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THE REBOOT: ***THE REAL SIMMERS*** - Hard Luck in Lotusland -
Nikkei_Simmer
Posts: 9,428 Member
The Real Simmers - Hard Luck in Lotusland
Vancouver - Not for the Poor
Author's Note: This is the Sims 3 version of Heather and Haruo (my RL wife and I). There will be element of "truth" and "fiction" in the vein of telling a story. I won't tell you what's true and what's fiction, but I will be drawing elements from "my own life" as well as utilizing the Sims 3 to tell this pseudo-biography and hopefully I can show a bit of the city that I call home. I will be utilizing @sneakfeline0's Vancouver, BC...(unfortunately something has gone corrupt in the Exchange file and it is no-longer downloadable - at least on my end)
As a growing metropolis, the Lower Mainland was an interesting dichotomy of the rich and the no-so-rich. Located on the Pacific Coast with the western tip reaching English Bay and the Pacific Ocean and the the eastern-most tip extending all the way to Hope, it was a great place to settle down, if you had the money.
However if you didn't, you were hard-pressed to make a living. It was money during the 90s that had fueled the real estate boom and outlying parts such as Burnaby, Coquitlam and Port Moody as well as Surrey and Delta that had seen a major building boom. Offshore investors looked at taking as much as they could and building up luxury houses for themselves to park their money leaving many long-time residents of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland to depart to places that their pocketbooks could afford. Housing prices skyrocketed, it seemed almost, overnight, but Noel, Phil Haruo and his girlfriend Heather managed to snag themselves a property at the south end of Knight Street and hang onto it, but after they had purchased the property, they barely had enough to survive on.
Luckily Richmond City Council were too busy exhorting the virtues of Richmond to off-shore buyers to care about evicting a few indigent land-squatters, even if it was on prime development property, just so long as they paid their taxes and bills on time.
The various city councils were too busy with their development plans that they didn't care what happened to those who were not as fortunate as they were and didn't have enough to put on the table. Mayor Robertson of Vancouver was more interested in developing Fraserview into a cultural hotbed and the area around the arena where the Vancouver Canucks played. At least that would bring in more money and well, more "cultured" people with more money to spend was good for Vancouver coffers.
But it wasn't so good for the ones without money, like the four that were living on a barebones lot in the south of Richmond wondering if they were going to be able to pay the bills.
You did what you had to to survive. And Vancouver didn't like vagrants or people binning. they planned to force as many of the vagrants and indigent out of the main city and out into the outlier areas where they wouldn't see them for what they were: a reflection on how society treats their less fortunate.
But despite how society viewed them, Haruo and Phil did get some enjoyment out of picking on each other. It was the typical guy thing to do and scaring each other seemed to be par for the course.
Heather and Haruo had met "on the internet" an year back and it seemed as though the two of them had been destined to be together. They had fallen hard and fast for each other and of course, their relationship had formalized over the internet and it was only natural that Haruo would definitely pop the question when she "landed" in Canada. And of course, long telephone calls and e-mails had cemented their relationship and Heather said "yes..."
Proposing was pretty much a formality as the both of them had pledged that they had wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. And it didn't matter a heckuva lot that Haruo didn't have much money to begin with...it was love and rose-colored glasses; but eventually real life would sink in, hopefully.
Their first house was practically a garden shed from Wal-Mart with a couple of bunk-beds stuck in the house where the four of them could sleep and with no running water it was not a very comfortable situation, but at least it got them out of the elements. Thank goodness for "socialized health care" - they wouldn't have to pay a whole lot of money if anyone got sick. 
But it was still pretty uncomfortable in the rain which in the summer was warm, but as fall approached, the temperature would drop and although Vancouver was temperate rainforest, it was not a place where you wanted to be outdoors when the celcius dropped through the thermometer floor.
The Vancouver skyline was visible over the hill from Richmond and night practically turned into day when the lights were on.
Tosh spent the majority of his time head-first in the dumpster trying to find things to sell off so that they could make sure that they paid off the bills/taxes and were able to eat at least something. But it was tough...
though on his behalf, he did, however, find a gemstone, a geode and three metals which he promptly fired off in the mail to get the metals smelted and the gemstone cut. Unfortunately they had too little money to get themselves a gemcutter and do it themselves. Things cost money and in Mayor Robertson's Vancouver - life was tailored to the rich.
