I’m not addicted… I can quit any time Iwant

Addictions are a funny thing. I know for a fact that Ihave been suject to my own over that last few years.

-I’m a smoker who is trying to quit.
-I played World of Warcraft for about nine (9) years.
-I eat compulsively based on my surroundings.
-I don’t drink anymore, but when I did, Icould have been considered a temporary alcoholic.

The problem is I have an addictive personality. Well, at least that is what people tell me. I don’t quite think that statement holds much water, but it is still what people say. It sounds like a bunch of “do what you want and have something to blame it on” kind of excuse to me.
I think the big thing that people don’t do enough is take enough personal responsibility for their actions… myself included.

So, looking at each of my addictions, Ican see that each one can be conquered by taking personal responsibility for my actions in each case. As always, I have examples.

World of Warcraft: It’s funny, I have already broken this one. I quit playing about a year ago. Before that, I had quit playing for 6 months, picked it up again for three months due to attending a remote school, and then quit again. But like I said, I have been clean for around a year. I still find myself reading on the internet, or looking at screenshots, or looking for something to do and wishing that I could be back in Azeroth. I had a good time for those 9 years that I played. There was social content, a real mental challenge, and there was always something to do. Even if you were bored, you were having fun doing it. The game itself was addictive to the point that I would play for 8 hours a day. That’s a lot of time to ignore family, children, friends, and work.
It finally came to a close when it nearly impacted my marriage with a divorce. Needless to say, I don’t play anymore. Since quitting, I spend time with my children and my wife, and I have picked up other interests such as quilting and wood working that don’t require that kind of time investment that Ihad put in.
Personal responsibility allowed me to quit.

Smoking: This is a tough one. I have been a smoker for about 7 years now. I actually regret picking it up. It’s a horrible habit. I remember telling my wife that I could quit at any time. I picked it up and hadn’t stopped until about 3 days ago. I haven’t had a real cigarette in 72 hours. It’s a small amount of time, but it’s a start. It requires me to realize that I am personally responsibile for my actions. I chose to stop… so I stopped. Crazy right?!

Drinking: I don’t like hangovers so I don’t drink. Easy enough. Not gonna beat that dead horse.

Eating: Oh boy, this is why I actually started writing this post. Backstory time.
I found myself cleaning off my wifes desk yesterday and I had picked up a potpie that my daughter had barely touched. I remembered that I was watching my caloric intake so Icouldn’t have any of this deliciously salty meat and potato pie thing. As I walked to the kitchen, I said out loud “One bite won’t hurt”.
So I took a bite.
OMG it was good.
I took a second bite.
I actually verbally said “Garen, you can’t be eating this”. And then I started to argue internally that I couldn’t stop. I needed to eat this pie. I had to eat this food or something in the cosmos would never align properly.
I found that no matter how hard I tried, I could not put that food down.
I finished the 560 calorie pot pie that tasted like shame and guilt.
Salty shame, and tangy creamy guilt.
I sit on the couch each night with my wife and we watch TV. I find that we snack the entire time. I find that we almost always have a soda in our hands.
Personal responsibility hasn’t kicked all the way in yet.
I actually feel like Iam addicted to food. Good food, bad food, crappy food… just food.
I have a problem. I know that I do. I’m fully aware of it. I just need to find a way around it.

While I have been writing this post, I have come to an interesting series of thoughts. For someone that wants to be so outspoken against the evils of fatlogic, I sure seem to be showing some. So… how do I get around it?
Good question.
I’m thinking that personal responsibility my actually come in to play.
I go back to work tomorrow after a long holiday period off. I’m not sure how it will go for me regarding food. Looks like we’ll just have to see what happens.

Wish me luck? Or something?

-RH

Advertisement

“Mann Co. acquires Blood Eagle assets in landmark sexual harassment case”.

HEADLINE: Mann Co. acquires Blood Eagle assets in a landmark sexual harassment case. Diamond Sword purchase excess BLU mercenary surplus as part of settlement negotiations.

VS.

Saxton Hale
Mann Co. CEO
Australian Extraordinaire

In a press conference held today with Saxton Hale, CEO of Mann Co., the landmark harassment case was discussed involving the acquisition of resources held by the Blood Eagle Clan.

Reports indicate that Blood Eagle tribesman references Saxton Hale as a “girly wuss”. Mann Co. replied by allowing Mr. Hale to airdrop in to an unknown battlefield while wrestling with poisonous cobras that caught fire during the freefall. After using the now charred snake skins as replacement hat bands, Saxton proceed to “Beat the crap” out of a tirbesman who referred to himself only as “a pathfinder” upon finding out that the tribesman’s only job was to “run away”.

