November 4th? I haven't written here since November 4th? Wow. Not a whole lot has happened I guess...oh! Except that we've decided to move back to North Carolina, so I have to find a place to live and a new job, and start worrying about packing up, loading a truck, and driving to old yet unfamiliar territory! And I thought my life wasn't exciting.
So yeah, we've got a lot on our plates. In the mean time I've been playing a lot of World of Warcraft since the new expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, came out. My wife plays a lot too, but she's also involved in a Christmas ballet that takes up the majority of her time. I don't actually see her until after 10 PM at night when she gets home and she's dead tired.
Work is piling up at the office as I scramble to get everything done before I leave. My last day is on the 9th of January, but as I've mentioned, I don't have anything lined up in NC yet. I've discussed briefly with my manager about continuing to do work for my company after I leave, whether that's on a conulting basis or maybe part time from a home office type thing. He's checking with the human resources department on that. My fingers are crossed. Not only would it be beneficial as we move, but I always wanted to work from home. I'm not sure anyone would believe me, but I really feel like I would get more work done. It would at least be a lot more fun.
I mentioned in the last post about reading books by Terry Goodkind. The Sword of Truth series is really good. I don't know what it is, but the story draws me in. I read a book by another author after reading Wizard's First Rule, and it just couldn't compare. It was by a well respected author too, one who I had enjoyed when I was younger, but it was flat, boring, and the characters never seemed like they were in much trouble, or had a reason for their actions. I'm about down with the second book, Stone of Tears, and I've got the third book, Blood of the Fold in my bag, ready to start as soon as I close the cover on the other one. I'm excited.
I've been looking over past blog posts and really got the itch to write today. That's why I posted this at least. It's an online open journal that few if any people read. I'm thinking of posting a story on Elionene's Journal so that I can get both the creative fiction, and the self journaling writing cramps out. Wonder if anyone in NC wants to hire a blogger?
Friday, December 12, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Day
Yeah, so it's been awhile since I posted in this blog. I've been spending a lot of time posting about World of Warcraft, and little about myself personally. But today is election day, and it felt like it warranted a personal post. So here we go.
I voted this morning before I came to work, and it feels good to have participated in the process. I'm not thoroughly convinced my decisions will matter in the long run, but the process can't work if I don't act. I'm not big on politics, but it's all that I've read about in the papers and in TIME magazine. I'm looking forward to reading about something else. Whoever gets to be our next president, good luck, you'll need it.
Speaking of reading things, I recently picked up Wizard's First Rule, by Terry Goodkind. I did so because I saw a trailer for a new TV show called The Legend of the Seeker, which is based on these books. I haven't watched the show yet, it first aired last weekend, but the book so far is excellent. It's the first of 11 or so books in a series. I'll see if I can get to them all. I read fairly quickly and have a lot of time to do so while on the subway system to and from work. The books are known as The Sword of Truth novels, and I seem to recall something of these when I was reading a lot in high school. The first book came out in 1994, right as I was starting 8th grade at a new school, and spending a lot of time reading and checking out books from the library. Didn't ever pick it up until now, though.
Boston is growing colder, and even darker now thanks to daylight savings time (or lack thereof, I always forget when it's on or off so to speak). I love the Fall, but it seems like it's always over just as it's starting. I like when it's cold, but not so cold you have to wear a hat and gloves whenever you are outside. On the first day of Fall this year, I put on some instrumental piano music on my iPod and walked to a subway station further away from work than I usually go. I get to walk through the Boston Public Garden when I go that route and it was very relaxing and fun. It ends up taking me slightly longer to get home, but not enough where it's not worth it.
A couple days ago, on the way home from work, I ran into a guy I knew who I played softball with this Summer (we were the champions by the way) and had a short conversation with him about reading and writing. Specifically that if I could do anything I wanted, I would love to write a fiction story and publish it. I'm curious to know what needs to take place for that to happen. I mean, obviously, I would have to write something and convince enough people that it's worth publishing, and that people will want to read it. But what else is there? Do I need a formal education? Can I just start writing and editing and hope that eventually I'll have enough to call a book? What sort of story would I write? Fantasy most likely, but what kind? Humorous? Epic? Character or story driven? Reminds me of when I played a lot of role playing video games and dreamt of writing stories or music for video games. The creative side of me wanting to get out I guess.
Sometimes I wish I'd done more in mathematics and physics than business and accounting. I could see myself in education with a degree in math. I wonder how hard or practical that would be to do now before I become so ensconced in the accounting world that there's no going back? We'll see. There's a lot of changes on the horizon for us. And as usual I've just started rambling on and on about things. But I guess that's what the blog is about. Dreaming about my life and what it could be, as fiction.
I voted this morning before I came to work, and it feels good to have participated in the process. I'm not thoroughly convinced my decisions will matter in the long run, but the process can't work if I don't act. I'm not big on politics, but it's all that I've read about in the papers and in TIME magazine. I'm looking forward to reading about something else. Whoever gets to be our next president, good luck, you'll need it.
Speaking of reading things, I recently picked up Wizard's First Rule, by Terry Goodkind. I did so because I saw a trailer for a new TV show called The Legend of the Seeker, which is based on these books. I haven't watched the show yet, it first aired last weekend, but the book so far is excellent. It's the first of 11 or so books in a series. I'll see if I can get to them all. I read fairly quickly and have a lot of time to do so while on the subway system to and from work. The books are known as The Sword of Truth novels, and I seem to recall something of these when I was reading a lot in high school. The first book came out in 1994, right as I was starting 8th grade at a new school, and spending a lot of time reading and checking out books from the library. Didn't ever pick it up until now, though.
Boston is growing colder, and even darker now thanks to daylight savings time (or lack thereof, I always forget when it's on or off so to speak). I love the Fall, but it seems like it's always over just as it's starting. I like when it's cold, but not so cold you have to wear a hat and gloves whenever you are outside. On the first day of Fall this year, I put on some instrumental piano music on my iPod and walked to a subway station further away from work than I usually go. I get to walk through the Boston Public Garden when I go that route and it was very relaxing and fun. It ends up taking me slightly longer to get home, but not enough where it's not worth it.
A couple days ago, on the way home from work, I ran into a guy I knew who I played softball with this Summer (we were the champions by the way) and had a short conversation with him about reading and writing. Specifically that if I could do anything I wanted, I would love to write a fiction story and publish it. I'm curious to know what needs to take place for that to happen. I mean, obviously, I would have to write something and convince enough people that it's worth publishing, and that people will want to read it. But what else is there? Do I need a formal education? Can I just start writing and editing and hope that eventually I'll have enough to call a book? What sort of story would I write? Fantasy most likely, but what kind? Humorous? Epic? Character or story driven? Reminds me of when I played a lot of role playing video games and dreamt of writing stories or music for video games. The creative side of me wanting to get out I guess.
Sometimes I wish I'd done more in mathematics and physics than business and accounting. I could see myself in education with a degree in math. I wonder how hard or practical that would be to do now before I become so ensconced in the accounting world that there's no going back? We'll see. There's a lot of changes on the horizon for us. And as usual I've just started rambling on and on about things. But I guess that's what the blog is about. Dreaming about my life and what it could be, as fiction.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Blogging is Fun
My Warcraft blog, Good Morning Azeroth, seems to be enjoying a small bit of popularity. That is to say I've had a few people read it and comment on it from the warcraft blogging community. I've been putting a little more effort into getting the layout to look nice and advertise through the Entrecard program and listing it on various collection of WoW blogs. I really enjoy posting, fiddling with pictures, posts, layouts and designs. It makes me wish I'd gotten my education in computers and continued with the web and flash design stuff I meddled with during college.
I suppose it's not too late to go back to that stuff, but right now it's Accounting that pays the bills. I would have to update myself on the latest tools and programs at work in the internet in order to have a chance at working in the field too, and that means making the time to take classes or train myself. I'm not saying it won't happen, but it will take some effort.
It the mean time I'll keep playing with the blog, and try to write on relevant topics about World of Warcraft. I also want to keep up with this blog, but I haven't really nailed down a focus for topics, other than just current events in my life. And maybe that's enough for the few people who read it, but it would be nice to have something consistent to write about. The last thing I want it to become is a place where I just write about things that bother me. A complaints journal if you will. I've done that on pen and paper before, and it wasn't happy.
For now, I'll keep writing whatever I feel like, and maybe I'll fall into a routine or subject matter that's both fun to write about, and fun to read.
I suppose it's not too late to go back to that stuff, but right now it's Accounting that pays the bills. I would have to update myself on the latest tools and programs at work in the internet in order to have a chance at working in the field too, and that means making the time to take classes or train myself. I'm not saying it won't happen, but it will take some effort.
It the mean time I'll keep playing with the blog, and try to write on relevant topics about World of Warcraft. I also want to keep up with this blog, but I haven't really nailed down a focus for topics, other than just current events in my life. And maybe that's enough for the few people who read it, but it would be nice to have something consistent to write about. The last thing I want it to become is a place where I just write about things that bother me. A complaints journal if you will. I've done that on pen and paper before, and it wasn't happy.
For now, I'll keep writing whatever I feel like, and maybe I'll fall into a routine or subject matter that's both fun to write about, and fun to read.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Dog Dilemma
When we moved a year ago in June, part of what we required when looking for a new place was that they allowed pets, a dog specifically. We found that place and within a few weeks of moving in had found our new puppy, Hannah, a beagle mix who was adorable and about 6 months old. While we love our dog dearly, she has always been very demanding of attention and when she "thinks" she needs something. Lately, it has gotten worse. And I really just have no clue why.
We used to manage her by exercising her well. We'd go on a couple walks or out to the dog park, and then when we got home, she'd sleep for a few hours. By then it was usually later in the day and she was more mellow. She was almost always resting or sleeping by 8 o'clock. We'd taken her to obedience training, and she actually did pretty well. She responds mostly to treats, but if you ask her to sit or down, she most always will. She can also roll over, play dead, stay, come, the usual. We never taught her how to heel or walk very well, and I know that needs to be addressed, but the main problems now exist while at home.
