The Burb Family: Week 5

If you are interested to (re-)read Week 4, simply click on the "Burb" label above and scroll down to the second post.

The Burbs have lived in this Maxis-made house ever since I started New Maximiliania. It is a nice house and well playable, with the exception maybe of a very tiny landing at the top of the stairs, which occasionally leads to a traffic jam when there are guests in the house.

But when there are no guests, only Jennifer...

...and John live here, and they hardly eve get in each other's way (unless they deliberately look for each other's company). Jennifer is now 64 and her husband 68. She reached Permanent Platinum 9 days from elderhood when she became Hand of Poseidon. John had to wait a little longer; he was already 58 when he finally became Celebrity Chef.

Of course you know my policy for playing PermaPlat Sims: I leave them to their own devices most of the time, sometimes I don't even intervene when it comes to paying the bills. What I always make sure of, though, is to keep the fridge well stocked and to have them greet every New Maximilianian walking by. Doing his own thing on this Monday means for John that prepares Lobster Thermidor - and burns it. Tough! You burnt it, you eat it. And he does, without complaining, even cleaning up the dirty dishes afterwards.

Jennifer has left for work, and so John spends a quiet morning reading the paper.

When Carla Reamon walks by, he greets her - she is one of his wife's closest friends.

Cherry Capp was actually about to steal the paper from the front door when John spots her and gives her a friendly welcome. He is apparently unaware of her original intention.

On Tuesday, Jennifer and John begin their morning with a loving hug.

In both the Burbs' inventories, I found several cakes and other meals purchased at Bubbler's Bakery. I wait until John takes the initiative to prepare a meal, and then instead of letting him prepare what he wants, I have him get out a platter of Crêpes Suzette from the fridge. It is fun watching him getting this elaborate dessert ready to be eaten!

He looks very pleased with the result, even though he did not make the crêpes himself.

Husband and wife enjoy a fancy breakfast, overlooked by their portraits from younger days.

It is again a working day for Jennifer. On his own, John spends a considerable amount of time looking with what appears to be nostalgic longing at the painting of their house, created many years ago by their daughter Lucy, who so dramatically died way too young in a fire at her college dorm, along with Carolina Curious.

But John is not just mooching around the house, he makes himself useful, too. For instance, he clears the front path of old newspapers...

...feeds the fish... (I think this is the first time I saw a Sim feeding the fish on their own accord!)

...and cleans the stove.

Just as Jennifer arrives home from work, Gabriella Newson walks by and is the Burbs' guest for the rest of the day.

Wednesday morning starts with a broken bath tub. I have Jennifer place a call to the repair service. Then she proceeds to mop the floor without me telling her to do that.

Yesterday it was Gabriella, today it is one of her brothers, Gallagher Newson, to be invited in.

After work, Jennifer needs a nap. Her preferred place for that is the room that once belonged to her beloved daughter Lucy.

By the time she gets up again, she feels her energy coming back, and puts it to good use by deciding to give the downstairs toilet a badly needed scrub.

On Thursday, it is John who sleeps in Lucy's old bed. It seems like this friendly couple never got over their daughter's untimely death.

After getting up, it is John's turn to clean the upstairs bathroom. It is nice to see two largely uncontrolled Sims take such good care of their house.

Jennifer wants to help, too. After John has left for work (she has the rest of the week off), she tackles the latest pile of old newspapers.

Alexander Goth, another old friend, walks by later that day.

When John returns from work, someone is already waiting for him... John was 72 when he died peacefully of old age, on Permanent Platinum. His tombstone will be put up next to his daughter's at the cemetery on Gamesend Grounds. Good-bye, John! You were a good Sim, and I enjoyed playing your household.

Jennifer is now a widow. She finds it very hard to cope with John's death.

Whatever she does, she thinks of him, even as she empties the dishwasher on Friday morning.

If possible, with John's death her sleeping pattern has become even more irregular. She gets up long before she is fully rested, and very obviously misses the company of her beloved spouse of many years.

I catch her looking at the portrait of John as a younger man and find that rather moving.

Graham Grunt provides a little bit of distraction later that day.

But only the love and support of her best friend Carla Reamon (who came over on her own accord) helps somewhat to ease the pain.

Saturday morning, Jennifer discovers that an unknown townie has kicked over her trash can for unknown reasons, resulting in a much dreaded bug infestation.

Thankfully, Carla Reamon comes visiting again - she knows all about bugs, as you will remember if you have read the chapters about her! One entire week at her house was dominated by bugs...!

Edwin Sharpe is Jennifer's next guests, and he proves to be not only Sharpe by name but also by mind.

Not only does he use bug repellant instead of just stomping on the bugs (like Jennifer has been doing for hours), but he sprays long enough for the bugs to be killed.

Then, he even gets to the root of the problem and puts the trash can back upright.

Now all Jennifer has to do is to sweep up the dead bugs. And so she does - without me telling her.

Yet another guest has appeared: a Townie named Juan Reamon. You know I normally ignore Townies completely, but Carla Reamon was an exception when she - a native from Twikkii Island - became the first NPC to move to New Maximiliania. Juan shares her surname, and Jennifer thinks he might be related to her best friend.

Now that she seems to have gotten over the first, raw grief about her husband's death, Jennifer looks around her and notices the housework that needs doing again.

She even serves a meal for her guests. Juan Reamon seems to be wondering whether Carla is indeed related to him.

The last day of the week begins with an uninvited visitor.

The burglar alarm makes sure the police is there very quickly, and the pretty young officer gets into a fight with the burly man.

She must be super-fit and well trained, because she manages to overwhelm the burglar and leads him away in handcuffs.

Now that Jennifer was woken up at this ungodly hour by the burglar alarm, she decides she can just as well stay up and finish her housework.

There is always something to do.

Later on that beautiful sunny Sunday, Guy Wrightley walks by...

...and so does Trisha Traveller.

This is where we leave Jennifer. She is now 71 and appears to have still many years ahead of her. Will she move in with a friend (Carla), or a friend with her? What about my idea to set up a residence for single elderly Sims? She would definitely fit the bill, as did Sam Thomas in my previous post.
Are we going to see more of Juan Reamon by the time I get round to playing Carla's house?

Anyway - time to create a backup now before I'll move on to the first name beginning with a "C" on the alphabetical list - Caliente.