I suppose many animations for you are old hat but for me their expressions and actions have make me laugh out loud unexpectedly as I had no clue what was occurring and I defo was not in control-)
Love the take on my poor sim looking up at the camera as if to say WTH is going on here surrounded by trees-)
one thing for sure I know I will never stop playing 2 now as I really am hooked
Yay! You've been snared! lol. Seriously though. Old hat or not, there are still LOTS of things for me to explore and find. I have a big problem letting my Sims age naturally (I've mentioned this before in other threads). I use the aging off feature all the time to keep them from aging and eventually dying.
This time around though, I allowed my baby sims to age beyond toddlerhood (and I'm finding quite a few advantages to this which I never realised before) and I even let the eldest child become a teenager, and that has been EXTREMELY helpful. The eldest child, Petey is really good with his siblings and I've found him very helpful around the house (and a couple of others around here told me about this in another thread, so I was looking forward to it, because he can cook now, and change the diapers of the two toddlers, so I don't need the nannies so much anymore, and I'm SO glad about that. I don't know if you've hired nannies in Sims 2 yet, but just beware that they are NOT GOOD CARETAKERS, and there's nothing you can do about it. The toddler or baby will be screaming their head off because they're sitting in a dirty diaper and want it changed, and the nanny will pick them up and either put them in their crib to go to sleep, or take them downstairs to feed them. It takes the nannies FOREVER to change a diaper.
Everyone will tell you that no matter how much you know about the Sims World, there is almost always something new that can happen because they are unpredictable. Case in point is that the nanny I have taking care of the kids somehow managed to set herself on fire. I was cracking up because NO ONE was trying to help her, and Byron (the kids' father), ran into the kitchen, stood for a few seconds to watch her jumping around and slapping at her rear, and then grabbed his little son and ran outside, lol. And everyone else in the household either stayed asleep in their beds, or doing whatever it was they were doing elsewhere in the house, even though the fire alarm was screeching. The fireman finally showed up and put the fire out with his fire extinguisher, uttered a, "Be more careful next time," and then left the house. It was great! lol Total revenge for her bad caretaking!
OK, so I'm going to try to do this now that I'm finally a member (Thank You!):
Here's several pics of the Nanny on Fire:
I know it's mean, but it really was funny. And I had nothing to do with it! I was off in another part of the house when the alarm went off, so I scrolled over to the kitchen, and lo and behold, she had somehow managed to set herself on fire!
Yes I have used Nanny's, they drive me batty so your nanny got what she deserved as you say and I would find it hilarious if that happened to my Nanny as well thanks for pics way funny , I love how the fireman turned up to put her out haha
If I am playing families I leave someone of an appropriate age to look after them now instead of a Nanny who I might add is extremely difficult to get rid off if its a one off gig she's been hired for.
I found not knowing the babies motives quite difficult when I first started playing but since the age up is only 2-3 sims days I am used to it now. I absolutely adore the toddler stage and have added some extra game play items for that age range such as a boat they can bathe in by themselves, a tiny table and chair they can sit and eat food on if they are hungry and a dancing bear they dance to and gain skills from I have added a few mods though especially one to stop the negative lecturing of the baby for soiling the nappy, one to stop them constantly bathing the toddler etc. I wait now until I find something I dislike in game then go searching for a mod to stop it-)
The more you tell me how you like to play the more I realize we are quite similar in style lol I know you don't play 3 but as it was my first series and from the outset I realized I didn't like my sims dying with the exception of some really annoying townies that I allow my vamps to kill now with a deadly bite to get rid of them. I always play with aging off and never allow my sims to age beyond adult however as the world never progressed around me which it is meant to do in 3 so I added a mod for that to resolve that particular problem. I have a hard drive full of sim worlds with various sims at different age stages and tons of pics of them all and it comforts me to know at anytime I can play any one of them again, and like I mentioned earlier they never die even if they have accidents and the reaper appears as they all have death flowers in their inventories.
Enter Sims 2 and the first thing I search for besides CC, mods and a decent modern house is the death flower and when I find the series does not have one I almost go into a panic because the last thing I want is unexpected deaths which nearly happened the first week I started playing 2 when I almost lost one of my favorite family males to a fire and the reaper had to be pleaded with and he was let off, that's when i installed this reaper phone in the house hoping next time pleading for a life would not be left to fate I then played with cheats and aging off as well but for some reason it makes my game crash after a while so I added the sim blender mod which allows me to control a lot of things one of which is maxing out aging again back to the beginning again so I am happy with that.
Players have told me on other threads there is a way to resurrect any sim but I have not found out how to do that as yet and I worry about corruption because there seems to be more ways to cause corruption in 2 I am not quite used to as yet so I am extra careful.
My next challenge was trying to find out how the heck I could save my worlds at various stages as I went along because each save overwrites the last and I had no clue at the time how to save back up neighborhoods but now I do I save as I go along and make a note of where the world is at but this is not as easy to do as it is in 3.
I don't know why I find it almost impossible to age my sims up, I never let them get past the adult stage and I know some players are not keen on the teen stage but I love it as I always play them like grown ups so they work, date, woohoo, drink, smoke, gamble in my games
I laughed when you wrote that you finally allowed them to age up beyond a toddler, now that is a little extreme lol but you can always save your neighborhood so if you get pangs to go back afterwards to an earlier age stage you can do.
Also when first playing 2 I hated the way sims and the world stood still while playing the current household but now I love it as I have various sim/families at certain stages with different jobs, skills and abilities which I can choose to play based on what I feel like playing when I load the game. I also don't mind the way time works as I have learned to us it to my advantage but it also drove me crazy when I first started playing.
My first girl twins playing together
my toddler getting his own boat bath
my first sim made to be a vamp and thanks to the kindness of other players taking the time to explain how I could get close ups my screenshots will be better in future
@SPARKY1922
Yeah, lol, you and I definitely have similar playing styles. I too, had issues with the camera shots, but finally figured out that I should just pause the game, and zoom in and then find a decent angle to get a good close up shot. That's where I got my avy from. She's Joan, the mom from my current family.
You have a lot of interesting stuff in your rooms. Do you have just the base game, or the UC version? I only have the base game, so there's a lot of content I don't have access to, and I think everyone around here thinks I'm nuts because I don't want the UC version, lol. I enjoy just playing the base game, but I will admit that I'd love some of the items I see people displaying or talking about from time to time.
Thank you for sharing the pics. They're cool. I love the twins, they're adorable. Are they real twins, or just babies that were born within the same time frame due to playing with the age off feature? All my Sims' kids were born during the age off, so my last two toddlers were, I believe, born within a day of each other. Is there a way to guarantee twins in the game, or does it just randomly happen?
Your vampire is cool! Goth-like, and I love the tattoo of the spider.
Everyone keeps talking about corruption, but I don't think I've experienced it. Just the glitch (repeatedly) with the Nanny getting stuck in a feedback loop somewhere, but thankfully with the help of people here, I was able to get rid of her until she was next due to show up. It's funny that you mention it being hard to get rid of the nanny, especially if you hire her for an extra shift so your Sims can get some sleep or just have some much needed down time. As much as I hate her, I'm grateful for the time she stays late, because I've noticed for some reason, even though Joan doesn't get off work until 10, the nanny sometimes (OK, every time) leaves about fifteen minutes to a half hour early! Thankfully though, Byron (the kids' dad) or Petey (the eldest) are usually home and can take over when she goes. My favorite is when she (the nanny) offers to stay and "hang out," and I'm always like, "NO!!!" lol.
