A Look, 2006

Peacar, winter, 2006

Antonio is 55, Carmela is 46, Verde is 19, Rojo is 14, Serendipity is 10

So far the winter had been mild so far, much to the delight of Carmela who was starting a new fitness program. She was determined to get fit once and for all. Then again, she was always determined to get fit, but then those delicious recipes would twart her progress.

Antonio took advantage of the slow days at the gallery to work on some new pottery pieces. So far he still only had one student, Veronika Kent, and she was continuing to excel. She was exceling so much that Antonio was going to present her parents with the option of sending her overseas for summer study so she could be surrounded by the lavish art scene of Deux-Sèvres.

In the meantime, he was concerned about Rojo.

The young man didn't know that it was his sister who had seen the young blond leaving his room in the middle of the night and asked her parents about it. All he knew was the next day, his parents cornered him in his room and had a very long woohoo talk and presented him with adequate protection.

Rojo was beyond embarassed and after the talk, he trashed the protection. He didn't need his parents in his affairs. Especially now that Taylor was in his life.

Unlike the mysterious blond (her name was Wendy), Taylor had a creative soul. She dabbled with charcoals, while Rojo focused on electronic music,

but that was plenty to talk about over dinner at Apple Corner's diner Red Boat Sams, which had neither a boat, nor the color red, nor a sim named Sam.

After a dinner mostly spent flirting,

the young couple shared a kiss.

"Wanna go to Moonglow?" Rojo asked after coming up for air.

"Of course."

At Moonglow, the couple felt more comfortable to engage in their public displays of affection

thanks to the fact that Moonglow was a teen only hangout spot.

In fact, some might argue that the couple was a little too comfortable.

After Taylor left in order to be home in time for her curfew, Rojo decided to play a few games in the arcade and that's when he saw her. The way her brown hair tossed over her shoulders as she fought with the machine to get an high score. However, before Rojo could ask her name she disappeared into the crowd.

"I bet you still didn't beat the high score," Serendipity teased her brother afterwards as they participated in their weekend smustle dancing ritual.

"And I bet you still burned your muffin."

Serendipty didn't admit to it, but it was true. She was still burning the muffins in her toy oven, but she was determined to get it right.

Maybe she should ask her Aunt Jolie for help since she was a good baker, instead of hanging out with her little cousins so much.

"Will you two stop taking over the living room," Carmela yelled at her husband. "Verde and Lainey are coming. They said that they have some big news."

It was no secret that almost the entire family wanted Verde and Lainey to get married, but the couple seemed determined to wait as long as possible.

"Where are you going to move? If you move to the metro can I come visit?" Serendipity asked after Verde and Lainey announced their news.

"Of course,"

"I think it's bedtime, Serendipity." Antonio urged.

"Aww, that just means that you guys are gonna talk about the real juicy stuff now."

"Bed. Now." Carmela echoed.

Serendipity walked solemnly upstairs and Rojo wisely followed to make sure that she wasn't listening on the staircase, or so he told his parents, but in reality, he went to join her on the stairs.

"Why not just get married?" Antonio asked. "If you're going to move in together, you really should consider getting engaged and having a wedding. Do things in the right order."

"We're not ready for that step yet." Verde answered.

"Strange, I recall a young man about two simyears younger than you who was so set on getting married that he asked his girlfriend's parents for her hand and had purchased a ring in preperation."

"What?" Lainey asked.

Verde smacked his head in frustration. "I was younger then and I didn't know what marriage entailed. I do now and I'm prepared to wait until I'm ready."

"But-"

"Antonio," Carmela said and gave her husband a look. "Perhaps you could help me upstairs. I want to give Lainey that book I was talking about."

After his parents went upstairs, Verde perpared himself for the rage. He glanced over at his girlfriend as she stood up and walked towards the window.

"Lainey?"

"You brought her a ring? You asked for her parents for her hand?" she whispered not facing him.

"It was a long time ago. I had been with her since I was twelve. I thought that I was ready to be a husband and father at that time and now I know better. I was a young kid who was living in his own dream world."

