Sunday, October 26, 2008

Real Life Update

So... not too much has happened that I would classify as "exciting" lately... 

Work has stayed consistently busy.. not overly so, but enough that my days are always occupied.  Had my three year review this past week and got a decent raise. (yay for monies!)  My boss is the best boss to work for.  He is very respectful and considerate toward his employees, and he takes care of them.  (afterall, he did buy me an Xbox 360 a couple years ago for my Christmas bonus...)  We extended our hours on Saturday which means my schedule got tweaked slightly.. Saturdays are still "short" days (done at 2 PM) but now I have to get up early to open at 8AM... mornings and me don't really get along.

My friend Jason has been working as a Press Ganger for awhile now... running tournaments and events for Warmachine/Hordes.  He runs that at a store over in New Jersey (he lives in Philly) and has been trying to get me to go over there for one of the tournaments (there was one today but I stayed home).  I'd love to get to play Warmachine more often, but I am not really keen on playing with folks whom I don't know and I also don't care to play it competitively... I play more for the cool models, the story, and the game itself...  and for me its all about playing with my friends... and yes, Jason would be there, but I also dislike driving into strange places.  This would be about 1.5 hour drive (one way) and it'd be through the city.  (and whats stranger than New Jersey?)  I have a hard time motivating myself for such a trip.  I am hoping my other local friend (Mike) would be able to go as well, so we'd could drive up together... that I could more easily get behind...  I feel bad missing Jason's events though.  Too bad he can't Press Gang for a store that is more local...

I spent today playing some Fable 2.  This game is really great.  The world (called Albion) is equal parts Harry Potter, Charles Dickens, and Legend of Zelda... sprinkle in some dry British wit... and you have yerself a grand world to explore.  The overall story is classic.. a young boy(or girl if you choose) with a troubled past who must rise up and become a hero and save the land... but the interesting part is how you do it.  I have spent hours not doing anything related to the main quest...(but the main quest is very cool) there are just so many things to occupy your time.  You can buy a shop and run a business, buy property and rent it out, or live in it and get married, have a kid.. you can work as a blacksmith, wood cutter, bounty hunter, archaeologist, and others... you can have bard sing tales of your adventures to raiser you renown... make the ladies in town swoon over you (and sometimes the men) and basically.. live the life of an adventurer in a beautiful fairy tale land.  You can be good and help the people, or be selfish, or despicably evil... Right now I am playing a good character... (I always start on the good side).. everything you do effects your character and how people in the game view you.. eat a lot of meat and pies?  You get fat... fall in combat often?  you get scars... do evil deeds?  the people hear about it and their opinion of you changes...  You also have a dog who follows you throughout the game.. and he is awesome. (I named mine Chewbacca)  he finds treasures for you, helps you fight in combat, and warns you of danger...you really grow attached to him after a while.  Overall the game is a great experience all around... the controls are solid and easy to use.. and its just plain fun.  I give it a 333 on the Karl scale. (that's a high score btw).  I think when I finish with this I will try to play through as an evil character, and will probably try the female character.. (i always seem to play the female characters as evil... wonder what that says about me...?  I did the same thing in KOTOR and Mass Effect)  With the huge deluge of games coming out this fall, choosing has been difficult... many will have to wait...  But I am glad I got Fable..  One of my favorite people on the internet, Miyuki Jane Pinckard, wrote a great post about her own Fable 2 experience... from a woman's perspective... its worth reading.

So for the rest of the day I will listen to some audio.. maybe a book, maybe a podcast or something.. and start packing up my stuff... I will moving into the other side of the house later this week.  I mentioned this house situation here and here... but now it will get more inconvenient... at least I will be in the permanent address.. and can hopefully get ComCast over here to hook up the cable/Internet... apparently the mailing address we have is not the address they have in their database.. but we think we figured out the proper address, so when I get moved over there I will call them again.  Cripes.. I am sick of moving.  (even if this time it's only next door)  If the house was going to be finished.. I'd be more excited,  however; pretty much the upstairs is all that will be done... so the downstairs will be a work zone for a few months.   By the end of this coming summer I am hoping to have enough money saved up to move into my own place...

Great episode of Clone Wars this past Friday (I'll put my review up later in the week, need to watch the episode again).... If I was still 10 years old there would nothing greater in this world than that show.  Even at 32 I find it highly enjoyable.  If you are a Star Wars fan, you should be watching.

Reconnecting with old friends is a great thing.  I recommend it.