What Bear? I Don't See Any Bear

Other than an irritating case of insomnia, I'm not really sure what posessed me to do this, but for some reason I'm in the mood to make a blog post. I don't know if anybody actually still subscribes to this (as I sincerely doubt anyone would read this if their feed reader didn't pull it in for them), but eh, what the heck. And to ensure nobody ever checks back here ever again, I'll write about the most boring topic I possibly can. . . what's been happening these last 6+ months.

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Well, first of all, the reason it has been so long since I last posted. I primarily used this blog as a way to keep my mind busy while at my mind-numbingly secluded and boring job. This job, as I'm sure I mentioned at least once, was as a research engineer for General Motors. Well, anyone who knows how to turn on a TV or read a newspaper headline knows, american car manufacturers (and in fact the economy in general) are in the toilet right now. And as a result of this, I, and about a third of my fellow contract employees, were flushed as a result. And as of right now, I still don't have a job (and bonus points, my wife lost her job about a month later. We have Gov. Patterson's crack economic decisions and education budget slashing [that is, decisions made while ON crack] for that one), but I'm forever looking, with renewed vigor every time the bill collectors get more aggressive (like, for example, the power company employees I chased off today as they tried to shut off our power). And as a bit of cruel irony, a large part of our current budget woes comes from the car payments we are making for our GM-built car we bought last year.

Anyhow, one plus side of being unemployed is that when I've exhausted my job search options on any given day, I have LOTS of extra time for WoW. As it turns out, Jasminne won the "election" for WotLK main character. The deciding factor? I also left Prophecy, opting to fully dedicate myself to The Ugly Future. Alas, that guild kinda fell apart as people got burned out on the game, but just before that happened, I reunited with some of the folks I really enjoyed the company of in Prophecy, so when the call was made to disband, I already knew where my new home would be. It wasn't long before I found myself in an officer position again (despite having promised myself I would never be a guild officer again, given some. . . unpleasant experiences with guild leadership), and we're now well on our way in Ulduar, having defeated everything on the way to, and including, Auriaya. And bonus, our small 10-man raiding guild is growing well, and we're just about big enough to become a 25-man raid guild. I must admit, I personally enjoy the 10-man runs much more (and my computer has MUCH less of an issue rendering them), but I am a bit of a gear whore (really, you have to be if you're a tank), so still look forward to being able to get the higher quality 25-man gear.

As for my other characters? Well, after getting Jasminne to 80 and geared, I figured it would be a good idea to have a healer ready for when tanks are abundant, but healers are in short supply (you know, the days ending in "Y"). So I cranked Kornaq through Northrend, specced him resto, and, while I much prefer tanking, I have to admit he's kind of fun to heal on. I just wish boss' hit boxes weren't so big in ulduar, whenever I try to chainheal the tank to get some heals on the melee, nobody is actually in range of the jumps! I also levelled up Kibler, my hunter, to have a DPS toon, but mostly because he also became my only miner, as I dropped Jasminne's mining to pick up blacksmithing (yeah, I'm one of those min/maxed profession tanks, so sue me). As such, I just finished levelling up my warlock, Kirari, and have just started trying to gear him up to be my new primary DPS toon (Yes, I could dual spec Jasminne to ret, and I HAVE dual specced Kornaq elemental, but I really enjoy the affliction warlock playstyle, and I HATE melee DPS).

Unfortunately, I just can't drive myself to gear up my little gnome. I just haven't been able to get my heart into PuGging heroics. Part of it is that I've already geared out 3 level 80s, and was already working on a fourth, my wife's priest. But more importantly, I'm feeling more and more like an emo kid each day, and ironically, depression does NOT make me want to play a class that cuts itself on a reglar basis. Go fig.

Anywho, I guess this was the part where I wrapped up my typing, hunted down a semi-topical image to put on the post, and filled in some keywords. I'll go ahead and get on that. And who knows, maybe I wont take half a year to post again next time. Maybe.

Continue reading 'What Bear? I Don't See Any Bear'

Work Ramps Up, Blogging Ramps Down

So, as I'm sure many of you have noticed, my posting has been sporadic at best the last couple of weeks, and its getting more so. When I started writing this blog, I decided to try to hold myself to a Monday-Friday one-post-a-day schedule, but it just hasn't been working out that way. Its not for a lack of topics to write about; I actually have quite a few potential topics lined up and ready to be written. The problem is my job. . .

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At the beginning of last week, I started being transitioned into a new work area. Well, that's not exactly the right way to put it, because that makes it sound like I'm being shifted to a new role completely. I'm actually just acquiring more responsibilities. Before, I was responsible for a single module (Essentially a freestanding car engine, I work for General Motors as a Fuel Cell Test Engineer for those who didn't know), which ran in an environmental chamber. It meant a LOT of downtime, because for most tests, I had to let the module thermally adjust for hours after each run. And with all that downtime, I started to get bored, and from that boredom eventually came blogging.

Well, last Monday, I started dividing my time between two work areas: My old one in the environmental chamber, and a new one down the hall, with two more modules. In a purely work-related sense, this is a GREAT thing for me, because with three modules to keep running (only the one requiring thermal "soaks"), I keep a lot busier, I LOOK a lot busier, and time goes by much more quickly. On top of this, because of the scheduling of the person who runs that other lab during the day shift, I was given the opportunity to shift my hours back to a 1:00 to 9:30 slot, which is immensely better than going home at midnight, both because I actually get to see my fiancee (and guildies) before they go to sleep at night, and because the people who know much more than I about things are around for a larger portion of my shift for when (not if, when) things go wrong. An all around winning proposition.

