If the internet died...

What would you do if the internet died tomorrow? You wake up, and the internet is just...dead. Forever.

This frightening question appeared as Silver's status message yesterday. And, after my panic attack ended, I decided to answer it.

1. Remember how to pay bills by check.
2. Shop by paper catalog and phone, meaning switch the X and the V in the product code and end up with yellow pants.
3. Read more books...that don't come from Amazon.
   
4. Find a local bookstore.
5. Convert my computer desk into a puzzle assembly area. (The desk is already used to my nerdiness...it could adapt to puzzles...maybe...)
   
6. Go to the gym...ok, that's just crazy talk.
   
7. Subscribe to the local paper.
8. Go back to not caring what people from high school do now.
9. Write real letters that I forget to send.
10. Use the actual books at the law library to look up stuff.
11. Get rid of my Blackberry.
12. Write a book.
13. Tune in to the radio or TV when the weather looks bad.
14. Buy a set of encyclopedias from a traveling salesman.
15. Never stop that weird nagging feeling by finding out what else an actor has been in.
16. Call the movie theater's phone line for movie times.
17. Actually have to talk to co-workers instead of e-mailing them. Or develop a way to make paper airplanes fly down the hall a la Harry Potter.
    
18. NEVER see another chain e-mail telling me that the only way to prove how friendly/loving/Christian/patriotic I am is to forward it to 53 people within 6.7 minutes.
19. Not know where to purchase Viagra.
20. Forget how to speak lolcat.
21. Actually laugh out loud.
22. Use a travel agent. Or stop traveling.
23. Miss the season finale to The Guild.
24. Stop using the words "fail" and "horribad."
25. Do the Draenei female dance while I'm alone in my apartment.

Hope I didn't scare you too much with that last one.

I'm off to watch Heroes on Hulu and catch up on the xeno forums.

Edit: The xeno forums timed out. Ahhhhhhhhhhh. It's really happening! Noooooooooooooo.

Eye Exam?!! But I Didn't Study!

I went to a new Optometrist last week. I've worn glasses/contacts since 5th grade, so it's not a new experience for me. But this was a more interesting trip than usual. First of all, when I started trying to find a doctor here in town, I should have been suspicious when I recognized this guy's name. I've mentioned before that if I recognize someone at Wal-Mart, it's most likely not because they've brought me cookies--they have probably been to court for breaking the law. But I didn't worry about that when I made my appointment. This guy took my insurance, had an appointment time that fit my schedule, and was close to the office.

When I walked in, the lady who handed me my initial paperwork looked familiar. It didn't take me long to realize that I recognized her from Juvie Court. The Optometrist's son was in court a few months back for basic stupidity and hanging with the wrong crowd. Once I met the Optometrist, he recognized me and I got to talk about work some. I don't really like talking about what I do for a living with people that I've had to do it to--something about knowing I helped send your kid to rehab makes the normal jokes inappropriate. I can't joke about upholding justice one fine at a time, or mention that stupidity means job security. So mostly I just have to smile and nod a lot.

Anyway, so I have new glasses coming next week and I can't wait. I wasn't really happy that they use snail mail to get the glasses instead of having one of those one hour turn around labs or even same day service. It seems like lately everywhere I look I'm reminded that this is a small town two hours away from the nearest real place to shop, go out to eat, etc. He did have all the new-fangled eye-exam gizmos though, along with the standard ones, so that's ok I guess. I just hope I passed the test; he kept asking me which was better: 1 or 2. And honestly, sometimes I really wanted to pick 3 for none of the above. Maybe I've just been studying for the Bar Exam too much lately.

And to sorta relate this back to WoW...I ordered new headphones last night hoping that they will work better and stop pushing my glasses into my head when I'm on vent. I hope they don't suck.

/ramble

Why Now?

Well it's official, I've quit WOW. Now to be fair, I've quit before and I won't swear I won't play again. I started playing in February of 2005. I played for a year and a half and quit. It was the right decision at the time, but I did miss it. I wasn't a very serious player at that time. I started playing WOW as a resto druid and then started a warlock to level with my friend whom I'd talked into playing (Tam.)

