Daydreaming and tamagotchi

[Iza]

I'm very sleepy and english is not my mother tongue so please excuse the silly title.

It is as it says. I'm making this as a little blog with some inevitable daydreaming and of course sharing my tamagotchis' life with me.

So! Today it was a beautiful sunny day. It doesn't feel like winter yet... Only at night it gets a bit chilly. My P2 arrived in the mail, and of course I decided to start it. I was very excited because it was new and so tiny and cute! I thought this was the size of minis... I had never seen a 90's tamagotchi before. I went in town by bike for some errands, but before returning home I wanted to spend some time alone. For some months now my dad is staying with me because of an issue with his health and while I understand this, sometimes it gets hard and I miss being on my own. So, I went to one of my favourite places, the old train station. The trains are those rusty steam locomotives, so they're warm from the sun and perfect to climb and lounge on. A cat had the same idea as me, so when I sat on the top of the train against the big chimney, she came and started purring and rubbing her head against me. I love cats.

I took my tama out of the box and pulled the tab - I had already changed the batteries at home, because the old ones were corroded and didn't work. The familiar beep and the bouncing egg on the screen made me excited. Unfortunately, I have no pictures from there as my phone had run out of battery. I asked a passing girl for the time. My tamagotchi - I named her Maya - hatched at 14:12. I hung her from my notebook to keep an eye on her as I was writing random things and sticking maple seeds inside. I was feeling inspired; I may be procrastinating everything that has to do with the university, but I'm really creative in many other aspects. I read, play music, took up dance again, hike, and I'm in therapy for the first time to deal with a frustrating phobia of mine.

Maya was very needy as a baby. She was constantly beeping at me to feed her food and snacks and play this number game. She also took a nap and got sick once, but I gave her two shots and cured her. In general, she busked in the sun with me and we had a great relaxed afternoon together. One thing I found strange was that she wasn't getting any more heavy when I fed her snacks, and I don't know if that's normal. I decided I'd wait for her to grow up a bit before puting her in my pocket - her usual home and riding my bike back home. She got 1 year old at 1 hour (is that normal? I thought 1 day = 1 tama year). I was worried she wouldn't grow up, because it took her another 5' to become a child. After that, she started gaining weight normally, when I fed her cake or sushi (the only things she ever eats). She also grew little pointy teeth and a little horn on her head. The rest of the day she was an easy child. I only had to discipline her once, as she was calling me for no reason. She fell asleep while I was in my dance class and when it finished, I turned off the lights.

First insight on the P2: It's probably a bit too basic for my taste, but I prefer it over my V4.5 which is far too complex. I'd want a couple more food options and items. But it's nice to use my (childish) imagination too sometimes. I like it. It's small and cute.

Ok, the only picture from today:

Goodnight!

 

[Iza]

My V2 arrived today! It was very beaten up but after some rennovations, it became almost perfect. I swapped the screen and buttons with those of my V4.5 which I don't really play with (I don't like the schools, jobs and mail), removed the worn out stars from the paint with acetone (I know it eats away the plastic, but I figured out that two minutes of gentle scrubbing didn't hurt it), put a new ring, and voila! Everything seems to be working! Maya was there, curiously watching me rennovating the bigger green egg. She's a little rascal, I had to discipline her quite a lot because she was calling me with no reason. She's like a cat, lol. But now her discipline meter is almost full. I pressed "download" out of curiosity and found out the last tama on it was a female named Asuka. I pressed "reset" and after a minute, a cute white blob with two tiny feet popped out. I decided to name her Asuka as well, in honor of the previous inhabitant of the green egg. I'm excited because the V2 seems perfect. Simple yet it has items and cute characters. And the new buttons are so responsive! One thing that gets on my nerves a bit is that I can't win the "jump" game easily. I don't have reflexes. On the other side, Maya's game is easier, as I usually get her numbers correctly. Strangely, I enjoy the number game quite a lot. I wonder why she loses weight when we play that. Maybe she puts plenty of mental effort when doing simple math. I've also been getting attached to her! The blob seems to be growing quickly... It hadn't been 24 hours since she hatched and she turned 2 years old. I wonder why... Now I'm going around with a tama in each pocket, being a total adult, lol.

