tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-521024960203866582024-03-20T03:36:58.404-04:00Confessions of a Geeky MomI'm a mom. I'm a geek. I'm a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a medical professional, a writer, a cat-owner, and a lover of all things Star Wars. The combo makes life a little wacky sometimes!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-10738099434499615122012-07-15T13:58:00.001-04:002012-07-15T13:58:27.384-04:00Confessions of a Geeky Mom moving to Wordpress!Hi all! I've moved my blog over to WordPress. That decision wasn't done lightly, because I really like Blogger. However, having worked with WordPress for about 8 months with TORWars.com, I found I really like a lot of the features they have there.<br />
<br />
All my posts got transferred over to the WordPress site very quickly, as did all your comments--this may or may not be a comfort to you, of course. Come join me over there and feel free to leave comments on the new site! <br />
<br />
Here is the link to the new site: <a href="http://confessionsofageekymom.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Confessions of a Geeky Mom</a>.<br />
<br />
I posted a tutorial on<a href="http://confessionsofageekymom.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/how-to-make-zucchini-bread/" target="_blank"> how to make zucchini bread</a>, for those of you who love the veggie and have too many of them growing in your yard right now.<br />
<br />
Thank you for following me here and leaving comments! I love hearing from all of you!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-9421416266715505722012-06-30T01:28:00.001-04:002012-06-30T01:30:35.974-04:00Geeky Moms Don't Drink Often. But When They Do....Awhile back, some of us on LucasForums.com posted <a href="http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=170840" target="_blank">in a thread</a> started by fellow denizen of the Ahto Spaceport Cantina, Ztalker. He described the perils of getting not just drunk, but reaching the category of 'snockered into stupidity and/or oblivion'. After a few posts on the negatives of hangovers, the thread naturally digressed to some of the more entertaining things we've done or seen while under the influence. I, of course, had to share my story of drinking with my fellow SCA shire-mates from Crescent Moon at Lilies War about 15 years back now. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrQnFsybDlysIFaTccVF5OIlMSURKQCH5rSKD1xXcqaMORJ0HEhwyF5qJcp_ljUuzaEbVM4XHJcesjwMgl4BXEmFKoS3tbK9z1slwAhyN29rQm49ehIVgee8atOc34mF0GUYnjSLQY1E/s1600/Pina+Colada+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrQnFsybDlysIFaTccVF5OIlMSURKQCH5rSKD1xXcqaMORJ0HEhwyF5qJcp_ljUuzaEbVM4XHJcesjwMgl4BXEmFKoS3tbK9z1slwAhyN29rQm49ehIVgee8atOc34mF0GUYnjSLQY1E/s320/Pina+Colada+pic.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A heavenly pina colada!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
We here camping for the week, had no worries
about driving, were at a safe campground, life was good. The only bad
thing was hubby was stuck working for Uncle Sam that weekend, so he
wasn't able to attend the event. <br />
<br />
Anyway, I'd just finished working during a very warm afternoon on a
field, passing out water to folks and doing first aid. I trudged back
to my campsite, hot and tired. I was heading to my tent to get a Diet Pepsi
(Elixir of the Goddesses) when my campmate Sherry called me over. "Jae,
I have some pina colada here!" I debated, since I hadn't eaten yet,
but then she said the magic words: "It's cold!" <br />
<br />
She had me at 'cold'. I grabbed my beer-stein sized mug, which she filled to the very
top with TGIF Pina colada straight from the bottle. It was ice-cold
and fabulous, and rather thick for a drink, but I was too tired to pay attention to that little detail. <br />
<br />
About 1/8th of the way thru, the buzz started. I said "Wow, this is really strong." <br />
<br />
She looked at the instructions of the bottle for a moment and replied, "Oh, we're supposed to be mixing this with ice." <br />
<br />
We laughed and continued drinking it without the ice. Of course, this
should have been my first clue that maybe we should have gotten some
ice, but I didn't care at that point. The pina colada mix was ice cold, my tired feet
were propped up, and I was feeling a little too mellow to even consider extricating myself from that camp chair. <br />
<br />
<br />
We started telling jokes. They started out semi-clean. After all, she was a 'Southern Belle' type, and I'm Christian. We both try to behave. Unless we're soused.We can get a bit off-color at those times.<br />
<br />
Shortly thereafter, another friend, Jeff, came over, saw we were
drinking and laughing hysterically, and went to get his 151 proof rum
out of his tent. I promptly added the rum to the over-strong pina
colada mix, because apparently 80 proof wasn't good enough. It did have
the benefit of making the pina colada a little less thick, however, and
that was beneficial. We started talking and degenerated to dirty
jokes. And by 'dirty jokes', I mean 'the kind that will make even an ER nurse blush'. The conversation theme for the evening developed into "f---ing
like bunnies", because yes, I do let loose the f-bomb every now and
then. Every time one of us said it we all laughed loudly, clicked
mugs together, and took another drink. We finished off the bottle of
TGIF pina colada and switched to Rum-and-Diet Pepsi, since that's lower
calorie, of course. We apparently were still sober enough to be concerned about calories.<br />
<br />
It's natural to get the munchies when drinking. We pulled out tortilla chips,
Doritoes, and Oreos--always an excellent combo with Pina coladas and
Rum-and-cokes. <br />
Sometime while we were eating, a bit of tortilla chip broke off of the chip I happened to be eating and fell smack-dab on the middle of my chest. It looked quite silly there, so I picked it up and popped it in my mouth.<br />
<br />
Sherry exclaimed, "Jae!! You just ate a bug!!" <br />
<br />
"I did not. It was a broken tortilla chip that fell on my shirt!"<br />
<br />
"It was a bug. We saw it," added Jeff.<br />
<br />
"I swear, it was a tortilla chip. Besides, it was crunchy."<br />
<br />
"So are bugs!" said Jeff.<br />
<br />
"Yeah, but it was salty, too!"<br />
<br />
Jeff insisted, "And so are bugs!"<br />
<br />
The one brain cell I had left functioning fired. I asked, "Jeff, how do you know bugs are salty?"<br />
<br />
He didn't have a good answer for that. To this day, I maintain it was a
broken tortilla chip. To this day, they still claim it was a bug. <br />
<br />
After that, the three of us decided to do a walk about camp. In the dark. We quickly
discovered that the gravel road that was flat earlier that day actually
had developed an incline while we were drinking, and we found ourselves
holding each other up and trying not to fall down the hill. I grabbed Jeff's belt when he started to veer down the side of
the road so that he wouldn't fall over. Fortunately I was in the middle of our stumbling threesome,
so I did not experience the problem of kissing the gravel road.<br />
<br />
After walking around the camp saluting our friends and gleefully sharing
the "f-bombing like bunnies!" theme with everyone, nature called. We
decided to make our way to the nearby portajohns. After we helped Jeff
into one of them with the admonition "Don't pee on the seat!!", we
ladies did our business and found our way back out safely. <br />
<br />
The bad thing about portajohns is that they have no lights in them. It
is remarkably dark in a portajohn at night, and when you're inebriated,
the laws of physics are altered such that it's even darker. All three
of us thought to bring our refilled mugs of rum with us on the walk (stagger)
through camp, because we did have our priorities, you know. However,
not one of us thought to bring a flashlight. <br />
<br />
After some unspecified amount of time, undoubtedly too long for us even
if it had been only 2.8 seconds, we gals decided Jeff had been in the
john just a little too long. After banging on the walls and scaring the
snot (among other things) out of him, we asked loudly, at some unknown
decibel, but likely approaching eardrum-damaging loud, if the
Tidy Bowl Man had come for him. Jeff informed us that we could go do
something with ourselves that is anatomically impossible for females to
accomplish. This made us howl even louder and bang on the portajohn a
little more. We warned him not to let the Tidy Bowl Man grab anything
and asked if there were any, you guessed it, copulating bunnies located
inside. This elicited a couple more colorful expletives which had us
ladies virtually rolling on the ground laughing. In fact, we were
laughing so hard that it took us several moments to realize that Jeff
was experiencing some distress. When we realized that he was not
yelling because he was laughing but was yelling for help, we experienced
some level of sobriety. Not much, given our condition, but every
little bit helps. <br />
<br />
"Help!" called Jeff.<br />
<br />
"What's wrong?" I asked. Being the medical type, I had a number of
scenarios passing before my eyes, including having things stuck where
they shouldn't be stuck in portajohns, and who I was going to get to
help, because I obviously was way too impaired to do anything more
useful at that point than to encourage him that only a few hundred
people would see him in a compromised state should we have to call 911.<br />
<br />
He replied, "I can't find the door!"<br />
<br />
Sherry and I decided to put our banging on the walls to good use and
informed him that the door was the side we were banging on, and
explained how to lift the handle to open the door. After a few tries,
he was finally successful and expressed his great relief that he wasn't
going to have to sleep on hard wet plastic that night. <br />
<br />
At some point during our trek through camp, it occurred to us that it was
getting rather late (the fact that we overheard a lot of snoring and
other noises coming from tents being our clue), and that even humping
bunnies need to rest sometime. We decided we'd escort Jeff to his tent,
since we girls were camping next to each other and could hold each
other up on the trip back, whereas Jeff was by himself and had no one to
keep him from falling down the flat street-turned-steep-hill. <br />
<br />
We approached his tent, only to find ourselves in front of one of the
event officers. We girls curtsied. Jeff fell flat on his face at her
feet. We girls expressed our concern by helping him back up, but only
after we laughed. <br />
<br />
The event officer commented to Jeff that she thought it was a good idea if he headed to bed since he could hardly walk. <br />
<br />
Jeff responded, "I didn't fall! I was prostrating myself at your feet!" <br />
<br />
We girls thought that this logic indicated that perhaps he might be
sobering up and offered him a drink from our mugs, though somehow we
managed enough discretion to not bring up bunnies doing the wild thing
to the event officer. I didn't want the bunnies to miss out on
anything. <br />
<br />
Sherry and I got Jeff to his tent and then headed back to our tents,
holding each other up, because the flat road had gotten even steeper.
Happily, I remembered to drink a big glass of water and take tylenol and
an antacid before bed. <br />
<br />
In the morning when Sherry's junior-high school aged son smirked and
asked me how I was feeling, I just took another bite of my cherry
Pop-tart and a sip of my Diet Pepsi (and managed to keep them down
without looking green), smiled sweetly, and said "I'm just fine. Why do
you ask?"<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.lucasforums.com/images/smilies/wink_.gif" title="Wink" /><br />
<br />
Image source: <a href="http://casiansblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/local-liquids-pina-colada.html" target="_blank">casiansblog.blogspot.com</a><br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=e073da40-bd20-44bd-95c7-c385a350465a" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-79407291960908358552012-06-07T01:12:00.000-04:002012-06-07T01:12:47.581-04:00Twitter is A Beautiful Thing<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/twitter" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="61" src="http://www.crunchbase.com/assets/images/resized/0000/2755/2755v30-max-450x450.png" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 220px;">Image via <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/" target="_blank">CrunchBase</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For quite some time, I've been a fan of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://twitter.com/twitter" rel="twitter" target="_blank" title="Twitter">Twitter</a>. It's a cool instant messenger, I get Star Wars/The Old Republic news in real time (especially if the TOR forums are down during maintenance), and I find out all sorts of cool things like chocolate recipes, Renaissance art discussions, and breaking news. Note that these are not in any particular order of importance, except for the chocolate part, which always comes first.<br />
<br />
Twitter does have its warts--there are the annoying pornbots, and some people have a love affair with posting meaningless tripe, like "I put butter and brown sugar in my <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.maltomeal.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Malt-O-Meal Company">Malt-o-Meal</a>" or "What shirt should I wear, fuschia or chartreuse?" My thoughts on this are a. who the heck cares, and b. 'Chicky, if you have to consult the Twitterverse for clothing color decisions, our country is in seriously bad shape, because your brain clearly missed that left turn at <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuquerque%2C_New_Mexico" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Albuquerque, New Mexico">Albuquerque</a>.' <br />
<br />
Even better, though, is the fact that my deadbeat tenant's daughter uses it ALL THE TIME. This means I get real-time updates on what her (allegedly) drug-dealing gangsta brother is up to and what they're destroying on my property this hour. <br />
<br />
Most of it is meaningless expletive-filled tripe. In between the mind-numbingly moronic tweets, there are interesting gems, like posts about going to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=14.5833333333,121.0&spn=10.0,10.0&q=14.5833333333,121.0%20%28Philippines%29&t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Philippines">Philippines</a> twice in the last year and getting ear gauges (but they can't pay rent for May and June), her brother has 'fight club' in the back yard, the fact that she and her brother smoked weed all spring break (with a 2 year old brother in the house), her brother has drug dealing friends living at the house, and a post where the daughter noted "mom said 'I smell pot'." No, REALLY??? I'm stunned. Truly stunned. I'm sure I'll get over it in time, however. Give me about .000002 seconds.<br />
<br />
My favorite was when she tweeted "my brother was snorting some white powder last night with his friends o.O." Since I caught that one about nine hours after she'd posted it, I called the child protective services (to help the 2 year old) and the cops. I figured they'd love to share in the same good news I was experiencing. I also was hoping for a police report so that we could do a 5-day no-cure eviction--the kind that gives the tenant zero legal wiggle room. Alas, no report, but within two hours of my call to a very nice detective, the cops were raiding my house, complete with drug-sniffing dogs. Not only did I get a call from a neighbor about this, the deadbeat tenant's daughter tweeted 'LOL police are here, my brother is so stupid.' <br />
<br />
I'm not sure about you all, but if the police raided my house while I was in it and arrested my sibling, I'm fairly certain I would not be laughing. <br />
<br />
Since I had the real-time feed from Twitter, I was able to call my dad and say "Hey, if you read in the papers tomorrow that there was a police raid at my old house? It's not a misprint. My deadbeat tenant's (allegedly) psycho druggy son is (allegedly) dealing drugs there with gangsters, and the cops went after them all. They apparently got at least one of them. I'm sure the police dogs sniffed so much drugs at that house, they got high. Bet Alix (note: not his actual name) would give you a good deal on pot right now, though." It's always nice to warn your aging parents about things like drug raids at your house to prevent heart attacks.<br />
<br />
Tonight, she tweeted that she was going to have a big going-away party in August. I smiled to myself as I thought, "Not in MY house, you're not, chicky."<br />
<br />
Two days left for them to pay in full for May and June, and then we can finally get moving on getting the (alleged) druggies out.<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=51437393-5d7c-4109-98bd-3706d1e35ef5" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-13785886086584271452012-05-29T01:50:00.000-04:002012-05-29T01:50:58.919-04:00MSNBC: Finding Even Better Ways to Lose Viewers with Chris Hayes!!Give not one, but two golf-claps to MSNBC. They managed to do an outstanding job of calling attention to themselves by allowing yet another opinionated jackass of an anchor to speak on the air. The saying goes that there is 'no such thing as bad press'. Well, MSNBC might have proved that wrong this weekend.<br />
<br />
Admittedly, I don't watch MSNBC very often at all. They lean so far left that they're about to tip over, fall on their heads, and hurt themselves. Not even Fox News, which is the most right-leaning news station, is <i>that</i> bad. Usually I'll watch CNN for center-left wing news, Fox for right-wing news, and between the two, I can get the actual picture, which tends to be far more moderate than either of them want to admit. Being moderate, after all, is about as exciting as watching me clean cat hair out of my keyboard. <br />
<br />
This weekend, Chris Hayes, one of the MSNBC hosts, stepped in it. And by 'stepped in it', I mean 'built up an entire barn full of manure in which to immerse himself fully, then walked in and took a swan dive into the giant steaming pile'. <br />
<br />
Here's a <a href="http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2012/05/27/chris-hayes-im-uncomfortable-calling-fallen-military-heroes#ixzz1w6mBDLvo" target="_blank">transcript</a> of what he said on Sunday, May 27th.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
CHRIS HAYES: Thinking today and observing Memorial Day, that'll be
happening tomorrow. Just talked with Lt. Col. Steve Burke [sic,
actually Beck], who was a casualty officer with the Marines and had to
tell people [inaudible]. Um, I, I, ah, back sorry, um, I think it's
interesting because I think it is very difficult to talk about the war
dead and the fallen without invoking valor, without invoking the words
"heroes." Um, and, ah, ah, why do I feel so comfortable [sic] about the
word "hero"? I feel comfortable, ah, uncomfortable, about the word
because it seems to me that it is so rhetorically proximate to
justifications for more war. Um, and, I don't want to obviously
desecrate or disrespect memory of anyone that's fallen, and obviously
there are individual circumstances in which there is genuine, tremendous
heroism: hail of gunfire, rescuing fellow soldiers and things like
that. But it seems to me that we marshal this word in a way that is
problematic. But maybe I'm wrong about that. </blockquote>
"Maybe" you're wrong about that, Chris? Let's get one thing straight. You ARE wrong. Those who signed up to serve our country, and even those who got drafted and served honorably, are all heroes to me, especially those who gave their lives for us. They even gave you the opportunity to sit in that chair on that lovely set with your perfectly coiffed hair and manicured hands to announce to us that you feel calling these people heroes is 'rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war'. I think you forgot just who is responsible for securing your 'freedom of speech'. <br />
<br />
More importantly, how in the world do you even begin to justify this utterly ridiculous argument? Please explain to me how calling our war dead heroes is in any way related to any justification, 'rhetorically proximate' or otherwise, for war? My great uncle, who was killed in action in World War II, was hardly in a 'rhetorically proximate' position to justify our goal of stopping Hitler from taking over Europe. Dead people don't get the opportunity to determine any justifications for war. Their families certainly don't get the opportunity. The justification for war, at least in the US, is determined by Congress and the President, who order those soldiers and sailors into battle. Your argument is such a <i>non sequitur</i>, it's stunning. Do you really think that people run around saying "Ooooh! We call our fallen soldiers and sailors heroes, therefore we can now go to war!!!" If I said that to someone, they'd wonder if my head was rhetorically proximate to my anal sphincter. The less polite ones would tell me I had my head up my arse.<br />
