1053 – Lake Live Dull Play

Episode 1053 – Lake Live Dull Play

 

[START OF RECORDING]

 

SCOOTER:    Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and my patron peeps, what up, my patron peeps?

 

INTRO:    [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing?  Trouble getting to sleep?  Trouble staying asleep?  Well, welcome.  This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep.  We do it with a bedtime story.  Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press play.  I’m gonna do the rest.  What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake, whether that’s thoughts on your mind or around, like from the past, the present, the future, feelings, anything coming up for you emotionally, like physical sensations.  It could be time, temperature, changes in routine, something coming up, something situational, something else; dream fragments is one thing lately for me, repetitive dream…fragments…well, my memory’s the fragmented part, clearly.

 

But we’ll talk about that in a second.  But whatever’s keeping you awake, I’d like to take your mind off of that and keep you company so you can fall asleep.  The way I do it here or what I propose to attempt to do…I only propose something that I’m going to attempt to do, because I’m not perfect and I can only do my best.  Even when I do my best, it only works for some people, but I’ll tell you all about that.  Here’s the first thing you need to know, is I’m gonna try to create a safe place, like I said, where you can come on it.  It’s smoothed, it’s patted, it’s rubbed down, it’s been…it hasn’t been approved by the East Coast Family, but it’s…and it’s never…it’s never been hip to be, but…’cause I don’t even know if that’s the correct lyrics.

 

But it’s a nice, safe place and one of the ways I try to establish it is to send my voice across the deep, dark night.  I’m gonna use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones.  Oh, so creaky are my dulcet tones that they may remind you of some…you say, I haven’t heard anything like that associated with comfort.  I say well, yeah.  I’m here to take your mind off of stuff.  Creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, and superfluous tangents.  That’s where I either get mixed up or I go off-topic.  I see something; I say well, let’s go over there and look at that, which is very important for tonight’s episode, because I tried not to…holy moly.  I’m one of those people…there’s a kind of video game known as a open world game, and I literally…and usually they’re mission-based or you get different tasks or stuff.

 

I guess I’ll talk about this in the podcast, but I spent a lot of time…they…like, if someone watched me play a game, they’d say, what are you doing, just walking around?  I would say yeah, looking…like, I’m…yeah, not…they say well, are you exploring?  Are you…?  No, I’m not.  I’m just walking around barely paying attention, actually, but I’m…well, are you enjoying it?  I’m not sure.  That’s a good question.  Oh, but so…oh, what I’m gonna…oh, that’s a pointless meander with…that was a pointless meander about pointless meanders in my videogaming or my gaming.  I don’t know if you need videogaming anymore.  I don’t know.  But whatever it is…oh…oh, pointless, superfluous tangents; that means, yeah, I get mixed up.  I’m not perfect, I go off-topic, but I’m here to keep you company.

 

Now, there’s a bunch of things — if you’re new — about the show that do take some getting used to, and that can be off-putting at first.  So, just kinda see how it goes.  That’s all I can tell you, is hundreds…literally hundreds of thousands of people have said didn’t like the show at first, then I gave it a couple tries and I realized oh, it isn’t something…now I love it, but it’s not something you really like, either, ‘cause I kept wondering when it was gonna start.  Never starts, but it’s always going, kinda like waves are kinda all…waves change how they look, but tech…you say no, sometimes the water’s mirror-like, Scoots.  I say well, are there waves going on underneath or…barely noticeable waves?  BN…BNWs?  Did you say BMW?  No, I definitely said B…barely noticeable waves.

 

I gotta write this down; this might be a future podcast episode.  But oh, so…oh, so, a couple things to know if you’re new.  If you’re skeptical, of course you would be.  Why wouldn’t you be if you’ve tried a bunch of stuff to help you fall asleep and you come to this podcast?  That’s a very reasonable way.  Of course you’re gonna be…you say, this podcast is supposed to put me to sleep?  Not really.  That’s kinda the easiest way for people to explain it to you, but I’ll tell you more.  Well, I guess I’ll tell you that right upfront; this podcast doesn’t really put you to sleep.  It keeps you company while you drift off, which is a little bit different.  I’m here to distract you, maybe help if you’re feeling lonely, but to give you something a bit like background noise with a little bit more that you could pay attention to.

 

The difference between background noise and me; very subtle differences, but background noise you kinda have to put some work in if you wanted to pay attention to it, ‘cause you say well, I don’t know if…what is that, a episode…a rerun of Matlock or is that a commercial for some new…is that a infomercial in the other room my parents are watching?  Where Sleep With Me, you kinda say well, it’s kinda that same creaky, dulcet tone you hear through the wall, and…but I could listen if I wanted to ‘cause Scoots is here to kinda tell me a story, eventually, but I don’t have to listen.  I could kinda just barely listen.   So, this is a podcast you don’t really listen to, doesn’t really put you to sleep.

 

I’m really here to be your bore-friend, your bore-bae, your bore-cuz, your bore-sib, your bore-bestie, your bore-bud, to be your friend in the deep, dark night, to keep you company at a safe distance so you can fall asleep.  That goes into why; why do I make this show?  Why is it important?  Because your sleep is important and because I know how it feels in the deep, dark night.  Those are the two sides of the same thing.  You deserve a good night’s sleep.  You deserve some respite, some solace, a haven, whatever you want to call it.  You deserve a bedtime you could look forward to and then get comfortable and have some wind-down routine and drift off, and get the rest you need so that your life is manageable, so you can live your life more fully.  That’s important to me.  Now, this podcast does not work for everyone.

 

Also, I have a list of other sleep podcasts at sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou just in case, but none of that stuff changes the fact that you’re important and you deserve a good night’s sleep.  So, if I can provide that, that would be a great honor to me ‘cause it means our world’s a better place to live in.  The other side of it is I know how it feels in the deep, dark night; trouble getting to sleep, trouble staying asleep, tossing, turning, mind racing, all those things.  I’ve been journaling more in the mornings and part of that was to start that practice, but also I said well, a side benefit of this will be I could write down my dreams, and I’ve been noticing in the past two months, I’ve just been having a lot of repetitive dreams in a place that I’ve never been to.  That’s totally…that’s a…not a exciting place.

