Back to normal

No lottery means back to a 'normal' life.  We went to the mall today, bought a couple of books and dvds, i bought tax software for this year's taxes.  She went the Avenue and bought some more clothes.

We came home and swung by the comic book store, this time with my list of back issues I'm missing.  We got quite a few, but I still need a lot.  There's a convention next month - I might go to that and see if I can pick up some more.

Watched "Restaraunt Stakeout" tonight.  It's kind of a combination of Restaurant Impossible" and "Hells Kitchen".  Not sure if we'll continue to like it.

Also fought with the DVD player again.  It's stopped playing blu-rays. again.  This time the reset, and unplugging trick didn't work.  It might be time for an unplanned replacement if it :(

Tomorrow, if it's nice out, I need to mow the back yard.  The sides and the front are still short, but the weather lately has made the grass in the backyard spring up like crazy!

Mega Madness

I bought 4 extra tickets today.  We'll see what good that did.

Stopped by the comic book store after work.  They moved to a much nicer place, so we had to check it out.  Then we stopped at Joe's Crab Shack for dinner, where I confirmed that I'm not allergic to just shrimp, but crabs too.

Another thing to add to the list.

Almost Friday

Early start, busy day at work.  Got some work done, and for a change, didn't feel like a chicken with my head cut off.

We had mediteranian turkey burgers for dinner, and a greek salad.  We watched a couple of cooking shows, then Person of Interest.

I played LOTRO for a couple hours, then went to bed.  Tomorrow is Friday, and maybe we'll get to go see a movie.

Nothing special

Worked with no excitement today.  Had leftover chicken pot pie for dinner, started catching up on Fringe, and headed to bed.  Have to go in early for a meeting that starts before my shift - every Thursday for the next two months.

Yay.

Breezy

Very breezy today.  Almost knocked me over when I went out for lunch today, as I wasn't expecting it!  Today was okay work, although I had to leave early since my knee was hurting again.

We had sausage gravy and biscuits for dinner, watched Lost Girl and the season finale of 19 kids and counting - it was a sad one.

I played LOTRO for a little bit, then went to bed.

Brrr

How can it go from 8 days in a row over 70 to having a high of 40?  Needless to say, we didn't run the air.  In fact, the heater in my car got some use today.

Work was a rather busy day, various meetings and backing up some folks on a production issue.  I wasn't 'on-call', so I just was available.  I didn't have to deal with any of the acutal issues.

After work, we had home made chicken pot pie again, and caught up on CSI.  Except for Sunday's episode of Miami, we're current again.  Of course, we have tons of other shows to catch up on, but it looks like a lot are on spring break, so maybe we can really catch up!

More cleanup

Played DDO briefly in the morning, then spent a few hours working on the porch.  Found more dead electronics I had completely forgotten about, cut up or folded up a bunch of boxes, threw some more stuff away, and then took a break.  We did some laundry, but other than that we just watched several CSI episodes.  After she went to lay down, I playted LOTRO for a little bit before I too went to bed.  Have to work tomorrow - still haven't won the lottery.

Errands

Took some more dead electronics to Best Buy for recycling, bought a new battery for my phone - we'll see if this one lasts more than 3 hours before going dead.  Stopped by Barnes and Noble, picked up a couple of books, a couple of books.  We went to BW3 for lunch (finally), and came home.

We spent the afternoon catching up on shows - Lost Girl, Hawaii 5-0, CSI Miami, a couple cooking shows.  I played LOTRO on the laptop while we watched tv.

After she went to bed, I moved to the study, played WoW while watching Iron Chef and Ancient Alients.  It's kind of a hokey show (AA), but lets me pretend it's a real show :)

Shopping

Went and did a little shopping after work for some 'unmentionables' for my nephew-in-law's wife. :)  Stopped by the comic book store, picked up a couple new comics, went out to eat at Jake's (I'll blog that tomorrow).

Watched an episode of Restaurant Impossible, and called it a night.  Rather hot in the house, so we'll see how well I can sleep tonight.

Movie Night

Website said movie started at 720.  Got there at 704, sign said movie starts at 705.  Great.

We got to see most of the trailers, though.  The movie? John Carter.  I liked it.  It wasn't a perfect adaptation of the book(s), but it was close enough to feel like it.

Rained all day today.  Good thing I was inside for all of it except getting in and out of the car :)

Rainy Night, Cool Day

It rained last night, which helped and kept the temps down today.  Didn't have to use the A/C even.

Today I had meeting after meeting, running from desk to desk, training people on this that or the other.  It got old after awhile, but at least there wasn't panic and mayhem.  Just craziness.

Simple dinner of pasta and tomatoes, watched a couple more episodes of Lost Girl, and pretty much called it a night.

Bad Day

Somedays you have them, somedays you don't.

Today was one.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a little quieter/calmer/less stressful.

Yep, meetings galore

A huge chunk of my day was meetings - but at least I was prepared for them.

We had homemade spanish rice and burritos for dinner, watched a couple more shows, including another Lost Girl.  After she went to bed, I played LOTRO till it was time for me to go to bed.

