I’m a non smoker now. I have been one since April 1st. That’s four whole months I’ve been clean. I’ve written about quitting smoking more times than I care to recall. I’ve always failed at quiting smoking more times than I care to recall. The notion that the one had something to do with the other did pop into my head. Perhaps writing about it jinxed the act I’ve thought to myself in the past when I’ve made these attempts.

It’s also worth mentioning that up until four months ago I never really wanted to quit. Wanting to quit is the key. Really wanting to quit. Finding that reason that makes you want to quit. Whatever it may be, you need to find something that makes you want to quit smoking. At least that’s how I see it. I was able to find out that thing that made me want to quit. I can’t tell you how to quit. I won’t even offer advice on how to do it. Just find that thing that makes you quit.

For me finding that thing wasn’t easy. It was my niece that found it for me. I was over at my friends house playing with the kids and my niece asked why my fingers were the wrong color. The thing that shocked me the most was that I had never noticed it. Sure I knew this kind of thing could happen. But to actually see my fingertips turn this gross nicotine color was more than enough to freak me out. I had never seen the effects smoking had on me. Sure theres that cancer thing, but I can’t see inside myself so it’s not something that I loose sleep over.

Which is funny when I think about it. The thought of dying from cancer was not enough to make me quit smoking. Nor did the coughing and hacking that comes with smoking seem to motivate me to quit. I guess vanity goes a long way. The thought of jinxing myself by writing about quiting smoking on my website has really grabbed hold of me. After each month that passed I either thought about writing something or posted something and then later deleted it. I feel rather confident in posting this. There is a finality of this time that all the others have lacked.

There are some good things of course about quiting. As there are some bad things about quiting. The good of course is that I feel so much better. I just can’t stress that enough. Not sure really how to explain it more than that. The negatives far outweigh the good I’m afraid to say. Since quiting smoking I have effectively become a hermit. I don’t go out anymore. I go to work and then back home. Whatever meager social life I had has died a painful death. The thought of going out now scares me. The fear of starting smoking again has made me fear going out. Of course not going out to the bars is something I’m willing to sacrifice when it comes down to it. So of course now it just remains to be seen if this post jinxed me or not. So far so good.

Well there was no memo but it appears the new front desk manager has started. This new guy started on the 1st so I’m told. But like some of the former front desk managers he has not made it a priority to meet his employees. Which maybe it’s just me of course. But I’ve always felt that as a new manager one of the first things they should do is introduce themselves to their employees. Even if that means coming in at 11:00 at night to meet the guy who does audit.

But again maybes it’s just me. It’s been 4 days now and I have not seen hide nor hair of this new guy. I’ve heard stories about how he’s the second coming though. I’ve heard how the one old lady who had talked me up just not to long ago now considers that this new guy is the best. The new guy knows everything about everything. No one at the hotel knows as much as this new front desk manager. Which makes me very happy. If I’m asked to show the new guy anything I’m going to say no I can’t because you already know more than me. Besides what can I a lowly night auditor teach a front desk manager?

On the upside of all this I may start a pool on just how long I go without seeing this new guy. I won’t make it easy on the dude either. He’s going to have to come to me. I will not come in on my time off to meet this guy. I shouldn’t have to. It really doesn’t matter any more. This new boss of mine will be the same as all the others that have filled the position of front desk manager since the old days. And since I was offered 25 a year I really do wonder how much more or less this guy is going making. If he does the job right I hope they gave him more than 25 a year. And if he’s just another tool I’m sure he gets what he deserves.

Rumor time. First up the Ninja Management Company (who has only been mentioned twice on this site here and here) has left the building. It sounds like it was them doing the quitting. As opposed to the owners letting them go for incompetence. Now if this is true it makes me wonder if maybe I’m right. Why would the “industry’s largest independent management company” give up managing a property if it was not because they were forced to operate the place like a bunch of retards. I hate to keep beating a dead horse here people but I really think the blame for how bad the hotel is run has to fall on the shoulders of the owners.

