I decided to have a go at the Badland's Uldaman. It's an Instance I'm sort of familiar with but have rarely done, so I'm not terribly familiar with the trash Mobs or Bosses (and until last night I was still 'raiding' naked, with no Addons). Once again, almost as soon as I said "I'll Tank. Let's go!", the new LFG tool hooked me up with a group. Amusingly one of the DPS failed the Ready Check and got kicked out, sending us back into the queue, but with a Tank, Healer & 2 DPS in our group it took just seconds for them to be replaced and I was zoned into the Instance.
"Pull lots," came a whisper from someone in my party. I looked at their name, then moused over their icon. He was a Dranei Priest. I guessed he was our Healer.
"Okay," I whispered back.
The Buffs were being passed around as I started early by grabbing a sole Trogg who wandered into the entrance chamber. After downing him I applied my own Buffs, drank up, then got down to business.
The run went fairly smoothly except I picked up the Gni'kiv Medallion while someone else looted the Shaft of Tsol, and because we couldn't Trade across servers we had no way of creating the Staff of Prehistoria to summon Ironaya. In the caves beyond Ironaya's room we also got turned around and wound up near Entrance B and the Obsidian Sentinel, and so back into the caverns we went.
I was amused when the Priest asked us to hurry because he had a Raid to get to. Why sign up for a run if you've got a Raid scheduled not too far away? I guess he was expecting a faster run than what he was getting, although (IMO) it wasn't that slow (except for us getting lost). That was when Lady Karma slapped my face and I started to pull Spouse Aggro; we were going to the In-laws for dinner and now I needed us to hurry as well. Fortunately by now we'd made it to the final area with just a couple of Pulls between us and the Boss, so I knew there wasn't long to go.
Does everyone have Mana? Yes? Go. Go! GO! We rushed down the Ramp, killing everything that stood in our way. I did Uldaman years ago, with my Gnome Warrior Tanking. We'd wiped on the Boss because the stupid Rogue used his Combo points on Expose Armor, preventing me from applying Sunder Armor and being unable to hold Aggro on him Archaedas had run rampant over our group. It was not pretty.
This time I made sure I held Aggro, and despite constantly summoning reinforcements the Titan eventually fell. I completed all the quests I had, got the new ones, then was forced to burn my Hearthstone when everyone else dropped group and Ghetto Hearthed on me. But as I was eating with the In-laws it's not like I'd need to Hearth again any time soon.
The next day I decided to head back into Uldaman, but this time Solo. Now at 46 I figured I could take the smaller groups and get the Gems I'd somehow missed (for The Shattered Necklace quest). Prior to going in I downloaded and installed Titan and Atlas so now I would have an in-game Map of the Instance.
The going was slow but uneventful as I pulled larger and larger groups. After one massive battle where runners brought back reinforcements which almost resulted in my death (thank heavens I'd finally worked out what is required for a Pally to Bubble-Heal) I counted the bodies as I looted them and there were 12. Yes, they were 6 levels lower than my Pally (on average), but these were Elites, including a mini-Boss, not your run of the mill, garden variety Mobs.
This time in I picked up the Shaft of Tsol, so with the Staff of Prehistoria in hand and with Ironaya's room clear of trash, I decided to let her out to play. With around 15,000hp (6 times my own) it was a war of attrition that I eventually won, but not before the Iron Maiden engaged in some Dwarf Punting, kicking me from her room back into the entrance halls.
If the Priest had thought the previous night's run to be slow, he'd have died of boredom watching my Solo attempt. I gradually cleared the caves, found Grimlok, and this time got my second Gem. I also don't recall taking out Galgann on my other run, or if I just missed looting the Gem, but not this time around. Although I still had to look around for the sparklies, so maybe I just missed it last time. With the end in sight I pressed on and decided to see just how much of Uldaman I could clear.
Down the final Ramp I went with Golems and Dwarfs alike falling to my Crusader-enchanted Vanquisher's Sword. While I do have Jang'thraze the Protector (from when Shaun ran me through ZF) the 28-AP bonus on Vanquisher's would put the two blades on equal footing, except the enchant gives Vanquisher's a slight edge.
Outside Archaedas chamber I paused to consider the best Buffs for what I knew was going to be a very looooong fight. I decided Seal of Light and Blessing of Sanctuary were the order of the day, and hoped their sporadic and somewhat passive regen of my Health and Mana would see me through. Of my Auras I felt Retribution was my best choice, especially if Archaedas managed to summon multiple Mobs to aid him. And with that, I entered the room and began to release my foe.
As soon as he became clickable (instead of just scenery) I retreated towards the door and backed into a corner. Upon targeting the Titan I was actually a little daunted and wondered if I'd bitten off more than I could chew. Although he was 6 levels lower than me, he's still an Elite Boss with almost ten times my Health, and he summons Mobs to help him. Fortunately the combined damage from my Ret Aura, Holy Shield (w/ Mithril Shield Spike), & Consecrate meant his little buddies never lasted long. I didn't even need to target them but stayed on Archaedas the whole time.
As the Titan's health slowly dropped to where I began to think I might actually have a chance, a Golem appeared by his side. It was larger than the Dwarfs he'd been summoning and it didn't go down as quickly as them either. Slowly my own health began to drain away, then a second Golem appeared. With my health bar dipping dangerously low it was time to demonstrate just why people despise Paladins.
I popped Consecrate then...Bubble Heal! Then a second Heal! Now at full health I renewed Holy Shield then laid down another Consecrate. A third Golem appeared, maybe even a fourth, I couldn't tell; I was focused on Archaedas' health bar as it got lower and lower. I'd fought this fight just one night ago but couldn't remember what happened when he died. I hoped his death resulted in his summoned Mobs despawning.
Finally the Titan crashed to the ground and his minions did despawn. Not that I was worried about them, it just meant I didn't need to finish them off, too.
And just like that I'd Solo'd Uldaman. Yes, a nerfed Uldaman (versus its pre-BC version), but still not a walk-in-the-park Uldaman, not at 46. When I found I still somehow had a completed Staff of Prehistoria in my pack I decided to go back in using the LFG tool, but at 46 the game decided I was now too high for Uldaman. I'm also almost too high for Maraudon, another Instance I'd like to run, so with that I set off for Desolace to grab the Mara quests. By the time I got there and had rounded up all the quests it was getting late and like the night before I was once again drawing Spouse Aggro. It was definitely bed time. Mara will just have to wait.
I know some have lamented that the new cross-server LFG tool has taken away the social side of WoW, but IMO your Guild and server are there for socializing. If you want to kick back and relax then run an Instance with your Guildmates. If you want to get in, kick arse & chew gum without taking names, the LFG tool is a great addition to help people find Instance groups. It's also made the more out-of-the-way Instances like Maraudon and Dire Maul a lot more accessible, and I'm actually looking forward to running those in my 50s. IMO the LFG tool has breathed new life into lower level content, and people are now getting more WoW for their buck.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
The Tank is in the House
Razorfen Downs, to be precise.
I took the plunge, grabbed 750G from the Guild Bank (I'm in a small guild with my sister, her husband, and an old college buddy), and bought the dual-spec thingy you can get at 40. I punched in my Prot build, then gritted my teeth and installed the 50g Mithril Shield Spike I'd just bought on the Green Shield I'd also just bought.
I switched to Action Bar 2 and populated it with the Spells/Abilities I thought I'd need as a Tank. I'm familiar with (or at least have read) the 969 Pally rotation, but that's for 80 Pallies; I'm 42. At this level my rotation turned out to be pull with HoR, cast Holy Shield, Consecrate, HS, Con, HS, Con, etc. with the occasional Judgement of Justice or HoR to stop/kill Runners.
It's only a few Spells, nothing like a Hunter's rotation. It can't be too hard, right?
I brought up the new LFG Interface and looked at it. I've got the Gear, I've set up my Action Bar, I'm a Tank now, right?
So what was I waiting for?
I felt I needed to put some "Tank-time" in first. I needed to be familiar with playing this way before I tried to actually be a Tank. Especially when other people were going to be relying on me.
I hadn't done SFK yet, not the whole thing. In my 20s I'd hit the courtyard for the Mats for my Pally Mace Quest but I hadn't completed the Instance. Being 20 levels higher than the Trash meant Soloing RFK should be a piece of cake, and it was. I think I only came close to dying once when I grabbed two rooms full of Mobs, including a Boss. (Or maybe that was the night before when I Solo'd Gnomer as Ret ;)
After killing Arugal and completing SFK I figured it was time, and I hearthed, sold all the crap I'd picked up, made sure I had plenty to drink (and boy! Would I need it!), then opened up the LFG window again.
No, I don't want to do a Random Dungeon, thank you very much. I've been reading up on RFD so...Specific Instance, select RFD. Check off "I'm prepared to Tank" and...I don't even think I had the option to "Join queue". I think as soon as I volunteered to Tank the only options were "Close Window" & "Enter Dungeon", because as soon as I hit the 'Accept' button the Ready Check popped up, and seconds later I found myself inside RFD.
Buffs? Pally Buffs. Blessings? There was a Warrior. I think I gave him Kings, or was it Might? I forget. Priest? Wisdom of course. Mage? The same. Shaman? Er...Wisdom as well? What if he's a Melee Shaman? Fuggit! He has a Mana bar, he's getting Wisdom, too!
"Who's Tanking?" someone asked.
"That would be me," I said, from my position on the floor (as if Dwarfs aren't short enough already. At least I was still as tall as the Gnome Warrior :P), where I was drinking my first of many Sweet Nectar pots.
I hadn't selected to Lead the Group (via the LFG window), just Tank, but the Tank still sort of leads, right? I looked around. Everyone looked ready. Mana bars are full? Check.
I typed, "Ready?" as someone yelled "GO! GO! GO!"
I took that as a Yes.
HoR to pull. Holy Shield. Consecrate, and the first 2-Mob pull died very quickly. I paused for a second as...the Gnome Warrior Charged into the next group with the other three players hot on his heels. Oh, okay. HoR again. HS again. Consecrate...again. It was chaos, but I seemed to have Aggro on all the Mobs. HS is up...Hit It again! And the second group died.
I rushed the third group. HoR. HS. Consecreate. Repeat (with HoR on the Runner) and...Low on Mana.
"Drinking," I said, as I guzzled another Sweet Nectar.
"You can pull more than that," someone said, and I probably could have, but I was a Newby Tank and Newby Tanks are nervous; we don't like to get in over our heads until we know how to swim.
We were almost halfway in when we grabbed several groups at once (I think someone got impatient and did that deliberately) and the AoE exploded. Fortunately almost all the Mobs in RFD are Melee (which is why I'd deliberately chosen it over SM for my Tanking debut) so it was easy to gather them up and AoE them down.
A few Mobs broke from the pack, but they weren't Casters, and in RFD the only Runners are Casters, so I selected a Mob and yes, he was targeting someone who wasn't me. I hit HoR and he ran back into the killing fields. I spun, trying to keep all the Mobs in front of me (can't Block from behind), while laying down Consecrate and popping HS as soon as it was up. More runners. HoR's not up! So hit Righteous Defense! And back they came. The AoE was filling the screen and then...it was over.
"I actually had to heal then," said our Priest.
I guess I really was taking things a little slow for him. Still, a wipe-free run is better than a fast, messy run with repair costs, at least in my opinion, but I'm a little conservative like that (as I am with most things in my life). This run was perhaps a little on the slow side, but it was also smooth (for the most part), and free of Wipes.
We hit Mordresh, the metal-loving Skeleton Boss, but before I could HoR him the Warrior body pulled a bunch of skeletons. More AoE ensued. Mordresh came down off his pile of bones. I hit him with an HoR while the skeletons around us exploded. Nothing could survive the AoE circle of death. I forget what Mordresh dropped but it was nothing I Needed.
We moved on and found Glutton, who dropped his Axe. The Shaman and I both Need rolled. He won. It was only a moderate upgrade to my current weapon so no big deal. I congratulated him and we moved on, fighting our way up the Ramp to Amnennar who dropped my Plate Helm. A horrible looking sky-blue Helm that resembles a Motocross Helmet more than anything else, but it was an Upgrade so I Need rolled. I think the Warrior passed. He was probably in his 30s and couldn't use it yet anyway.
I thanked everyone for the Run, and only now did I let them know it was my first time Tanking. There were general Thanks all around as the Priest offered me some words of advice.
"Remember you're a Paladin," he said. "Pull big! You're made for that."
"See ya," everyone said, and we all dropped Group and Ghetto Hearthed out.
I hit Stormwind and turned in the quest, "Bring the Light", which netted me the wicked looking Vanquisher's Sword. At 30DPS it's a significant upgrade over my Axe, better than Glutton's Cleaver, and is even a debatable upgrade over RFK's 2H Axe, Corpsemaker.
I Alt-Tabbed out to email my brother-in-law about my Tanking exploits but while I was tabbing back & forth (fact checking, I'm anal like that) I noticed he'd just logged on so I updated him in person (at least virtually ;)
I wanted a Fiery Enchant for my new sword but there were no Small Radiant Shards on the AH so that wasn't happening.
"How about Crusader?" the BIL asked, linking the recipe.
Large Brilliant Shards were a dime a dozen, but the Righteous Orbs were 45g each.
"Dude! That's 90g for an enchant on a mid-level weapon!"
"I'll do it for free," he said. "Where are you?"
As I typed "SW Bank" I began running from the AH to the Bank, and bumped into him coming the other way. "Well I was about to be," I said, laughing.
He hooked me up with Crusader then, wanting to complete the Quest "In the Name of the Light", we took off for Tirisfal Glades and the Scarlet Monastery, where I discovered when Crusader proc'd my DPS jumped from 75 to 95. Nice!
Shaun's 80 Pally obliterated SM Armory and Cathedral, and the two Instances provided me with a couple of upgrades, including a new Shield, a better-looking DPS Helm (off Herod) and a 2H Axe (for completing the Quest). I'm now in much better shape to Tank SM but first I want to farm RFD's Spider Boss for the Plate Chest piece he drops. With my new gear and the Crusader Enchant, if Shaun is not on tonight (19-hour time difference between us) I reckon I can Solo-farm him. And if I can't, I can always Tank it again :)
I took the plunge, grabbed 750G from the Guild Bank (I'm in a small guild with my sister, her husband, and an old college buddy), and bought the dual-spec thingy you can get at 40. I punched in my Prot build, then gritted my teeth and installed the 50g Mithril Shield Spike I'd just bought on the Green Shield I'd also just bought.
I switched to Action Bar 2 and populated it with the Spells/Abilities I thought I'd need as a Tank. I'm familiar with (or at least have read) the 969 Pally rotation, but that's for 80 Pallies; I'm 42. At this level my rotation turned out to be pull with HoR, cast Holy Shield, Consecrate, HS, Con, HS, Con, etc. with the occasional Judgement of Justice or HoR to stop/kill Runners.
It's only a few Spells, nothing like a Hunter's rotation. It can't be too hard, right?
I brought up the new LFG Interface and looked at it. I've got the Gear, I've set up my Action Bar, I'm a Tank now, right?
So what was I waiting for?
I felt I needed to put some "Tank-time" in first. I needed to be familiar with playing this way before I tried to actually be a Tank. Especially when other people were going to be relying on me.
I hadn't done SFK yet, not the whole thing. In my 20s I'd hit the courtyard for the Mats for my Pally Mace Quest but I hadn't completed the Instance. Being 20 levels higher than the Trash meant Soloing RFK should be a piece of cake, and it was. I think I only came close to dying once when I grabbed two rooms full of Mobs, including a Boss. (Or maybe that was the night before when I Solo'd Gnomer as Ret ;)
After killing Arugal and completing SFK I figured it was time, and I hearthed, sold all the crap I'd picked up, made sure I had plenty to drink (and boy! Would I need it!), then opened up the LFG window again.
No, I don't want to do a Random Dungeon, thank you very much. I've been reading up on RFD so...Specific Instance, select RFD. Check off "I'm prepared to Tank" and...I don't even think I had the option to "Join queue". I think as soon as I volunteered to Tank the only options were "Close Window" & "Enter Dungeon", because as soon as I hit the 'Accept' button the Ready Check popped up, and seconds later I found myself inside RFD.
Buffs? Pally Buffs. Blessings? There was a Warrior. I think I gave him Kings, or was it Might? I forget. Priest? Wisdom of course. Mage? The same. Shaman? Er...Wisdom as well? What if he's a Melee Shaman? Fuggit! He has a Mana bar, he's getting Wisdom, too!
