Last week, I thought I had a break from Homescapes when I could not progress beyond Level 15350 – the game released the new levels the next day! Uh oh. So, building miniatures is a no-go again.
I try to limit my time on my iPad Mini, keeping the activity to just reading the news and watching videos on YouTube. But, as far as Homescapes is concerned, it’s hard not to play it.
I am now at Level 15398. Will I complete all the latest levels before I hit a snag again and stall? We will find out.
The NCAA March Madness 2024 is here and almost ending. I lost interest in it the last two years because M1’s alma mater has not been playing well. However, the Beavers’ women’s basketball team fared better this year and made it to the Elite 8 stage. Woo hoo.
My prediction bracket burst in the early stages of the women’s basketball championship. And I got it right for one side only of the Sweet Sixteen stages, and the rest were so off. Oh well.
As for the men’s championship, I don’t follow it as much, so there’s no surprise that my predictions all went awry at all stages except one half of the Elite 8 stage. Oh well, again.
Only two out of four of my selections made the women’s Final Four. But it doesn’t matter who wins the NCAA Championship this year. To me, every team is a winner for the level of play thus far. I feel the adrenaline rush and am in awe of the records created, watching the game recaps and highlights on YouTube.
The women’s championship game is slated for this Sunday, and may the best team win!
Nowadays, we see people staying connected with their devices all the time, regardless of location. It’s so bad being so attached and dependent on our devices 24/7. If it wasn’t for staying updated with news or social media, it is for games, music, or movies. It is as if a minute of not being connected, one will be so out of touch. Isn’t this terrible?
I confess I am just as guilty, but only at home, with my attachment to my devices. The iPad Mini is mostly for games and movies, and the old iPhone 5S or iPhone XR is for my Spotify music on loop. I leave my iPhone 14Plus for communication and occasional news updates. Separately, I have a Kobo eReader for reading my novels, sparing my eyes from the glare of the iPad.
However, when I travel, I abide by the airline rules and don’t fuss with my devices, keeping them in the bag and turning on the flight mode. After all, the airline does offer some entertainment as an alternative, especially the long hauls. And anything less than a three-hour flight, I have learned and can live without my devices for that few hours being airborne.
On my recent return journey from Hanoi, the passenger in front did not put away his iPhone as he was deeply engrossed in watching the sitcom “Friends.” I couldn’t help but admire his clever hack of using the Air Sickness Bag to feed his sitcom fixation.
The tray table had to be closed, so he used the bag to hold his phone in place to watch hands-free! So clever. But clever as it seems, you won’t catch me doing this for my trips on a flight and leaving the bag intact for its actual usage.
Lately, I find myself playing a lot more games again on my iPad Mini. It’s not good because it’s very unhealthy, especially for my eyes and time management. Being obsessed with my games, reading the news, and watching YouTube or Netflix derails me on more important matters, like house chores or crafting my miniatures.
So at times, I have to put the iPad aside to focus on those things because I tend to forget the time amid a game challenge. I am distracted by the latest game downloaded recently. These things happen when free ads promoting new games appear amidst my regular ones.
Piqued, I would check them out, and the next thing I know, the game is downloaded. And before I know it, I am playing a new game. Sometimes, the interest would wane, but the appeal is quite lasting for this latest download, Brick Out.
I find myself playing it until the wee hours of the night. Even Gudetama, the Netflix series I am watching now, cannot hold my interest as much! I should detach myself from my games and be more disciplined in putting down my iPad Mini when it’s time to sleep.
After close to a month of travels and no golf, I played my first game yesterday. So how did I fare?
Well, I have to admit the night before, I watched some tutorial videos on YouTube as a refresher to remind me what to do! And it did help, but only for a bit.
The first tee-off was such a beautiful shot. I was impressed that I could strike the ball well. Even the second and third shots were good. I thought my golfing touch was still intact. But it was downhill after that!
The shot game and the putting threw the momentum off. The shot game was off, and my putting was horrible. I could not feel the weight of my Scotty Cameron putter, causing a lot of two- and three-putts. Sigh.
After the disastrous welcome-back game, it’s back to the drawing board to regain the golf mojo and muscle memory. The Scotty putter will make way for the Peanut Putter, and I need to work on my shot game to be more accurate. Essentially, practice makes perfect is what this game is all about. I will be going all out to play as much as possible from here on.
