Rise of the Titanium Falcon

Putting the ol' Ford Focus out to pasture, after a lengthy term of service.

It's the end of an era, America.

After thirteen years of heavy service, I finally retired my trusty 2005 Ford Focus.  I hadn't wanted to do so yet, as it still ran fine, and I probably could've gotten another couple years out of it, but my buddy Morgan - the Sales Manager at Midland Ford who sold Kris her fancy Town & Country back in April - told me, after having his guys look at it, that if I waited any longer, I wouldn't be able to get anything for it.  That, and another winter would probably kill it.

I'm gonna miss that sticker for Abby's once-obsession with Star Wars.

Kris and I had been keeping an eye out for a sturdier vehicles for my commutes to work, which are pretty substantial.  I drive a half-hour to and from work, every day - I'm in my car for an hour a day, five days a week.  My commute takes me through forested back roads down through Freeland, and on to Saginaw - a trek that's just fine in the Spring and Summer months, but perilous in the Fall (with deer jumping out from the woods on either side of the road pretty regularly) and Winter (with the snow and ice piling up on scarcely-salted roads.)

The Focus handled my far longer commute down in Orlando like a champ.  An hour to work, an hour to get back home - twice as long as my commute now - five days a week, for eight years.  But that was in Florida, where it's usually sunny and the roads are always in great shape, and where there are no deer jumping out into the road trying to kill you.

In the four years since we've moved back to Michigan, the weaknesses of the Focus have become blatantly apparent.  No longer was its awesome gas mileage enough to impress me.  Weighing something, like, 200 lbs, it handled like pure crap in the winter, sliding all over the damn place.  If I were to hit a deer - which thankfully hasn't happened yet - I'd probably die in a horrific car accident.

Time for a shit-load of one-last-time, bittersweet interior shots of my trusty, old friend. . .

I had put on a once-brown cloth steering wheel cover after the oppressive Florida had caused the leather to crumble over the course of a few years.  It's now brown, dirty, and crumbling itself.

That aux-in feature on a second-hand car stereo was life-changing.  Once.

This all-leather interior was once pretty sharp-looking.  After thirteen years of heavy use. . . not so much.

Lot of wear-and-tear throughout this thing. . . 

The backseat, which was ravaged by children over the last decade or so.

I had added the seat covers a few years ago, to cover the tears and burn marks (yes, from the Florida sun) on the leather.

All blemishes considered, I'm gonna miss the ol' girl.  Like the Shadow before it.

I knew I wanted something bigger.  Something that could handle a Michigan winter, but that wouldn't guzzle too much gas on my lengthy commute.  Having a friend 'on the inside' at a local dealership cemented the business from which I'd be buying my new vehicle:  I knew I'd eventually be getting another Ford.

I went back and forth between several different vehicle options, larger sedans but mostly SUVs, and over the last two months I've test-driven Edges and Escapes.  Of the two, I preferred the smaller Escape, which not only had far better gas mileage but also had the feel of something I was more used to:  the Edge drove like a truck, the Escape like a large car.

So Kris and I kept our eye on the dealership page for new Escapes that came into their inventory.  Morgan would occasionally text me and let me know when he got particular vehicle options in that he felt I'd be interested in.  Over the last couple months, I told him where we were at financially, what options were must-haves for me, etc., so he knew where my head was at.  I came pretty close to a couple different vehicles, but none of them were quite perfect, and that's what I was looking for:  perfection.

God knows I'm probably going to drive this next vehicle for quite some time, if my track record says anything at all.

Then, about a week ago, Kris spotted a black 2017 Ford Escape Titanium.  Four-wheel drive, great gas mileage (nearly as good as my Focus, thanks to Ecoboost technology), and a luxurious interior (being the top-tier Titanium class and everything.)  Morgan was able to cut us a pretty good deal on it, as well.

It didn't take me long to pull the trigger on it.

The Titanium Falcon

This thing is gorgeous inside and out.  Aside from being the top-of-the-line Titanium class, my vehicle has what's called the Sports Appearance package.  This includes black window trim, a gloss black grille, and 19-inch aluminum wheels with an ebony black finish.  It also has partial leather sport seats with white contrast stitching (not full leather seats, sadly - my main gripe, for sure.)  The other thing it doesn't have that would've been cool is a sun-roof, but honestly, here in Michigan, I'd probably only be able to use that about, oh, two weeks per year.

A much fancier interior than my old car.  Remote start, heated seats, automated parallel- and perpendicular parking (yes, the car can park itself), upgraded front and back cameras, Google Maps, Siriux XL, and - one of my favorite features - Android Auto, which, when connected to my phone turns the computer screen into my phone secreen.  That on-board computer system is pretty hardcore - check it out here.

All I need to do now is slap a Masonic auto emblem on the back.  Maybe a Virgil Q sticker or something.

See ya on the road, folks. . .

- Brian

Making the Switch

So I think I'm going to buy a Nintendo Switch.