In the last week, Hannah has been on super terror mode. She hasn't been resting after exercise, and she's been over the top demanding. If she barks and we try to ignore it so we don't reward her with attention, she'll start to bite at pillows, computer cords, the couch, us, and then we have to do something. We can't just let her tear our house apart. When we do get up to give her attention she starts to race around the house, barking, in a game of "catch me if you can." I tend to get really frustrated and angry with this, and it doesn't create a very happy home atmosphere when you have two frustrated adults and a dog that thinks it's a game.
I often exclaim about how this isn't the kind of dog I wanted. But then again, she may be acting like she is because of something I've done. I can't explain her behavior, but it's not like she has any other influences. Something that myself or my wife are doing is influencing her behavior, so we have to identify it and change it. I'm going to have to start searching for sources on curbing demanding dogs' behavior, and also making sure I keep my frustration in check. I don't want to get rid of Hannah, even if sometimes it seems like there's no hope, but I still believe we can train her to be better.
We used to manage her by exercising her well. We'd go on a couple walks or out to the dog park, and then when we got home, she'd sleep for a few hours. By then it was usually later in the day and she was more mellow. She was almost always resting or sleeping by 8 o'clock. We'd taken her to obedience training, and she actually did pretty well. She responds mostly to treats, but if you ask her to sit or down, she most always will. She can also roll over, play dead, stay, come, the usual. We never taught her how to heel or walk very well, and I know that needs to be addressed, but the main problems now exist while at home.
In the last week, Hannah has been on super terror mode. She hasn't been resting after exercise, and she's been over the top demanding. If she barks and we try to ignore it so we don't reward her with attention, she'll start to bite at pillows, computer cords, the couch, us, and then we have to do something. We can't just let her tear our house apart. When we do get up to give her attention she starts to race around the house, barking, in a game of "catch me if you can." I tend to get really frustrated and angry with this, and it doesn't create a very happy home atmosphere when you have two frustrated adults and a dog that thinks it's a game.
I often exclaim about how this isn't the kind of dog I wanted. But then again, she may be acting like she is because of something I've done. I can't explain her behavior, but it's not like she has any other influences. Something that myself or my wife are doing is influencing her behavior, so we have to identify it and change it. I'm going to have to start searching for sources on curbing demanding dogs' behavior, and also making sure I keep my frustration in check. I don't want to get rid of Hannah, even if sometimes it seems like there's no hope, but I still believe we can train her to be better.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Waking up is hard to do
I have a chronic problem of not being able to get out of bed in the mornings when I need to. Usually this results in me being late for work. I'm lucky in that the managers at my office are pretty lenient when it comes to arriving late. Especially in a town where the public transit system is less than reliable. But as much as I'd like to blame all of my arriving at work late woes on the T, the truth is I just can't get up on time.
For awhile I was able to trick myself in to getting up early by looking forward to doing something in the morning besides just go to work. Like play video games. When I was younger, I would often rent a video game for the weekend. My desire to play that game would out weigh my desire to sleep, and I would be able to wake up at 7 AM on a Saturday without any other device (such as an alarm clock) just because I knew that waking up meant I got to play. So I started to play World of Warcraft in the mornings from 6 to 7 before I got ready for work, and was able to get out the door in a much timelier fashion. Occasionally I would play longer than I should though and still get out late, but it was never so late that it was a problem.
Well, in more recent times, since my wife is also playing the game with me, we tend to stay up late playing, and this has made it harder to wake up to play. I guess there's a limit to how much sleep I can live on, even if there's something to look forward to waking up for in the morning. The solution is that I need to go to bed earlier, and you would think that was an easy thing to accomplish, but there's always something that needs to be done late at night that seems to keep me up past midnight. It's going to take a concentrated force of will to make this happen, but I need to do it for the bettering of myself, and to shake off the reputation for coming into work late.
It's not like I get a free pass to get into work late either, I have to make up the time I miss in the morning by staying late in the afternoons. I'd much rather get here on time and leave here on time, than have to stay until 5:40 and not get home until 7. Today was an especially bad day where I just didn't wake up at all. I had to call in and say I'd be working a half day as I didn't want to have to work until 9. Now some of you out there reading this, (three of you maybe?), might say, "Oh my goodness! Who is this slacker that can't even get to work on time?" I just want you to know that I agree with you. I don't like this habit I've developed, and I've recognized it's a problem, so don't worry. My boss is aware of it, and I'm aware of it, and I'm on a 12 step program to fix it. With the first 12 steps being go to bed earlier.
For awhile I was able to trick myself in to getting up early by looking forward to doing something in the morning besides just go to work. Like play video games. When I was younger, I would often rent a video game for the weekend. My desire to play that game would out weigh my desire to sleep, and I would be able to wake up at 7 AM on a Saturday without any other device (such as an alarm clock) just because I knew that waking up meant I got to play. So I started to play World of Warcraft in the mornings from 6 to 7 before I got ready for work, and was able to get out the door in a much timelier fashion. Occasionally I would play longer than I should though and still get out late, but it was never so late that it was a problem.
Well, in more recent times, since my wife is also playing the game with me, we tend to stay up late playing, and this has made it harder to wake up to play. I guess there's a limit to how much sleep I can live on, even if there's something to look forward to waking up for in the morning. The solution is that I need to go to bed earlier, and you would think that was an easy thing to accomplish, but there's always something that needs to be done late at night that seems to keep me up past midnight. It's going to take a concentrated force of will to make this happen, but I need to do it for the bettering of myself, and to shake off the reputation for coming into work late.
It's not like I get a free pass to get into work late either, I have to make up the time I miss in the morning by staying late in the afternoons. I'd much rather get here on time and leave here on time, than have to stay until 5:40 and not get home until 7. Today was an especially bad day where I just didn't wake up at all. I had to call in and say I'd be working a half day as I didn't want to have to work until 9. Now some of you out there reading this, (three of you maybe?), might say, "Oh my goodness! Who is this slacker that can't even get to work on time?" I just want you to know that I agree with you. I don't like this habit I've developed, and I've recognized it's a problem, so don't worry. My boss is aware of it, and I'm aware of it, and I'm on a 12 step program to fix it. With the first 12 steps being go to bed earlier.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Three Years
A couple of days ago, on the 25th, my wife and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary! We didn't do a whole lot for it. I took half a day at work and helped her walk her dogs (and ours) and then we went to the farmer's market, hung out at home, and went to a nice dinner at Outback. Good times.
It seems like three years have gone by quickly, though I suppose this last one was a little less stressful than the previous two, mostly due to her being out of school and not stressing about papers and tests. I still remember all night writing sessions where I would try to stay up and support her, and usually ended up falling asleep on the hardwood floor. I don't really miss that.
I still think we're crazy for moving to Boston right after getting married, but I don't know what other way we would have done it. She had the opportunity to study at Harvard. Who's going to pass that up? Not me. And in the end, I do think I enjoy living near a big city. There's always things to do, even if we can't motivate ourselves to do them all, we do some.
Church softball starts up this Saturday. It will be my third year pitching for the High Rock Angels. It's slow pitch softball, so while the pitches are designed for the batter to hit them, I'm working on a couple things to keep the pitches varied and on the ground. Our church had enough people to field two teams this year, the other is called the Apostles, and we play each other in a few weeks, which should be fun.
I'll be celebrating my 3rd year at my company this Summer, which seems like a big deal. I haven't really moved around a lot in my industry, so three years in one position feel liks a lot for someone who's only been an accountant for four years. It also makes me wonder if I'll ever be able to do any accounting besides my real estate accounting niche that I'm in. I would't mind breaking out into accounting systems and information, but that might require more school. Speaking of which, I would love to some day get a masters in information systems and accounting or some other combination. I am consistently seeing that I enjoy working with computers and software more than I do spreadsheets and numbers.
Maybe I can become a Mac genius.
It seems like three years have gone by quickly, though I suppose this last one was a little less stressful than the previous two, mostly due to her being out of school and not stressing about papers and tests. I still remember all night writing sessions where I would try to stay up and support her, and usually ended up falling asleep on the hardwood floor. I don't really miss that.
I still think we're crazy for moving to Boston right after getting married, but I don't know what other way we would have done it. She had the opportunity to study at Harvard. Who's going to pass that up? Not me. And in the end, I do think I enjoy living near a big city. There's always things to do, even if we can't motivate ourselves to do them all, we do some.
Church softball starts up this Saturday. It will be my third year pitching for the High Rock Angels. It's slow pitch softball, so while the pitches are designed for the batter to hit them, I'm working on a couple things to keep the pitches varied and on the ground. Our church had enough people to field two teams this year, the other is called the Apostles, and we play each other in a few weeks, which should be fun.
I'll be celebrating my 3rd year at my company this Summer, which seems like a big deal. I haven't really moved around a lot in my industry, so three years in one position feel liks a lot for someone who's only been an accountant for four years. It also makes me wonder if I'll ever be able to do any accounting besides my real estate accounting niche that I'm in. I would't mind breaking out into accounting systems and information, but that might require more school. Speaking of which, I would love to some day get a masters in information systems and accounting or some other combination. I am consistently seeing that I enjoy working with computers and software more than I do spreadsheets and numbers.
Maybe I can become a Mac genius.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Fanfare and hoop-la
Today is the first day of summer. It's a mild 75 degrees out, but that's fine by me. Looking out the window from my cubicle (yes, my cubicle is by a window, one of the most distinguishing features about it) I can see both the new John Hancock tower, the tallest one made of all mirror glass, and the old Hancock tower, which is shorter, and not nearly as pretty. But at the top of the old tower is a flag. It's white, bordered in green, and says Boston Celtics, 2008 World Champions.
For those that don't follow basketball, the Celtics took the NBA finals title earlier this week when they beat the L.A. Lakers in game 6. I personally don't enjoy basketball as much as other sports, but it's hard not to get caught up in some of the fanfare when the city you live in is quite ecstatic about all of its sports teams. The Celtics are a particularly noted for winning more titles than any other basketball franchise, this being their 17th and the first one in 22 years. I like come from behind stories, and I like to hear when a team has overcome a lot of odds. From worst to first is a phrase used liberally for the Celtics in the local papers.
