More for me than for you, but go ahead...

It's midnight, and I am at a loss.  For forty hours a week I fantasize about all that I will do when I am not working, and then on my days off I am lost.  I cannot imagine that this is healthy.

Don't get me wrong.  There are plenty of things that I could be doing, or more to the point that I should be doing, but none of these things are of any great interest.  Things like cleaning, exercise, looking for a higher caliber of gainful employment...all of these are just so...taxing.  So I sit in front of my computer while my wife is (quite sensibly) asleep and do nothing productive.  As far as I can rationalize these things, there seem to be a few main reasons (and by "reasons" I mean "excuses"):
1) My job.  I work a funky schedule which prevents any sort of routine.  No going to certain places at certain times.  This prevents commitments such as church every Sunday, D&D every second Friday, or whatever.
2) A total absence of a local social network.  I know the people I work with, and my wife knows the people she works with, and that is pretty much it for us west of the Mississippi. 
3) Our Tiny Master.  Do not question this.  It is all the cat.

So there it is.  I'm not looking for sympathy or advice, really.  I'm just...bored.  And all too soon I will be at work, wishing I was here.

Currently reading : The First World War By John Keegan Release date: 2000-05-16

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So, McCain-Palin...
Current mood: nonplused

I've spent the last fifteen minutes or so trying to put my thoughts on Sarah Palin in order, and everything I've written was rambling crap.  So I'll just say what I said out loud when I read the article:

"Huh."

Currently playing : The Sims 2: Apartment Life Release date: 2008-08-26

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The city don’t know that the city is getting.

I just got home from seeing The Dark Knight for the first time.

Wow.

Oh yeah, and Gary Glitter is out of jail.  CNN says he was headed for Bangkok (oriental setting).  10 to 1 says I know what his first stop will be.  "Talkin's fine if you got the time..."

Hehe.

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June

I was born on June 19, so June has always had some significance to me.  Over time this has lessened, but I admit that I still think of pretty much the whole month as the time when I should get stuff.  Sometimes things work out suprisingly well.

    The 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons is out.  I wasn't in a postition to hear much of the community feedback during the 2nd-to-3rd Edition conversion back in 2000, but people have been going nuts over 4E's supposed "Warcraftification" of the game.  Certainly there are aspects of MMORPG in 4E, and I was taken aback by a few of the changes (CG, how I shall miss thee), but the truth is that the game is going in the direction of most "gamers", who are much more likely to play WoW than  old school wargames, or even Baldur's Gate. 
    This could be fine, as much so progress has been, and I think it's far too early to make a judgement on D&D's future.  I helped Jess roll up a rogue the other night and ran a quick encounter with her.  She would have been fine if she could have rolled something over a six.  Let it be said that Regina the changeling rouge is particularly grateful for the 4E concept of healing surges...

    The second bit of news concerns a certain black Mercury Sable that has been giving me (well, us really) no end of trouble for quite a while.  After it blew a head gasket for the second time in four months, we decided to pursue other methods of transport.  And the bus, while a cost-effective means of exposing oneself to other demographics (and a great place for exposing oneself, for that matter), is less than convenient. 
    Hence the '07 Chevy Malibu (maroon) outside.  No pics yet, but I'm sure I'll be "that guy" sooner or later.

    On a more somber note, I saw this afternoon that Tim Russert had passed away.  He was the host of Meet the Press since 1991, and by all accounts one of the most influential media personalities in the nation, if not the world.  I used to watch MtP while getting ready for church back in high school, and a few months ago I discovered that I could listen to the podcasts on iTunes, and I haven't missed an episode since. 

    So yeah, June. 
  

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Cloudkill (or Acid Fog)

So life in Louisiana goes on.  This morning a train car full of hydrochloric acid derailed, hit an overpass support, and began leaking acid vapor.  There has been a mandatory evacuation for a chunk of Lafayette (becasue we all know how well mandatory evacuations work in south Louisiana) but so far we haven't been affected.  Depending on the wind direction we will probably be fine, but there is a possibility we may have to relocate for a day or two. 

