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 !
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
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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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.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Lazing on a Saturday afternoon
Had fun last night with the people from the guild. We were having a look at a few people that we don't know too well, seeing what their skills were like. I got brought in at the last minute because the place they were going has a quest that gets you into the big Molten Core place.
We had Zalzar as our healer, Fubb as our marksman, Towwy as our mage, Clagnuts as our rogue and Bolbit, Bashara (me!) and Fourak as our warriors. Bit top heavy on warriors but we needed to have a look at them. We had a couple more come in as well to take a peek at, including Ratharyn. I was impressed with Clagnuts because he got damage in without getting much damage taken in return. I think he was concentrating on my target and I should be pretty difficult to get aggro from. (I have one of the better weapons in the game and it's heavily enhanced by enchantments and talents)
Towwy was going nuts :-). He was seeing how our warriors coped with mages that do incredible amounts of damage. I think he had far too much fun.
All in all, a good fun run and it restored some of my faith in World of Warcraft raiding. I've since signed up to the Onyxia run tomorrow because it's short of people. Still need lazy time but plans for cinema tomorrow seem incredibly nebulous, so I'm going with the sure thing. Plus they're still a bit short of people for the run. (Ooze isn't as popular a raid leader as Sarai, he isn't strong enough to tell people off)
What am I up to now ? I just watched the Liverpool v Man U game. Poor game but a good result. People should play the game to win, instead of playing to get people on the other side sent off. Terrible injury to Alan Smith, I reckon his ankle's broken.
We had Zalzar as our healer, Fubb as our marksman, Towwy as our mage, Clagnuts as our rogue and Bolbit, Bashara (me!) and Fourak as our warriors. Bit top heavy on warriors but we needed to have a look at them. We had a couple more come in as well to take a peek at, including Ratharyn. I was impressed with Clagnuts because he got damage in without getting much damage taken in return. I think he was concentrating on my target and I should be pretty difficult to get aggro from. (I have one of the better weapons in the game and it's heavily enhanced by enchantments and talents)
Towwy was going nuts :-). He was seeing how our warriors coped with mages that do incredible amounts of damage. I think he had far too much fun.
All in all, a good fun run and it restored some of my faith in World of Warcraft raiding. I've since signed up to the Onyxia run tomorrow because it's short of people. Still need lazy time but plans for cinema tomorrow seem incredibly nebulous, so I'm going with the sure thing. Plus they're still a bit short of people for the run. (Ooze isn't as popular a raid leader as Sarai, he isn't strong enough to tell people off)
What am I up to now ? I just watched the Liverpool v Man U game. Poor game but a good result. People should play the game to win, instead of playing to get people on the other side sent off. Terrible injury to Alan Smith, I reckon his ankle's broken.
Now watching V episode 2, with a big Life On Mars session due later I think.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Personality Test
Nabbed from Craziequeen's Blog :-) Here's my results :
Curiouser and curiouser said Alice ...
I'd actually agree with a fair bit of it too. I often think people are talking about me when they're not and because my confidence level can skyrocket or plummet, I often think they're talking about me in a negative. Hence the paranoid results ...
I can bounce between high confidence and depression, which is where the Schizotypal comes in. If my confidence is high, I firmly believe I can do everything I put my mind to and will nut my way through that brick wall whatever it takes. However, if my confidence is low, then I have problems getting myself to do anything and I become unable to handle the various long term injuries I have. Sometimes I switch between confidence and depression like a light switch and it can usually takes a trigger to get me back on form again. However, because I'm very bad at telling people when I have a weakness (I almost always lie when people ask if I'm well), I can't tell them I'm not too happy.
Avoidant comes from the disparity between my intelligence in technical areas and a lack of ability to keep up with conversations. I'm often 10 seconds or so behind a conversation and tend to get quiet, which makes me feel left out. Other times though, you can't keep me quiet. However, with the concentration and focus level I put into the WoW stuff, I'm often putting up a running commentary without really realising it !
Finally, Obsessive Compulsive - aye, I got that for sure. I have extreme trouble throwing things out and get locked into patterns. I have lots of habits like still putting my right batting glove on before my left, even though it's more awkward to do it that way. I develop patterns of doing things because I believe I've figured out that the way I have is the most efficient. I have difficulty understanding how other people do things differently sometimes. My analytical abilities also let me pick up other people's faults easily, which is one reason I've had trouble keeping quiet over the last couple of days Warcraft ... (things got messy yesterday) And most importantly, I have difficulty accepting the necessity of change, even though change is for the best.
Interesting test this one and it has enough questions on it to get some decent granularity of results. Not sure if I've learnt much about myself than I knew before but posting it here may help people understand me better :-)
| Disorder | Rating |
| Paranoid Disorder: | High |
| Schizoid Disorder: | Moderate |
| Schizotypal Disorder: | High |
| Antisocial Disorder: | Low |
| Borderline Disorder: | Low |
| Histrionic Disorder: | Moderate |
| Narcissistic Disorder: | Moderate |
| Avoidant Disorder: | High |
| Dependent Disorder: | Moderate |
| Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: | High |
-- Personality Disorder Test - Take It! -- -- Personality Disorders -- | |
Curiouser and curiouser said Alice ...
I'd actually agree with a fair bit of it too. I often think people are talking about me when they're not and because my confidence level can skyrocket or plummet, I often think they're talking about me in a negative. Hence the paranoid results ...
I can bounce between high confidence and depression, which is where the Schizotypal comes in. If my confidence is high, I firmly believe I can do everything I put my mind to and will nut my way through that brick wall whatever it takes. However, if my confidence is low, then I have problems getting myself to do anything and I become unable to handle the various long term injuries I have. Sometimes I switch between confidence and depression like a light switch and it can usually takes a trigger to get me back on form again. However, because I'm very bad at telling people when I have a weakness (I almost always lie when people ask if I'm well), I can't tell them I'm not too happy.
