Archive for the ‘tips and tricks’ Category

Happy Planner 101 – Advice from the Planner Newbie

Saturday, November 4, 2017

First … DON’T PANIC.  Getting started with Happy Planner (HP from now on) and planner journals can be overwhelming.  Take a deep breath, have a piece of chocolate and plunge on.

I’ve never been able to keep a planner for more than, say a, month.  But as the husband & I are traveling more, I needed to keep a calendar.  I have my iPhone, but honestly that is so … calendar.  My HP is more of a scrapbook than just a calendar.  Or a picture journal with places for appointments.  Either way, it’s fun and I hopefully will be able to keep it going.  I’ll check back in a couple of months.

I did not research planners or how to plan or anything like that. A person in my one Facebook group had a HP, and I jumped in feet first and THEN decided to do my research.  It worked out ok.  I’m happy with my choice.

Look around to see what kind of planner will suit you. You might want to go fully DIY or you might want to buy something like the Happy Planner. Next you need to choose a size that works for you.  This site by Amber Downs has the dimensions of the HP very clearly laid out.  And of course there is the HP itself – they come in just the planner or planner kits.  I started with a planner kit because it had stickers and everything I needed to start.  Michael’s & Hobby Lobby seem to be the big retailers.  I got mine through Amazon.com because I get most everything through Amazon.

There are no wrongs for planner-ing. Only preferences. And some really good suggestions.  But do what feels best for you and you will have a happy journey.

Here’s what I’ve learned:
Happy Planners & their accessories are overwhelming. There are so many choices and so many things download the brain explodes with the possibilities.  Just DON’T PANIC and don’t go crazy in the planner aisle…. yet.  You want to figure you where you are going with your planner first.

Read, read, read.  Well, skim until you find one that gives you ideas for a direction.  me & my BIG ideas have great ideas.  Heather Kell’s website Kell of a Good Time (specifically this post) is a must read. Heather’s post on how to use HP is a good read for ideas on direction.  I googled “how do i use my happy planner”. Happy As Annie is another good one to read – in 3 parts!  Take notes and bookmarks sites so you can go back later.

The one thing that is consistent from blog to blog is the advice on pre-populating or decorating your planner (don’t for the most part) and using sticky notes (do use them).  The suggestion is only add activities that won’t change such as birthday’s and holiday’s. For anything that is subject to change (appointments, dates, outings) use sticky notes so the event can be moved easily.  Decorating your planner should be done week by week and one month at a time.  One main reason for me would be between January and June a ton of new stickers & washi tape will have come out.

As some point during this process I decided on a planner/scrapbook idea.  I don’t want more that one 1 planner because I’m bad enough keeping 1. Plus the scrapbook part will keep me from getting bored.

When I look at all the planners with the perfect handwriting, I don’t want to write anything in my crappy old handwriting. I’m just going to take a breath and write on anyway. Since it’s my journal it should be in my crappy old handwriting!  Plus it will give me something to improve as I go on.

Stickers:
Here’s the big OVERWHELM. There are a million stickers and a million more downloads.  And then we get to the free stuff. First DON’T PANIC.  Don’t buy a ton of stickers until you know the direction you are taking. Download to your hearts content – but don’t print yet!  Again it’s all about your direction.

Honestly there are a million sticker choices.  But that also can be a good thing.  There is a sticker already made for almost every event.  Victoria Thatcher has wonderful stickers. I googled “happy planner free printables” and “happy planner free printable stickers”.  Like I said before, download to your hearts content, but don’t print until you know where you are going.

Free download or just download have an advantage over purchased as they can be reprinted over and over.  They have a disadvantage (unless you have a sticker machine such as a cricut) in that you have to cut them by hand and they may not look as good that way.

Pinterest is a good place to keep your planner sticker choices & planner ideas. You can include stickers you are on the fence about or ideas that are interesting but your not 100% sure about.

Download and keep the stickers you plan to use. When you download them, name them something that makes sense to you. Put stickers that you will use over and over in a special subdirectory.  These (link & link) I will use every year.  Don’t forget to Pin or bookmark pages you want to go back to.

Splurge for the good sticker paper. The better the paper the better the stickers.  This Avery Paper is recommended by many – including me.  Consider spending the money to have the stickers printed at an office supply store. Buying sticker from Etsy or a store is a good thing. Someone put a lot of work into creating the stickers and monetary compensation is a way of saying thank you.

