Today's Notes 2/6/21

Good afternoon everyone,

Yes I slept in today, since working in the afternoons, has kind of thrown off what I've become use to over the past 10 months. 

Anyway, first, last night's stream of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix was plagued with some dropped frames issues, and using the Twitch Test Tool, it seems that there are major issues with me using the New York or either West Virginia ingest servers, so I'll run that test again before tonight's stream and try something with a higher score... which probably would be using the Denver ingest server based on scores I saw last night. Another factor may have been my computer doing some automatic maintenance... since I noticed when I was checking this out after the stream, for some reason that started at 5:48 PM EST, when I have such things set for 5 AM EST. 

In terms of what we got done in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix last night we covered everything from part one of The Land of Dragons (Mulan) all the way up to the Disney Castle / Timeless River sections, so basically about 1/4th of the game. The combat mechanics and camera work so much better in KH2FM when compared to KH1FM it's not even funny. I do kind of question the order of Sora's abilities being unlocked, because being able to pull in Health, Item, Magic and Currency Orbs would make things easier against some of the more pain in the ass enemies.

Was practically perfect during today's Fitness Boxing 2 session, with 1376 out of 1384 exercise reps performed being perfect, the remaining 8 saw my timing just being a bit off. Very rare where I had a day where I don't have a single miss. Also because yesterday I was pressed for time, we did get a new in-game achievement, Super Welterweight Puncher Lv. 3, which was to reach a total punch count of 73,500. At the moment, the total punches I've through Fitness Boxing 2 is 75,722 (note: this is not counting ducks, weaves, steps or blocks) 

Because of an a change done by the IRS to see if folks earned less or more than the year prior to provide an income credit on tax returns, I had to re-file my taxes today. Since I made more in 2020 than 2021, I get no credit. Needless to say that was a surprise thing to deal with, first time I've ever seen something like that happen. 

Tonight's stream with see the focus return to Zero Escape Virtue's Last Reward, as I think we'll be dropping back into the conversation with the cockney accented robot, We'll probably get that started around 7 PM since I want to have dinner before then. 

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden! 

Today's Notes 2/5/21

Good morning everybody,

Well last night's stream was not what was expected now wasn't it? Nope it started off at about 6 PM with the the expected Star Trek Online plans, going through the two newest missions on my main characters. Rather surprising there wasn't more unique dialog with regard to a Federation officer being on the trip to Gre'thor, but overall, since I went through the missions last week, I had a much easier time doing some parts this week... outside of getting one-shotted by the Fek'ihri dreadnaught. Not many things in Star Trek Online can take you with one hit, but apparent that beast of a ship can!

Now since there was no focus with Star Trek Online, when Iceman asked if I was going to join in on more Division 2 stuff, I had no problems switching over. We were expecting PowerThumbz to join in, but he had issues so it was me and Iceman knocking out watch levels and Resident Evil related challenges while just wandering around DC doing stuff. It was the usual madness that is associated with that game combined with the insanity of enemies getting back up!

We also snuck in some Paladins last night, doing two matches for Siege, Onslaught and Team Deathmatch, using my usual favorites of Ash, Inara, Tyra and Ying, and we won a few matches. The biggest issue that Paladins has continues to be people leaving early in a match, particular from the PC side (since Paladins is a cross-platform game). Unlike Overwatch, which in everything by ranked matches, has a backfill option to keep things fairly event, Paladins does not feature this, instead having the AI take over. That said the new character of Yagorath can fuck right off, it can't be moved with Ashe's charge or bounce back attacks, and it's ultimate is can't be escaped unless everyone is firing on it. Pair it with two healers and the fucking thing is damn near unkillable! 

Speaking of Overwatch, I just had enough in-game gold to get all the new items for the Lunar New Year event which started yesterday. I really dig the skins for Ashe and Echo, while PanadaSweet loves the skins for Bastion and Orisa. On a side note I really think Moira's new Lion Roars Victory poses should have been an emote instead.

Kind of big news that went under the radar, as it was announced this week that starting this Saturday, episodes of The Real Ghostbusters will be added weekly to the offical Ghostbusters YouTube channel, and starting on Wednesday of this upcoming week, they'll be doing the same with Extreme Ghostbusters! That is awesome!

