Ok, not done one of these for quite a while so here goes :
Thirteen things about people ...
1. Some people you love, some you adore, some you trust, some you hate.
2. We're lucky to have the communication abilities that let us find friends.
3. Friends pick you up when you're down and share in your successes.
4. People can do horrible things, I'm so glad that the terror plot of today did not end up in deaths. World 1 : Terrorists 0. Sure there's been inconvenience but there's been no martyrs. And that's a sure sign that sanity has won.
5. People make you laugh or make you cry. Sometimes both, depending on the joke.
6. Friends let you talk things through. And we often need that.
7. A person can be very smart but crowds can be incredibly stupid. (Got that from Men In Black)
8. People can surprise you by doing wonderful things for you. Why should that be a surprise ?
9. Things are less fun when you're on your own. Maybe that's why I'm so addicted to an online game ...
10. People are the reason for celebrations. I had 3 donuts today ! (Someone's birthday)
11. People can be very cruel (pictures of the Middle East conflict just came over the telly).
12. People can cheat you, I think the garage where I took my car did stuff they didn't need to, plus there's a bit of money missing from the car. (I'll get my own back by letting the work's forums know)
13. Without a group of friends, there would be no place for love. And no love would mean this world would be a very empty and dull place.
[chuckle] This Thursday 13 partly inspired by the events on Guildlink earlier, where a couple of people have been thrown out because they complained very loudly over how our loot system works. Some unacceptable comments getting thrown around ... We don't need those people but they definitely need us.
However, it's more inspired by me reading Craziequeen's Thursday Thirteen and me thinking that she needs a hug. So if you read this (I know it's not too many from my hit counter), then go to Craziequeen's Blog (link on the right) and give her a BIGHUG! Because she deserves it and always will.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Flags and emblems
They're important, they give people a sense of identity. I always know who I belong to when it comes to the England flag or the Union Flag and I also feel a bit of a lift when I see people running by on WoW videos with the guild tabard on. It's part of the identity we've got for the guild. Here's an example of what it looks like :
Mine's the character in the middle and you can just about make out the gold coins that make up the pattern of the Mercenaries' tabard. That's Iceangel, the frost mage who has recently expanded her repertoire into having a bit of fun with fire. We've had that design for well over a year now and we're getting a bit bored of it. We're needing a bit of inspiration though on what we're going to use, here are a couple of ideas so far :
That's my warrior in something close to her latest thumping things outfit. Maybe it needs a different colour for the symbol there, although one theme we're trying to bring out is "darkness".
One from the guild leader :
Not bad ... There's been a couple more ideas done but I think we're starting to lack inspiration. If you'd like to help out, there's a handy tabard designer ... However, to get the image on a character, you'd need to have World of Warcraft on your PC.
Oh, here's my final effort as a bit of fun that will never happen :
Mine's the character in the middle and you can just about make out the gold coins that make up the pattern of the Mercenaries' tabard. That's Iceangel, the frost mage who has recently expanded her repertoire into having a bit of fun with fire. We've had that design for well over a year now and we're getting a bit bored of it. We're needing a bit of inspiration though on what we're going to use, here are a couple of ideas so far :
That's my warrior in something close to her latest thumping things outfit. Maybe it needs a different colour for the symbol there, although one theme we're trying to bring out is "darkness".
One from the guild leader :
Not bad ... There's been a couple more ideas done but I think we're starting to lack inspiration. If you'd like to help out, there's a handy tabard designer ... However, to get the image on a character, you'd need to have World of Warcraft on your PC.
Oh, here's my final effort as a bit of fun that will never happen :
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Never take things for granted
Last week I had a week off to get a bit of sleep and relaxation in away from work ... I also saw it as a good chance to get an overdue service and MoT in for the car.
Lesson number 1 - get things done in plenty of time.
Phoned the garage on Monday to book it in, earliest possible date was Friday. Fair enough ... I'd be able to get it in on the morning and out and taxed on Friday afternoon.
Lesson number 2 - never take things for granted.
I'd made the fatal mistake of assuming because my Puma is pretty solidly reliable, there wouldn't be much needing to be done outside of the exhaust needing fixing. WRONG ! Here's the list :
70k service (expected)
Wiper blades (not expected - must have been sold rubbish ones 18 months ago)
Alternator belt - split (not expected, no funny red light signs)
Air con service (definitely not expected - was done 30 months ago)
Brakes replacement front (not expected but fair enough)
Exhaust (expected - it's been noisy lately)
Power Steering pump (definitely not expected, although hindsight tells me I should have)
Lesson number 3 - Keep a reserve cash supply handy ...
I was thinking about changing my car pretty soon but I think I'll put that on hold in order to a) Pay off the credit card I used to pay for the repairs ! and b) Pay off a couple of other loans I have. It's not quite that bad but it'll take a couple of months to pay the £1150 repair bill and I want to get some mileage out of it.
Lesson number 4 - Never assume ...
The most expensive my Puma has been before now was about £500 for an earlier service ... It's been far better and still is better than my last car, a Rover 420. That was terrible ... The sheen of the Puma's been dented now but it's still the best option for me at the moment. The bodyshell has the flexibility I need, I don't need the extra seats, it has the performance I like and it has excellent economy.
Lesson number 1 - get things done in plenty of time.
Phoned the garage on Monday to book it in, earliest possible date was Friday. Fair enough ... I'd be able to get it in on the morning and out and taxed on Friday afternoon.
Lesson number 2 - never take things for granted.
I'd made the fatal mistake of assuming because my Puma is pretty solidly reliable, there wouldn't be much needing to be done outside of the exhaust needing fixing. WRONG ! Here's the list :
70k service (expected)
Wiper blades (not expected - must have been sold rubbish ones 18 months ago)
Alternator belt - split (not expected, no funny red light signs)
Air con service (definitely not expected - was done 30 months ago)
Brakes replacement front (not expected but fair enough)
Exhaust (expected - it's been noisy lately)
Power Steering pump (definitely not expected, although hindsight tells me I should have)
Lesson number 3 - Keep a reserve cash supply handy ...
I was thinking about changing my car pretty soon but I think I'll put that on hold in order to a) Pay off the credit card I used to pay for the repairs ! and b) Pay off a couple of other loans I have. It's not quite that bad but it'll take a couple of months to pay the £1150 repair bill and I want to get some mileage out of it.
Lesson number 4 - Never assume ...
The most expensive my Puma has been before now was about £500 for an earlier service ... It's been far better and still is better than my last car, a Rover 420. That was terrible ... The sheen of the Puma's been dented now but it's still the best option for me at the moment. The bodyshell has the flexibility I need, I don't need the extra seats, it has the performance I like and it has excellent economy.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Slacking !
Lol - nearly a month since I last put something in here ... I've been up to a few things,
Been raiding lots
Been playing cricket
Been to see my mum & dad
Been bouncing off things I shouldn't have been bouncing off
Been told that it looks as if I've lost weight
Been told that it looks like I've lost weight by attractive young ladies
Had to mention that last one twice. Hey ! It made me smile for the rest of the day after they said it :-).
Before I go to the Mall to raid shops and see what the girls are wearing, here's a nomination for the "it's not me!" award :
The people behind World of Warcraft (Blizzard) blamed the users last week for lag that's been crippling the servers ... Lag means every few minutes, there will be about 30 seconds where you just can't do anything. Things are still happening around you but you can't see it on your screen and you definitely can't affect it. That's lag. Well, seems like that was the fault of several thousand (million ?) users over about 30 servers ... It didn't have anything to do with the restart of servers Blizzard did on Sunday. Oh no ... The restart that has coincided with the lag all but disappearing !
Hmm. Time to hit the Mall. I doubt whether I'll pick anything up but I'll have fun looking ;-).
Been raiding lots
Been playing cricket
Been to see my mum & dad
Been bouncing off things I shouldn't have been bouncing off
Been told that it looks as if I've lost weight
Been told that it looks like I've lost weight by attractive young ladies
Had to mention that last one twice. Hey ! It made me smile for the rest of the day after they said it :-).
Before I go to the Mall to raid shops and see what the girls are wearing, here's a nomination for the "it's not me!" award :
The people behind World of Warcraft (Blizzard) blamed the users last week for lag that's been crippling the servers ... Lag means every few minutes, there will be about 30 seconds where you just can't do anything. Things are still happening around you but you can't see it on your screen and you definitely can't affect it. That's lag. Well, seems like that was the fault of several thousand (million ?) users over about 30 servers ... It didn't have anything to do with the restart of servers Blizzard did on Sunday. Oh no ... The restart that has coincided with the lag all but disappearing !
Hmm. Time to hit the Mall. I doubt whether I'll pick anything up but I'll have fun looking ;-).
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Uplifting Crowd
Waiting for the England game to start at the moment and couldn't resist commenting on the crowd. One thing that always makes me grin is the sheer noise that an English crowd can put out at anthem time. A few years ago, we had distortion over the radio cos they were so loud and today at the Paraguay game it was :
Big Noise for God Save The Queen
Almost silence for the Paraguay anthem
Our boys like giving the anthem a good singing :-). You could almost see on the faces of the Paraguay players an anticipation of all the crowd support being for England. Now hoping for a good game.
Big Noise for God Save The Queen
Almost silence for the Paraguay anthem
Our boys like giving the anthem a good singing :-). You could almost see on the faces of the Paraguay players an anticipation of all the crowd support being for England. Now hoping for a good game.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Game time
Had my second game of the cricket season tonight. I think I was looking forward to this one a bit more than the last as I had a decent idea of what I'd be able to do. And I was reasonably fit and able, which I wasn't for the last game I was picked for (rained off).
Word of Warning - this isn't a victory dance post ;-).
So how'd it go ? The other guys batted first and proceeded to cane our bowlers all over the place. I think they piled on about 150 in their 20 overs, which is a tough ask. My fielding did its job but was still pretty ragged. I had one run out chance but didn't hit the stumps with my throw. I did however succeed in my Intimidation Plan, which is basically : Be hyperactive in the field and make the batsmen think you're a livewire that you don't want to try running to. I enjoy doing that and when I'm on form, I'm rather good at it. That's the good thing about this season, I have my running speed back to how it used to be. Losing 1 stone over the winter has done me a lot of good.
I technically had a chance for a catch but got nowhere near it - it was one of those over the shoulder catches that I had no business getting anywhere near. And unsurprisingly, I missed it ! Still, I saved runs in the field and think I did ok. I reckon I'm getting my throwing action improved as well. I need to learn a good throwing action to preserve my weak shoulder.
We didn't do so well with the batting, although we did make a good effort. I opened the batting with our captain and my 3 tests went like :
1 - Did I get out first ? Nope !
2 - Did I get lowest score ? Nope ! Other guy got just 1 run, I got 27.
3 - Did I hold up our scoring ? Not so good here, I started well but was having trouble scoring later on.
We lost in the end by about 30-40 runs but we genuinely had a fun game, which is what it's all about. I picked up the bruises though, I'll have a shiner on my shin from practice before the game and probably a bruise on my thigh where I got pinned while batting. More seriously though, I have a bright red line on my right hand middle finger that comes from the seam of the cricket ball impacting my finger through my batting gloves ... I reckon the gloves did their job though, I'm pretty certain I don't have the broken finger I probably deserve.
Now watching The Matrix off DVD :-).
Word of Warning - this isn't a victory dance post ;-).
So how'd it go ? The other guys batted first and proceeded to cane our bowlers all over the place. I think they piled on about 150 in their 20 overs, which is a tough ask. My fielding did its job but was still pretty ragged. I had one run out chance but didn't hit the stumps with my throw. I did however succeed in my Intimidation Plan, which is basically : Be hyperactive in the field and make the batsmen think you're a livewire that you don't want to try running to. I enjoy doing that and when I'm on form, I'm rather good at it. That's the good thing about this season, I have my running speed back to how it used to be. Losing 1 stone over the winter has done me a lot of good.
I technically had a chance for a catch but got nowhere near it - it was one of those over the shoulder catches that I had no business getting anywhere near. And unsurprisingly, I missed it ! Still, I saved runs in the field and think I did ok. I reckon I'm getting my throwing action improved as well. I need to learn a good throwing action to preserve my weak shoulder.
We didn't do so well with the batting, although we did make a good effort. I opened the batting with our captain and my 3 tests went like :
1 - Did I get out first ? Nope !
2 - Did I get lowest score ? Nope ! Other guy got just 1 run, I got 27.
3 - Did I hold up our scoring ? Not so good here, I started well but was having trouble scoring later on.
We lost in the end by about 30-40 runs but we genuinely had a fun game, which is what it's all about. I picked up the bruises though, I'll have a shiner on my shin from practice before the game and probably a bruise on my thigh where I got pinned while batting. More seriously though, I have a bright red line on my right hand middle finger that comes from the seam of the cricket ball impacting my finger through my batting gloves ... I reckon the gloves did their job though, I'm pretty certain I don't have the broken finger I probably deserve.
Now watching The Matrix off DVD :-).
Monday, May 29, 2006
Old telly
Gosh - it's weird watching telly from several months ago. I've caught up on a couple of ER's today. I'm about two or three months behind on those and they are backing up pretty badly on the Sky plus box. Haven't got to Lost yet ;-).
Meme time ! This one is grabbed from CQ's blog ...
1 I am sleepy !
2 I want Mini Eggs to be sold all year round.
3 I wish for a period where I can be injury free.
4 I hate being left out of stuff.
5 I love pizza and interesting Irish girls.
6 I fear injury and the potential to be permanently disabled.
7 I hear News24 repeating the news again. (Alisha's Attic soon before raid)
8 I wonder why people are sometimes really stupid.
9 I regret acting too much out of instinct and emotion but only when that emotion is irritation.
10 I am not superhuman (stolen that line from a book).
11 I dance really, really badly....
12 I sing and then I know I need to replace the milk that just curdled.
13 I cry rarely, the last time was during an exam season.
14 I make people remember me, which scares me.
15 I write to express what I find difficult to say.
16 I confuse everyone as often as possible.
17 I need to feel I belong.
18 I should look after myself better.
19 I start books but have a bad habit of getting bored with them.....
20 I finish ... ermm ... what does the word "finish" mean ?
21 I would tag Craziequeen but she's done this one already!
Meme time ! This one is grabbed from CQ's blog ...
1 I am sleepy !
2 I want Mini Eggs to be sold all year round.
3 I wish for a period where I can be injury free.
4 I hate being left out of stuff.
5 I love pizza and interesting Irish girls.
6 I fear injury and the potential to be permanently disabled.
7 I hear News24 repeating the news again. (Alisha's Attic soon before raid)
8 I wonder why people are sometimes really stupid.
9 I regret acting too much out of instinct and emotion but only when that emotion is irritation.
10 I am not superhuman (stolen that line from a book).
11 I dance really, really badly....
12 I sing and then I know I need to replace the milk that just curdled.
13 I cry rarely, the last time was during an exam season.
14 I make people remember me, which scares me.
15 I write to express what I find difficult to say.
16 I confuse everyone as often as possible.
17 I need to feel I belong.
18 I should look after myself better.
19 I start books but have a bad habit of getting bored with them.....
20 I finish ... ermm ... what does the word "finish" mean ?
21 I would tag Craziequeen but she's done this one already!
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Cricket scoreboard
Hmm. I need to get back into the habit of making Blog entries !
Work's cricket 1 : Summer Weather 6
We've had one game so far but have had 6 rained off so far. Ah well. I changed my MSN suffix to "The sun is taunting me" on Thursday after the latest game got called off ... Dark and dismal up until lunchtime, which is when the game got cancelled. 5 minutes later, bright sunshine !
Also in the new - got a new monitor. The new PC bits made World of Warcraft look gooood ... the new monitor turns good into spectacular. Me happy :-).
Work's cricket 1 : Summer Weather 6
We've had one game so far but have had 6 rained off so far. Ah well. I changed my MSN suffix to "The sun is taunting me" on Thursday after the latest game got called off ... Dark and dismal up until lunchtime, which is when the game got cancelled. 5 minutes later, bright sunshine !
Also in the new - got a new monitor. The new PC bits made World of Warcraft look gooood ... the new monitor turns good into spectacular. Me happy :-).
Monday, May 15, 2006
Mood breaking
Chuckle - After the frustration of Friday's and Saturday's runs, I had a lot more fun today.
In the morning, I had the chance to let my warrior off the leash, this time just seeing how much damage she could do. So out came the pole that had previously only been used for dancing with. The pole hits harder than the weapons usually used, which helps when you're hitting lots of stuff at once.
Then we hit the Ahn'Qiraj instance, where we weren't totally invincible but we did manage to get three tough bosses down. It's a fun place is Ahn'Qiraj. The encounters are all "interesting", instead of just being a slugfest where the ranged people hammer the boss, the tank keeps the boss's attention and the healers keep everyone alive.
