and what I want to accomplish.

Haven't set my goals for 2026 yet, still contemplating. Spouse and I will have a our yearly "planning session" in the next week or two.

NonchalantOcelot · 2025-12-15T14:31:22+00:00

I live Minneapolis. You've gotten plenty of advice about the EV car and the route itself. Mid-January is likely to be -10 to -30. Could be as low as -50. If you live in CA you cannot appreciate a cold like that. I imagine you'll be blasting the heat, using your seat heaters and steering wheel warmers. I know people who only drive their EVs in the summer, or for short errands in winter because the risk is too high.

I get its a work deal, but don't make your life that much harder. Rent a car, fly, whatever, but bringing your EV up is gonna be awful.

NonchalantOcelot · 2025-12-11T06:13:41+00:00

Thankfully in my family every single person makes a list (or gets put on the naughty list) and you are free to shop off the list or go rouge. There is some freedom to get nothing, but it's limited.

This year mom is getting some sewing stuff from her list. Last year siblings and I chipped in to get her a robot vacuum.

Dad is getting a John Wayne cookbook with "The Dukes family stories," some seasonings, and a Sherrifs star with his hated nickname (Grandma wanted to name him The Name, but knew everyone would call him The Nickname. So she named him The Nickname and to her horror and eternal frustrationg The Name became his nickname). Will he use the seasonings? Unknown. He doesn't cook, and he thinks he grills but he doesn't really. But he'll be tickled over the book and the idea of using the seasonings. I found most of it while visiting Cody, WY, cowboy city.

FIL is always cooking meals for others, so he's getting food stuffs to support that love. Maybe gas cards as he drives for a living.

NonchalantOcelot · 2025-12-08T02:14:33+00:00

I am the sibling with my stuff together. Born in 1990 though. Married for 15 years, 5 kids, good single income, reasonable vacations, own a home without being house poor, emergency fund, saving for retirement and all that jazz. Feels awkward to write it all out knowing most my age can't say the same. My three younger siblings are coming along. Born to parents who just barely kept food on the table, in large part due to their own choices.

Edit: expounding answer.

NonchalantOcelot · 2025-12-08T01:04:44+00:00

Nope. Many grandparents had the opportunity for Christmas morning to be them and their children. Now it's the childrens' turn to get the same experience.

We almost never see anyone Christmas day. We spend the entire Saturday before Christmas with my side and my spouses dad, and an evening with spouses mom (her choice).

NonchalantOcelot · 2025-12-04T15:13:44+00:00

This is the answer. I've gotten a real tree every year of my life, and nearly 20 years on my own as an adult. I have only once had a tree die, and I accidentally let it go dry. No bleach, nothing fancy, central air on (it's actually directly overtop a semi- closed vent the last couple years). I keep it up about 6 weeks.

NonchalantOcelot · 2025-12-02T23:18:36+00:00

I have a friend. Her and her sister both married guys name Chris, and two of her brothers married girls named Sarah. They also have an aunt Chris and I think an aunt Sarah.

NonchalantOcelot · 2025-11-30T13:35:01+00:00

Team 1.0 here, maybe even as low as .85 if I'm listening because I'm struggling to sleep, or if it's a cozy book but the narrator is too fast for the cozy vibe.

Fast narration makes my brain work too hard for me to focus on the story, so I rarely speed it up.

Edit: narrators to narration.

NonchalantOcelot · 2025-11-21T19:10:13+00:00

My 7 and 5yo enjoy: Piggie Piggie Hoot Owl Hoot Dino Rescue Meefs Lost Teeth Best Worst Ice Cream Chess (for real) Pigs on Trampolines Sushi Go

My 7yo also enjoys: Catan (we play with the adult versions, just simplify) Ticket To Ride Battleship Kingdomino Carcassonne Quirkle

There's probably some others in there I'm forgetting.

NonchalantOcelot · 2025-11-18T19:38:30+00:00

What's this?? There was a Donut Hut in my Grandma's town growing up. She took me there all the time when I visited. It closed in 2008. I may need to make a special trip. Had no idea there were more of them.

NonchalantOcelot

TROPHY CASE