Well, my first day at work was actually exciting, with the exception of the painfully long bus rides to and from work, and the fact that I skipped lunch, for various reasons. I'm definitely going to enjoy this job and I just hope that I can keep this job at least until Spring, if not through the rest of my career...or until I manage to apply to a company I want to work at even more.
However, I would like to make a request of everybody who knows exactly what my job is...I would appreciate it if you don't spread the news, or even mention who I work for. If you have to tell people who I work for, please just say that I work customer support, and if they do ask for a specific company (doubtful, but ya never know), just say that you don't know, or (if you'd prefer not to completely lie) say that I work for Volt. Okay?
I've already edited my blog not to specifically mention these details, as well, and I'm about to do it to my Facebook's imported notes.
I went and signed a non-disclosure agreement on this, and it is okay to tell my family and friends as long as the info doesn't spread out and become public knowledge. As far as you know, I'm a secret agent for the FBI.
That is all.
7/30/2007
7/29/2007
Old friend(s)
Tomorrow is when I finally go in for my first day at my new job, assuming my body doesn't betray me and cause me to sleep in. I plan to go to sleep at, say, 9pm just to be positive I can't sleep in too late. I need to be ready to go before 6am, because, I've found that if I leave at 6:30 the bus won't get to the site until 7:56. The bus system irritates me right now.
Seeing as I can't afford to be late, this means I have to leave at 6am, and I'll be getting at the site at 7:17am. I was told they don't open until 7:30, so I hope I can entertain myself for long enough before I go in search of the room I need to be in.
Better to be cautious than sorry, I suppose. I doubt I can get to the room in 4 minutes, let alone find it since I haven't been to the site before. I'd rather be looked at weirdly for being there 45 minutes ahead of time than be fired for not even showing up to my training on time. Though maybe being early earns me theoretical merit points in the mind of my employers, so it can't be a complete loss.
Anyways, job shit aside, I somehow managed to get convinced to be fed by Amber, a friend of mine from back in high school from Academic Decathlon, who was looking for an excuse to cook apparently. I don't even remember how the conversation turned in that direction. I remember it started with her poking me over IM, and eventually she's offering to cook food for me. I think I may have mentioned that I was eating ramen in mid-conversation, but I'm not sure.
She'd thought to invite Matt, but apparently he couldn't come. So Amber and I hung out a bit, talking about things...old friends, new friends, what's happening in our lives...We ended up eating some hamburgers by the way. Much better than ramen, I must say. Then we spent several hours channel-surfing the cable TV and looking through some webcomics together. No wait. We looked through the webcomics before food. I showed her pics of Kitiy and some other nifty things on my laptop.
All I really have to say after that fact is that it's nice to meet up with old friends just for the hell of it. And now back to your regularly-scheduled blogging.
It's sad that I already miss playing WoW, when I only had a 10-day trial. It just goes to show that Blizzard really knows how to make a game perfectly addictive to the point of physical need (seriously). I've tried logging into my old Flyff account to merely pass the time, and it just doesn't fill the void. I was going to dabble in Rappelz, since I already have it installed and have never used it, but I got waylaid by Kitiy's demands before I could even start. Ah well. I think once I get started on this new job, and thus get some income, I'll set up a WoW account. Joy.
I recently felt the urge to check up on my old favorite MMO, City of Heroes, which my laptop doesn't want to even run. It's been a couple months, so I figured maybe some update somewhere would now allow me to play. Sadly, I was wrong. I went and posted a new thread in their forums asking for help on this, as I did months earlier, and I'm pretty much seeing that it will get me nowhere, but I may as well play along to see what happens. At the very least, it can be an outlet of frustration.
I went to laptopvideo2go and tried installing their latest drivers with the modified INFs. I tried several of them before I realized I won't be getting anywhere with it.
This frustrates me especially since CoX has been through two major updates (they're now on I10) since I last played. Granted, they were just about to release I9 before I got my new laptop and I had these problems, but that's still two major updates.
So...I guess there isn't really that much to talk about then, after all? Me with my random blurbing on about MMOs and stuff going on in my life.
Well...hmm, it seems Kitiy has a fever at the moment, so she's feeling unfortunately miserable. It's times like these that I wish I could be up there with here to help her through this...even if the best I could do is chicken soup. But, for now, we'll both have to deal with our lives as best as we can.
Well, yeah, not anything else for me to talk about. I'll fill you guys in on how tomorrow goes, at least, and hopefully the next couple of weeks will go smoothly for me. Wish me luck and all, because I probably need it with my poor sleeping habits.
Seeing as I can't afford to be late, this means I have to leave at 6am, and I'll be getting at the site at 7:17am. I was told they don't open until 7:30, so I hope I can entertain myself for long enough before I go in search of the room I need to be in.
Better to be cautious than sorry, I suppose. I doubt I can get to the room in 4 minutes, let alone find it since I haven't been to the site before. I'd rather be looked at weirdly for being there 45 minutes ahead of time than be fired for not even showing up to my training on time. Though maybe being early earns me theoretical merit points in the mind of my employers, so it can't be a complete loss.
Anyways, job shit aside, I somehow managed to get convinced to be fed by Amber, a friend of mine from back in high school from Academic Decathlon, who was looking for an excuse to cook apparently. I don't even remember how the conversation turned in that direction. I remember it started with her poking me over IM, and eventually she's offering to cook food for me. I think I may have mentioned that I was eating ramen in mid-conversation, but I'm not sure.
She'd thought to invite Matt, but apparently he couldn't come. So Amber and I hung out a bit, talking about things...old friends, new friends, what's happening in our lives...We ended up eating some hamburgers by the way. Much better than ramen, I must say. Then we spent several hours channel-surfing the cable TV and looking through some webcomics together. No wait. We looked through the webcomics before food. I showed her pics of Kitiy and some other nifty things on my laptop.
All I really have to say after that fact is that it's nice to meet up with old friends just for the hell of it. And now back to your regularly-scheduled blogging.