Nah - today it was Buru, Rajaxx and K Bug (can't spell the full name). Rajaxx hides behind something like 40 bad guys, so you have to make sure you have the endurance to get through. Buru ignores the tank until he's at about 20% health but then he does nasty things. Instead of following the tank, he picks one person who then gets chased. The person who is "IT" then tried to get Buru over an egg, which is exploded when Buru is over it for lots of damage to Buru. Challenge is to stay alive to get 'im :-).
Anyway, fun times - including the pvp battle I was involved in late. Thought about quitting because it appeared to be stalemate but good tactics broke the allies' hold on the place they were defending and we rolled them up from there.
In the morning, I had the chance to let my warrior off the leash, this time just seeing how much damage she could do. So out came the pole that had previously only been used for dancing with. The pole hits harder than the weapons usually used, which helps when you're hitting lots of stuff at once.
Then we hit the Ahn'Qiraj instance, where we weren't totally invincible but we did manage to get three tough bosses down. It's a fun place is Ahn'Qiraj. The encounters are all "interesting", instead of just being a slugfest where the ranged people hammer the boss, the tank keeps the boss's attention and the healers keep everyone alive.
Nah - today it was Buru, Rajaxx and K Bug (can't spell the full name). Rajaxx hides behind something like 40 bad guys, so you have to make sure you have the endurance to get through. Buru ignores the tank until he's at about 20% health but then he does nasty things. Instead of following the tank, he picks one person who then gets chased. The person who is "IT" then tried to get Buru over an egg, which is exploded when Buru is over it for lots of damage to Buru. Challenge is to stay alive to get 'im :-).
Anyway, fun times - including the pvp battle I was involved in late. Thought about quitting because it appeared to be stalemate but good tactics broke the allies' hold on the place they were defending and we rolled them up from there.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
High and Mighty
Is of course referring to the visit by one of our bosses yesterday. This is the fella in charge of the person in charge of the team I work in at the moment. Seems pretty sharp or well briefed. He was asking all the right questions at least and appeared to understand the answers. Promising ... At least it didn't feel like a jolly little "it's all going horribly wrong and we're going to blame you for it" speech like the old one used to do.
2 frustrating evenings in WoW over the last couple. First up was a visit to the Molten Core last night, which showed exactly why you cannot afford to have passengers in raids. And we had plenty of those last night. It came to the point where even though I did take up mobs like I should have been, I didn't particularly want to because I knew incompetent healing wouldn't keep me upright while I did my job. More often than not, the only healing I got while keeping a mob's attention was from my own efforts.
Very frustrating.
And then tonight, I got saved by a phone call from the parents. We got taken into Black Wing Lair, which is the 40 person instance that's harder than the Molten Core. We went in short of people. Knowingly short of people. What's the point ? We're still learning the instance and we hadn't got the team that would have given us a chance. I think someone is losing the plot and it's causing wasted effort for the people who get dragged along. Anyway, I got saved by the phone call.
Ah well - at least England is doing well in the cricket, Go Monty ! and we got some medals from the karting to show off at work yesterday.
2 frustrating evenings in WoW over the last couple. First up was a visit to the Molten Core last night, which showed exactly why you cannot afford to have passengers in raids. And we had plenty of those last night. It came to the point where even though I did take up mobs like I should have been, I didn't particularly want to because I knew incompetent healing wouldn't keep me upright while I did my job. More often than not, the only healing I got while keeping a mob's attention was from my own efforts.
Very frustrating.
And then tonight, I got saved by a phone call from the parents. We got taken into Black Wing Lair, which is the 40 person instance that's harder than the Molten Core. We went in short of people. Knowingly short of people. What's the point ? We're still learning the instance and we hadn't got the team that would have given us a chance. I think someone is losing the plot and it's causing wasted effort for the people who get dragged along. Anyway, I got saved by the phone call.
Ah well - at least England is doing well in the cricket, Go Monty ! and we got some medals from the karting to show off at work yesterday.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Zoomzoom
Karting tonight (or rather last night)
I'm still winding down from it ... Hopefully I'll be able to get up tomorrow morning ! It was an endurance event tonight, with 16 teams of 6. As you can imagine, with 16 karts zipping around on a track that takes only about 35-36 seconds to do a lap, it was pretty busy ...
I started off for our group in 5th and I don't think I did too bad. I think we were still 5th when my stint was over. I could maybe have gone quicker, perhaps I need to lose some more weight. I did struggle to come to terms with the track though. However, after that partial disappointment, I closed the gap a little to our ringer and regular karter ... My best lap was 35.02 seconds, his was 34.13 seconds. Last time we went karting, he was a full second ahead on a shorter lap ... so I'm catching him up :-).
So I wasn't the fastest ... but I was one of our most consistent, which is what's needed in an endurance event. The race started at about 8.45 and lasted 2 hours 30, so you can imagine the time I got home !
How did we do ? Well, we were the only team from our office at an event organised by our main contractors. They're gonna hate us for weeks. MUAHAHAHA !!!! We won, we got the medals, we took home the champers and we're going to keep those medals in plain sight for all the visitors from the contractor. That's why they're gonna hate us :-).
Consistency won us the night, we had one really fast guy who made up about 6 laps and 5 who were all up with the pace. We didn't make mistakes, drawing I think only 2 penalty flags.
My body's going to hate me tomorrow, especially my upper body. It's not used to driving a heavy handling kart for 25 full minutes. Definitely fun though :-)
Special mention goes to the organisers because the event wasn't just about the karting, we also raised £900 for a children's charity (I'll supply the name when I get it). Hope the girl who got a banged/sprained ankle will be ok, she was cute. But not as cute as the slim dark haired girl or the blonde who was bouncing up and down, drawing attention after showing how much she enjoyed her spell at the wheel. Which is what it's all about, lots of people had fun there tonight, including me !
I'm still winding down from it ... Hopefully I'll be able to get up tomorrow morning ! It was an endurance event tonight, with 16 teams of 6. As you can imagine, with 16 karts zipping around on a track that takes only about 35-36 seconds to do a lap, it was pretty busy ...
I started off for our group in 5th and I don't think I did too bad. I think we were still 5th when my stint was over. I could maybe have gone quicker, perhaps I need to lose some more weight. I did struggle to come to terms with the track though. However, after that partial disappointment, I closed the gap a little to our ringer and regular karter ... My best lap was 35.02 seconds, his was 34.13 seconds. Last time we went karting, he was a full second ahead on a shorter lap ... so I'm catching him up :-).
So I wasn't the fastest ... but I was one of our most consistent, which is what's needed in an endurance event. The race started at about 8.45 and lasted 2 hours 30, so you can imagine the time I got home !
How did we do ? Well, we were the only team from our office at an event organised by our main contractors. They're gonna hate us for weeks. MUAHAHAHA !!!! We won, we got the medals, we took home the champers and we're going to keep those medals in plain sight for all the visitors from the contractor. That's why they're gonna hate us :-).
Consistency won us the night, we had one really fast guy who made up about 6 laps and 5 who were all up with the pace. We didn't make mistakes, drawing I think only 2 penalty flags.
My body's going to hate me tomorrow, especially my upper body. It's not used to driving a heavy handling kart for 25 full minutes. Definitely fun though :-)
Special mention goes to the organisers because the event wasn't just about the karting, we also raised £900 for a children's charity (I'll supply the name when I get it). Hope the girl who got a banged/sprained ankle will be ok, she was cute. But not as cute as the slim dark haired girl or the blonde who was bouncing up and down, drawing attention after showing how much she enjoyed her spell at the wheel. Which is what it's all about, lots of people had fun there tonight, including me !
Monday, May 08, 2006
New cricket season
It's upon us again :-) The season of rain and thunder is upon us and it's far too long since I put my last post on here.
What have I been up to ? Hmm. Can't rightly remember ... The most prominent bits would be :
Cricket season has started, we had our first game last week. I didn't do much apart from field, because our batsmen didn't give me the chance ! The other side couldn't get our boys out until near the end. I turned down the chance to bowl, as I still have an issue with my shoulder, as well as a mental issue around bowling that I have to get around. The fielding was really good though, as losing the stone in weight since last season seems to have resulted in me getting my running speed back. It was a good fun game.
Lol - "I'm the Doctor and I just snogged Madame de Pompedoir" - muahaha. (Guess what I'm watching)
Other stuff, Warcraft is still going well, I had the chance to take my warrior into the Molten Core yesterday. Possibly the most fun I've had in a Molten Core run for quite some time. Definite case of being let off the leash to bite as many things as possible, with no responsibilities, save keeping alive.
Yey ! Time for dinner. I hear the "your dinner is about to burn" bell ...
What have I been up to ? Hmm. Can't rightly remember ... The most prominent bits would be :
Cricket season has started, we had our first game last week. I didn't do much apart from field, because our batsmen didn't give me the chance ! The other side couldn't get our boys out until near the end. I turned down the chance to bowl, as I still have an issue with my shoulder, as well as a mental issue around bowling that I have to get around. The fielding was really good though, as losing the stone in weight since last season seems to have resulted in me getting my running speed back. It was a good fun game.
Lol - "I'm the Doctor and I just snogged Madame de Pompedoir" - muahaha. (Guess what I'm watching)
Other stuff, Warcraft is still going well, I had the chance to take my warrior into the Molten Core yesterday. Possibly the most fun I've had in a Molten Core run for quite some time. Definite case of being let off the leash to bite as many things as possible, with no responsibilities, save keeping alive.
Yey ! Time for dinner. I hear the "your dinner is about to burn" bell ...
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Another long absence ?
Yep, I've been getting out of the habit of updating this blog again :-(. I think I've been seduced by the lure of Godzilla's graphics a little too much. I've been enjoying the computer upgrade a little more than is healthy :-). So what have I been up to ?
Starting from Saturday, this was when I started doing some serious PC installation. I'd figured out what was up with Godzilla and was starting to put the software on that it needs. Which involves having 2 computers side by side talking to each other. That lasted until Sunday, when I took the plunge and switched my main machine over to being Godzilla. Still not quite got everything transferred over yet, I still have all my email archives on Guilmon.
I took the plunge after having a bit of a look at Oblivion (gorgeous looking game) before going back to Guilmon for World of Warcraft on Saturday evening. WoW hit Godzilla on Sunday though and what a difference ... Turning up all the pretty options meant that the fuzzy, drab textures I'd been looking at turned into pixel sharp, ornate and rather decorative outfits. And footsteps ! First time I heard the pitter patter of little troll feet, I was wondering what was going on ... Never knew the running footsteps of the characters was even in the game.
Back to work on Monday. Snore. But that means I get doing stuff that's productive, instead of being lazy playing games all day. Which can't be bad. What am I saying ? More time off work please.
Been out and about around the various raids too ... and I've been watching with interest the various politics that have been building up again around Guildlink. We've gotten too big for our own good there and we're effectively splitting in two, in order to get people raiding with each other consistently. People have been applying to one or the other raiding groups over the latter half of the week. We've had the expected people going to one group or the other but we've also had people showing the bad side of human nature by saying things like "I've been raiding with you guys for months", which is a blatant lie because the DKP page (relates directly to amount of raid time) shows they haven't. And they still expect to get into the experienced team ? I dunno ...
Bah ... politics. I think I've made Sarai mad at me because I've exposed one of her guild people for being one of the more stupid and ignorant members of Guildlink ... Ignorant in terms of not following the rules that we set out and generally being out for himself, which we can't have in a team effort. I didn't actually expose his stupidity, he does that for himself by continually doing stuff like running into the wrong place. I haven't actually named the guy in public, outside of raids, but I think that time will come if he doesn't take the hint and smarten his attitude. But his guild leader, Sarai, knows exactly who I mean.
Thursday - another indoor cricket match. Score was 108 to 75 in favour of us and from the moment we started batting (we batted second), the result was never in doubt. We had decent bowling, whereas the other team struggled there. We never had to push too hard and could just gently accumulate the runs. I got a couple of catches behind the stumps but should really have got a couple more. I like to have perfect games ;-).
Friday, I've come back to my parents' place. Unfortunately (or otherwise), I only got greeted by the one dog as Goldie is now in a place free from the pain he must have been suffering due to the problems with his back end. He'll now be chasing bonios amongst the clouds, with a happy willing slave to throw them around for him. Ben's a bit down ... he's a little quieter than usual and more in need of human company than he was before. He'll be ok though. He's quieter but still a happy little puppy. He misses his big bro though. Don't we all ;-).
Saturday ... I have less hair this evening than I had this morning. My dad's gone for broadband, so we played a little on that last night. Today, it came to converting to a wireless network. ARRRGGGG ! I remember why I distrust wireless and like wires. It seems to be behaving now but it took a huge amount of tweaking to get the modem to talk to the internet and for the computer to talk to the modem through the air. Seems more reliable now though. I'll know when I hit the Publish button whether it's stayed on air. Drawn a blank on the laptop though, it's Windows 98 only and needs to be Win98se. Spectacular blue screens on bootup greeted attempts to get it talking to the wireless kit. Ouch ! So we'll fix that over the next few weeks.
Sleep time now, hopefully Sarai will realise she needs to get angry at her guild person instead of me and actually start to value my opinions on stuff ... (I've been feeling very ignored again of late, although I have managed to get her nattering once or twice).
Starting from Saturday, this was when I started doing some serious PC installation. I'd figured out what was up with Godzilla and was starting to put the software on that it needs. Which involves having 2 computers side by side talking to each other. That lasted until Sunday, when I took the plunge and switched my main machine over to being Godzilla. Still not quite got everything transferred over yet, I still have all my email archives on Guilmon.
I took the plunge after having a bit of a look at Oblivion (gorgeous looking game) before going back to Guilmon for World of Warcraft on Saturday evening. WoW hit Godzilla on Sunday though and what a difference ... Turning up all the pretty options meant that the fuzzy, drab textures I'd been looking at turned into pixel sharp, ornate and rather decorative outfits. And footsteps ! First time I heard the pitter patter of little troll feet, I was wondering what was going on ... Never knew the running footsteps of the characters was even in the game.
Back to work on Monday. Snore. But that means I get doing stuff that's productive, instead of being lazy playing games all day. Which can't be bad. What am I saying ? More time off work please.
Been out and about around the various raids too ... and I've been watching with interest the various politics that have been building up again around Guildlink. We've gotten too big for our own good there and we're effectively splitting in two, in order to get people raiding with each other consistently. People have been applying to one or the other raiding groups over the latter half of the week. We've had the expected people going to one group or the other but we've also had people showing the bad side of human nature by saying things like "I've been raiding with you guys for months", which is a blatant lie because the DKP page (relates directly to amount of raid time) shows they haven't. And they still expect to get into the experienced team ? I dunno ...
Bah ... politics. I think I've made Sarai mad at me because I've exposed one of her guild people for being one of the more stupid and ignorant members of Guildlink ... Ignorant in terms of not following the rules that we set out and generally being out for himself, which we can't have in a team effort. I didn't actually expose his stupidity, he does that for himself by continually doing stuff like running into the wrong place. I haven't actually named the guy in public, outside of raids, but I think that time will come if he doesn't take the hint and smarten his attitude. But his guild leader, Sarai, knows exactly who I mean.
Thursday - another indoor cricket match. Score was 108 to 75 in favour of us and from the moment we started batting (we batted second), the result was never in doubt. We had decent bowling, whereas the other team struggled there. We never had to push too hard and could just gently accumulate the runs. I got a couple of catches behind the stumps but should really have got a couple more. I like to have perfect games ;-).
Friday, I've come back to my parents' place. Unfortunately (or otherwise), I only got greeted by the one dog as Goldie is now in a place free from the pain he must have been suffering due to the problems with his back end. He'll now be chasing bonios amongst the clouds, with a happy willing slave to throw them around for him. Ben's a bit down ... he's a little quieter than usual and more in need of human company than he was before. He'll be ok though. He's quieter but still a happy little puppy. He misses his big bro though. Don't we all ;-).
Saturday ... I have less hair this evening than I had this morning. My dad's gone for broadband, so we played a little on that last night. Today, it came to converting to a wireless network. ARRRGGGG ! I remember why I distrust wireless and like wires. It seems to be behaving now but it took a huge amount of tweaking to get the modem to talk to the internet and for the computer to talk to the modem through the air. Seems more reliable now though. I'll know when I hit the Publish button whether it's stayed on air. Drawn a blank on the laptop though, it's Windows 98 only and needs to be Win98se. Spectacular blue screens on bootup greeted attempts to get it talking to the wireless kit. Ouch ! So we'll fix that over the next few weeks.