Woot.

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It only gets hot when you stop moving.

While I was out walking today I decided to post a blog about the beauty all around me.  It was going to be all grand and poetic, going on about nature and how going just a few hundred yards gets you away from the traffic and whatnot.  But now I’m back inside and I guess I lost a bit of that already.  So suffice it to say that south Louisiana in late March is very close to perfect, with a perfect sunny sky, no longer chilly but nowhere near as hot as it will be soon.  It’s the kind of day that makes me wish I were back in college so I could sit out on the grass doing nothing and everyone around me would understand completely.

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Signs of Life.

Hi.  My name is Mark H., and I have been blog free for three months and three weeks.  I thought it was possible to leave the blogs behind me.

But blogs never leave you.

Back in late November I had to start over with a clean hard drive in my computer, and I was really slow to reinstall all my old crap.  This left me with a gaming void, so I decided to try something that I had been hearing about but never really looked at to closely.  (No, not excersise.)  I decided to borrow a co-worker’s copy of The Sims 2. 

May God have mercy on my soul, I thought it was harmless.  I thought I would try it out, and then move on.  I thought I had seen hell, and that nothing could be that addictive.  Now it’s mid March, I’ve got my own copy plus seven expansion packs, and every night there is a delicate ballet of threats and negotiation as to who gets to play.  ’Cause you see, this is not only me.  I brought this into my home, and it took about two days before my wife was into it up to her lovely eyeballs.  

So that’s where we’ve been.  We are alive and well.  We still have a cat, although he doesn’t do nearly as many cute things as the cats in the game.  We work, we eat, and we occasionally take a night off to watch a movie or read.  And that’s about it.  Is this blog a taste of things to come?  Will I actually pay attention to MySpace and the faces on my friends list?  I cannot say for certain.  All I can do is send out this warning, and hope that it reaches some friendly ear.

Excuse me.  I have little people to dictate.

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gratia

The past fortnight or so has been, well, interesting.  Interesting to me, not necessarily interesting to you, but that's okay.  You're gonna read it anyway, right?

Calamity
So one Thursday my hard drive decided that it really didn't want to be a hard drive anymore, and that it would much prefer an exciting new career as a paperweight.  Unable to persuade it otherwise, I enlisted the help of these guys to see if they could talk my new paperweight around.  They couldn't.  As luck would have it, however, they were able to replace it with the hard drive from Jessica's old computer, which had about half a dozen things go wrong with it two years ago.  Unfortunately I had to wait becasue the computer shop had just relocated and were backed up.  This, by the way, was on a Monday.

Withdrawal
So I waited.  And waited.  The nice man said five to ten business days, and in my accustomed optimism (not denial,surely not) I fully expected to get my dear compy back by, like, Friday.  Jess repeatedly offered her computer, but it just wasn't the same.  Friday came and went, and I was at a loss.  I played a lot of Madden on the PS2 and suffered.  On Monday I checked for messages every couple of hours at work, and Tuesday I wept all over the store's financial records, rendering Monday's profits and losses utterly illegible (well, in my mind, anyway).  I finally got the awaited message on Thursday - that would be nine business days - and brought home my compy with a newly purged hard drive.

Anticipation
There was a silver lining to all this.  Jess and I had been idly discussing getting a new computer for a while, and the untimely death of my hard drive prompted us to seriously look at what we could get for a realistic amount of money.  We figured a decent gaming computer could be had for something we could (sort of) afford, and I had at some point convinced myself that I would be buying a computer before Thanksgiving.  This is the sort of thing that keeps me grinning, lost in daydreams of DirectX 10, half a terabyte of hard drive space and 3GB of memory.  Sure it would be pretty much our entire Christmas, but I was cool with that.  Someone wasn't.