"So now you don't want to get married?"

"I do...just not now. Things have changed since then."

"Like the woman you're involved with." she whispered turning to face him.

When Verde saw the hurt in her face his knees crumbled a bit.

"Lainey, baby, I love you." he whispered pulling her close.

"I love you too and I would like to get married."

"I want to get married too."

"Then let's just do it, let's get married." she said smiling up at him.

Verde sighed. "How about we revisit the topic senior year."

"Are you going to stay in university until senior year? I thought you were thinking of grabbing the associate's degree and leaving."

"Well, I figure that I'll need a bit more education if I'm going to prove to your family that I can take care of a princess."

Archives/Technology Note: 2005-2009 Term

Jadhira Shazad

With the new term, I must submit new plans.

Assist in the management of family tree information

• The family tree has been moved to an online program which makes updates a lot easier. The family tree will be updated with each new birth.
• Will work to establish birth/death years by the end of the simyear 2007 for the prior 5 generations.
• Will work to establish birth/death years by the end of simyear 2009 for the prior 10 generations.

Collect community & residents registry

• Will continue to maintain basic residents information online for current (active) residents only. Updates will be once a simyear during the winter. Family photos will be updated every other simyear.
• Within three simyears (2009) information will include: design preferences, badges, and former relationships.
• Will start a directory of notable in-active residents by 2007 with basic information only.
• Must upload an updated map of the hood by 2007. Will upload a new map every simyear.
• Started looking for TS1 photos to make a collection for families to have their historical photographs. A large portion of photos were lost when geocities closed.
• Will start to move some information from the main website (freewebs) to the dynamic blog site (blogspot)
• Look for another venue to host historical photos.

Test and implement 3rd party technology 

• Continue culling CC folders of little use items, especially clothing imports. Clothing import timeline-Elders and Toddlers [2006]; Adults [2008]; Teens [2009]; Children [2007]
• Also looking to compile and combine items and use more MAXIS meshes. By the end of 2006 convert all custom rug textures to maxis rugs, by the end of 2007 convert all custom painting textures to maxis paintings, look into feasibility of converting custom lamp textures to maxis lamps as well as custom surface textures into maxis surfaces by the end of simyear 2008
• Starting compressing items every simyear in the winter
• Start using collection folders more for imports by the end of simyear 2007
• Cull imports each simyear

Perform back-ups of resident information:

• Backups are currently once a simyear, will start doing a backup after each season starting simyear 2006
• Backups are currently stored on an external drive, will start uploading important information online such as residents' DNA, and important building plans. Residents' DNA will be added after their toddler birthday, while building plans will be added after significant changes. We will make building plans available to other hoods at their own risk.

Serve as local reporter:

• No changes here, we are actively looking for a full-time editor to take this role from me.

Manage the Historical Society:

• Continue to assist the Historical Society. Current agenda includes looking at creating three separate histories (1) TS1 times and the land [by 2007] (2) TS2 before the great storm [by 2008] (3) TS2 after the great storm [by 2009]
• Have all current residents' family history complied by 2009

18th Street Apartments

18th St Apts is a 1x3 lot with lots of amenities.

 There is an asian bistro, Mr. Cho's, and coffee shop & bookstore, The Drip.



There's an onsite gym as well that includes a sauna


Four apartment units.

A trashy 2BD/1BTH above the asian bistro


A 3BD/2BTH dingy apartment above the bistro (could be converted into a 4BD/2BTH or a 3BD/3BTH)


A 3BD/2BTH uptown apartment above the gym and coffeeshop


Finally a 1BD/1BTH penthouse with rooftop garden and views of the city


download residential version
download apartment version

Assigning Money Management Styles Based on Simology

I've been wondering how to add a bit more dimension to my sims, especially when it comes to debt and spending habits. Thankfully I came across an article about money management styles and I wondered if I could apply that to my sims.

Basically each money management style is seperated by traits, actually thier serious score and thier money interest score, so there's nothing new for me to randomly roll, I just look at my simmies' stats. Also, the nature of their money management style is pretty fluid as well. Here's a brief overview of the money management styles.

