WoW: 79.3

02.22.2010

Sometime last April I started playing World of Warcraft again. I had tried it out sometime in the previous year, but my character had stalled out around level 51 and I decided to take a break. It wasn't until the Lich King expansion came out and various people repeatedly trying to talk me back into playing that I finally gave in. I had 4 friends trying to get me to play, each on a different server. I started a warrior, the only thing I know how to play, on each server and, depending on who would play with me at any given time, I tried leveling.

Jason (there were 2 Jasons trying to get me to play, so that doesn't help... Work Jason!) on Antonidas hooked me up with some gold, some bags, and held my hand through some dungeons and low level quests. Before long, Antonidas became my server to play on and I forgot, ro maybe just ignored, the rest. After playing for at least 10 months, I'm nearing level 80 - the highest you can currently reach. I'm at level 79, just a whisper from that that goal.

Some people are all about leveling. Power leveling, get to the end game content and go do raids! I've played my main guy for over 500 hours over the past year. It's easy to see I'm not in a rush to reach the end. I was shocked to see I've actually spent that much time playing. But I enjoy playing, I enjoy questing. Heck, I've caught myself plenty of times just looking around at how the game is put together.

I do lots of low level quests that don't net me huge amounts of XP. Part of that is from enjoying questing. It's also because I hate to die. If you do easy quests, you don't die as much. There's no penalty for dying other than having to run back to your corpse, but I still dislike it. Right now I have another 70% of a level to complete to reach 80. The first thing I will probably do then is go back and do the really low level quests I skipped and see if I can fly through them!

I've been through some dungeons btu not many. Jason took me through some where he would kill everything with his 80 Death Knight and let me grab all the loot. I took Jerry through a lot that I could mainly solo and let him grab lots of loot. Last week he and I went through one where he had to help out now that he's leveling up higher and we're entering bigger dungeons. Jason also took me on my first 5-man raid last week. I didn't like it. I had no idea what I was doing and was afraid I was going to be screwing everybody else up. Unless I find 4 other people wanting to do a raid, I think I may just skip those.

As I near the end of leveling, I still enjoy the game. The economy has been a source of fun for both Jerry and I. We'll send each other texts of how much money we made in the Auction House overnight or over a really good weekend. Gathering items for auction (from mining and skinning) is still fun, too.

Ideally I'll start some other class once I reach 80. I've got a paladin leveled up to 20 that I've infrequently played. The problem is I seem to have a warrior mentality when I play. Rush forward > Smash > Kill > Continue while bad guys stand. It's different from how I see myself day-to-day where I [try] to methodically think things through. I've tried playing a Death Knight before, so I may give one of those another whirl. But all that is for later. First, I have to reach 80!

Sometime in the next week or two. Probably.

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TV Shopping Like Goldilocks

02.13.2010

I mentioned previously how my 5 year old Hitachi big boy 60" DLP tv had decided to bite the dust. I took advantage of some Super Bowl sales and got a replacement. A 52" Toshiba LCD TV. I bought it at HH Gregg, and it was the last one in stock/floor model, so I got a good deal on it. Unfortunately, after getting it home and setting everything up, I found out the first HDMI port didn't work. At first I thought maybe the XBox was on the fritz, but after switching around components it didn't matter which thing was plugged into HMDI 1, it just wasn't working.

So back to HH Gregg I went, and with far less hassle than anyone expected, I soon left with a 55" Samsung LCD TV.

So many different sizes, so many different brands. With the influx of the new LED tvs, why didn't I get one of those? And what's with getting a smaller tv? Never downsize the tv!

I'm just getting older. 60" really was a little bit too big for where I watch tv. 52" seemed a little too small though :) Sure, LEDs are the hot new cool thing, but for the same size it was going to cost an extra $700. I think I'll be old and cheap and wait for this tv to die before going on to the new hotness. Besides, my computer is chock full of new hotness, so I'm not completely over the hill.

