| Blast from the past |
[Dec. 17th, 2009|09:16 pm] |
So, the Dear Spouse picked up the video game Dragon Age: Origins.
Now, I have a long history of idly watching him play video games. I watched enough Diablo II (I think because I kept expecting this fight to be the one where something interesting happened) that I actually tried playing it. That lasted all of a few hours. The kill-loot-kill-boss fight-grind, grind grind and level drill got really, really old for me, really fast.
Dragon Age plays like a really mediocre tabletop RPG, which is frankly amazing*. The plot is a fairly straightforward near-railroad, with a few branches in key spots to make your decisions count. The exploration isn't endless, the fights are mostly brief and to the point, and they apparently paid the writers. (Also, half the writing team was female. I do think this makes a difference in appealing to non-traditional gamer audiences.) You get to dialogue (using menu choices), frequently, with recurring and non-recurring non-player characters.
There is a Wise Mentor NPC, and his voice was maddeningly familiar. I asked the Dear Spouse, who was at the computer, to find out who it was and see what other voice credits he had. "He sounds like a Wise Mentor," I said, and lo, the exact character in question suddenly jumped to mind. "Splinter! Was he Splinter?"
Not only was Peter Renaday, the voice actor for Dragon Age's "Duncan" character, Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, my favorite TV show when I was thirteen, he was Mandrake the Magician in Defenders of the Earth, which apparently no one else has ever seen.
This pleases me all out of proportion to its actual impact on my life. It's like an unexpected visit from an old friend.
*Speaking as both a GM and an AI researcher. The branching factor in an open-ended tabletop RPG would absolutely kill any AI planner we have today. They can't improvise on the fly when the party suddenly decides to dress in drag and do the hula. |
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| One heck of a day! |
[Dec. 17th, 2009|08:39 pm] |
First, the good! Kelly (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) oushi ) had the baby!!! A new baby niece (sort of)! I'm an Auntie (kinda) again!! Kelly is a hella woman for that long labor! Whoooo Doggies! Here's the quote from Facebook from her and Shane: Lillian Martha Blais was born this morning, 12-17-09, at 11:10am after nearly 33 hours of labor. She weighs 8lbs 2oz. head 36cm, chest 35cm, length 20 inches. Big blue eyes and an apetite like daddy's. Everyone is healthy and safe at home. We have many, many pictures to share, but for now we all need sleep. Thank you... all for your kind and inspiring words! Have a great night. Next, the bad: Ben's Dad had a minor heart attack today. He's just fine, resting in the hospital and going to go home tomorrow to a giant house full of people. Yeah, that will help. Honestly, why wouldn't they stay home? There will be eight more people than normal, 4 of whom are children. Five, if you count Ben's whiny grown sister. We're going out to visit tomorrow, too, because Ben's mom wants us to, but jeez! I'm worried, too, but I want him to rest and get better, not overwhelm him!
And the ugly: I'm getting a cold.... BOOO! I wanted to hold Baby Lil. New babies smell so good! Oh well, it can wait a week. |
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| Thursday |
[Dec. 17th, 2009|05:14 pm] |
LiveJournal seems quiet lately.
Not a lot going on here. I fell off a ladder last night and while I got extremely lucky and didn't crack any ribs, I assure you I am not at all comfortable. Work has been tough. I will probably end up working some on Saturday, just because I'm not up to working at my usual intensity (I headed home after just 6 hours today) and if I'm spreading the work out it'll extend into another day.
The tree, however, is finally up. And I think it is within possibility that I will somehow, at the last minute, manage to get mostly ready for the holidays. But there is, as always, a lot of traveling to be done in a short span of time and in between traveling I am supposed to be sunny and social and by the end of it I will be ready to collapse.
Tonight's agenda: Apply ThermaCare patch, take ibuprofen, go to Sharp Edge, drink beer, watch hockey.
Smoke 'em if you got 'em. |
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| More work-related stuff |
[Dec. 17th, 2009|04:13 pm] |
0900: Pay visit to boss. Co-worker is going in for his review. I am killing time. Stop by office of our security chief (SC).
Me: "Hey, since tomorrow is my last day, I am going to be coming over to drop some things over. If the boss isn't in, do you mind if I leave them in your office?
SC: "Not at all. Have you had your debriefing?"
*cricket chirp*
Me: "Errr...no. No one has told me anything."
SC: "You haven't had the debriefing yet? What about the exit interview?"
Me: "No one has told me anything."