 

I do a lot of times walk…spend a lot of time there walking around doing these rote tasks that I can just barely remember.  It’s not exactly relaxing, and this…don’t get too involved ‘cause I’m working on it, trust me.  I’m working on the other parts.  But when I wake up, when I’m doing those repetitive rote tasks, whatever it is…last night it was trying to organize something.  Usually it’s something like that.  I wake up; I’m exhausted.  I say man, can I just stop…this is what I do all day long anyway, like mentally do that kinda stuff.  Why do I gotta physically be doing it in my dreams?  I do something called a reset, honestly.  I don’t know if I’ve talked about this on the podcast before, but I get up, I say to myself now…I guess it’s like a affirmation.  It’s another accidental one, like #laying, but this one is…I say I’m gonna do a reset now.

 

I say it out loud, even.  Then I get out of bed, use the WC, come back down.  I say, I’m doing a reset now, full reset, just like I’m unplugging the computer and plugging it back in or turning my Wi-Fi…my router on and off or my phone.  I try to get a fresh start back in bed, and it actually has worked.  I go okay, got a reset going.  Let’s see if I could reset those dreams.  Now, a lot of times, I get right back to that filing or organizing, but I don’t know.  So, I’ve been there, is my main point, and I know how it feels.  I know how it feels underneath the surface, the harder feelings that are there that we just like to kinda keep our distance from.  I know what those feel like.  I’m not gonna get into them right now because I know what they feel like.  I’ve been close to them.

 

I’ve been having them wash over me, so if I can help, that’s important to me.  The other thing that can throw new listeners off or even long-term listeners is the structure of the show, but it aligns with the mission of the show.  So, the show starts off with an important greeting like a hello.  Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and then I say something silly so ideally you feel seen and welcomed in and you get the nature of the show.  Little bit difference and a type of humor that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.  But you say okay, it’s a little bit silly around here.  Then there’s support for the show, because the goal of the podcast is for it to come out twice a week for free, and the supporters and the sponsors are really what makes that possible.

 

Then there’s support for listeners in case you’re having a tough time, and support for the community around the show.  I guess like a three-legged stool; those are the three things we talk about in the Supporter Zone.  Then there’s the intro.  Some people, especially when they have a strong first reaction or second reaction or they just find the podcast doesn’t suit their tastes, they think the intro and the supporter stuff is combined, but the intro is really a show within a show.  I’m not kidding; I feel bad for the people that miss out on the intro ‘cause it’s a lot of people’s favorite part of the show.  It’s where I try to explain what the podcast is and I don’t necessarily ever succeed, so that’s one purpose of the intro, and that’s the purpose of most intros; introduce you to the show.

 

But the intro also introduces you to bedtime every single night.  It’s a introduction to bedtime where you say okay, I need a little…personally, I need an hour wind-down.  The intro gives you a fifteen-minute wind-down or a twenty-minute wind-down, so you could do something relaxing, you could get comfortable, you can get ready for bed.  Whatever it is, it gives you some distance and some transition between the daytime and bedtime and falling asleep.  So, it’s a transition and like I said, it’s a intro.  You say okay, let me introduce you to bedtime slowly, because that’s what works for me and a lot of listeners around the show.  Now, there is a small percentage of listeners that fall asleep during the intro.  That’s great.  There’s a small percentage of listeners that skip the intro.  That’s great; I just don’t want you missing out.

 

There’s a large percentage of patrons that listen to…well, there’s a equal…there’s…no, it’s not equal.  There’s more people that listen to all-intro episodes than story-only episodes.  But if you’re a patron, you can kinda choose what you like.  But for most people, the intro is that introduction to bedtime, an easing into it.  So, that’s the intro.  It does go on and on and on and it seems pointless because it is pointed in its pointlessness like a lot of stuff around the show.  Then there’s more support.  That’s where some of the companies like their support, is that time in the show, one-third in.  Again, the support is what makes us here free twice a week.  Then there will be our bedtime story.  Tonight it’ll be a look at a new game that I just played.  By the time you hear this, the game probably won’t be new.

 

I can’t even be sure.  It was just…this is all…I’ll talk about it, but it was a spur-of-the-moment purchase and everything.  But we’ll talk about this game, and it’s called Lake.  Maybe you’re familiar with it, or maybe not.  Then, yeah, that’ll go on for about forty-five, fifty minutes, and then there’s some thank-yous at the end of the show.  So, that’s the structure of the show, that’s why I make the show, and that’s what we can kinda expect.  But I’m glad you’re here and checking the show out.  Give it a few tries is what most people say, ‘cause just…this show’s very different, and getting to bed’s tough.  So, finding something that works for you can be tough.  So, give it a few tries.  If it doesn’t work, check out sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou.  But yeah, I’m glad you’re here.  I work really hard, I yearn and I strive, and I really hope I can help you fall asleep.  Here’s the ways I’m able to do it for you for free twice a week.

 

Alright everybody, it’s Scoots here.  It’s time for something a little bit different we haven’t done before, so I’m excited to do this.  It is a board game unboxing, or no, no, it’s not a board game; it’s influenced by those board game unboxings, but it’s one we haven’t done before, and I’ll…a part of this meander will be kinda setting it up and setting up what went…what I was able to do.  We’ll kinda see where it goes, but I…in the past, in my life history, if you’ve listened to this show for a long time, you know I’ve got a pretty complicated relationship with console games and PC games, and I also kinda have a limited amount of time that I…to play games and stuff.  My daughter and I play some games on the weekend.  Every once in a while we’ll find one we really love, and we try to play through it together.

