1. Hi! Welcome back to Auspicious It Ain’t, where I am only just
managing to pass this pass/fail challenge. I don’t seem to make
very good budgeting decisions. Or very good career decisions.
Rather like real life, actually. (sigh)
But I absolutely cannot take any credit (blame?) for Genevive’s
outerwear. Since she Grew Up in the summer, this is the first I’ve
seen of it, and it’s pretty hilarious.
And now, on with the show!

2. You may recall that last time, I accidentally got Ygraine a job in a
career track that she wasn’t allowed to be in. Fortunately, she had
not yet gone to work, and I had her quit. First thing this rotation,
she found a new job in the Culinary career. There’s always room
for a good dishwasher!
Of course, the day she took the job was one of her scheduled days
off, so no money came in yet again.

3. Lucky for me, though, Genevive is under no career-track
prohibitions, and she was able to find an after-school job as file
clerk for a law firm.
No, I’m not sure which one. Probably Dewey, Cheatham & Howe.*
*Note to my non-American readers: If you don’t get that joke, just ask. I’ll be
happy to explain it.

4. I had to adjust my usual playstyle again when the family ran out of
food in the fridge. Normally, I’d just sell the fridge and buy a new
one, since new fridges come fully stocked. Alas, such shortcuts are
against the rules of this challenge… although I’m not sure they
could have afforded a new fridge anyway.
After the delivery fee and all the groceries they could afford, there
were a whopping fifteen Simoleons left in the bank.

5. Genevive rolled the Want to Gain a Skill Point, and since the kids
in this challenge are allowed to deliberately skill, I sent her to do
some sewing. (It builds Creativity.)
Now, as you can see, I have a cc sewing machine because I don’t
have Free Time. Something I had completely forgotten about was
that this particular sewing machine pays out money for every so
often you use it. I wouldn’t mind that so much, since you can sell
crafted items off the Free Time machine, although it’s against the
rules to do so.

6. However, this sewing machine pays out $1,000 for every hour of
use. That defeats the whole point of the challenge, so I stopped
Genevive working on it right away, and nobody will use it again.
(grumbles) And I can’t even sell it, because you’re not allowed to
sell things unless you’re upgrading to a nicer one. I’d have to buy a
$3,000 piano to get rid of the sewing machine.
(sigh) Say hello and goodbye to the fountain I bought with the
surprise $1,000. I tucked it away in Beaudelaire’s inventory, so
nobody will get any good out of the money.

7. The following morning, the tomatoes were ready for harvesting. (If
only they’d been ready a day earlier!) I had Ygraine stock the
fridge with half of them and sell the other half, but now that I think
about it, I think that perhaps she shouldn’t have sold them. It’s not
explicitly forbidden, but after some consideration, I think it
probably comes under the same heading as any other make-and-
sell-able item.

8. Unfortunately, I can’t take back the money Ygraine earned for the
tomatoes, since the family already spent it on a trip to The Tacky
Flamingo.* Genevive and Beaudelaire enjoyed the bowling, and I
learned that Children will pick up the bowling ball with both hands
and then roll it at the pins.
*A venue owned by my (un)Officially Wacky Boolprop Challenge family.

9. A strategy that seems to have worked out very well for
Beaudelaire.

10. Ygraine, meanwhile, enjoyed a good long soak in the hot tub.
The Tacky Flamingo has a Cheap admission price, but at $15 per
person per hour, the money from the tomatoes was gone pretty
quickly. Perhaps we could call this a wash, if I promise not to do it
again ever?

11. Although I don’t know if it truly is a wash, considering…
OLD ADAM SHANKEL, WITH THE NIFTY
MUSTACHE/SIDEBURNS COMBO: Are these your children,
madam?
YGRAINE: Yes, are they a problem? I’m so sorry! We can leave…
OLD ADAM: No, no, not at all! They have very pretty manners,
the little chap in particular. How old is he?
YGRAINE: He’s eleven.
OLD ADAM: Eleven! A very good age indeed. I have a
granddaughter who is eight.

12. YGRAINE: That’s nice.
OLD ADAM: Do you think your son would like to be betrothed to
my granddaughter?
YGRAINE: I -- Golly, that’s an unusual question, I --
OLD ADAM: Provisionally, of course. The children would need to
agree to the match themselves within a reasonable timeframe,
perhaps three days after your son reaches Adult? I should mention
that my granddaughter will be a woman of property.
Old Adam has a habit* of doing things like this, actually…
*See, for instance, “(Not) Heiress Rose” or “Oh Joy, Oh Rapture Unforeseen”
in Ruth’s (un)Officially Wacky Boolprop Challenge.

13. Being betrothed (provisionally, of course) doesn’t seem to have
made much of an impact on Beaudelaire. On day two of the
rotation, he was out there planting more tomatoes. He seems to
enjoy gardening.

14. And this would be why I’m planting more tomatoes even though
Ygraine really can’t make any money off them: they’re healthy and
filling and stock the fridge up nice and full!
I personally wouldn’t put tomatoes in my cereal, but then, I don’t
care for tomatoes.

15. Against all sense, Ygraine has decided that the family needs a dog.
It’s not like pets cost anything to feed. Or need chew toys if you
want intact furniture. Or rack up lots of money in vet fees.
Nah, pets are basically free entertainment. Right?
This little charmer is only a stray, and her relationship with
Ygraine is not quite high enough to be adopted yet, but I have high
hopes.

16. Genevive went off to her fist day of work with no fuss, and she
seemed to enjoy herself. Or at least her Fun meter wasn’t
completely red when she got home…

17. With the money from Genevive’s first day on the job, the family
fixed up her bedroom. The bed, bedding, and dresser are much
more grown-up (and expensive, as per the rules) than the race car
ones that used to be there. A coat of paint, a new carpet, and some
inexpensive paneling add to the sophistication of the room. The
pennant from ISI -- where Genevive will be going to college, if she
has any say in the matter -- is the finishing touch.

18. Of course, Genevive does still have to share with her little brother.

19. I’m not sure if this makes sharing less of a problem, or more. At
any rate, Beaudelaire has aged up to Teen, in better outwear than
Genevive managed.
For those who are interested, Beaudelaire is a Fortune Sim who
likes charismatic girls who wear makeup, as long as they don’t go
and spoil it all by being too logical.
Which is me out of pictures again. I think I may have mentioned
how hard it is to find the time to take them?

20. Just one last question before I go: Do you think Beaudelaire has elf
ears? (If he does, I can’t think where he got them…) Or is this just
a flaw in the hair mesh?
Until next time, Happy Simming!