Washi tape – I’m still not convinced I need this. But all the resources seem to think I do. I’m not ruling it out, I’m just not rushing out to get some either. I’m sure eventually I will find it useful, just not now when I am first starting out.  It all goes back to how are you using your planner.

Things You Might Need:
If you are going to expand your planner and add pages you’ve downloaded you will need a hole punch. The referenced on is for a classic (or medium) planner. You might also need expansion rings if you are adding a lot of pages.

This is my wish list of thing I want to add:
pocket folders
pen holder
inspiration card
paper clips with flags (maybe i do need washi tape)

 

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Knitting How-To: Joining 2 Skeins of Yarn

Sunday, January 25, 2015

I don’t know about you, but I really dislike weaving in ends. I’m lazy and when I’m finished knitting I really want to be done with a project. And also, I’m always afraid that my weaving in won’t be enough and the ends will come undone and my entire project will unravel.

What I do is probably – if I did my research – something common. Here is what I do, especially with the fluffier yarns. The join with the smooth yarns (especially bulky) is more noticeable. But depending on what you are knitting and where the join is, it might not make a difference.

When you are about 6 to 8 inches from the end of a skein, fold the yarn in half.

2 skeins - fuzzy

New & Old - smooth New Looped - Smooth Old and New - Smooth

Take the new skein and do the same thing (fold in half) looping the new through the old.

Joined - Fuzzy

Old and New Joined - Smooth Old and New Joined - Smooth

Knit the folded yarn like you would any other yarn. Just be careful when you knit back over the join to pick up both strands as 1 stitch or you will increase accidentally! Or worse pick up an end which isn’t knit in and it will come undone creating a hole. So just watch then next row and you’ll be just fine!

Knit to Join - Fuzzy A look at the join on needles - Fuzzy A look at the join on needles - Fuzzy

Knit as Normal - Smooth Starting New Skein - Smooth Working Yarn & Tail - Smooth Knit as Normal - Smooth Joined - Smooth

Tah-Dah! You are woven in without weaving. And because your join is actually knit into the fabric you don’t have to worry about it coming undone.

Knit both side of the join - Fuzzy

Snip Off the Excess Old - Smooth Snip Off the Excess New - Smooth TahDah Joined = Smooth

 

 

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Desktop Publishing Tip: Don’t Throw Out That Mistake

Saturday, July 5, 2014

You know that envelope (invitation, response card, etc.) you just ruined? Don’t throw it out. Use it as a template to make your corrections. You now know where you don’t want your text. Make your corrections and just run it through the printer a second (or even 3rd or 4th) time. Just use a different color print each time so you know to where you’ve moved your text.

In the examples below, I’ve blurred the names and address. So don’t worry, your vision hasn’t gone selectively blurry.

As you can see from the Invitation below I ended up printing it 3 times. Once my orientation was wrong. And then my placement was off. By using 2 different colors I was able tInviteo run the invite through and get the orientation and placement right. The flowers in the lower left, added a bit of a fun in getting just the reception inforrmation to move to the right.

I use Microsoft Publisher for most of my publishing. Mail merges are a pain, but the plus is the text boxes stay put and can be placed anywhere. With the invite above, the flowers in the lower right created fun with which Word would have had problems.  I just used a blank & empty text box to force the reception information to the right.

 

The image below is the back of the invitation envelope. As you can see, the 1st time I ran it through, I had the the text on the file in the wrong place (at the bottom). And actually that is the 2nInviteEnvReard time I ran it through the printer.  The first time I had the envelope in the printer wrong and ended up printing on the front of the envelope.  The 2nd time I ran it through on the back, I moved the text in the file, but the text was not where I wanted it on the envelope (I wanted it very close to the edge of the flap).  I ran this envelope through the printer a total of 6 times – for the back – until I finally got the text where I wanted it.  Horizontally it never moves, vertically well, lets just say I was challenged.