1. Worrier (Serious 5+/ Money Interest 5-)
2. Binger (Serious 5-/ Money Interest 5+)
3. Spender (Serious 5-/ Money Interest 5-)
4. Hoarder (Serious 5+/ Money Interest 5+)

We'll examine each one in detail including thier thoughts on debt and some examples of how thius works in my hood. As always feel free to borrow or steal or modify away, I'd love to know how you modify and adapt it to your hood.

Worrier

Serious 5+, Money 5-
The worrier lies awake at night worrying about simoleans but aren't actually sure how much is in their savings account. This sim is pretty serious, but lacks the money knowledge to feel comfortable with thier money.

Thoughts on Debt
The worrier sim will take on debt, but will neglect to read the fine print or even know the terms of thier loans. This results in being overwhelmed with debt and worried about thier financial health.

Example
Bill Carr is a worrier, his serious nature makes him aware that money is pretty important and that he should create some sort of financial plan for his family, but he doesn't. Instead he doesn't look at the details of his debt is is surprised when debt collectors start calling.

Hoarder

Serious 5+ / Money 5+
The sim hoarder loves sales and is a bargain hunter. They are conservative with money, and highly conscious about savings.

Thoughts on Debt
The hoarder doesn't mind taking on debt of appreciating assets, however they are usually very careful about adding debt to their lives. They perfer paying in cash or saving up for a large purchase instead of taking on debt.

Example
Rebecca Wilsonoff is a classic hoarder. She looks for sales and discounts and often saves up for large expeneses. She is very conservative with money, instead of taking on large amounts of debt for Ana Rayne's surgeries, she sold the large family home and downsized to an urban townhouse to free up the necessary simoleans.

Spender

Serious 5- / Money 5-
The sim spender does exactly that spend freely. A spender  thinks that buying and owning new things makes them happy,  and feel unhappy if they can't afford things that friends have. They like to stand out and thier purchases are status symbols.

Thoughts on Debt
Whatever it takes to get what they want, spenders will max out multiple lines of credit and often have a deck of credit cards.

Example
Li Yoo is a spender. She enjoys the finer things in life and is willing to pay dearly for it. The nicest loft in the metro, the latest designer shoes, picking up the tabs for expense lunches with friends and flying across the simworld in first class.

Binger

Serious 5- / Money 5+

The sim binger is a combination of hoarder and spender. These sims keep on top of their debt, and can find the lowest rate on a debt vehicle. At the same time, the binger's will buy flat-screen TV just in time for the sports party.

Thoughts on Debt

Managed debt is ok, according to the sim binger. They often pay for their splurges with either savings or a small short-term debt before paying it off.

Example

S'Ahmisa Warwick is a binger. She is a whiz with money, increasing her stock portfolio and making wise investments to increase her very cushy nest egg of more than $250,000. However she splurges all the time for her friends and herself. She will buy tickets to a far away place at the last minute because she needed a break, she will partake in massages after a hard class or even send secret gifts of groceries or needed supplies to families in need when she feels the need.

Silly Crush, 2006

Givar, winter, 2006

Si'Enya was finally old enough for a job. It wasn't that she had to work, she was a trust fund baby as the kids at school would sneer. It wasn't her fault that her parents were wealthy, but it didn't matter what she said, the kids would still sneer.

Trevor said that they were jealous. She knew that he was right, it just didn't help that some of them could be so mean, she thought as she sat to her station. She didn't work long hours, but it was nice that Trevor would walk her to and from work to make sure she made it home safely.

She wasn't too sure what to make of the man. She knew that her classmates were in awe of the man, mostly for his celebrity status, but Si'Enya didn't care about his fame. She liked the fact that he talked bugs with her and got dirty with her in their search for the illusive spider. If she would admit it, she also like the bubbly feeling in her belly whenever he smiled at her. It was a silly crush, but didn't every teenaged girl need a silly crush?

