Tuesday 22 September 2015

Sandpaperback

Round 36: February 2042 (Summer)
last update/next update

James Novak is 68 and Madelyn is 63.
(Eliot is 57, Maia is 41, Calvin and Aaron are 40, Ethan is 37, Connor and Lila are 30 and Wren is 3)


Narrated by James Novak

I’ll really miss Novak Motors when I finally let go of it but I do finally have some concrete retirement plans.


I just enjoy selling cars. And even not selling cars, occasionally, if the car isn't right for the customer. 

I recently talked my brother out of buying this ridiculous sports car. It’s a nice vehicle I knew it wasn’t something he needed. 

Soon enough, this will all be Calvin’s to deal with. I feel good about handing the business over to him.

Much as I wish they were, none of my sons are interested in running a business. It’s not even close to being Aaron or Ethan’s thing and Connor is very committed to his own career.

But Calvin is looking at retiring completely from the sports world and he thinks Novak Motors would be perfect for him. 

Part of the reason I’ve been so hesitant to retire was that I wasn’t sure of who would take over. But I’m confident Calvin will keep the place going to my standards.

I still want to stay a little longer, which Madelyn doesn’t get at all.

She wants me to retire right now, which I’m not quite ready for.

I suppose I’m just not quite sure what I’d do with all my time without working.

Even on my days off, I often find myself spending a few hours on the computer, looking over Novak Motors’ finances.

I may just wait another two years until it’s time for Madelyn to retire and stop then. It’d be much nicer if she was at home with me.

She’d love to retire right now but she’s going to stick it out until official retirement age anyway. 

After that, we might think about taking a trip somewhere.

Maybe we’ll go to Takemizu. Connor is planning a honeymoon there for Lila and himself and he thinks it looks fantastic.

I wouldn’t mind visiting there, though I think Madelyn might be keen on a beachy holiday. 

We’ve been there and done that but she still might take some convincing.

Connor and Lila are so excited about their trip though. It’s the perfect destination for both of them. 

And of course, there’s plenty of excitement surrounding the wedding as well, especially for Lila and Madelyn.

Had we ever had a daughter, Madelyn would have loved the wedding planning process, so she’s really enjoying all of Lila’s updates. Lila is too much of a control freak to actually let her have any input but Madelyn doesn’t seem bothered.

Even Connor isn’t getting much of a say there but he’s content to sit back and let Lila have her way anyway. He’s not very fussed.

Input or not, this wedding  is letting Madelyn and Lila bond a little bit. They’ve never really had much in common. Not that they ever fought or disliked each other. They’re just very different people.

Madelyn has always been close with Ethan’s wife Maia though. They clicked pretty much from the start.

Whenever we have the family over, Madelyn always spends a good portion of the time chatting with Maia.

The grandkids all love visiting even more since we had the jungle gym installed in the backyard.

Wren is too young to use it at the moment but she’s a pretty active little girl, so I’m sure she’ll be up there as soon as she’s big enough.

She’s very fond of her Uncle Aaron, so he keeps her entertained for the time being. 

We love having all the grandkids over. We’re lucky in that they all get along and are normally very well-behaved too.

Connor can be a bit standoffish with the kids but I think he'd be different if he had his own. I wouldn't mind another grandchild or two and Aaron and Ethan are both done; we can only hope Lila and Connor indulge us a couple of times.

Notes:

  • Title is from Sandpaperback by Ben Lee.
  • So I have a new computer! Long story but I had a bit of a crisis a couple of weeks ago that prompted me to start looking around for a new one. The crisis was a false alarm but my old PC was 3.5 years old, both hard drives were packed to the brim and I thought it might be time anyway. I picked this one up on Saturday and was able to get my old drive installed in this computer, making the transfer of just about everything a breeze. Of course, the first thing I installed was TS2. 
  • The game runs beautifully. My usual process is load game, load hood, load CAS, randomise sim a few times (to prevent Firstborn Syndrome), exit CAS, load lot. That takes me about five minutes on this PC. On the old one, it was about...35 minutes, maybe? Still nothing compared to my old, old PC, where it took over two hours. But still, can't complain about this massive improvement!
  • Madelyn will reach retirement age next round, so James will retire then too and pass the business onto Calvin. :) And then these two can have their holiday. 
  • Connor's face looking at Wren just cracked me up! Like "what is this creature?!" I'm quite interested to see Connor as a dad. 
  • Also, gosh, will you look at how much Wren looks like Aaron! Ethan is his clone, so that's not too surprising but still. She got Maia's nose but everything else is from Ethan's side of the family. Even the red hair comes from Madelyn. :)
  • Next post will be another download from Goodies and then we're visiting the college kids, starting with Brendan, who has been joined by Simon and Matthew Lane. 

