Using the Sims 3 Weather Stone

Add weather to your weather!

I finally picked up a copy of Seasons (I found it on sale for half off - that never happens!) One of the first things I played with was the Weather Stone. 

The Weather Stone looks like a big totem pole, and is ONLY found in your game if you have both Supernatural and Seasons installed. (That alone makes it unique, as far as I know.) The Weather Stone will spawn in your town automatically. You can delete it using cheats, but it will eventually re-spawn somewhere else.
 
To find the Weather Stone, switch to map view and look for the special map tag. The tag is a sort of purple color, and has an icon that looks like a mushroom or a t-shirt on a store display mannequin, but is probably meant to be a Greek column. The Weather Stone can appear anywhere in your world, but it seems to have a preference for populated areas. (In my Monte Vista, it plunked itself down outside the theater right on the central plaza.)
 
If you have a supernatural Sim, they can essentially petition the Weather Stone for a special weather effect. This has a fairly high failure rate - somewhere around 75%, in my experience. Sometimes the Weather Stone might get particularly angry, and hit your Sim with a lightning bolt, so don't push your luck!
 
The Weather Stone will only work once every 24 hours. When it is successful, it creates a weather effect that lasts 5 hours and has special magical benefits to your Sim. The higher your Sim's skill level, the more likely that they will be successful with the Weather Stone. But this doesn't mean that newbie supernaturals won't be able to use it. You might just need to try a few more times before it works.
 
Which weather you get will depend on what kind of supernatural being your Sim is:
 
  • Witch: Bewitching Rain. The rain gives a positive moodlet, and makes Sims do a special rain dance.
  • Werewolf: Hunter's Storm. This snowstorm makes your werewolf more likely to find collectibles, and can also drop collectibles on the ground for you to find (rather than spawning them as usual).
  • Vampire: Eclipsing Fog. This makes other Sims willing to do your bidding, whether it's submit to being turned, or just being drained for a meal.
  • Fairies: Reviving Sprinkle. This rains down flowers from the sky, and gives your gardens a boost.
 

Following up on The Simpsons: Tapped Out

I miss squashing zombies!

I have been playing The Simpsons: Tapped Out for iPad for a few months now. There is a lot to like about the game, but some frustrations as well.

One of the best things about the game is the way that it stays fresh and current. Several times there have been special items and outfits released ahead of time, to tie in with an upcoming episode. Most recently, we got the Cool House and a Cool Homer outfit to tie in with last week's episode about a hipster invasion of Springfield.
 
The game also stays current with the seasons and holidays, which I enjoy. There was a Halloween update with zombies to squash, trick-or-treat outfits for the kids, and great ghoulish town decorations like a tree dangling a hanged skeleton. The Halloween update included a string of mini-quests that revolved around "pieces of candy," a special currency that dropped from thematic actions like squishing a zombie or sending Lisa trick-or-treating.
 
The Thanksgiving episode stuck to adding Macy's Day Parade-style balloons to your town. Those were fun for about five minutes, then I stuck them back into inventory.
 
Currently, the game is running a Winter update. It's snowing in my Springfield and I love it. I am less enamored of the race to collect "Santa coins," although I love being able to decorate the houses in town. A mixed bag. But the best part of the Winter update is that the game dressed my hanging skeleton in fuzzy pink mittens and matching scarf, as you can see above.
 
The game's stability has improved over the last few months, but it still occasionally crashes for me. Fortunately it seems to do a pretty good job of auto-saving. I rarely lose more than a few minutes of gameplay. 
 
On the whole, I consider The Simpsons: Tapped Out to be a sort of high tech Zen garden. Once or twice a day I fire it up, click a bunch of stuff, watch my Springfieldians go about their business, then return to my day.
 
My only real complaint has to do with the quests, or lack thereof. Somehow I have missed out on a lot of quests, or accidentally failed them, or not received them. I'm honestly not sure which. 
 
I'm at level 19, and yet there are businesses and houses from level 17 and 18 that I have not yet unlocked. Unhelpfully, the game just says that it "requires quest to unlock." But what quest, and how? I suspect the seasonal quests are getting in the way of the regular ones, but it's impossible to say.

We know when to cut and run!

Track stuck it out a whole 18 months

I'm sure you have heard the news by now - the Lamestream Media sure does love a good story about my family! They eat that stuff up, no foolin'. My son Track and his wife filed for divorce 18 months after they got married. 

