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.
Monday, July 21, 2008
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.
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