Anniversary Post & Latent Replies

I’ve been out from posting the past few weeks. I had no time to compose anything. The past few weeks with work bogged down, I had only time to shower and eat and nothing more. Let me just say life in retail has been short but I’ve learned the good side and bad side of retail.

During the Christmas retail season, I’ve learned much about what sales associates go through. To be honest with you, it’s frustrating and stressful for everyone involved. However having a hostile work environment does make it worse which was the unfortunate circumstance I had to be in after several months of working at the same place. Right on the Eve, I’ve had it and I think my manager has the same with me. I don’t consider this individual as my employer but just a slave driver. Anywho, that’s probably a drunken rambling for the next anniversary post.

So it’s that time of year again where WordPress likes to tell me it’s “our” anniversary. I made this joke before but it’s worth mentioning. It’s a long term relationship and probably the longest I will ever have. Haha. No matter, I just like having this little digital sanctum to journal my life. Looking forward to the new year, I still do think I have a lot of interesting things to do.

This year is actually going to be a snowy new year. Grabbing my camera and definitely travelling locally to see new vistas. Speaking of which, I should get back to uploading more photos on my 500px page.  With the little time I’ve had I’ve managed to do something new and special for myself. I preface, this is not a sponsored post. For the past months, I’ve been considering getting personal business cards especially for my photography portfolio. I’ve been shopping locally until I found a shop called VistaPrint. I found later after my first visit, they are actually an online company and this being their flagship store. After finding the time to return for a repeat visit, I finally order about 500 cards. It might be overkill, but it’s was a steal since it was only $10 with their holiday offer. Otherwise I would’ve gotten a smaller amount, like 100 or so. I’m a bit excited though I wish I had something cooler to put on the card. Hopefully I’ll get them shortly in the new year.

I’m still doing the YouTube thing and playing all the games. Actually Steam has their annual winter sale, I’ve bought a few more games which I won’t be playing until next Christmas. Hopefully I’ll have enough time to play them all and upload something.

For now I’ll just enjoy the bit of relaxed unemployment. Probably get back to do my own photography. If they call me for work, I did make my intent known. I was going to play nice to declare my resignation two weeks before I leave but this manager really put it out there. Technically not illegal from what I’ve read however they have to let me know if I have been terminated. Don’t care, I’ve voluntarily withdrew my employment in a busy store and it’s the holiday season and if I remember correctly I have most if not the entire law on my side as the employee. My only regret is I wish I could work with my old manager, they were way more polite and way more helpful this garbage person. Though hopefully I can be re-employed under my old manager than any other.

Anyways, I’m glad I have a few days to myself.

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Settling Into The Holidays.

I’m almost done with work. Just a couple more weeks, then I’m going on a month long gaming binge. Recently I’ve been spending a couple hours a day at a time recording and editing. It’s been kind of bit slow since I haven’t hit the gym in a couple month, I should return to the gym but video games are so much fun. I would like to push hard to record all those games I bought so many moons ago, all 4 games. I doubt I would complete them within the month since most of them are sandbox games; I would like to at least finish Prison Architect, Call To Arms  and one more (Skyrim if I can binge the entire game). Speaking of which, I’m about $30 away from owning the entire Skyrim collection; just two more DLC’s!

Speaking of games, I’ve been looking around to all the people I’ve met who would like to play more cooperative stuff. The last coop recording I did was in Insurgency which was fun, but I think I should do something different and interesting. Trying to see if there is a game I have and someone wants to spend a few months or more on it. Space Engineers does take forever to get somewhere interesting. I have Star Trek Online, I could do the story campaigns with someone in odd ships.  I might return to The Long Dark, not co-op but I would like to at least die in the game. However The Long Dark suffered more like Stardew Valley where I lost interest. Ryan, the guy who I use to play a lot of Pulsar:Lost Colony, had Empyrion: Galactic Survival but I would like to go the survival stuff with a partner or a group. Especially starting from scratch and ending with a large ship or completing the massive project.