It's sad that I already miss playing WoW, when I only had a 10-day trial. It just goes to show that Blizzard really knows how to make a game perfectly addictive to the point of physical need (seriously). I've tried logging into my old Flyff account to merely pass the time, and it just doesn't fill the void. I was going to dabble in Rappelz, since I already have it installed and have never used it, but I got waylaid by Kitiy's demands before I could even start. Ah well. I think once I get started on this new job, and thus get some income, I'll set up a WoW account. Joy.
I recently felt the urge to check up on my old favorite MMO, City of Heroes, which my laptop doesn't want to even run. It's been a couple months, so I figured maybe some update somewhere would now allow me to play. Sadly, I was wrong. I went and posted a new thread in their forums asking for help on this, as I did months earlier, and I'm pretty much seeing that it will get me nowhere, but I may as well play along to see what happens. At the very least, it can be an outlet of frustration.
I went to laptopvideo2go and tried installing their latest drivers with the modified INFs. I tried several of them before I realized I won't be getting anywhere with it.
This frustrates me especially since CoX has been through two major updates (they're now on I10) since I last played. Granted, they were just about to release I9 before I got my new laptop and I had these problems, but that's still two major updates.
So...I guess there isn't really that much to talk about then, after all? Me with my random blurbing on about MMOs and stuff going on in my life.
Well...hmm, it seems Kitiy has a fever at the moment, so she's feeling unfortunately miserable. It's times like these that I wish I could be up there with here to help her through this...even if the best I could do is chicken soup. But, for now, we'll both have to deal with our lives as best as we can.
Well, yeah, not anything else for me to talk about. I'll fill you guys in on how tomorrow goes, at least, and hopefully the next couple of weeks will go smoothly for me. Wish me luck and all, because I probably need it with my poor sleeping habits.
7/27/2007
Moo. There, are you happy now?
Well, starting next Monday, I'm going to be going in for training as a customer support rep it seems. Oh joy. Well, it is good news. I'll finally have a job again, and I desperately need one. This just happens to be the perfect one for me. I'll be working for a gaming company, right here in Austin, and the pay isn't half bad. Yeah, sure, it's a grunt level position and I still get paid hourly, but I'm okay with that. I consider that a win in my book. And all I need to do is get a personal mode of transportation, and I won't even be able to complain about how far it is. That won't be hard, actually...I just need to take the initiative to finally take my driving test. Aren't I slacker, eh?
Now the trick is to pay rent on the first, since I probably won't get any paycheck until August 6th. At least, so I hope...the sooner I get money the better, and surely they can't expect to not pay me during their two week training period. If there was ever a time for eBay to pull through for me, now would be it. At least, if I have to, I can beg my parents for a small $200-300 loan, which I could easily payback in a paycheck or two. Of course, nobody wants to do that. And I certainly don't need another stab to my ego or my pride, which are both at record lows.
Anyways, my 10-day trial period for WoW expired yesterday. Yes, I did take a whack at playing World of Warcraft. I figured I should at least do the trial to see if it's really all it's cracked up to be. I can safely say I got myself addicted on the first day and that I want to keep playing. I have friends, (you know who you are *peers*), who have told me that WoW sucks. You know, I only managed to get a character to level 15 during my trial period, so I haven't fully experienced the game, but I don't see how anyone can say that it sucks. It is a very fun MMO to play; not only are the mechanics simple enough to not confuse people , but they're also complex enough to make for very rich and diverse playing styles, and the storyline underneath the mechanics is definitely deep enough that die-hard fans can delve into very deeply (hell, people wrote fanfictions on the original RTS of Warcraft, so uh...I'd say the story is pretty deep).
They even have RolePlay servers if you're into that sort of thing, which greatly shocked me. Of course, I don't think anybody who plays WoW is into that. I mean, I wasn't even level 10 before I heard somebody ask another guy "So what's so great about the RP servers?" I just wanted to bang my head on the desk. At least the option is there, and you get enough material to easily roleplay your character effectively, if you can just find other people intelligent enough to follow through.
Of course...I haven't played any MMO since I stopped playing Runescape back in middle school...so I've been a bit out of the loop I guess. I almost started playing Lineage 2, because it does look great. I've at least looked through MMOs, and I even researched through a bunch intending to start playing precisely one (which, to me, means I have to take my time and choose the one that would best suit my playing style). I never actually went through with getting into any of them, though, partially because I realized I should worry more about money and grades, and partially because I've got one person who demands lots of my attention very convincingly.
Well, I was originally going to play around with an Undead Mage, then I somehow managed to go for Tauren Druid. I don't completely remember why...I think it had something to do with convincing Kitiy to join me in the 10-day trial period, and we thought it would be fun? I'm not sure I recall the details exactly.
But, yes, I have a Tauren Druid named Moonspirit, who I got to level 15...and now I am merely waiting for the free subscription from my employers to continue playing.
I have to say, once I get financially secure in all the things that matter, I intend to dabble into the other MMOs at least a little, to compare and contrast and try to see why some people hate WoW and say that other games are better.
For now, I've had a lot of fun with the Druid class. I honestly didn't research the classes much more than a simple glance at what they can do (well, some were certainly obvious, but you know what I mean), but I've found the Druid to be fun simply because of how versatile it can be. While the Shaman seems to be the true "hybrid" class (wowwiki said this, not me!), and there are other classes that can fulfill more than one role depending on how the player specializes that character, the Druid seems to be a unique hybrid in that he can change roles fairly easily.
