Family names and related posts

Showing posts with label Gieke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gieke. Show all posts

Thursday, 30 November 2023

Chester Gieke: Week 1

We're back in Pleasantview's Bluewater Village, at a small house across the road from where Florence Delarosa lives.
The house is surrounded by water and has large windows at the back, as well as a porch with a grill.
Inside, there is only a small shower room with a toilet in one corner and a cheap kitchen without a fridge in the other. A small bedroom, not beig enough to hold a double bed, is the only other room separate from the open plan kitchen area.
Chester Gieke lives here. 
His family tree shows him to be the son of Carl and Lucy Gieke, but they are both deceased, and he has no known relatives. According to Maxis, "The Gieke Family is a quirky bunch. They tend to keep to themselves and pay far too much attention to the latest technology instead of people. Can Chester break the Gieke mold?" 
Chester's personal bio reads: "The quintessential Gieke, Chester can tell you all about the last time a star exploded or the latest computer games, but he doesn’t know much about real people. He’d love to meet some non-robotic friends, especially the female variant of the species." 
Fittingly, his aspiration is Knowledge. Unfortunately, he wants to use his knowlege for criminal purposes, eventually becoming Criminal Mastermind. With over 9,700 Simoleons on the bank, he can afford to buy a few bits and pieces for the house right away. 
Look at Mr Humble - he has shut himself in behind the parcel he has just delivered on Chester's front porch. Silly Mr Humble! Of course he leaves as soon as Chester has opened the parcel. 
Placing the computer on his newly bought desk, he fires it up and browses the darknet for some criminal career options. And he is lucky: Tomorrow, he can start as a Pickpocket.
But first, the welcome committee arrives, consisting of Jodie Larson, Checo Ramirez and Wanda Tinker. Chester makes sandwiches for everyone and expresses his wish to find friends here. 
With Checo's wife Lisa, he is already on good terms, but she did not come along to welcome him to the neighbourhood. 
Good part of the afternoon is spent fishing. Chester does not have much fun until he catches his first bass, and later serves it for dinner.
Chester's car pool is not due until 10:00 am, and so he can indulge in skilling all morning. 
That is, until the phone rings - it's Jodie Larson. It's nice of her to say thank you for the meals and opportunity to fish.
Chester leaves for his first day on the job in a good mood and, although he doesn't look particularly happy here, returns with a promotion to Bagman. Wanting to show extra zeal, he walks right back to work for another shift. 

It is already Wednesday by the time an exhausted, but happy Chester returns home - with a promotion to Bookie. He has the day off and can sleep in, thankfully. 
It is autumn, and Chester realises that his small chest of drawers does not really hold anything suitable for colder weather.
But before he goes shopping, he diligently acquires the creativity skill point needed for his next promotion.
Cover Me Clothing is where he intend to find new outfits.
First, he greets Nina Caliente. Jodie Larson is also here, and he says hello to her, too.
Out of the blue, Nina insults Chester! The poor man has not done anything to deserve this, honest! Nina must be in a real foul mood.
Chester flees to the side of the building, where he eats a hotdog grilled by the townie sitting on the bench with Jodie.
On Thursday, Lisa Ramirez was just about to leave, having wanted to visit her friend, when Chester's car pool pulls up.
"It's good of you to help me celebrate my promotion to Con Artist!" Several more skill points are now needed, and it will be at least a few days before Chester's next promotion. 
On Friday morning, Chester has just about enough time to make a phone call to a friend. Remember what his bio says about him wanting to get to know the "female of the species" in particular? Well, after his visit to the clothes shop and also thanks to the welcome committee, he now knows more ladies than gentlemen, at a ratio of 7:3. 
Here, he confides in one of them that yes, indeed, he would like to get married one day... not to her specifically, just saying... just in general, you know. 
After work, on a whim he decides to get rid of the easel and start to learn how to play the piano. By bedtime, he has all the required skills and can hope for a promotion tomorrow. 
No promotion the next day - it's Saturday, and Chester has the entire weekend off. 
Apart from using his free time for skilling, which gives him a head start for the following week at work, he also wants to make more friends. J
ohn Burb happened to be walking by and was asked in; Florence Delarosa and Jodie Larson arrived after he has invited them over. "So... are you a burglar or what?" Jodie bluntly asks about his career choice. Chester mumblese something about aiming higher than petty burglary, and that for him, it's all about brains and not smashing patio doors.
Winter sets in on Sunday with a first light dusting of snow.
 Chester spots Gilbert Jacquet walking by and greets him politely.
While Gilbert is fishing (I thought the pond was frozen?), Chester builds a snowman and is rather pleased with it.
Over bowls of Mac & Cheese, he tells his guest of the planet he has been observing a few nights in a row. 
"Are you looking for Aliens?" Gilbert wants to know. Everyone in Pleasantview knows about Mrs Goth's Alien abduction. It seems Chester has found a kindred spirit, as the conversation stays on the subject of stars, planets, Aliens and astronauts for the entire meal. 
The week ends with Gilbert playing a lively tune on Chester's piano, inducing him to dance.

This was a much less boring week than what it could be with a single Sim. Chester did well with skilling and career-wise, without neglecting his social life. Maybe he IS the one to break the Gieke mold, after all!

Thursday, 8 July 2021

The Gieke-Ottomas Household: Week 13

Click here for week 12 at this house.

Many years ago, I gave this house to the Ottomas family. They started out with a big family and a small budget, but worked their way up to becoming one of the wealthiest families in all of New Max. They have remained very much down to earth and are as family-oriented as when they began.