As I’m editing my gameplay, I’ve been watching a lot of livestreams. Not sure if I ever mentioned or tried to look up what I need to stream, but I recently looked up how much I really need to stream in HD. Safe to say, I’m no way close to a bandwidth to stream; maybe a 480p stream, could be less. So I can hardly play a game with a live audience, maybe some day when Canadian ISP’s were cheaper. For now and until next time, I’ll keep recording and playing.

Post-Christmas, Pre-New Year’s Eve and Desktop Design Idea…Also Belated Anniversary

Addicted to video games, and still addicted to video games. It’s been about a few weeks since I really enjoy a good gaming session. Of course I’ve been logging into Star Trek Online for daily nudies from Q, but it’s not what I really want in terms of playing a game. On a laptop especially, gaming is pretty low quality or boring. What makes it worse is I can’t stream YouTube on my laptop but I can on my phone. First world problems; can’t stream YouTube in high quality. I have to admit, I’m quite fidgety awaiting for my next fix. I somewhat regret cracking open Blacklight Retribution before travelling for Christmas. Even with all this, I have a week and a half to go before I return to my desktop. Ugh, when I do; I will do and do it all night long (maybe).

Enough about me, I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Either opening present or eating Chinese food – or both! If none, then maybe New Year’s Eve will be interesting. Unfortunately, I will be alone for New Year’s; I’ll be joining the lonely few to drink, watch TV or hanging out on the internet. Okay to be honest, I’m counting days right now. I do think I’ve overstayed my welcome in the great land of the United States of America. I want to get home, get on a bunch of job listings and play video games non-stop.

In desperation, I’ve been sitting around the internet looking for small form factor desktop computers. Specifically that can be modular to handle upgrades like a regular sized desktop but designed to video games. Pretty much all I want inside a tiny box is a gaming PC that fits inside my backpack and will work everywhere where a monitor and internet is available. Follow up to that is a mouse and a foldable or super compact keyboard. I guess that’s what I should wish for next Christmas. Seriously, is it just me or does PC gaming should become a bit more mobile? Even just the desktop tower, it would be pretty neat to play wherever I go. In my head, I think it just needs to be in a small box containing nothing more than a power supply, hard drive, graphics card and the smallest motherboard with one of each video, a few USB, ethernet, audio, 2 PCI connectors. I may have described something already available but I would like something to be built towards playing desktop games than being a multimedia centre. Meaning higher processing power and the modular chipset so I can replace particular parts or adding parts. Get on it, PC manufacturers!

Though a possible compromise would be somehow to turn a briefcase to into a desktop. There is a few downsides to that idea but it would maintain the idea of a powerful mobile PC. The only downside I can see is if you leave it somewhere unattended, it may scare some people since people see bombs in movies as being hidden in a briefcase. In these days, I think people would rather fear for the worse. Regardless, still want to see a PC equivalent of the console. I’m really hung up on this because I miss playing my games for fun than just keeping up with daily grinding.

On a lighter note, this blog is now officially a few years old. That happened 23 days ago without much fanfare. I only noticed when WordPress.com sent me a notification. Surprisingly, it’s probably the third longest ongoing project in my life. The journey here is more or less a love/hate relationship. Days I never wanted to share my thoughts and the days I can write until my wrists and fingers go sore. In the last few years, I remind myself that this blog is about me and my ramblings. Not for sale for the highest bidder but a reflecting pool for myself and maybe for some of you. This blog is about the good times and the worst I can experience. For the highs and lulls and my small repository of wisdom and knowledge, hopefully it is how it reads. No matter how hard 2013 was for us and those who just subscribed, look back on it and think about how that changed you. Regardless of the pride or regret, the experience of every passing year is an opportunity for the future. Without your past, there is no future. Without an outlook for the future, the past means nothing. So for all of you, all +120, I would like to thank you for being on my journey. To think of it; if my blog is a commercial airplane, you would all be my passengers and I would be the captain and pilot. After a few years in service, I’m pretty happy I haven’t crashed it.