Secondly I hear some disturbing things about payday that partly ties in with this first item. The rumor mill says that the Ninja Management Company has been the ones making sure I get my paycheck. So the idea here is since they are gone am I going to get paid on the 10th? Because I hate to break it to the new guy so early on, but if I’m not payed I will not work. Simple as that. I’m here for the money. If I like my job, or if I like some of the people I work with it’s just a unpaid bonus. I’m all about getting my pitiful 8.75 an hour. So if on Wednesday at 3:00 pm I don’t get a check consider this my advance notice I will not be working there on in till I get my money. I’m a mercenary plain and simple people.

And speaking of payday. Who in their right mind schedules a mandatory employee meeting on the same day and time the employee’s get paid? My new boss it seems. I just don’t know how to take this. My gut reaction is that this is a horribly twisted and evil thing to do. I have bills that need paying. I have a checking account that is empty. At 3:00 pm on Wednesday I’m going in to get my check (if there is a check) and I’m going to go deposit my money and pay my bills. Now if the meeting is still going on once I’m done taking care of important matters I will stop in and attend what’s left of this meeting.

Did I mention I was playing Dark Age of Camelot again? I often go back to this one. It’s on my mind enough to post this info on the new expansion pack called Darkness Rising. Yeah I’m bored. Here is the info:

In Darkness Rising, an evil uprising threatens the land and the mightiest heroes in the Realms are called into service. For the first time in Dark Age of Camelot, players will be able to earn the right to be called a Champion of the Realm. Players become Champions by exploring new zones and revisiting altered lands while investigating the mysterious uprising to discover its sinister underpinnings. By performing this service for their Realm, players achieve new levels of advancement and gain the ability to wield class-specific Champion Weapons. Darkness Rising also introduces majestic player-controlled horses and other more fantastic steeds which can be ridden into conflict in the war between the Realms.

And here is what little info they spill on these Champion classes:

Champion of the Realm Details:

• Champion Weapons are available for all Champions of the Realms. Each class in the game has their own specific weapon, uniquely tailored to that profession.
• Advanced mounts are available to Champions of level 45 and above. Mounts include Nightmare, Unicorn, Warhorse, and the Undead Phantom steed, among others. Advanced mounts can be used in PvE and in Realm vs. Realm zones, given a unique name, and customized by adding saddlebags, armor, and barding.
• Champion Levels allow players to gain new skills and learn abilities from other classes (“sub-classing”) – for example, a fighter can learn mage spells by sub-classing.

And finally four screen shots of the horses:

This expansion pack will be available from Mythic selling for $19.99 via digital download this October or so they say in their press release. Once again I think World of Warcraft has influenced features in DAoC. Horses of course getting an upgrade or two compared to how they function in WoW. And how about Mythic beating WoW to the Hero class? I’m not sure if either games really hold my interest anymore. I do have a very strange fascination with the game Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. But that’s a story for another time.

Fuck the Fantastic Four movies ok? Get this:

As Stan likes to say Nuff Said!

I picked up Dungeon Siege II and I’m having a lot of fun with. I’m having so much fun I only had these two screen shots. Every time I go into the game to get some good shots I forget all about it.

The last time I talked about the game it was in the beta stage still. I mentioned then how it had borrowed the Diablo 2 skill system. Well after just getting to the third act of the game I’ve come to the conclusion that the game borrowed a lot more than that from Diablo 2. At times it almost feels like I’m playing Diablo 2. The way towns work is a great example. Each chapter has one central location where you can do your business. You won’t find any other cities while your out in the field. So if you want to sell all the loot you found you have to hoof it back. Or you could use the town portal spell, another one of obvious things borrowed from Diablo 2.

Don’t get me wrong I don’t think that borrowing these elements from Diablo 2 make the new Dungeon Siege a bad game. It certainly adds to the game. But at the same time I miss some of the things left out of the game that was in the first one. Take the way your party was handled in the first game. Each party member was like a unit in a rts game. You could give them orders on how they behaved in combat. You could assign a few different formations to your party. And if you wanted the party could almost seem to play the game themselves.

And even though the games has just been released and there are no tools available yet some folks have already figured out how to make mods. You can find a few of them right here on my server. Or you could go to the source which is a number of places including Guru Dungeon Siege 2 Mod and some at Siege-mods.com. It’s definitely worth picking up if you liked the first one.

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