Welcome back for another year at the Pinenut Plaza Dorm here at Sim State Uni. We are here to accompany...
...Ramon Ramirez through his first two semesters.Gone is the shaggy haircut of his teenage years; he age-transitioned into this one but kept his beard and his sideburns.
Who else is here? Nigel Newson, who is currently the only Sophomore at the dorm...
...Prezioso Picaso, Charlie Cho and Martina Martin...
...Prezioso's twin brother Pablo Picaso...
...and Hailey Hart, who can't seem to get enough of the dorm cook's great food :-)
Charlie is the only Senior Student here right now. The other four - Hailey, Martina, Prezioso and Pablo - are Juniors.
The synthesizer in Charlie's bedroom is still one of the most popular objects in the house.
Ramon gets rid of his sideburns - they don't join properly with his haircut - and starts wearing a watch and an earring.
Prezioso opts for a can of juice when he is very hungry one morning, in spite of there being several plates of pancakes ready on the cafeteria counter.
Every now and then, someone even remembers to take out the trash.
(I've explained my way of playing uni before, so simply skip this if you already know: I control my students only until they have gained the necessary skills and written their term papers for the current semester. After that, they are pretty much left to their own devices, except for me making sure they pay the bills and ring their friends and family back home occasionally.)
The dart board is another very popular object here.
Ramon decides on the Economics Major a few days after his arrival. (If my Sims roll the wish for a specific major, that's the one they'll take. If no such wish comes up, eventually they'll be automatically assigned the Philosophy Major by the game.)
Umm... Hailey, if I were you, I'd not stand there and wait for that dart to hit me between the eyes!
Hailey's LTW is to have 20 simultaneous lovers - so far, she has only one, Pablo. But here, it looks like she is not averse to a second man joining her in the bedroom! (Of course this is not what happened - you know this is not possible in the game, at least not without a hack. But my Sims sometimes have a strange way of choosing where to sleep.)
Hailey surrounded by a bunch of young men - that is how she likes life! (Again, nothing "happened" here. They just all seemed to want to be playing with the synthesizer at the same time.)
Charlie returns from his winter exam. For him, the final semester has just begun.
The others - except for Ramon - follow a few hours later. Now it is time for me to check on everybody: what skills they need, and making sure their needs are taken care of until each has written his or her term paper.
For some, a body skill point is required. Have you ever watched your Sim working out in front of the telly? Most of the time, what your Sim does has nothing to do with the exercises shown on TV.
The coach appears. i wonder whom she will target. Ramon is the only unfit Sim here.
But she does not even look at Ramon. Instead, she makes a beeline for Pablo. "You sure, Mrs. Coach? I am in the middle of gaining the skill I need for my next exam," he tells her.
Ramon finishes his first semester the following day. He does not feel too well.
Someone must have been interrupted while they were emptying the trash compactor. This pile of rubbish has been on the floor for one or two days already, with nobody thinking of picking it up. Hardly surprising, soon we have a bug infestation in the cafeteria.
They all hate the bugs, but does anyone think of getting rid of the rubbish? No!
I can't remember ever having seen the dorm cook sit down for a meal, have you?
After the dorm cook has left and the lights are out, only Nigel is still there. He fell asleep over his meal, and all his needs are very low.
Meanwhile, Prezioso shares Hailey's bed. Wait a minute, hasn't she something going with his twin brother? She has, and Prezioso and Hailey sleep in the same bed like "friends only" - they don't even have pink hearts for each other.
A few days later, I've had enough of watching my Sims trying to stamp the bugs in the cafeteria. One of them is given the task to ring the Exterminator.
After the bugs are dealt with, Pablo on his own initiative gets the dustpan out to get rid of them for good. But he doesn't touch the pile of rubbish. Soon, the bugs will be back!
But - wait, what's this?! I can't believe Prezioso has FINALLY woken up to the fact that piles or rubbish mean bugs! Took him long enough to work that one out...!
Nigel is still asleep. Not even the antics of a streaker wake him up.