Avoidant comes from the disparity between my intelligence in technical areas and a lack of ability to keep up with conversations. I'm often 10 seconds or so behind a conversation and tend to get quiet, which makes me feel left out. Other times though, you can't keep me quiet. However, with the concentration and focus level I put into the WoW stuff, I'm often putting up a running commentary without really realising it !
Finally, Obsessive Compulsive - aye, I got that for sure. I have extreme trouble throwing things out and get locked into patterns. I have lots of habits like still putting my right batting glove on before my left, even though it's more awkward to do it that way. I develop patterns of doing things because I believe I've figured out that the way I have is the most efficient. I have difficulty understanding how other people do things differently sometimes. My analytical abilities also let me pick up other people's faults easily, which is one reason I've had trouble keeping quiet over the last couple of days Warcraft ... (things got messy yesterday) And most importantly, I have difficulty accepting the necessity of change, even though change is for the best.
Interesting test this one and it has enough questions on it to get some decent granularity of results. Not sure if I've learnt much about myself than I knew before but posting it here may help people understand me better :-)
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Sad day tomorrow
The lovely Miss L leaves the project ...
So that's one less person on the floorplate who by simply spotting her around makes me smile. It's not all bad though, she's just going up one floor to the project that lives there. So if I'm lucky, I'll still see her around.
Pub tomorrow :-) But more WoW tonight. Somehow, I'm starting to talk myself into playing it over the weekend when I told myself I'd be giving it a break ...
PS WOOOOOOOO HOOO ! We have an Olympic Medallist in the women's skeleton. This is a sport where people put themselves on a skidplate and go head first down an ice course at up to 80mph. Silver medal for Shelley Rudman. Fantastic result for one of our less experienced athletes in her first Olympics.
So that's one less person on the floorplate who by simply spotting her around makes me smile. It's not all bad though, she's just going up one floor to the project that lives there. So if I'm lucky, I'll still see her around.
Pub tomorrow :-) But more WoW tonight. Somehow, I'm starting to talk myself into playing it over the weekend when I told myself I'd be giving it a break ...
PS WOOOOOOOO HOOO ! We have an Olympic Medallist in the women's skeleton. This is a sport where people put themselves on a skidplate and go head first down an ice course at up to 80mph. Silver medal for Shelley Rudman. Fantastic result for one of our less experienced athletes in her first Olympics.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Good press ?
Yey :-) I got some and couldn't resist reprinting it here. The original author is Cloudberry, who was running the raids over the last couple of nights. Just putting a couple of snippets here.
"On Venoxis, Bashara was MTing. I think he did amazingly well for a first timer and only died because the healers simply went out of mana. I think if I had put both shamans into the healer group here, we could have had kept Bashara alive with the second mana tide though."
I was playing as Bashara in these runs, who hasn't been seen by many people in Guildlink because they usually see me as my mage, Iceangel. Yep - I died on the Venoxis fight but we took him down :-) So I wasn't complaining :-) It's part of the job to stay in the fight for as long as possible and, if necessary, die for the team so the team can finish off the boss.
"Special acclaim goes to Bashara this time for showing great tanking skills, learning from encounters really fast and showing intelligence on reacting unsuspected situations - future Molten Core MT here? "
Yey ! Think someone likes me. (MT stands for Main Tank and is the person who's supposed to take as much damage as possible so that the softer armoured characters can avoid damage) I'm hoping that politics weren't behind some of that though, as there's been some comings and goings with Cloudberry's guild over the last week or so and the highest profile goer was the Molten Core main tank.
Back to being the mage tonight. Better get me dinner first ...
"On Venoxis, Bashara was MTing. I think he did amazingly well for a first timer and only died because the healers simply went out of mana. I think if I had put both shamans into the healer group here, we could have had kept Bashara alive with the second mana tide though."
I was playing as Bashara in these runs, who hasn't been seen by many people in Guildlink because they usually see me as my mage, Iceangel. Yep - I died on the Venoxis fight but we took him down :-) So I wasn't complaining :-) It's part of the job to stay in the fight for as long as possible and, if necessary, die for the team so the team can finish off the boss.
"Special acclaim goes to Bashara this time for showing great tanking skills, learning from encounters really fast and showing intelligence on reacting unsuspected situations - future Molten Core MT here? "
Yey ! Think someone likes me. (MT stands for Main Tank and is the person who's supposed to take as much damage as possible so that the softer armoured characters can avoid damage) I'm hoping that politics weren't behind some of that though, as there's been some comings and goings with Cloudberry's guild over the last week or so and the highest profile goer was the Molten Core main tank.
Back to being the mage tonight. Better get me dinner first ...
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Brain freeze ...
Is what I got at the moment ...
Probably because I'm trying not to get annoyed at a guild member (soon to be an ex one). I want to focus on the more important stuff like a fairly successful Zul'Gurub run today. After going in yesterday and thumping three bosses (impressing the raid leader with my tanking along the way), it was the turn of a couple more bosses today before the instance resets.
I must have impressed Cloudberry (da raid leader) because she put me as the main tank alongside the main tank from her guild. And I haven't got that much good gear ... The "spider" boss is pretty interesting. She goes nuts and has special scripting that has her going after the healers. She web traps the warrior that keeps her at range, which means a backup warrior (me !) has to pick her up and take her back to the main warrior.
We got her down though. And we got the fish boss as well, although he ate a few of us while trying.
Yep - definitely not trying to think about the idiot who thinks that he can jump ahead of the rest of the people who want to raid the end game instances by ignoring the approved list. An approval list is there for a good reason, it says that players need to be at a certain standard before being allowed to go into the instance. If they're not at that standard, they're a danger to themselves and the rest of the group. The standard isn't so much about the gear they have, it's how good the player is at their class. My gear with my warrior is pretty ordinary, but I can make up for that with the way I've customised the character and my tanking technique. Cos I've read how to do it :-).
The fella who's likely to not be in the guild this time tomorrow just keeps on making the same mistakes over and over again and he strikes me as a typical immature know it all schoolboy at the same time. Even though you want to help people improve, you have to admit sometimes that there are lost causes who you can't help. And I feel like that's a personal failure when that happens.