Sharla is the only remaining original family member. She is now 76, and very close to seeing her dream of having six grandchildren come true: There five already! In the crib behind her, you can see Gunther Ottomas. He has a twin brother, Otto Ottomas. Both are half-Alien babies by Sharla's son Orlando. Orlando has two more children, twins Mortimer and Alexander, with his fiancee Giselle Goth. That makes four... but who is # 5?

Sharla's 5th grandchild is Gilson Gieke, son of Lisa Gieke and Sharla's son Odell (Odell and Orlando are twins - it runs in the family!).
Gilson and Lisa are also the reason why I am playing here this week, since "Gieke" comes after "Gavigan" on my list.
Lisa is an aspiring Hall of Famer but will do what she can to make Sharla happy.

On this Thursday morning, Orlando, bottle-feeding one of his baby twins, wonders whether Lisa might be pregnant again.

Sharla greets Charles Capp.

Odell returns from work with a promotion to Sports Columnist - his lifetime want is to become Media Magnate, but of course he has not lost sight of his mother's dream, either.

And there is no need to wonder about Lisa being pregnant or not anymore!

Later that evening, she helps Gunther to turn into a toddler.

It is already Friday morning and takes several attempts before Otto, too, becomes a toddler.

Over an early lunch of grilled cheese, Lisa tells Odell that there will soon be another member to their family.

Sharla is over the moon when little Gunther says "Shaa-laa" for the first time.

I later send her to buy groceries, just her - the others are too busy with the little ones.

She makes her purchase, meets and greets a few fellow New Maximilianians and heads back home.

Lisa and Odell are very much in love, but so far, neither has rolled the wish to get married.

Odell and baby Gilson enjoy a bath on Saturday morning.

Sharla takes care of most of the gardening, but her sons and Lisa chip in whenever they have a spare minute, too.

Unfortunately, at work Odell takes a wrong decision and is not only demoted, but fired altogether! He will of course try to get back into the media career as quickly as possible.

Sunday is here, and at 5:52 in the morning, Lisa gives birth to her second child, a little girl named Gisela (in German, the first syllable of Gisela and Gieke are pronounced alike).

Her smile says it all: Sharla has just heard the great news, and with her sixth grandchild, she has finally reached her lifetime want! And not a day too soon; she is now 79 years old and I doubt she would have managed to hold out much longer.

Knowing both the father of her children, their uncle and their grandmother are around, Lisa goes to work in a relaxed and happy mood. It pays off when she is promoted to All Star. She instantly heads back to work...

...and is promoted once more, this time to MVP.

One of her colleagues, Castanea Landgraab, gets off the bus with her but does not look all too happy about Lisa's promotion. (Don't worry, it's just her face - she can't help looking a bit grumpy all the time. After all, she is the late Tybalt Capp's daughter, and he had a similar look on his face almost permanently, too.)

Monday is a beautiful day with golden autumn sunshine. Little Gunther "helps" his Daddy take care of the leaves.

They remain outside to read a book, just as Lisa returns from work with yet another promotion: She is now a Superstar!

But things go horribly wrong when a few hours later, I direct Odell to burn some of the piles of leaves in the garden. I did this of course fully aware of the risk, and it is entirely my fault that the day took such a dramatic turn.

At the same time, Gunther grows up to a child. One moment, he was still a toddler using his potty, and the next minute, he is this big boy - as yet unaware of his uncle's death.

Orlando and Lisa grieve for Odell, and I even have Lisa try to plead with the Grim Reaper. But he disappears before she has a chance. Sorry, Odell!

"Poor little Gisela, you will never really get to know the wonderful man who was your Dad, and my twin brother..." Orlando sighs.

Otto grows up just before the day is over, instantly aware of the loss of his uncle.

Lisa and Sharla fawn over little Gisela early on Tuesday morning.

Otto and Gunther are on their way to the school bus for their first day.

Orlando repairs the trash compactor.

Once the boys return from school and their fun levels have been brought up playing red hands, they sit down to do their homework, assisted by Gran Sharla and Auntie Lisa.

It was the last time the boys spent time with their grandmother - only a few hours later, Sharla is handed her very last cocktail and escorted to the Big Lot in the Sky by Mr. Reaper and his Hula girls.
The house is built in such a way that there are nooks and crannies, and it was impossible to get a proper picture of Sharla without everybody and everything in the way. So I thought, why not a mirror image of one of the girls.
Sharla was 81/82 and the last remaining original Ottomas family member. Good-bye, Sharla! You did well and had a good life, all things considered.

Sharla's loss is very much weighing on everyone, especially so soon after Odell's tragic death. Nonetheless, life goes on, and on Wednesday morning little Gisela turns into a toddler.

The twins return from school with one of their many half-brothers, Chan Cho, in tow.

Also, Otto proudly presents his first A+ report - and it's only been his second day at school!

At 6:00 pm, Gilson grows up and is now as big as his cousins. Lisa serves a celebreatory dinner of spaghetti with meatballs for the boys, but the mood remains somewhat subdued.

The day (and the week) ends with both Lisa and Orlando doing repair jobs in one of the bathrooms.

What a week it has been! Births, deaths, fires, promotions, A+ reports and birthdays - all in the rich tapestry of life! 

Will Orlando and his sons stay in the house, or finally move to the Goth villa, where Giselle and his other two children wait for him? Can Lisa manage all on her own, as a young widow with two kids, and no Sharla around anymore to help?