I only ever owned the disc base game initially, I was out of the country and came back to stay with a friend over the Xmas period who got quite miffed after introducing me to the game as after that I spent as much time as possible trying to on her PC to play the game instead of attending to my visiting duties lol.
I then grabbed the base game on my way back out the country and I don't think it ever got opened as I was working so hard at the time and forgot all about it until some years later and went looking for it but after moving several times it was nowhere to be found, I then noticed 3 was out and just bought that whole series as it came out bypassing 2 altogether.
A couple of months ago I decided to contact EA and ask them for UC because technically I had bought the base game once and spent a lot of money on 3 over the years and they agreed to give it to me only if I bought a brand new sims 2 base game with an unused code which I thought was fair as I was getting a whole series in return and I don't think a day has gone by since I have not fired the game up-)
Apologies looking back over that was a very long winded reply lol
Because I am used to mods and CC in my Sims 3 game I knew I had to find some for 2 especially for toddlers and children as I love family play.
JULES111 put me onto creator Rebecah's stuff as she has loads of unique things for toddlers that add tons of extra game play some outlined as follows:
Quad bikes toddlers can ride
toddler beds they can sleep in and get in and out of their own accord
a small toilet, sink and a boat bath all usable ( boat as shown in snapshot)
toddler foods
toddler booster seats
cooking pot
charisma pot
dancing bear that toddlers dance alongside
toddlers swings
Some of these items actually add skills when used, however as I did not realize you were just playing with the base game you would have to check to see if any are base game compatible before downloading if you wanted to try any out. All her creations are on the following link if you want to have a look through..
Could I ask the reason you don't want to have the whole series to play with as even though I am new to the series I love taking my sims on vacations and adding community lots where there is loads of things for them to do.. My sims can skill up on a community lot now as I use a mod for that as well-)
The twins in my pic are actual real twins from one of my favorite families where I managed to get 2 twin girls and 2 boys born separately by sheer luck so there is a good balance. In Sims 3 again its so easy if you want the sim to have a girl I think its watermelons you make them eat and apples for a boy, it could be the other way around as I am starting to forget-) and if you want more than one baby sit the pregnant sim in front of the kids TV channel for hours usually works-)
Also in that snapshot there is a blue colored rug/mat you can just see to the left of the twins and toddlers can sleep on those if your other sims forget to put them in the crib, toddlers just naturally gravitate to it to sleep on when they get tired as well. I know the rug is somewhere in the game but I think its a mod or similar that allows the toddlers to sleep on it. ( I could be wrong I don't remember everything-) I also use toddler beds which you can just see in the second snapshot behind the boat, again they are great as toddlers just simply get into bed when they are tired. All of these things are from the same creator on the above link.
In the first snapshot you can see the red car which is a Porsche from fresh prince creations but I am not sure if they are base game compatible.
The vamp is a favorite but I wanted him to be mean and hes like a puppy dog lol not at all any good for downtown living-)
The thing about the Nanny other than everything we have mentioned already for me has always been the problem of trying to get her to leave after my family members come home, sometimes several members of the family have to keep telling her shes dismissed but by the time the old biddy actually gets it she often starts yelling and flinging her arms around, I just thought it was something coded into nannies in the game or a bug
As I finish typing this I still cannot believe you only have the base game lol
I just feel I still have enough to explore in the base game without complicating things for me by adding ever more things. As far as downloading additional content, I am wary of that due to potential viruses and such, and I love my Windows 7 computer, and I am NOT going to get Windows 10 after what Microsoft pulled with it (total invasion of privacy, and if you are wondering what I'm talking about, and you have Windows 10, read their TOS/License of Acceptance/Agreement where it specifically states that they can take WHATEVER personal information they want from you, INCLUDING very personal info such as credit cards, and banking details. Nowhere in Windows 7 Agreement or earlier OS's does it state they can do that). Now, thankfully, I don't bank online, however, once in a great while, I do shop online, and I'm a writer, so I'm very protective of my stories, and the last thing I want is to find my stories floating around somewhere with someone else's name on them! So, yeah, call me paranoid if you want, but that's something I feel extremely strongly about. I'm very seriously considering looking into getting a typewriter and going old-school to write my stories in order to keep them protected.
Your experience with the nanny is interesting, lol. The biggest problem I have with her besides the feedback loop glitch, is that she has a tendency to pee on my Sims' floors because she has bathroom desperation all the time because the toddlers seem to run her ragged. However, I find it interesting that she sometimes has time to play on the swingset or watch T.V., or swim in the pool, but doesn't have the time to use the bathroom? Hmm... lol So, I never have pity for her when she gets so desperate that she loses control and pees on the floor.
well this is one thing we differ on then as I adore content the more the better and any extra added game-play that comes with it although I don't like the headaches it can cause when it all goes wrong
I bought a back up laptop last year with windows 8.1 and it took ages to go through it all and remove all the bloat of unwanted software and add the programs I like to use and trust but as its just a back up If my home desktop PC build breaks down so I don't worry too much.
I completely understand what you are saying regards security concerns and while I personally use safety precautions nothing is truly fail safe so I balance what I want to do with programs designed to keep me as safe as possible while using common sense.
I never even looked at windows 10 and delete the update for the annoying windows 10 pop up before allowing other essential Microsoft updates to install. I have the disc version of windows 7 in case I want to perform a complete reinstall and the free version of Microsoft office and that's all I need right now but one day in the not too distant future Microsoft will stop supporting it and then we will be forced to rethink..
Creative writing sounds interesting and i love the idea of an old fashioned typewriter but how is your typing speed as I am sure if i swapped my keyboard for a typewriter I know it would defo slow me down-)
Where the heck does this diverse Nanny behavior come from in the sense you have all those experiences with your Nanny and I have others yet we don't experience the same behaviors from them. I wonder just how many different Nanny's there are because its always the same one that turns up when I call for the service, what about yours?
Yeah, I have the same nanny show up all the time unless I do an emergency call to the service just before the regular nanny is supposed to show up, and then I get a different nanny and the two overlap shifts temporarily. And then it's chaos x2 because they're both terrible! Lol.
As for a typewriter and typing speed, I use a "natural keyboard" currently, and according to Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, the last time I used it to practice with, I managed to get up to 70wpm, HOWEVER, since practically no company you work for has a natural keyboard, my typing speed on a regular keyboard is between 35 and 45wpm. So, I'm guessing that's around where my typing speed on a typewriter would be at once I got used to it again, but I haven't used a typewriter since about 6th grade, when my typing teacher began teaching us, and it was right at the cusp of computers, so we had both in the classroom, and spent the first half of the term learning on a typewriter, and the second half of term learning coding on computers (oh, how that massively $ucked! I was supposed to make a turtle walk around the screen in a square pattern. I failed miserably! I also hated that everyone in my class but me managed to figure out where on the floppy disk we had to pass around to each other to load the program we were supposed to be working on, and loaded a baseball game program instead, and no one would tell me how to load it. But I digress, lol.
lol I am sure if you decide to go back to the typewriting route you will be fine and get faster the more you use it. One of my favorite pastimes has always been to visit massive bookstores with a good coffee house inside so I can pile the books up in a basket then sit and drink my coffee while I peruse which books I am going to buy
These days I have more books on my kindle due to space limitations but I still love to read from my books..
I don't mind keeping up with technology it can be useful but when it all goes wrong I have no problem reverting to what I know still works
Oh, I'm very anti-technology. Well, that's not really true. I just don't care to keep up with all of it. I was an avid reader, but these days I find myself sticking to one book in particular, and that's Pride & Prejudice. I'm going through it now for about the 7th or 8th time at least. I did go through most of a UK series by a wonderful UK author named, Maureen Lee, but I haven't been able to acquire all her books because they're not all available in the U.S., and there's another U.K. author whose books I would LOVE to get my hands on, but her books aren't available here AT ALL. So I turn to my staple book, P&P, lol.
