darthxavien

Today was my first day back from my weekend, and as many of you know there was a major layoff. I saw a few friends get laid off, although I did not nor did two of my much closer friends. We are, however, still seeking alternate employment. For one thing, they would get a heck of a severance package if they get laid off, and for all of us it is becoming a bit extreme. Call queues have gone up, pay increases are still frozen, and the threats of layoffs have created a stressful environment... for some. Actually, I have been really calm about all of this. I walked in with a smile on my face, and an attitude that said "whatever happens; happens." I am looking into other call centers while I stay at JTV in the meantime. My long term goal is to get a job in my field. A good friend's mother has actually volunteered some help in that field, and I am very grateful for that.
Still, I feel sympathy for those that did lose it. It was really sad that someone like me who had prepared well for the situation, has no dependents, and wasn't really attached to the job got to keep it, while others in worse situations lost their jobs. I almost volunteered to be laid off so that someone else didn't have to, but really that only leaves me a week and one day to find a new job, so I probably won't do that. Still, I have high hopes that not only will I find a better job (even with the economy like it is) but that things will look up for the people there.

Since everyone always blogs about the kinds of things that are really depressing, I've decided (thanks to some prodding to keep up a blog) that I want to do it positively. Since my last blog, I have changed jobs, fallen in love, turned my life in a different direction, and moved to a new location. In terms of a job, I have been blessed when it came to a good schedule, as well as friends that I like working with. In my romantic life, I have been dating a girl named Carrie Sapp. You don't know her, she's from Canada (no, not really).Carrie has been a positive influence on me, as well as probably my closest friend in very little time. Since we started dating, things have been great. I won't pretend there aren't any bumps, but what relationship doesn't have those? Especially one that is long distance. Still I am happy to say things have been very good in that respect. My new apartment is also better located, more roomy, nicer looking, and finally very affordable. I have been very pleased with my location and its proximity to my friends. Lastly, I have tried to better myself in the past year. The goal has been to recconnect with God mostly, but I have found that a lot of my priorities changed. I have become much more goal oriented and self improving (which goes hand in hand with Christianity, I would hope).
So things are looking up. I'm moving towards financial stability, trying to get my life into a place where I can keep moving forward. Perhaps for the new year I will be posting more info on my life, but I won't promise anything. I have really been enjoying the gaming world lately though. Between WOW and some awesome X-box live games I've had a lot to keep myself occupied. But now I am wondering if it was more my attitude change that has made everything much more appealing to me than the newfound variety. In any case, I'm feeling high on life at the moment. It's nice not ending a blod with "life is pain, and then you die."

As I was talking about Monday night, Halo is probably my favorite pure sci-fi universe. I really like BSG, but Halo's universe has kept more to the military aspect that I like so much, whereas BSG became more about the drama.

Anyways, I really liked this latest installment. It was a good close to the trilogy, which I think is rather rare. I think that the complaints about how Halo 2 deviated must have spurred the group on to make a game more like the first. I really liked the desperation involved in the plot, and the new gameplay was great. We got some multi-player going on, and it was kickass. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the new game, and I'm looking forward to a few more runs through. It has its flaws, but it is probably one of the best games I've seen in a while.

So I had an interesting weekend. I'm really happy that my Vols won, though it was strange going with friends instead of tailgating with my parents. On a sadder note, a good friend of mine had his father pass away on thursday. We attended a memorial which was rather odd. He had very little family but a lot of friends there, and it was a much less somber atmosphere than I anticipated.

Also, there's this girl that I have really liked for some time now, and for the dumbest reason just can't get up the nerve to talk to her. She's like one of the few people who do that to me, but today I overcame that a little bit.

Last night I spent the evening drinking with Landon (which ended in utter exhaustion, but strangely the alcohol was just not even affecting me). He's still been having trouble dealing with his brother's death, and I was trying to console him. On that note, the evening was topped off with a joke I played on a friend.

This joke ended up dragging me into a conflict going on between two friends. They just broke up, and I will say there's some very strange reactions on both sides. I feel two faced trying to talk to them though, because I can sort of sympathize with them. I just feel really conflicted about life right now. I thought this was just an odd enough weekend to share this all with you.

Hope everyone else is feeling less confused!