Her tiny crush on Trevor kept her from crying her eyes out everytime she saw Erricson with Harriet. She didn't know what he saw in Harriet, she was mean to most of the kids in school and she was...strange.

Si'Enya couldn't say too much about Harriet considering that she was becoming fast friends with Harriet's little sister, Elphy and her classmate, Rosemarie. It was nice to make some friends her age. Since S'Ahmisa had started university and joined the county council, Si'Enya was seeing less and less of her best buddy.

Thankfully her new friends were introducing her to other guys besides Erricson who had a girlfriend and Trevor who was a pipe dream.

----

Meanwhile, Faith was realizing that her new apartment was a pipe dream. With the arrival of baby Olivia, Faith needed more reasonable hours. Thankfully she was able to get a job as a clerk at her favorite department store. However, the change in hours also meant a drop in pay.

Combined with Walt's crazy hours and low paycheck, the couple was searching for something a bit more affordable. Free rent would be the best, unfortunately there were very few options that were free. They couldn't move in with her parents due to the small size of their apartment.

Besides, her parents were always at the cramped apartment helping out with Olivia or dropping off a meal for the couple.

Faith was growing bigger each day and the baby was healthy. Walt had insisted on finding out the gender at the delivery, which was fine with Faith.

Either way, the new baby would be sharing a room with big sister Olivia.

Faith just hoped that they could find a nice, cheap two bedroom apartment soon. On the bright side, they didn't have to worry about being on the "bad side" of town. With all the revitalization, there wasn't a bad side of Apple Valley.

That also meant that there wasn't a cheap side of Apple Valley that a struggling stand-up comedian and cashier could afford to raise their tiny family. They already had taken out a loan for some basic nursery furniture and had even begun to skip the occasional meal, which wasn't the best idea considering Faith's condition.

Walt had pawned their TV as well to make the last rent payment. That meant that Faith would often walk into the bathroom to find Walt rehearsing his routine in the bathtub or singing some silly song about Pirate Bluebeard and the Llama Crew.

The first time she walked in on him playing in the tub, Faith had backed up very slowly...not sure if he was slowly loosing his mind. Now, she was used to it and calmly peed while he continued his song.

Standing Behind, 2006

Givar, winter, 2006
Susie is 20; Anthony Wren is 25

Snuggle Sea Bear,

We made it to our final tour stop. It's so cold here at Mount Azul.

The team has been staying in these cheap cabins at the base of the mountain in bewteen our shows.

Finally the other dancers on the team are listening to some of my ideas, I guess they had to put me through the whole newbie iniation thing first.

Thankfully now I'm no longer the newest dancer on the team.

At our last stop, one of the dancers suffered an injury, so we had to find a replacement fast.

She's a decent dancer, break dancing isn't her strong point, she's a ballerina by training.

When I asked her why she got into break dancing, she said that it was a dare from a former lover. The dancing bit paid off while the lover didn't.

At times she can be a bit talkative, especially when I'm trying to soak my sore muscles after a rough performance. Have you ever experience sitting in a hot spring while snow is piled up around you? It's an interesting experience. Gets your blood flowing.

It's my turn to cook for the team this simweek. Since there's only a grill at our base location, I've been making hot dogs and hamburgers. Good cheap food, served piping hot and fast. I haven't burnt that many hot dogs, you'd be proud of me.

It was over llama burgers that Mister Infinity told me about a spot in the Aerial Bionic music video for their newest single. He said that he would recommend me for the spot. I still have to audition when I return, but his recommendation is highly regarded.

Who knows, maybe you'll see me dancing on the small screen soon. Remember when I was the dancer standing with 8 other dancers, behind that one dancer, who was standing behind all the famous people? Well, those days are long gone.

Soon I'll be the dancer standing in front of the other 8 dancers, behind the famous people. Anthony, you better call your mom, cause I've made it to the middle!

I have taken some time out to explore the surrounding area. Mostly doing the tourist thing, buying souveniors

tasting the local broiled catfish

and conversing with the locals.

I also learned a new dance, I'll have to show you when I return,

and of course I've been performing.

I'll see you soon,

Susie