I mean no offense or disrespect, but I just had to mention this after reading your addiction to the Kindle. My mother is/was an avid reader too (which is where I get it from), but she switched over to the Nook and Kindle years ago, and I was furious with her for doing so. I called her a traitor to the written word. This is because, IMO, it's not a book if you can't hold it in your hands, and smell the cover and pages, and feel the paper in your hand/under your fingers, etc. Real books are very important to me. But that's me, that's not everyone, and I understand that. I guess I'm just an old-fashioned soul.
What I meant was I keep up with technology in the respect that I have an understanding and working knowledge but I don't always use it or ever buy the latest gadget-) With respect to the kindle I said I use it because of space limitations, ie not enough room for the 100's of books I once owned but was forced to pick and choose what got left behind and sold in my many house moves over the years. I do have my favorite books but am the type of person that if I read or hear about any subject and it stimulates my interest I go in search of a book to buy so you can imagine the sheer number of books I accumulated over the years
My dream was always to have one room kitted out like the old fashioned libraries up to the roof with ladders, fireplaces and comfy chairs but I have never lived in a property old enough to make that work so sadly I live this desire out through sims
If you have a paypal account or similar I am sure you would be able to buy your books from amazon.co.uk you may have to register but the postage would be calculated at the time of order and an estimated delivery time specified. I only mention this as I often purchase from the Italian Amazon website for some items that work out cheaper in euros for me to do it that way, plus I have never had a problem with Amazon refunding me if I have ever had any problem with lost deliveries of items etc.
I truly hope I didn't offend you with my comments about the Kindle. As I said, I do understand why most people go that route, and I no longer begrudge people that option. I just remember how strongly I felt about it at the time, and I'm the type of person who has difficulty with change anyway, and then my mother goes and gets a Nook or Kindle or whatever was the popular one at the time. I look back on that conversation with her now, and it makes me laugh.
OMG, you and I are SOOOOOO similar!!!! My ultimate dream (besides buying a house in Ireland and moving there, and getting a goat and donkey to keep in the yard) is to have a BIG room FILLED with books and the ladders you mention (I'm guessing you mean the type with the rollers on the feet?) and yes, a fireplace (MUST BE WOOD BURNING! I am so sick of my gas fireplace!!!) and a sitting area with a big soft leather couch and some overstuffed chairs for sure! There is a house in Ireland (very expensive, of course!) and the place had the biggest private library I've ever seen! I fell in love and wanted to break down in tears because even the column posts were large enough around that they contained books too, and everything was floor to ceiling BOOKS!!!! And somewhere in the room was a desk or something on which sat a stuffed raven, and IMMEDIATELY I thought of Poe, and I just pictured him walking amongst that library filled with those books, or sitting at the desk, writing with a feather quill and ink pot! *sigh*
As for the books I want, I'll hopefully be able to pick them up this summer while I'm on vacation, as I'll be in a place where I should be able to acquire them, and if the can't get it in while I'm there, they should at least be able to ship them to me. I meant to do it last summer, but I got lazy and never made it in to the bookstore, lol.
Oh apologies if you thought I was offended by your comment that was not my intention at all I was simply trying to explain why I gave in to the kindle as it was a just a matter of moving into a smaller place which could not accommodate all the books/bookcases I wanted to bring with me anymore and memories of my husband stomping his foot (Sims's style explaining to the shipping agent I was a lunatic-) if memory serves I think I was on my 6-7th move when I realized I could no longer take them all with me. Books have always been a best friend, a place of sanctuary and retreat where I can either learn something new or be able to kick back and immerse myself in a great story where time stops still and nothing else matters..
When I started working abroad in the lovely sunshine I worked so hard I wanted the odd hour I got to myself to read a good book in the sunshine with the wind blowing through my hair with either a glass of wine of coffee in my hand facing the beach with no one to disturb me lol I quickly discovered this was not going to be possible and retreated indoors opening the patio doors to sit in the breeze learning to live with that instead.
I already told you I can spend hours perusing book stores with a great cup of coffee in my hand and at one time I nearly achieved my dream of solitude with roaring fires, bookcases and the joy of being a million miles from a city but my work and my husbands was always being on the move traveling abroad and sometimes now when I find myself with more time than I know what to do with I have forgotten what to do and it takes real effort to remember what I really wanted in earlier days before life took over and carried me along...
That library you write about sounds fantastic which side of Ireland is it in North or South? (I like both but for very different reasons-) I was over there a lot in my childhood as we had friends with a farm in southern Ireland and I remember being taught how to milk a cow and play in the different shaped haystacks, I remember trying to politely refuse my friends mothers gravy as it tasted like a lump of salt and how we had to walk everywhere and I was chased by bull in a field trying to cut across and save some time instead of walking along the road Cars were a rarity and I used to hold the hand of Mary's statue and pray for a car to come along and give us a lift
I know we cannot always have what we want but in some ways I would have swapped the globe trotting for the house on the hill
The following snapshot with the caption header of " where can a lady go to be alone with a book and a drink" come to mind and adequately describes how I felt when first moving abroad
something like this that's all mine and nobody can enter without my permission, the only thing missing is a crackling fire and snow at the window but I am sure those extra things can be arranged
That's what I want too! With the secret book door(s) and all that jazz!!!
I spend my time in Eire, so I've learned to deal in euros, and drive on the other side of the road, and I've learned that I really like diesel engines in cars. I drove my first "real" European car this past summer when I drove a Nissan (I can't remember the model), but it was one of those really tiny ones, and my left leg was CONSTANTLY being stuck by the gear shift, and I couldn't get my right leg to be comfortable at all, and as I was residing at the absolute top of a mountain and had to go through three gates (as in, park the car, get out, open the gate, get back in the car, drive though, park, get out, go back up the hill to close the gate, get back in the car, and drive to the next gate, lol), the thing constantly sounded like it was going to die. This summer, I'm getting a full-sized car so it should be diesel, which is cheaper gas there, and should therefore be able to handle the mountain and the mountain roads. I stay outside of Kenmare, and I want to move there someday soon. I plan to go house hunting while I'm there this summer. My parents are not happy about it. They act as though I've stated I want to go live in China or the Middle East or some place like that. But I have friends in Ireland now, and I'm happiest there, and I'm miserable here. Everyone but my parents recognize that I'm happier there. As for my parents, I'm at the point that while I love them, I don't really care that they don't understand my love of Ireland, nor my desperate desire to move there.
I'm in the suburbs here, and they're more city people. I'm more country. I too, learned to milk a cow when I was younger, and when I went to camp in the summers, I learned to milk a goat. I love goats. They're so dog-like, lol. And with the current dogs I have, I can totally envision my boy romping around the yard, playing with the goat, and him just thinking it's another dog, lol. I think I've mentioned that he's VERY sweet, just not the brightest boy, lol. My girl would likely just bark at the goat, lol.
I can't wait to get back there this summer! Just a few more months!
