WOOT! NEW GFX!

Yaaaaay! I finally got my new graphics card and got it installed yesterday! It's an ATI Radeon B2 3450 512 PCIE, which if you understand what that means, you're smarter than I am. All I know is that my graphics are SO much improved from what they were. I was so excited, I snapped a few shots to share!





Wow, the wallpaper has flowers on it, and not blobs! And the weaving on the dog basket EXISTS now! And wood grain! Yeehaw!




Check out that shadow! Also loving the texture of the grass.



Wowee! Those are shoes in those chat bubbles! I never knew!



Booyah, my mirrors finally, you know, mirror things!



This painting didn't improve too much with the new card, but it's still clearer. I think the painting is just lame.



Damn, Vinnie, you looked better blurry. But at least you have fingers now instead of meat mittens!




Awwwww.




Is that a six pack of beer in your refrigerator? I'm guessing that or you really love A-1 steak sauce.



And finally, the best part: I have an actual 'hood now! Instead of houses surrounded by the mysterious mists of nothing! Sooooo cooool.



So yeah, I'm nerdsquealing all over the place here. My only problem is that when I installed the graphics card, I lost my sound. I've checked all the obvious things: everything is plugged in in the right place, turned on, and turned up. The system is not on mute. The correct audio device is selected and says it's working properly. I tried the less obvious things: updating my drivers. And I even tried the things that seemed to have caused the problem for other people: going to the BIOS and making sure that the onboard audio was set to 'on.' Still no go. It's really difficult to play without sound, but I want to revel in my new graphics card! Do any of you really techie people out there have any suggestions? Dell is supposed to call me back, but the woman I talked to before seemed like she didn't have the faintest clue what she's talking about. Also, I think it's pretty bad that I've not memorized the website for the dellconnect service. Any tips would be more than welcome, as I'm in agony that I finally got the graphics card installed and now have no sound to go with it!

Just wanted to share, and sorry, but there's about a round of old pics still to go, so the new graphics in my storyline won't show up for a little while yet.

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The Villaloboses (A) - Round 9



Starring:


Vincente Villalobos, Adult Romance Sim, 2nd LTW Become Rock God

~*~*~*~*~



Last round at Vinnie Villalobos' house, Vinnie worked hard in his second career in the music field only to get fired. Fortunately, there was a long string of women around to help console him in his loss. He had 22 loves at the end of last round...will he make it to thirty this time? We'll see.



The first thing Vinnie did after hunting for days unsuccessfully for a job was to go once more to the genie lamp that had been left at the Villalobos house back when Santiago was still head of it.




As always, he wished for his youth back. The genie granted him a few extra years onto his life, and Vinnie once more felt rejuvenated...just in time for his next date!




Once his date was over, however, Vinnie encountered the same problem that he'd had before: he was simply running out of women to date in Rosebud. He thought a vacation to a hot place with lots of skimpy clothes might be just the ticket, so he headed off to Twikkii Island.





The first thing on his agenda was to lay out on the beach, soak up the rays, work on his tan, and simply unwind. The stress of being fired and unable to find another job in his chosen field had been working on him back at home, and he was able to thoroughly relax with the sound of the waves in the background and the smell of salt in the air.




Unfortunately, his tanning experience didn't go quite as he'd planned. Falling asleep on the beach was a bad idea, and it was seriously putting a cramp in his goal to impress local girls. Mostly they just looked at his lobsterized skin and chuckled.



So it was back to the beach to try again, and this time, he succeeded in evening out his skin tone a bit. Now he was ready to become the don juan of the islands.



But before he got down to business, he wanted to see some of the sights around the island. After all, he wasn't uncultured. Sure, he loved women, but he wanted to experience everything Twikkii Island had to offer. He even came across a local witch doctor, stumbling on his secluded home while lost and wandering one day. Vinnie was more than happy to help him repair some of the broken things in his apartment, and he was rewarded with a gift. What a great vacation.




He eventually made it back to civilization and some more of the sights. One of his favorites was the view from the top of the wrecked pirate ship. From here, it was easy to believe the ocean went on forever.




He even met the ghostly former captain of the ship and learned a sea chantey from him. He had to admit, talking with a ghost was a little bit freaky. He was used to more passive ghosts, and it was strange that this one would actually converse with him. Oh well, at least Captain Dregg didn't jump out and scare him.



Eventually, Vinnie got back to the business at hand, though: romancing the island ladies. But wait...Vinnie, what is that in your hand?? Is that a voodoo doll? What are you doing?



Oh, Vinnie. Vinnie: "What? I got it from the witch doctor, and I wanted to try it out!" Me: *shakes head*




Guess it works, then.



Vinnie: "Like a charm."




His romantic island adventures didn't end there, though. There were a lot of beautiful locals floating around his hotel, and he wanted to get to know them.




Vinnie, again with the voodoo doll!? Vinnie: "Hey, I'm getting older, and I've only got two days left here."




Vinnie really loved the islands.




And the islands really appeared to love Vinnie.




His last night on the island, Vinnie really hated to go back to Rosebud. Life seemed simpler here: eat, drink, swim, woohoo, sleep... the pace was so different than back home. But he missed his puppies, and he had to get back to looking for a job, so he packed up his things with mixed feelings and headed home.




Of course, there was a set of welcoming arms waiting for him when he arrived back on terra firma.