Mind you, we also had players tonight who had broken items when the person who dies most often (me ! as tank) was getting on just fine. You need to repair your gear before going into a run, especially if your raid leader tells you to ...
Work's going fine at the moment, although they've scarily given me more exposure to the finance world ... Scarily for me or scarily for the project ? Muahaha ! I listened to an after rant report from the IT Girl though. As in, she got ranted at for someone else's mistake. And that's bad. But the someone making the mistake is highly likely to get ranted at when he's back in. Muahahaha ! The IT Girl is in a bit of an unfortunate position because she gives the impression of being able to do everything and is keen to do everything she can. Which means she gets asked to do everything ... Including the stuff that other people should be doing. Keenness should be a virtue, not a source of stress.
Time to catch up with the telly that was on while I was in Zul'Gurub with tanking tunnel vision !
Probably because I'm trying not to get annoyed at a guild member (soon to be an ex one). I want to focus on the more important stuff like a fairly successful Zul'Gurub run today. After going in yesterday and thumping three bosses (impressing the raid leader with my tanking along the way), it was the turn of a couple more bosses today before the instance resets.
I must have impressed Cloudberry (da raid leader) because she put me as the main tank alongside the main tank from her guild. And I haven't got that much good gear ... The "spider" boss is pretty interesting. She goes nuts and has special scripting that has her going after the healers. She web traps the warrior that keeps her at range, which means a backup warrior (me !) has to pick her up and take her back to the main warrior.
We got her down though. And we got the fish boss as well, although he ate a few of us while trying.
Yep - definitely not trying to think about the idiot who thinks that he can jump ahead of the rest of the people who want to raid the end game instances by ignoring the approved list. An approval list is there for a good reason, it says that players need to be at a certain standard before being allowed to go into the instance. If they're not at that standard, they're a danger to themselves and the rest of the group. The standard isn't so much about the gear they have, it's how good the player is at their class. My gear with my warrior is pretty ordinary, but I can make up for that with the way I've customised the character and my tanking technique. Cos I've read how to do it :-).
The fella who's likely to not be in the guild this time tomorrow just keeps on making the same mistakes over and over again and he strikes me as a typical immature know it all schoolboy at the same time. Even though you want to help people improve, you have to admit sometimes that there are lost causes who you can't help. And I feel like that's a personal failure when that happens.
Mind you, we also had players tonight who had broken items when the person who dies most often (me ! as tank) was getting on just fine. You need to repair your gear before going into a run, especially if your raid leader tells you to ...
Work's going fine at the moment, although they've scarily given me more exposure to the finance world ... Scarily for me or scarily for the project ? Muahaha ! I listened to an after rant report from the IT Girl though. As in, she got ranted at for someone else's mistake. And that's bad. But the someone making the mistake is highly likely to get ranted at when he's back in. Muahahaha ! The IT Girl is in a bit of an unfortunate position because she gives the impression of being able to do everything and is keen to do everything she can. Which means she gets asked to do everything ... Including the stuff that other people should be doing. Keenness should be a virtue, not a source of stress.
Time to catch up with the telly that was on while I was in Zul'Gurub with tanking tunnel vision !
Monday, February 13, 2006
Meme time !
Copied wholesale from something I got sent earlier (modified a little for my answers)
Welcome to the winter 2006 edition of getting to know your friends. What you are supposed to do is copy (not forward) this entire e-mail and paste it into a new one. Change all the answers so they apply to you and send this to a whole bunch of people, including the person who sent it to you.
The idea is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you probably didn't know already.
1. What time did you get up this morning? Awake 0700, moving at 0850
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds are more sparkly ?
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? I think Narnia. Might have seen another since but can't remember it.
4. What's your favourite TV show? The Gadget Show because it has Suzi Perry on it.
5. What did you have for breakfast this morning? What's breakfast ?
6. What's your favourite cuisine? Pizza
7. What foods do you dislike? Foods that are too mushy or are hassle to eat.
8. What is your favourite crisp flavour? Ready salted, although I don't eat crisps too often now. Ok - Niknaks purple bag. PS This question has made me hungry.
9. What's your favourite CD at the moment? Probably Alisha's Attic Vaults cd 1 still.
10. What kind of car do you drive? Puma
12. What characteristics do you despise? Misplaced Arrogance - gotta agree there
11. Favourite sandwich? Ham tea cakes
13. Favourite item of clothing? Clothing with no holes in the wrong places. Jeans, t shirt, leather jacket.
14. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Kennedy Space Centre on the way to the Moon.
15. What colour is your bathroom? Blue and yellow (I haven't repainted it since moving in)
16. Favourite Brand of clothing? I avoid clothing brands that put their name on the item as they're not paying me to advertise their stuff.
17. Where would you retire? Caribbean probably - cos of the cricket. Might not like the heat there though.
18. Favourite time of day? Getting home from work.
19. What was your most memorable birthday? Can't remember many of these ...
20. Where were you born? Birmingham
21. Favourite sport to watch? Cricket
22. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? Dave, Clare and Wendy - They've already filled it in...
23. Person you expect to send it back first? Marc
24. What fabric detergent do you use? Persil
25. Were you named after anyone? No
26. Do you wish on stars? No
27. When did you last cry? 17 - just before going into an exam. (Tears weren't due to the exam !)
28. Do you like your handwriting? Nope. Can barely read it.
29. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? Aye - Unless I'd rubbed me up the wrong way.
30. Are you a daredevil? Yep. I'll risk stuff, although I do wear a helmet when batting now.
31. Do looks matter? Only to those who don't look at the personality beneath the looks. Are they worth knowing ?
32. How do you release anger? I get aggressive and try to release the aggression on sport. I try to redirect the anger/aggression into driving myself harder.
33. Where is your second home? Lincolnshire with the parents.
34. What class in High School was totally useless? Foreign languages. Make them speak English ! Muahahaha. (heh - kidding)
35. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Yep. When I can, although sarcasm tends to be destructive and I prefer to use constructive humour.