Calamity Part II
Friday, less than a week to Thanksgiving.  I could clearly visualize myself walking into BestBuy and walking out with my new computer.  That's when my car began making a terrible grinding noise.  Noise?  What noise?  I don't hear any stupid...FUCK!  What's this happy horseshit?  Doesn't my car know I'm about to spend all sorts of money on something important?  Fine.  I took the dumb car to the dumb shop Saturday morning and hoped I wouldn't have to wait around for it after I got off work nine hours later.  I got a call back from the car people saying that they would have to replace several parts of my car and that it would cost over half what I was planning to pay for my new computer.  My soul imploded.  A little later they told me that they had taken my car apart and then discovered that something had to be ordered from the dealer, and that I would get my car back Monday. 

Withdrawal Part II
So I had no car.  No biggie.  After the whole "I'm not getting a computer anytime soon" tragedy set in, not having a car was nothing.  Besides an early meeting on Sunday, I was off Sunday and Monday anyway.  So I get the car Monday night.  No biggie.  I decided to call and check up on things around noon on Monday, and the grease-covered sadist on the other end said it could be Wednesday before they get the part.  Which means if they don't get it early enough, it will could concieveably be next Monday before I get it back, given the holiday weekend.  And by the time it's all over I wouldn't be at all surprised if the cost of this is right about what my sweet, sweet new computer would have been.  

Gratitude
And here I am.  This isn't a "What I'm Thankful For" blog, but it really should be.  I have Jess and our Tiny Master, a job, and a vague promise of a functioning car at some point in the future.  I have a computer again, and I am certainly grateful for that.  So there.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Currently listening : Murder Ballads By Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Release date: 20 February, 1996

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Survey in lieu of sleep

1. Do you wear a name tag at work?
Yes.  When people ask me if I work there, I take a long look at it.

2. What kind of car do you drive?
Mercury Sable, black

3. What do you order when you go to Taco Bell?
Chalupa Supreme, Steak Quesidilla, or Chicken Taco

4. Have you ever had a garage sale?
I've put some stuff in them, but never run one all by myself

5. What color is your iPod?
My iPod is part of my phone, which is black

6. What kind of dog do you have?
No dog.  I want either a rottweiller or an English bulldog

7. What's for dinner tonight?
dinner was a chicken sandwich.

8. What is the last alcoholic beverage you had?
umm...beer at the Hops in Orlando

9. Stupidest thing you ever did with your cell phone?
Took pictures.  No, I'm not going to tell you what kind.

10. Last time you were sick?
I dunno.  I had the sniffles for a few days a couple of months ago

11. How long is your hair?
not very long

12. Are you happy right now?
I suppose...kinda sleepy

13. What did you say last?
"Yeah"

14. Who came over last?
Gareth, to see Jessica

15. Do you drink beer?
I like my beer to reflect my outlook on life: dark and bitter.

16. Have your brothers or sisters ever told you that you were adopted?
not that I can recall

17. What is your favorite keychain on your keys?
A University of Georgia keychain with a golden G

18. What was the last movie you watched at home?
I'm watching Cruel Intentions as my "laundry movie" right now

19. What is in your pocket?
Paystub, keys, pen, car remote

20. Who introduced you to Dane Cook?
Jessica

21. Where do you hurt?
My feet and my shoulder

22. Has someone ever made you a Build-A-Bear?
No.  Most of the people I know can remember that I'm a straight man.

23. What DVD is in your DVD player?
Don't know. Probably none

24. What's something fun you did today?
Two of my managers and i had a strange laughing fit for about five minutes over pretty much nothing

25. Who was the principal of your high school?
heck if I can remember...some douchebag

26. Has your house ever been TP'd?
no

27. What do you think of when you hear the word "meow"?
Either my cat Dimitri or that song by Lords of Acid

28. What are you listening to right now?
The third part of Dr Lee's Old English seminar

29. Drinkin?
just had some milk (1%)

30. What is your favorite aisle at Wal-Mart?
the one with shotguns, computer games and snack food

31. When is your mom's birthday?
April

32. When is your birthday?
June

33. What's the area code for your cell phone?
337

34. Where did you buy the shirt you're wearing now?
no shirt at the moment

35. Is there anything hanging from your rear view mirror?
an air freshener that lost its smell a couple of years ago

36. How many states in the US have you been to? Which ones?
Most of them, I think...never been to the Pacific Northwest or New England