I originally wanted to play a spellcaster class, and so that's why I considered Undead Mage. But then I dabbled with my race a bit and came up with the Tauren Druid. Druids can focus on being an offensive spellcaster (like a Mage) if they want, as they do have a branch of skills devoted to that sort of thing. A Druid can also focus on being a defensive healer/buffer (like a Priest) in his party, and has the best healing-over-time spells (again, according to wowwiki). Both kinds of Druids, if they specialize in one or other of those spell-casting paths, can achieve a very special shape-shifting form to enhance those particular abilities. ('Moonkin' for offensive and 'Tree of Life' for defensive)
However, the Druid, as he/she levels up, changes in gameplay, just a little. At level 10 they get the Bear shape-shifting form, which basically turns the Druid into a melee tank (aka Warrior) with an entirely separate set of skills. At level 20, the Druid can acquire a Cat shape-shifting form, which basically turns the Druid into a melee damage specialist (aka Rogue), with yet another entirely separate set of skills.
Now, those of you who play WoW probably already knew that, and those of you who don't play WoW probably don't actually care about that. But, to me, the way the Druid works is very interesting, and very unique when it comes to an RPG class. Party needs a damage dealer, but no Mages or Rogues are available? No problem, I've got spells or I could be a cat! Need a tank? I can be a bear! Need somebody to heal you, but all the Priests are taken? I can do that too!
I can basically fill any role I need to in a party, and can change roles fairly quickly if I have quick reflexes. That...that just impresses me. The only downside I've seen so far is how Druids really need to specialize into one of their roles to be properly effective within that role (and this may cause problems when people are looking for party members, as you can never tell exactly what a Druid is good at), but the Druid can still perform the other roles on a mediocre level if the party needs something in particular.
Oh, by the way, I think I've managed to work my way around the jury duty. It seems if I mail in a particular piece of the summons with my signature on it, I can claim disqualification from the summons as not being a resident of Bexar county, and don't need to show up in person to get it notarized. Seeing as my only method of sending mail is the post office a short bus hop away, I'm hoping that it applies to me, as the jury duty would interrupt my job training, which wouldn't look too wonderful in the eyes of my employers.
I also apparently have 60 days from the day I was supposed to show up, so there's no hurry either.
Anyways...I think you're sick of hearing about me, my new job, and World of Warcraft, so I'll go off to eat some ramen so you can get back to your own much more interesting lives.
Now the trick is to pay rent on the first, since I probably won't get any paycheck until August 6th. At least, so I hope...the sooner I get money the better, and surely they can't expect to not pay me during their two week training period. If there was ever a time for eBay to pull through for me, now would be it. At least, if I have to, I can beg my parents for a small $200-300 loan, which I could easily payback in a paycheck or two. Of course, nobody wants to do that. And I certainly don't need another stab to my ego or my pride, which are both at record lows.
Anyways, my 10-day trial period for WoW expired yesterday. Yes, I did take a whack at playing World of Warcraft. I figured I should at least do the trial to see if it's really all it's cracked up to be. I can safely say I got myself addicted on the first day and that I want to keep playing. I have friends, (you know who you are *peers*), who have told me that WoW sucks. You know, I only managed to get a character to level 15 during my trial period, so I haven't fully experienced the game, but I don't see how anyone can say that it sucks. It is a very fun MMO to play; not only are the mechanics simple enough to not confuse people , but they're also complex enough to make for very rich and diverse playing styles, and the storyline underneath the mechanics is definitely deep enough that die-hard fans can delve into very deeply (hell, people wrote fanfictions on the original RTS of Warcraft, so uh...I'd say the story is pretty deep).
They even have RolePlay servers if you're into that sort of thing, which greatly shocked me. Of course, I don't think anybody who plays WoW is into that. I mean, I wasn't even level 10 before I heard somebody ask another guy "So what's so great about the RP servers?" I just wanted to bang my head on the desk. At least the option is there, and you get enough material to easily roleplay your character effectively, if you can just find other people intelligent enough to follow through.
Of course...I haven't played any MMO since I stopped playing Runescape back in middle school...so I've been a bit out of the loop I guess. I almost started playing Lineage 2, because it does look great. I've at least looked through MMOs, and I even researched through a bunch intending to start playing precisely one (which, to me, means I have to take my time and choose the one that would best suit my playing style). I never actually went through with getting into any of them, though, partially because I realized I should worry more about money and grades, and partially because I've got one person who demands lots of my attention very convincingly.
Well, I was originally going to play around with an Undead Mage, then I somehow managed to go for Tauren Druid. I don't completely remember why...I think it had something to do with convincing Kitiy to join me in the 10-day trial period, and we thought it would be fun? I'm not sure I recall the details exactly.
But, yes, I have a Tauren Druid named Moonspirit, who I got to level 15...and now I am merely waiting for the free subscription from my employers to continue playing.
I have to say, once I get financially secure in all the things that matter, I intend to dabble into the other MMOs at least a little, to compare and contrast and try to see why some people hate WoW and say that other games are better.
For now, I've had a lot of fun with the Druid class. I honestly didn't research the classes much more than a simple glance at what they can do (well, some were certainly obvious, but you know what I mean), but I've found the Druid to be fun simply because of how versatile it can be. While the Shaman seems to be the true "hybrid" class (wowwiki said this, not me!), and there are other classes that can fulfill more than one role depending on how the player specializes that character, the Druid seems to be a unique hybrid in that he can change roles fairly easily.
I originally wanted to play a spellcaster class, and so that's why I considered Undead Mage. But then I dabbled with my race a bit and came up with the Tauren Druid. Druids can focus on being an offensive spellcaster (like a Mage) if they want, as they do have a branch of skills devoted to that sort of thing. A Druid can also focus on being a defensive healer/buffer (like a Priest) in his party, and has the best healing-over-time spells (again, according to wowwiki). Both kinds of Druids, if they specialize in one or other of those spell-casting paths, can achieve a very special shape-shifting form to enhance those particular abilities. ('Moonkin' for offensive and 'Tree of Life' for defensive)
However, the Druid, as he/she levels up, changes in gameplay, just a little. At level 10 they get the Bear shape-shifting form, which basically turns the Druid into a melee tank (aka Warrior) with an entirely separate set of skills. At level 20, the Druid can acquire a Cat shape-shifting form, which basically turns the Druid into a melee damage specialist (aka Rogue), with yet another entirely separate set of skills.