Another tip is … Know Your Printer. Mine doesn’t like odd sized paper – which seems to be anything other than 8.5″x11″. Ok, it’s nResponseEnvot that tempermental, but I can’t run just any old size through and have it come out brilliantly on the first try (which is obvious from these pictures). Ususally I have to choose a paper size close to that with which I am working and make modifications to the location of the text on the file in order to get it to print right. To the left is the front of the response envelope. With these envelopes, I had to flatten them out to get a size that my printer liked. And then when I ran them though flap first they kept jamming. So I ran them through bottom first, which meant my text on the envelope was upside down.  Which is another reason to use Publisher. Rotating the text boxes is a snap. I got the vertical location on the 2nd try (the first one – just the hearts are visable – I had the text box in the upright position, not the upside down position).  On the 3rd try (black ink) I got things just where I wanted them.

 

The image below is the front of a card the bride wanted to add for the original weddiSpecialPeopleCardng party.  The handwritten note on the bottom “bottom up” is from the printing of the inside.  It let me know that that is part of the page is furthest away from the printer and that that side was up when printing.  The black line mid-way up is my fold.  As you can see, again I got the vertical ok but my horizontal was off. (red was the 1st print and black was the 2nd print).  The inside, both the horizontal and vertical were off on the 1st print.  I use various techinques to mark where I want my text to go – including an MS clipart of the letter x. I use rulers, pens, lights and some luck. And that is a post for another day.

 

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Desktop Publishing Tip: Always Buy Extra

Saturday, July 5, 2014

When printing invitations, response cards, etc. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS over estimate how many you need and buy an extra box. It’s always best to have too many than to run short. You will ruin at least 1 when printing. If you have an unopened box you can return it (just stick the receipt in the box so you don’t loose it) or sell it (online, at a yard sales, give it to a friend, etc).

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How do I sort my Yahoo email by Sender (10/10/13 version)

Friday, October 11, 2013

First off, why on God’s green earth when something is working do they have to go and break it!?  Below is how to change your choices in Yahoo Mail so you can sort your e-mail by Sender.  (click on the images below to see the full image)

The following is courtesy of www.TheWebElves.Net. They found it for me and I just had to share because no one else has!

How to Sort by other than date or unread or attachments or starred (the most unhelpful choices – beyond unread)

Mail1

 

In mail there is a gear in the upper right hand corner. it will drop down when you hover over it. Click on Settings, (remember you can click the images)

Mail2

 

click on Viewing email,

Mail3

uncheck the “enable conversations” check box. Click save.

Mail4

Now you will be able to sort by help choices such as sender  or subject when you click view (just below the gear in the upper right hand corner).

Mail5

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Yarn: the importance of dye lots

Sunday, August 4, 2013

For those of you who are like me and don’t necessarily pay attention to your dye lots, this post is for you.

I never really pay too much attention to dye lot. Granted I do try to buy enough of the same dye lot to finish a project. But I usually say, if it looks the same then the dye lot isn’t too important. That can be horribly wrong.

The attached picture is Lily Sugar ‘n Cream Soft Violet. They are both the same color, just different dye lots. It is just a very graphic showing of how different dye lots can be. In this case, the fact that they are different colors is fine. I actually wanted 3 different colors of purple for my project. But if I was making something that required a consistent color – I would be in deep weeds!

Here is a link to the pot holders I am making. 3 strand pot holder. As you can see, dye lot isn’t important in this case.

Just a word of advice from someone who normally plays fast & loose with dye lots … if you are doing a solid color project buy enough of the same dye lot to finish your project!!!

20130804-184635.jpg

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The Sims Medieval for iPhone

Saturday, January 21, 2012

From EA: Your favorite lighthearted Sims universe is going old-school – back to the times of castles, kings, jesters and knights! Control your Sims and decide their fates in this new fantasy. From serf and squire to Lady and Lord, role-play and immerse yourself in a dramatic, story-driven adventure. Create your hero and determine your Sim’s destiny – the possibilities are endless. Long Live The Sims!

This is my walkthrough of Sims Medieval for iPhone. It will be a work in process until I finish replaying the game. This isn’t a review, although I had fun with the game. This is not a how to I buy furniture for my house type guide. I am assuming you know how the game works and how each of the buttons work. If you don’t know this, create a throw away Sim and push all the buttons until you know what they do.

Stop reading now if you don’t like spoilers and hints and cheats. I’m talking this paragraph now. The next paragraph starts the spoilers. Ok. You’ve been warned.

If you have any questions about how to do something I will try to the answer the question if you leave me a comment. http://www.supercheats.com/iphoneipad/thesimsmedievalquestions.php has a lot of answers. Actually that’s wereh I got all my answers before I decided to write this. Okay… here goes.