"Who's Tanking?" someone asked.
"That would be me," I said, from my position on the floor (as if Dwarfs aren't short enough already. At least I was still as tall as the Gnome Warrior :P), where I was drinking my first of many Sweet Nectar pots.
I hadn't selected to Lead the Group (via the LFG window), just Tank, but the Tank still sort of leads, right? I looked around. Everyone looked ready. Mana bars are full? Check.
I typed, "Ready?" as someone yelled "GO! GO! GO!"
I took that as a Yes.
HoR to pull. Holy Shield. Consecrate, and the first 2-Mob pull died very quickly. I paused for a second as...the Gnome Warrior Charged into the next group with the other three players hot on his heels. Oh, okay. HoR again. HS again. Consecrate...again. It was chaos, but I seemed to have Aggro on all the Mobs. HS is up...Hit It again! And the second group died.
I rushed the third group. HoR. HS. Consecreate. Repeat (with HoR on the Runner) and...Low on Mana.
"Drinking," I said, as I guzzled another Sweet Nectar.
"You can pull more than that," someone said, and I probably could have, but I was a Newby Tank and Newby Tanks are nervous; we don't like to get in over our heads until we know how to swim.
We were almost halfway in when we grabbed several groups at once (I think someone got impatient and did that deliberately) and the AoE exploded. Fortunately almost all the Mobs in RFD are Melee (which is why I'd deliberately chosen it over SM for my Tanking debut) so it was easy to gather them up and AoE them down.
A few Mobs broke from the pack, but they weren't Casters, and in RFD the only Runners are Casters, so I selected a Mob and yes, he was targeting someone who wasn't me. I hit HoR and he ran back into the killing fields. I spun, trying to keep all the Mobs in front of me (can't Block from behind), while laying down Consecrate and popping HS as soon as it was up. More runners. HoR's not up! So hit Righteous Defense! And back they came. The AoE was filling the screen and then...it was over.
"I actually had to heal then," said our Priest.
I guess I really was taking things a little slow for him. Still, a wipe-free run is better than a fast, messy run with repair costs, at least in my opinion, but I'm a little conservative like that (as I am with most things in my life). This run was perhaps a little on the slow side, but it was also smooth (for the most part), and free of Wipes.
We hit Mordresh, the metal-loving Skeleton Boss, but before I could HoR him the Warrior body pulled a bunch of skeletons. More AoE ensued. Mordresh came down off his pile of bones. I hit him with an HoR while the skeletons around us exploded. Nothing could survive the AoE circle of death. I forget what Mordresh dropped but it was nothing I Needed.
We moved on and found Glutton, who dropped his Axe. The Shaman and I both Need rolled. He won. It was only a moderate upgrade to my current weapon so no big deal. I congratulated him and we moved on, fighting our way up the Ramp to Amnennar who dropped my Plate Helm. A horrible looking sky-blue Helm that resembles a Motocross Helmet more than anything else, but it was an Upgrade so I Need rolled. I think the Warrior passed. He was probably in his 30s and couldn't use it yet anyway.
I thanked everyone for the Run, and only now did I let them know it was my first time Tanking. There were general Thanks all around as the Priest offered me some words of advice.
"Remember you're a Paladin," he said. "Pull big! You're made for that."
"See ya," everyone said, and we all dropped Group and Ghetto Hearthed out.
I hit Stormwind and turned in the quest, "Bring the Light", which netted me the wicked looking Vanquisher's Sword. At 30DPS it's a significant upgrade over my Axe, better than Glutton's Cleaver, and is even a debatable upgrade over RFK's 2H Axe, Corpsemaker.
I Alt-Tabbed out to email my brother-in-law about my Tanking exploits but while I was tabbing back & forth (fact checking, I'm anal like that) I noticed he'd just logged on so I updated him in person (at least virtually ;)
I wanted a Fiery Enchant for my new sword but there were no Small Radiant Shards on the AH so that wasn't happening.
"How about Crusader?" the BIL asked, linking the recipe.
Large Brilliant Shards were a dime a dozen, but the Righteous Orbs were 45g each.
"Dude! That's 90g for an enchant on a mid-level weapon!"
"I'll do it for free," he said. "Where are you?"
As I typed "SW Bank" I began running from the AH to the Bank, and bumped into him coming the other way. "Well I was about to be," I said, laughing.
He hooked me up with Crusader then, wanting to complete the Quest "In the Name of the Light", we took off for Tirisfal Glades and the Scarlet Monastery, where I discovered when Crusader proc'd my DPS jumped from 75 to 95. Nice!
Shaun's 80 Pally obliterated SM Armory and Cathedral, and the two Instances provided me with a couple of upgrades, including a new Shield, a better-looking DPS Helm (off Herod) and a 2H Axe (for completing the Quest). I'm now in much better shape to Tank SM but first I want to farm RFD's Spider Boss for the Plate Chest piece he drops. With my new gear and the Crusader Enchant, if Shaun is not on tonight (19-hour time difference between us) I reckon I can Solo-farm him. And if I can't, I can always Tank it again :)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Pally Tanks
I'm level 42 at the moment (yes, I resubscribed, in case you missed that from my Phishing posts) and could respec Prot (I'm full on Ret, of course) or just shell out the 1K for the dual-spec.
From what I've read (& what I know of the Class) Pally Tanking doesn't seem too hard, I just haven't done it yet. Except for a quick Deadmines Run with my BIL on his 80 Pally I've solo'd all my Instances so far, including SM Library.
What I've been looking for are some good sites (other than EJ) or Blogs on how to be a Pally Tank, but pretty much everything I've run across talks about End Game and Tanking at 80. What I want is something to help me with Tanking now. I'd like to Tank SM, and I also want to do RFD so I can complete the Quest "Bring the Light", not to mention the Plate that can drop in RFD. The new LFG tool means finding groups for Mara and Dire Maul shouldn't be as hard as it used to be, and I really don't want to make either of those my first Tanking experience.
So, does anyone have any good sites where an up & coming Pally Tank could get some advice? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?
From what I've read (& what I know of the Class) Pally Tanking doesn't seem too hard, I just haven't done it yet. Except for a quick Deadmines Run with my BIL on his 80 Pally I've solo'd all my Instances so far, including SM Library.
What I've been looking for are some good sites (other than EJ) or Blogs on how to be a Pally Tank, but pretty much everything I've run across talks about End Game and Tanking at 80. What I want is something to help me with Tanking now. I'd like to Tank SM, and I also want to do RFD so I can complete the Quest "Bring the Light", not to mention the Plate that can drop in RFD. The new LFG tool means finding groups for Mara and Dire Maul shouldn't be as hard as it used to be, and I really don't want to make either of those my first Tanking experience.
So, does anyone have any good sites where an up & coming Pally Tank could get some advice? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Funny moments in WoW
A long, long time ago, while running Kara, our Guild finally made it to the Prince.
After a couple of failed starts our Tank declared that after grabbing Aggro he was having trouble getting into the recommended spot to Tank the Prince, so I suggested he get into place and I Misdirect the Prince onto him.
As everyone moved into their appropriate place I cast Misdirect on our Tank, then slowly approached the Prince, who is a very big boy, and as I got closer to him he just got bigger & bigger. It was an interesting optical illusion that, from my PoV, made it look like I was getting very close to him yet I was still outside shooting Range.
When I finally got close enough for my skills to light up I discovered I was also now close enough to body pull the Prince, which I did. As I stared down the lion's throat I frantically stabbed at my Arcane Shot key, and just before I became the first casualty in Yet Another Wipe it fired, Misdirect kicked in, and the Prince decided he liked the look of our Tank better than he did me.
But as if to highlight just how close I'd come to being crushed, as the Prince turned away my Hunter took a parting swing at him. Yes, with his Axe. The Prince had been that damned close.
After a couple of failed starts our Tank declared that after grabbing Aggro he was having trouble getting into the recommended spot to Tank the Prince, so I suggested he get into place and I Misdirect the Prince onto him.
As everyone moved into their appropriate place I cast Misdirect on our Tank, then slowly approached the Prince, who is a very big boy, and as I got closer to him he just got bigger & bigger. It was an interesting optical illusion that, from my PoV, made it look like I was getting very close to him yet I was still outside shooting Range.
When I finally got close enough for my skills to light up I discovered I was also now close enough to body pull the Prince, which I did. As I stared down the lion's throat I frantically stabbed at my Arcane Shot key, and just before I became the first casualty in Yet Another Wipe it fired, Misdirect kicked in, and the Prince decided he liked the look of our Tank better than he did me.
But as if to highlight just how close I'd come to being crushed, as the Prince turned away my Hunter took a parting swing at him. Yes, with his Axe. The Prince had been that damned close.
Yet another one.
This one fell into my Spam folder as well. Morbid curiosity piqued my interest and I was compelled to check it out:
From: "NCsoft Support (support@ncsoft.com)
To: Capn_John
Sent: Mon, January 11, 2010 11:43:04 PM
Subject: NCsoft Account Security Risks Notice
When you receive this message when your NCsoft Account means that there are serious security risks.
We have evidence to prove your account has been in different countries and regions, several attempts to login.
So we have to remind you to enter our web site as soon as possible http://www.sacuar-ncsoft.com/ to account verification, otherwise, we will be lock your account.
In order to protect your interests.
The NCsoft Team
Well, golly gee! If it's to protect my interests, then you just go right ahead and lock my account! Goodness me! Better to be safe than sorry, right?
I tried to email them back to tell them to do just that, but it seems I sent this email to myself and so when I reply to it I send myself the reply. Funny how I don't remember emailing this to myself...or being part of the NCsoft Team.
From: "NCsoft Support (support@ncsoft.com)
To: Capn_John
Sent: Mon, January 11, 2010 11:43:04 PM
Subject: NCsoft Account Security Risks Notice
When you receive this message when your NCsoft Account means that there are serious security risks.
We have evidence to prove your account has been in different countries and regions, several attempts to login.
So we have to remind you to enter our web site as soon as possible http://www.sacuar-ncsoft.com/ to account verification, otherwise, we will be lock your account.
In order to protect your interests.
The NCsoft Team
Well, golly gee! If it's to protect my interests, then you just go right ahead and lock my account! Goodness me! Better to be safe than sorry, right?
I tried to email them back to tell them to do just that, but it seems I sent this email to myself and so when I reply to it I send myself the reply. Funny how I don't remember emailing this to myself...or being part of the NCsoft Team.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
WoW! Do people really fall for this?
I was cleaning out my email & Spam folder and before I could delete the 7 emails in there I noticed one was titled 'World of Warcraft Account Notice' and appeared to come from wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com
At first glance, that's actually a rather impressive Phishing attempt, because I've only been resubscribed to WoW for literally 1 week. I figured it had to be Spam 1, because it's in my Spam folder, and 2, because it's an email claiming to be from a Blizzard Account Administrator.
I have HTML & images disabled so I had no qualms about clicking the email to preview it, and if the fact that it was in my Spam folder was not warning enough, the content of the email pretty much confirmed it, and I quote:
Greetings! dear players
Today, we are do all activities of the World of Warcraft accounts a routine check.
We have evidence to show that your account transactions involved in the disputed.
Please visit our web site as soon as possible to clarify http://www.worldofwarcraft.com otherwise we will lock your account.
Regards,
The World of Warcraft Support Team Blizzard Entertainment
Do people really fall for this?
I'm impressed that the Phishers are on top of their game and getting this to me so quickly after I resubbed, but Good Lord, people! At least learn to speak/write English if you're going Phishing.
You know, having just hit Submit on this, I recalled that just this very afternoon I logged into Allakhazam for the first time in months, if not a year & a half. I mean actually logged in, not just visited their site, and lo! I get a Phishing email. Coincidence? It's either Blizzard (which is possible) or Allakhazam which has been compromised. I'm inclined to think it's the latter.
At first glance, that's actually a rather impressive Phishing attempt, because I've only been resubscribed to WoW for literally 1 week. I figured it had to be Spam 1, because it's in my Spam folder, and 2, because it's an email claiming to be from a Blizzard Account Administrator.
I have HTML & images disabled so I had no qualms about clicking the email to preview it, and if the fact that it was in my Spam folder was not warning enough, the content of the email pretty much confirmed it, and I quote:
Greetings! dear players
Today, we are do all activities of the World of Warcraft accounts a routine check.
We have evidence to show that your account transactions involved in the disputed.
Please visit our web site as soon as possible to clarify http://www.worldofwarcraft.com otherwise we will lock your account.
Regards,
The World of Warcraft Support Team Blizzard Entertainment
Do people really fall for this?
I'm impressed that the Phishers are on top of their game and getting this to me so quickly after I resubbed, but Good Lord, people! At least learn to speak/write English if you're going Phishing.
You know, having just hit Submit on this, I recalled that just this very afternoon I logged into Allakhazam for the first time in months, if not a year & a half. I mean actually logged in, not just visited their site, and lo! I get a Phishing email. Coincidence? It's either Blizzard (which is possible) or Allakhazam which has been compromised. I'm inclined to think it's the latter.
Monday, January 04, 2010
District 9, and others
Per my request, Dammerung posted a small review on District 9, a movie I'm interested in watching, and after reading his review and braving the message boards at IMDB.com I'm still interested in watching it.
As I read more about District 9, including Damm's review, it somehow reminded me of "Meet the Parents", which was my wife's choice of movie (way back when we rented it). I had little desire in watching it but only did so at her urging, and while she was laughing at everything that happened to Greg Focker (Ben Stiller's character) I empathized far too much with him, so for me the movie was very painful to watch.
As the movie went on and as Greg's get-to-know-you with his prospective in-laws spiraled ever downwards, it finally got too much for Liz and she decided she'd had enough...but by now I was too emotionally vested in Greg and I needed to see him succeed. He deserved his reward for putting up with everything the movie's plot threw at him and I wanted to see him get it. So we watched the rest of the movie and it was as painful as the first half, but in the end that only made the ending even more satisfying when Greg finally won over Jack and earned the respect for which he was long overdue.
"Meet the Parents" also reminded me of another movie I saw a long, long time ago. I was maybe in 5th or 6th Grade, so 1980 or '81. I don't remember the title but it was a similar disaster-comedy movie with a teenage boy at a family reunion/picnic where absolutely nothing was going right for the boy. In one scene in particular the lad was lining up alongside his relatives at a huge picnic table to get his lunch. After loading up his plate the boy was pushed away from the table by the adults either side of him, who then moved together and closed the gap. And the lad was stuck with his arm wedged between their bodies with him on one side and his plate of food on the other.
I remember my classmates laughing at this movie, which confused me because I didn't think it was funny. If anything it was sad & depressing. Through no fault of his own the boy's day was being slowly ruined and nobody seemed to notice or care. I do remember that this scene was typical of the entire movie, and it culminated with the boy turning his plate sideways to pull his arm free. Of course my classmates laughed as the boy's lunch was smeared over the sides of the unknowing adults, fell to the ground, and was crushed underfoot. And just as the adults around him were oblivious to the boy's plight, nobody watching, neither teachers nor students, seemed to notice that one little boy was not laughing.
Empathy is a gift, and a curse.
As I read more about District 9, including Damm's review, it somehow reminded me of "Meet the Parents", which was my wife's choice of movie (way back when we rented it). I had little desire in watching it but only did so at her urging, and while she was laughing at everything that happened to Greg Focker (Ben Stiller's character) I empathized far too much with him, so for me the movie was very painful to watch.
As the movie went on and as Greg's get-to-know-you with his prospective in-laws spiraled ever downwards, it finally got too much for Liz and she decided she'd had enough...but by now I was too emotionally vested in Greg and I needed to see him succeed. He deserved his reward for putting up with everything the movie's plot threw at him and I wanted to see him get it. So we watched the rest of the movie and it was as painful as the first half, but in the end that only made the ending even more satisfying when Greg finally won over Jack and earned the respect for which he was long overdue.
"Meet the Parents" also reminded me of another movie I saw a long, long time ago. I was maybe in 5th or 6th Grade, so 1980 or '81. I don't remember the title but it was a similar disaster-comedy movie with a teenage boy at a family reunion/picnic where absolutely nothing was going right for the boy. In one scene in particular the lad was lining up alongside his relatives at a huge picnic table to get his lunch. After loading up his plate the boy was pushed away from the table by the adults either side of him, who then moved together and closed the gap. And the lad was stuck with his arm wedged between their bodies with him on one side and his plate of food on the other.