As I said, I'm not really a huge fan of basketball, but the reason I write about the Celtics is because I had the unique experience to go down to Boylston street yesterday, Thursday, and watch their victory parade. Thousands of screaming Bostonians wearing Celtics jerseys and other assorted green items yelled and screamed as the players, owners, managers and extended family, all drove by on the Duck boats. I went down on my lunch break with a few co-workers and we stood on the side and cheered and enjoyed the event as much as anyone. I wasn't wearing green, but no one seemed to care.
I didn't get a chance to go down during the Red Sox parade, which I would have really loved to do, but even so, it gave me a good feeling being a part of it. I tend to be a home-body in that when I am at work, I am at my desk, and when I am home, I don't feel like going out. So to actually get out of the office and be at a parade with thousands of people was a lot of fun, and a change from my day to day monotony that is accounting.
For those that don't follow basketball, the Celtics took the NBA finals title earlier this week when they beat the L.A. Lakers in game 6. I personally don't enjoy basketball as much as other sports, but it's hard not to get caught up in some of the fanfare when the city you live in is quite ecstatic about all of its sports teams. The Celtics are a particularly noted for winning more titles than any other basketball franchise, this being their 17th and the first one in 22 years. I like come from behind stories, and I like to hear when a team has overcome a lot of odds. From worst to first is a phrase used liberally for the Celtics in the local papers.
As I said, I'm not really a huge fan of basketball, but the reason I write about the Celtics is because I had the unique experience to go down to Boylston street yesterday, Thursday, and watch their victory parade. Thousands of screaming Bostonians wearing Celtics jerseys and other assorted green items yelled and screamed as the players, owners, managers and extended family, all drove by on the Duck boats. I went down on my lunch break with a few co-workers and we stood on the side and cheered and enjoyed the event as much as anyone. I wasn't wearing green, but no one seemed to care.
I didn't get a chance to go down during the Red Sox parade, which I would have really loved to do, but even so, it gave me a good feeling being a part of it. I tend to be a home-body in that when I am at work, I am at my desk, and when I am home, I don't feel like going out. So to actually get out of the office and be at a parade with thousands of people was a lot of fun, and a change from my day to day monotony that is accounting.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Back in Boston
After a long trip and a horrible plane ride home, I made it back to the loving arms of my wife, and the slobbering mouth of my dog, both of whom were overjoyed to have me back again. I'm glad to be back too.
Of course, when I decide to come home is when my Powerbook decides to conk out me. Due to what I believe is a malfunctioning fan on the graphics card, the computer will easily over heat when running graphics intensive programs...like World of Warcraft, which I tend to play a lot. I took my Mac to the store at the Mall and they informed me it could be fixed andI had it shipped off. The good news is that it's under the Apple care plan, so it's free for the fix. The bad news is that I've been without a computer of my own for five days now. I'm still waiting for the call that I can come pick it up.
It's not really all that bad. I recently started playing my Nintendo Wii again which was cool since I had forgotten how much fun it could be. I rented Mario Kart and I finally progressed past the forest Temple in Zelda. My wife and I have also been catching up on Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes that we stopped watching once we started playing WoW together...which I think was the first week of April. We even watched a movie! So it's good to do something else besides the game in the evenings. I'm hoping we don't immediately go back into it when I get my computer back. Some variety is nice.
Of course, when I decide to come home is when my Powerbook decides to conk out me. Due to what I believe is a malfunctioning fan on the graphics card, the computer will easily over heat when running graphics intensive programs...like World of Warcraft, which I tend to play a lot. I took my Mac to the store at the Mall and they informed me it could be fixed andI had it shipped off. The good news is that it's under the Apple care plan, so it's free for the fix. The bad news is that I've been without a computer of my own for five days now. I'm still waiting for the call that I can come pick it up.
It's not really all that bad. I recently started playing my Nintendo Wii again which was cool since I had forgotten how much fun it could be. I rented Mario Kart and I finally progressed past the forest Temple in Zelda. My wife and I have also been catching up on Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes that we stopped watching once we started playing WoW together...which I think was the first week of April. We even watched a movie! So it's good to do something else besides the game in the evenings. I'm hoping we don't immediately go back into it when I get my computer back. Some variety is nice.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
A week in West Virginia
As stated earlier, I have gone to West Virginia for my company. We basically came along with the auditors to put together a work paper package so that we can close the books on a couple of our properties here in Wheeling for 2007. If that doesn't make much sense to you, don't sweat it, I don't understand it all either.
The good news is that we are almost done here, and we should actually be heading home earlier than expected, hoping to get a standby flight Friday morning as opposed to catching our scheduled evening flight. That will be nice. On our off time we find fun places to eat and we even went to a casino where they lost money, and I did not because I didn't play any slots. The table games, blackjack, poker and roulette and such looked like fun. But not at a $10 minimum bet. I just don't have that kind of money.
One of the highlights of the trip has been a guy named Harry. He's a consultant for the property management that they brought in to help with the auditing process. Somehow in conversation it came up that I had attended Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. Harry seemed very interested in that and I told him a bit about the school. Then it came out that his grandson, an infant, was named Lee. So the next thing I find out is that Harry had gone to the Lee University web site and bought a baby sweatshirt that said Lee University on it for his grandson. I guess he thought it very cool that his name would be on it.
I basically made my old college bookstore about $40.
It's been an interesting trip, and sources point to it not having to happen again very soon, and if it has to happen again next year, it shouldn't take a whole week. Maybe just a couple days. I'm crossing my fingers.
The good news is that we are almost done here, and we should actually be heading home earlier than expected, hoping to get a standby flight Friday morning as opposed to catching our scheduled evening flight. That will be nice. On our off time we find fun places to eat and we even went to a casino where they lost money, and I did not because I didn't play any slots. The table games, blackjack, poker and roulette and such looked like fun. But not at a $10 minimum bet. I just don't have that kind of money.
One of the highlights of the trip has been a guy named Harry. He's a consultant for the property management that they brought in to help with the auditing process. Somehow in conversation it came up that I had attended Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. Harry seemed very interested in that and I told him a bit about the school. Then it came out that his grandson, an infant, was named Lee. So the next thing I find out is that Harry had gone to the Lee University web site and bought a baby sweatshirt that said Lee University on it for his grandson. I guess he thought it very cool that his name would be on it.
I basically made my old college bookstore about $40.
It's been an interesting trip, and sources point to it not having to happen again very soon, and if it has to happen again next year, it shouldn't take a whole week. Maybe just a couple days. I'm crossing my fingers.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Six Flags Saga
Memorial day, my wife and I joined a bunch of couples from our Church and headed off to Six Flags New England. I was extremely excited to go. Let me tell you why.
I love roller coasters. Before I moved to the Eastern side of the states, I hadn't really been on many. Disneyland had pretty much been the ultimate experience for me. In college I got to go to Six Flags in Atlanta, Georgia and I had a blast.
After being in Boston for a couple years, I had the opportunity to go to Six Flags New England for the first time last summer. I was pumped and literally screamed on every ride, and even when we were done I was so excited. My brother-in-law and father-in-law will attest to this. I was like a kid in a candy shop, running from coaster to coaster. However, there was one roller coaster that I did not ride. Which coaster you ask? Oh, only the #1 Steel Roller Coaster in America.
That's right, while I was there, Superman, the Ride of Steel, was shut down for undefined reasons. While this might scare some people off, I just kept asking if they would open it up later. They, being the park staff, gave us hope, but ultimately let us down as the ride did not open at all that day. I was a little miffed, so I went and rode Batman again, and the Cyclone wooden coaster 3 times in a row.
I wrote an email to Customer Service later that week and they were sympathetic and provided me with half price tickets and exit passes for a couple rides. I had to use them by the end of the Summer, and that opportunity presented itself a couple months later when some friends invited me. (Sadly, my wife couldn't make it that day.) Again, I was super excited, most of all because I would get to finally ride Superman.
Uh..no. Just Kidding.
The ride was closed again! It was either a terrible coincidence, or it was me, that out of the two days I pick to go that summer, it was closed both days. We were told they were waiting on a part form Europe or something. Whatever. I want to fly! I still had fun. How could you not?
The year turns and here we find ourselves in the Summer of 2008. As an end of season party for our couples small group at the church, the group organizes a trip to Six Flags. Rock on. And my wife can come this time. Awesome. I have one thing to say. Superman better show up.
And show up he did. After a year, and 2 failed attempts, Superman was open and it was the first ride I went on. It was amazing. Definitely the best roller coaster there. The first drop is at a 70 degree angle, with which you reach about 70 miles per hour in speed, and the ride doesn't let up after that. It's fast. And the curves and the ups and downs make it exciting. It doesn't loop, or corkscrew, but it doesn't matter.
My only regret is that I didn't ride it again! (I know, what was I thinking? I should have only ridden it all day!) But we were with friends, and they weren't all as excited about Superman as I was. (go figure) I doubt this is the last time I go to Six flags New England though, and I'm sure to ride Superman again. He owes me two more.
I love roller coasters. Before I moved to the Eastern side of the states, I hadn't really been on many. Disneyland had pretty much been the ultimate experience for me. In college I got to go to Six Flags in Atlanta, Georgia and I had a blast.
After being in Boston for a couple years, I had the opportunity to go to Six Flags New England for the first time last summer. I was pumped and literally screamed on every ride, and even when we were done I was so excited. My brother-in-law and father-in-law will attest to this. I was like a kid in a candy shop, running from coaster to coaster. However, there was one roller coaster that I did not ride. Which coaster you ask? Oh, only the #1 Steel Roller Coaster in America.
That's right, while I was there, Superman, the Ride of Steel, was shut down for undefined reasons. While this might scare some people off, I just kept asking if they would open it up later. They, being the park staff, gave us hope, but ultimately let us down as the ride did not open at all that day. I was a little miffed, so I went and rode Batman again, and the Cyclone wooden coaster 3 times in a row.
I wrote an email to Customer Service later that week and they were sympathetic and provided me with half price tickets and exit passes for a couple rides. I had to use them by the end of the Summer, and that opportunity presented itself a couple months later when some friends invited me. (Sadly, my wife couldn't make it that day.) Again, I was super excited, most of all because I would get to finally ride Superman.
Uh..no. Just Kidding.
