Christmas Time

Christmas came and went and now it's time to recap. I had a good Christmas. I got a couple of DVD's that I wanted and a few games for my new PSP. They are pretty cool and will entertain me for a quite a while, I'm sure. I also got, perhaps the best gift of all, a 4 day weekend from work! Those are great. They come few and far between and enjoyed to their fullest when they come around.

Christmas is a great time of the year and this year was great because of another reason than gifts... I didn't have to hear about the whole "It's a Holiday Tree!" ordeal. People left it well enough alone. No one complained when I said Merry Christmas and I didn't complain when someone said Happy Hanakuh or Happy Kwanzaa. It's nice that people can finally say things without other people yelling and whining about it.

That's it, I guess. Merry Christmas!

So...

Yeah, I still have nothing to say.

Eh...

I'll write something tomorrow.

Kerotan Returns

It's Kerotan time. Everyone needs a little Kerotan time. Brightens the day and lightens the mood.

Cookies for all.

Except the man in the back... yeah, I saw what you did to the bushes outside...

Um...

4 days? My bad. Nothing to say really.

Something interesting needs to happen. Good interesting, preferably.

Lyrics

I'm in the mood for a little music, so here you go.

Ingenting by Kent.

Album: Tillbaka Till Samtiden

I Hagnesta Hill
blinkar tv-ljusen
Jag gör vad jag kan
Drömmer mig bort
I Hagnesta Hill
bland de identiska husen
Rycker vi till
Reklamen avbryts för sport

Ingenting

Först kom ingenting

Sen kom ingenting

Sen kom ingenting

men ingenting är (ingenting, inget, inget)

Dom jävlarna tog oss

en efter en

Dom ljög och bedrog oss

med sanningen

Dom jävlarna tog min älskling där

Från krönet av kullen kan jag se

min förlorade värld

Jag ska göra nånting

Jag ska slå er med häpnad

Gå över en gräns

Jag ska bryta mig ut

Jag älskar dig så

som att vara beväpnad

Och under belägring kan jag skjuta dig ut

Ingenting

Först kom ingenting

Sen kom ingenting

Sen kom ingenting

men ingenting är (ingenting, inget, inget)

Dom jävlarna tog oss

en efter en

Dom ljög och bedrog oss

med sanningen

Dom jävlarna tog min älskling där

Från krönet av kullen kan jag se

min förlorade värld

Ingenting

Först kom ingenting

Sen kom ingenting

Sen kom ingenting

men ingenting är (ingenting, inget, inget)

Dom jävlarna tog oss

en efter en

Dom ljög och bedrog oss

med sanningen

Dom jävlarna tog min älskling där

Från krönet av kullen kan jag se

min förlorade värld

Happy Birthday to me

Okay, so my birthday was actually Tuesday. I'm a little late. It's my birthday and I'll decide when I want to post about it. So there. Shut you up in a hurry.

Anyway, it was a long day because of work, but it was nice when I got home because my family was there to shower me with love and presents. I had an ice cream cake, too. Delicious.

I got a PSP (PlayStation Portable) and it's really cool. I am really enjoying it so far. I got two games for it, which are both really fun. One is Medievil: Resurrection and the other is Burnout: Dominator. Both are great, but I'm really loving Medievil. It's been so long since I played the original on the PS One. Sir Daniel Fortesque rocks all video game characters. Ever. Except for Gray Fox from Metal Gear Solid, but Sir Dan is a close second.

Anywho, that's all. I'm off to finish my cake! Oh, I should probably eat supper, too. No particular order.

Aha!

Saints and Soldiers. That was the third WWII movie I couldn't remember in my last post. It was bugging me.

I'm terrible at titles

The above is a Water Djinn from the game Guild Wars: Nightfall. The creators of Guild Wars has put out miniature pets for the player's enjoyment. These pets can be obtained by playing the game for a year. They appear in your inventory as a birthday gift and you get a random mini pet. Most of the pets are pretty common, but some, like the one above (mine), are quite rare and quite valuable. There has been a pretty big market for these mini pets in the game. You can make a lot of gold buying and selling these things. I paid about 135,000 gold for this mini Water Djinn. It took a long time to get the cash, and a long time to find a seller who would be willing to let one part for that amount of gold. They normally go for more. Some mini pets are worth millions. I got lucky.

Speaking of birthdays, mine is coming up. Tuesday marks my 24th birthday. Happy Birthday to me.

I'm not sure why I posted the picture or wrote a paragraph about that. Lack of anything better to write, I suppose. I thought the picture was cool and I guess it never hurts to talk about video games, though I guess the majority of the population that blogs would rather I write about politics or movie stars. I try to steer clear of both (with the exception of writing about my crackpot theories of conspiracy, espionage, and World War III) because, well, who cars? Politics are important, yes, but it can so irritating at times. I grow so tired of seeing the campaigns on TV, on billboards, and on cardboard signs stuck in my front yard.

As for the movie stars... I grow so sick and tired of hearing about movie stars. Who cares about Britney Spears or Paris Hilton or any other filthy, STD-ridden whore that can't drive seem to go more than a few days without landing themselves in jail or having a photo snapped of their uncovered nether regions. Who cares? Why does anyone care about movie stars for that matter? You can like their work, you can like the movies they are in, you can even be star struck when you see one of them, but why... why do we care what they do on a daily basis? Why do we care what Tom Cruise does on a Saturday morning? Why do we care when Jessica Simpson uses the ladies' room on Friday night? Why do we care? Why are we so concerned with the personal lives of other people? It's called a "personal" life for a reason. It is supposed to be that.

Why would I waste my time writing about something millions of other people have already blogged about anyway? I keep my blog limited to my own life. It might not be interesting, but at least it is something that not everyone knows about. It is me. My personal thoughts and views. That is why I don't conform to the standards of a star-crazed society. I apologize to anyone who might read this and expect great and wonderful things. I am not a writer. I do not lead an interesting life. What I write comes from a dirty shelf in a dark, dusty closet lodged deep into the recesses of my brain. It also comes as I go. I make half of it up as I go. In the case of this blog, I made it ALL up as I went along, starting from the first word.

Wow. Not sure where that came from. Not sure bearing it had on anything. I told you I made things up as I go. I rarely stay on one topic for long.

My girlfriend of - hm, let's see... 10 months? Sounds right - 10 months broke up with me today. That always makes for a good day, hm? Not fun. That's all I'll say on the subject. I hate sappy, mushy "I'm sorry, let's talk about it" stuff afterwards. What difference does it make?

Any ladies out there? Hello? I'm not as horribly cynical and pessimistic as my blog may make me seem. Really.

Anyway, my mini vacation is over. I go back to work tomorrow after 4 days off for the Thanksgiving holiday. Not looking forward to it. Work has gotten quite unfun lately. My boss is being a bit.... ornery, I suppose the right word would be. She seems to have a constant thumb up her rear. Not sure if it's because the end of the year is looming just over the horizon or if it's a natural thing. I'm leaning toward the latter. Females tend to get stuck on a certain setting and stay there for a while. I shall remain in my little cubicle in the corner, not say anything, do my job, and leave. Better to slip in and out unnoticed.

I watched a movie today. Enemy at the Gates. A good World War II movie. I enjoyed it quite thoroughly. My brother loaned it to me and said it was good. He was right. I like WWII movies, for the most part. Saving Private Ryan, Enemy at the Gates, and... gosh, there was another one he let me watch a while back, but I can't remember the name of it. Had a Christian sniper, an athiest medic, a British pilot, and a bunch of guys getting killed. All I remember is that the sniper's nickname was Deacon. Can't remember the name. Oh, well. My brother will tell me.

That is all! I've posted a bit lately. My last three posts, including this one, are new, more or less, so regular readers, don't stop here. Continue reading.... or I'll come find you.

The growing idiocy of online users

"Me fail English? That's unpossible!"

Ah, the immortal words of young Ralph Wiggum. Sadly, it accurately depicts many of the students in today's public school system. Children and teenagers these days have been twisted and seduced by the glamour of the pop star/movie star life and as such, put education on the back burners. After all, you don't have to be able to spell "cat" with a C if you have a million bucks, right? You have other people for such remedial tasks.