Sleep time now, hopefully Sarai will realise she needs to get angry at her guild person instead of me and actually start to value my opinions on stuff ... (I've been feeling very ignored again of late, although I have managed to get her nattering once or twice).
Friday, April 21, 2006
Return of the Sleepy One !
Yep. Been quiet for a bit ... I could have posted but I think my holiday from work broke up my blogging habit. Mind you, that breaking of the blogging habit could have been due to me visiting the parents for the weekend.
Had some things to think about last weekend. Among other things, I think I will have seen Goldie for the last time. He's been having more and more of a struggle to get around and even more of a struggle to summon up a tail wag. He still looked happy to see me when I opened the front door (at least when he managed to come say hello) but I could see the pain behind his eyes. I think mum and dad have already made the decision to let the poor old dog go gently. Ben will be devastated and I'm a bit choked up at the moment typing this.
Goldie's been a good friend over the 15 or so years we've had him. Unusually intelligent and extremely gentle, it's been a shame to see him struggle more and more with the problems with his back legs. Especially as he was a true athlete of a pooch in his youth. Everyone gets older over the years and it's very easy to forget that. It's a shame that our pets age so much quicker than we do. It's a bigger shame that the thing that Goldie enjoyed (his athletic nature) is the thing that he's struggling with.
Also in the news ! I've been spending money :-). I'm writing this post on the pooter known as Guilmon, which is getting very near to its retirement. I ordered some new bits on Monday and eventually got them through today. (Next day delivery ? Don't trust Overclockers UK to do that ...) Trouble is, Godzilla (new PC name) had a fair few teething troubles. I took my time building it and finished at about 5.30 today. I didn't have much time to fiddle as I needed to be in World of Warcraft for a raid starting at 7pm, that gave me about an hour of tinker time.
I hooked up the power, the keyboard, the mouse, the monitor and hit the on switch. Ok - the fans are going around but the hamster ain't doing much more. Oh dear. Nothing from the screen, which should have been giving me those early pictures you'll get from any PC. Tried an old graphics card, tried disconnecting various peripherals, still no joy. So I went into the WoW raid rather distracted and not really concentrating. (Still think I did better than most in there though)
I think the time away from Godzilla did me good. The first thing I tried when having the second look proved to do the trick. The problem is in the memory, one of the matched pair of Ram sticks is bust, so Godzilla is currently only working with 1Gigabyte. It's got a heartbeat now and is currently formatting its brand spanking new hard disc. I've since gone through the forum procedure with Crucial and they've answered my "I gotta problem" post. Impressive, considering the very late time at which I posted it. I'll be testing the duff one in this machine (Guilmon) tomorrow morning before sending it back. Hopefully it will knock out this one too, which will prove the duff Ram stick theory.
Long post - kinda making up for missing so many days ! If you've got this far, please spare a thought for Goldie, a rare intelligent pooch with not just a golden coat but a heart of gold as well.
Had some things to think about last weekend. Among other things, I think I will have seen Goldie for the last time. He's been having more and more of a struggle to get around and even more of a struggle to summon up a tail wag. He still looked happy to see me when I opened the front door (at least when he managed to come say hello) but I could see the pain behind his eyes. I think mum and dad have already made the decision to let the poor old dog go gently. Ben will be devastated and I'm a bit choked up at the moment typing this.
Goldie's been a good friend over the 15 or so years we've had him. Unusually intelligent and extremely gentle, it's been a shame to see him struggle more and more with the problems with his back legs. Especially as he was a true athlete of a pooch in his youth. Everyone gets older over the years and it's very easy to forget that. It's a shame that our pets age so much quicker than we do. It's a bigger shame that the thing that Goldie enjoyed (his athletic nature) is the thing that he's struggling with.
Also in the news ! I've been spending money :-). I'm writing this post on the pooter known as Guilmon, which is getting very near to its retirement. I ordered some new bits on Monday and eventually got them through today. (Next day delivery ? Don't trust Overclockers UK to do that ...) Trouble is, Godzilla (new PC name) had a fair few teething troubles. I took my time building it and finished at about 5.30 today. I didn't have much time to fiddle as I needed to be in World of Warcraft for a raid starting at 7pm, that gave me about an hour of tinker time.
I hooked up the power, the keyboard, the mouse, the monitor and hit the on switch. Ok - the fans are going around but the hamster ain't doing much more. Oh dear. Nothing from the screen, which should have been giving me those early pictures you'll get from any PC. Tried an old graphics card, tried disconnecting various peripherals, still no joy. So I went into the WoW raid rather distracted and not really concentrating. (Still think I did better than most in there though)
I think the time away from Godzilla did me good. The first thing I tried when having the second look proved to do the trick. The problem is in the memory, one of the matched pair of Ram sticks is bust, so Godzilla is currently only working with 1Gigabyte. It's got a heartbeat now and is currently formatting its brand spanking new hard disc. I've since gone through the forum procedure with Crucial and they've answered my "I gotta problem" post. Impressive, considering the very late time at which I posted it. I'll be testing the duff one in this machine (Guilmon) tomorrow morning before sending it back. Hopefully it will knock out this one too, which will prove the duff Ram stick theory.
Long post - kinda making up for missing so many days ! If you've got this far, please spare a thought for Goldie, a rare intelligent pooch with not just a golden coat but a heart of gold as well.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Yesterday
First half of yesterday was pretty darn great. We started with having munchies with the Crazies in Bella Italia, which was eventful ... but still fun. And the pasta didn't touch the sides. Then it was bowling, probably a good job we only had one game because a lot of us were struggling towards the end. I think staying for two and going for the later showing of Ice Age 2 may have been too much ...
But - staying for that later showing would have meant I'd have missed one of the worse raids for quite a while ... Ice Age 2 was ok but not as good as the first. It had its moments but the story thread that held Ice Age together wasn't nearly as strong in this one.
To the raid ! I'm commenting here because I don't dare comment on the Guildlink website, although I have put in some oblique comments in a different thread. Anyway, instead of commenting in the review thread like I always do, I put those comments in the other thread, which lets people know that I was around to comment. Why didn't I enjoy it like I should have ?
We were very late starting and the raid leader was very slow in getting in replacements for the 7 who didn't bother turning up. That delay will be why we didn't get a chance to look at that second boss. Hopefully those 7 will not be invited on raids in the near future. It's already happened with the people who didn't turn up to the Monday and Tuesday raids.
Group selection was bad. Classes that should be together so they can help each other were spread out and the groups just didn't make much real sense. The raid leader even forgot at one point how many tanks we had in the raid group. I know pressure can do that sort of thing, maybe it's why he didn't have me as one of the original main tanks.
We were very, very slow in making our way through. So slow, that we got caught badly by the Core hounds that reappear rather quickly. Tanking was not confident enough and was being hampered by other warriors interfering with the tanks. Thankfully, for the first part of the raid, I wasn't tanking so I didn't get chance to be irritated by that. Still, the tanking was poor and caused problems for the raid group. It made me ruefully smile though when one of the various Guild Leaders we have whispered me to say that I should be tanking as the others aren't really wanting to do so. And that they liked me tanking.
I got to tank at the end though (which is what I sign up for!), I got moved up to Main Tank 2 and I haven't got a clue how the other tank felt about being demoted. Well, he wasn't doing his job too well and wasn't keeping an eye on mobs that he should have been keeping an eye on.
Despite what the various crawlers and bottom lickers say though, only getting at the one boss was a pretty poor show, we should have had at least a look at the big puppy Magmadar. I think we had a case of a raid leader taking the easy way out there to let him avoid any more leadership of the raid. I dread to think what will happen tonight, as I don't think there are any warriors there who have practice at taking on the big puppy. There's a special tactic there that just isn't done outside that fight.
Oh yeah - the arse licking from various people also irritates me. But at least by coming out and embarassing themselves like that, they've exposed that part of their nature. I hate arse lickers. They make people bad at stuff look good.
I feel better now. I've got some of the comments out that I needed to and I've got them out where it won't cause that many explosions. Maybe I'll comment sometime on the Guildlink forum, depends whether someone's arse licking (or otherwise) comment sparks a reply.
But - staying for that later showing would have meant I'd have missed one of the worse raids for quite a while ... Ice Age 2 was ok but not as good as the first. It had its moments but the story thread that held Ice Age together wasn't nearly as strong in this one.
To the raid ! I'm commenting here because I don't dare comment on the Guildlink website, although I have put in some oblique comments in a different thread. Anyway, instead of commenting in the review thread like I always do, I put those comments in the other thread, which lets people know that I was around to comment. Why didn't I enjoy it like I should have ?
We were very late starting and the raid leader was very slow in getting in replacements for the 7 who didn't bother turning up. That delay will be why we didn't get a chance to look at that second boss. Hopefully those 7 will not be invited on raids in the near future. It's already happened with the people who didn't turn up to the Monday and Tuesday raids.
Group selection was bad. Classes that should be together so they can help each other were spread out and the groups just didn't make much real sense. The raid leader even forgot at one point how many tanks we had in the raid group. I know pressure can do that sort of thing, maybe it's why he didn't have me as one of the original main tanks.
We were very, very slow in making our way through. So slow, that we got caught badly by the Core hounds that reappear rather quickly. Tanking was not confident enough and was being hampered by other warriors interfering with the tanks. Thankfully, for the first part of the raid, I wasn't tanking so I didn't get chance to be irritated by that. Still, the tanking was poor and caused problems for the raid group. It made me ruefully smile though when one of the various Guild Leaders we have whispered me to say that I should be tanking as the others aren't really wanting to do so. And that they liked me tanking.
I got to tank at the end though (which is what I sign up for!), I got moved up to Main Tank 2 and I haven't got a clue how the other tank felt about being demoted. Well, he wasn't doing his job too well and wasn't keeping an eye on mobs that he should have been keeping an eye on.
Despite what the various crawlers and bottom lickers say though, only getting at the one boss was a pretty poor show, we should have had at least a look at the big puppy Magmadar. I think we had a case of a raid leader taking the easy way out there to let him avoid any more leadership of the raid. I dread to think what will happen tonight, as I don't think there are any warriors there who have practice at taking on the big puppy. There's a special tactic there that just isn't done outside that fight.
Oh yeah - the arse licking from various people also irritates me. But at least by coming out and embarassing themselves like that, they've exposed that part of their nature. I hate arse lickers. They make people bad at stuff look good.
I feel better now. I've got some of the comments out that I needed to and I've got them out where it won't cause that many explosions. Maybe I'll comment sometime on the Guildlink forum, depends whether someone's arse licking (or otherwise) comment sparks a reply.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Easter Eggs
Just been Easter Egg shopping and I've come back with :
A small Mini Eggs egg for me
A medium Smarties egg for the sister
A small Buttons egg for me
A medium Dairy Milk egg for me
A medium Buttons egg for mum
A small Mini Eggs egg for me
I haven't a clue how long it wil take me to eat all of the ones I bought for me ... Could take weeks, could take months but one will definitely not survive the night.
A small Mini Eggs egg for me
A medium Smarties egg for the sister
A small Buttons egg for me
A medium Dairy Milk egg for me
A medium Buttons egg for mum
A small Mini Eggs egg for me
I haven't a clue how long it wil take me to eat all of the ones I bought for me ... Could take weeks, could take months but one will definitely not survive the night.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Boingy Boingy
Is pretty much what I'm doing at the moment. After another day of trying to avoid work wherever possible, I was rushing home to play WoW again. More organised raids, this time taking on (and beating this time !) the big dragon Onyxia and then after that, being the only warrior in the Zul'Gurub jungle place for quite a while.
We did darn well tonight, Onyxia was a little stubborn but was tamed in the end. Zul'Gurub went really smoothly and my new blood drinking specification for my warrior worked really well. We didn't have that much time in there but still managed to take out a couple of the bosses.
Me happy. But I'm going to have trouble calming down beforegoing to sleep tonight. Time to put on some calming music and get a book out. Nahhh - calming music and shopping for weapons for my warrior !
We did darn well tonight, Onyxia was a little stubborn but was tamed in the end. Zul'Gurub went really smoothly and my new blood drinking specification for my warrior worked really well. We didn't have that much time in there but still managed to take out a couple of the bosses.
Me happy. But I'm going to have trouble calming down beforegoing to sleep tonight. Time to put on some calming music and get a book out. Nahhh - calming music and shopping for weapons for my warrior !
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Hmm ... pizza
And Easter Eggs. Although I've managed to resist temptation so far on the Easter Eggs, despite going into Big W to pick up a card for someone and scissors for me.
Currently waiting for me pizza - it won't be long hopefully, I have to get back into game to get into Molten Core for another raid. Which means I have to eat the pizza before the run. Somehow, I don't think that will be a problem :-).
I was on there until about 4.30 am last night ... I've managed to avoid doing that for a little while but it was a little bit too tempting to play with the new toy picked up on a raid. It's the kind of toy that makes the allies go "what on earth just hit me !", including an ally paladin who attacked me earlier. I've never seen someone ride away so quickly when resurrecting after returning to their corpse. (Death isn't very permanent in World of Warcraft).
Anyway ... hope that pizza comes soon :-)
Currently waiting for me pizza - it won't be long hopefully, I have to get back into game to get into Molten Core for another raid. Which means I have to eat the pizza before the run. Somehow, I don't think that will be a problem :-).
I was on there until about 4.30 am last night ... I've managed to avoid doing that for a little while but it was a little bit too tempting to play with the new toy picked up on a raid. It's the kind of toy that makes the allies go "what on earth just hit me !", including an ally paladin who attacked me earlier. I've never seen someone ride away so quickly when resurrecting after returning to their corpse. (Death isn't very permanent in World of Warcraft).
Anyway ... hope that pizza comes soon :-)
Friday, April 07, 2006
Busy again
But busy having fun. As it should be.
Had a morning of trying to avoid work, although I still did my part. Various people wanting stuff done, an annoying git who I'd quite happily pound into the floor and finance work to think about. So I went home at lunchtime.
First up, got a call for help from one of the guild and I have trouble turning those down. So in the afternoon, it was off to one instance when I should have been farming stuff to help me out later ! It was a good run, I got stuff to sell and I got a shiny new toy which will help my warrior out with tanking. Except my warrior isn't set up for tanking any more. Hmm.
Quick break for dinner :-) and then into the Molten Core for some severe hitting of big things. We had a few times when we got wiped out but I managed to keep my job done well. Died more times than I would like though. It's a bit dangerous up close in there ... (I was playing with my warrior instead of the long range mage) Anyway, we got inspired to a rather fast run through and I felt as if I played a full part. I even outdamaged several rogues, which I've got no business doing. Rogues are supposed to be the best at doing damage against single targets, which is what we're hitting in the Molten Core. Oh yeah, I outdamaged 3 of the other warriors as well, despite following all of the damage discipline rules we use. I'm doing ok.
Currently happily chilling in front of the golf because my brain always kicks up a gear when playing the warrior. You have to keep aware of more stuff as a warrior, so the concentration kicks on.
Had a morning of trying to avoid work, although I still did my part. Various people wanting stuff done, an annoying git who I'd quite happily pound into the floor and finance work to think about. So I went home at lunchtime.
First up, got a call for help from one of the guild and I have trouble turning those down. So in the afternoon, it was off to one instance when I should have been farming stuff to help me out later ! It was a good run, I got stuff to sell and I got a shiny new toy which will help my warrior out with tanking. Except my warrior isn't set up for tanking any more. Hmm.
Quick break for dinner :-) and then into the Molten Core for some severe hitting of big things. We had a few times when we got wiped out but I managed to keep my job done well. Died more times than I would like though. It's a bit dangerous up close in there ... (I was playing with my warrior instead of the long range mage) Anyway, we got inspired to a rather fast run through and I felt as if I played a full part. I even outdamaged several rogues, which I've got no business doing. Rogues are supposed to be the best at doing damage against single targets, which is what we're hitting in the Molten Core. Oh yeah, I outdamaged 3 of the other warriors as well, despite following all of the damage discipline rules we use. I'm doing ok.
Currently happily chilling in front of the golf because my brain always kicks up a gear when playing the warrior. You have to keep aware of more stuff as a warrior, so the concentration kicks on.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Wordless Wednesday
In honour of what I felt like when I was ill, this is now my MSN picture as well !
Monday, April 03, 2006
Into the Core ...
We took Guildlink into the Molten Core again today ... but with a difference !
Because things had reset when they weren't really supposed to, we couldn't make the attempt on the big fiery fella Ragnaros like we wanted to. So we took a beginners group in to get more people some experience in there. Which included me ... I took in Bashara as the second main tank. Big responsibility ... I learned stuff too.