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Feb 1, 2010 Raw

02.02.2010

The last time I went to a wrestling show was a Raw house show at the VBC on Sept 1, 2006. It was Jerry's first (and so far last) trip to see the wrestling. My good close personal friend Evil Mathias was also part of our little crew that night. This past Monday night Matt and I went to see the televised Raw from Nashville. Neither of us thought of inviting Jer.

Early last week Matt tracked down some ramp-side tickets for us. We would be on the side you could actually see form the camera, so there was a chance we would be on TV. Even more importantly, since this was a televised show Jason would be there, so after not seeing him in over 5 years I could once again bear hug the little dude. I can't help it, it's just one of those things I have to do when I see him. From here I'll try to hit the high points :)

Matt and I got to our ramp side seats after the doors opened. We were on the floor, 8 rows back from the ring, 2 rows forward of the stage, and about 15 chairs away form the actual ramp. It sounds good, but being on the flat floor when everybody gets excited and jumps up to look around and they're between you and world famous wrestling superstars limits the viewing pleasure. But I digress.

About 10 minutes before the first match (a taping for WWE Superstars, check your local listings on WGN) Jason managed to sneak up behind me, totally throwing off my bear hug trap that I was planting for him. I introduced Matt and Jason offered to take us backstage and give a quick tour, at which point he asked if I had ever been backstage before. This was my 14th wrestling event to attend, the 10th one that I've seen Jason at. The only time I've been backstage was once in Birmingham when he brought me in through the back before a show, then took me back out the back afterward. So, hell no Jason's never taken me backstage, at least not like some whore in the night! He said he was going to get 2 passes and would be right back.

I looked at Matt and told him no matter what, this was going to be the best night ever. I was going backstage! I may have peed my underbritches a little.

Jason showed back up with passes in hand, but before he gave them to us he said "Ok, 3 rules. No autographs, no pictures, no marking out." Hopefully I covered my slack jawedness at this, after all I had a little pee in my underbritches. No marking out? I'm only human! Ok, I can try. Matt and I stuck passes to our shirts and Jason began the tour.

Jason showed us the cabinet with all the title belts they keep for TV. We saw the props trailer (I touched a rubber sledgehammer Triple H hits people with!). We saw another props trailer that carries ring equipment (it has one of Undertaker's caskets stored too). We saw offices that are really props for vignets they show on TV. We saw wardrobe people sewing, and lots of pyro canisters.

Along the way we saw some wrestlers... no wait, I should call them "talent" so I don't mark out. We passed Jack Swagger, who seemed awfully polite along with being a lot bigger than he looks on TV. We passed Big Show, who I've actually seen enough to not be shocked by his size. On the way to one of the offices we passed by catering, and there was the biggest collection of wre... talent I've ever seen. Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Kofi Kingston, Ted DiBiase (Jr), and even more that I tried not to stare at because we really weren't supposed ot be there. We got to the office Jason wanted to show us and I had to make him stop for a second. Everything caught up to me for a moment and I swear I sounded like Beavis & Butthead for a couple of seconds. "Sorry, nobody's around and I had to mark out for a second."

Jason took us down another hallway where wardrobe was. There was a gaggle of Divas standing in the hall talking. John Cena walked by and said "Hey fellas". He was really talking to Jason, but Matt and I are going to back each other up and say he was talking to us too. Past the Divas, Jason stopped us and explained the inner workings of wardrobe, while just beyond Jason, Sheamus, Edge, and CM Punk were animatedly talking over what I just know was something that was going to happen in a match.

Jason started to take us back out of the hallway to the stage area since it was getting close to time for him to work. Jason and Matt are little guys, especially compared to me. Plus, they walk faster than I do, so I tend to lag behind. There was enough room to get by the gaggle of Divas when Jason and Matt got there. As I got closer, one of the girls that had her back toward me decided to hear something funny and started to laugh. She also started stepping backwards into that gap that Jason and Matt had just gone through. I couldn't just politely stand there, I couldn't get too far away from Jason. I couldn't keep going, I'm 4 times the giggling girl's size. Luckily, I've had to manage my way through many a crowded strip club and the skills I learned are instinctual! As I got closer to the giggling Diva she started to turn, probably enough to notice that it was getting darker because I was blocking out the light. Seeing me caught her off guard and she brought her hands up to her face as she stopped backpedaling - just enough to be in the way! At this point, I non-threateningly placed my hands on her hips, flashed my best teddy bear smile along with a dash of surprised eyes and said "whoops, excuse me" as I guided her out of my way.