Do NOT EVER!
In the “Options” menu, do not ever, ever, ever tap “Reset Data” unless you want to start the game from scratch. Not only will it re-hide all your goals it will DELETE all your Sims. The good news is, if you tap it accidentally you do get the option to tap the red X and not reset.

The Objective:
Complete all 43 goals.

The Skills:
Strength
Agility
Spirituality
Charisma
Your skills are increased by doing quests. Each different quest raises your skills by different amounts and you get a different number of simoleons too. You can increase your Skills by doing various acitivites in between quests. In order to increase your strength you will need to purchase an armory (this is actually part of a goal so don’t buy one until you are prompted). In order to increase your agility you need to play darts. You can buy one or use the one at the Tavern. In order to increase your spirituality you will need to read books. Once you reach a certain level you can buy one or read the books at the Church or at the Wizards. In order to increase your charisma you will need to look in a mirror. You can go to the Herbalists or once you reach a certain level you can buy one for your house.

The Status (focus points):
Hunger – Eat
Energy – Sleep/Sit
Social – Talk to another Sim
Fun – play dice, fish, pull a sword from a stone, watch stars
Every 24 Sim hours you get 4 focus points to do quests to meet goals. Fortunately there are only 4 status’ that you must keep up. At the stroke of Midnight (00:00) your focus points will increase by 1 for each of the above 4 that are statisfied (in the green). If one is not fully satisified at midnight, you will receive the focus point once you do satisfy it.

The Bonus:
Faith – Pray
If you increase your faith and keep it 3/4 full (or higher) you will get an one focus point for faith and then an extra bonus point for being euphoric. In order to pray you will need to either go to the church or buy your own Prayer alter.

The Stories:
The Charitable Guy
Way of the Brave
Religious Commitment
Political Commitment

There are actually 55 total goals. However you have to have 4 different Sims to complete all 55. Each of the 4 Stories have 39 shared goals and 4 unique goals. Below are list the various goals with the focus points it takes to achieve the goal in parentheses and the townie who gives you the quest.

Shared Goals:
Hero’s lesson (1) Tariq the Brave
Fish Soup (3) Farmelin
Heroic Challenge n°1 (0) Quest Panel
The Drakhans (3) Tariq
Ugly Kid (3) Firmin
Heroic Challenge n°2 (0) Quest Panel
I’m Dabest (3) Will Dabest
A Mysterious Plant (3) Firmin
Plants amateur (3) Kamelia
The Fish Master (3) Innkeeper
Spread the Word (3) Brother Jules
Point of View (3) Kamelia
Chicken Wings (3) Farmelin
Heroic Challenge n°3 (0) Quest Panel
Return of Will Dabest (4) Will Dabest
Funny Haircut (4) Firmin
The Rootless Mushrooms (3) Innkeeper
Plants Collector (3) Kamila
Collect for Charity (3) Brother Jules
Sticky Bob (4) Sticky Bob
The Fish Master (4) Innkeeper

The Stories Goals:
Story: The Charitable Guy I (10) Mortemer
Story: The Charitable Guy II (10) Mortemer

http://taciej.com/blog/?page_id=2055 is a link to the page with the steps for each of the quests.

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Converting a PDF file to a Kindle for iPhone readable version.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

A girlfriend gave me a copy of her book in a PDF format and I wanted to put it in my Kindle for iPhone so I could take it with me. I looked around on the next and got part here, part there, and a lot of bad info along the way. Once I finally figured it out, it is so easy. It took me most of a day to research it, but once I realized how to do it I had a total “D’oh!!!” moment.  So since I couldn’t find the exact directions anywhere else … I’m making my own.  Follow the pink arrows on the pictures (which you can click on to make bigger).  They will show you where to go.

What you need.
1. PDF you want to convert into an Kindle for iPhone readable format.
2. Mobipocket Creator software (free download at http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/DownloadCreator.asp).

Assumptions:
1. You have a PC with iTunes installed.
2. You have Kindle for iPhone installed.
3. You know how to save files in directories and then find them again later.
4. You know how to find & open programs.
5. You can be a little patient. (This is VERY hard for me sometimes.)

What you do.
Make sure you are synced up with iTunes.  This is only just in case you have a problem you are all backed up (this is just the IT coming out).

Keep your iPhone connected to your PC.