So I took off a year and then decided to start playing again. The main reasons I came back: 1. My husband started playing again 2. I missed Tam 3. I missed playing the game in general 4. boredom. I came back with BC in full swing and decided to continue on with my warlock. I really enjoyed playing her and found it painful to level my druid.

So I became more serious about the game. I tried to research more and actually begin raiding. I also really enjoyed the people in our guild. I have fond memories of ARCOG with Verm. I got my first epic there and I loved that instance. I was so proud to be a part of the first Illidian kill. It seemed our guild had the right mixture of drive to get it done, but enough character to make it fun in the process. I even went to three guild outings and it was fun each time.

I'll be honest... I was dreading WoTLK coming out. I knew it meant major change and I don't do well with change. But I tried to level quickly and get back in shape to raid again.

So why did I decide to quit? Several reason: 1. game content was too easy. Not that I'm not saying it was too easy for me personally. I was usually behind the curve. However, it was too easy for our guild, so attitudes changed. 2. Guild changed - I knew where I stood pre-WoTLK. Now it was different. I felt that dps ruled all. I know it's important... but it didn't matter if you could follow orders, show up on time, come prepared or just plain and simple be decent to work with. DPS was what mattered. So it's a personal thing, but quite frankly I got tired of feeling rejection every week when confirmations were made. I got tired of worrying that I was abusing my friendship (unintentionally) to get confirmations. I was tired of worrying about competing with someone I really don't know or care to know. Most of all I didn't like feeling like I was being used to prove the power that some people have. 3. I have 2 wonderful little daughters that I felt I needed to devote more time to. So I felt guilty no matter what. If I spent more time with them then I wasn't as ready for raid as I should have been and didn't so as much research as I should have. If I spent more time on WOW then I felt my daughters missed out. If I played less I missed being with my husband and Tam and being a part of the guild. It was a no win situation.

So I quit. I'm happy with my decision. And I really don't miss it. My nights feel so long now - which is a good thing. I'm free to go do whatever any night of the week. I don't feel that panic and pressure on raid nights worrying about how I'm going to get everything done in time to raid. The down side is I really miss the friends I had in the guild. I know besides Tam I probably won't see or talk to them again :( I'll really miss their companionship over the last few years.
So there it is. Why I quit. Why I'm happier now. Why I really think I won't be coming back to WOW. (But we all know it has a way of sucking you back in muhahahaha.)

Feel the Love?

Eyonix gave us a bit of a preview of upcoming Priest, Rogue and Shaman changes in Patch 3.1. Although my Rogue was my first toon, she's sitting in Borean Tundra at level 70.6, so the Rogue changes don't really matter to me too much at this point. The proposed Priest and Shaman changes, however, make me cautiously optimistic.

Shaman Changes
Most of the Shaman changes (listed in full below) are for Enhancement or Elemental Shamans. The main change for we healy types is in the continued streamlining of totems. No longer will we have to choose between a Mana Spring or Healing Stream Totem; they will be combined. This is a small but awesome change for us. There are times that the steady stream of heals would be useful, but I just can't bring myself to use Healing Stream when my party (or sometimes, just me) is begging for mana. Less exciting, but still cool is the introduction of a combined Poison and Disease Cleansing Totem. In certain areas of Naxxramus this will rock. We will just have to see if there are more fights in future instances that require simultaneous cleansing of poisons and diseases. Now if they'd only give us a Virus Obliterating Totem so I could cure Sromkie of his cold, I'd be a very happy camper.

Priest Changes
The Priest changes are more exciting and should make our holier than thou friends very happy. Mase's main complaint about the Circle of Healing nerf was that Blizzard didn't give Priests anything in trade. Priests are my favorite healers because of their versatility, but that versatility makes many of them grumpy because they aren't the best at any one thing. The proposed changes give them more toys to play with and some additional AOE healing tricks. Prayer of Healing won't be confined to the Priest's own group anymore, so they will be able to cast it on any group in the raid. (Ladyspam will finally be able to heal someone who isn't in her group!)

The coolest sounding new spell is Power Word: Barrier, a Discipline only spell that will bubble the Priest's group. We'll have to see if this raid wide as well and how exactly it works, but I like the sound of it. It may end up moving Discipline Priests back into the tank or melee group.

