EVE

I figured I'd write about the latest game I've been playing some... EVE.



EVE is another MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) only this one is sci-fi based.  Rather than characters per se you have ships.  The game play revolves around what you decide achieve more than quests or missions.  There are over a hundred ships, all with different looks and abilities.  Each ship has a number of modification slots for custom equipment.  The ships can focus on a variety of combat styles to mining to spying to courier to transport and more.  It really is like a mini-world in space with 10's of thousands of players filling in the roles.



The "world" is vast.  Thousands of star systems each with planets, stations, asteroid belts and various other features (some hidden).  Game play never takes place on a planet or "in" a station.  Stations are basically just docking facilities for your ship.  A lot of game stuff starts in stations, but you never actually get out of your ship and walk around.



There is only one game server.  So there is no confusion about what server your friends may be playing on.  It's only a matter of if you can get to them.  Navigation is quite complex.  But it gives the game an interesting "realistic" feel to space travel.  You actually feel like you're programming your nav computer to make all the warp jumps necessary to move between systems.



The character development is the driving factor in the game.  If you want to be a Miner for example, there are a few dozen skills you'll need to be a master.  The money you rake in will increase with your skill, ship, mods and you're ability to find the rarest ores.  But it's a hard world out there.  Take out a slow mining rig to a low security system and you're likely to get attacked by other players looking to loot your hull and steal your ore.  PvP is complex and costly.



In order to make it, you need to have friends.  There are hundreds of corporations started by other players to join.  Inside a corp you can schedule mining missions with teams of miners, defenders and haulers (folks that ferry ore to the stations)--everyone gets a share.  Again, it's a facinating simulation of the real world.



My character's name is Masada Akiva.  Currently I'm working for MCLI out of the Angymonne system.  MCLI is a small mining corporation, but it's been good for me to see them and get tips.  The game has massively complex systems for combat, trade, skills, mining, covert operations, crafting and probably a dozen others I don't know about.  Most of the learning is thru discovery in the game.  There are many help guides, but it's hard to know what to look for.



It's an interesting game.  You can download the client for free and play for $15 a month.  This makes it a cheap buy in compared to many MMORPG's.  If you try it... drop me a line.  Talk to ya online!

Granny Goose

My grandmother on my mom's side has passed away today.  Her name was Dorothy Boone. She was really the only grandparent I've known my whole life.  My grandfather died when my mom was just 7.  Although she remarried a few times the only grandfather I remember died when I was just a teen.  She decided to never remarry after that.  I believe she was 80.

For the last couple of years she had been losing a battle with Ahlziemers.  She hadn't been able to speak or recognize us for a few weeks.  The last time I did see her, she was having a good day and we spoke.  She seemed a little scared like she wasn't quite sure where she was, but she was happy to be with us.

She used to play dice and cards and she was masterful at it.  Cribbage, yahtzee, pitch, canasta... she was good at them all.  I might even trace back my love of games to her.  The first house hers that I can remember had a great play basement.  It had one room with a carpet that all sorts of game pattern in it--like checker boards, hopscotch, etc.  I used play down there for hours.  Mostly just driving hot wheels around the pattern which made perfect roads.

She was the youngest of 6 siblings--Alvin, Glenola, Mildred, Crisy, Zelma and Dorothy or "Dot" as the rest of them called her.  Zelma is the last.  All of them played a solid game of canasta.  Glenola and Mildred both died of Ahlziemers too.  Alvin died of heart problems, but not before celebrating his 75th wedding anniversary.

My grandmother worked for Western Auto most of her life.  She openned a craft store when she retired.  She painted for years after that. 

I've missed my grandma for a number of years as she slowly faded.  I suppose its the way of things, but I still miss her.

More advice for Husbands and Wives

This picture has nothing to do with the post... But ain't it a hoot!?

A lot of what I've "discovered" about relationships isn't new.  Obviously, relationships are as old as humanity (maybe older depending on your metaphysical views).  Yet still folks commonly make the same mistakes generation after generation.  Why?

I think the answer boils down to, "We just don't think about it."  We learn virtually everything from our own families.  It isn't a classroom but, just the same, we see how our parents managed and we tend to manage things the same way.  Including all the mistakes and bad habits.  But then we rarely take time to really break down these behaviors and decide if we should keep them or not.  We just "do" and hope for the best.