I don't know if I could handle constant traveling, especially since I have my two dogs. Once I'm in a place, I tend to just stay put. I have so much to figure out with them in regard to passports and traveling. I'm going to speak to the guy I know at the Shannon airport because he sees dogs come in all the time, and last summer, there was a woman traveling with a dog, and I don't know if it was exempted from having to clear customs or if pre-arrangements had been made, because the dog was waiting for her at the baggage area. However, she was disabled, so I'm sure it was different for her than it would be for me, but since I'm not traveling to England, I've been told that it shouldn't be too difficult to get them through customs so long as I have their passports and correct paperwork (i.e. medical records, rabies certificates, etc.). You're probably wondering why, if I'm in the Kenmare area, why I fly into Shannon as opposed to Dublin, but if you remember the roads from when you were a kid, you know the roads are terrible in places. It would take me over five hours to get from Dublin to Kenmare, whereas it only takes me three to four to get there after landing in Shannon. And my plan when I do take the dogs is to land in Shannon and get a connecting flight to Kerry and then see if someone can pick me up at Kerry to take me home. But, that's still a long way off and still at the dream stage. *sigh*
Another place in Ireland I want to go is to Skellig Island before they close it down permanently to protect it. Apparently they keep planning to close it each year, but then leave it open to tourism. I need to get in better shape first though, because to ascend to the top, you have to climb 656 stairs!!! I have trouble sometimes with the fourteen in my home, lol. I did get to go to Dingle a couple years ago to see Fungi (the famous dolphin). Unfortunately, I have no pictures because I forgot my camera that day, and my American cell phone died and I didn't have a portable charger at the time, and my Vodaphone doesn't have a camera. It was still cool to go and see him though. That was the very first time I ever saw a dolphin in its natural habitat. It was nice.
Sorry for the novel, lol.
I do know what you mean though by wanting a nice, private place to sit and read, with a glass of wine (or a hot chocolate with brandy), and be surrounded by books, and my dogs at my feet (sleeping and not Sumo-Wrestling like they usually do!!!). Perfect.
Most of us love our parents of course we do but there comes a time when we have to do what we want to and in today's world that can mean almost anything as there is so much out there to have a go at if we want to try...
You will be going to a beautiful part of the world and I have no doubt if you are already used to visiting the area and have friends then you should not experience too many problems with the transition.
I love diesel cars especially after my teenage years of driving around in 2.8 Capri's and similar that I loved to thrash around usually over the speed limit until I desperately needed something more fuel efficient for work purposes
The first time I ever went to the states I was really fortunate as a friend borrowed me their soft top mustang to drive around in which I adored and used to make excuses just to go out and drive around
I am not almost sure sure Ireland is still based on the British legal system and as such I can offer a little advice as far as transporting pets into the country as I have been there done that.
To get the pet passport you will need a vet who understands the process in your own country and the host country you will be taking the animals to and it usually takes between 6-9 months to complete so you need to plan well in advance-)
they will require various vaccinations based on whichever country they are going to and usually a blood test which is sent away and tested in your home country to prove details regards the animals health.
Your flight is going to be quite a long one so I suggest you find a pet friendly airline as although some airlines offer the service there is a vast difference between offering a service and actually caring about it.
Once you have the passport in order and all the other necessary vaccinations etc out of the way the last 3 days prior to travel are a bit of a nightmare as the vet has to give jabs to the animal at certain intervals leading up to the flight at specific times to fit the criteria for travel and arriving in the host country.
I used to get myself together prior to the last 3 days before the flight so I could concentrate on my pet as its not a great experience for them either.
You will need special pet travel containers that meet the specifications of both the airline and the host country so be sure to check carefully as different airlines have different rules and regulations. I do understand what you are saying about road travel over there but you need to think about what is better for your animals especially after a long flight as if extra hours are going to be added to an already long journey it might be better staying somewhere pet friendly overnight so they get a little rest between journeys. Also you never know when you might hit a travel snag or a delay which could leave you sitting in one country while your pets have already landed and are waiting for you in another -) Also I like the feeling when I am flying that my pet is with me on the flight in the knowledge that it wont be long at the other end before I can pick him up again.
Once everything is completed you usually take your pet to a special airport terminal on the same day you are traveling around 3-4 hours prior to flight take off ( or a rep does for you)
When you get to the other end of your journey to the host country the documentation and animals are checked by the relevant department and then a rep will usually come look for you in the airport to arrange collection after you have finished checking out. This is the worse moment because if there is even the tiniest thing wrong in the country your going to they will stick the animal in quarantine until its resolved and the cost is £££££ for that..
Its also a good idea to register your pets as quickly as possible in the country you are going to as if you miss anything important and loose your pets passport status it becomes invalid it can take another 6-9 months to get it re-sorted and its costly.
Climb all those stairs at SkelligisIslands I don't think I would be able now lol perhaps a boat tour would be better and a pair of binoculars
As for the dolphins I get a little uneasy about where they are kept and how they are treated but in Florida I did find a bit of run down facility off the beaten track where you could swim with them which was a memorable experience as they all have different personalities. we were allowed as much time as we wanted with them there was no pressure and it was obvious the owners truly loved the animals and were trying to make ago of it without too much corporate interference.
I remember we were encouraged to hold onto their fins at which point the dolphins took off at beak neck speeds towards the other side of the pools which were some distance away, the first time it happened I could hardly see with the water in my face and honestly thought I was going to driven into the side of the pool and knocked unconscious or something but several inches in-front of the concrete the dolphin makes a sharp turn right and comes to a stop with a kind of giggle and shake of the head, I leaned after a while in the pool with them they loved doing that to anyone who would have a go
Anyway now I have to apologize for the novel and go to bed lol
Yeah, England from what I understand though, is overly tough in regard to pet travel. And the guy I know at the airport in Ireland is pretty knowledgeable and what he doesn't know, he knows where to go to get the info. However, yes, I plan to have them ready well in advance of actually needing to go with me. When he and I last spoke about it, he said he sees dogs come in and out of the airport all the time with no issues, so I'm hoping it won't be nearly as strenuous as if I were to try and get them in to England or Whales or Scotland. Thank you for the info, though, I know I have a lot of work ahead of me in regard to getting them ready. It's probably going to be a couple of years yet until I'm ready to take them with me.
Swimming with the dolphins must have been a blast! And yeah, they are extremely playful, but from the documentaries I've seen over the years, they can get protective over people and won't allow harm to come to them. Not sure how true that is, though.
As to my parents, I get what you're saying, and you're right, it's just that my mom in particular seems to expect me to be there for her in her old age because I'm not married. My feeling on it is, this isn't the 1800s and I'm not going to play the part of the spinster daughter and be my parents' slave for the rest of my life.
As to transitioning to Irish life, well, I'm in love with the country and the people and the life, and I've been going there for several years already, and while I will probably get lonely for my friends here, I know I'll be SO MUCH happier there. It was funny this past summer because I wound up getting a flat tire on my way into town and had to stop at the gas station just outside, and a couple were kind enough to put the spare on for me (and likely thought, "Yanks are so odd" because I wanted to give the man a giant hug, but figured they'd both be uncomfortable with that, so I gave the wife the giant hug instead, and she gave me an awkward pat on the shoulder and we said goodbye and they walked away, and I drove off on the spare). I am finally starting to meet more of the people in the little town I stay in, and they're all used to me now showing up at the Tavern each week to listen to the music and watch people dance (not club dancing. This place is one of the few places that plays reel sets and such, so a lot of people turn out each week to dance at the Tavern). I usually get a pot of tea (or two) and I get to watch the reel set dancers. They range in age, too. It's not like a group of old people. There's young and old who dance there and it's just so much fun. Life there is so much more me. I'm not a mall person, or a city person, so I'm fine with country and small town living.
Apologies I did not mean to write a tutorial on pet passports lol
My mum was a bit the same but finally understood I could not be stopped and eventually accepted it so there is no reason to doubt your mum wont do the same just give it some time Let her in on all the plans you are making as you go along so at least she will know and be ready when the time comes.