Quick update: Asuka turned into a ditto (for those who play/ed pokemon). I'm not sure if that's good or not.

Maya sunbathing in the last warmth before the brief mediterranean winter.

Before and after. ^_^

I'll be away for the weekend. Of course I'm gonna bring Maya and Asuka with me but I don't think I'll be able to post a lot.

Have a nice evening!

 

[Iza]

Good evening! I'm back from the trip and very tired so I won't say much.

I was at the capital for one full day and two nights, spent a lot of time in public transport and visited an archaeological site. I also went at the hospital, in order to donate blood for a girl who was run over by a car in another city, but the doctor didn't let me cause they were closing and it would be my first time donating, so they needed to take their time to check my health and probably care for me if I was dizzy afterwards... They told me that my blood wouldn't go to her anyway and that they'd just call the other hospital to say the blood bank had been replenished with another unit. I don't know exactly how this stuff works but I wanted to help so I was frustrated. I was in a car crash long ago and received blood, so now I feel the need to donate as well, and I was happy to finally get a perfect blood count two weeks ago. Then I missed the appointment with my therapist as well because I took the wrong bus. And I realized I was broke because I had spent almost all my money on transport for nothing. I felt so useless.

Because I was all the time on the road with my friend who came with me, I didn't care enough for my tamas. They were in my pockets all the time but I was too shy to show them to my friend. Asuka was paused a lot of the time, but I didn't want to pause Maya, as P2s don't have an actual pause function. The result was that Maya got sick and then evolved into a bad care teenage character, Hashitamatchi, that looks like a duck. I find her cute anyway, and Maya is a nice name for a duck. But I wanted to be a good tama-mum to her. Asuka, on the other hand, evolved into Ringotchi, which is a good care character. I was hoping for UFOtchi which is one of my favourites but Ringotchi is pretty as well. I kind of get the heading game more than the bump and jump, but my tamagotchi is still as broke as me. We went to an ancient temple in a beautiful location by the sea as well. I study archaeology so I'm very much into these things. I overheard a guy who seemed to know many things about it guiding his friend so I joined them. I didn't know that there were so beautiful and interesting locations so close to the big city. After that, me and my friend were very hungry so we ordered and ate the only food available in the cantine - many toasts. I even fed Asuka a toast I found in the shop. Maya ate sushi and cake as always.

At night, I tried removing some small scratches from the V2 screen with toothpaste after reading online that it worked. Scratches always annoy me.a bit. It didn't seem to work at all, so I rubbed it harder, only to see it added some more scratches. It's not too bad (barely visible without good lighting) but I decided to try displex as it's not too expensive and many people seem to have good results with it.

That's it for today and yesterday! Tomorrow I'll go hiking so I have to sleep at a reasonable time... Goodnight!

 

[Iza]

Good morning everyone!

I'm making this post while waiting for the cookies to get baked. It's a lazy morning-noon.

Yesterday I was hiking the whole day long. Oh, I love mountains (by the way, isn't today international day of the mountains?). Firstly we walked up a very old cobblestone trail, to reach a village of stone houses, where the villagers had already prepared us roasted meat, although it was hardly noon. I'm a vegetarian so I just ate smoked bread with olive oil and oregano, oranges and some sweets and nuts I had in my bag. The fresh olive oil of the season is delicious. ^_^Then the group split into two, one climbed back down, and the other climbed down to a big gorge and walked through the gorge occasionally climbing boulders that had fallen from the sides. The most difficult part was going to the bottom of the canyon, it was so steep and slippery because of the night rain that I fell on my butt many times. It was well worth it though! The colours of autumn were vibrant and the view was so beautiful! And, of course, I had the precious company of good friends, with whom we laughed and talked all the way. Anyway, today I'm sore all over but happy. And the cookies are done. Let's eat them all. ^_^