The human being is an amazing creature.  We take decades to develop.  While the law of the land typically calls us "adult" at 18, this has no bearing on reality.  Our schools and our society do not focus on real development.  They focus on learning and education... but not on being whole and complete people.  In fact, we often teach ideals contrary to being complete people.  This is what I'd like to focus on for the new couple...  You have to be happy with yourself (alone) before you can really be happy with your partner.  This means you have to be a whole person to begin with... not a "half person" looking for their other half.

Being happy with yourself is hard to define.  But I think I can give some examples of how to tell if you're probably not quite done yet.  If you are out of a relationship and you can't seem to think of anything else than how to get back in a relationship... You might have some work to do yet.  If you are never happy when you're alone or if you imagine that everything would be more fun with a partner, then you should also take a little pause to ponder why that is.  In many cases, folks would say that these things are really true--that life is always better with a spouse and that we should all be working on acquiring one.  While having a spouse is immensly satisfying and can add to your well-being as a person, having a partner isn't a specific cure to being an incomplete person.

Finding someone that seems to fill in the holes in your life may be very comforting at first, it also may not last.  It's not entirely stable especially if you're not even aware that you've done it.  Imagine that I have no right arm.  Suddenly, I meet a woman with a very functional right arm and when we stand side-by-side we can make great sandwiches.... ahhhh life is grand.  But then I sit down to type a blog and it just doesn't work.  She may be able to intuitively help me be a complete sandwich maker, but she can't possibly work a normal keyboard in unison with me.  She ends up feeling inadequate that she can not fix this part of me and I may even resent her for not being able to help with blogs as well as she helps with sandwiches.  We may try for years to make blog writing work.  Whether we are ultimately successful or not, the struggle with tax the relationship.  If we encounter a number of other common relationship problems, the burden may just be too great and we'll grow apart.

Relationships are long-shot bets at the best of times.  Every advantage you can leverage to help you be successful should be greedily exploited.  If you come to your relationship with a burden of painful loneliness and past broken promises, you'll probably be looking at your new partner to cure all of these.  It's not fair to ask that of someone.  We have to find our own peace and then come to our new relationships at peace with ourselves, our goals, desires, dreams and feelings.  Sharing a life with someone is not about leaning on someone to make up for things you are not happy with in yourself.

Knowing when you are a "whole person" probably isn't possible.  I'm sure it's a goal that we would strive for our entire lives.  So don't take this to mean you can't ever find a mate or ever be attracted to things in a mate that you find missing in yourself.  But do take those opportunities to learn from your partner to be these things you admire.  Do take time to think about yourself and why you do the things you do.  Try to define what you like in your partner and ponder why you like that so much.  We could all do with a little more introspection.  Take some time to really think about these things.  I mean, ideally your relationship is going to last a lifetime, right?  You can afford to sit back and really think about it.

Explosives

I ran across this picture in reference to "Spycraft" motivational posters... It was my favorite so I had to post it.

Are we EFFING crazy?

How is it possible to elect a human being so abysmally stupid that they would hit on their underage same-sex pages?  Not that gayness is extra wrong compared to regular underage sex chat... but DAMN!



We have serious serious political issues.  We need to pay more attention to the men and women we put in office.  This is nuts.  So unbelievably nuts.



The President is a self-servicing oil baron, half of congress is theives and pedophiles, and we've come to expect our leaders to be majorly flawed in some way.  We could grab bums off the street with more integrity than these leaders.



I just can't farking believe it.

Fall Colors

With just a few nights of cool temps the trees are beginning to change here in KC.  Just a few here and there, but it's a start.  In Nebraska, they have dots of color all over the place reminding me how pretty fall is.



I'm pretty solidly a Fall/Winter kind of guy.  I like the cool temps, sweaters, long coats and good boots.  I love an 8 foot snow drifts and a warm wood fire.  Of course I love Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas (despite their religious affiliations and/or fictious origins).  It's the time of year I try to hum silently Christmas songs.  I hate to annoy the rest of you, but it just makes me happy to sing them.



I like football (the American kind) and early sunsets.  I like bitter cold clear nights where the stars themselves seem like they may settle down on top of sparkling snow.  I like the Harvest Moon low on the horizon.



I don't like raking leaves.  Nothing is perfect I guess.



I hope all of you get a chance to enjoy the thing you love most in the last bit of 2006.  I know the holidays can be a rush and they aren't entirely all inclusive.  But to me the "reason for the season" isn't because some poor smuck got born, but rather that a reminder that we can be good to eath other.  That we don't have to instantly fear each other or be worried about differences.  Sappy I suppose.  But better than being bitter all the time.