Development after Launch

I just fired up Cyberpunk 2077. 
It had come packaged with a ps4 pro I had picked up last year when my original ps4 began showing a downward decline after years of heavy use.   I dusted it off, noticed that the ps5 upgrade was free and installed it over the holidays in anticipation of snowy days.  So tonight the folks were streaming and being on rural Kansas internet I couldn't continue with my normal online loop of grinding out daily and weekly challenges in Fortnite and  Destiny or try.  So I scrolled through the library until I saw Cyberpunk staring at me with those big Blade Runner eyes.

Since the weather hit I decided to try out Fallout 76 because it was this months free game and I was caught up with my aforementioned weekly grinds. Then something struck me as I was working my way through Cyberpunk's first mission. 
 I think we're hitting the second life of many games. 
That transitional period between the current and previous generation of hardware that has spanned roughly the last five or six years.   

A life where, the developers had a vision for a game, and even though that vision wasn't realized at launch they continued working on and supporting the game until it matched the vision, or at a minimum the inferred promise given to the players. 

Both 76 and Cyberpunk were buggy messes when they launched.   But on current examination I have to take that with a grain of salt and lend a bit of leeway to the developers.   Though the publishers and/or share holders can still take a flying leap.  

As we've moved into the realm of non platform exclusivity for most 3rd party (and some 1st party games) publishers and share holders are putting the responsibility on developers to create games that work on all hardware.  

If we rewind the clock early 2010's and earlier; when a new game was developed it was developed with a singular hardware architecture in mind.   Optimized for a playstation, a nintendo, a xbox, and yes even other systems like Sega and Atari hardware. Unless a game was objectively garbage it was at the very least functional on the hardware it was intended for.   
 I will note that PC hardware has always had the issue of game software being hit and miss in it's functionality.   PC hardware isn't static the way that console hardware typically is.  Where as in a generation of console hardware, save for some very slight upgrades to stability or processing, they maintain their architectural standard.   A PC's functionality relies, largely, on whether or not the user correctly installed all applicable hardware and software.  Not to mention making sure that all of those pieces of hardware and software fall within the games functional range, be it to old or to new, for a build.   

Where as in previous generations  IF or WHEN a game was released on multiple platforms there was typically a delay of six months to a year from it's initial release to it's release on other platforms.  And even then the releases on the secondary platforms always had some functionality issue, even if it was something as imperceptible as longer load times. And unless a game was objectively bad from the start it almost always worked as intended on it's platform of origin.

Fast forward to now and developers are largely expected to launch on all systems at the same time, plus have it stable on the infinite hardware variations that is the pc gaming world. 
And not just that, but have all of the multiplayer functionality stable from day 1.  

Reasons for failed launches aside, this second life that many games are getting because their developers continued to build, repair, patch, and correct the errors at launch is a boon to gamers that wouldn't or couldn't acquire something in it's early days. 

Fallout 76, from a new player stand point is a phenomenal online game with tons to do, engaging world building and interesting questlines.  But 76 originally launched over 4 years ago in 2018 as a barren world and barely functional piece of software that fans of the series and scared away anyone not already invested in the franchise.  

Much the same with Cyberpunk.
As I start into it's beautifully realized gritty realism.   I see what the developers were shooting for when it launched over 2 years ago across across six different console architectures, plus the PC miasma.  Something that pushed, then, current hardware to the edges of their functionality to tell an immersive story.  

Even though there are newer games I'm looking forward to in the coming year and beyond I, as a gamer looking to stretch my software budget as far as a I can, am enjoying these absolute gems that were raw, unrefined minerals when first introduced.  And am whole heartedly looking forward to reaching into the past to find what other pieces of art were buried under corporate market projections and day 1 snobbery. Those pieces, like these two, that the original artists refused to give up on until their vision was achieved.  

How was your Saturday Night?

 So last year I did something I had never done before.  
I forced myself to get involved in an online community.  
Not a group message. 
Not a game that I jumped in to play with co-workers or people that I knew in real life to be a part of a social circle because in person interactions are so much work for me.  
But an actual community.  

I've played Destiny 2 since launch. 
I played Destiny 1 since the start of the game. 
But it was very much a solo experience for me. 
I had a couple of people that would join me to run missions from time to time, or I them.  

There were other online games I would join people for but I always ran into the same problem. 