It goes without saying that this time I paused both my tamas to go to the mountain. I was thinking of taking them with me but I wouldn't be able to check on them regulargly, and the might have fallen in the mud. When I was on the way back to my hometown, in the back of the van, I found myself missing them but at least I knew they were paused so they'd be fine. When I got home, I played with them immediately, but I didn't have much time till they fell asleep. I played with them again this morning, and I also turned on the sound, because my dad was out of the house and I really like the sounds they make. I found a way to win the "heading" game every time, so now I always get 100p and I can buy stuff for Asuka. Unfortunately she can't play with the items yet, because she's still a little apple. In a couple of days she'll grow into an adult - if I stop pausing her. But I pause her for two reasons: firstly, there are many situations lately where I really can't check on her often and second, I want to keep her for more time than Connections usually stay around for. I don't pause her for no reason, though, only when it's necessary. So, although she hatched 4 days ago (I think), she's still 2 years old. On the other hand, Maya is 6 years old today, even though I paused her for almost 12 hours yesterday, and she was hatched 5 days ago. I still wonder why she doesn't grow 1 year per day. Today she got sick again, I think this means she will soon evolve, and I hope I'll get the best care character that I can get. I don't let her hearts fall below two, she's not overweight and her discipline meter is almost full. This is one thing I don't know how to do with Asuka. Her meter is not even halfway and she doesn't give me opportunities to discipline her. I also have yet to see any of those cute random animations of her approaching the screen. But as a child she used to roll around (which was adorable). I should mention that Maya the duck is far more needy than Asuka the apple. She's not too needy, but her hearts definitely drop faster and I always have to keep an eye on her.

Won "heading", yay! (Sorry for the bad quality pic...)

A happy duck.

 

[Iza]

Quick update: Maya turned into a Kusatchi! And her discipline meter dropped. I wonder how this happens. It's my first time playing with a vintage and I don't get it.

 

[Iza]

First time I see Asuka taking a bath. Cuteness overload. ^_^

 

[Iza]

Good afternoon people!

I have some bad tamagotchi news. My V2 has been having problems, the screen often goes blank, and I have to open the back and move the battery a bit to bring it back to life. The first time it did it, I thought it was a one-time thing, but it wasn't. I've tried everything: readjusted the two metal things in the battery hole, made a pressure plate for the battery, screwed everything the tightest that I could... nope, it happens more and more often. The battery is also almost new and of a good brand. One of the times I did it, I accidentally pressed "reset" too. I hatched another baby but it's getting frustrating, unscrewing and screwing it back all the time. I guess that's the risk with buing beaten-up tamagotchis off Ebay... So I'm putting it aside, at least for now.

I was thinking of starting my V4.5 again, but I'm not sure. I remember not liking how many functions there were on it, like going to preschool or having a job. I like my tamagotchis to be more pet-like. Also, call me weird but I love seeing them sleep and turning off the lights for them, it's adorable. Plus, I'd want to focus on being a good tamagotchi-mum to just one tama for a while, instead of two. I need one pocket to be free. So I'll only be running my P2 for the time being.

So, about Maya the duck-plant (aka Kusatchi): She's 7 years old now and not very demanding, but she's already got sick twice since she became an adult. The poor thing was so sick that she needed 3 shots each time to feel better. Maybe that's how it happens with unhealthy characters. She was the first I raised on a vintage tama, so I think i didn't do that bad. At least, I didn't get the most unhealthy character. Partially due to this, I also find myself bonding more and more with her. I like that the P2 is so simple, small, and the mechanics of it. Also how easy it is to remember which character is healthy or unhealthy etc, and how discipline works, since I figured it out with the help of two forum members. Finally, I like that I'll get to keep her for quite some time, and strangely, that she will die.