 

The last one we really loved and that we just kept playing until we got to the end was called Humans that are Balloons that Like to Lay Down a Lot and Also Solve Puzzles Together or Alone.  So, I don’t know how…I don’t know if you can complete that game alone.  I’m not sure.  That’s probably not the real name of the game, but you’ll…you could figure it out.  So…but I probably would…if I had more spare time, I don’t know if I would play more video games or games, console games, ‘cause I might go and do something.  But I wish I had a little bit more time to play games, open world games in particular.  So, that all said, I…this was this weird connection and it just kinda happened.

 

Again, I know a lot of listeners have their favorites games, and I say Scoots, this game would be perfect for the show, and it kinda does have to be something organic.  I already have…if this works, the next game picked out, because the creators of the game were nice enough to reach out to me to voice something in the game.  It’s a game that I think would be cool to do in the same…similar way.  So, this one will be a good test because it kinda came up very…as…well, organically, but not really organically.  Organically to me, but to the great algorithmic rhythm of the…that, it was influenced by the algorithms as well, because what happened was…so, when I’m recording this, it’s just about the middle of September…what year is it?  2021.

 

So, this was about three weeks ago, or two weeks ago, and it…maybe the game came out…I don’t know.  But it was just a couple weeks ago, right?  I was looking through where I look for my news, which is influenced by algorithms, but at least…or I prefer not to look on social media.  But it’s still…I’m aware that it’s influenced by algorithms to get me to click on stuff and titles and all that.  A lot of times, I’m just…I’m not an…I’m not looking at these for hard news.  I subscribe for my news to newspapers still.  But general news; oh, what’s the new ride going there, or what is this sports ball going, or oh, is there…like, ‘cause the algorithms are kinda good at saying oh, well, we noticed you like reading articles about that.  So, whatever, about running or whatever it might be.  These algorithms do know us.

 

So, I saw a headline about this game called Lake, L-A-K-E.  I read the headline and it said, a super-chill game where you get to deliver…you’re filling in, you play a character named Meredith, and you’re filling in for your father delivering mail, and a little bit…I don’t know.  I said, okay.  I opened it in a new tab because it was…I don’t think it was…a lot of times what I’ll do is I’ll run through the news, open a bunch of tabs, and then work my way through those on my breaks, because during the week, I’m kinda using a refined…or my own version of Pomodoro where I set a twenty-five minute timer and then a five-minute timer, and then I add in a one-minute meditation timer.  Not in that order, but one minute of meditation, twenty-five minutes of work, and then five minutes of break or chores.

 

That’s kinda how I break up a lot of my work tasks.  Not recording; doesn’t…recording doesn’t work that way.  But so, at some point I said okay, I’m gonna read about that game, Lake.  Then this must have been late in the week, ‘cause I said…then I read about…I saw the thing ‘cause I saw the art and it said something; go to a lake town from your youth or whatever.  This was…so, I don’t impulse-buy games anymore.  I did; I used to, but I signed up for the subscription, whatever, Game Pass, because that gives me and my daughter a little bit more flexibility to say…to try a game and then say okay, this one isn’t working for us.  What else do we got that’s multiplayer on here this month, versus buying a game?  So, I like that.  I like renting my media versus owning it.

 

But it’s just a personal preference; I know it’s not everybody’s, and I do own some games, some that were impulse, again.  I said well, am I ever gonna play this game?  So, okay.  So, there’s those things.  What else?  Oh, so…okay, but I…so, I said to myself, I think you know about…enough about that game.  Let’s just buy it and start playing it for the podcast.  Let’s do this one as a board game unboxing but with a video game.  Now, I should jump back to…another fact of the podcast is I got a lot of ideas, right?  I get a lot of feedback, and I got a lot of big ideas.  Then I have a limited scope of time to…and I’m just a human being.  I’m still not good at executing…I’m good at the work around the podcast ‘cause it’s very specific, but then expansive stuff I tend to procrastinate on, just like everybody else.

 

So, not kidding; it’s been like four years, maybe five years that I’ve said you know, one thing that would be cool with Sleep With Me would be to stream games and do sleepy versions.  I even bought a external card that I…we could use, but then my last computer just wasn’t powerful enough, even with the card; the fan was working.  Then I just couldn’t figure out the time, and then even the tests I ran, I just wasn’t satisfied.  I think it was one of the games with a double…A double S…Credo was the name of the game, the first one that I thought about, because there’s a lot of…it’s a open-world-esque game, but there’s a lot of beautiful, natural stuff.  I said well, I could go look at this natural stuff.  I may still do that.  This isn’t to say I am or am not gonna do that, but so…okay, so there’s that.  What else?  I got mixed up.

 

I think I have another idea of how to do that, so that’s okay.  But it’s just been something I haven’t followed through on, and that was one game I was gonna do.  Then I thought about the game Redeeming Red Stuff Out in the Desert, or Redeeming Red Stuff Out in the Desert 2, just because I had played that second one when it was on Game Pass, but then it went away.  Even the first one I own, but there’s…again, it’s a open world; a lot of places to walk around.  Then I met the hosts of…Garret and Sabrina from the podcast I Know Dino.  They’re wonderful people.  They said…Garret said, what about American Trucker Simulator or European Trucker Simulator?  You should try one of those.  So, I tried those, and the only issue with that one was that…time.  I didn’t even think there was any other limitation.

 

Maybe on my console there was a limitation too, but I think it was just more time-wise.  So, those are all games I could have streamed, games I might have streamed or made into content.  But sometimes what I need to break through some of my self-imposed and probably fear-based limitations is a accident.  Like, a happy accident is maybe what they call it, where there’s just a crack that open up…that’s literally how the whole podcast got started, was a tiny crack in my…the rocks I surround myself with, where some light came in and said hey, why don’t you come through this hole for a little while?  If that didn’t happen…I mean, that’s literally what’s happened with the podcast.