Install Mobipocket Creator.  You must have the Creator.

Start Mobipocket Creator.  Open your PDF by clicking the “Adobe PDF” link under the “Import From Existing File” menu on the home page (see the pink arrow on the image below).

Click the “Browse” button and click on your file name and click “Open”.

 

Then click “Import”.  The status bar will show you your import.

Click the “Build” button along the top row.

Pause a moment.  If you are feeling adventurous, explore the options on the right hand side (Cover Image, Table of Contents, Book settings, Metadata, Guide).  I’m not going into them here, but would be happy to answer any questions.

Click the “Build” button.

You are now ready to import your file into you Kindle for iPhone.

Open iTunes
Click on your iPhone (mine is called iPhone but yours may have another name) on the left hand menu bar.
Click on “Apps” at the top. 

Scroll down.

Click on Kindle

Click on the “Add…” button.

Find your newly created “prc” file.  It should be in “My Documents” “My Publications” and then look for a subdirectory with the name of the PDF file. In this case the subdirectory is  “Love Unscripted”.
Click on the file name with the “prc” extension. Then click the “Open” button.

Your file will appear in the list box and your iPhone will automatically sync.

The next time you open your Kindle for iPhone an additional file (a “mbp” file) will be added to the list box.

DO NOT DELETE THESE FILES! If you delete them they will be removed from your Kindle as well and you will have to do this whole thing all over again.

Tah-Dah!!!

You now have your converted PDF in you Kindle for iPhone.

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The Sims 3 for the iPhone

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Stop reading now if you don’t like spoilers and hints and cheats. I’m talking this paragraph now. The next paragraph starts the spoilers. Ok. You’ve been warned.

For anyone living under a rock, The Sims 3 is a take off on the wildly popular SimCity games. It is about building the people rather than building the town. I got it for my iPhone because I was bored with the games that I was currently play and wanted a new challenge. Well, without the following, of which some is snarked directly, http://chadaustin.me/2010/01/the-completionists-guide-to-sims-3-iphone/ there is no way on God’s green earth I would be able to complete the game. Seriously, who knew the suprise at acheiving all 73 goals was to be able to open the pawn shop and who knew you needed to create 1 Sim with every personality to get there?? No me, not without Chad’s help. I’m not done yet, but at least I know HOW to finish now. He’s did an absolutely AWESOME job sorting out the game. If you have a question, you can leave a comment and I’ll respond. And, no, I can’t help on any other phone than the iPhone – which will be my stock answer. Sorry.

A strategy for completing all 73 goals and acquiring the best job: $600 per day at the Pawn Shop.

The Objective:
The objective is to open the pawn shop. You must complete the 73 goals in order to do this.

Meet the Sims:
There are six Sim classes and 13 Townie Sims. You must create one of each of the Sim in the Classes in order to complete the game. You can play a total of 7 Sims.

The Classes:
Jack of All Trades
Nice Guy
Jerk
Sleaze
Power Seeker
Maniac

The Townie Sims
Nina
Ruth
Johnny
Kia
Jake (in a relationship with Maggie)
Maggie (in a relationship with Jake)
Jack (in a relationship with Jill)
Jill (in a relationship with Jack)
Walter
Luke
Bernie
Marcell (in a relationship with Theresa)
Theresa (in a relationship with Marcell)

You will need to figure out the Townie Sims personality traits in order to better interact with them. Some things you do will annoy them (for example: Walter has no sense of humor so telling him jokes annoys him). If they shake their heads and wave their hands in a no more gesture you know you are doing something that bugs them.

Read the “Goals & Objectives” “Romancing the Sim” before you start befriending Sims. Once you have various skills (fishing, cooking, etc.) various Sims will ask you to do things for money. Various Sims don’t like each other and will ask you to smack, annoy or kick over the trash can of other Sims for money.
Johnny will pay you $200 for a tuna.
Ruth will pay you $xx for cheese.
Theresa will pay you $xx for beans.
Marcel will give you a salmon recipe for a salmon.
Bernie will pay you $30 to annoy Jack.
Jack will pay you $90 to slap Bernie.
Kia will pay you $90 to slap Ruth.

To delete Sim you have created tap the “Start Game” menu, tap the red icon in the lower left corner, tap the Sim you want to delete, tap the green check and that Sim is now removed from your choices. But any Goals accomplished by this Sim are still considered accomplished.

