Higgins Lake

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Monday
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When I got here, I told my parents that if I started shaking, it was because I didn’t have an internet connection. Not that I’m an addict, or anything. :) I’m in Roscommon, MI, in a house on Higgins Lake. It’s not really rustic. It’s got electricity, running water, a stove, washer and dryer, and even a dishwasher. I’ve just made a cup of instant cappuccino. It’s got cable TV, a VCR, and a DVD player. It doesn’t have an internet connection, and I don’t have a car. and dropped me off earlier today. This will be good for me. Let me get the online nerdery out of my system first, then.

Chatting with clued me in to a bunch of Relto pages that I had missed, even though I had been through their Ages. I picked up some grass and a bench from Eder Delin, some rock islands from my Bevin, and these funky trees from Er’cana. I’ve been running a lot of the marker missions for the Great Zero Calibration, and that has been a bit of a challenge. Two things have inhibited my progress: 1)The game keeps crashing. No matter what video driver I use, the game crashes. It does seem to crash less when my laptop isn’t plugged in to power, so I can only think that there is a heat-related video card issue. 2) Jumping for beacons. It took me a ridiculous amount of jump attempts and some conversation, but I have discovered that it is much easier to walk off of the edge closest to the beacon than it is to long-jump at the beacon. I’m about halfway done with the calibration marker hunts, and I intend on finishing them. Also, I wonder if I should be posting these in the URU Live forums. Frequenting a game’s forums is a whole new level of addiction, and I’m not sure that I want to make that step. Then again, how many people are really reading this here?

We’ve spent the day grilling, chilling outside, watching both water and fire… it’s been quite relaxing. will be coming back late tomorrow night, which will be cool. I would bet on some Apples to Apples. I’m here until Thursday, so we’ll see if any more thoughts bubble to the surface between now and then.
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Thursday – Horoscope
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TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Don’t cross a bridge until you come to it,” advises the old adage. But is that really a good idea? The fact is that the world belongs to people who have crossed bridges in their imaginations long before those bridges existed. Let that be your guiding thought in the coming weeks, Taurus. Start visualizing, contemplating, and building in your mind’s eye a certain bridge you want to make abundant use of in 2008.

Saturday and Parties

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I wanted to let those that went to and Sam’s birthday party out at ‘s place know that I had intended to go. Somebody *cough*cough* was supposed to pick me up after game was finished, but ended up getting dr0nk instead.

So, my apologies to everyone there.

Danger, Will Robinson, Danger.

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It is sweltering. High temperature, high humidity, almost no wind. I woke up sweating. Taking a shower helped, but I had to get out of the house. I had to get someplace with air conditioning. I wanted to go some place with wireless.

Can’t go to Gone Wired. It’s usually hotter in there than it is outside. I went to Theio’s. The air conditioner was barely helping. Their DSL connection had crapped out again, so it was slower than dial-up. After trying to put up with it, and making myself nauseous by drinking too much root beer, I gave up. Got on the bus to come out to East Lansing. I walked into Espresso Royale. Doors are open, smelled a wee bit like unwashed hippie, and there was no A/C. Wonderful. Came in to Barnes and Noble, to their Starbuck’s (evil empire) cafe. Air conditioning in here is good, though my nausea is still making me feel warm. Opened up the laptop, try to connect, and…

AT&T wants me to pay for a wireless connection. $3.99 for two hours. Where is the Cool Cities wireless that was promised by Mayor Singh? What the hell are you doing, Barnes and Noble, by advertising wireless on the door, and then wanting to charge for it? Maybe I’m just spoiled. Maybe I’m just hot, nauseated, and angry. Now I’m stuck with this crappy Italian soda in an uncomfortable chair at a useless, tiny, round table, venting my frustration at all of you. Or -will- be venting, once I find a wireless connection.

LATER:

MSU Union. Duh. It was hell going outside to walk here, but I’m here. The study lounge on the third floor has A/C that is actually comfortably set (likely around 65 degrees), and MSU has super-crazy-fast-stable-intertube-connection. That’s mah werd. *shakes head* Anyway, the nausea is starting to calm down. I’m no longer sure that it was started by the root beer. Though, anything sweet or food-like is still flipping my stomach. However, I can adjust my position in these extremely comfortable study chairs without creating a surge in the nausea, which means that things are getting better. Also, I stopped playing Myst Online. The 3-d environment was contributing to the queasy, like Quake used to.

I think that my stress level is the major contributor here. I’m hitting several things on those medical stress lists. Thank the gods for this vacation.

Son of a… the Union is closing early. I’m getting booted out. Here we go again.

A good fantasy.

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Yoinked from :

AP Wire: EARTH DECLARES INDEPENDENCE FROM AMERICA!

A hemp paper document was delivered to the White House this morning, signed by the leaders of every nation on the planet, declaring their independence from American rule. It was very brief and to the point.

“We the people of Earth have decided that we are unanimously sick of your shit and are declaring our independence from America. Henceforth, we are reforming the UN without you in it because all you ever did was veto any progressive idea we ever put forth. We are sending all your companies, corporations and citizens found outside US borders back to your country forthwith. Furthermore, Nippon will no longer be selling you any cars or electronics, nor shall Australia or Africa sell you any of the fissionables you need to maintain your atomic weapons arsenal, nor shall China, Korea, Mexico, or Taiwan provide you with any cheap labor and/or manufactured goods to support your gluttonous economy. No Arabic nation nor Russia will be providing you with any more fossil fuels. Good luck trying to survive without the people you’ve both depended on and bullied for the last several decades. If you threaten us in any way we will invade your nation with the combined might of all the militaries of the world and give your entire country back to the Native Americans.