Tribal warriors still seeking to remain actively employed have been offered temporary mercenary positions within Mann Co. pending a probationary period.

Negotiations were vicious, but a court appointed mediator assisted with the dealings before running away for “undisclosed reasons”.

More reports will follow upon Mr. Hale’s return from a gorilla punching expedition currently scheduled for Friday.

Okay, that was fun and all, but I don’t think it’ll ever get approved by the TF2 or Tribes communities as a whole. But hey, it’s fun to play with photoshop.

Regardless, this isn’t what I’m posting about today.

Instead, it’s about cross training.

Cross training you ask?

Yes… Cross training. And not the dumb kind that involves shoes, or exercise, or any legitimate effort. Screw that noise.

Instead, I speak of cross training of the video game type.

I have been heavily involved with two FPS games over the last couple of years. Team fortress 2 and Tribes.

We already know that I’m a filthy sand raker (Though Blood Eagle is quickly gaining steam in my book for some reason), but when it comes to TF2 I’m never quite sure if I’m more of a BLU or a RED fan. Both are awesome, BUT, unfortunately, (because I’m usually a blue team kinda guy), RED is taking the lead because BLU uses dumbass apple style products.

If there is one thing I stand by, it’s that fact that I CANNOT stand anything the supports the Apple mindset, culture, or mentality. iScrew iThat!

iDumbasses!

ahem… back to the topic at hand.

I’ve been playing these two games.

I’m usually a medic or an engineer type when I play Team fortress. Not a lot of aiming required and I can let the machines do most of the work for me. I like that. Not a lot of skill, and plenty of time to look good while I help others on my team. Yay for being a team player, right? Right!  TEAMWORK! (Queue up some Tenacious D right there).

Now, in tribes, I started as a soldier because I didn’t wanna be a heavy, and pathfinding wasn’t my thing. So, I spent my time and I learned to shoot at people. I then unlocked technician (I’ve been playing since early beta) and found that I really liked this class. Turrets are awesome but I’m still HEAVILY involved in actually shooting at people.

I worked on my aiming skills.

Spinfusors? Hell yeah!

Machine guns? Bring it.

Thumpers? *giggles*. Yes, I do love this weapon.

I’ve learned to shoot. I’ve learned to aim. And I’ve learned to lead my shots and actually hit stuff.

This is something that I had never really learned how to do in Team Fortress. I just could never quite figure it out. My shots were “too slow” in my opinion.

I’ve gotten good with the spinfusor again and my thumper is warm from use. I’ve gone fast, I’ve dropped turrets, I’d repaired generators, and I’ve shoved grenades down the throats of more brutes than I can care to count. It’s been glorious good fun. 

Anywho, I fired TF2 backup again today after being in tribes for a little bit during the last week or so. I sat down and picked soldier since there were too many engineers on my team. I saw the scout screaming across the screen in the distance (They really aren’t THAT fast ya know.”, and I let a rocket loose.

KER-BLAM!

That scout just took a rocket to the friggin FACE!

Suddenly, after spending WAY too much time with a spinfusor in my hands, I could aim and shoot rockets. This is new. This is exciting. This is reason to giggle as I proceeded to run around the server and shoot people in the friggin face. I’m not any good with a sniper rifle or even with the knife of a spy, but when it comes to rockets and pipe bombs of a demo man… I’m freaking dangerous!

I enjoy many games. These two are my current favorites. And while I didn’t expect to get any better at one because I played the other, I found that the unexpected side effect resulted in way more than I could have hoped for.

-R.H

*edit: Because Words

Valentines Day and Asphalt

Odd title for a post, don’t you think?

Well, since the 14th is valentines day, I believe that a V-Day post is in order. But the problem is that my valentine is currently 401 miles away from me. That’s a big of a haul. Attached to that is the fact that I can’t take any time off of work right now and it kinda puts me in to a bind.

So, here I am.

Sitting in Cheboygan Michigan.

My Valentine, my lovely beautiful and amazing wife, sitting in West Allis Wisconsin.

And 401 miles of asphalt between us.

The best I can do is call her, let her know I miss her. And do my best to make sure she knows I love her and I miss her.

So, since I don’t have a paper valentine right now… I’m hoping that I can make a small mental impact with something of the digital variety.

So, Andrea, I offer up the following because it makes me smile and think of you.

It’s true ya know…. All of them!

I remember watching BSG together and being SO pissed when Saul Tigh turned out to be a cylon. PISSED!

Yeah, no explaination required here.

I saw this online and I could help but chuckle at the humor.

Simple, pure, tetris, truth.

I love you Andrea. Don’t forget that.