Vancouver - Not for the Poor
Author's Note: This is the Sims 3 version of Heather and Haruo (my RL wife and I). There will be element of "truth" and "fiction" in the vein of telling a story. I won't tell you what's true and what's fiction, but I will be drawing elements from "my own life" as well as utilizing the Sims 3 to tell this pseudo-biography and hopefully I can show a bit of the city that I call home. I will be utilizing @sneakfeline0's Vancouver, BC...(unfortunately something has gone corrupt in the Exchange file and it is no-longer downloadable - at least on my end)
As a growing metropolis, the Lower Mainland was an interesting dichotomy of the rich and the no-so-rich. Located on the Pacific Coast with the western tip reaching English Bay and the Pacific Ocean and the the eastern-most tip extending all the way to Hope, it was a great place to settle down, if you had the money.
However if you didn't, you were hard-pressed to make a living. It was money during the 90s that had fueled the real estate boom and outlying parts such as Burnaby, Coquitlam and Port Moody as well as Surrey and Delta that had seen a major building boom. Offshore investors looked at taking as much as they could and building up luxury houses for themselves to park their money leaving many long-time residents of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland to depart to places that their pocketbooks could afford. Housing prices skyrocketed, it seemed almost, overnight, but Noel, Phil Haruo and his girlfriend Heather managed to snag themselves a property at the south end of Knight Street and hang onto it, but after they had purchased the property, they barely had enough to survive on.
Luckily Richmond City Council were too busy exhorting the virtues of Richmond to off-shore buyers to care about evicting a few indigent land-squatters, even if it was on prime development property, just so long as they paid their taxes and bills on time.
The various city councils were too busy with their development plans that they didn't care what happened to those who were not as fortunate as they were and didn't have enough to put on the table. Mayor Robertson of Vancouver was more interested in developing Fraserview into a cultural hotbed and the area around the arena where the Vancouver Canucks played. At least that would bring in more money and well, more "cultured" people with more money to spend was good for Vancouver coffers.But it wasn't so good for the ones without money, like the four that were living on a barebones lot in the south of Richmond wondering if they were going to be able to pay the bills.
You did what you had to to survive. And Vancouver didn't like vagrants or people binning. they planned to force as many of the vagrants and indigent out of the main city and out into the outlier areas where they wouldn't see them for what they were: a reflection on how society treats their less fortunate.
But despite how society viewed them, Haruo and Phil did get some enjoyment out of picking on each other. It was the typical guy thing to do and scaring each other seemed to be par for the course.Heather and Haruo had met "on the internet" an year back and it seemed as though the two of them had been destined to be together. They had fallen hard and fast for each other and of course, their relationship had formalized over the internet and it was only natural that Haruo would definitely pop the question when she "landed" in Canada. And of course, long telephone calls and e-mails had cemented their relationship and Heather said "yes..."
Proposing was pretty much a formality as the both of them had pledged that they had wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. And it didn't matter a heckuva lot that Haruo didn't have much money to begin with...it was love and rose-colored glasses; but eventually real life would sink in, hopefully.
Their first house was practically a garden shed from Wal-Mart with a couple of bunk-beds stuck in the house where the four of them could sleep and with no running water it was not a very comfortable situation, but at least it got them out of the elements. Thank goodness for "socialized health care" - they wouldn't have to pay a whole lot of money if anyone got sick. But it was still pretty uncomfortable in the rain which in the summer was warm, but as fall approached, the temperature would drop and although Vancouver was temperate rainforest, it was not a place where you wanted to be outdoors when the celcius dropped through the thermometer floor.The Vancouver skyline was visible over the hill from Richmond and night practically turned into day when the lights were on.
Tosh spent the majority of his time head-first in the dumpster trying to find things to sell off so that they could make sure that they paid off the bills/taxes and were able to eat at least something. But it was tough...
though on his behalf, he did, however, find a gemstone, a geode and three metals which he promptly fired off in the mail to get the metals smelted and the gemstone cut. Unfortunately they had too little money to get themselves a gemcutter and do it themselves. Things cost money and in Mayor Robertson's Vancouver - life was tailored to the rich. 