Listen here, 18 months can be a long dang time, believe me! Long enough to know what you're in for. Long enough to realize that maybe God's plan for you does not involve the situation that you are currently in. Track did a lot of praying on it, I'm sure, because we are all good God-fearing folk who like to pray on things. And what God told Track was, "Cut your losses."
 
I mean, heck! I knew it was God's plan for me to step down as governor of Alaska after only seven months in office. Track stuck it out in his marriage a lot longer than that. The marriage lasted twice as long as Britta's pregnancy, anyway. And Track isn't one of those no-good deadbeat dads, you know the type. He has a nine month old girl from this marriage, and he's going to follow through on his commitment to her.
 
(In case you were wondering, Track was named after a thing that I like: running track and field. Most people might say, that's the kind of naming strategy you employ for a pet or maybe a car. But me, I am an innovator! Dare I say it, a maverick. 
 
I don't name my kid's names. I name my kids after things that I like. That way, their names always make me happy. I don't give a rip what other people say. My kid's names are all about me and my likes. Get used to it!)
 
Oh, the babies, the little children. My heart goes out to them. Not to those adults and teenagers shot at that mall in Oregon. Screw those guys. They were grown ups at a mall two weeks before Christmas; they knew what they were in for. But the little children of the world, victims of such horror manifesting itself. Nothing could be worse. NOTHING.
 
It's evil that does this sort of thing. Not guns. You know the liberals are going to take this evil event done by an evildoer and use it as an excuse to take our guns. Don't let them! Someone could just as easily have run amok with a knife or whatever. If those little kids had been armed, maybe this wouldn't have been such a dang tragedy.
 

Last-minute Christmas knitting advice

Be strong! And realistic.

We are getting down to the wire when it comes to Christmas knitting. Every year I tell myself I won't knit anything for Christmas, or that I will knit something earlier in the year and save it for Christmas. And every year I find myself doing last-minute calculations a week before Christmas in despair.

The best favor you can do yourself is to be honest.
 
As I write this, we still have ten days left. That seems like a lot of time, but don't be fooled. Take a minute to figure out how many days you have been working on your project, and how many hours you have spent knitting it. That will tell you how much time per day you have been averaging so far.
 
Now take a hard look at your project and be honest with yourself: how much more is left? 
 
This will tell you whether or not it is reasonable to assume that you will be able to finish before Christmas. I know that some very high-profile knitting bloggers like to make a big to-do every year about how silly they were to over-commit to a project, and how impossible it is that they will be able to finish in time, and yet every year they manage to finish. 
 
Don't follow in their footsteps: it's unrealistic, and it will only make you crazy. That is the kind of thing that makes for good blogging, but is not helpful for sane people who want to enjoy a rational holiday that is as stress free as possible. You already have plenty of stress in your life, yes? Why make it worse for yourself?
 
If your estimates lead you to believe that you will finish on time, then get to it! If you want. If you want to cut yourself some slack and finish the gift after Christmas (or never), I personally will not judge you.
 
Remember: there is no law that states a knitter has to give a hand-knit gift for Christmas. Frankly, a lot of people would rather have an Amazon gift certificate. 
 
This is the second and final hard truth: a lot of people just aren't worth the effort. They won't see the dozens of hours of time you poured into your offering. They will just see "yet another pair of fingerless mitts that I never wear anyway."
 
Know when you're beat. Take care of yourself first. And remember, if someone is truly worthy and appreciative of your knitting as a gift, they will be fine with getting a "knitting IOU" for Christmas!

The three ways to win a potluck

Winning strategies for that most dismal of affairs.

This is potluck season. Whether it's an office potluck, a family potluck, or a social event at your church, hobbyist group, knitting circle, or what have you, potlucks are an event with a surprisingly high emotional overhead. How do you want to win? What strategy should you employ?

Winning Scenario 1: Cheapest
If your goal is to spend as little money as possible for this stupid potluck (hey, you've got gifts to buy and rent to make!) then your first order of business should be to scour your cupboards. What can you put together with the ingredients you already have at hand? 
 
Suggestions: If you have a can of refried beans, you're just a Taco Seasoning packet away from bean dip. (No need to bring the chips - someone else will bring a bag, guaranteed. And even if they don't, who cares? You've done your duty.)
 
Winning Scenario 2: Easiest
You're okay with spending a little money, but you don't want to spend any time or mental effort on this potluck. Your best option is to swing by the store on your way to the potluck and buy a few things that require no more effort than setting them on the card table with everything else. Boom: done.
 