How did we do ? Not too bad. I saw some things that I'd never appreciated before, mainly that the tanks get bounced around a bit again. Bashara is only a slip of a troll, so she gets bounced a fair amount. I was the first one to die - my own fault really, I dragged the giant back to where the healers had to be on top of the second mob in order to be in range of healing me. My bad.
We steadily made our way through to the first boss, Lucifron. Took us about 3 attempts here, which was what it took to get the decursing and dispelling sorted out. Also needed a crash course in how to keep Lucifron's guards attention as my job here was to look after one of those while people hit it. Didn't do as well on that as I'd like. But we still got the snakey guy tamed.
Next step, core hound packs - I learned something else here - you need to hit your mob to keep it ! Was pulling the mob off someone else who started the combat, so I needed to manually start hitting after taunting in order to get the rage I needed to keep the mob on me.
After that, the big dawg Magmadar, who makes everyone run away roughly every 30 seconds. So the job of the tanks is to make sure they are ready for that with an ability that stops them running away. We struggled on that early but pretty much had it cracked on the attempt where we took him out. And the big dawg Magmadar is a boss that's given us an awful lot of trouble in the past ...
We didn't take out any more bosses than that, people needed to start leaving. Hell, I'm pretty tired too after being in tank mode for 3 hours ... We did good in there though. Good enough to get two bosses tamed :-) And good enough to truly earn the loot that they had on them.
We'll be back in a few days, not sure if I'll be tanking again but I hope so. I have a lot to learn and the best way to learn is by doing. Need some better gear for my warrior though.
Because things had reset when they weren't really supposed to, we couldn't make the attempt on the big fiery fella Ragnaros like we wanted to. So we took a beginners group in to get more people some experience in there. Which included me ... I took in Bashara as the second main tank. Big responsibility ... I learned stuff too.
How did we do ? Not too bad. I saw some things that I'd never appreciated before, mainly that the tanks get bounced around a bit again. Bashara is only a slip of a troll, so she gets bounced a fair amount. I was the first one to die - my own fault really, I dragged the giant back to where the healers had to be on top of the second mob in order to be in range of healing me. My bad.
We steadily made our way through to the first boss, Lucifron. Took us about 3 attempts here, which was what it took to get the decursing and dispelling sorted out. Also needed a crash course in how to keep Lucifron's guards attention as my job here was to look after one of those while people hit it. Didn't do as well on that as I'd like. But we still got the snakey guy tamed.
Next step, core hound packs - I learned something else here - you need to hit your mob to keep it ! Was pulling the mob off someone else who started the combat, so I needed to manually start hitting after taunting in order to get the rage I needed to keep the mob on me.
After that, the big dawg Magmadar, who makes everyone run away roughly every 30 seconds. So the job of the tanks is to make sure they are ready for that with an ability that stops them running away. We struggled on that early but pretty much had it cracked on the attempt where we took him out. And the big dawg Magmadar is a boss that's given us an awful lot of trouble in the past ...
We didn't take out any more bosses than that, people needed to start leaving. Hell, I'm pretty tired too after being in tank mode for 3 hours ... We did good in there though. Good enough to get two bosses tamed :-) And good enough to truly earn the loot that they had on them.
We'll be back in a few days, not sure if I'll be tanking again but I hope so. I have a lot to learn and the best way to learn is by doing. Need some better gear for my warrior though.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Saturday Meme
Struggling to think of something for today, so I'm going to indulge in a little bit of larceny :-)
How did you get the idea for your profile name? I like the name Sleepypete, it sums me up pretty well sometimes ... But it was already taken, so I had to use the name of my World of Warcraft main character instead. That would be Iceangel the crazy frost mage ...
What song are you playing now, or wish you were playing? Since listening to Madonna's Confessions on the Dancefloor again, probably Jump. Otherwise, Incidentals by Alisha's Attic.
Has the death of a celebrity ever made you cry? Think I shed a little tear on Eric Morecambe as well, he was special.
Do you want a baby? Couple of years ago and my last partner ? Poor kid. Now, I don't think I'd mind too much. Would need bigger house though, wouldn't even have a pooch here cos the house is too small.
What does your dad do for a living? Chemical engineer, makes industrial coolers.
What does your mum do for a living? Nursing.
What is/are your pet's name(s)? Ben and Goldie, although they live at mum's & dad's place.
What colour are your bed sheets? Blue and white
What are the last 3 digits of your phone number? 359, 587 and 290
What was the last concert you went to? Think the last concert I went to was at university, on the Downs behind the Halls of Residence
Who was with you? People I knew from the university hall I lived in.
What was the last film you watched? Hmm - am I giving secrets away if I also say I went to the Inside Man ? Smart film, we enjoyed it and it kept the attention. Maybe a little long but I thought it was well paced. Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington and Clive Owen. Oh, it also had the Operative from Serenity and Willem Dafoe.
Who do you dislike most at this moment? Think I'd say El Tony as well, for the amount of lying he does. But Gordon Brown lies with bigger whoppers and more often.
What food do you crave right now? I'm currently looking at a chocolate brownie cheesecake that will be devoured rather rapidly after I finish this meme.
Did you dream last night? I have World of Warcraft dreams at the moment. Sad I know ... Curious how they seem to be emphasizing teamwork though.
What was the last TV show you watched? Currently have Match of the Day on but I'm paying my usual amount of attention to it. (Not much - it's football)
What is your fav piece of jewellery? Don't think I have much jewelry, although sporting trophies may count. On that, probably the bowling (cricket) trophy for being the best bowler in my first year with the men's team.
What is to the left of you? Sofa, 4 cuddly mini dogs and the pooter. (Sitting on sofa cross legged tapping into the laptop)
What was the last thing you ate? Chocolate hobnobs but in half an hour, it'll be that cheesecake.
Who is your best friend of the opposite sex? Hmm. Would be hard to choose between the IT Girl and CQ here. However, I'd love to call Miss L my best friend of the opposite sex, as I still owe her bigtime over her helping me out a lot last summer. She reawoke my competitive instinct at a time when I was struggling badly. I don't see Miss L enough though these days since she moved upstairs. Oh - nearly forgot RCA. How ?
Who last MSN'd you? Sarai the Overqueen, although that doesn't really count because I MSN'd her first.
Where is your significant other right now? Erm ... null response ;-)
Do you have a crush? Lol - often. Depends on who walks around the corner from the team on the opposite side of the wall.
What is his/her name? Lol - might detect one pseudonym from what I've written already.
When was the last time you had your hair cut? (Spits hair out of mouth)Too long ago.
Are you on any meds? I avoid meds like the plague, although I'll probably have to start going back to hayfever anti-histamines soon.
Do you have a mental disease? Heh heh heh - the men in white coats haven't found me yet.
What shirt are you wearing? I have a white T shirt on which says "Don't ask me, I make it up as I go". Bought in the USA last year.
Are you sexy? Nope :-) 13 stone and ugly. Although I'm working on the 13 stone bit, it was 14 stone about 5 months ago.
What's your favourite store? Borders for books, PC World for window shopping.
Are you thirsty? Yep. Got a pint of water next door to me.
Can you imagine yourself ever getting married? Yep. But it'll take someone with a lot of tolerance to put up with me and a lot of intelligence to keep me from getting bored. Made that mistake with my last partner, was having to unconsciously limit my thinking so as to not upset her through being too smart. Blimey that was a relief when I didn't have to do it any more.
Who's someone you haven't seen in a while and miss? Family from up norf as I haven't been back there for too long. (Illness got in the way last weekend)
Where do you work? Heh heh heh - somewhere in the Western Hemisphere, which is as detailed as I'm going to go :-)
How did you get the idea for your profile name? I like the name Sleepypete, it sums me up pretty well sometimes ... But it was already taken, so I had to use the name of my World of Warcraft main character instead. That would be Iceangel the crazy frost mage ...
What song are you playing now, or wish you were playing? Since listening to Madonna's Confessions on the Dancefloor again, probably Jump. Otherwise, Incidentals by Alisha's Attic.
Has the death of a celebrity ever made you cry? Think I shed a little tear on Eric Morecambe as well, he was special.
Do you want a baby? Couple of years ago and my last partner ? Poor kid. Now, I don't think I'd mind too much. Would need bigger house though, wouldn't even have a pooch here cos the house is too small.
What does your dad do for a living? Chemical engineer, makes industrial coolers.
What does your mum do for a living? Nursing.
What is/are your pet's name(s)? Ben and Goldie, although they live at mum's & dad's place.
What colour are your bed sheets? Blue and white
What are the last 3 digits of your phone number? 359, 587 and 290
What was the last concert you went to? Think the last concert I went to was at university, on the Downs behind the Halls of Residence
Who was with you? People I knew from the university hall I lived in.
What was the last film you watched? Hmm - am I giving secrets away if I also say I went to the Inside Man ? Smart film, we enjoyed it and it kept the attention. Maybe a little long but I thought it was well paced. Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington and Clive Owen. Oh, it also had the Operative from Serenity and Willem Dafoe.
Who do you dislike most at this moment? Think I'd say El Tony as well, for the amount of lying he does. But Gordon Brown lies with bigger whoppers and more often.
What food do you crave right now? I'm currently looking at a chocolate brownie cheesecake that will be devoured rather rapidly after I finish this meme.
Did you dream last night? I have World of Warcraft dreams at the moment. Sad I know ... Curious how they seem to be emphasizing teamwork though.
What was the last TV show you watched? Currently have Match of the Day on but I'm paying my usual amount of attention to it. (Not much - it's football)
What is your fav piece of jewellery? Don't think I have much jewelry, although sporting trophies may count. On that, probably the bowling (cricket) trophy for being the best bowler in my first year with the men's team.
What is to the left of you? Sofa, 4 cuddly mini dogs and the pooter. (Sitting on sofa cross legged tapping into the laptop)
What was the last thing you ate? Chocolate hobnobs but in half an hour, it'll be that cheesecake.
Who is your best friend of the opposite sex? Hmm. Would be hard to choose between the IT Girl and CQ here. However, I'd love to call Miss L my best friend of the opposite sex, as I still owe her bigtime over her helping me out a lot last summer. She reawoke my competitive instinct at a time when I was struggling badly. I don't see Miss L enough though these days since she moved upstairs. Oh - nearly forgot RCA. How ?
Who last MSN'd you? Sarai the Overqueen, although that doesn't really count because I MSN'd her first.
Where is your significant other right now? Erm ... null response ;-)
Do you have a crush? Lol - often. Depends on who walks around the corner from the team on the opposite side of the wall.
What is his/her name? Lol - might detect one pseudonym from what I've written already.
When was the last time you had your hair cut? (Spits hair out of mouth)
Are you on any meds? I avoid meds like the plague, although I'll probably have to start going back to hayfever anti-histamines soon.
Do you have a mental disease? Heh heh heh - the men in white coats haven't found me yet.
What shirt are you wearing? I have a white T shirt on which says "Don't ask me, I make it up as I go". Bought in the USA last year.
Are you sexy? Nope :-) 13 stone and ugly. Although I'm working on the 13 stone bit, it was 14 stone about 5 months ago.
What's your favourite store? Borders for books, PC World for window shopping.
Are you thirsty? Yep. Got a pint of water next door to me.
Can you imagine yourself ever getting married? Yep. But it'll take someone with a lot of tolerance to put up with me and a lot of intelligence to keep me from getting bored. Made that mistake with my last partner, was having to unconsciously limit my thinking so as to not upset her through being too smart. Blimey that was a relief when I didn't have to do it any more.
Who's someone you haven't seen in a while and miss? Family from up norf as I haven't been back there for too long. (Illness got in the way last weekend)
Where do you work? Heh heh heh - somewhere in the Western Hemisphere, which is as detailed as I'm going to go :-)
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Thursday Thirteen - match report
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Thirteen Things about tonight's game
2... We almost didn't get a side out but dragged in two ringers at the last minute. 3... One of the ringers got recruited in the changing room before the game ! 4... They batted first and managed to annoy me by not giving a stumping out and by calling one of my deliveries a no ball. 5... I don't get mad, I get even. Most of the 12 balls I bowled tonight were the fastest I've bowled for a while. 6... But they still squeezed 13 off my 2 overs to get a total of 87. 7... Not so many stumpings (missed a few :-( ) and not enough catches meant their 89 actually flattered them. 8... Blew up my right calf near the end of our fielding. 9... Batted first with Ringer 2 and carried on the get even theme with some hitting. 10... Good catching restricted that partnership to 39. 11... Our other people didn't really get going, leading to an extremely close finish. We got 85, losing by 2 runs. 12... Things were made more interesting by the squash players breaking their windows, had to take the long way round. 13... Made the mistake of running back to the office to avoid the rain, blew both calf muscles up ... They seem to have settled now, although they were complaining by the end of the drive home. |
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Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Patch day !
Big patch this time for WoW. The high end instances had lots of changes and were supposedly made easier. Big changes on what modifications are allowed and which ones are banned.
They took away the one that tells me how much room is in my bags ! Will have to get a way around that cos losing that one is a bit annoying.
Couple of Mercenaries felt some Bashara aggro tonight ... I was tanking with Charge and was wondering why people seemed to want to insist on attacking the wrong target. If they do that, I just leave them to it.
Game tomorrow, we might need some luck because I think we may be going into it short. We shall see what happens. I still have dregs of last week's bugs, so I'll be ignoring them tomorrow. Trying to figure out whether to do a Thursday Thirteen match report or the gaming sights one ... Think it might be the match report because I'll need to do a little research for the gaming one. Think I have a few but need more. So far it's : Ratchet's tree, Eve's space stations, looking at Oblivion's Imperial City from the other side of the lake. There's also Oblivion's face maker and a few more of the WoW vistas. But I need some more than that to make up a thirteen.
They took away the one that tells me how much room is in my bags ! Will have to get a way around that cos losing that one is a bit annoying.
Couple of Mercenaries felt some Bashara aggro tonight ... I was tanking with Charge and was wondering why people seemed to want to insist on attacking the wrong target. If they do that, I just leave them to it.
Game tomorrow, we might need some luck because I think we may be going into it short. We shall see what happens. I still have dregs of last week's bugs, so I'll be ignoring them tomorrow. Trying to figure out whether to do a Thursday Thirteen match report or the gaming sights one ... Think it might be the match report because I'll need to do a little research for the gaming one. Think I have a few but need more. So far it's : Ratchet's tree, Eve's space stations, looking at Oblivion's Imperial City from the other side of the lake. There's also Oblivion's face maker and a few more of the WoW vistas. But I need some more than that to make up a thirteen.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Plots and pans
I think I've figured out when I'm going to upgrade the pooter ...
And I think I've gotten into a spending mood ... Telly's good. I've just watched Sin City and it definitely gets the seal of approval. Sound is pretty naff but then it always is. It's there for the picture though and that's impressively sharp and well defined. And that's on a stark, visual film like Sin City as well. The sound is only needed for watching stuff off air anyway as I have my surround speaker set for everything else.
Been looking at upgrading that as well though ... It's good and it has done the job adequately for many years now but it has "disagreements" with some of my cds where it just really struggles to play them without audio confusion.
Anyway, the pooter ... It's going to get its money spent at Easter, which will be when I'll be able to be in for long enough to be able to pick up the bits that'll be coming through. I'm having about a week off at Easter. For the why, I'll blame Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion, which I picked up on Sunday. My Thursday Thirteen this week is going to cover beautiful sights in gaming and Oblivion has already accounted for a few of those. And I can't run it like I'd like to because my current machine can only handle it at reduced resolution. To be honest though, it's an absolute cracker visually even with the really pretty stuff toned down.
World of Warcraft is pushing me away a bit at the moment I think. Or maybe it's the people. There's only so much ignoring you'll take before you start ignoring back and I feel a little ignored at the moment.
And I think I've gotten into a spending mood ... Telly's good. I've just watched Sin City and it definitely gets the seal of approval. Sound is pretty naff but then it always is. It's there for the picture though and that's impressively sharp and well defined. And that's on a stark, visual film like Sin City as well. The sound is only needed for watching stuff off air anyway as I have my surround speaker set for everything else.
Been looking at upgrading that as well though ... It's good and it has done the job adequately for many years now but it has "disagreements" with some of my cds where it just really struggles to play them without audio confusion.
Anyway, the pooter ... It's going to get its money spent at Easter, which will be when I'll be able to be in for long enough to be able to pick up the bits that'll be coming through. I'm having about a week off at Easter. For the why, I'll blame Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion, which I picked up on Sunday. My Thursday Thirteen this week is going to cover beautiful sights in gaming and Oblivion has already accounted for a few of those. And I can't run it like I'd like to because my current machine can only handle it at reduced resolution. To be honest though, it's an absolute cracker visually even with the really pretty stuff toned down.
