I’m Not An Otome Game Protagonist!: Volume 1, Chapter 10

NOTE: I updated the template in preparation for 2024, when I’ll give this weekly post another name and a new image to reflect that. I’m posting this on Saturday night because I don’t want anything on my “To Do” list in the morning. — Robzilla.

WHAT’S UP WITH MY HEALTH

I’m doing well overall. I have a touch of a head cold, but my immune system is doing a fine job fighting it off without the aid of OTC medications. I also spent an hour working in the yard on Friday morning in lieu of weight training exercises. That was a good workout for my entire body.

I “only” lost 0.8 pounds this week, but I’m not disappointed. I allowed myself a second “sin” meal during the week. It’s the holidays, and like everybody else I deserve to live a little. My BG numbers remain well within range, too. No concerns there.

WHAT SINFUL THING I SHAMELESSLY ATE THURSDAY NIGHT

A thin crust margherita pizza from Vons/Albertson’s. No, not a slice or two. I ate the whole damned thing during Thursday Night Beatdown. The pie is “only” 72 grams of carbs, which is almost a perfect 1 to 1 ratio with the number of points the Las Vegas Raiders scored. Ha!

I likely won’t do that again anytime soon, but all bets are off if the Raiders miraculously make the playoffs.

WHAT I BOUGHT THAT FELT LIKE RETAIL THERAPY, BUT WASN’T

A citric acid cleaner for my Zojirushi coffee maker. Even though I’ve always used filtered water since day one, it was time to descale the Zutto. It’s funny how I didn’t notice the gradual change in the quality of my coffee until after I used this product. 

WHAT I LISTENED TO

Other than the latest Smartless podcasts, nothing in particular this week. 

ONE THING I READ ON MY PAPERWHITE

The latest volume of Call Of The Night. Ko’s nocturnal but PG-rated activities with vampires, adults and childhood friends ends in Chapter 200, but we’re at least a year out from that happening on this side of the Pacific Ocean. 

I’ll dearly miss this title once it ends. I highly recommend the anime if you have a HIDIVE account or decide to splurge on the Blu-Ray.

WHAT I WATCHED THAT PROVIDES ME ENDLESS ENJOYMENT

The perpetual ineptitude of the Los Angeles Chargers, which was on full display Thursday night. Ever since the Spanos family used The City of Angels to leverage a new stadium deal out of San Diego while simultaneously fleecing us taxpayers for a “ticket guarantee” two decades ago, the NFL’s worst ownership group has been past due for this schadenfreude.

The “Dolts” fired yet another general manager and head coach Friday morning. For most teams, a fresh start usually results in a positive outcome a few years down the road, but the Dolts do things differently. They never spend the money to bring in a head coach with a proven track record, which means an endless cycle of hiring and firing people unsuitable to lead an NFL team. They’re like the Chicago Bears. They have great uniforms, but that’s where the comparisons end. They have one less Super Bowl win than their Windy City counterparts, and almost nobody loves them. 

While the Spanos family is now LA’s problem, I’ll just be sitting here gloating like Ivanka Trump after she got divorced.

WHAT MADE ME SMILE LIKE A GTA ONLINE CHARACTER

My investments, specifically the stock trading account I play with that’s gained more than 10% in value month to date. If you shop at Costco, recently bought a Ford, drink Coca-Cola, or pump gas at a Texaco or Chevron, you have my eternal gratitude.

Two recent stock trades panned out. I doubled down on Ford (F) when its price fell below $10 a share, believing it would eventually rebound. That’s already happened, and I look forward to farming even more of those quarterly dividends.

I also snapped up Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) and the stock price has increased 5% since. That’s nice, but I have an eye toward late 2025 or early 2026. 

I call the stock market The Casino of Emotions for a very good reason. You can almost rely on day traders influencing a stock’s price when something big is supposed to happen, and the run up to the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 could be one of those things. 

Even if I’m proven wrong on this gut feeling, I still like the idea of owning TTWO in my portfolio for the long haul. It’s my way of thanking the company for keeping me sane during the past 2.5 years.

WHO DESERVES A SLAP

Sadly, Rockstar Games (a subsidiary of the above mentioned Take-Two Interactive) deserves this one. 

Someone there made a $4.8 million mistake that affected GTA Online players that completed the requirements to buy a Police Riot. The armored police van was labeled as a vehicle players could purchase and modify, and just like other gamers excited over the recent Chop Shop update I splurged for one Thursday night at a discounted $3.6 million price tag. I’m sadly disappointed I cannot give it various modifications or store it in an owned garage, so I feel like I wasted my character’s hard earned in game cash for nothing.

For now I’ll only give Rockstar a finger flick to the forehead since I love driving this modified cop car that’s also new via the Chop Shop update. It’s moderately fast, stable at high speeds, and the sirens and lights work. I can store it in the garage of any property I own, and the novelty of driving it around Los Santos may never wear off. 

I only wish one of the liveries was for pizza delivery because... 

FUN FACT: A local pizzeria called New York Pizza Department once had a delivery vehicle that was an old cop car with a light bar on its roof and NYPD plastered on its sides. Unfortunately, the State Assembly put an end to that gimmick four decades ago. That’s why it’s against California state law to equip non-police vehicles with a light bar.

WHO DESERVES A FIST BUMP

The company my sister hired to work on the property. I like what they’re doing so far with the new retaining wall out front, and I can’t wait to see the end results when they take care of everything else in the coming weeks.

WHAT’S UP WITH MY WRITING

Not much is planned this week. I’m letting those 26 character sketches I created slow cook like a pork tenderloin inside a Crock Pot while I think of ideas for new scenes or how to change the ones I’ve already written.