I'm not super social.  
Never have been.  
I always thought there was something off about me but couldn't put my finger on it.  
Not until I was 36 and found out, figured out, was diagnosed with....well that I am autistic. 
And a lot of things, experiences, and difficulties I've had over the years all started to make sense. 

But I heard a Ted talk, had an idea, I'm not really certain how you would explain it but it was very much what was talked about in here. 

Stuart Duncan: Why do we need safe virtual play spaces?

https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1079924726
   

And I decided, I'm going to join a group in a game and I'm going to learn how to do things in Destiny that people do.  
I'm going to be honest about who I am, which took a lot of work in accepting it on my part.
 I would maintain boundaries.
I wouldn't put up with the usual derogatory commentary, bullying activities, and elitist snobbery that is so prevalent in any community that surrounds organized activities like sports and games, physical or virtual.
I'm still digesting the last years experience and will be putting a more concise summary of how it's gone and what I've learned together in a thesis covering virtual learning and exploration but, as with this, and the various people I've come to chat with I need to word vomit to get my thoughts in order. 
On the destiny front let's say, I've learned a lot and have actually made some friends.  
Yeah, that last bit surprises me too. 

Largely because of an experience, that I've had a multitude of times over the past few years, that happened over the past few days I find myself in the middle of this word vomit trying to get my thoughts together.  


I picked up a new game, a multiplayer game. 
The Division 2. 
It had been recommended to me a number of times by people I played Destiny with,  they just warned it hadn't had much in the way of content updates over the years it's been out. 
I had largely avoided it because it was a game that required a significant amount of time to learn, level, and get into the late game content. 
There was a lot of leveling up and learning the ins and outs of gear management.
A DLC pack that would fast track me to end game but I've never done that for games I'm learning because.  I feel like fast tracking in leveling and things doesn't allow me, as a player, to really learn the ins and outs of the game mechanics.   Also, by leveling organically through game play skills are acquired and unlocked individually rather than just thrown down all at once.  
Fast tracking can be Great for a player that's already made and leveled a character or two and knows and understand the mechanics and rules of the game.  But for a new player...not so much. 

The moment I meet other players I'm immediately asked
"Why didn't you just go strait to level 30?"  
"Well I don't have the DLC"
"Oh, well, we can just go here and you'll be to 30 really quick"
"I'm still working on the story content" 
"Oh, well we're going to to go do this really hard end game content instead."
"That's cool, because you guys just being here is getting me killed anyway."

See, the thing about this game, in particular, is when all of these end game players join all of the enemies became end game level.  
Sure I got an artificial boost in health and damage to compensate as the low level player, but I was still working with starting gear and skills.  I couldn't be left alone because even a single enemy was deadly regardless of my skills as a player. 
So three end game guys join in on my session. 
One is just like "put a marker somewhere and I'll help you get there."
So he sets off to the marker I placed and the other two start an event near by. 
I get caught in the event and stick with them because...well if I didn't I was dead. 
 The first player heads off to the checkpoint I had placed. 
I think the event is passed and start heading towards the check point and, not realizing I was by myself am immediately killed.  
The other two had continued the event (that I had thought was over because I had only done one other before).  
The above conversation was taking place while all this happened. 


So for the next two days I knuckle down, work on getting leveled as fast as I can and start building a gear set that fits my play style and will allow me to survive high level and end game content until I start getting the oh so coveted pieces of super powerful gear and can start bumping up difficulties and the like. 

The moment I get to the point of being able to handle things and am working on the last district in the base game a friend says "here, grab the dlc, and when you finish this stuff you we can start the harder stuff."  
"Rad" I do that.
I'm then barraged by someone about "not being social enough, making them feel left out by being quite in the chat, and telling them that they make the game harder by joining in. That me taking the time to explore the game and learn how to play ruins it for everyone else.
They don't let me clarify myself and just keep yelling and talking over me.
At that moment I realize, 
 Oh yeah, I have boundaries.

"And I'm like...alright, cool.  Have a nice night" 
Leave the chat and close the game.

Now I'm asking myself 
"Why don't I just stick to single player games' 
While simultaneously trying to prove... my point?... to people that have no concept of what my life is like. 
I don't know dude. 
I deal with facts and figures and logic.  
Emotions, often, are just beyond me. 
Even my own a lot of days. 

How would I Roe that boat?

 If I were president after the overturning of Roe V. Wade this is how I would handle it speaking in front of congress. 