Your story regards the flat tire had me in stitches as we are very reserved in this part of the world don't you know
I can tap dance but I always wanted to learn Irish tap but never got around to it. Wherever I have been abroad and someone is singing, dancing or has a great sense of humor they are usually Irish lol
No worries. I actually know someone from Scotland who travels with her little dog all the time and told me the "horror" stories of traveling with the dog. She emailed me a HUGE attachment all about what you need to do in regard to pet travel. Looks like a nightmare! And she told me she learned to land in Dublin and clear customs there before flying on to Heathrow and then on to Edinburgh because she HATES going through customs at Heathrow, lol. I have heard that you need to have a blood sample of the pet on file with like, the USDA? I don't know how true that is, if it's for all countries, or just for certain countries. And yeah, I've been talking to my vet's office about the whole thing, and they know they need to look into exactly what needs to be done, and I do know that I'll need one of those International Pet Scanners (for the microchip, which both of mine have).
What can I say? I was just overcome with relief and gratitude and wanted to say "thank you," lol.
One of the pubs I hang out in while there always has various musicians and sometimes people will wander in and you never know if someone is going to sing, dance, or play. It's so much fun.
My parents... My parents... Yeah, it's definitely going to be an uphill battle with them.
Comments
Yay! You've been snared! lol. Seriously though. Old hat or not, there are still LOTS of things for me to explore and find. I have a big problem letting my Sims age naturally (I've mentioned this before in other threads). I use the aging off feature all the time to keep them from aging and eventually dying.
This time around though, I allowed my baby sims to age beyond toddlerhood (and I'm finding quite a few advantages to this which I never realised before) and I even let the eldest child become a teenager, and that has been EXTREMELY helpful. The eldest child, Petey is really good with his siblings and I've found him very helpful around the house (and a couple of others around here told me about this in another thread, so I was looking forward to it, because he can cook now, and change the diapers of the two toddlers, so I don't need the nannies so much anymore, and I'm SO glad about that. I don't know if you've hired nannies in Sims 2 yet, but just beware that they are NOT GOOD CARETAKERS, and there's nothing you can do about it. The toddler or baby will be screaming their head off because they're sitting in a dirty diaper and want it changed, and the nanny will pick them up and either put them in their crib to go to sleep, or take them downstairs to feed them. It takes the nannies FOREVER to change a diaper.
Everyone will tell you that no matter how much you know about the Sims World, there is almost always something new that can happen because they are unpredictable. Case in point is that the nanny I have taking care of the kids somehow managed to set herself on fire. I was cracking up because NO ONE was trying to help her, and Byron (the kids' father), ran into the kitchen, stood for a few seconds to watch her jumping around and slapping at her rear, and then grabbed his little son and ran outside, lol. And everyone else in the household either stayed asleep in their beds, or doing whatever it was they were doing elsewhere in the house, even though the fire alarm was screeching. The fireman finally showed up and put the fire out with his fire extinguisher, uttered a, "Be more careful next time," and then left the house. It was great! lol Total revenge for her bad caretaking!
OK, so I'm going to try to do this now that I'm finally a member (Thank You!):
Here's several pics of the Nanny on Fire:
I know it's mean, but it really was funny. And I had nothing to do with it! I was off in another part of the house when the alarm went off, so I scrolled over to the kitchen, and lo and behold, she had somehow managed to set herself on fire!
Yes I have used Nanny's, they drive me batty so your nanny got what she deserved as you say and I would find it hilarious if that happened to my Nanny as well thanks for pics way funny , I love how the fireman turned up to put her out haha
If I am playing families I leave someone of an appropriate age to look after them now instead of a Nanny who I might add is extremely difficult to get rid off if its a one off gig she's been hired for.
I found not knowing the babies motives quite difficult when I first started playing but since the age up is only 2-3 sims days I am used to it now. I absolutely adore the toddler stage and have added some extra game play items for that age range such as a boat they can bathe in by themselves, a tiny table and chair they can sit and eat food on if they are hungry and a dancing bear they dance to and gain skills from
The more you tell me how you like to play the more I realize we are quite similar in style lol I know you don't play 3 but as it was my first series and from the outset I realized I didn't like my sims dying with the exception of some really annoying townies that I allow my vamps to kill now with a deadly bite to get rid of them. I always play with aging off and never allow my sims to age beyond adult however as the world never progressed around me which it is meant to do in 3 so I added a mod for that to resolve that particular problem. I have a hard drive full of sim worlds with various sims at different age stages and tons of pics of them all and it comforts me to know at anytime I can play any one of them again, and like I mentioned earlier they never die even if they have accidents and the reaper appears as they all have death flowers in their inventories.
Enter Sims 2 and the first thing I search for besides CC, mods and a decent modern house is the death flower and when I find the series does not have one I almost go into a panic because the last thing I want is unexpected deaths which nearly happened the first week I started playing 2 when I almost lost one of my favorite family males to a fire and the reaper had to be pleaded with and he was let off, that's when i installed this reaper phone in the house hoping next time pleading for a life would not be left to fate
Players have told me on other threads there is a way to resurrect any sim but I have not found out how to do that as yet and I worry about corruption because there seems to be more ways to cause corruption in 2 I am not quite used to as yet so I am extra careful.
My next challenge was trying to find out how the heck I could save my worlds at various stages as I went along because each save overwrites the last and I had no clue at the time how to save back up neighborhoods but now I do I save as I go along and make a note of where the world is at but this is not as easy to do as it is in 3.
I don't know why I find it almost impossible to age my sims up, I never let them get past the adult stage and I know some players are not keen on the teen stage but I love it as I always play them like grown ups so they work, date, woohoo, drink, smoke, gamble in my games
I laughed when you wrote that you finally allowed them to age up beyond a toddler, now that is a little extreme lol but you can always save your neighborhood so if you get pangs to go back afterwards to an earlier age stage you can do.
Also when first playing 2 I hated the way sims and the world stood still while playing the current household but now I love it as I have various sim/families at certain stages with different jobs, skills and abilities which I can choose to play based on what I feel like playing when I load the game. I also don't mind the way time works as I have learned to us it to my advantage but it also drove me crazy when I first started playing.
My first girl twins playing together
my toddler getting his own boat bath
my first sim made to be a vamp and thanks to the kindness of other players taking the time to explain how I could get close ups my screenshots will be better in future
Yeah, lol, you and I definitely have similar playing styles. I too, had issues with the camera shots, but finally figured out that I should just pause the game, and zoom in and then find a decent angle to get a good close up shot. That's where I got my avy from. She's Joan, the mom from my current family.
You have a lot of interesting stuff in your rooms. Do you have just the base game, or the UC version? I only have the base game, so there's a lot of content I don't have access to, and I think everyone around here thinks I'm nuts because I don't want the UC version, lol. I enjoy just playing the base game, but I will admit that I'd love some of the items I see people displaying or talking about from time to time.
Thank you for sharing the pics. They're cool. I love the twins, they're adorable. Are they real twins, or just babies that were born within the same time frame due to playing with the age off feature? All my Sims' kids were born during the age off, so my last two toddlers were, I believe, born within a day of each other. Is there a way to guarantee twins in the game, or does it just randomly happen?
Your vampire is cool! Goth-like, and I love the tattoo of the spider.
Everyone keeps talking about corruption, but I don't think I've experienced it. Just the glitch (repeatedly) with the Nanny getting stuck in a feedback loop somewhere, but thankfully with the help of people here, I was able to get rid of her until she was next due to show up. It's funny that you mention it being hard to get rid of the nanny, especially if you hire her for an extra shift so your Sims can get some sleep or just have some much needed down time. As much as I hate her, I'm grateful for the time she stays late, because I've noticed for some reason, even though Joan doesn't get off work until 10, the nanny sometimes (OK, every time) leaves about fifteen minutes to a half hour early! Thankfully though, Byron (the kids' dad) or Petey (the eldest) are usually home and can take over when she goes. My favorite is when she (the nanny) offers to stay and "hang out," and I'm always like, "NO!!!" lol.
