Part 13

Saturday, Aug. 1, 1998: My computer is still working (*knock on wood*!): I just have been bizzy bizzy offline. Today I finally decided to send Samuel back home to Planet Tamagotchi via emergency lifepod (putting the tab back in). It shot on through a jumpgate, so he arrived home almost instantaneously! I made sure I talked to him first so he knew what was about to happen. Since he was a Gen.1 (P1) Tam, he would've had to *fly* all the way home if he had finished his normal lifespan here; but this way he got to go home quickly. Bye bye, sweetie! I enjoyed having you here! I hope you enjoyed your visit, although you *did* spend a lot of the time sleeping in your elder years.

On other fronts: my little Wave UFO alien is still here, still being cute. Pikachu is coming along nicely. I need to update/condense the diary I have been keeping about him. And I try to visit with finfin each day. We've been watching movies and such: I will get around to putting some about them in here in the next few days (I hope). I also have several Tams and accessories I need to photograph or scan and get uploaded. Eep!

Saturday, Aug. 22, 1998: Finally! I updated/condensed My Pocket Pikachu Diary! I didn't get around to it for a while because I've been concentrating on trying to complete my Cocteau Twins CD collection, trying to track things down, being enthralled by their music, being involved with the Cocteau Twins mailing list, etc..   Also, I've been all excited about the release of Happy Rhodes' new CD, "Many Worlds Are Born Tonight"! I've just been on a music jag lately. ::grin::

About my little Wave UFO alien: what I had *thought* was the mothership coming to ask if I wanted to send him home with them was actually a larger ship wanting to take him for a ride! I said yes to them on Monday, Aug. 3d. They beamed the little alien aboard, then the larger ship went sailing out into space, then coming back to Earth and bringing my little friend back, all in the space of just a couple minutes! According to the chronometer, they were gone 100 years! However, on Monday, Aug. 10th, I did decide to send him home, so I shot his little ship on through a jumpgate, back to his own homeworld. He was here 74 days, Earth-time (100 years+7days on his chronometer). Bye-bye, little cutie! I really enjoyed your being here!

Wednesday, August 26, 1998: I decided to start up a new virtual pet on Monday, the 24th. I started my Toy Story Virtual Friends one (click on the picture to see a MUCH BIGGER picture of the front of the package). You choose one of three little alien creatures you wish to take on a 15-day vacation in Buzz Lightyear's spaceship. You can have a weird-looking bird, a cute three-eyed puppy, or the cute little three-eyed alien from the "Toy Story" movie. I chose the latter. I started it at 11:57am on Monday. His name was Seebring (don't ask me why--it just *was* ). You have lots of different activities to do with your pet: feed him; play a radar/shooting UFOs game; give him exercise (which is actually another game: it varies with which alien you choose--this keeps him healthy); clean the air in the cabin; keep the oxygen tanks filled; send for the space ambulance if he gets sick; etc. His happiness is directly related to your playing the radar game and *winning* it. To be totally happy, he needs four happy faces on the meter. For each game you win, you fill a happy face. It seems he goes down one happy face an hour. Well, I was enjoying taking care of Seebring. He went to bed about 8pm, so I made sure to turn out the light. It said in the instructions that if you didn't, he could wake up unhappy and sick! All seemed well.

Then I happened to be up at a *very* weird hour. At 4:20am I heard this little doodley-doodley sound, then saw a clock-face graphic with 7:00am on the screen, then it read GOOD MORNING, then there was Seebring, with the lights on, floating around in the gravity-free spaceship! Well, this was a bit much, since I needed to get back to bed and sleep and didn't want to worry about Seebring's welfare at that hour. So after filling him up on food and happiness (via the radar game), cleaning things up, etc., I put him on the "parent-friendly" pause. Now it said in the instructions that if you did that, the timer could get out of synch. Well, it already *was* really out-of-synch, so I had nothing to lose! It had some explanation of time being different in the spaceship, what with flying over different time zones and such.

I didn't get around to unpausing Seebring until 11am. I took care of his needs and played with him when he needed it. Then *I* needed a nap. I made sure all his meters were full before I went off to sleep. Sometime between 4pm and 7pm yesterday, Seebring must've called for help. But I slept through it (it's a fairly soft, pleasant sound, easy to sleep through--eep!). When I awoke, Seebring was hanging upside-down from The Claw, which comes to get little aliens that are not happy and healthy.  :-(   On the screen it said BYE BYE.  I was upset! I am a very good caretaker of virtual pets (I always seem to get the "good" characters in Tams). But this virtual pet, which is *supposed* to be suitable for children 5 (I don't think so!) and up , was *not* easy to care for. And the clock function certainly didn't work right from the get-go. ::sigh:: Bye-bye, Seebring!

Tamagotchi images copyright Bandai | Background by Eos Development | Periwinkles by Vikimouse | Green buttons by Jelane