"How many in this room are opposed to abortions?  Go ahead, show your hands."
After waiting a moment to see if anyone actually had the fortitude to raise their hands. 
"To quote George Carlin:  'Why is it that the people that are against abortion are people you wouldn't want to fuck in the first place.' 
The congress reacts. 

"Did I offend you?  
Did I say something in appropriate?  
If I did, you should probably just resign now. 
Because that:  as politicians, as elected officials, as heads of state, is the job.   
Dealing with the inappropriate and trying to figure out how to make it appropriate.  Or as appropriate as it can be.  
And what was done by overturning Roe V Wade  was inappropriate.  
What was done, was taking the decision out of the hands of someone baring a child.  The decision  on whether or not safety of that child's life or their own life would be appropriate to their personal situation.  
Telling the person gestating that child that they had no rights, that they were not allowed to make a decision for themselves.  Telling medical professionals tasked with assisting in such decisions in as safe and ethically sound ways as such decisions can be made that they have no right to keep those decisions physically safe and ethically sound.  
If we, as a nation, continue to follow that line of reasoning then this government should be taking children from their families at birth and raising them and educating the way that we see fit.  That those children, and their guardians, have no rights or decision making powers in any of it. 
Oh, wait...this government has done that. 
  
There are people in this room that were alive, that were in this room, when "American Indian Boarding Schools" and all that they entail were brought to light.   When they began to be shut down.  It wasn't until very recently that the true magnitude of these schools atrocities were brought to light.  
Are we the nation that stopped the Nazi's?  
Or are we the nation that the Nazi's looked at our Jim Crow laws and said.  "You know, that's a good idea. But it's a little heavy handed.

I live in the land of the free. 
A place where Liberty and Justice are meant for ALL.
Not some, but all.  
And it is time that our laws and institutions truly reflected that.

Registration Please

 It's midterms year.  
Things have moved forward largely as predicted.  
Gerrymandering is in full swing, a public health crisis was politicized, wars rage, and nature does as it will.  

Voting this year will be more difficult in previous years.  
Those that would have voting suppressed  have done, and continue to do, everything in their power to stack things further into their favor.  

So what can we do.  
We can Bar-b-q. 
We can roast.
We can sing
We can dance. 

Here's the plan.  
We get voter turn out to rival that of the 2020 election.  
How?  
See above. 

Here's the thing, and my challenge to politicians that really want a reminder, and to set an example, as to what it means to hold a public office. 
To be a public servant.  

You pass out water. 

On voting days, when the polls are open, at the voting locations.  You set up a little table, maybe a tent, handful of chairs.  Hell, I'll loan at least one of you both just to see it done.  
And if someone raises their hand you bring them a bottle of water.  
No signs, no buttons or pins, no slogans, no handshaking, no speeches.  
Just take them a bottle of water then go back to your seat.  
And at the end of the day, you stay, help clean up the garbage.  
Then you pack up and head home.  
Simple as that.  

Because if there is no more literal metaphor as to what it means to be a politician it's that right there. 
The people don't vote politicians in so a politician can tell them what to do, they don't vote politicians in to makes themselves rich.  
They vote politicians in so that when they turn the faucet on they know there will be water coming out of it.  They vote politicians in so that when they flip the light switch the lights come on.  So that when the storms come there is an ambulance or a fire truck that will show up to help.  
People vote politicians in so that they know that what they are paying for...
What they are paying taxes for. 
What they are providing their personal information for.
What they are providing their time and energy for.
Will help them have a home to go to, or a drink of water when they need it.  


So to everyone out there.  
Now is the time to start getting the cook outs organized.
Quietly ask the politicians and political parties how much and/or what they want to donate to put them together. 

'cause here's the cook out. 
After someone has voted, and they show up with their little "I voted" sticker, or equivalent.   
You give them a plate and turn them loose on whatever is there. 
Play music, dance, have a good ass time. 
Get everyone to request the day off.  
Let's get this turned into a proper holiday.
And if they bring the kids, ask the kids, "Why would you vote?"  and, no matter their answer, give them a "I will vote" sticker.  Because there are no wrong answers about voting. 
When the day is done, you pack up the leftovers and you take them to the shelters, you pass them out to the refugees and the immigrants.  The people that couldn't take the day off. 
Then, after the polls are closed and all of the votes are counted, you or the political parties, politicians,....whoever...helped fund the cookouts can reveal all or none of it.  