<br />
Hayes issued a written apology later. He didn't bother to say it publicly, however. For all we know, someone in the public relations department wrote it for him. <br />
<br />
To MSNBC: I'm never watching your network again, but not because Hayes expressed his opinion. I'm never watching your network again because you hired an idiot, put him on the air, and allowed him to talk to people like he knows things.<br />
<br />
First, Hayes insulted veterans and war heroes on Memorial Day weekend. That's just dumb with a capital 'DUH'. I'm sure the public relations people are having a collective heart attack right now over his tacky statements. Does he have the right to say those things? Sure. Our heroes fought and died to give him that right. Did he exercise good judgment in saying those on a weekend where we remember our fallen heroes? Just in case you want an actual answer, here it is: NO.<br />
<br />
Second, if he makes mindless and foolish statements, passing that off as 'journalism' in order to drive ratings, I'm not going to support that. Give me someone who can actually put together an insightful and well-constructed argument. Hayes clearly can't, and I'm not going to waste my time listening to someone whose brain is rhetorically proximate to that of a dodo bird.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-39530905383463952482012-05-26T02:30:00.000-04:002012-05-26T10:06:59.230-04:00Any Geeks Need to Rent a House?<div style="text-align: right;">
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Have you wondered what it's like to have a tenant in your old house 850 miles away from your new home? Probably not, because you would be sane and <i>sell</i> your home before moving 850 miles away from it.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
However, when we looked at selling our house last year, we discovered that the market had bottomed out. Our home had lost 25k or so on paper, thanks to the lovely recession. I don't care if Bush or Obama is responsible at this point for the economic disaster. The economy still sucks, I still can't sell my house without taking a loss, and the two political parties piss on each other's Post Toasties in D.C. instead of getting anything remotely useful done to drive a meaningful recovery. But I digress. <br />
<br />
We decided to rent our home out for a couple years until the market improved enough where we would not be bleeding dollar signs at closing.<br />
<br />
Being the nominee for this year's Nobel Prize in Anxiety, I worried about things like not being able to find a tenant for 482 months, tenants paying rent with checks that bounce, drug dealers moving in and taking over the neighborhood, the garage burning down, and/or the house exploding from a gas leak. The exploding house thing actually happened in that town only 7 months earlier, after all. These little things keep me up at night.<br />
<br />
After talking with family and friends, we decided the best route to go would be to hire a property management company. We found a company with a very nice lady co-owner who assured us that they already had a tenant, she was an upstanding renter, paid bills on time, etc., etc., etc. With the management company finding a tenant so quickly, I breathed a small sigh of relief and thought maybe all these other awful things might not happen.<br />
<br />
They didn't tell us about her bone cancer. Mom is planning to go back to her home country to die.<br />
<br />
The also didn't tell us about her (allegedly) drug-dealing gang-banger teenage son. Now, I could be charitable and say that's probably because he's a juvenile and hasn't shown up in their background check system. <br />
<br />
So, things went fine for about seven months. Bills got paid on time. We got paid, though not as much as we wanted. The property management group has been fond of finding things for their maintenance and landscape buddies to fix. I put a stop to that after asking them why we'd been charged 3 hours of work for a landscaper to shape two rose bushes, sending them pictures that a friend had kindly sent us. I'm a big fan of Reagan's saying "Trust, but verify." It keeps everyone (semi-)honest. <br />
<br />
On Mother's day, I got a frantic call from our friend. Her son had been offered drugs by the son of our tenant, who I'll call Alix to protect his identity. A former neighbor had called the cops for a party where 100 teens were in the backyard drinking and smoking who-knows-what. Now, our yard is really, really small. I'm not sure how they even managed to fit 100 people in there, much less do anything fun besides stand squashed up against each other like they were in the middle of a giant mosh pit, minus the band throwing guitar picks at them from the stage. Mom apparently was at work while the teens partied, but got stuck with a nasty fine for their under-age drinking and general misbehaving.<br />
<br />
Then we found out from a call to our former neighbor that our buddy Alix allegedly had let 3 other gang members move in, they'd set up a drug drop box on our front porch, cut out some holes in our garage to use those for peepholes to make sure no one saw their drug dealing, sprayed graffiti all over the inside of our garage, tore down some garage interior walls, and assorted other unsavory activities.<br />
<br />
Even better? There's a 2 year old toddler living there, too, and there were reports of probable abuse. This should be already obvious when one considers Alix has allegedly tried to sell drugs and has been allegedly seen drinking vodka in the house, all while he's supposed to be taking care of the rest of the family while mom works her butt off to take care of his sorry butt.<br />
<br />
Now, this wasn't my definition of a good tenant. So the next morning, after a sleepless night filled with visions of houses exploding and garages burning down from meth labs cooking God-only-knows-what inside, I called the police, child protective services, and the property manager, in that order. <br />
<br />
Two days later, the property manager was inspecting the inside of the house with a police officer, and confirming nearly all of what I'd heard from neighbors-except the drug part. Alix had had 24 hours' notice, and, in a fit of sudden intelligence, had cleared out the drop box and other obvious signs of drug use. I think the cops should have brought along a drug-sniffing dog, although the dog likely would have rolled his doggy eyes and pointed a paw straight at Alix in a 'Well, DUH' move. The police officer, of course, was not fooled by the lack of obvious evidence. He's seen Alix's type too many times, not to mention the drug-related graffiti all over the inside of our garage was a dead giveaway. <br />
<br />
People in the neighborhood have started calling the police any time they see something suspicious, which means 'pretty much every 1.2 hours when Alix is home'. The cops went out to our house four times on one day alone. Our tenants are now becoming a regular part of the news cycle in town. <br />
<br />
Even better, the mom's rent check for last month bounced, thanks to the $1300 fine she got for Alix's giant under-age drunk-fest. The property manager says this is actually a good thing, because now we can evict them before the lease is up. I asked if my appliances were still going to be there or if Alix would sell them for more drugs. The manager assures me they would do their best to prevent that. I'm feeling just a teeny bit jaded after being assured these were good tenants in the first place. <br />
<br />
Image source: "Home Alone" movie by 20th Century Fox<br />
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<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=a15ee46d-505d-46f1-9a8a-22e2f6f06bc7" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-75052678043335955022012-05-11T09:15:00.003-04:002012-05-11T09:15:19.786-04:00Consular weekly for May 10th is now posted!I've been writing the Consular Weekly for TORWars.com since last December, and I'm having a blast with it. This week, I focused on gearing up our companions at level 50, and you can <a href="http://torwars.com/2012/05/10/consular-weekly-equipping-companions-at-level-50/" target="_blank">read about it here</a>. <br />
<br />
Enjoy!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-47518305852406416822012-03-31T17:46:00.000-04:002012-03-31T17:46:18.696-04:00Helping Suicidal GamersFor those of you who follow my articles on TORWars.com, you've probably seen this. However, after reading all the articles on a gamer this week who allegedly encouraged people attending an Eve Online fan convention to troll a suicidal player until he actually did kill himself, I knew I needed to write about it and share it as widely as I could. Here is a reprint of what I wrote on Thursday morning.<br />
<br />
Today, I read an <a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116503-Eve-Online-Panel-Encourages-Harassing-Suicidal-Player" target="_blank">Escapist article</a> that both terrified and horrified me. The article started with this statement: "CCP [the developer of Eve Online] is investigating an Eve Online FanFest panel for sharing a severely depressed player's contact info, then encouraging others to harass him until he killed himself."<br />
<br />
It went on to describe how the presenter, who is part of the CSM council that officially represents player interests to CCP, allegedly showed copies of the suicidal player's depressed comments from in game and gave out in-game contact information in the presentation. He then apparently suggested fellow gamers harass this player until he did go forward to commit suicide.<br />
<br />
What did members of the audience do? They laughed. Not one person had the courage to stand up in that convention room and call out this presenter on his shocking, despicable comments.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<center><a href="http://torwars.com/2012/03/29/its-a-tough-job-helping-suicidal-gamers/suicide-prevention-hotline-graphic/" rel="attachment wp-att-54126"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-54126" height="260" src="http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Suicide-prevention-hotline-graphic.jpg" title="Suicide prevention hotline graphic" width="260" /></a></center><b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>The Hard Reality of Suicide</b><br />
<br />
According to the <a href="http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suicideprevent/en/" target="_blank">World Health Organization</a>, approximately one million people take their own lives every year. Another 20 million attempt suicide and are thankfully not successful. It is more common in those with depression and those who have problems with alcohol. The chances are good that you actually have met someone who is or has been suicidal at some point in their lives.<br />
<br />
If you are a guild officer or guild leader, you may very well have to deal with one of your guild mates confiding in you that they are thinking of taking their own lives. Do NOT take this lightly. You may be their lifeline.
I have had a couple of online friends who became suicidal. It was an extraordinarily emotional and difficult experience for all of us, and I'm going to share one of my experiences with you. I hope it will help you if you ever encounter a similar situation.<br />
<br />
<b>Recognizing Suicidal Thinking</b><br />
<br />
The first step for you as a guild member is to recognize the signs of suicidal thinking. People who commit suicide don't typically do so in a vacuum. Often they talk about death, a particularly painful event they're experiencing, or have a tremendous feeling of hopelessness. Here is a <a href="http://helpguide.org/mental/suicide_prevention.htm" target="_blank">helpful list of some signs</a>.
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="190">Talking about suicide</td>
<td valign="top" width="478">Any talk about suicide, dying, or self-harm, such as "I wish I hadn't been born," "If I see you again...," and "I'd be better off dead."</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="190">Seeking out lethal means</td>
<td valign="top" width="478">Seeking access to guns, pills, knives, or other objects that could be used in a suicide attempt.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="190">Preoccupation with death</td>
<td valign="top" width="478">Unusual focus on death, dying, or violence. Writing poems or stories about death.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="190">No hope for the future</td>
<td valign="top" width="478">Feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and being trapped ("There's no way out"). Belief that things will never get better or change.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="190">Self-loathing, self-hatred</td>
<td valign="top" width="478">Feelings of worthlessness, guilt, shame, and self-hatred. Feeling like a burden ("Everyone would be better off without me").</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="190">Getting affairs in order</td>
<td valign="top" width="478">Making out a will. Giving away prized possessions. Making arrangements for family members.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="190">Saying goodbye</td>
<td valign="top" width="478">Unusual or unexpected visits or calls to family and friends. Saying goodbye to people as if they won't be seen again.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="190">Withdrawing from others</td>
<td valign="top" width="478">Withdrawing from friends and family. Increasing social isolation. Desire to be left alone.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="190">Self-destructive behavior</td>
<td valign="top" width="478">Increased alcohol or drug use, reckless driving, unsafe sex. Taking unnecessary risks as if they have a "death wish."</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="190">Sudden sense of calm</td>
<td valign="top" width="478">A sudden sense of calm and happiness after being extremely depressed can mean that the person has made a decision to commit suicide.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<b>A Call for Help</b><br />
<br />
A few years back, one of my online friends, who I'll call 'Mark' to protect his privacy, broke up with his fiancee. He adored her, and the breakup crushed him. I saw the warning signs when Mark said things in our group chat like "I don't think anyone would attend my funeral" and "I can't live without her." All of us in that group tried to be encouraging and offered what help we could.<br />
<br />
Then, on Thanksgiving Day, he came online to our group chat and said one word. "Goodbye."<br />
<br />
My heart hit the pit of my stomach. I KNEW something was very, very wrong. The three of us who were online then tried to reach him in chat to see if he was OK. One person mentioned having Mark's cell phone number. I asked him to send a text message. He was scared, and wasn't sure what to do. Being scared, by the way, is entirely normal. He gave me Mark's phone number.<br />
<br />
I sent a text asking him if he was OK.
I got a chilling reply. "The gun jammed, so I took all my pills."<br />
<br />
While gulping deep breaths to try to slow down my racing heart, I immediately dialed 911, and said "You're going to think this is really strange, because I live about 800 miles away from my friend, but he just told me he's trying to kill himself." The dispatcher was extremely professional and took the information that I had--Mark's cell phone number, the text message which I forwarded to them, and what had been going on the last couple of weeks with him.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, I typed to my friends in chat what was happening, hands trembling. We scrambled to get all the information we could find to help the police locate him--his facebook profile, his IP and ISP information from our forum, every little tidbit we could think of. Mark's life was literally in the hands of three online friends and the police department. I was 800 miles away, and I felt utterly powerless.<br />
<br />
About half an hour later, a police sergeant called me to let me know they had found Mark's house. The information we had given the police had helped them quickly narrow down his real name and address. Within minutes, they had sent several squad cars out. About 20 minutes after that, he called me again to let me know the paramedics had gotten to him in time, they were taking him to the hospital, and they thought he was going to be OK. I let our chat group know Mark was going to make it. Then, I sobbed on my husband's shoulder in sheer relief.<br />
<br />
Mark had to spend several days in the hospital and is now doing better. I emailed the police department commending them for finding my friend so quickly and working so professionally with me.
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>What To Do If You Think Someone May Be Suicidal</b><br />
<br />
If any of your guild members shows the signs of suicide, please don't be passive about it. Talk to that person. Respect their feelings, but don't ignore the signs. What they are feeling is very real to them, even if it does not always make sense to the rest of us. If you recognize some of the suicide signs listed above in either yourself or a friend, please know there is help for you. In the US, you can call 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or go to the <a href="http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/GetHelp/Default.aspx" target="_blank">National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website (click here)</a>.<br />
<br />
In the United Kingdom, you can find help at <a href="http://www.samaritans.org/" target="_blank">Samaritans.org (click here)</a>. The hotline in the UK is 08457 90 90 90, and in the Republic of Ireland it is 1850 60 90 90. For those outside the US or UK, the <a href="http://www.befrienders.org/support/helplines.asp" target="_blank">Befrienders.org website (click here)</a> has a list of suicide lifeline phone numbers for many countries.<br />
<br />
Sometimes, people will say things in the in-game general chat that may trigger your alarm bells to go off about that person having possible suicidal tendencies. Please bring that to BioWare's attention immediately so that they can take steps to get that person help. To do that, click the big question mark at the top of your screen. A window will pop up. At the bottom right of that window is a button that says 'create ticket'. Click that.<br />
<br />
<br />
<center><a href="http://torwars.com/2012/03/29/its-a-tough-job-helping-suicidal-gamers/how-to-create-a-support-ticket/" rel="attachment wp-att-54184"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-54184" height="284" src="http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/How-to-create-a-support-ticket-500x284.jpg" title="How to create a support ticket" width="500" /></a></center><br />
<br />
Another window will pop up. Select 'general/other' from the drop down list. In the description, put "Emergency: Possible suicide attempt". Put the person's in game name, the server, the time, and as much detail as you can about what was said. BioWare has account information, so they can get help to that person very quickly.<br />
<br />
Don't be afraid about 'bothering' BioWare with this. They are there to help. They would much rather have you contact them and determine nothing was wrong than have everyone ignore the signs and discover later that someone died as a result. You will never be 'bothering' anyone by reporting it. Don't leave it to someone else, either. It's better for BioWare to get multiple reports on this than none at all.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<center><a href="http://torwars.com/2012/03/29/its-a-tough-job-helping-suicidal-gamers/how-to-create-a-support-ticket-2/" rel="attachment wp-att-54186"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-54186" height="301" src="http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/How-to-create-a-support-ticket-2-500x301.jpg" title="How to create a support ticket 2" width="500" /></a></center><br />
<br />
If you help someone who has made a suicide attempt, recognize that is an extremely stressful and difficult event for you, too. This is especially true if that person dies. Don't be afraid to get help for yourself to be able to handle it effectively.