On other news, I desperately need to clean and tidy up the house... It's annoying having to do housework when you're feeling creative. My ukulele teacher sent me an ebook of early music for ukulele. "From Lute to Uke". ^_^ I want to learn everything in it, now and Maya will have to endure my playing. It's also my first ballet class this evening, yay! I only wish my muscles weren't so sore from Sunday's hike... I'm going to bring my lucky virtual duck-plant with me, of course.

I had to. Maya on my pillow

 

[Iza]

Maya died. I don't know why. I had fed her and played with her and she was 7 or 8 years old. Maybe this happens with Kusatchi... I picked the P2 up and saw the death screen. So soon... Meanwhile, I think I managed to fix my V2. I opened it up once again and noticed that the battery isn't only in contact with those two metal things behind it, but also with two smaller ones, above it. Those were too flat, so the battery could move, and when it stopped touching them, the tama suddenly shut down. I bent them a bit more, so that they held the battery snuggly in place, and put the cover back on. I began taking care of yesterday's hatchling, Rain, and haven't had any issues with it so far. Except that I accidentally scolded her instead of praising her when she was crying. Poor Rain. She's still 0 years old, a Hitodetchi obviously. I put aside the P2 for now and I hope this one goes well, at least... with no unexpected deaths or accidental reboots, and that I have her company for many days to come... I've almost mastered the "jump" game too, I figured out it's much easier for me with the sound on, I don't know why.

RIP Maya

They see me rollin'

 

[Iza]

So I'm in bed, in my always messy room, writing in my journal, with Rain sleeping next to my pillow. She's still a little starfish since I paused her during yesterday's night. She'd wake up much earlier than me and I don't want to miss her calls. I wouldn't mind her waking me up, really, but right now I don't live alone, so I can't let her sound on. She's also still 0 years old, although I expect her to become 1 and grow up soon... I like playing the "jumping" minigame many times (which means I have to give her many snacks, which means lots of toothaches, poor thing) and then going to the shop to buy her different treats and items. But because the gotchi points are so hard to earn, I mostly keep the snacks for fitting occasions. I want to build up some cash for the future generations too.

I'm thinking I have to finally start working on some essays for the university, if I want to graduate... I really have to. But I still prefer playing renaissance stuff on my ukulele, wandering on the mountain or just surfing the internet pointlessly. Yesterday was supposed to be my first dance lesson, but it was cancelled... It will be in two weeks. I was disappointed, but on the other hand my muscles were so sore from the hike that it was probably for the better. As I was trying to play Orlando Sleepeth which is one of my favourite pieces, I caught Rain yawning next to the music sheet. Isn't that the cutest thing ever? After half an hour or so, she fell asleep and I turned off the lights.

 

[Iza]

Good evening!

Today was a tiring day. I had to take a 3-hour bus ride to the capital to see my therapist, which means I had to wake up very early to catch the morning bus. It was the first time I woke up before my tama, so I didn't pause her for the night (I think I might stop pausing her altogether - save for very rare occasions - cause it kind of makes her too easy to raise). The bus was full so I took another bus to a nearby town and then another... By the time Rain woke up, I was already half asleep, curled up on two of the seats on the back. I had her in the pocket of my big cozy sweater, sound on, so later she woke me up crying. I think she was bored and wanted to go home. I praised her and played a couple of games but then she had a toothache again so I stopped messing with her and fell back asleep. Did I mention she's an UFOtchi now? She's adorable, the way she's always floating around the screen. Definitely one of my favourite characters. Anyway, she woke me up again at some point, needing nothing, so I put her on time out. I know this trip was boring as hell but I have to raise her into a well-behaved little tama. I gave her a cracker to replenish the happy heart she lost. Having her sound on, I don't miss her calls and I can discipline her better. Now her meter is 6/9 and it will get even better. She's only 2 years old. I hope I get a good care character, like Mametchi, Violetchi or Kuchipatchi (another personal favourite). When I went in the therapist's office I had forgotten to put the sound off, I was lucky she didn't call me for anything. He'd think I'm even crazier than I am. Anyway, on the way home I bought her a plant, which grew into a little happy face, so cute, and some more items she can't use yet. Anyway, that's all for now, I'm still sleepy... No pictures, as I don't have my laptop with me. Hopefully I will upload tomorrow.