12 comments:

  1. Looks like Eliot was having a bit of a mid-life crisis. Glad that James was able to talk him out of the purchase of a sports car; I also think it is nice that Calvin can take over the family business. I didn't really know what he would do once the boys were all older, and it was apparent that none of them would be especially interested in the business. You do a great job at keeping your businesses going for generations.

    I totally posted on N99 but how much Wren reminded me of James, she is very much a Novak through and through! And her love for her uncle could not be sweeter. I'm with you on Connor with kids, even Lila... neither really strike me as baby crazy necessarily so I'm curious how many they will have, and how they will raise it. Maybe it will soften him. I have an uncle who pretty much disliked babies and toddlers, he wouldn't eat birthday cake that a kid or younger blew out (because spit might have escaped), and he'd be upset if the parent allowed the kid to blow out the candles!! It was all a bit nuts to me, but he has one kid now, and he's a changed mine. That little girl totally softened his heart, and he eats his fill of her birthday cake. So maybe Connor will be totally softened by his own, but hold his distance on other people's spawn. :)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Ha, I almost called it a midlife-crisis-mobile but I thought that was too jocular a term for James to use. He's not much of a jokester. ;) And yeah, Calvin will be perfect for the business. I'm glad I finally thought of him, because I had no idea what would become of the car lot either!

      Aaron looks almost exactly like James, so I'm not surprised you thought of him. She has Maia's nose and that's all she got from that side of the family.

      Neither Connor or Lila have a huge IFS, which fits them. I think one wants 2 and the other wants 3. I can definitely see Connor softening a little with his own kids. He just really hasn't made an effort to understand kids but with his own, I think he would. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  2. Heh, I'm also interested in seeing Connor as a dad. I know several people like that IRL and I can definitely see traces of that in myself. Now that I have a messy, loud two-year-old my tolerance for other messy, loud kids has magically increased. Funny, that. :)

    Like Maisie, I'm impressed with how you keep you businesses going for ever, I don't think I've ever done that.

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    1. Ha! I can see Connor being a parent like a friend of mine. She was a bit ambivalent about having kids but she ended up having two, because her husband was very keen. She loves her own kids fiercely but could take or leave other people's!

      I think I've only had one business (Kirby Markets) go for more than two generations, so I'm probably not that impressive. ;) I do like to keep them in the family where I can though. It's fun for me.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  3. Lovely read!
    Good to know your new computer is such an improvement. I have recently started to think about a new one for myself, because I've had a few crashes (nothing to do with the game) and it is about 7 years old.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Glad you enjoyed it! And wow, seven years old! I run my computers into the ground, pretty much, and have never managed to keep one going that long! I'm impressed. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  4. I think it's about time James retired too! But I don't blame him for waiting till Madelyn did too. I tend to take days off with my husband; it's less fun by yourself. People keep telling me my tolerance for children will increase once I have my own as well. Wren is cute, and I'd love to see what Connor and Lila end up having.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I think James will be much happier in his retirement if he's got some company. :) Holidays will be easier to organise as well.

      I'm dying to see what kind of a kid Connor and Lila have! Dying! I would love a little Connor clone, in looks and personality. He's such an oddball and I wonder how he'd react to someone so much like him.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  5. It's so true, you do a great job keeping businesses going and passing them down. And congratulations on the new computer, I am so happy to hear that it was an easy transition. We've switched internet providers and it has been a week-long event of troubleshooting so I never know how long I'll have internet. It's still not totally reliable. If I don't respond to a comment or a new post, that's why!

    I really like Conner and Lila, and I am pretty sure, he will like kids better when he has his own. I really enjoyed this update, Jame's voice and their life is so calm and peaceful. It was fun seeing the grandchildren visiting and enjoying the jungle gym, as well as their grandparents. You always do a good job with the elders' updates even though sometimes you comment that you weren't sure what to do with them.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Oh, I hope the internet has settled down for you now! I hate dealing with anything to do with my connection. I was so happy when I stuck my wi-fi dongle into this new computer and it just connected right away. Phew!

      Glad you enjoyed the update! I worry that my elders' lives seem a bit repetitive, so I'm happy others seem to like their updates. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  6. Oh man, when did these guys get so old!?! :o I just went back and reread their wedding update. It's neat seeing what a big, lovely family they have now after all those years together.

    Wren is adorable! And I love her name! I agree, Connor is going to be hilarious as a dad. I can't wait to see it. You should make sure he has a bunch of them, even if he thinks he only wants a couple. ;)

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    1. Oh my gosh, James and Madelyn's wedding post? That wedding might have been the first time I tried to make it like an actual wedding, with posed pics and a bridal party. I like how I took the care to make sure the flashing blue car from another lot was visible in so many of the pictures, lol.

      I was so excited Maia and Ethan had a girl so I could use Wren! A boy would have been Rowan. Being a dad will take some adjustment for Connor, I think. Lila had very early experience with babies (Camilla lived at home with the twins for the first year of their life) but Connor has close to zero. We'll see how he goes! Should be fun. ;)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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