Do NOT EVER!
In the “Options” menu, do not ever, ever, ever tap “Reset Data” unless you want to start the game from scratch. Not only will it re-hide all your goals it will DELETE all your Sims. The good news is, if you tap it accidentally you do get the option to tap the red X and not reset.

The Goals:
There are 73 goals total. 55 of the goals are shared by all Sim classes. 18 goals are specific to a Sim classs. The goals are:

For all Sims (55)
Try fishing
Try cooking
Buy fishing kit
Buy watering can
Buy repair kit
Buy a stove
Buy a bath
Gain a skill point at cooking
Gain a skill point at fishing
Gain a skill point at repairing
Meet a new Sim
Befriend a Sim
Begin a romantic relationship
Make an enemy
Make a Sim laugh
Annoy a Sim
Insult a Sim
Creep-out another Sim
Slap a Sim
Get a job
Buy something
Catch a fish
Catch a trout
Catch a salmon
Catch a catfish
Repair something
Discover a new recipe
Cook something
Cook grilled cheese
Cook steak & veggies
Cook minestrone
Grow something
Grow carrots
Grow corn
Grow tomato
Watch TV
Kick over a Trash Can
Sleep in another Sim’s bed
Use another Sim’s shower
Use another Sim’s toilet
Get a better couch
Get a better TV
Accumulate $1,000
Catch 15 fish
Harvest 30 crops
Stay entertained for three days
Stay fed for three days
Stay rested for three days
Stay clean for three days
Meet all the Sims in town
Make a Sim jealous of you
Sleep in three other Sim’s beds
WooHoo with someone
Get a promotion
Reach the top of the career ladder

Maniac Personal Goals (4)
Use everyone’s toilet at least once
Use everyone’s shower at least once
Creep out five people
Watch three people sleeping

Sleaze Personal Goals (2)
Be romantically involved with three Sims
WooHoo eight times in one day

Power Seeker Personal Goals (3)
Accumulate $5,000
Own the best house
Own the best TV, stereo and stove

Nice Guy Personal Goals (2)
Get married
Be liked by all the Sims in town

Jerk Personal Goals (4)
Be disliked by all the Sims in town
Slap four people
Insult five people
Kick over all the trash cans in town

Jack of All Trades Personal Goals (3)
Achieve the highest fishing skill level
Achieve the highest repairing skill level
Achieve the highest cooking skill level

You should achieve the shared goals with your main Sim. This way they have the experience. But once a goal is accomplished it is accomplished for all Sims.

Play Order
Create six Sims, and designate one as your “main” Sim. Your main Sim is the one with which you most identify.

Jack of All Trades
The Jack of All Trades is a good main Sim (you’ll later need its Repair skill at the Pawn Shop). Play him or her first, building up skill levels as rapidly as possible. Once fishing, repairing, and cooking are level 5, you can save, quit and move to the next Sim.

Power Seeker
Your second Sim is your Power Seeker. Fish until you have $5000 and tool around town until you have the option to upgrade your house twice and buy the most expensive TV, stereo, and stove. Furniture and home upgrades simply take time. This is a good opportunity to accumulate general Goals.

At this point, you should have most of the 55 general Goals.

The Other Sim Types
Sleaze, Nice Guy, Jerk, and Maniac have fairly easy Personal Goals. The order in which you complete them does not matter. At this point, you should have almost all of the Personal Goals. If not, keep playing – they’ll eventually show up.

Wishes vs Goals
All Goals begin their lives as Wishes. You can choose to either leave a wish as a wish or turn it into a goal. Once it is a goal, you can’t change your mind. Be careful – wishes will appear when you are in the middle of doing something else and you can turn them into goals very easily. I’ve done that several times when I didn’t mean to. You can accomplish a goal when it is still just a wish and it counts as accomplishing a goal. But if you leave a wish as a wish (example: Catch 15 fish) and miss finishing it, you will have to start from scratch when it comes back around. If you’ve already caught 15 fish and this goal pops up, you must catch 15 more fish to accomplish it. If you get the goal “Get a better couch” and you already have the best couch, you will have to sell that couch (or if you have more than 1 sell them all), buy the crappy couch and then buy the better couch again. It’s a waste of money, but don’t worry there is a way to make $500 without doing anything. Keep reading.

