The Ruffian's Guide

There are times in my life where I feel I’m stuck inside a circle of inter-dependencies. Whilst in my working life I try to be relatively organised, my personal life tends to be less so. Perhaps it’s because organising my personal life feels like work, therefore I tend to like it slightly unplanned and chaotic.

This has however bitten me in the arse on many occasions. We’re currently trying to get the house in order ahead of baby number two’s arrival. Whilst we won’t be able to get all of the major renovations done (partially due to financial factors and partially because it’s not feasable with a one year old running around the house) we’re trying to cross off as many of the smaller jobs as possible.

My current project is getting a garden shed sorted outside – not a large or complex job by any means. This will allow me to take some of the clutter out of the house (strimmer, paint tins, tools etc.) and make some much needed room. Having even one child makes you realise that space is at a premium. It’s amazing how quickly every nook and cranny of your living room quickly becomes filled with some sort of plastic toy or stuffed animal.

So, first job – build a shed base. I spent a few days doing some basic research on the types of base you can opt for and eventually settled on re-utilising some paving slabs we had laying around. Last Saturday I embarked on clearing the area for the shed out and marking the dimensions with pegs and twine.. So far so good. I even got to dig the base out level before my wife and daughter arrived home. Then everything came to an abrupt halt as I had to take over parenting duties whilst the Mrs collapsed on the sofa. Sunday was spent entertaining my mother and cooking Sunday dinner (which was admittedly a much nicer way to spend the day) leaving very little time after to get outside and move things along.

A whole week has passed and I’ve yet to lay a paving slab in anger. In the meantime I’ve been driving myself mad thinking of all the things I’d like to be doing, but can’t because first I need the shed in place before the other projects can be attempted (add brewing own beer to this list). I’m determined to finish the base tomorrow so I don’t have to spend another week driving myself nutty, peering out of the living room window, looking at the shallow earthy plot taunting me.

I know I’m my own worst enemy. Common sense tells me that my free time is at an absolute premium, yet I convince myself that I can complete an infeasible amount of work within a short window of time. And when I fail to meet my lofty expectations I feel deflated. NO MORE! I shall be slightly more organised and set realistic deadlines with the time I have available to me.

And.. rant over.

I love you Tumblr, but all the gif re-blogging is really getting tiresome. I mean seriously, GIF’s were in vogue when I was studying in University circa 1998. Can’t we all just move on with our lives?

Blaargh! Another week at the grindstone commences. I know it’s probably better to adopt a positive attitude towards the start of the week. But it’s difficult when it’s grey, cold, have meetings first thing and could do with another six hours buried under the duvet.

On a more positive note, it’s payday next week which means I’ll finally be able to replace my 42” tv that imploded.

If I’m honest, I haven’t really missed TV at all. The baby only allows about an hour or so of ‘me’ time in the evenings once she’s gone to bed, and I’d normally rather do something more productive than watch ‘World’s tiniest man baby’ on BBC3.

All that being said, I am looking forward to tucking into my recorded backlog of Game of Thrones and Walking Dead. Sky+ is an absolute godsend in this respect. I never was very good at remembering tv schedules. And even when I do, sometimes I’m not in the mood to watch telly.

I ordered a Sky HD box yesterday as it was offered as a free upgrade along with 3 months free HD pack. Tidy darts! I was getting a bit concerned about our Sky+ box as it’s been behaving oddly of late and the momentary panic of not being able to record stuff was enough to convince me to swap it out

My mind just briefly flitted back to the impending doom that is my 10am meeting. Ah, well. Suppose I better start wading through my backlog of email received since I left work on Friday. I wish people wouldn’t work on the weekend. It seems highly unfair that I clear my inbox before leaving on Friday, and then some over productive swine goes and sends me 20 lengthy messages in quick succession.

I’m going to stop now before my mild ranting turns into a full blown soap box on the importance of work life balance.

Before achievement points & trophies. Before leader boards, rankings and ladders there was just the game over screen. And when you reached it in the solitude of your home, there was no great fan fare or pronouncement of your amazing skills. Just the warm inner glow of knowing that you’re good enough to beat the game. 

I recently watched a documentary called the ‘King of Kong’ (buy or rent it - it’s a brilliant : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0923752/) and was left with an appreciation for Steve Weibe. A man who had been dubbed with mediocrity all his life following his inability to truly capitalize on any of his talents. Steve was a gifted musician and promising sport star, but when the time came for him to step up and prove himself, he was always found wanting. When Steve suddenly found himself out of work he decided to take on one of the longest held classic arcade records of all time. He bought an arcade machine, placed it in his garage and played. Day after day he returned to his stool in the dimly lit garage and kept plodding on despite being punished by the insane difficulty of Donkey Kong and the astronomically distant high score record.

I won’t say any more about Steve’s attempt for fear of spoiling an excellent film, but needless to say Steve Weibe has dedication in bucket loads. I find displays of such dedication and shear willpower awe inspiring. Whether you’re training for Olympic gold, scaling the face of Everest or trying to attain a record high score, it’s this characteristic that elevates true champions above the rest of us commoners.

I then began to think about my own experiences, and when was the last time that I persisted with a game long enough to become ‘good’ at it. I quickly realised that it’s been a while. Sure, I’ve finished lots of games recently. But how many of them were merely just holding my hand so that I could make it through to the end and see the final credits roll. How often do I actually go back and re-play a game that I’ve finished? The answer is, hardly ever. Once I’ve reached the conclusion of the story, or felt like I’ve milked enough entertainment out of it, I’m off on to the next gaming fix. 

I fear that I’ve attained the attention span of a sugar fuelled six year old. So many shiny new games, so little time! Could I ever honestly blinker myself and concentrate on just one game? 

Ultimately we’ve all become spoon fed and very lazy. We’re now in an age where your health auto regenerates and in the rare case of death a checkpoint in conveniently found every few minutes. I suppose it’s a difficult tight rope to walk between ‘challenging & enjoyable’ and ‘annoying & frustrating’.  Developers want you to reach the conclusion of their game so that you feel gratified and want to buy the next inevitable release in the series.

However, I think there is something to be said for a more pure gaming experience. Where reflexes and instinct count for everything and plot twists and unlockable hats are just distractions. Where the game is deliberately hard and punishing from the start and your only reward is persistence in the face of a maddeningly steep learning curve. 

Bring back rock hard gaming I say. We’ve all gone a bit soft and flabby.