Whatever you choose to do to help, do <i>something</i>. If it's a false alarm, great! That person won't die! You also gave that person information he or she might need in the future. If it really is a serious attempt, you may very well be the difference in that person living and dying.<br />
<br />
Photo source: (1) National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.<br />
<div class="zemanta-related" style="margin-top: 20px; overflow: hidden;">
<h4 class="zemanta-related-title">
Related articles</h4>
<ul class="zemanta-article-ul" style="clear: left;">
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://torwars.com/2012/03/29/its-a-tough-job-helping-suicidal-gamers/" target="_blank">It's a Tough Job: Helping Suicidal Gamers</a> (torwars.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://kotaku.com/5896611/suicidal-player-laughed-at-then-trolled-at-eve-online-gathering" target="_blank">Reportedly Suicidal Player Laughed at, Then Trolled at EVE Online Gathering [Update] [Eve Online]</a> (kotaku.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/03/28/the-mittani-gets-hit-with-ban-and-resigns-in-wake-of-eve-online/" target="_blank">The Mittani gets hit with ban and resigns in wake of EVE Online controversy</a> (massively.joystiq.com)</li>
</ul>
</div>
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<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=d415beea-e11f-45f1-81ec-90080fe16211" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-889876416291051282012-02-23T20:29:00.000-05:002012-03-03T23:29:47.244-05:00White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Done Geek StyleSo, where the heck has Jae been?<br />
<br />
I've been doing several things the last few months. First, I found a job. It pays quite a bit better than my old job (no surprise there), and so I only have to work one day a week. This is A Good Thing--I still get to spend most of my week being 'Mom' and taking care of a teen and an school-ager with ADHD and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_allergy" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Food allergy">food allergies</a>. Either of those alone is a challenge. Working full-time while doing both would be more 'adventure' than I need.<br />
<br />
I also joined the local symphony choir. We're doing Carmina Burana this spring, and the director is outstanding. It is a very challenging piece musically. Orff not only had a love affair with lots of dynamics, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteenth_note" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Sixteenth note">sixteenth notes</a>, and bizarre chords, but he also adored changing languages from Semi-<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Latin" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Classical Latin">Classical Latin</a> to Genitival <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_New_High_German" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Early New High German">Early New High German</a> (with cases) and back again, sometimes even in the same song. I am convinced he was secretly a music sadist.<br />
<br />
In order to convince my daughter to sit through an entire concert of classical music, I'm going to tell her how many cellos are playing (she loves cello), and possibly resort to abject bribery with chocolate. To convince my son, who now is growing some substantial fuzz on his upper lip, to attend, I'm going to secretly slip him a translation of "<a href="http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/orff-cb/carmlyr.php" target="_blank">Si Puer Cum Puella</a>." Never let it be said that I won't appeal to baser desires to encourage intellectual development in a teenager.<br />
<br />
<br />
In addition, I became a staff writer for <a href="http://torwars.com/" target="_blank">TORWars.com</a>, writing about aspects of the game <a href="http://www.swtor.com/" target="_blank">Star Wars: The Old Republic</a>. I started writing the <a href="http://torwars.com/category/jedi-consular-weekly/" target="_blank">Jedi Consular Weekly</a>. Apparently one of the editors got beamed some messages from a mother ship in a galaxy far, far away, because it's the only explanation I can think of for them asking me to take on the Galactic Gallery weekly column, too. It's a blast to write with this team, though I haven't quite figured out how they put up with my insanity. It must be fellow Geek Points or something.<br />
<br />
In the course of writing about TOR, not only do I play the game quite extensively, I also follow several gaming sites, blogs, and of course, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://twitter.com/twitter" rel="twitter" target="_blank" title="Twitter">Twitter</a>. The other day I tweeted that I was making white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, because with wars, famine, and destruction, The World Must Know These Things. I am not immune to such geeky inanities. This, naturally, elicited some 'OM NOM NOMs' and "OMG you're EVIL for posting that" followed by requests for the recipe.<br />
<br />
This is where the 'Geek Style' comes in. I had found a recipe, from, you guessed it, a tweet about a blog post about making a clone of Eli's White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. I don't know how close it is, because I always get their 'So Chocolate, It'll Cause a Coma and Quite Possibly an Overdose' Cheesecake. I haven't died yet, so it may need a little more chocolate in it. Not much, though. <br />
<br />
My hubby gets horrendous migraines from any chocolate that looks like it might be remotely brown, so I had to replace the chocolate <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.oreo.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Oreo">Oreos</a> with golden Oreos. The crust was soggy in the center, so I'm going to bake it for about 10 or 15 minutes next time before adding the cheesecake batter. Nonetheless, it was declared to be 'extremely yummy' by the family except for my son, who for some strange reason doesn't like the raspberry part. He also doesn't like most chocolate. I think he was switched at birth. <br />
<br />
Here is my version.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Crumb crust</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">2
c. Oreo crumbs (About 2 rows. Save the rest for your dunking-and-eating pleasure. Process in a food processor with cookie and cream both)</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">1
T sugar</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> 1/4 </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">c. butter</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Filling:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">2-4 cups white chocolate chips (lower
amount if you like it less sweet, higher amount if you want more chocolate
flavor. I split the difference and used 3 cups)</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">1/2 cup half-and-half cream </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese,
softened </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">1/2 cup white sugar </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">3 eggs </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">1 teaspoon vanilla extract</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Approximately 6 T seedless raspberry
jam (don't overdo or it'll be too sweet)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Directions</span></b></div>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> Allow the cream cheese and eggs to come to room temperature while you work on the other stuff.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 1
tablespoon sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9
inch springform pan. </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Bake the crust about 10 minutes (watch to make sure it doesn't over-brown). </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In a
metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt white chocolate chips with
half-and-half, stirring occasionally until smooth. I cheated and did this in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time to prevent scorching, and it worked fine. </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/2 cup
sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and
melted white chocolate. Pour half of batter over crust. </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Heat raspberry jam in microwave about 10-15 seconds to soften.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry jam over batter. Pour
remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again spoon 3 tablespoons
raspberry jam over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create
a marbled effect. </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Place the pan on a cookie sheet in case your springform pan likes to leak melted butter like mine does. </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">You can try the waterbath method for baking the cheesecake, but my springform pan likes to leak, so I just put a 9x13 pan filled with water in the oven on the shelf below the cheesecake. </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set. Turn oven off, leave oven door ajar, let
cheesecake cool another hour. This supposedly prevents cracks. It did work, although I think cracks are a fine excuse for putting extra white chocolate or raspberries on top. </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours
before removing from pan.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Garnish with white chocolate curls, whipped cream, and fresh raspberries for extra decadence.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Tweet about your cheesecake success after eating too much of it.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Enjoy! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Feel free to follow me on Twitter @JaeOnasi!</span>
<br />
<div class="zemanta-related">
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<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://torwars.com/2012/02/12/swtor-galactic-gallery-awkward-family-moments/" target="_blank">SWTOR Galactic Gallery: Awkward Family Moments</a> (torwars.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://torwars.com/2011/12/15/consular-weekly-the-force-is-a-poweful-ally/" target="_blank">Consular Weekly - The Force is a Poweful Ally</a> (torwars.com)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=3f4d0b09-682a-48a1-b25f-47718f62c65b" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-3289578685265688242011-12-25T12:25:00.003-05:002011-12-26T01:37:46.885-05:00Merry Christmas the Geeky Mom Way!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<div class="zemanta-img">
<div class="zemanta-img">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Star_Wars-_The_Old_Republic_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Star Wars: The Old Republic" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="310" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3c/Star_Wars-_The_Old_Republic_cover.jpg" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="220" /></a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 220px;">Image via <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Star_Wars-_The_Old_Republic_cover.jpg">Wikipedia</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are having a joyous holiday season, whatever you celebrate! I am blessed to have my dear family and many, many friends both 'in Real Life' and online. I have been sharing Christmas greetings with Trusty Friends and family from all over the world.<br />
<br />
The last few weeks have been a flurry of activity getting ready for the holidays, finding a new job, and picking up a new Geeky Activity--writing for <a href="http://torwars.com/">TORWars.com</a>. I'm quite tickled that they thought I wrote well enough to bring on board for a weekly column on the <a href="http://torwars.com/category/jedi-consular-weekly/">Jedi Consular</a> class in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars%3A_The_Old_Republic" rel="wikipedia" title="Star Wars: The Old Republic">Star Wars: The Old Republic</a>. <br />
<br />
Yes, the game rocks, and yes, I am a confirmed <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_%28person%29" rel="wikipedia" title="Fan (person)">fangirl</a>. I love the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars%3A_Knights_of_the_Old_Republic_%28series%29" rel="wikipedia" title="Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (series)">KOTOR series</a>, and TOR is a blast to play. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it approximately a bazillion stars, which, for those of you counting, is Officially A Lot.<br />
<br />
The other project occupying my time was the creation of two sound files with Christmas greetings. One was for extended family, since we now live 800 miles away from them. The other one was for Trusty Friend Athos, who is from my Star Trek Lotus Fleet group. He has been deployed and isn't able to be home this Christmas. We fleetmates decided that if Athos couldn't go home, we were certainly going to bring some 'home' to him. <br />
<br />
Creating these gifts involved many Geeky Activities, not the least of which included using <a class="zem_slink" href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/" rel="homepage" title="Audacity">Audacity</a>. I spent many an hour cursing out that program when learning how to edit the LucasCast podcast two years back. The great thing about it? It's free. The bad thing about it? You have to have a PhD in sound engineering to understand the darned thing. GVerb? Are we talking about some new verb tense? Is a 'hard limiter' the bouncer at the bar who cuts you off when you've had one too many? Nope. By the way, Audacity's 'phaser' is not at all the same as Star Trek's phaser. This is Important. I want to make sure my Trusty Friends are fully informed.<br />
<br />
Anyway, after finally herding all the Lotus Fleet cats, and one resident self-described furry, into the Lotus Fleet chatroom, I was able to finish the recording of all the Christmas greetings and performances. Trusty Friends Jureth, Future, and Kheren should be commended for being brave and doing solo performances and putting mine to shame on top of it. My son even contributed by playing a viola solo. I was humbled by everyone's contributions to help make Christmas better for a serviceman who can't make be at home this year. I finished the editing, uploaded it to the Lotus Fleet site, and sent off a copy to Athos via <a class="zem_slink" href="http://skype.com/" rel="homepage" title="Skype">Skype</a>. He managed to get enough bandwidth half a world away to actually be able to download it. I was tickled he received it in time for <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas" rel="wikipedia" title="Christmas">Christmas day</a>.<br />
<br />
My family, however, does not have Skype, nor are they Lotus Fleet members, so I didn't have the option to send them download links that way. This was A Problem. Short of burning the mp3 to disc and sending it to them, I was limited in ways to get the file into their hot little hands. No matter what guarantees the shippers make, when you ship at the busiest time of the year, it means that your package might arrive sometime by the 24th century. Besides, I wanted family to have it before Christmas, not after.<br />
<br />
I tried to send the file via email.<br />
<br />
Fail. The file was about 22 MB bigger than Gmail's 25 MB limit. Our little family of four had quite a bit to say to our family on top of the kids' performances. <br />
<br />
I tried to upload it to <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.youtube.com/" rel="homepage" title="YouTube">YouTube</a>.<br />
<br />
Fail 1: They don't take just plain mp3s. It has to have at least 1 picture in it. It can be a 1x1 pixel picture, but by God, that counts as a picture to make it into a movie. I opted to go with Renaissance paintings and stained glass pictures instead as something moderately more interesting than a 1x1 orange pixel. <br />
<br />
I spent the day re-acquainting myself with <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Movie_Maker" rel="wikipedia" title="Windows Movie Maker">Windows Movie Maker</a>, which I had cheerfully learned in a weekend at the beginning of the year to help my son make a movie for his history class. After an extensive Google search of approximately .51 seconds, I found more Renaissance Nativity art than I could possibly ever use in a century. I happily added a number of images to the sound file and made a "movie". I then tried to upload to YouTube again.<br />
<br />
Fail 2: YouTube doesn't take projects longer than 15 minutes, and mine clocked in at 37 minutes. I had actually read this before starting the movie project, so you'd think I would have paid attention to this Important Fact and that my sound file was entirely too long. Nope! Now, if you're Special, you can indeed upload files longer than 15 minutes. However, this involves getting somewhere in the vicinity of a billion people to like your videos and confirm that you don't post nasty stuff. I didn't have time to become 'Special'. The file needed to go out TODAY, darn it!! So, I tried to figure out how to break the freshly minted movie down into 3 parts smaller than 15 minutes in size to re-upload to YouTube.<br />
<br />
Fail 3: Windows Movie Maker apparently does not like splitting music AND video at the same spot. The 'split' tool will split music, OR video. Not both, at least without jumping through about 15,853 hoops. I know this because I googled how to split the files on YouTube.<br />
<br />
In desperation, because it was getting late on Christmas Eve, I turned to the Trusty Skype Posse (tm), who are experts in all sorts of gaming and geeky goodness, and who, like me, were of course ONLINE on Christmas Eve. I'm not quite sure what this says about any of us, but it says something interesting, I'm sure.<br />
<br />
Anyway, Trusty Friend Jeff had an outstanding suggestion--upload the file to Dropbox, and then send the family the link to the file so that they could download it. It was the perfect solution.<br />
<br />
Dropbox allows you to upload up to 2GB of items for free, and then you can share the files with anyone anywhere. You can pay a monthly fee to increase that amount. This is a great way to transfer files from home to work, or in my case, transfer larger files from my home to the homes of my extended family. Uploads are quick, and the program is easy to understand. There's also an Android app for it.<br />
<br />
If you would like your own Dropbox account, you can use referral codes from either Jeff or me. This will give you an extra 250 MB of free storage, and give Jeff or me an extra 250, too. His referral code is http://db.tt/TCoPTlf. My code is http://db.tt/TvaRxdnM. <br />
<br />
Merry Christmas to all!<br />
<div class="zemanta-related">
<h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">
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<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/12/merry-christmas-2/">A Very Merry Christmas From Our Geeky Families to Yours</a> (wired.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://torwars.com/2011/12/24/game-informer-swtor-star-wars-gaming-round-up/">Game Informer: SWTOR & Star Wars Gaming Round-Up</a> (torwars.com)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=9037247e-774d-47bd-9449-a53e235b9030" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-73458652174216479202011-12-16T08:22:00.000-05:002011-12-16T08:23:54.880-05:00Geeky Mom Gaming--The Old Republic Pecan Pie recipe<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pecan_pie%2C_November_2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Pecan pie." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Pecan_pie%2C_November_2010.jpg/300px-Pecan_pie%2C_November_2010.jpg" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pecan_pie%2C_November_2010.jpg">Wikipedia</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
About 20 years back, Trusty Hubby asked for one thing for Christmas--a homemade <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecan_pie" rel="wikipedia" title="Pecan pie">pecan pie</a>. This was when I was working on my advanced degree, and we were poor and so couldn't afford much in the way of gifts. In fact, I think we were still watching TV on our old portable <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television" rel="wikipedia" title="Television">black-and-white TV</a> that Hubby's mom had given him. Somewhere along the way, the plastic knob had broken off, and we had to use a pair of pliers to change the channel. Nothing was going to keep us from watching <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TNG/" rel="hulu" title="Star Trek: The Next Generation">Star Trek: The Next Generation</a>. We were determined. By the way, Star Trek definitely looks better in color.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I decided if that was what Hubby wanted for Christmas, I was going to make the best pecan pie I possibly could. Conveniently, the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://dispatch.com/" rel="homepage" title="The Columbus Dispatch">Columbus Dispatch</a> had a pecan pie recipe in the food section that week. I also had <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Cooking-Irma-S-Rombauer/dp/0026045702%3FSubscriptionId%3D0G81C5DAZ03ZR9WH9X82%26tag%3Dbcarlock%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0026045702" rel="amazon" title="Joy of Cooking">the Joy of Cooking</a>, which is quite possibly the best cookbook on the planet. If you do not have a copy, go get one and use it. Between the two, I put together a recipe that has become a family favorite. Is it low-calorie? Heck, no. Who makes low-calorie pecan pies? Sometimes you have to splurge. This pie does not have a regular pie crust. I decided to use a crumb crust instead, so it's about as full of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecan" rel="wikipedia" title="Pecan">pecans</a> as can be. Hubby loved it, and I've made it every Christmas since then.<br />
<br />
The other day, Trusty Hubby invited a co-worker over for dinner
and asked if I'd make pecan pie again. I agreed. When I mentioned that
I had to go make dinner, I was asked by the folks online what we were
having. I replied, "Homemade turkey soup, fresh pan rolls, and pecan
pie." Then I was asked by someone if I would adopt him, and I think at
some point there was a profession of True Love. I also got a tell from
Shayla, and we shared some cooking ideas. I told her I'd post a copy of
the recipe. Now, I love gaming in general, but MMO gaming is unique in
the way it brings people from all over the world together. Who knew I'd
be sharing a pecan pie recipe with an international community? That's
world diplomacy at its best.<br />
<br />
For those of you with dairy allergies or food restrictions, use a dairy-free margarine for the crust. You can also substitute butter-flavored vegetable shortening, or a mix of vegetable shortening and coconut oil. For the pecan pie filling, you can use 1 tablespoon of your favorite vegetable or nut oil in place of the butter. <br />
<br />
<br />
The Old Republic Pecan Pie Recipe<br />
<br />
Crumb crust:<br />
1 cup (4 ounces) finely ground pecans<br />
2 cups flour<br />
1/2 cup sugar<br />
3/4 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces <br />
<br />
Pecan pie filling<br />
1 cup sugar<br />
1 tablespoon flour<br />
4 eggs, beaten<br />
1 cup light corn syrup<br />
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted<br />
1 cup (4 ounces) pecans, chopped<br />
3/4 cup (3 ounces) pecan halves<br />
<br />
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.<br />
<br />
For the crust--in a large bowl, mix the ground pecans, the 2 cups flour, and 1/2 cup sugar. Cut in the 3/4 cup butter until coarse crumbs form, about the size of small peas. Press the mix with your fingers into the bottom and sides of a 10 inch pie plate or quiche dish. Bake about 7 minutes. It will not brown--that is OK.<br />
<br />
For the filling--combine the sugar and flour. Add the beaten eggs, corn syrup, and butter, and mix well. Stir in the chopped pecans. Pour into the crust. Arrange pecan halves on top in whatever decorative fashion you like. Cover the edges of the crust with tinfoil so that the crust doesn't burn. Bake about 50-55 minutes or until set.<br />
<br />
Remove from oven and let cool so that you don't burn your mouth trying to eat it too soon!<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=edbbcfe4-227e-4557-8c51-2b4e8f8d0d54" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-90565729396608990772011-11-29T08:32:00.001-05:002011-12-07T19:51:32.022-05:00Comcast: "No Internet--Your Modem Battery is Degraded"<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes, I wonder if customer service people sit around
making up complete BS answers to customer service questions just to see what
we, the customers, will actually say. I can imagine some bean counter saying to
the customer service folks “Hey, we’re going to have a contest! We’re going to
come up with ‘31 Top Idiot Answers to Use in Place of Admitting Cable Outage’—one
for each day of the month! In February, we’ll have 4 answers to use on day 28
to make up for not having day 29, 30, and 31, unless it’s leap year, of course.” The winner probably got a free mocha latte
frappucino chai spice coffee with a cherry on top from Starbucks. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, today, I had an outage, and I got Top Idiot Answer 29. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So there I was, happily gaming with Trusty Friends Evshell,
Robert Oakley, Jureth, and Crist in The Old Republic beta. Around 11:30 pm,
just 90 minutes shy of when the servers would go down, my internet sputtered
and went out. My poor Jedi Consular is
probably lying dead in the middle of a bunch of pirates at the moment, because
it’s Internet Law that you must lag out in the middle of a. a mob of enemies or
b. a Boss Fight. Losing an internet connection is not allowed in any rest
zones, and is Right Out in cantinas. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When Skype and Firefox decided not to work, I looked over at
my modem. Sure enough, the link light was blinking, indicating that the modem
was not receiving a signal from Comcast.