But only a very select few of people will ever make it to that kind of fame and fortune, and in the end, their inability to construct a complete sentence with any meaning will knock them back down to the dark abyss of poverty.

Far too much am I chatting with someone on the Internet that has no regard for the proper use of the English language. Rather, American English. The two are indeed different. Too often do I see "wus up!" or "how r u?" or any other number of poorly spelled and rather incomplete thoughts. This saddens me to no end. Has the computer and technology made the general population even more stupid? Or is it simply a case of laziness? In my opinion, typing "how r u?" takes far longer than "How are you?" I don't have to think about using proper grammar and spelling. I have to think about typing in shorthand. You see my point.

I'm not talking about the commonly used "LOL," "BRB," or "BTW." I am guilty of using those. I'm talking about using short hand in every sentence that one types. The combination of letters and numbers to form words like "Great!" or "mate." That's what saddens me. Does it really take so much effort to type correctly?

Typing in this shorthand does nothing constructive for today's youth. It teaches them that they can be lazy when it comes to communication. Where will that lead them in life? How will their professor (on the off chance they even get into a college [or graduate high school for that matter]) react when they hand in their term paper titled "Y my 5ummer wuz gr8." I pity that professor.

On par with this shorthanded typing is the so called 1337 speak. In this case, numbers are substituted for the letters they most closely resemble. In case you cannot figure it out, 1337 is "leet." Leet supposedly means that one is better than another. They are elite. But this spelling (or misspelling, if you prefer) only proves their inability to communicate with any type of proficiency. They are not elite. They are merely another member of a society that is becoming exponentially dumber with each passing day.

How can one function in society when they can only type with numbers and short hand? It boggles my mind. It is unfortunate that this not only affects teenagers and children on the Internet, but the adults as well. I speak to too many adults that use the same type of poor grammar and spelling and wonder how they ever made it in life. I don't understand how someone can force their brain to do this.

So I end with that; grateful for the few friends that I have that understand proper American English and how to incorporate it into their typing. Thank you to those. For everyone else... go to school, you lazy morons!

The only people I give leeway to when it comes to misuse of grammar or spelling are foreigners that may not be experts at the American English language. Most foreigners are taught English (taught by British instructors). This can vary greatly from what we use here in the United States. I'm still not a fan of 1337 speak, though. Don't do it.

The day after

I trust everyone's Thanksgiving was enjoyable and you were caught driving under the influence of tryptophan. If you were, well, you can be thankful the bail was within your budget.

I've decided to keep the same template for my blog page, but I will change the font and font color to that of the previous two posts. I like blue and you can't go wrong with Times New Roman. I do wish I could use other fonts, but given the limited options, this shall suffice.

You might notice the new page hit counter above my profile image. Nifty, hm? It fits the color scheme of my page, too. That's pretty much the only reason I put it up. It was blue.

Anyway, that's all for now.

Bye, I suppose.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm not going anywhere for Thanksgiving, but I probably won't bother to write anything tomorrow, so I'll get it out of the way now. Happy Freaking Turkey Day! ...or something like that.

I despise turkey. Ugh, it's awful. Doesn't matter who makes it or how big the turkey was before it got shot, beheaded, de-feathered, and stuffed with... stuffing. It's awful. It's so horribly dry. It's hard to chew and it has no taste whatsoever. It's like gnawing on your shoe. For a long time, I was forced to eat this junk, but fortunately, now that I'm much older, I finally have a bloody choice. My choice? Anything else. I might have some ham and mashed potatoes or something. I'm not a big fan of ham (or any meat for that matter, save for shrimp), but it's a lot better than turkey. There's only a handful of things I hate more than turkey and roast beef ranks high on my list. That's a whole 'nother ordeal.

Anyway, I suppose I should get back to work. Had a slow moment for once and decided to write something.

Happy Thanksgiving to America. Well, Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Busy, busy, busy.

Geez. Work takes time! Time I usually take to write something important. How dare it. How dare it cut into "me" time. Hmpf.

Sorry, people. I've been quite busy of late, as you just read. Working and playing games. I did leave out the latter part, didn't I? I've been really getting back into The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I love the game and it runs so beautifully on my system. For that matter, every game runs beautifully on my system. I played for a long time a while back and beat it several times with several different characters, but I took a break in favor of Guild Wars. I did what I set out to do in Guild Wars and now I have left it behind, more or less, in favor of Oblivion.

I currently have a level 32 Imperial ninja/warrior that I'm puttering around with. I call him a ninja warrior because in stealth mode, I've got a constant 85% chameleon effect going on and stand directly in front of someone or run all around them and they can't see me. I'll jump into an Oblivion portal, stay in crouch mode, and steal the sigil at the end, closing the gate, all without being seen or even drawing my sword. Hah. It's almost too easy.

He's also a warrior because I have my blade and heavy armor skills maxed out and I have full daedric armor which makes me a tank among fluffy bunnies. I can kill most daedra in a single strike while in sneak mode with my trusty Goldbrand. Most things fall to me in a single swoop.

I rock. I used to have a level 39 Argonian ninja/warrior way back when, but an issue that caused me to have to reformat my harddrive made me lose the save games. Starting over wasn't so bad, though. I loved doing all of the guild quests again. Once again, I am the guild leader of every guild. The Dark Brotherhood is the first one I go after. There's nothing cooler than the Black Hand robes and murdering people. Then I do the Mages Guild because it's a fun series of quests after you get the reccomendations (which can be a pain), followed by either the Thieves Guild or Fighter's Guild, just depending on my mood and if I feel like playing the ninja side of things or warrior side of things. I wind up doing them all, though.

Anyway, maybe I'll get a screenshot of my character sometime soon and post it. For now, though, all you get is the Oblivion logo.

Bye for now!

A new look

I've decided to change things up around here. I'll be experimenting with different fonts, font colors, and templates, so if you come here and it's one thing and then come back and it's another, that's why. There's nothing wrong with the way it is now, but there's nothing wrong with a little change either.

I finally got my first paycheck today. It's been ages. It wasn't much, but at least it's something going in and not coming out.

I'm tired and cranky. That's all I have to say for now.

Greetings and salutations!

People still use words like that, right? No? Why not? They're great words. I make it a point to say "Greetings" at least once a day. Normally I use it when speaking to people online, as I tend to get weird looks if I use it in face to face conversation, but I've decided to say "Screw it" and say greetings to someone in person.

Alright, so there was really no point at all to that paragraph. Obviously I can't write an entire blog about the supreme awesomeness of title, but it got me started, so that's a plus, right? It's come to my attention that I've put too much concern into who reads my blog and whether or not they leave a comment. This goes against my very nature as a person. In real life, I couldn't care less whether or not you liked me. In fact, it's better if you don't like me. Then I don't have to pretend to like you and I can forgo being civil altogether. Saves us both a lot of time!

Anyway, that being said: Comment if you will, readers. I care not. Invade my interweb, read my rantings, and depart with nary a word uttered.

Today's topic shall touch on China. I've written about China before, so it's probably not going to be surprising that I have another conspiracy theory to reveal to you all.

Everyone in the US that has a TV, has picked up the paper, or has spoken to someone on the street knows that this year has been marked by the recalls of millions of toys coming from China. The problem with these toys ranges from lead paint to traces of the date rape drug. The targets of these toys? Children. Hm.

For years, China has been quietly building up their military strength. Their army now numbers at least 8 million, easily giving them the largest army in the world, shattering the numbers of the US, Britain, and Russia. China has also been quietly revamping their ability to mass produce. This should be a concern to all. I shall explain why momentarily.

Toys are meant for children. Tainted toys are meant to harm children. Harmed children fall victim to a variety of health issues. Children with health issues, over the course of time, short or long, die.