I only ever owned the disc base game initially, I was out of the country and came back to stay with a friend over the Xmas period who got quite miffed after introducing me to the game as after that I spent as much time as possible trying to on her PC to play the game instead of attending to my visiting duties lol.
I then grabbed the base game on my way back out the country and I don't think it ever got opened as I was working so hard at the time and forgot all about it until some years later and went looking for it but after moving several times it was nowhere to be found, I then noticed 3 was out and just bought that whole series as it came out bypassing 2 altogether.
A couple of months ago I decided to contact EA and ask them for UC because technically I had bought the base game once and spent a lot of money on 3 over the years and they agreed to give it to me only if I bought a brand new sims 2 base game with an unused code which I thought was fair as I was getting a whole series in return and I don't think a day has gone by since I have not fired the game up-)
Apologies looking back over that was a very long winded reply lol
Because I am used to mods and CC in my Sims 3 game I knew I had to find some for 2 especially for toddlers and children as I love family play.
JULES111 put me onto creator Rebecah's stuff as she has loads of unique things for toddlers that add tons of extra game play some outlined as follows:
Quad bikes toddlers can ride
toddler beds they can sleep in and get in and out of their own accord
a small toilet, sink and a boat bath all usable ( boat as shown in snapshot)
toddler foods
toddler booster seats
cooking pot
charisma pot
dancing bear that toddlers dance alongside
toddlers swings
Some of these items actually add skills when used, however as I did not realize you were just playing with the base game you would have to check to see if any are base game compatible before downloading if you wanted to try any out. All her creations are on the following link if you want to have a look through..
http://www.affinitysims.com/IPB/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=user_activity&search_app=downloads&mid=12
Could I ask the reason you don't want to have the whole series to play with as even though I am new to the series I love taking my sims on vacations and adding community lots where there is loads of things for them to do.. My sims can skill up on a community lot now as I use a mod for that as well-)
The twins in my pic are actual real twins from one of my favorite families where I managed to get 2 twin girls and 2 boys born separately by sheer luck so there is a good balance. In Sims 3 again its so easy if you want the sim to have a girl I think its watermelons you make them eat and apples for a boy, it could be the other way around as I am starting to forget-) and if you want more than one baby sit the pregnant sim in front of the kids TV channel for hours usually works-)
Also in that snapshot there is a blue colored rug/mat you can just see to the left of the twins and toddlers can sleep on those if your other sims forget to put them in the crib, toddlers just naturally gravitate to it to sleep on when they get tired as well. I know the rug is somewhere in the game but I think its a mod or similar that allows the toddlers to sleep on it. ( I could be wrong I don't remember everything-) I also use toddler beds which you can just see in the second snapshot behind the boat, again they are great as toddlers just simply get into bed when they are tired. All of these things are from the same creator on the above link.
In the first snapshot you can see the red car which is a Porsche from fresh prince creations but I am not sure if they are base game compatible.
The vamp is a favorite but I wanted him to be mean and hes like a puppy dog lol not at all any good for downtown living-)
The thing about the Nanny other than everything we have mentioned already for me has always been the problem of trying to get her to leave after my family members come home, sometimes several members of the family have to keep telling her shes dismissed but by the time the old biddy actually gets it she often starts yelling and flinging her arms around, I just thought it was something coded into nannies in the game or a bug
As I finish typing this I still cannot believe you only have the base game lol
Your experience with the nanny is interesting, lol. The biggest problem I have with her besides the feedback loop glitch, is that she has a tendency to pee on my Sims' floors because she has bathroom desperation all the time because the toddlers seem to run her ragged. However, I find it interesting that she sometimes has time to play on the swingset or watch T.V., or swim in the pool, but doesn't have the time to use the bathroom? Hmm... lol So, I never have pity for her when she gets so desperate that she loses control and pees on the floor.
well this is one thing we differ on then as I adore content the more the better and any extra added game-play that comes with it although I don't like the headaches it can cause when it all goes wrong
I bought a back up laptop last year with windows 8.1 and it took ages to go through it all and remove all the bloat of unwanted software and add the programs I like to use and trust but as its just a back up If my home desktop PC build breaks down so I don't worry too much.
I completely understand what you are saying regards security concerns and while I personally use safety precautions nothing is truly fail safe so I balance what I want to do with programs designed to keep me as safe as possible while using common sense.
I never even looked at windows 10 and delete the update for the annoying windows 10 pop up before allowing other essential Microsoft updates to install. I have the disc version of windows 7 in case I want to perform a complete reinstall and the free version of Microsoft office and that's all I need right now but one day in the not too distant future Microsoft will stop supporting it and then we will be forced to rethink..
Creative writing sounds interesting and i love the idea of an old fashioned typewriter but how is your typing speed as I am sure if i swapped my keyboard for a typewriter I know it would defo slow me down-)
Where the heck does this diverse Nanny behavior come from in the sense you have all those experiences with your Nanny and I have others yet we don't experience the same behaviors from them. I wonder just how many different Nanny's there are because its always the same one that turns up when I call for the service, what about yours?
I highly recommend reading it so that you are aware of what does cause corruption.
Yeah, I have the same nanny show up all the time unless I do an emergency call to the service just before the regular nanny is supposed to show up, and then I get a different nanny and the two overlap shifts temporarily. And then it's chaos x2 because they're both terrible! Lol.
As for a typewriter and typing speed, I use a "natural keyboard" currently, and according to Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, the last time I used it to practice with, I managed to get up to 70wpm, HOWEVER, since practically no company you work for has a natural keyboard, my typing speed on a regular keyboard is between 35 and 45wpm. So, I'm guessing that's around where my typing speed on a typewriter would be at once I got used to it again, but I haven't used a typewriter since about 6th grade, when my typing teacher began teaching us, and it was right at the cusp of computers, so we had both in the classroom, and spent the first half of the term learning on a typewriter, and the second half of term learning coding on computers (oh, how that massively $ucked! I was supposed to make a turtle walk around the screen in a square pattern. I failed miserably! I also hated that everyone in my class but me managed to figure out where on the floppy disk we had to pass around to each other to load the program we were supposed to be working on, and loaded a baseball game program instead, and no one would tell me how to load it. But I digress, lol.
@Seera1024
Thank you very much for the link; much appreciated!
lol I am sure if you decide to go back to the typewriting route you will be fine and get faster the more you use it. One of my favorite pastimes has always been to visit massive bookstores with a good coffee house inside so I can pile the books up in a basket then sit and drink my coffee while I peruse which books I am going to buy
These days I have more books on my kindle due to space limitations but I still love to read from my books..
I don't mind keeping up with technology it can be useful but when it all goes wrong I have no problem reverting to what I know still works
@Seera1024
Thanks for that link I am learning as much as I can to try and avoid it in game
Oh, I'm very anti-technology. Well, that's not really true. I just don't care to keep up with all of it. I was an avid reader, but these days I find myself sticking to one book in particular, and that's Pride & Prejudice. I'm going through it now for about the 7th or 8th time at least. I did go through most of a UK series by a wonderful UK author named, Maureen Lee, but I haven't been able to acquire all her books because they're not all available in the U.S., and there's another U.K. author whose books I would LOVE to get my hands on, but her books aren't available here AT ALL. So I turn to my staple book, P&P, lol.