I had learned this tidbit of info the other day when my internet went
down and another customer service agent said service was out in the area and
that it would be restored Soon ™. I
thought about going to bed, but the siren call of TOR was begging me to come
back to the game, so I called customer service again. My call apparently was
routed to Eastern Europe, where I spoke with a gentleman with an accent that indicated he was from somewhere in the
vicinity of Outer East Bhadislavia. He was quite nice, but the poor guy had
trouble understanding my Midwestern accent, and I had to enunciate ‘I’m calling
from my cell phone’ several times before he realized I wasn’t ‘calling from (my
Comcast cable) telephone’. After sending
signals to my modem, he gave me the verdict: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Your battery is degraded and it is affecting your internet
signal.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, it might have been midnight, and I might be female. I suspect he
thought both were in his favor and that I would actually believe Top Idiot
Answer 29. I’m sure he didn’t realize I’ve
had three years of physics and, shockingly (no pun intended), know the difference between a
resistor and a capacitor in a circuit diagram. However, I thought I’d start
with the obvious and see what that got me: “Please explain to me how the
battery can be affecting the signal when <i>I
have the modem plugged into the outlet and my telephone is working fine</i>.” He
replied, “It can affect either your telephone or your internet, and it affected
your internet.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, last I knew, batteries don’t send signals out anywhere,
unless you happen to be someone whose tinfoil hat regularly beams to the Mother
Ship. This is also a backup battery—it doesn’t do anything except sit there
until it’s needed when the electricity goes off. As long as it completes the circuit, whatever it's connected to is not
going to do a damned thing.<br />
<br />
Then, I asked him why Comcast would design such a ridiculous thing. He answered that he didn't know, either. Apparently, this followup question was not included in the script of Top Idiot Answer 29.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After determining this guy was reading from the Holy Writ of Comcast Bullshit Excuses to Give Customers and that my problem was not going to get resolved, I got the address of the local Comcast office so that I could exchange my modem and 'degraded battery' in the morning. I also tried taking the battery out to see
if that would help matters. Not a signal in the world. At this point, it was
1 am, and the siren call of sleep drew me to bed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, this morning, I sat down to continue working on my blog.
What did I see? Working internet! Without any battery in the modem whatsoever!
Clearly the ‘degraded battery signal’ answer was a complete and utter lie. I'm shocked, truly shocked.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You know, Comcast, if the internet service is down because
of damaged wires, I can understand that.
After all, my region got hit with some two nasty storms and an
earthquake a couple months ago. I’m not naïve enough to think you’ve given me
new equipment, either. I’m sure it’s been in someone else’s house before it
entered mine. You might even have cleaned it before bringing it to mine, too,
but I never assume these things. In any case, the modem might not be working
quite right, too. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you had just been honest with me, Comcast, I would have
actually been rather understanding of the situation. Now, I’ve lost respect for
your staff and you for lying to me to cover your butt because you had an outage
and didn’t want to admit it.<br />
<br />
Update: I spoke with another Comcast customer service agent this morning. He couldn't understand the excuse given to me either, and after more testing decided there was possibly a problem with the line going into the house. So, he scheduled a technician to come out tomorrow morning.<br />
<br />
Update 2: A technician came on time and replaced the line going from the pole to the house. He confirmed that the line was bad and that was what was causing the problem. He was just as confused about the first guy's 'degraded battery' reasoning as I was. He also took the time to hook up the cable box in our living room, which we had disconnected the day before to move furniture around to a better configuration. It might not have been a big deal to him, but I appreciated the extra touch. The internet has not gone out since his visit.</div>
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<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=77f72e25-24ad-42cd-beb4-310af02dddb0" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-83589380399509403822011-11-08T21:01:00.001-05:002012-02-15T12:33:04.414-05:00Welcome to the XBox Live FIFA Hacking Club!As you may know, our Geeky Family recently moved from <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=44.5,-89.5&spn=3.0,3.0&q=44.5,-89.5%20%28Wisconsin%29&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Wisconsin">Wisconsin</a> to <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.0,-77.5&spn=3.0,3.0&q=41.0,-77.5%20%28Pennsylvania%29&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Pennsylvania">Pennsylvania</a>. This involved many Geeky things, not the least of which was making sure we got internet set up as soon as possible. I even thought about bribing the Comcast installation guy with massive amounts of chocolate and/or pizza if it meant he'd come to my house sooner. The only problem is that I haven't found THE pizza place in our new town yet. Significantly more tests to the city's pizza parlors, of course, are required to make a final judgment.<br />
<br />
Anyhow, with no internet, I naturally had no <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Live" rel="wikipedia" title="Xbox Live">XBox Live</a>. I couldn't find the 360s that had been packed safely away in moving boxes anyway. Yes, this was a tremendous blow to my Geek Points. I plead guilty. Setting up the computers and the kitchen (in that order) came first.<br />
<br />
I had read about XBL hackings happening thanks to some <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/10/xbox-live-users-experiencing-hacked-accounts-fifa-11-and-12-purchases.ars">Ars Technica articles</a>. I have a gamer tag in my signature on Lotus Fleet. Imagine my surprise when I was commenting on some <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek" rel="wikipedia" title="Star Trek">Star Trek</a> post, and then noticed that FIFA 12 had showed up in my sig pic. I had not <i>bought</i> FIFA12. The only 'football' in the world is what the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Bears" rel="wikipedia" title="Chicago Bears">Chicago Bears</a> play. Nonetheless, my gamertag showed I'd made the purchase, and now even had several achievements for a game that interests me only slightly more than golf. With the 360s still packed away. I knew right then my account was hacked. <br />
<br />
The first thing I did was call XBL's customer support. A very delightful lady named Kathleen helped me out, making sure the account was canceled and that my credit card was removed from the profile so the hackers couldn't use it. Whatever Microsoft is paying her, it's not enough. She's outstanding at customer service. Kudos to her! I also called the bank and canceled the credit card, and then changed both my XBL and my hotmail passwords. I had some strong passwords, but apparently not strong enough. <br />
<br />
There is some discussion on whether this is linked to EA or not. I'm not sure on that one. My EA master account isn't the same name and certainly does not have the same password. From what I'm reading about the sheer number of hackings, I suspect that Microsoft got hacked themselves, or hackers have found a security hole somewhere. In any case, both MS and EA are being very, very quiet about this. <br />
<br />
I've managed to finally locate one of my 360s, so tomorrow will be the adventure in contacting XBL customer support again. I hope Kathleen is there tomorrow.<br />
<br />
Edit: I had to find both Xboxes and get the console numbers off both. Xbox confirmed that I'd been hacked--no surprise there. They also told me it would take about 3 weeks to fully investigate the hackings before they could restore my account. It did take about 18 or so days before I was able to restore the account. All my points got refunded to me, and MS gave me an extra month of XBL to cover the lost time. Restoring the account, once I received the email instructions, was very easy.<br />
<br />
Microsoft and EA: I'm seeing a lot more reports of this on Twitter and Facebook. You have a big security problem. Please fix it before more of us suffer hackings. <br />
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<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=c0075897-8318-4134-8097-3f53e2ae105d" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-35882801753659419162011-10-21T12:52:00.001-04:002011-10-21T13:13:24.361-04:00Help Cryptic Find More Dilithium Mining Revenue!<span class="zemanta-img separator" style="clear: right;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Picard_as_Locutus.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Patrick Stewart as Locutus, the assimilated Je..." height="232" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a1/Picard_as_Locutus.jpg/300px-Picard_as_Locutus.jpg" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: both; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Picard_as_Locutus.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></span>As my Trusty Gamer Friends may know, Cryptic has been bought out by Perfect World. Perfect World (PW) publishes games in Asia, and they are all free-to-play, or f2p. Well, you can't run games for free. There are costs involved, like server usage, electricity, staff to run the games, someone to empty the trash at night, and new corporate jets for the owner(s). So, f2p games run by giving 'premium content' to paying subscribers and maintain a 'store' where one can buy in-game items for money if we don't want to wait for them to drop from monsters or come as quest rewards. Usually these aren't expensive at all. You can spend a few bucks here and there for things like an armor component or weapon, a new ship skin, a mini-pet, and so on. In games like <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_Online%3A_Shadows_of_Angmar" rel="wikipedia" title="The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar">LOTRO</a>, this is pretty straightforward.<br />
<br />
Cryptic, however, has decided to live up to their name and create a system that is so full of obfuscation that even <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/dennis_miller" rel="rottentomatoes" title="Dennis Miller">Dennis Miller</a> would be impressed. They have decided to add the 'dilithium component'.<br />
<br />
Never mind the fact that in the time period in which the game exists, dilithium can be re-used with great ease and doesn't need to be mined. Cryptic decided canon can be ignored. So, it is now a rare commodity that requires mining of dilithium ore and then refining the ore, because this is exactly what my heroic captain wants to do with her time. Rescue planets from Borg invasions, cure deadly plagues in the nick of time, use our elite diplomacy skills to prevent interplanetary wars, mine dilithium ore for the next 500,000 years.<br />
<br />
Aside from the fact that this is a completely immersion-breaking activity, the max amount of ore that you can refine in a 24 hour period is 8,000 DC. This would be fine if all the items were, say, in the couple hundred DC range. They're not. Cryptic is charging 100,000 DC to make some items. So, I can make 1 good item for my Vice Admiral <i>in 13 days</i>. Welcome to the grind-fest, my fleetmates. Of course, you can always buy the DC in the Cryptic store, wink wink, nudge nudge, sledgehammer sledgehammer. So, I can pay real money to make items for my fleetmates. I like this idea about as much as I like the idea of stabbing myself in the eyeballs repeatedly. <br />
<br />
Now, Cryptic so far has announced that they will be charging DC for ships, ship components, and any crafting items. In the spirit of helping maximize Cryptic's profits, I'm offering this list of dilithium sinks that Cryptic can add to the game to make it even more grindy.<br />
<br />
1. Charge dilithium for all Duty officers. Hey, we're going to use them to gain our whopping 50 dilithium per day. At that rate, we should charge about 500,000 dilithium per DOFF.<br />
2. Add in DC charges not only for each ship, console, and weapon, but also every color change and paint job style, windows, doors, and seats on the ship. We'll be generous and keep the charge at 1k per window. We're going to add windows to each ship, however.<br />
3. Give us a token for all trophies at the end of major series. Charge us dilithium to actually claim it from the trophy vendor. 25k DC seems about right. There will also be a 25k fee to place it on a hook. <br />
4. Charge at least 100k for each skill point we earn. That'll certainly encourage leveling up.<br />
5. Charge 10k DC every time we hear a door go 'swoosh' in game.<br />
6. Charge 30k DC for every quest opportunity.<br />
7. Charge DC every time someone uses the "KHAAAAANNNN!!!!" emote. We should go for at least a million DC per emote use there.<br />
8. There should be a fee for each breath that a toon takes. Of course, the respiration animation rate will be increased from the normal 14 per minute to approximately 256. Per second.<br />
9. Extract a departure fee of 500 billion DC for each person leaving the game. That will ensure that they never can leave, because as we all know, one of Gene Roddenberry's great ideals in Star Trek was indentured servitude.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to comment on your ideas on how to increase Cryptic's DC revenue! I can't wait to hear your ideas, too!<br />
<br />
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<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=a1302480-7df6-47f2-adca-bc977c659f6a" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-152149181092759322011-10-12T14:08:00.000-04:002012-06-11T22:07:47.182-04:00Recipe Swap! "Best Brownies"I'm following a number of folks on <a class="zem_slink" href="http://twitter.com/" rel="homepage" title="Twitter">Twitter</a>, one of whom is <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/meesherbeans">@meesherbeans</a>, because she works for <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.bioware.com/" rel="homepage" title="BioWare">Bioware</a>, which is one of my favorite gaming companies, and she has a lot of fun tweets. This morning, she tweeted about peanut butter chocolate fudge. I already knew she was Cool, but anyone who can make great fudge AND game should be elevated to Gaming Goddess. I offered my brownie recipe in exchange for <a href="http://meesherbeans.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/noms-peanut-butter-chocolate-fudge/" target="_blank">her fudge recipe</a>. Voila! We are now exchanging recipes on our blogs! How's that for Geeky Awesomeness? <br />
<br />
Anyway, I originally picked up this recipe, "Best Brownies", from the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://dispatch.com/" rel="homepage" title="The Columbus Dispatch">Columbus Dispatch</a> about 20 years back, and it's been the only one we've used in my home since then. It's better than any box mix and just as fast to put together. The challenge will be not to eat them all before they cool off. It is dairy and soy free. If you like male brownies, add nuts. If you have nut allergies, leave out the almond extract and nuts. I think this counts as a pareve recipe for my Jewish friends, but someone can correct me if that's wrong.<br />
<br />
My friends and I contend that all the calories fall out when you cut the brownies, but I suspect nutritionists would frown upon us for saying that too loudly. <br />
<br />
Best Brownies<br />
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan with oil or spray with cooking spray.<br />
<br />
"wet ingredients"<br />
2 cups sugar<br />
1 cup canola oil (vegetable oil is fine if you don't have soy allergen concerns)<br />
4 eggs<br />
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)<br />
2 teaspoons vanilla extract <br />
<br />
"dry ingredients"<br />
1 cup flour <br />
1/2 teaspoon baking powder<br />
1/2 teaspoon salt<br />
2/3 cup cocoa (regular, not the Dutch version)<br />
1 cup chopped nuts, optional<br />
<br />
In one bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients until smooth. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients together, and then blend into the wet ingredients. Pour the batter into the greased pan. Bake for 25 minutes, or until edges of brownie pull away from the edges of the pan. Do not use the 'toothpick test' to check if the brownie is done, or you will overbake it. When cool, cut into squares and serve, if you can manage to wait until they've cooled. We never can.<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=ff4b7854-ac63-48fb-8d24-370bb59077c3" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-81587116198263629092011-10-05T18:40:00.001-04:002011-10-05T18:40:38.070-04:00How Lt. Uhura Created a Doctor<span class="zemanta-img separator" style="clear: right;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Space_shuttle_enterprise_star_trek-cropcast.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Space Shuttle Enterprise rolls out of the ..." height="163" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Space_shuttle_enterprise_star_trek-cropcast.jpg/300px-Space_shuttle_enterprise_star_trek-cropcast.jpg" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: both; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Space_shuttle_enterprise_star_trek-cropcast.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></span>This weekend, my son and I had the great pleasure of going to the Chicago <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_insurrection" rel="rottentomatoes" title="Star Trek - Insurrection">Star Trek</a> Convention. We had a marvelous time meeting a variety of stars from nearly all of the shows except for the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/circles-and-spinning-wheels-if-i-could-crowd-all-my-souls-into" rel="rottentomatoes" title="Circles and Spinning Wheels + If I Could Crowd All My Souls into...">Voyager</a> and JJ-prise folks, who weren't at this one. I laughed so hard at some of the antics of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/dominic_keating" rel="rottentomatoes" title="Dominic Keating">Dominic Keating</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/brent_spiner" rel="rottentomatoes" title="Brent Spiner">Brent Spiner</a> and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jonathan_frakes" rel="rottentomatoes" title="Jonathan Frakes">Jonathan Frakes</a> that I thought I was going to hurt myself. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0872997/">Conner Trinneer</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://musicbrainz.org/artist/98b91034-2ca5-42ef-888c-8f25b6461b0b.html" rel="musicbrainz" title="John de Lancie">John de Lancie</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/rene_auberjonois" rel="rottentomatoes" title="Rene Auberjonois">Rene Auberjonois</a>, and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/nana_visitor" rel="rottentomatoes" title="Nana Visitor">Nana Visitor</a> were also highly entertaining. Rene and Nana even did a performance of "Cross Your Hearts" to support their favorite charity, <a href="http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/">Doctors Without Borders</a>. If you've been looking for a good charity to give a donation, check them out. Check out <a href="http://alienvoices.net/">Alien Voices</a> as well. Leonard Nimoy and John de Lancie have worked hard on audio presentations of some classic sci-fi works. <br />
<br />
<a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/leonard_nimoy" rel="rottentomatoes" title="Leonard Nimoy">Leonard Nimoy</a> gave us a poignant farewell, as this was his last official Star Trek convention appearance. It was so hard to say 'good-bye' to him. When you're 80 years old, though, you have to suck the marrow out of life. May you live long and prosper, Mr. Nimoy, and thoroughly ENJOY your retirement!<br />
