Free MMOGs rock. EVE Online sucks.

No support online. Server is down too much. Game takes too long to develop character. No good strategy for single character play. Game is physically tedious (inter-game play is too long) No instructions for many things. No skill tree. Did I mention poor support.

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This is what I wrote as my (optional) reasons for cancelling my subscription to EVE Online. Dude, what a potentially cool game. Unfortunately as quoted above there are numerous reasons the game sucks. My friend Shawn is still going to evaluate it for a few more days, but I bet he gives in too. Maybe it's just the jewy side of me, but something really has to be worth it for me to have a monthly fee associated with it. Utilities, yep, need those. Cell phone... how would I get on with my life without it. DVR service fee, duh, like is there anyone watching live TV anymore? Video game that sucks... hmm maybe I don't need to spend $14 a month on that. I could spend $14 right now to donate to the Red Cross to help people in New Orleans and others hit hard by Katrina. I think I'll do that.

MMOGs and why some are Okay.

A MMOG is a Massive Multiplayer Online Game. 99% of these types of games have a monthly fee associated to them, but a few (I assume more than the one I know of) have no such fees. One that has been around for a few years is called EVE Online. I'm trying before buying right now and I must say this might actually be a game/investment that will actually make me more productive with blogging and my daughter's website. As a matter of fact I am playing right now. I've got a ship that is flying through waypoints on auto pilot. The thing is this takes a very long time depending on how many jumps you have to make. The current mission I'm on required 13 jumps out and 13 back. All totaled this will take about 30-40 minutes. All of which I'm organizing all of Rowan's pictures and writing this blog.

Since there will be a monthly fee if I do decide to keep playing, that will be all the more incentive to keep all my other projects online up-to-date. Rowan's site is in dire need of a massive overhaul. Well enough of the blogging, back to sorting thousands of photos! And to think she's only 40 weeks old.

Jew -ish

So technically all you have to do to be a Jew is ride around for nine or so months in a womb of someone who is a Jew. For me I rode around in my mom. I wasn't ever really raised as a Jew, but I would have to say it really is in my blood. I would say I am Jew-ish. Of or having characteristics of a Jew. As in, I have the ability to speak Yiddish, however I do not. I also expect for there to be things in my life for free or at a discounted price. I also don't spend my money, ever, unless I 1. need the item, 2. can get the "best" price, and 3. don't know someone else that I can borrow it from.

It is really strange living in the world of "ish-ness." People are always surprised to find out I am a Jew. I always say, "But I'm not a practicing Jew," or, "I wasn't really raised as a Jew. I mean I had Christmas my whole life."

Tune in later for more Jewy comments.

My first bike accident.

A little over 23 years ago I went on vacation to Texas to visit my relatives. Our first stop was Dallas, where my grandparents live. We usually stayed there a couple of days before heading south to visit my other grandmother, Alpha (that was her name.) Well, this visit my cousin Matt was there visiting as well. I am three years older than my cousin, so that would put him at about three at the time. In my grandparents exercise room they had a stationary bike. I couldn't really reach the pedals very well, but it was heavy enough to ride on one side and go up and down like an awesome ride (for a six-year-old). Well after enough of that, I decided to spin the pedals with my hands. My cousin Matt was there playing with me and he wanted to spin them too. (Note: This was a very old stationary bicycle, the kind that had a large weighted wheel in the front with a chain connecting it to the chainwheel and pedals. This was also one of those direct drive systems, meaning the weight of the wheel would keep the pedals moving after you started them.) So he started sping the pedals with his little three-year-old hands. The next thing I know he sticks his hand where the chain is and the chainwheel eats it. The above picture is the scar 23 years later. Sorry Matt. And thanks for stopping by on your way to Ann Arbor, Michigan to start your new life as a teacher.

So I went to see a specialist.

I thought to myself a few days ago, "my arm isn't really broken. How can I still get some use out of it if bones are grinding together beneath bruised muscles and cartilage?" Sure it was tender in a couple of places, and I had trouble turning my wrist a few different directions, but no constant pain. Larry (the Ortho Arkansas doctor) said it was just cracked. There is no break all the way through the bone. He said I wouldn't be so happy if it was actually broken, adding, "a broken radius is one of the most painful bones you can break." I am happy to know that I can start bearing weight (up to 20 lbs) on it for the next month. No push-ups and no falling off my bike were his suggestions for a while.