Goal Tips
Do NOT lock in a goal if you are not ready to accomplish it! Once a wish has been locked in as a goal the only way to remove it from the goals list is to accomplish it. I’ve gotten myself into a situation where I had 4 goals locked in that I couldn’t accomplish right away and missed a couple of wishes that would have been easy to do but just take more time than is given for a wish. If you skip over a wish, it will come back around again and you can make it a goal then – or just accomplish it as a wish.

As previously mentioned, you will need to complete every Goal to unlock the Pawn Shop. Of the 73 total Goals, 55 randomly appear as Wishes, no matter which Sim class you choose, and they’re generally easy to complete. Once completed, they will re-appear as goals. You don’t have to do them again unless you want to. On the other hand, each Sim’s Personal Goals are relatively difficult. As previously mentioned, you’ll need to create at least six Sims, one of each type. For the optimal path through the game, you should complete their personal goals from hardest to easiest.

You don’t have to lock in a wish as a goal. You can just tap the red x and it will appear as a “Current Wish” as opposed to an “Active Goal” and it will eventually disappear. You may be prompted to “Catch a Salmon” before you “Buy a fishing kit”. Once you accomplish the 55 goals for all Sims they will continue to appear as Wishes. If you want to lock them in as Goals, go ahead but you don’t have to. If you aren’t sure if you’ve accomplished a goal, don’t lock it in and go to the main menu and check the “Goals Checklist” list to see if you’ve accomplished it. If you have accomplished it, you can ignore it or make it a goal by tapping the Wishes

Repairing: (you’ll later need its Repair skill at the Pawn Shop). As you accumulate electronics they will start to break. Wait until you get the “Buy repair kit”, if you can, to start repairing. That goal usually pops up before your electronics start breaking, but not always. As you accumulate money, buy as many of the cheapest stereos you can afford, filling your house. Each time you enter the house to eat or rest, turn them all on. Eventually, they will start breaking down, allowing you to practice repairing.

Cooking: Practicing cooking is easy – simply buy bread, cheese, and the Grilled Cheese recipe and make it over and over again. Or Ham & Eggs (3 ingredients – bread, ham, eggs). If you choose Grilled Cheese you will eventually have to sell your recipe in order to complete that goal.

Fishing: Learn to fish, because fishing is the best way to make money. But you either have to wait until you get the goal of “Buy fishing kit” or at some point sell your fishing kit to get this goal. If you don’t get the “Catch a catfish” goal early I found it is harder to catch them at the higher levels. You can either start a new Sim or be patient.

Gardening: You won’t be able to Garden until you upgrade to the 2nd level house. You get 4 plots. Then on the 3rd level house you get 6 plots. This is a good way to say money – by growing, tomatoes, peppers, corn, and carrots. Also, if you choose to work at the Laboratory you will need to advance in Gardening in order to get a promotion.

If you need the “Buy XXX” goal but you already have XXX, then try selling it. Eventually the Goal should appear as a Wish. Lock it in and repurchase the item.

If you need the “Gain a skill point at XXX” goal and you’re maxed out, switch to a Sim that is not maxed out. It is best to take it slow at first.

You will eventually need to meet every Sim in town to accomplish all of your goals. Wait until you get the “Meet a new Sim” goal to meet all the Townie Sims. This is not hard as Bernie is a bit of a recluse and you have to go to his house to meet him. Do NOT go past Friends if you are considering a Romance with a specific Townie Sim. Once you become Good Friends you can not have a Romance. Keep at least one Townie Sim as an Acquaintance until you get the “Befriend a Sim” goal.

If you’re having trouble Meeting all Sims, double-check all of the houses at different times of the day. I’ve noticed Bernie can be hard to find. Most Sims are sleeping in the middle of the night – try breaking into their houses, waking them up, and meeting them. If you hang out at the lake, eventually the Townie Sims will show up there. Even Bernie will make a rare appearance.

Romancing the Sim: In order to advance in the game you will eventually have to have a Romance. The Sims are equal opportunity lovers – they don’t care if you are male or female. If you have gone past Friend, you can’t start a Romance with that Sim. You must either choose a different Sim or annoy the Sim until they Dislike you, and them become their friend again and start a “Budding Romance.” You don’t have to live with a Sim to be a partner or be married to them. If you want to start a love affair with a Sim that has a partner (and not annoy that partner) you will have to do it outside of their house.