37. Favourite movie? Sky Captain
38. What are your nicknames? Now - Sleepypete or Ice.
39. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Yes - makes it easier to get them back on.
40. Do you think that you are strong? Reasonably - can hold my own in cricket but I suffer from injuries too much.
41. What's your favourite ice cream flavour? Vanilla.
42. What are your favourite colours? Red, blue. Yellow for cars.
43. What is your least favourite thing about yourself? Easily distracted, absent minded.
44. Who do you miss most? The dogs.
45. Do you want everyone you sent this to send it back? Muahahaha - maybe :-)
46. What colour pants are you wearing? Dark blue, unless you're going by the American definition in which case it's black.
47. What are you listening to right now? 3 phone conversations and 2 people (inc me) tapping a keyboard. Wonder what the other person is doing ...
48. Last thing you ate? King Size Twix.
49. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be? Rainbow
50. Last person you talked to on the phone? Mortgage people
51. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite s*x? Hair. Unless I'm sitting down or they're way taller than me - then it's breasts.
52. What's your favourite drink? Coke (diet)
53. Do you wear contacts? No but I have glasses on through most of my waking hours.
54. Favourite Day(s) of the Year? Christmas, days out of work and the day I bring the donuts in to work (sometime near birthday).
55. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? Happy Endings but endings that are definite. I.e. not a Spielberg multiple ending.
56. Summer or winter? Cricket season.
57. Hugs Or Kisses? Hugs, although anyone I know who I spot with Iceangel is in danger of a good tickling.
58. What Is Your Favourite Dessert? Chocolate fudge cake - must resist ...
59. What Book are you currently reading? The Apocalypse Troll by David Weber.
60. What's On Your Mouse Pad? A crappy black IBM mouse that gives me RSI.
Welcome to the winter 2006 edition of getting to know your friends. What you are supposed to do is copy (not forward) this entire e-mail and paste it into a new one. Change all the answers so they apply to you and send this to a whole bunch of people, including the person who sent it to you.
The idea is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you probably didn't know already.
1. What time did you get up this morning? Awake 0700, moving at 0850
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds are more sparkly ?
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? I think Narnia. Might have seen another since but can't remember it.
4. What's your favourite TV show? The Gadget Show because it has Suzi Perry on it.
5. What did you have for breakfast this morning? What's breakfast ?
6. What's your favourite cuisine? Pizza
7. What foods do you dislike? Foods that are too mushy or are hassle to eat.
8. What is your favourite crisp flavour? Ready salted, although I don't eat crisps too often now. Ok - Niknaks purple bag. PS This question has made me hungry.
9. What's your favourite CD at the moment? Probably Alisha's Attic Vaults cd 1 still.
10. What kind of car do you drive? Puma
12. What characteristics do you despise? Misplaced Arrogance - gotta agree there
11. Favourite sandwich? Ham tea cakes
13. Favourite item of clothing? Clothing with no holes in the wrong places. Jeans, t shirt, leather jacket.
14. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Kennedy Space Centre on the way to the Moon.
15. What colour is your bathroom? Blue and yellow (I haven't repainted it since moving in)
16. Favourite Brand of clothing? I avoid clothing brands that put their name on the item as they're not paying me to advertise their stuff.
17. Where would you retire? Caribbean probably - cos of the cricket. Might not like the heat there though.
18. Favourite time of day? Getting home from work.
19. What was your most memorable birthday? Can't remember many of these ...
20. Where were you born? Birmingham
21. Favourite sport to watch? Cricket
22. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? Dave, Clare and Wendy - They've already filled it in...
23. Person you expect to send it back first? Marc
24. What fabric detergent do you use? Persil
25. Were you named after anyone? No
26. Do you wish on stars? No
27. When did you last cry? 17 - just before going into an exam. (Tears weren't due to the exam !)
28. Do you like your handwriting? Nope. Can barely read it.
29. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you?
30. Are you a daredevil? Yep. I'll risk stuff, although I do wear a helmet when batting now.
31. Do looks matter? Only to those who don't look at the personality beneath the looks. Are they worth knowing ?
32. How do you release anger? I get aggressive and try to release the aggression on sport. I try to redirect the anger/aggression into driving myself harder.
33. Where is your second home? Lincolnshire with the parents.
34. What class in High School was totally useless? Foreign languages. Make them speak English ! Muahahaha. (heh - kidding)
35. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Yep. When I can, although sarcasm tends to be destructive and I prefer to use constructive humour.
37. Favourite movie? Sky Captain
38. What are your nicknames? Now - Sleepypete or Ice.
39. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Yes - makes it easier to get them back on.
40. Do you think that you are strong? Reasonably - can hold my own in cricket but I suffer from injuries too much.
41. What's your favourite ice cream flavour? Vanilla.
42. What are your favourite colours? Red, blue. Yellow for cars.
43. What is your least favourite thing about yourself? Easily distracted, absent minded.
44. Who do you miss most? The dogs.
45. Do you want everyone you sent this to send it back? Muahahaha - maybe :-)
46. What colour pants are you wearing? Dark blue, unless you're going by the American definition in which case it's black.
47. What are you listening to right now? 3 phone conversations and 2 people (inc me) tapping a keyboard. Wonder what the other person is doing ...
48. Last thing you ate? King Size Twix.
49. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be? Rainbow
50. Last person you talked to on the phone? Mortgage people
51. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite s*x? Hair. Unless I'm sitting down or they're way taller than me - then it's breasts.
52. What's your favourite drink? Coke (diet)
53. Do you wear contacts? No but I have glasses on through most of my waking hours.
54. Favourite Day(s) of the Year? Christmas, days out of work and the day I bring the donuts in to work (sometime near birthday).
55. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? Happy Endings but endings that are definite. I.e. not a Spielberg multiple ending.
