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2026-02-28: It was a good day.

Everything went smoothly getting the lease agreement squared away. I'll be moving midway through March. Thankfully I'll have like, three weekends between move-in day and my final day in my current place, so I can take things a bit piecemeal if I need to plan around friends' or family schedules. I have some really lovely people in my life who are already asking when/where/how to help, so I am confident that I will have hands on deck to make this easier. I plan on getting some non-essential stuff packed (rarely used kitchen items, out-of-season clothes, music stuff, books and media, etc.) and ready to quickly shift over early. I'll probably also do smaller furniture like end tables and chairs with my SUV since that'll be easy. I may also be able to squeeze my twin bed in! If not, I also have a floor futon for a night or two if I don't want to come back here to sleep. I'm laying on that floor futon now as I write actually. This thing is sick, I highly recommend getting one if you're the sort of person whose sleep habits/insomnia sometime require a change of location or "nesting spot."

Things went well with my landlord too. I am glad to have gotten the tension resolved in our relationship, since it allowed me to leave on far better terms with them. We fundamentally disagree on how thigns need to be here, but I was able to present this as "an opportunity too good to pass up." They're going to hold off on ripping drywall open until I get moved out, so they're not opening Pandora's box while I'm here, and so I don't have to navigate around a construction zone in my final weeks. Things have seemingly stayed dry, so we should be okay for a bit. I was so relieved getting this sorted that I could've cried this afternoon.

It was a treat to go out tonight and celebrate getting through this. I already planned on going to see the Umamusume movie, but it was a lot more enjoyable since my living situation wasn't gnawing at the back of my mind. As I shared during my panic on my Neocities profile, I went through a bit of a self-conscious spell leading up to the movie. I sat in my car in the theater parking lot, suddenly feeling like a massive dweeb in my budget cosplay. Frankly, anyone outside the fandom would've thought I was a Somewhat Formally Dressed Person in a Bright Shirt, but MAN I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb. Anyone who'd recognize the character would probably also respect the commitment to the bit, but I still felt weird.

I've visted with friends a few times lately about my personal hang-ups with dressing in any way that could reveal my geekier and more cringe side. As a rural child of the era between 9/11 and the aftershock of the Great Recession, being outwardly nerdy or unconventional or otherwise not fitting in was a bit of a social death sentence. Frankly, I didn't fit in and ended up ostracized there anyways, so I could've just worn some Sonic the Hedgehog merch or whatever. It wouldn't have made much of a difference.

Still, I grew up to become someone whose graphic tee collection almost entirely consists of sports team merch. That was the safe thing to hyperfixate on. And I genuinely do enjoy sports on my own terms, but it kinda sucks to feel this way about even the most benign stuff. Like, I own a tee with the classic PlayStation logo that I basically only wear as a sleep shirt, lest I stick out too much.

I don't feel like I need to consume a lot of merch to like a thing. But, I also know I have a weird shame response to this stuff that I need to deal with.

So, between committing to a massive change in my housing situation, and biting the bullet to be willfully cringe in public, I think I took some big steps!

As a side note, if you're interested in that Uma movie and you don't have a great home theater setup, the theater experience was really good. It's probably the best distillation of what makes the series neat, and the massive screen and audio setup brought the presentation to life. My last time watching it was on a TV mounted too high above an elevated fireplace, relying entirely on the on-board stereo speakers. Once I get settled and get some money put back, I really want to get a modest soundsystem for my entertainment center. This movie tonight really highlighted how many audio details I currently miss.

Anyways, my plan tomorrow is to mostly relax and recuperate from a stressful couple of weeks. Then I plan on locking in on Sunday to get some nonessential stuff packed up.

It's kind of ironic that the first couple months of the year have revolved around me trying to close this chapter of my life and turn the page with a new living situation, and once everything got figured out, I went to see a movie titled Beginning of a New Era. May that be the harbinger of better days.

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2026-02-27: YEE HAW!

The stars aligned and a single family home from reputable management opened up! It's a little smaller than I originally wanted, but it's about the same as my current place. A colleague is moving out of a home these folks maintain and had a good experience. They were able to stay there for around 6 years in the leadup to buying their own place.

The rent is a bit higher than my current rate, BUT it covers utilities. Doing the math looking at my averages last year, it's more-or-less the same monthly cost as I have now. AND it's in a neighborhood where their grounds crew handles other properties close by, so they'll take care of mine too. No need to buy equipment or hire out.

It's far from perfecet. It needed a lot of work after the disaster we went through, and they had to do some foundation repairs too. BUT THEY REPAIRED IT! Which wasn't the case at one place I looked at a couple months ago! Since fixing the foundation settling and tornado damage, the interior has had a pretty significant facelift. It doesn't have as much storage as I'm used to, but enough of a footprint for shelves and cabinets and stuff. I'll figure it out.