 

I had something happen and that said, why don’t you start that podcast you thought…sleep podcast you’ve been thinking about for three years, four years, or whatever?  I said oh, okay, maybe I will.  So, that’s kinda what happened with this video game; a much smaller thing, but I said okay, let’s just buy the game.  It wasn’t on Game Pass.  I said, let’s buy the game.  I think it was reasonable; twenty bucks.  I did have to pay for it personally, so I couldn’t write it…I didn’t get to write it off, but whatever.  So, I bought the game, downloaded it, and then I said okay, let me re-familiarize myself with streaming without having to use any external stuff, because that was one of the things that kept me from streaming, was I wanted good audio or reasonably good audio.

 

Again, I know how to do all this stuff; I just don’t have the will.  Then so, even when I…I’d say okay, by the time I get everything set up, then I don’t feel like playing a video game or streaming, ‘cause I’m restless, irritable, and dis…malcontent or discontent or whatever.  Then if I get everything set up, then I gotta leave it around my apartment, and it just creates clutter.  These are all my issues, no big…but if you have issues, if you’re a human like I am, hopefully you relate.  You say okay, I get it, Scoots.  So, I said to myself, well, that might be nice; you could see if you could stream the game, but there would be no audio or video.  It’ll just be a stream of you playing it.  Nothing could be more dull than that.  But then they’ll give me a point to reference back to when we record an episode of Sleep With Me, right, which we’re here to do right now.

 

So, good news is we’re here, so…but…also interesting news, ‘cause I do have to fill you in on some stuff.  So, not all my streams were successful.  I don’t know.  I guess last night I read…I should have turned the music all the way…I kept the sound effects and the dialogue up, but turned the music off because you can’t stream music that’s copyrighted.  Not necessarily…you can get…that’s just…do the algorithms.  You can…I think you…whatever.  So, I don’t know if that’s why…I did five streams and unfortunately…so, I played the beginning of the game twice.  I started two separate games twice and neither one of those…I don’t know if it was just ‘cause it was all cut scenes maybe, ‘cause I wasn’t playing.

 

So, I’ll fill you in on that because…and then we’ll just go with what got recorded and it’ll be out of order, too, but so…and what I misremember even though I’ve been playing the game.  So, the game opens with a scene, and it does have a pretty extensive cinematic thing.  You’ll have to look up the details.  I think the game’s set in the 80s or something, and it opens in an apartment…a pretty nice apartment.  Maybe it’s the 90s.  I don’t know.  A woman named Meredith is working.  Maybe it’s ‘87 ‘cause she’s working on this program which seems like…it’s called Added or something.  I think it’s a journaling program, but I…then I was like, is it a counting program?  Again, I didn’t finish the game.  I’m barely on day five or six.

 

But Meredith’s working on that, and then her co-worker or her supervisor or something calls.  His name’s, like…if it isn’t Brad, it’s somebody like Brad or Steve.  He kinda is clearly…asks too much of Meredith and is overdependent on her, and…because she’s good at her job.  It’s night and she’s working on this program.  Then he says, how’s the beta…whatever.  Can you get it on my desk on Monday?  She goes, didn’t you forget I’m leaving town?  I’m taking my leave or my break or my vacation because my parents have to watch my dad’s mail route.  He says oh, I totally forgot.  Can you still get…?  Are you gonna be able to work while you’re there?  It’s kinda like…it’s very soft, so it’s not clear, I guess, ‘cause maybe you get to figure that out in the game.   I think you do.

 

But it’s kinda like…he’s like, but okay, but you’re still gonna be…we still need you here.  When can you be back, or can I send you the betas, or whatever.  Can I send you the silver version of the…to check everything?  She says well, we’ll see.  So, then that’s one scene.  Then I think that maybe she’s talking to her parents or her dad and saying don’t worry.  He says, don’t worry.  This guy’s gonna meet you whose name Scooter will forget for sure.  He’s got a moustache and he’s my old friend.  Remember him?  Meredith says yeah, of course.  Then he says, he’ll meet you.  I think he even picks her up at the airport.  We learn…in a good way what I like about this already is…you say, this is kinda…people play a little bit…people are loose with the rules, in a good way, because I think the game maybe came out on Labor Day or something, or around there, because when you get picked up at the airport, it is Labor Day, I think.

 

This guy picks you up.  I don’t why I can’t…Frank’s his name, I think.  He even has a little salt and pepper on the sides of his head.  One, it’s Labor Day.  Two, he picks her up at the airport, I assume.  That I’m assuming because they come in by the motel.  I retraced their steps to try to confirm this.  But on my second play-through, when they’re first coming into town or to the lake, they pass the motel which is a road that you can’t take very far, thus far.  So, I’m presuming he picked her up at the airport in a mail truck, then they proceed to deliver mail on Labor Day.  Maybe I’m misremembering this…or Saturday or something.  He’s in a hurry ‘cause he wants to get back and watch a baseball game.  I don’t know if the Giants and the…not the Dodgers, but…but he’s like, yeah, we gotta get back.  So, he…Frank introduces her.

 

He says hey, okay, so you’re gonna fill in for your dad; cool.  Let’s try…it’s basically like a tutorial with cut scenes, or whatever.  Cut scenes mean where they show a person…people talking, but you have no control over the characters.  Then a tutorial is always important, in my opinion, because you get to know the mechanics of the game.  They introduce it slowly, so the first thing they show you is how to get in and out of the mail truck, then how to put mail in a mailbox, and how to move around and walk around.

 

Then next stop, they show you how to take something out of the back of the mail truck, like a package for delivery, how to walk a little bit faster, still not fast enough for my…I’m one of those people…I never stop running, just like in real…I say, why would I…but I don’t like using a horse ‘cause I don’t like getting on and off the horse, though this game, I really did miss the ability to call your horse to come pick you up, like in other games.  Games with horses are great, open world games, ‘cause if…especially if you can call your horse, which is more than one of those games, all the ones I’m thinking of, or two or the ones I was thinking of, ‘cause then it’s just so…’cause I like to get off the horse and then wander around.

