BACC 4/10/21

 The Collins family (Lot #4) welcomed a baby girl on Monday, followed by a baby boy on Saturday.  The girl's name is Raven and she grew into a child by the end of the week.  Ethan is still a baby, but will grow up on Monday of next week.  I daresay Meadow will be wanting another right away.  They managed to build a room for the kids, but they'll need a second floor very soon if they continue to have children at this rate.  Financially, that's going to be tough.

Chase's business, Nani Ke Ola (Life is Beautiful) got off to a pretty good start, though he's yet to rank up.  He sold one or two paintings per day, making between $80 and $400 for them.  By the end of the week, he'd maxed creativity, so his paintings will be worth more now.  He stocked a few in inventory to get him going on Monday.  We did hit a snag when it came to Meadow's vacation pay.  I had her take the week off, so Chase could focus on his business.  However, when it came time for her vacation pay, she kept getting $0 instead of the $496 she should have got, so I had to familyfunds them the money.  It's only fair, paid vacation is paid vacation, whether it's a regular job or an employee job.

Apart from growing their business and their family, they had to contend with drama from Neil Cameron.  Apparently, being invited to Meadow's wedding did not clue him in to the fact that they were over.  When I was playing the Hastings family, Meadow and Chase were invited to a birthday party and when Neil walked by Meadow autonomously greeted him.  He then got jealous when he saw Meadow and Chase kissing and left in a huff.  This week he stole every newspaper that was delivered and kicked the trash over more times than I can count.  I didn't notice once and they had so many roaches it was ridiculous.  I hope he gets over it soon.

Taxes came to $1,552.00, bringing the total to $73,770.00.

Stats:

Playable sims: 25

SM: 3

Population: 75

Residential lots: 6

Owned Community lots: 6

Unowned Community lots: 1

CAS earned: 7* (3 added)

*Each community lot earns a CAS.  At the beginning of the challenge I decided to stagger the addition of CAS by grouping them into random family units.  I rolled a six-sided die several times, getting the numbers 3,4,1,6,2,2,6,5,2,4,1,5.  So the first family would have 3 sims (Albert Hastings and his 2 kids), the next would have 4, and so on.  So that means we'll be getting a family of four next round.  I will create one adult with random gender/genetics/personality/aspiration, then roll for the age of each additional family member.  Depending on what I get, I'll decide on the family relationships and then create the rest of the family.

No new career positions were opened up.

Up next are Brenna and Orlando.  Happy Simming!

BACC 4/9/21

 Markus and Marsha had quite a lot to deal with this round.  Firstly, Markus had to hire Orlando back as his chef at The Snack Shack because he certainly doesn't have enough cooking points to take his place.  I was hoping to get the restaurant up to rank 10 this week, but it ended up being 3 stars short - grrrr!  As soon as it does rank up, however, Markus is going to promote Orlando to manager and let the business run itself because, let me tell you, that place is a money pit.  Markus never makes a profit - like ever.  The cost of wages for a chef and two servers far outweighs the money he makes from the meals.  In fact, the only times he's ever made a profit was when he got a money perk.  Maybe down the line one of his descendants will be able to make it work, but Markus just doesn't have what it takes lol.  If he can get the last three stars on Monday next round, I'm thinking early retirement and have Marsha look for a job in Music, since that's the only thing available at the moment.

At home, things were no less chaotic.  When Jackson grew into a child, Markus immediately rolled the want for another baby like a normal Family sim.  I obliged him, thinking that Marsha doesn't have much longer before becoming an elder, so I should let them get one more in.  Plus they have three bedrooms, so they'd be a nice family unit with two kids.  I should have expected it, I suppose.  Part of me did.  They had TWO new babies - boy/girl twins named Cherry and Eli.  At this point I thought, "Well, I can squeeze Eli in with Jackson when he's older and Cherry can have the nursery.  It'll be tight, but it'll work."  Of course, Markus had other plans.  As soon as the twins aged up to toddler he rolled the want for another baby, even though he'd become an elder the night before.  I was on the fence, but I really like to follow wants when it comes to children.  It can only work if they have a single daughter because there is no room for another boy.  The first day they tried (I only let them try once per day), Marsha did not get pregnant, so I kind of hoped that would remain the case until she got too old, but no such luck.  The next day she wound up pregnant, so I guess we'll be adding a fourth child to this family who I used to think would never even have one.  They'll probably have twin boys just to stick it to me.

Lot #3 taxes were $5,956.00, bringing the total funds to $72,218.00

Stats:

Playable sims: 23

SM: 3

Population: 69

Residential lots: 6

Owned Community lots: 5

Unowned Community lots: 1

CAS earned: 6 (3 added)

If Markus had succeeded in achieving rank 10 with his business, it would have opened up another slot in Business (still pending the "office building"), but since he did not do that, there is no change in career stats.  Up next is the Collins family.  Happy Simming!