Tomorrow, I have meetings, but this time I get to run several of them.  Should feel a little more productive :)

Laundry Day

Lots and lots of laundry.  Played DDO, WoW and LOTRO today, did laundry, got some junk off the porch so we can take it to recycle.

Caught up on a couple more shows tonight, including Lost Girl - interesting show on syfy.  Tomorrow I get to go back to work.  I already have meeting scheduled from 1200 to 430...so I won't be getting much done in the afternoon!

Shopping

Another record breaking high temp today.  We went to MoA in the afternoon.  After a while, the crowds just got to me, and we had to leave.  I guess my agoraphobia/demophobia/ochlophobia got the better of me.  We made it to Best Buy where we bought a few dvds, including the original mission impossible, season 1 and 2 on sale for 50% off.  The wife bought a new swimsuit at Lane Bryant, also on sale.  We visited a crepe place for lunch, both for lunch and then dessert.

When we got home we caught up on Hawaii 5-0, and watched a couple episodes of Prophets of Science Fiction - the episodes with Isaac Asimov and Jules Verne.  After that, I played LOTRO for a while, and watched Diners Drive Ins and Dives at the same time.

Tomorrow is laundry day.

Cooling off

Had to run the airconditioner in the car today - and in the house.  It got up to around 77 or so, not sure if it was a record, but running the a/c before the first day of spring is...crazy!

Spent a good part of the day working on the 'why' and 'what else can go wrong' left over issues from yesterday.  When I got home, we went to Barnes and Noble, and I got a few dvds, we went to Ulta for some cosmetics for her, then we went to dinner at Chilis.  At the end of the meal I started sneezing and got a runny nose/stuff head.  Don't know if I had a reaction to something or what.  If it was a cold, it came on reallllly quickly.

Came home and watched a couple of shows, then I played LOTRO a bit before bed.

Busy day

Wasn't going to be, but then I got pulled in to a priority situation that needed to be fixed as soon as possible.  Then I had to research how it could have happened in the first place, who was affected, and what we were doing to fix it.  fun stuff.

We had homemade chicken pot pie for dinner.  We watched 2 more 19 kids and counting and caught up on Person of Interest.  I tried to play LOTRO on the laptop while we watched, but it didn't cooperate.  After our shows were over, I came on the main computer and played for a little bit, then off to bed.

tomorrow is payday. and friday :)

More Meetings

little work, although I guess we actually got some work done during those meetings :)

When I got home, we just had sandwiches for dinner.  We watched a couple episodes of 19 kids and counting and one episode of Person of Interest.

I played LOTRO for a little while, and then called it a day.  I have more meetings tomorrow - but maybe I'll get some work done too!

Homecoming

Didn't post yesterday because the Tattoo'd Lady came home last night, and I was busy helping her unload, unpack, and so on.

Today was a bunch of meetings, surrounded by a little bit of work.  Tonight, we started catching up on our shows that taped while she was out of town.  It'll be interesting if we can catch up on all the recorded shows before we fully run out of space.  I hope we can!

Game Day

I played DDO by myself for a while, then with my friend.  After lunch, we played some WoW, then I finished reading a book I bought yesterday, went out and bought some groceries for dinner and lunch tomorrow.  It was a nice day out, and I think the high was about 65 or so.  Hard to believe, considering how cold it was last week, and all the snow we got.

After dinner, I played some LOTRO, and watched Sister Act 1 and 2 (they were on back to back on HBO).

Started pricing flights for my trip to Indiana in May.  Man, plane tickets are expensive!

Burning Daylight

Did a little shopping this morning, paid some bills, played LOTRO for a little bit, kept getting defeated, so I decided to just call it a night.

Losing an hour of sleep isn't going to help a poor attitude either. :(

Gaming - Part 4

The last game that I play in my free time, I play the least, probably because it's the most complicated of the four.  It's Star Trek Online.

First, let me say it's Star Trek, but it's not exactly Star Trek.  It's set like another hundred years in the future.  The Klingons are at war with the Federation, Species 8472 is causing havoc everywhere, the Borg are sort of back in business.  One frustrating thing right off is that it's not the Star Trek lore I know.

The game is really split between two types of game.  Planetary expeditions and space combat.  Space combat is extremely frustrating.  The controls are hard to get used to, the camera angles are nauseating, the need for 360 degree spacial awareness is something I've never truly mastered.

The interface is klunky, taking noticeable time to draw a menu on the screen.  The character avatars are...different.  I don't know what engine the game is built on, but its distracting.  Plus your characters run funny.

As I said, I don't play it often.  There's not a lot of opportunity for solo play in this game, and I only play with one person (a guildmember from DDO and WoW), and he doesn't play this very often either.  In fact, he's more into Star Wars Online right now, anyway.  I keep hoping things will change.  I keep the game updated, as they release patches every so often, and I may just log in and start over, trying to re-learn it.  You never know!

Gaming - Part 3

The third of the online games I play is probably the simplest of the four, which probably explains its popularity.  It's World of Warcraft.