Prezioso and Martina are still an item, and now that it is spring, for the first time this "year" they start romantic interactions with each other. Martina seems to know that Prezioso only "happened to be" in Hailey's bed the other night - or maybe she does not know at all.
Oh look, a fire! But don't worry, it is still raining, and the fire is quickly put out with no Sim coming to any harm.
Charlie has just graduated Summa Cum Laude in Philosophy... and in his ballet outfit :-)
His parents, Etsu (formerly Cho) and Hal (formerly Capp) Riley, come to his graduation party as well as friends Tina Traveller and Deirdre Dreamer.
Meike and Sally Riley are there, too.
All of a sudden, Nigel wakes up. He has been asleep over his dinner bowl for DAYS, with all his needs in the bright red.
The party is in full swing with a lot of wild dancing :-)
Afterwards, Charlie gets into the taxi back to New Maximiliania. Next time we'll see him, he will start working on his LTW of becoming City Planner. Interestingly, the first wish he rolled after graduation was to marry a rich Sim.
Ramon has finished his Freshman Year with an A+.
By the way, both Nigel Newson and Pablo Picaso are now on Academic Probtation - something that happens very, very rarely in my game! They both slept through what should have been their end-of-year exams, so now they need to repeat one semester each.
When I started this "year", I expected a rather boring time. But it wasn't boring, what with two students suddenly finding themselves on academic probation and other unusual events. By the way, this is now at least one of the first times (if not THE first time) I have a household of students who were all born in-game. All of the original Maxis-made students have long left university, and even those Sims who were toddlers, children and teens when Maxis created them, have moved on. Well, it's been nearly six years since I have started New Maximiliania!
There are six students left at the dorm now. Who will fill the two empty slots?
For week 4, click here.
Here is the Ramirez house, still the same one that was originally given them from Maxis. Checo Ramirez left the family a long time ago to live with his 3-bolt-love Kristen Singles; he died of old age at the Singles house before he had a chance to see his lifetime want of having 3 children graduate from college come true.
Lisa has always coped remarkably well with Checo's leaving her. Having their son Ramon to take care of certainly helped.
To my dismay, I find out that Lisa's LTW has changed. Originally, she wanted to have 20 best friends and had been doing quite well during the last round, with 12 best friends so far. Now, she wants to become Criminal Mastermind! Not only is that a LTW I dislike (last but not least because of the extremely ugly work outfit and nighttime hours), but it is also unattainable for her at her age.
Well, there is a magic lamp in the house, so maybe she'll make use of that at some stage to gain permanent peace of mind.
Ramon's LTW has not changed: he still wants to see 6 pets reaching the top of their career.
And of course, there is Tessa, Lisa and Checo's firstborn. She has moved back in with her mother and little brother after having graduated Summa Cum Laude in History. Her LTW was to become Game Designer, something she reached early on during the previous round.
So far, her only serious love interest has been Sally Riley. The two of them once had an affair (to help Sally with her LTW), but while it was nothing more than that for Sally, Tessa has never forgotten, and nobody else has captured her interest in the quite the same way.
As Tessa is on Permanent Platinum, I will rarely control her.
For Ramon's LTW, two pets are part of the family: Alabama...
...and Roux.
On Monday morning, the computer breaks, and I have Tessa fix it.
Alabama is taken to work.
I'd forgotten I've given the Ramirez' a maid (and a gardener)! Actually, Lisa and her children could cope with the house work, but I rather have them concentrate on supporting Ramon's pets so that they will reach the top of their careers, and we all know how much work taking care of pets is if you are a responsible dog or cat owner.
Perseida Powers gets off the school bus with Ramon today.
Tessa is demoted (due to a chance card, of course), and today as for the entire week comes home with NPC colleague Geoffrey Copur, who is never seen out of his cow mascot costume. Today as for the rest of the week, I have Tessa say good-bye to her colleague immediately.
A nice shot of Roux and Ramon on the settee.
On Tuesday morning, Tessa decides to take care of breakfast on her own accord.
Roux is promoted to Seeing Eye Pet.