BACC 4/7/21

 The Hastings family on Lot #2 had an eventful and productive round.  By the end of the week, Albert had ranked Crescendo up to level 5, which is pretty good for a venue business.  Michelle managed to score two promotions in the Music career, despite being pregnant for a good portion of the week.  Financially, they're doing quite well.  They were able to build a second story onto the house and finish the landscaping.

There were several birthdays as well.  Wyatt aged up to child, Hunter became an adult, the new baby Emma was born and aged up to toddler, and finally Albert became an elder at the end of the week.  Hunter has not had any luck finding love, but he did find a job in Law Enforcement and in a surprise turn of events - he was abducted and is now alien pregnant.  His baby will be the first alien birth on Kahua Island.  That's pretty exciting I think.

The tax bill was $5,266.00, bringing the total to $66,262.00.

Stats:

Playable sims: 21

SM: 3

Population: 63

Residential lots: 6

Owned Community lots: 5

Unowned Community lots: 1

CAS earned: 6 (3 added)

Business: One position available, pending the construction of an "office building".

Culinary: One position available, filled by Ryan Wheeler.

Law Enforcement: One position available, filled by Hunter Hastings.

Music: Open, one position filled by Michelle Hastings.

Natural Science: One position available, pending a sim earning a college degree.

Architecture: One position available, filled by Adrienne Kekahi.

Next up - Markus and Marsha Kekahi.  Happy Simming!

BACC 4/5/21

 We're back at the founder's house (Lot #1), where a lot has happened this week.  Let's start with business news.  Davon ran Keanu's General Store for a few days, during which time his manager quit and he had to hire a new one, he finally got everything restocked with the help of his brother-in-law Ryan who has enough cooking points to make the bakery items, then spent the remainder of the work week letting his manager run things while he got caught up on tasks at home.  Makala's shop, Lei Fleur, did very well.  She was so busy that she had to hire another employee to help with stocking and cashiering.  She also had to take a couple of days just to work on making enough stock because they were running out so quickly.  By the end of the week, Lei Fleur was up to rank 8.

On the home front there were also some big changes going on.  Davon moved his fiance, Adrienne Hastings, in and they began planning their wedding for the weekend.  I decided to keep Makala and Ryan on this lot and subsequently built a second master bedroom on the second floor to accommodate them.  Makala gave birth to a son on Tuesday.  They named him Andrew and he actually had two birthdays before the week was out, so he's now a child.  Kalen had already found his lady love, but Marina was still being indecisive, so I had her invite over the prospects and she finally chose Randy London, though she didn't fall in love with him and decide to get engaged until the very end of the week.  I've decided that she and her twin will move into a new lot that's designed like a duplex (though it won't be a true duplex, they'll still be living in the same household) so that each will have their own family space with their respective spouses/families, but can still be joined at the hip the way they like.  Davon and Adrienne's wedding went off without a hitch, but although they tried twice, they were not successful in conceiving a child.  They'll try again next round.  Just before I saved Davon was doing some gardening and transitioned into a plant sim.  Since the only services I'm allowed at the moment are nanny, adoption, police, and fire, I guess he's going to have to stay that way.

The Kekahis paid $9,594.00 in taxes, bringing the total to $60,996.00.

Stats:

Playable sims: 20

SM: 3

Population: 60

Residential lots: 6 (including the twins' duplex, though they won't be played again this round)

Owned Community lots: 5

Unowned Community lots: 1

CAS earned: 6 (3 added)

*No change to career stats.

Next up will be the Hastings family.  Happy Simming!

BACC 4/3/21

 Newly built Lot #5 is the home of Brenna and Orlando Centowski.  Brenna owns Hulu a Lomi Day Spa, which as of this round is rank 4.  Orlando, as mentioned previously, is supposed to be employed at The Snack Shack, but for some reason he still had a job in Slacker, which I had him quit.  This caused him to be unemployed for the week, so I had him help out at the spa.  I'll have Marcus hire him back next round, so everything should be back on track when we return to this lot.

Both Orlando and Brenna wanted to start a family right away, but they had some fertility trouble initially and didn't manage to get pregnant until Thursday.  They made up for it though, by having twin boys - Reed and Robert.  The house isn't quite finished yet, but it's coming along nicely thanks to the success of the business.  Next round we'll also have Orlando's income, so I'd say the house will be completed then.

The Centowskis paid $6,993.00 in taxes, bringing the total to $51,402.00.

I also realized that I'd incorrectly figured my Sim Multiplier, by counting all the lots, rather than just the community lots, so I've adjusted my previous posts accordingly.