I remember my classmates laughing at this movie, which confused me because I didn't think it was funny. If anything it was sad & depressing. Through no fault of his own the boy's day was being slowly ruined and nobody seemed to notice or care. I do remember that this scene was typical of the entire movie, and it culminated with the boy turning his plate sideways to pull his arm free. Of course my classmates laughed as the boy's lunch was smeared over the sides of the unknowing adults, fell to the ground, and was crushed underfoot. And just as the adults around him were oblivious to the boy's plight, nobody watching, neither teachers nor students, seemed to notice that one little boy was not laughing.
Empathy is a gift, and a curse.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Here today, gone tomorrow...
Back again next week, is the story of the life of the animals at the local shelter.
Last week, while discussing with the wife about getting a cat, I was looking at the kittens on the webpage for the local animal shelter, and there were quite a few, very cute kitties available for adoption. Today, not so many.
They'll be back next week. Not necessarily the same kitties but a new batch, although I'm sure some kits and pups will find themselves back in the shelter awaiting a new owner, this one more patient than the last.
We're not naive, we know what we're getting into, but other families who don't will either give up and if their pet is lucky, return it to the shelter. If it's not so lucky it will be relegated to a life outside where it's all but forgotten, and if it's really unlucky it will find itself going on a one-way trip somewhere that will result in it being throw out a car door and left to fend for itself.
Cats and dogs have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, even at the same time, although the experiment we're about to embark upon is going to be interesting. Our dog spends some days outside and some days inside, and some days she's in or out, but she always sleeps inside at night.
And we're contemplating getting a cat, a kitten specifically, who will also be an inside pet. Cats and dogs can live together as long as they grow up together. The dog is not the problem, it's the cat. Okay, it's the dog which causes the cat problems, but it's the cat which usually needs to adapt to the slobbering bundle of fur which wants to lick it or play with it or eat it, or maybe all three.
A Facebook friend posted a picture of her Akita with her two kitties.
It's very obvious from the picture that they're not bothered at all by the 120-pound bundle of fur. If anything, the cat closest to 'Stryder' wants to play with the big fella. My friend said play usually results in a very wet, slobber-covered kitty, and that reminded me of our old Doberman 'Jedda' and my sister's cat 'Munro' who also grew up together. Except for Jedda being five times Munro's size they had no problems with each other. Yes, Jedda had been known to lie on top of Munro and lick him until he was dripping wet, but despite the occasional tongue bath they were great pals :)
At her recent checkup the Vet weighed Willow in at 46 pounds. So while she's not a big dog (nothing like Stryder) she's also not exactly small, definitely not cat-sized, and yet I'm confident that as long as she doesn't eat the kitten, the two will learn to get along and become best pals. Eventually.
It's the period between 'Now' (or from when we get the kitten) and 'Eventually' that is going to be very interesting.
Last week, while discussing with the wife about getting a cat, I was looking at the kittens on the webpage for the local animal shelter, and there were quite a few, very cute kitties available for adoption. Today, not so many.
They'll be back next week. Not necessarily the same kitties but a new batch, although I'm sure some kits and pups will find themselves back in the shelter awaiting a new owner, this one more patient than the last.
We're not naive, we know what we're getting into, but other families who don't will either give up and if their pet is lucky, return it to the shelter. If it's not so lucky it will be relegated to a life outside where it's all but forgotten, and if it's really unlucky it will find itself going on a one-way trip somewhere that will result in it being throw out a car door and left to fend for itself.
Cats and dogs have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, even at the same time, although the experiment we're about to embark upon is going to be interesting. Our dog spends some days outside and some days inside, and some days she's in or out, but she always sleeps inside at night.
And we're contemplating getting a cat, a kitten specifically, who will also be an inside pet. Cats and dogs can live together as long as they grow up together. The dog is not the problem, it's the cat. Okay, it's the dog which causes the cat problems, but it's the cat which usually needs to adapt to the slobbering bundle of fur which wants to lick it or play with it or eat it, or maybe all three.
A Facebook friend posted a picture of her Akita with her two kitties.
It's very obvious from the picture that they're not bothered at all by the 120-pound bundle of fur. If anything, the cat closest to 'Stryder' wants to play with the big fella. My friend said play usually results in a very wet, slobber-covered kitty, and that reminded me of our old Doberman 'Jedda' and my sister's cat 'Munro' who also grew up together. Except for Jedda being five times Munro's size they had no problems with each other. Yes, Jedda had been known to lie on top of Munro and lick him until he was dripping wet, but despite the occasional tongue bath they were great pals :)At her recent checkup the Vet weighed Willow in at 46 pounds. So while she's not a big dog (nothing like Stryder) she's also not exactly small, definitely not cat-sized, and yet I'm confident that as long as she doesn't eat the kitten, the two will learn to get along and become best pals. Eventually.
It's the period between 'Now' (or from when we get the kitten) and 'Eventually' that is going to be very interesting.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Facebook: A vehicle for propaganda
It never ceases to amaze me how people can blindly spread misinformation just because it sounds like a good idea. Because I "play" the Facebook game Mafia Wars, I have over 800 Facebook "Friends" (more than many, not as many as some), and so I probably experience this more than those who use Facebook for it's originally intended social/networking purpose. The one doing the rounds at the moment are the people updating their status with a message encouraging their Friends to send a card to A Recovering Soldier c/o Walter Reed Hospital (a futile gesture. Military installations, of which Walter Reed is one, are under orders not to accept any mail not addressed to identified personnel.)
It takes just a few seconds to verify (or refute) this information, about as long as it does to copy and paste the message into your Facebook status. Of course it also takes more work than a simple Copy & Paste, unless you know how to use Google's "Block/Hightlight & Search Google For..." feature, in which case it does take literally seconds to verify or refute the information you're about to pass on. But how many people actually do that?
Filled with good intentions it appears most people just blindly copy, paste, & forward the misinformation, and other people see it and say "Hey! That's a good idea!" and before you can step in to say, "That's a good idea, but..." it's too late; five other people have copied, pasted, & forwarded the misinformation. And twenty-five people will see the new message and pass it on, and that is how...
"A Lie can travel halfway round the world while the Truth is still putting on its shoes." - Mark Twain
It takes just a few seconds to verify (or refute) this information, about as long as it does to copy and paste the message into your Facebook status. Of course it also takes more work than a simple Copy & Paste, unless you know how to use Google's "Block/Hightlight & Search Google For..." feature, in which case it does take literally seconds to verify or refute the information you're about to pass on. But how many people actually do that?
Filled with good intentions it appears most people just blindly copy, paste, & forward the misinformation, and other people see it and say "Hey! That's a good idea!" and before you can step in to say, "That's a good idea, but..." it's too late; five other people have copied, pasted, & forwarded the misinformation. And twenty-five people will see the new message and pass it on, and that is how...
"A Lie can travel halfway round the world while the Truth is still putting on its shoes." - Mark Twain
Monday, November 23, 2009
A Bug? Or simply a lack of an expected feature?
Something really bugging me about Allods Online is being unable to Invert the Mouse's Y-Axis.
I've been playing video games for 30 years. I played Wolfenstein 3D when it came out (which isn't really a 3D game), and Doom (which was 3D) and I always, and I mean always Invert my Mouse's Y-Axis to play any game using either a First Person-view or a 3rd Person over-the-shoulder view (except Wolf which didn't feature Mouselook because it wasn't a 3D game).
Allods Online has an option allowing the Player to Invert the Mouse's buttons. I guess it's catering to left-handed players, which is really bizarre now that I think about it because there's probably a greater number of players who prefer Pilot Controls in their FPV-type game than there are left-handed players who would want to flip the Mouse's Left & Right button functions.
My question is this: Is the absence of a means to Invert the Mouse's Y-Axis a Bug? Or simply a lack of an expected feature?
My argument is it's a Bug. Why? Well what makes a bug? It's being able to do something you shouldn't be able to do, or not being able to do something you should, right?
Well, I should be able to Invert the Mouse's Y-Axis...but I can't. And IMO that makes it a Bug.
Not only is it a Bug, but it's a game-breaking bug for folks like me who are very, very, very accustomed to using Pilot Controls with Mouselook. It's game-breaking because being unable to Invert the Mouse's Y-Axis means I cannot play Allods Online. Well I can, but I cannot enjoy it.
Imagine asking a left-hander to play a sport right-handed. He can do it. He won't enjoy it, he won't be very good at it, but he can do it. That's what playing with "Standard" controls is like for someone accustomed to Inverted controls. We can do it, but we don't enjoy it as we're constantly second-guessing ourselves.
So, what's your opinion? Is the absence of a feature that you'll find in pretty much any game which features either a First Person or 3rd Person over-the-shoulder view simply a lack of an expected feature? Or when it's practically an industry standard to include a certain feature, could the lack of said feature actually be considered a Bug?
I've been playing video games for 30 years. I played Wolfenstein 3D when it came out (which isn't really a 3D game), and Doom (which was 3D) and I always, and I mean always Invert my Mouse's Y-Axis to play any game using either a First Person-view or a 3rd Person over-the-shoulder view (except Wolf which didn't feature Mouselook because it wasn't a 3D game).
Allods Online has an option allowing the Player to Invert the Mouse's buttons. I guess it's catering to left-handed players, which is really bizarre now that I think about it because there's probably a greater number of players who prefer Pilot Controls in their FPV-type game than there are left-handed players who would want to flip the Mouse's Left & Right button functions.
My question is this: Is the absence of a means to Invert the Mouse's Y-Axis a Bug? Or simply a lack of an expected feature?
My argument is it's a Bug. Why? Well what makes a bug? It's being able to do something you shouldn't be able to do, or not being able to do something you should, right?
Well, I should be able to Invert the Mouse's Y-Axis...but I can't. And IMO that makes it a Bug.
Not only is it a Bug, but it's a game-breaking bug for folks like me who are very, very, very accustomed to using Pilot Controls with Mouselook. It's game-breaking because being unable to Invert the Mouse's Y-Axis means I cannot play Allods Online. Well I can, but I cannot enjoy it.
Imagine asking a left-hander to play a sport right-handed. He can do it. He won't enjoy it, he won't be very good at it, but he can do it. That's what playing with "Standard" controls is like for someone accustomed to Inverted controls. We can do it, but we don't enjoy it as we're constantly second-guessing ourselves.
So, what's your opinion? Is the absence of a feature that you'll find in pretty much any game which features either a First Person or 3rd Person over-the-shoulder view simply a lack of an expected feature? Or when it's practically an industry standard to include a certain feature, could the lack of said feature actually be considered a Bug?
Sunday, November 22, 2009
DIY - The Closet
Our walk-in closet has two sides (sort of). In the middle of the back wall is a narrow set of shelves, with two rods for hanging clothes set on either side, like so:
(as always, pictures can be clicked to view at full size)
When we moved in I got the right hand side, as evidenced by my sword and electric guitar (the box) sitting on the top shelf, while Liz got the left side. Not because she's shorter (which she is, but only by a couple of inches) but because the left side had two rods higher up, and as Liz has long dresses and skirts she needed the extra height. The lower rod on the left looks different from the two rods above it because it is; it's an expandable metal rod I installed when the two rods weren't enough for all of Liz's clothes.
For some time now Liz had been asking me if I could move her top rods up higher - to the same level as mine on the right - because her blouses and shirts were touching the bottom rod I'd installed, and because her dresses and skirts on the far left (already removed from the above picture) were sitting on the boxes we had on the floor of the closet and getting creased.
In my typical self-confident manner I looked at how the rods & shelves had been installed and said, "Sure, I can do that."
But it wasn't until this morning, when we removed most of the clothes from the closet and I got a really good look at the job ahead of me, that I wondered if I really could do it, because a few things concerned me.
The frame in the corner.
Could I take it out without destroying it. Could I get any of this apart intact? And if I did, what was the wall like underneath? Was it painted? Or had the shelves been installed before the painters came through? How were the shelves attached to the wall? Would I tear off chunks of dry wall when I pried them off?
There was only one way to find out :)
The first thing to come off was the left-most shelf and it came off in one piece, for the most part. The problem was the shelf had been secured to the frame by brad nails which rather than coming out with the shelf, tore through the flimsy particle board and remained embedded in the frame.
You can see several of the brads sticking up from the horizontal frame, as well as the damage rent upon the shelf by said brads. At least the damage was minimal and the shelf was definitely in reusable condition. That small vertical piece of wood with the unpainted patch at the bottom was next to come off.
It was attached to the wall by brads (in fact the entire shelf was held together by them) which this time I was happy to see came out with the piece of particle board, rather than tearing through and remaining in the wall, like the brad in the frame above it.
The corner frame was next, the one providing additional support to the shelves. I realized there was no way to remove it in one piece so it had to come apart in pieces. The frame behind it, the one supporting the first shelf I'd removed, also came out, and I finally got to see the condition of the wall behind it. It actually wasn't too bad. It was a little dirty but at least it was painted.
The last piece of frame came off equally easy and while many of the brads had torn through the two shelves, none of the brads remained in the wall or studs; they all came out with the frame.
And then we were halfway there.
I rebuilt the shelves in the reverse order, so the last piece of frame to come off was the first piece to go back on, this time several inches higher up the wall.
The second piece of frame is beneath the first, waiting its turn to be re-attached to the wall.
Along with the second frame I rebuilt the box frame in the corner. It didn't go together quite as well as it had been originally but it was good enough for government work.
Coincidentally I work for the government, but in a desk job. The marks on the wall below the frame show how high up it's been repositioned. With the frame in place the rest of the job was as easy-as-pie, in fact the only thing left to go back on was the shelves.
All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.
There's a few gaps where the boards don't quite fit together as snug as they could, but some spakfilla and a coat of paint should solve that problem.
Then there's a couple of holes that will need a lot of spakfilla. This one is the biggest.
The two smaller holes to the right are brads (I re-used everything, brads included) that I nailed through from the other side in order to help support the shelf. I hammered them in at an angle, but as they went in they flattened out and came through the bottom of the shelf. They're still supporting it but I'm inclined to get a narrow strip of wood and nail it in place beneath the shelf as I'm not terribly happy with that shelf being supported in that manner.
Overall though, the end result is not too bad.
I'm reasonably happy with it, but more importantly, the wife is, and that's almost more important than my happiness, because if the wife is happy I'm happy :)
(as always, pictures can be clicked to view at full size)
When we moved in I got the right hand side, as evidenced by my sword and electric guitar (the box) sitting on the top shelf, while Liz got the left side. Not because she's shorter (which she is, but only by a couple of inches) but because the left side had two rods higher up, and as Liz has long dresses and skirts she needed the extra height. The lower rod on the left looks different from the two rods above it because it is; it's an expandable metal rod I installed when the two rods weren't enough for all of Liz's clothes.
For some time now Liz had been asking me if I could move her top rods up higher - to the same level as mine on the right - because her blouses and shirts were touching the bottom rod I'd installed, and because her dresses and skirts on the far left (already removed from the above picture) were sitting on the boxes we had on the floor of the closet and getting creased.
In my typical self-confident manner I looked at how the rods & shelves had been installed and said, "Sure, I can do that."
But it wasn't until this morning, when we removed most of the clothes from the closet and I got a really good look at the job ahead of me, that I wondered if I really could do it, because a few things concerned me.
The frame in the corner.
Could I take it out without destroying it. Could I get any of this apart intact? And if I did, what was the wall like underneath? Was it painted? Or had the shelves been installed before the painters came through? How were the shelves attached to the wall? Would I tear off chunks of dry wall when I pried them off?There was only one way to find out :)
The first thing to come off was the left-most shelf and it came off in one piece, for the most part. The problem was the shelf had been secured to the frame by brad nails which rather than coming out with the shelf, tore through the flimsy particle board and remained embedded in the frame.
You can see several of the brads sticking up from the horizontal frame, as well as the damage rent upon the shelf by said brads. At least the damage was minimal and the shelf was definitely in reusable condition. That small vertical piece of wood with the unpainted patch at the bottom was next to come off.
It was attached to the wall by brads (in fact the entire shelf was held together by them) which this time I was happy to see came out with the piece of particle board, rather than tearing through and remaining in the wall, like the brad in the frame above it.The corner frame was next, the one providing additional support to the shelves. I realized there was no way to remove it in one piece so it had to come apart in pieces. The frame behind it, the one supporting the first shelf I'd removed, also came out, and I finally got to see the condition of the wall behind it. It actually wasn't too bad. It was a little dirty but at least it was painted.
