For various reasons, every three weeks I have a two-hour lunch break at the day job and have to stay an hour later than usual. Recently, I've been spending those two hours relaxing in a local coffee shop and playing some Switch, but today I decided to try doing something different: popping home and seeing if I could squeeze in a quick video recording session.

Turns out I could! This is excellent news, as it means I can now get more done… at least every three weeks or so, anyway. Today's lunch break was ample time to be able to record an episode of Warriors Wednesday and still have time to eat, nip to the shop and be back at work before I needed to be. So that's pretty good. With that in mind, I'm going to start trying to make "productive" use of these two-hour lunch breaks when I can — getting ahead of schedule on some video series would be very beneficial, as it'll free up other times for me to get on with the other commitments I've made to myself.

I like making "discoveries" like this. It's a satisfying feeling when you successfully optimise your time somewhat — especially if it means you can spend more time doing the things you love doing. While I don't love the late finishes at work, I could certainly get used to having 5 days in a row where I have plenty of time to get stuff recorded ahead of schedule for various series! I might even be able to find some time to do more "reading" videos, then — there's a lot of articles I've written in the past couple of months in particular that it would be cool to make a video for, for the benefit of those who are "exclusively YouTube" and haven't paid MoeGamer a visit.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll figure something fun out to do with all this extra time. Watch this space!

EDIT again: This should be working now! Sorry about that!

Time for another vlog! Today I talk a bit about the new diet Andie and I are following, and a little about Inio Asano's manga A Girl on the Shore, which I think I need to read again immediately before I try and compose any further thoughts about!

$5 Patrons, I owe you a wallpaper; now this month's payments have come through, I'll get on that this week. I have a busy couple of evenings early in the week but I'll get something to you as soon as I can!

I've spent a lot of today recording the next couple of episodes of Final Fantasy Marathon for YouTube. They're long episodes (a little over 2 hours each) because I wanted to make a significant amount of progress — plus some quick mental calculations in my head last night led me to believe that at my current pace, it's going to take about six years for the "project" as a whole to be completed. Probably more, since the games get longer as time goes on.

I very much want to go through with this as I really enjoy both Final Fantasy and the recording of these videos, but I'm conscious of the amount of time it takes to get through them. Unfortunately, with my current life and working situation, there really isn't a way I can do it any quicker along with all the other things that I want to do — and those "other things" are probably more important to me, as Final Fantasy Marathon was always intended as a fun little side project.

Going forward, I think we'll just take things as they come. If we need a long episode to get through a long dungeon, we'll do that. If we need to take a year to get through one game, we'll do that. I'm in no rush to get this "finished", as it were; I'm just conscious of things like the slightly turbulent atmosphere surrounding YouTube right now, as well as things like the MMOs — what state will they be in by the time I get to them?

Probably best not to worry about it. This is all for fun and a hobby right now, after all. As I've said numerous times, I would love to make it my full-time job, but that needs a few more Patrons before it's a thing I could even contemplate a little bit — so I do what I can when I can for the moment.

Speaking of which, the fact it's now 23:52 as I type this means that I'm probably going to leave this week's PATRONS ONLY! vlog until tomorrow, so watch out for that then!

Hope you're having a good weekend and Christmas shopping hasn't been too stressful.

So, I've apparently been doing this daily post thing for a year! Actually, slightly more than that, because I looked back and it seems I started this on December 4th last year, so I've obviously buggered up the numbers somewhere. I'm not going through 365+ posts trying to fix that though, so, well, we'll call it a year from today, huh.

On this day last year, I was writing about how much pain I was in because of my hernia, and talking about losing some weight so I can hopefully get it treated. Unfortunately I haven't been able to make a ton of progress on that, because both Andie and I got pretty demotivated with Slimming World thanks to anxiety, stress and depression, so we both fell off the wagon pretty hard.

We have started a new diet, though, and we're going to see how this goes for us. We've decided to give the keto plan a go; this is a high-fat, low-carb diet where you deliberately put your body in a state known as "ketosis" — it's nothing scary, despite the frightening-sounding name; it just means that your body starts burning fat for energy rather than carbohydrates. And since most of the weight you carry around consists of energy stored as fat, that's exactly what you want your body to be doing if you want to lose weight.