56. Summer or winter? Cricket season.
57. Hugs Or Kisses? Hugs, although anyone I know who I spot with Iceangel is in danger of a good tickling.
58. What Is Your Favourite Dessert? Chocolate fudge cake - must resist ...
59. What Book are you currently reading? The Apocalypse Troll by David Weber.
60. What's On Your Mouse Pad? A crappy black IBM mouse that gives me RSI.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Not much today
I'm a bit frustrated by the end of today's Molten Core run ... I didn't quite get to the point where I switched my mic off (I tend to mutter things that shouldn't be overheard!) but was very, very close ...
I think one of the sources of my frustration is that my two top characters are the mage and the tank and it was the tanks that were causing us problems at the end of today's run. Trouble is, I can't tank and mage at the same time. It just gets frustrating when you know there's something eating away all the healers and you know that someone isn't doing something about that. For the main fights, you can see what's happening through target management. You can also see when people aren't doing their job ... and we get a few of those.
The other part of my frustration is that even though we have lots of competition for places, we still get lazy people who don't pull their weight. Ony of my mage jobs is to cast that thing that makes people have more intellect (almost said "smarter" but it only does stats of a character, does nothing about the person playing). Seems like I'm often the only mage (of five!) who actually does that part of the job. Wonder what the other mages will think if they don't get picked in preference to someone who does do that job ... May have to go on strike for a raid or two, although the raid leaders already know I'm concerned.
Rant about freeloaders and the skill-challenged over, time to do something that'll distract me away from this irritated mood I'm currently in.
Addon - the thing distracting me out of the irritation can be found at http://cascadefailure.comicgenesis.com/d/20060130.html. Check it out ! (I tried to put the link in a comment but my html skillz aren't up to that yet)
I think one of the sources of my frustration is that my two top characters are the mage and the tank and it was the tanks that were causing us problems at the end of today's run. Trouble is, I can't tank and mage at the same time. It just gets frustrating when you know there's something eating away all the healers and you know that someone isn't doing something about that. For the main fights, you can see what's happening through target management. You can also see when people aren't doing their job ... and we get a few of those.
The other part of my frustration is that even though we have lots of competition for places, we still get lazy people who don't pull their weight. Ony of my mage jobs is to cast that thing that makes people have more intellect (almost said "smarter" but it only does stats of a character, does nothing about the person playing). Seems like I'm often the only mage (of five!) who actually does that part of the job. Wonder what the other mages will think if they don't get picked in preference to someone who does do that job ... May have to go on strike for a raid or two, although the raid leaders already know I'm concerned.
Rant about freeloaders and the skill-challenged over, time to do something that'll distract me away from this irritated mood I'm currently in.
Addon - the thing distracting me out of the irritation can be found at http://cascadefailure.comicgenesis.com/d/20060130.html. Check it out ! (I tried to put the link in a comment but my html skillz aren't up to that yet)
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Them and us
Life's broken down into the people who have and the people who have not.
Thing is, a lot of the time, the people who "have not" are the people who have not figured out that they need to work for things. We have an issue on WoW at the moment where people aren't getting picked for raids. They then complain, sometimes very loudly, about not being picked. I don't think they've figured out that bitching like that earns them no respect whatsoever and will usually knock them down the list. If it's coming from someone in my guild, then it's a source of deep embarassment.
Added to that, are the people who aren't allowed to even sign up for raids ... We got through 6 bosses in Molten Core today and we should get through the rest (except one) tomorrow. You don't do that unless your technique and teamwork is good. In my case, it means removing curses very quickly at certain times, keeping certain mobs under control by turning them into sheep (yes really!!!) and by holding off on the damage I do until I'm sure I won't distract the mob away from the tank. The biggest problem the non approved people have is that last one - the holding off on damage. Even the "experienced" people have that problem, which they shouldn't really. Things actually get more dangerous for the damage dealer as you play more. Better equipment means more damage, means more likelihood of pulling the mob away from the tank.
We also still get people asking questions that could be easily answered by looking up the *!*"%!£"% question !!!!! Which doesn't tend to get much respect and less of an answer from me.
The situation may improve over the next month or so. What really needs to happen is for Guildlink to get more raid leaders. That will allow multiple runs to go into places like Molten Core, which means 80 people get to go instead of 40. Trouble is, I don't think we have 50 people with the necessary technique to be regular raiders, so diluting the team with the idiots will lead to frustration for all. We shall see. If I was interested in being a raid leader, I could actively select which characters I wanted in my raid. But I'm not interested in that kind of grief or hassle. Besides, it would probably keep me away from my favourite healers (Sarai and Cloudberry - Souleater doesn't count as a healer) as they're also raid leaders.
PS Blogger seems to be doing weird things. It's not counting comments properly and it ate the two Six Nations posts I put in last Saturday.
Thing is, a lot of the time, the people who "have not" are the people who have not figured out that they need to work for things. We have an issue on WoW at the moment where people aren't getting picked for raids. They then complain, sometimes very loudly, about not being picked. I don't think they've figured out that bitching like that earns them no respect whatsoever and will usually knock them down the list. If it's coming from someone in my guild, then it's a source of deep embarassment.
Added to that, are the people who aren't allowed to even sign up for raids ... We got through 6 bosses in Molten Core today and we should get through the rest (except one) tomorrow. You don't do that unless your technique and teamwork is good. In my case, it means removing curses very quickly at certain times, keeping certain mobs under control by turning them into sheep (yes really!!!) and by holding off on the damage I do until I'm sure I won't distract the mob away from the tank. The biggest problem the non approved people have is that last one - the holding off on damage. Even the "experienced" people have that problem, which they shouldn't really. Things actually get more dangerous for the damage dealer as you play more. Better equipment means more damage, means more likelihood of pulling the mob away from the tank.
We also still get people asking questions that could be easily answered by looking up the *!*"%!£"% question !!!!! Which doesn't tend to get much respect and less of an answer from me.