Weighing the pros and cons between staying put, waiting it out for something else, or running with this, this feels like the best route forward for the short-to-medium term. Talking through it with my dad, he mentioned how it's pretty clear that I won't be happy coming home as long as I stay put, and everything he's heard from me these last couple months indicates I desperately need to make a change. If my biggest cons are mostly layout and storage nitpicks, he agrees that I ought to take a swing at this. Even if it's only for a year or two, it'd be worth trying.

I've felt like a caged animal. I gotta do something else.

So! I should be getting the terms worked out and a move-in date slated. If that can get done tomorrow, I can go out and celebrate by watching the Umamusume movie with this off my shoulders! Here's hoping for a good day tomorrow.

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2026-02-24: I've spemt a couple evenings on the 2020 remake of the 2002 game Mafia. It's really, really solid. The story is tight and compact. and it doesn't feel like it's wasting my time with busy work. It threads a nice balance between open-world and linear gameplay by taking place in a thoughtfully crafted open world setting, but making your journey through it straight-forward. It helps that its Great Derpession-era faux Chicago is a compelling setting in its own right.

One Steam reviewer described it as "more like playing an interactive gangster movie than a conventional video game," which I would agree with. It feels like you're making your way through a pulp novel or serial or noir film. It's bananas that this game's core gameplay loop was only one year removed from Grand Theft Auto 3. It feels like a forebear to dozens and dozens of open world action games in terms of weaving cinematics and gameplay together. Obviously a lot of rough edges must have been sanded down and it got a new coat of paint with the remake, but the foundation it's built on is really good.

It seems to be mercifully short too. I'm hoping to finish it up by next weekend. I appreciate a well-crafted game story that doesn't overstay its welcome! I don't need 70+ hours of this, a dozen or so will be more than enough.

I also semi-jokingly fielded the idea of starting the Waterfowl Web Ring on my Neocities profile. Of the people who have reached out, the goosey-ness of my page has been the talkimg point! I don't really know what starting a web ring entails but I'm interested in the idea!

One funny note: The fact that I managed to get the silliest goose dot online domain after randomly thinking of it at work, is like 70% of the reason why I went so hard on the theming and aesthetic. It's easy to remember and tell people about! If I meet someone new and they pass the vibe check, it's really easy to point people to it to say "yeah this is what I'm like" :p

It's also proving to be a fun alternative to conventional social media. Yeah, it takes a lot more work, but it's so much more me. It's got enough of my essence to it that I can comfortably show others that I haven't gone full luddite by pulling away from social media platforms. I heard some time ago that a lack of social media presence can sometimes be a red flag for dating, since it suggests the person without those profiles might be actively hiding something.

I can certainly understand the apprehension. If someone's a ghost online, that does feel a little unnerving, especially as accustomed as we have gotten to sharing a lot about ourselves. I've thought more than once about looking into what a couple people from my past are up to, but those accounts being gone means I can't just open Facebook or Instagram and find them through mutual connections or anything. That's to say nothing of trying to vet a new connection to see what they're like. A person's social media can often tell you an awful lot about their priorities, attitudes, ethics and maturity. It kinda sucks to lose that.

Still, this has been a far, far better experience than what I left behind. Re-adopting more 2005-style terms of engagement with people online has been relieving. Not having every last bit of information about myself attached to this site is freeing.

Anyways, I'm headed to bed.

Edit: My initial post was from way too late last night into the morning lol. I ended up trading my Xbox Series X in for a PlayStation 5. Microsoft has been taking Xbox in weird directions these last couple years, and really twisted the knife by moving the AI/Copilot lead over to head up the Xbox division. One of my closest friends is on PS5 too, so this gives us a lot more opportunties for multiplayer gaming. Woo!

My Uma trainer cosplay shirt came in and it fits well enough for the bit! I'm hoping to meet other dorks who dressed up for it.

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2026-02-22: YO, WHAT????

The Umamusume movie is getting a US theatrical release????? One of my local AMCs is showing it next weekend.

I have a yellow dress shirt ordered, so I can do a budget cosplay of the Team Spica trainer from the anime series. I'm hoping to attend the premiere and find some locals who love this series!

Hope everyone's having a good weekend! I spent some time yesterday attending a local college basketball game, then got my racing wheel out for some endurance racing in Forza Motorsport.

I also tried mascarpone for the first time. Had it on an everything bagel. Stuff is pretty good! It's like, the halfway point between butter and cream cheese.

One fun conequence of Onio's indie web revival video is that I've gotten a couple cold emails from visitors, whose opening icebreakers have been additions to my goose facts! I never imagined that would be a connecting point with people, but I'm quite happy to see it.