 

[Iza]

Ok, photo time!

Close-up of adorable UFOtchi.

Keeping me company while traveling

She always takes a bath before sleep and seems to really enjoy it.

 

[Iza]

So today I had an awful experience with a 911 guy. I was at home and I hadn't taken my antidepressants for two days, and this made me terribly dizzy, the kind of dizzy that doesn't let you take two steps without losing balance. I was home alone and afraid I'd faint there, which made me very nervous so I called 911 and said what was happening. The guy dismissed me by telling me I shouldn't be taking antidepressants at such a young age and I needed to get out of the house and find a boyfriend. As I insisted I wasn't feeling well at all, his tone became ironic and I hung up the phone. Fortunately, my father called my aunt who luckily wasn't at work so she could come and pick me up. Later she drove me to the bus station, I took the bus for another 3 hours and got home. Then I took my pills and felt better but I'm still very angry about how some people who are supposed to be trained to help others, especially in the health sector, treat mental illnesses. I've had depression and panic attacks. I'm almost fine now because of therapy and meds. I don't care if his intentions were good. No health professional should tell me "you're too young to be depressed, go find a boyfriend". I reported him but I doubt anyone will pay attention to my mail because nothing works properly in this banana republic.

Rant is over. To not be entirely off-topic: I'm tempted to start my P2 again.

 

[Iza]

Ok, let me present you Sushi the Shirobabitchi.

 

[Iza]

Good evening!

I won't say much today. Rain is 4 years old, and just a few hours before becoming 4, she grew into an adult! As I had hoped for, I she became a (not perfect but) good care character, Pochitchi. I was so pleased to see that. Since her late teenage days, she's had a full discipline meter, so now she never calls me because she's upset or without needing anything. She's a well-behaved tama-doggie, and she also takes good care of herself; before bedtime she takes a shower like she used to do, and after that she brushes her teeth. I wonder if that's why she doesn't even get toothaches anymore... Or is it because the "snack" option has turned into an apple? Other than that, sometimes she comes to the screen to greet me, which is so cute.

I'm sorry for the bad quality again. My phone only gets almost decent pictures in full daylight.

As for my P2, I decided to give it away to another guy I met online. I was never into collecting anything, just playing, and I don't have time - or space in my pockets - for more than one tama. I love them both so I made him choose the one he preferred, and he picked the P2. Now I'm a bit sad, to be honest. But they're not that expensive, and now that they've made a comeback I should be able to buy one again if I really want it. I'd probably donate my V4.5 as well, but it doesn't have good buttons or screen because I used them to fix my V2. But I may still put batteries in it to raise an old character to try and get Oyajitchi, we'll see. I want to raise an old timer at some point... just cause I find them cute, and to see if they're needier than the others. For the time being I should really focus on university... On other news, the Displex has arrived and I'm going to pick it up from the post office and try it tomorrow. I'll tell you about the results.

Oh hi there! ^_^

It's 10pm here and Rain just fell asleep. She sleeps 2 hours later now that she's an adult! I avoid messing with her clock, so I really like having more time with her. By the way, I only messed with the time today... because I made her try the costume and then I figured out I couldn't make her take it off unless I put her to sleep. She had just turned into a Pochitchi, I didn't want her to become immediately a panda or to dress up like Mimitchi. She's always sleeping next to me. It may sound silly for a "grown-up" but I've got very attached to her. She's been with me through some things, those days.

A little short-sighted?

On life news... Nothing really happened since yesterday. I missed another hike because I forgot my mobile phone on mute and instead I ate a whole pizza by myself, because not all people who hike and are vegetarians survive on smoothies and oats. And I shaved half my hair so now I feel very punk and I keep petting my bald side to feel the soft, short hair and my skull. Weirdest compliment I've ever got was "you have a pretty skull". Maybe because I study archaeology and I'm surrounded by skulls and people who like to observe them. But I really like my skull.