The ride was closed again! It was either a terrible coincidence, or it was me, that out of the two days I pick to go that summer, it was closed both days. We were told they were waiting on a part form Europe or something. Whatever. I want to fly! I still had fun. How could you not?
The year turns and here we find ourselves in the Summer of 2008. As an end of season party for our couples small group at the church, the group organizes a trip to Six Flags. Rock on. And my wife can come this time. Awesome. I have one thing to say. Superman better show up.
And show up he did. After a year, and 2 failed attempts, Superman was open and it was the first ride I went on. It was amazing. Definitely the best roller coaster there. The first drop is at a 70 degree angle, with which you reach about 70 miles per hour in speed, and the ride doesn't let up after that. It's fast. And the curves and the ups and downs make it exciting. It doesn't loop, or corkscrew, but it doesn't matter.
My only regret is that I didn't ride it again! (I know, what was I thinking? I should have only ridden it all day!) But we were with friends, and they weren't all as excited about Superman as I was. (go figure) I doubt this is the last time I go to Six flags New England though, and I'm sure to ride Superman again. He owes me two more.
Facebook...yeah, it took me awhile
My wife got invited by a friend to join Facebook. And after she got on, she invited me. So after however many years, I've finally joined Facebook and can now stay in touch with a whole lot of people I haven't stayed in touch with. It's actually pretty cool how many people I found from high school and college right away, just after signing up.
I've now updated my profile with useful information, and even started a few "wall" conersations with people as well. It's probably a good thing for me too, since I am NOT good at staying in touch with people. I'm the person that fails to return an email to someone or a letter after hearing from someone who I haven't talked with in a while. I still keep in touch with my best man from my wedding, but that's because he's the one that almost always calls me to see how I'm doing. Speaking of which, I should call him sometime soon...
Another positive is that I was able to post my blog address on my Facebook page which means that someone else besides my sister and my wife might actually read this stuff that I write here and at my other blogs. Well, that may be a positive or a negative. We'll see.
The downside is that I have yet another distraction from work in checking the Facebook page. I should really save it for when I get home, but I'm too curious when I see an email pop up with "so and so has left you a wall message." Just have to go check it out.
I've now updated my profile with useful information, and even started a few "wall" conersations with people as well. It's probably a good thing for me too, since I am NOT good at staying in touch with people. I'm the person that fails to return an email to someone or a letter after hearing from someone who I haven't talked with in a while. I still keep in touch with my best man from my wedding, but that's because he's the one that almost always calls me to see how I'm doing. Speaking of which, I should call him sometime soon...
Another positive is that I was able to post my blog address on my Facebook page which means that someone else besides my sister and my wife might actually read this stuff that I write here and at my other blogs. Well, that may be a positive or a negative. We'll see.
The downside is that I have yet another distraction from work in checking the Facebook page. I should really save it for when I get home, but I'm too curious when I see an email pop up with "so and so has left you a wall message." Just have to go check it out.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
What I really want to do
So lately, my life has been sort of low key. Things are pretty much routine. I work. I eat. I take care of the dog. Watch my TV shows. Play my video games. Clean the house when it's dirty. Go to church on Sunday. Earn money. Spend money. Sleep. nothing too exciting. And while most of the time, I really like just being laid back and routine, I sometimes find myself, like now, wishing I made more time for other things. Things that would be more meaningful, constructive, worthwhile, enriching, and productive. It's not even a matter of can't or won't. It's just that I don't make the time or the effort for these things, even though I do want to do them. At one point or another I have tried to incorporate them into my routines, but they never stick. So here's a list of things I wish I did, things that I can do, but I just haven't been able to motivate myself to do.
Play the piano more
I took lessons from the age of 8 and through part of high school. I've played in my church, I've played for weddings, and I've written a few songs of my own. But lately the keyboard sits in the back room gathering dust and odds and ends that need to be organized.
Train my dog
Our dog, Hannah, is beautiful. But she's also stubborn, willful, and mischievous when she wants something her way. Rather than training this out of her, we've learned to distract her with food, toys and what not until she stops. This is just lazy. She can sit, go to mat, roll over, play dead, and a few other tricks, but she really needs to learn some basics.
Work on our website
When my wife and I got back from Scotland, I put together what I thought was a pretty cool website of our pictures. It's still active at www.tjandteresa.com, but I haven't updated it in over a year, maybe two. For one, I really like to work in Flash MX, and now I'm over a year behind in the program. It's probably all different now. On top of that, the website is incomplete, and so much more could be added to it. I'd like to start it over from scratch and make it better. That will take time to learn new programs and set it up though.
Exercise more
I'm not a small person, and I would really like to have a better looking and healthier body. That's not unique, I'm sure most people would say they want to look better than they do. One thing I have done is kept up riding my bike to work, and eating less sugar. But so far it's been negligible. A year or so ago, my wife got me one of the coolest presents: a wooden sword for exercising. It's a whole exercise program using a sword. I mean, awesome. I kept it up for a few weeks before doing what I always do and neglecting it. I'd really like to pick that up and keep at it. I'm not convinced it will help me lose weight, but it would be good for me to exercise.
Learn more Russian
In high school I took three years of the Russian Language. In college I took a trip to Ukraine for 3 weeks, and developed a flash based teaching CD for the basics of the Russian alphabet. Since then, nothing. I have the books, I have the knowledge, I just need to work on vocabulary and grammar. Eventually, I'd like to take a trip to Moscow or St. Petersburg with the confidence that I can speak the language.
Write more
I have a couple blogs. That's more than I've ever had in terms of writing sources. I need to write in them more. I like fantasy and science fiction, and I like to create. I don't really consider myself good at it, but I don't really think I'll ever be a writer for tv/movies/games or even a book. Well, at least one that gets published. But you never know.
Compose music
This goes along with play the piano more, but takes it another step. I want to write music and actually record it. I did a very very rough recording of a song I wrote for my dad. I'll post it up later. My sister asked me to do it, and I decided to take the challenge. It was a lot of fun and I think I could get better at it. I would especially like to learn how to use Garageband on my Mac to record these things. There's a new mac store near where I work that might offer classes on these things. I should check that out.
Find a better job
It's not that I don't like accounting. I do, and I can make a career out of it that I'm sure will support me and my family into the future. But sometimes it is so repetitive, and mundane, and tiring, that I really wish I was doing something more dynamic, more creative, and with less routine, repetitive tasks. Since video games happen to be one of my biggest hobbies, I often think about working in the video game industry. Once upon a time, I dreamed of becoming a composer for games. I scrapped that idea when I started college and became a business major. But I still think about it. I can't code, I can't write, I can't model in 3D, but I just might be able to write music. It's something I wonder if I couldn't try my hand at on the side, while still keeping my day job.
I said earlier that I've tried to do a lot of this stuff, but can't maintain the routine. But I can't let that be an excuse not to keep trying to work this stuff (back) into my life. So maybe if I choose one, and try to do it half an hour every day, or every other day, it might just stick well enough for me to eventually get another thing in there. It might mean giving up some time in front of the computer, or the TV, but I know it would be worth it.
The first one to work in would need to be one of the smaller ones. Maybe just playing my piano for 30 minutes a night. Maybe I could by a book on the latest Flash MX and see if I can't reteach myself. Maybe I could get out my sword and exercise for 30 minutes. 30 minutes really isn't that much, but it could make a big difference.
Play the piano more
I took lessons from the age of 8 and through part of high school. I've played in my church, I've played for weddings, and I've written a few songs of my own. But lately the keyboard sits in the back room gathering dust and odds and ends that need to be organized.
Train my dog
Our dog, Hannah, is beautiful. But she's also stubborn, willful, and mischievous when she wants something her way. Rather than training this out of her, we've learned to distract her with food, toys and what not until she stops. This is just lazy. She can sit, go to mat, roll over, play dead, and a few other tricks, but she really needs to learn some basics.
Work on our website
When my wife and I got back from Scotland, I put together what I thought was a pretty cool website of our pictures. It's still active at www.tjandteresa.com, but I haven't updated it in over a year, maybe two. For one, I really like to work in Flash MX, and now I'm over a year behind in the program. It's probably all different now. On top of that, the website is incomplete, and so much more could be added to it. I'd like to start it over from scratch and make it better. That will take time to learn new programs and set it up though.
Exercise more
I'm not a small person, and I would really like to have a better looking and healthier body. That's not unique, I'm sure most people would say they want to look better than they do. One thing I have done is kept up riding my bike to work, and eating less sugar. But so far it's been negligible. A year or so ago, my wife got me one of the coolest presents: a wooden sword for exercising. It's a whole exercise program using a sword. I mean, awesome. I kept it up for a few weeks before doing what I always do and neglecting it. I'd really like to pick that up and keep at it. I'm not convinced it will help me lose weight, but it would be good for me to exercise.
Learn more Russian
In high school I took three years of the Russian Language. In college I took a trip to Ukraine for 3 weeks, and developed a flash based teaching CD for the basics of the Russian alphabet. Since then, nothing. I have the books, I have the knowledge, I just need to work on vocabulary and grammar. Eventually, I'd like to take a trip to Moscow or St. Petersburg with the confidence that I can speak the language.
Write more
I have a couple blogs. That's more than I've ever had in terms of writing sources. I need to write in them more. I like fantasy and science fiction, and I like to create. I don't really consider myself good at it, but I don't really think I'll ever be a writer for tv/movies/games or even a book. Well, at least one that gets published. But you never know.
Compose music
This goes along with play the piano more, but takes it another step. I want to write music and actually record it. I did a very very rough recording of a song I wrote for my dad. I'll post it up later. My sister asked me to do it, and I decided to take the challenge. It was a lot of fun and I think I could get better at it. I would especially like to learn how to use Garageband on my Mac to record these things. There's a new mac store near where I work that might offer classes on these things. I should check that out.
Find a better job
It's not that I don't like accounting. I do, and I can make a career out of it that I'm sure will support me and my family into the future. But sometimes it is so repetitive, and mundane, and tiring, that I really wish I was doing something more dynamic, more creative, and with less routine, repetitive tasks. Since video games happen to be one of my biggest hobbies, I often think about working in the video game industry. Once upon a time, I dreamed of becoming a composer for games. I scrapped that idea when I started college and became a business major. But I still think about it. I can't code, I can't write, I can't model in 3D, but I just might be able to write music. It's something I wonder if I couldn't try my hand at on the side, while still keeping my day job.
