The Dosser Family: Week 5

If you have read the previous chapter about Jessie and Mickey, maybe you'll remember that they were thinking about moving out of the rented apartment and buy their own house.[You can find week 4 here.] 

       Jessie (nee Pilferson) and Mickey Dosser are both on Permanent Platinum. They are a happily married 3-bolt-couple and have known each other since their university days. Jessie is a Rock Goddess and Mickey a Professional Party Guest, so money has never been a problem for them.

        They move into their new home on Monday. I think I have never used this house before; it comes from the Lots & Houses catalogue. The Dossers could have afforded a much larger property, but there's only the two of them with no children and no pets, and the larger the house and garden, the less playable it becomes.

       A bit to my dismay, I find that the house may look large enough from the outside, but no room is big enough to hold a double bed. Not downstairs...

        ...and not upstairs. I still like the general look and feel of the house, though, and so I decide to give it a bit of a makeover to accomodate the needs of its new owners.

        All the walls are taken out of the upper floor. The same neutral parquet floor is laid everywhere, and the remaining walls are all painted the same neutral shade.

        Downstairs, I do not change the walls, floors or wallpapers. There is enough room for a dining table and six chais in the room with the bay window, next to the kitchen. A toilet and shower room will come in handy. The two rooms with fire places are empty at the moment, while the small room with the dark red floor is turned into a bar. To buy a bar was a wish of both Jessie and Mickey, and I guess it suits a Rock Goddess and a Professional Party Guest to have a bar at their house :-)

        The new layout of the upper floor: A large bedroom with fireplace, a small bathroom and another large room where Mickey has his toymaking bench and Jessie her electric guitar.

       The portraits have survived the move very well, unlike what happened a while ago when I moved one of the Capp families and all their portraits were turned into standard paintings!

        One part of the bedroom. It looks as if there were two lamps next to each other on the wall in the corner, but it is just one lamp, doubled in the floor-length mirror next to the wardrobe.On the photo between the two university diplomas is DJ Verse; she used to be friend of Jessie's at uni, and died last year in a fire.

        The other side of the bedroom. There is plenty of space for anything Jessie or Mickey might want to buy, such as a makeover station or whatever they wish.

        The downstairs shower room looks like this. I used the move_objects on cheat to creat the unusual lighting above the toilet. It looks quite pretty at night!

        Mickey and Jessie are happy to be at their own place now. What is their first week going to be like?

        So far, nobody has wished for a kitchen stove, and so it is lunch meat sandwiches for their first meal here.

        The welcome committee consists of Ariel Capp, Jodie Larson (by the front door) and Ellen Frost (near the mailbox).

        Lisa Ramirez walks by a little later.

        The happy couple amuse themselves behind and in front of the bar :-)

        Lisa is impressed by the solo this famous Rock Goddess plays just for her!       

The welcome crew stays on for dinner, which consists of chef salad.

        At 9.00 pm, Jessie turns into an Elder - three hours later than expected. Her clothes look a bit too tame for an elderly Rock Goddess, but than can (and will!) be remedied.

       On Tuesday morning, Mickey is at his toy bench. Later that day, he finally makes his Golden Toymaking Badge - one of (I think) only two Sims in the entire neighbourhood! He can now make the Water Wiggler, the most convenient toy for any family with a dog.

        Jessica wakes up wanting to improve on her cooking skill, and so a bookshelf is bought and she studies, sitting on one of the bar stools, since there aren't any armchairs.

        Both Dossers now showed the wish to buy a stove. Here it is! Sorry, Jessie - although you would have preferred an orange one, I think white looks better.

      Mickey meets and greets Ramon Ramirez. Maybe his mother told him yesterday about her visit with the Dossers, and how Jessie played the guitar for her, and he wants to meet the famous Rock Goddess, too :-)

        Gavin Newson comes visiting on his own accord. He used to live at the same apartment building, but has moved out with his sister and her expanding family.

        Sirius Swain (Erik Swain's half-Alien son) is Guest # 3 for today.

        On Wednesday, Jessie goes shopping at the Round Barn General Store. Not only does she stock up on groceries, but also gets some new clothes.

        This outfit is one that I usually do not give any of my Sims to wear - let alone would ever consider anything like it myself! - but I think it suits Jessie's status as a famous Rock Goddess, along with the sunglasses!

        Back home, Mickey is busy raking leaves. So far, the Dossers have not called a gardener, maid or any other help.

        Jessie in her new outfit takes care of the plants on the balcony.

        Speaking of household help - the Dossers now decide on employing a Maid. They are both so "busy" with their jobs, have plenty of money to pay well and give generous tips, and neither of them is getting any younger.

        Early on Thursday morning, Jessie wants to buy a tent and woohoo in it. Whlle Mickey gladly joins her in the tent, the option to woohoo does not appear. All they can do is talk or sleep. Did I miss anything, or is it a bug in the game?

        When Mickey gets up and out of the tent, he remembers the kite he made a long time ago, and spends a few hours flying it in the garden.       

Clover Capp is a guest with the Dossers today. At night, he discovers the Water Wiggler in the back garden. An ideal toy for a Plantsim, I'd say!

        On Friday, Jules Cleveland is greeted by Mickey, while Jessie is burning a pile of leaves. Don't worry, Mickey's thought bubble with the pink hearts has nothing to do with Jules; he loves his wife dearly.

        On Saturday, Matthew invites over his good friend Matthew Hart. "My world truly has changed since I have become a wizard," Matthew explains. He learned white witchcraft from his dear friend Herbert Goodie, who left his cauldron and spellbook to him when he died.