<br />
The highlight for me, however, was when <a class="zem_slink" href="http://answers.com/topic/nichelle-nichols#Gale_Contemporary_Black_Biography_d" rel="answerscom" title="Nichelle Nichols">Nichelle Nichols</a> gave this amazing talk about how she'd become <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uhura" rel="wikipedia" title="Uhura">Lt. Uhura</a> on Star Trek. Then she brought me to tears when she spoke about <a class="zem_slink" href="http://answers.com/topic/martin-luther-king-jr#Gale_Contemporary_Black_Biography_d" rel="answerscom" title="Martin Luther King, Jr.">Dr. Martin Luther King</a> urging her to stay on the show when she resigned after the first season. He described what it meant to the African-American community for her to be in that role, to have an African-American woman portrayed as a Starfleet officer, an equal. She told us about Gene Roddenberry handing her back her resignation two days later, torn up into tiny pieces. At the photo-op right after the session, I told her that I was a doctor today because of her role. She gave me a huge hug and said "Thank you!" I treasure that moment. <br />
<br />
This, of course, means I must share with you, my Trusty Friends, the story of how Lt. Uhura Created A Doctor. <br />
<br />
I was destined for something in the science or medical field from early childhood. I remember reading books on nurses in first grade. My favorite shows were Star Trek, Emergency, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070700/" rel="imdb" title="The Six Million Dollar Man">The Six Million Dollar Man</a>, and The Bionic Woman. When a neighborhood friend sprained a finger, I splinted it with 2 popsicle sticks and a couple rubber bands. When other kids were writing fan mail to Farrah Fawcett and Erik Estrada, I was writing our local TV meteorologist, Paul Joseph, asking about tornadoes. Our Girl Scout troop leader decided that we Junior Scouts should work on our Collection badges one week. I was in my 'Geology/Paleontology phase' in 4th grade. I didn't have any dinosaurs to bring, so I gathered up my collection of very cool geodes, quartz crystals, and agates. The other girls brought in their collections of cute little stuffed kittens and puppies, took one look at my box of rocks, stared at me like I'd just grown 2 alien antennae on the top of my head, and took a step away. That was the point in life when I realized I Was Different.<br />
<br />
When I was growing up in the early 1970's, women had exactly 5 career possibilities: homemakers, maids, schoolteachers, nurses, and secretaries. Now, if someone wants to have a career doing that, awesome. Do your best at it, and love your career. Even at a young age, though, I knew those paths weren't quite right for me. The major female role models in my life--my grandmas, aunt, and mother were either secretaries, nurses, homemakers, or teacher, but I was called to something Different.<br />
<br />
The only women who were doing anything other than The Approved 5 Female Careers (tm) were women in science fiction. Of course, there was Princess Leia--a spunky, beautiful Senator who also happened to know how to handle a blaster better than some of the guys. She quickly became one of my heroes. <br />
<br />
Then there was Lt. Uhura.<br />
<br />
By the time I was old enough to remember Star Trek, the show was in syndication, so I was able to watch it regularly. Here was a woman who was not a nurse, not a yeoman, but a full-fledged Starfleet Officer. She was serving on the bridge, an officer equal with the men. She did her job with professionalism and great competence. She was respected by the other officers and crew. If I could have joined Starfleet and served with her, I would have done it in a heartbeat. I wanted to be a highly skilled, professional woman, respected by those around me. I wanted to be just like Lt. Uhura.<br />
<br />
Fortunately, when I told my family that I wanted to be a doctor, they didn't laugh. They didn't even try to discourage me. They'd come to expect their daughter to be Different. I think they might have missed the antennae growing out of my head that the other girls in my school saw. My grandma who was a nurse was absolutely thrilled at my decision to become a doctor, and her support meant the world to me. I hope I can be as good a support for my son, who has decided to become an actor. This is in spite of the fact that his decision scares the crap out of me. Having Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes repeat a litany of Terrible Things that Happen to Actors like drug abuse, alcoholism, and suicide did not help me one bit. Thank you, Brent and Jonathan, for making my anxiety even worse. You'll make my psychiatrist very happy about the extra visits I'm sure I'll need.<br />
<br />
Ms. Nichelle, you said 'thank you' to me. I want to thank you, though, for staying on Star Trek, for playing that role of a Starfleet bridge officer, and inspiring a shy young girl to pursue her dream, even when it wasn't a 'cultural norm'. Thank you for giving us Lt. Uhura.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-15474831910909885652011-09-20T23:35:00.001-04:002011-09-20T23:35:06.866-04:00How to Survive a Cross Country Move, Geek styleBless Trusty Reader Reuster, who noticed I'd not posted for a good 4 weeks. Well, that's because I was moving from WI over to PA for Trusty Hubby's new job. I've done several cross country moves in my adult life, and I officially despise, loathe, detest, abhor, hate, dislike, and otherwise bear negative sentiments towards moving.<br />
<br />
Why?<br />
<br />
First, it meant packing EVERYTHING up. After living in a home for 10 years, you acquire amazing amounts of stuff and/or junk, depending on whether it's located in the kitchen or the garage. We donated about 15 boxes and bags of items to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Salvation_Army" rel="wikipedia" title="The Salvation Army">Salvation Army</a> and Goodwill, hauled away about 3 vanloads of junk, threw away about 20 bags of trash (not all at once), and somehow still managed to have 473 items and boxes to load on the moving van. Now, Trusty Hubby is trying to pare that number down to something closer to 450 items. We are definitely packrats.<br />
<br />
Second, it meant driving 12 hours one way to our new home. Alone. This, you say, was nutty. Well, my boss wouldn't let me out of work a week early (I had given a month's notice instead of the standard 2 weeks) to go out with my family. That's just the kind of company it is. I made a socially unacceptable rude gesture as I left the office the last time. Mind you, it was behind my back, because one should never burn career bridges. You never know when you'll have to cross back over them again, and running back while it's on fire is Never A Good Thing. Happily, I had my <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod" rel="wikipedia" title="IPod">iPod</a>, and I rocked across 5 states singing to <a href="http://www.evanescence.com/">Evanescence</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/globusmusic">Globus</a>, <a href="http://www.epica.nl/">Epica</a>, <a href="http://www.skillet.com/">Skillet</a> (woot Panheads!), and <a href="http://www.kamelot.com/site/">Kamelot</a>.<br />
<br />
Third, it means having to change all sorts of things, and I'm just not very good with change. Once I figure out the most efficient way to do something, I don't typically alter the method unless something new comes along that makes it even more efficient. In addition, despite my generally rampant extroversion and the fact that my job requires me to talk to a couple dozen complete and utter strangers daily, it is not easy for me to develop the kind of deep friendships that one develops only after a very long time. The fact that I was moving several hundred miles away from my closest family did not help.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I overcame many moving hurdles by, you guessed it, being completely and utterly <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek" rel="wikipedia" title="Geek">Geeky</a>. Using technology and utilizing blatantly geeky skills can overcome Cross Country Moving Challeges, such as the ones below.<br />
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1. Finding a good school district. I quickly discovered in my initial searches that schools do NOT like releasing any information that looks in any way remotely negative. So, things like test scores and how well they've met state academic benchmarks are either not listed, or if they are required to be listed, are buried in such categories as 'administrative assistant sick day policies' or 'janitorial supplies'. You'll find the tab for 'test scores' helpfully located between 'paper towel dispensers' and 'toilet paper'. I'm nothing if not persistent, however, and found some 3rd party school rankings (which you still have to take with a heavy dose of salt), <a class="zem_slink" href="http://google.com/" rel="homepage" title="Google">Google</a> Maps pictures of the school, and finally, the listing of the school music programs. If you find a school district with an orchestra, you have just learned two things. First, you have a school district that feels it has sufficient funding to put money into a program that goes beyond the bare-bones basics. Second, you have a sufficient quantity of involved parents who care about music education and have the money to pay for the rental of a stringed instrument. The corollary is that if parents care about music education, they usually care about the rest of their kids' education. The more involved the parents, the better the schools. This is not always the case, but it is generally true. The fact that I wanted my kids to continue playing in orchestra, of course, contributed to this. Anyway, finding out if a school system has an orchestra program is not too hard, since that is indeed listed on school websites. This rapidly narrowed down my choice of school districts. A few emails to high school orchestra teachers later, and I had it narrowed down to two districts, both of which I deemed Good Places in Which to Live.<br />
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2. Finding good doctors. Skip to number 3 if you're squeamish. Despite being a doctor myself, I hate finding new doctors or dentists. If you move to a new town and don't know anyone, it's extremely difficult to find the good ones. It does not help that we women fear getting naked and into a compromising position for a strange person we see once a year for that annual gyn thing. Yes, I know that they've 'seen it all', but they haven't seen _mine_. The only time I didn't care about this was when I was birthing my kids. At that point, I would have invited the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary-General_of_the_United_Nations" rel="wikipedia" title="Secretary-General of the United Nations">Secretary-General of the UN</a> in for a lookey-loo if it meant the babies would come out 2 seconds faster. My solution--get names from the local pharmacists and nurses and then go search them out on the net. We docs might interact with other docs occasionally. Nurses, staff, and pharmacists see them all the time, and having been a hospital staffer and student nurse before doing the doctor thing, I can tell you it is very easy to figure out who is good or not after working with them a few weeks. I also check docs out online by doing a google search on their names, and then a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.medscape.com/" rel="homepage" title="Medscape">Medscape</a> search on any articles they've written. It also gives me something to talk about when I go see them "Oh, hey, I saw your wrote an article on cat-allergen testing in mice when you were at <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johns_Hopkins" rel="wikipedia" title="Johns Hopkins">Johns-Hopkins</a>. How'd that work out?" I learned that an orthopedic doctor I saw at <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.3091888889,-87.8500694444&spn=1.0,1.0&q=42.3091888889,-87.8500694444%20%28Naval%20Station%20Great%20Lakes%29&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="Naval Station Great Lakes">Great Lakes Naval Base</a> was a huge Volvo fan by doing an internet search one time. These are Important Things.<br />
<br />
3. Find new grocery stores. I loved having a grocery store 4 blocks from home back in WI. More importantly, I loved having a store in town that had enriched Rice Dream in the juice-box size, which is great for lunches when you have a kiddo with both a dairy and a soy allergy. It is no easy task to find this, let me tell you. Fortunately, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://google.com/" rel="homepage" title="Google">Google search</a> saved the day again, and I've located a few stores in the area that have this. I also, happily, can order it online if need be, not only from the Rice Dream site itself, but also <a class="zem_slink" href="http://amazon.com/" rel="homepage" title="Amazon">Amazon</a>. I love Amazon. You can find just about anything there. Heck, you can even grocery shop there.<br />
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4. Having to set up the a. kitchen and b. computer. The computer took less time. The only problem was that the cable guy couldn't come out for an entire week after I arrived, so I nearly went into internet withdrawal. I actually contemplated leeching off of someone's secured network until I remembered that ethics thing. I also remembered that my phone could serve as a wi-fi hotspot. Plug in, turn on, hit a few settings, and voila, internet success! I'll be paying through the nose next month for data charges, I'm sure.<br />
<br />
5. Finding new radio stations. One of the things I hated about leaving <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.columbus.gov/" rel="homepage" title="Columbus, Ohio">Columbus, OH</a> in 1995 was giving up Sunny 95. The DJs there were a lot of fun, and there was no such thing as internet radio then--we had dial-up then, for heaven's sake. Now, I LOVE <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.1116944444,-87.9284166667&spn=0.01,0.01&q=43.1116944444,-87.9284166667%20%28WISN-TV%29&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="WISN-TV">WISN</a> and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.8788888889,-87.6361666667&spn=0.01,0.01&q=41.8788888889,-87.6361666667%20%28WGN-TV%29&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="WGN-TV">WGN</a>, and Tammy Lee just rocks as an announcer. The fact that she is a sister-in-law has nothing whatsoever to do with that opinion. She makes me double over laughing, and she is just as funny at family holiday dinners as she is on the air. With radio stations now streaming on the net, along with the new <a href="http://www.iheart.com/">iHeartRadio</a>, I don't have to leave them behind. They're as close as my computer. I was delighted to listen to <a href="http://chicago.cbslocal.com/station/wbbm-newsradio-780-and-1059fm/">WBBM</a> on Sunday when the <a href="http://www.chicagobears.com/index.html">Chicago Bears</a> game wasn't available on TV. I can listen to <a href="http://www.wgnradio.com/shows/deanrichards/">Dean Richards</a>, <a href="http://www.jaywebershow.com/">Jay Weber</a>, <a href="http://www.newstalk1130.com/pages/mckenna_blog.html">Vicki McKenna</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/cochranshow">Steve Cochran</a> (who is going to <a href="http://560steve.com/">WIND shortly</a>), and <a href="http://www.kson.com/morning/tammy.aspx">Tammy Lee</a> anywhere in the world! <br />
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No doubt there will be many more Geek Moments as our family adjusts to life in a new state.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-23730657563892123322011-08-09T13:28:00.000-04:002011-10-05T09:33:25.213-04:00Vacuum Cleaners for the Brain-Cell ChallengedLast Friday, my daughter had a nasty little fit, and by 'nasty little fit' I mean 'tantrum that would make <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vesuvius" rel="wikipedia" title="Mount Vesuvius">Mt. Vesuvius</a> look like a nice warm bath in comparison'. Sometimes you deal with that when you have an over-tired, hungry kid with <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder" rel="wikipedia" title="Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder">ADHD</a> who has completely melted down over some major catastrophe in life, like a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game" rel="wikipedia" title="Video game">video game</a> crashing. I came home after a frantic call from my son to find covers ripped off my bed and an overturned trash can. She was promptly banned from my room, which has the best computers. I also made her eat some food with protein, and about 15 minutes later The World Was A Much Better Place. <br />
<br />
Anyway, part of her penance included cleaning up the mess she made. I told her to bring the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum" rel="wikipedia" title="Vacuum">vacuum</a> upstairs so that she could clean up the trash that had spilled on the carpet. Naturally, she carried up our canister vacuum by the hose. I think it is a constitutional requirement that all 10 year olds carry things by the hoses or cords, rather than the designated handles. If you guessed that about 3/4 of the way up the stairs, the hose gave way, you would be 100% correct. The rest of the vacuum went tumbling down the stairs, crash-landing on the first floor.<br />
<br />
She was devastated.<br />
<br />
I cheered. I hated that vacuum from the day I bought it, but I had bought it used and couldn't return it. After I told her that she'd done me a huge favor by allowing me to buy a vacuum that I actually liked, she felt a little better. I did also explain that carrying things by hoses or cords is generally a Bad Idea.<br />
<br />
Now, being A <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek" rel="wikipedia" title="Geek">Geeky</a> Mom, I had to go find a new vacuum cleaner. This, of course, required a trip not to a vacuum store, but to <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.bestbuy.com/" rel="homepage" title="Best Buy">Best Buy</a>, where they also had <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.callofduty.com/blackops/" rel="homepage" title="Call of Duty: Black Ops">Call of Duty: Black Ops</a> and assorted other gaming goodies. One must have one's priorities. <br />
<br />
Once home, I put CoD:Black Ops, the 360 controller charger cord (I figure the controller will get a lot more use), and headphones over by the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/product/xbox" rel="crunchbase" title="Xbox">Xbox</a>, and then unpacked the vacuum cleaner--a Bissell Lift-off Multi-Cyclonic vacuum. Given my love affair with tornadoes, anything with 'cyclone' in its description automatically won points with me. It also had a pet hair cleaning feature. Since we have pets that shed about 2000 bushels of fur every 8.3 seconds, this was deemed to be A Necessary Feature by the kids and me. I carefully read the manual and put the vacuum together. I was proud of Bissell for being 'gender-inclusive' and showing a woman putting the vacuum together instead of a man. They did not show a picture of her actually wielding the necessary screwdriver, but this clearly is progress. Either that or it's commentary on how men still will not touch a vacuum, even if it does somehow involve using power tools.<br />
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After successfully assembling the handle to the rest of the vacuum and putting hoses where hoses should go, I was looking at the photos in the instruction manual to determine where to put all the accessory tools. I also read the cautions, notices, and quid pro quos.<br />
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This was when I decided that some lawyer for Bissell had decided all of us vacuum-wielders are brain-cell challenged. <br />
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Included with my nifty new vacuum was something called the "Pet TurboEraser Tool". This is incidentally how I describe my kids and their <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pooper-scooper" rel="wikipedia" title="Pooper-scooper">pooper-scooper</a> job. Anyway, the instruction manual explained how to properly use the tool, and then made this note: "The Pet TurboEraser Tool is designed to remove pet hair from upholstered or carpeted surfaces. It should not be used on pets." I suddenly had an image of a chihuahua sucked into the tool, or Don <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corleone" rel="wikipedia" title="Corleone">Corleone</a> rasping, "I made him an offer he couldn't refuse," and then holding up the Pet TurboEraser, complete with a tuft of Yorkie hair with a little red bow hanging out of the bottom.<br />