 

So, I did do a lot of walking back to the mail truck because I couldn’t figure out…also, I didn’t…haven’t lived in this town in, whatever, twenty years.  That’s another part of this game.  So, whatever, you go with Frank, you learn how to deliver packages.  You don’t learn how to drive, I don’t think, the first day.  Then you go back, Frank drops you off at your parents’ house.  I think you get the option to watch TV or read a book.  I read the book; it was A Countess and the Count…it was kind of like…it felt like a romance, a medieval romance, a little bit, ‘cause Meredith makes a lot of comments, her character.  So, she says oh, mom, I can’t believe you’re reading this stuff.  But I guess the computer told me I…Scooter told me I had to read it, so…so, none of that got recorded.

 

I’m not sure if our first day of work got recorded, so I’ll walk you through that because if…even if it gets…shows up…but you get your first day of work, you have a couple packages to deliver, and some mail, but it also serves to introduce some of the characters and places in the game, and also Meredith’s state of mind and other people’s states of mind, and her relationship.  It does give you…it’s kind of like a old-school text game.  You get choice of three dialogues a lot of times.  So, this game is not completely open world ‘cause I tested some of the limits and learned that you can’t walk…you can’t…some of the things that are frustrating for me is that thus far I can’t climb up stuff, ‘cause I like to get up high and look around on stuff.  You can’t just wander around forever.

 

You can’t go and look…I just…just like in a sleep podcast, I like to spend most of my time wandering around.  Then I’ll get the mission done.  But I say well, I never do the autopilot on a lot of those games ‘cause I say well, I’m just gonna…why would I take a trail if I could just cut across the wilderness and see what kinda stuff I see and get lost?  So, okay, so…okay, so Meredith’s first day awake…work; go in, Frank’s there, you get a mail truck.  It’s full of stuff you have to deliver.  First you deliver…you can kinda deliver it in any order, you learn how to use the map and the way-finding, which isn’t super good, because…or at least it wasn’t good for me.  One, I guess I need my glasses, ‘cause I can’t see half the stuff even though I have a regular-sized TV.  So, there’s that.  I guess I do have to bring my glasses inside.

 

But so, you can…it says what houses are supposed to get packages and what houses are supposed to get mail.  So, I don’t know.  I did some around town.  I’ll watch the video, but you go to a diner, you realize you were friends with the…used to hang out at the diner, ate a lot of blueberry pie.  There’s also blueberry pie at home, so there’s a blueberry pie-type theme.  The woman that runs the diner…oh no, not Kay; Kay is your friend.  You don’t meet…we don’t run into Kay ‘til…I think we have this stuff with Kay unrecorded, maybe.  But somebody runs the diner, even though I think Kay owns the diner, or maybe…I don’t know.  But so, you used to hang out at this diner.  The lady that runs it’s pretty cool.  Somebody’s working in back.  There’s a little bit of prat falling.

 

Then you also meet this logger dude who’s having some sort of issues that eventually you can help him with.  You meet the woman who…oh, you meet a mechanic.  Maybe that…let’s see; let’s just actually go to the tape because I don’t want to…I have all…so, I have three files.  They’re labeled and they may not be in order, but it’ll be fun.  Okay, so let me just change the speed here so that we can even maybe watch it at a higher speed.  So yeah, right now we’re at the post office.  I think it’s probably our second day.  Frank’s there filling cubbies, and I wanted to be able to go through stuff, or…but you can’t do that.  Then I go over to a rack of post cards in the post office.  Frank seems to be the only one working.  It seems pretty early in the morning.  The light is really good.

 

Then let’s see, we get in the…I walked around the truck a few times and then I get in.  So, I guess I still was learning some of the mechanics.  Nope, then I go back into…look in a garbage can.  Oh, then I check…yeah, we got some deliveries; Bear Creek, Lake Road, Main Street.  Four packages on Lake Road.  So, I see 207 Main Street’s our first delivery, and we head out.  The driving is pretty simple.  It’s just reverse, forward, left, and right.  Huh, I got back out of the truck for some reason.  Now I’m opening the back of the truck.  Okay…four packages.  This could be my first day.  Oh, I decide to just walk.  Like I said, I like doing that, so I took out the package for Main Street and instead of driving, I’m just walking across the street.  Then I say which building is it, and it’s none of the buildings.  Then it’s the general store.

 

The general store clerk is there.  She says, are you new in town?  I say yeah, I left twenty-two years ago.  Really?  This lady, she’s smoking and kinda not exactly the most positive person.  Then she says I think it’s gonna rain.  Then I say okay, package delivered.  I’m out.  Oh boy, and then the stream went down for a little while.  So, let’s see what we got here.  So, we’re missing about two minutes, but…oh, not too long, ‘cause I’m walking back to the mail truck, so whatever went down wasn’t anything involving the mail or anything interesting.  Okay, then I’m gonna go deliver…I’m…I check the map, I say okay, let’s go out to Lake Road.  So, we take…we go out, we take a left, which I think is the wrong direction.  I realize it’s the wrong direction; I’m trying to make a U-turn.  There’s a video store.  Oh, I back in.

 

The video store I get to go to later.  Then we head out.  So, this could be my first day of work with just…without the cut scenes.  Yeah, she says I’m actually enjoying this.  We get a view of the lake and we start driving.  We’re on West Lakeview Boulevard.  We go over the Ambrose River.  Meredith says oh, boy.  So, you see where the liver…river meets the lake.  Then I’m trying to figure out where these houses are.  I’m delivering some mail.  Oh, 102 Lake Street; I got that one right.  Lake Road, excuse me.  We get after it again on the road.  We head out some more.  Oh, is that a Gremlin car?  An AMC Gremlin or a Rambler?  This is at 200 Lake Road.  So, now we’re on the 200 block Lake Road.  There’s a greenhouse with a teddy bear, a lot of cats, and we get to help the…they call her Elderly Lady.  I don’t know about that.

