SamWatson.us
I like to gamify my life where I can. Duolingo is a big one. My Spanish might not have improved much but, wow, I stack those points. Another big one for me is my driving. Mainly where gas mileage is concerned.
A few days ago, one of my coworkers was not really complaining about it but just telling me of her financial woes. She mentioned that she was down to her last few bucks—enough for gas until payday.
A few weeks ago, my good friend was pulled over by the police. She suffers from anxiety and was a little stressed out by the situation. The police officer was going to write her a ticket she couldn’t afford for having no insurance, and she ended up crying and could show proof that she did indeed have insurance. The officer let her go.
When I stop to think about it, it might sound a bit quirky, but I’ve got this genuine love – I mean, seriously, it’s a whole lot of love – for gamification. And if you’re scratching your head wondering what that is, it’s all about tackling tasks within an app or website and getting rewarded, just like in your favorite games.
Age creeps up on all of us. It’s a tale as old as time. I never really cared too much when I started seeing wrinkles. A few sprinkles of grey made me look wise in my early twenties. Going completely grey didn’t affect me either. In fact, I had enough compliments and people calling me a “silver fox,” I thought it was a good thing. When the hairs on my cheeks turned white, I finally felt like I looked old.
My sister-in-law and her kids visited Disney World a few years ago with my son and me. My son had never been, so it was a real treat for me to take him. We rode the Millenium Falcon and saw the Star Wars area that had been set up, which was terrific. Storm Troopers interacted with the park guests, and we even drank blue milk. I was super pumped to find Admiral Ackbar memorabilia!
My son laughed the other day when we were driving when after telling my phone to create a note, I thanked Siri, which I do all the time. But it’s not just me placating our soon-to-be robotic overlords before their uprising. No, I think it’s good to maintain good habits, politeness being one of them.
You will probably read this and tell me I’m oversimplifying things, but what I am going to say is what I believe to be true. This is based on my interactions with many people over the years, and most, if not all, that know me describe me as pretty smart. Not to toot my own horn but, y’know…
The other day I was wearing a shirt with Stan Lee on it, and my coworker commented that I was even cooler now. And really, I’m sure that anyone familiar with the Marvel movies loved seeing his cameos. Being a comic book fan since I was a kid, I have loved Stan Lee for the majority of my life.
When we arrived in Hawai’i my wife and I had racked up a ton of points on our credit card. Enough points to spend a few weeks at a hotel as we looked for more permanent lodging. The hotel we stayed at had a nice pool with a hot tub that occasionally worked, free snow cones a few times a week, and daily activities.