I mean no offense or disrespect, but I just had to mention this after reading your addiction to the Kindle. My mother is/was an avid reader too (which is where I get it from), but she switched over to the Nook and Kindle years ago, and I was furious with her for doing so. I called her a traitor to the written word. This is because, IMO, it's not a book if you can't hold it in your hands, and smell the cover and pages, and feel the paper in your hand/under your fingers, etc. Real books are very important to me. But that's me, that's not everyone, and I understand that. I guess I'm just an old-fashioned soul.
What I meant was I keep up with technology in the respect that I have an understanding and working knowledge but I don't always use it or ever buy the latest gadget-) With respect to the kindle I said I use it because of space limitations, ie not enough room for the 100's of books I once owned but was forced to pick and choose what got left behind and sold in my many house moves over the years. I do have my favorite books but am the type of person that if I read or hear about any subject and it stimulates my interest I go in search of a book to buy so you can imagine the sheer number of books I accumulated over the years
My dream was always to have one room kitted out like the old fashioned libraries up to the roof with ladders, fireplaces and comfy chairs but I have never lived in a property old enough to make that work so sadly I live this desire out through sims
If you have a paypal account or similar I am sure you would be able to buy your books from amazon.co.uk you may have to register but the postage would be calculated at the time of order and an estimated delivery time specified. I only mention this as I often purchase from the Italian Amazon website for some items that work out cheaper in euros for me to do it that way, plus I have never had a problem with Amazon refunding me if I have ever had any problem with lost deliveries of items etc.
I truly hope I didn't offend you with my comments about the Kindle. As I said, I do understand why most people go that route, and I no longer begrudge people that option. I just remember how strongly I felt about it at the time, and I'm the type of person who has difficulty with change anyway, and then my mother goes and gets a Nook or Kindle or whatever was the popular one at the time. I look back on that conversation with her now, and it makes me laugh.
OMG, you and I are SOOOOOO similar!!!! My ultimate dream (besides buying a house in Ireland and moving there, and getting a goat and donkey to keep in the yard) is to have a BIG room FILLED with books and the ladders you mention (I'm guessing you mean the type with the rollers on the feet?) and yes, a fireplace (MUST BE WOOD BURNING! I am so sick of my gas fireplace!!!) and a sitting area with a big soft leather couch and some overstuffed chairs for sure! There is a house in Ireland (very expensive, of course!) and the place had the biggest private library I've ever seen! I fell in love and wanted to break down in tears because even the column posts were large enough around that they contained books too, and everything was floor to ceiling BOOKS!!!! And somewhere in the room was a desk or something on which sat a stuffed raven, and IMMEDIATELY I thought of Poe, and I just pictured him walking amongst that library filled with those books, or sitting at the desk, writing with a feather quill and ink pot! *sigh*
As for the books I want, I'll hopefully be able to pick them up this summer while I'm on vacation, as I'll be in a place where I should be able to acquire them, and if the can't get it in while I'm there, they should at least be able to ship them to me. I meant to do it last summer, but I got lazy and never made it in to the bookstore, lol.
Oh apologies if you thought I was offended by your comment that was not my intention at all I was simply trying to explain why I gave in to the kindle as it was a just a matter of moving into a smaller place which could not accommodate all the books/bookcases I wanted to bring with me anymore and memories of my husband stomping his foot (Sims's style explaining to the shipping agent I was a lunatic-) if memory serves I think I was on my 6-7th move when I realized I could no longer take them all with me. Books have always been a best friend, a place of sanctuary and retreat where I can either learn something new or be able to kick back and immerse myself in a great story where time stops still and nothing else matters..
When I started working abroad in the lovely sunshine I worked so hard I wanted the odd hour I got to myself to read a good book in the sunshine with the wind blowing through my hair with either a glass of wine of coffee in my hand facing the beach with no one to disturb me lol I quickly discovered this was not going to be possible and retreated indoors opening the patio doors to sit in the breeze learning to live with that instead.
I already told you I can spend hours perusing book stores with a great cup of coffee in my hand and at one time I nearly achieved my dream of solitude with roaring fires, bookcases and the joy of being a million miles from a city but my work and my husbands was always being on the move traveling abroad and sometimes now when I find myself with more time than I know what to do with I have forgotten what to do and it takes real effort to remember what I really wanted in earlier days before life took over and carried me along...
That library you write about sounds fantastic which side of Ireland is it in North or South? (I like both but for very different reasons-) I was over there a lot in my childhood as we had friends with a farm in southern Ireland and I remember being taught how to milk a cow and play in the different shaped haystacks, I remember trying to politely refuse my friends mothers gravy as it tasted like a lump of salt and how we had to walk everywhere and I was chased by bull in a field trying to cut across and save some time instead of walking along the road
I know we cannot always have what we want but in some ways I would have swapped the globe trotting for the house on the hill
The following snapshot with the caption header of " where can a lady go to be alone with a book and a drink" come to mind and adequately describes how I felt when first moving abroad
something like this that's all mine and nobody can enter without my permission, the only thing missing is a crackling fire and snow at the window but I am sure those extra things can be arranged
I spend my time in Eire, so I've learned to deal in euros, and drive on the other side of the road, and I've learned that I really like diesel engines in cars. I drove my first "real" European car this past summer when I drove a Nissan (I can't remember the model), but it was one of those really tiny ones, and my left leg was CONSTANTLY being stuck by the gear shift, and I couldn't get my right leg to be comfortable at all, and as I was residing at the absolute top of a mountain and had to go through three gates (as in, park the car, get out, open the gate, get back in the car, drive though, park, get out, go back up the hill to close the gate, get back in the car, and drive to the next gate, lol), the thing constantly sounded like it was going to die. This summer, I'm getting a full-sized car so it should be diesel, which is cheaper gas there, and should therefore be able to handle the mountain and the mountain roads. I stay outside of Kenmare, and I want to move there someday soon. I plan to go house hunting while I'm there this summer. My parents are not happy about it. They act as though I've stated I want to go live in China or the Middle East or some place like that. But I have friends in Ireland now, and I'm happiest there, and I'm miserable here. Everyone but my parents recognize that I'm happier there. As for my parents, I'm at the point that while I love them, I don't really care that they don't understand my love of Ireland, nor my desperate desire to move there.
I'm in the suburbs here, and they're more city people. I'm more country. I too, learned to milk a cow when I was younger, and when I went to camp in the summers, I learned to milk a goat. I love goats. They're so dog-like, lol. And with the current dogs I have, I can totally envision my boy romping around the yard, playing with the goat, and him just thinking it's another dog, lol. I think I've mentioned that he's VERY sweet, just not the brightest boy, lol. My girl would likely just bark at the goat, lol.
I can't wait to get back there this summer! Just a few more months!
I don't know if I could handle constant traveling, especially since I have my two dogs. Once I'm in a place, I tend to just stay put. I have so much to figure out with them in regard to passports and traveling. I'm going to speak to the guy I know at the Shannon airport because he sees dogs come in all the time, and last summer, there was a woman traveling with a dog, and I don't know if it was exempted from having to clear customs or if pre-arrangements had been made, because the dog was waiting for her at the baggage area. However, she was disabled, so I'm sure it was different for her than it would be for me, but since I'm not traveling to England, I've been told that it shouldn't be too difficult to get them through customs so long as I have their passports and correct paperwork (i.e. medical records, rabies certificates, etc.). You're probably wondering why, if I'm in the Kenmare area, why I fly into Shannon as opposed to Dublin, but if you remember the roads from when you were a kid, you know the roads are terrible in places. It would take me over five hours to get from Dublin to Kenmare, whereas it only takes me three to four to get there after landing in Shannon. And my plan when I do take the dogs is to land in Shannon and get a connecting flight to Kerry and then see if someone can pick me up at Kerry to take me home. But, that's still a long way off and still at the dream stage. *sigh*
Another place in Ireland I want to go is to Skellig Island before they close it down permanently to protect it. Apparently they keep planning to close it each year, but then leave it open to tourism. I need to get in better shape first though, because to ascend to the top, you have to climb 656 stairs!!! I have trouble sometimes with the fourteen in my home, lol. I did get to go to Dingle a couple years ago to see Fungi (the famous dolphin). Unfortunately, I have no pictures because I forgot my camera that day, and my American cell phone died and I didn't have a portable charger at the time, and my Vodaphone doesn't have a camera. It was still cool to go and see him though. That was the very first time I ever saw a dolphin in its natural habitat. It was nice.