Until next year readers, happy new years!

Christmas, New Years and a New Game

As of today, I’ve added one more game to the list of games played. Before taking off for Christmas, I got myself into playing Blacklight Retribution. It’s a sci-fi shooter from Zombie Inc. and published by Perfect World Entertainment. Coming from one of their other products, I might as well take advantage of the account provided to me to play another game without the need of another game client. She’s a hefty download and my desktop doesn’t stand much of a chance for graphics, but I found the game to be a good change of pace from the RPG world of Star Trek Online. With the remaining hard drive space, I think this would be a good investment until I cap out like STO. I’ll probably make a review after I’ve tried as much I think is sufficient.

Thus far, I’ve signed up for the game for their recent update called “Onslaught” which is a PvE game mode addition. In short, it looks like a zombie mode. Aside from their update, I wanted to try their weapon customization. I’ve tried a lot of games with weapon modifications, but Blacklight seems to be much more in depth and I am pretty interested to see how these changes would work in their PvE and PvP environments. But anyways, more later on when I have a good feel for the game.

The current situation in real life is I’m spending time with milady for Christmas through the week of New Years before going home. Though I’m out here for the second time in the last two months, I’m going to take all the free time I have to find a job through online job boards and listings. I got to stay productive even when I’m having fun now I guess; that’s part of adulthood right? I better land a job somewhere within a couple months starting January. Even if it means planning it out by logging sent applications and such, I really need to get this done! I’m pretty into my games so hopefully I can get this done.

So I guess that’s my new year’s resolution and wish for Santa. I just want a paying job. Preferably slightly above minimum, a bit safe, laborious and I get some new  skills out of the entire deal. So Santa; please hook me up.

Until next time, happy holidays!

Happy new sickness…

Sorry guys for the lapse in content. There were some unforeseen consequences in the fact that I got sick and wicked bedridden for the last few days. I thought spending time with people I like to hang out with would be nice, but I guess Santa Clause thought I was super naughty and gave me an illness. Lets rewind back and give you the full story.

T’was the week of Christmas, playing some STO.

Then I got a text from my sis saying “D&D, wanna go?”

Leapt from my chair and donned my coat, I marched through the white,

Might’ve stopped by Subways, for a small bite.

Moving through slush, I reached the steps up.

Got in and was invited with a full teacup.

Boldly we rolled our characters, a Dwarf of healing.

Had a feeling we would all be wiping.

Into forests we traverse to a world unknown.

“Hey getting pizza, what you want?” a female tone.

…okay, I’m sick so this rhyming, is heavy on head.

I felt sick after that and went home to bed.

 

After Christmas I felt the symptoms; coughing, headache, sore throat. So I did my best to rest. Right before the Eve, thats when it got all worse. I woke up with a fever and my body was just tired. So I stayed in bed until my fever broke, and it did after a few days with most of the symptoms. Almost day four, and I’m trying to choke out the coughing. Rest and fluids should help, but I still have a headache. In a house full of noise, well it’s to rid it. I do my best to sleep when it’s loud and try to do what I can to not make it worse. But this headaches gone so far, I want to shut them all up by with some germ warfare with my coughing. On the upside, I got some neat gifts. Without any hard drive space, I am going to have to play them one at a time. 

I was able to get some headway with Skyrim with the Dawnguard DLC. After, maybe run around in the nuclear wasteland of New Vegas in Fallout. However I do want to pay GLaDoS a quick visit in Portal 2 and maybe try some player made creations. 

Well, I wish the Internet can help me recover right now from my illness. I don’t know, somehow feed me chicken noodle soup through my Playbook. I could use some warm delicious soup with chunky chicken bits.

Until that day comes, I’m going back to staring at my ceiling in the dark. Until next week, I hope you all had a better [insert holiday here] and a hangover-free New Year. Now back to bed….

Stuff I would like to have (To be more Christian: “What I want for Christmas…”)

Christmas time again where shopping malls are packs. Loved ones stressing on the perfect gift. Even the little ones demand more from St. Nick. Even on a non-Christian group, there’s always that need and greed mentality around this time. Always more time to pull another Black Friday.