Always "River McIrish" ...and maybe some Bebe Hart. ~innocent expression~
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Good Golly, Miss Molly
The day went by relatively quickly as they were all getting used to living together. Noel was always eyeing Heather looking for opportunities to talk to her, but she quickly put a stop to that as she was completely loyal to Haruo. The group mostly hung out in their own rooms either reading or doing other things.
"Hey, Molly, what brings you up here to Canada?
"Oh, heard you were kickin' around...and thought I'd see my old friend from college days." Molly smirked at him, "I did some work around New York for a bit, studied under a sous-chef and hoped that I could get somewhere, but when I found out that there was a vacancy in Vancouver for a short-order cook, I figured, what the hey... I'll see about going for an interview on Monday."
"Um, you look a little tongue-tied, Noel?"
"Er. uh...well, yeah, Molly. You're looking really fantastic..." Noel stammered and then brought out a bouquet of yellow flowers, "yeah...uh..right...I am...tongue...tied..."
Molly laughed cheerily, "Well, Noel, I do look a bit different from college days. I ditched the punk style when I got into the culinary field and well...since that's going to be my path in life, I figured I'd better look the part.
"Yeah...well...I barely recognized you." Noel said...still trying to loosen his tongue.
"Hey, Molly, do you think...that...uh..." Noel looked at her for a long moment.
"Uh-huh?" Molly prompted.
Always "River McIrish" ...and maybe some Bebe Hart. ~innocent expression~
Vancouver Daily
Life was normal for a while, which meant that it was the usual tasks. Noel and Phil went binning, Haruo and Heather painted and Molly cooked dinner when she wasn't at work the diner.
Haruo decided that he was going to take Heather out to dinner the following night.
Always "River McIrish" ...and maybe some Bebe Hart. ~innocent expression~
The Arrival of Bree
Mornings were especially interesting since everyone who had jobs outside of the house worked in the afternoon. Noel worked from 1-6 at the Science Center, Molly worked at the diner and Phil actually joined her in employment there. And Haruo and Heather worked from home.
"Morning honey..." Noel was greeted by his significant other and an immediate lip-lock ensued.
"You remember Jocko?" Bree growled, "He advised me to put all my money into stock in this one company?"
"Yeah? I told you that it was too good to be true..." Molly remembered when Bree had come to her looking for advice.
"Well...I did..." Molly recoiled in horror at Bree's admission.
"...you...didn't..."
"I did...and it's all gone...all except §16,500." Bree looked downcast.
You look like you've been on a bender and living out of goodwill..." Molly looked at her sympathetically.
Bree replied shamefaced. "I did... and I've had the massive hangover to boot. I'll never look upon poor people again the way I did. They have life rough."
Poor Bree, it was a wakeup call that she never would have realized until she lost her money.
"So...what are you going to do now?" Molly asked her.
"Start over...I have no choice, build up my wealth from the ground up...instead of having it bequeathed to me and hope that I can make it count this time around.
"Well...let's see if we can help you out..." Molly said.
"Thanks, I won't forget it..." Bree replied..., "Oh...and one more thing?"
"What is it?"
"You mind if I crashed here. I don't have enough to rent a place on my own...but I can contribute what I have left to the family coffers."
"Well, you have to ask them, but I'll put in a good word for you." Molly could only promise that. "Now let's get you looking human again and not like you spent all your money on an alcoholic binge."
And Bree was as good as her word too. The first chance she got, she headed to the book store and got herself books on Mixology so that she could further her skill in that until she could figure out what her path was in life.
When she wasn't reading her Mixology book, Bree was taking care of household chores, like laundry, washing dishes and transferring the washed clothes into the dryer.
Always "River McIrish" ...and maybe some Bebe Hart. ~innocent expression~
Bree & Phil
Life was interesting in the household with Bree and Molly as well as the four friends and it wasn't long before their house had to increase in size to accommodate the six of them in their own rooms. It didn't take too long to build and the house looked rather nice when completed.
Always "River McIrish" ...and maybe some Bebe Hart. ~innocent expression~