Yes, I'm good. Turns out the giggly Diva was one of the Bella Twins. She looks a lot better in person than on TV.

From there we went out front and sat behind Jason for a couple of matches. Jason started to get busy so Matt and I went to our ramp side seats. After two matches, Matt came to the conclusion that the seats over by Jason were a lot better, so we went back and watched the rest of the night's festivities from there. Like most live, televised shows I go to, I then spent more time talking to Jason when he wasn't swamped, looking at the lighting gadgets, and peeking over Jason's shoulder as he got on his laptop and worked on the design for the entrance stage for Wrestlemania.

After the last match, Matt and I got to talk a little more to Jason. In all honesty, Jason is one of those guys I just love to talk to. He has a job that he loves (he doesn't, no matter how match of a pain it can be). I know enough about what he does that I can carry on a conversation with him - I think half the time I know where he's going to be over the next couple of days better than he does. I try not to talk about wrestling too much, it is the equivalent of him talking about work all the time, after all. But deep down, Jason is just a nice guy, and from that he's fun to talk to.

I had told Matt years ago the Jason was "Gina's Ex-Uncle" or "Gina's Aunt's Ex-Husband" to try to explain how I knew him. Along the way, Matt started calling Jason "your cousin" and it was just easier to let him go with that. If anybody asks, I'll quickly tell them Jason's my cousin. He's family. Not necessarily by blood. He's family by bear hug!

Every time there's a live wrestling event, I first think "That would be fun to go to" followed by "but there driving back and forth, and getting in, and all the people". I usually dread it a little and may try to think of an excuse not to go. Every time, I'm glad when I get there and I manage to have fun. I think I might have had the most fun this time. Thanks Matt & Jason! Oh, and thanks A Bella Twin!

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Time for an Update

01.29.2010

I've been quiet online for the past week and a half. Yes, I'm still alive - life is just keeping me busy.

My first Accounting II test is next week, and I'm not sure how prepared I'm going to end up. The chapter covers short term liabilities, payroll, and long term liabilities. It sounds simple enough, but the examples don't seem consistent to me. The cut-off point from short-term to long-term seems to jump around. On top of that, I have a different teacher from the previous class and I'm not sure how 33 multiple choice questions will work on an accounting test.

My big boy TV in the living room died last Sunday. There was a bad storm in the wee hours of Sunday morning, so although the TV was plugged into a surge protector, some bad mojo might have sneaked through. It was only 5 years old, but I had already had a handful of problems with it in those 5 years. I'm hoping to take advantage of some Super Bowl Big TV sales in the upcoming week.

Monday I head to Nashville with my close personal 1st tier friend Evil Mathias to attend Raw, live! It's been a few years since I went to a wrestling show. Matt picked us up some tickets that are supposed to be by the entrance ramp. Although there's great potential for being up close when the guys go to the ring, I keep thinking about the loud and fiery pyro we're going to be close to. Maybe I'll just hang out at with Jason and the lighting/sound guys?

Somehow I've picked up some little web projects to work on between work and various people I know. I've been playing around with WordPress which I've avoided for years. Pretty soon I'll have to go ahead and start looking into Joomla so I can check it off my list!

My homemade video game development had a forward spurt that's stalled out over the past week or so. Mainly I need to purchase a library that better manipulates the camera and allows interaction between the player and objects on the map. I need to purchase it because I sure don't want to write it - that stuff looks complicated.

So, to summarize:

• Still alive.
• Busy.

That's all until I'm less busy, or less alive?

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[Censored]

01.19.2010

This makes me laugh way too much.

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