I said earlier that I've tried to do a lot of this stuff, but can't maintain the routine. But I can't let that be an excuse not to keep trying to work this stuff (back) into my life. So maybe if I choose one, and try to do it half an hour every day, or every other day, it might just stick well enough for me to eventually get another thing in there. It might mean giving up some time in front of the computer, or the TV, but I know it would be worth it.
The first one to work in would need to be one of the smaller ones. Maybe just playing my piano for 30 minutes a night. Maybe I could by a book on the latest Flash MX and see if I can't reteach myself. Maybe I could get out my sword and exercise for 30 minutes. 30 minutes really isn't that much, but it could make a big difference.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Business Trip
So for my work, for the first time in my career, I will be making a business trip. The trip itself is pretty bland. 5 days in a small town in West Virginia looking over financial documents for an audit on one of our properties. I will be going with my manager to sort out their accounts in one week. It has to be done too, so we'll be working long days. We're staying in a Best Western where we have our own rooms, so that's cool, but I'm not really looking forward to it. It's not like I'm getting away from anything except maybe the office, but I don't like to leave my wife behind, and there's nothing really fun to do in the few off hours we will have.
My manager looked it up and apparently found a horse racing track within a couple miles, and that was the only real entertainment. I might like to see a horse race, but I'm not a gambler (which seemed to be the draw for him), so I think I'd much rather spend the time in my hotel room on my computer playing WoW or talking with my wife. The hotel room comes with a king sized bed. I guess that's a plus, but I like to think I'm not king size, so it's actually a lot of wasted bed.
I'm thankful that we have a dog now as she can keep my wife company while I'm gone, and with any luck, we'll finish early and I can catch a stand by flight home on Friday. Some people like to travel, but I'm not really one of them unless it's with and for family. Here's to hoping I don't have to do these new business trips very often.
My manager looked it up and apparently found a horse racing track within a couple miles, and that was the only real entertainment. I might like to see a horse race, but I'm not a gambler (which seemed to be the draw for him), so I think I'd much rather spend the time in my hotel room on my computer playing WoW or talking with my wife. The hotel room comes with a king sized bed. I guess that's a plus, but I like to think I'm not king size, so it's actually a lot of wasted bed.
I'm thankful that we have a dog now as she can keep my wife company while I'm gone, and with any luck, we'll finish early and I can catch a stand by flight home on Friday. Some people like to travel, but I'm not really one of them unless it's with and for family. Here's to hoping I don't have to do these new business trips very often.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Congratulations Sis
We just got back from a long weekend trip to the west coast where we went to visit family and see my sister graduate from college. She is now a fully educated nurse getting her degree from Northwest University of the Assemblies of God. I had actually spent a year there when it was still Northwest College and it was fun to see the campus again.
We got to spend time with my Grandparents and my mom's family in Oregon before trucking up to Seattle to see my sister graduate. I love Oregon, and seeing it again made me miss it again, but I'm sure I'll forget about that in the next few weeks as I get back into my groove here in Boston. We did a lot of hanging out, visiting, and eating. I swear. From the first place we stopped for lunch after leaving the airport, to the last meal we had the eve of our flight, I was full.
While in Seattle we had time to visit Pike Place Market which was a pretty cool place, and my sister and wife graciously allowed me two whole hours of gaming at Gameworks to rock the arcade games. Even with that much time I still have a ton of points on a gameworks card that need to be used. The other cool thing about going to Seattle was that we got to spend two nights in a sweet hotel. A friend of my sister and me works there, and got us a good deal on a weekend stay. Apparently it's a business hotel, so they are busy during the week, and light on the weekends. The rooms were really cool, and the king size beds were amazing. Nicely decorated bathrooms, clean facilities and free apples too. If you're ever in the Kirkland, WA area, check out The Heathman. The hotel is located where my favorite arcade was when I was in Seattle, Quarters. It's not there anymore, and that made me sad.
We got to spend time with my Grandparents and my mom's family in Oregon before trucking up to Seattle to see my sister graduate. I love Oregon, and seeing it again made me miss it again, but I'm sure I'll forget about that in the next few weeks as I get back into my groove here in Boston. We did a lot of hanging out, visiting, and eating. I swear. From the first place we stopped for lunch after leaving the airport, to the last meal we had the eve of our flight, I was full.
While in Seattle we had time to visit Pike Place Market which was a pretty cool place, and my sister and wife graciously allowed me two whole hours of gaming at Gameworks to rock the arcade games. Even with that much time I still have a ton of points on a gameworks card that need to be used. The other cool thing about going to Seattle was that we got to spend two nights in a sweet hotel. A friend of my sister and me works there, and got us a good deal on a weekend stay. Apparently it's a business hotel, so they are busy during the week, and light on the weekends. The rooms were really cool, and the king size beds were amazing. Nicely decorated bathrooms, clean facilities and free apples too. If you're ever in the Kirkland, WA area, check out The Heathman. The hotel is located where my favorite arcade was when I was in Seattle, Quarters. It's not there anymore, and that made me sad.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Wedding Gift
My wife and I were married in June of 2005. She put a whole lot of work into it and it was really a beautiful wedding. At the time I had been working part-time for a web design and CD business card company. The owner did a lot of video work and he offered to video our wedding free of charge. After the wedding, we honeymooned in Scotland and then promptly moved to Boston so my wife could begin her master's program at Harvard.
A few months went by and I asked my former boss about the video. He said he hadn't had a chance to edit it yet, but he would get to it and send it to us. A little more time goes by and I ask him about it again and he says he still hasn't finished. I tell him to just send me the raw footage and I'll get it edited or do it myself. He says okay, and that's the last I hear of it for awhile. So again I email him and he replies that he sent it months ago when we last talked.
So now I'm pretty upset. It's the only video of our wedding, and now it looks like we're never going to have it. I regret having him do it, but there's really nothing we can do about it, except hope that it will show up one day.
Fast forward to last week. A day or two before my birthday, my best man, and best friend from high school calls me up. He had just gotten married in Hawaii, (sadly, we couldn't make it) and he tells me that he finally was able to get the video from my bachelor party on to a DVD. He was sending it to me along with video and pictures from his own wedding. A week or so later I get the DVDs and I pop them in the computer to watch the video.
The footage from the bachelor party was fun. We didn't do anything too crazy. Just a few guys being stupid, hanging out, and having fun. But when that stuff was over, the video cut to our wedding. Apparently, my best man had given the camera to my mother who video taped the entire wedding! We got to see the dancer at the beginning and all of the vows and ring exchanges and all of our groomsmen and bridesmaids on that wonderful day. We were thrilled to put it mildly. We had thought we would never be able to watch it again, and here we were seeing us get married all over again. It was really exciting. My wife insisted I call and thank my best man right away, and I agreed.
So props to my best man! Mad Dog, you know who you are! You're the best, and now it's on the internet so it must be true. I'm really going to make an effort to see you sometime soon as it's been too long. Blessings on you and your wife for years to come.
A few months went by and I asked my former boss about the video. He said he hadn't had a chance to edit it yet, but he would get to it and send it to us. A little more time goes by and I ask him about it again and he says he still hasn't finished. I tell him to just send me the raw footage and I'll get it edited or do it myself. He says okay, and that's the last I hear of it for awhile. So again I email him and he replies that he sent it months ago when we last talked.
So now I'm pretty upset. It's the only video of our wedding, and now it looks like we're never going to have it. I regret having him do it, but there's really nothing we can do about it, except hope that it will show up one day.
Fast forward to last week. A day or two before my birthday, my best man, and best friend from high school calls me up. He had just gotten married in Hawaii, (sadly, we couldn't make it) and he tells me that he finally was able to get the video from my bachelor party on to a DVD. He was sending it to me along with video and pictures from his own wedding. A week or so later I get the DVDs and I pop them in the computer to watch the video.
The footage from the bachelor party was fun. We didn't do anything too crazy. Just a few guys being stupid, hanging out, and having fun. But when that stuff was over, the video cut to our wedding. Apparently, my best man had given the camera to my mother who video taped the entire wedding! We got to see the dancer at the beginning and all of the vows and ring exchanges and all of our groomsmen and bridesmaids on that wonderful day. We were thrilled to put it mildly. We had thought we would never be able to watch it again, and here we were seeing us get married all over again. It was really exciting. My wife insisted I call and thank my best man right away, and I agreed.
So props to my best man! Mad Dog, you know who you are! You're the best, and now it's on the internet so it must be true. I'm really going to make an effort to see you sometime soon as it's been too long. Blessings on you and your wife for years to come.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The First of April
Today is my birthday. No joke!
I was born at 12:01 AM on April 1st. I sometimes suspect I was born on March 31st at 11:59 PM, but the doctor couldn't resist writing 12:01 to make me an April Fool's baby. I don't know if I will ever be able to verify this.
Surprisingly, I can't remember having very many April Fool's pranks being played on me personally. Nothing that really sticks out anyway. I mostly get the response when I tell someone when my birthday is, "Oh, guess your birth was a joke!" or some variant. But I've never had a prank or joke played on me.
Today I went to work, and tonight I'm going home, so I'm not doing anything special for my birthday like a party or anything. I really don't mind. I'm pretty content to stay home and take it easy. My wife and I may play World of Warcraft together, which I actually consider a superb present that she plays with me now. I am recording the event in my warcraft blog, Good Morning Azeroth! Which is funny because now that we play together, I play more in the evening to late night than in the morning.
So, Happy Birthday to me, and thanks to everyone that made me possible and has been part of my life these last 27 years. Couldn't have done it without you.
I was born at 12:01 AM on April 1st. I sometimes suspect I was born on March 31st at 11:59 PM, but the doctor couldn't resist writing 12:01 to make me an April Fool's baby. I don't know if I will ever be able to verify this.
Surprisingly, I can't remember having very many April Fool's pranks being played on me personally. Nothing that really sticks out anyway. I mostly get the response when I tell someone when my birthday is, "Oh, guess your birth was a joke!" or some variant. But I've never had a prank or joke played on me.