The last piece of frame came off equally easy and while many of the brads had torn through the two shelves, none of the brads remained in the wall or studs; they all came out with the frame.
And then we were halfway there.I rebuilt the shelves in the reverse order, so the last piece of frame to come off was the first piece to go back on, this time several inches higher up the wall.
The second piece of frame is beneath the first, waiting its turn to be re-attached to the wall.Along with the second frame I rebuilt the box frame in the corner. It didn't go together quite as well as it had been originally but it was good enough for government work.
Coincidentally I work for the government, but in a desk job. The marks on the wall below the frame show how high up it's been repositioned. With the frame in place the rest of the job was as easy-as-pie, in fact the only thing left to go back on was the shelves.All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.
There's a few gaps where the boards don't quite fit together as snug as they could, but some spakfilla and a coat of paint should solve that problem.
Then there's a couple of holes that will need a lot of spakfilla. This one is the biggest.
The two smaller holes to the right are brads (I re-used everything, brads included) that I nailed through from the other side in order to help support the shelf. I hammered them in at an angle, but as they went in they flattened out and came through the bottom of the shelf. They're still supporting it but I'm inclined to get a narrow strip of wood and nail it in place beneath the shelf as I'm not terribly happy with that shelf being supported in that manner.Overall though, the end result is not too bad.
I'm reasonably happy with it, but more importantly, the wife is, and that's almost more important than my happiness, because if the wife is happy I'm happy :)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
I'M IN !!!
Yes, that makes me happy :)
*edit*
It looks good but turning/rotation is not as smooth as I'd like. No, it's smooth, it's just...it's like the Playstation. IMO Sony doesn't do a good job with graphical rotation of the landscape around your character. Nintendo do, and Blizzard got it with WoW, but there's something just a little off with the way the camera and your avatar rotates.
Combat (at least for now, and all I played was the trio of fuzzy critters and their pink Pet Squirrel) seems to be Turn-based moves inserted into Real-Time combat. I have a base attack but it comes with a cooldown timer, as do all of my other spells. On the plus side, I don't seem to run out of Mana...I'm not even sure I have Mana. The downside? I seem to be watching my Hotbar a lot, and I mean A LOT! so I can press the key for the skill which just finished its Cooldown. It feels very whack-a-mole'ish.
The one thing I really didn't like was not being able to Invert the Mouse's Y-axis. I play all of my games with quasi-FPS PoVs (such as the GTA series and MMOs) like I play my actual FPS games, that is with Pilot controls for Mouselook. When I push forward on the Mouse I expect my camera's PoV to go down or "dive", and when I pull back on the Mouse I expect my PoV to go up or "climb". I've been playing this way for 15+ years so it's second nature to me, it's one of the first things I notice and one of the first settings I want to change. Currently there is no way to Invert the Mouse's Y-axis and it feels very awkward to be restricted to this. I can play with Mouselook operating this way, but I'd rather not. Oddly enough there is an option to Invert (Flip) the Mouse buttons, but not an option to Invert the Y-axis.
If you want in the Closed Beta is still open (an open Closed Beta?) for another week and it's been just a couple of days since I put in for a Beta Key. Oh, wait, not it hasn't. I put in for a Beta Key Friday last week when I posted the link to Massively's review, and I got my Beta Key yesterday. That's about a 5-day turnaround so if you apply for a Beta Key today you might get one by Monday (or not, or maybe earlier) giving you just a few days to try the game for yourself.
I also downloaded the Warhammer Online client as it now has a Trial very similar to that of Wizard 101, that is, a permanent, never-ending Trial but with access to low-level content only. But that's okay with me. There's a lot of characters and classes to try out in WHO (or WAR, or whatever its acronym is) so that will keep me busy for a while, and lest we forget, there's still DDO :)
I am soooo going to Hell
I've been in charge of the office coffee fund for a long time now, probably for 7 years or so. Lately (actually ever since our satellite office merged with the Main Office three years ago) I've felt we've been steadily losing money, and recently we've really been in dire straits. We've barely been able to pay our supplier (we have a Keurig machine and I buy K-Cups in bulk from a local supplier), let alone buy creamer, sugar, etc.
In conjunction with the Keurig machine we also have a drip filter pot, so every morning I'll brew a pot of coffee then some time during the morning I'll make a second pot. The profit margin on the pot should be quite high, and when combined with the 25¢ profit margin per cup from the Keurig machine we should be practically swimming in money, but lately, after paying our supplier, I've barely had enough money to buy supplies so I've been using the Just In Time inventory method.
Today I brewed a pot of coffee and I noticed the tub was getting very low. Once again we have just enough money to pay our supplier with just enough left over to buy a couple of tubs of creamer & sugar, but not enough to shell out $10 for a new tub of Folgers. In my 7 years managing the coffee fund this is practically unheard of.
When our two offices merged I inherited all of the Main Office's coffee supplies, and this included two tins of Folgers Decaf, one of which was still sealed and had remained so until this very day.
As I prepared this morning's pot and noticed the coffee was getting low my first thought was "if it runs out it runs out, and that's it." But then I looked up at this green tin of Folgers Decaf that had been sitting on the shelf for 3 years, and then I looked at the almost empty tub of Folgers in my hands. Then I looked at the label and I saw the tub held (when full) 48oz of coffee. I looked at the label on the yet-to-be opened tin of decaf; it allegedly held 39oz of coffee. I looked at the small amount of coffee still remaining in the tub. Was it 8oz of coffee? Was it more? Or less? There was really only one way to find out.
In one of the drawers I found a can opener (thank Orion for well stocked break rooms) and I proceeded to open the tin of Decaf. While it had been sitting there for 3 years (and Lord only knows how long before the merge), it was still sealed, and that's sealed in a tin, mind you, not one of those foil bags. So I'm pretty sure that even though it's 3+ years old, it's still fresh...sort of. Sort of fresh, that is, not sort of sure. I'm sure it's sort of fresh. Or is that still the same thing as 'sort of sure it's fresh'?
The can opener didn't work properly and it seemed to take forever to get the tin open. Fortunately I start work at 6am and I'd got in early this morning so my chances of being interrupted mid-mission were slim to none. But there were a couple of other people that get in this early, and I'd already seen them walking to their desks as I'd made my way to the break room, and one of them usually meets me in the break room around this time...so come on, can opener! I finally got the tin open and began pouring the decaf into the tub. It all fit, just, but a couple of taps on the counter packed the grounds together and settled them down to a less-than-suspicious level. Then I buried the green decaf tin in one of the recycling bins, way down deep, under all the other cans & bottles. Mission accomplished!
Yesterday we were down to our last carton of sugar, we were completely out of creamer, and we were almost out of coffee. Last night I bought some more creamer & sugar but couldn't afford coffee (not if I wanted to pay our supplier).
Today we have sugar, creamer, and most importantly, we have coffee. Decaf still has some caffeine so it still counts as coffee. It does, too!
I've "pulled a Carol" and switched the office coffee to decaf.
I am soooo going to Hell.
In conjunction with the Keurig machine we also have a drip filter pot, so every morning I'll brew a pot of coffee then some time during the morning I'll make a second pot. The profit margin on the pot should be quite high, and when combined with the 25¢ profit margin per cup from the Keurig machine we should be practically swimming in money, but lately, after paying our supplier, I've barely had enough money to buy supplies so I've been using the Just In Time inventory method.
Today I brewed a pot of coffee and I noticed the tub was getting very low. Once again we have just enough money to pay our supplier with just enough left over to buy a couple of tubs of creamer & sugar, but not enough to shell out $10 for a new tub of Folgers. In my 7 years managing the coffee fund this is practically unheard of.
When our two offices merged I inherited all of the Main Office's coffee supplies, and this included two tins of Folgers Decaf, one of which was still sealed and had remained so until this very day.
As I prepared this morning's pot and noticed the coffee was getting low my first thought was "if it runs out it runs out, and that's it." But then I looked up at this green tin of Folgers Decaf that had been sitting on the shelf for 3 years, and then I looked at the almost empty tub of Folgers in my hands. Then I looked at the label and I saw the tub held (when full) 48oz of coffee. I looked at the label on the yet-to-be opened tin of decaf; it allegedly held 39oz of coffee. I looked at the small amount of coffee still remaining in the tub. Was it 8oz of coffee? Was it more? Or less? There was really only one way to find out.
In one of the drawers I found a can opener (thank Orion for well stocked break rooms) and I proceeded to open the tin of Decaf. While it had been sitting there for 3 years (and Lord only knows how long before the merge), it was still sealed, and that's sealed in a tin, mind you, not one of those foil bags. So I'm pretty sure that even though it's 3+ years old, it's still fresh...sort of. Sort of fresh, that is, not sort of sure. I'm sure it's sort of fresh. Or is that still the same thing as 'sort of sure it's fresh'?
The can opener didn't work properly and it seemed to take forever to get the tin open. Fortunately I start work at 6am and I'd got in early this morning so my chances of being interrupted mid-mission were slim to none. But there were a couple of other people that get in this early, and I'd already seen them walking to their desks as I'd made my way to the break room, and one of them usually meets me in the break room around this time...so come on, can opener! I finally got the tin open and began pouring the decaf into the tub. It all fit, just, but a couple of taps on the counter packed the grounds together and settled them down to a less-than-suspicious level. Then I buried the green decaf tin in one of the recycling bins, way down deep, under all the other cans & bottles. Mission accomplished!
Yesterday we were down to our last carton of sugar, we were completely out of creamer, and we were almost out of coffee. Last night I bought some more creamer & sugar but couldn't afford coffee (not if I wanted to pay our supplier).
Today we have sugar, creamer, and most importantly, we have coffee. Decaf still has some caffeine so it still counts as coffee. It does, too!
I've "pulled a Carol" and switched the office coffee to decaf.
I am soooo going to Hell.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Police, small town vs big town
Oddly enough, despite what I was originally going to write, there's not a huge difference between the two. You get good cops in both bunches, you get bad apples in both bunches. I think there's a bigger difference in small town versus big city cops, but even then you still get the same make-up. You get power tripping cops in small towns just as you get nice cops willing to lend a hand in big towns.
Growing up in a small country town in Australia my experience with the police was probably different to that of my American "small town" counterpart, but probably also not dramatically different. I think the big difference between Australia and the U.S., at least small town different (and maybe it's changed from 20 years ago, too), was how you handled the cop pulling you over.
Here, you turn off the ignition, wind down the window (maybe just a little if you're overly cautious), place your hands on the steering wheel in plain view then wait for the cop to approach your car.
In Australia, my father taught me to leave the car and meet the cop halfway, between the cars, on neutral ground so to speak. I don't know if this was a country thing, or a family thing, but I had no problem doing that the one time a Cop actually pulled me over in Australia. Of course that same act also almost got my uncle shot when he did that here in the U.S. when he got pulled over for speeding. (Being an international businessman with a lead foot that was something that happened to him with some frequency.) With his hand ready to draw his pistol the cop apparently ordered my uncle to return to his car and put his hands on the steering wheel. My uncle wisely complied.
Before we were married my wife-to-be and I got lost visiting friends in Oakland. I convinced Liz to pull up on the Freeway behind a CHP Officer writing a ticket, and before she knew what I was about to do (she probably thought I'd wave the officer over to the car) I had the door open and was out of the car, strolling along the Freeway shoulder and up to the officer.
"Good afternoon, sir," I said, by way of greeting (or something similar, although I don't think I'd yet adopted the American practice of calling everyone 'sir'.) "Are you almost finished here? We're a little lost."
The Chippie was either brand new on the Force, or just stunned that someone would actually pull up behind him, get out of their car, and ask him for directions, because he made no attempt to shoot me. He replied that he was almost done and requested that I return to our car, which I did (and I suspect Liz probably chewed me out, I can't remember :D) and when he was finished writing his ticket he came over and helped us on our way.
A year or so later we were pulled over when the officer behind us noticed our vehicle's registration sticker was overdue. I knew I'd put the new sticker on because I'd already expressed my doubts to Liz about the safety of such a system. In Australia your rego sticker goes on the inside of your car's windshield, whereas here in the U.S. it just gets stuck on your rear license plate, exposed to the elements...and the first tea leaf to come along that wants a registration sticker, and that's what had happened to us. Some bastich had peeled the sticker off. (Or it blew off in the wind, but that's doubtful.) I forget exactly what I said but I attracted the officer's attention and he leaned over to peer in at me sitting in the passenger seat, so I told him that I'd just put the new sticker on last week. He not only didn't write a ticket for not displaying our registration sticker (although we did have the current papers in the glove box) he clued me in to taking my knife and making several slices across the sticker, jig-sawing it so no thief in their right mind would try to peel it off because all they'd get would be tiny triangular pieces.
Of course we've also been pulled over a couple of times and received tickets, which we've deserved for the most part. The one I feel we didn't deserve was what I'll call a "Tailgate Trap".
The bike cop was parked on the median strip on the far side of the traffic light-controlled intersection. The light would go green and everyone would accelerate through the intersection, which crossed a 4-lane (each way) Highway with two lanes in the middle for turning traffic, so we're talking a 10-lane wide highway. The first cars would get to the other side, see the bike cop, and do what practically everyone does when they see a cop; they'd hit their brakes and slow down so the cars behind them would bunch up for no reason other than there being a bike cop sitting in the middle of the road...a bike cop who promptly pulled the last vehicle over and ticketed them (us) for tail gating. After he wrote our ticket I watched as he rode back to the intersection and parked in exactly the same spot. If they have ticket quotas (and I'm not saying they do) I'm sure he wrote his entire month's quota of tickets that day.
Many years ago, a friend and I used to ride into town on a Sunday afternoon, ride down the alley, and climb the fence into the back of the Newsagency (the very one where I'd later find myself employed) where we'd go through their dumpster looking for magazines with no covers. (I would later learn that while some magazines went back to the publisher in their entirety, other publishers required nothing more than the cover to issue credit.) Playboy and Penthouse were always top on the list but we also kept an eye out for computer magazines. On this occasion we were preparing to climb over the fence when a voice asked us what we were doing. How a V8 can creep up on you without you hearing it I have no idea. We turned around and it's a cop car. My friend quickly tells the driver we were there because he needed to take a piss. Like a cop, who is trained to be suspicious about anyone not in uniform, was going to buy that.
Now me? I was brought up that when you get busted you're better off telling the truth or you'll only make it worse for yourself, so I told my friend not to lie then turned to the cop and told him we were planning to climb over the fence to look for Playboy magazines.
My friend chimed in again. He just couldn't shut up. "He wanted to look for pornos," he says, "I'm just after computer magazines." There's petty theft and robbery, and there's grand theft auto and grand larceny (& others). But when you're stealing magazines it doesn't matter whether it's Playboy, Penthouse, or PC Gamer, it's still stealing. Despite his protests I was sure my friend was not getting on the cop's good side.
I don't know if there are similar programs here in the U.S. but back home you could take your bike into a Police Station and they'd take out their little tools, look up the latest number in their little book, then stamp the appropriate number into the bottom of the frame of your bike & record your particulars in their little book. Then if your bike ever got stolen or turned up at the Cop Shop, they could see if it had one of these numbers stamped in the frame and identify the owner. My friend and I had both just got new bikes a few weeks before and we'd had them "registered" at the Cop Shop, so when the Cop asked if they were our bikes (if we were prepared to steal magazines we'd probably steal bikes, it's a logical assumption...and true, sort of ;) so it was a simple matter to show the Cop the numbers on our bikes and for him to ID us. After receiving a stern warning we were sent on our way, and off we rode, arguing over the semantics of lying and the difference between stealing PC Gamer and Playboy.
A few years later while at the local video arcade my neighbour rode up on what I knew was a stolen bicycle. I was in the office when he came inside so I had my friend, who also worked there, keep an eye on him while I slipped outside, jumped on the stolen bike and promptly rode it around to the police station. Unlike my previous encounter with the police, this time I was not averse to lying to the Cops, and I told them I'd "found" the bike down by the river. I gave them my name & number in the event that nobody claimed it, but they never called me back so I knew it must have found its way back to its rightful owner. I did tell my parents what I'd done and they thought it was hilarious. My Mum even got to play dumb when my neighbour's Mum told her about his bike being "stolen". Mum asked if he'd gone to the police, and she said my neighbour's Mum Um'd and Ah'd before saying he couldn't do that as it wasn't actually his bike. Mum said she found it very hard to keep a straight face for the rest of their conversation.
