HappyCat

It's interesting how many people who try to get off the gaming on this actually have engaging hobbies. For example, your drawing, @Mettermrck's podcast. >> I just hope i haven't offended anyone with what i posted on here, if i did i apologize. The line about "chilling out the only way you know" was borderline weird. Not offending, just weird. It still puzzles me what exactly you thought about me that time)

I find some types of house chores relaxing after work day. This time I had fun since the appartment was visibly becoming a more comfortable place to be in. Day 19 A strange day. I worked on few "critical" task formally but finished none of them because they are stuck on review phase. By the time I got home I was almost falling asleep, looks like weather's doing. Hot shower resurrected me so I am writing this post now. Nevertheless, I enjoying walking through the rain since I am well-equipped to do so) Watched two new "Aboveguard" (solve the riddle to be triggerd) lore videos. I enjoyed video for what they are, installing the game back would be too long anyway. It's not like I don't want to play something, I sometimes even mentally skim throught the list of games I would play if were off detox. Funny how I came to appreciate library I already have instead of hunting for more. (: Achievement corner: I was solving Go problems while commuting back home for the second time this week. This is a good way to regain my board reading strength. Hopefulyy I would find time to play some real life or online match, not just correspondece ones. Almost there: Did 30 minutes of studying but had to spend it to set up more of environment which still didn't work. %) Gratitude corner: Point goest to analysts from client's team, since they are react pretty appropriate to question about tasks. Another goes to my therapist, I can point out specific cases where skill he taught me were put to a good use, especially today.

Day 17 Somewhat slow for a work day. We now have formal code review process which is not bad itself but clogs the work since our reviews are busy too. Still I managed to make base for a test framework and create some tests using it. Only to find out that these tests became obsolete by the time they were reviewed. This is just classics. At long last I did wet cleaning at home today, now writing a post feels so much better. I did postponed it week after week, but not playing gave me some bonus time. Had a gaming-related conversation with my colleague about certain colony simulator. Discussing game desing was fun itself. Somehow it didn't make me want to play right that moment. Last days I feel desire to unwind as a light constant pressure at evening but laucnhing a game and getting to the point of it being fun is too much of a hassle) Gaming often prevents normal mind rest since I have to go over things, keep my attention at few points at the same time much like at the office, but without much purpose. This happens sometimes with Go too. Anyway, that's a bit of a complicated topic itself, especially when I try to write it all down in English.

>> I think it will become more clear in the morning if I sleep on this decision. I'm amazed you still have time or will to make lengthy log records on a day like this one.

There's a common technique of quiiting. "I just skipping this one time" every time instead of "I am quitting".

Good job. I envy you a bit, I was never able to actually see an eclipse.

Erm, thanks, but I prefered herbal tea and an episode of Defenders. I quite like this noir-heroic stuff)

Cool. I visited some sort of not-so-standart trainig group where the main point of every exercise was to give one's brain unusual work. One of these was drawing out your condition at the moment. It was not quite artistic drawing, always ended up as pretty abstract art) Color choice was good indicator of whether one was going towards overly passive or overly active state.

Day 16 Sleepy again. These monday train trips somewhat wears me out. Luckily I arrive early and have some time to wake up properly and a "second breakfast". Day at the office was uneventful. There are some strange frictions on the project as it nears it's completion, but I think we'll sort it out this week. Catching up on some home chores. Hope I'd be able to finally fix my pad this week. Sorry, not many events or interesting/inspiring thoughs today, just writing this since it's a daily log. I periodically think of "some specific platformer" last days but prefer to avoid it since I don't want to lauch another search cycle. I wonder if 20 minutes of doing nothing at evening are better than 20 minutes of playing. Perhaps it reboots one better especially when tired.

Is this some kind of art therapy? If it's not I might be not getting the sentence. ^^'

>> This devil on my shoulder wants to reinstall Steam on day 91. I just think that's a big mistake. Ohh, well, I still have my visual novels on Steam) Somehow gaming doesn't seem as captivating when you have to find points of game that's actually fun vs fun of learning new skills or reading a book.

