Well, let's see. Where was I before I was so rudely interrupted? Ah yes, Friday.
On Friday, I spent most of the evening playing Ultima Online. My character, Dominic Duvall, finally had the skills and the equipment needed for me to feel comfortable doing a little adventuring -- which was the whole point of playing the game in the first place! Anyway, he started out by journeying through the wilderness hunting God's creatures -- deer, bears, panthers, wolves, pigs, particularly worrisome bunnies, etc. At one point I stumbled across a mongbat, my first actual monster! I killed it easily. Then I stumbled across a troll, and after taking a few tentative swings, I came to the conclusion that cowardice is the better part of valor, so I ran away. Okay, note to myself: I can kill a mongbat with ease, but I'm not yet ready to take on a troll. Got it. Then I found a ratman and killed him without too much effort.
At this point, I felt ready to try exploring a dungeon. According to other players, one of the easiest dungeons to survive is called "Wrong," so I went there and walked inside. It was at that point that I remembered that my character had no source of light. Okay, note to myself…. I solved that problem by turning the brightness way up on my monitor, to the point where I could see quite well. I guess I can scratch out that note about bringing a source of light next time.
Anyway, there were several other characters in the dungeon, so when a lizardman showed up, three of us quickly dispatched him. My first kill in a dungeon! I journeyed onward, killing a ratman and finding actual treasure! That's right, only six months after the release of Ultima Online, and I had already managed to get some gold in a dungeon! (Yes, that was sarcasm. Not that I'm bitter or anything.) Moving deeper into the dungeon, I came across a group of adventurers fighting about 3 trolls! Emboldened by the presence of other adventurers, I moved in and joined the fray. After several minutes, we had finally dispatched the last of them. No sooner had we divided up the treasure than about 5-6 more trolls showed up! We launched into battle, but it soon became apparent to me that I was not going to last to the end of this encounter. I then very heroically cried out, "Sorry guys, but I'm outta here," and retreated from the battle to heal my wounds.
By then it was getting somewhat late, so I returned to Vesper to deposit my spoils in the bank: 600 gold pieces, an amethyst, some weapons, and several spell reagents. At this point, I have nearly 3,000 gold pieces in the bank -- a truly massive improvement over anything I had been able to do in the previous six months. At this point, I think I could actually begin to enjoy this game!
Saturday, for a change, we didn't get together to play Magic, due to people being either out of town or playing in a Star Wars tournament. I spent much of the day continuing to learn about how to use the Palm III, as well as how to get it to work with my PC-based day-planner software. One decision I'm trying to make is whether to stick with Franklin-Covey's Ascend, or to switch to either Day-Timer's Organizer or Microsoft's Outlook. At work, we're given Novell's GroupWise, but it absolutely sucks, so I'm spared from having to consider that as a possibility.
Also on Saturday, I received The Player on DVD, which I had ordered a few days earlier. The Player is probably my favorite movie of all time, in part because it is a movie about movies, and because it requires you to pay close attention in order to pick up all of the little snippits going on in the background. I quite happily plopped down in front of the TV and watched it! The DVD has several nice special features. In addition to a commentary soundtrack by the director and the writer, it also has a cameo index, which allows you to quickly jump to the scenes in which over fifty stars make cameo appearances.
Mom and Dad called to say that they had talked to Ross after his first week back at work. His normal work schedule will be twelve-hour days, three days on one week, then four days on the next. However, initially he'll be working a normal eight-hour shift, five days per week, while he gets acquainted with everyone.
While we were talking, Mom and Dad asked me for my e-mail address. Their next-door neighbors have a computer now and are going to show Mom and Dad how to send e-mail over the Internet. Dad keeps threatening to buy a new computer (they still have a Commodore Amiga 500), but hasn't done so yet. Mom has virtually no interest in computers, but she said that being able to send e-mail to Ross and me would be nice. We'll see. With their new 36-foot trailer, they should have enough room for one!
Today, I spent much of the day trying to clean house, going through boxes of papers, throwing away half of them and trying to sort and file the other half. Non-stop excitement!
In other news, recently I found myself weighing 245 pounds, my highest weight ever. Having achieved such a satisfyingly lofty goal, I've decided that perhaps it's time to consider shooting for some other goal -- perhaps something like 180 pounds. I've heard that telling others of your goals provides an incentive for working to achieve them. With that in mind, I proudly present to you...
My Life by the Numbers
Saturday: Weight, 239 pounds. I walked 2 miles in 31 minutes, 45 seconds.
Today: Weight, 239 pounds. Walked 2 miles in 30 minutes, 18 seconds. The biggest challenge was dodging all of the worms that had crawled up onto the pavement after last night's rain. Worm-dodging percentage: 98% (unofficial).
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