The situation may improve over the next month or so. What really needs to happen is for Guildlink to get more raid leaders. That will allow multiple runs to go into places like Molten Core, which means 80 people get to go instead of 40. Trouble is, I don't think we have 50 people with the necessary technique to be regular raiders, so diluting the team with the idiots will lead to frustration for all. We shall see. If I was interested in being a raid leader, I could actively select which characters I wanted in my raid. But I'm not interested in that kind of grief or hassle. Besides, it would probably keep me away from my favourite healers (Sarai and Cloudberry - Souleater doesn't count as a healer) as they're also raid leaders.
PS Blogger seems to be doing weird things. It's not counting comments properly and it ate the two Six Nations posts I put in last Saturday.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Olympics
Should be a good few weeks for sport on telly. Yep - it's that time again. Sports that no one watches come on to the telly and people are glued for a fortnight.
There's a few of these events - World Cup, Olympics - and this time it's the turn of the Winter Olympics. I'm looking forward to it - the problem with a lot of sport is that it gets repetitive. There's only so many ways a skier can go down a slope or a runner can do a 100m race. However, the Olympics are always something special. Athletes prepare and train for this one opportunity that comes around every 4 years, so you get the best of the best slugging it out, hopefully at the top of their form (always sad when injuries interfere). For a chance to see a sport at its best, take a peek at Olympics.
Oh yeah - I'm really looking forward to London 2012 and I want to see at least one full day of Olympic action live.
(currently watching the run up to the Winter Olympics opening ceremony while waiting for my dinner to burn).
Did I mention that female athletes tend to be pretty hot ? Nah. Wouldn't have been thinking that. Although the 2 Brit bobsleigh girls are pretty cute. Oh ! There goes the dinner bell. I'll pop in another Blog instalment tomorrow if I can :-).
There's a few of these events - World Cup, Olympics - and this time it's the turn of the Winter Olympics. I'm looking forward to it - the problem with a lot of sport is that it gets repetitive. There's only so many ways a skier can go down a slope or a runner can do a 100m race. However, the Olympics are always something special. Athletes prepare and train for this one opportunity that comes around every 4 years, so you get the best of the best slugging it out, hopefully at the top of their form (always sad when injuries interfere). For a chance to see a sport at its best, take a peek at Olympics.
Oh yeah - I'm really looking forward to London 2012 and I want to see at least one full day of Olympic action live.
(currently watching the run up to the Winter Olympics opening ceremony while waiting for my dinner to burn).
Did I mention that female athletes tend to be pretty hot ? Nah. Wouldn't have been thinking that. Although the 2 Brit bobsleigh girls are pretty cute. Oh ! There goes the dinner bell. I'll pop in another Blog instalment tomorrow if I can :-).
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
What tarot card are you ?
Saw this on CQ's blog and couldn't resist ...
That's with just "Pete" though. With "Sleepypete" I come out as the High Priestess - mystery and secrets yet to be revealed. I think I prefer the Star :-), although that's partly because of the luck bit. Thing about luck though, if you tempt Fate, she'll bite you on the bum. So I'll keep my head down there.
| You Are The Star |
 You represent the ultimate in truth and purity. Insightful and illuminating, you provide guidance for others. You also demonstrate unselfish, unconditional love. You posses many spiritual gifts, including the ability to heal. Your fortune: Your future is looking brighter by the day. The near future will be a time of both hope and healing. Luck is about to come your way, perhaps the best luck you have ever seen. Life is about to get a lot easier and much better! |
That's with just "Pete" though. With "Sleepypete" I come out as the High Priestess - mystery and secrets yet to be revealed. I think I prefer the Star :-), although that's partly because of the luck bit. Thing about luck though, if you tempt Fate, she'll bite you on the bum. So I'll keep my head down there.
Strategy and tactics
Gotta admit, I'm a bit of a strategy buff.
I like to win. And winning can be done either by being bigger, faster or stronger than the other guy or having a better technique. Because I'll only get bigger if I'm fat and strength is out because of how injury prone I am, I either have to go for speed or the better technique. I have the speed, or I will do when I get down to nearer 12 stone. I got recorded at 11.5 seconds for 100 metres once, when I was 16. Which isn't too bad. I've learned better running technique as well as an appreciation for spiked shoes since then.
Nope. If I'm to win, it has to be through better technique or a smarter strategy. I like devising strategy, I seem to be rather good at it. Although I've not wanted to run a team for a while, I've had decent results when I have been a team captain, including some wins when we had no business winning ... I've also punched above my weight with sports like karting, where you have to be light to go fast. I couldn't quite put up the times to match our regular karter, but I did get his respect. And our team of 4 got a trophy too :-)
So what's the twist ? I suppose you could say that one twist is that I'd like to be the best I can be at whatever I want to do. I firmly believe anyone can do that, although the physical stuff may be a little beyond me.
Another twist comes from what I've just been watching - highlights of the Volvo Ocean Race. Yacht racing doesn't just involve strategy against the other people in the race, it involves getting the best out of the weather. And that really does interest me ... Knowing what you can get out of the boat and knowing how far you can or should push it. Several of the Volvo competitors (most of 'em!) have fallen foul of pushing things too far, breaking their boat. But if you don't push it ... you come second because the other guy is pushing harder. And I like to win.
I've never been sailing ... And would love to. I've never had the opportunity but I've got a lot of respect for what I see on programmes like the Volvo Ocean Race highlights, as well as getting an appreciation for it from accounts in several fiction books I've read. Plus there's Philip, who joined the place I work at the same time I did. Philip took part in the Sydney Hobart yacht race a few years ago. He's gone through another few jobs since though ... Will have to try and find some proper fact type books about sailing.
What I've always said though, is that you never know a thing unless you've tried it ... and sailing is something I'd dearly like to try.
I like to win. And winning can be done either by being bigger, faster or stronger than the other guy or having a better technique. Because I'll only get bigger if I'm fat and strength is out because of how injury prone I am, I either have to go for speed or the better technique. I have the speed, or I will do when I get down to nearer 12 stone. I got recorded at 11.5 seconds for 100 metres once, when I was 16. Which isn't too bad. I've learned better running technique as well as an appreciation for spiked shoes since then.