Now, those of you who play WoW probably already knew that, and those of you who don't play WoW probably don't actually care about that. But, to me, the way the Druid works is very interesting, and very unique when it comes to an RPG class. Party needs a damage dealer, but no Mages or Rogues are available? No problem, I've got spells or I could be a cat! Need a tank? I can be a bear! Need somebody to heal you, but all the Priests are taken? I can do that too!
I can basically fill any role I need to in a party, and can change roles fairly quickly if I have quick reflexes. That...that just impresses me. The only downside I've seen so far is how Druids really need to specialize into one of their roles to be properly effective within that role (and this may cause problems when people are looking for party members, as you can never tell exactly what a Druid is good at), but the Druid can still perform the other roles on a mediocre level if the party needs something in particular.
Oh, by the way, I think I've managed to work my way around the jury duty. It seems if I mail in a particular piece of the summons with my signature on it, I can claim disqualification from the summons as not being a resident of Bexar county, and don't need to show up in person to get it notarized. Seeing as my only method of sending mail is the post office a short bus hop away, I'm hoping that it applies to me, as the jury duty would interrupt my job training, which wouldn't look too wonderful in the eyes of my employers.
I also apparently have 60 days from the day I was supposed to show up, so there's no hurry either.
Anyways...I think you're sick of hearing about me, my new job, and World of Warcraft, so I'll go off to eat some ramen so you can get back to your own much more interesting lives.
7/17/2007
And so the monkey threw a wrench...
GOD FUCKING DAMMIT! This is really the worst possible timing. Can you believe I've been summoned to jury duty on August 2nd?
Ugh! I'm just...god, I'm pissed, and that's hard to do.
Let me put this into perspective. I've applied for this customer support job, you all know. I've gone to the interview, and I think I have a good chance. What I've been told is that the "starting date" will be the 30th, if I get hired. So, I'm sure you already see the problem.
To top things off, I currently don't have the money to pay for rent on the 1st. I've got some things I've been meaning to sell on eBay, so it shouldn't be an issue, but after that I need a damn job to get by. And that monkey up there chose a good wrench to throw at me, too.
This might cause problems with my potential employer, and I'm hoping to hell that it doesn't. Because I seriously need this job. This is like...the turning point for my downward slope. If I can do this one thing, I can turn my life back around and stop being such a fuck-up. It really is that important.
But now, to make things that much more problematic for me, I have to go down to San Antonio on August 2nd. That's only two days after I'll start. VERY bad timing. So let's say it's not a problem, and I can still get the job, and everything will still work out nicely in that respect.
It really really doesn't look good to any employer to have things happen this way. One job requirement is 100% flexibility. Which, sad to say, is not good for when I start up college classes again, but that's not an issue right now.
I'm willing to bet that, even if they will still hire me, they can't help but frown that this happens. My first week on the job, I already have a day where I can't work? Wow.
To top it all off, this isn't going to be pleasant for my parents either. This means they'll have to drive up on work night...then the next day give me a ride to and from this thing (if it's even possible, and I bet it's not!), and then drive me back that night to be up here for work! Forget the stress that's gotta cause them and me, think about the gas money and the lost sleep! >.< style="font-style: italic;">plastic and buried him in the backyard under some rocks. Am I the only one who sees how fucked up that is?
I went up there only a week or two after he'd died, and both Kitiy and I tried to convince her mother to cremate the beloved feline, but she either was being stubborn or is just too messed up in the head to see how important this is to her daughter.
I even offered to pay all $145 for it! It's that cheap to do! She'd just need to drive her daughter and the remains to the cremation service, and there! Mostly happy daughter, grave-free backyard, and things are better. You even get to keep his ashes, too. How could you hesitate to do that?
Kitiy still has...episodes, I guess you would call them, where she just completely loses the will to live. She hasn't ever tried to do anything drastic, and I'm hoping that she never will...but it still hurts to see and hear her like that. To make things worse, I feel like I can't do anything to help. I can barely even be a shoulder to cry on, since I'm only over IM as things are. It just makes me feel so useless as a boyfriend.
I still wonder...if it's possibly to still cremate Tramp. I don't see why not...it'd just be a matter of getting his partially-decayed remains to the cremation people, right? And money I guess...but that's not too big of a deal. We can find a way to deal with that easy.
Well...I guess I'll let you go back to your own problems now. I'm sure you've got enough to worry about without worrying 'bout me and my love.
Please excuse the language in this one, but...I'm REALLY not in a good mood right now.
Ugh! I'm just...god, I'm pissed, and that's hard to do.
Let me put this into perspective. I've applied for this customer support job, you all know. I've gone to the interview, and I think I have a good chance. What I've been told is that the "starting date" will be the 30th, if I get hired. So, I'm sure you already see the problem.
To top things off, I currently don't have the money to pay for rent on the 1st. I've got some things I've been meaning to sell on eBay, so it shouldn't be an issue, but after that I need a damn job to get by. And that monkey up there chose a good wrench to throw at me, too.
This might cause problems with my potential employer, and I'm hoping to hell that it doesn't. Because I seriously need this job. This is like...the turning point for my downward slope. If I can do this one thing, I can turn my life back around and stop being such a fuck-up. It really is that important.
But now, to make things that much more problematic for me, I have to go down to San Antonio on August 2nd. That's only two days after I'll start. VERY bad timing. So let's say it's not a problem, and I can still get the job, and everything will still work out nicely in that respect.
It really really doesn't look good to any employer to have things happen this way. One job requirement is 100% flexibility. Which, sad to say, is not good for when I start up college classes again, but that's not an issue right now.
I'm willing to bet that, even if they will still hire me, they can't help but frown that this happens. My first week on the job, I already have a day where I can't work? Wow.