37. What kind of milk do you drink?
1%, remember?

38. What are you going to do after this?
check some message boards

39. Who was the last person you went shopping with?
Jessica

40. What is your favorite fruit?
peaches and pineapples

41. What about your favorite dessert
What about it?

42. What is something you need to go shopping for?
a new car?

43. Do you have the same name as one of your relatives?
Yes, but not living ones

44. What kind of car do your siblings drive?
No clue...one might not even have a car

45. Do you like pickles?
Yes.  What about it?

46. How about olives?
Black yes, green not so much

47. What is your favorite kind of gum?
I never chew gum, but I guess it would be Big Red

48. What is your favorite kind of juice?
Apple or cranberry

49. Do you have any tan lines?
farmers tan on my forearms

50. What hospital were you born in?
a Naval hospital in Millington, TN

51. Do you remember the name of your kindergarten teacher?
Mrs Rowell.  I only got paddled once.

11:20 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

The Ale Wagon Inn, Part II

2

Emmalyn knelt for a moment behind the unpainted wagon, seeking a blessing from her people's divine patron.  Que'laan could be counted on to do what he deemed right for any elf, and she hoped that this was one of those things.  After a whispered prayer, she felt a sense of protection surround her thoughts, but she knew it wouldn't last very long.  With a quick nod at the man she had met on the road to Sunbay just a few days ago, Emmalyn stood and walked quickly toward the double doors of the inn.  She swung them open without hesitation, and with another prayer a bright light shone from the center of the common room's ceiling.  The two creatures behind the bar—kobolds, now that she got a good look at them—screeched at the sudden brightness and sent two bullets singing toward her.  They simply slowed to a halt before touching the cleric, and she barely gave them another glance as she strode to the staircase to the left of the rear hallway.  The pair of small, round rocks dropped gently to the wooden floor once the elf had moved away.

As she climbed the stairs, two more kobolds appeared at the top and slung their stones, with no more luck than their fellows.  This caused a stir among them, and they began chattering rapidly amongst themselves in Draconic, the language native to all reptilian races.  Emmalyn was well versed in the ancient language of the dragons, and she smiled inwardly at their confusion and rising awe.  Knowing that the blessing of Que'laan would fade very soon, she continued to ignore the small reptiles and pushed past them to the top of the stairs.  Four doors lined the single hallway, one behind her and three in front.  The elf quickly strode to a door on her left, the one behind which would be the sniper that had started this unexpected little adventure. 

The door swung open and another kobold was next to the window, straining to load a crossbow that was obviously too big for him.  He froze when he saw Emmalyn, who now had four kobolds crowding the hall behind her.  These were bickering between themselves, debating the reason they couldn't harm the tall intruder.  Understanding that the crossbow wasn't going to help even if loaded, the sniper let it drop and joined in his comrade's argument.

"Come out!  Come out and face me!"

Kobold and elf alike were startled by the unexpected roar from outside.  Aelric!  Emmalyn fumed inwardly.  What in the name of the gods are you doing?  She certainly hadn't expected that.  What was more, she felt the protection of her god fade to nothing.  She hoped strongly that the little lizards were convinced of her invulnerability.

Aloud, in Draconic, she said, "Tell me now, why were we attacked?"

The five kobolds went silent, and the sniper spoke after a second or two.  "We were told to kill you.  Any intruder.  This is our place now, elf woman."

No way these wyrmlings did this on their own.  "Who told you do kill intruders?"

As one, the small reptilian creatures looked at the far door on the right side of the hallway.  In an instant Emmalyn realized that it was the only polished door, and that the door frame was significantly more ornate than the others.  The noble's room, of course.  As if on cue, there was a loud crash from behind the polished door, and the elf knew that whatever was behind it was much bigger than the kobolds, and that it wouldn't be nearly so impressed with her "invulnerability".

She ran for the stairs as the door slammed open behind her, and she could hear Aelric shouting from below her.

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