@BigPete247, when I'm at home I usually study in the same room using my notebook and small table. Now that I don't spend time looking for game I started catching up on some topics. Sorry, I don't quite get which way exactly do you mean? If it's ddr then it mostly helps me to unclog my head after office.

Day 15 Sleepy all day. My son decided it's a bright new dat at 1 a.m. and shared his excitement with everyone. That didn't stop him from sharing his excitement once more around 7 a.m. when the bright new day actually started to look like one. Finished "Count Zero" today. At the middle of the day I was struck by this depressing condition of not wanting to do virtually anything. I haven't had it for 2 or 3 month and liked it more that way) Dear inner voice that keeps murmuring "your life is shit", would you kindly check your assumptions? =) Aside from helping my wife reading was the only activity I did want to do. I got much better after supper and a cup of tea. Actually did some more studying today. Set up an environment to try out all these stuff from new section of a programming book I am going through. Still no gaming aside from making moves in correspondence Go matches.

I know this feeling. It always comes in retrospective. I had to quit musical college because I didn't have time for it. I could have made an opportunity for myself before I graduated the universiry, but I was scared of trying and mostly spent my time at home.

@giblets, soft mats have slips a lot and have worse response time. I screwed mine to a wooden panel and taped some cardboard at the center. This way I may feel where the center is. You can play songs up to difficulty 9 on DDR Extreme scale, but passing one would be way harder than on arcade. @Mettermrck, have you tried Foundation series?

I've read it as "feeling physically smarter" which kept me wonder if you're feeling neural links rearranging due to detox) Anyway, I hope it helps you to handle all the other life changes.

Day 14 Two weeks of not playing, woohoo) Mother-in-law's cousin and her family visited us today. She was greatly amused how her son who usually sticks to PC went around nursing and playing with my kid for the whole day. Everybody had a lot of family communication today. Found about 30 minutes to try few job-related stuffs a bit so bringing notebook all the way here more or less paid off. Let's see what I can do tomorrow. I tried to make it a habit of spending at least 15 minutes daily (instead of 2-3 hours once in a while) but it was before I started detox. Should be much simplier now. Caughting up on some reading: this time it's "Count Zero" by Gibson. I've read "Neuromancer" almost 10 years ago, gonna finish the trilogy this time around. Sorry for not commening, I usually choose not to do it when I have nothing to add and/or too tired to do so.

Cooking is great to do when you're not cooking just for yourself. Way to go)

I expected you would know this word) Recognizing a character from somewhat uneven series is way more surprising. It's interesting thing about culture. I mostly process books by American and European authors but I do have Russian basis behind all this. Cultural identification is complicated once your start picking pieces from wildly different sources.

My weight is stable 70 kgs. Thanks, it is cheaper than I thought.

Human: But I deserve it! World: An interesting concept... So what? =) Thanks, it reminded me of studying I wad planning to do.

@Vlad, for the past 4 years playing time is not a problem for me, trying to choose a game is. I think that after detox I'll either quit it at all or be able to sometimes play games I already own as hobby, not habit. I have no timeline for parachute jump at all. I need to research necessary costs and preparations.

Thanks. I'd like to try parachute jump one day. I'd also like to visit Japan and have a look at Nihon Kiin where they study to become professional go players. And I still enjoy dancing games a lot, but it's more of financial question. Actually, I am waiting for my son to grow so we can do some rollerblading together) Now, then... Day 13, Friday Interesting one. I had to do some packing in the morning and I was really tempted to take a portable console with me. Ended up leaving it behind, but the urge was strong. Had some minor slips at work which surprisingly made my mood and attitude go through the ground. Had to remember all CBT skills asap. Recovery was long but I least I didn't feel like crap for the rest of the day. Some XP gained)

You survived the summer break, so I think you should be fine now. Ganbatte) *sorry, I know it's not Chinese*

Yes, I like DDR. Unfortunately, there's only a few cabs in my general (very general) area. I play on a soft mat at home sometimes.