Sorry for the novel, lol.
I do know what you mean though by wanting a nice, private place to sit and read, with a glass of wine (or a hot chocolate with brandy), and be surrounded by books, and my dogs at my feet (sleeping and not Sumo-Wrestling like they usually do!!!). Perfect.
Most of us love our parents of course we do but there comes a time when we have to do what we want to and in today's world that can mean almost anything as there is so much out there to have a go at if we want to try...
You will be going to a beautiful part of the world and I have no doubt if you are already used to visiting the area and have friends then you should not experience too many problems with the transition.
I love diesel cars especially after my teenage years of driving around in 2.8 Capri's and similar that I loved to thrash around usually over the speed limit until I desperately needed something more fuel efficient for work purposes
The first time I ever went to the states I was really fortunate as a friend borrowed me their soft top mustang to drive around in which I adored and used to make excuses just to go out and drive around
I am not almost sure sure Ireland is still based on the British legal system and as such I can offer a little advice as far as transporting pets into the country as I have been there done that.
To get the pet passport you will need a vet who understands the process in your own country and the host country you will be taking the animals to and it usually takes between 6-9 months to complete so you need to plan well in advance-)
they will require various vaccinations based on whichever country they are going to and usually a blood test which is sent away and tested in your home country to prove details regards the animals health.
Your flight is going to be quite a long one so I suggest you find a pet friendly airline as although some airlines offer the service there is a vast difference between offering a service and actually caring about it.
Once you have the passport in order and all the other necessary vaccinations etc out of the way the last 3 days prior to travel are a bit of a nightmare as the vet has to give jabs to the animal at certain intervals leading up to the flight at specific times to fit the criteria for travel and arriving in the host country.
I used to get myself together prior to the last 3 days before the flight so I could concentrate on my pet as its not a great experience for them either.
You will need special pet travel containers that meet the specifications of both the airline and the host country so be sure to check carefully as different airlines have different rules and regulations. I do understand what you are saying about road travel over there but you need to think about what is better for your animals especially after a long flight as if extra hours are going to be added to an already long journey it might be better staying somewhere pet friendly overnight so they get a little rest between journeys. Also you never know when you might hit a travel snag or a delay which could leave you sitting in one country while your pets have already landed and are waiting for you in another -) Also I like the feeling when I am flying that my pet is with me on the flight in the knowledge that it wont be long at the other end before I can pick him up again.
Once everything is completed you usually take your pet to a special airport terminal on the same day you are traveling around 3-4 hours prior to flight take off ( or a rep does for you)
When you get to the other end of your journey to the host country the documentation and animals are checked by the relevant department and then a rep will usually come look for you in the airport to arrange collection after you have finished checking out. This is the worse moment because if there is even the tiniest thing wrong in the country your going to they will stick the animal in quarantine until its resolved and the cost is £££££ for that..
Its also a good idea to register your pets as quickly as possible in the country you are going to as if you miss anything important and loose your pets passport status it becomes invalid it can take another 6-9 months to get it re-sorted and its costly.
Climb all those stairs at SkelligisIslands I don't think I would be able now lol perhaps a boat tour would be better and a pair of binoculars
As for the dolphins I get a little uneasy about where they are kept and how they are treated but in Florida I did find a bit of run down facility off the beaten track where you could swim with them which was a memorable experience as they all have different personalities. we were allowed as much time as we wanted with them there was no pressure and it was obvious the owners truly loved the animals and were trying to make ago of it without too much corporate interference.
I remember we were encouraged to hold onto their fins at which point the dolphins took off at beak neck speeds towards the other side of the pools which were some distance away, the first time it happened I could hardly see with the water in my face and honestly thought I was going to driven into the side of the pool and knocked unconscious or something but several inches in-front of the concrete the dolphin makes a sharp turn right and comes to a stop with a kind of giggle and shake of the head, I leaned after a while in the pool with them they loved doing that to anyone who would have a go
Anyway now I have to apologize for the novel and go to bed lol
Swimming with the dolphins must have been a blast! And yeah, they are extremely playful, but from the documentaries I've seen over the years, they can get protective over people and won't allow harm to come to them. Not sure how true that is, though.
As to my parents, I get what you're saying, and you're right, it's just that my mom in particular seems to expect me to be there for her in her old age because I'm not married. My feeling on it is, this isn't the 1800s and I'm not going to play the part of the spinster daughter and be my parents' slave for the rest of my life.
As to transitioning to Irish life, well, I'm in love with the country and the people and the life, and I've been going there for several years already, and while I will probably get lonely for my friends here, I know I'll be SO MUCH happier there. It was funny this past summer because I wound up getting a flat tire on my way into town and had to stop at the gas station just outside, and a couple were kind enough to put the spare on for me (and likely thought, "Yanks are so odd" because I wanted to give the man a giant hug, but figured they'd both be uncomfortable with that, so I gave the wife the giant hug instead, and she gave me an awkward pat on the shoulder and we said goodbye and they walked away, and I drove off on the spare). I am finally starting to meet more of the people in the little town I stay in, and they're all used to me now showing up at the Tavern each week to listen to the music and watch people dance (not club dancing. This place is one of the few places that plays reel sets and such, so a lot of people turn out each week to dance at the Tavern). I usually get a pot of tea (or two) and I get to watch the reel set dancers. They range in age, too. It's not like a group of old people. There's young and old who dance there and it's just so much fun. Life there is so much more me. I'm not a mall person, or a city person, so I'm fine with country and small town living.
Apologies I did not mean to write a tutorial on pet passports lol
My mum was a bit the same but finally understood I could not be stopped and eventually accepted it so there is no reason to doubt your mum wont do the same just give it some time
Your story regards the flat tire had me in stitches as we are very reserved in this part of the world don't you know
I can tap dance but I always wanted to learn Irish tap but never got around to it. Wherever I have been abroad and someone is singing, dancing or has a great sense of humor they are usually Irish lol
No worries. I actually know someone from Scotland who travels with her little dog all the time and told me the "horror" stories of traveling with the dog. She emailed me a HUGE attachment all about what you need to do in regard to pet travel. Looks like a nightmare! And she told me she learned to land in Dublin and clear customs there before flying on to Heathrow and then on to Edinburgh because she HATES going through customs at Heathrow, lol. I have heard that you need to have a blood sample of the pet on file with like, the USDA? I don't know how true that is, if it's for all countries, or just for certain countries. And yeah, I've been talking to my vet's office about the whole thing, and they know they need to look into exactly what needs to be done, and I do know that I'll need one of those International Pet Scanners (for the microchip, which both of mine have).
What can I say? I was just overcome with relief and gratitude and wanted to say "thank you," lol.
One of the pubs I hang out in while there always has various musicians and sometimes people will wander in and you never know if someone is going to sing, dance, or play. It's so much fun.
My parents... My parents... Yeah, it's definitely going to be an uphill battle with them.