Nope. If I'm to win, it has to be through better technique or a smarter strategy. I like devising strategy, I seem to be rather good at it. Although I've not wanted to run a team for a while, I've had decent results when I have been a team captain, including some wins when we had no business winning ... I've also punched above my weight with sports like karting, where you have to be light to go fast. I couldn't quite put up the times to match our regular karter, but I did get his respect. And our team of 4 got a trophy too :-)
So what's the twist ? I suppose you could say that one twist is that I'd like to be the best I can be at whatever I want to do. I firmly believe anyone can do that, although the physical stuff may be a little beyond me.
Another twist comes from what I've just been watching - highlights of the Volvo Ocean Race. Yacht racing doesn't just involve strategy against the other people in the race, it involves getting the best out of the weather. And that really does interest me ... Knowing what you can get out of the boat and knowing how far you can or should push it. Several of the Volvo competitors (most of 'em!) have fallen foul of pushing things too far, breaking their boat. But if you don't push it ... you come second because the other guy is pushing harder. And I like to win.
I've never been sailing ... And would love to. I've never had the opportunity but I've got a lot of respect for what I see on programmes like the Volvo Ocean Race highlights, as well as getting an appreciation for it from accounts in several fiction books I've read. Plus there's Philip, who joined the place I work at the same time I did. Philip took part in the Sydney Hobart yacht race a few years ago. He's gone through another few jobs since though ... Will have to try and find some proper fact type books about sailing.
What I've always said though, is that you never know a thing unless you've tried it ... and sailing is something I'd dearly like to try.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Small Swings vs The Drifters
Game tonight :-)
Was having a bit of trepidation about this one because we've got some history between us. The Drifters are a good side who are very interested in winning ... And they have the side to win the league too. I'd originally dropped out of tonight's game due to a bad back picked up in the cold in Glasgow last week but got back in due to several people dropping out.
We bowled first and didn't do quite as spectacularly in the field as in the last game. I got two wickets from behind the stumps, a caught and a stumping but should have had at least one more stumping. Ho hum. My bowling was dangerous in the wrong way too. I have good days and bad days with my bowling. My shoulder feels mechanically sound but it tightens up in just the wrong place for accurate bowling. I probably need an hour or two of net bowling every week for a couple of months to get my action back in the groove. My back survived the game though :-) Not so sure if I'll be saying that tomorrow though.
Anyway - before I digressed, The Drifters batted first and put 132 on the board, which is a good score. Not unbeatable but challenging to most teams. Too challenging for us ! They had good bowling, which we couldn't really get on top of (literally!) and we got restricted to just 44, with our last pairing putting up a negative score.
We did play well though and enjoyed the game. If you can't win, that's what you have to do. We didn't disgrace ourselves, despite the one sided scoreline. Play hard but recognise that sometimes you come up against a team that's simply better than yours.
Had me dinner, currently watching Sky Captain. Great film :-) Well worth watching again.
Was having a bit of trepidation about this one because we've got some history between us. The Drifters are a good side who are very interested in winning ... And they have the side to win the league too. I'd originally dropped out of tonight's game due to a bad back picked up in the cold in Glasgow last week but got back in due to several people dropping out.
We bowled first and didn't do quite as spectacularly in the field as in the last game. I got two wickets from behind the stumps, a caught and a stumping but should have had at least one more stumping. Ho hum. My bowling was dangerous in the wrong way too. I have good days and bad days with my bowling. My shoulder feels mechanically sound but it tightens up in just the wrong place for accurate bowling. I probably need an hour or two of net bowling every week for a couple of months to get my action back in the groove. My back survived the game though :-) Not so sure if I'll be saying that tomorrow though.
Anyway - before I digressed, The Drifters batted first and put 132 on the board, which is a good score. Not unbeatable but challenging to most teams. Too challenging for us ! They had good bowling, which we couldn't really get on top of (literally!) and we got restricted to just 44, with our last pairing putting up a negative score.
We did play well though and enjoyed the game. If you can't win, that's what you have to do. We didn't disgrace ourselves, despite the one sided scoreline. Play hard but recognise that sometimes you come up against a team that's simply better than yours.
Had me dinner, currently watching Sky Captain. Great film :-) Well worth watching again.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Superbowl
Superbowl's about to kick off - how long will I last ...
Unknown but I'll definitely try to make it to half time :-). Highly surprised by Scotland beating the French earlier, big turn up for the bookies. Only saw about half of it because I was watching the cricket highlights on Sky. I didn't want to watch the Scots get a drubbing.
It's been a good weekend for my main World of Warcraft character - she got new boots and a new belt ... Darn good stuff too. The second best gear in the game. Needed to earn it though, which we definitely did by having a record breaking run through the Molten Core. We did it the quickest we've ever done it, with only 2 bosses causing problems for the group. The rest went down easy.
We're definitely getting better at this. We're not totally there yet as we still have people dying when they don't need to and people not pulling their weight as much as others. But getting through the whole of the massive Molten Core instance in 2 sessions means that enough people are pulling their weight for our group to be incredibly effective.
Doh ! Superbowl just kicked off and I'm missing it ... More tomorrow :-) I might have a match report - if someone drops out. I put myself to first reserve because my back didn't appreciate the Scotland trip last week.
Unknown but I'll definitely try to make it to half time :-). Highly surprised by Scotland beating the French earlier, big turn up for the bookies. Only saw about half of it because I was watching the cricket highlights on Sky. I didn't want to watch the Scots get a drubbing.
It's been a good weekend for my main World of Warcraft character - she got new boots and a new belt ... Darn good stuff too. The second best gear in the game. Needed to earn it though, which we definitely did by having a record breaking run through the Molten Core. We did it the quickest we've ever done it, with only 2 bosses causing problems for the group. The rest went down easy.
