Ruth is continuing her Boolprop challenge by training toddlers and teens. Valerie, an elderly romance sim, passed away. Buttercup became a teen and rolled for her aspiration, which may have been Pleasure. The Tacky Flamingo venue is doing well financially but one customer keeps losing and regaining a star. Ruth is working on robotics badges while her family portrait was completed, though now hangs askew between urns.

1. Hello hello! Welcome back to Ruth’s (un)Officially Wacky Boolprop Challenge! Here’s a
quick recap: Last time, the Official Venue Business, The Tacky Flamingo, opened.
Oakapple became a Toddler, and was promptly hit on by the creepy Jan Tellerman. Old
Adam became a Child wearing pink pajamas. I learned that I really can use the energizer
– it’s only snapdragons, the quill, and Jumbok that are off limits.
Now that you’re all up-to-date, let’s get started.

2. The energizer is a real life-saver! It got a lot of use this session.

3. A lot of use.

4. Even that wasn’t really as much use as it probably should have gotten. It’s very hard to
keep a Romance Sim like Valerie even in the green when what she wants are high-level
romantic interactions. (Slow Dance, Make Out, and so forth.)

5. Although since what she actually got was Potty Training, I can’t say I blame her for
rolling those Wants.

6. Other people took over the toddler training duties. Ruth tackled Learn To Talk…

7. …and Ryan handled Learn To Walk.

8. Buttercup’s teachers have obviously picked up on the idea that she is supposed to be
heavy on the yellow – do you see how her homework is yellow too? (happily) I think
that’s great.

9. Buttercup is actually something of a bad influence on the other kids in the neighborhood.
BUTTERCUP: And then you take a big deep breath like this (demonstrates) and then you
start to float.
LOUISE SANDERS, THE BLOND GIRL: Whoa… I can fly!
SAMANTHA LITTLEDRAGON, THE REDHEAD: Hee hee hee hee. Hee hee hee hee
hee hee!
OLD ADAM (sings along with the bubble machine): Pop goes the weasel!
Louise and Samantha are from my story Already in Progress. Louise is one of the
daughters of Ryan’s friend Mifune. Samantha is the recently adopted daughter of Ruth’s
cousin Nirel. You should go read the story they come from. [/shameless self-promotion]

10. Old Adam is also friends with Louise’s twin sister Myrna. They play Mary Mack and
Red Hands. Myrna’s parents won’t have a bubble blower in the house.
Don’t worry about the nose – Ruth’s nose was like that when she was his age; she grew
into it.

11. As you can see in the previous picture, Old Adam had a pretty nifty hairstyle.
Unfortunately, it only worked with his outerwear, and wasn’t available at all in any
category when I went to make it his default hair. Not even outwear. I don’t know what
happened.
This is what he looks like now. Old Adam’s version of Wacky involves old-fashioned
clothing and hair, hence the Alexander Goth suit. He is also wearing a little restrained
eyeliner, just to bring out his eyes. I don’t approve of makeup on children.
Er, pay no attention to the girl painted up to look like a tiger.

12. I didn’t realize until later that I could have had Wackier jammies for Oakapple. Funds
were limited, and I simply found something that didn’t offend me too badly.
RUTH: (sings softly, as a lullaby): Turn oh turn in this direction, Shed oh shed a gentle
smile, With a glance of sad perfection… (continues, humming)
OAKAPPLE: (yawns and snuggles into his mother’s neck)

13. Ruth could probably do with someone to sing her a lullaby and tuck her in right about
now.
BUTTERCUP: Dad, what’s wrong with Mom?
RYAN: She’s just tired, sweetie. The business is taking a lot out of her right now.
OLD ADAM: Will Mama be all right, Papa?
RYAN: Yeah, she’ll be fine, Adam. And you can call me “Daddy,” you know.
OLD ADAM: Yes, Papa.*
*My British readers probably don’t need this pronunciation guide, but my American readers might. Old
Adam is saying “Mama” and “Papa” in the European way: “muh-MAH” and “puh-PAH.” (Americans
would say “MOM-ah” and “POP-pah.”)

14. The Tacky Flamingo is doing relatively well. It makes a fair amount of money and stays
firmly in the black (or green), and customers keep gaining stars.
Unfortunately, there’s one particular customer who has gained and lost the same star
about fifteen times now. I’m not sure what his problem is.