Signed,
Everyone But You

P.S. from France – A freighter will be arriving in New York shortly to take our statue back.”

In the interest of writing every day…

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Today has been a -good- day.

I haven’t felt this good in a long time. I haven’t felt my spirit this light, the smile on my face, the outlook happy…. I just haven’t had as -good- of a day in a long time. Not even work has brought me down.

I pulled myself out of bed after only hitting the snooze bar once. Only once! I was motivated, let me tell you. After a couple of successful Great Zero runs last night, I had gone to bed a little late, but I still got out of bed without caffeine. I got showered and ready for the day, spent some time with the dog, and ate a cup of Jello. Always room for it, you know.

swung by and picked me up, and we headed to Eastwood Towne Center to meet up with and Scott. What were we doing there? Going to NCG to see the TRANSFORMERS MOVIE. That’s right. Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg did NOT eviscerate my childhood. This is an AMAZING movie. Go and see it. Seriously. If you’re a kid at any age, you will enjoy it. It is so very difficult to refrain from spoilers, but I will return the kindness that has been paid to me. :)

I’ll be selling ‘s last 21″ monitor tomorrow, and will be getting rid of one of our 17″ ones on Friday. I have four packages of gaming books ready to ship out to eBay customers. The Stuff Exodus begins again! :)

So, yeah. This has been a really good day. Also, go see the movie. For serious.

Horoscope

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TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the coming week, I doubt you’ll misplace your keys or forget to set your alarm clock or spill soup on your shirt. While shopping, you’ll be intuitive about picking the checkout line that moves fastest. If you take a plane somewhere, your luggage will show up promptly in the baggage claim area. In other words, Taurus, the little things in life will go well for you, reducing your wasted time and inconvenience to near zero. May I suggest that you respond to this grace period not by cramming in more busy work, but by giving yourself regular opportunities to enjoy the luxury of taking deep breaths and gazing at the big picture?

D’ni-Rezeero – The Great Zero

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When I was exploring the city, I wasn’t exploring it randomly. I was collecting beacons.

In my neighborhood, I had come across the link to the Great Zero antechamber, here. Inside was a DRC notebook that gave a short (and really unhelpful) explination for what the Great Zero machine is, and how to get it working again. The first step was to use the KI machine pictured here to modify your KI. Once that was done, beacons would then be visible to you when you were near them. They would even make a soft beeping sound. You had to collect fifteen of these throughout the D’ni cavern, and then return here to load that data into the Great Zero. Once that was done, your KI allowed you access to the main chamber of the Great Zero machine. You can see the blue crystal vaguely through the window.

Here, you can see the machine in all of its operational glory. When I got in here, though, the machine was still and silent. I received the information that there were fifteen more beacons to find, and once those were found, you would be let into the next part of the chamber, which channeled the beam (when the machine is working) from outside, into the generator. The machine had to be calibrated before it would function properly, and these beacon searches were part of that calibration. I got the next fifteen, and let myself into the last chamber (pictured below), but did not embark on the last series of calibration beacon searches. I had begun in Teledahn, and was finally ready to embark upon Yeesha’s Path.

When I returned, I had received news through my KI that the Great Zero machine had finally been calibrated, and was now operational. This confused me. When turned around from the spot pictured here, you can see what appears to be a thermometer-like measure of how many people have completed the calibration runs. Both and I figured that the machine would not be calibrated and activated until this was full. Oddly enough, it remains at its low level, despite the machine’s activation. This means that either the DRC has somehow bypassed the proper operation of the machine (odd for an organization hell-bent on safety) or the measurement lights measure something else entirely. OR, we were right about what they measured, and something else will happen once it has been filled. Perhaps it will open the two doors that are still sealed.

In either case, I am now working on finishing the runs. You get a starting point, if you can interpret the picture next to the run button, but I’ve yet to figure out the logic of where to go from there. So, I’m wandering the cavern and the Ages, looking for white, silent beacons that you no longer need to be close to to see.

OMG! Not Myst!

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I’m still waiting to hear back from the company who interviewed me. I’ve sent the thank-you letter off, and am looking at my nails as if they were tasty… things upon… which one would be tempted to bite.

So, yeah, trying to not bite my nails. Looks like I’m going to have a phone interview with another company out there, as well. So, on the getting-an-awesome-job front, things appear to be going well. I keep beating down the mind weasels, and have been pretty successful at it.

I’ve also been distracting myself with a video game. Guess which one. ;)

The driver issues with the laptop that I’ve got is making me want to build a desktop gaming machine once I get out and settled in CA. I really would like to go back to a Mac, but the MacOS version of the game requires an Intel core duo setup, so older macs are out of the question. Unless, of course, I get VMWare (or equivalent) working at a speed fast enough, and with a graphics card high-end enough, to trick the files into thinking that they’re running on a PC. Not impossible, but definitely a challenge.

The Union computer lab smells funny today, so I think I’m going to head home soon. Maybe list a few more things on eBay (like all of the gaming books that I’ve got up there now). Having this whole weekend free is so strange. :)

Horoscope from Wednesday:

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Welcome to Part Two of your outlook for the second half of 2007, Taurus. We’re checking up on how you’re progressing with the long-term tasks you were assigned six months ago. I hope that by now you’re beginning to infuse your life with more of the wildness you need. I trust that you’ve been enjoying a host of thrilling adventures and ingenious experiments — especially the kind that serve your highest ambitions.