Sunday 23 December 2007

Sims 2 Micropolis

Craft family

Welcome to 3 Gravel Road! I am your friendly neighborhood guardian angel! And hi again, Grant. You sure got along with Pam, eh?
Grant: Buh what?
Darius: It's an angel! Wheee!
Roger: I don't see anything.
Al: Don't be scared Linda. I am here with you.
Fear not! I am a higher-dimension being who has volunteered to help you live to your highest potential! Rejoice, for I am not the kind of angel that removes the doors while you are in the bathroom or the ladder while you are swimming. I genuinely care for you, even though you are randomly generated and not my own creations.
Arman: We could have used your help a little earlier. My son lost his wife and these innocent children their mother in a meaningless 'act of God'.
Actually that's just backstory. You can't even remember her hair color, can you?
Arman: Uhm... She probably had black hair, since Darius has black while the rest of the family have brown.
Lucky guess. Now, tell us a little about yourselves for the, uhm, angelic chronicles or something.
Arman: Well, I like to make friends and I do so easily, being a well-balanced person. Also, I hope there are no vampires here. Don't look funny at me, vampires are real.
Of course they are. I can reveal that none of your neighbors are vampires though.
Al: That's good, I hate them too. It is bad for business when customers are sucked dry. I mean literally. I don't mind sucking them dry financially. Someone has to provide for the family after all.
Roger: Don't look at me, I am not the one who mass produces kids. I take care not to leave anything except happy memories with the women I love. I don't want to be tied up. Well, except occasionally with handcuffs, but let's not talk about that while the children are listening.
Grant: I look forward to making friends too. My goal is to become a superhero. Since I'm not born under a red sun, I will have to use the superpowered uniform the Green Diamonds use. Unless you have some magic you can use to help me?
I don't use magic that way. I help you unlock your inner hero.
Grant: Sounds good. What was that about a Pam?
Forget it until later in the week. You will see what I mean.
Grant: You can see the future?
Only up to a week at most.
Al: Does that include lotto numbers?
Darius: Hey it is my turn! I want toys, and a friend, and that nobody in the family has to die anymore! And that the grown-ups don't scold me if I break something when I didn't mean to.
There are two girls your age in this neighborhood.
Darius: Aaagh cooties!
You may change your mind about that later...
Roger: If he is anything like this uncle, he definitely will.
And Linda? Do you have anything to say?
Linda: Ma-ma?
Unfortunately I cannot help with that.

Justice never sleeps, and neither does a large family. Rory Olsen, thank you for staying up with Linda, but you don't really need to. I will wake her father if needed.
Rory: It's my pleasure. She is an adorable little girl. I hope she and Petter will become good friends... it's practically just across the street after all.
I take it we have met already.
Rory: Why of course, though it was only this morning.
I am looking forward to it.

Darius: So, I just balance the books on top of my head and the knowledge seeps down into my brain?
Arman: It is the law of gravity, boy. Surely you have heard of the law of gravity.
Is this how you teach your grandson to study?
Arman: Well, have you tried? You'd be surprised by how few people who have balanced books on their head even for a few hours in their entire lifetime!

You would have made a good family sim, from the looks of it.
Al: If I were a family sim, I would want more kids by now. I just want to be a good father for the ones I have.
Point taken.

Grant: And then the cat started scratching the expensive sofa in the coffe shop...
Marcus Sharpe: ZOOMG!
True story. I was there. Oh wait, that is still in your future, Marcus. Just smile and nod, OK?
Marcus: Another two-dimensional time thing? I still have trouble visualizing that concept.
Two-dimensional time?
Marcus: You know the thing we talked about, how time in this universe is folded in two dimensions and you live through each week six times.
We are actually going to talk about that next week.

Linda: Finally I can shower when I will, not to mention go to the potty without everybody staring at me. A girl could get constipation from less!
I see the smart milk effect has not worn off yet.
Linda: Is it true that angels can see us in the bathroom?
Sure, but why would I do that? Wait till you become a college student, then we'll consider this topic again. Be sure to eat well so you can become a plump, juicy college girl.
Linda: Eww!
That was a joke! Ha ha! Fat chance! Anyway, this cake is great. It's so delicious and moist...

Oh dear, it seems we don't have the money for a new bed, and everyone else is already asleep. We'll try to fix that tomorrow.