I've held off for a couple years, and that's mostly because a.) I still have a system with a stack of yet-to-be-beaten titles to work through, and b.) I don't have time to play the systems I already own.

That being said, I think I'm going to buy a Nintendo Switch.

I haven't really spent a whole hell of a lot of time playing video games over the last couple years, sure, what with Adulting and everything, but friends (and students) of mine are continuously singing the Switch's praises.  Being an original NES fan from the Golden Age of Gaming, I've grown up with Nintendo's various flagship titles throughout the formative years of my life.  Older generations might not understand the rationale behind a grown man playing video games, and younger generations probably think it's weird.  But for we Generation Y'ers - those born after the Gen X'ers but before the Millenials - we were the first to grow up with story-based video games, and those titles had a profound impact on our generation.

The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker

I view franchises like The Legend of Zelda (my favorite) the same as I do my favorite books, movies and LPs.  They're an indistinguishable part of a generation that really hit its stride following the fading of Atari, and grew into puberty while simultaneously saving Hyrule.

Of course I sprung for this version.

Back in 2014, our Wii stopped reading discs and instead of purchasing a new one, I decided upgrade to the newly-released Wii U, which could play all my existing Wii titles with improved graphics and a tablet controller (I explained all this before, if you'll recall.)  This system has held up insanely well over the years, despite the negative press it has thrown at it, and it's still the main system our family utilizes today.  The girls have grown up with it, and with its off-TV, separate screen-play mode, Yours Truly can play video games while the girls watch whatever bullshit they're currently into on Netflix.

So now that the Switch is out, I find myself having to finally address all the Wii U games that I bought over the years and never completed.  Many of these games I haven't gotten around to starting yet, others I started and never finished.  I'm reluctant to pull the trigger on a brand new gaming system until I get some degree of closure with these remaining titles:  I have dozens of Wii games that I shelved without playing more than a couple times, having set them on the backburner when I upgraded to the Wii U.  I don't want to do the same thing when I upgrade to the Switch.

Homeboy's going to feel that in the morning.

With that in mind, I've recently - like, since Christmas Vacation, thereabouts - started to readdress these neglected Wii U titles, and put in serious time towards beating them.  After years of on-again, off-again quasi-playing, I finally beat Windwaker, back in December.  The girls were home with me and watched the ending unfold over the course of a couple hours (towards the end of some of these longer adventure games, the cut-scenes and cinematics get pretty lengthy.)  I'm not going to lie:  it's really awesome having a cheering section on hand when you finally drive the Master Sword into Ganon's skull.

Pirates in LoZ.  I don't get it, either.

And this heroic victory of mine inspired Abby to start her own game save in Windwaker - as an old school gamer, it's pretty rad seeing your offspring take up the torch.  Setting off into the sun with a bunch of pirates.

You meet your daughter at the end of the game.  Which is random.

Speaking of pirates, I also beat Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag last month.  This one, too, was an on-again/off-again love affair, and one that I poured hours of gameplay into the summer I bought it (that summer, down in Florida, was basically devoted to playing Black Flag and floating in my pool working on my tan - I love paid summers off.)  Anyway, it had been sitting on a shelf, about 80% finished, when I finally decided to check it off the to-do list.

Drinks with the guys. Hornigold, Vane, Tew, Blackbeard, and Calico Jack.

Like Legend of Zelda and any other game I pick up, I like to think of myself as a completionist.  I buy the player's guide, I collect every last item and uncover every last secret in a game, I beat every side mission, every miscellaneous quest, everything before I head to the last level, boss, whatever.  It's the Hough OCD in me, I guess.  Anyway, while it's immensely satisfying, it's also insanely time-consuming, and that's why it's taken me years to beat some of these games.

My trusty shuttle, the Normandy.

But, last month I did.  And then I moved on to a third long-neglected gem:  Mass Effect 3.  This one was also pretty in-depth, but didn't require nearly as many hours to get through - the side content wasn't as extensive, but it was still a rip-roarin' ride, fighting alien assholes throughout the galaxy.  It was more combat-centric, but with an emphasis on conversations throughout the game that steer the narrative of the story, so the element of diplomacy and strategy was a welcome change.  Beating that one was a punch in the gut.

A few people died.

At present, I've got about three old Wii U titles (well, old in the since they're from 2014 - 2016) that I'd like to work through before I ultimately pull the trigger on the Switch.  Assassin's Creed III (which takes place during the American Revolution, which is totally badass), Watchdogs (think Grand Theft Auto), and Xenoblade: Chronicles (a sci-fi RPG that's incredibly open-world.)  Since I'm only half-way through one of them at the moment, I think it's safe to say that's more than enough content to get me through the rest of the school year, for sure.

I wouldn't want to lunge in to Breath of the Wild (the Switch's debut Zelda title) until Summer anyway - from what I hear, you can lose hundreds of hours playing that one.

And, as you guys know now, I'm somewhat of a completionist.

- Brian