Since I woke up a bit late today, today's Fitness Boxing 2 session was a bit more intense in terms of wondering will I have a enough time to shower, have lunch and write this blog afterward. Now I could've shorten the duration of the time I spent exercising, but I do like it being set about 30 minutes for the exercising with 5 to 8 minutes for stretching so I don't have to mess with the settings too much.

Tonight's stream will see us going back to Kingdom Hearts 2, as we're picking up right after out first visit to Hallow Bastion, I'll need to look up which area I should go to first because there is a logical order things take place in. Stream will start at about 6 PM EST, because as soon as I'm done writing this and having lunch, I'm starting work !

And on that note we'll see you later today over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Today's Notes 2/4/21

Good morning everybody,

Last night's stream featured ESPN Major League Baseball... and boy did I end up running into some glitches with that. What we had plan was to do the May 2004 4-game series of the Phillies versus the Rockies, which we ended up doing.... I won the first two games, but during the third games, ESPN Major Leagues Baseball locked up, forcing a restart.... and it turned out that the game did not save following the second game. So instead of replaying the second game, I simulated it, resulting in a loss... and then went on to win the last two games of the series.... so the end result was taking 3 of 4 on the road, but it could've been a sweep. Ah well, I made damn sure the game saved before I ended the stream, so when we continue it next Wednesday, The Dodgers are rolling into town for a three-game series. 

Since there is incentive to create a new Klingon Defense Force character in Star Trek Online, I did that last night so I have a qualified character for the Recruitment event... and I have to say I do like a lot of the texture changes, and addition made to the tutorial mission, it adds a more cinematic feel to things. This character more than likely won't be featured on any streams beyond just rotating through my various characters to get some progression things done. Speaking of Star Trek Online, that will be the focus of tonight's stream, as we'll be doing the Federation side of the Anniversary event missions to see what dialog changes take place.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 session felt good, even if I felt some misses weren't my fault. I swear there are days syncing up the joycons with the docked Switch works perfectly, and then there are days the joycons want to reset themselves just to spite me. Still, it was solid 30+ minutes, so I can't complain too much. Also did a bit of Animal Crossing New Horizon this morning as well, and I really wish there was a way to label what items are given to you by the residents on the island, because I ended up giving a Chef's Outfit back to Raddle which he gave to me.

Comcast is delaying the idiotic data cap roll outs in the North East until August, because it turns out that their little scheme would be a major hindrance to local businesses that have switched to having people work from home, kids who are doing remote learning and it basically just being a complete farce of an idea. Considering the issues I've had with Comcast in January, safe to say the data cap business is certainly something they should reconsider.

Since I'm schedule to work from 12 PM to 5 PM EST today, that means we'll get tonight's stream started probably as soon as i finish dinner, so maybe 6 PM EST It is nice to be back on a normal schedule again, as last night's stream just flew by even with the glitches that occurred. 

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Today's Notes 2/3/21

Good morning everybody,

Last night's stream of The Division 2 was a lot of fun as it was four-player silliness with Iceman7667 (twitch.tv/iceman7667), FnDanteSavage (twitch.tv/fndantesavage) and PowerThumbz (twitch.tv/powerthumbz) as we spent the night tackling The Division 2's version of a zombie mode, where we basically have to put down enemies twice unless they were killed with a head shot. It was pure shenanigans the entire way. Now I did went ahead and acquired all the costume pieces related to Resident Evil as part of the event, and while nearly everything looks awesome, I'm not too keen on how the shirt for the Jill Valentine Resident Evil 1's attire looks, as the color and it's style seems just wrong.  I wonder how many people feel the same way about that.

Lot's of people are upset about the Mass Effect Legendary Edition Remastered not including any cut content, mostly more same sex relationships that were originally intended for the game that got cut because someone at EA or BioWare got scared by the cucks at Fox News. This is why Mass Effect: Andromeda is awesome it has all of that in it, now that said, I do understand the developers reasoning for not having it.... one it would delay the remaster for at least a year because not only do record dialog for the romance path, but also create reaction dialog, animate different sequences and add a new level of lore and other touches to the Trilogy that is already pretty fucking deep to be begin with. Would I have loved to have seen it, yes I would, am I disappointed it's not there.... nope because I understand it. Besides this is a remaster.... not a remake.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 sessions felt good but man, the bicep focus exercises followed by the waist focused set is probably the most evil combination possible, as I always feel sore after doing them back to back. Also unlocked the transonic Hitter achievement which was to have 80,000 perfect punches which is actually perfect motions ( meaning all punches, ducks, weaves, steps).  I don't get why they say punches as its more of executing things perfectly and in rhythm with the game, because as I've said before, there is a separate counter for actual punches, as my actual punch count is 72,070.