Today I went to work, and tonight I'm going home, so I'm not doing anything special for my birthday like a party or anything. I really don't mind. I'm pretty content to stay home and take it easy. My wife and I may play World of Warcraft together, which I actually consider a superb present that she plays with me now. I am recording the event in my warcraft blog, Good Morning Azeroth! Which is funny because now that we play together, I play more in the evening to late night than in the morning.
So, Happy Birthday to me, and thanks to everyone that made me possible and has been part of my life these last 27 years. Couldn't have done it without you.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Yet another blog
I finally started my World of Warcraft blog. The link is over on the right. I'm going to use it to write about anything and everything about the game I play the most, starting with the fantastic experience of getting my wife to play it with me just recently. If you've never played the game before, some of the stuff might seem unfamiliar, but it will make sense for anyone who's ventured into Azeroth.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Golden Compass
I didn't know anything about this book before I saw previews for the movie. It was being compared to The Chronicles of Narnia, but other than that I didn't really show an interest in it. A few weeks later, on one of my long commutes, I picked up a random newspaper to read on the bus and there was an interesting article. Its basic statement was that Christians were up in arms about the movie because the author of the book is an atheist and the movie's plot revolved around the idea of killing God. Add to that that movie's target audience is children and young teens.
I have to admit that this perked my interest. I am definitely not an atheist, but the idea of someone who writes a fantasy book that is seemingly very anti-church intrigued me. What was more interesting though is that I later found out the producers of the movie actually played down the anti-religious sentiments in the screen adaptation. I guess they were afraid of what an overtly anti-religious movie's effect would be on viewers. In just seemed contra to what one would thing Hollywood's position is. I'm not an authority on the subject, but I wanted to read the book and understand what people were saying about it for myself.
All in all, the book is quite good. The action moves fast and keeps you reading to find out what happens next, and a whole lot happens. The protagonist is Lyra, a young girl with a destiny. The setting is Earth, but there are subtle differences such as each person having a dæmon which is a personal pet of some sort that acts a conscience and friend. One of the major plot points revolves around how people are connected to these dæmons. The girl is reckless, spirited, and intelligent, almost to the point of disbelief. She is able to resolve situations that were it not a fantasy book, I would think they were impossible for a small girl. I also thought that some parts of the book the reader is given to little knowledge to understand what is going on. Even when the characters are answering some of the mysteries in the book, I still found myself not quite getting it. This may be intentional as there are two more books in the series; so much is probably left to be explained.
I'll probably watch the movie now to see what differences there are from the book and how they've portrayed some of the underlying concepts. It will be interesting to see how far the sequels go and if the movies continue to down play the anti-religious views or if they begin to embrace them.
I have to admit that this perked my interest. I am definitely not an atheist, but the idea of someone who writes a fantasy book that is seemingly very anti-church intrigued me. What was more interesting though is that I later found out the producers of the movie actually played down the anti-religious sentiments in the screen adaptation. I guess they were afraid of what an overtly anti-religious movie's effect would be on viewers. In just seemed contra to what one would thing Hollywood's position is. I'm not an authority on the subject, but I wanted to read the book and understand what people were saying about it for myself.
All in all, the book is quite good. The action moves fast and keeps you reading to find out what happens next, and a whole lot happens. The protagonist is Lyra, a young girl with a destiny. The setting is Earth, but there are subtle differences such as each person having a dæmon which is a personal pet of some sort that acts a conscience and friend. One of the major plot points revolves around how people are connected to these dæmons. The girl is reckless, spirited, and intelligent, almost to the point of disbelief. She is able to resolve situations that were it not a fantasy book, I would think they were impossible for a small girl. I also thought that some parts of the book the reader is given to little knowledge to understand what is going on. Even when the characters are answering some of the mysteries in the book, I still found myself not quite getting it. This may be intentional as there are two more books in the series; so much is probably left to be explained.
I'll probably watch the movie now to see what differences there are from the book and how they've portrayed some of the underlying concepts. It will be interesting to see how far the sequels go and if the movies continue to down play the anti-religious views or if they begin to embrace them.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The Left Hand of Darkness
Light is the left hand of darkness and darkness the right hand of light. Two are one, life and death, lying together like lovers in kemmer, like hands joined together, like the end and the way..
I first heard about this book from a magazine on an airplane. No, not SkyMall. I forget which airline it was, maybe American, or United, but it had an article in their monthly magazine about good Science Fiction novels. I've probably read many more fantasy books than I have Sci-fi, but I've read a few and I really enjoy Star Trek, so the draw for this type of fiction is still there. This book was listed in that article, and it looked interesting, mentioning a genderless people and political overtones. I took the article out of the magazine to help me remember to get the book at the next opportunity. I think that was a year or so ago, maybe more.
More recently, my wife and I watched The Jane Austen Book Club. The movie itself was really good, but more relevantly, one of the characters, Grigg, was a Sci-fi fan and and a sub plot involved him trying to get a women to read The Left Hand of Darkness. Of course, I suddenly remembered I had never taken the time to read it myself and resolved to do so. I often have time to read now that I spend about 2 to 3 hours each day on the Boston subway and bus system to and from work.
The book was different than what I had expected, but it really was a good book. The plot revolves around an man from a group of planets and peoples known as the Ekumen who is sent to a planet called Gethen where the inhabitants are neither male nor female. His mission is to get them to join the Ekumen to share knowledge, goods, and information. We follow his failures and accomplishments in this mission, and his befriending of the people of the planet, and how he relates to idea of their not being male or female.
The book explores a world where none of the problems or comparisons that we see show up between male and female has ever occurred. Everyone is equal, and able to participate in work, play, politics and life without being hung up on male or female roles. They have their own issues and political powers of course, but they are derived of different natures. It may be of interest to note that on Gethen, there is no word for war, and there has never been a war. There have been fights, skirmishes, assassinations, and murder, but never on a large scale. This may in part be to Gethen being a planet covered in an ice age.
It was a really interesting read, and I don't do it justice in my few words about it. It's been around since 1969, so it's been reviewed and pondered over and over by smarter people that delve a lot more in to its message or meaning. One thing that I had a hard time with is that even though the people have no gender, the pronouns he and him are used extensively to refer to the people. The reason is that 'it' is dehumanizing and 'he' is less identifying than 'she' is, historically. The Gethenians themselves have pronouns that cannot be translated, but using made up pronouns was thought to be laborious for the reader.
I first heard about this book from a magazine on an airplane. No, not SkyMall. I forget which airline it was, maybe American, or United, but it had an article in their monthly magazine about good Science Fiction novels. I've probably read many more fantasy books than I have Sci-fi, but I've read a few and I really enjoy Star Trek, so the draw for this type of fiction is still there. This book was listed in that article, and it looked interesting, mentioning a genderless people and political overtones. I took the article out of the magazine to help me remember to get the book at the next opportunity. I think that was a year or so ago, maybe more.
More recently, my wife and I watched The Jane Austen Book Club. The movie itself was really good, but more relevantly, one of the characters, Grigg, was a Sci-fi fan and and a sub plot involved him trying to get a women to read The Left Hand of Darkness. Of course, I suddenly remembered I had never taken the time to read it myself and resolved to do so. I often have time to read now that I spend about 2 to 3 hours each day on the Boston subway and bus system to and from work.
The book was different than what I had expected, but it really was a good book. The plot revolves around an man from a group of planets and peoples known as the Ekumen who is sent to a planet called Gethen where the inhabitants are neither male nor female. His mission is to get them to join the Ekumen to share knowledge, goods, and information. We follow his failures and accomplishments in this mission, and his befriending of the people of the planet, and how he relates to idea of their not being male or female.
The book explores a world where none of the problems or comparisons that we see show up between male and female has ever occurred. Everyone is equal, and able to participate in work, play, politics and life without being hung up on male or female roles. They have their own issues and political powers of course, but they are derived of different natures. It may be of interest to note that on Gethen, there is no word for war, and there has never been a war. There have been fights, skirmishes, assassinations, and murder, but never on a large scale. This may in part be to Gethen being a planet covered in an ice age.
It was a really interesting read, and I don't do it justice in my few words about it. It's been around since 1969, so it's been reviewed and pondered over and over by smarter people that delve a lot more in to its message or meaning. One thing that I had a hard time with is that even though the people have no gender, the pronouns he and him are used extensively to refer to the people. The reason is that 'it' is dehumanizing and 'he' is less identifying than 'she' is, historically. The Gethenians themselves have pronouns that cannot be translated, but using made up pronouns was thought to be laborious for the reader.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Fantasy Books
I finished my last audit package last week, and all that really means is that the bulk of my busy time is done. I still have questions to respond to and items to clear up, but the deadlines are past and the clean up work is a bit less stressful. I mentioned before having some other things I wanted to do with the blog and having more time to write. I really like to write, but I know for a fact I'm not that great of a writer. It's really just for my own fun.
Growing up, I read a lot of fantasy books, and some science fiction too. I remember when I lived on a farm in Oregon, my Uncle Mike handed me a book, Dragon's Gold, by Piers Anthony and Robert Margroff, which may or may not have been the first fantasy book I read, but it's the first I remember. And it was definitely one of the first novels I read. I think I had tried to read Lord of the Rings and got mired in the middle and stopped. Anyway, after that I read a lot of Piers Anthony, the Xanth Series, and the Blue Adept series. I also read a lot from David Eddings, who at the time I really liked. I think I must have been 11 or 12 when I started. Thinking about it makes me want to pick them up and read them again.
The reason I mention all of those is because I think that early introduction to the fantasy genre is why I still love it. I enjoy fantasy books still more than others, and I love fantasy games, such as World of Warcraft, which is what I primarily play now. Those who don't play it might not realize it, but there's quite a hefty back story to World of Warcraft that has developed and evolved through the course of the original computer games (Warcraft I through III). There are wars, heroes, villains, magic, kingdoms in conflict, and as the game progresses, so does the story. So I've taken to writing stories about my character that I play in the game, usually from the first person perspective. It seemed like a natural thing to put in a blog, so I started another blog where I'll put the stories I come up with. I'll link it from here in the near future.