30 Day Blog Challenge – Day 6

Okay, day 6 states that I have to post a picture of somethign that makes me happy.

I looked at that challenge and said, “This is simple. BAM! A picture of Andrea”.

 

But I realized that this is what I ALWAYS do. No, not this time.

As much as I LOVE and adore my wife and children, this time this will be about something other than my family that makes me smile. Don’t get me wrong, my family makes me happier than most anything on this earth, but since we assume that this is a given, we’ll move on to the next best option.

 What you are seeing here is a rendered version of a scene from Descent. Now, it isn’t this game in particular that I want to write about. The shot is more of an analogy. Maybe a metaphor. Possibly some other word that says it means something other than it looks like. I forget, but that’s not important.

The thing I’m trying to represent here is video games in general. I play them. I enjoy them. Some of them make me smile. Some piss me off. Some make me think. Some I just like to look at. Others I am finally begining to play.

There is so much of my life that has been affected by video games.

I have a few that top my list of favorites and those I believe I will point out in the future.

…

Well, it’s TECHNICALLY the future now from when you read those last lines, so I guess I’ll tell you about them now.

GAREN’S TOP xx FAVORITE VIDEO GAMES

 

5. Super Mario Bros. series on NES

I spent way too many summers playing this bugger. Be it with or without cheats, I enjoyed it. I played with my brothers and sisters in nearly every house I lived in growing up. This is the epitome of nostalgia in my book. LOVE IT!

4. Metroid

Metroid is one of those games where I love the premise of the game. I love the physics. I love the controls. I love the exploration and the ability to wind up in some really strange places…. but…. I never beat the game. Hell, in all reality, this game scares the ever living daylights out of me. Dunno why. But it’s still one of my favs.

3. Tribes

“Trust me, I work at Gamestop”. Worst words ever to hear. Best game that could have ever been suggested by that guy. I still think he was a tool though.

2. Warcraft Series

From RTS, to point and click, to MMO… The warcraft and Starcraft universes  make me smile. I love the lore. the storylines. the graphics. the ideas behind the game. And hey, Jaina is kinda hot. LOL. Regardless, with the amount of time invested in this series, it’s up there in the top 5 for a reason.

1. Descent

I played descent for way too many years. I still pick it up from time to time even. The game makes me sick to play. It’s scary at times. And no one I know plays because they were never able to get ansy good at it. Let’s not forget though, I have the super power known as ADD, so a lot of things like this I wind up being really good at. Take battletech for example. I’m CRAZY GOOD at that game.

But that isn’t the point. The point is that I enjoy video games, and some board games. And it is those forms of entertainment that give me the opportunity to escape the real world for a little bit, enjoy some time either alone or with others, and let my imagination run wild.

So, what is it that makes me happy? (Other than my family which is my true #1)

Video games.

Sorry, it’s true

 

-G

Once an orphan…

I’m sure you have heard the saying “Once and orphan, always an orphan”. Most people have. Well, there is an achievement in WoW called [Once an orphan]. The point was to go in to a battleground, and kill 10 players who have their orphans out during Children’s Week.

I thought it was an awesome idea for an achievement.

Well, those heartless pigs that don’t understand SARCASM throughout the world have apparently taken offense to what was intended to be a joke.

The achievement?

G O N E!

It’s not even in the game anymore. Apparently, enough people are convinced that their precious little feelings are so friggin important that they can push their ideals on everyone else.

Now, if there was a majority vote on this one, and 50.1% of the WoW population wanted it gone… then that’s fine. But when two or three wacked out complainers or activists get it in their head that this is “over the line” for a sarcastic joke in a game rated “T”… then something is wrong.

Anyways, back to children’s week.

This event is coming up quickly, and I’m excited. I’ll be underway on the ship for a while so I’m not positive that I’ll be here for it. But I really hope my wife likes me enough to complete it for me.

I really want the Achievement of [What a long strange trip it’s been]. That one is gonna rule!

What am I looking at?

You might wonder what it is that you are seeing right now.
Well, it’s actually quite easy.
I enjoy World of Warcraft.
I enjoy Politcs.
I enjoy Religion.
I enjoy my Job.
So, i’m writing about everything that I enjoy.
If you are hoping to find a good resource for WoW, then you will probably want one of the blogs my wife writes for.
Anything else is gonna be hit or miss. It’s mostly random, mostly angry, and really makes almost no sense when bundled together.
I hope you consider my rants to be even a little worth listening to.

-Garen

You’re doing it wrong

I was torn on what to title this post, so I have decided to use them both. I proudly present:

 

WORDS IN WOW THAT ANGER ME

Or

YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!