China has long been suspected of starting World War Three, which it could easily do with Russia to the north, Japan and Taiwan to the East, and a miraid of small nations to the south. I find it strange that suddenly, after all this military buildup, China "accidentally" starts poisoning toys. Why not? Why not poison the children of the United States. Children would die. The elderly will die as normal, but pose little threat in a war. This leaves only adults and teenagers. With the majority of the military tied up in affairs in the Middle East, the US would have no choice but to implement the Draft once again. With our pasts and futures dying off, all that is left is our present. Our present is sent off to war. Our present will surely suffer massive casualties.

The Unites States and the Allies won World War II because of the US's ability to mass produce. For every US tank destroyed, 4 more took it's place. The Germans, while possessing superior firepower, could not withstand the relentless assault of mass produced weaponry. This is why China is now increasing their ability to mass produce. Think about it. 8 million men and women fire a lot of rounds during the course of a battle. Rounds that need replacing. Equipment will need replacing, as will vehicles. A well-oiled and functioning Chinese manufacturing line could spell disaster for any country it decides to invade.

I shall watch you, China. I shall watch you.

(No, no, once again I am NOT anti-American. I am proud to be an American. We have a great country. I realize the last flew blogs I've written concerning war and the participation of the US has the US losing, but come on... do you really think we'd stand a chance fighting two wars again? We have too many resources rotting away in Iraq. If we pulled them out and focus solely on a Far East threat, hey, with a little help from our northern Russian "allies" and UN forces, we could possibly win another World War, but.... we couldn't right now.)

Try, try again.

A quote I found last night made by a friend of mine. Pretty funny, but has a good point.

When at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

"Don't you think all the great inventors went through similar alpha test phases?! Why, where would Einstein be if he just woke up with a hangover and crabs one day and decided he didn't give a flyin fark about relativity?!" - Tim

Edit....

Yeah, so I took care of my little lunch problem. I now have a half hour lunch and can leave at 4:30. :) Yay for me. Traffic, you shall rue me no longer!

...and lunch time.

Most people like having an hour long lunch. It gives you a nice little break in the middle of the day and it gives you just enough time to get some errands done should you need to do them. It allows you to run down to the local McDonald's and grab a bite to eat if you don't feel like spending the same amount of money at the local vending machine in the break room (for significantly less food, I might add). It gives you time to check your email, write a blog, and converse with your peers about the happenings of your day. Great! Everyone loves hour long lunches!

....Um. No.

What's the bloody point? I start work (Mon.-Wed.) at 8am. I leave at 7:10am. This puts me right in the middle of the morning traffic. It takes me 30-40 minutes to go 8 miles! That is ridiculous. Fortunately, I don't have to take the interstate. Add another 30 minutes to that route. What does this have to do with lunch? Actually, nothing, but I'm giving you story guidelines. I leave work at 5pm. This puts me right in the middle of rush hour traffic. I don't get home until 6pm. I go to bed at 9:30pm. Wake up at 7am, then repeat the process all over again.

Where does lunch fit into all of this? The morning traffic I can't do anything about. It's a fact of nature. Grass is green. Water is blue. There will always be traffic in the morning. It can be added to the list of things that are guaranteed in life (along with death and taxes). But, the evening traffic can be avoided. *gasp!* *shock and awe!* Indeed, it can.

How? Stop giving us an hour lunch! There's no point for it! I sit here every day, staring blankly out the large window to my left. There is nothing to bloody do! I waste an hour! An hour (or rather, a half an hour. Blasted federal lunch rules.) that I could be working! Having a half an hour lunch means you leave a half an hour early. That would mean I would leave at 4:30pm. Ergo, I miss the evening traffic by a half hour! Now this is something to be happy about! I can make it home early! I'd have more than 12 minutes (exaggeration, so sue me) to kill before it's time to go to bed!

Woe is Mark. Woe is Mark, indeed. I shall gladly give a half hour of my lunch to someone else.

Break time... again.

Break time at work. 15 minutes to sit back and relax, take a look out the window, or send some emails. Or blog. I'm learning new things here at work. Namely, how to do more work. Fun. Why not? I'm here anyway. More things to occupy my 8 hours.

I should write an email. But to who? No one to write to. Or no one I'm allowed to write to. What a farce that is. It will forever boggle my mind. None of you have a clue what I'm talking about, but that's quite alright. It's not for you to know. Stay out of my business, ya hear?

Break time is almost over. I have things to do now.

Bye.

Yup. "Bye." Such a cold word at times. That is all I have left you with. Simply "bye." Nothing more. No professing my feelings in a warm, thoughful, heartfelt ode to your life. No "have a nice day!" No anything. Just "bye."

Hm. So cold. Brr.

Meh...

....does anything else really need to be said?

Swedes, I need help!

So I have obtained a few of Kent's latest songs (from the album Tillbaka Til Samtiden), but alas, I am stuck without the lyrics. As I cannot read Swedish (yet), I can't go to any Swedish sites to see if they have them listed.

The lyrics I need are as follows:

Vy Från Ett Luftslott
Elefanter
Våga Vara Rädd
Generation Ex
Ensammast I Sverige

I beseech thee, Swedes that may stumble upon this blog, help me! You shall earn my eternal gratitude for the task at hand.

Lunchtime!

It's lunch time and I've nothing else to do, so why not write? Don't think I haven't noticed the sharp decline in readers lately. From 5 to... 2? Ouch. I am deeply wounded. I never claimed to have the most fascinating blog. You know what you were getting into when you signed up. It's your own fault if you don't like what I have to say, but the least you can do is mock me viciously in a comment. Comments are good. Comments are great. Why not leave one? Bloody ingrates. I spend all of this time and energy writing some grand epic and no one bothers to read it or leave a comment. I despise you all....

Day 4 of work. I've been here since 7am. It is now 12:43pm and in the middle of my lunch hour. Well, not really the middle, it's more like 15 minutes into my lunch hour, but I digress... Thursday are going to be rough, I think. 7am-6pm. 10 hours. Yuck. I have a hard enough time getting to work at 8am during my normal schedule. At least the traffic on the way here wasn't too bad and the traffic on the way home should (key word there) be okay. My job is mind-numbingly boring, but once you get a rhythm going it's not terrible. It's just staring a computer screen for 8 (or 10) hours a day. It's not a job for everyone, but for those who can do it and not feel like murdering your coworkers should be quite good at it.

Time for me to go. I have a large window to my left. It's time to stare out it and watch traffic go by for the next 40 minutes.

Hello

So I haven't written in a few days. It's not because I don't love you, it's because I'm tired and cranky. I started my new job today. I didn't actually do anything today, but I will tomorrow. It wasn't as terrible as I was imagining it in my head, but I don't think it will be a walk in the park either.

We shall see how things go. I will write more as time permits. Perhaps I will talk more about my trip. I have other pictures.

My trip

I suppose it's time to stop being anti-social and post something. I recently took a trip to Maryland, so I suppose I'll write about that.

I left Thursday the 18th and arrived at night. It's a two hour drive from the airport to the house I was staying at, and we kind of got lost on the way there, so we didn't arrive until around 11pm or so. I was so tired. I'm not a great fan of flying because it gives me a nasty headache most of the time, so being tired AND having a headache didn't make the first night too enjoyable.

Friday rolled around and I wasn't feeling much better, but fortunately, it was raining pretty much all day, so I could just relax and sleep the day away. In the evening when I was feeling a little better, we attended a little walk through thing called "The Ghosts of Sotterly" (I think I misspelled the name). It was kind of like walking through a bad high school play, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. It was somewhat interesting. We followed a guide and took stops around the little town. They had people dressed up like ghosts who would share little bits of history about the place.

Saturday was a long day. I had to wake up early because we were going to head to Washington DC, but our ride wound up being a couple hours late. I don't blame her. It WAS a little too early to be doing things. Anyway, we took off for DC and wound up arriving around noon or so. It was very dark and cloudy in some spots, but it never rained. We saw the Washington Memorial, the Capitol Building, the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Reflecting Pool, the Vietnam Wall, the White House, and the Museum of Natural History. All were quite cool, but the Reflecting Pool looked awful. Green and moldy and covered in geese poo.

Sunday was slow. We went to church in the morning and then stopped at a few places around town before heading back to the house and relaxing.

