Sith Happens

This morning is a slow starter. Yesterday we made the mistake of laying down for a nap around 4pm… which ended up with us getting up around 7pm… and not being able to get to sleep again until 1:30. Essentially everything is happening in slow motion this morning as I finally woke up around 9. On top of that all the days of cleaning have compounded in this massive “sinus event” with my allergies attacking from all sides. So I have eaten my breakfast, taken an allegra for the allergies and some ibuprophen for the drums in my head.

The New Normal

Luckily we finally have a comfortable livingroom to show for all the work. Yesterday we moved out the old sofa, put together the cubicles you see on the far side of the room with the beige cloth baskets, and made a trip to garden ridge to purchase green cloth baskets for our entertainment center. Everything as a whole feels more cozy and tidy than it ever has in the almost 15 years we have lived here. I currently am sitting here writing this blogpost in the recliner that is in the lower left-hand corner of the picture.

It has been a pain in the ass to go through this transition, but we have two really comfortable living spaces to show for it right now. The living room is awesome, but so is the loft that I posted about a week or so back. I now have it rigged for ps3, xbox 360 and cable… and with the whole home dvr I can sneak up there to watch doctor who or any of the other shows my wife does not really care for. We still have a lot more to do, but most of it now is just cleaning and organization.

I really cannot pinpoint what sparked all these changes. At first it seemed like spring cleaning combined with a little nesting instinct, but I think there is something more there. At this point I have lost over 35 pounds, and my wife is well over 20 pounds. So I think as we feel better about our selves, we are wanting to make our surroundings match that. It is almost as if the weight loss has given us the courage to tackle other things in our life that had also been bothering us.

We have this big long list of things we would like to do, but most of them involve getting rid of this item and swapping it for something else. For the time being we are pressing the pause button, as we have already spent beyond the threshold of what we are comfortable with. Getting the two of us to spend large amounts of money is a really difficult thing. When you have spent years sitting on it, it is hard to finally part with those dollars even if it is for a very positive change.

I wrote a few days ago about patching up Star Wars the Old Republic on a whim, since it was a game I knew I had a large patch waiting on me. I wanted to test just how fast the new internet could patch it up… and it did so remarkably fast. I was receiving the patches at roughly 1.5 meg per second, which is in completely a different league from the 300 kbps I was used to. The funny thing is that ever since patching it up, I have had a nagging desire to play. I have been so freakin sore and tired from all the moving of furniture and cleaning that I have not really been able to play much of anything for long periods of time.

Oddly enough once I solved some really jacked up mouse turn issues… I have been enjoying myself in SWTOR. About 6 months ago I started a new Sith Sorceror named Belgarotte over on Ebon Hawk, so I decided to continue on his journey. Previously it was Imperial Balmorra that halted me, because really… Balmorra, especially Imperial side is boring as shit. This time however I have been able to get in the groove of playing a sorc and have reveled in shocking the shit out of things. You might guess by the name, that I did in fact originally intend to play a Sith Assassin, but already having a Jedi Shadow I decided to go down a slightly different path.

It is so bizarre to me to be enjoying a caster class. Traditionally I hate “finger wigglers” as I call them, but something about shocking the hell out of things with force lightning… while Khem Val tanks for me is enjoyable. The combo is really formidable, and I would say it is likely the best match up of class and first companion I have played. I suppose if you were playing a Scoundrel, and the thought of Corso Riggs did not want to make you stab things… it might be an equally good combination.

Darth Egregious

The biggest take away for me is that given time… returning to the game is still really enjoyable. Especially if you have subscribed at some point, the game is completely playable on their free to play model. There are so many egregious money grabs, and I am trying my hardest to look past them. But that said, it is making them money and helping keep the doors open… enough to start funding new development… so I can’t complain that badly. What helps a game survive is usually a good thing by me, and for the most part the things they are charging for are purely optional perks.

Over time I have accumulated a good chunk of cartel coins, and have gathered up a few nifty things. The gear I am wearing is mostly from a new cosmetic set that I am completely forgetting the name of. But it feels extremely Sith Inquisitor to me. I am a huge proponent of cosmetic gear, if your character looks cool you feel better about playing them. Right now I have a full set of moddable items, and likely I will keep those as I level. This has been extremely helped by the fact that planetary commendations are one one generic currency, rather than one per planet.

The game feels so much better coming at it from a purely casual standpoint. Previously I was in a rush to burn through content and get up to 50 so we could do fun group things together. Now that I am piddling my way through the game, it feels so much less shallow than it did before. I realize I will ultimately level out of the content, and at that point it will be time to play something else. I honestly am not sure I will even make it to cap before the wanderlust hits me, but I am enjoying myself for the time being.

Moving Classrooms

I need to start wrapping up for the day. We have a relatively short list of things that need to accomplish today… but one of those is pretty massive. Essentially my wife is having to change classrooms in order to tag team teach a forensics class with a science teacher. As a result we are going to have to transplant her not insignificant amount of “stuff” from one classroom to another. Additionally even though the school year is out, we are going to have to set everything back up like a functional classroom… because summer school.

So as a result I will be even more sore after the end of today, and cursing life. Hopefully though nothing much is going to happen Monday. That way I can sit around and enjoy Memorial day chilling out on our new sofa. I will probably stab someone if that doesn’t happen. At this point I just need some normality in my life for awhile, I have long ago passed my threshold for comfortable change. I need things to stay the same for a bit, so I can just relax. Anyways… I hope you all have a great day, and you choose to do something far less strenuous than we are choosing to do.