Final Fantasy IV here we go

Well I've finally gotten back to my Final Fantasy count up. Now I'm up to Final Fantasy VI. The reason I postponed playing this is because I heard that Square was coming out with a Final Fantasy VI remake. My original idea was to play the version that came out on the Final Fantasy Chronicles collection for Playstation. But when I heard that they were doing the remake I decided to take a break and wait a few months for the Nintendo DS version to come out.

So far I've been playing remakes of the Final Fantasy games because its just easier to do on the go then trying to hunt down an NES just to play the titles. Part of me wishes that I had played through the originals so I could play them in all their 8-bit glory. But like I said before it would be a real pain to actually get through them all if I had to find them all. Another thing thats good about playing the remakes is they make up for all the issues and shortcomings the orginals had. This makes for a much more pleasant gaming experience at least in my opinion.

An interesting thing about this game is I think I played it before. Well a verison of it anyway. I vaugely remember playing an emulated version on my computer that was fan subtitled since apparently there wasn't a translated version of it (or something like that). Also I remember reading that people thought it was one of the best Final Fantasys and it was something special because it was a Japan only release. I could be wrong but thats what I somewhat remember. I didn't get to far when I played that time so the begining of the remake seemed familar.

The thing thats interesting about this is it has an auto battle feature which makes grinding much less of a trial. While I don't mind grinding to get stronger I'll take any advantage I can get without straight out cheating.

Attempting, Rethinking, and Modification of the Riding Experience

Well its been awhile since I last write here but then again I haven't really done anything from my list for awhile so there wasn't really anything to say. Well that's not entirely truthful I did do one thing that I did toward something on my list. I purchased a motorcycle.

The reason I purchased the motorcycle was to do the drive up the coast. Well it didn't work out at all like I hoped. My original plan to be able to afford this venture was to buy the motorcycle, learn to ride it, sell my car, and use the motorcycle as my main source of transportation. Well it sounds like a good plan but lets just it basically failed in every possible way.

Well I ended up buying the motorcycle in anticipation of the plan working out so well. And also I wanted time to practice on the bike before switching completely over from the car. So now I had the bike and the car to pay for but it was ok because I was going to sell the car. And since I planned to practice on the bike I needed to get the gear to go with it which was no small investment. And since I wanted to be as safe as possible I made sure to get the best (read as most expensive) gear I could get.

So after I got all my gear I had to get my license. I decided to take the Ridercourse offered by the CHP. Everyone said it was easy or at least easier then taking the test at the DMV. So I went in with all my new gear ready to pass no problem. Well to make a long story short I failed the riding part of the test. I was pretty much completely devastated. I had invested all this money into it and I couldn't even pass the test to ride. I couldn't remember the last time I felt as bad as I did at that moment.

So after that I decided to just practice on my own and retake the test. So I went and got my permit and was all set to ride. Well now that I could legally ride on the streets I finally got on the bike. This is when I figured out that the bike was a bit to tall for me. It wasn't impossible to ride but it made it difficult when dealing with any kind of slant. Well I practiced riding around the neighborhood and it went ok. The only problem I really had was stalling out from a dead stop. I never really got a hold of it. I decided to buy a kit to lower the bike so it would be easier to use when riding.

So finally I decided to take it back to the place I bought it to have the lowering kit placed in. It was my first time on surface streets and I was a bit nervous. Well it went as well as can be expected. I stalled out at pretty much every stop light and was completely embarrassed every time it happen. But I did live through it so that was a plus. After I finally got there I found out that I couldn't have the part put in that day so I would have to come back another day to have it installed. So I had to make the wonderful (sarcasm) trip back home. I did manage to live again but still ran into the same problem of stalling. After getting home though I had an epiphany. I was not having fun riding the bike.

Since I was basically alone here to practice I had no one to ride with and that's pretty important. I didn't think that it would be an issue but that support is very helpful and I was missing out on that. Also I just didn't feel cool when riding on it. I felt more awkward then anything and one of the reasons I wanted the bike was because I thought I would feel cool on it. I know that doesn't sound like a good reason but when your putting your life on the line every time you get on you don't want to feel embarrassed and awkward at the same time.

So now I've decided to stop while I'm ahead (so to speak) and get rid of the bike. I know I can not get all the money I spent back but hopefully I can get enough so its not to much of a problem financially. And since I'm getting rid of the bike I'm taking riding up the coast on a motorcycle off the list. I feel there is no point in doing it if its not going to be fun or anything I want to do.

As much as this has been a monetary fiasco its been a good learning experience. I got rid of the feeling of wanting to ride every time I saw or heard a motorcycle which was bothering me for awhile. And now I know what its like first hand. Now if I can work my way out of the financial hole I've put myself into then everything will be ok. Well the financial hole is not to bad and I can definitely see myself getting out of it. So in all a good expensive lesson.