 

[Iza]

Good morning!

It's a beautiful day! I think winter forgot to arrive in this small city of south-eastern Europe. Birds sing, sun's out, and I'm still unable to concentrate on anything related to the work I should be doing, which ironically is very interesting. I should be writing essays about geometric and byzantine pottery, the minoan goddess and obviously my thesis about a building complex which nobody knows exactly what it is, but I will figure it out. I thought I had, but my supervisor said my approach had gaps and I should try again. I was disappointed because I had had this eureka moment when everything was finally clear and I was so proud of myself, and then... nope, all wrong. Start from the beginning. But I will read articles again and try to put the pieces of the puzzle together again, and see what I come up with this time. The end of the semester is approaching! Meanwhile, the presence of my father in the house still annoys me a bit... The house is a small student appartment and we are so different people. I don't think he even needs me anymore... I don't really help him with anything, he even complains about how I am annoying to him. But hopefully he'll get paid today and go to his house for a few days, to meet with his friends. Also I'm in spring mood already (come on, in 3 days the days will start getting longer! ^_^ ), getting crushes on people. I'm still not over my ex, I want to go see her again but I'm broke and too afraid to hitchhike. She lives in another country and constantly gives me mixed signals. And I've started to like another girl here, who is ten years older but she's even worse with emotions. She's admitted to being attracted to me too but also has a huge crush on an older guy and is tired of messing up so she wants everything to remain platonic. She writes beautiful poetry and is a hippie, talking about making love to supernatural beings and talking to trees and angels. Like in the Ramones song. I say too many things because I know nobody I know will ever end up on this forum. Or, never say never... Anyway, I love winter but one month of it is enough. Then, I miss summer, which luckily lasts 8 months here.

As for tama news now. Yesterday it was raining so I put on my combat boots and raincoat and went out... As I was waiting outside of the post office for the rain to calm down (because at some point it was so much that I couldn't ride my bike) I took Rain (what a coincidence ) out of the pocket of my sweater, made her wear her boots and tried to get some pictures of her and me in matching rain attire. But my phone's camera is useless and the pics are not worth showing. But as I said before, the clouds quickly ran out of water and dissolved. Then I went to the courier office to get the folder with the Displex I ordered some days ago. My tama's screen had quite a few scratches, some of which had been caused by me trying to polish the screen with toothpaste. So here are my thoughts about it: It works very well, but needs caution and patience. At first I unscrewed everything to get the screen out and remove any toothpaste residue from the sides of it. Then I started polishing the screen with Displex and a cotton ball. From my experience, I wouldn't recommend using cotton balls for that. They might be soft, but when they get wet they can be too harsh. At some point I heard a shrieking noise and I realised I had been making new scratches. You need a soft piece of cloth (I ended up using the tip of a fleeche blanket) and you also need to apply pressure on a large surface of the screen. I used my finger and tried to rub evenly by pressing with the whole surface of my fingertip. You don't want the force to be concentrated on a small surface. Then, you need patience. Rub in all directions so that you get all the small scratches off the screen, and for quite some time. At some point you'll notice them fading. I reassembled the tamagotchi and continued, till I was satisfied with the results. Now I think there are only one or two teeny tiny scratches, barely visible, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. I guess I could try to even remove those, but I don't care about them, I can only see them if I try very hard and under very good light.

I think Rain was 5 years old, but after the download she was 4 again? I'm not sure. But now she's still 4. I don't mind, after all I like keeping her for long. But when the matchmaker comes, I'll marry her off and start Generation 2. I'm going to participate in the Christmas Hatch with it. But I'll only accept a nice groom for her. Today I woke up to her washing her teeth. Too cute. ^_^ Also she won the "slot" game for the first time and got 600 gotchi points! And today was also the first day I saw her little christmas tree. I was starting to think that maybe the V2 doesn't have this animation at all, which would be ok, but I was pleased to see it, in the end.