I've had a go at low-carb diets before, specifically Atkins, but I didn't get on all that well with it. At least part of this was because I was trying to do it by myself at the time and, as they say, these things are always easier if you have someone to share the experience with. With both Andie and I working on the same diet, it's easier for both of us to be strict and keep to what we're supposed to be eating.

It's only been a couple of days so far, but I'm feeling like it's something I'll be able to do. One of the things I missed the most on Slimming World was the pleasure of fatty foods like nice cuts of meat, butter and that sort of thing. On the keto plan, those make up the majority of your food intake, so you can enjoy stuff like bacon, pork chops and the like without guilt — you just need to make sure that you complement them with appropriate, non-starchy (i.e. green) vegetables in order to make sure that you're getting enough fibre. And drink lots of water, obviously.

We've also learned of the questionable joy of chia pudding, which is a jar of milk with some chia seeds in it; leave it a little while and it goes goopy, roughly the consistency of tapioca or rice pudding, and can then be consumed for a surprisingly filling breakfast. You can add cocoa, vanilla essence and sugar-free syrup to make it actually taste of something, too; this is an ongoing experiment for us to see what works well.

Thankfully, we're spending Christmas at home by ourselves this year, so we can take complete control of our Christmas dinner and not be tempted by either of our respective mothers' excellent roast potatoes — verboten on keto — and hopefully still have something nice.

The one side effect is that for the first few days — and possibly a couple of weeks — you are a bit prone to something known as "keto flu" while your body adjusts to this "new" way of doing things. Consequently, it's a good idea not to overexert yourself, as you might find yourself a bit low on energy or feeling the "brain fog" a bit, so that probably means a temporary pause to my gym activities. Once I know I've set the appropriate dip switches in my body, though, I can get back to it — and supposedly, this diet is actually good for energy levels in the long term, so I should (hopefully) see improved performance.

We'll see. I know a few people who have had some success with this, so I'm intrigued to see if it actually works. And perhaps one day I'll have shed enough weight to actually get my guts put back in the place they're supposed to be. That would be nice!

I find the growth of "Asia English" releases kind of fascinating, because it's gradually becoming a synonym for "niche interest, limited run".

I say this after Play-Asia announced earlier today that they had opened preorders for a physical release of the Atelier Dusk Trilogy for Switch — something that Koei Tecmo fans have been clamouring for for quite some time now.

One small snag for some people: it's $89.99, which seems like a lot of money for a relatively no-frills physical release. However, it's important to remember what this package is offering: three separate, distinct games that are all fairly substantial in terms of content and length, and which will almost certainly be at least $29.99 when they're released digitally in January. They might even be more than that; I believe the Arland Trilogy was about £34.99 per game when it released, so if Dusk is priced similarly, that $89.99 is actually a reasonable saving.

I've grabbed a copy because I'm one of the people who has been asking Koei Tecmo for a physical release of these games for some time now. I have all the original PS3 versions on my shelf, but knowing that the enhanced and expanded "Plus" versions are out there, I've been holding off playing them. And to date, only one of the "Plus" versions has had a packaged release: Atelier Shallie, which is the last of the trilogy.

I understand why some people might baulk at the idea of $89.99 for "one" packaged release, but do bear in mind what you're getting for that price in this case.

I feel like the price might also reflect the fact that this is always going to be a niche-interest limited run for people like me who try to avoid digital-only whenever possible, and that's why I say Asia English releases are kind of feeling like that pokey little shop down a dark alleyway that only a few people know about, but where you can find some of the coolest stuff imaginable.

Asia English has, to date, been a way to get around overzealous censorship of titles like Omega Labyrinth (and I imagine Bullet Girls Phantasia wouldn't have gone down well either) as well as a means of acquiring English language releases that, for one reason or another, Western arms of publishers don't feel will sell well over here.

