Redwolf's Journal (continued)

I showed up late for raid night, and for this I am sorry. I assumed after several weeks of struggling to get everyone together by 9 server time, we wouldn't be shooting for any earlier than that. I should have looked. 'course, my parents were taking me out to dinner, and I didn't expect that to take two hours, so I might have been late even if I'd looked. Feh. I'm one of those people who's just frustrated enough by lateness that he will usually end up early, and it bugs me most when I'm the one who's late. Well, Razorscale (or potentially any other two-boss-deep target) coming up as the weekly raid quest is a little annoying and distracting. At least it doesn't take that long. Flame Leviathan is a bit of a haul to get to, but a quick fight itself, so getting to and downing two bosses in Ulduar tends to take us about half an hour. The back into ICC for us. Funny how the final raid of the expansion is proving to be *gasp* challenging for us. We'

Could you pack something for shipping using bags/balloons of helium as filler in order to actually reduce the shipping weight since they're lighter than air? If you ship something that's actually bouyant in air, should the shipping company pay you (not that they would)?

Just jotting down a little idea I had (actually before I started on the fantasy underworld-heavy Night Angel series) that could potentially be used in a game someday... The Glass Daggers (or Knives?), an assassin cult known for using exactly that. They adhere to a belief similar to the modern "sniper's creed" of "one hit, one kill." Initiates are trained, but sent on their missions armed solely with a glass dagger - sharp, lethal, but fragile. This forces them to catch their target vulnerable and unaware in order to score a clean kill, and keeps the chances of secondary deaths minimal. Those who prove able to work within these limitations and get away prove their worth, are trained further, and may eventually be equipped with more durable weapons of magically/alchemically-strengthened glass... I always thought glass armor in the Elder Scrolls looked neat, but sounded a bit silly. ;)

I finished Shadow's Edge last night. I wasn't really planning to read it so soon after the first, but... such is the allure of story. It's the middle of a trilogy. There's development and some resolution in places, but still plenty of open threads. If you liked the first one, you'd probably like this. If the first squicked you in any way, you probably shouldn't touch this one. That seems to sum things up reasonably well. Me, I'm looking forward to book three. I wonder if I can save it for reading next week...

It's always a matter of perspective, and I'm curious about those other than my own... Personally, the guilds I'm a part of sort of make the game at this point. I've seen just shy of three (out of the four) campaigns though in Guild Wars. In World of Warcraft, I've leveled two characters fully to 80. Neither of those feats means having done all the soloable content of the games, but enough that I don't feel compelled to do much more. So in GW, I'm really only on for "guild night" to run around and do whatever. And in WoW, I only bother doing things on my own a couple times a week, maybe, connecting more in the hopes of doing something with guildmates. Being able to play with people I at least sort of know is what makes both games worth playing at this point. But sometimes, I find I'm just a little jealous and put off by guildmates who are less fettered. Our WoW guild leader puts in some time with a Horde guild that is farther along than we

Mostly, these days, I find myself about in the same place on Furryfaire. Faced with the same circles of people and characters, I generally don't feel like there's anything new to do. My presence sits and stagnates. That's not something that gets any better with time, but rather the opposite. I don't blame others, though. It's at least as much my fault as anyone else's. Worse, when I'm actually made to feel something about the place, it's rarely positive... Mind you, I was in sort of a poor mood last night, and it's lingered into this morning, so don't expect any sunshine in this post. I have about two open avenues of RP there that still feel new. One is a character relationship that's on hold and involves a pair off the main grid, so with limited opportunities to actually do anything anyway. The other is a proposed trip to Rym that I almost don't seem to have the time for, but may be entertaining, at least. Basically everything else

After rocking our way through most of the first wing of Icecrown Citadel last weekend, I think tonight was disappointing. Things began inauspiciously when, after scheduling an hour later, we still ended up waiting almost an hour for everyone to be there and ready. Sometimes offline delays are inevitable. On the up side, we did clear Flame Leviathan and Razorscale in Ulduar for the weekly raid quest. That was pretty easy, and took maybe half an hour to do both. So then we went back to ICC and, in clearing trash, several of us hit Friendly with the Ashen Verdict faction - which meant ring upgrades. Then things went south. We triggered one giant skeleton, and while fighting it set off two others. Somehow, that always seems to happen, even with a rogue scouting. Then we had trouble getting past them. It worked better when we decided to dual-tank them, as they seem to have a saber lash-like effect split between two targets. So we finally got up to Lord Marrowgar and... wiped repeatedl

Okay, so sent me Gardens of the Moon quite a while back, and I didn't really get into it. Perhaps that series was written with too long a view for me, but I found myself not really caring about any of the characters and it felt scattered as I recall. So when he recently recommended The Way of Shadows , I did have some reservation but was willing to try it. I'm glad I did. I found it an enjoyable read and look forward to the rest of the Night Angel trilogy. I'd call it good. It's not perfect. There's one detail I'm still trying to apply some sort of reason to, but can't yet justify beyond "it suits the story." And it deals with the grim and gritty underworld of a fantasy city, so there are aspect that would probably put some people off even early on. But I like most of the characters, things come together well, and I'm left wanting to see more. That's definitely a thumbs up from me even if it isn't for everyone. I go back and fort

So I did stay home. I was out shoveling three times during the day, several inches of new powder each time. The trench that is the path I keep around the side of the building is waist high now. And it's supposed to keep accumulating through sometime tomorrow. ... I highly suspect I'm going to stay home then too. 'course, it doesn't help that whatever I injured in my side Monday is now acting up, making it painful to do a lot.