So I'll start with my real life, and then move on to the interesting part (fiction). I've been sick the last two or three days. It blows, and I'm currently not really doing anything worthwhile. On the plus side I've cleaned house and ordered books, but I really hope this clears up by Saturday. Tennessee has greatly disappointed me, so I really hope we do well. But anyways, on to the question:

One of my friends at the gaming table has recently put a proposition forward. Mind you, this friend is very quiet when it comes to his characters, so he usually plays combat characters (for those of you who know him, Clay is also known for his comedic out of combat value). Here is his thought: Unless it grants a bunch of feats or has 9th level spells, a class is completely worthless in combat if he doesn't have full BAB.

Because of this, he is unwilling to play a class like Bard or Dragon Shaman who he says are "characters that just stand back and make others look good." Having had considerable experience with buffers, I think people underestimate the value. Also, later classes (such as the dragon shaman) strive to do buffs along side combat abilities. It's similar to the reason no one wants to play a healer I think, but I just can't shake that these classes can be fun to play.

I guess that's not so much a question, more a rant and then asking for opinions. What are you going to do? I'm sick, so cut me some slack.

So yesterday, my party was talking about the problems with Savage Tide. In order to rectify it, I tried to put some more plot out there as opposed to the mindless slogging that seems to run rampant in the campaign. However, the idea was thrown around of trying something else, and now everyone has decided they want to try something else.

The main issue we've had are the people who still like D&D (and in some cases D20 altogether) vs. those who want some other system. I am on the D20 side: I'm familiar with it, I like the system, and I think it can work much better with modification. On the flipside, we have my friend Jay, who is completely opposed to D20.

D&D 4th is coming out, and the same people who are complaining about D&D now are the ones who are also saying "4th edition will suck." They seem to not like Saga (which anyone will know I like a lot). The biggest question they've thrown out is "what attracts people to stay with D&D." I can't really give much of an answer other than the fact that I "get it." I'm hoping I'm not the only person out there who thinks D20 still has a good deal of hope.

Right now everyone is saying that D&D is just Miniatures combat with more rules... personally I think this could be easily remedied.

Progress on learning to drive is slow. Too slow. Every time I have a ride bail on me it becomes staggeringly obvious how bad the need for a license is. It disgusts me how much I took having my brother around for granted. Not having it since he's left has created a whole mess of problems, and more keep coming. It's annoying to me that we are so dependent upon cars. They're expensive, high maintenance, and they pollute everything. I realize that there's a lot of money in keeping things the way they are, but come on, you could make so much more money with a better mode of transportation.

As I'm sitting here on campus, I'm noting a mood that has set in on me. When I was a freshman and even a sophomore, I thought what I wanted was to stay here. Now I just want to be done. This whole doing work that you pay for is getting old fast. I love learning, but academia is too expensive to warrant a long stay.

I'm done with my rant. I just needed a time to vent things. On a good note, both my campaigns seem to be doing well now. We've had a few setbacks but I'm happy to say that I think the worst is behind us. Dungeon tiles seem like they'd be really good if I had a better mind for improvisation. There's no doubt that the system Rodney used was superior: it made combat flow quickly without a need to question direction or number of squares.

Well, with any hope I should have most of my school projects done by Wednesday, and my parents are coming up Saturday. Guess I'll be driving even more this weekend.

I hate Valentine's day. No one ever has a good april fool's joke. Flag day isn't a real holiday. But this day... this day I like. St. Patrick's day has always amused me for three reasons: it's a religion holiday wherein you drink a lot, you all have to wear green, and everyone gets together for a holiday in the spring.

I can't think of many other spring holidays where friends go hang out. On easter you go see family or go to church. but St. Patty's day is spent with friends. Now don't get me wrong. I love beer. But to me this holiday is about more than drinking. Far from it. I love spending the time with my friends. I wish it were warmer today, but I can't complain. I've always enjoyed this holiday for lots of reasons. So here's my hope that you all enjoy it too. Especially if you hated valentine's day as much as me, you need a real holiday to bring you that uplifting spirit. So have a beer, but on your lucky green shirts, and enjoy a quiet day with your friends.

Here's hoping you all have a good one. Cheers!

Well, spring break is finally here. I intend to make use of it and get some driving under my belt. Other than that, no real plans. I feel bad because everyone else I know is going somewhere cool or doing something exciting. For the last two years I've felt like an old man in college. It's really weird how I do almost nothing any more.