Monday was very long. I woke up early, took the two hour ride back to the airport, waited another hour, took the two hour (and delayed) flight back to the Florida, then spent another hour+ getting back home. Then I had to head to bed so I could get up early and back at work the next morning. No fun!

That was my trip. I know I didn't get too much into detail, but I will later should time permit and should I feel like sharing.

I have returned.

I'm back from Maryland and I got the job I interviewed for last week. I start November 5th.

Title? Hm. No.

I had my interview this morning and now all there is to do is wait. It seemed to go well, but you never know. On the upside, the lady that called me to schedule the interview (not the one that actually interviewed me) told me that if for some reason I'm not hired or the position just doesn't work out with me, she has two other positions available that I might be good at. That was encouraging. It's nice to see that people look out for you.

That's all for today. I'll be busy washing my clothes and packing things up today. I'll try to hop back on a little later. I need to read a certain Star Trek blog!

Goodbye, freedom

I have a job interview Wednesday morning...



In other news, I'll be gone from Thursday until Monday night. So don't think I've abandoned you all. I'm just going on vacation for a few days.

A Monday afternoon

I woke up this morning determined to clean up the mess I had made over the weekend. My bedroom was a mess. The kitchen was a mess, too, but the majority of it was a result of my bedroom being a mess. I decided to give my room a thorough cleaning, so I moved my computer out to the kitchen so I could clean my computer desk. This resulted in me not having any room on the kitchen counter. Ergo, stuff began to pile on the dining table. It was a bad ordeal.

Well, to make a long story short (which isn't like me at all), I accomplished my mission. The kitchen is clean, the dishes are done, and my room is immaculate. My computer is back where it should be and I finally have a moment here to rest, relax, blog, and fiddle with a few crossword puzzles.

My picture today is my crossword puzzle book. For a while, it was the bane of my existence. Now it serves as an enteraining challenge. I no longer feel horribly stupid if I can't get an answer because most of the time I got 90% of the other clues. It helps that a lot of the puzzles contain clues from other puzzles. Even though they use words that could mean something completely opposite from the answer they are looking for, you learn the context in which it's being used because you've seen the word before. Quite frustrating at times, yes, but quite gratifying when you finally finish one without cheating or asking someone else for help.

I need to get a haircut today, tomorrow, or Wednesday. My hair gets curly when it gets long and I'm not a fan of curls.... especially on me. Yuck. I did manage to shave today. I was sporting a full beard for about a week. Not that it looks bad, but it's nice to be back to my normal goatee. Much more manageable and not as hot. Facial hair and 100+ degree weather does not mix well sometimes.

Anyway, I'm off for now.

n00bs r U

Two minutes pass. You remain perfectly still, listening intently to your surroundings. You hear the faint whirling of chopper blades in the distance, but you pay no mind; it's moving in the other direction.

You inch forward toward the edge of the hill, making sure to stick closely to a large boulder to your left. Your guille suit blends in well with the surrounding foliage, but you still make an effort to move slowly and not bring attention to yourself or your position. Below you in a small valley lays a compound covering no more than an acre of land. Through the scope of your sniper rifle, you take note of a lone soldier leaning against a supply crate stacked next to a helipad. After a quick scan of the rest of the area, you set your sights on the soldier once again. He had crouched down behind the crate to tie his boot.

A bead of sweat trickles down your forehead and drops onto your nose, but you ignore the sensation and wait siletly and patiently for the soldier to stand back up. He does. You take a deep breath and put your finger on the trigger of your rifle. You begin to pull the trigger, but stop at the sound of a jeep roaring up the hill, it's horn beeping loudly and its occupant screaming at you to hop in. Trying to ignore the jeep, you peer back through your scope. The soldier down below picked up his weapon and began to look in your direction. Idiot, you mutter to yourself as you crawl slowly backwards and away from the hill's edge.

The jeep comes to screeching halt at the top of the hill and beeps loudly at you. The driver, your squad leader, yells at you to hop in and continues bashing the horn with his fist. You grit your teeth and look back down toward the compound only to see the soldier raise his weapon and begin to fire. You curse under your breath, quickly move back to the hill's edge, aim and fire, taking the soldier down with the first shot. Your squad leader, oblivious to the fact that he had just blown your cover, continues to shout at you and beep the horn.

You begin to stand up, but stop at the sound of chopper blades. Looking over your shoulder, you are shocked to find a Chinese WZ-10 attack helicopter racing toward your position. The soldier must have radioed in your position. Or the helipcopter heard the incessant beeping of the jeep's horn. You quickly forget the ignorance of your squad leader and jump into the back of the jeep, mounting the .50 caliber machine gun in the back. You open fire at the chopper, but the driving skills of your squad leader leaves something to be desired. You weave wildly, making it impossible to hit anything. You keep firing despite the lack of accuracy, hoping that a stray bullet might force the chopper to veer off for repairs. You have no such luck. The chopper's gunner blasts the area around you with a barrage of 20mm rounds. The gunfire did a good deal of damage to the jeep, but the driver finished it off by veering sharply to left and colliding with a massive oak tree.

Shaking off the disorientation, you quickly jump out of the jeep, not really caring at that point that your squad leader is running in the opposite direction you are. You do pause for a moment, however, and watch as he runs out in the middle of the roadway and screams something about "haxs!" before being cut down by the chopper's gunner. You turn and run deeper into the wooded area, feeling somewhat less annoyed by the crash because it had put you beneath the trees and out of the view of the WZ-10.

Moving quickly between the large trees, you hear the crackle of a radio coming from behind you. A Chinese voice barked an order and gunfire splintered the branches above your head. You quickly dive down to the ground, but you're not equipped to fight a close range battle. You reach down and grab the pistol holstered on your waist and find a large tree to hide behind. Bullets rip apart the tree's trunk, but a lull in the fire a moment later provides you with an opportunity to fire off several shots and make a dash for a building a little ways off.

You nearly make it to the building unscathed, but a sharp pain in your leg forces you to fall down. Fortunately, you manage to fall to your right and land just behind the wall of the building. You're injured badly, but you manage to free a grenade from your supply belt and toss around the corner of the building. A blast a few seconds later and the accompanying scream let you know you found your mark and are hopefully safe.

You grab your radio and yell "Medic!" but receive no response. You groan and remember that one of your squad members is a medic. You call out for a medic on your squad channel and a receive an acknowledgement. A moment later, a jeep pulls next to the building which you are laying by and the driver beeps the horn. A soldier jumps out of the back and looks at you. It's the medic. You look at him. He stares back. "Um... medic?" He stares at you blankly, raises his weapon and looks at you again through the iron sights. He crouches down and stands back up a few times. You call for him again, but he doesn't respond. Instead, he puts his weapon down, draws his combat knife, steps back a few ways and pretends to stab at you. You sigh, debate shooting the buffoon, then decide it's better to just get in the jeep. The driver is still beeping at you and yelling "Get in! Hop in! Let's go!"

You do as your told and climb into the jeep, surprised to see your medic teammate filing in behind you. Apparently he DOES listen and respond to commands. Just not yours.

The jeep drives away from the building and down a small road. You realize you're heading back toward the nearest allied outpost and decide the driver is the only sane member of your squad. You lean back to relax, but notice a pack of C4 explosives stuck to the door of the jeep. In your haste to get in the jeep, you had failed to notice this. Another pack lay in the middle of the hood. Aw geez, you groan and despite the injury to your leg, you jump out of the jeep.

Sure enough, a few moments later, the jeep encounters a Chinese tank and rams into it. The driver detonated the C4, destroyed the jeep, himself, and the buffoon of a medic that was riding in the back. The commander of your entire unit called out over the radio and said something about teamkilling, but you're too busy grabbing the now-crispy medic's gear and administering first aid to yourself to pay any attention. Finally, you feel better and, having grabbed the medic's gun, are now better able to defend yourself in a close range fight.