My side hasn't really bothered me while shoveling the last couple days. Today, that was no longer the case. That, plus general fatigue of doing this the last two days in a row, seems to be seriously limiting my snow-moving capability. On the up side, there wasn't quite as much to clear this morning. On the down side, it's supposed to continue to accumulate through tonight and a chunk of tomorrow before dwindling into the realm of "chance of snow." I may be taking tonight off.

Snow, and shoveling it, makes me cranky these days. Looked like maybe 6-8 inches in the last 24 hours. It's sunny now, but we're supposed to get more, with the forecast saying perhaps 1-2 feet total by the end of the week.

Ribs and associated parts shouldn't shift quite like that, even without the accompanying "pop." Apparently, I need to quit leaning over stuff like that. Ugh. Last time I did this, I think it was a couple weeks before my side felt normal again.

Sometimes I wonder if the guild will be able to "progress" through the harder content, when we have trouble filling a raid group or get put down repeatedly by a boss. Then again, there are times we get together and rock my socks off beyond expectations. I love my guild. When we were only getting together an hour after our scheduled time (which might be a little early, granted), I wasn't expecting much. When the vocal people voiced an interest in going back into Icecrown Citadel, I might say I expected even less. There was some concern that we wouldn't be able to do the boss fights there with only two healers rather than three. Still, even just clearing some trash is worth it in my book, as the Ashen Verdict reputation ring is one of the few finger-slot upgrades I have to look forward to, so I'll gladly take the reputation. Lord Marrowgar had stomped us before. He didn't disappoint this time, either. We wiped... three times? Four? Something like that. But w

My father and I have a running gag of sorts that you can find anything with five minutes of online searching. For most things, it doesn't even take that long. Finding offline contact information for someone you really only have a name and a fair guess at area, however, can be a little harder. I was contacted today by a former coworker trying to get in touch with an old friend. An old friend I haven't been in contact with for several years now, and sort of burned bridges with. But, I'm told his father is in failing health and, even though my last understanding was that this former friend of mine wasn't on great terms with his family, that seems like the sort of thing which transcends what passed between us. Even if he doesn't want to do anything about it, he should know and decide rather than be left in the dark. I don't know if I'll be able to pass along the message at all, or in time to matter, but I can't just not try either...

I woke this morning with the most piercing, splitting headache I've had in a while. Thankfully, it passed soon enough. I didn't bother with any breakfast, sticking to water for the sake of the blood draw at work this morning. So I had to wait in line for that. The the first needle stick and... barely any blood in the vial. A little probing around and... barely any more in the second. By this time, I was starting to feel lightheaded. Now, I don't like having my blood drawn, but I don't usually have that reaction to it. Then again, I usually don't have the person failing to get any usable portion after two attempts either. They had me lie down, tried another vein, filled a vial, and gave me some time to recover. Ugh. Blood pressure and pulse in the normal range. BMI just edging from "normal" to "overweight." All about as I expected, all about the same as last year. My elbow hurts and I'm not feeling so great overall, though I don't thin

So last night we didn't get much done in the way of raiding (we did down Sartharion, but that's pretty quick and easy for us, and tried Northrend Beasts briefly). We were short on healing, still, and such. But it was so worth it. 's character is available again. Appropriately stripped of all the hacker-gained items, though still lacking what was sold off. It's not ideal, but a point to work from. And in short order, servicable. Guildmates pulled together to fill out equipment slots with passable heroic-level gear. A run through heroic Trial of the Champion resulted in three useful drops, some of which were had before the hacking. All-in-all, that brings the character not quite up to where it was, but fairly close. So even if things aren't restored, we have our other tank in pretty good shape and usable again. And I'm proud at how the guild pulled together to accomplish that.

Not feeling so hot. Really haven't been for the last 36 hours or so. Symptoms such as headache, light-headedness, and weakness - but all very low on the scale of severity, enough to feel unwell, but not bad . I suspect I may have undercooked yesterday's lunch or something. I believe it's passing, though it's drawn me into a bit of a malaise on other levels. That part, I'm hoping, bottomed out last night/this morning, but I still just don't feel up to par. It makes me sort of glad to not be GMing tonight, but I really feel I need to shake this for tomorrow.

The year kicked off quietly enough for me. In fact, I was so tired I think I was asleep New Years Eve by 11 and missed the ball drop entirely. Ah, so it goes. Nothing major up at work, which just means to me we're probably falling behind on the upgrade plans. Home is home - quiet, but reasonably stable. There's another homeowners meeting coming up next week, at which we can discuss things and hopefully move on. Guh. I really want to get this repair project done with, and it feels like we're so close but just out of reach. We'll get elections there, so I may or may not be on the board afterward. I'd probably prefer to not be, honestly. And that's the "important" stuff, such as it is. Then there's the other stuff on my mind... Star Wars It seems bizarre to me, but the more I watch the Clone Wars series, the more I like it. Admittedly, I'm usually hoping for Ahsoka-centric episodes more than Anakin-centric ones, but still. On the other han