World of Warcraft is pushing me away a bit at the moment I think. Or maybe it's the people. There's only so much ignoring you'll take before you start ignoring back and I feel a little ignored at the moment.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Music and a book
This is the kind of night when I'd have probably looked to watch a dvd with a pizza ... Well, I've had the pizza (just about managed) but dvd watching is on hold until Monday when I get a telly that's up to it ...
I'm still giving the dvd player some exercise though, I'm just keeping Cyberkitten up with it :-). Madonna's newest album is very dancy and can be rather loud, especially if your subwoofer shares the neighbour's wall.
CD Change time ! Now on my third cd of this session. The second was Seal's greatest hits and there are some very, very good tracks on that one. Now it's Alisha's Attic Illumina (their second), which is an album that is far too good to get the limited playtime I give it. I don't play it enough because I have only so much time to split between the 4 Alisha's Attic albums I have, plus my singles collection. I'm not counting the "Greatest Hits" album there, those don't really count. The fourth one I have is from their rares collection, Attic Vaults 1, which is perhaps better than their other albums. But then you'd say that about all of the AA albums after hearing them.
I like Alisha's Attic :-).
Oh yeah, I've also been reading David Weber's March Upcountry on and off when my brain lets me. My brain is getting a rest from WoW, as I've crashed through another 4 levels yesterday and this morning with my trainee hunter, Finlay. I got to the half way in levels point (30) in 45 hours, which is pretty quick. Trying to get to level 60 in 5 game days. Not getting up to much raiding at the moment, I went in at the last minute for an Onyxia run yesterday but backed out of the main Molten Core run. My health isn't up to it yet.
I'm still running borderline starvation, with my system nudging over into collapse when it feels like it. What's annoying though is when I try to impose a normal eating pattern on it, it doesn't like it. Had a pizza tonight that I normally wouldn't have noticed, tummy was complaining after just 5 of 6 slices tonight. But at least I remembered to eat and not eating is what got my body into the massive problems it's having at the moment. (I'm still looking at my arms and thinking they're too thin still)
I'm still giving the dvd player some exercise though, I'm just keeping Cyberkitten up with it :-). Madonna's newest album is very dancy and can be rather loud, especially if your subwoofer shares the neighbour's wall.
CD Change time ! Now on my third cd of this session. The second was Seal's greatest hits and there are some very, very good tracks on that one. Now it's Alisha's Attic Illumina (their second), which is an album that is far too good to get the limited playtime I give it. I don't play it enough because I have only so much time to split between the 4 Alisha's Attic albums I have, plus my singles collection. I'm not counting the "Greatest Hits" album there, those don't really count. The fourth one I have is from their rares collection, Attic Vaults 1, which is perhaps better than their other albums. But then you'd say that about all of the AA albums after hearing them.
I like Alisha's Attic :-).
Oh yeah, I've also been reading David Weber's March Upcountry on and off when my brain lets me. My brain is getting a rest from WoW, as I've crashed through another 4 levels yesterday and this morning with my trainee hunter, Finlay. I got to the half way in levels point (30) in 45 hours, which is pretty quick. Trying to get to level 60 in 5 game days. Not getting up to much raiding at the moment, I went in at the last minute for an Onyxia run yesterday but backed out of the main Molten Core run. My health isn't up to it yet.
I'm still running borderline starvation, with my system nudging over into collapse when it feels like it. What's annoying though is when I try to impose a normal eating pattern on it, it doesn't like it. Had a pizza tonight that I normally wouldn't have noticed, tummy was complaining after just 5 of 6 slices tonight. But at least I remembered to eat and not eating is what got my body into the massive problems it's having at the moment. (I'm still looking at my arms and thinking they're too thin still)
Thursday, March 23, 2006
New telly coming
Thought for a laugh I'd show people why I've gone for the new telly ...
This is a picture of the current one.
The red lines show the borders of where it stops showing anything. It's squeezed the normal widescreen image into about a third of the screen.
Ho hum - perfect excuse to buy another telly :-) This time, I'm hoping that I'll be able to have a working TV output from the desktop as well as the laptop, because the new one has S-Video connectors, which the current one doesn't have.
Oh yeah, as well as the assorted rubbish, you'll also see Dino the nodding dinosaur, Norbert the telly cleaner, one or two more presents, plus my (rather small) Pocket Dragon collection.
Footnote - the picture captured shows some of the best news to come out of Iraq for probably the past 2 years. Norman Kember and 2 of his fellow hostages were freed today in a bloodless assault. Good to see they got those guys out alive and that the evil people don't always win. Thoughts are with the family of the one who didn't make it out.
At home, chillin' with me bugs
After giving up at half time yesterday to go home, I didn't feel in much condition to come in this morning either ...
I think I know where a fair few of my problems were coming from though - the numerous days without anything significant to eat had taken a big toll on me and my body. I've been doing a little better since the soups and last night's half a dinner. Although I do need to remember to eat something now.
(puts kettle on for next batch of cup-a-soup)
Might be back into work tomorrow, although I won't be fit to do the trip up norf for Mother's Day.
I think I know where a fair few of my problems were coming from though - the numerous days without anything significant to eat had taken a big toll on me and my body. I've been doing a little better since the soups and last night's half a dinner. Although I do need to remember to eat something now.
(puts kettle on for next batch of cup-a-soup)
Might be back into work tomorrow, although I won't be fit to do the trip up norf for Mother's Day.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
New telly needed I think ...
Current one is doing some rather strange things with the shape of the picture, as well as making some rather suspicious burbling noises occasionally ...
Ah well, had it for quite a while now and it's had issues for most of its life (loud buzzing on turn on that disappears quickly)
Will have to :
See when I can get one ...
See if I can get the shop to take the old one away ...
See what's out there.
Of course, I'd want to be a bit more lucid for telly buying than I am now as well. I'll be attempting to have my first proper dinner since the weekend in a few minutes, maybe trying to eat properly again will help me kick out this cold.
PS Telly's been reasonably behaving itself since I switched it to the fuzzier PAL setting instead of the sharp RGB.
Ah well, had it for quite a while now and it's had issues for most of its life (loud buzzing on turn on that disappears quickly)
Will have to :
See when I can get one ...
See if I can get the shop to take the old one away ...
See what's out there.
Of course, I'd want to be a bit more lucid for telly buying than I am now as well. I'll be attempting to have my first proper dinner since the weekend in a few minutes, maybe trying to eat properly again will help me kick out this cold.
PS Telly's been reasonably behaving itself since I switched it to the fuzzier PAL setting instead of the sharp RGB.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
More bug
Hmm. Let's see what I'm having at the moment :
Persistent chesty cough.
Very dizzy.
No appetite whatsoever.
Fever/chills. (At the moment, heating is on and I can barely feel my finagers to type properly)
Not even got the energy to summon up to get to the corner shop to get me some soup ! Or maybe I have. Just been curled up halfsleeping on the sofa in front of the cricket highlights. Trouble is, I can't send myself to sleep outside of normal sleeping hours.
What I'm wondering at the moment is whether this bug will stop me from going up norf to see mum on Mother's Day. Think it might do. I can do the trips into work okay, but 3 hours in the car may be a bit much at the moment, especially as the last proper meal I had was either Saturday or Sunday. (Can't remember)
Heh - less whinging, more looking forward to getting rid of pesky bug.
Persistent chesty cough.
Very dizzy.
No appetite whatsoever.
Fever/chills. (At the moment, heating is on and I can barely feel my finagers to type properly)
Not even got the energy to summon up to get to the corner shop to get me some soup ! Or maybe I have. Just been curled up halfsleeping on the sofa in front of the cricket highlights. Trouble is, I can't send myself to sleep outside of normal sleeping hours.
What I'm wondering at the moment is whether this bug will stop me from going up norf to see mum on Mother's Day. Think it might do. I can do the trips into work okay, but 3 hours in the car may be a bit much at the moment, especially as the last proper meal I had was either Saturday or Sunday. (Can't remember)
Heh - less whinging, more looking forward to getting rid of pesky bug.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Dizzy ...
Definitely in the firm grip of a bug at the moment, which is one reason I've been quiet.
I have the chesty cough, which is ok until I start doing my typical overcough, which rattles my brain so much sometimes it feels like my head is exploding.
I think I'm also seeing the effect of being able to hear again through my right ear. After getting used to not having that ear work properly, I'm adjusting back again. So I'm pretty dizzy ...
Anyway, that's it for me for now. Back with more when I'm feeling better.
I have the chesty cough, which is ok until I start doing my typical overcough, which rattles my brain so much sometimes it feels like my head is exploding.
I think I'm also seeing the effect of being able to hear again through my right ear. After getting used to not having that ear work properly, I'm adjusting back again. So I'm pretty dizzy ...
Anyway, that's it for me for now. Back with more when I'm feeling better.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
100 posts !
Hey ! Milestone time :-). And I want to put this post in now because of the negative one that's gone before it. Time to look back on what I've blogged. That's really why I'm doing this blog, to remember what I've been getting up to over the last few months. Besides, I have something else in mind to blog later today.
November :
This is when I started writing this blog and what do we have ... Ahh ... saying hello, what I get up to and complaining about my laptop. Which is really slow. Oh yeah - strange positions on the kitchen floor. Shoulda used my gloves to keep the leak under control better. Oooo - this is the month Civ4 arrived. The first and only game to distract my attention away from World of Warcraft for a decent amount of time. I also introduced one or two of the characters I have the pleasure to share the world with, the IT Girl and Miss L. We don't see Miss L so much lately though and the IT Girl hasn't been too well.
Bacon sarnies. Can't beat 'em, can't get thin on a diet of them. More Molten Core, plus complaints about my ISP. Also managed to cheat something into telling me that my blog should be the colour it is. Result !
December :
I'll come clean here and say that December wasn't a good month for me. I had a lot of things building up on me, stress with the mortgage and more stress from being very overtired. So I said a few things I wish I hadn't. Back to seeing what I did post ...
Yey :-) New toy - webcam. Haven't used it as much as I could have. Xmas party - always good for a laugh and this one was no exception. And I managed to tag along wherever Miss L went all night. Wasn't looking for sympathy honest, even though I did damage my back that morning due to the bitter cold. Hmm. Commenting about the outfits that the WoW people have given the girls. I have an even more revealing one now for my main character ... Darn good item too. Fire, poison, magic, frost proof hanky. Toast. I love toast. Must remember to get the butter out the fridge before going to bed.
Uhoh - I just saw the first of my world hating posts. Ah well. I said what I said back then and probably agreed with it at the times. I still agree with it but for different reasons. At the time, I hadn't seen the need for tightly controlling who goes on raids but after seeing the passengers we have at the moment ? I'm all for it again.
Christmas and the tree. Don't tell my partner - she forgot to pick up that tree when she left. Mine now. Muahahaha ! Had two Xmas's this year, up norf with the family and with CQ for the second family. You'll know most of them from the blogroll. Hmm. I quit WoW around this time. That didn't last long.
January :
Star Wars Marathon. I like Star Wars but it could have been rather better. Well made but doesn't really satisfy the scientist in me cos of the universe it's in. It works well for stories though. First Old Game Appreciation Society post here, although it was a kinda pre one. Massive 'who am I' meme and another 'who am I' about university. A flirtation into a couple of other games (didn't last long). Back into WoW, with some good, fun, successful runs with the guild. First match report and this time it's a good one. We buried the opposition. Birth of Flameberry in WoW, a character who I'm highly unlikely to play much more because of stuff that happened in game. She was named in honour of Cloudberry, who stabbed Guildlink in the back.
Ha ! Celebrating a diet milestone by going out and getting a pizza. That's sensible.
Shopping is dangerous ... And hunting dragons can be too. Visited the parents, which doesn't happen often enough. Showing off my wish list for a pc. Did I mention that shopping is dangerous ?
February :
Wowser - first day of the month and we're up to Scotland to see the launch of 7000 tonnes of pride and hard work. And then a complaint about a credit card ... Still not got a Chip and Pin card from Halifax. That's ok though, I defected to Marbles and I'm highly unlikely to use the Halifax card again. Cricket again, our turn to get swept away by the Drifters. Olympics started - good on ya Shellie Rudman ! History repeating itself part one this month, with people moaning about not being picked for raids. Haven't I put something about that below ? Oooo - finance. (makes sign to ward off evil eye).
Miss L moves on ! Boo hoo. And I exposed my personality to an unsuspecting world. Learn anything people ? Posted my first Thursday Thirteen and we had the earthquake schism in Guildlink.
March :
Woo hoo ! One chapter of my life gets put to a close here, with the removal of my ex's name from the house deeds. Time to move on properly. Started the saga of the garden. Originally I got promised I'd have 6 months to pay the guy but I'm getting daily phone calls at the moment asking for money. Waiting for a couple of loans to come through. Started feeling grotty, haven't really stopped feeling grotty due to bad ear. It's improving though, I'm back to about 50% in my right ear, so at least I can navigate.
Heh heh heh - more WoW frustration. It's amazing the difference a quality team makes. You can sometimes get away with that but not when half the team is incompetent or a waste of space. Mixed month for WoW, we've had good runs and bad runs. The good runs have made it worth it. As has the chance to listen to the Overqueen. Always a pleasure because of the tone she sets.
And that takes us up to today ! Blimey this is a long post, I'll have to do the next one of these at 150 posts.
November :
This is when I started writing this blog and what do we have ... Ahh ... saying hello, what I get up to and complaining about my laptop. Which is really slow. Oh yeah - strange positions on the kitchen floor. Shoulda used my gloves to keep the leak under control better. Oooo - this is the month Civ4 arrived. The first and only game to distract my attention away from World of Warcraft for a decent amount of time. I also introduced one or two of the characters I have the pleasure to share the world with, the IT Girl and Miss L. We don't see Miss L so much lately though and the IT Girl hasn't been too well.
Bacon sarnies. Can't beat 'em, can't get thin on a diet of them. More Molten Core, plus complaints about my ISP. Also managed to cheat something into telling me that my blog should be the colour it is. Result !
December :
I'll come clean here and say that December wasn't a good month for me. I had a lot of things building up on me, stress with the mortgage and more stress from being very overtired. So I said a few things I wish I hadn't. Back to seeing what I did post ...
Yey :-) New toy - webcam. Haven't used it as much as I could have. Xmas party - always good for a laugh and this one was no exception. And I managed to tag along wherever Miss L went all night. Wasn't looking for sympathy honest, even though I did damage my back that morning due to the bitter cold. Hmm. Commenting about the outfits that the WoW people have given the girls. I have an even more revealing one now for my main character ... Darn good item too. Fire, poison, magic, frost proof hanky. Toast. I love toast. Must remember to get the butter out the fridge before going to bed.
Uhoh - I just saw the first of my world hating posts. Ah well. I said what I said back then and probably agreed with it at the times. I still agree with it but for different reasons. At the time, I hadn't seen the need for tightly controlling who goes on raids but after seeing the passengers we have at the moment ? I'm all for it again.
Christmas and the tree. Don't tell my partner - she forgot to pick up that tree when she left. Mine now. Muahahaha ! Had two Xmas's this year, up norf with the family and with CQ for the second family. You'll know most of them from the blogroll. Hmm. I quit WoW around this time. That didn't last long.
January :
Star Wars Marathon. I like Star Wars but it could have been rather better. Well made but doesn't really satisfy the scientist in me cos of the universe it's in. It works well for stories though. First Old Game Appreciation Society post here, although it was a kinda pre one. Massive 'who am I' meme and another 'who am I' about university. A flirtation into a couple of other games (didn't last long). Back into WoW, with some good, fun, successful runs with the guild. First match report and this time it's a good one. We buried the opposition. Birth of Flameberry in WoW, a character who I'm highly unlikely to play much more because of stuff that happened in game. She was named in honour of Cloudberry, who stabbed Guildlink in the back.
Ha ! Celebrating a diet milestone by going out and getting a pizza. That's sensible.
Shopping is dangerous ... And hunting dragons can be too. Visited the parents, which doesn't happen often enough. Showing off my wish list for a pc. Did I mention that shopping is dangerous ?
February :
Wowser - first day of the month and we're up to Scotland to see the launch of 7000 tonnes of pride and hard work. And then a complaint about a credit card ... Still not got a Chip and Pin card from Halifax. That's ok though, I defected to Marbles and I'm highly unlikely to use the Halifax card again. Cricket again, our turn to get swept away by the Drifters. Olympics started - good on ya Shellie Rudman ! History repeating itself part one this month, with people moaning about not being picked for raids. Haven't I put something about that below ? Oooo - finance. (makes sign to ward off evil eye).
Miss L moves on ! Boo hoo. And I exposed my personality to an unsuspecting world. Learn anything people ? Posted my first Thursday Thirteen and we had the earthquake schism in Guildlink.