He decided, since he had no luck in the first few days back from vacation, to go back to his old friend the matchmaker, hoping less for a perfect love match and more for a new face to meet and get to know.




Well, to meet, get to know, and woohoo. What could he say? He was on a roll.




The rest of the season, he was very busy catching up with some old friends....



...and making some new ones. He had to admit, though he was worried about not being employed, Vinnie really loved all the free time not having a job allowed him.





For his thirtieth lover, Vinnie decided to go all out. He wanted to find the one true love of his life, the perfect mate for him. He called up the matchmaker and waited anxiously to see who his perfect match was.





Out of the sky fell...Jill Fleig! Wow! Really, wow! Vinnie could have kicked himself. She'd been around the neighborhood for years, and he's never even considered her.





Vinnie had to admit, the matchmaker was right, though. They got along amazingly.



With that, Vinnie achieved a feat no one else in Rosebud ever had: thirty loves at once. He felt like the ultimate incubus.




To celebrate, he bought himself a brand new car and was ready and rejuvenated to finally become that rock god he knew he could be. Well done, Vinnie.


[[Author's Notes: WOW! He finally did it! Your man parts have seen more action than a washing machine agitator. I have NO clue what to do with him now...to have him somewhat settle or just let him continue to date his select few favorites. Guess I'll let him tell me with his wants. Anyway, WOO! This was fun, and now I can stop neurotically managing two dates per day. I have a few bloopers, of course!

Bloopers:
Rosebud is an awful long way to come just to leave flowers. Haven't you ever heard of FTD? // Captain Dregg loves a bit of Punch U-Punch Me. // I love the little swagger that certain actions cause. Vinnie's like... ooohhh yeeaaah, here comes the man. ]]

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The Clearys - Round 9

[[No Family Picture, Sorry. I think Fraps is crapping out on the loading screens for some reason.]]

Starring:

Colm Cleary, Elder Popularity Sim, LTW Have 20 Simultaneous Best Friends




Michelle Cleary, Elder Fortune Sim, LTW Become Business Tycoon



~*~*~*~*~


Last round at the Cleary house, Michelle and Neal both got fit while Colm worked hard in his garden and played hard making as many best friends as he could. Retirement provided a lot more free time for him to really focus on his social life. Michelle was finally promoted to Business Tycoon, achieving her LTW. At the end of the round, Neal moved out to go to college, and the elders enjoyed some time alone.




The round started off with a bang...the sound the trashcan made when Julie Riley kicked over the Cleary trashcan. Who pissed in your cornflakes, Julie? You don't even know anyone in this house!





Colm, still on a mission to make as many friends as possible, managed to make a very good friend who also happened to be very rich. His excursions were turning out to be not only pleasurable but profitable as well!





Colm was happy as a clam, even though he missed his kids. He wiled away his hours talking on the phone, soaking in the hot tub, gardening, and taking on his new favorite hobby: painting his first true love (after his family, of course): grilled cheese.



Michelle's name was getting well-known in Rosebud as one of the most successful residents. It was hard for everyone else NOT to notice the giant helicopter that picked her up and dropped her off every day.




Sadie Vinci made it a point to be taking a walk one day so she could meet Michelle. She was awed at this powerful, rich, professional woman. Being a fortune-minded teen herself, she was anxious to not only meet Michelle but maybe learn from her as well.




Colm entertained himself while Michelle was at work, using the phone so much he nearly wore the handle into the shape of his hand. He liked to get his socializing out of the way while she was gone so they could spend time together when she got home.




They were growing even more in love the older they got, which was a pleasant surprise for both of them. Michelle even warmed up to Colm's grilled cheese obsession. Far from being struck with empty nest syndrome, the two of them enjoyed quiet life together quite well.




Michelle even started exploring new hobbies, taking an interest in science that led her to order a toy she hadn't owned since she was five: an ant farm. She promised herself she would be nicer to them this time and not shake them up...and she mostly kept that promise.



She even managed to maximize her science hobby skill, earning herself a plaque and enabling her to spend all the time in the world at the telescope, forgetting that she had to eat or pee for a while.




Colm dove into his pre-existing hobbies with predictable fervor. It was on a suggestion from Michelle that he decided to request membership into the garden club. Between his beautiful vegetables and his succulent fruit trees, he was a shoe-in, though he didn't like the suggestion they had of adding "lawn junk" to dress up the place. He liked it more plain and simple.




He was getting closer than ever to his goal of having 20 simultaneous best friends as well. Maybe one day he would be as popular as he'd always dreamed of being as a younger man.




He wasn't a snob about his friends either. He was starting to become friends with a lot of the teens in Rosebud, who were, he was pleasantly surprised to find, were pretty astute, driven young people. It made him happy for the future of his family in this valley where only five families had started in a deserted neighborhood.




Always the fitness buff, Colm didn't forget his love for that either, and though it was probably wrong to think so, he thought he might try going on some more outings with his friends if this was the sort of gifts he got!



[[Author's Notes: Haha, these two are adorable. I love them madly. It's fun having an elder who hasn't reached his LTW yet because being retired and having plenty of money makes achieving this particular one a breeze. Michelle continues to work because she makes such good money, so I figured she can get a nice little nest egg for when Neal takes over the house. Looking forward to playing these kids again!

Bloopers:
The GC Gallery. // Aisling posthumously cheers for her cooking hobby plaque. ]]

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