Anyways, it's also my brother's birthday, so I'm really excited about that. give Gamescribe a happy birthday in the near future. Sadly, there's pretty much nothing that I can get him (since he works for the only company I usually get him anything from now).

I've gotten over my initial hatred of the silence in my apartment. On the one hand, it does bite not having anyone to talk to. On the other, it means I can be as loud as I want and not disturb anybody else.

Overall, I'm happy about spring break. There is some much needed time for R&R, and plenty of stuff for me to be productive with. In other news, I'll be hosting the second session of my savage tides game (possible complete with 2 new members) and my shackled city game (which hopefully we'll get the kinks out of the characters soon, since level 1 blows).

So I got laid off. They say it was for purely financial reasons, which I really don't have any reason to dispute that. Still, I was a part time employee... so I cost them next to nothing and brought in as much if not more than one of the other processors (who they kept) My brother can attest that this guy knows far less about computers than I do, so it can't be his killer skills.

Regardless, I am now in full on movement. I need a job. I need to get in my clinic hours at school, and I need my license. So I'm determined to get it done. I'm going to look at the hiring services the family recommended, and if push comes to shove (and I get my license), I could try and work at ACN. Dunno if they're hiring or not. Here's hoping everything goes well.

I'm now puzzled as to whether I should inquire deeper into why I was let go, or if I should just drop it. But let's hope it all works out.

Yesterday I ranted about the worst holiday in existance. Largely by avoiding it altogether, I had a relatively good day. It was still hectic, but what was nice ws the fact that I got a learner's permit. Yes, it's taken me far too long, but it was much needed nonetheless. Hopefully soon I'll be driving on my own and have a car to use. It will be nice to know how I'm actually getting around from day to day. I'm actually starting to make a dent in all the work I have to do at home, so I'm doing pretty well. I must say it's really quiet there. Even with all the games and the TV, there's like... no one to talk to. I realized this when I was just like... looking around for someone else to make a joke to about something stupid on TV. Very frustrating. But we're moving closer to what is one of my favorite holidays in the next month or so: St. Patty's day. You get to emphasize good luck, drink a bunch of beer (usually everyone springs for good quality), and you get to pinch people if they don't conform! Goth's beware! But regaurdless, it's been pretty wierd getting everything together, but I'm working diligently. And I know the end result will be worth it.

On the biggest plus size, I'm near to hitting level 30. I'm back in the groove and having a lot of fun with Pally.

As some of you may already know, I hate this holiday. Many people don't know the beautiful story (even though it ends in martyrdom) of this holiday. Why? Because it was torn apart by card and candy companies looking for another holiday to whore themselves out on. And what's worse, they did so by targeting one group. Basically, it amounts to "You don't love your woman if you don't give her something," which to me comes off as rather sexist. Very few women I know actually get their man something for Valentine's day, but expect something for themselves. And of course there is the age old argument that you should pay attention to your significant other all the time... not just on holidays.
For the past several years, I have called this holiday single awareness day. It blows being alone on this holiday. Although given my one past experience of Valentine's day when I wasn't single, the alternative could be much much worse.
So today began with a nice early wake up: 6:30 to get ready for class and work. So I got to the building my classes are in early. I was gonna sign up for some hours to do observation (I have to get 25 hours this semester). I say all this because I had some previous trouble: the time that I was already spending off work in between classes was during the lunch hour, so no hours available. Great. Now I have to take MORE time off work. Okay. So I get there, and lo and behold, nothing available that won't cost me at least 2 hours off work to observe. It seems lately my luck has been a little down. I must have had a black cat cross my path or broke a mirror. The last two days I went to the DMV and missed some work... only to be told they weren't open on mondays, and the computers were down. Sweet.
And finally the beautiful little icing on the cake was that the DVR I purchased Friday from Comcast... doesn't work. I was talking to my friend Ed, he suggested that perhaps I had a little Gremlin following me around sabotaging things.

I want to be optimistic though. All my friends have offered help and support in teaching me to drive. So here's hoping that all works out.

Oh And one final note, I had to cancel my character creation session for this abominable holiday.

Ever since my brother has been packing I've come to realize that my house is gonna be bare. VERY bare. So I am compiling a list of things I'll need to replace. Most importantly: books. My brother had an impressive collection of books which I will need access to for the game. As a DM I'll be missing the book which has the pantheon I'm using, the magazines which the adventure I'm running is in, and the entire "Complete" series. So a lot of catching up to do there.