Suggestions: A 2-liter each of Coke, Diet Coke, 7-Up, and diet 7-up. A few bags of chips (at least one bag of tortilla chips to help out the person employing Scenario 1). A box of assorted cookies from the bakery. A tub of pre-made salad from the deli department. 
 
NOTE: Please don't get those cold tortilla wrap pinwheel sandwiches with the turkey and cream cheese. No one likes those. They are an abomination.
 
Winning Scenario 3: Full-On Martha Stewart Double Rainbow
Your eyes are on the prize! You're willing to do whatever it takes to win this potluck. Bonus points for any of the following qualities in your entrée (but only if you tell people about it, obviously): organic, gluten-free, dairy-free, treasured family recipe, locally-sourced ingredients.
 
If you're not a good cook, don't despair! You can still win this category by bringing either a chocolate fountain or a cheese fondue, or both. People go crazy for that stuff.
 
Suggestion: If this is your first time with the recipe, do a trial run at least a week in advance. Make only half as much as you think you will need - always leave them wanting more! Cultivate an air of mystery: when people ask you for the recipe, offer to email it to them, and then never do so.
 

Are you ready for the apocalypse?

Only one week left! Until forever.

No one believes the Mayan apocalypse. Well, almost no one. Your crazy uncle on Facebook probably does. Maybe that coworker who still can't stop talking about The Da Vinci Code. But no one credible has any stock in the magic date of 12/21/12. 

And yet, tensions seem to be running unusually high as we head toward the end of the year. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like traffic is more ornery, people are crabbier in general, and of course there is this incredibly distressing rash of mass public shootings.
 
You know that old saw, "Live like there's no tomorrow"? Well, that's supposed to be an inspirational saying, but the truth is that if they really knew there was no tomorrow, a lot of people would do really bad things. They might commit murder/suicide, run through a crowded shopping mall firing an assault rifle, or take a dump on their boss's desk. 
 
I worry that the next week is going to be rough. Because the truth is that a lot of people think the world is going to end next Friday. And who can say what stupid, reckless acts they will commit between now and then?
 
A lot more people only kinda half believe the "prophecy." These people are going to be particularly stressed out. You dump a semi-belief in the end of the world on top of a very real set of annual holiday stressors (Shopping! Family! Money!) and you have a recipe for disaster.
 
People seemed to get spooked by the 12/12/12 date. I suspect it's partly because it so closely echoes the 12/21/12 date. A precursor, a sense of dramatic foreshadowing. 
 
None of the believers knows what form the apocalypse will take, of course. That makes it worse, adding to the anxiety. How can you prepare for something you know nothing about? Some people believe the Earth will be pelted with asteroids. Others, that a massive solar storm (another Carrington Event) will knock out all electronics. And many religious people believe that it will be the Second Coming, with the lava and the pitchforks and the unbelievers Left Behind.
 
In the meantime, people are coping with their anxiety by buying things. It is the most American of coping strategies. Purchases of bulk survival food, guns, and gold are all up. (Never mind that in a real emergency, no one gives a rip about gold. People want water, food, and gas - in that order.)
 
My personal prediction? I predict a lot of sheepish people on Saturday the 22nd. And over the month that follows, I predict that gold prices will fall dramatically, as the hoarders come to their senses and start selling off some of their assets to try and make January's rent.

2012 Spectometer Hitting Leaderboards -- "Authority Percentage" (Equivalent of ISO)

More prospect lists

Our leaderboard series continues.

Once again, a recap of the ground rules:

  • Ages 26 and over are considered "post-prospect" (for hitters), and are not counted (sorry Luis Rodriguez for plate skills and Joseph Dunigan for slugging).
  • A season needs at least 100 plate appearances to count.  Seasons between 50 and 99 PAs I will look at, and might note, but they won't go on the leaderboard.
  • Seasons that are entirely in foreign leagues don't count.  Mixed seasons with some foreign and some domestic stats I will count (but note with a caveat).  Good news for Gaby Guerrero fans (of which I am one).
  • The normal age-arc I use is Rookie/Short Season: 19 ... Low-A: 20 ... High-A: 21 ... AA: 22 ... AAA: 23.  A guy who is younger than age-arc is noted in green.   One year older than normal age-arc is not noted, but two years or more older earns an "age caveat" and is noted in blue.
  • Ages are from baseball-reference.com "age season" (age as of midnight on June 30 of the season).