Dad used to love to drink so Mum, who was not a big drinker, was often the designated driver while Dad got plastered. Driving home from one family gathering we got pulled over at a Random Breath Testing station. The cop asked Mum if she'd been drinking and Mum said No. Dad leaned over and practically giggled as he said, "But I have!" He was in great humor and the Cop smiled, too. He was probably very happy to see the drunk guy in the passenger seat and not behind the wheel. Mum had to blow into the bag anyway but she got the all clear then we were sent on our way, but Mum was not happy with Dad. Years later Liz would be pulled over and breathalyzed while I got to recreate yesteryear's scene from the passenger seat. Like Mum, Liz was not too happy with me, either. What can I say? Like father, like son.
When I worked for the Newsagency, the same one my friend and I used to raid for coverless magazine, my alarm was set for 3am, I'd be at the shop by 4, and when 9 o'clock rolled around it was quitting time and the rest of the day was my own. Customers just starting their day were baffled that I could greet them so cheerfully at 8:30 in the morning. When I'd explain that I'd already been up for 5 hours they'd ask how on earth I could get up that early. I'd point out what a glorious day it was outside and how in half an hour I'd be heading out to enjoy it, maybe play a round of golf, or even hit the beach. For some reason they weren't happy with this explanation, and they'd leave the shop even grumpier than when they came in. I guess some people just aren't 'morning people'.
My first duty at the shop was not to open up, but to receive and count the fresh-off-the-truck bundles of newspapers, then make up & deliver the order for the local power station. Because the newspapers were always dropped off at the front of the store I'd always pull up at the front to make it easier to load the papers into my car, and I'd parallel park to facilitate loading, even though the space were marked for angle parking.
One morning I was inside when I noticed a light outside, and no, it wasn't a UFO; it was a Police car, pulled up behind my parallel-parked car.
Thinking the cops may have thought the car was stolen and abandoned I ran outside to let them know the car was mine, and found myself arguing with the cop over parallel parking in angle parking spots at 4 o'clock in the morning. As far as the cop was concerned it didn't matter what time of the day (or night) it was; the spots were clearly marked for angle parking and I was parallel parked.
"It's 4 o'clock in the morning," I told him. "There's no other cars around."
"But it's angle parking."
"I'm only parking for a few minute and it's easier to load the papers this way."
"But it's angle parking."
I recalled a friend getting busted for Public Indecency (& whatever the formal charge is that equates to "Pissing off a Cop by being a smart arse and talking back to him") when he'd taken a leak on someone's lawn while staggering home at 4 o'clock in the morning. When the cop had asked the almost obligatory "What do you think would happen if everyone did this?" my friend, a professional Gardener & Groundskeeper, had replied, "Well, speaking from a professional point of view, the excessive amounts of nitrates would kill the lawn." For answering the Cop's question he got to spend the rest of his night in jail.
"So what if everyone parked like this?" the Cop asked me.
"It's 4 o'clock in the morning," I argued with him, "there IS nobody else. If there were, I'd have angle parked."
I don't know how many times we went back & forth but we wasted far more time than if he had just said, "Don't do it again," and let me go on my way (which he eventually did anyway after ordering me to re-park correctly). Or yes, I'll admit, if I'd just said, "You're right. I'm sorry. I won't do it again."
But it was 4 o'clock in the morning! I was the only car there!
But it's angle parking.
My final encounter with the police was when I was house sitting for a friend who lived in one of the better parts of town. Driving to work from his house I would drive down a very long straight road, and most mornings you would find me doing a little more than the posted 60kph (35mph) speed limit.
On this particular morning a car followed me out of my friend's neighbourhood. When I turned onto this long road he followed me and that was when a little voice inside me said "That's a cop."
I accelerated to just shy of 60kph and the car stayed right behind me but I wasn't going to go over the speed limit. I got to the end of the road, signaled correctly, and made the turn...and the car stayed with me. I was about two blocks from the Newsagency when flashing blue lights lit up my car from behind and finally confirmed my suspicions.
I pulled over and the cop pulled up behind me, and I did what you do NOT do here in the States.
I opened my door, hopped out, and walked back towards the cop car.
The passenger door opened and a cop got out and met me in the space between our cars.
"I'm on my way to work," I said to him, pointing down the road, "I just had two blocks to go!"
"And you almost made it," the cop said with good humor.
There was no ordering me at gun point to get back into my car. No hostilities. Just a cop and a citizen having a chat at 4 o'clock in the morning on the side of the road.
While following me down that long straight road they'd run my plates and learned that I did not live in that neighbourhood, nor did I appear to be going home, so they'd pulled me over to check me out. The cop ran my driver's license, everything checked out, and with no further reason to stick around we wished each other a good day and went our separate ways.
But that was 20 years ago, in a small country town. I suspect thing are a lot different now.
Growing up in a small country town in Australia my experience with the police was probably different to that of my American "small town" counterpart, but probably also not dramatically different. I think the big difference between Australia and the U.S., at least small town different (and maybe it's changed from 20 years ago, too), was how you handled the cop pulling you over.
Here, you turn off the ignition, wind down the window (maybe just a little if you're overly cautious), place your hands on the steering wheel in plain view then wait for the cop to approach your car.
In Australia, my father taught me to leave the car and meet the cop halfway, between the cars, on neutral ground so to speak. I don't know if this was a country thing, or a family thing, but I had no problem doing that the one time a Cop actually pulled me over in Australia. Of course that same act also almost got my uncle shot when he did that here in the U.S. when he got pulled over for speeding. (Being an international businessman with a lead foot that was something that happened to him with some frequency.) With his hand ready to draw his pistol the cop apparently ordered my uncle to return to his car and put his hands on the steering wheel. My uncle wisely complied.
Before we were married my wife-to-be and I got lost visiting friends in Oakland. I convinced Liz to pull up on the Freeway behind a CHP Officer writing a ticket, and before she knew what I was about to do (she probably thought I'd wave the officer over to the car) I had the door open and was out of the car, strolling along the Freeway shoulder and up to the officer.
"Good afternoon, sir," I said, by way of greeting (or something similar, although I don't think I'd yet adopted the American practice of calling everyone 'sir'.) "Are you almost finished here? We're a little lost."
The Chippie was either brand new on the Force, or just stunned that someone would actually pull up behind him, get out of their car, and ask him for directions, because he made no attempt to shoot me. He replied that he was almost done and requested that I return to our car, which I did (and I suspect Liz probably chewed me out, I can't remember :D) and when he was finished writing his ticket he came over and helped us on our way.
A year or so later we were pulled over when the officer behind us noticed our vehicle's registration sticker was overdue. I knew I'd put the new sticker on because I'd already expressed my doubts to Liz about the safety of such a system. In Australia your rego sticker goes on the inside of your car's windshield, whereas here in the U.S. it just gets stuck on your rear license plate, exposed to the elements...and the first tea leaf to come along that wants a registration sticker, and that's what had happened to us. Some bastich had peeled the sticker off. (Or it blew off in the wind, but that's doubtful.) I forget exactly what I said but I attracted the officer's attention and he leaned over to peer in at me sitting in the passenger seat, so I told him that I'd just put the new sticker on last week. He not only didn't write a ticket for not displaying our registration sticker (although we did have the current papers in the glove box) he clued me in to taking my knife and making several slices across the sticker, jig-sawing it so no thief in their right mind would try to peel it off because all they'd get would be tiny triangular pieces.
Of course we've also been pulled over a couple of times and received tickets, which we've deserved for the most part. The one I feel we didn't deserve was what I'll call a "Tailgate Trap".
The bike cop was parked on the median strip on the far side of the traffic light-controlled intersection. The light would go green and everyone would accelerate through the intersection, which crossed a 4-lane (each way) Highway with two lanes in the middle for turning traffic, so we're talking a 10-lane wide highway. The first cars would get to the other side, see the bike cop, and do what practically everyone does when they see a cop; they'd hit their brakes and slow down so the cars behind them would bunch up for no reason other than there being a bike cop sitting in the middle of the road...a bike cop who promptly pulled the last vehicle over and ticketed them (us) for tail gating. After he wrote our ticket I watched as he rode back to the intersection and parked in exactly the same spot. If they have ticket quotas (and I'm not saying they do) I'm sure he wrote his entire month's quota of tickets that day.
Many years ago, a friend and I used to ride into town on a Sunday afternoon, ride down the alley, and climb the fence into the back of the Newsagency (the very one where I'd later find myself employed) where we'd go through their dumpster looking for magazines with no covers. (I would later learn that while some magazines went back to the publisher in their entirety, other publishers required nothing more than the cover to issue credit.) Playboy and Penthouse were always top on the list but we also kept an eye out for computer magazines. On this occasion we were preparing to climb over the fence when a voice asked us what we were doing. How a V8 can creep up on you without you hearing it I have no idea. We turned around and it's a cop car. My friend quickly tells the driver we were there because he needed to take a piss. Like a cop, who is trained to be suspicious about anyone not in uniform, was going to buy that.
Now me? I was brought up that when you get busted you're better off telling the truth or you'll only make it worse for yourself, so I told my friend not to lie then turned to the cop and told him we were planning to climb over the fence to look for Playboy magazines.
My friend chimed in again. He just couldn't shut up. "He wanted to look for pornos," he says, "I'm just after computer magazines." There's petty theft and robbery, and there's grand theft auto and grand larceny (& others). But when you're stealing magazines it doesn't matter whether it's Playboy, Penthouse, or PC Gamer, it's still stealing. Despite his protests I was sure my friend was not getting on the cop's good side.
I don't know if there are similar programs here in the U.S. but back home you could take your bike into a Police Station and they'd take out their little tools, look up the latest number in their little book, then stamp the appropriate number into the bottom of the frame of your bike & record your particulars in their little book. Then if your bike ever got stolen or turned up at the Cop Shop, they could see if it had one of these numbers stamped in the frame and identify the owner. My friend and I had both just got new bikes a few weeks before and we'd had them "registered" at the Cop Shop, so when the Cop asked if they were our bikes (if we were prepared to steal magazines we'd probably steal bikes, it's a logical assumption...and true, sort of ;) so it was a simple matter to show the Cop the numbers on our bikes and for him to ID us. After receiving a stern warning we were sent on our way, and off we rode, arguing over the semantics of lying and the difference between stealing PC Gamer and Playboy.
A few years later while at the local video arcade my neighbour rode up on what I knew was a stolen bicycle. I was in the office when he came inside so I had my friend, who also worked there, keep an eye on him while I slipped outside, jumped on the stolen bike and promptly rode it around to the police station. Unlike my previous encounter with the police, this time I was not averse to lying to the Cops, and I told them I'd "found" the bike down by the river. I gave them my name & number in the event that nobody claimed it, but they never called me back so I knew it must have found its way back to its rightful owner. I did tell my parents what I'd done and they thought it was hilarious. My Mum even got to play dumb when my neighbour's Mum told her about his bike being "stolen". Mum asked if he'd gone to the police, and she said my neighbour's Mum Um'd and Ah'd before saying he couldn't do that as it wasn't actually his bike. Mum said she found it very hard to keep a straight face for the rest of their conversation.
Dad used to love to drink so Mum, who was not a big drinker, was often the designated driver while Dad got plastered. Driving home from one family gathering we got pulled over at a Random Breath Testing station. The cop asked Mum if she'd been drinking and Mum said No. Dad leaned over and practically giggled as he said, "But I have!" He was in great humor and the Cop smiled, too. He was probably very happy to see the drunk guy in the passenger seat and not behind the wheel. Mum had to blow into the bag anyway but she got the all clear then we were sent on our way, but Mum was not happy with Dad. Years later Liz would be pulled over and breathalyzed while I got to recreate yesteryear's scene from the passenger seat. Like Mum, Liz was not too happy with me, either. What can I say? Like father, like son.
When I worked for the Newsagency, the same one my friend and I used to raid for coverless magazine, my alarm was set for 3am, I'd be at the shop by 4, and when 9 o'clock rolled around it was quitting time and the rest of the day was my own. Customers just starting their day were baffled that I could greet them so cheerfully at 8:30 in the morning. When I'd explain that I'd already been up for 5 hours they'd ask how on earth I could get up that early. I'd point out what a glorious day it was outside and how in half an hour I'd be heading out to enjoy it, maybe play a round of golf, or even hit the beach. For some reason they weren't happy with this explanation, and they'd leave the shop even grumpier than when they came in. I guess some people just aren't 'morning people'.
My first duty at the shop was not to open up, but to receive and count the fresh-off-the-truck bundles of newspapers, then make up & deliver the order for the local power station. Because the newspapers were always dropped off at the front of the store I'd always pull up at the front to make it easier to load the papers into my car, and I'd parallel park to facilitate loading, even though the space were marked for angle parking.
One morning I was inside when I noticed a light outside, and no, it wasn't a UFO; it was a Police car, pulled up behind my parallel-parked car.
Thinking the cops may have thought the car was stolen and abandoned I ran outside to let them know the car was mine, and found myself arguing with the cop over parallel parking in angle parking spots at 4 o'clock in the morning. As far as the cop was concerned it didn't matter what time of the day (or night) it was; the spots were clearly marked for angle parking and I was parallel parked.
"It's 4 o'clock in the morning," I told him. "There's no other cars around."
"But it's angle parking."
"I'm only parking for a few minute and it's easier to load the papers this way."
"But it's angle parking."
I recalled a friend getting busted for Public Indecency (& whatever the formal charge is that equates to "Pissing off a Cop by being a smart arse and talking back to him") when he'd taken a leak on someone's lawn while staggering home at 4 o'clock in the morning. When the cop had asked the almost obligatory "What do you think would happen if everyone did this?" my friend, a professional Gardener & Groundskeeper, had replied, "Well, speaking from a professional point of view, the excessive amounts of nitrates would kill the lawn." For answering the Cop's question he got to spend the rest of his night in jail.
"So what if everyone parked like this?" the Cop asked me.
"It's 4 o'clock in the morning," I argued with him, "there IS nobody else. If there were, I'd have angle parked."
I don't know how many times we went back & forth but we wasted far more time than if he had just said, "Don't do it again," and let me go on my way (which he eventually did anyway after ordering me to re-park correctly). Or yes, I'll admit, if I'd just said, "You're right. I'm sorry. I won't do it again."
But it was 4 o'clock in the morning! I was the only car there!
But it's angle parking.
My final encounter with the police was when I was house sitting for a friend who lived in one of the better parts of town. Driving to work from his house I would drive down a very long straight road, and most mornings you would find me doing a little more than the posted 60kph (35mph) speed limit.
On this particular morning a car followed me out of my friend's neighbourhood. When I turned onto this long road he followed me and that was when a little voice inside me said "That's a cop."
I accelerated to just shy of 60kph and the car stayed right behind me but I wasn't going to go over the speed limit. I got to the end of the road, signaled correctly, and made the turn...and the car stayed with me. I was about two blocks from the Newsagency when flashing blue lights lit up my car from behind and finally confirmed my suspicions.
I pulled over and the cop pulled up behind me, and I did what you do NOT do here in the States.
I opened my door, hopped out, and walked back towards the cop car.
The passenger door opened and a cop got out and met me in the space between our cars.
"I'm on my way to work," I said to him, pointing down the road, "I just had two blocks to go!"
"And you almost made it," the cop said with good humor.
There was no ordering me at gun point to get back into my car. No hostilities. Just a cop and a citizen having a chat at 4 o'clock in the morning on the side of the road.
While following me down that long straight road they'd run my plates and learned that I did not live in that neighbourhood, nor did I appear to be going home, so they'd pulled me over to check me out. The cop ran my driver's license, everything checked out, and with no further reason to stick around we wished each other a good day and went our separate ways.
But that was 20 years ago, in a small country town. I suspect thing are a lot different now.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Allodds online
Yes, it looks a lot like WoW, but I'm not complaining about that. This video was taken from Massively's website/review.
Is it just me?
Am I just out of touch? I don't watch the news much because it's mostly doom & gloom and I really don't need to see an hour of bad news right before going to bed. Instead I rely on the TV in the bus, a discarded newspaper, my coworkers, or my mate who has his finger on the political pulse of the country (because that's his job).
But it seems to me that the current regime is a lot more of a one-man show than the last gig. Of course maybe that's because the last front man was a bit of a cowboy. He made for great TV, especially Late Night whose writers really loved him, but you also got to see and hear a lot about Cheney, Condy, and the rest of the team.