 

I do not consider myself to be a scholar by any means, however, there are a number of words that just anger me when people decide to either not pronounce them properly, or just don’t give a rats behind.

 

I intend to show you how you are, in fact, doing it wrong.

 

I give you the following:

 

-MEDIVH-

Medivh is the guy who let the horde into Azeroth. Some people consider him to be a pretty irritating guy. Others think he payed for his mistake in Warcraft III when he setup the whole Mt. Hyjal thing with Thrall and Jaina.

The reason that this word pisses me off so much is because people do not pronounce it correctly. In written type, the name Medivh can be butchered to no end. However, if you have game sounds turned on, or have played Warcraft 3 or Warcraft 2, then you know the truth.

It is not “Med Vuh”.

It is not “Mee duh vuh”.

It is not  “Med Eee Vee”.

The proper pronunciation is “Meh-Deeve”

The next time someone screws this up, smack them, kick them from the guild, educate them, then publicly ridicule them on the realm forums.

 

-SHATTRATH-

Shattrath is the city of refugees that is stuck in the corner of Terokkar forest. You can’t PvP there, but you can throw yourself from the aldor rise and successfully kill yourself.

The reason that this work pisses me off so much is again, pronunciation. I look at this word and see something very simple. Let’s do a breakdown. Shall we?

 

SHATTRATH

SHATT – RATH

 

People call this city “Shatt” for short. It’s easier. It has a good flow to it. People enjoy doing it. So, tell me, how the hell do these same well educated people look at this work and see Shatharuh city?

That’s right, “Shath-uh-ruh”.

WHAT THE HELL!?

The next time someone screws this up, smack them, kick them from the guild, educate them, then publicly ridicule them on the realm forums.

 

-DALARAN-

This is a reletivily new one that pisses me off. The city has been in the game since day one. However, people have only recently begun to butcher the name. Blizzard uses the Long “A” sound, the short “A” sound, and the “Uh” sound for “A’s” all the time. The trick is knowing when to use what.

So, lets look at this word.

Dalaran.

I’ll give you a hint. There are who long A’s and an UH.

The proper pronunciation is as follows.

DAL. That’s like “HAL” from A space odyssey: 2001.

UH. That’s like “Uh, wut?”

RAN. Like…. Ran. If you try and read too deep into that one, you need kicked in the back of the knee.

Don’t say it like you are English, or Australian, or a Kiwi, or any other breathy sounding nationality. That is, unless you really ARE one of those nationality, then it just sounds awesome! Seriously, ask an Australian to say “Water”. It’s great! But like I was saying…

It’s an AAAH. Kinda like your screaming. If you don’t understand me yet, get in my vent server and I’ll say it for you. REPETEDLY!

 

-REAGENT-

This one makes me want to claw my eyes out.

It’s a Re-“A”-gent.

Not a rEEjent.

Not a rEE”g”ent.

It’s a  RE “A” GENT.

RAWR!

 

-ROGUE-

Last time I checked, Blizzard had an age limit to play this game (I could be wrong), but I’m pretty sure you should kinda have some knowledge of how to spell if you are going to use the chat function.

I’m going to be blunt here, I apologize in advance.

ROGUE = Sneaky thief guy who can sap, steal, and pops lock boxes. Usually picked last for groups.

ROUGE = Powdery make up that some women put on their faces so that rich guys will buy them food so that boobs can be squeezed!

Got it?

You screw it up again and I’ll kick you in the shin so hard your dog will limp from sympathy.

 

-SCHOLOMANCE-

Scholomance was a school of magic before the invasion of the horde and the arrival of the scourge. Back in Vanilla WoW, a lot of players complained about Scholomance simply because it was a pain in the butt to get any good gear out of there for your specific class. This meant that EVERYONE was running the place. Since everyone was running the place, a lot of people were pronouncing it wrong. This is why I hate this word. Now, I don’t REALLY hate it. I like this word a lot when it is pronounced properly. It makes me smile. But when it gets butchered… I just want to SCREAM!

Scholomance. Everyone gets the “MANCE” part right. Kudos to everyone for that.

But, the Scholo is the part that makes me cringe.

SCH can make a “SH” sound in some cases. But, not in this one.

The SCH makes the SK sound that you get from the word School.

The scholo (being a school after all) almost sounds like school when pronounced properly, but it is actually…

SKO-LOW-MANCE.

Easy, right?

Right!

 

There are a few other words in WoW that really anger me, but I have chosen to not chronicle them at this time. If you feel the need to get into vent with me, I’ll be happy to discuss words and such. But right now, this is a good starter.

DON’T SCREW THEM UP! Or I’ll kick you from the guild, educate you, then ridicule you on the forums!