Tonight's stream will probably start at 6 PM EST, because I work from 12 PM to 5 PM EST today, so we'll have a fairly long stream, with the focus being on ESPN Major League Baseball. My 2004 Philadelphis Phillies are rolling into Colorado to take on the Rockies in a four-game set. While I would love to win all four games, I'll settle for a two-game split. But we'll see what happens later today.

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Today's Notes 2/2/21

Good morning everyone,

Because of work, my schedule this week is adjusted to compensate for the the fact I have to wake up earlier, so I've been up since about 7:30 AM EST. Granted I didn't sleep much last night, hell I went to bed so early I ended up waking up at 6 AM and then forced myself back to sleep. Changing a schedule is never easy, not to mention my preparing for this adjustment was thrown off by the issues with Comcast on Saturday night.Which is why I'm glad I remembered I had some stuff on Audible, as I've been listening to the Blackadder series.... because when that show aired, the BBC also did an radio version of it, and released a collection on audible of the full series. Even though one can't see the physical actions and reactions to what's being performed... the writing for the Blackadder series is so good, it more than makes up for it.

Anyway last night we started up Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix which is apart of the 1.5 + 2.5 Collection that you can get digitally for the Xbox One, granted I posted the Amazon link for the physical versions for the PlayStation 4 (because Amazon doesn't offer the Xbox versions for whatever reason). Anyway, It's been a long time I played the original version of Kingdom Hearts II, but event I was shocked at how much of an prologue there was involving Roxas. I get that it acts as the tutorial and bridge between Re:Chain of Memories where Sora, Donald and Goofy go to sleep and then wake up here in KH2... but I don't remember having it taking so long to get to where were can use Sora. Regardless, we left off after getting to Hallow Bastion and having to defend the gate with Leon (aka Squall) from Final Fantasy VIII against some Dusk and we'll continue Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix on Friday of this week.

Had a pretty damn good Fitness Boxing 2 session this morning, missing only one motions during the first few sets.... then  the double-step (front back steps) popped up in the last one and my timing was a bit off. Anyway we reached the Super Welterweight Puncher Lv. 2 achievement which was to have a total punch count of 70,000 HITs, with my exact total being 70,653 punches performed over the last 53 days. Also since I've been up for a few hours now, also dropped into Animal Crossing New Horizons, found a lost item for Agnes and I'm still pondering what the festival on February 15 is going to be, as there are dance reactions, and a stage one can get from Nook's Cranny. Even managed to get in a little Super Mario Bros 35, had another top 5 finish that ended in the usual way.... with me plummeting to my death because I didn't time a jump correctly. Ah well.

Tonight we'll be doing another stream of the Division 2, as Ieemany, PowerThumbz (twitch.tv/powerthumbz), FnDanteSavages (twitch.tv/fndantesavage) and I will be just goofy around doing levels and stuff to try and get the items associated with the Resident Evil apparel event that is happening. So there will be no real focus, as it's just the four of us being knuckleheads and having a good time. Because this will end up being a triple co-stream, I'll be starting at 9 PM EST to try and keep it even with Thumbz and Dante who are both in the Mountain time-zones.

And on that note, I'm gonna go get ready for work, see ya later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Today's Notes 2/1/21

Good afternoon everybody,

Well we still got snow coming down here in New Jersey today, which is just great... well not really, I hate snow. Because unless the next few days will melt it quick, snow just has a way of making things feel colder, because it's just frozen water. Give me a cold day or night without snow anytime anywhere. Anyway the tech Comcast came out yesterday, and made sure that all the new lines were good before replacing the modem. Apparently, the one I had was a model being phased out gradually, and it's replacement is the one Comcast just started to roll out in the past few months. I also swapped my two cat8 Ethernet cables to hardwired connect my Xbox One S and PC to it, so from this point the only things that should hinder my upload speeds (if anything) would be either my tier of service I'm paying for (and 200Mbps DL/5 Mbps Upload is more than enough for what I do) or my PC itself. 