With the current group I'm seeing a lot of their front man but I hardly ever see anything from Biden or Hillary. I do see Hillary occasionally, but man! What has Biden been doing? Is he back packing through Pakistan trying to find Osama? Where is he? And who else is there? It's almost as if there's nobody on the team but the Big O.
But maybe the ubiquitous "they" like it that way. Maybe Obama is being set up to succeed, or fail, all on his own, which is smart politics if you ask me (and even if you don't).
If it turns out Obama is a success, his team will come out of the wood work and say, "That's our boy!" (Is it racist to use the term "That's our boy!" to refer to our black President, even when "That's my/our boy!" is a well known term of endearment with no racial connotations?)
And if he fails they'll still rear their heads - this time in mock horror - as they exclaim, "You did what?"
They'll either ride his coat tails to victory, or wash their hands of him, and if you've taken the fast track to the top, you really shouldn't be surprised when the ride down the other side is even faster still.
But it seems to me that the current regime is a lot more of a one-man show than the last gig. Of course maybe that's because the last front man was a bit of a cowboy. He made for great TV, especially Late Night whose writers really loved him, but you also got to see and hear a lot about Cheney, Condy, and the rest of the team.
With the current group I'm seeing a lot of their front man but I hardly ever see anything from Biden or Hillary. I do see Hillary occasionally, but man! What has Biden been doing? Is he back packing through Pakistan trying to find Osama? Where is he? And who else is there? It's almost as if there's nobody on the team but the Big O.
But maybe the ubiquitous "they" like it that way. Maybe Obama is being set up to succeed, or fail, all on his own, which is smart politics if you ask me (and even if you don't).
If it turns out Obama is a success, his team will come out of the wood work and say, "That's our boy!" (Is it racist to use the term "That's our boy!" to refer to our black President, even when "That's my/our boy!" is a well known term of endearment with no racial connotations?)
And if he fails they'll still rear their heads - this time in mock horror - as they exclaim, "You did what?"
They'll either ride his coat tails to victory, or wash their hands of him, and if you've taken the fast track to the top, you really shouldn't be surprised when the ride down the other side is even faster still.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Randomness from the Cap'n
Saturday morning the boy and I got in some more DDO then went and watched Astroboy, which was very enjoyable even if I did get a speck of dust in my eye a couple of times.
After dropping the kids with the in-laws, Liz and I headed into San Gabriel for some Korean BBQ. We got to the restaurant at 2:30pm for their All-You-Eat lunch, only to be told the lunch special closes at 3pm. That's fine, we can eat fast. We didn't eat that fast but by 3pm we had ordered and received our third plate of meat and a second helping of fixings and by the time we were done we were stuffed!
After lunch we went into Pasadena, did a spot of shopping, and picked out some Halloween costumes. The boy's Tae Kwon Do school is having a Halloween party next Saturday and our Church is having its annual Trunk-or-Treat that evening. Liz tried on a Racecar-Pitgirl outfit and she looked good in it, but she didn't like how I looked in my complimentary Speed Racer outfit, so she chose an Indian girl costume while I picked up a Cowboy vest. The picture on the front showed a big mustached fellow with a hat, The Vest, a white shirt, jeans, and belt with huge buckle. I pretty much have all that so The Vest completed my ensemble. Liz's Indian girl outfit came with a headband and feather, so she'll need to provide the Ugg Boots or moccasins to round it out.
Back home I unwound with some more DDO, finally took the plunge, and joined a PUG that was LFMing for the Collaborator on Elite. My Cleric joined a Rogue, a Mage, and a Ranger and we decided that was good enough and started the encounter. I remembered to Heal when I saw Health bars getting low and we drove back the rush of Mobs that makes up the first part of the encounter, then hit the Dungeon itself, which also went without a hitch.
Before the group could think about breaking up I asked about doing Cannith Crystal on Elite so we knocked that one out, too. Then we hit the island where we did the Underground Complex (again on Hard) as well as two other Dungeons, which got me the quest to enter Misery's Peak. So I'm now one Dungeon away from finishing Korthos Island.
Sunday we woke up around 8am thinking we had 2 hours before our Dim Sum brunch with friends, then realized our alarm clock, which automatically adjusts for Daylight Saving Time, had set itself back an hour. It was really 9 o'clock. We were a few minutes late and the last to arrive but not by much. Lots of yummy food was eaten, I even sampled the chicken's feet. They were more palatable this time around than 11 years ago, but are still not something I'd choose to eat at Dim Sum, if given the choice. There's far too much delicious food to fill my tummy with something I'd rather not eat.
With the meal over Xinh suggested we go bowling & everyone thought that was a great idea. As we discussed where the closest bowling alley was, Xinh said she'd meant Wii Sports bowling at our house. That was a good idea, too, so we all made our way back to our house where we first played Bowling, then several of the other games on Wii Sports Resort, all of which proved as fun to play as they were hilarious to watch. The Sword Fighting was probably the funniest, watching everyone flail the Wiimote around in a manner more akin to fighting with rolled up newspaper than actual sword fighting.
Finally, with everyone having errands to run, we called it an afternoon and bid our guests adieu.
And that just about wraps up the weekend.
After dropping the kids with the in-laws, Liz and I headed into San Gabriel for some Korean BBQ. We got to the restaurant at 2:30pm for their All-You-Eat lunch, only to be told the lunch special closes at 3pm. That's fine, we can eat fast. We didn't eat that fast but by 3pm we had ordered and received our third plate of meat and a second helping of fixings and by the time we were done we were stuffed!
After lunch we went into Pasadena, did a spot of shopping, and picked out some Halloween costumes. The boy's Tae Kwon Do school is having a Halloween party next Saturday and our Church is having its annual Trunk-or-Treat that evening. Liz tried on a Racecar-Pitgirl outfit and she looked good in it, but she didn't like how I looked in my complimentary Speed Racer outfit, so she chose an Indian girl costume while I picked up a Cowboy vest. The picture on the front showed a big mustached fellow with a hat, The Vest, a white shirt, jeans, and belt with huge buckle. I pretty much have all that so The Vest completed my ensemble. Liz's Indian girl outfit came with a headband and feather, so she'll need to provide the Ugg Boots or moccasins to round it out.
Back home I unwound with some more DDO, finally took the plunge, and joined a PUG that was LFMing for the Collaborator on Elite. My Cleric joined a Rogue, a Mage, and a Ranger and we decided that was good enough and started the encounter. I remembered to Heal when I saw Health bars getting low and we drove back the rush of Mobs that makes up the first part of the encounter, then hit the Dungeon itself, which also went without a hitch.
Before the group could think about breaking up I asked about doing Cannith Crystal on Elite so we knocked that one out, too. Then we hit the island where we did the Underground Complex (again on Hard) as well as two other Dungeons, which got me the quest to enter Misery's Peak. So I'm now one Dungeon away from finishing Korthos Island.
Sunday we woke up around 8am thinking we had 2 hours before our Dim Sum brunch with friends, then realized our alarm clock, which automatically adjusts for Daylight Saving Time, had set itself back an hour. It was really 9 o'clock. We were a few minutes late and the last to arrive but not by much. Lots of yummy food was eaten, I even sampled the chicken's feet. They were more palatable this time around than 11 years ago, but are still not something I'd choose to eat at Dim Sum, if given the choice. There's far too much delicious food to fill my tummy with something I'd rather not eat.
With the meal over Xinh suggested we go bowling & everyone thought that was a great idea. As we discussed where the closest bowling alley was, Xinh said she'd meant Wii Sports bowling at our house. That was a good idea, too, so we all made our way back to our house where we first played Bowling, then several of the other games on Wii Sports Resort, all of which proved as fun to play as they were hilarious to watch. The Sword Fighting was probably the funniest, watching everyone flail the Wiimote around in a manner more akin to fighting with rolled up newspaper than actual sword fighting.
Finally, with everyone having errands to run, we called it an afternoon and bid our guests adieu.
And that just about wraps up the weekend.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
MOAR! on DDO
Ever done a quest in WoW then been stuck on completion because you'd like both rewards? Maybe you're a Warrior or a Pally and while you would love that awesome 2H Sword, the 1H sword would be equally delicious for Tanking. Decisions, decisions. You just can't have your cake and eat it, too. At least not in WoW.
DDO is very much an Instance-based game. After leaving Korthos Village you enter the Isle of Korthos proper, and while there are Mobs to kill and quests to complete the meat of the game is in the Instances, but in order to enter an Instance you need to talk to the quest giver and get the quest. Yes, DDO lets you repeat quests which is how you can obtain both the 2H sword and the 1H sword, or in my Cleric's case a thumping great 2H Axe (What? I'm a Dwarf Cleric. We love Axes :D) and the 1H Mace which goes very well with the Shield I picked up...somewhere.
The Quest reward items are not overly powerful but they're certainly worth getting, and as you're probably going to be running each Instance multiple times you're not forced to choose between two equally appealing items; you can have them both. And whether or not you complete the Instance on Solo-difficulty, or Elite, is irrelevant. If you complete the quest you get the reward.
The difference in doing an Instance/Dungeon (I guess it should be a Dungeon. After all, the game is called Dungeons & Dragons) on Solo, Normal, Hard, or Elite, is reflected in the Chest items, with higher difficulty level Chests producing better than average gear, thus while you can solo every Instance on Solo or Normal difficulty, if you want decent quality gear you'll need to run a Dungeon on Hard and/or Elite.
At level 1 my Cleric was soloing Heyton's Rest on Hard, but now he's level 2 with better gear, and so I took the plunge, entered Heyton's Rest on Elite, and completed it! I'd also been doing The Storeroom on Hard so after my success with Elite Heyton's Rest I decided to attempt The Storeroom on Elite as well.
The Storeroom is a very short Dungeon. You enter the first room, kill a couple of spiders and a rat or two, enter a short passage (kill more Rats, or Spiders, or both) then hit a second room and demolish all the boxes & barrels until you find a Silver Key, at which point you get ambushed by a Sahuagin who was also looking for the same key. On Hard, I could take this guy (he's a named Mob which I think makes him the equivalent of a WoW Elite), but on the Elite level this guy packed a punch and then some. I'd been giving as good as I got and we were both at about half health but I'd also been sucking down my Starter Health Pots and getting off a Cure Light Wounds spell every now and then, so I was really getting the short end of the stick. It didn't help that with one hit he was negating my attempts to heal myself. +10 Health. Whack! -10 Health. Crap!
I realized death was inevitable and accepted my fate. I didn't stop fighting but I did stop Healing. My Health dropped to 0, I dropped to the floor, the Release button appeared (or the DDO equivalent) and the Sahuagin trotted off back down the corridor. Mousing over him I was surprised to see he wasn't resetting like Mobs do in WoW. I'd got him down to half his original HP and that's where his health stayed, even though I was dead...or was I?
I lay there, not clicking Release, as my own HP ticked down to -1, then -2, then -3.
Why? Because I'd been doing my homework.
When a character goes down in DDO he's not dead, not straight away. Oh sure, the Release button pops up, but you're not dead, not yet. You're mortally wounding and bleeding out, but you're not dead yet. If you're HP hits -10 then yeah, you're dead, but -3? Not dead yet.
Now the bottom right corner of your screen is where all the important stuff happens. That's where the dice rolls appear. I watched as a d100 result popped up. It was high. Really high. Like 99 or 100. But under the number appeared the word Failed! and my HP ticked down to -4. More high numbers, more Failed!, and my HP ticked down to -5 and then...Success! I rolled low. Low? Low. Apparently lower is better. Like doing the limbo.
I'd been mortally wounded and bleeding to death but my Dwarven stubbornness (& high constitution) had prevailed, I'd made the Saving Throw, and the bleeding had stopped. The words "Unconscious Regeneration" appeared, and my HP went from -5 to -4, then -3, then -2, -1, 0, and when it ticked back up to +1 my avatar leaped to his feet, accompanied (in my mind) by Peter Cushing announcing, "It's alive!"
Fortunately the Sahuagin was halfway down the corridor and facing the other way, because while he may have been at half health I was literally at death's door.
I bravely and valiantly ran from the room, put as much distance between us as I could, then Healed myself back up to full health. Then I bravely unlocked the door to the final room, completed the puzzle, looted the scroll that I'd come here to get, and valiantly completed the Quest and The Storeroom on Elite level.
The reason for doing these Dungeons on Elite level is to earn Favor (i.e. Reputation points) with the locals. You can get Favor from doing the Dungeons on Normal, but you get more from doing them on Hard, and the maximum amount of Favor from doing them on Elite. When you've accrued a certain amount of Favor you also get Turbine Points to spend in the on-line Store, so it's not quite common to see people LFGing for Elite Dungeon Runs. Unfortunately you cannot just go straight to Elite, you've got to do the Dungeon on Hard first, and you can't attempt it on Hard until you've completed it on Normal. In WoW I rarely ran Instances except with Guildies because I didn't like PUGs, so in most cases I'd solo-quest/grind my way to Cap. But in DDO Instances or Dungeons are the game, so that soloist mentality won't fly if I want to maximize my Favor, which I do. As much as the Achiver in me is enjoying Soloing the Dungeons on Hard and Elite, I'll be breaking out of my Soloist shell and actively seeking PUGs.
This is truly an interesting game.
DDO is very much an Instance-based game. After leaving Korthos Village you enter the Isle of Korthos proper, and while there are Mobs to kill and quests to complete the meat of the game is in the Instances, but in order to enter an Instance you need to talk to the quest giver and get the quest. Yes, DDO lets you repeat quests which is how you can obtain both the 2H sword and the 1H sword, or in my Cleric's case a thumping great 2H Axe (What? I'm a Dwarf Cleric. We love Axes :D) and the 1H Mace which goes very well with the Shield I picked up...somewhere.
The Quest reward items are not overly powerful but they're certainly worth getting, and as you're probably going to be running each Instance multiple times you're not forced to choose between two equally appealing items; you can have them both. And whether or not you complete the Instance on Solo-difficulty, or Elite, is irrelevant. If you complete the quest you get the reward.
The difference in doing an Instance/Dungeon (I guess it should be a Dungeon. After all, the game is called Dungeons & Dragons) on Solo, Normal, Hard, or Elite, is reflected in the Chest items, with higher difficulty level Chests producing better than average gear, thus while you can solo every Instance on Solo or Normal difficulty, if you want decent quality gear you'll need to run a Dungeon on Hard and/or Elite.
At level 1 my Cleric was soloing Heyton's Rest on Hard, but now he's level 2 with better gear, and so I took the plunge, entered Heyton's Rest on Elite, and completed it! I'd also been doing The Storeroom on Hard so after my success with Elite Heyton's Rest I decided to attempt The Storeroom on Elite as well.
The Storeroom is a very short Dungeon. You enter the first room, kill a couple of spiders and a rat or two, enter a short passage (kill more Rats, or Spiders, or both) then hit a second room and demolish all the boxes & barrels until you find a Silver Key, at which point you get ambushed by a Sahuagin who was also looking for the same key. On Hard, I could take this guy (he's a named Mob which I think makes him the equivalent of a WoW Elite), but on the Elite level this guy packed a punch and then some. I'd been giving as good as I got and we were both at about half health but I'd also been sucking down my Starter Health Pots and getting off a Cure Light Wounds spell every now and then, so I was really getting the short end of the stick. It didn't help that with one hit he was negating my attempts to heal myself. +10 Health. Whack! -10 Health. Crap!
I realized death was inevitable and accepted my fate. I didn't stop fighting but I did stop Healing. My Health dropped to 0, I dropped to the floor, the Release button appeared (or the DDO equivalent) and the Sahuagin trotted off back down the corridor. Mousing over him I was surprised to see he wasn't resetting like Mobs do in WoW. I'd got him down to half his original HP and that's where his health stayed, even though I was dead...or was I?
I lay there, not clicking Release, as my own HP ticked down to -1, then -2, then -3.
Why? Because I'd been doing my homework.
When a character goes down in DDO he's not dead, not straight away. Oh sure, the Release button pops up, but you're not dead, not yet. You're mortally wounding and bleeding out, but you're not dead yet. If you're HP hits -10 then yeah, you're dead, but -3? Not dead yet.
Now the bottom right corner of your screen is where all the important stuff happens. That's where the dice rolls appear. I watched as a d100 result popped up. It was high. Really high. Like 99 or 100. But under the number appeared the word Failed! and my HP ticked down to -4. More high numbers, more Failed!, and my HP ticked down to -5 and then...Success! I rolled low. Low? Low. Apparently lower is better. Like doing the limbo.