Stats:

Playable sims: 19

SM: 3

Population: 57

Residential lots: 5

Owned Community lots: 5

Unowned Community lots: 1

CAS earned: 6 (3 added)

Business: One position available, pending the construction of an "office building".

Culinary: One position available, filled by Ryan Wheeler.

Law Enforcement: One postion available.

Music: Open, one position filled by Michelle Hastings.

Natural Science: One position available, pending a sim earning a college degree.

Architecture: One position available, filled by Adrienne Hastings.

And that's the end of the round.  We'll loop back around to the founder's house next.  Happy Simming!

BACC 4/2/21

 Lot #4 is owned by Meadow Thayer, a former townie who works as the manager at Lei Fleur.  She has a bungalow style house right on the beach.  As of this round, Meadow was crushing on two different men, so I had her invite them both over a couple of times to see which she would choose.  One of the guys, Neil Cameron, left immediately each time he was invited.  Consequently, the other guy, Chase Collins, won Meadow's heart by default, even though she has more chemistry with Neil.  Snooze you lose, right?  Meadow moved Chase in towards the end of the week and they got married on the weekend, when she had the day off from work.  They've also decided to start their family right away and will be expecting their first bundle of joy early next round.

Since Meadow doesn't own a business herself, I decided to have Chase open one.  I like to try to choose businesses that suit the sim in some way, but also work towards the challenge goals.  Chase is a Knowledge sim whose one true hobby is arts and crafts.  He and Meadow don't have much money and they'll need to expand the house once the baby arrives, so I wanted something inexpensive to start up, so that he could get started fairly quickly.  I decided on a roadside stand that sells artwork; Chase can paint and Meadow can contribute some pottery as well, since she has a silver badge.  This will loosely fit the description of an "art gallery" needed to unlock a position in the Artist career, though I'm aware that I keep unlocking careers that sims can't take anyway due to the lack of a University lol.  In any event, I like to build lots in the base 'hood that I feel fit the flavor of the town (things like clubs and gyms can go in the Business District or Downtown when they are unlocked) and I'm sure the gallery will evolve into a more traditional format sometime down the line anyway so it's all good.  I should note, however, that Chase has not actually purchased the lot yet, so it will not appear in the stats until he does.

The Collins family paid $1,756.00 in taxes, which included back taxes from last round as well as current taxes (yes, I make them pay back taxes if they can't afford their tax bill and yes, they pay interest on the unpaid amount as well), which brings the community funds total to $44,409.00.

Current stats:

Playable sims: 17

SM: 3

Population: 51

Residential lots: 4 (will be 5)

Owned Community lots: 5

Unowned Community lots: 1

CAS earned: 6 (3 added)

Business: One position available, pending the construction of an "office building".

Culinary: One position available, filled by Ryan Wheeler.

Law Enforcement: One position available.

Music: Open, one position filled by Michelle Hastings.

Natural Science: One position available, pending a sim earning a college degree.

Architecture: Once position available, filled by Adrienne Hastings.

Happy Simming!

BACC 4/1/21

 Lot #3 is owned by Markus and Marsha (Bruenig) Kekahi.  Marcus is the oldest son of founder Keanu and Marylena Kekahi.  Markus owns The Snack Shack, a restaurant that as of this round is rank 8, where he employs two of his siblings (the twins) and his brother-in-law Orlando Centowski.  Orlando has a bit of a weird glitch going on, however.  Although he is employed as a chef at The Snack Shack, he also still somehow has a job in Slacker (which he's not allowed to have, since it hasn't been unlocked yet).  Orlando was hired as a townie and was only very recently moved in when he married Brenna Kekahi.  They haven't been played yet on their new lot.  It remains to be seen what will happen when I get to them.  Orlando will need to quit his Slacker job, of course, but will he still be employed at The Snack Shack?  Or will Markus need to rehire him next round?  I guess we'll find out.

On the personal front, Markus and Marsha have remained childless for quite some time, which is unusual given that Markus is a Family sim.  This round, however, he finally rolled the want for a baby and I immediately fulfilled that want.  They had a son named Jackson, who grew into a toddler before week's end.  Surprisingly, Markus did not roll the want for another baby when Jackson grew up.  He's really very odd for a Family sim.

The Kekahis paid $5,596.00 in taxes, bringing the total funds to $42,653.00.

Current stats:

Playable sims: 16

SM: 3

Population: 48

Residential lots: 4 (soon to be 5)

Owned Community lots: 5

Unowned Community lots: 1

CAS earned: 6 (3 added)

Business: One position available, pending the construction of an "office building".

Culinary: One position available, filled by Ryan Wheeler.

Law Enforcement: One position available.

Music: Open, one position filled by Michelle Hastings.

Natural Science: One position available, pending a sim earning a college degree.

Architecture: One position available, filled by Adrienne Hastings.

Next up is Meadow Thayer.  Happy Simming!