Tam Round 7: What You Really Want

I'm moving on to half-week updates (this one covers Monday-Friday) because of how many households I have now. Plus this post is freakishly long anyway.

Last week, Scott Tam retired after his second set of twins became adults. There were also lots of dates.

The Tam family is much reduced and currently includes:
Scott, Knowledge/Family elder, retired member of the Gamer career
Megan. Family/Knowledge elder with a library and a habit of writing bestselling novels
Derrial Tam, Pleasure/Family adult with a job in the Business career
Jayne, Family/Knowledge teen
Madchen the collie
Flicka the calico

Derrial kicks off the week by getting fired from his job due to a bad chance card. Fortunately Family/Pleasure Sims are unperturbed by such setbacks. Also, he manages to get another Field Sales Rep position immediately so it hardly even matters.

Jayne maxes Charisma, which I believe means that the Tam children have opened 6 Science and 6 Charisma positions with their skilling, but I am too lazy to check.

Meanwhile, Megan is netting more than $4000 per novel. This has her so happy she's walking on air!

The library has also struggled its way up to Rank 4. This is definitely something that would have worked better as an NPC community lot.

Derrial takes 2-bolter Melissa Fancey out on a date, but it's awkward because he can't stop thinking about Marylena Hamilton! He wants to become best friends and fall in love with her, even though their chemistry is lower.

 Later he and his dad discuss the issue over the plants. "Am I a rat if I'm not sure which girl I want to be with?" Derrial asks. "Just try to be honest about what you really want with both them and yourself," Scott advises. "Trying to keep your options open will only pollute both relationships."

Since Jayne is almost an adult, he opts for early enlistment in the military. (That is, accepts a job as a paintball attendant.)

His parents get him a treadmill as an early birthday present so he can start prepping for his new career.











Megan writes another bestseller.

Derrial gets promoted to Junior Executive. Again.

And Jayne gets promoted to Recruit Training Corps.

That evening he and his girlfriend Ivy become adults.

Jayne is very sure about what he wants, so he proposes to Ivy immediately out by the pond. She moves in with $10,000 but no job.

They immediately strike out on their own. We'll see them in their own place next round.













Megan writes her third bestseller of the week.

Since Derrial keeps rolling wants for Marylena, I send them out on a date. He rolls the want to dance and they promptly fall in love and spin wants to get engaged.

So Derrial gets down on one knee next to the pond in Serenity Park.

The next day, Thursday, Derrial nets a promotion to Executive. (Pushing his lifetime earnings past $10k,)

That night Marylena moves in, bringing $13,000 and a job as a Sous Chef, which she has to quit. Her LTW is Captain Hero anyway, which is more attainable.

Since Scott and Megan are old-fashioned, Marylena sleeps in the guest bedroom until the wedding.

Over breakfast Friday morning, the elder Tams get to know their new daughter-in-law. "It was so nice to raise our children in this big old house," Megan says pointedly. "It seems so empty now that they're grown."

Marylena takes the hint. "Oh, I love children," she shares. "I hope that once Derrial and I are married there will be children here again soon!"

Progress toward challenge:
New Sims: 2 (Ivy Copur, Marylena Hamilton)
Jobs opened: 1/7 Entertainment
Taxes: $2300/$65,920

Placeholder

I don't want Blogger to delete this blog due to inactivity or anything so here we go.

Round 6 complete!

I will now be posting (hopefully semi-regular) updates on my Prosperity Challenge.

I plan to return here for Round 7 no later than May 1, but we all know how those plans pan out.

End of Week 6 Stats

Playable Sims: 51
Households: 13
- Tam: $58k
- Cooke: $47k
- Ramaswami: $75k
- Roseland: $60k
- Long: $28k
- Traveller: $100k
- Picaso: $8k (rental)
- Ottomas: $33k
- Tam 2: $46k
- Centowski: $29k
- Barrett: $9k
- Bruty/Tellerman: $15k
- Bruenig: $5k (rental)
Unused CAS slots: 5 (1 carryover + 4 new)

Community lots: 21 (+1)
- Serenity Library (library, Megan Tam): Rank 3
- Tam Arcade (video arcade, Scott Tam): Rank 10
- Cooke Grocery (grocery store, Julien Cooke): Rank 10
- Lonely Hearts Club (nightclub, Jan Cooke): Rank 10
- Juliette's Flowers (flower shop, Juliette Cooke): Rank 3
- Cooke Family Restaurant (restaurant, Jerome Cooke): Rank 1
- Three-Quarter Time (music venue, Sanjay Ramaswami): Rank 7
- White Lotus Boutique (clothing shop, Priya Ramaswami): Rank 10
- Ramaswami Dance Studio (dance venue, Anand Ramaswami): Rank 0
- Domesticated Beasts Inc. (pet store, Cyd Roseland): Rank 5
- Christy's Cosmetics (salon, Christy Stratton): Rank 1
- Serenity Park (park, Ivy Long): Rank 3
- Ben's Box o' Fun (toy store, Benjamin Long): Rank 2
- Firefly Class (camping supply store, Trent Traveller): Rank 5
- Trisha's Treats (pre-made dessert store, Trisha Traveller): Rank 2
- Matt's Sporting Supplies (sporting goods store, Matthew Picaso): Rank 0
- Nooboo (baby/child supply store, Jessica Picaso): Rank 0
- Kuzco Sports Bar and Grill (bar/restaurant, Ethan Barrett): Rank 2
- The Sugar Bowl (bowling alley, Komei Tellerman): Rank 3
- Serenity Station (military base, NPC)
- Hera Historical Center (museum, NPC)
- Westview Athletic Center (athletic center, NPC)