Grant: Meh.
Perhaps you should not have skipped homework that one day. But you can still catch up before the end of the week.
Grant: But will I be able to afford college anyway? It costs 40 000 now. I will get perhaps 1000 or 2000 in, uhm, grants.
It is still a ways off. Anyway, you can get student loans. It will all be paid off in a generation or two. Trust me, I have seen this a lot of times. After a couple generations, the family will be swimming in money.

Darius: Yes! I am a genius!
All because your grandpa taught you how to balance the books.

Hey look Darius! A girl!
Darius: It is something my little sister brought home from school.
Actually she is more your age. I guess she is just young for her years! You two will probably go to college together.
Darius: Perhaps I will become a pirate captain instead!
And perhaps she will be passenger on a ship you plunder. Pirates often captured passengers for booty, as any good pirate novel will teach you.

Al: Look at these bank statements! We are getting deeper and deeper in debt. We had to borrow to buy the new bed for Linda. And now I had to borrow for the payments on the loan. And we aren't even paying the full interests yet. Did we survived the hurricane only to drown in debt?
For a fortune sim, you are surprisingly ignorant about economics. Let me explain: In the past, wealth was tied to objects like land, gold, cattle or jewelry. Today, the wealth of nations mostly resides in the heads of their citizens. The knowledge and skills that all of you acquire over a lifetime is what will make this neighborhood prosperous. Look at your neighbor Esther. Even though she is closing in on 60, she has paid 40 000 for an online university education and is spending all her free time studying. Do you think that is crazy? Trying to earn money with no skills is crazy. Take the time to build up the intellectual capital in your mind, and you will easily be able to acquire anything else that you desire.
Al: I don't have time to get a college education now. I have to keep my family fed and clothed...
You are already gaining some of the skills in your everyday life. Whenever you are making food for your family or cleaning the house, you are building skills that you can use later to earn money. Whenever you unclog the toilet or repair a broken shower, you are building your mechanical skills. So don't panic! Your everyday life is the ladder with which you will climb out of this hole. Years from now, you will laugh in the face of debt. Ha ha! you will say. No, that is not derisive enough. More like: Muahaha! Debt, where is thy sting?
Al: Man, it must be easy being an angel...
...

Linda: Hi! Who are you?
William: I'm William Hughes. I just came by and saw there was a whole road of new houses around here!
Hughes? Hughes? I am pretty sure you are not on my list. Grady, Craft, Sharpe, Olsen, Ashby, Moody... no Hughes here.
William: Who was that?
Linda: Our guardian angel.
You must be a spontaneously generated townie. Kind of like roaches, only smarter.
William: Hey now!
Well, I did not order you. But that's fine. Be nice and you may join the neighborhood some day. Beware, the competition is hard. There are a lot of boys in college
Linda: And virgins and unicorns.
William: What?

Linda: Well I read in a book about unicorns and virgins, so I asked my dad what a virgin was and he said I would learn about that when I grew up and I asked my grandpa when I would be grown up and he said when I went to college so I asked uncle roger about virgins and unicorns and college and he said that there were about as many virgins as unicorns there.
Your information gathering skills are nothing short of extraordinary.
Linda: Is that a good thing?
It means you may one day become a famous journalist. But I think I'll have a talk with your uncle anyway.

Yes, Al, I think it is about time for you to put those mechanical skills to use. It won't earn you much money at first, you can make the first toy for §32 and sell it for §35, but it is fun and you will soon be able to make more advanced toys with a good profit margin.
Al: And we have a family name to live up to, as well!

Linda: Don't sell Sir Bricksalot! I am teaching him tricks! Look, he has already learned to sit up!
Al, it was cheaper than buying her one in the shop.
Al: Except I had to borrow money for the crafting bench.

Linda: This house is pretty small, isn't it dad?
Al: I think it is you who have grown.

The weekend is the time to go to the mall and mingle with the crowd, especially for popularity sims.
Grant: Hey Garrett, have I told you about the cat who hates furniture?

And so it is Sunday night, everyone else has gone to bed. It sure has been an eventful week, Arman.
Arman: I am so proud of my grandchildren, I just have to write about them in my diary.
Me too, Arman. Me too. But now it is time for my time warp.