And maybe they won't. Which is why I'm grateful that Asian publishers appear to have no qualms about releasing something that may only sell a few hundred or thousand copies. It means I can keep my shelves well-stocked with games that I like — and over time, that collection will become increasingly unusual and unique when compared to other people with more mainstream tastes in games!

So, well, it looks like I'll have a copy of the Atelier Dusk Trilogy on my shelf towards the end of January. Just in time to write about it!

Nearly ten years ago, I was not in a good place. My first marriage had come to an end, I had lost my job and I had been forced to confront the truth that I had "failed" at life. I was mortified at how badly I had messed things up, and at how I'd had to move back home with my parents.

In retrospect, all of those things worked out for the best. I'm in a much better position now — not perfect by any means, but better — and my parents helped me out of a pinch that, not to put too fine a point on it, could easily have been the end of me.

During that dark period, I tended to spend a lot of time locked away in my room. I'd interact with people I knew on social media or through blogging, but otherwise I wouldn't come out all that much.

At some point during the original #oneaday project, I met a young woman who called herself Ms Vee. She was a fascinating person to me; she was one of the most open and honest people I'd ever spoken to, and she'd tell me in great detail about the "swinging" lifestyle she and her boyfriend were into.

She was also a gaming enthusiast. And when Halo: Reach came out, she wanted me to play it with her and her friends.

I was never a huge Halo fan. I've never really gotten into the extended lore and stuff, and I don't find the overarching plot particularly interesting. But I have had some fun with the multiplayer over the years, especially when playing with friends. In fact, Halo multiplayer of various descriptions is one of the few online games I've stuck with for more than a day or two.

Sensing an opportunity for a new distraction from the black pit of despair that was my life at that time, I picked up a copy. I actually found myself rather enjoying the campaign, but by far my fondest memories of Reach are all about those multiplayer sessions I spent with Ms Vee and her friends. Sadly she sort of disappeared from the Internet one day and I have no idea where she went; I miss her quite a bit, as she was a great friend to me in a time of need.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, Halo: Reach came out on PC yesterday. I was going to ignore it, until I saw quite a few of the people I enjoy chatting to on Twitter posting enthusiastically about it. Then, out of curiosity, I happened to look it up on Steam: £6.99. (It's part of the Master Chief Collection, which you can either buy as a bundle and get all the component games as they're released on PC, or buy them individually.)

For £6.99, I was happy to see if it still had that magic; and, moreover, £6.99 is firmly within "impulse purchase" territory for my local friends. We're rarely able to get together to play tabletop games any more due to various circumstances, so online provides a means for us to do something together with relatively minimal time commitments required. And the advent of Discord means that we can chat and mess around while playing almost like we were in the room together.

I think I convinced them to pick up copies, which is great, but none of them were available to play this evening. So I fired it up for a quick go myself; I remember when Reach originally released that I enjoyed just having a bit of a blast in the Rumble Pit playlists, even though I was never particularly good at it.

It's still fun. I still like it a lot. And playing Halo at 60fps feels slightly odd!

I'm also struck by quite how much variety there is in this single game: no additional DLC, season passes or whatever required (unless you count the complete Master Chief Collection package) — just a wide variety of different games ranging from simple deathmatch to elaborate esports-style affairs, all designed to be accessible and enjoyable to newcomers, but providing plenty of depth and challenge for those willing to put the time and effort in.

I don't know how much I'll end up playing Reach on PC, but for £6.99 just a couple of fun sessions a month with friends will make it well worth that small outlay.

If you want to play, feel free to add me on Xbox Live — I'm "sonicfunkstars". Or you can probably also add me via Steam too: https://steamcommunity.com/id/angryjedi/

I remember when I was coming towards the end of secondary school, and lots of talk turned to "The World of Work". It was never just "getting a job" or "working", it was always "The World of Work". Some twenty years later, I feel like my initial reactions to this phrase — to cringe — was somewhat accurate.

I've been pretty disillusioned by "The World of Work" ever since I joined it, and I know I'm not the only one. If it's not being treated like crap by past places of employment, it's being subject to interminably pointless wastes of time like conference calls and meetings, or being made to feel like you did something wrong because you woke up one morning and have the uncontrollable vomity shits. "Return To Work" meeting, go fuck yerself.