Growing up, I read a lot of fantasy books, and some science fiction too. I remember when I lived on a farm in Oregon, my Uncle Mike handed me a book, Dragon's Gold, by Piers Anthony and Robert Margroff, which may or may not have been the first fantasy book I read, but it's the first I remember. And it was definitely one of the first novels I read. I think I had tried to read Lord of the Rings and got mired in the middle and stopped. Anyway, after that I read a lot of Piers Anthony, the Xanth Series, and the Blue Adept series. I also read a lot from David Eddings, who at the time I really liked. I think I must have been 11 or 12 when I started. Thinking about it makes me want to pick them up and read them again.
The reason I mention all of those is because I think that early introduction to the fantasy genre is why I still love it. I enjoy fantasy books still more than others, and I love fantasy games, such as World of Warcraft, which is what I primarily play now. Those who don't play it might not realize it, but there's quite a hefty back story to World of Warcraft that has developed and evolved through the course of the original computer games (Warcraft I through III). There are wars, heroes, villains, magic, kingdoms in conflict, and as the game progresses, so does the story. So I've taken to writing stories about my character that I play in the game, usually from the first person perspective. It seemed like a natural thing to put in a blog, so I started another blog where I'll put the stories I come up with. I'll link it from here in the near future.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Almost done.
I've nearly reached the end of my busy time here at work, and hopefully with that, the chance to write more. I have a few ideas rattling around in my head that I'd like to try. They involve adding a couple topic specific blogs to this site so that it doesn't become a mess of different subjects. I'll say more about it when I'm really finished, but for now there is still much work to be done.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Still Working
When I start my day at work, I usually browse news stories and my daily web comics and things before I get started. It kind of warms me up to sitting in front of a computer all day. Over the weekends I tend to forget about stuff I would normally check on during the regular week and then catch up with them on Monday. The purpose of me saying this, is that my blog sort of falls into this category. It doesn't ever occur to me that I should write something over the weekend.
As it is though, I'm so busy with audit packages that I don't really have that much time to write. And since no one is really reading this thing but me, and maybe my sister and my wife, I don't feel like I'm letting too many people down if I space out the posts every few days. Once I get my work under control and start going home at a decent hour (last Friday I got home at 10:30, blech) I plan to write on a nearly daily basis about whatever comes to mind. And then maybe I'll let a few more people know about it.
As it is though, I'm so busy with audit packages that I don't really have that much time to write. And since no one is really reading this thing but me, and maybe my sister and my wife, I don't feel like I'm letting too many people down if I space out the posts every few days. Once I get my work under control and start going home at a decent hour (last Friday I got home at 10:30, blech) I plan to write on a nearly daily basis about whatever comes to mind. And then maybe I'll let a few more people know about it.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Audit Season
Audit season usually runs from around December to February, but depending on the property and potential complications, it can run longer. It's not unheard of to have an audit still incomplete by the time June and July come around. I'm not actually doing the audit. It's more along the lines of preparing the financials to be audited. Then an outside CPA firm takes that work and verifies that it's accurate. Having audited financials basically means that our accounts were validated by a third party and thus are trustworthy.
I'm in the thick of it now. I'm past deadlines on a couple of work paper packages and getting caught up is like wading through chest high mud, but there is hope. It is because I'm inundated with work right now that I write about it, so I'm sure I'll have more interesting things to talk about in the future.
Speaking of interesting things, I went to a Boston Celtics game last night at the TD Banknorth Garden. They were playing the Portland Trailblazers who I used to watch when I was younger, and actually followed basketball. I remember Clyde "The Glide" Drexler, Kevin Duckworth (who I share a birthday with), and Danny Ainge, who apparently is an executive director for the Celtics now. Now, looking at the roster for the Blazers, nearly all of them are between the ages of 19 and 28, with only two of them being born before 1980. And I don't recognize any of the names. Not that I would. I haven't followed basketball for years, and when I did it was only the Blazers. I've gone to two Celtics games this season with some good friends and had a blast though, so I could get back into it a little. The least I can do is update my fantasy team on that fantasy basketball thing I signed up for.
I'm in the thick of it now. I'm past deadlines on a couple of work paper packages and getting caught up is like wading through chest high mud, but there is hope. It is because I'm inundated with work right now that I write about it, so I'm sure I'll have more interesting things to talk about in the future.
Speaking of interesting things, I went to a Boston Celtics game last night at the TD Banknorth Garden. They were playing the Portland Trailblazers who I used to watch when I was younger, and actually followed basketball. I remember Clyde "The Glide" Drexler, Kevin Duckworth (who I share a birthday with), and Danny Ainge, who apparently is an executive director for the Celtics now. Now, looking at the roster for the Blazers, nearly all of them are between the ages of 19 and 28, with only two of them being born before 1980. And I don't recognize any of the names. Not that I would. I haven't followed basketball for years, and when I did it was only the Blazers. I've gone to two Celtics games this season with some good friends and had a blast though, so I could get back into it a little. The least I can do is update my fantasy team on that fantasy basketball thing I signed up for.
Monday, January 14, 2008
What I do
If long ramblings about my favorite addiction over the course of my life is not to your liking, you may enjoy this shorter, more constructive post.
I have been working for a non-profit housing developer for the last two and half years now. The company finds investors to fund the building of low income housing and works with the housing authorities to manage and maintain those properties. My specific role is a property accountant for a portfolio of those properties. My current portfolio includes a few developments in Pittsburgh and a larger one in the Cincinnati area. I'm technically a financial accountant, so I don't have anything to do with taxes. Anytime I tell people I do accounting, they inevitably ask if April is a busy time for me. It isn't. January is.
My main job is to issue monthly financials on the properties' assets, liabilities, income and expenses, and then to compile it all for an audit at the end of each year. These audits, once finalized, are sent out to the investors to show them just how their investments are doing. Other than that, I also reconcile a ton of bank statements and help the properties pay their bills. So that's the job in a nutshell. I wish I could say I love what I do, but I can't. It's not a bad job and the work is never too bad, with the exception of this month in which my weeks are dotted with deadlines that I can never seem to meet. So it's back to work for me. I just didn't want to neglect the blog completely as it would be silly to start a blog and not write in it.
I have been working for a non-profit housing developer for the last two and half years now. The company finds investors to fund the building of low income housing and works with the housing authorities to manage and maintain those properties. My specific role is a property accountant for a portfolio of those properties. My current portfolio includes a few developments in Pittsburgh and a larger one in the Cincinnati area. I'm technically a financial accountant, so I don't have anything to do with taxes. Anytime I tell people I do accounting, they inevitably ask if April is a busy time for me. It isn't. January is.
My main job is to issue monthly financials on the properties' assets, liabilities, income and expenses, and then to compile it all for an audit at the end of each year. These audits, once finalized, are sent out to the investors to show them just how their investments are doing. Other than that, I also reconcile a ton of bank statements and help the properties pay their bills. So that's the job in a nutshell. I wish I could say I love what I do, but I can't. It's not a bad job and the work is never too bad, with the exception of this month in which my weeks are dotted with deadlines that I can never seem to meet. So it's back to work for me. I just didn't want to neglect the blog completely as it would be silly to start a blog and not write in it.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
On the Topic of Video Games
Let's just lay it out on the table. I love to play video games. I've played them since I was about 5, starting with the mighty Atari 2600 system and graduating to a Nintendo Entertainment System when I was about 6 or 7 (courtesy of my grandparents who had bought if for themselves and felt that it sat unused too much of the time). I was hooked on Mario, Zelda, and a slew of other fun games with not so recognizable heroes. I considered myself a Nintendo person. When the Super NES came out, I saved my allowance until I could buy it. On this system I was introduced to the Final Fantasy Series, and RPG type games, with Final Fantasy II. Along with the Super Nintendo Zelda, it quickly became one of my favorite games. I played a lot growing up. Probably more than my parents should have allowed. I would rent games on the weekends and play them for hours, usually only stopping for meals and when I went to bed. When I would usually be sleeping in on a weekend, I would find I had the uncanny ability to wake up really early without an alarm because I anticipated being able to play a game in the morning. I proudly returned many rented games which I had completed within the 3 day rental period.
Final Fantasy III came out on the Super Nintendo and blew me away. It's still one of my all time favorite games and probably my favorite of the series. I played it to death, even after I beat it, just to find all of the little secrets and max out my character stats. Soon came the N64 and once again I saved my earnings and bought it myself. Top priorities were Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda, and Starfox 64. Sadly, it was announced that the Final Fantasy games were moving to the PlayStation. So what did I do? That's right. I saved and bought myself a PlayStation, almost solely so I could continue playing Final Fantasy. When I got Final Fantasy 7, I played it for about 30 hours in the first week, which was a regular school week. My mom was sort of taken aback and said to me that's nearly a full time job. When I went to college, I didn't have a TV, so I left my game systems at home. But I did take a brand new laptop which I had bought for school.
A friend of mine had introduced me to StarCraft in the last year or so of High School. I played it on our home computer quite a bit, but didn't do too much of the online gaming with it. In college, I was among a lot of fellow gamers my freshman year. I played Half-Life and we often played Counter-Strike on the dorm LAN. My RA also introduced me to Everquest which had come out earlier that year. RPG games really appealed to me, and this one seemed like the ultimate RPG, but I didn't have the time or money for it then. Half way through the year, I bought a small TV and brought my systems down to college with me. We played a lot of Final Fantasy VIII, Mario Kart 64, and Mario Party 2.
Next year, I switched schools, took my systems with me and a little game called Goldeneye 64, arguably one of the best N64 games, and the only first person shooter I've ever had any proficiency at. I got into a competition with a guy across the hall. He was really good. So good, he had mapped out where you re-spawn after a death and he could just continuously kill you. By the end of the year, I had managed to catch up to him though and was able to match him pretty evenly. I was pretty proud of that. After that year, I was going through some tough times, and while home for the Summer I finally picked up Everquest. It pretty much took over my life. I was working as a stock boy for a retail store, so I worked 12 AM to 8:30 AM. My schedule, for pretty much 3 months straight, was go to work, come home and go to bed, get up around 4 PM and play Everquest until it was time to go to work. Insane. When I got back to school, I sort of saw what a waste my summer had been and gave up the game completely, destroying the CD and game box so as not to tempt myself.