The lure of collecting another badge in my Fitness app was too strong. I decided to go for the Yoga Day Challenge badge on the International Day of Yoga last week. After all, it only takes twenty minutes.
But where do I begin? YouTube, of course! Nowadays, when one wants to learn something, YouTube is the go-to to find out. I found a 20-minute session video with mixed stretching and soul-searching breathing moments. Hmm, I can handle it.
And so I attempted the Yoga challenge. Oh man, it looked easy on the video, but it was not! My body was so stiff that I couldn’t twist my limbs as shown. Even the soul-searching seated moments were not easy because my mind kept wandering!
Nonetheless, I managed and was sweating after 22 minutes at it. Never underestimate the power of yoga! It may look or sound easy, but it was not. But I’m glad I did it and have earned the Yoga Day Challenge badge for my effort.
During the various lockdowns since the pandemic started, we discovered daily to-be-discarded things that we can recycle. It is good to give the unwanted one last purposeful usage before throwing them away in the trash.
Last year, we started recycling eggshells from baking endeavors for the garden as a deterrent for snails. They double up as a calcium nutrient for the plants as well. We have continued this practice until today.
This year, I found that the garden squirrels don’t mind rancid walnuts and apple cores. Something better than nothing to feed the hungry. I remove the apple seeds, of course. The recycling list can go on.
Recently hubby discovered (from YouTube, of course) that milk cartons make a great container to grow bean sprouts. All you need is some mung beans and an empty milk carton. A one-third cup of beans to the size of the carton is enough to yield a carton bursting with crunchy bean sprouts after five days!
He has been timing the bean sprouts growing process. So whenever he bakes and finishes the milk, the cartons are saved for future use. And when we want to have bean sprouts on the menu, a five-day notice is given.
One should consider doing this because it’s pesticide-free food and practical recycling!
My recent improvement in golf is due to the YouTube golf instructor that I have been following for the past 11 months. There is an abundance of golf instructors out there on YouTube. It’s just a matter of preference and style, and whatever suits your ability.
Initially, I followed Shawn Clement but, later, found his methods do not quite suit my ability. So I surfed and discovered two other instructors, Danny Maude and Chris Ryan. However, it was a toss-up, and I ended up with Chris over Danny. And I’m glad I stuck with him.
My short game improved, my drives are further than ever, and my ball striking is getting better. Pretty amazing what one can find on YouTube for self-improvement and self-enrichment!
But with the current MCO in place, all that improvement has been wiped out, having to stay at home and no golf ever since my last game on 4 May. The only consolation is I can still do chipping in the garden for up to a 20-feet distance.
We found the right combination to bake during the MCO last week. Hubby did the dough and I did the filling. The tag team baking worked out well for our first combined attempt – apple tarts because I have the molds. For someone who doesn’t bake, I sure have a lot of baking equipment.
The ideas were from googling up recipes and watching YouTube to find the next easiest thing to bake with the best combination. And basically just to pass time instead of baking bread and cakes (from boxes) individually, this effort was a good variation.
The first batch of only five tarts was accidental because there was some dough left from making something else. And since we had apples, why not bake apple tarts? It was experimental as something was right and something was off: the filling was good, the crust needed work.
We tried again two days later. As long as I don’t have to deal with letting the dough sit and rise, I was perfectly contented to make the apple filling. And I made more this second time, using three apples. The first time, just one apple! After all, it was an experiment.
It was fun decorating and after a good 45 minutes in the oven, our effort came out beautifully. The taste? Very good if I must say so. We make a good tag team at baking.
A few days ago, I lamented about King.com being inconsistent with their board setups for Candy Crush for different devices. And this has occurred many times on several levels. Guess what? They are at it again.
This time on Level 1735. On the iPad, it is definitely harder compared to the game in Facebook. No wonder I was having a tough time trying to figure it out. It was when I went into YouTube to see what others did that I realized the boards were different.
So obviously after learning this discrepancy, I played the game in Facebook and within the five lives, I made it with some lives to spare.
See where the popcorn squares are located
For the iPad, the popcorn squares are at a tougher place!
Angieneering 
Remarks