To your luck, a small, but quick, buggy parachuted down toward your location. You look up and spot a supply plane zooming away and perform some maneuvers to evade the WZ-10 attack chopper. You say a silent thanks to your unit commander for recognizing your situation and doing something to help. The buggy lands and you detach the parachute. It fires right up once you jump in and you rev the engine a few times before racing down the road. You look behind you and shake your head at the charred remains of the Chinese tank, your former jeep, and flame-broiled squadmates.

Listening in to the radio chatter, you determine that the battle is going well, but one last stronghold remains. You stop a few times on your way to the last remaining enemy encampment, picking up two more allied troops to aid your cause. You pass an allied tank and see a Cobra attack chopper hovering overhead.

Finally!

Order! People working together.

Your sniper position was compromised, your squad leader had failed his drivers' test, your local medic was nothing short of a high school dropout on LSD, and your second jeep driver was a pyromaniac with a death wish.

The attack on the final Chinese base commences and chaos ensues. There's a good 20 minutes of intense battle, but when the smoke finally clears, your unit has emerged victorious. You have cleared out the remaining Chinese, save for one, lone soldier. The combined forces of your unit sweep the area, but come up empty. You call for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle which can give you a bird's eye view of the area, but your commander doesn't respond. A moment later he calls over to the radio, letting you know he found the enemy and had dealt with him... with an artillery barrage. He failed to mention that the Chinese man was still in your immediate vicinity.

Artillery rounds rained down on top of you and your allies and as everything fades to black, you manage to grab your radio and utter a single word.

"Noob."

I wrote this story because it was very close to an experience I had while playing Battlefield 2, the online PC FPS. Don't be a smacktard, kiddies. Don't be noobs. My squad was a group of unintelligent oafs. My commander was a teamkilling glory hog. Every time I asked for ammo or medic help, I either received no response or the person that could provide one or the other stared at me, his mouth slightly ajar, and drool dripping down his chin.

Don't whine about hacks. They aren't hacking, you just suck. Don't stand there like an idiot when someone near you needs help. Don't drive into trees. Don't drive for that matter. Don't load up your jeep with C4, ask for people to jump in, and then ram it into the side of a tank. Yes, you blow up the tank, but you teamkill the 4 saps that were stupid enough to get in with you.

Play the game. Have fun. Don't be a noob. We are watching. We are blogging.

Saturday

I slept in until 10am. I hate sleeping in, but I hate going to bed at a decent hour, too. I need to just give in, give up my late night cartoons (haha), and go to bed! Then perhaps I can wake up at 7-8am and be ready to go and not feel like killing the neighbor's dog. Then again, the neighbor's dog is the most annoying hairy rat in existence. Yip! Yip! Yip! Yip! Yip! SHUT UP! Every morning for a half hour, it won't shut it's mouth. I get mad and throw things at the fence and yell at it. I'll yell at the dog even when the owners are out in the backyard and can hear everything I say. I think they finally realized that the dog needs to be quiet before I arrange an "accident."

So far my day has been pretty unproductive. I need to wash my clothes and clean my room, but I can always do that tomorrow, too, can't I? I might as well wash my clothes today, though. Nothing else is going on, so there's no time like the present. I've more or less spent the morning watching TV and being lazy. Much like I am every day, I think. Perhaps I'll play some Battlefield 2 today. Or more Guild Wars. We'll see. There's another hockey game on TV tonight. Not sure if I'll watch it because I don't like seeing the Florida Panthers, but I do like the Tampa Bay Lightning (though they aren't my favorite team). I'll see what I feel like doing once that time rolls around.

I spotted a snake yesterday. First time I had seen one in a while. I wanted to take a picture of it, but by the time I got camera and went back outside, it was already gone. It was a little thing. A Black Racer, they are called because they are all black and can move quite fast. They have a cousin that lives in the north called a Blue Racer, but they kill their prey via constriction. Funny how they are the same species, but different color and they eat things differently.

Ah, well. I might write again later tonight. Who knows. My creative juices have not been flowing as of late. I'm having to struggle to think of something to write. Fortunately, I'm not being limited to just a few sentences of a paragraph, but I'm not putting out to 12 page essays I've been known to do either.

Well, that's all for now. I know I don't have a picture, but maybe I'll come back and edit one in later.

*yawn*

I can't sleep. It's 2:19am and I'm watching some show on TV about some people who are trying to make some new islands type deal off the coast of Dubai. I lost interest when I spotted my book of crossword puzzles. I failed miserably. I'm too tired to think, but not tired enough to actually fall asleep. It doesn't help that it's so stinking hot in here. Then again, it doesn't help that I have my TV on, my computer on, and my bedroom light on.

(I actually just stopped writing for a minute to unplug the lamp.)

Last night was a good night for hockey. I watched as the Buffalo Sabres smashed the Atlanta Thrashers 6-0. It was a beautiful game as I'm not particularly fond of Atlanta and would much rather see Buffalo win. Someone has to oust Ottawa from the number 1 spot. On a side note, my favorite team, the New Jersey Devils, lost once again. Oh, well. I'm still with them. Winning or losing. They're my team.

Today is Friday! Good. I like Fridays. The end of a long, hard week. Well, to those that work anyway. I'm still in need of a job. I still like Fridays, though. (Kind of a weird subject change going from hockey to my love of Fridays, but like I said, I'm tired. I can do what I want to do.)

The flower in the picture used to be in my backyard, but has since withered away and died. Heat will do that, you know. It was very hot yesterday, as normal, but we got some rain later on in the evening that helped to cool things down for a few minutes before the humidity rose back up. Fortunately, I was inside at the time and enjoyed the air conditioning. Yay, modern technology.

In other news, I learned my numbers today! Well, my Swedish numbers. En, två, tre, fyra, fem, sex, sju, åtta, nio, tio, elva, tolv... Okay, so I'm only up to 12. Sue me. It's hard to learn a language that no one in the States teaches. It makes me wonder, though... why can't everyone just use the same bloody numbers?! Everyone writes them the same way. 1, 2, 3, etc. But no one spells them out the same way. Blast it all.

Anyway, I shall try to go to sleep now.

Lizards!

So I walked outside with the intent to take a picture of something (because I haven't been posting many pictures lately that actually anything to do with the blog) when I stumbled upon this little lizard basking in the warm sun. It seemed a worthy shot. Thus, I present my picture. "Lizard on a Stick." Okay, so I'm not great with titles. It's a good picture, though, I think. You might have to view the full picture to get the clarity of the lizard.

Florida is infested with these things. These are anoles, a common house-area lizard. They only live about 18 months (36 if they are really lucky), but they breed like rabbits. There's nothing wrong with the lizards. They are good for the area by eating all the bugs and spiders and whatnot. They are just quite plentiful and can pop up unexpectedly at inopportune times. The guy in the picture is relatively small compared to some of his brothers. I've caught many lizards twice as big, if not more, than he was.

Yes, they bite. Yes, they can draw blood. How do I know this? Because I pick up lizards and they bite me. Simple as that. Most of the time all you feel is pressure where they're biting you, but some of the bigger ones have sharp little teeth. The bite itself doesn't necessarily hurt, but they tend to lock their jaw and make it quite difficult to pull them back off of your finger. You have to wriggle them back and forth and kind of slide them off which makes their teeth leave little scrapes on your finger. Depending on the size of the lizard, yeah, it can draw blood.

You know what else can draw blood? Snakes. lol Yes, I've been bitten by a snake, too. A non-venomous snake, mind you, but it still hurt. That one made me think twice about grabbing snakes out of the pool with my bare hands. It left 4 little fang marks in my hand for a few days. It was really kind of cool and to be completely honest, I kind of wondered how it would feel to be bitten by a snake. I see now the error of my ways. The moral of the story today, kids, is don't let snakes bite you.

Oh, before I forget, a little note to Dufva, my new reader: I responded to your questions via commenting on the previous blog postings. I could have just put them in this blog, but I didn't. I thought it would be easier to have a dedicated place for my responses.

That's all for now!

Lyrics

Kent - Berg O Dalvana

(There is some controversy over the title. I have seen both Dalvana and Dalbana. Perhaps someone could correct me.)