But I wasn't giving up gaming completely. Final Fantasy X and the Playstation 2 were on the horizon, and I spent hard earned money on both. Oddly enough, while long identifying myself with Nintendo, I had no inclination to get a Gamecube. As college came to a close, I actually sold off a lot of my gaming stuff to purchase an XBOX and play the Star Wars RPG, Knights of the Old Republic and a few other games. But a year or so down the road I got married, and video games took a back seat for awhile. The XBOX pretty much became a DVD player, and all the other systems got put in the closet. I had sold my PS2 and all my games to get the XBOX, so I didn't even have that when Final Fantasy XII was released. My desire to play the game was so great that I re-purchased a PS2 on eBay and got back into it. I bought a couple other games, Okami is worth mentioning, and every now and then I got a chance to play. Around December, 2006 I picked up the Sims 2 and even got my wife to play, and she didn't really play a lot of games at the time. She's still hooked. I got her the expansions this Christmas.
Around April of 2007 I decided to try out World of Warcraft. I had put off trying another online Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) ever since the Everquest fiasco that had sucked away that one Summer, but I had heard good things about WoW, one of which was that you didn't have to devote nearly as much time to it in order to enjoy it like some other MMORPGs. I was instantly hooked and am still playing it today. I could easily play it all day (and that's pretty much what I did one week when my wife was visiting family) but responsibilities and other hobbies keep me from losing myself to it like I did with Everquest. And similar to my elementary school days, I wake up early to play before I have to leave for work, though admittedly I have to use an alarm and I don't always get up. I plan to use this blog for a bit of writing on Warcraft, so look for that in the future if you're interested.
It doesn't end there though. Just recently we got a Nintendo Wii, we've already had a lot of fun with it. We played Wii Sports Bowling with practically everyone on my wife's side of the family during Christmas and had a blast. Then I got The Legend of Zelda for the Wii which I'm excited about because I haven't played a new Zelda game in so long.
So there you have it. I play video games. As far as I can remember, I always have. I like to think I keep it in moderation, but I do tend to obsess about them. When I'm not playing them, I might be thinking about them, looking stuff up about them on the Internet, or planning for when I get to play again. I have to watch out for that because then I don't get anything else done. It's my favorite form of entertainment, so be prepared to read posts about games if you read this blog.
Final Fantasy III came out on the Super Nintendo and blew me away. It's still one of my all time favorite games and probably my favorite of the series. I played it to death, even after I beat it, just to find all of the little secrets and max out my character stats. Soon came the N64 and once again I saved my earnings and bought it myself. Top priorities were Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda, and Starfox 64. Sadly, it was announced that the Final Fantasy games were moving to the PlayStation. So what did I do? That's right. I saved and bought myself a PlayStation, almost solely so I could continue playing Final Fantasy. When I got Final Fantasy 7, I played it for about 30 hours in the first week, which was a regular school week. My mom was sort of taken aback and said to me that's nearly a full time job. When I went to college, I didn't have a TV, so I left my game systems at home. But I did take a brand new laptop which I had bought for school.
A friend of mine had introduced me to StarCraft in the last year or so of High School. I played it on our home computer quite a bit, but didn't do too much of the online gaming with it. In college, I was among a lot of fellow gamers my freshman year. I played Half-Life and we often played Counter-Strike on the dorm LAN. My RA also introduced me to Everquest which had come out earlier that year. RPG games really appealed to me, and this one seemed like the ultimate RPG, but I didn't have the time or money for it then. Half way through the year, I bought a small TV and brought my systems down to college with me. We played a lot of Final Fantasy VIII, Mario Kart 64, and Mario Party 2.
Next year, I switched schools, took my systems with me and a little game called Goldeneye 64, arguably one of the best N64 games, and the only first person shooter I've ever had any proficiency at. I got into a competition with a guy across the hall. He was really good. So good, he had mapped out where you re-spawn after a death and he could just continuously kill you. By the end of the year, I had managed to catch up to him though and was able to match him pretty evenly. I was pretty proud of that. After that year, I was going through some tough times, and while home for the Summer I finally picked up Everquest. It pretty much took over my life. I was working as a stock boy for a retail store, so I worked 12 AM to 8:30 AM. My schedule, for pretty much 3 months straight, was go to work, come home and go to bed, get up around 4 PM and play Everquest until it was time to go to work. Insane. When I got back to school, I sort of saw what a waste my summer had been and gave up the game completely, destroying the CD and game box so as not to tempt myself.
But I wasn't giving up gaming completely. Final Fantasy X and the Playstation 2 were on the horizon, and I spent hard earned money on both. Oddly enough, while long identifying myself with Nintendo, I had no inclination to get a Gamecube. As college came to a close, I actually sold off a lot of my gaming stuff to purchase an XBOX and play the Star Wars RPG, Knights of the Old Republic and a few other games. But a year or so down the road I got married, and video games took a back seat for awhile. The XBOX pretty much became a DVD player, and all the other systems got put in the closet. I had sold my PS2 and all my games to get the XBOX, so I didn't even have that when Final Fantasy XII was released. My desire to play the game was so great that I re-purchased a PS2 on eBay and got back into it. I bought a couple other games, Okami is worth mentioning, and every now and then I got a chance to play. Around December, 2006 I picked up the Sims 2 and even got my wife to play, and she didn't really play a lot of games at the time. She's still hooked. I got her the expansions this Christmas.
Around April of 2007 I decided to try out World of Warcraft. I had put off trying another online Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) ever since the Everquest fiasco that had sucked away that one Summer, but I had heard good things about WoW, one of which was that you didn't have to devote nearly as much time to it in order to enjoy it like some other MMORPGs. I was instantly hooked and am still playing it today. I could easily play it all day (and that's pretty much what I did one week when my wife was visiting family) but responsibilities and other hobbies keep me from losing myself to it like I did with Everquest. And similar to my elementary school days, I wake up early to play before I have to leave for work, though admittedly I have to use an alarm and I don't always get up. I plan to use this blog for a bit of writing on Warcraft, so look for that in the future if you're interested.
It doesn't end there though. Just recently we got a Nintendo Wii, we've already had a lot of fun with it. We played Wii Sports Bowling with practically everyone on my wife's side of the family during Christmas and had a blast. Then I got The Legend of Zelda for the Wii which I'm excited about because I haven't played a new Zelda game in so long.
So there you have it. I play video games. As far as I can remember, I always have. I like to think I keep it in moderation, but I do tend to obsess about them. When I'm not playing them, I might be thinking about them, looking stuff up about them on the Internet, or planning for when I get to play again. I have to watch out for that because then I don't get anything else done. It's my favorite form of entertainment, so be prepared to read posts about games if you read this blog.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Age of the Internet
While it was not the first time I had heard of or read some blogs, I did remember when I started reading them more seriously. A friend and old college roommate of mine sent out an update email and had a link to his blog back in 2005. It reconnected us briefly and I started reading his blog on a fairly regular basis. So in a way, I'm hoping that this blog might help me keep in touch with people and maybe give them an insight to my life even though we're separated by hundreds of miles or more. One of the great things about the age of the Internet is the ability to connect with people in a plethora of ways.
Another great thing is the ability to find out just about any fact within a few moments of booting up a web browser. Some time ago, my wife and I were wanting to know more information about something we'd just seen on TV. An actor's name, I think it was. Within seconds we had all the information we wanted and more. She commented to me that before the Internet, you would have had to have something like an encyclopedia collection to come even close to the instant access to information we have now. It really points out how spoiled we've both been growing up. Obviously there were libraries, magazine, books, newspapers, the radio and TV, all of which could provide information, but none of them were necessarily at your fingertips. We've had the Internet since we were in High School and it really does give you instant information on things you may not have bothered to find out before because there was no easy way to find out. My grandfather started using the Internet in his home just this last couple of years, so I asked him, "What did you do when you wanted to know something, growing up, before you had access to the Internet?" His response:
"We just sat around not knowing a lot of things."
Another great thing is the ability to find out just about any fact within a few moments of booting up a web browser. Some time ago, my wife and I were wanting to know more information about something we'd just seen on TV. An actor's name, I think it was. Within seconds we had all the information we wanted and more. She commented to me that before the Internet, you would have had to have something like an encyclopedia collection to come even close to the instant access to information we have now. It really points out how spoiled we've both been growing up. Obviously there were libraries, magazine, books, newspapers, the radio and TV, all of which could provide information, but none of them were necessarily at your fingertips. We've had the Internet since we were in High School and it really does give you instant information on things you may not have bothered to find out before because there was no easy way to find out. My grandfather started using the Internet in his home just this last couple of years, so I asked him, "What did you do when you wanted to know something, growing up, before you had access to the Internet?" His response:
"We just sat around not knowing a lot of things."
And So It Begins
I'm trying to figure out the first time I heard the term "blog" or when I discovered what it meant, and I can't quite put my finger on it. I do know it didn't seem like the type of thing I thought I would find myself doing on down the line, but alas, here it is, in print, on the Internet. My blog.
As of yet, I'm still unsure of what I'm going to do with it. I might use it as a daily journal, or perhaps somewhere to talk about my favorite things, like video games, television, or my tendency to become so distracted by them. I might talk about where I am in my career as an accountant, but I guess I should be careful of saying too much about my employer, or I could be the next big news story about a guy fired for something he posted about his pointy haired boss on his blog.
I guess those are some ideas to get me started, but I'm sure it won't be anything like I thought it would be in a few months, seeing as how I didn't think I would have a blog a year ago. I'm not looking to become the next great blogger, but I am throwing my hat out there. Whether it be lauded or trampled on has yet to be determined.
As of yet, I'm still unsure of what I'm going to do with it. I might use it as a daily journal, or perhaps somewhere to talk about my favorite things, like video games, television, or my tendency to become so distracted by them. I might talk about where I am in my career as an accountant, but I guess I should be careful of saying too much about my employer, or I could be the next big news story about a guy fired for something he posted about his pointy haired boss on his blog.
I guess those are some ideas to get me started, but I'm sure it won't be anything like I thought it would be in a few months, seeing as how I didn't think I would have a blog a year ago. I'm not looking to become the next great blogger, but I am throwing my hat out there. Whether it be lauded or trampled on has yet to be determined.
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