My Fifteen

Everyone who reads this blog should go to GeekNotGeek and subscribe to their webcast. Why? Because I cohost it! The show currently stars myself, Kevin, and Jeff. We talk about all of the important geek news that happened over the week. It's very freeform and casual, and we hope it's entertaining. We've only done 6 episodes so far (I'm only in the latest), but we're getting a pretty good response. We're very excited about the prospects! Tune in and give us a try! Leave a comment or seven and vote for us at Podcast Alley.

Glory is like a circle in the water,
Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself,
Till by broad spreading it disperses to naught.
-- William Shakespeare

Wii All Night

I missed a week. My bad. I'm back now. Relax.

I have a Wii! After last Saturday's Tampa Bay Anime meeting, a cadre of my friends came with me to Gamestop to pick up my reserved system. I (We) were last in line, but all went well. I even convinced the manager to let my friends in out of the cold while I made my purchases. I walked out with one Wii and the new Zelda game at around 1 AM. Unfortunately, they didn't have ANY extra controllers, so our adventure was not over. I ended up going to a 24-hour Wal Mart (despite my usual reluctance to go there) to see if they had any extra controllers. As luck would have it, they only had the remote - not thumbstick. Nothing else was open at that hour, so I bought it and went home.

Once back at my pad, some of my friends ate a little wee-hours McDonald's while I set up the console. Easy, peasy, Japanesey. In no time, we were bowling and golfing. As the clock approached 3, some people started to fade away, leaving for their beds. Myself and my good friend stayed up well into the morning, though, trying out other games and watching Drawn Together and Robot Chicken. She stayed the night and we played all of the rest of the Wii Sports games the next day (except for boxing, which required the missing second thumbstick). It was an awesome time, filled with joy and excitement.

I now have another console in my house - one that I expect will give me lots of enjoyment for years to come.

This will be a blessedly short week at work, thanks to Thanksgiving day. We won't be going anywhere for Turkey Day, because we're saving money for our Christmas vacation. We will be dining with the USS Myrddin Saturday, though, and that's always good times. My weight loss has slowed down, but it's still proceeding. Here's hoping I don't fall back too far this weekend.

Current weight: 309.0 lbs

He deserves Paradise who makes his companions laugh.
-- Koran

The Plan

Ladies and gentlemen, this may be the beginning of a new era.

I started today off in a deep funk, which was mostly about my job. Let me set the scene for you. Why do I do what I do? I do it for a paycheck. That's it. I sit in a little cubicle, interacting with people I don't care about, creating products I don't care about for people I neither know nor care about. I take pride in the work I do, but I don't care about the product I'm making. I'm making programs for other people to apply for loans, so they can get an inadequate education and make other people money. I work hard to make money to get stuff that I don't have time to enjoy because I have to work hard. This situation is unacceptable to me.

How else, though, can I make money? I've come to realize that what I need is a plan. Not just any plan. The Plan. I have the skills, ability and motivation to do whatever I want, and I'm optimistic enough to believe that I can make it work. My ultimate goal is now to work for myself. Now that I have a landmark to navigate towards, I just need to pick the path.

The beginning of The Plan is already taking shape. I'm organizing my finances. I need to get my programming projects together. I'm going to quit my current job at some point. That last point is now an inevitability. I suppose that it always was, but stating it here adds an immediacy that somehow makes it more substantial. A signpost on my path.

My 30th year promises to be one for the history books. My daughter Kay will be born. I'll be losing weight. The Plan will be under way. My career could ... no, will take a brand new direction. It's exciting. I'll document it all here. Stay tuned.

Current weight: 309.8 lbs

We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
-- Joseph Campbell

Shore Leave

Weight loss continues! I let myself off the hook for Halloween, so I may pay for that, but I should be able to offset it by being a bit more diligent this weekend.

As usual, we've been pretty busy. We attended the Orlando Vulkon this weekend with the USS Myrddin. We both had a lot of fun. I got to drink a lot, which was fun. When I get the opportunity, I like to imbibe, but I never take it too far. Four or five drinks is usually my limit. That's what I had, and I really enjoyed myself. I also got to guest-star on my friend's podcast, GeekNotGeek. It's my internet radio debut! I didn't say much, and the show didn't last long, since we were set up in a hall that was quickly filling with people. Still, it was fun. I can't wait to hear the result!

On top of all that, I picked up another card game: World of Warcraft TCG. I was looking forward to it, and I must say that it's a lot of fun. Thankfully several people I know are playing, so I have plenty of opportunities for trading and playing. Misty's in on it, too. We ended up driving around Orlando looking for boosters Saturday, which was quite an adventure. We found them in a very nice comic shop in an Orlando mall. Misty was practically drooling over some of the mini busts, particularly this one:



Misty also had a doctor's appointment last week. Little Kay is doing just fine, although Mother needs to drink more water and eat a bit more. While the doctor was listening for the baby's heartbeat, Kay kicked the mic. We got a good chuckle out of that. As I've said, she's as beligerent as her Mom.

In club news, Tampa Bay Anime introduced a new age restriction policy last week. From now on, members have to be over 17. Now, I'll be able to show racier shows, and our members can drink and act up a bit more. There's often been a little tension in the club when especially young people showed up, so this change should help them all feel more comfortable. We'll see this weekend, when we have the first post-policy meeting.

I think I've run long enough. I think I'm going to try to get a little organized with my various projects now.

Current weight: 310.2 lbs

Roses are gray, violets are gray - I'm dead and colorblind!
-- Undead male, World of Warcraft