Time flies when you're having fun

I hadn't realized that it's been THAT long since I last posted. Sorry guys. Since you all see me almost every night you know that I've been playing. Here are a couple of items of note since the last post (but not all inclusive....my memory isn't that good).

1) A new friend asked once why my usual group of guys weren't in a clan. We all laughed and a few disparaging comments about clans were said. The truth is, we don't have to change our names or make funny little clan tags to play with each other. I'm not going to pay 800 Microsoft points to change my name to "El Pengwenn" or whatever just so total strangers see I'm friends with a group of people. Our friendship is real and goes beyond names. Besides, if I get pissy and don't want to be friends with some of them anymore does that mean I'll have to change my name back? They could kick me out of the clan but I'd still have my name so what does that mean in the grand scheme of things? Nothing.

2) This same new friend asked if I was excited for Gears of War 3 to come because I can finally play as a girl. Um, if I had to wait to play a game until they came up with a female character there would be a lot of games I wouldn't be playing, but I am. It doesn't really matter to me if the character I'm playing is male or female. I chose a female character in Mass Effect as a little bit of defiance because all the promo for the game has Shepard as a male. I don't mind playing as a male character. I'll play whatever character suits my style of game (or pisses me off the least). And as for Anya. I played with her the required number of times to unlock something but then I switched. I found her grunting, groaning and other vocal outburst annoying. If I were a guy I'd probably feel otherwise. But I think that's what they had in mind when they designed her.

3) I have been making a conscious effort to play Mass Effect and finish the game. I've also been working on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. It would be nice to finish some games and to get my friends off my back about it. Also, I won't have to keep yelling at them for giving away spoilers for games I haven't finished yet. Although they think the statute of limitations has run out on these older games. I disagree.

4) Not currently game related, but I got a home theater system for working at my present company for 15 years. I got to pick out a prize and that's what I picked. I think I want to get a new TV before I hook everything up so that might be awhile. But once I do, I can't wait to play Bioshock and Dead Space with surround sound. That's just to creep me out. I love it.

5) I have finished a game recently. Sneaka, Genghis and I played and finished Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale the other day. It's a hack and slash arcade game on Xbox Live. It was a blast. It's also a 4 player co-op game so we're playing it again with MadMax. It's a fun game and that's what friends do.

6) Also not really game related but effecting my game play is that I've had a major rejection episode with my corneal transplant. It was not fun. I'm still dealing with the fall out of that because my vision is not as good as it was before. I guess I need to get back to the eye doctor and update my contact prescriptions. Yeah me. I've been living and dealing with all these issues for 6 years now and I'm tired of it. Pain, discomfort and poor vision just seem to be my existence for these last 6 years. But some good news is my doctor took me off some medication because he said I didn't need it anymore. Yeah! Some of the side effects were that it made my eye red and caused bruising on my eye lids (top and bottom). I always looked like I've been punched in the eye.

7) I've had some professional and personally disappointments recently. Both have effective my gameplay. Some nights I'm just not into it. I'm sure to have more in the future. Please don't take it personal.

8) I've had some good moments personally (professionally is still pending) that have been wonderful. While sometimes those moments make me want to get online and play games with my friends they can also make me want to stay off-line and just soak all the goodness and happiness in. Again, don't take it personal if I don't show up to play. I'm just enjoying life.

9) I've had some major internet issues. I finally had to buy a new modem after about 12-13 years. It was an unexpected expense (I got the best I could afford) so I was mad. But I guess I can't complain with how long my previous one lasted. There's been a few hiccups getting it set up and running properly but I think we've got that all figured out. Thanks dain.

10) Lastly, I had a wonderful, yet horrible, night last night. My sister and one of my nieces were in town this weekend for a softball tournament. I went to my parent's house yesterday for dinner and to visit with them. After a great game of Scum (I was only scum once) I went home about 10pm. When I got home all my lights were off. Turns out the power was out for a lot of the houses on my street. I had to call my parents to see if they could bring a flashlight over because it was so dark I couldn't find mine (I recently moved where I kept it and couldn't remember). The horrible part was that it had been 106 degrees yesterday and now I didn't have any AC. Once my dad left I put my swimming suit on and got in my pool (for the first time this year). It was a little cool but it felt nice. I stayed in there as long as I could and then got out. I piled up a couple of towels on the couch and laid down to go to bed while I was still dripping wet. It was all I could do to stay cool. About 12:30 the power came back on and my swimming suit was mostly dry. I got up, changed, reset my alarm clock and went to bed. About 4am the power went out again. And again at 5:15. Both times I reset my clock and tried to go back to sleep. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep last night. At least everything is on this morning. And at least it wasn't 115 degrees instead. I'm so not ready for the summer heat.

Well, those are the highlights . . . and a couple of lowlights too. I'll try to get back into the flow of regular updates. Feel free to nag me for new posts every now and then. But only if you're interested. And I hope you are. But you should remember that times flies when you're having fun. And I always having fun playing online.