På vägen tvättas spåren bort

en olycka blir minnen blott

Rusningstid strax innan Jul

så glömmer nån ett varningsljus

När Jag blir grå

När Jag faller

Orkar Du för två?

När idag blir igår

Kommer Du att älska mig

ändå?

En gammal sång får en helt ny text

en äcklig röst som billig sex

& Jag har inga vänner kvar

Visst är livet underbart

När Jag blir grå

När Jag faller

Orkar Du för två?

När idag blir igår

Kommer Du att älska mig
ändå?

Det spelar ingen roll

om Du håller mig hårt

Ingen kommer att

minnas om 100 år

Jag är rädd att man glömmer

glömmer allt

Som vi glömde att vi

älskade varandra

Håll ut Jag behöver dig

Håll ut Jag behöver dig

Håll ut Jag behöver dig

Håll ut Stå ut med mig

Stå ut med mig

Jag behöver dig

Jag behöver dig

Stå ut med mig

Jag behöver dig

Jag ... dig

Stå ut med mig

Jag behöver dig

Stå ut med mig

Jag behöver dig

*gasp!*

*gasp*

*shock and awe*

What the deuce?

Someone actually reads what I have to say! It's amazing! Truly so! There is hope in the world once again. The dark cloud over my blog has been pushed aside and sunlight can once again warm the ground beneath. Oh happy day! Or something to that effect. Believe it or not, that wasn't sarcasm (which is another shock). That all being said. Greetings to my extra reader. I shall try a bit harder now not make a complete idiot of myself, but I can promise nothing.

Right now I'm watching an NHL game in the beautiful clarity of Hi Definition. Is there any other way to watch it? No, I think not. Well, I guess there is, but is that really watching it? Is it really enjoying everything the game has to offer? Never! Right now it's the Tampa Bay Lightning vs the Florida Panthers. I hate the Panthers with a passion, but I suppose intra-state rivalries are fun to watch. (Or so the NHL has told me.) The schedule of the games will never cease to baffle me. Why on earth would I want to see my own bloody division teams 32 times out of 82? Where's the fun in that? I want to see the other teams, too, you know. *sigh* I suppose I should be happy to see any hockey. Some countries don't have the liberty of seeing them. Or some countries don't have them air until quite late at night. Blasted time zones.

Anyway, I guess I'll rant on the NHL. Actually, I really have just one question. Why do you keep screwing goalies? Why do you keep punishing goalies for being good? The basis of my question comes from the fact that the NHL keeps saying it wants more goal scoring and it will do what it needs to to get it. Why? Why punish goalies? Goal scoring is down because goalies are getting better! I mean, why not let baseball players hit the ball off of a tee because the pitchers pitch too fast? It's the same thing. Why punish goalies for being good at what they do by making them wear smaller pads and trying to increase the size of the nets? It's stupid. I'd rather see a hard fought 1-0 game than a 9-8 circus show.

Speaking of circus shows, I guess it's time to address fighting in the league. To put it bluntly, it's part of hockey. You may think it's dumb and want it gone and think it's nothing more than a circus for goons and thugs, but the fact of the matter is, it's a part of hockey. Deal with it. When you're playing such a fast paced, hard fought game, tensions get high. Someone hits your teammate, you stick up for him. Need someone to put a spark under your team? Punch someone. It's a morale booster not only for the team, but for the fans of the team. MOST people don't have a problem with fighting. To those who don't like it, why are you making such a fuss about it? If you don't like it, don't watch it. Don't such sit there and complain about it. Really.

Oh, well. There's nothing I can do about either one except complain about the idiots that ruin the game or rather, the enjoyment of the game. People who whine about fighting and lack of goal scoring are almost as bad as the drunk guy who sits behind you at the arena yelling obscenities about situations he knows nothing about.

Deal with it, people.

Anyway, that was fun! I haven't had a good rant in a while and a recent comment made me decide that hockey just might be a good subject to post something about.

Something else to rant about... when the heck does the new Kent album come out?! Not that I can get it, seeing as I'm not Swedish, I don't live in Sweden, and the bloody US has something against putting Swedish music on their store shelves, but it would be nice to know if it was out. Maybe I'll find a way to get it someday... legally or illegally. Either way works for me. (Okay, so the US doesn't have any issues with putting foreign music on the shelf, but they don't carry Kent music.) I want it!

That's all for now. I'll post the lyrics of the song I'm listening to here in a second.

(For anyone wondering about the duck... I have no clue. Just a random picture I had on my hard drive.)

Hm..

I didn't specify WHICH morning. Ergo, I am free of your harassment. It's not, however, morning. It's the afternoon. Petty details. So sue me! I have better things to do than cater to the wants of my three readers. Make your own blogs. Write your own stories. Surely I am not your sole source of entertainment. Pity.

Once again, I have no picture. That's a shame because I like pictures. There's really nothing to take a picture of, though, and I have nothing good left on my computer hard drive to input.

So what's up with me? Nothing! Well, possibly nothing. Possibly everything. One never knows until things are up and upon us. I'm heading to Maryland in 9 days. That's always exciting. I've never been there. I hope the temperature will be a bit more bearable than it is down here. Not sure what all we'll be doing there, but it should be a nice time.

I was informed of a job opening by a guy at my church and sent him my resume today to give to the boss. It's a data entry position for Quality Distribution, which is, I assume by the name, a company that distributes things. Not the greatest job or the greatest pay, but right now, it's a good thing to attempt to get just to have a flow of income. That's what's important right now. I can at least work and should something else later on down the line come up, great!

That's all for now.

I'm still here!

I'll post something in the morning. *yawn*

Happy October!

Sadly, I have not written in... *gasp*... a week?! Okay, so it's not my fault. Nothing worth writing about ever happens around here! It IS, however, already October. I leave for Maryland in 18 days. I can't wait. Despite the fact that I've been unemployed going on 7 months now, it'll be my first vacation in 3 years. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to getting out of Florida for a few days.

October: a time of changes in the weather, a time of leaves turning all shades of browns, reds, and oranges, a time when you start preparing yourself for the end of the year (which WILL be here before you know it). It is a happy time. In your state.

Not in Florida! 90+ degrees outside. Our leaves are turning brown, but it ain't because it's fall. They are dying from the drought we are going through and because they are being burnt to a crisp by the scorching heat! BAH! I want seasons! Hot, hotter, and hottest do not make seasons. They make one long continuous "summer."

Poo on you, Mother Nature. Poo on you.

Randomness

It's a Kerotan. Cool, isn't he? Staring at you with big eyes and a goofy grin on his face. He makes me happy. 'Tis a dark and dreary day. Rain clouds loom overhead, threatening to unleash a storm upon the mere mortals below. Yet... Kerotan remains smiling. How can you not see one and feel the urge to make the same goofy grin. How can it not make your day so much better?

Thank you, Kerotan. Thank you for brightening my day.

Konichiwa!

Bright and gloomy!

This is a bush in my backyard. I angled the camera to capture the beautiful blue sky behind it and kind of show the picture as being a bright and happy capture. I think I did fairly well. This picture was taken yesterday.

This picture was taken today. Oh, how quickly the weather changes. Such a gloomy day. Raining and dark. Florida is, if nothing more, a bright and gloomy place. Half of the time, bright and sunshiny, the other half, dark and cloudy. What a weird place to live.

The weirdest thing is that even when it's in doom and gloom mode, it's still 100 degrees outside! Give me a break! The rain feels good, sure, because it's usually cool rain, but the temperature is still 100 degrees and the humidity goes up to 400%! Even worse is when it stops raining. The air outside is so humid that when you step out your front door, you are instantly soaked in sweat. It's a massive sauna. You no longer have the rain to help cool you down.

Boo, Florida!

I'm taking a trip to Maryland in October. I hope it will be cooler there than it is here.

Russians! Chinese! Oh, my!

Yeah, so, it's been a few days since I last wrote something. So sue me! I have a life, you know! Okay, that was a lie. I don't, but I get sidetracked easily and forget to do things... like write. Besides, there is far too little that is interesting around here to bother writing about. Ergo, I shall write about foreign affairs. In particular: China and Russia.