I don't like to complain too much, though, because all things considered, my present place of work isn't particularly bad. I get paid a reasonable amount, don't get bothered too much ("Return To Work" meetings aside) and am reasonably good at what I do. I just don't enjoy it, feel any pride in it or any passion for it whatsoever. But I suspect that would be the case wherever I was.

When I consider the cases of several of my friends of late, I feel both lucky and a little despondent that The World of Work is such a universally shitty place to spend the majority of your days. If it's not being so tied up with work that you have little time (or energy) for yourself, it's being treated like crap by the people who are supposed to be encouraging you and nurturing your talents.

One friend in particular has had a real crappy time of it of late. He's been working a job that he's good at and has been underpaid for for quite some time. He's asked for a pay rise several times and been turned down, so he decided to look for another job. Last week, he successfully got another job, and handed in his notice today, at which point he was royally screwed out of his expected notice period and basically told to be out the door by the end of the week. You know, just before Christmas and New Year, one of the most expensive times of year for most people.

It really bums me out to see people treated this way — people who I know deserve better.

I'm still kind of at a loss as to how and why this happens. It appears to be human nature to treat your "direct reports" (ugh) like shit the moment you have a little bit of power. I can see that this is almost certainly counterproductive, since breeding resentment is a sure way to find yourself either with completely unmotivated workers, or without any workers whatsoever. And yet I've seen it time after time at this point.

It's times like this that I wish I had the resources and the wherewithal to do something for myself and be able to draw a reliable, living income from it. There are probably possibilities for what I could do in that regard, but it takes time and money to get established with everything I might be able to do.

Plus, frankly, I'm kind of afraid of the prospect. So, it seems, I will continue to be a less-than-enthusiastic denizen of The World of Work for the foreseeable future.

I spent all of yesterday absolutely convinced that I'd already written this post, and ended up forgetting to actually write it. Oops. Oh well.

While I was bored at the day job, I was browsing through a channel on YouTube that I've developed quite a fondness for. Said channel is called Dead Parrot, and is, from what I can determine, an official distribution source for a variety of excellent British comedy shows, including Peep Show, Black Books and The Peter Serafinowicz Show.

Dead Parrot has also done a bunch of original content, though, with seemingly their most well-known stuff being a short series called YouTube Comment Reconstructions. Here, arguments from YouTube comment sections are overdramatically acted out by a pair of very British actors in some beautifully directed pieces of black and white film.

I absolutely love these, because I'm a big fan of juxtaposition used as a comic device. The severity and the seriousness of the overall aesthetic and tone clashes wonderfully with the absolute absurdity of the arguments that are being made, and the fact that the scenes mostly consist of two middle-aged men reading out arguments that teenage girls made to one another in the heat of the moment just leads to absolutely delightful scenes of hilarity.

I love it. There's an example above; the whole playlist is here if you want a good giggle.

I've not had a great weekend, to be perfectly honest. I didn't sleep particularly well last night, being wracked with anxiety and panic attacks, and those continued through a lot of today. I ended up going back to bed to try and calm myself down a bit; I feel a bit better now, but it has consumed the best part of the weekend.

I did at least finish the main story of Pokémon and get four episodes of Atari A to Z Flashback recorded, though, so that's something. I was hoping to get a bit more done, but I guess sometimes your body and brain just needs you to chill out, relax and take some time to release some tension.

I'm still feeling a bit on edge, to be frank, but hopefully I'll be feeling a bit better tomorrow. It's just a bit annoying to have wasted the vast majority of the weekend with feeling like this. Oh for a couple of extra days off.

Apologies, I thought I scheduled this to post yesterday but actually got the date wrong! Whoops. Here it is now, originally recorded/written on Saturday.

Not entirely sure where today has gone… I don't feel like I accomplished very much! Still, I guess sometimes it's sort of nice to just have a day where you chill out and don't do anything especially productive. And at least I managed to get a thing recorded for all you lovely people.

Have a pleasant weekend!