Many do impulsively pull an idea of their ideal gift. In terms of gifts and wants, I take my time to consider what I want or need. Usually I choose something unusual but relative the the person or myself. I consider myself as a techie, appreciating those gadgets or games. Though games are the hardest to please with me since I’m usually on or coming off a rush from a game. The tech however is a dead easy thing to get for a techie. I, myself, sometimes want things to assist me in terms of convenience. Such thing like a laptop or netbook for Internet and blogging needs. I always have that fascination of mobile computing so I always wanted a little something to carry around to look things up or just write on my blog whenever I feel like it rather than remembering a topic I wanted to address at the time.

Content as is with the library of games at my disposable and MMO’s I have access to, there are some games where having cash for would be sweet. One game I’ve had my sights on since it’s conception is Star Trek Online. Now with free-to-play nearing, the lifetime subscription seems more enticing. And you have to love those holiday price slashes and with the lifetime at just over $200, it seems more of an appealing purchase. I can only wait for the free-to-play before I can decide on such a purchase. So for a price of a used netbook, I could get my hands on (well my inactive account on) some premium features on the game. I know I’ve been yakking about Star Trek more often and it’s because of free-to-play; I’ve been waiting for this day to come for over two years or so and when it does come about, I’m psyched to put away a few days to the game. Aside of that, having a game card for certain other games aren’t so bad. First to a game card would be a gift card from a game store so I can buy said game card.

In the end, I don’t expect much as the receiver. I’m usually a moderately difficult person to find a present for, except on a birthday (secret is cake, chocolate specifically.) Then zoning in on the interests can come up with loads of ideas for gifts. Nothing as a perfect gift, but close enough.

A little debrief on Friday’s Fun Fest. It was kind of insane. My frag rate definitely dropped. I’m thinking some people were really hunting me down in multiplayer. Either this or I haven’t really played much within two to three days. No less I had some fun time. Made a few unlocks, but I think the fun comes from the challenge. Due to that fact, I’m kind of regretting pounding people with my mortar in Bazaar. Good times!

Day 5: Departure and Dungeons!

So my sister is leaving tonight. But before I saw her off she left me a little present. A large brown package and a game controller; oh almost forgot, a Caramilk bar!

So now I have 2 game controllers and I can yet play any games. I’m so torn about it. At least on the good side; when I opened this flat present in hopes of an iPad or a PC tablet, what did I find? A book for Dungeons and Dragons. One book a always wanted to get but always out of reach. Now I feel really bad, but then again I did help her fix up her computer. Or what I can do is gift her a copy of NHL 2009 and the game controller I bought second hand, then get a copy for myself and when she moves, we can still hang around by playing hockey. Hmmm, that might work.

So today was more Munckin mania, but today, it seems like I’m on a losing streak. I can never win with a Cowboy class if my life depended on it. But don’t fret, I will read my D&D handbook and plan for a comeback in D&D (insert generic villainous laugh). Well it will be sweet, though I wish there was most people I know who play D&D. But I’m pretty psyched to read it through the holiday season.

As for my addiction, I think it’s slowly manageable. I’m going to try and last for 10 days and see where I’m at, hopefully I can get through this. 5 days down, 16 remaining; so far, I’m holding on and climbing out. I haven’t thought about video games all day until I got my present from my sister.

Well, it’s almost 1 in the morning. I still have to force myself to get some shut eye; the one thing my addiction still has dominion of in my life. Wish me luck, folks. See you all tomorrow!

