Review Day: First Impressions

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Mosquito Joe's:
After years of ravenous tiger mosquitoes and occasional attempts to self-spray the backyard that resulted in my fingertips smelling like chemicals for lingering days, we decided to try out a commercial spraying service. We paid for 3 applications (every 3 weeks) but were not suitably impressed. Any hard data in reduction in bites was confused by rain storms (one started 15 minutes after they sprayed) and the fact that it was too hot to be outside much this summer anyhow. The first two applications were very thorough, but on the 3rd visit, only one of the pair of sprayers showed up, and I'm pretty sure he skipped an entire side of the house.

At the end of the day, Maia still got multiple bites every time we briefly went out to water the plants, so the benefit was not worth the price.

First Impression: We cancelled after 3 visits, even though additional spraying sessions might have continued to improve the situation.

Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance:
This 10-episode prequel to the 80s movie, The Dark Crystal is visually and aurally impressive, yet I only made it about 40 minutes into the first episode. While I really want to like it, it feels expositionally clumsy (and I'm also not 8 years old anymore).

First Impression: Stalled, but I will definitely watch more to see if it improves.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses:
I've enjoyed this turn-based combat video game series since I discovered the GameCube edition. It's always a mixed bag in execution, but the core combat game is addictive and challenging. I bought the latest iteration for the Switch as soon as it stopped being out of stock everywhere (no, Dulles Gamestop, I will not place an order with you and "have it delivered sometime in the next month").

I'm about 3 hours into it right now and I'm pretty sure I've only fought about 2 battles. The rest of the time has been spent running around a castle full of one dimensional NPCs and essentially playing Harry Potter Relationship Simulator. "Oh you like eating fish too? Let's be friends!"

First Impression: A turn-based combat game without much turn-based combat -- I may not have the patience to see if it improves.