Heather Huffington: Update October 2021

Our next stop is at the Senior Residence, where we have already been earlier this round.

The reason for our being here this week is Heather Huffington; her name is next on my list.

She is now 77 and has achieved her lifetime want long ago. We find her on Sunday morning lounging on the settee in the common room, looking a little listless.

The only other Sim currently living here is Marcus Baldwin. As you can see, he is unwell - and the same is true for Heather, as the game informs me almost the moment I enter the lot.

I do not direct these two, since they are both on Permanent Platinum, other than greeting Sims passing by and making the occasional phone call to the repair service and so on.

The neglected state of the garden does not correspond with the wealth of the residents, or with the luxurious limousine picking Heather up for work.

Monday is the first proper autumn day, as Marcus notices when he looks out of the window early in the morning.

Heather looks happier than yesterday; maybe the crisp atumn air and golden light of the afternoon lifted her spirits and helped with whatever illness was bothering her.

In the evening, I find her in the kitchen making chili con carne on her own accord.

On Tuesday, Heather spends several hours at the computer, browsing the web for games.

On Wednesday morning, I decide to break up the daily routine by sending Heather and Marcus to a community lot. Since Marcus is very hungry, the taxi drops them off at Le Magnifique.

He orders the most expensive meal on the menu - no problem, as the household has now over 6 million Simoleons.
Meanwhile, Heather talks to other New Maximilianians.

Back home, Marcus greets Otto Ottomas. Let's pretend that the community of New Max every now and then sends young people to the Senior Residence, in order to either help out with household and garden work or simply to keep the elderly residents company. (which usually means they learn to play poker - maybe not quite what the community council has in mind for the teenagers, but everyone has fun that way!)

What a nice, polite young man, Marcus thinks as he watches Otto trimming the overgrown hedge in the front garden. Somehow, watching someone else doing something useful spurs him on as well; he picks up the old newspapers that have been accumulating at the front door and throws them away.

After that, he even takes it upon himself to clean the kitchen counter.
By the time Otto leaves, he has done almost half of the gardening.

Heather spends good part of Thursday at the synthesizer. She can produce very good electronic music with it.
There is nothing else to report about that day.

And then it is Friday, and just as Heather gets up in the morning, Mr Reaper comes to meet her for that very last cocktail. This was a bit of a surprise visit, since her lifetime bar did not look completely full yet. But you know what it's like sometimes - the bar's fulless can vary from one day to the next.

Bye-bye, Heather!
It is always a little sad to see a Sim go who was in my game almost from the start; if you remember, Heather Huffington was one of the original playable students coming to our game with the Campus expansion pack. She lived at a sorority house and seemed to be destined to break a few hearts with her pretty face and good looks.
In my game, she reached the age of 82 or 83 and made it to Permanent Platinum.

Now Marcus Balduin remains the only Sim living at the Senior Residence. I am sure he will have company soon, though.

The Harts: Week 3

You can read the previous week with this family here.

A much smaller house than the Goth villa is our next stop this round. Who lives here?

Hailey Hart is the half-Alien daughter of Matthew Hart, one of the original Maxis-made playable students who arrived in our games with the Campus Life expansion pack. Her lifetime want is to have 20 lovers, but because of her father's lifetime want to have six grandchildren, she had kids of her own: Harry, pictured here (whose father was the late Malcolm Landgraab)...

...and young Hannah, whose Dad is Nigel Newson. You can see her here playing with Fenya Hart, who is not only Hailey's half-sister (their Alien father is the same) but was adopted by the Harts when she was a little girl and had just lost her entire family - (Fineaus Furley, Alegra Gorey and their other children) in a house fire caused by a Christmas tree.
Fenya dreams of one day celebrating her Golden Anniversary, but so far, she is not even engaged. There is a love interest in her life, a townie named Darren Lum. But all of last round, she did not roll one single want about him, and so I am not sure whether there is a future for that 3-bolt-couple. We will see what happens this week.

On this Monday, the household account has just reached 11,000 Simoleons, mostly by inheritances and presents. Neither lady holds a job, and if they keep sticking to their modest lifestyle, it may well stay that way.
It is a beautiful spring day, and Fenya enjoys a spot of gardening.

When Hannah returns from school, Gilson Gieke gets off the bus with her. The children spend the afternoon doing their homework, and later Harry makes a batch of hamburgers for everyone.

Hannah is the first to be up on Tuesday morning.

When the kids are at school, Hailey works on her lifetime want. Next to make it on her list of lovers is most likely Marcus Balduin. When he leaves around lunch time, he and Hailey are at the pink hearts stage.

Just after sunset, Vyn Scott walks by and is politely greeted by Harry. At the moment, I am not sure whether Vyn already lives in New Max or not; anyway, she is eligible, as she has the same surname as a playable Sim in TS4, Travis Scott. Also, Harry wants to have 20 best friends and is always glad to meet someone new.

On Wednesday morning, four messages pop up, informing me that all four family members are sick. Oh dear... how I dislike that! Hailey makes a large bowl of Comfort soup, which helps somewhat.