Programs and the Rant

So I spent the last few hours just sifting through the internet for a blogging tool. I’ve haven’t found a good one yet so I just downloaded Windows Live Writer. I do have OpenOffice, though I doubt it has a blogging feature in it’s word processor. I just need it in case I forget to save a draft before closing a tab. I’ve also noticed that everything is not pushing towards Windows 7; even Microsoft is shunning it’s successors out of the picture. But for the most part, most of it is compatible to each other. Though the preference of reliability over the bountiful still keeps me bound to the familiar (unless I can get it pretty cheap or I find a better alternative). Curious whether to switch to Linux or stay the course considering the pricey extravagance of Windows 7. Someone did compile a little operating system with the Google Chrome OS codes, maybe when I have the time, I should give it a whirl. Wait, I don’t think no one is supporting that platform yet, have they? At any rate, I think that’s my fall back plan when Windows XP becomes the most obsolete operating system; but it was worth fifty bucks for the program while it lasted.

Besides from looking at other programs, I thought about making a DVD of all my necessary programs as an installation disk so everything would be there when I need them. I really did consider the fact when my old computer got infected. Pretty much it would have everything I would need to keep my computer running properly without downloading anything. Everything from firewalls, antivirus and malware detection and removal programs to disk defraggers, cache cleaners and a whole mess of media programs. Though the only downside would be that I would have to update these programs once installed. I wish I had a shred of programming experience so I can make an auto-updater for all my stuff. Stuff we can never do, eh?

In terms of entertainment, Toronto is like any other city. I’ve been here for two decades and it’s been pretty much the same stuff year in and year out. There isn’t much to city life after you just know most of the time the malls and movie theatres have their A-list quality shops and never something unique. Example? Eatons Shopping Centre by Yonge-Dundas Square. It fairly much has the usual boutiques you will find in any other mall. H&M, Gap and (-facepalm-) Abercrombie and Finch; sure, we have a diverse culture, but it’s severely diluted in terms of recreation and options. That’s why I love those little nooks like Korea Town or Little Italy, just something simple and not over the top. How about sporting venues? We use to have a driving range downtown before the condo boom. Tennis courts are everywhere and usually accompanied by a basketball court or two. Baseball diamonds and football fields, but there’s hardly anything I would call “alternative” downtown. I know Sgt. Splatter is ten blocks from my house, but that on an incline and I don’t really have the equipment for paintball. Also I find paintball pretty annoying considering the downtime for you to clean up and go again. I’ve been reading around and something close to it; it’s called “airsoft”. From these sources, I don’t mind being hit by one of those from a distance. But assuming the viability of this is scarce as paintball if not highly uncommon. I read further to find that this sport (maybe it’s an activity?) is somewhat illegal. That made me exclaim in profane hatred since I know UFC was allowed to play here and that’s literally bar room fisticuffs minus the beer. From what I’ve deducted from the forums posts and articles, it seems safe enough. And if my grade 11 science do me any use, I think a fist would hurt more than a 6mm 0.25 gram pellet travelling at 350 to 450 feet per second at a distance of 50 metres wouldn’t hurt that much. From what I read, it’s a like a bee sting or a pinch compared to a brick wall of UFC. I guess upholding the law with exceptions is pretty hard for politicians considering they would allow this. Maybe I should ask my local MP and MPP about  this. Where was it? Oh right, stuff to do in the city. Toronto should really pick up on more entrepreneur enterprises. Some down to earth, homely goodness of cultural boutiques and restaurants didn’t hurt anyone. Though McDonald’s is about half the distance of my favourite Korean place, I rather go for something delicious rather something fatty and quick. From time to time, I wouldn’t mind burger and fries or friend chicken and fries; something about fish and chips or all-you-eat appeals more for me in terms of appetite. And for the shopping, I could never find that look I like and I’m not a flashy kind of guy. I just want a damn good hoodie for under 20 bucks or a shirt that’s not from some damn designer. I just want to look normal, not a tool for fashion. The other day, I went to hang out with my sister. Holy crap she wanted me to try some stuff I didn’t really like to try since it looked so lame. There’s nothing wrong with black or a solid coloured shirt! It’s something called “not looking like a douchebag”. That’s just me, I just want to be me and have variety at the same time.

Well, I’m going to make my list of stuff I want for Christmas (even though I’m not religious) and stuff I want to do today.

Post comments and response about all this, I would appreciate some input!