My parents are visiting my area, celebrating a milestone anniversary. They're at an event this afternoon but I might be having dinner with them before they head back home. If not, I'll probably be on here more tonight.

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2026-02-20: Well. I've seen a bit of a jump in daily visits.

All I have done lately is complain about my landlord and current living condtions, and write down some video games and anime that I want to add to a couple of my other webpages. No idea what would suddenly garner this kind of attention.

(Edit: Turns out, Onio made a Youtube video that featured my page! And it went viral!)

Here's the video!

On an unrelated note, I recently got hooked on the Fall of Civilizations Podcast Youtube channel. Paul Cooper is an excellent nararrator and documentarian, and he's reminding me of why I fell in love with history as a kid. They're feature-length to short television series-length breakdowns of the rise and falls of cultures, empires, and, well, civilizations across world history, making effective use of dramatic readings of historical documents. There are some audio-only narrarations on the channel, but the video versions incorporate nice establishing shots and historical reenactiment footage. It's like the platonic ideal of what I thought the History Channel would be, before discovering I missed out on the educational documentary era and got it in time for ancient alien conspiracy theories and reruns of pawn shop shows.

This episode on the Mongols is really, really good. Check it out whenever you have seven hours to spare! (really though, it's episodic enough that you can take it a bite at a time.)

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2026-02-16: Things went surprisingly well with my landlord, considering the months-long drama that it took to actually get him to come deal with problems. We had a closer look at the damage, and he and his wife got the mirror removed for me. I was right to avoid that space these last couple weeks, as mold had started to form on the space between the paint and mirror. Gave it three passes of diluted bleach and it is currently getting aired out with a heavy-duty fan.

I'll be keeping an eye on the space this next week to see if more signs of water leaks persist. If so, they'll bring a different plumber in to get a second opionion on what's causing the issue and what needs to be done. If the most recent fix did the trick, they'll go ahead and replace the drywall and repaint.

They are also going to get an electrician out to fix a failed electrical outlet.

Pleasantly surprised, but I do not have a ton of faith on them to follow through. Our relationship has normalized and they seem to be re-invested in getting things taken care of though, so that's a plus.

In other news, I went to a little social thing on Valentine's Day! Didn't meet the love of my life, but got to know the organizers a bit. They put other things together in the area, so I will probably keep showing up to get to know more people!

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2026-02-14: Happy Valentine's Day to those who partake!

So. Things got funky with the home hunt. I got approved for my #2 option, but when sharing about my plans with a neighbor, they mentioned the property manager I toured with by name as someone who's notorious locally, with our local HOA board regularly dealing with tenants getting left high and dry on basic maintenance. Basically they're easy to reach if you are a prospective tenant, but they go radio-silent once you've signed your lease and moved in.

With that information in hand, I elected to turn down that opportunity. Kudos to my neighbor for that heads up! They mentioned this person unprompted, so I imagine it must have been an ongoing ordeal.

Instead, my landlord and I are attempting a reapproachment. They have given me a really good deal on rent these last ~5 years, and I have been a model tenant in terms of taking proper care of the place. We had to overcome some communication issues and get some feelings out there, but agreed that it'd be best for both parties if we can get the current issues dealt with. We came to agree to some specific terms, where they would get some specific things fixed and, in return, I would accept a small rent increase. It's still below the average in my area, so as long as they honor their end of the deal, it'd probably be worth sticking around. We have enough history that I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

I am still staying flexible in case they don't uphold their end of the bargain though. I have a couple options opening up next month, so if their words don't get followed by action, I can pivot and move on.

They are supposed to come to evaluate everything tomorrow, so we shall see how that goes.

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2026-02-10: Got to tour both of my top houses today! The realtor had time to do both. While neither one was perfect by any means (and my budget absolutely cannot afford perfection, they would serve me just fine. My initial #1 pick is a bit more move-in ready, while my #2 needs a few repairs and a deep cleaning first. A mother and high school-age daughter are looking at both of these houses too, so we shall see how things shake out.

So now we wait for the background check to clear and for the homeowners to make a decision about their preferred tenant. Both of these are brokered and managed by the real estate firm on the owner's behalf, so it's kind of a halfway point between a private landlord and the sort of centralized management you'd see in an apartment.

I could see either of these places feeling like home once I get settled, so I look forward to something hopefully working out favorably!

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2026-02-09: First house tour today! It's my third-favorite option. It's a bit smaller than the other two, and they want a larger deposit than I'd like. It's also a bit dated inside. However, it looks like it is well-maintained and the owners have been very easy to stay in contact with. It also looks like they maintain a managable set of properties in town, so hopefully they'd be pretty easy to work with to get stuff fixed. It's also pretty close to work, compared to the others on the list. In the very least, it'd be a good option if my preferred spot doesn't work out.