 

[Iza]

I think I could make a thread just with instructions for repairs etc. I've done too much tinkering. Last time, I repaired my V4.5's speaker. One of the little cables had been detatched so it wasn't working. With a pair of scissors I revealed the copper wire (careful not to cut it, as you do this) but removing the plastic from the tip of the cable. Then, I held it to the place it should be (touching the small metal bump). Holding it in place, with the other hand I placed a small amount of hot glue on it. I continued to hold it for some seconds, till the glue was solid. This was it - now it's working perfectly.

I've found a lot of two tamas, one P2 and one V3, for a good price, and I'm thinking of buying them (or even just the V3) mostly cause my V4.5 is missing two screws, a button and the reset button. I could possibly transfer the V3 in the V4.5 shell, replacing the missing buttons and the screws... Then maybe if I can't get the V3 separately, I can have some fun repairing the P2, which is also missing a button. I've got the hang of this.

 

[Iza]

Aaaaah. That was a close one. I tried to switch shells between my V2 and V4.5 two days ago, and after the switch, my V2 wouldn't work at all. I was very sad. I had been so used to checking on the little fellow and she would have had a baby by now. Eventually I gave up and stored it in the closet, frustrated that I'd ruined it. The next day I decided to order a P2 off Ebay (my other favourite - and more affordable - version). But today I opened the closet and made a last effort to save it, since I had no idea why it had stopped working. I disassembled it, assembled it again, put the battery in, and it was working! Yes! Some pixels were dead though, so I opened it up again, unscrewed, re-screwed... and now it is working perfectly again! So happy that my stupidity wasn't fatal to it, in the end. The only casualty was that I accidentally pulled the wires of the speaker. Now it has no sound... I have a friend who runs a store where he fixes computers and other electronic devices so I might take it there, I bet it will be a piece of cake to him. But either way - sound or no sound, I'm happy to have Rain the tama-dog back. I also sent a message to the Ebay seller telling them I wanted to cancel my order. I know I'm not being a good customer, but really don't have much money and it will be a relief if they make a refund. So, it's a happy ending.

Lessons:

1) You can't switch shells between a V2 and V4.5. The top screws are placed differently.

2) Those speaker wires are more fragile than they look like.

3) Dead pixels after reassembly can be fixed by opening it up again, arranging everything again, and putting the screws tight.

4) Don't open the tamagotchis unless it's necessary, don't experiment too much because unexpected mistakes happen. What can I say, I'm addicted to opening things up. One of my favourite ways to pass the time in elementary school when the lesson was boring was to take all the pens (and everything that I could disassemble) from my bag, take them appart and put them together again, sometimes switching parts between them or making other experiments to see if they'd work. I'm good at understanding how stuff works but too clumsy.

I put the correct date and time on my V2, but although Rain was 5 before the reset, now she is 4 again. So the matchmaker visit is postponed but I don't care because I'm so happy to have her back! I guess I'll have her with me on Christmas. ^_^ We'll also join the Christmas Hatch.

 

[Iza]

So, yeah, today was another busy day. My university held a graduation ceremony and a good friend of mine graduated. I was very happy for her and for all the people who finally got their degrees after so much effort, but at the same time I was feeling a bit nervous. Everyone I saw was wishing me to graduate soon as well and this made me think of all the work I still have to do in order to do it. But I didn't let this ruin the afternoon. After the ceremony we went to a nice restaurant by the sea, with my family and hers and some other friends and had a good time. And her grandparents are the cutest couple ever. ^_^