On monday... I plan to go take my Driver's test. There. I said it. Happy? For too long I've not had it and I will finally be able to stop hearing that same old rhetoric. So I'll get to hang out with people more, which is very cool. I plan on setting things up to have it all switched over when he leaves. Soon I should be able to run a campaign, and we'll see how that turns out. The system we used before was incredibly efficient, so we'll just be going right back to the slow way of doing D&D.

I'm finally starting to see Rodney getting excited though. Which is cool. He was not really energetic about it before. I'll miss him a lot. But hey, there's always WOW, and GenCon and such.

So I've been in hectic mode lately. I registered late for classes, and couldn't get in to a few I wanted. With the recent revalations of Rodney's future and the move back to school, I've been strung out the last three days. I even broke my resolution and had some wine (although I had found out its bad to just drink water anyways, since I miss out on simple sugars) on wednesday. And this is only three days in the semester! Well, I guess it's just that Rodney is gone and having to walk EVERYWHERE takes a lot of time.

So on to the good part. After a horrific experience with what may have been the most condescending teacher I've ever met, I was worried that I wasn't going to get the hours I need. Fortunately, a teacher helped me out today and let me in despite the class being full. WHEW. Well that's a load off. Now I've got a few other things to take care of (planning for in case Rodney goes away, making a budget, etc). But I have to tell you, when I got back from work after getting into that class, I sighed the deepest sigh of relief that I've had in a long time.

Things were all sort of building up to a head this week. A LOT of stuff is going on at once, so I was a little panicked. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in perfect shape right now, but it's amazing how in a time of even minor crisis, a little relief goes a looooong way. It's always nice to find that little glimmer of hope.

Oh, and I can't wait for Burning Crusade. My connection at home has sucked, but I'm gonna do whatever it takes to remedy it (I think it's the wireless, but it may be the provider).

"Eye on the TV, this tragedy thrills me;" earlier today, I was disgusted to hear the guy in the cubicle next to me watching the execution video of Sadaam Hussein. I'm not about to get into politics, but this bothers me. Why is it that we have become so enthralled with death that we must watch a real killing? I always hated shows like Cops and Police Videos where people are getting killed for real. After Steve Irwin died, all I could hear was "I'd like to see the video, wouldn't you?" Hell no I wouldn't. In fact, I would go so far as to say I'd not like other people to watch it. To me, death has always been a private matter.

America was founded by prudes. In England the only thing preventing nudity on television is a sense of propriety. We have laws about it here. But America was also founded by hard people, who were willing to sacrifice a comfortable life for freedom. Those who took up arms for freedom weren't interested for more blood. They just wanted thier lives back. And so now, I see these people who are obsessed with death and destruction. Whether for some political reasons, or just some sick desire to see the morbid. All I know is, I've had a lot of family members die, and been to a lot of funerals. War is inevitable... but subjecting yourself to actual violence that you don't have to see is just plain stupid.

Tool got it right... It seems like our culture feeds on tragedy. Not to say there aren't exceptions... it just seems silly that people actually want to see suffering.

I made a resolution to myself, to run every day until I get back into shape. I've come to realize that my schedule is not conducive to this. Oh sure, I can run really late at night after I've gotten everything done, but then I'm just even more exhausted than I already am. But I'm determined to continue trying this. I didn't get to run last night because we were out all evening. I'm hoping I can make this happen the way I want it to. As added incentive, I stopped drinking everything but water (except for New Year's). I hope that these two in tandem will help me lose some of the weight I've gained during college. Plus, maybe it will give me better perspective, and a place to vent my frustrations.

Anyways, last night the reason I missed it was our Game over at a friend's house. As my bro already posted, we played Red Hand of Doom, and WOW TCG. Both were fantastic fun. We got a lot done in D&D (something that rarely happens in that game), and nobody died. It's been a nice step up. Rodney and Joe adamantly think it's the distinct lack of beer. But I digress, it was great fun, but now I need to remind myself to keep my OTHER priorities strait, even when I stay out too late playing D&D.

And on that note, Happy New Year everyone! I hope to see many of you to ring it in!

Hello everyone, I just got signed up. It seems lately I decided to join teh intarwebz fully and embraced myspace and livejournal. I guess now you'll have to suffer my incessant rants by straininng your eyes instead of your ears.

I hope everyone had a merry christmas, and I'm glad to be able to enjoy all of your zany antics.