The problem with this, of course, is that all of that downtime I used to have was my blog writing time. I still have bits of downtime here and there, but I can only really write if I do it in big chunks (usually writing an entire post in one stint, but sometimes 2-3 large pieces instead). So right now, I'm looking at a few options:

Option 1 -- Blog when I happen to get the time (like today), and don't try to stick to any schedule. This, obviously, is the model I have pursued up to this point. I'll probably go this route for a bit longer, just to see if, as I settle into my new schedule, I'm able to find more time to write. However, if I continue to only be able to write a couple times a week this way, I'll definitely be pursuing other options, as I really do enjoy my blogging time on many levels.

Option 2 -- Stockpile Articles. I know a lot of bloggers out there have multiple posts they work on at any given time, going back and forth between them. As I said, I'm more of a "write it all at once" kind of guy. But if I could get multiple completed articles written, and just push them to the front page one per day, I could keep up my posting schedule despite my work schedule. There are two problems with this, though. First, I would still have to find time to actually write my articles. I could probably set aside some time on the weekends, but generally when I'm at home, I would really rather PLAY the game than write about it. And second, I would have a really hard time not just immediately publishing my completed articles. I love getting feedback from you guys! And that goes double for posts about current events.

Option 3 -- Write at Night. I'm an extreme night owl, largely due to working the shift I work. And since most of the WoW population does not follow my schedule, I often have very little to do in game at night (last night, for example, I spent 3 hours farming up about a dozen Charged Crystal Foci). If I can get myself to write during those downtimes, I could not only still get my one post a day up, but would probably be the first blogger a lot of people read every day due to the timing (albeit, I generally post later in the evening anyhow, so that may already be true). The problem there is, while my mind is very much awake in the wee hours of the morning, it doesn't tend to be all that focused, so my writing quality might suffer, or I might just get chronic writer's block. So actually, I'd probably have to write the night before, and put in some editing time the next day to bring things "up to snuff".

Option 4 -- Badger people into "Guest Blogging". This really wouldn't be a solution on its own (remember, I LIKE writing this, its a hobby, not a chore). However, if I found that I just can't get around to doing 5 articles a week, it would be an option to fill the gaps. I have to admit, I've played around with the idea in the past, and think it would be really cool to have, say, a weekly guest article, maybe even a regular contributor, or some sort of point/counterpoint type deal. Something to set the Rambling Bear apart from all the other bear tank blogs. But again, there are two problems with this. First, I have no idea who I would get to do it. It would probably be someone from my guild (since most of the other gamers I know, I know through their blogs). But I have no idea who I would get, what they would write about (a weekly RP story, probably), or even if anybody would be interested. And second, and more importantly, I'm a rather overzealous editor. I have a tendency to take other people's writing and, in the process of checking it over and fixing mistakes, inadvertently rewriting much of what they say in my own writing style. Something I'm sure any guest contributor would get a bit annoyed with.

So, anyhow, I hope to be able to get back to a more regular posting schedule for you all soon. Bear with me in the meantime. Heh, bear *snicker* Continue reading 'Work Ramps Up, Blogging Ramps Down'

Obligatory Introductory Post. . .

So. A Blog huh? How did I end up talking myself into this one? Oh, right, I guess it started when I stumbled upon Another Feral Druid's Blog and ended up becoming a regular reader. The more I read his blog, as well as those he himself read, the more the idea of having a blog of my own grew on me . . . especially after some of the treatises I started leaving in response to posts. And earlier this week, I decided to take the plunge, and here I am.

But, you might ask, who the heck ARE you? Well, I am many people. In game, I am Surania Lorezon, Night Elf feral tank extraordinaire of the Steamwheedle Cartel server (Well, I don't know about that extraordinaire part, but everybody I tank for seems to love me *shrug*). Well, usually. Sometimes, I'm Kirari Jacol, the snarky gnome Affliction Warlock. Or Kibler, the huntress, travelling with her two pets Bacon (the pig) and Bits (the ravager), all puns obviously intended. Or any one of a number of other alts I have. . . those were just the ones at 70.

How do I have time to level up so many alts? Do I not have a life? Well. . . yeah, pretty much. I admit it, I'm an addict, and I dont have much of an out-of-game social life to pull me away from the game. It doesn't help that I work a 3-11:30pm job, and thus having a social life is nearly impossible. But really, I find that WoW gives me MORE of a social life than I'd otherwise have, as I've found a wonderful (and rapidly growing) group of friends to spend my time with in-game, we're practically family. . . right down to the feuding.

Of course, its not enough for me to just PLAY the game, I had to go and become an officer of my guild, Prophecy. And not just an officer, up until recently I was the dang Guild Master. Talk about fun *grumbles*. In fact, its my experiences as an officer that inspired me most to start this blog, and most likely will inspire a great number of my future postings, at least at first. The most bizarre thing is, people actually seem to think I'm a good leader. Weirdos.

When I'm not playing Warcraft, I'm usually either at work (reading Blogs) in a General Motors Fuel Cell research facility in Honeoye Falls, NY, or at home spending time with my fiancee (Who also plays), my 3 Rabbits (Nosey, Smokey, and Oreo), 2 Cats (Pounce and Bear), Guinea Pig (Patches), Chinchilla (Twitch), and Parrot (Beaker). Did I mention I live in a two-bedroom apartment? Yeah, its a madhouse to be sure.

Now, for one warning. I have this nasty tendency to not follow through with things like this. I once had a LiveJournal that lasted a couple months, a couple of online D&D campaigns that died before they really got off the ground, and I really haven't looked at my MySpace page since I made the silly thing. Now, since I have a great deal of free time at work, something I didn't have the luxury of for the rest of those things (Save the MySpace page, but I can't access that service from work), I hold out hope for this project, but we shall see.
Continue reading 'Obligatory Introductory Post. . .'