I don't know if I'll ever get used to this virtual world thing but I'm giving it my best shot.
My new virtual reality headset is a joy and extremely frustrating at the same time and seriously kicking my tuchas. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to stay within my boundaries, not trip over the furniture or the dogs or David, and still play the games. The first thing I did before anything else was set up two boundaries. One is for sitting in my chair while playing (my favorite) and one is for the more active games, like golf and bowling, where I have to get up and move even if I don't want to.
I've downloaded several free apps that I thought an old fogey such as myself would be able to play easily. What a fool I am. The only comfort I have is knowing that I got the system for free, so I haven't paid too much, dollar-wise, for the humiliation and pleasure of aggravating the dickens out of myself. My mental health may be suffering but that's another story and I've always been on shaky ground there anyway. Har! Har!
I'm happy to say that after only six short (translation: very long, tedious, and tiring) weeks, I have finally figured out how to play mini golf on my system and it's pretty cool. The course looks like the set of an old western gold mine where I had to hit the ball around boulders, down water chutes, and over water hazards. I don't think I man aged to hit one OVER the water. I'm sure I raised the pond at least a foot by filling it with my balls. It said I could retrieve lost balls; however, I never saw any to retrieve. I'm guessing they drowned and went to a watery grave.
The game didn't cut me any slack either. Every time I attempted to 'tap' the ball back into the fairway, the darn thing would count it as a stroke. I think I set the record for triple bogeys with a 30 over par. Oh, well. It was my first time playing the entire course instead of giving up after one or two holes.
I was amazed at how tired I was when I finished the entire 18 holes. I must have walked a whopping 10 feet! That's probably an exaggeration. It was most likely one or two. Anyway, I just might get brave enough to download a real course next. Just think how worn out I'll be then. The fact that I'm old, overweight, and out of shape (although I maintain that round is an acceptable shape) has nothing to do with it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Up Next: Bowling.
YAY! After the same six weeks, I've finally semi-figured out of the bowling game. I managed to play a whole game without losing my lane (and marbles). When I first fired it up, the lane kept moving left, right, and sideways. The imaginary fellow bowlers would be right on top of me. Ha! Ha! It's freaky to see some disembodied guy from only the waist up throwing balls. Maybe I'll get brave enough one of these days to 'walk' around the alley and check out all the neat things there are like the snack bar and pro shop but probably not anytime soon.
I didn't do too badly for someone who can't bend and hasn't bowled in a league for a very long time. I played a couple of games and managed to squeak out 125 and 123. That's better than the score I got the last time I bowled for real. We had a birthday party for one of our grandsons at the sole remaining alley here in town and I bowled a measly 91 which still beat the pants off everyone else. The fact that the oldest one is 12 and the kids were allowed to use bumpers has no merit. Ha! Ha!
Unfortunately, the only other alley in town is now a marijuana store. I don't know why they got rid of the bowling alley. I seem to remember it was fairly busy with leagues. I think things would have been way more interesting if the majority of bowlers were half-baked and mellow. Is that what happens when one partakes of marijuana? I wouldn't know (no, I wouldn't!) but I've heard rumors.
Now that I've mastered (and I use the term in the broadest sense) mini-golf and bowling, I guess I'll crack out the old fishing game. I don't fish in real life, but this game will allow me to do what I do best–sit on my fanny and convince myself I'm doing something good for myself. At least my mind is getting a workout (not).