Timex CAN really take a lickin'

So to make a short story long... Last wednesday I was in a cycling race in Jefferson, Arkansas. After about 15 or so minutes (almost half the race) my rear tire blew just after I rounded a corner. I was trying to bridge the gap to the pack ahead of me so I was mashing down hard on the pedals. All of this was happening at the same time. I didn't know my tire had blown, I just knew my bike was going out of control. I hit my right knee at about 26 miles an hour and then some how flipped onto my left side and back and slid for what seemed like WAY too long. I remember sliding on my back looking at the sky and seeing another rider (Roddie from Texarkana) fly over me. Most everyone else was fine and was able to continue the race. My left arm and wrist hurt and my rear tire was all bent out of true so I was OUT. Fred picked me up in his golf cart as I was walking back to the Start/Finish. I got some ice after the race, but I knew something was wrong because my arm felt funny. If I held it just the right way it didn't really hurt, but if I flexed it at all, holy crap was it painful. ER x-rays later that night proved that 26 mph + elbow + asphault = broken radius. So that was the last night I wore my Timex.

Before the race I had put my watch in my jeans pocket so I wouldn't lose it. I didn't even really look at that pair of jeans until this evening when Amy (my wife) asked me to put the wash into the dryer. I pulled everything out and then saw a small weird looking thing in the back of the washer. It was my Timex. I pulled it out thinking it might be okay since it was waterproof. Not only was it okay, but it had perfect time and was remarkably clean. I ran and grabbed my camera from upstairs and took a picture and jumped online to share the story. (Oh and I said to Amy, "look what I found in the wash," with a sarcastically accusatory tone. Then I laughed and remarked, "and it's sooo clean!")

Email = Blog

Well I thought I'd try the email-a-blog since I still can't use my phone yet. If I have internet access enough to write an email why not just login to blogger and create a new post? Just thought I would attach an image and all that just to see if it would work. I might load Soda-Pop Mail on my phone so I can actually send an email through my awesome internet provider (and the company I work for) instead of a MMS from my phone. A little more to deal with, but then of course "I will have the power" (said with true HE-MAN vocals) to blog from anywhere!

Mobile Blogging

I used to have AT&T wireless, then of course AT&T/Cingular, but my signal sucked and my calls got dropped all the time. Not to mention I had to call about errors on my bill about once every other month. So I moved to Alltel. I also had a sweet Sony/Ericsson T616 that I liked very much, but to get to the point... go.blogger.com has yet to support messages from Alltel Service. I so want to do mobile blogging. I take pictures a lot with my phone, and I never seem to have a good way to get them off. I just end up deleting them after a while to make room for more pictures or for Voice Recordings. So hurry up go.blogger.com and add my service!

Passwords

You should change your password at least every 90 days. Dude, do you know how much of a pain that is? My last job I had for a little over six years. For about four of those years I had the same password. The last two years I was there we had a mandatory password change every 90 days. After 90 days when you logged onto any computer the network it wouldn't let you continue unless you changed your password. And get this... you couldn't use previous passwords! All of this is a really good idea, but very annoying. After a few months of coming up with new passwords, I finally just started adding a sequential alphabetical letter. I wonder how many other people do that.

A new blog every second...

They say a new Blog (weblog) is created every second. Well, I guess here is my second. No really, this is my second second. I just made my first blog earlier today for my daughter, Rowan. She is the most wonderful thing that I have ever experienced in my life. My wife Amy is of course the first wonderful thing to happen to me, but Rowan is stealing the show more and more everyday.

I was talking to a friend the other day about starting a blog. He said if you have a Yahoo email you can use their service and get one setup for free. I hadn't used my Yahoo email address in about 4 years. I tried to login, but I couldn't remember my password. My old cryptic hint didn't help much either. So Blogger it is! I'll probably make about four posts before it gets abandoned, but alas such is the way of a Gemini.