        You know that I usually leave my PermaPlat-Sims to their own devices. I did not do this with Jessie and Mickey, since I wanted them to do certain things (such as gaining the Golden Toymaking Badge). But every now and then, I do not tell them what to do. Often, they try to take care of the garden then, but not very successfully - many of the shrubs are planted on slopes, which means nobody can access them for clipping. I wonder why the Maxis people did not think of that when they designed the houses for the lots & houses catalogue!

        On Sunday morning, Jessie is the first to get up and has breakfast on her own.

        Later, she takes care of the one tomato plant off the back porch. You guessed it - earlier this week, she rolled the wish to buy a garden plot and plant a seed.

       Mickey has made several Water Wigglers during the week and now wants to give them as presents to his friends.

       Both Frances J. Worthington, a dark wizard, and Matthew Hart, a good wizard, are among his close friends. I don't think I have seen this before: two wizards arriving at the same time, on their different broomsticks - and they happen to have the same outdoor outfits, too :-)

        Mickey makes Crepes Suzettes for his guests, while Salsa music provides the acoustic background for the party.
       

It was a mistake to invite Gunnar Roque over... Mickey didn't know it, but once, a long time ago, Jessie was briefly involved with Gunnar.

        "Hey! Get off me!" she shouts, as her husband tries to slap her. "It was only to help him with his lifetime want!" Mickey is furious. What happened to their three-bolt-love?

        Jessie leaves by the back door while the party continues.
(Her carpool arrived, and the guests were blocking the front door, but I think it was suitable that she left like that right after the jealousy scene occurred.)

        Mickey gives all his guests some of the toys in his inventory and then leaves for work before Jessie returns. When she comes home, she goes straight to bed - alone; Mickey is still out.

Will the two of them patch things up?

Florence Delarosa: Week 5

[Simply click the "Delarosa" label at the top of the page to find Week 4.]

Florence Delarosa still lives in the house originally assigned to her by Maxis, but although the shop is still there, it has remained closed for a long time now.

Florence's previous week was drama-ridden, and to nobody's surprise she went into aspiration failure and needed the shrink's help.
Will she fare better this week? Let's find out!

Florence is now 64 years old and still striving to become a Prestidigitator.
One of the first things she does on that Wednesday, however, has nothing to do with her career but everything to do with her garden. In spite of employing a proper gardener, there is still loads to do. [For some unknown reason, the week at this household starts on a Wednesday.

She only interrupts her trimming of the shrubs long enough to greet Gunnar Roque, whose help is immediately enlisted.

Thursday begins for Florence at the piano. She loves to play and rolls the want to do so at least once a day.
     

Clover Capp walks by and is politely greeted. For the rest of the week, Clover will keep ringing Florence daily.
     

It is Friday, and Florence has a solitary meal of chef salad.
      

She decides to invite some of her friends over, and soon the place does not feel so lonely anymore.
      

That night, she returns from work with her final promotion: She is now a Prestidigitator, has reached her lifetime want and will be on Permanent Platinum for the rest of her life. Well done, Florence! Can't blame her for not looking as happy as expected; she went through too much last week.
      

The computer breaks down on Saturday. Florence can well afford the repair service, but decides to do it herself this time.
      

Isabella Indie walks by and stays for a while when Florence invites her in.
       

The original flower beds were beyond recovery after the long winter (not to mention weeks of neglect), but Florence has always loved her garden and gives it a fresh lick of paint, so to speak, with colourful flower beds and some new decorative items.
She then rings the garden club and requests membership.
      

Soon, the evaluation team appears, and to my surprise even has a close look at the plants in the (non-operative) flower shop!
       

Florence has taken great care to trim all the hedges and shrubs before the evaluation team arrived. She really couldn't have done any more, but although membership to the garden club is granted, she does not get any reward.
    

On Sunday, she enjoys a quiet morning with the Sunday paper and the crossword.
       

Ever since having planted her new flower beds, stray dogs have become a real problem. If they don't roll in the soil and spoil the flowers...
       

...they eat them. Florence can hardly keep up with shooing them; they seem just to wait until she turns her back before abusing the flower beds again.
       

Each and every one of them!
     

On Monday, Deirdre Dreamer happens to walk by just as Florence has called the garden club again. Of course, she is not only greeted, but also asked to help with some gardening. However, it does not change the garden club head's mind; she decides it is too soon after their first evaluation visit, and advises Florence so ring again tomorrow.
       

At night, two stray dogs, one with scary eyes, gang on Florence and growl at her when she tries to defend her poor flowers.
       

She gets up on Tuesday morning just before six, determined to make this a Good Day and not to worry too much about the dogs.
      

So much for a Good Day! When she opens the connecting door between her living quarters and the shop, she finds that the hydrobot is broken and must have been splashing water around for hours.
       

She manages to turn it off and ring the repair service. When Aldric Davis walks by, she is very glad about the unexpected help.
      

Ms Zarubin told her yesterday to ring again today, and so Florence does that. This time, the evaluation team turns up again in full strength. The garden is spotless, and Florence receives 1.206 Simoleons as a reward. She does not need the money but would have loved to be the first Sim in New Maximiliania to own a Wishing Well.
       

Rick Contrary is one of her closest friends, and Florence is delighted when he comes visiting - but is this how friends should behave? When she goes to the toilet, Rick nicks the garden gnome!

The rest of Tuesday passes by without anything worth mentioning. The "catastrophes" of this week were minor in comparison to those before, and all things considered, Florence has done well. She is now 74 and could still have another full week ahead.

Will her garden ever be good enough for the garden club to reward her with a Wishing Well?
Is she going to remain on her own for the rest of her life?