Jerome Turner: Week 1

It's been a while since I last played here at the Senior Residence.

We're here because Jerome Turner (left) has just arrived. You may remember that he moved to New Maximiliania upon his younger relative Abhijeet Turner's invitation.
The family name of Turner is not on the list of original Maxis-made playables, but I have decided to add all Turners because I know a Turner family in real life.

Jerome is a Family Sim whose dream to marry off six children will not come true - it is too late now to get started on that.

The other man is of course Lee Lewis, former Repair Man and also a recent addition to New Max, eligible because his surname is the same as of playable Sims in TS4.
Lee wants to max out all his skills and has a very good chance to achieve that goal.

The oldest resident here is Marcus Baldwin. He has been here a long time.

The last of his housemates to have died was Heather Huffington. Marcus is not yet over his grief for her.

But the two newcomers are intent on all of them becoming best friends, and Marcus feels less lonely with them around.

On Saturday morning, I catch Marcus standing underneath the mistletoe, obviously waiting for a holiday kiss from Jerome.

And he does not only get that kiss, but pink hearts fly between the two men. Well, if they are happy with that, who am I to stand between them! It's winter now, so who knows what happens when spring comes round.

Snow has begun to fall.

Jerome is a neat person and picks up the old newspapers for recycling without anyone telling him to.

Giselle Goth comes in without being invited, but the Senior Residence has always been known for its open doors policy.

Jason Lewis wants to visit Lee, his older relative.

But Lee is busy acquiring body skill points. Good job the layer of snow softens his fall!

Later, when he is just about to start studying for cooking skill points, the ghost of Heather Huffington surprises him - and me! I was sure all graves were moved to the cemetery, but obviously I have forgotten Heather's stone or urn - and I can't find it on the grounds or in the buildings of the Senior Residence.

The ghostly happenings keep surprising me. It is early Sunday morning when Heather's ghost runs a bubble bath - her ghost is not in the tub. I don't think I have seen that before! Most of the time, it is moving chairs or a lamp.

In the afternoon, Charles Capp walks by and is invited in for grilled cheese. He talks about his ambitions to go to college, a topic that makes Lee go very quiet. He never had the chance to go himself but worked as a repair man all his life.

Heather's ghost has just scared Marcus' colleague who came home with him from work. It is the early hours of Monday, and I know how to get rid of the ghost without having to find Heather's urn or tombstone (it must be somewhere!): 

When an unsuspecting townie next comes visiting and approaches the Cow Plant, the inevitable happens, and the townie is eaten. Clicking on his tombstone give me the option to "move all graves" and not just this new one, and that's what I do. Bye-bye, Heather!

It's not that often that all three residents are hungry at the same time, but when they do share a meal, it is often Jerome who does the talking, expressing his wish to become best friends for life with his housemates.

Late that evening, I find Marcus at the synthesizer - it is the first time this week that anyone plays with it.

By Tuesday, Lee has been making good and steady progress towards his lifetime want of maxing out all skills. And not too soon; his life bar is the shortest of the three men here. Now only a handful of points are missing.

Jerome has finally made a big wish come true by becoming best friends with Marcus. The pink hearts are still there when I check their relationship panels, but so far, neither man has done anything about their crush since that holiday kiss.

Abhijeet Turner comes visiting and is greeted by Marcus. If you remember, it was Abhi who invited Jerome to move to New Max for good, in order to be nearer his relatives.

With his cooking skill well advanced at 8 points, Lee enjoys making omelettes for breakfast for the housemates. Marcus would prefer grilled cheese as per his secondary aspiration, but he can have that later for lunch or dinner.

It is the first day of spring, and all snow has gone. The repair service is called to the Senior Residence on a daily basis - there is almost always some sink or bathtub that needs repairing, or a toilet to unclog. Of course Lee would be perfectly able to do it (and the other men, too), but he has been on this job all his life and really deserves to enjoy his retirement.

Spring means the fruit trees in the Senior Residence's small orchard need attention. There is no time like the present, and so Jerome takes care of the trees as soon as he gets up on Thursday morning.

"I hope it won't snow again, it could harm the trees," he worries. And indeed a few late snow flakes fall soon after he says that, but of course the trees are not suffering.

It being the last day of the week here, I make sure to send the three men to a community lot. The cemetery at Gamesend Grounds is their obvious choice - they have been working all week to fill it, and of course there is Heather's grave to be visited.

Jerome meets Nery, another member of the Turner family who has recently settled in New Max. "It is a lot nicer here, with less factories polluting the air," Nery reasons.

Remember how clumsy Lee was at the obstacle course earlier this week? Now he's super fit and close to maximising the body skill.

Jerome has not regretted his move to New Max, or to the Senior Residence. Young people come visiting all the time, such as Calogero Capp here, and he is best friends now with both his housemates.

A good week all around, fun and relaxing to play, nothing really challenging. The holiday kiss was completely unexpected, but has had no further consequences so far.