I'd been mortally wounded and bleeding to death but my Dwarven stubbornness (& high constitution) had prevailed, I'd made the Saving Throw, and the bleeding had stopped. The words "Unconscious Regeneration" appeared, and my HP went from -5 to -4, then -3, then -2, -1, 0, and when it ticked back up to +1 my avatar leaped to his feet, accompanied (in my mind) by Peter Cushing announcing, "It's alive!"
Fortunately the Sahuagin was halfway down the corridor and facing the other way, because while he may have been at half health I was literally at death's door.
I bravely and valiantly ran from the room, put as much distance between us as I could, then Healed myself back up to full health. Then I bravely unlocked the door to the final room, completed the puzzle, looted the scroll that I'd come here to get, and valiantly completed the Quest and The Storeroom on Elite level.
The reason for doing these Dungeons on Elite level is to earn Favor (i.e. Reputation points) with the locals. You can get Favor from doing the Dungeons on Normal, but you get more from doing them on Hard, and the maximum amount of Favor from doing them on Elite. When you've accrued a certain amount of Favor you also get Turbine Points to spend in the on-line Store, so it's not quite common to see people LFGing for Elite Dungeon Runs. Unfortunately you cannot just go straight to Elite, you've got to do the Dungeon on Hard first, and you can't attempt it on Hard until you've completed it on Normal. In WoW I rarely ran Instances except with Guildies because I didn't like PUGs, so in most cases I'd solo-quest/grind my way to Cap. But in DDO Instances or Dungeons are the game, so that soloist mentality won't fly if I want to maximize my Favor, which I do. As much as the Achiver in me is enjoying Soloing the Dungeons on Hard and Elite, I'll be breaking out of my Soloist shell and actively seeking PUGs.
This is truly an interesting game.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Taking the plunge
Those in the know will naturally know what they're looking at. For everyone else, the above graphic is taken from the character selection screen of DDO and shows that I've upgraded from a F2P Account to a Premium Account.It didn't take much to do although initially it was a little tricky to work out how to do it. (Damn it,Turbine! Do you want my money or not?!) I wanted to buy some Turbine Points because I'd heard that was all you needed to buy to 'unlock' 2 extra character slots, giving you 4 slots. For an Altaholic like me the 2 slots you get with a F2P Account are nowhere near enough. Even for someone wanting to test drive a couple of Classes before settling on a Main two slots aren't much, especially if you like one class but want to keep trying others; you're now limited to rolling, deleting, and rerolling a new character because you only have one spare slot.
So I went to the official DDO site but when I clicked their Store button it appeared to take me to a Wiki page for their store, not their actual online store. It wasn't until I came across Stabs account of buying Turbine points that I realized I needed to register a Credit Card by logging into my Account, then log into the game itself, and buy my points there, in the game. Alternatively (as I discovered) you can also enter their Online Store (in-game of course), make your RMT selections then register a credit card. Silly me, I foolishly thought I could conduct all my RMT transactions outside the game :D
So I looked at the costs of each package and ended up buying 900 points for $11.99. I could have been thrifty and got 400 points for $6.25, but the analyst in me evaluated the packages and decided 900 was a slightly better value, enough to make me upgrade (plus you can't get much for 400, and I believe I need to 'buy' higher-level areas/modules). The next package was 1500 points for $18.99 and when I did the calculations it seemed that the added value from 400 to 900 points was better than the added value from 900 to 1500, plus $18.99 is really $19.00 (or close enough to) and that's almost $20, whereas $11.99 is just $12, and that was a considerably more palatable purchase.
So why did I buy points?
1 - because I wanted those 2 extra character slots. As I've said, 2 slots is not enough (not for me), nor is 4 but I can live with that :)
2 - I've played the game enough, and enjoyed it, that I felt compelled to reward/compensate the people who made it. Just a small token to say, "Thanks for the great game. Here's some money."
When I first began playing I brought my preconceived-in-WOW ideas with me so it took a while to get used to how to play DDO. Strangely, the tutorial told me the wrong thing, and while it says Left Click to attack it's actually Right Click (for me) which in WoW moves the camera. Apparently that's a way the DDO veterans pick out the newly arrived WoW immigrants, because they'll randomly swing their weapon while in town as they get used to the controls, despite having already run through the tutorial.
I amused myself when I put in several hours of DDO, popped back into WoW for a change of pace, and found myself attempting to use the DDO control scheme. Then, despite running around in WoW for several hours, as soon as I jumped back into DDO I instantly reverted to its control scheme. No problem.
I am liking this game a lot, and while mbp is lamenting the frailty of his Wizard I'm loving my Battle Cleric, who isn't quite Sololing Heyton's Rest (the first Instance) on Elite...just on Hard, which is netting me some nice upgrades. I've already upgraded my armor from the Chain you get for completing the Tutorial to Splint Mail that dropped on Normal level, to Half-Plate out of a chest on Hard. I can currently rip through Heyton's Rest on Hard inside 10 minutes, which nets me two Chests and thus two shots at some good gear. I'm also picking up some items that my Bard could probably use, especially as he's run out of Arrows. I just need to find a Mailbox and work out how to mail said items to him. I'm also a little miffed because I'm a Noob, apparently there's an Auction House, and I've been vendoring scrolls, potions & other misc. stuff that I probably could have sold on the AH for considerably more profit.
I'm liking the fact that I can circle around Mobs and they don't spin like a dervish to automatically face me (as WoW's Mobs do). But there's also a To-Hit penalty for constantly Circle Strafing (or just trying to Attack while on the move) which will adversely affect the twitch-gamers. Still, it's the combat strategy I'm using to good effect, at least on Hard, although it may have caused my downfall when I tried to Solo Heyton's Rest on Elite and died to the first Sahuagin. Back to Hard I went, lesson learned and less over half my Starter Heal Pots.
I'm also really liking the physicality (for want of a better word) of your avatar. Not wanting to spoil Heyton's Rest I will anyway. The final room contains a Sahuagin Adept and three undead (usually two Skeletons and a Zombie) who rush you when you unlock their door. Fortunately you can stand in the doorway and if you position yourself just right, only 2 of the Mobs can get to you at any one time. Unfortunately the Sahuagin is a Caster so when he's not trying to smack you with his Staff he's firing off Magic Missiles, at least I think they're Magic Missile. But the physical presence of your avatars does add a little bit more strategy to battles than you're inclined to find in WoW. Now a Tank can block a doorway, deny the Mobs access to the rest of the Party, and really be a Tank as the Mobs all take out their frustration on him, and I really like that.
Finally, two of the Instances I've run have culminated in tile-shifting puzzles that are a definite change from the Tank & Spank Boss fights I'm very used to. After roping my son in and creating an account for him we Duo'd both Heyton's Rest and The Storeroom, the first Instance with a Puzzle-for-a-boss and while I could have completed it on my own (and already had on a previous attempt), I explained to the boy what he needed to do, then sat back and let him solve it on his own. The puzzle at the end of The Underground Complex (which I Solo'd on Normal, not Hard ;) had a slight twist to it that had me going for a while before I finally figured it out.
I'm still not sure where I'm going with DDO. I do like my Battle Cleric, but the more I read up on them, as viable as they are for Soloing, they're apparently not loved as much as Healbot Clerics (even though DDO Clerics were never meant to be Healbots) and they're apparently not as viable at End Game. But being an Explorer and not an Achiever I think you all know how I feel about End Game content, so the Battle Cleric could very well be my first DDO Character to hit Cap, and I suspect I'll enjoy every step of the journey.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Wanted: One artist
Specifically the name of the artist who drew this...
I cut it from the LA Times about 8 years ago and stupidly didn't clip the article itself. But someone knows the artist who drew this, maybe even one of my readers. So, let's see if one of you can come through :)
As always, you can click the picture to view a much larger copy, like Wallpaper size :)
I cut it from the LA Times about 8 years ago and stupidly didn't clip the article itself. But someone knows the artist who drew this, maybe even one of my readers. So, let's see if one of you can come through :)As always, you can click the picture to view a much larger copy, like Wallpaper size :)
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
What Blizzard did wrong
Hunters. Poor bloody Hunters.
Look at Warlocks. SOBs get their Pet as early as level 2 or 3 (depending on how keen you are and if you start as the Forsaken) so they learn how to play their Pet class, properly, almost right from the start.
Hunters. Poor bastiches start with Raptor Strike. A freaking MELEE special! Hunters! A ranged class, start the game with a freaking Melee-enhancing attack. Nice one, Blizzard. And when do they get their Pet? Not until level 10! What's one of the first Specials Hunters can train? Aspect of the Monkey, trainable at level 4! Aspect of the freaking Monkey! A buff that helps them Dodge! So they start with a Melee-enhancing special attack and get a Dodge Buff at Level 4, but don't get the quest to obtain their Pet until level 10! Their other Level 4 special is Serpent Sting, a DOT. So they have a DOT, a Dodge-enhancing Buff, and a Melee-enhancing Special. What does that imply about their combat style? Apply your DOT at Range, get off an Autoshot or two, then finish off the Mob in Melee.
Hunters can't even keep shooting when in Melee range. But why not? Why...the fuck...not?! Warlocks can cast Shadow Bolt even with a Mob smacking them in the face. Mages can get off their Frost Bolt, Druids can still cast Wrath, Priests can still cast Smite. Why can't Hunters Autoshot a Mob that's all up in their face? No reason, other than Blizzard hate the Hunter class.
So Hunters, right from the first level, are practically pigeon-holed into fighting Melee. And we wonder why Huntards have the reputation they do. Wonder no longer, dear readers, the truth is right in front of you. It's Blizzard's fault! Nice one, Blizzard. You bloody idiots!
See this? This is what a Hunter is supposed to do.
My Gun Skill is maxed out for my level (20@4) while my Axe & Unarmed Skills (at 1/20) suck. Why? Because I haven't engaged a single Mob in Melee! My Defense skill would have been 1 as well, except I got hit in Melee ONCE as I delivered the fatal shot. That's it. I've been Strafe-kiting Mobs as I shoot them to death AT RANGED because that's what a Hunter does. I haven't used Raptor Strike at all because I haven't needed to. I didn't bother learning Aspect of the Monkey because I'm not going to need it because I'm a Ranged DPS Class. The only time I plan to get hit is when I do my Tame Beast Quest, and later when I tame my Pet, and even then Monkey won't help me because you can't Dodge while channeling Tame Beast.
Blizzard, you fucked Hunters over, just as you're planning to fuck over all of your loyal customers when you force everyone to switch to BNet later this year if they want to keep playing WoW, and as you'll do next year if they want to multiplay SC2 (No LAN for you!), and with D3 as well. Whoops. You haven't announced that yet, have you? Sorry to pre-empt you there, and Lord, I hope I'm wrong. I really hope I'm wrong. Because if Blizzard release D3 without LAN support they can put me down for two lost sales, and make one of those a Collector's Edition. I know, I know, I'm just a drop in the bucket. But I bet I won't be the only drop. In fact I bet there will be a lot of drops, many who will wait to see if the crackers can come through, like they did with Spore's DRM, and release LAN-enabled copies of SC2.
But even if cracked copies of SC2 and D3 are released, and prove hugely popular, Blizzard still won't listen. They want their legitimate players on BNet and they'll go that route, even if it turns some of their customers away, because just as many of us will refuse to buy a BNet-only copy of SC2 or D3, there will be a lot of sheep who'll flock to the stores on opening days to secure their copy. That's fine, that's their choice. Blizzard's game, Blizzard's rules. Pity their rules only apply if I choose to play.
Rant over.
Look at Warlocks. SOBs get their Pet as early as level 2 or 3 (depending on how keen you are and if you start as the Forsaken) so they learn how to play their Pet class, properly, almost right from the start.
Hunters. Poor bastiches start with Raptor Strike. A freaking MELEE special! Hunters! A ranged class, start the game with a freaking Melee-enhancing attack. Nice one, Blizzard. And when do they get their Pet? Not until level 10! What's one of the first Specials Hunters can train? Aspect of the Monkey, trainable at level 4! Aspect of the freaking Monkey! A buff that helps them Dodge! So they start with a Melee-enhancing special attack and get a Dodge Buff at Level 4, but don't get the quest to obtain their Pet until level 10! Their other Level 4 special is Serpent Sting, a DOT. So they have a DOT, a Dodge-enhancing Buff, and a Melee-enhancing Special. What does that imply about their combat style? Apply your DOT at Range, get off an Autoshot or two, then finish off the Mob in Melee.
Hunters can't even keep shooting when in Melee range. But why not? Why...the fuck...not?! Warlocks can cast Shadow Bolt even with a Mob smacking them in the face. Mages can get off their Frost Bolt, Druids can still cast Wrath, Priests can still cast Smite. Why can't Hunters Autoshot a Mob that's all up in their face? No reason, other than Blizzard hate the Hunter class.
So Hunters, right from the first level, are practically pigeon-holed into fighting Melee. And we wonder why Huntards have the reputation they do. Wonder no longer, dear readers, the truth is right in front of you. It's Blizzard's fault! Nice one, Blizzard. You bloody idiots!
See this? This is what a Hunter is supposed to do.
My Gun Skill is maxed out for my level (20@4) while my Axe & Unarmed Skills (at 1/20) suck. Why? Because I haven't engaged a single Mob in Melee! My Defense skill would have been 1 as well, except I got hit in Melee ONCE as I delivered the fatal shot. That's it. I've been Strafe-kiting Mobs as I shoot them to death AT RANGED because that's what a Hunter does. I haven't used Raptor Strike at all because I haven't needed to. I didn't bother learning Aspect of the Monkey because I'm not going to need it because I'm a Ranged DPS Class. The only time I plan to get hit is when I do my Tame Beast Quest, and later when I tame my Pet, and even then Monkey won't help me because you can't Dodge while channeling Tame Beast.Blizzard, you fucked Hunters over, just as you're planning to fuck over all of your loyal customers when you force everyone to switch to BNet later this year if they want to keep playing WoW, and as you'll do next year if they want to multiplay SC2 (No LAN for you!), and with D3 as well. Whoops. You haven't announced that yet, have you? Sorry to pre-empt you there, and Lord, I hope I'm wrong. I really hope I'm wrong. Because if Blizzard release D3 without LAN support they can put me down for two lost sales, and make one of those a Collector's Edition. I know, I know, I'm just a drop in the bucket. But I bet I won't be the only drop. In fact I bet there will be a lot of drops, many who will wait to see if the crackers can come through, like they did with Spore's DRM, and release LAN-enabled copies of SC2.
But even if cracked copies of SC2 and D3 are released, and prove hugely popular, Blizzard still won't listen. They want their legitimate players on BNet and they'll go that route, even if it turns some of their customers away, because just as many of us will refuse to buy a BNet-only copy of SC2 or D3, there will be a lot of sheep who'll flock to the stores on opening days to secure their copy. That's fine, that's their choice. Blizzard's game, Blizzard's rules. Pity their rules only apply if I choose to play.
Rant over.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Following on...
comes the news that as of November 12th, 2009, WoW subscribers will need to merge their account with a Battlenet account if they want to keep playing. Users who fail to merge their account by that date will be unable to access (& play) WoW until they do.
Currently registration and use of BNet is free, but when one looks at BNet it invokes images of Sony's Station and Microsoft's XBox Live (I think that's it), neither of which are free.
Coming next year, some time, (when they're done, says Blizzard, so maybe 2011), are Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3.
Maybe I'm being a paranoid fatalist, but I'm thinking that following on the heels of this forced WoW/BNet merge will be a switch to a paid service, that is, BNet will no longer be free like it is today.
All those people still using it to multiplay Diablo 2, Warcraft 3, and Starcraf can still use it, they'll just need to fork over $15/month. But the good news is Blizzard will throw in a subscription to Vanilla WoW for free...as long as you pay the $15/month BNet fee :P
When Blizzard release Diablo 3 and/or Starcraft 2 I would not be surprised to see them introduce tiered pricing for BNet, i.e., $15 lets you play WoW over BNet, $25 lets you add D3 to the mix, while $32 (maybe $30, if you're lucky) gets you SC2 on top of that.
Don't want to pay for a BNet account? Dare I say it, would Blizzard be complete bastards, but would they not include any form of multiplayer support for D3 and SC2 other than over BNet? Currently you can multiplay D2 and Starcraft over a LAN or via a Direct2IP connection. Will this feature still be in D3 and SC2?