Russia's been a bit testy this year, first making a ruckus about the US's plan to install missile defense systems in western Europe. Mr. Putin made it quite clear that the plan would "force" Russia to aim their missiles at these defensive systems. Since then, and much more recently, Russia tested their latest and greatest weapon, a non-nuclear bomb four times the power of our (the US's) "Mother of All Bombs." Some people are skeptical. I am not. I do believe this warhead exists. I'm sure there are others out there that people are simply being tight-lipped about. Rightfully so.

I have a friend who currently lives in Serbia that said Russia and (former?) enemy China have recently signed some big agreement. What exactly the agreement was, I don't exactly remember, but it may have been a peace agreement. The two nations have been bitter against each other for quite some time now. What is the purpose for this sudden friendly gesture?

Aside from the millions of toys that they had to recall from the US (and I'd assume elsewhere) due to lead paint, China has been pretty quiet lately. This is a bad thing. They have been quietly building up their military for a number of years now and estimate around 7 million troops in their army. The interesting part, 6 million of those troops lie on the Chinese/Taiwan border. Hm. Whatchya doin', China? Taiwan is in independent nation (well, not if you ask the Chinese). They are no longer under the control of China. Besides, they are a little island that can't harm anyone. Why does China need more troops stationed on the border than Taiwan has in total population? (Granted, I don't know what the population of Taiwan is, but I would assume it's not terribly large.)

The recent military leaps by both Russia and China have me worried. Russia is trying to re-establish themselves as a superpower. They once were, but political destabilization has wrecked the country's infrastructure. I can understand them wanting to get back "in the game," as it were. However, the ranting against Allied missile defense systems and this new deal with China makes you think something more is in the works.

It has been speculated for quite some time that it would be indeed China that started the third World War. As is, China could launch a military attack against Taiwan with little real effort or resistance. They would suffer trade sanctions from the hands of the UN, but if Russia is in the mix and aiding the Chinese, trade sanctions would be nothing more than throwing a small pebble at the hide of a raging elephant. Or perhaps more suiting for Chinese history, a raging dragon.

What will be the US's response? By the time this happens, or rather IF this happens, it would be long past the rule of the Bush administration. Can't blame this one on him. Will the United States once again play it's role as a self-anointed protector of all that is good and right in the world? Or will the American people, sick of fighting in Iraq, demand we keep our people home? Yeah, good luck with that. US troops are deployed to Taiwan to help the weak resistance battle against the largest army in the world.

Goodbye, national security. The US would spread their forces thin by waging war on two fronts: in Iraq and in Taiwan. Two different wars on two different sides of the world on two different continents.

I wonder if North Korea plays some part in this. They might take this opportunity of being temporarily forgotten about and invade South Korea. They've always wanted to reclaim South Korea and with the world's eye on the bigger players to the north, why not go for it? The North Korean army is the third largest in the world, behind China and the United States. Does South Korea even have an army? One capable of doing anything more than slowing down the advancing masses crossing over the DMZ into South Korean territory? I think no.

What does the US do then? After a while, someone is going to notice that all of the South Korean flags have turned blue, white, and red and sport a very northern look. Does the US jump to their aid, too? Do they abandon their allies in a time of need? Do they call upon help from other nations like Britain and Australia? Or better yet, do we finally lift the military restrictions placed on Japan after World War II and allow them back on the Asian mainland to help with the struggle?

To be honest, it wouldn't matter. To be blunt, the US would lose even with the support of other nations. We have spread ourselves too thin. Taiwan, South Korea, Iraq... supply lines can only run so far and can only run for so long. Time wears on. Sending supplies overseas to to the other side of the world takes its toll.

In Iraq, we are doing nothing more than babysitting an Iraqi population that doesn't want us there. Our troops are not "protecting our freedom." They are protecting the Iraqi people's. I grow so sick and tired of people claiming that fight tooth and nail claming that our troops are being productive over there and protecting the United States. How? How are they? Iraq is nothing more than a smoldering crater. The result of American invasion and Islamic terrorism. The terrorist cannot launch an attack on the US from the Middle East. It cannot be done. They do not have the means.

That's bullcrap! What about 9/11?! Wasn't launched from the Middle East. Planned there, but not launched there. The biggest threat the United States (aside from a now ticked off Chinese and North Korean army) are the terrorists and enemies of the nation that are already here. If you want to claim that troops are protecting our country, fine, but you had better be talking about the ones that are here at home. They are the only ones doing that job.

I support the US troops. I love the US troops. More power to them. Whether they are here or deployed somewhere, they have my support. BUT... troops are pawns (no offense to them). They go to and do what they are told to do. They have to. They have no say what they can and cannot do in the Iraq or at home. I feel bad for them. They are overseas, dying to protect a people that hate them. It's all in vain.

This is/was all speculation. It's all fiction, except my opinions on US troops. I felt like taking a subject I honestly knew nothing about and spinning into an unlikely (but I suppose possible in the grand scheme of things) situation. Don't take anything I said as being real and true. Don't spam my comments with "u suck, american hater!" or "ur wrong and r teh suck!"

That's all. Pure ficiton. A story.

No title

Janne and I may be friends, but we are in different groups when it comes to playing games. He is part of the The Enclave; a team of friendly people that play Battlefield 2 together. I am a member of Lock and Load. We are a small clan. A clan is a group of people that share the same interests and do things together when possible. The difference between our two groups is that his is a team that plays a single game. We are a clan that spans many games.

I kind of feel bad for doing this, but Lock and Load {LaL} is indeed looking for more members! It is unfortunate, but we aren't nearly what we used to be. There was a time when we dominated Vietcong Fist Alpha and Battlefield: Vietnam, but we have since dwindled in number. People go about their lives and their interests change. It's unfortunate, but inevitable. It's a shame for the rest of us. A few of us play Battlefield 2 these days, but not many. Only a handful play Battlefield 2142. We are a dying breed.

If any of you that might stumble upon this blog and play games like Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, Vietcong Fist Alpha, Vietcong 2, Battlefield: Vietnam, or Counter Strike: Source, please venture over to http://z4.invisionfree.com/Lock_and_Load/index.php We are a clan based structure, meaning if you join us, you will begin your life as a {LaL}Pvt. (name). Our generals run the show and the forum.

You can find me in the forum as {LaL}Lt. Medic or in-game as [LaL]MedicByChoice (BF2) and [LaL]Patch_1-3 (BF2142). (The latter name was a joke about patch 1.3 for Battlefied 2 that many claimed ruined their machines due to bugs.)

Anyway, that's all there is about that. It would be great to get some more people in the clan to get some action going in games. I believe you must be 18 or older to apply. That's a rule in place to weed out the immature and make sure no little kiddies stumble upon something questionable in the forum and cry to mommy about it. We're a good group, but get rowdy sometimes.

Moving on. As you can see up top, I got myself a new header. My brother made me that picture and I do say it blends in quite well. I like the red, so I gave him the exact RGB (red-green-blue) number for it and had him incorporate it in the picture he was making. I turned out quite well, I think! Thank you to my brother.

I cleaned up my room yesterday and it actually looks quite presentable. I have a floor! And carpet! I had forgotten the color of my carpet. It turns out it's gray. Maybe if I vacuum, I'll find it's actually white. Nah.

I washed my car today. Bad mistake as it is horribly hot outside, but the end result is a pretty car. I guess that 's a good deal, right? Sunburn for a clean car?

Here she is!

I may or may not go swimming now. I haven't decided. It might be nice since I'm so hot right now. We shall see!

I shall write again soon. Today? Tomorrow? Next week? Who knows?

Gaming again

I've recently gotten back into Gran Turismo 4 for the PlayStation 2. I used to play it a lot and had some very awesome cars. I was quite good, too, with a very high winning percentage (above 95%). I had completed 3/4 of the game, but then I kind of got bored with it and put it away. After a while, I sold it back to the game store in favor of some other games. I wasn't planning on playing it again, so I deleted all of my saved games from my memory card.

