Another Placeholder Sim Takes Over

I’ve been wanting to do something with this house in Sulani.

So I created a Sim named Malaysia Sunami and moved her in.

(I swear that that’s the name CAS came up with after a few rolls of the dice. I thought it was amazing, considering what I had in mind for her. Now, I don’t like it so much. Maybe I’ll change it when she gets married – I’ve never done that before. For now, I’ll just call her Malaysia.)

Since the water is right there, I made her a mermaid.

Since there’s a community easel right outside of the house, I put Malaysia into the Painter career.

I haven’t done a lot of renovation to the house yet. Mostly, I’ve opened it up to the beautiful views outside.

Malaysia became good friends with her neighbor across the bay, and fellow mermaid, Kris Ogawa-Moon. Kris wasn’t born a mermaid, but became one after she was expelled from High School for no reason.

Malaysia became good friends with a Sim named Kevin Puri.

I don’t remember how Malaysia met Kevin. He was probably some random Sim that showed up at her house, and kept showing up.

Malaysia bought a sleeping bag and invited Kevin over for a 3-day stayover. They were compatible, and got along well together.

Although she has the Unflirty trait and he’s Socially Awkward, they became woo-hoo partners.

After the stayover, Malaysia invited Kevin out to a casual dinner.

Later, Kevin invited Malaysia out on a date.

Their romance grew. Malaysia asked Kevin to be her boyfriend, and he said yes.

(I’ve heard some criticism that relationships build too easily in The Sims 4. I’m beginning to think there might be something to that. On the other hand, I was guiding Malaysia and Kevin. I could have kept them distant.)

Malaysia invited Kevin for another stayover. This time, it was for the maximum 7 days.

A day or two into that second stayover, Kevin suggested that they move in together. Malaysia agreed.

Kevin moved in with Malaysia.

Until the time came to merge households, I didn’t know who Kevin Puri was. He was just some random NPC. It turned out that he was a member of the Price household that came with High School Years.

The New Library

I had two physical library books checked out.

I’ve renewed one book.

I just couldn’t get into the other book, and decided to return it unfinished.

I was undecided whether to return that one book today, or wait until the Capitol Hill Library reopens on June 3.

If I returned it today, it would have to be at the Central Library during my break at work. That’s easy.

The problem was, I didn’t know when either book was due back. Unlike a digital eBook, a physical book doesn’t tell you.

The difficulty was that the Seattle Public Library website had been down all weekend, for scheduled maintenance, and was still down as I started writing this post. I had no access to my account.

I had a flashback to when the pandemic closed the libraries, and I had a book borrowed, and I had no idea when I’d be able to return it.

I don’t like admitting this, but digital library eBooks are so much more convenient.

None of this was a major catastrophe, since the library no longer charges late fees. (It’s a practice I have mixed feelings about, but, oh well.) You just won’t be able to borrow any more books until your overdue books are returned.

(I almost named this post “Decisions Without Consequences.”)

I decided to return that library book today.

I made a detour to the Capitol Hill Library on my way to work this morning. I figured that, even though the library was closed, the book drop might be unlocked – like there might be some staff working inside. It was worth a try.

The book drop was unlocked, and I returned one of the books I’d borrowed.

There was a sign in the library door saying that the library will be closed on Memorial Day. The sign saying the library will be closed until June 3 was gone. There was also a sign saying that, because of scheduled system maintenance, the library catalog and self-checkout are unavailable.

So the Capitol Hill Library reopened early?

In the middle of the morning, Phillip sent  me a text message, asking what his library PIN is. He reminded me that I have it coded in my phone’s Contacts list.

I looked, but I couldn’t find it. Did it get lost during the times I got a new phone? Or were we both misremembering that it was in my Contacts list?

Before the pandemic, Phillip would occasionally ask me to pick up a library hold for him. He’d send me his library number and PIN. (Maybe that’s where I had his PIN – in a text message I no longer have.)

(Why didn’t Phillip pick up his own holds? Because he’d ask me on days when he’d driven to work, and it was easier for me, on foot, to stop into the library than it was for him to find a parking spot.)

The pandemic turned us both into Libby app users. I haven’t picked up a library hold for Phillip in over four years.

During the pandemic, a coworker remarked that things will never return to the way they were before. That coworker was right.