Fires: 3
Burglaries: 3
Electrocutions: 1
Graves: 1

Careers:
Adventure: 1 (Benjamin Long)
Architecture: 3 (Cyd Roseland, vacant)
Athletic: unlocked (Sharla Ottomas, vacant)
Business: 4 (Derrial Tam, Christy Roseland, Simon Tam, Meadow Tam)
Criminal: 1 (Trent Traveler)
Education: 1 (Marsha Bruenig)
Entertainment: 6 (Peter Ottomas, vacant)
Gamer: special (Scott Tam, Malcolm Tam)
Law Enforcement: 2 (Samantha Ottomas, Komei Tellerman)
Military: unlocked (Matthew Picaso, Jessica Picaso, vacant)
Music: unlocked (Sanjay Ramaswami, David Ottomas, Sandy Bruty, vacant)
Science: 12 (Ivy Long, Orlando Centowski, vacant)
Slacker: 1 (vacant)

Business Districts: 0

Downtowns: 0

University Taxes collected: $63,620
Universities: 0

Sim Multiplier: 5
Population: 255

Bruenig Week 6: Apartment life

Near the end of this round, the Sim Goddess purchases and installs Apartment Life, and Marsha Bruenig becomes our test subject.

Marsha is a Knowledge/Family Sim (LTW Education Minister) who inhabits the friendzone of nearly all the Tam brothers. For the time being she has no romantic interests.

Marsha has a very good job in Business, but that's full up at the moment, so I make her quit and take a job as a Test Subject. According to the rules it would be "fair" to make Derrial Tam quit, since he's the lowest in rank, but whoever said life is fair? Where is that written?

Marsha quickly befriends her older coworker, Ivy Long.

They remain friends ever after, but not coworkers--according to my calculations the population is high enough to allow one slot in Education, and on Wednesday morning Marsha snatches up a job as a substitute teacher. (River Centowski is the other aspiring educator in town, but she wasn't able to find a job during her turn.)

The rest of Marsha's week passes uneventfully--she does invite Simon and Meadow over, but they don't do much other than talk about the weather.

And on Friday she finishes a string of promotions by attaining a post as University Guest Lecturer.












Progress toward challenge:
Taxes collected: $1500/$63,620

Bruty/Tellerman Week 6: Sugar rush

Our next new household (we sure have a lot of them this round!) includes Komei Tellerman and Sandy Bruty, who fell in love at Scott's arcade. (They have only one bolt, so we'll see how things go.) 

Komei is a Fortune/Knowledge Sim with a job on the Vice Squad, which he will be allowed to keep. (Especially since his LTW is to become The Law, impossible in this 'hood without a college degree.) 

Sandy is a Romance/Pleasure Sim with a job as a Specialist (medical), which she won't be allowed to keep. That's okay since she wants to be a Rock God anyway.

On Tuesday morning, Sandy is lucky enough to find a job as a Coffee Shop Sound Engineer.

The pair pass the next few days getting lots of promotions and having lots of woohoo. Midweek they move to a new, trendier-looking house and acquire a Siamese cat named Asta.

They decide to start a venue named The Sugar Bowl, which will eventually be a coffee shop/bowling alley combo, but right now is nothing but a bowling alley. Well, two alleys. On the grass. It reaches Rank 1 and then Rank 2.

On their last day of work the pair have good luck with chance cards. First Komei becomes SWAT Team Leader due to yelling really loudly...

Then Sandy gets promoted to Roadie due to picking a little-known but talented band.











Progress toward challenge:
New community lots: 1
Taxes collected: $2050/$62,120

McGaw/Barrett Week 6: Whirlwind

In order to understand our next new household, you must read Cooke Week 5.

All caught up? Great. Here's Julien's paramour, Katy McGaw, along with Beasley, a chocolate lab she acquired while waiting to be played.

Her first day in the new place, Katy meets Ethan Barrett, who is 1 bolt more attractive than Julien and NOT MARRIED. He tells her that she's the coolest Sim he's ever met. (It's just an AL reputation interaction, but I think it's adorable in context.)

Omitted: Pictures of them falling in love and getting engaged.

 I don't remember if Ethan brought money or a job. At any rate, he and Katy open up Kuzco's Sports Bar and Grill, which right now is just a bar. And a TV.

Julien is less than pleased when he discovers that Katy Barrett is a woman he used to know. (In a Biblical sense.) We're going to remind our readers that it was Julien who was married at the time of their relationship and Julien who decided to stay with his wife.

Back at their new house (I moved them out of the generic ranch and into a little place with a pond), Ethan asks Katy if she wants to spend part of their golden years traveling. Katy says she would rather go shopping for new shoes.

But they still have a long way to go before they have enough money for traveling or retail therapy. By the end of the week Kuzco's has reached Rank 2 and acquired a toilet and some barstools.









Progress toward challenge:
New Sims: 1
New community lots: 1
Taxes collected: $1100/$60,070