It also looks like Blizzard is moving forward with their plans to make healers have to think about a spell rotation--at least in a small sense. Riptide followed by a Chain Heal results in a huge heal on the target, so Resto Shamans should be somewhat familiar with this already. Now our Priestly friends may get a taste with the changes to Serendipity, however, it looks like this talent will only reduce the cast time of Greater Heal or Prayer of Healing without increasing the amount healed, but it still seems like a step towards a spell rotation for Holy Priests.

Overall, I'm happy about the changes, and even more excited to see what else they have in store for us in 3.1. I know the details of the class changes will likely change many times before the patch hits, but it's nice to know what the develpers are thinking about. I just hope that 3.1 comes out soon.



PRIEST

Divine Spirit – this spell is now a core ability available to all priests.

Discipline has access to a new talent, Power Word: Barrier. (Think of it as Power Word: Shield for your whole group).

Several area of effect (AOE) heal spells have been improved: Prayer of Healing can be cast on any groups in your raid party. Holy Nova’s mana cost has been reduced. Circle of Healing now heals for more.

Shadow priest PvP survivability has been improved: Shadow Form now reduces magic as well as physical damage. Dispersion now removes snares.

Penance – this spell can now be targeted on the priest.

Serendipity – this talent now reduces the cast time of Greater Heal and Prayer of Healing when Binding Heal or Flash Heal are cast.

We are also working to give Holy additional PvP utility.

ROGUE

Hunger for Blood – instead of a self-buff, this ability can only be used when there is a bleed effect on the target. However, it has no stacks and grants a 15% damage bonus.

Adrenaline Rush – the cooldown on this ability has been lowered.

Lightning Reflexes – reduced to 3 ranks. In addition to 2/4/6% dodge, this talent now also grants 4/7/10% passive melee haste.

Killing Spree – while this ability is active, the rogue does 20% additional damage.

Savage Combat – now causes 2/4% physical damage done.

Mace Specialization – this talent now grants haste in addition to armor penetration.

SHAMAN

Chain Lightning – now jumps to 4 targets but does less damage. We wanted to make the distinction between Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning more clear.

Storm, Earth and Fire – this talent now increases all damage done by Flame Shock, not just periodic damage.

Spirit Weapons – now reduces all threat, not just melee threat.

Unleashed Rage – reduced to 2 ranks, now also increases your critical strike chance with melee attacks by 1/2%.

Totem streamlining: The Mana Spring and Healing Stream Totems have been combined. The Disease Cleansing and Poison Cleansing Totems have been combined.

We are also working on giving Enhancement and Elemental more PvP utility.

Christmas Eve, Memorial Day Weekend, and Superbowl Sunday

What are days to avoid Wal*Mart?

I needed to stop by Wally World this weekend to pick up a small appliance for my kitchen and grab some groceries. I knew going in this was a bad idea. My town has a population of about 20k...during the week. On weekends we swell to closer to 100k because so many people from the rural areas come in to shop, do laundry, and party. You can find most of them at Wal*Mart. After fighting my way through the crowds to grab some necessities, I parked myself in line to check out. A couple of women were in front of me (probably sisters or cousins) with their kids in tow. Each lady had a full cart, and 2 or 3 kids...maybe less, but it felt like more.

One of the kids was a very cute girl with a long black braid. She was probably about 5 years old. I first noticed her when she wandered over to the impulse buy area next to me. She was trying to put some Chapstick in her jeans pocket. A 5 year old shoplifter. /sigh. She saw me watching her and slowly put the Chapstick down on the bottom shelf, near the batteries. She came back to the Chapstick after my attention drifted for a second. This time, her mother told her to "Stop it!" and distracted her with a Blues Clues Gogurt. After the little girl finished her yogurt drink, she put it down on the counter and walked back to "her" Chapstick. Knowing she wouldn't get away with taking it now that both I and her mother had seen her playing with it, she just took the cap off and used some instead.

Moral of the story: Don't buy unpackaged Chapstick at Wal*Mart. Or go shopping on Sunday afternoons.