Last night's Overwatch stream featured nothing but Mayhem matches, and big thanks to PandaSweet for joining in on the chaos, as we had our fair share of wins and losses and general epic moments.Speaking of Overwatch, the Nintendo Switch version of it will probably be the game that will replace Super Mario Bros 35 on bonus streams because SMB35 shuts down on March 31, 2021. So featuring the Switch version of Overwatch makes sense since the bonus streams typically feature three games.

And speaking of which, we did do a bonus stream earlier, with Fitness Boxing 2 leading things off, had a nice session as most folks saw, actually did real good on Front-Back Step movements this go round, but Side-Steps were a problem.... hell I missed 8 motions today, and 4 involved side-stepping. 

We did do some Animal Crossing New Horizons, I am loving that my residents are hanging out more in the plaza area, it makes finding them a lot easier day to day. Apparently Animal Crossing will be having an in-game event on February 15, I know Chinese New Year is February 12 this year, so I wonder what is being marked on the 15th?

Getting back to Super Mario Bros 35, we did one run and game in second place, only because, as usual I did a short jump that saw me plummet to my death! Still I finished in the top 3 and I'm pleased with that. More than likely I was going to lose because I ran out of time.

Tonight we'll be starting early because of a change in my work schedule, and we'll be starting up Kingdom Hearts II today. Last time I played that game was was back in like 2005-2006 on the PlayStation 2, so I doubt I'll remember much beyond the pain in the butt rhythm mini game involving the Little Mermaid.

So on that note we'll see you later tonight over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Today's Notes 1/31/21

Good afternoon everybody,

Well let's talk about last night's stream first, granted we always do that, but remember the upload speed issue I was having back around January 10th and 11th that was resolved on the 12th when a Comcast tech came out to check all the exterior wiring, discovering that things that they should've been maintaining weren't touch in years, that lines were chewed up to the point actual signal degradation was happening? Well that came back in full force last night, as twice my Upload speed which was staying steady at 2500 kpbs (which is what I set it at) dropped to 1100 kpbs. The stream was interrupted at 9:20 PM, did a modem reset through Comcast, called them, and things seemed to sorted themselves out and we came back on at 10 PM, then at about 11:50 PM EST, it happened again. Called Comcast up and that time I kept the stream going so I can literally read off the upload speeds from Task Manager to them, and now they said the modem that I rent from them is 'too old' for a firmware update, which of course exposes Comcast to once again not maintaining equipment, letting customers know that what they have in their homes that they RENT FROM COMCAST is not current. 

For fucks sake, I was stuck with the Scientific Atlanta cable boxes that were in this house from my father lived here that he was issued in the late 90s and was only made aware they were out of date when I continued to have problems with my TV service! That said, after calling them out on that, they are sending a tech out today with a new modem which I'm going to have them set up and to take the old one because quite frankly, the updating of equipment on a regular basis is something Comcast should be doing, particularly if one is paying $200 a month!

Now in terms of what we were streaming Zero Escape Virtue's Last Reward, we didn't get to any endings last night because of the tech issues, but the awesomeness of Zero III, and some of the comedic elements in the game were awesome, as it gave me a lot to react to. I'm rather surprised that the protagonist Sigma has no voiced dialog as opposed to Junpei in the first game who did have a lot of voiced dialog. Still it adds to the immersion as I read off Sigma's lines. We went int the Magenta and Green and allied with Luna from the start, and were in the middle of the conversation with Golem when I shut down the second stream last night due to all the technical issues I was having with Comcast as I detailed above.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 session was solid, going about 32 minutes (40 if I add in the stretching), and everything felt good, things were going so smoothly that I even added a little 'Free Exercise' set on top of the daily routine to just to have things end on a positive note.

Now tonight's stream is of course scheduled for feature Overwatch and hopefully things will be smooth sailing. We are getting hit with a large snow storm, so hopefully that won't cause any issues in my area, but according to the local weather service I'm on the outer edge of the heart of the snow that's coming, and we're expecting six to twelve inches. If it was Casey Kisses I was getting hit with I wouldn't mind getting hit with something in that range, but when it comes to snow I don't want to deal with it.

And on that note, we'll (fingers crossed) see you later tonight over on twitch.tv/fredcasden