To top it all off, this isn't going to be pleasant for my parents either. This means they'll have to drive up on work night...then the next day give me a ride to and from this thing (if it's even possible, and I bet it's not!), and then drive me back that night to be up here for work! Forget the stress that's gotta cause them and me, think about the gas money and the lost sleep! >.< style="font-style: italic;">plastic and buried him in the backyard under some rocks. Am I the only one who sees how fucked up that is?
I went up there only a week or two after he'd died, and both Kitiy and I tried to convince her mother to cremate the beloved feline, but she either was being stubborn or is just too messed up in the head to see how important this is to her daughter.
I even offered to pay all $145 for it! It's that cheap to do! She'd just need to drive her daughter and the remains to the cremation service, and there! Mostly happy daughter, grave-free backyard, and things are better. You even get to keep his ashes, too. How could you hesitate to do that?
Kitiy still has...episodes, I guess you would call them, where she just completely loses the will to live. She hasn't ever tried to do anything drastic, and I'm hoping that she never will...but it still hurts to see and hear her like that. To make things worse, I feel like I can't do anything to help. I can barely even be a shoulder to cry on, since I'm only over IM as things are. It just makes me feel so useless as a boyfriend.
I still wonder...if it's possibly to still cremate Tramp. I don't see why not...it'd just be a matter of getting his partially-decayed remains to the cremation people, right? And money I guess...but that's not too big of a deal. We can find a way to deal with that easy.
Well...I guess I'll let you go back to your own problems now. I'm sure you've got enough to worry about without worrying 'bout me and my love.
Please excuse the language in this one, but...I'm REALLY not in a good mood right now.
Out Of Character
Okay...now, I'm really only just now considering playing WoW, but I've played WarCraft 3 a bit, and I got pretty into it. Now, if you know anything about me, as a gamer, you should know that I live for rich, in-depth stories. I place it as a priority above the gameplay. It's like a book that you watch and where you control the characters to some degree. I live for it.
So, on that note, there is one big big thing about WoW (with the expansion they've released for it that is) that really ticks me off. Why are the Blood Elves with the Horde?!
Yeah, yeah, I know, from a gameplay perspective: who gives a shit? After all, the Horde has been wanting a "pretty" race for all the elf-lovers, and Blizzard needed to make sure there were equal numbers of races, naturally, for each side. But, I want to say...there are so many better choices that they could have made.
Just bear with me...it's merely a rant, and it's not like anything is gonna change anyways.
Let me share some facts with you, which you may or may not know.
If Blizzard were to stick to the story books, the Blood Elves would be Alliance...it feels to me they just kinda picked a random race/faction and decided "These will fight for the Horde!" in order to give the Horde another race since they gave the Alliance the Draeni.
The Nathrezim would've made more sense, in my honest opinion. While they sided with the Legion, the Legion has, for now, been driven off. There were probably several Dread Lords left behind who now are stuck there. Possibly. At the very least, they could have been left behind to once again attempt at preparing for an invasion of the Legion by continuing to plant the seeds of war and chaos, by fighting against the Alliance.
Or what about Satyrs? Satyrs make plenty of sense, because they are sworn enemies of the Night Elves. That's all the reason they need to be added as members of the Horde, I think.
Yeah...I'm probably an idiot for ranting about a game I haven't played yet, but hey...this has irked me ever since I first heard about it.
So, on that note, there is one big big thing about WoW (with the expansion they've released for it that is) that really ticks me off. Why are the Blood Elves with the Horde?!
Yeah, yeah, I know, from a gameplay perspective: who gives a shit? After all, the Horde has been wanting a "pretty" race for all the elf-lovers, and Blizzard needed to make sure there were equal numbers of races, naturally, for each side. But, I want to say...there are so many better choices that they could have made.
Just bear with me...it's merely a rant, and it's not like anything is gonna change anyways.
Let me share some facts with you, which you may or may not know.
- Blood Elves hate hate hate the Undead. Why? The Undead caused them to lose their home and their beloved magical Sunwell. Yeah...you're right, these Undead are actually Forsaken and not associated with the Lich King anymore. But are the Blood Elves going to care? These are still the Undead, spreading the curse of Undeath across the lands. The Blood Elves are people with short tempers.
- The Blood Elves once helped the Draeni, back on Outland! Yeah...it was mostly a coincidental "Oh, you're fighting these demon-controlled orcs, too?" But they did technically make an alliance with Illidan, who now leads the Blood Elves on their quest for magic.
- The Blood Elves were once noble High Elves. Guess what? High Elves hate hate hate the Trolls, and also the Orcs I do believe. Elves, and Humans, and all those goody races warred against Trolls a lot. WarCraft also used to be all about the Humans-Elves-Dwarves siding against Orcs back in the older versions...no other race or faction. While the Blood Elves aren't High Elves, they once were and should share the same hatred.
- Also note that the Draeni hate Orcs, and if the Blood Elves aren't traitorous bastards and actually keep up with their alliances, then they should fight against Orcs as Draeni allies.
If Blizzard were to stick to the story books, the Blood Elves would be Alliance...it feels to me they just kinda picked a random race/faction and decided "These will fight for the Horde!" in order to give the Horde another race since they gave the Alliance the Draeni.
The Nathrezim would've made more sense, in my honest opinion. While they sided with the Legion, the Legion has, for now, been driven off. There were probably several Dread Lords left behind who now are stuck there. Possibly. At the very least, they could have been left behind to once again attempt at preparing for an invasion of the Legion by continuing to plant the seeds of war and chaos, by fighting against the Alliance.
Or what about Satyrs? Satyrs make plenty of sense, because they are sworn enemies of the Night Elves. That's all the reason they need to be added as members of the Horde, I think.
Yeah...I'm probably an idiot for ranting about a game I haven't played yet, but hey...this has irked me ever since I first heard about it.
7/16/2007
Extended to All College Students
I agree whole-heartedly with the following comic page, but I also wish to extend it to all college students, especially CS students.