 

She’s Miss Jenkins.  Meredith Weiss?  Oh, good to see you.  Oh, Emily’s your mom.  Yeah, been twenty-two years.  Nice cats.  Two Genevieves; maybe that was her grandmother.  Miss Jenkins says, you remember me?  I say yeah, of course; you’re Mildred Jenkins.  Got a lot of cats.  They’re cute.  She’s holding a nice cat that seems very calm.  She has a teddy bear wrapped up.  Then Miss Jenkins says jeez, my son doesn’t come to visit enough.  I say well, I gotta run.  I tried to be more…better listener later on in the game.  Oh, her mailbox is also…I don’t know if that’s…hits regulations, but it’s a cat mailbox.  Next up is 300 Lake Road.  It’s another package.  I think this is another…Meredith says yeah, a few days…oh, so this is the gas station.  We did deliver mail to it when it was closed on Labor Day.

 

We meet another ongoing character here.  She’s working on a car.  We take the package out for her; it’s a flatter package.  She says, you’re not Frank.  Yeah, I’m Meredith.  This is a young woman.  She’s working on a car, but she says I’m the one who keeps Goose running.  That’s the name of your truck.  She’s got a cool Ghostbusters shirt on.  We talk about…yeah, I’ve been trying to learn.  She says if there’s…if you ever have any trouble with your…with Goose or the Goose, bring it by.  Radio kinda works, which we can’t really use anyway.  This girl’s name’s Lori.  She has a pink scrunchie in her hair, she has headphones, maybe a Walkman, but it looks pretty huge, so it might…I don’t know if…’87, is that when the game is?  So, I pull out and we get rolling.

 

We’re on West Lake Road now, and we gotta go up to this logging area.  We cross a blue steel bridge.  Let me think; where was Bear Creek again?  Make a right on a dirt road, then we go…then I passed…oh no, no, then we go through a one-lane wooden bridge, beautiful wooden bridge.  Then we head up to this cabin, log cabin right near a waterfall, like a nice, little waterfall.  What a beautiful place to live.  A lumberjack type is there.  He’s Robert.  I’m Meredith.  Here’s your mail.  He doesn’t like the mail he’s been getting, and so I say…this one I try to say, yeah…and he says, it’s BS, baloney, but this…on this play-through, I was trying to be a little bit more professional and say okay, gotta go.  I can’t spend all day talking to you.

 

But as the game progresses, I was saying whatever you want me to do, if you got me a side mission, I’ll do it.  Then we go back over the wooden bridge.  I was getting good at going fast.  It’s pretty forgiving as far as I’ve seen with the driving and…I’m not exactly following all the regs.  Next stop is 500 Lake Road, which I think…so, we go all the way around the lake now, so we gain a little bit of elevation.  I’ve seen a couple places I was thinking I’d like…then you go through a tunnel.  I had a little driving issue at the tunnel, but it didn’t slow me down for long.  But this is some of the places I’d like to drive off.  If I had a horse, I’d be riding around this side of town.  I’ve not explored everything, so maybe at some point we’ll get exploring.  But yeah, then you see the motel.  Don’t have a…later we get to talk to somebody at the motel.

 

I don’t know if that’ll open up any side missions, too.  But yeah, then we go over the dam, Spanner Dam.  Meredith kinda insults it; she says once you’ve seen Hoover Dam…and then there’s…past the Spanner Dam is a higher rock formation.  I’d like to find my way to the top of that.  But yeah, we’re headed on…now we’re on East Lake Road.  There is a auto-driving thing.  We passed a farm that I stop and look at some corn, but I think it’s a potato farm, the person says later when you meet them.  A birch tree…some nice trees.  I don’t know if those are aspen or birch.  Then we pull in…oh, Moe’s Diner.  It used to be called Stan’s Diner when Meredith was a youth.  Now it’s Moe’s, famous since…something; 1984, 1884?  It’s heavy, the delivery.  Dumpster out back; I just noticed that.  Another AMC-type car.

 

Maureen Hennesy says holy cow, Meredith, come on in.  She kinda really works on Meredith staying there, but I was kinda trying to be professional.  I mean, as professional as someone that just fills in for their dad without applying for the job, but Meredith does have on a parka, a post office box parka.  But yeah, Maureen says yeah, she wants something stronger than coffee, but I say yeah, sure, I’ll have a coffee and blueberry pie.  Used to have one every day after school.  She says well, you know me too well, Maureen.  Ashley, one blackberry pie.  But then something crashes in the kitchen and so, then Maureen has to go deal with it.  She says, what’s going on back there, Ashley?  So, you also have to comment on it, which…I say, that didn’t sound good…was my choice.  She says, don’t be a stranger.

 

I want to hear everything.  So then we’re back outside.  Oh, there’s mustard and mayonnaise or ketchup and mayonnaise on the tables.  Maybe mustard.  So, we’re…we have one more delivery on Main Street for day one, or…if our first day in town was day zero, which I don’t know, you know.  So, then I drive around town, I’m trying to check my map, zoom out.  Great map mechanics, just not…the way-finding’s not great because it doesn’t actually…it’s not like GPS, which I guess they didn’t have back then.  But it’s just other game mechanics; I’m used to it saying if you’re going the right way, so I do a little bit more pulling up the map and zooming out.  It does have a mini-map.  Okay, now I’m trying to find 103 Main Street, and I deliver the mail there.  That’s the last of them.

 

Now I’m trying to figure out what time it is.  There’s some nice mountains in the distance I just noticed.  I would love to get to those.  I don’t think I can.  We return to the post office to end our day, then we have the loading scene, and then Tues…so, it’s Tuesday evening.  Phone rings; it’s mom.  How’s things going?  Doing great, relaxing.  Dad’s like, how’s dad doing?  Can he handle all the freedom?  Oh boy, he’s having…going fishing and drinking margaritas and playing poker.  Mom says, right…we’re going out, so bye.  Then…I haven’t watched TV yet, so I don’t know what that’s like.  There’s also a planner, which I guess is…but I stay home.  Countess and the Carpenter…oh, this is it.  Really, mom?  Okay, let’s give it a read.

