The Chronicles of a Developer

POST: Tussling with Time, Friends and Habitica

Cue the opening credits, July 12th, 2023, a Wednesday unlike any other, but the curtains lift at an unholy hour of 10:28 p.m. How'd we get here? Our protagonist, a late-night lurker with a biological clock more fucked than a two-dollar whore at a navy shore leave, starts his day when most people wind down theirs.

Just to give some context, this nocturnal son of a bitch should've been in bed when the rooster crowed, but he was instead cavorting around a sandy shoreline with his gal pal, Ranuka, barely hours before. Remember the log entry from yesterday? Yeah, that's the one. The tale of a midnight rendezvous under the twinkling stars, flirting with the tides, and burning the midnight oil, quite literally.

Like the bloody great idea that all midnight adventures are, he thought he'd get some work done after, even when the sand was still lodged somewhere in his left sock. But alas, instead of slogging away at his desk, he ended up impersonating a beached whale on the office sofa. Sleep, however, remained elusive, a forbidden mistress that he yearned for but could not possess. We've all been there, right? Wide awake at the wrong end of the day with dark circles under the eyes that can double up as shallow swimming pools.

So, what does a sleep-deprived, nocturnally confused lad do? Find comfort in the soft, warm, loving arms of his two main squeezes: Twitch and YouTube. Oh, and he orders a couple of spinach-chicken burritos. Because nothing screams "I give up on a healthy sleep schedule" louder than wolfing down spicy wraps at dawn.

After a few hours of screen-induced bliss and spicy farts, our hero finally succumbs to the sweet call of slumber around the same time that normal people are craving their mid-morning coffee break. He manages to steal about seven or eight hours of sleep, finally rising from his death-like stupor just after 8 p.m. Talk about a reverse sleep schedule! It's almost as if his body is living in a parallel universe where the AMs are PMs and vice versa.

Now, you'd think waking up should be the start of a great day, or night, in his case. But nope, life said, "hold my beer." Discord, the supposed digital haven, turned into a battleground. His best bud, Sören, launched a tirade against his favorite RPG-style productivity app, Habitica. Our lad's been trying to gamify his life, turning tasks into quests, rewards into gold. But apparently, Sören thinks it's all a bunch of hokum. Sören might be his best friend, but in this instant, he feels like his worst critic.

Suddenly, he stumbles upon the painful reminder of lost friendships: a Deep Rock Galactic game being played by Sören, Henning, and Celine. The sting of two broken friendships gnawing at his heart, he was their fourth player, once. An old wound was picked open, casting a long shadow on his freshly begun day.

In the throes of nostalgia and a hint of melancholy, he indulges in his sad playlist. A shower and a good dose of emotional masochism later, he switches to his 'stand-up-and-fight' playlist. The name's kind of on the nose, but hey, we all have our coping mechanisms.

He takes a walk, soaking in the quiet of the night, wrestling with his feelings and Habitica tasks. Time, as it often does, slips away faster than a greased pig at a county fair. Habitica's clock is ticking, and it looks like he's going to de-level. But there's gold to be earned, games to be played, and dailies to be conquered.

Riding the wave of this newfound determination, he decides to go for broke. Exercise for gold. More gold for more gaming time. It's self-imposed discipline, a way to wrest back control. And boy, is he up for the challenge. Our hero is not someone who shies away from a task, especially if there's a reward at the end of the tunnel. In this case, sweet, sweet gaming time.

So, he wraps up his daily log (more gold in the kitty!) with an hour and 23 minutes to spare. The mission? Complete as many dailies as possible. And maybe get some push-ups and squats in for that extra gold.

In the end, he leaves a message for his future self, a fiery promise of resilience and strength. A pledge to keep fighting, to keep punching through, no matter the odds. And with that, he's off, diving headfirst into the challenges that await.

Until next time, folks. Keep your popcorn ready. This isn't over yet.