March :
Woo hoo ! One chapter of my life gets put to a close here, with the removal of my ex's name from the house deeds. Time to move on properly. Started the saga of the garden. Originally I got promised I'd have 6 months to pay the guy but I'm getting daily phone calls at the moment asking for money. Waiting for a couple of loans to come through. Started feeling grotty, haven't really stopped feeling grotty due to bad ear. It's improving though, I'm back to about 50% in my right ear, so at least I can navigate.
Heh heh heh - more WoW frustration. It's amazing the difference a quality team makes. You can sometimes get away with that but not when half the team is incompetent or a waste of space. Mixed month for WoW, we've had good runs and bad runs. The good runs have made it worth it. As has the chance to listen to the Overqueen. Always a pleasure because of the tone she sets.
And that takes us up to today ! Blimey this is a long post, I'll have to do the next one of these at 150 posts.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Ooo dearie, dearie me ...
After the demolition that happened last Monday in Molten Core, we had the mistake of underestimating it again ...
Or rather, we had a few too many passengers again. You can normally get around those in a 40 person instance but not if they're doing stuff like distracting mobs away from the tanks or not giving the tanks the healing they need.
But that's not the worst of it, right at the end, we had some idiot look at the loot that the boss had at the end. That shouldn't happen because of a system called Master Looting, which means that only one person can see what loot the boss has. That's a really big sin that, as the loot in the Molten Core is hot stuff, with strict rules on who gets it and who has to wait. Basically, you earn points the more times loot drops and only get loot if you have more points than anyone else.
Ok, that's cardinal sin number one. Cardinal sin number two is that the guy put "need" on an item he couldn't use !!!!!
1 - I think that fella will not be invited to raid with us again. New person, should have picked up on the rules because we were a few hours into the run. Plus, he looked like one of those people who bought his character on Ebay.
2 - Someone else probably won't be invited to raid with us again because he threw his teddies out the pram over not making the team. What's he expect if he doesn't sign up ?
I imagine poor Sarai (raid leader and Overqueen) is banging her head against the wall at the moment. Think I might be getting my hunter to the standard needed for these runs rather quicker than I'd like ... We're running out of trustworthy hunters ! (got two, hopefully three in the guild though)
PS Bugged, think I got the cold that's going around. I'm currently bouncing between hot and cold and my muscles are complaining (partly due to yesterday). Fingers and hands are freezing though.
Bah - enough complaining. Will get some sleep in a bit when the effect of Mini Eggs & coffee has worn off.
Or rather, we had a few too many passengers again. You can normally get around those in a 40 person instance but not if they're doing stuff like distracting mobs away from the tanks or not giving the tanks the healing they need.
But that's not the worst of it, right at the end, we had some idiot look at the loot that the boss had at the end. That shouldn't happen because of a system called Master Looting, which means that only one person can see what loot the boss has. That's a really big sin that, as the loot in the Molten Core is hot stuff, with strict rules on who gets it and who has to wait. Basically, you earn points the more times loot drops and only get loot if you have more points than anyone else.
Ok, that's cardinal sin number one. Cardinal sin number two is that the guy put "need" on an item he couldn't use !!!!!
1 - I think that fella will not be invited to raid with us again. New person, should have picked up on the rules because we were a few hours into the run. Plus, he looked like one of those people who bought his character on Ebay.
2 - Someone else probably won't be invited to raid with us again because he threw his teddies out the pram over not making the team. What's he expect if he doesn't sign up ?
I imagine poor Sarai (raid leader and Overqueen) is banging her head against the wall at the moment. Think I might be getting my hunter to the standard needed for these runs rather quicker than I'd like ... We're running out of trustworthy hunters ! (got two, hopefully three in the guild though)
PS Bugged, think I got the cold that's going around. I'm currently bouncing between hot and cold and my muscles are complaining (partly due to yesterday). Fingers and hands are freezing though.
Bah - enough complaining. Will get some sleep in a bit when the effect of Mini Eggs & coffee has worn off.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Thursday Thirteen - match report
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Thirteen Things about The Game
2... Team Selection leading up to the game was fun ... 1 player dropped out, the reserve had to disappear, so I needed to call in the second reserve. 3... We lost the toss and were asked to bat first. 4... We scored 93 and were probably 20 runs short of a good target. 5... I had trouble coming to terms with the ball again ... (I either hit too straight or too square) 6... Different tactics by the opposition meant my normal sharp stumpings were taken out of the game. 7... But I did get 3 catches from behind the stumps. 8... We got hammered by their star player. We just couldn't stop the guy scoring ... 9... I got two miracle catches off the walls that I had no business whatsoever taking. (I need new glasses) 10... I bowled a bit better and only did one beamer. Improvement ... 11... They scored 108 to win the game. Boooo !!!!! 12... I pretty much got away with injuries, although my calf muscles did try to explode on me afterwards. 13... We had fun :-) |
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Arg Leadership ! Take it away
Found out this morning that I might be captaining the indoor cricket side on Thursday ...
Well, hopefully I can slope shoulders that off to another fella who is better at it than me. (Still affected by my ear, but return of The Bounce Factor means I'm dealing with it better)
Anyway, Thursday's going to see the return of The Brain, coupled with the return of the bruised and battered fingers. The Brain can bowl rather quickly. Think there's dents in the wall still from when we played with a harder ball. It also sees the introduction of The Tall Guy, who I'm eyeing from a crooked neck position (yep - he be that tall !) wondering what it'll be like to keep wicket to him. We also have the Pitied One playing, so I'll have to put on my special smiley mask when talking to him. (He's the Pitied One because the poor fella is going out with my ex). And then there's the Old Fogey and the Unsung Hero.
And then there's the Eternal Cripple (me !). I'm hoping that the Old Fogey will take over the reins for the actual game on Thursday as I'll have enough to think about with keeping wicket.
Looking forward to trying to turn a match report into a Thursday Thirteen ...
Well, hopefully I can slope shoulders that off to another fella who is better at it than me. (Still affected by my ear, but return of The Bounce Factor means I'm dealing with it better)
Anyway, Thursday's going to see the return of The Brain, coupled with the return of the bruised and battered fingers. The Brain can bowl rather quickly. Think there's dents in the wall still from when we played with a harder ball. It also sees the introduction of The Tall Guy, who I'm eyeing from a crooked neck position (yep - he be that tall !) wondering what it'll be like to keep wicket to him. We also have the Pitied One playing, so I'll have to put on my special smiley mask when talking to him. (He's the Pitied One because the poor fella is going out with my ex). And then there's the Old Fogey and the Unsung Hero.
And then there's the Eternal Cripple (me !). I'm hoping that the Old Fogey will take over the reins for the actual game on Thursday as I'll have enough to think about with keeping wicket.
Looking forward to trying to turn a match report into a Thursday Thirteen ...
Monday, March 13, 2006
Revenge is best served hot ?
More World of Warcraft. Gonna have to try and find some alternate subjects to talk about soon but things went rather well for the team tonight. Apologies if I'm boring people with all the WoW stuff !
Anyway, after the trials of the weekend, things started looking up yesterday with the first taming of Onyxia since Guildlink lost two of its biggest guilds. And that taming was probably the most perfect take down yet. We outdid that tonight though, the Molten Core team went through 6 bosses in 3 hours 42, which is an all time new record. We only got wiped out once during the entire session as well ... Fantastic stuff. (And I got more loot too)
Being able to do that is a testament to the quality we have in the new team. Sure, we still have one or two passengers but we managed to take down most of the bosses without anyone getting killed, which is pretty special. Even with taking in a lot of new people, or even because of that, we're fitter, faster, stronger and far more disciplined a fighting unit than we ever were before.
And I got more loot too. Yey ! But we got to hear the Overqueen on TeamSpeak as well, which we didn't get yesterday due to illness. It's always better when you're hearing stuff over TS. I'm going to have to get back into the habit of turning my microphone back on so I can join in with the laughing. And the way we do Molten Core, there is always a lot of laughter due to the tone that the Overqueen sets but at the same time, we're also doing a good job of professionally demolishing of the instance.
Hmm. Onyxia again tomorrow and around that I'll be continuing to powerlevel my hunter, Finlay the orc. Level 26 so far, in 32 hours of game time. Hoping to get him up to level 60 quickly, so I can play with the big bombs.
Anyway, after the trials of the weekend, things started looking up yesterday with the first taming of Onyxia since Guildlink lost two of its biggest guilds. And that taming was probably the most perfect take down yet. We outdid that tonight though, the Molten Core team went through 6 bosses in 3 hours 42, which is an all time new record. We only got wiped out once during the entire session as well ... Fantastic stuff. (And I got more loot too)
Being able to do that is a testament to the quality we have in the new team. Sure, we still have one or two passengers but we managed to take down most of the bosses without anyone getting killed, which is pretty special. Even with taking in a lot of new people, or even because of that, we're fitter, faster, stronger and far more disciplined a fighting unit than we ever were before.
And I got more loot too. Yey ! But we got to hear the Overqueen on TeamSpeak as well, which we didn't get yesterday due to illness. It's always better when you're hearing stuff over TS. I'm going to have to get back into the habit of turning my microphone back on so I can join in with the laughing. And the way we do Molten Core, there is always a lot of laughter due to the tone that the Overqueen sets but at the same time, we're also doing a good job of professionally demolishing of the instance.
Hmm. Onyxia again tomorrow and around that I'll be continuing to powerlevel my hunter, Finlay the orc. Level 26 so far, in 32 hours of game time. Hoping to get him up to level 60 quickly, so I can play with the big bombs.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Hmm - bit different
Another World of Warcraft post, this time a happier one.
We took on Onyxia today, which meant a full 40 person raid, with the better players in. That's the ones who have gone through a rather long quest chain to get themselves the key to Onyxia's lair.
We struggled a couple of times before with Onyxia but this time, it went down like absolute clockwork. That's one thing about the newer, shinier Guildlink, people may not have the same initiative but we seem to have got rid of the dangerous wild cards. (We now have people who are a bit too tentative, instead of the suicidal)
Amazing how much smoother it can go with a decent core team ... Molten Core tomorrow, that's another 40 person run. We'll still have passengers in that, but passengers affect 40 person runs a lot less than they affect 20 person runs.
We took on Onyxia today, which meant a full 40 person raid, with the better players in. That's the ones who have gone through a rather long quest chain to get themselves the key to Onyxia's lair.
We struggled a couple of times before with Onyxia but this time, it went down like absolute clockwork. That's one thing about the newer, shinier Guildlink, people may not have the same initiative but we seem to have got rid of the dangerous wild cards. (We now have people who are a bit too tentative, instead of the suicidal)
Amazing how much smoother it can go with a decent core team ... Molten Core tomorrow, that's another 40 person run. We'll still have passengers in that, but passengers affect 40 person runs a lot less than they affect 20 person runs.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Another day, another evening in the purgatory team
I'm still trying to figure out what I've done to deserve the punishment duty I apparently have.
The group today was better ... but we still had about 5 or 6 passengers, which is fatal in a group of only 20. One of those passengers was the third tank, who decided to bounce around like a mad thing, instead of taking up the tanking like he was supposed to. Numerous times. It was noticed ...
And then there's the healing ... tanks were able to get the attention of the boss but then immediately died because the healing wasn't there. That's not really good enough ... Mind you, I can't really talk about healing because I don't have the mindset to do that job.
It still feels as if I'm being punished for something though. There's a team that gets all the best people and then there's the team that I get put in. That's starting to get extremely old. I'd like to know what my crime was, who the jury are and how long I have to serve on my sentence.
The group today was better ... but we still had about 5 or 6 passengers, which is fatal in a group of only 20. One of those passengers was the third tank, who decided to bounce around like a mad thing, instead of taking up the tanking like he was supposed to. Numerous times. It was noticed ...
And then there's the healing ... tanks were able to get the attention of the boss but then immediately died because the healing wasn't there. That's not really good enough ... Mind you, I can't really talk about healing because I don't have the mindset to do that job.
It still feels as if I'm being punished for something though. There's a team that gets all the best people and then there's the team that I get put in. That's starting to get extremely old. I'd like to know what my crime was, who the jury are and how long I have to serve on my sentence.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Grr
Nothing too substantial today, or rather I'm going to try and keep it short so I don't start ranting.
Had our first trip into the newly opened Ahn'Qiraj instance today, which means learning for everyone. Well, maybe not so much learning because we've researched what things do. Or so you'd think ...
Instead of learning about what's inside the instance, it ends up learning how to actually play the character for most people in there. Healers who don't keep tanks alive, tanks who don't bother actually tanking, tanks who don't know that what they're doing is actually increasing their aggro when they're supposed to be handing off to the next tank. (The boss does something that makes it impossible for the tank to do his job).
Translation - I was in the B team, the one that has all the people who haven't been picked for the better team. I don't know why I'm in there. I have one of the best equipped characters for my class in guildlink and I'm one of the best mages in terms of skill for GL too. I can also figure out alterations to strategy to optimize what we do as well. But I'm still never picked for the top team. I haven't a clue why that happens when we split into 2 20 player raids. It's getting to the point where I'm wondering whether or not to bother signing up to the 20 player raids.
And I'll leave it there.
Had our first trip into the newly opened Ahn'Qiraj instance today, which means learning for everyone. Well, maybe not so much learning because we've researched what things do. Or so you'd think ...
Instead of learning about what's inside the instance, it ends up learning how to actually play the character for most people in there. Healers who don't keep tanks alive, tanks who don't bother actually tanking, tanks who don't know that what they're doing is actually increasing their aggro when they're supposed to be handing off to the next tank. (The boss does something that makes it impossible for the tank to do his job).
Translation - I was in the B team, the one that has all the people who haven't been picked for the better team. I don't know why I'm in there. I have one of the best equipped characters for my class in guildlink and I'm one of the best mages in terms of skill for GL too. I can also figure out alterations to strategy to optimize what we do as well. But I'm still never picked for the top team. I haven't a clue why that happens when we split into 2 20 player raids. It's getting to the point where I'm wondering whether or not to bother signing up to the 20 player raids.
And I'll leave it there.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Thursday Thirteen
Before I start tapping, I'm not doing too well at the moment due to my ongoing ear problems ... So I might appear a little more waspish than I'd like to. Struggling to think of a theme as well today :-(.
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Thirteen Things about Sleepypete
2... I'm a chocolate fiend. Chocolate and especially Mini Eggs, is not safe around me. 3... But I'm on a diet, so I must resist. (1 stone lost so far, stalled there though) 4... I've run 100m in less than 12 seconds, when I was 14. 5... I've been constantly afflicted by disabling injuries since I was 14. 6... I like my gadgets but I'm not a fanatic. Why have an MP3 player if you don't listen to music outside of where you can listen to it in high quality ? 7... I have a habit of upsetting people and I don't suffer fools lightly. 8... I'll help anyone who asks politely but I'll not help people who have made no effort to help themselves. 9... I can see why change is necessary, I really can ! But that doesn't reduce my natural inertia against change much. 10... I could kill for a KFC right now ... (it's the funny chemicals they put in) but there's no way I'm getting in the car again tonight. 11... Pushy people irritate me, whether that's pushy in terms of how they drive or whether they want me to do stuff that they should be doing themselves. 12... Alisha's Attic music gives me the irresistable urge to sing along. 13... Peace and quiet is all very well but I do miss having company around. Maybe that's why I play WoW so much. |
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Too imba ?
One of the things they're going to change in the next World of Warcraft patch is the top end small group instances ... These are places that are designed for 5 person parties but which can currently take up to 10. What they're doing is making them slightly easier but they'll be enforcing stricter limits on how many can go in.
So, Stratholme and Scholomance join Dire Maul (great names huh ?) as being a maximum of 5 people. Which will up the challenge to make them interesting. Trouble is, it may also make them too hard for random groups to do. Hell - I haven't got a problem with that, it will encourage people to learn their class better. Sure, it encourages the hard core but you don't need to be on the game 24 hours a day in order to get really good at it. And the instances were perfectly doable with just 5 as they were before as well.
The place we blitzkrieged tonight is a place called Upper Black Rock Spire, which can currently take 15 people. It's being limited to 10 after the patch, so we thought we'd see how we'd do with just 10 players with the instance in its harder prepatch state. How did it go ? Errmmm ... kinda embarassing. The mobs were dismissed like tatters in the wind as we whirled through the instance. We got through the instance extremely quickly, good profit for little cost. Just shows what you can do with a strong group.
We missed the Overqueen, who was the inspiration behind the run. Things were a bit quiet, apart from the dying screams of those foolish enough to try standing before us that is. There's a definite bit of fun and laughter that comes in when the Overqueen's voice comes over Teamspeak. Especially when you come up with a comment that gets her close to dissolving into giggles :-) (managed to do that twice now) Ah well, we'll have to drag her through there at a later date when she's feeling a bit better.