*cricket chirp*
SC: "Wait here for about ten minutes, OK?"
End result: Security debriefing completed, signed and postdated for tomorrow.
Part Two
Boss: "So you know that you are supposed to meet HR tomorrow for the exit interview?"
Me: "I am?"
Boss: "It was in the email she sent."
Me: "What email?"
*cricket chirp*
End result: HR never sent me a copy of the email mentioning that I was supposed to be at their office. So here's the plan for tomorrow.
1. Get to boss's office at 0800. Turn in everything but my badge.
2. Get to HR at 0900. Turn in exit paperwork (Which was left behind on my desk)
3. Get back to work, finish shift.
4. Turn in badge.
5. Break land speed record getting out of complex. |
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| A sneak peak... |
[Dec. 17th, 2009|01:19 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | baby | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | worky | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  happy | ] |
Here's a first look at Baby Youtz
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| daf bit: Bava Batra 118 |
[Dec. 17th, 2009|08:52 am] |
The talmud is in the midst of a discussion of how the land of Israel
was allotted. Some hold that each (non-minor) man who came out of Egypt
received a share, while others hold that each man who entered the
land of Israel received a share. What about those who are in both
categories? There are only two, Caleb and Yehoshua. The g'mara
says that they took the shares of the (other ten) spies, or, some
say, the shares of Korach and his sons, who had no share. (118b, with
support from 117b)
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| Oof. |
[Dec. 17th, 2009|06:13 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sleepy | ] |
Last night I made 20 double-chocolate cookies, 57 rum balls, and 27 vanilla balls. (These last two will be divided among the office holiday party and another gathering I've been invited to.)
More or less flopped over from exhaustion afterwards (not to mention my back hurt after sitting up straight on a stool for about three hours to get this done), but it was a good exhaustion.
Have something for the open mic tonight. May come up with more. Yay.
Did not get as far as the tree. Maybe tonight or tomorrow before contra.
Or so I told myself until I woke up at 5:40. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 16th, 2009|04:27 pm] |
I am very tired of receiving e-mails from the Pitt alumni association asking for money. They already took thousands without giving me the ability to get a job where I could make enough that I would be able to donate anything to them!
If those practically false pretenses weren't enough, now I receive one asking for support in shooting down the tuition tax. I disagree with it, but I am very tempted to change my mind and then write them back in support of the tax if only to spite them!
Hail to Pitt, indeed! |
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| Work-related stuff |
[Dec. 16th, 2009|04:00 pm] |
It's a rough week at the building with the calls coming in non-stop. It would be nice if the people there would actually upgrade to some more up to date stuff. Let me give you a hint: When your processor is stuck to your heatsink, it's time to get a new machine. But since we hold onto things until the bitter end, we have to make an effort to repair them. Which does lead me to believe that there are computer companies out there who have real technicians on staff whose job is to club the engineers in R&D. That is the only explanation I have about why newer models of computers are easier to take apart.
I'm sore, tired, irritable, and a bit bloody from the cuts on my hands. So you can imagine how happy I was to have the offer letter in my email box today. I am now a step closer to a well-earned vacation. |
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| Drunk on a Tuesday tonight? |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|09:32 am] |
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I won't be home until 21:30, but I think a DoaT would be a welcome thing tonight! I'm in good spirits and am happy to share them. |
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| The countdown continues |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|06:14 am] |
So far, it looks as though I can hold out until Friday. Meanwhile, I have 90 hours of vacation as well as mileage reimbursement coming my way. I still rant and rave as usual at work, but there is the happy knowledge that this will become someone else's problem.
And even better: The recruiter at my new job contacted me to let me know that January 4th is a perfect start date. So I'm getting two weeks of vacation before I start the new job. Things are looking up. |
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| Meme! |
[Dec. 14th, 2009|11:51 pm] |
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| plug: Duplicate (novella) |
[Dec. 14th, 2009|08:40 pm] |
I read an early draft of Alex Feinman's novella "Duplicate" and found it compelling. It's now available for sale, either as a print book or an e-book. I'm looking forward to getting my (print) copy.
Mining in space has taken off. This is expensive and dangerous. But not to fear -- if you get mortally wounded in an accident in space, you just crawl into your Dupli-Pod where your brain is downloaded and later you'll be re-constituted. Nothing could go wrong with that, right? Right. And surely the corporation funding these expeditions will spare no expense to make sure everything's in top working order before sending people out, right? I think you know the answer to that.
To say more would spoil the story, so you should go read it yourself.
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