***

Stat:  Authority Percentage (ISO by another name, really)

Formula: [(2*doubles)+(3*triples)+(4*HR)]/AB

Interpretive rule of thumbThe formula for ISO (SLG - BA) reduces to [(doubles)+(2*triples)+(3*HR)]/AB, so the difference between "Authority Percentage" and ISO is not meaningful, just mathematical.  I use it because it plugs into my formula for "Plausibility Index" and ISO does not, and by using it I avoid having to have another column on the spreadsheet.  That's all.  In terms of interpreting it ... over .300 is good, and is essentially the same as a .200 ISO.

All hitters:

  1. Mike Zunino (21): .497
  2. Carlos Peguero (25): .402
  3. Nate Tenbrink (25): .397
  4. Leon Landry (22): .388
  5. Stefen Romero (23): .382
  6. Gabriel Guerrero (18): .364 (includes foreign stats)
  7. Jack Marder (22): .360
  8. Steven Proscia (22): .338
  9. David Villasuso (22): .337
  10. Taylor Ard (22): .334
  11. Jabari Henry (21): .333
  12. Julio Morban (20): .330
  13. Mickey Wiswall (23): .326
  14. Patrick Kivlehan (22): .323
  15. Ramon Morla (22): .310

***

Below age-arc hitters:

  1. Gabriel Guerrero (18): .364 (includes foreign stats)
  2. Julio Morban (20): .330
  3. Nick Franklin (21): .286
  4. Joe DeCarlo (18): .269
  5. Isaiah Yates (17): .269
  6. Timmy Lopes (18): .269

[I thought it was interesting that DeCarlo, Yates and Lopes all ended up with the same number.]

***

Glove-position hitters:

  1. Mike Zunino -- C (21): .497
  2. Leon Landry -- CF (22): .388
  3. Stefen Romero -- 2b (23): .382
  4. Jack Marder -- 2b/C (22): .360
  5. David Villasuso -- C (22): .337

***

Top 15 hitters with age-caveat hitters excluded:

  1. Mike Zunino (21): .497
  2. Leon Landry (22): .388
  3. Stefen Romero (23): .382
  4. Gabriel Guerrero (18): .364 (includes foreign stats)
  5. Jack Marder (22): .360
  6. Steven Proscia (22): .338
  7. Julio Morban (20): .330
  8. Mario Martinez (22): .308
  9. Alex Liddi (23): .291
  10. Brad Miller (22): .289
  11. Johermyn Chavez (23): .283
  12. Joe DeCarlo (18): .269
  13. Isaiah Yates (17): .269
  14. Timmy Lopes (18): .269
  15. Marcus Littlewood (20): .262

***

As I have noted, you gotta love that Zunino out-slugged Carlos Peguero and also out-walked Brad Miller (in ratio terms, anyway).  And how 'bout those Teen Titans once again ...

 

I'm bidin' my time, makin' my plans

Stockin' up on paper towels at the K-Mart...

We're almost at the shortest day of the year, which is a big deal up here in Alaska. It's dark, a lot of dark, you know? Real dang dark. A lot of people can't handle it, those big sissies! That's not the same as like how my kids all fled to, like, California and Arizona and stuff. That's different. 

My kids, they are just taking advantage of the better oh I don't know where I'm going with this. It's so dark all the time, it puts me in a mood, you know? Sure, I put up a good front for the cameras. But when the FOX News interview is over and I shuffle back across the yard to the main house, the gloves come off. I mean literally AND figuratively. (Turn of phrase! Did you catch that one? It was pretty subtle.)
 
This time of year it's hard not to keep from brooding. You hole up watching re-runs of One Tree Hill and Seventh Heaven, good old fashioned family entertainment, not like that liberal clap trap Glee that Obama's kids have been watching. Solid Christian entertainment that would never encourage people to get gay married. 
 
When mama grizzly's in a mood, the family knows to keep their distance. You don't want to upset mama grizzly, not when she's curled up on the couch staring into space with the television blaring. They know better. Some of our biggest fights have started in winter, Todd and I. It's natural. Cabin fever. That's what happens. You spend that much time inside with each other, you all start to go a little nutty.
 
We have our winter sports, of course. Hunting, ice fishing, skiing, ice skating, flying to Hollywood to stock up on paper towels. That kinda thing. 
 
Mostly I'm just tryin' not to think about the Mayan Apocalypse. I mean, obviously I'm not Mayan, so I don't follow their beliefs. And I do believe that I am one of God's chosen people, and that He would not have put me on this Earth just to die in some kind of calendar emergency.
 
But then again, a lot of people are saying that the signs of the Apocalypse are nigh. What if the Mayan Apocalypse date is actually one of those things from Revelations? With the beast and the blood and the fire? I'll get taken up to Heaven, of course. But it would be a shame to let all the meat in the freezer spoil.
 