So, Stratholme and Scholomance join Dire Maul (great names huh ?) as being a maximum of 5 people. Which will up the challenge to make them interesting. Trouble is, it may also make them too hard for random groups to do. Hell - I haven't got a problem with that, it will encourage people to learn their class better. Sure, it encourages the hard core but you don't need to be on the game 24 hours a day in order to get really good at it. And the instances were perfectly doable with just 5 as they were before as well.
The place we blitzkrieged tonight is a place called Upper Black Rock Spire, which can currently take 15 people. It's being limited to 10 after the patch, so we thought we'd see how we'd do with just 10 players with the instance in its harder prepatch state. How did it go ? Errmmm ... kinda embarassing. The mobs were dismissed like tatters in the wind as we whirled through the instance. We got through the instance extremely quickly, good profit for little cost. Just shows what you can do with a strong group.
We missed the Overqueen, who was the inspiration behind the run. Things were a bit quiet, apart from the dying screams of those foolish enough to try standing before us that is. There's a definite bit of fun and laughter that comes in when the Overqueen's voice comes over Teamspeak. Especially when you come up with a comment that gets her close to dissolving into giggles :-) (managed to do that twice now) Ah well, we'll have to drag her through there at a later date when she's feeling a bit better.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Meh
Just dropped out of a Zul'Gurub run because of not feeling too great. At least it means that someone well, willing and able can take my spot :-). (I hung around for about 10 minutes so that they wouldn't go in short)
Ear problem must be worse than I thought. It's affecting my balance, which means I was concentrating hard on trying to walk in a straight line while I was at work today. At least I could concentrate a little more, which is better than some stages of last week. Mind you, I also have a sore throat.
This sounds like excuses doesn't it ? Ah well. I try to not tell people what to think but try to get them thinking for themselves. If that's what they think, so be it ;-) but at least I can be happy knowing that I haven't let the team down because I hung around to make sure they didn't go in short.
In the meantime, I'll start looking for an anchor to stop the room moving, while just generally crashing out in front of the telly.
Ear problem must be worse than I thought. It's affecting my balance, which means I was concentrating hard on trying to walk in a straight line while I was at work today. At least I could concentrate a little more, which is better than some stages of last week. Mind you, I also have a sore throat.
This sounds like excuses doesn't it ? Ah well. I try to not tell people what to think but try to get them thinking for themselves. If that's what they think, so be it ;-) but at least I can be happy knowing that I haven't let the team down because I hung around to make sure they didn't go in short.
In the meantime, I'll start looking for an anchor to stop the room moving, while just generally crashing out in front of the telly.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Don't scare me like that England ...
Heh - relatively early mornings for me, yesterday and today. cricket was on !
I managed to emerge yesterday at around 8.30 ish and was out of bed and into slumber position on the sofa today before 8am. That's before I get up for work in the week ! Shame the cricket wasn't really worth watching at that point. I even turned it over to the South Africa v Aussie game for a while.
India decided to make it interesting towards the end though, as they tried going for the win. About 200 runs to get off 25 overs and it actually looked at one point as if it might reach the nightmare condition of them having a chance for them. Not to be though, the fading light brought an early close. I think that had something to do with Harbhajan Singh of India having 2 of his 3 stumps removed from the ground by a 90mph ball from Steve Harmison that he probably never saw.
Good result for England though. Because they were missing their Captain, Vice Captain and one of their 4 fast bowlers, they went into this match very short on experience. They had no less than 3 players making their debuts ... However, they avoided defeat quite handily and put India under pressure. Even game, although the pitch stopped either side having a good chance for the win.
Oh yeah - England bowler Matthew Hoggard is going to get some ribbing from the people looking after the England team ... He's just been shown riding around the outfield on the 125cc motorbike that he received as part of his Man of the Match award.
I managed to emerge yesterday at around 8.30 ish and was out of bed and into slumber position on the sofa today before 8am. That's before I get up for work in the week ! Shame the cricket wasn't really worth watching at that point. I even turned it over to the South Africa v Aussie game for a while.
India decided to make it interesting towards the end though, as they tried going for the win. About 200 runs to get off 25 overs and it actually looked at one point as if it might reach the nightmare condition of them having a chance for them. Not to be though, the fading light brought an early close. I think that had something to do with Harbhajan Singh of India having 2 of his 3 stumps removed from the ground by a 90mph ball from Steve Harmison that he probably never saw.
Good result for England though. Because they were missing their Captain, Vice Captain and one of their 4 fast bowlers, they went into this match very short on experience. They had no less than 3 players making their debuts ... However, they avoided defeat quite handily and put India under pressure. Even game, although the pitch stopped either side having a good chance for the win.
Oh yeah - England bowler Matthew Hoggard is going to get some ribbing from the people looking after the England team ... He's just been shown riding around the outfield on the 125cc motorbike that he received as part of his Man of the Match award.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Poor Chronos
Big evil grin ...
Chronos is the cat who occasionally gets free munchies from my neighbour, Cyberkitten. Normally, Chronos would be able to nip into my back garden through a lattice fence and go next door via the gap in the fence between my place and Cyberkitten's.
Alas for Chronos, my fence has been fixed ! No more hole to let Chronos get his munchies.
I've been watching the cricket this morning and have noticed a few disgusted looks from poor Chronos as he eyes up my new fence panel. I think he might be getting his mates around later for some concentrated climbing on the fence panel to see if they can bring it down.
Wonder how long it will take Chronos to figure out a way around the problem ?
Chronos is the cat who occasionally gets free munchies from my neighbour, Cyberkitten. Normally, Chronos would be able to nip into my back garden through a lattice fence and go next door via the gap in the fence between my place and Cyberkitten's.
Alas for Chronos, my fence has been fixed ! No more hole to let Chronos get his munchies.
I've been watching the cricket this morning and have noticed a few disgusted looks from poor Chronos as he eyes up my new fence panel. I think he might be getting his mates around later for some concentrated climbing on the fence panel to see if they can bring it down.
Wonder how long it will take Chronos to figure out a way around the problem ?
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Thursday Thirteen
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Thirteen people who are important to me
2.... Craziequeen for all of the listening 3.... RCA for being so determined to let nothing stand in her way, that will always be an inspiration. 4.... Miss L for pulling me up out of the pit I found myself in last summer. 5.... The IT Girl for being one of the best friends I have. Be well IT Girl :-) 6.... The Crazies for letting me be myself. 7.... Diablo for also being one of the best friends I have. 8.... Sarai the Overqueen for laughing at my jokes. 9.... The Mercenaries for helping me rediscover a sense of fun. 10.... Tula the Dancing Girl for being a beautiful spirit. 11.... Keith Whitton for having faith in a raw 16 year old and giving that 16 year old the belief he needed to step up into becoming a full part of the mens team. Shame I didn't follow him when he left ! 12.... Widget and co for taking me in while I was at university. Bring on the next Centre Parcs :-). 13.... And finally, the inventor of Mini Eggs ! (Gotta have one fun one - or I'd have been lying on number 9!) |
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Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Boingy Boingy
To shamelessly steal a phrase from someone :-)
On the one hand, I'm at the point of tired where I could quite easily put my head on the arm of the sofa and snooze until morning. But on the other hand, I'm getting the kind of energy that makes me want to jump around like a mad thing.
Hence the boingy, boingy.
I can't figure it out ... and I'll bet that when I try and get to sleep tonight (when I eventually go to bed), I'll be awake for a while. We shall see. Maybe it's what I'm eating, it was another hectic lunchtime today (meeting through most of it). Maybe it's my body doing its usual thing when faced with a problem, which is go nuts with adrenaline to keep me on my feet.
Hmm - I've got the England v Uruguay match on at the moment, that's highly likely to send me to sleep. Mind you, Saturday will be day 4 of the Test Match, so if I wake up at normal time on Saturday, I'll be able to fall asleep on the sofa in front of that :-). Back to the game !
On the one hand, I'm at the point of tired where I could quite easily put my head on the arm of the sofa and snooze until morning. But on the other hand, I'm getting the kind of energy that makes me want to jump around like a mad thing.
Hence the boingy, boingy.
I can't figure it out ... and I'll bet that when I try and get to sleep tonight (when I eventually go to bed), I'll be awake for a while. We shall see. Maybe it's what I'm eating, it was another hectic lunchtime today (meeting through most of it). Maybe it's my body doing its usual thing when faced with a problem, which is go nuts with adrenaline to keep me on my feet.
Hmm - I've got the England v Uruguay match on at the moment, that's highly likely to send me to sleep. Mind you, Saturday will be day 4 of the Test Match, so if I wake up at normal time on Saturday, I'll be able to fall asleep on the sofa in front of that :-). Back to the game !
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Hectic ...
Think I need another holiday !
Today was, getting out of bed a little earlier, which is no great hardship. So that's me in work at just after 8.30 ... (I sleep late)
Lunchtime, clocked out bang on 12.00 (earliest possible) and dragged my ex off to the solicitors so she could sign away her claim on me house. (She's getting lots of money for it). So that's me and her at the solicitors at 12.30. Leave there about 12.50, drop her off (I was nice, I took her back to work) and then leg it to the bank ... Get lots of cash from the bank, rush back home to pay some builders who are turning my "garden" from Jungle into no maintenance. So that's me home at 1.30. Drop off cash, back into work. The garden bit will take a while to pay off but at least the house saga is coming to a close. That'll help.
Hectic ! Oh yeah, back home, leaving work at 4.30 to get set for another evening in Zul'Gurub. To be honest though, I'd been looking at finance stuff all day and couldn't face the sight of spreadsheets any more.
Think I overdid it yesterday, it wasn't a good idea to do Zul'Gurub after playing cricket. I can make myself do it but I shouldn't really make myself focus like that after I'm already physically tired. But they needed me and I was available. Think I'll need a night or two away from WoW though.
Hmm. It's Pancake Tuesday today but I'm just not feeling hungry at the moment ... I had a packet of Mini Eggs beside me all the way through ZG tonight, plus a packet of Chocolate Hobnos, yet I've not touched them. Am I ill ? (ear's still bothering me a lot, messing up my balance, plus voice has gone) So I'm going to break all religious tradition and have my pancakes tomorrow. Muahahaha !
Today was, getting out of bed a little earlier, which is no great hardship. So that's me in work at just after 8.30 ... (I sleep late)
Lunchtime, clocked out bang on 12.00 (earliest possible) and dragged my ex off to the solicitors so she could sign away her claim on me house. (She's getting lots of money for it). So that's me and her at the solicitors at 12.30. Leave there about 12.50, drop her off (I was nice, I took her back to work) and then leg it to the bank ... Get lots of cash from the bank, rush back home to pay some builders who are turning my "garden" from Jungle into no maintenance. So that's me home at 1.30. Drop off cash, back into work. The garden bit will take a while to pay off but at least the house saga is coming to a close. That'll help.
Hectic ! Oh yeah, back home, leaving work at 4.30 to get set for another evening in Zul'Gurub. To be honest though, I'd been looking at finance stuff all day and couldn't face the sight of spreadsheets any more.
Think I overdid it yesterday, it wasn't a good idea to do Zul'Gurub after playing cricket. I can make myself do it but I shouldn't really make myself focus like that after I'm already physically tired. But they needed me and I was available. Think I'll need a night or two away from WoW though.
Hmm. It's Pancake Tuesday today but I'm just not feeling hungry at the moment ... I had a packet of Mini Eggs beside me all the way through ZG tonight, plus a packet of Chocolate Hobnos, yet I've not touched them. Am I ill ? (ear's still bothering me a lot, messing up my balance, plus voice has gone) So I'm going to break all religious tradition and have my pancakes tomorrow. Muahahaha !
Monday, February 27, 2006
Small Swings vs Ex Disablers
Another game tonight, this time versus Ex Disablers, which is a team that is also mid table to lower end. Translation - a team we need to beat ... because we aim to be no lower than 4th of the 10 teams.
We won the toss and fielded first, which means we know how hard to chase down the runs. Full teams on both sides, so it's down to how you play as to who wins. Steady bowling from us kept their scoring opportunities down, although we didn't have our two terrors, Lee and the Brain, here tonight. Plenty of wandering led to plenty of stumping opportunities for me, plus a catch behind. Proud of those when I get them as I always stand up to the stumps, which makes for far less reaction time.
They did get a flurry of runs from their last batting pair though, ending up with 68. Not much ... but you still have to knock all of those off ... My bowling was as bad as usual (for my standards) but I did actually get a few on the mat. Will have to get my shoulder looked at sometime. It's still good to know that I can still turn the game around single handedly with my keeping though :-) I must have had at least another 5-6 stumpings tonight out of 11 wickets that they lost. Plus the catch behind ...
Batting from our side was very steady, we didn't really need to go nuts. We'd passed their score by the time Dennis and I started, so from there it was make sure of no disasters ... Hmm - with work's current opening batsman and an opening bat from 10 years ago, you're not going to get disasters. Finished on 119 for a comfortable win.
PS Also hit Zul'Gurub after the game tonight, 4 bosses down in 3 hours but far too much wiping on the trash mobs ... Some tanks need to learn to tank mobs where they want the mobs tanked, instead of tanking them where the mobs start off. Ho hum. (on one spot, we had several wipes due to many adds joining in that didn't need to be in range of joining in). No more good stuff for me but my character did make a bit of a profit on the night. Will see if I'm needed tomorrow as I got in tonight (after making an original team and then being dropped !) due to a few people letting us down due to late unavailability.
We won the toss and fielded first, which means we know how hard to chase down the runs. Full teams on both sides, so it's down to how you play as to who wins. Steady bowling from us kept their scoring opportunities down, although we didn't have our two terrors, Lee and the Brain, here tonight. Plenty of wandering led to plenty of stumping opportunities for me, plus a catch behind. Proud of those when I get them as I always stand up to the stumps, which makes for far less reaction time.
They did get a flurry of runs from their last batting pair though, ending up with 68. Not much ... but you still have to knock all of those off ... My bowling was as bad as usual (for my standards) but I did actually get a few on the mat. Will have to get my shoulder looked at sometime. It's still good to know that I can still turn the game around single handedly with my keeping though :-) I must have had at least another 5-6 stumpings tonight out of 11 wickets that they lost. Plus the catch behind ...
Batting from our side was very steady, we didn't really need to go nuts. We'd passed their score by the time Dennis and I started, so from there it was make sure of no disasters ... Hmm - with work's current opening batsman and an opening bat from 10 years ago, you're not going to get disasters. Finished on 119 for a comfortable win.
PS Also hit Zul'Gurub after the game tonight, 4 bosses down in 3 hours but far too much wiping on the trash mobs ... Some tanks need to learn to tank mobs where they want the mobs tanked, instead of tanking them where the mobs start off. Ho hum. (on one spot, we had several wipes due to many adds joining in that didn't need to be in range of joining in). No more good stuff for me but my character did make a bit of a profit on the night. Will see if I'm needed tomorrow as I got in tonight (after making an original team and then being dropped !) due to a few people letting us down due to late unavailability.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
That was the weekend that was
Well, we just came out of the new, shinier Guildlink's first Molten Core run and what an excellent weekend :-).
Despite having literally half the raid group being newcomers to Molten Core and the pecularities of the bosses and mobs, we completed all of our objectives and blew through all the rest of them as well. I only expected to get about 3-4 bosses down but we actually got through 8. Which means lots n lots of nice shiny loot :-). (My main character is up to 5 epics now)
A lot of the new people got the shiny stuff as well. Which is fantastic. You should have seen some of the quotes that were cropping up in Guildchat from the new people - Molten Core is to be seen to be believed ... They enjoyed it and we enjoyed having them along. Just have to get them trained up for dragon hunting. (You need an amulet to get in the front door.) Lots of good teamwork shown over the weekend too.
Last word goes to the person who brought all this together - lots of patience from our raid leader over the weekend. Very clear instructions of what happens with each boss and what to do about it. Means we're ready for what happens before it happens. The patience and determination makes us more positive too. It's not "We'll have a shot at this", it's "He's going down and I want to steal his stuff." Heh heh heh - mobs soon learn to not get in the way of Guildlink.
Zul'Gurub is the target for Guildlink tomorrow, although I'm not likely to be there because I'll hopefully be bringing my readers a cricket match report. (crosses fingers for a healthy shoulder)
Despite having literally half the raid group being newcomers to Molten Core and the pecularities of the bosses and mobs, we completed all of our objectives and blew through all the rest of them as well. I only expected to get about 3-4 bosses down but we actually got through 8. Which means lots n lots of nice shiny loot :-). (My main character is up to 5 epics now)
A lot of the new people got the shiny stuff as well. Which is fantastic. You should have seen some of the quotes that were cropping up in Guildchat from the new people - Molten Core is to be seen to be believed ... They enjoyed it and we enjoyed having them along. Just have to get them trained up for dragon hunting. (You need an amulet to get in the front door.) Lots of good teamwork shown over the weekend too.