 

Cecilia had her carriage, she tumbled out of her carriage, ruined her hat, but a man said are you alright, madam?  Then it cuts to day…Wednesday, September 3.  So, another day of work.  I save the game successfully.  We still got some time left here, so I’m still playing.  Go in, Frank’s working.  I go to talk to Frank; turns his back on me.  He’s acting like a NPC where he’s just ignoring me, looking at the cubbies, so I say okay.  Check my list for the day; some new spots.  So, I say okay, let’s walk around again.  Beautiful reflection of the sunrise on the windows.  Jack Reynolds is on the radio.  He’s the DJ, taking call-ins.  Oh, and then I get the first thing.  He’s talking to Dale…latest movies, VHS, and Betamax.  This is…I guess I’m checking the map, ‘cause I don’t know where I am.  Video rental store, but I can’t find the address.

 

It is Main Street though, Scoots, so I’m trying to figure out, I guess, if there’s a package that goes to…some…I did something wrong, so it loaded the car.  It does have autopilot.  There’s cool windows or lights in the windows, like movie lights.  Again, I’m trying to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing, then I go get…you see movie posters.  Oh, 312 Main Street or something?  Yeah, then I go in and I meet someone cool at the…the person running the video store is cool.  Got a package for you.  You’re the new postal worker?  There’s ads for Back to the Present and The Maze, which is the Labyrinth, and Dustbusters.  So, really cool shout-outs.  There’s a lot of movies behind her.  Miss Eastman.  So, how’s things going with the video rental store?  Booming.  People here love their movies.  More mass market.

 

I compliment her; wow, you’ve got a lot of movies, and probably a lot you could pause on to see more.  Angie…Call Me Angie.  The Postman Always Rings Twice; why don’t you take this movie and check it out?  They say okay, I’ll check it out and let you know what I think.  You can always push the person off, but I’m trying to get as many…I’m trying to get…since I can’t join a community in my personal life ‘cause I’m not good at it, maybe through this game I can.  So, let’s see, we go deliver that, get back in the truck, save the game.  At this point I was saving the game more.  Oh, I guess I stopped it there, huh?  Okay, so we’ll reload here from…next one.  Okay, so this is Lake Part 2, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s where I left off, either.  Oh, it is; I’m getting in the car outside of the post office, or the video store.  Sweet.

 

I couldn’t leave you hanging on something like that, you know?  I gotta resolve it for you all.  So, I’m looking at Pine Street.  There’s two pieces of mail delivered north of me, so I look at that on the map.  I say okay, let’s go north.  It’s kind of a right turn that wraps around in a U.  So, I go take a right on whatever street it is.  I forgot the name of it already.  Right off of Main onto East Third.  I guess I have to deliver mail to 103 East Third.  103 East Third…I get…I had a little trouble with the…nope, no mail needed to deliver there, so wrong address.  I think somebody…I just looked in somebody’s backyard and it looks like they have a trampoline.  I gotta go check that out.  Then I decide to walk; why not?  I like walking.

 

So, this is where normally I would walk and then call my horse, so 104 East Fourth or East Third is where I had to deliver it.  So, that means that other street’s West Fourth, so I’m actually learning a lot by going through this here.  I’m walking back to my truck.  Let me kick this speed up for the video though so we can get a little bit more in.  I start driving again, East Third to Pine Street.  Again, I can’t figure out where I have to deliver anything.  Is this a package?  I guess it is; 402 Pine Street is what I’m…it looks like a hat box.  I go to a yellow house and I ring the doorbell.  Somebody comes to the door?  Oh, this is…yeah, this is a big moment.  There’s a mother and a child playing a rocket game.  Evan’s family?  Commander Grace?  The person comes dressed as an astronaut.  Thank you.  It’s a Apollo Crew 11 outfit.

 

Wait a second, Meredith?  So, I say Buzz Aldrin?  I say, I’m sorry, you’re wearing a fake astronaut helmet.  She goes, we were best friends.  Kay?  She goes, I just broke my colander.  I say wow, I didn’t expect to see you here.  She goes, have you been in this…Providence Oaks this whole time?  That’s not a very good thing.  She goes yeah, I married a star quarterback, Barry Evans.  Then our child’s Colin Commander Grace.  I gotta get back.  She loves space.  Sounds like you’re happy.  A lot can happen in twenty-two years.  I guess so.  Heard from Maureen you were back in town.  Yeah, saw her at the diner.  I missed your Uncle Stan there.  She says no, it’s Moe’s Diner.  Oh, okay, so this is a little bit of a faux pas.  Let’s talk about it…stuff sometimes.  She goes yeah, maybe.  So, there’s some tension.

 

She goes yeah, I don’t have time; I gotta get back.  They say see you around; okay.  So, I don’t know if there’s underlying tension or it’s just the fact that Stan used to run the diner, who was Kay’s uncle, who’s now running a diner in the big farm in the…near the Big Farm in the Sky Diner.  Okay, so that delivery though is done, so now I’m checking my map.  There’s two deliveries in Heron Circle of mail, so that should be pretty easy.  So, then I go down to East Fourth, make a left, stop at the stop sign, look around, make a left on Main, head back down Main towards the lake, then I try to figure out where I’m supposed to go.  East Heron Circle is left off of Main Street.  It’s more of a cul-de-sac than a circle, though.  It is a cul-de-sac.  Two blue houses there.

 

I definitely have trouble with the addresses again, so I say…the first house I go to is the yellow house.  Nope, doesn’t need mail.  Luckily they…it pops up to tell you.  Another house doesn’t need mail.  Then I go to a house with a SUV; doesn’t need mail.  Another one of the blue houses; that one does, 207.  I say, where’s this other one?  ‘Cause I’m doing a lot of walking around.  Checked the map; 205, so can Scoots figure out that that’s next door?  No, I didn’t.  I go the wrong way.  Oh no, I went around my truck, so I did figure it out.  I deliver the mail there.  There’s a treehouse in the backyard.  Then I’m nosey; is that party invitations?  Then I get back in the truck, check my map, I check it twice, and I see…okay, there’s a couple mail on New Street which is near…off of Lake when you head out of town going…I don’t know, east or west.