Lisa has a cold and spends good part of the day resting on her bed. See the magic lamp? I am not sure whether I'll have her using it; she is doing well right now without it.
Alabama comes home from work a few hours after Roux, with a promotion to Understudy.
Tessa is back on her old job as Game Designer.
Ramon never fails to make sure his pets know how much he loves them, and appreciates them working so hard for the sake of his LTW.
On Wednesday morning, the sink breaks. There is plenty of money to this household, so they could easily afford the repair service, but I don't want to wait for that and have Lisa repair it instead.
Roux is promoted to Rescue Pet - that means the top of that career, and the first of six down on Ramon's LTW-list!
Happily, Ramon rings Roux' work place and tells them his cat won't come to work for them anymore. He lets Roux have a well-deserved day of rest before he signs the cat up with a showbiz agency.
I actually don't know if the LTW requires for six different pets to reach the top of their careers, or whether it will work just as well with two pets reaching the top of three different careers each. Does any of my readers know?
Alabama is promoted to Stunt Double.
It is spaghetti bolognese that night at the Ramirez house, prepared by Ramon.
Thursday morning sees Lisa at her beloved sewing machine while Tessa is watching a movie. Just as Lisa's LTW has changed since the last round, nearly all her custom-made outfits have disappeared from the household wardrobe, except for the ones they were wearing. So I have her make them again (as I remember them), which is fine because she rolls the wish to "sew a project" every day.
Just when the school bus drops off Ramon in front of the house, Alabama's car pool from work arrives - with great news: Alabama is now a Star and has reached the top of the showbiz career! That's two out of six for Ramon's LTW.
By now, Roux has started in the showbiz career, and returns home having been promoted to Understudy.
It is Friday morning, and Tessa plays with Alabama. With his dog, Ramon has followed the same tactics as with his cat: calling the work place to quit, have a day of rest and then sign up for a different career.
It is a fine spring day, and Tessa is happy to have one of her mother's hand-made dresses to wear.
Lisa seems to feel the cold a lot more than her daughter and chooses to still wear boots, a heavy jumper and a scarf when she goes out to clean the dog house.
Roux has to learn the command "play dead" if there is to be another promotion. Ramon has fun teaching this command.
Saturday morning sees Tessa playing with Roux. For the cat and the dog in this household, life does not only consist of work and learning commands; everybody makes sure their fun and social levels are not neglected.
Ramon enjoys chilling on the swing. Last round, I thought I wasn't going to send him to college, because he doesn't need it for his LTW. But having observed him this week with his wish of going to college never disappearing, I have decided to let him go.
So, early Saturday afternoon, he makes that phone call. Tessa can't believe her little brother is now almost grown up and will go to college! We'll soon meet him there again to find out how he's doing. Meanwhile, his pets will keep working towards his LTW.
Lisa is getting all nostalgic. It feels like when Tessa left home all over again!
Tessa wants to distract her mother and prepares a delicious chili con carne.
While it is still dark on Sunday morning, Alabama returns from work with a promotion to Therapy Pet.
Mother and daughter work in the kitchen, to feed the pets and themselves.
When they sit down to enjoy the omelettes Tessa has prepared, they both can't help thinking that now it is just the two of them. Tessa would have so loved for her mother to find a good man after the disappointment with her father, and Lisa would like to see Tessa being happy in a relationship, too.
Sunday afternoon, Tessa writes her diary. Here, she thinks of Ashley Pitts...
...and then invariably her thoughts move on to Sally Riley. Will the two of them ever meet again?
A welcome distraction in the shape of Miranda Capp turns up.
The two women get along well.
Their animated conversation is only interrupted when I make Tessa go out to greet Graham Grunt. "Have you come to see my brother? I'm afraid he has left for college yesterday," Tessa tells him.
In fact, Miranda and Tessa seem to get along VERY well...!
Nothing has "happened" between the two of them, and I really don't know whether Tessa will actually ever find someone to love who loves her back. Lisa is now 70 but still seems to have a good many "years" ahead.
Are Ramon's two pets going to make his LTW come true between the two of them, or will he really need six pets?