CLICK
CLICK
7/15/2007
Helping Foreign Countries
You know, I just had a sudden thought. Which is odd, I know. I rarely think at all, let alone about politics and foreign affairs. I was talking with Kitiy about stuff, and things we want to do with our lives. Somewhere along the lines she said "12 kids and 6 African kids." I'm not sure just how serious she was being, but somehow my brain caught onto the "adopting 6 African kids" part and started ranting through my mouth (well...okay, hands in this case, but hey, it's the Internet). You know, that program thing where you "adopt" a starving kid by sending them $2 a month to help feed them and you get notices about how they're doing?
But bear with me. America right now is still dealing with all this Iraq stuff, when we really only recently got done with Afghanistan just before it all, where we've set up their whole democratic government for them, trained their troops, helped get their economy going, and basically set up their entire civilization using a formula that (so far) has worked well for us.
So...why can't we do that for the starving African people? You've seen those commercials, right? You've seen those documentaries, and read articles, and probably even donated money to countless funds by now. There's even a special program for adopting those starving children, to help them get better lives.
Why can't we do for them what we did for Iraq, just without the bombs and killing? I think we've got our priorities all fucked up. We're so busy making enemies and dealing with potential threats that we can't stop to help the people that are actually asking for it.
It would cost us a lot of money, and require a lot of manpower, but our government, Bush in particular, didn't seem to mind all that when we were dealing with the Taliban and Saddam, did he? Let's just go down to Africa and start with the small things. Start out by building up farms and houses and a water supply and medical supplies and so on. Start with the basics, and move up from there, and make sure, every step of the way, that those people are involved and satisfied.
It wouldn't be easy, that's for sure, but whoever said it was about doing things the easy way? Sure, at least Iraq already had cities and modern technology (to a degree). These people need the more basic necessities: food, water, medicine, homes, a whole freaking civilization. But we can't expect things to improve by tossing food, which only was acquired because people pity these hungry Africans, and by adopting their homeless kids and such....Let's do it the right way and build up their lives instead of hoping their problems will go away.
Again...it wouldn't be easy....and I sure as hell don't want to start this kind of movement, because I wouldn't know the first thing about getting things done. But hey...we're not looking for easy, and easiest isn't always the best either. At the very least, I think this idea is much better than Bush's idea of a War on Terror at least. Don't you think? What would you rather spend taxes for? War? Or helping another civilization get on it's feet?
Of course, I'm probably wrong, aren't I? Maybe they're doing all this and I just need to do my research?
I still think the government should focus on this and not war, though.
But bear with me. America right now is still dealing with all this Iraq stuff, when we really only recently got done with Afghanistan just before it all, where we've set up their whole democratic government for them, trained their troops, helped get their economy going, and basically set up their entire civilization using a formula that (so far) has worked well for us.
So...why can't we do that for the starving African people? You've seen those commercials, right? You've seen those documentaries, and read articles, and probably even donated money to countless funds by now. There's even a special program for adopting those starving children, to help them get better lives.
Why can't we do for them what we did for Iraq, just without the bombs and killing? I think we've got our priorities all fucked up. We're so busy making enemies and dealing with potential threats that we can't stop to help the people that are actually asking for it.
It would cost us a lot of money, and require a lot of manpower, but our government, Bush in particular, didn't seem to mind all that when we were dealing with the Taliban and Saddam, did he? Let's just go down to Africa and start with the small things. Start out by building up farms and houses and a water supply and medical supplies and so on. Start with the basics, and move up from there, and make sure, every step of the way, that those people are involved and satisfied.
It wouldn't be easy, that's for sure, but whoever said it was about doing things the easy way? Sure, at least Iraq already had cities and modern technology (to a degree). These people need the more basic necessities: food, water, medicine, homes, a whole freaking civilization. But we can't expect things to improve by tossing food, which only was acquired because people pity these hungry Africans, and by adopting their homeless kids and such....Let's do it the right way and build up their lives instead of hoping their problems will go away.
Again...it wouldn't be easy....and I sure as hell don't want to start this kind of movement, because I wouldn't know the first thing about getting things done. But hey...we're not looking for easy, and easiest isn't always the best either. At the very least, I think this idea is much better than Bush's idea of a War on Terror at least. Don't you think? What would you rather spend taxes for? War? Or helping another civilization get on it's feet?
Of course, I'm probably wrong, aren't I? Maybe they're doing all this and I just need to do my research?
I still think the government should focus on this and not war, though.
Feelings on E3
Okay....while I am happy at some of the new things coming out, this rather nicely sums up my feelings on E3.
That is all.
That is all.
7/07/2007
Wai halo! Didun see ya thar!
Excuse my horrible abuse of the English language in the title, but I guess I just love that phrase due to various webcomics I'm addicted to. Anyways, it's been forever since I last blogged, eh? A month today, actually. Jeez.
And, ye know, it's sad to say much has really happened in the past month. It makes a person feel pathetic to realize that, but then again, that's what happens when you got no job, no school...no real responsibilities beyond the lazy "Oh, here's my rent" sorta thing.
So, anyways, I think I've basically thrown out the idea of movin' up to Oklahoma temporarily. I mean, sure, I'd so love to just go live close enough to Kitiy to date her in person, but then, we're both reclusive people anyways. Of course, then I'd have to deal with transporting myself and stuff, and uh...Tulsa's bus system sucks ass.