Loosely, WoW is based off the original Warcraft games that came out in the late 90's for the PC and the Mac.  They were considered "Real Time Strategy" games, where each side basically had to build up their resources, create an army and smash the other side to pieces.  It took until 2004, 10 years later, for Blizzard to create an online game in that universe.

You can pick a character that is either "Alliance" or "Horde", remnants of the old "Humans" vs "Orcs" concept, although there are more races than just those two.  I've tried Horde, but I didn't care much for the style.

Speaking of style, WoW's is rather unique out of the games I play.  It is very reminiscent of cartoons.  The colors are bright and vibrant, the character models are very much in an animation style, rather than a realistic style, armor and weapons are really overly dramatic (shoulderguards that dwarf your head come to mind - although if I remember right, that was the style back in the 80s!).  In and of itself, this style is not wrong.  It's just different. 

Another thing about WoW is that it's easy.

Gaming - Part 2

The next two games on my list I pretty much spend equal time in, probably 25% of my free time between the two of them.  This one is Dungeons and Dragons Online.

As you can guess, it's pretty much Dungeons and Dragons...online.  The rules are little bit different from the pencil and paper games I played back in High School, and when I was stationed in Massachussetts, but the concepts are the same.  Here, I play 3 different characters (no, not all at the same time!)

The game is based on the universe of Eberron, which was created by a guy who won a contest to create a new universe.  Eberron is kind of steampunk-ish, with a curious mix of magic and technology like magic.

Gaming - Part 1

Thought I'd change things up a little bit and share a little bit about the online games I play.  Today, I'll cover the game I play probably 70% of my game time: Lord of the Rings Online.

This game lets you play in a virtual Middle-earth.  You can create a man, dwarf, elf, or hobbit, and can follow (generally) the path the Fellowship took.  You can visit the Shire, Weathertop, Moria, Isengard...all different iconic places from the books.

I have two main characters I play - a Dwarf Guardian, who you can think of as a "fighter" - he has an axe and a shield, and can stand there and get beat upon pretty good.  He doesn't do a lot of damage to his enemies in single blows, but eventually he can wear them down (more than they wear him down) and  Human Hunter, who you can probably imagine Legolas - he fights with a bow more than a sword, he can run pretty fast, but if he gets into a swordfight with an enemy, he won't last very long.  Thankfully, he can do damage pretty quickly, so usually his enemies fall before they get to him.  Sometimes he gets surprised, and then I have to decide whether to stick it out or run away (no, his name is not Robin!).

Halfway

About half of my work day went as planned.  I got one document completed and some updating done on another project.

Stopped by the store on the way home from work, picked up some dinner, and some things for lunches during the week.  Watched Iron Chef America from yesterday, and then a few episodes of Diners, Drive Ins and Dives while playing my game.

Since my knees have been hurting me, I went to bed a little early (for me anyway).  Hopefully, I won't hurt as much tomorrow.

Sunny but cold

"Slept in" till 830, so got a little rest.  The comic book store didn't open till noon, so I had time to read the news, surf the web a little bit, and just kinda goof off.

I picked up some more comics at the store, stopped by Barnes and Noble and picked up a couple new books and a couple of dvd sets.  I wanted to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch, but the one by the book store moved, and I don't know where.  I went to another one that I know where it is...clear across town, but I really wanted it :)  Got there...and there was no place to park.  I ended up going to Culvers and got a pork tenderloin sandwich. It was ok, but not what I wanted.  Maybe I'll visit BW3 sometime this week.

After lunch, I thought I'd visit the sister store of the comic shop, which meant coming all the way back across town.  I got there, and luckily found parking on the street (no parking lot anywhere nearby).  It's a dinky little store, with no back issues of anything, so I won't be using it to replace my lost issues.

Came home, played a few different games, and started to organize all the photos we've taken over the years with our digital cameras.  I have them saved on different drives in different folders, some not even named something that makes sense.  This'll be a looooong project, but when it's done, I'll know where everything is.

Sleeping In?

Not a chance.  Woke up at 645.  Logged in to work and got a couple things done that I needed to verify.

After that I kind of puttered around.  I watched the Fellowship of The Ring - the super duper extended blu ray edition.  Played on the computer for a while, watched Mission Impossible 2 finally.

Pretty boring Saturday.  Tomorrow I plan on going to the outside world and doing a little shopping.

And maybe sleeping in :)

No Tornados Here

Unlike other parts of the country.  Just cold.  Today was a rollercoaster ride, researching problems that weren't problems, fixing problems that were, not getting to work on one project, instead getting assigned two more...

I picked up a couple things for food for the weekend, read for a little while, played on the computer for a little while till I got frustrated, then went back to my book.

I'm sleeping in tomorrow.

Tired again

Surprisingly very tired.  I slept pretty well last night, all things considered, but I ran out of energy about 330 this afternoon, and I've just been dragging ever since.

Watched part of a movie when I got home tonight, talked to the wife for a little bit, had a little game time, but my heart wasn't really in it.  It's hard to game when you're tired.