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Some of my favorite 'Important Safety Instructions' included these gems:<br />
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"Do not put any object into openings." Isn't the goal of a vacuum to, well, VACUUM UP DUST AND OTHER TINY OBJECTS?<br />
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"Do not pick up flammable materials (Lighter fluid, gasoline, kerosene, etc.)" Yes, because I always turn to my vacuum for cleaning up gas spills.<br />
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"Do not pick up anything that is burning or smoking, such as cigarettes, matches, or hot ashes." Apparently the lawyers are worried that we've somehow confused the vacuum with a fire extinguisher.<br />
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My favorite--"Do not use vacuum cleaner in an enclosed space filled with vapors given off by oil base paint, paint thinner, some moth proofing substances, flammable dust, or other explosive or toxic vapors." Yes, because the FIRST thing I'm going to think about doing when entering a room filled with toxic vapors is <i>vacuuming the carpet</i>. <br />
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I'm relieved that the lawyers writing this consider it vitally important to protect us from blowing ourselves up by using our vacuums inside rooms full of explosive vapors. Where would we be without them thinking about these things? <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-49288665402828998962011-07-22T23:00:00.001-04:002012-03-01T15:49:14.585-05:00Cell Phone Etiquette for Freaking MoronsOver the past few days, I've been following news about pre-ordering <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars%3A_The_Old_Republic" rel="wikipedia" title="Star Wars: The Old Republic">Star Wars: The Old Republic</a>. This, happily, includes following <a class="zem_slink" href="http://twitter.com/" rel="homepage" title="Twitter">Twitter</a> for juicy tidbits of info. A tweet by @grumpygamer tonight reminded me of some of the abject cell phone stupidity that I've seen. Of course, I just had to write up a blog post about it for you, my Trusty Friends.<br />
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He tweeted this:<br />
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<span class="tweet-user-name"> <a class="tweet-screen-name user-profile-link" data-user-id="27531390" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/grumpygamer" title="Ron Gilbert">grumpygamer</a> <span class="tweet-full-name"></span> </span> <br />
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Guy on the train talking on his cellphone just gave out his entire credit card number. Trying to figure out what I should buy tonight.</div>
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He's not the first one who's heard a credit card being given out. I regularly hear conversations with all sorts of fascinating information. In fact, if I were a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_National_Enquirer" rel="wikipedia" title="The National Enquirer">National Enquirer</a> reporter, I'd just sit on one of the commuter trains in Chicago, New York, or Washington, DC and listen to people talk on their cell phones. I'd have enough information in 2 hours of rush hour traffic to fill 15 issues at least. Unfortunately, you can't do that in LA because everyone is still stuck somewhere in "Carmageddon". They might get out of their traffic jam in about, oh, 18.2 years.<br />
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So, let's review the basic rules of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone" rel="wikipedia" title="Mobile phone">Cell Phone</a> Etiquette for Freaking Morons.<br />
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1. Don't text and drive. If you must text and drive, stay the heck off my roads, and by "my roads" I mean "all roads in the contiguous lower 48 United States, and Alaska and Hawaii because they're totally cool, too." This especially goes for the chicky who ran into us last New Year's Eve because she was looking at her phone instead of the road in front of her while driving 50 mph. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Good thing her dad had great insurance coverage.<br />
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2. Don't give your credit card number out over the phone in the middle of a crowd of people. You may as well stand on the 50 yard line of the Superbowl with a mic and yell, "Hi! My name is Joe Moron! My credit card number is 0000-3333-0000-3333 (note: not a real number), and the expiration date is 2/2011. Have a GREAT time ordering crap off <a class="zem_slink" href="http://ebay.com/" rel="homepage" title="eBay">eBay</a>, Amazon, and all the porn sites you can imagine on my tab!" </div>
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3. Don't give out your clients' personal info over the phone while sitting in an airport. This actually happened when I was at O'Hare waiting on a flight.. A guy in a row in front of me rattled off the name, full address, and phone number of one of his clients--in the MIDDLE OF THE BUSIEST AIRPORT IN THE WORLD. I thought about copying down all the info and handing it to him, and then asking for his business card so that I could make sure never to do business with him. EVER.</div>
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4. Turn off your phone in church, or at LEAST silence the darn ringer! I can assure you that the soloist singing "Ave Maria" will do just fine without your ringtone accompaniment of Lady Gaga's "Born this Way". </div>
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5. Turn off your ringer in the doctor's office. I honestly had a patient SITTING IN THE CHAIR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE EXAM answer his phone and talk about what pizza toppings he was going to order that night (pepperoni and mushroom if you care to know). He wasn't even polite enough to ask me if I'd like some, too.</div>
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6. Turn off the text notification while in the doctor's office. The temptation to look at it and reply is apparently too great for some of you. I was trying to take the medical history of a patient when she decided to answer a text. She kept her phone between her legs and tried to hide the fact that she was typing in her response while (not) answering my questions. I had the distinct urge to a. grab the phone and throw it across the room or b. tell her "You know, if you've got your hands frantically moving between your legs, it usually means one of two things, both of which don't need to be done in public. By the way, you're doing a crap job of trying to hide that you're texting. How about you go do that in the waiting room until you've figured out that Facebook can wait 15 FREAKING MINUTES while I do your exam?" Somehow, I maintained a little more control.</div>
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7. Your inability to hear your conversation due to crowd noise around you does not translate into our need to hear you answer at the volume of 220 decibels. </div>
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8. Contrary to popular opinion, I really CAN live without hearing the following:</div>
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<li>How drunk you got last night</li>
<li> How much you puked after getting drunk last night</li>
<li>What color your puke was after getting drunk last night </li>
<li>How much of an ass your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend is</li>
<li>Or, worse, ARGUING with your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend--with wars, famine, and weather catastrophes, no one really cares about your petty problems.</li>
<li>Where and when you're meeting your meth dealer</li>
<li>Your conversation with the 900 sex talk girl</li>
<li>Which friend is sleeping with what other friend, or breaking up with what friend, or is getting un-invited to what friend's party--if I want a soap opera, I'll watch "<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_and_the_Restless" rel="wikipedia" title="The Young and the Restless">The Young and the Restless</a>", thank you.</li>
<li>How unfair it was that you just got fired, and then a discussion of what happened before you got fired. Protip: if you're defending your action, a. it probably was stupid, and b. you deserved to get fired for it.</li>
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9. Texting while in the middle of a candlelight dinner at a fancy restaurant is Right Out, even if you're texting <i>your date</i>.</div>
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10. Turn your phone's ringer off during operas, all theater performances, school concerts, speeches, and other public events. People, shockingly, pay to hear the <i>performance</i>, not you. I guarantee you if your phone rings during a play and an actor on stage stops in the middle of his Hamlet soliloquy to make a snarky comment to you, I will laugh my butt off, and then cheer when you get escorted out by security.</div>
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11. Do not eat and text. You will get ketchup on your keys.</div>
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12. Do not take photos of your nether regions with your cell phone camera, upload them, and then send copies to all your friends. As a medical professional who's worked in hospitals for many years, I've seen it all, and I guarantee you that your junk is not in any way remotely comparable to Chippendale men. I will not be in awe. I will squint at that tiny thing and giggle.</div>
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<div class="zemanta-related">
<h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">
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<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/07/eetiquette-101-guidelines-for-digital.html">eEtiquette - 101 Guidelines for the Digital World</a> (freetech4teachers.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7663422.html">Teen driver using cell phone killed in Harris Co. wreck</a> (chron.com)</li>
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<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=48c314d5-fa0f-4140-a6fe-0e124a47e668" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-88152126338236289762011-07-14T00:32:00.000-04:002011-10-05T09:37:22.546-04:00Adventures of The Cure: Now with More Season 4!<br />
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Let's face it—there are better things to do with your fleetmates in Star Trek Online (STO) than Special Task Force (STF) missions. A group colonoscopy, for instance, would be more fun.</div>
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Having done The Cure and been seriously annoyed by fighting through miles and miles of endlessly respawning Borg, I was not too excited about doing it more than once. In fact, four of us Lotus fleetmates had teamed up to do Khitomer Accords, when we learned that our fifth fleetmate, Trusty Friend Brigham, hadn't successfully completed The Cure and couldn't come with us. In fact, he mentioned that he'd tried it twelve times before, always unsuccessfully. The other four of us, naturally, viewed this as A Challenge That Must Be Overcome, mostly because it was going to be great fun to say “13<sup>th</sup> time's the charm!!” I think poor Brigham was rather dubious, but our enthusiasm could not be squashed. Plus, it meant he could be a 5<sup>th</sup> teammate the next weekend for the Khitomer Accords STF. Never let it be said that we don't have ulterior motives.</div>
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For those not familiar with The Cure, you have to rescue Klingons being assimilated by the Borg, collect genetic samples from those that died while the Borg attempted to assimilate them, and finally, rescue Captain Ja'rod from Armek of Borg. This is actually a cool plotline, except for the fact that a. there's unfortunately no more to the story than that, and b. it's all pew-pew the entire mission.</div>
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We hopped in our ships and headed over to the Vorn system to see what those sneaky Klingons were up to with the Borg. We arrived in system to, naturally, find the Borg beating up on the Klingons, just like the Borg had beaten up on the Federation just a little while earlier in The Infected mission. Being the generous souls we are, we didn't just beam out of the system, we decided to help the Klingons. We quickly kicked Borg butt in space, and then beamed down to the planet's surface to collect genetic samples to find 'the cure' for Klingon assimilation. </div>
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This is where we had the chance to try out the new Season 4 ground combat features. The first thing we did was cheer that the Interlink Nodes were gone and that the trash mobs had been reduced. The next thing we did was groan at how long it took to use the remodulator on our weapons when the Borg adapted, and the fact that it HAD to be on the hotbar. This means one less slot for something important, like, oh, hyposprays, shield charges, a Borg tribble, the Ophidian cane, a Battle Horta, and things that would otherwise be more desirable for staying alive.</div>
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We also noticed quite a time disparity between how fast the Borg can adapt to our weapons, and how quickly we can remodulate our weapons:</div>
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Borg: We Are The Borg. We shall adapt to your weapons in .004 seconds.</div>
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Teammates: We Are Lotus Fleet! We shall hit you with this cool remodulator thingy that allows us to overcome your adaptation! The animation takes only...(oh, crap)...at least 5 seconds, WHILE THE BORG CONTINUE SHOOTING AT US.</div>
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We then discovered that Trusty Friend Jeff T didn't even have a remodulator, which prompted Trusty Friend Crist's comment, “Dude, that's like shooting blanks!” I felt compelled to remind Crist that most guys don't like being told they're 'shooting blanks'. Fortunately, Trusty Friend Athos had a spare remodulator thingy, which turned Jeff's shots into something far less blank-like. </div>
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One of the most frustrating mechanics, dreamed up by developers who clearly thought this would be another great way to torture their boss if the Perilous Pit of Pervasively Plentiful Plasma in Infected was not enough, is the one where you have to protect 4 transformers as they activate so you can power down the shields. Worker drones do not like their transformers being activated, and try to thwart this at all costs. They do this so effectively that it took us at least 3 tries or more to get them down. There are four shields in this mission, so we had to go through this in quadruplicate, not unlike filling out military paperwork. Brigham seriously thought that we were going to have to go for the 14<sup>th</sup> or maybe 100<sup>th</sup> try on the Cure after dying for the zillionth time. Fortunately, we knew CPR and could help.</div>
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At one point, I looked up at the top of one of the forcefields blocking our path and noticed nice, open, blue sky above. This made me wonder why one of our ships didn't just beam us up and over the forcefields and then plop us down on the other side. I will have to question my engineering officer and/or Cryptic about this lapse in grasping the obvious.</div>
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Finally, we made it to the section with the generator. It was crawling with Borg, now including female Borg, one of which actually seemed to fly in the air at one point. We all thought this was rather entertaining other than the fact that she then attacked us from behind. </div>
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The generator section is the most fun in the entire STF. If the team runs into the middle of it, everyone dies horribly. If everyone stays at the edge of the zone and works as a team to pull patrols back to them, it works beautifully. This was what I liked about the STF—we had to be careful, we had to use all our skills, we had to work as a team, and then we accomplished it. It wasn't fast, but it was fun. Watching the generator explode was icing on the cake. This is what an STF should be all about, not a non-stop pew-pew-fest.</div>
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The last task was to take out Armek of Borg so that we could rescue Captain Ja'rod. Before Season 4, this meant having a science officer go up to Armek with a melee weapon, use heals, shields, and all healing skills, and tank him while the rest of the team sniped at him from various positions. I did this for Lotus Fleet in Season 3, and it only took me a couple minutes.</div>
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That changed in Season 4.</div>
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When the Cryptic devs said “the STF bosses are harder”, what they meant was, “We devs are looking forward to seeing you players worshipping the respawn button.” I tried to tank Armek like I had in the previous playthrough. It took me forever to get him to just half of his HP, and mind you, I have a purple Mark XI Lirpa, a purple mark XI Borg Medical kit, and points thrown into ground skills, unlike a lot of my fleetmates who focus solely on space combat. Finally, everything was recharging and Armek hammered me. I faceplanted and had to respawn. We all had to respawn multiple times, because Armek could one-shot each of us. This was horrendously frustrating. Fortunately, Athos found a secret hidey spot where he could crouch, shoot past the shields, and not get one-shot himself. He slowly whittled down Armek’s HP, and finally, he got the SOB. The rest of us cheered. </div>
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After that, we had to beam back up to space, obliterate some ships that were docked, and then fight off a wave of assimilated ships, all in under 30 minutes. I think we did it in 9 minutes, because We Are Lotus Fleet, and We Rock. </div>
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We then collected our loot—a 200,000 EC Borg Graviton Deflector Array, which is part of a set. I already had one from the previous run-through of The Cure. So, I zoned to Sol Spacedock to sell it. I thought this was a rather decent reward after 4-ish hours of work and hardly any drops otherwise. Guess what? You can’t even vendor the damn thing. Why? Because apparently making any kind of EC after spending 4 hours on an STF seems to be too much to expect. So, I cashed in my Mark X turret and my shield battery instead. I guess I’ll put this extra deflector array that I really don’t need on my shuttle craft. I can’t tell you how excited I am at this prospect. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-28225939220401033392011-06-17T01:37:00.001-04:002011-06-17T09:41:10.307-04:00OMG! TEH WOMENZ!! THEY GAME!!!<span class="zemanta-img separator" style="clear: right;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Freeway_and_Pong.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="On the left is an Atari 2600 with Freeway, a g..." height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Freeway_and_Pong.jpg/300px-Freeway_and_Pong.jpg" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: both; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Freeway_and_Pong.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></span>So, there I was, being a Geeky Mom, checking out <a href="http://twitter.com/">Twitter</a> after an extended session of mining and building in <a href="http://www.terraria.org/">Terraria</a> with Trusty Friends NEligahn and Ellif, when <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/HMXThrasher">@HMXThrasher</a> made this tweet:<br />
<br />