Because here's the lesson in all of it. 
Voting. 
Is.
Work.
You have to do  your homework on the issues.  Who's running for what offices.  What that office is.  You have to make a decision then you have to file the paper work on it.  
You have to plan ahead, register...all of it is work. 
And if you can't put in a days work and earn some water, and a meal, some entertainment and have a little left over...what's the point of working?  

And for the politicians and elected officials, the lesson is fairly simple as well. 
You, work for the people.  
Not the other way around.
That's the whole concept of the Republic.
The entire idea behind Democracy. 

Stay safe. 
And now is the time, when the taxes are being filed, and the results of the previous elections fully seen should people start registering and putting together their voting plan.  
Time to start picking places for the Cook Out.

Project : Overload

 When I used to run tabletop games there was a pretty firm rule that I followed. 
"For every hour of play time scheduled have about four hours of prep time ahead of time."
This came from knowing that players almost never followed the adventure, and if they did detours were inevitable.  How did the prep work go down...kinda like this. 

1st hour,
Focus on where the characters are.
What are they doing?  Who are they observing?  Who is observing them?  Do they have any goals for their current location?  What are some normal things going on?  What are two odd things goin on?  

2nd Hour
Where are the characters going? 
Make or get a map. 
If it's a homebrew you'll need to make one if it's an established world you can probably find one. Then look at the four cardinal directions from the characters locations and figure out what's going on in each of those directions. 
For example :
There's another town to the east, a Mountain range to the west, a coast for an inland sea to the North and a dense forest to the south.

3rd Hour
Why are the characters going there
 Judging from last session they'd be heading to the coast line to find a boat to get across the sea because "Plot" 
Ahhh, but one of the odd things in town was that a farmers Wife went missing in the woods a day before the characters arrived in town. 
A Caravan has stopped outside of town and is trying to hire protection from bandits on the road to the east. 
Rumor has it that there is a hidden Valley in the mountains where a witch lives.

4th hour 
Fill in the details. 
How far is it between the starting point and the possible destinations.
Where and what kind of boat will they find? Or is it a port they'll be arriving at where they can hire a ship. 
What happened to the farmers wife?  What clues where left behind?
Is it a good witch or a bad witch?  What does the witch have to offer the characters when they arrive?
Who are the bandits and why do they bandit?  Where is their hideout? Is their a reward?  What is the Caravan offering for these services.

Then (assuming it's a usual 4ish hour play session) for the next 3 blocks of planning you focus on each of your destinations and give them the same treatment.  Detailing the boat or ship and it's crew.  Figuring out what's going on in the next town over, outlining the dangers of the forest, building up the witches valley.   
And, don't forget, to look beyond each of these locations.  What if they just blitz to the boat and end up out at sea,  what if they go to the next town over and instead of going across the ocean they continue traveling with the caravan?  Do they find the missing farmer and discover some secret in the depths of the forest?  Do they get lost in the mountains?  What's on the other side of the mountains?  


Why am I bringing this up now?  
A number of reasons?   
For starts, what am I working on?  Why have I been so silent the past few months?  
Research, research, research.  
Planning ahead, just like if I were putting together an adventure for a D&D group.  

My projects? 

On the Fun Side
 outlining and writing scenes for t.v. shows and movies  I'd like to pitch or work on if I ever found my self in the position to do so.   
A sequel to Bumblebee set in early 90's Atlanta following Ratchet and Jazz.
What would an actual reboot of Firefly look like.
What is my idea for a batman series? (1970's street racing following a young Luscious Fox for the record)
Actually working on my little pet project.


On the Academic Side
Studying various online  games and the communities surrounding them.  Fortnite, Destiny, Star Trek Online.  What it takes to build a community within a community, etc.  
Game design, from single player to co-op, to competitive. 
If I designed and released a game what would I make and how would I make it? 
Answer - a co-op game built around exploration and adventure with quarterly story updates that could be played on or offline.  Think if Skyrim were two players but had the game play of the arkham games.
Looking what does the video game world have to offer the public library system and vice versa.