So Diablo 3 comes out and I drop $100 on two copies so my son and I can play together...but then I need to shell out another $30/month so we can actually play together over BNet because D3 won't multiplay over a LAN. That would suck more than Meter Maid switching from suck to blow (which blows more than it sucks, but that's getting away from the point) so I really hope I'm just being my typical paranoid, pessimistic self here. Of course an upside to making BNet a P2Play service (with a built-in subscription to WoW) is Blizzard would be able to report back to their shareholders that subscriptions to WoW are at an all-time high. Well, that's an upside for Blizzard, or it that just more pessism? :)
Currently registration and use of BNet is free, but when one looks at BNet it invokes images of Sony's Station and Microsoft's XBox Live (I think that's it), neither of which are free.
Coming next year, some time, (when they're done, says Blizzard, so maybe 2011), are Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3.
Maybe I'm being a paranoid fatalist, but I'm thinking that following on the heels of this forced WoW/BNet merge will be a switch to a paid service, that is, BNet will no longer be free like it is today.
All those people still using it to multiplay Diablo 2, Warcraft 3, and Starcraf can still use it, they'll just need to fork over $15/month. But the good news is Blizzard will throw in a subscription to Vanilla WoW for free...as long as you pay the $15/month BNet fee :P
When Blizzard release Diablo 3 and/or Starcraft 2 I would not be surprised to see them introduce tiered pricing for BNet, i.e., $15 lets you play WoW over BNet, $25 lets you add D3 to the mix, while $32 (maybe $30, if you're lucky) gets you SC2 on top of that.
Don't want to pay for a BNet account? Dare I say it, would Blizzard be complete bastards, but would they not include any form of multiplayer support for D3 and SC2 other than over BNet? Currently you can multiplay D2 and Starcraft over a LAN or via a Direct2IP connection. Will this feature still be in D3 and SC2?
So Diablo 3 comes out and I drop $100 on two copies so my son and I can play together...but then I need to shell out another $30/month so we can actually play together over BNet because D3 won't multiplay over a LAN. That would suck more than Meter Maid switching from suck to blow (which blows more than it sucks, but that's getting away from the point) so I really hope I'm just being my typical paranoid, pessimistic self here. Of course an upside to making BNet a P2Play service (with a built-in subscription to WoW) is Blizzard would be able to report back to their shareholders that subscriptions to WoW are at an all-time high. Well, that's an upside for Blizzard, or it that just more pessism? :)
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
To resubscribe?
Or not to resubscribe?
I set up a Trial account for the boy so he could play WoW, and as he's a little Hunter (Orion bless his heart) I created a Priest to run around with him. Unfortunately both of us being on Trial accounts meant that neither of us could invite the other to group, even after I tracked him down in the Troll cave in Coldridge Valley. Fortunately a passing duo invited me to Group up with them, but I had to ask before my son was sent an invite. Their hesitation may have been because he'd named his Hunter 'Infernape', I don't know.
With us in the same group it made questing together a hell of a lot easier, and talking to the boy over Skype (I'm in the family room, he's in his bedroom) meant I could give him battle orders without needing to type or yell. This wasn't that necessary with four of us in the party, but when the other two dropped out to go their separate ways and we moved on from Coldridge Valley and started killing Wendigos, rapid communication became essential.
The Wendigo cave can be a hairy place to enter, and not just because you're after Wendigo Manes. Rapid respawns, a seemingly larger than usual aggro radius, and a willingness to help out their buddies means adventurers questing around and inside the Wendigo need to stay on their toes, lest they be trodden on by a pack of Wendigos. The boy and I went all the way inside the cave while acquiring our quota of manes and on the way out we ran into respawns and trouble when we picked up 4 Wendigos in rapid succession.
To his credit the boy listened when I told him to stop attacking the Wendigo that was hitting him and shoot the Wendigo on me. Self-preservation on my part? Of course not; the boy's Hunter just did better Ranged DPS than Melee. I don't know how but we survived the onslaught and made it out of the cave where we picked up three more Wendigos. Again I reminded the boy to ignore the Wendigo beating on him and shoot the ones on me and again he rose to the occasion, followed orders, and once more we survived.
By this time the real world was exerting its influence and we were drawing wife/mom aggro. We high tailed it back to Kharanos, hit the Inn and logged for the night.
It was great fun grouping with the boy, but if we want to do that again we need to find a friendly player willing to invite us both to a group then leave us to our own devices. And I'm reminded of the problem I had doing just that a month or two back. I was on a Horde character and two other players had wanted to group up to do quests but incredibly we were all on Trial accounts. I know, what are the odds, right? We hit Brill and tried to muster a group but nobody wanted in. For some reason an 80 Orc Hunter was messing around in Brill, and we sought his help. He was more than willing to duel us which I thought would get us a group invite afterward, but no such luck. After crushing us in duels he laughed, danced, spammed various emotes, but steadfastly refused to invite us into a group. In the end I ran off and quested on my own.
So I'm contemplating re-subscribing if for no reason other than it would make grouping with the boy a darn sight easier than constantly having to rely on good Samaritans. Also with Daylight Saving drawing to a close here (& conversely starting up in Australia) the time difference between here and Down Under will decrease to 5 hours (& 1 day), so I'd be more likely to see my sister and her husband online than I would with the current 7-hour difference.
To resubscribe, or not to resubscribe: that is the question.
I set up a Trial account for the boy so he could play WoW, and as he's a little Hunter (Orion bless his heart) I created a Priest to run around with him. Unfortunately both of us being on Trial accounts meant that neither of us could invite the other to group, even after I tracked him down in the Troll cave in Coldridge Valley. Fortunately a passing duo invited me to Group up with them, but I had to ask before my son was sent an invite. Their hesitation may have been because he'd named his Hunter 'Infernape', I don't know.
With us in the same group it made questing together a hell of a lot easier, and talking to the boy over Skype (I'm in the family room, he's in his bedroom) meant I could give him battle orders without needing to type or yell. This wasn't that necessary with four of us in the party, but when the other two dropped out to go their separate ways and we moved on from Coldridge Valley and started killing Wendigos, rapid communication became essential.
The Wendigo cave can be a hairy place to enter, and not just because you're after Wendigo Manes. Rapid respawns, a seemingly larger than usual aggro radius, and a willingness to help out their buddies means adventurers questing around and inside the Wendigo need to stay on their toes, lest they be trodden on by a pack of Wendigos. The boy and I went all the way inside the cave while acquiring our quota of manes and on the way out we ran into respawns and trouble when we picked up 4 Wendigos in rapid succession.
To his credit the boy listened when I told him to stop attacking the Wendigo that was hitting him and shoot the Wendigo on me. Self-preservation on my part? Of course not; the boy's Hunter just did better Ranged DPS than Melee. I don't know how but we survived the onslaught and made it out of the cave where we picked up three more Wendigos. Again I reminded the boy to ignore the Wendigo beating on him and shoot the ones on me and again he rose to the occasion, followed orders, and once more we survived.
By this time the real world was exerting its influence and we were drawing wife/mom aggro. We high tailed it back to Kharanos, hit the Inn and logged for the night.
It was great fun grouping with the boy, but if we want to do that again we need to find a friendly player willing to invite us both to a group then leave us to our own devices. And I'm reminded of the problem I had doing just that a month or two back. I was on a Horde character and two other players had wanted to group up to do quests but incredibly we were all on Trial accounts. I know, what are the odds, right? We hit Brill and tried to muster a group but nobody wanted in. For some reason an 80 Orc Hunter was messing around in Brill, and we sought his help. He was more than willing to duel us which I thought would get us a group invite afterward, but no such luck. After crushing us in duels he laughed, danced, spammed various emotes, but steadfastly refused to invite us into a group. In the end I ran off and quested on my own.
So I'm contemplating re-subscribing if for no reason other than it would make grouping with the boy a darn sight easier than constantly having to rely on good Samaritans. Also with Daylight Saving drawing to a close here (& conversely starting up in Australia) the time difference between here and Down Under will decrease to 5 hours (& 1 day), so I'd be more likely to see my sister and her husband online than I would with the current 7-hour difference.
To resubscribe, or not to resubscribe: that is the question.
Sunday, October 04, 2009
McPwning McDonalds
(With thanks to an old friend for the title ;)
With the kids spending Saturday night with us (instead of at the in-laws like they normally do) I woke up around 7:30 or so, thought about getting up and dragging the kids off to the 8am service, then thought twice about it (or not at all), rolled over and went back to sleep. The kids woke me up about an hour later climbing all over our bed and when breakfast demands for Chinese Pancakes were made, the King of Pancakes (yours truly) was kicked out of bed in order that he may satisfy the masses. Three pancakes later (I had cereal) everyone was sitting down to breakfast together, which is not a common occurrence in our house.
After breakfast I noted that we still had time to get ready for the 10am service so teeth were brushed and kids were dressed and off we went to church for the 1st Sunday of the month's Communion service. I briefed the kids that part-way into the service they would be called up the front for the children's ministry (Why does my spell checker not like the possessive form of children? In fact it doesn't like the S on the end, either with or without the apostrophe. Odd.) and communion after which they'd go out to Sunday School with the other children. The service went exactly as I'd said and I watched as my kids left for Sunday School with the other children. When I picked them up after the service they mentioned that they want to go to our church next Sunday, rather than go with their grandparents (who go to a different church). The Bunny because her old pre-school was at our Church and she got to see some of her old classmates who also attend there, and the boy because they have snacks & drinks at his Sunday School and after their lesson they got to play.
Back at home Liz presented me with a 2-for-1 coupon for two 10-piece McNuggets and asked me to get lunch. She pondered whether that would be enough food for everyone but as we had a couple of other 2-for-1 coupons and I planned to make myself a sandwich later, and knowing the kids had just had breakfast a few hours before I figured 20 McNuggets would be sufficient, especially as one of the coupons I took with me were for 2 McFlurries. I also took the McCafe McCoffee coupon in anticipation of getting a McMocha and a McLatte.
And yes, I know the fine print on coupons like this said, "Not to be combined with any other offer," "One coupon per person per visit", etc. I had a plan.
At the McDonalds I put all three coupons on the counter and made it known that I wished to use all three of them.
You can only use one, the cashier told me.
I told her I understood that if she had to ring them up as separate purchases that was perfectly acceptable.
It's one coupon per person, she told me.
One per person per visit, I countered. If you insist, I'll walk out the door and come back in and you can ring me up again.
You can't do that, she protested.
Sure I can, I told her. If I leave the store, I walk out the door then come back in, that's a second visit.
She gave up and went and got someone higher up the food chain, who asked me which coupon I wanted to use.
I repeated that I intended to use all three.
The second lady stood at the checkout for a long time, ignoring me while looking at the young lady next to her who was ringing up another customer. Unlike everyone else who was wearing the McDonalds' uniform, this third young lady was in civvies. Her choice of dress and the way my second cashier was trying to get her input said this young lady was the one running the show. She ignored my cashier but being just a couple of feet away there was no way she didn't know what I was trying to do.
She was both a good manager and a bad manager. Bad, because her staff were turning to her for help and she was leaving them hanging, but also good because she was letting her staff learn how to resolve problems and difficult customers on their own.
Finally my cashier made a decision herself and began ringing up my purchase. She rang up all six items, two 10-piece McNuggets, two McFlurries, a McMocha and a McLatte, then she comped half of them so I paid just $10. And she did all of this on one transaction.
Yeah, I was being a bit of a bastard by trying to use three coupons which clearly (if you could read the fine print) said not to be combined, one coupon per person per vist, but had the first cashier stuck to her guns I was fully prepared to walk out then walk back in and stand in line all over again to use my second coupon, then repeat for the third. One coupon per person per day? Now you've got me. But one coupon per person per visit? Do not try to tell me that leaving the store and coming back in does not constitute a second visit. Hell, I'll get in my car and drive out of the parking lot then come back in if that's what it takes. But it didn't come to that, and in the end the cashier bent the rules a little and her job was made easier (by not having to ring up three separate transactions) and another customer left satisfied with the service he'd received.
Back home I ended up making two sandwiches, one for myself and one for Liz. Apparently 20 McNuggets weren't enough. Maybe I should have taken a 4th coupon and got 2 Big McMacs ;)
Ask, and it shall be given unto you - Luke 11:9
With the kids spending Saturday night with us (instead of at the in-laws like they normally do) I woke up around 7:30 or so, thought about getting up and dragging the kids off to the 8am service, then thought twice about it (or not at all), rolled over and went back to sleep. The kids woke me up about an hour later climbing all over our bed and when breakfast demands for Chinese Pancakes were made, the King of Pancakes (yours truly) was kicked out of bed in order that he may satisfy the masses. Three pancakes later (I had cereal) everyone was sitting down to breakfast together, which is not a common occurrence in our house.
After breakfast I noted that we still had time to get ready for the 10am service so teeth were brushed and kids were dressed and off we went to church for the 1st Sunday of the month's Communion service. I briefed the kids that part-way into the service they would be called up the front for the children's ministry (Why does my spell checker not like the possessive form of children? In fact it doesn't like the S on the end, either with or without the apostrophe. Odd.) and communion after which they'd go out to Sunday School with the other children. The service went exactly as I'd said and I watched as my kids left for Sunday School with the other children. When I picked them up after the service they mentioned that they want to go to our church next Sunday, rather than go with their grandparents (who go to a different church). The Bunny because her old pre-school was at our Church and she got to see some of her old classmates who also attend there, and the boy because they have snacks & drinks at his Sunday School and after their lesson they got to play.
Back at home Liz presented me with a 2-for-1 coupon for two 10-piece McNuggets and asked me to get lunch. She pondered whether that would be enough food for everyone but as we had a couple of other 2-for-1 coupons and I planned to make myself a sandwich later, and knowing the kids had just had breakfast a few hours before I figured 20 McNuggets would be sufficient, especially as one of the coupons I took with me were for 2 McFlurries. I also took the McCafe McCoffee coupon in anticipation of getting a McMocha and a McLatte.
And yes, I know the fine print on coupons like this said, "Not to be combined with any other offer," "One coupon per person per visit", etc. I had a plan.
At the McDonalds I put all three coupons on the counter and made it known that I wished to use all three of them.
You can only use one, the cashier told me.
I told her I understood that if she had to ring them up as separate purchases that was perfectly acceptable.
It's one coupon per person, she told me.
One per person per visit, I countered. If you insist, I'll walk out the door and come back in and you can ring me up again.
You can't do that, she protested.
Sure I can, I told her. If I leave the store, I walk out the door then come back in, that's a second visit.
She gave up and went and got someone higher up the food chain, who asked me which coupon I wanted to use.
I repeated that I intended to use all three.
The second lady stood at the checkout for a long time, ignoring me while looking at the young lady next to her who was ringing up another customer. Unlike everyone else who was wearing the McDonalds' uniform, this third young lady was in civvies. Her choice of dress and the way my second cashier was trying to get her input said this young lady was the one running the show. She ignored my cashier but being just a couple of feet away there was no way she didn't know what I was trying to do.
She was both a good manager and a bad manager. Bad, because her staff were turning to her for help and she was leaving them hanging, but also good because she was letting her staff learn how to resolve problems and difficult customers on their own.
Finally my cashier made a decision herself and began ringing up my purchase. She rang up all six items, two 10-piece McNuggets, two McFlurries, a McMocha and a McLatte, then she comped half of them so I paid just $10. And she did all of this on one transaction.
Yeah, I was being a bit of a bastard by trying to use three coupons which clearly (if you could read the fine print) said not to be combined, one coupon per person per vist, but had the first cashier stuck to her guns I was fully prepared to walk out then walk back in and stand in line all over again to use my second coupon, then repeat for the third. One coupon per person per day? Now you've got me. But one coupon per person per visit? Do not try to tell me that leaving the store and coming back in does not constitute a second visit. Hell, I'll get in my car and drive out of the parking lot then come back in if that's what it takes. But it didn't come to that, and in the end the cashier bent the rules a little and her job was made easier (by not having to ring up three separate transactions) and another customer left satisfied with the service he'd received.
Back home I ended up making two sandwiches, one for myself and one for Liz. Apparently 20 McNuggets weren't enough. Maybe I should have taken a 4th coupon and got 2 Big McMacs ;)
Ask, and it shall be given unto you - Luke 11:9
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