So, I've spent the last month technically just bumming around my apartment. I did stop back in San Antonio to live with my folks for a week, for various things I dun even remember I guess, but mostly because my parents don't want to drive to Austin on a work night and I fell asleep mega-early on Sunday. But, eh, it was nice to chill in a real house again and to see the pets and such and to get to play the Wii again (though my brother needs to get some real games dammit..he also doesn't have a Wii Classic Controller. Course...they have a sucky macro GC controller still...ewww...least I played me some Ocarina of Time while I was there). Jake also went off to Germany while I was there. Actually, he should be getting back by this week or next. I wonder how his trip went. *shrugs*
Well, though I would like to say I went out to apply for at least one job every day, I really didn't. I didn't even try. I'd tell myself that I need to, but never actually do it. To tell ya the truth, I guess I'd already given up and decided to head back home to live with my family again. *sigh*
Not that I was looking forward to it or anything. Sure, they have a Wii and a real house and I wouldn't have to pay for food or rent, but that's not enough compensation for having to put up with them.
So...let's see...basically I've been playing my various PS2 games, the ones I haven't beat, and touching at some of my PC games. It seems I've lost interest in DotA ever since the clan basically died. Well...not so much lost interest, but that I've not been playing it lately and had a hard time getting back into it. Maybe I won't ever, who knows? I still haven't been able to play CoH, either, since Windows Vista officially sucks ass in my book. GalCiv 2....I just can't get into cause of the constant crashes. C&C3...I'm not really in the mood for RTS lately. Diablo 2 is too old to enjoy. Defcon is too predictable. And Supreme Commander...I just outright suck at.
Am I losing interest in gaming? It's probably something deeper than that somewhere. Probably related to why I fucked up my last three semesters so bad.
On a related note, I've started playing Flyff. It's a neat RO-reminiscent MMORPG, in full 3D, and you get to Fly For Fun (Flyff is sorta an abbreviation). I managed to get Kitiy hooked onto it, which is not something easy to do when it comes to things involving lots of people.
Well...not so much hooked on it in the way a gamer would normally get hooked on a game, but she plays it with me. I'm usually playing it with her, actually, rather than alone or with random people. It's really been a lot of fun, because we've kinda been lacking a way to do fun stuff together, that we both enjoy. I think there may be other MMOs that would be more fun for her, though, so I should try looking.
Actually, it seems to me like Flyff doesn't actually have much in the way of community. I mean, yeah, there's a friends list thing, there's guilds, you form parties. There's forums and fan-made forums. But I don't think I've really seen networks of close-knit friends. It seems like everybody's out to be able to gloat about how their character is godly and wants to be able to solo the whole game. It seems like everybody just cares about getting their level the best of the best of the best. While that's understandable...can't they do that without just focusing on grinding constantly? Flyff is a beautiful enough world that you can relax when you play it and just enjoy talking to people after all. I really really really want to find a graphical MMO that is roleplay-enforced. Or...at least encouraged. ORPGs are really much more fun that way, seriously. Just try it.
Also, the people behind the game don't seem to care much for fixing bugs but releasing new features that aren't smart. Like their PK system which is coming out next version. I'd prefer not to horrify you with the details, but it's bad enough that almost everybody complains about it and is trying to get them to change it back to what the current version is.
Anyways, in very recent news, I recently applied for a customer support job. I'm doing it through this company called Volt, though, because that's where the job posting was. So Monday I need to go see some Volt people.
Basically, it'll be a 90-day contract where I'm paid $9 per hour to deal with customer questions, to deal with technical issues and other questions and concerns. If they like me after that they'll hire me full-time. Even better, the place is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. So, basically, though I've gotta work 40 hours a week, I can work it around my schedule (when I actually manage to be busy with something anyways). Though I may sometimes gotta work on holidays. Maybe. I wonder if they draw straws for that?
The only problem with the job is that, if I land it, it's an hour-long bus ride from where I currently live. Imagine if I move down to Riverside after August? It's over where 290 meets 183. So yeah, a bit out of my way. But hey, other than that, the job is perfect for me. After all, I might work my way up from the grunt position to something...not so grunt-like? Now if I just had my own car to drive it wouldn't be so bad.
Of course, it's only going to get worse if I move to Riverside to room with Keith and Brett. It'd be cool to room with buds, though, instead of people I just know. Will's all right, but...you know. Keith and Brett and I hang out with each other because we can have fun hanging out doing just about anything, especially if you add Scott to the group. If I room with people I get along very well with, I think it may be better for me than if I went to room with a random person for less hassle with work. Emotionally speaking. Ya know, good for the morale and all.
Actually, going through the bus schedule I'd have to take for, say, clocking in at 10am, it would take a full two hours to get there from Riverside. I don't think I can find a bigger reason to say "ow" that doesn't involve physical injury or damage to my laptop. But I seriously doubt I could find a place to stay near that area anyways... =\
Of course...if I had work right after classes...there's an hour-long ride still. It would just mean two hours to get home, and a necessity of not missing the last Crossing Place bus.
Oh, wait, there is an apartment complex RIGHT next to that location, and several more in the area. It's very likely the pricing won't be agreeable enough to go for it, though. Also, from reviews I've found online, that's a bad neighborhood to live in, so I'll stick with Riverside and my peers.
All in all, the distance is the only problem I have with the job, and it's only because I don't have my own car. If I (finally) get my license, my parents still have the Intrepid back home...sure, that means then I have to pay for gas and insurance, but hey...that would be about a 20 minute drive to work (from Riverside...yay for country roads?). Of course...then it's kinda like...I stay up here because I could make more money...only I have to spend more money to stay up here. Meh. This particular company would look MUCH better on my resume than saying I worked for Walgreen's, wouldn't you say? That much at least would be worth the hassle of long bus rides.
Well, first I gotta get the job. Naturally. Things will smooth themselves out. The universe supposedly works like that...right?
And, ye know, it's sad to say much has really happened in the past month. It makes a person feel pathetic to realize that, but then again, that's what happens when you got no job, no school...no real responsibilities beyond the lazy "Oh, here's my rent" sorta thing.
So, anyways, I think I've basically thrown out the idea of movin' up to Oklahoma temporarily. I mean, sure, I'd so love to just go live close enough to Kitiy to date her in person, but then, we're both reclusive people anyways. Of course, then I'd have to deal with transporting myself and stuff, and uh...Tulsa's bus system sucks ass.