On  the "If I were president side"
How would I be handling the current national and global issues if I were president currently? 
If I were elected in 2024 and these issues were yet unresolved how would I work towards resolving them?   What might they look like if they were unresolved in the next two years?
What plans would I have for working with the national budget?
What projects are started?  What are ongoing? What would I like to see started?
What are my stances on the current issues being raised around the nation and what, if anything, would there be that I could do to influence them?  If in that position, should I influence them?
What would be the main issues I would focus on?
Infrastructure, Education, and Industry...and space...don't forget space. 
Moon Base!


Lastly, I have about four other posts for this blog that are about this length or longer that are sitting in drafts.  Partly because I haven't decided if they would be better served as blog posts or as part of some of the more focused papers I'm working on.

Like one detailing how the last year of being part of an active Destiny clan has gone.  
Short answer...I still don't people super well but it is possible to find non toxic people in a notoriously toxic community. (the shooter genre and online gaming in general) 

And another talking, more in depth, about streaming and telling stories within larger universes. I.E. The pitfalls and positives of using established story telling universes (I.E. Star Trek and Wars, Marvel and D.C.)  and the merits of reboots, adaptations, and retellings (I.E. Hercule Perot, Sherlock Holmes, Shakespeare, and any myth or story based around folklore) 

Ahh, but enough side tracking, back to study and research.  
My least and most favorite things simultaneously.  
I love the process, Love getting into details and building things and planning things.  But sometimes I just want to explore. 

Dream a little Dream

 Today is a National Holiday
It should be, but not for the reasons people think. 

We should be remembering Dr. King's legacy. 
We should be trying to strive for the ideals that he set forth and holding them in the light. 

But more importantly we should be measuring.  
How far down the road  have we really moved from the time of Dr. King's life? 
What strides have we taken.  

What strides have we not Taken? 

Today, in respect to Dr. Kings family, to the person he was,  and the movement he championed, we should be figuring out how to Vote.  

How to make our voices heard. 
And if our voice is already heard, to remain silent so that those that speak softly, or those to long held in silence may be heard. 

We have come a long way down the road in some ways. 
In others we have not. 

But at the end of the day, it is about lifting up voices. 

So go forward and listen. 
Listen to stories you've never heard. 
Listen to stories you have. 

And, don't be color blind. 
Be aware.
To be blind to the tone of some ones skin is to be blind to their life experiences. 

It's funny.  
Dr King said
"...That my four little children shall be judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character..."  
The entire speech is about awareness.  
Awareness of the realities of the time and the changes that needed, and in many cases still need,  made. 

So listen to the stories.  
The stories of  the past, the stories of the present, and the stories of the dreams yet to be. 

And by God, do your part to get a ballot into every hand that can and should vote. 
Even if it's just getting it into your own hand. 
Voting, being heard, is how we affect change.  
If it wasn't, there would not be so many people trying to stop it from happening.  

After all, those that would see others oppressed.  Those that would maintain a status quo that was agreed over a hundred years ago to be changed are not afraid of not enough votes being cast, but too many.  
They are afraid of the change on the wind. 
The wind of dreams. 
The wind of hopes.
The wind of justice. 

Stay Safe

Midnight

 We're nearing the end of 2021.  

Three years.  
That was the original projections. 

As 2015 neared it's end I felt like chicken little screaming that the sky was falling. 
As 2016 ended I struggled to come to grips with all of it while those around me tried to convince me that I was over analyzing and loosing my mind. 
At the end of 2017 I found myself realizing that the sky had not fallen yet but it was starting to rain.  
Towards the end of 2018 I found my mind again and pulled things back together. 
As 2019 ended I found myself in a strange limbo and trying to end battles while trying to avoid creating new ones. 

As 2020 ended I was being proven right.
Now as we look at the end of 2021 my immediate world finds it's self stabilizing while the more nebulous and existential aspects of the world we live in are still in a state of flux. 
An entire world going through a shared grieving process.  Reflecting on what was and how it has shaped the world we are in. 
Morning the world that could have been while struggling to see the world as it was. 
Trying to imagine what the world could be. 

2020...The year of Denial.  
Many didn't believe, or want to believe what was happening.  
"How could a global pandemic sneak up on us like this."
"It will be over in a few weeks....a few months." 

2021... The year of Anger. 
So many pushing back against the realities and how they came to be.  
So many refusing the simple, but effective, panaceas crafted when a world decides to focus, together, on a singular issue. 