Well, I borrowed it from my brother a couple days ago and have been playing a lot. The beginning is rough because you have very little money and no cars. First things first, I grabbed the first three licenses just to save me the trouble of having to get them later. I won a few races, earned some money, and bought myself a Camaro to start racing some of the bigger races. It's not the best car, but it's necessary to win some high money races so I can get back to the Corvette I had when I owned the game a while back. I had every modification on that car. I manually tuned the gears and had it running faster and better than almost every other car in the game. It was beautiful. I had nitrous, too.

Anyway, that's all about that.

Battlefield 2 Rules

Okay, I've wanted to do this forever. After hundreds and hundreds of hours of playing Battlefield 2 (and 2142 for that matter), many things have come to my attention that need to be addressed. Hopefully people who read this blog will actually pay attention.

The single most important rule of BF2 and 2142 is that it's a TEAM game. You are part of an army. Not an army of one. You are not Solid Snake trying to infiltrate a stronghold and stop the terrorists from using their nukes. You are one soldier out of many in an army with a single goal. Keep that in mind. If you decide you don't want to join a squad, that's fine, but you are still part of a team and need to do something productive, rather than run around and teamkill your own guys.

Rule 1: Join a squad. It makes life so much easier. You can coordinate attacks and make unified strikes against opposing flags. It's much better to take on a flag with 6 guys than trying to do it alone. The same holds true for BF2142. You might have better weapons, but so does your enemy.

Rule 2: If you are a loner and don't want to join a squad, that's okay, AS LONG AS YOU ARE PRODUCTIVE! If you want to play as a sniper, fine, but don't sit in one spot where no one else is. Be productive. Set claymore traps. Capture a flag via stealthy movement. In BF2142, the same rule applies. If you are the recon class and have the Camo Upgrade, use it! Capture a bloody flag while the rest of your team is engaging the bulk of the enemy.

Rule 3: If you join a squad, follow your orders. Don't sit there and spam "Negative!", "No way, man!", and "No can do!" every time your squad leader gives out an order. If you are going to do that, leave the squad. We don't want you in the squad. Don't be an idiot.

Rule 4: Revive your teammates. I grow sick and tired of getting critically wounded, calling for the medic that's standing a foot away, and then having him run off and ignore me. That is a gross neglect of your duties and just bad teamwork. Revive and heal your teammates! If a medic dies nearby, grab his kit and revive him! I experienced that a lot a couple nights ago when I played with Janne. He, too, is guilty of this. When I died, no one would revive me. Ever. And there quite a few medics on the team. Now, granted, there is a little more leeway on 2142 in this matter. Because the Assault and Medic classes are combined into one, not all assault soldiers are carrying the defibrillator on their person. Since you can select and customize your own kit in 2142, a lot of people go mostly assault or mostly medic.

Rule 5: Don't be a smacktard about vehicles. They are there for EVERYONE on your team to use. If someone beats you in a race to the tank, let him have it. Don't whine about it on team chat. Don't teamkill the guy. Wait for the tank to respawn or take another vehicle. Often times there are more than one tank in the general vicinity, especially in your main base. For people that get the tank or vehicle, don't be an idiot and just gun your engine and leave your teammates behind. Pick people up. And for the love of all that is good in this world, watch where you're going! Don't run over people! (Unless they are purposely trying to stop you because you beat them to the tank. In that case, have at it.) In BF2142, mechs are the vehicle of choice. Don't be an idiot about it. Don't teamkill people to get it. That just encourages people to teamkill YOU. The more we kill each other, the more the enemy doesn't have to.

Rule 6: Pilots, watch your bloody map. If you see an area you want to hit and it's full of blue dots, DON'T ATTACK IT! I grow very weary of getting teamkilled by my own jets. Pay attention or get out of the jet! For new pilots, learn to fly in single player before you decide to try your hand with a fully loaded blackhawk helicopter. People get mad when you crash mere seconds after takeoff. Another thing, let people know if you are going to bail. Press Q and select the "Bail Out!" option. People get very mad if the pilot jumps ship over the water and the chopper goes plunging down into the sea. Not cool. 2142: Don't fly transports if you can't fly.

Rule 7: Probably one of the most important rules of both games (or all BF games for that matter), don't punish your teammates for teamkills that aren't their fault! I'm sorry, but 95% of all teamkills come because the person that got killed is an idiot. If you run out in the middle of the street and get run over by a tank. That's your own fault. You have a map. You know where the tanks are and if they are moving. Don't punish the tank driver because you're a noob.

If you see a support class laying down cover fire, don't run in front of him! If you HAVE to get by him, bloody jump over him. Don't get cut down and then punish him for the teamkill. It's your own fault, idiot. If you get crushed by a helicopter that's trying to land and pick people up, it's your own fault. It's not a matter of they can't fly, it's a matter of your an idiot and didn't get out of the way or didn't press and hold the E button to enter the helicopter before it landed on you.

There are so many instances of idiots punishing people for teamkills that were purely accident on the part of the killer. Accident for them, idiocy by you. Don't be a smacktard. Forgive tk's unless someone comes up to you, points his gun, and pulls the trigger. Then it's okay to punish for the teamkill.

Rule 8: This one kind of ties into the last rule. If you see someone set down C4 (or RDX in 2142) packs to set a trap for the enemy. MOVE! Don't just stand there and try to hold down the area. All you are doing is effectively ruining the whole point of setting the explosives in the first place! That's just being selfish and a noob. I've come to the point where if I set C4/RDX and you stand there, I WILL blow you up if the enemy comes. Punish if you want, but it's your own fault.

Rule 9: Rank means nothing. It doesn't give you the right to call people noobs. In fact, most times those of much lower ranks are less noobs than those with higher ranks. It's probably 98% of Lieutenants and higher that are the biggest noobs in the game. They have this superiority complex. They are the ones that TK for vehicles, punish for accidental tk's that were their own fault, and spawn rape the enemy. They are the ones that ignore your orders and generally cause havoc and doom for your team. Don't be a noob. And don't call other's noobs. Chances are, they are better than you are.

Those are just a few rules I think people need to read and pay attention to. It makes gaming so much more fun for everyone when people pay attention and don't act like retards.

Battlefield greatness!

Last night was quite fun. I finally got a chance to play with Janne for the first time in over a year. He sent me an email yesterday asking me if I wanted to join him and his group of friends for a few games of Battlefield 2. I accepted the offer as soon as I got the email, of course! What better way to spend a lazy afternoon than crushing your foes and teaching them who's boss?

For those that don't know what Battlefield 2 is, it's a capture the flag style video game. Two armies (in this case, the US and the MEC - Mid Eastern Coalition) fight each other to gain and keep control of flags spread out across the battlefield. It's a really fun game because you can pick from 7 classes. Support, Engineer, Sniper, Medic, Assault, Recon, and Anti-Tank. I normally play as a medic. It's pretty fun and you can usually rack up a ton of points. They have a great machine gun and can heal themselves if they aren't cut down in the initial firefight.

Anyway, I did quite well last night, posting scores of 203, 78, and 158 in three rounds respectively. Those are very good for BF2. It's pretty amazing for me, too, since I hadn't played the game in quite some time and thought I would be a lot rustier than I was. Of course, having a good team helped, even though most of them didn't understand the concept of reviving wounded teammates. Oh well. Some people are like that. Run and gun, leave every man behind. I normally run out into the middle of a street to revive a teammate even if it means I get killed in the process. It's an easy 2 points and there's always the chance you and the man you saved can escape.

I love the game. Nothing better than modern combat between the US and those heathen terrorists. Of course, half the time you're playing as the terrorists. Or communists. I like the maps where you play against the Chinese army. More color in the maps. Everything isn't just brown and yellow.

Anyway, that was last night. It was a blast and I hope to do it again quite soon. I took a screenshot of the game last night, but I lost it as I forgot to paste it immediately into MS Paint. I made the mistake of forgetting I took the shot, then copying and pasting something else, then remembering the screenshot. Poor me. Poor you! Now you can't enjoy my greatness!

Bye for now. And remember, always lead running terrorists.