15. Perhaps he objects to the other customers.
Mrs. Crumplebottom seems to really like The Tacky Flamingo. She stayed for hours, and
only lectured people about being in their swimsuits twice. Am I allowed to tell her to get
lost, or will that bork my game?
She always throws strikes, by the way.

16. I have been asked for a tour of The Tacky Flamingo, and it may as well go here.
This is the outside in all its Tacky glory. This picture was taken at night so you can get
the full effect. Please note the extra-classy sculptures on the lawn.
It looks like there’s a second floor, but there really isn’t. That’s just the slope of the roof.

17. Around the back of the building, we have two hot tubs. Note the discreet screens of
bushes, so that you can canoodle in semi-privacy, if canoodling is your thing. Otherwise,
it spares passersby the sight of people in bikinis who really shouldn’t be in bikinis. Or
speedos, as the case may be.

18. Inside, we have two bowling lanes, an espresso machine, and a minifridge from which to
serve instant meals, gratis free. There are also tables to sit at while you enjoy your
beverage of choice.

19. Behind the pink door, there is a restroom equipped with all the amenities: a sink, a light,
and not one but two toilet stalls.
This restroom is unisex, so plan accordingly.

20. And this is what you will see when you leave the restroom. Note the rack of
complimentary bowling balls and the bench where you can sit while you watch Mrs.
Crumplebottom do her “I got a strike” victory dance. Over and over and over.
Surprisingly, this place makes a profit.

21. Back at the main house, Ruth is moving towards her required Gold Robotics badge. This
is a Munchiebot, which is a Silver-level project.

22. Ryan has actually had his Gold badge for a while now, but I missed getting a picture of
the doodad, so I couldn’t prove it. I have to make a servo anyway, so here is the proof.
Can’t make a servo without a Gold badge.
However, the rules don’t say that I have to actually activate the servo, so I won’t. I find
servos a bit annoying, and they rob my Sims of the chance to gain cooking or cleaning
points naturally. Plus, too long-lived a servo can get glitchy memories, and I’d rather not
deal with that. And they have a distressing tendency to serve cheesecake when someone
is pregnant.

23. The first Official family portrait is complete. Unfortunately, it is now hanging by two
urns.

24. The second one is Valerie’s.

25. Valerie Shankel, 78 years old. Valerie was a random drop during Aren’s matchmaker
spree after his fathers’ death. (One of his fathers hadn’t approved of his then-girlfriend,
and Aren thought that if he found the right girl, his parents would come back.) Despite
being a Romance Sim, she helped him through the worst of his grief and kept him more
or less on track for the rest of his life. Valerie strongly disapproved of Ruth’s obsession
with Gilbert & Sullivan, and would have died rather than admit that she actually liked
any of their work. Now that she’s dead, it’s probably safe to tell you that her favorite
song was “When I was a lad,” from HMS Pinafore.
Rest in peace, Valerie.

26. Valerie missed seeing Buttercup become a Teen. I like to think that she would have
approved of Buttercup’s new look. (The lipstick is gold, and she’s wearing gold face
powder. There is actually yellowish eye makeup, but it just isn’t Buttercup, hence the
kohl.
Buttercup rolled Pleasure. I think. I’ve never rolled for aspiration before, so I may have
started counting in the wrong place. One is Pleasure, right? It’s at the top of the screen, in
the 12 o’clock position… If I got it wrong, do I fail the challenge?
I also rolled for Buttercup’s turn-ons and turn-off, even though I know you don’t have to.
She likes people who are good at cleaning and cooking, but she doesn’t like creative
people.
And I’m out of pictures now, so I may as well stop. Until next time – Happy Simming!

27. Notes, disclaimers, and other trivia
The song Ruth is singing to put Oakapple to sleep is “Turn, oh, turn in this direction,”
from Patience. I can’t find any versions of it on YouTube, but it’s a slow, sad song sung
by twenty women (or possibly nineteen, at that point) who are all in love with a poet who
wishes they would just go away and leave him alone.
Valerie’s favorite song, “When I was a lad,” is from HMS Pinafore – yes, that’s the show
Sideshow Bob performs for Bart on The Simpsons. This song is a perfect illustration of
the idea that people tend to rise to the level of their incompetence: the Ruler of the
Queen’s Navee is explaining how being a lawyer makes him perfectly qualified to be in
charge of, well, the navy.
You got a roundabout hint about the college plot, by the way. And you also met the
future spouse.
I’ll see you next time!