<div class="tweet-row"><span class="tweet-user-name"> <a class="tweet-screen-name user-profile-link" data-user-id="36459516" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/HMXThrasher" title="The Thrasher"><br />
</a><span class="tweet-full-name"></span> </span> <br />
<div class="tweet-corner"><div class="tweet-meta"><span class="icons"> <div class="extra-icons"><span class="inlinemedia-icons"></span> </div></span> </div></div></div><div class="tweet-row"><blockquote><div class="tweet-text pretty-link">WHAT?! STOP THE PRESSES: people other than teenage boys play videogames! GASP, WOMEN EVEN PLAY THEM!!? <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/06/16/video.games.growth.divide/index.html/" href="http://t.co/CC4FPP7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/06/16/video.games.growth.divide/index.html/">cnn.com/2011/TECH/gami…</a><br />
<div style="cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; height: 16px; width: 16px;"></div>(what crap <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN" rel="wikipedia" title="CNN">CNN</a>)</div></blockquote></div>Being someone of the female persuasion, of course I had to check this article out. I read it, re-read it, and face-palmed (appropriately on <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Picard" rel="wikipedia" title="Jean-Luc Picard">Captain Picard</a> Day, I might add).<br />
<br />
OK, CNN writers--just where the hell have <i>you</i> been for the last, oh, 40-ish years? I probably was gaming before half of you were even born. My dad and I played Cat and Mouse on the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnavox_Odyssey" rel="wikipedia" title="Magnavox Odyssey">Magnavox Odyssey</a>. I played Pong with my aunt when it first came out. The Pac-Man game at the arcade ate a ton of my quarters along with my time. I shot up millions of Asteroids and a few thousand AT-ATs in The Empire Strikes Back game on the Atari 2600. I play games on multiple platforms now. If it's fun, I play it. If it's great, I play it for years. I still play <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars%3A_Knights_of_the_Old_Republic" rel="wikipedia" title="Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic">Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic</a> (KOTOR) for <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Wars_characters" rel="wikipedia" title="List of Star Wars characters">Jolee Bindo</a> one-liners. I play <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.startrekonline.com/" rel="homepage" title="Star Trek Online">Star Trek Online</a> with my son. My dad, kids, hubby, and I all play <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/" rel="homepage" title="The Beatles: Rock Band">Beatles Rock Band</a> together--can't beat three-generation gaming. My daughter and I trade <a href="http://www.pokemon.com/">Pokemon</a>. All of us in my family are going to be playing <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars%3A_The_Old_Republic" rel="wikipedia" title="Star Wars: The Old Republic">Star Wars: The Old Republic</a> when it comes out.<br />
<br />
Lest CNN and others who are 'speedbumps on the Clue Highway' think that I am an aberration in the female gamer category, Hubby and I quest through Tyria, Cantha, and Elona in <a href="http://www.guildwars.com/">Guild Wars</a>, along with our guildmates in The Lost Haven--many of whom are female! I've shot down my share of orcs in Neverwinter Nights (<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neverwinter_Nights" rel="wikipedia" title="Neverwinter Nights">NWN</a>) 1 and 2 and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_Online%3A_Shadows_of_Angmar" rel="wikipedia" title="The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar">LOTRO</a>, all while gaming with other women. I've installed mods for NWN 1 and 2, KOTOR 1 and 2, Dragon Age, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire%3A_The_Masquerade_%E2%80%93_Bloodlines" rel="wikipedia" title="Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines">Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines</a>, and Mass Effect--many of which were created by--shock, horror, FEMALES.<br />
<br />
Even more--we talk, write, and tweet about gaming. Trusty Friend leXX and I podcasted for 2 years about gaming on LucasCast, and share about different games regularly in forum posts and tweets. Several women host the podcast '<a href="http://corellianrun.com/">Corellian Run Radio</a>'. Trusty Friends NEligahn, Ellif, and I are working on the Crossed Lightsabers podcast. There are any number of women writing for gaming websites and magazines. I'm certainly not the only female gamer who blogs, either.<br />
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Welcome to the 21st century, CNN. Glad you made it out of your mom's basement to discover that we gals have been upstairs for years, <a href="http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/?xr=shellnav">XBox</a> controllers or <a href="http://confessionsofageekymom.blogspot.com/2010/12/geeky-mom-guide-to-installing.html">Orochi gaming mice</a> in hand, fragging VC in <a href="http://www.callofduty.com/age-gate?referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.callofduty.com%2Fblackops%3Fpath%3Dblackops">Call of Duty: Black Ops</a> or slicing and dicing the bosses in <a href="http://fallout.bethsoft.com/eng/games/fnv-overview.html">Fallout: New Vegas</a> and <a href="http://www.rockstargames.com/reddeadredemption/agegate/ref/?redirect=">Red Dead Redemption</a>. I'll even share my controller with you if you promise to quit being so idiotically surprised that women actually game. Try and keep up with us, boys. We women aren't going to hold back on our leet gaming skillz for you.<br />
<div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://celebs.icanhascheezburger.com/2011/06/16/celebrity-pictures-happy-captain-picard-day-star-trek/">Happy Captain Picard Day!</a> (celebs.icanhascheezburger.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/10/guild-wars-2s-eric-flannum-on-promises-pets-and-purpose/?icid=zemanta">Guild Wars 2's Eric Flannum on promises, pets and purpose [Updated]</a> (massively.joystiq.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/16/captains-log-the-gospel-of-tribble/?icid=zemanta">Captain's Log: The Gospel of Tribble</a> (massively.joystiq.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/star-wars-the-old-republic/preview/e3-2011-star-wars-the-old-republic-second-look-you-really-should-be-bananas-about-this-game/a-2011061614723474050/g-20081021163120143024">E3 2011: Star Wars: The Old Republic second look - you really should be bananas about this game (Star Wars: The Old Republic)</a> (gamesradar.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/13/e3-2011-hands-on-impressions-of-star-wars-the-old-republic/?icid=zemanta">E3 2011: Hands-on impressions of Star Wars: The Old Republic</a> (massively.joystiq.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=61d2f654-389c-4d07-9e8b-7b393aab9de5" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-10975964616268321222011-06-13T13:01:00.000-04:002011-06-13T13:01:14.458-04:00Contacting the State Board of Insurance=Success<span class="zemanta-img separator" style="clear: right;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ozarks.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Picture of the Ozark Mountains from Missouri S..." height="225" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Ozarks.jpg/300px-Ozarks.jpg" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: both; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ozarks.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></span>My, my. It's amazing what contacting the State Board of Insurance will do for speeding up our coverage process.<br />
<br />
First, a big kudos to the State of Missouri for getting our "official" marriage license out to us so quickly, since the copy hubby and I have been carrying around for years apparently is "not official". I was about to leave the house to express mail the 9 dollar fee when the lady in the County Clerk officer told me 'oh, it's actually free for anyone in the military'. So, she sent it out that very day, and I was able to email it to Wheaton Fransciscan 2 days later when it arrived. That was awesome. <br />
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I found out that the State had forwarded my complaint to Wheaton Franciscan. Not so surprisingly, 2 days later I received a letter saying my insurance had been terminated, despite the assurance over the phone just the day before the letter that we had a 'grace period' to get the paperwork in and that I wouldn't be removed from the insurance. I suspect that was their equivalent of flipping me the bird.<br />
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The day I got the 'we're flipping you the bird' letter, I called WF again and said a polite version of "WTF????" The nice lady reassured me that we were still in the grace period, though I highly doubted it. What's on an erasable voice recording and what's on paper are two different things. Well, the day after I emailed the super-special marriage license with all the spiffy numbers, seals, and assorted other doo-dads required to make it "more authentic" than my copy, we got an email saying I'm covered after all. I suspect the complaint to the state expedited moving on our case more quickly. <br />
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<div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/5/prweb8487759.htm">Insurance Bad Faith Complaint Center Urges Homeowners & Business Owners in Storm Ravaged States to Not Accept Low Ball Insurance Settlements</a> (prweb.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=1de0de65-b662-42fd-8383-19a10b51c738" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-58885750435653286752011-06-07T19:25:00.001-04:002011-06-07T20:55:06.871-04:00How to Give Outstandingly Bad Customer Service in Health Insurance<span class="zemanta-img separator" style="clear: right;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/75766019@N00/3907004058" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Health Insurance Does Not Insure Health" height="192" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3195/3907004058_d9cdd3d75e_m.jpg" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="240" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: both; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 240px;">Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/75766019@N00/3907004058">SavaTheAggie</a> via Flickr</span></span>One of the things I love about blogging is that I can speak my mind about a number of things. Most of the time, this happens to be about people being dweebs on <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum" rel="wikipedia" title="Internet forum">gaming forums</a> and saying silly things while <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_game" rel="wikipedia" title="Massively multiplayer online game">MMO</a> servers are down, or about adventures we have trying to kill bosses in dungeons, or about Geek Funk. These are usually fun and/or just plain silly. Occasionally, Serious Things happen in my life, and I feel compelled to share them with you. Face-palming at this atrocious behavior somehow makes us all feel a little better.<br />
<br />
So, today, Trusty Friends, the discussion is "How to Give Outstandingly Bad Customer Service in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_insurance" rel="wikipedia" title="Health insurance">Health Insurance</a>." The company in question? Well, I don't want to say the name of the company...oh, who's kidding who? Of course I'm dying to tell you it's Wheaton Franciscan! <br />
<br />
Now, this is the company Trusty Hubby has been working at for years. However, he's been deployed to Army <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_duty" rel="wikipedia" title="Active duty">active duty</a> several times during his tenure at this particular hospital. When he's on active duty, we are covered under the military's health insurance, so we don't use Wheaton Franciscan's health insurance then. To be fair, we've never had any problems until he returned from this latest deployment. Apparently, Wheaton Franciscan hired a number of new Vice Presidents during his last deployment who feel the need to justify their salaries by making life an unbearable hell for the rest of Wheaton Franciscan employees. This includes cutting benefits, cutting jobs, cutting salaries, and just plain denying coverage for anyone trying to get back on the health care plan.<br />
<br />
Now, since Trusty Hubby has been employed at WF for a number of years, and despite the fact that the insurance plan has covered us in the past without any problems, and has all of our information on file, we found out we had to jump through some new hoops to get coverage again when Hubby went back to work after coming off of active duty. Apparently during the time he was gone, WF had discovered all sorts of people claiming family members who weren't really family members. "Hundreds", we were told. There are only a few hundred WF employees--am I somehow supposed to believe that a good 75% of the employee base was committing insurance fraud? Give me a break.<br />
<br />
So, then we needed:<br />
a. Birth certificates for our kids<br />
b. Our marriage license<br />
c. Social security numbers for everyone (what they did with this information they already had on file, I don't know--it's probably being spammed out to identity thieves in China, Russia, and/or Algeria).<br />
d. A copy of our 1040 tax form proving that all of us were claimed on Trusty Hubby's tax form so that WF would believe we had kids. If they show up on a tax form, then of course they exist!<br />
e. Proof from my workplace that I didn't have insurance through them, or we'd have to pay a surcharge<br />
f. Providing detailed information on an online form.<br />
<br />
We dutifully sent all of this in. Once. Via Fax. When we asked several weeks later what the status was, did they have any of the paperwork? Of course not. We faxed it again. Silly us, this should have been our first clue that things were not going to turn out well, and that things should have been sent certified mail. We called again. Naturally, it was 'not received' again. Of course, their viewpoint is, 'if our fax machine doesn't spit it out for us, you never sent it'. I suspect they intentionally avoid putting paper in the fax machine so they a. don't have to do work that day, and/or b. have plausible deniability when someone calls to ask if they're now covered. I was informed that I also had to fill out the online form again, because 'something was wrong with how your husband filled it out'. I jumped through that hoop for them, too.<br />
<br />
So, let's sum up so far:<br />
<br />
We've sent in the paperwork 3 times, and finally hand-delivered it once.<br />
We've filled out the online form twice.<br />
I've faxed in the form showing I don't have coverage through my employer twice.<br />
<br />
Everything should be set, right? <br />
<br />
Wrong.<br />
<br />
What we have:<br />
Coverage for Trusty Hubby.<br />
Coverage for our son.<br />
No coverage for our daughter.<br />
No coverage for me.<br />
<br />
That's 50% wrong, my Trusty Friends. I'd like to point out that if I got things 50% wrong in my office, 100% of my patients would be half blind. Thank God these people aren't in charge of anything Really Important, like the CDC labs or nuclear ballistic missiles. We'd have radioactive Ebola viruses spread over half the world. <br />
<br />
What we're paying:<br />
Family coverage, for employee, spouse, and all kids.<br />
A surcharge for me, because, surprise, surprise, they LOST the paperwork sent TWICE stating I have no coverage through my employer. So, they're taking extra money out of Trusty Hubby's pay, all while not covering me, because this is a brilliant financial move according to some VP in the company.<br />
<br />
What I call this: Fraud. Pure, unadulterated FRAUD. We are paying for something we are not receiving. <br />
<br />
Last week, we received an email from them, stating they could not cover me until we sent them another copy of our marriage license. Apparently, the copy we picked up from the county courthouse, actually got signed by the Chaplain, witnesses, and everything ON THE DAY OF OUR WEDDING, was not good enough. Despite the fact that it's been good enough for the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.army.mil/" rel="homepage" title="United States Army">US Army</a> for the last 20-odd years, it is not good enough for WF. No, WF required the version with serial numbers on it, notarized, licked, sealed, and containing both my bra size and the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA" rel="wikipedia" title="DNA">DNA</a> of the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_clerk" rel="wikipedia" title="County clerk">County Clerk</a> in triplicate on it. They don't want blood, however, because that would be a biohazard. <br />
<br />
At this point, after having dealt with this for months, and seeing this ridiculous new requirement designed to delay coverage even LONGER, I decided that contacting the State Board of Insurance would be a simply excellent idea. I told the state that I thought this was a delay tactic so that the company would either not have to cover the 2 most expensive people in the family or could delay paying our claims. Not so coincidentally, the two of us who are not covered are the two who've actually seen a doctor in the last 3 months. I'd do my best <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0331906/" rel="imdb" title="Gilbert Gottfried">Gilbert Gottfried</a> impression and say "What as surprise! I think I'll have a heart attack and die from that surprise!" However, I'm not sure what my insurance status is, so having a heart attack right now is out of the question.<br />
<br />
Contacting the state turned out to be an even better decision when I received a letter from the insurance company the next morning, DATED JUNE 1, stating they needed copies of all our paperwork, YET AGAIN, and that it was due--get this--MAY 30TH. <br />
<br />
Now I was really mad. When I call to make a complaint, I am polite, but firm. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, no matter how big the fly is. Nevertheless, I informed them that sending me a form dated 2 days AFTER the due date was about as intelligent as hitting an electrical line with a metal pickax, and that we had sent PDF copies of everything JUST THE NIGHT BEFORE. The lady who spoke to me was amazingly patient, and informed me that everything was OK, explained that yes, I still had to jump through the idiotic marriage license hoop because the one we have isn't 'official' enough for them, and that we'd have until June 20th to get this in, as a special grace period.<br />
<br />
Today, I received a letter saying my spouse coverage was terminated as of March 31st. The lady I spoke to on the phone again today reassured me we had until June 20th to get the paperwork in.<br />
<br />
Sure. Like I believe that after all this BS. I'm sure the State Board will find all of this fraudulent activity about as fascinating as I do. Moral of the story--if you have insurance problems of any kind, contact your State Board of Insurance. They can help you get it resolved. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/self-employed/7157.html">Deducting Health Insurance Premiums If You're Self-Employed</a> (turbotax.intuit.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=8ebf1fb2-9180-4e46-adcd-c253490b8b2b" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-12388409231669693362011-06-06T00:49:00.001-04:002011-06-06T01:03:33.629-04:00My New Namesake<span class="zemanta-img separator" style="clear: right;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Six_weeks_old_cat_%28aka%29.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A six-week-old kitten." height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Six_weeks_old_cat_%28aka%29.jpg/300px-Six_weeks_old_cat_%28aka%29.jpg" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: both; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Six_weeks_old_cat_%28aka%29.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></span>You know you've achieved some level of Geeky fame (or notoriety, I'm not quite sure which) when you have someone named after you. In this case, the 'someone' is a very cute kitten, currently being fostered by online Trusty Friend, Kookee. The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitten" rel="wikipedia" title="Kitten">kittens</a> were dropped off on his front lawn a few days ago by someone who a. didn't care about the fact that he was leaving helpless kittens on the side of a road, and b. was too stupid to call the local <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humane_society" rel="wikipedia" title="Humane society">humane society</a> or even <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_control_officer" rel="wikipedia" title="Animal control officer">animal control</a>, either of which would have happily taken the tiny little fluff balls to a safe place. If you have dogs or cats, the least you could do is spay/neuter them so that they can't make little copies of themselves. Contact your local humane society, because they often have discount programs to help. If you can't do that and you do end up with tiny ones, surrender them to animal control or the humane society or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-kill_shelter" rel="wikipedia" title="No-kill shelter">no-kill shelter</a>, please. Don't just dump them. That's cruel, and people like that belong down in the 8th circle of Hell, ranking only slightly higher on the hell hierarchy than mass-murderers and child molesters. <br />