If you need to befriend a Sim but you’re already friends with all of the Sims, start a new Sim or insult a Sim until it becomes an enemy, then befriend him or her.

The best way to annoy, insult, and creep-out other Sims is to find a house with two Sims (e.g. Marcell and Theresa), barge in, and start flirting with one of them. Both will be creeped out and annoyed, and the flirting will insult the other and make him or her jealous. If that doesn’t work, start using their toilet, shower, and fridge.

Tips and Tricks
Fishing is the best way to make money. Each tuna sells at QuickMart for $100, and salmon for $65.

Besides the Pawn Shop, working at the Town Hall is the best. It’s easy to get promotions (both Ruth and the Town Hall are nearby) and you just need to be friends with everyone in town. As Vice President, you can make $300 per day.

Creating romantic relationships is easy. It sounds rude, but keep pestering the Sim with Flirt, Tender Embrace, Hot Smooch, and WooHoo. You should be able marry a Sim within two conversations.

Too many WooHoos and your Sim will die! Don’t overdo it in the bedroom!

If you get married, give your spouse a phone call and invite him or her over. Once your spouse arrives, you can invite him or her to move in. The advantage to having a Sim in the house with you is there is always some one with whom you can have a conversation.

Since the Town Hall is right by your house, it’s the best job until the Pawn Shop is open.

If you don’t mind cheating there is a quick way to get $500. When you are in your Sim that is short on cash tap the Menu Button in the lower left hand corner (the (…) button), tap on “Help & About”, tap on “Gardening Tips” and then give your iPhone a good shake. You can do this over and over and over. Just don’t over do on your Power Seeker Sim it until you’ve reached the $1,000 and $5,000 goals.

If you are Hungry or Tired or have to go to the bathroom and don’t think you can make it home there is a way around this problem. Just take a nap at someone else’s house or raid their fridge or use their bathroom. Or tap the Menu Button in the lower left hand corner (the (…) button), tap the “Save and Quit to menu” button, and then restart your Sim. This will automatically take you to your home where you sleep, eat, or do whatever it is you need to do.

The Jobs

Town Hall (boss: Ruth)
Campaign Intern ($100/day) M-F 8:30-18:00
City Council Member ($150/day) M-F 8:30-18:00
Local Representative ($200/day) M-F 9:00-18:00
Mayor ($250/day) M-F 10:00-18:00
Vice President ($300/day) M-F 10:00-17:00

Corsican Bistro (boss: Marcell)
Kitchen Scullion ($100/day) M-F 10:30-18:30
Ingredient Taster ($150/day) M-F 10:30-18:30
Line Chef ($200/day) Tue-Sat 11:00-17:00
Sous-Chef ($250/day) Tue-Sat 11:00-17:00
Chef de Cuisine ($300/day) Tue-Fri 11:00-17:00

Laboratory (boss: Kia)
Test Subject ($100/day) M-F 9:00-16:00
Lab Tech ($150/day) M-F 09:00-16:00
Fertilizer Analyst ($200/day) M-F 09:00-16:00
Carnivorous Plant Tender ($250/day) M-F 09:00-16:00
Genetic Resequencer ($300/day) M-F 10:00-16:00
A quick tip about being a lab worker – it is dangerous and you will almost certainly die at least once. Avoid working here.

Quickmart (boss: Bernie)
Filing Clerk ($100/day) M-F 08:30-18:30
Report Processor ($150/day) M-F 09:00-17:00
Corporate Drone ($200/day) M-F 09:30-16:30 and you get a car!
Division Manager ($250/day) M-F 8:30-18:30
It’s not worth getting promotions at Quickmart. Bernie is a pain and you have to work there FOREVER before he’ll promote you.

Pawn Shop (boss: Nina)
Con Artist ($300/day) M-F 16:30-23:55
Safecracker ($400/day) M-F 16:30-23:55
Cat Burglar ($500/day) M-F 17:00-23:55
Master Thief ($600/day) M-F 17:00-23:00

With the information given above, you should have no problem achieving 73 goals and as much money as you need to decorate your dream home.

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MyTown update

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Since I can’t figure out how to update the existing file here’s the new update for my MyTown spreadsheet.  If you have any changes or updates to it let me know and we’ll do this again.  Actually we’ll do it again when I level up and can update my properties to level 22.

myTownItems

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