Before this water leak cropped up again and forced me to expedite the new-home search a little earlier than expected, I ordered a new keyboard (which I am using right now to write this.) It's a Cherry Stream, which is a membrane/mechanical hybrid low profile keyboard. I was previously using a Corsair gaming keyboard that required two USB ports, one for i/o and the other for power, and it was weirdly spotty about turning on. Sometimes it wouldn't kick on until after the BIOS slash screen, or required a restart to work.

This is definitely not a gaming keyboard, but it works great for my needs. I don't play any competitive games where I need super responsive peripherals. The action feels really nice, it's lots quieter with less key travel so it's not as tiring for my wrists, and it doesn't have obnoxiously bright lights. I am so not a fan of bright RGB lights on peripherals.

I bought a keyboard-mouse combo. The mouse is not quite as nice as the Corsair one in terms of DPI and polling rate, but I was able to play Counter Strike and Insurgency with it just fine. It looks a bit hitchy and not as smooth, but it'll be fine. If it really bugs me, I can just put the mouse away and get the Corsair one back out. This one is a nice weight and size though and feels great for daily office use.

Oh! Also, the plumber appointment was a bit inconclusive. Like a lot of issues in this townhouse, it looks like it may be an ongoing problem because someone did things kinda weird and wrong from the outset. The upstairs toilet flange is weirdly low and they found water over the top of it when they uprooted the toilet. So, when it flushes, some water overruns the plumbing and runs down the walls to the half-bath downstairs. They re-seated it and said they'd need to come back and rip the first floor bathroom ceiling out to investigate from underneath. Here's hoping I'm long gone before that happens.

One of my coworkers just bought a house and has recommended his realtor if I decide to buy in the not-too-distant future. Apparently they made the process so much easier to walk through. I may also be in touch with them, since I am navigating house rentals through property management companies, one of which may be tied to their real estate office. I also discovered that I am distantly related to a realtor who's part of the realty team that manages the houses I like the most. Small world! It's one of those "your grandparents know how you're related but you'd never in a million years recognize them in public" kind of things.

Here's hoping for a good week, and for some clarity on what the future holds.

End of the day update!

That first house tour went rather well. It is still firmly my third option. Place was in good enough shape and I had a great first impression from management, but it's a little smaller than I'd like, the detached garage is a little cramped and doesn't have an automatic door, and it had a couple other small annoyances that keeps it from moving up the list. However, as a fallback option, it would be perfectly fine. It helps to know that their maintenance crew is quick and does good work.

Shortly afterward, I got an email from the agency that manages the two I like the most! I have one tour scheduled for tomorrow, and we will plan another if I want to look at my #2 pick.

I had more of a spring in my step after that first tour than I've had in months. I have wanted out of my current place for years and it's exciting to see that coming to fruition.

An after-dark tour of my top three picks' neighhborhoods also went well. All felt reasonably safe and normal. I didn't get that feeling that I wasn't supposed to be there or anything. No weird, sketchy nonsense.

I should have a clearer picture of things by the end of the week! Wahoo!

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2026-02-08: The cat had to finally be let out of the bag with my landlord regarding my looking for another place. Applications required them being contacted to verify our lease agreement details, to make sure I am being forthright in the app. Like magic, they've suddenly shown an interest in addressing the water leak issues from July now that I am moving out. Real classy stuff there.

On the plus side, there are a couple places I really like within my budget. I am looking at the third-place choice on Monday, and waiting to hear back about looking at my top 2. Here's hoping my next home feels more like home than this has. I've reached the point where coming home just kinda makes me angry, knowing that the disrepair I have lived in isn't going to get taken care of. I am ready to close this chapter. Wherever I end up will surely have some annoyances and bespoke issues, but for my health and sanity, it should be better than a lateral move.

My top two picks have attached garages! That has been a big asiprational thing for me.

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2026-02-05: Headache carried over into today. It's gotta be stress-induced. This ongoing saga with my landlord not taking care of stuff has been stressing me out enough to get me physically sick. I'm taking some steps to go look at a handful of rentals in my area this next week, with the goal of moving by the end of the month.

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2026-02-04: Migraines suck. I'm on the mend though. Still, what a headache!

Also, this site recently eclipsed 25,000 views. Which is kinda surreal to me. I'm sure a decent-sized fraction of those views was from me checking to make sure site changes worked as intended. But still, a cool milestone! I expected my view count to maybe creep over the triple-digits at most.

Shortly after writing the above, I had a couple friends over to use my shower. The water supply in their area is messed up after last week's winter storms, and they're dealing with super low water pressure and mandatory outages until it gets resolved. Gave them the green light to come by in the evenings until that gets resolved.

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2026-02-01: