Redwolf's Journal (continued)

Went through and plugged information into ye ol' tax software this weekend. I'm still missing a form from the bank to file, but things look more positive this year. Of course, how could they not. Still, with where I am after the holidays, it doesn't look like I'll be going on any notable vacations for the next 6-12 months. No Estrella. No cons. No flights to Canada. *shrug* So it goes. Spent most of Sunday morning (2-9:30 am) moving servers at work. One hour to get everything unmounted and moved. Six and a half hours to get everything reconnected and functional. That was with everything going pretty smoothly, too. Not such a bad experience, but it's made my internal clock even more screwed up than usual and it meant no RPGing so I could schedule my weekend around that shift. Also, in my periods of wakefulness through the weekend, I got to repair a toilet that was leaking. Fun, fun. that sort of thing wouldn't be so bad if not for rusted/corroded bolts that...

It's been a while since I've updated. Really, I still don't have much to say - though I should have an outlook of my next few months in a day or two when I can get my tax stuff together and finished. Still, something happened that was worth mentioning just for oddity sake. While drive back from my 'lunch' break tonight, a man waved me down and asked me if I would be interested in selling my truck. That's strange. Either he just happens to be looking for a 1983 Isuzu pickup for some reason or (more likely, given this is Durango) he picked up on the light diesel truck noise and is in the market for something to convert to run on waste oil. Were the circumstances different, I might have pursued the matter some. As it stood, however, I passed. The middle of the street isn't really the place to discuss such things and I seriously doubt he would have offered enough to get me into a newer, better vehicle.

Cost to replace a faulty water pump and damaged thermostat in a 22-year-old diesel pickup: $289.76 Being able to get around without bumming a ride or walking for hours: Priceless Picked up my truck today. The engine trouble was a mater of leaking coolant due to a failed water pump. Not exactly cheap, but then nothing is with automobiles. It could have been worse and I feel better for having it fixed.

Okay, so it takes approximately 50 minutes to walk from home to work. I'd wondered, but circumstances have forced me to find out for certain. My truck is in the shop. It still runs, but not well and not right. So after almost two hours of walking back from the shop, I'm home. 'course, I'll be walking in to work this afternoon. Oy. I'm out of shape, I admit it. Won't know what the problem is 'til, probably, late this afternoon. Then we see what happens. Otherwise, it was a pleasant enough Christmas.

Feh. I suppose the solstice may be a factor, but I'm sleepy. I hit my snooze button more than I should have this morning and almost resisted dragging myself out of bed. I can't even blame the weather, though it is on the cool side these days. Of course, the fact that my life feels like it's on hold may be a factor too. This isn't a serious, life-altering feeling. Rather it is just the pervading sense that I've nothing to do until after Christmas. Offline games are waiting until we can get back together. What organized RP I've been involved in online has crumbled. Beyond that I'm basically left with a few people online who, while good and dear friends, don't offer a lot to do simply because I've interacted with them one-on-one for countless days gone by. No offense, of course. :) Strangely, though, I have had a couple dreams lately. One placed me on the (new) Battlestar Galactica as a scientist coming up with a way to screw with cylon sensors. Thi...

More and more I find I despise this time of year.

Okay, you have a game you're been playing with others for quite a while. This game has a set of rules for conflict resolution, like many games do. These rules are the result of varying degrees of effort (from minor suggestions to lots of time spent putting them in place and/or writing them) from those involved in the game itself. These rules have been tweaked a number of times to achieve better balance along the way. They are still imperfect, but it's what has been in use for a while. Now, the opportunity arises to implement a new set of rules. Based on experience from the previous rules, they may well turn out better. BUT, you have to redo everything from the ground up. Interactions between parts of the rules will change and you are almost guaranteed a period of adjustment (because there has been virtually no play-testing yet) as well as re-learning. Do you stick with the old or adopt the new, and why?