November 7, 2006, Microsoft Studios released Gears of War for the Xbox 360 by Epic Games. At the time, I had just gotten the Xbox 360 console. Before that, I was a PlayStation only kind of guy. I had no idea about this game, never read anything about it, or had seen anything. The only thing I remember seeing was the teaser trailer one time at my local GameStop. Using Michel Andrews Mad World was kind of nice, at least for me. I remember everyone at the store looking at the TV, everyone quiet, just watching, then everyone was raving about the game and everyone had pre-ordered it. I was still skeptical about it, at the time I was not a huge fan of shooters, I mean, I had played some shooters in the past but hadn't for a while and especially since I had gotten the Xbox 360 and Halo 3 hadn't been released yet. Yes, Halo 3 was the first Halo game I ever played.

Another interesting fact about November 7, 2006, it was my first day working at GameStop. I remember getting there about an hour early before my shift and buying the game, using my employee's discount for the first time (Win!). I remember loving this game almost instantly. Loved the setting, the mechanics of the game, the graphics – everything. I really got into the story and its lore. As far as I was concerned I had never played anything like it before. This was a whole new experience for me as a video game junky enthusiast. I played this game in every mode, on every difficulty. I remember playing on Insane Mode, all by myself, except for the las Boss -- RAAM. Fokin RAAM, he was impossible, even in the lower difficulties, which is why I had to call a friend to help beat him in coop-mode.

Before Gears, I had never played games with online multiplayer. I was always a solo-campaign type of player. Probably due to the fact that back then in Puerto Rico, internet providers weren't the best, and I think this was what made me persuade my parents to get DSL internet, we were still on Dial-up, I think. Also with DSL the speeds were terrible maybe 1 Mbps or something like that, maybe even less. I don't remember much but I do remember asking my parents to get DSL so I could play online games with my buddies.

This game, we (me, my co-workers at GameStop, and later others) played this game, religiously, every single night, after work for the next nine months of our lives. Every single night, the same people, we would be playing this game online, no matter what. I remember we got so into it and all bonded so much over this game, that we even had LAN Parties. Remember those? We would bring our Xbox's, our friend who was hosting, happened to work at an IT Company so he borough a bunch of PC monitors, we brought beer, snacks, pizza, we would have a blast.

This game means so much to me, not because I think is the best gaming experience but because of the bonds I made and all the mementos around this game. I still play it to this day, the Ultimate Edition, however. The remastered version of the first game. Obviously, it has enhanced graphics and all that jazz, and even some extra content. Every time I feel nostalgic, I play this game. I don't ever get tired of it.

All that being said,

Gears of War > Halo

Every now and then when trying to optimize my workflows I find a neat surprise, something I wasn’t expecting to like. The other day while I was doing my day job stuff, I found myself needing to “jot-down” some tasks quickly before I forgot. I had uninstalled Todoist from my work computer, really not sure why, but I remembered I still had TickTick installed. I opened it up, launched it and starting entering tasks into it. The best feature TickTick on Windows has (or so I thought) is the Widget. Unlike Todoist, TickTick comes with a nice looking widget you can have always present on the desktop, so I always have a view of my daily tasks without having to actually open or the web app. Yesterday though, I had discovered by accident what I think now is its best feature – Quick Add. No matter where I am I can use “Ctrl + Shift + A”, to quickly capture tasks. The way I discover this, I do a lot of “Save As” for many documents at work “Ctrl + Shift + S” instead I clicked “A” and TickTick’s quick add shows up. This blew my mind! Sometimes is the little features like this that make things a whole lot better. I have tried TickTick many times in the past, never sticking with me. I am still playing around with it and so far it’s been used exclusively for work. This app has been one of those that, I know it’s good but never quite liked the user interface and such. Who knows, maybe it will sneak its way into my personal life too but, at this point, I doubt it.

IN OTHER NEWS:

I might be retuning to the office soon, as soon as next week. Just waiting to hear from my Boss, I might be either working morning shift, 5:00am to 11:00 am, or 11:30am to 5:30pm. That are just making sure which one is the safest for me in my area.

For a few weeks now I have had this urge to go out to the streets and snap a couple of shots. I miss it. All the pictures I have taken for the past four months have been in my house or at the patio. No street photography, no cars, people or street art. I have an itch that need to be scratched.

I have been thinking, maybe after I drop the girls at grandma’s in the morning, I could drive downtown, snap a couple of pictures and head-back to the house. Downtown Boise is not that big so it won’t take me more than an hour to visit my usual spots and walk around a bit. It also will be early enough to avoid any crowds and yet, I sort of hesitate with the idea. With the COVID-19 and the numbers of cases quickly rising again, I worry a bit.

Again, I would take all the precautions, wear my mask, keeping social distance, pepper spray in case someone gets too close (I kid, I kid). Maybe I can do it, again Downtown Boise isn’t the busiest and crowded area, at least in the morning hours.

Fourth of July celebrations feels somewhat foreign to me, like something that has nothing to do with me. Just like the same way Cinco de Mayo it’s celebrated by some. Something that also has nothing to do with me. Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 has never been independent, first we belonged to Spain 🇪🇸 and now we are a “colony” of the United States 🇺🇸. Thus, I have no clue what this ideal/sentiment of independence is like.

Happy Cuatro de Julio y’all. Pew pew!