2022...Hopefully...the year of Acceptance. 
As we slowly come to grips with the reality of what has happened we have to truly watch out for those that care for us.  
I feel so greatly for those in the medical field right now because as we enter the third year of this Pandemic, hopefully the year we truly get it under control, their work will be the hardest.  
They've been in the forefront of the trenches this entire time. 
As the rest of the world ebbs and flows between outbreaks and surges, enjoying respites and breaks and the ability to get out and breath the medical community has had no such luxury. 

the early deaths, in the 2020 could be taken in stride, "this is an emergency, we need to roll up our sleeves and get to work and we will get to the other side" being the mentality through out. 

The deaths of 2021 taken with a grain of salt. "We have the vaccines, even though some fight against simple safety measures, there is an end in sight." 

But the deaths of 2022 will take the greatest toll.  
Will hit the hardest.  Will break through professionalism  and the pushing drum beat like rhythms of seeing the end of a long road.  
Because the deaths of 2022 are the ones that could have been avoided.  
I'm not saying that vaccines and masks were a magic bullet to stop it all in it's tracks. 
What I"m saying is that as the hospitals fill, again.  As the winter months take their yearly tolls of injury and illness as is it's want for time near immemorial those struggling to save lives will see so many lost because of simple refusal.  
Refusal of facts.  
Refusal of those they viewed as trusted voices lead them astray. 
Refusal to care for themselves. 

This time, this year, was coming. 
It's as unavoidable as the wind. 
And these are the hardest to deal with, the hardest to keep trying for. 
The  ones that leave the harshest and most bitter memories in those trying to care for others.
Because they tried and they warned and they counseled. 
But the ones that refused to listen will be the ones lying in the  screaming their defiance into the faces of those trying to help them. 
And those, struggling to ask for help that did all the right things will be lost in the sound of those screams.  
The ones that could have been saved.  The ones that should have been saved. And...the ones that are begging to be saved even though they refused to pull themselves up when the water hit was at their waists and are now being pulled into the unforgiving rapids. 
The hardest year, but the inevitable year. 

2021 I put my head under the pillow and listened as the world struggled to find it's footing again.  
the leadership changing hands and old policies being addressed while new policies enacted.  
It will be over the next few months that we can examine what was done well and what was done wrong in the process.  When the courses can be addressed and adjusted.  
But his year, aside from the pandemic, is a vital year for the Nation we live in as a whole. 
It's the midterms.  
As much as people want to put at the feet of the President and the choices they make now is when the failure or success of their time is truly decided.  
See, the president is working with rules and policies that were made by the people voted in during the last mid terms, in 2018.  Trying to make adjustments and find common ground with the people voted into, or to maintain, their offices then.  
The 2020 election was simply a change in focus and dealing with what was.  
the 2022 midterms, like kids playing leap frog, will be when the truly policy enforcement takes effect and begins setting the focuses and setting the rules and agendas for whatever teams in leaderships take over during the 2024 elections. |

Maybe mine. 

But first we have to get through what will be the roughest year, emotionally, for the medical community that has been holding this world together the past two years. 

First we have to get people to vote. 
To make sure everyone has their voice heard this year. 
To mobilize voters on the same scale as 2020 saw.  
Because this is when the grading happens.  
the grading on the previous teams jobs and the grading on whether or not the current team will be able to handle their jobs over the next two years.
2022 is when the 2024 presidency is made or broken, not 2025, or 2026, or even 2028. Those are just when the report cards are turned in. 
Now is, 2022. Will dictate the agendas and projects for the next presidency. 
So be diligent, be informed, and start now on securing your ability to vote when the ballots start to be passed around. 

I have a lot of work to do this year. 
I have to analyze the date from the last year, re examine my goals and projections with this new data, and then realistically re adjust those goals and projections. 
But even more than all of that. 
I need to start pulling the team together.
Who that is yet...I don't know.
I just know that by the end of 2022
I need to have it done, or at least, mostly done. 
Because, if I get the job, I have to do the job.  And it's not a job I can do alone.

Foof.

I'm trying to find some words of hope and encouragement going into this new year.  
and hopefully, as I start pulling the data together, and along with it my brain, things will look more so. 

I guess, it's this.  
the storm is still blowing, the waters still raging, and it will test our hearts to breaking. 
But as the storm hits it's peak and the night gets darkest we will know, that it will get better.
The winds will die down, the waters will recede, even if their paths of have changed, and the sun will shine again. 
In the mean time. 
Stay Safe. 
I'll do my best to do the same.