Last word goes to the person who brought all this together - lots of patience from our raid leader over the weekend. Very clear instructions of what happens with each boss and what to do about it. Means we're ready for what happens before it happens. The patience and determination makes us more positive too. It's not "We'll have a shot at this", it's "He's going down and I want to steal his stuff." Heh heh heh - mobs soon learn to not get in the way of Guildlink.
Zul'Gurub is the target for Guildlink tomorrow, although I'm not likely to be there because I'll hopefully be bringing my readers a cricket match report. (crosses fingers for a healthy shoulder)
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Old game appreciation society
I've talked about World of Warcraft a lot lately, time for something a little different ...
Ok. Not so different.
One of the early games I played and one of the few real time strategy games I've enjoyed was Warcraft : Orcs and Humans. (Humans and Orcs doesn't quite sound right does it). This was one of the early RTS games, so it was nice and simple. I like simple ! It was also one of those games that gently leads you into the variation of units available through an interesting storyline.
It had the cartoony graphics that fit the world it was set in, plus it had plenty of character in there as well. There's the hidden touches like what happens when you repeatedly click on a unit. Do that with an orc and you go through a sequence like "Zubzub", "What?", "Whaaaat?", "Whatcha wanna kill?", "Stop Poking Me!" and so on. It made me smile :-).
It allowed for decent tactics, although it was of the early days of RTS's, so no 3d. Basic tactics of the ranged firing squad being the good ones. Although you could rock-paper-scissors that. Still, top game and I've wished that I'd taken up the chance to play Warcraft II and Warcraft III. Still could play Warcraft III, it's still available in the shops on budget.
Blizzard (the developers) came up with a rich, interesting world, with plenty of character. Lots of history too, built up within the various Warcraft games. It's now at the stage where you can play a single character within the world, with World of Warcraft. But it all started way back with Warcraft : Orcs and Humans.
Ok. Not so different.
One of the early games I played and one of the few real time strategy games I've enjoyed was Warcraft : Orcs and Humans. (Humans and Orcs doesn't quite sound right does it). This was one of the early RTS games, so it was nice and simple. I like simple ! It was also one of those games that gently leads you into the variation of units available through an interesting storyline.
It had the cartoony graphics that fit the world it was set in, plus it had plenty of character in there as well. There's the hidden touches like what happens when you repeatedly click on a unit. Do that with an orc and you go through a sequence like "Zubzub", "What?", "Whaaaat?", "Whatcha wanna kill?", "Stop Poking Me!" and so on. It made me smile :-).
It allowed for decent tactics, although it was of the early days of RTS's, so no 3d. Basic tactics of the ranged firing squad being the good ones. Although you could rock-paper-scissors that. Still, top game and I've wished that I'd taken up the chance to play Warcraft II and Warcraft III. Still could play Warcraft III, it's still available in the shops on budget.
Blizzard (the developers) came up with a rich, interesting world, with plenty of character. Lots of history too, built up within the various Warcraft games. It's now at the stage where you can play a single character within the world, with World of Warcraft. But it all started way back with Warcraft : Orcs and Humans.
Friday, February 24, 2006
WoW Earth shattering day
Blimey ... what a day in WoW that was ...
The earthquakes started around lunchtime when one guild decided they were leaving. Fair enough, they had a lot of dangerous people in there and a raid leader who basically wasn't doing the job properly. They threw their teddies out the pram bigtime when our Revered Leader and Overqueen defended one of the Mercenaries (my guys) over what he said on Wednesday's failed Onyxia run. He swore over the voice comms because someone was being insanely dangerous. Ah well - the dangerous person is not in Guildlink any more. He was part of the triangle that led to Valhalla leaving.
Then a little while later, the Withering guild announce they're going as well. So we were left in a big hole, with a big raid due later and plans in absolute chaos ... Heh. So they thought ! Several hours later, we were back organised again (that's why we revere the Overqueen) and had a full balanced raid group going into Molten Core. Which was the first time for many of the people going in.
How did we do ? It helped that we got epic loot (da good stuff) really early and that the loot went to new people. That helped settle people down, reminding them why we were there. We died a few more times than we're used to but that's fine ... Lot of new people. We still got 3 bosses down, which is fantastic for a run with so many new people.
So, Guildlink's lost a few people. We'll miss them sure, but I personally won't miss the cluster of extremely dangerous players that have gone as well. That's dangerous in terms of being stupid and indisciplined and causing problems for the raid. We'll bounce back, we'll grow stronger. We'll definitely keep enjoying our relaxed attitude to raiding. As we did tonight. Lots of good stuff tonight and we'll be back for more tomorrow.
Time to move on, wave goodbye to the elitist people who will now try and rub in what fantastic players they are. We're better off without them. As long as we have the Overqueen, we'll do just fine. (We better look after her !)
The earthquakes started around lunchtime when one guild decided they were leaving. Fair enough, they had a lot of dangerous people in there and a raid leader who basically wasn't doing the job properly. They threw their teddies out the pram bigtime when our Revered Leader and Overqueen defended one of the Mercenaries (my guys) over what he said on Wednesday's failed Onyxia run. He swore over the voice comms because someone was being insanely dangerous. Ah well - the dangerous person is not in Guildlink any more. He was part of the triangle that led to Valhalla leaving.
Then a little while later, the Withering guild announce they're going as well. So we were left in a big hole, with a big raid due later and plans in absolute chaos ... Heh. So they thought ! Several hours later, we were back organised again (that's why we revere the Overqueen) and had a full balanced raid group going into Molten Core. Which was the first time for many of the people going in.
How did we do ? It helped that we got epic loot (da good stuff) really early and that the loot went to new people. That helped settle people down, reminding them why we were there. We died a few more times than we're used to but that's fine ... Lot of new people. We still got 3 bosses down, which is fantastic for a run with so many new people.
So, Guildlink's lost a few people. We'll miss them sure, but I personally won't miss the cluster of extremely dangerous players that have gone as well. That's dangerous in terms of being stupid and indisciplined and causing problems for the raid. We'll bounce back, we'll grow stronger. We'll definitely keep enjoying our relaxed attitude to raiding. As we did tonight. Lots of good stuff tonight and we'll be back for more tomorrow.
Time to move on, wave goodbye to the elitist people who will now try and rub in what fantastic players they are. We're better off without them. As long as we have the Overqueen, we'll do just fine. (We better look after her !)
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Thursday Thirteen
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Thirteen Things about Sleepypete
2... I'm hopelessly addicted to all kinds of games but mostly those that test skill. 3... I have injured every single part of my body. I have had more than 10 broken or cracked bones, not including damage to all of my fingers and both thumbs. 4... But I enjoyed every minute of the circumstances ! 5... I think modern stuff tends to be a pale imitation of what's gone before. 6... But I love my modern toys. Email forever ! 7... I would love to meet Karen and Shellie of Alisha's Attic. 8... I have had 2 long term relationships that both came to nought. Third time lucky ? 9... I'm seriously into sci-fi, current favourites are Battlestar Galactica and David Weber. 10... I sleep, therefore I am. 11... I have called my computers after Digimon characters, with the next phase being named after Godzilla. 12... I'd follow anyone for the promise of Chocolate Hobnobs. 13... Mini Eggs make me hyperactive. Which is why I eat them before cricket matches. |
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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Crazy stuff ...
Another World of Warcraft post ...
We've got an issue with Guildlink where we have people complaining that they aren't getting picked to go to the big Molten Core instance. However, when you give them the opportunity to go, they're not signing up ! Crazy. If they don't take the opportunity when it's presented, pretty soon the opportunities won't be offered.
I've done my bit, I've signed up as a person who'd like to go to the first (i.e. learner) run and have declared that I won't be going on the second (i.e. experienced) run. Conveniently enough, I have an indoor cricket match on the first day of that second run, which keeps me out of it. Otherwise, I'd have had to choose whether or not to sign up to both. Despite a lock-in thing, I can do that, because I have the two separate characters. And I'd be happy to, because my experience would be helping out that first run, which will have a bunch of new people in it.
However ... It seems like a heap of people who could sign up aren't ... I don't know. It strikes me as selfish freeloading. They think that by going on the experienced run, they'll have an easier ride through to getting the good loot that drops from the boss targets. I think that's it. Another thing that it could be is that there is a second run being set up as well, which could be getting in the way. The second run is a 20 person run into that Zul'Gurub jungle place.
I hope the learner run gets off the ground, however at the moment there are only about 10 sign ups for a 40 person raid. Need more people ! I've done my bit by signing up and I think I've got at least 2 more experienced people to sign up through making them feel guilty. Ha !
We've got an issue with Guildlink where we have people complaining that they aren't getting picked to go to the big Molten Core instance. However, when you give them the opportunity to go, they're not signing up ! Crazy. If they don't take the opportunity when it's presented, pretty soon the opportunities won't be offered.
I've done my bit, I've signed up as a person who'd like to go to the first (i.e. learner) run and have declared that I won't be going on the second (i.e. experienced) run. Conveniently enough, I have an indoor cricket match on the first day of that second run, which keeps me out of it. Otherwise, I'd have had to choose whether or not to sign up to both. Despite a lock-in thing, I can do that, because I have the two separate characters. And I'd be happy to, because my experience would be helping out that first run, which will have a bunch of new people in it.
However ... It seems like a heap of people who could sign up aren't ... I don't know. It strikes me as selfish freeloading. They think that by going on the experienced run, they'll have an easier ride through to getting the good loot that drops from the boss targets. I think that's it. Another thing that it could be is that there is a second run being set up as well, which could be getting in the way. The second run is a 20 person run into that Zul'Gurub jungle place.
I hope the learner run gets off the ground, however at the moment there are only about 10 sign ups for a 40 person raid. Need more people ! I've done my bit by signing up and I think I've got at least 2 more experienced people to sign up through making them feel guilty. Ha !
Monday, February 20, 2006
Another British Winner
This time it's the Scottish Kerr pair, in the ice dance. They both did a terrific job and looked like they had fun. They deserved to have fun, it was a flawless performance.
Will they get medals ? Nah. They're not Russian. In ice dance and figure skating it's not about what you do on the ice, it's about who you are. Ah well. They're both winners as far as I'm concerned. They did Scotland and GB proud.
PS Curling gets even strategic sports fanatic me falling asleep as bored.
Will they get medals ? Nah. They're not Russian. In ice dance and figure skating it's not about what you do on the ice, it's about who you are. Ah well. They're both winners as far as I'm concerned. They did Scotland and GB proud.
PS Curling gets even strategic sports fanatic me falling asleep as bored.
Tired or bored ?
Trying to figure out which one I am at the moment.
I feel tired, even though I got a decent amount of sleep over the weekend. It's not physical exertion, because I've not been running around that much. I don't think it's mental exhaustion either, because I'd managed to limit my online time over the weekend as well. I was online a bit but only because I was bored. (And one of the raids was short, so I helped out)
Maybe I need to find myself another hobby ... Kinda like, get myself tired out properly instead of only half tired through pooter games. Must get the golf clubs out of the airing cupboard.
So that's what I need to do, find a direction to go in and devote my energies towards that. It's always easier to summon up energy when you have something (or someone!) to direct it towards. Outdoor cricket season will start in a couple of months :-).
Currently watching part 1 of the new version of The Poseidon Adventure. This one looks like it has a similar collection of stars to the first one. Already seen have been Adam Baldwin (Jayne from Firefly), Rutger Hauer, Peter Weller, Steve Guttenburg and Bryan Brown. Ok, maybe not so high profile stars as the first one.
I feel tired, even though I got a decent amount of sleep over the weekend. It's not physical exertion, because I've not been running around that much. I don't think it's mental exhaustion either, because I'd managed to limit my online time over the weekend as well. I was online a bit but only because I was bored. (And one of the raids was short, so I helped out)
Maybe I need to find myself another hobby ... Kinda like, get myself tired out properly instead of only half tired through pooter games. Must get the golf clubs out of the airing cupboard.
So that's what I need to do, find a direction to go in and devote my energies towards that. It's always easier to summon up energy when you have something (or someone!) to direct it towards. Outdoor cricket season will start in a couple of months :-).
Currently watching part 1 of the new version of The Poseidon Adventure. This one looks like it has a similar collection of stars to the first one. Already seen have been Adam Baldwin (Jayne from Firefly), Rutger Hauer, Peter Weller, Steve Guttenburg and Bryan Brown. Ok, maybe not so high profile stars as the first one.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
The indoor cricket thing
Stuck for something to scribble about today, so I'm going to break down the rules of the indoor cricket. Think I promised to do that a little while ago.
Ok - the indoor cricket at work is 6 a side, 12 overs a team. The 12 overs are broken up into 3 batches of 4, with each 4 over set having one pair of batsmen. Losing a wicket doesn't mean the batsman can't bat any more, it means -5 on the score.
How about the bowlers ? Everyone bowls 2 overs but you can choose when you have people bowl. One of my favourite tactics when captaining was to try and spot which batsmen couldn't handle a certain bowler and get that bowler against that batsmen. It works too :-)
It's kinda small in there so how do you get big scores ? Hitting the walls gives a bonus. Side wall in batsman's half - 1 extra. Side wall in bowler's half - 2 extra. Side wall then end wall - 3 extra. End wall - 4 extra. End wall without bouncing - 6 extra. But if you hit the ball onto the balcony or the roof, you're out mister.
Fielding is fairly obvious, fielders spread out, with a wicket keeper and a bowler. I usually stand behind the stumps to try and get stumpings but some bowlers are either too quick or too wild to be that close. Mind you, we have Brian, who bowls quick enough for me to be wanting about 3 times the distance to the stumps, compared to the short 10 feet from stumps to back wall.
Games only last an hour but it's a hell of a rush to play in them. I think I enjoy these short games more than the outdoor games. However, it's not been so good this year because of the balls we're using this year. Think the ball I bowled really, really slowly (as a variation) sums it up. It bounced head high ... And when I change to offspin, the normal place that goes is rib high. The balls are pretty squishy, which means they bounce strangely and don't come off the bat too well. When my shoulder lets me*, my sneaky plan for domination will be to bowl really, really slowly to see how many of those head high bouncers will happen. You can't really do much with those as a batter ...
*Due to a dislocated shoulder eight years ago, I have a long term shoulder problem. It's ok 99% of the time, except for when I want to actually bowl with it ... The problem is a little restriction near the vertical, which destroys the smooth rotation of the arm through the bowling action. Sometimes it's fine, other times I have no length accuracy whatsoever. I'll figure something out to stop it being a problem.
Ok - the indoor cricket at work is 6 a side, 12 overs a team. The 12 overs are broken up into 3 batches of 4, with each 4 over set having one pair of batsmen. Losing a wicket doesn't mean the batsman can't bat any more, it means -5 on the score.
How about the bowlers ? Everyone bowls 2 overs but you can choose when you have people bowl. One of my favourite tactics when captaining was to try and spot which batsmen couldn't handle a certain bowler and get that bowler against that batsmen. It works too :-)
It's kinda small in there so how do you get big scores ? Hitting the walls gives a bonus. Side wall in batsman's half - 1 extra. Side wall in bowler's half - 2 extra. Side wall then end wall - 3 extra. End wall - 4 extra. End wall without bouncing - 6 extra. But if you hit the ball onto the balcony or the roof, you're out mister.
Fielding is fairly obvious, fielders spread out, with a wicket keeper and a bowler. I usually stand behind the stumps to try and get stumpings but some bowlers are either too quick or too wild to be that close. Mind you, we have Brian, who bowls quick enough for me to be wanting about 3 times the distance to the stumps, compared to the short 10 feet from stumps to back wall.
Games only last an hour but it's a hell of a rush to play in them. I think I enjoy these short games more than the outdoor games. However, it's not been so good this year because of the balls we're using this year. Think the ball I bowled really, really slowly (as a variation) sums it up. It bounced head high ... And when I change to offspin, the normal place that goes is rib high. The balls are pretty squishy, which means they bounce strangely and don't come off the bat too well. When my shoulder lets me*, my sneaky plan for domination will be to bowl really, really slowly to see how many of those head high bouncers will happen. You can't really do much with those as a batter ...
*Due to a dislocated shoulder eight years ago, I have a long term shoulder problem. It's ok 99% of the time, except for when I want to actually bowl with it ... The problem is a little restriction near the vertical, which destroys the smooth rotation of the arm through the bowling action. Sometimes it's fine, other times I have no length accuracy whatsoever. I'll figure something out to stop it being a problem.
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