We're definitely getting better at this. We're not totally there yet as we still have people dying when they don't need to and people not pulling their weight as much as others. But getting through the whole of the massive Molten Core instance in 2 sessions means that enough people are pulling their weight for our group to be incredibly effective.
Doh ! Superbowl just kicked off and I'm missing it ... More tomorrow :-) I might have a match report - if someone drops out. I put myself to first reserve because my back didn't appreciate the Scotland trip last week.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Hangover
Just come back from the Mall ...
I wasn't really looking to spend any money, I was just trying to figure out how to stay awake !!! The launch day on Wednesday took a little more out of me than I'd like to admit I think. Plus, my back definitely didn't appreciate the cold. If I'd come home, I'd have most likely plopped my head down on the pillow and slept 'till morning .... Which would have been a bad idea, seeing as I'm supposed to be inside a dragon's lair in an hour.
Lots of pictures got exchanged at work today, which was fun. I wonder why they all tend to congregate at my desk when they're looking at the pictures though ... It's not as bad as it could be, as my boss and his boss were two of the main people looking at pictures and keeping me away from the work I was supposed to be doing :-).
I may get published as well ... My blog entry from Wednesday, with a few minor alterations, is going to get passed on to the Works' newspaper. We'll see if they put it in. Just remember - you saw it here first ...
I wasn't really looking to spend any money, I was just trying to figure out how to stay awake !!! The launch day on Wednesday took a little more out of me than I'd like to admit I think. Plus, my back definitely didn't appreciate the cold. If I'd come home, I'd have most likely plopped my head down on the pillow and slept 'till morning .... Which would have been a bad idea, seeing as I'm supposed to be inside a dragon's lair in an hour.
Lots of pictures got exchanged at work today, which was fun. I wonder why they all tend to congregate at my desk when they're looking at the pictures though ... It's not as bad as it could be, as my boss and his boss were two of the main people looking at pictures and keeping me away from the work I was supposed to be doing :-).
I may get published as well ... My blog entry from Wednesday, with a few minor alterations, is going to get passed on to the Works' newspaper. We'll see if they put it in. Just remember - you saw it here first ...
Thursday, February 02, 2006
New credit card please
I've been a bit let down by my previous credit card company.
The first thing they did was to break their original promises by reducing the 0.5% (potentially 1%) cashback rate down to 0.25%. Bit irritated by that but shrugged and didn't think it was worth changing just for that.
The reason they have let me down is Chip & Pin. Without a Chip & Pin card, I won't be able to use the card in shops come 14th Feb. Which makes having a credit card pretty pointless. I prodded them about a month ago on this but have still not got the card. Makes me wonder whether they do actually want my business ... My bank on the other hand, have given me a Chip & Pin card.
Ah well - byebye one credit card, hello to the new one :-). I'll be hanging on to the old one until it's time for the last year's cashback to appear, then it's gone. Now it's time to tell off the bank for making it awkward to change a mortgage.
The first thing they did was to break their original promises by reducing the 0.5% (potentially 1%) cashback rate down to 0.25%. Bit irritated by that but shrugged and didn't think it was worth changing just for that.
The reason they have let me down is Chip & Pin. Without a Chip & Pin card, I won't be able to use the card in shops come 14th Feb. Which makes having a credit card pretty pointless. I prodded them about a month ago on this but have still not got the card. Makes me wonder whether they do actually want my business ... My bank on the other hand, have given me a Chip & Pin card.
Ah well - byebye one credit card, hello to the new one :-). I'll be hanging on to the old one until it's time for the last year's cashback to appear, then it's gone. Now it's time to tell off the bank for making it awkward to change a mortgage.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
What an amazing day !
Up at 5am, up to Scotland for the launching of a ship. Currently writing this entry at 7.20 pm waiting in the airport for the flight back.
There's been two very significant ladies in my life for the past few years and it was the turn of the faithful one to have her moment today.
It's strange how an object you called 'it' suddenly takes on her own life as soon as you see her move on her own. (kinda) It was a very proud moment for me earlier, seeing Lady Daring go down the ramp. In fact I'm still rather emotional about it now, several hours later.
For this particular lady, I've invested 6 years of my life so far and she's worth every second. I've put in heart and soul and, although I've only set foot on parts of her twice, I feel as if I know every inch of her from bow to stern. Seeing her there today, made her into something rather more real. Being able to see the sheer scale of Lady Daring was quite frankly, awe inspiring. There is a definite sense of strength there, she looks 'the business'. And she hasn't even reached her full height yet ... I'm rather looking forward to the near future when she's completed.
There were a heap of friends from the team there today, with the shared excitement making the moment even more special. The best thing about my project team is the people and how we come together and pull for each other. It's one reason why I've stayed with the team for so long. I even managed to catch a fleeting glance at Miss L as she made her way to Lady Daring to take her launch station. I hope to have a few decent long range pictures too.
In fact, lots of pictures :-). What an amazing day !
There's been two very significant ladies in my life for the past few years and it was the turn of the faithful one to have her moment today.
It's strange how an object you called 'it' suddenly takes on her own life as soon as you see her move on her own. (kinda) It was a very proud moment for me earlier, seeing Lady Daring go down the ramp. In fact I'm still rather emotional about it now, several hours later.
For this particular lady, I've invested 6 years of my life so far and she's worth every second. I've put in heart and soul and, although I've only set foot on parts of her twice, I feel as if I know every inch of her from bow to stern. Seeing her there today, made her into something rather more real. Being able to see the sheer scale of Lady Daring was quite frankly, awe inspiring. There is a definite sense of strength there, she looks 'the business'. And she hasn't even reached her full height yet ... I'm rather looking forward to the near future when she's completed.
There were a heap of friends from the team there today, with the shared excitement making the moment even more special. The best thing about my project team is the people and how we come together and pull for each other. It's one reason why I've stayed with the team for so long. I even managed to catch a fleeting glance at Miss L as she made her way to Lady Daring to take her launch station. I hope to have a few decent long range pictures too.
In fact, lots of pictures :-). What an amazing day !
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