So, I've spent the last month technically just bumming around my apartment. I did stop back in San Antonio to live with my folks for a week, for various things I dun even remember I guess, but mostly because my parents don't want to drive to Austin on a work night and I fell asleep mega-early on Sunday. But, eh, it was nice to chill in a real house again and to see the pets and such and to get to play the Wii again (though my brother needs to get some real games dammit..he also doesn't have a Wii Classic Controller. Course...they have a sucky macro GC controller still...ewww...least I played me some Ocarina of Time while I was there). Jake also went off to Germany while I was there. Actually, he should be getting back by this week or next. I wonder how his trip went. *shrugs*
Well, though I would like to say I went out to apply for at least one job every day, I really didn't. I didn't even try. I'd tell myself that I need to, but never actually do it. To tell ya the truth, I guess I'd already given up and decided to head back home to live with my family again. *sigh*
Not that I was looking forward to it or anything. Sure, they have a Wii and a real house and I wouldn't have to pay for food or rent, but that's not enough compensation for having to put up with them.
So...let's see...basically I've been playing my various PS2 games, the ones I haven't beat, and touching at some of my PC games. It seems I've lost interest in DotA ever since the clan basically died. Well...not so much lost interest, but that I've not been playing it lately and had a hard time getting back into it. Maybe I won't ever, who knows? I still haven't been able to play CoH, either, since Windows Vista officially sucks ass in my book. GalCiv 2....I just can't get into cause of the constant crashes. C&C3...I'm not really in the mood for RTS lately. Diablo 2 is too old to enjoy. Defcon is too predictable. And Supreme Commander...I just outright suck at.
Am I losing interest in gaming? It's probably something deeper than that somewhere. Probably related to why I fucked up my last three semesters so bad.
On a related note, I've started playing Flyff. It's a neat RO-reminiscent MMORPG, in full 3D, and you get to Fly For Fun (Flyff is sorta an abbreviation). I managed to get Kitiy hooked onto it, which is not something easy to do when it comes to things involving lots of people.
Well...not so much hooked on it in the way a gamer would normally get hooked on a game, but she plays it with me. I'm usually playing it with her, actually, rather than alone or with random people. It's really been a lot of fun, because we've kinda been lacking a way to do fun stuff together, that we both enjoy. I think there may be other MMOs that would be more fun for her, though, so I should try looking.
Actually, it seems to me like Flyff doesn't actually have much in the way of community. I mean, yeah, there's a friends list thing, there's guilds, you form parties. There's forums and fan-made forums. But I don't think I've really seen networks of close-knit friends. It seems like everybody's out to be able to gloat about how their character is godly and wants to be able to solo the whole game. It seems like everybody just cares about getting their level the best of the best of the best. While that's understandable...can't they do that without just focusing on grinding constantly? Flyff is a beautiful enough world that you can relax when you play it and just enjoy talking to people after all. I really really really want to find a graphical MMO that is roleplay-enforced. Or...at least encouraged. ORPGs are really much more fun that way, seriously. Just try it.
Also, the people behind the game don't seem to care much for fixing bugs but releasing new features that aren't smart. Like their PK system which is coming out next version. I'd prefer not to horrify you with the details, but it's bad enough that almost everybody complains about it and is trying to get them to change it back to what the current version is.
Anyways, in very recent news, I recently applied for a customer support job. I'm doing it through this company called Volt, though, because that's where the job posting was. So Monday I need to go see some Volt people.
Basically, it'll be a 90-day contract where I'm paid $9 per hour to deal with customer questions, to deal with technical issues and other questions and concerns. If they like me after that they'll hire me full-time. Even better, the place is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. So, basically, though I've gotta work 40 hours a week, I can work it around my schedule (when I actually manage to be busy with something anyways). Though I may sometimes gotta work on holidays. Maybe. I wonder if they draw straws for that?
The only problem with the job is that, if I land it, it's an hour-long bus ride from where I currently live. Imagine if I move down to Riverside after August? It's over where 290 meets 183. So yeah, a bit out of my way. But hey, other than that, the job is perfect for me. After all, I might work my way up from the grunt position to something...not so grunt-like? Now if I just had my own car to drive it wouldn't be so bad.
Of course, it's only going to get worse if I move to Riverside to room with Keith and Brett. It'd be cool to room with buds, though, instead of people I just know. Will's all right, but...you know. Keith and Brett and I hang out with each other because we can have fun hanging out doing just about anything, especially if you add Scott to the group. If I room with people I get along very well with, I think it may be better for me than if I went to room with a random person for less hassle with work. Emotionally speaking. Ya know, good for the morale and all.
Actually, going through the bus schedule I'd have to take for, say, clocking in at 10am, it would take a full two hours to get there from Riverside. I don't think I can find a bigger reason to say "ow" that doesn't involve physical injury or damage to my laptop. But I seriously doubt I could find a place to stay near that area anyways... =\
Of course...if I had work right after classes...there's an hour-long ride still. It would just mean two hours to get home, and a necessity of not missing the last Crossing Place bus.
Oh, wait, there is an apartment complex RIGHT next to that location, and several more in the area. It's very likely the pricing won't be agreeable enough to go for it, though. Also, from reviews I've found online, that's a bad neighborhood to live in, so I'll stick with Riverside and my peers.
All in all, the distance is the only problem I have with the job, and it's only because I don't have my own car. If I (finally) get my license, my parents still have the Intrepid back home...sure, that means then I have to pay for gas and insurance, but hey...that would be about a 20 minute drive to work (from Riverside...yay for country roads?). Of course...then it's kinda like...I stay up here because I could make more money...only I have to spend more money to stay up here. Meh. This particular company would look MUCH better on my resume than saying I worked for Walgreen's, wouldn't you say? That much at least would be worth the hassle of long bus rides.
Well, first I gotta get the job. Naturally. Things will smooth themselves out. The universe supposedly works like that...right?
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