Maybe I should grill up another steak now, while I'm thinking about it. 

Ikea monkey captures the Internet's heart

"Anyone lose their monkey at Ikea?"

The story first broke via Twitter and Facebook: a small monkey dressed in a dapper shearling coat was loose in the Toronto Ikea. The monkey was first spotted in the parking lot. Later, he was snapped leaning against a wall inside the store and gazing pensively out the window. Twitter user Lisa Lin sent out the picture with the caption, "Anyone lose their monkey at Ikea?" Another image was uploaded to Reddit. 

Clearly, in our ever-connected social media culture, the Ikea Monkey didn't stand a chance.
 
In short order, the monkey had been capture and the owners identified. The monkey is named Darwin, and he is a seven month old Rhesus Macaque monkey. And apparently the shearling jacket is his favorite item of clothing in battling the chilly Canadian winters.
 
Darwin had been left in a crate in a car in the Ikea parking lot. But the little fellow was too clever for his own good. He escaped, and his owner, Yasmin Nakhuda, was fined $250 by Toronto Animal Control for owning a prohibited animal.
 
Nakhuda is currently embroiled in a legal battle for Darwin's return. Canadian law prohibits monkey ownership by private citizens as pets. Darwin has been transferred from the Toronto pound to the Story Brook Farm Primate Sanctuary in nearby Sunderland, Ontario. Story Brook Farm is prohibiting Nakhuda from visiting Darwin, saying that "at this point it would just cause more trauma to him." 
 
The rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) is also known as the rhesus monkey. It is one of the most adaptable and most widely distributed monkey species, with probably the largest population. Rhesus monkeys can be found throughout India and Asia, both in the wild and roaming the streets of small villages and towns, where they can be quite a nuisance to human residents.
 
Because of its adaptability, medium size (adults average between 12 to 17 pounds) and easy breeding, the rhesus macaque is also the monkey which is most often used in scientific research. (Poor monkeys!)
 
These charismatic and intelligent little creatures are considered a "worst choice pet" by experts. Rhesus macaques can carry disease which can be transmitted to humans, without seeming sick themselves. (The famous monkey that eluded capture in Florida for years was found, after its capture, to be carrying both Hepatitis B and herpes.) They can also be aggressive when they get older, and pet rhesus monkeys frequently bite their owners and other humans.
 
As suave a figure as Darwin cut, in his little shearling jacket, the rhesus macaque is one animal that should not be kept as a pet.

Meatballs: Easy, delicious and versatile

Perfect for holiday potlucks.

Meatballs were something I had always wanted to try making. I assumed they were a difficult, time-consuming chore. I could not have been more wrong! Not only are meatballs easy to make, they also are great in the slow cooker.

Last weekend I made my first trip to Meatball Land, and it turned out great. Meatballs may be the easiest thing you can make with ground beef. Even meatloaf requires a longer cook time and more ingredients, although you don't have to spend as much time shaping it. (Time spent shaping meatballs: about 2 minutes.)
 
There are a lot of different meatball variations, depending on what you want to do with them. I was planning to put my meatballs in a delicious sauce in the slow cooker, for an upcoming office party. Therefore, I chose to make my meatballs bland, because the sauce was going to be the real star.
 
For a basic meatball:
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
  • Mix up about a pound of hamburger with an egg, plus a dash of salt. 
  • Form them into balls about an inch across, somewhere around the size of a golf ball. Small enough that you can eat it in one bite, in other words.
  • Bake the meatballs in a greased 9x13 pan for 20 minutes, until there is no pink in the middle (165 degrees F).
 
That's it!
 
An aside: The best way to do the mixing is by hand. Just set aside your squeamishness and get in there - as with creating hamburger patties, it's really the only way to form them right. Be sure to wash your hands well when you are done, though.
 
If you want a spicy or Italian meatball, just add the spices to the ground beef. Italian meatballs are delicious with spaghetti sauce, of course. A dash of Italian seasonings will really bring out the flavor. Drain the fat from the meatballs, then simmer them in spaghetti sauce for several hours to get the flavor really baked in. 
 
Swedish meatballs just need a cream sauce to become a little taste of Ikea right in your home.  Serve with lingonberry sauce and a flat pack Billy bookcase to complete the experience.
 
Many meatball recipes include bread crumbs to help fill out the form. However, my own test has shown that these are not necessary. If you prefer to go low-carb or gluten free, your meatballs will turn out just fine with egg as a binder.

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