<br />
So, Trusty Friend Kookee, being the crazy guy that he is, has taken the kittens in to foster until he can find a good home for them. You can see the kittens here on this Youtube channel: <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/rYmg71c_WQQ/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rYmg71c_WQQ&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rYmg71c_WQQ&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><br />
<br />
It is not always easy to tell what gender little kittens are, however, especially fuzzy ones like these two. Kookee had named them "Bob and Jay", thinking both were of the male persuasion. Well, lo and behold, Jay turned out to be a girl, and Kookee's first choice of renaming her? Why, name her after an online friend, of course, and change it from Jay to Jae!<br />
<br />
Only in a Geeky Mom world could a friend I met in an online gaming forum, LucasForums, find out a kitten is female instead of male, and then name her "Jae Onasi". :D If I weren't living about 800 miles from Kookee, and in the middle of getting prepared for a cross-country move this summer, I'd adopt her myself.<br />
<br />
It's <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption" rel="wikipedia" title="Adoption">Adopt</a>-a-Cat month. Consider adopting a kitten or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat" rel="wikipedia" title="Cat">cat</a> yourself, and if you aren't able to, please make a donation to your local shelter. They can always use cat and kitten food, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litter_box" rel="wikipedia" title="Litter box">cat litter</a>, paper towels, and even your time or money.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://thevalleyvoice.org/2011/05/31/kennebec-valley-humane-society-begins-a-busy-summer-season-with-adopt-a-cat-month-2/33115/">Kennebec Valley Humane Society Begins a Busy Summer Season with "Adopt A Cat Month".</a> (thevalleyvoice.org)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/pets/detail?entry_id=88506">Foster a newborn kitten!</a> (sfgate.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/pet-health/housetraining-your-kitten.aspx">How To Housetrain Your Kitten</a> (everydayhealth.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.neatorama.com/2011/06/02/whats-really-happening-in-the-kitten-hugging-video/">What's Really Happening in the Kitten Hugging Video?</a> (neatorama.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=1c0a7e1c-573f-4dfd-8d5a-fae88836cd34" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-61444407335516456522011-05-02T20:39:00.000-04:002011-05-02T20:39:26.609-04:00Security alerts!It's been a very busy week for hackers, apparently. Just last week, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.sony.com/" rel="homepage" title="Sony">Sony</a> (finally!) admitted that their Playstation Network (PSN) had been hacked, and private info had been stolen. <a href="http://kotaku.com/#%215796027/sony-didnt-know-severity-of-ps3-breach-until-monday">Kotaku reports</a> that Sony initially reported it was not 100% sure if credit card data was stolen or not, despite 'days of forensic analysis'. <br />
<br />
Now, I'm not sure how it takes a number of days to discover customer data has been hacked. However, I'm pretty sure that the only reason someone would WANT to hack the accounts is for 2 reasons: 1. grab <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_card_number" rel="wikipedia" title="Bank card number">credit card numbers</a>, and/or 2. commit identity theft. <br />
<br />
According to <a href="http://kotaku.com/#%215797858/more-than-12700-credit-cards-stolen-from-sony-online-entertainment">an article from Kotaku today</a>, 24.6 MILLION accounts 'may have been' compromised, and the information on approximately 12,700 credit card numbers were stolen:<br />
<blockquote><br />
"The credit card data stolen, however, comes from an outdated database from 2007. That database contained 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates, along with the direct debit information for 10,700 customers in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain."</blockquote>To be safe, if you have a PSN account, assume it's been hacked instead of waiting for Sony to get around to telling you for sure. Take steps to protect yourself immediately (see tips below).<br />
<br />
On top of that, Trusty Friend ChAiNz sent out an <a href="http://www.securityweek.com/cybercriminals-using-osama-bin-ladens-death-spread-malware">article by securityweek.com </a>on his Facebook page advising people to be careful about what links they're clicking on when trying to find out more information on the death of Osama Bin Laden. Cybercriminals will post intentionally provocative "articles" and fake pictures on the event to lure people to their sites, which are loaded with malware. <br />
<br />
So, take some steps to protect yourself.<br />
1. If you are a Playstation network user, immediately <a href="http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/26/update-on-playstation-network-and-qriocity/">visit the page on the Sony PSN outage</a> and review the basic steps to protect yourself. In particular, follow these directions that Sony posted on their page:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>"For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personally_identifiable_information" rel="wikipedia" title="Personally identifiable information">personally identifiable information</a>. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them, as well.<br />
<br />
To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and to monitor your credit reports. We are providing the following information for those who wish to consider it:<br />
<br />
U.S. residents are entitled under U.S. law to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free (877) 322-8228.<br />
<br />
We have also provided names and contact information for the three major U.S. credit bureaus below. At no charge, U.S. residents can have these credit bureaus place a “fraud alert” on your file that alerts creditors to take additional steps to verify your identity prior to granting credit in your name. This service can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name. Note, however, that because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you, it also may delay your ability to obtain credit while the agency verifies your identity. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts on your file. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, or should you have any questions regarding your credit report, please contact any one of the agencies listed below.<br />
<br />
Experian: 888-397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013<br />
Equifax: 800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241<br />
<a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.transunion.com/" rel="homepage" title="TransUnion">TransUnion</a>: 800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790<br />
<br />
You may wish to visit the web site of the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.ftc.gov/" rel="homepage" title="Federal Trade Commission">U.S. Federal Trade Commission</a> at www.consumer.gov/idtheft or reach the FTC at 1-877-382-4357 or 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580 for further information about how to protect yourself from identity theft. Your state Attorney General may also have advice on preventing identity theft, and you should report instances of known or suspected identity theft to law enforcement, your State Attorney General, and the FTC. For North Carolina residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; telephone (877) 566-7226; or www.ncdoj.gov. For Maryland residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; telephone: (888) 743-0023; or www.oag.state.md.us."</blockquote><br />
2. If you visit a site that asks you to download something in order to view it, like a codec or some other item, be very suspicious. Don't download it unless you're 100% sure it's a reputable site with reputable software. To be safe, run an antivirus scan on any program or file that is downloaded to your computer.<br />
<br />
3. Don't give out personal information on any sites you don't trust.<br />
<br />
4. Visit only reputable news sites for information on world events like Bin Laden's death. <br />
<br />
As <a href="http://www.securityweek.com/cybercriminals-using-osama-bin-ladens-death-spread-malware">Mike Lennon says on Securityweek.com's site today</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote><span style="font-family: tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In this situation, when users click on a link to a malicious site and reach the infected Web page, they are prompted to accept the download of a file, such as a codec to watch a video, and the malware will be installed on the computers.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Users should be especially cautious around this event, since no official photos have been released of Bin Laden's body after his death was reported, thus users may be inclined to search more on their own to see if photos or videos are available. Cybercriminals typically use very attractive headlines to encourage users to click links and direct them to malware infected Web pages. Be cautious, and don't assume links and videos posted by friends on social networking sites are safe.</span></span></blockquote><br />
<br />
5. Keep your antivirus and anti-malware programs up to date, and schedule them to run often. Also, make sure to use a firewall. Freeware versions of these can all be found at CNet's www.download.com site.<br />
<br />
6. Change your passwords regularly, and use passwords that are hard to guess. Including numbers and symbols makes it harder for thieves to hack accounts. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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</script></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52102496020386658.post-1693426965058341282011-04-05T18:36:00.000-04:002011-04-05T18:36:32.196-04:00The Adventures of the Infected<!--[if !mso]> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">A couple weeks ago, several of us decided it was time to give the Special Task Force Missions (STFs) a try.<span> </span>This was in part inspired by Trusty Friend Mishy’s adventures with STFs and earning Kewl Loot ™, and in spite of Trusty Friend Kheren’s dire warnings that they were nothing more than respawn nightmares on the order of The Big Dig Fleet action.<span> </span>I enjoyed The Big Dig about as much as I enjoyed having a tooth abscess last year, so I was in no rush to do an STF like that, much less with PUGs.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After gaming with Trusty Friends Marconius, Jeff T, Mishy, wildardoc, Ellif, N’Eligahn, and a host of other fleet mates during the feature episodes, and hearing a number of people say “gosh, we should do some STFs together,” I finally decided to take the plunge. After all, we had a lot of fun together slashing our way through the enemies, taking down Romulan ships, earning our Reman bridge officers, and crafting Mark XI purple Vulcan lirpas.<span> </span>This was (theoretically) a natural progression.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, on a weekend morning, after much encouragement from Jeff T for people to join in, I signed on.<span> </span>Jeff T gets extra points for enthusiasm in teammate recruiting.<span> </span>Marconius came on board to help out, as did Ellif and N’Eligahn.<span> </span>Kheren was willing to join, but only if we didn’t have the necessary 5 people. His view is that STFs are about as entertaining as repeatedly head-butting a 10-foot thick concrete wall until one’s brains splatter out, but helping fleet mates was worth the sacrifice nonetheless. I suspect Ellif and N’Eligahn joined the party so that Kheren wouldn’t have to commit ritual suicide.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, once we got all settled in, we had to decide who would call the shots during the mission.<span> </span>Jeff T and I were STF virgins and thus not ideally suited for ‘mission leader’.<span> </span>Ellif didn’t have voice chat.<span> </span>N’Eligahn likes STFs only slightly better than Kheren does, so Marconius, bless his heart, ended up being the leader, whether he wanted to be or not.<span> </span>Besides, after about 2 minutes of play we discovered he clearly had his pass to the Clue Bus and knew what the heck he was doing.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The first task: Take down the transwarp conduit in the Sibiran system.<span> </span>This involved taking down hordes of Borg Cubes transwarping through the conduit, along with the occasional Borg Tactical Cube. They should be renamed “Tendinitis Cubes”, because that’s what you get after shooting at them so darn long.<span> </span>After destroying Tendinitis Cubes, you then have the option to shoot at the conduit itself in order to do damage. Why your shots are effective only after destroying Tendinitis Cubes is beyond me. N’Eligahn assured us that our loot drop at the end would be better if we kept all 3 of the doo-dads powering the conduit functioning.<span> </span>After dealing with far too many Tendinitis Cubes, however, it became clear that unless we wanted to continue shooting at Cubes and the conduit for another 3 hours, we were going to have to sacrifice a little loot to get the STF done sometime that week. We chewed through 2 of the doo-dads and finally did enough damage to the conduit to bring it down.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The second task: Find Captain Ogden.<span> </span>This required going through various rooms on Starbase 82, killing many spawning Borg, and being repeatedly killed by many spawning Borg.<span> </span>Fortunately, Marconius knew all about the Interlink Nodes (aka the Insanely Masochistic Nodes) that created the endlessly spawning Borg. We quickly attacked those.<span> </span>I discovered that my newly crafted purple Mark XI Vulcan lirpa was awesome and made of win.<span> </span>It goes right through Borg shields.<span> </span>I think I only died a couple dozen times in this section, which made it tough on the rest of the team since I was one of the primary healers. Teammates don’t stay alive so well when the healer is sprawled on the ground after she’s forgotten to get the heck out of the way of the Bad Guys.<span> </span>We made our way to Captain Ogden and discovered that he was a. assimilated beyond repair, and b. surprisingly easy to take down compared to the conduit. This led us to our final room.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The third task: Upload a virus to four computers, find Capt. Simmons, and survive the Perilous Pit of Pervasively Plentiful Plasma. N’Eligahn and Ellif decided to take the center platform, while Marconius, Jeff T, and I would run around uploading viruses to the 4 corner computers.<span> </span>Jeff and I were admonished ‘not to step in the green stuff or you die instantly’, and that jumping from crate to crate sitting in the middle of this pit was ‘no more difficult than jumping in Mario Brothers’.<span> </span>I did not point out that the last time I played a Mario game there were still things like video game arcades in shopping malls and that we had to put quarters in the slots to play it.<span> </span>Then we were told we had exactly 6 minutes to kill the Borg, coordinate the 3 of us in activating each computer, upload the virus, and then hop around like manic Monty Python killer bunnies to the next corner and repeat the process 3 more times. THEN we could kill the final boss in a giant shoot-out.<span> </span>It’s kind of like golf except less fun. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Jeff and I quickly discovered that the younger generation is much more adept at jumping than the two of us are.<span> </span>We confirmed within approximately 2 nanoseconds of trying to jump onto our very first crate that yes, the plasma does indeed kill instantly. We also discovered that jumping back on to the boxes was next to impossible. We then discovered that when you respawn, you do so outside the force field of the room, and you can’t re-enter.<span> </span>We’re not entirely sure what possessed the developers to design a room with a molten moat in the first place, since the Borg die when you push them into the pit, too.<span> </span>I suspect Good Drugs were somehow involved. The designers must have been sitting around one day and said “Man, what would be the best way to torture Emmert if he was an ACTUAL officer on this ACTUAL mission? I know! Let’s fill the room full of insta-kill puke-green toxic waste, then make jumping so crazy that he falls into the pit, dies 50 bazillion times, then respawns <i>outside</i> the force field so that the entire party has to suicide in order to re-open the force field to continue. That would be simply AWESOME.”<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At some point, it was determined that either Jeff or I should go to the center platform where jumping insanely into the putrescent pit would not be involved. Jeff was lucky and ended up in the center.<span> </span>N’Eligahn assured me that I’d only die a few more thousand times before the mission would end, but that he was ‘there for me’ and would be sure to do CPR on my poor dead body as often as needed. I made a socially unacceptable salute to him that he could not see.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After suiciding/respawning several times, I finally built up enough jumping skill to make it around the area without falling more than a few dozen times, and the final boss spawned. We died trying to kill her. So, in a fit of complete determination and/or masochism, we started over with that room, doing our manic bunny-hop from corner to corner.<span> </span>Miss Bossy spawned again.<span> </span>What happened? You guessed it; I fell in that stupid pit yet again.<span> </span>However, the boss was down to almost no health by then, and the team wisely decided killing the boss was going to be more effective than doing CPR on me, since I’d be resurrected to get my reward anyway once she was dead.<span> </span>The boss died, I revived, we all got our rewards, and life was good. I actually ended up with 2 Borg engines.<span> </span>Accepting both the RA and VA versions of the Cure means you get credit for both when you complete the mission once. I think that’s semi-fair for the torture the devs put us all through.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Below: Jae fails at jumping for the zillionth time and ends up buried in the middle of the crate.<span> </span>Note that rigor mortis has set in amazingly fast.<span> </span>Fortunately, N’Eligahn knew CPR!</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdhCYPTcYYCJ0wbN0S2YF8wc4MCy58tY9zSMeFMIcV24hRUdFYaWqNVvs2abk7FOWn6qbPBBie0yFRZua_RZYOoOfjxa5k61QgFC5ZY7g2e9L3tWcK3mZ7ZdJYeoqMe-lErkMaUtz5JwQ/s1600/Jae+fails+at+jumping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdhCYPTcYYCJ0wbN0S2YF8wc4MCy58tY9zSMeFMIcV24hRUdFYaWqNVvs2abk7FOWn6qbPBBie0yFRZua_RZYOoOfjxa5k61QgFC5ZY7g2e9L3tWcK3mZ7ZdJYeoqMe-lErkMaUtz5JwQ/s320/Jae+fails+at+jumping.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14700447856314150980noreply@blogger.com0