 

So, I take a left on Main Street, I’m headed down towards the lake, straight towards Lake Street, and I make a right on Lake or Lake Road.  Lakeview Boulevard, technically, on this part of town, but it’s part of the road that circles the lake.  I head in there, and I’m looking for New Street.  Pass it, so then I reverse and hopefully my supervisor’s not watching.  100 New Street, so this must be the newest street in town.  Oh, and this is the street her parents live on, right next door.  New neighbors, Meredith says.  I take New Street, make a left on Walnut where there’s another delivery, and it’s just mail.  Let’s see, 203 Walnut; put the mail in.  I’m pretty efficient on that one.  Two cars in that driveway, a maize-colored house.

 

Make a right on Vintage Street, and it looks like I have…the next delivery is on…I get out in the middle of the road.  It’s on…oh, it’s back to the cat house, Miss Jenkins.  She needs a cat dropped off at a fisherman’s place who also serves as the vet.  He runs the bait shop.  I say okay, I’ll do it.  She makes a pun; take more to murder Mr. Mackey…bait shop by the lake.  I’m like, okay, if we worked on Labor Day, I can deliver cats.  Part of me did say I probably shouldn’t be doing this, but then part of me said I gotta make the most of this opportunity.  So, then I’m trying to figure out where Mr. Mortimer is, then I see a new symbol, but I want to make sure I deliver some stuff on the way.  So, I see a package has gotta go to the motel.  Hopefully I decide to do that first.  Well, I just saw another set of roads I hadn’t accessed.

 

So, right now I’m just checking the map, and I guess I wayfind to go to Mortimer, but then I go, let’s wayfind to the motel first.  I take Mortimer to the truck with me, put Mortimer in, and then I head out.  I make a right on Lake Road, just ‘cause…actually is probably halfway to the thing.  I pass the gas station, head up, go over the blue bridge, the trestle bridge, passed where that lumberjack lives, and head up a little bit, gained some elevation.  It’s like misty, grey weather, though the weather does change, I’ve learned.  Go through the tunnel; this time I get through the tunnel clean without scraping the truck at all.  A little more elevation gain, another road I haven’t explored on the right and the West Lake Road, and then we come down to the motel, pull in.  It’s Oregon Trail Motel, so another little shout-out.

 

They are getting a parcel; 400 Lake Road.  I get that ready, but the motel clerk is playing a video game, computer game.  I say, here’s a parcel.  They say, hold on.  They’re ignoring me.  It’s for Oregon Trail Motel.  Seems to be a action in the game, ‘cause the person’s doing a lot of moving around and typing.  Then I say alright, have a nice day; I’ll just leave it here.  They never come to.  That was in the lobby.  So, then I pull out, make…I do my double check.  Okay, next stop is to drop Mortimer off at Mr. Mackey’s.  I never took a…I guess I’m legally filling in for my father anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.  So, then I head outta town, or I take a right on Lake Road.  East Lake Road we’re at now…go over the dam, see the rock formation I want to check out one day.  We’re kind of stable…a little bit of elevation gain.

 

I don’t know when we lose the elevation…past what the farm looks like, then we’ll pass I think the turnout for the diner.  We go left on East Lake Road.  We stay on East Lake Road, I guess, some other road.  Then there’s a dirt road on the left.  I just catch it on the first try.  I accidentally bump a few things.  I tried to drive out onto the pier just to save time, but it wouldn’t let me do that.  We see Mackey’s; it’s like a pier with a house or a restaurant or something.  There’s boats, which I think you get to use later.  I did try to go to them and use them at one point, but it didn’t let me go…so, I go up to the back.  Door doesn’t open.  Then I see somebody fishing and looking.  He goes oh, you’re Thomas’ kid.  I remember you running around the lake.  What can I do you for?  He’s got a serious beard and sweater.  Mortimer the cat.

 

He says, pleased to meet you, Mort.  Millie been feeding you cupcakes?  I say, I have no idea.  I don’t know.  I put him on a diet.  I’ll take care of him.  He’ll probably be well by tomorrow.  Just come back and get him then.  I say, okay.  So, then I head back to the post office, go down the stairs.  Well, this is what I’m supposed to do ‘cause my day’s done.  I go down the stairs, I get in my truck, and let’s see how I do going back to the post office to end my work day.  Back up…still learning the mechanics of driving here.  Tight fit because I tried to drive on the pier.  Come out, make a left on East Lake Road, and I’m headed back towards Main Street.  I think I just went straight to the end of the day, but let’s see.  Come up on Main Street and I make a right.  Yeah, then I see the post office there.  I pull in.  Providence Post Office.

 

There’s a cut scene and then it goes back; Weiss residence, Wednesday evening.  My phone rings and it’s Steve.  Added 87 is getting there.  Listen, you got plenty of time.  I say, I…he says, I got a bunch of files.  It’s a retail pitch.  He needs your magic.  Do you think you can add it?  I say, I’m not sure, Steve.  How many pages are we talking about?  He goes, not much; 100 pages.  I’ll send it to the post office.  Then I’m a little passive; I say, I guess.  He says, mail it back to me.  Then he says, Added 87.  Anything you like.  Then he says, gotta jet; bye.  Hangs up.  Meredith sighs.  Then I stay home and I watched The Postman Always Rings Twice, so I have something to talk about with the person that works at the video store.  Then it’s morning.  I don’t know, maybe I’ll try to do…continue this one on Patreon, but that’s it for now.  Thanks, everybody.  Check out Lake and hopefully we’ll do some new video game stuff soon.  Goodnight, everybody.

 

[END OF RECORDING]

(www.leahtranscribes.com)

Notable Language:

• Barely Noticeable Waves (BNWs)
• Getting good at going fast
• Spanner Dam

Notable Culture:

• Lake Game
• Kentucky Route Zero
• The Postman Always Rings Twice

Notable Talking Points:

• Workin’ my way through tabs
• A tutorial is always important
• When do I lose the elevation?