As for my tamagotchi, it was in a special pocket in my bag the whole time. Rain is an adult, which means she's not needy at all. However, I was checking up on her every now and then to see if she was ok. In the evening I took her to my electrician friend to get her speaker fixed. I went in his shop saying "hey do you do antiquity preservation?" and he laughed. "What do you have for me? An ancient phone?" I searched in my bag and took my tama out. "It's a tamagotchi! Oh my god! I rememeber those! I didn't have but I always wanted one!" He was laughing telling me he never thought he would do tamagotchi maintenance in his shop. "I think I can fix it but you have to know that if I take the battery out, your pet may die." She underwent the surgery very bravely. After some trial and error (the speaker was old and worn and broke a bit at some point, also we didn't know the polarity), he managed to fix it. He looked very determined. The sound is a bit lower, but I don't mind it. It's more discreet, I can play in the bus without the beeping going crazy, but still clear. But I think that everytime I do "reset" and "download" her clock and age goes a bit backwards, so she doesn't grow. She's still 4. I'll be very happy when she finally passes the 5 point and becomes 6 years old. He didn't charge me anything for the operation, instead he took some pictures and said he'd upload them on instagram and it would be an advertisment for his shop.

Also... yes, I made her wear a Mimitchi costume, by accident. So she was looking like a rabbit the whole day, but she loved it so much that she only took it off when before going to sleep.

 

[Iza]

Nothing significant today. I went to my father's house for Christmas, with my little sister. As for my tama... she was in my bag, muted during the trip. I checked on her when we arrived, she was hungry and unhappy - like me. I ate whatever I found in the fridge and fed her a plate of pasta. I also gave her some tea, which I think she enjoyed, given that the house is as warm as an igloo. It was snowing on the way... Afterwards, we played some jump and heading games and she disguised a bit like her favourite character, Mimitchi, before she fell asleep. Now it's nighttime here and she has just turned 5 years old again. So in 2 days she will probably expect the matchmaker... let's see...

Meanwhile, I still kind of regret giving away my P2... I liked it too. I'm thinking of getting another.

I'd post pictures but I didn't manage to take any decent ones. The camera on my phone is bad, really bad.

 

[Iza]

Hello there! Merry Christmas! I'm so sleepy... I just returned from my uncle and aunt's house. The whole family was gathered there. Grandparents, cousins, cousins' cousins... Some of those people I had a long time to see, I was very happy to see them and had a great time together. We also ate well (although I'm hungry again, what's wrong with me ), sat by the fireplace, drank, talked endlessly. It was a nice Christmas dinner. I also spent some time thinking what Christmas means to me and what I like and dislike about it. I dislike the hypocrisy of having to act like you're happy just so you don't "ruin the festive atmosphere", even if you feel nothing's going well in your life, I also hate the consumerism and the hypocrisy of charity. I could go on and on about those things but I'm too lazy and tired to rant. What I love about Christmas isn't the religious meaning of it, because I'm not religious. I think I view it in an almost pagan way. I like the decorations because they bring winter nature in the house. It's like celebrating winter, for me. Lights look magical. Fire is cozy. People gather together inside, because it's cold outside, and this creates the perfect environment for exchanging stories and fairytales. As for gifts, of course I like them, but I think it's possible that this custom was established in a time when people had to spend all winter with the resources they'd gathered throughout the summer and autumn. Gifts must have been of great value back then, and now the symbolic meaning is retained. Anyway, these are mainly my thoughts about it.

As for my tama, I had many plans for it during the holidays, but I didn't manage to do almost anything! I was always with family, so I couldn't take pictures etc. I don't play with my tamagotchi around my family, they don't even know I still have it. I fed Rain some cake, to celebrate the day. Then, she dug up some money with a shovel, which means we now have reached the 9999 gotchi points! Christmas luck! She also played her drum, like little drummer boy. ^_^ Today she became 7 years old. I admit I changed the time to get the matchmaker, but the time had already been messed up with too many times because of the tinkering and repair, resulting to her staying many days on the tamagotchi, so I didn't mind doing it. The matchmaker came and brought a Toratchi with her. I liked how he resembled a cat, cause Rain resembles a dog, and I let them mate and have a baby. ^_^ Now Rain has a baby girl and they're sleeping peacefully next to each other. Aren't baby tamas adorable?

On other news, I bid for a new P2 and I think I'll win it.