An unexpected late spring thunderstorm passes over the neighbourhood, and one of the trees is hit by lightning. Thankfully, the rain puts the flames out before anyone can come to harm.

Hannah returns from school with young Alexander Goth in tow. Take a good look at her, because it will be her last picture as a child.

Three hours later, she grows up to a pretty teenager. The dice decides on her aspiration to be Fortune, and she wants to become Hall of Famer.

Just as Hannah and Harry return from school, one of Hailey's townie friends gifts her with a large flatscreen TV. The family already have a TV set, and the new one is worth 3,500 Simoleons - the decision to sell it straight away is made easily. A welcome addition to the household account, and I already know what the extra money will be spent on!

Today, Hailey works on her friendship with Kennedy Smith. After one single flirtatious approach from her, he is already fully in love; for Hailey, it is a crush. Fenya is by now used to her sister's way with men.

Not so the kids. Especially Hannah takes it badly whenever she witnesses her mother romantically interacting with someone who is not her Dad. When Shaun Singles is Hailey's visitor in the evening, the girl cleverly devises a strategy for not having her mother sit next to Shaun. Eventually, Hailey says good-bye to her guest and resolves to limit working on her lifetime want while her son and daughter are at school.

They may be six years apart, but Harry and Hannah are really close. They end the day going jogging together, with their aunt Fenya staying up until they return.

In an attempt to smooth things over with her children, Hannah makes them omelettes for breakfast on Friday morning. They eat them alright, but do not even look at their mother.

Once they are out, Hailey quickly grabs the phone and asks Kennedy Smith over. And indeed, only minutes after his arrival, he becomes # 14 on her list of loves. Six more to go!

When the school bus pulls up in front of the house, all is quiet again. Fenya is harvesting oranges.

Harry has brought a friend from school along, a shy girl named Willow Baena who works as a shop clerk after school. She hardly dares looking at the boy next to her on the settee, but I am sure it is only a matter of time before they will be friends.

Once again, Hannah is critical of her mother. This time, it is about her eating habits. Instead of the fresh chef salad the girl has prepared for their summer evening meal, Hailey was so hungry she grabbed a bag of crisps before the salad was served.

But she is earning herself some brownie points later on when she greets Calogero Capp - someone who is too young for her lifetime want, but perfect company for Harry and Hannah.

It is Saturday morning, and Hannah enjoys a leisurely breakfast with her aunt Fenya. College is already on her mind, although she still has a lot of time ahead as a teenager.

Something I have not seen in my game in a long time: Teenagers can play with the fridge; they can not be directed to do that, but a playful teen can do it at their own initiative.

The family heads to H&M, where the children buy new outfits. The extra money made earlier this week by selling the expensive new TV set is not all spent, but a few sensible choices are made.

Back home, Hannah and Harry change into their new summer things instantly.

Fenya prepares hamburgers, and the meal goes by peacefully without any hurtful remarks from Hannah directed at her mother.

Hailey won't work on her lifetime want in front of the kids anymore. Instead, she invites Hannah's Dad over - Nigel Newson has not met his daughter in a long time. He brings along his mother, Ginger Newson (who is of course Hannah's grandmother) and sister Nellie, Hannah's aunt. Clover, Ginger's husband and sort of Hannah's step-granddad, is part of the group as well. Harry feels a little left out at first, since none of these are his relatives, but he soon enjoys meeting them as potential new friends and helping him towards his lifetime want.

Hannah wants to earn some money (she is a Fortune Sim, after all), and what better way than entertaining the family for tips? Her Dad is the first to throw some coins in the jar.

Later, when the others have left, a father-daughter conversation ensues - again about college, a subject dear to Hannah's heart.

Very early on Sunday morning, an unwelcome visitor can be seen creeping up to the house and into the living room.

Moments later, the TV set is gone - and so is the "visitor".

Fenya...

...and Harry seem to be suffering most from being burgled, while Hailey and Hannah miss the TV set too but do not shed tears over the incident.

At the breakfast table, the loss of their TV set is all Harry can talk about. "We should not have sold the big TV we were given the other day," he says. But the others argue that it would have just been stolen, had they kept it. Harry concedes that they have a point, and the discussion ends there.

It seems to be one of those days when one unpleasant thing follows the other. The bathroom sink breaks, and because of their careful economizing, all repairs are done by household members.

Much to my delight, I find Hannah playing catch with her mother later in the garden - on her own initiative.

By Sunday evening, relationships within the family are well again. Harry and Hailey have very obviously been spending more time in the sun than what was good for them, but at least Harry has made his fourth best friend in paper girl Jill Gibson.

Fenya has still not rolled one single want about Darren Lum, her three-bolt-man. Hailey will turn into an elderly lady early on next round, and Harry should go to college soon. Hannah will then have his former room - definitely an improvement for her!

Sorry it took me so long to play and write up this chapter; I have been away for 2 weeks in between (only returned today) and will start work again tomorrow. Now that the nights are drawing in, I guess I will have to shift my after-work walks to lunch break walks, and maybe spend more time with my Sims again in the evenings. Hope you are all well!