What's up?

[TheSlyMoogle]

Hey everybody, What's up?

By that I mean "How is life, what has been going on etc."

Basically I'm asking the same thing I would ask a friend I hadn't seen in a long time as we kill a few beers together.

I think it has been a few years since we had a thread like this and I haven't really played games with any of you guys since then either.

So basically this has been my life for the last few years.

I finally finished school. Yay! I also ended with only a small amount of debt thanks to the few years off of nothing but working and paying off loans. So I'm only down about 4500 dollars. Hooray for me. I see this as a small amount of debt and I pay on it monthly, and I'll probably continue to do so moving into the future.

After I finished school I moved to Frankfort, KY for lack of better places to go, and I had some friends here with an open bedroom and a need of a 3rd roommate to split bills. It was fairly cheap and I needed a place to find a job.

I took a job at applebee's while I was putting out the searchers. After about 2 months at applebee's I had a conversation with our regional manager about some of my previous restaurant jobs. One of which involved me traveling and opening up/training new cracker barrel stores.

My regional manager asked if I would consider applying to be a part of a store enrichment team for applebee's. Basically a group of people who go to other applebee's stores and help (re-train) employees at restaurants that aren't doing so hot in the company. Sales, those stupid surveys on every ticket, general complaints and failed health inspections are all part of what gets us sent in. So I applied and got the job. It pays fairly well and has let me do some traveling to different parts of the South eastern US. I've actually liked it so much that I have been doing it for 2 years now. It's about time to move on though as I have found myself dreading the trips sometimes these days. Even though I'm usually gone 1 to 2 weeks a month and work at my home store the rest of the time, it gets tiring. It's been really interesting seeing some of the small towns and larger areas of various states though.

Let's see what else...

I kicked the smoking habit about 2 years ago and never looked back. However I fell off the whole healthy living bandwagon shortly after that. I haven't really gained much weight, but I still know I live like a slob and it will probably catch up to me in a few years. *sigh* Oh I still don't drink soda though. Just water and beer for this guy!

I'm finally in a very happy, healthy, normal relationship with a guy I met a little over 2 years ago. January 7th will be our official 2 years anniversary. He's witty and intelligent with minimal baggage. Also a great cuddler. What else could a guy ask for?

I've also finally dealt with the majority of issues I had with my family after about 6 months of therapy. A lot of negative issues brought on by my mother and father, and my general upbringing in a southern baptist home have been dealt with. I will probably never see my family again, and I don't want to. Those who cause us that much turmoil shouldn't be a part of our lives.


As far as gaming goes I still do it constantly. I have a great group of PC gaming friends I play with almost every evening and night. It's been a long time since I've played a console game and they've all been single player games. I think the last console game I played was Ni No Kuni. Well I guess I take that back as I still play Guilty Gear quite often, but that's the only game.

So yeah, I guess I'm saying life is good.

Over the next year I plan to find a job that actually uses my degree as I know it will be better money, and I need to do so before I forget how to write code.

I do not plan to purchase any next gen consoles except possibly the Wii U, but it wont be until late 2014. You never know though, I might see some game I must have. I doubt it though.

Anyway Happy Holidays and I look forward to another year of forum posting with you guys.

[Seth]

Hey SlyMoogle,
Nice update, I hope Kentucky and getting out of Kentucky provides you with a happy new year and many blessings.

What PC games you playing?
Ever thought about moving to the westcoast?

I'm working in central Alberta right now and this morning it was -31 F and in some places with windchill it was -45 C
And this isn't even the coldest its been this winter. We had a week long stretch of this -30 < frozen wasteland. Bottomed out at -56 C windchill.


My 89' toyota flatbed didn't like the cold so I don't have to work today.(my fault, but i had to park down the street and i don't have enough extension cords)

I manage my winters by making money and doing monthly snowboard trips to the BC interior. Revelstoke has the most vertical feet of any resort in NA.


So ya, recently I've been playing NFS: Hot Pursuit, Grid 2, PlanetSide2, Bioshock Infinite (still, on hardest), Tribes Ascend, Hotline Miami, that's it.

I'm rocking an AMD pc from 2010 and its running a lot of games(Infinite, Grid2, Sleeping Dogs etc, at highest settings 30 fps or more .
Anyone playing PlanetSide2? That game kills my setup but it's hella fun massive battles and if coordinated and running in a good outfit it can provide me with some of the best multiplayer.
It has a lot of flow problems though with capture time-counts holding up movement. Best to defend if it's down to swarming. FREE 2 PLAY!!

[Typhoid]

I'm working in central Alberta right now

That's crazy, I was out in Ralston/Medicine Hat (granted, not central AB) up until Thanksgiving's-ish. I had to get out and head back to Vancouver for the winter - I'd be outside at midnight smoking with the dog, and as soon as I had to layer up in late September, I was thinking "Fuck this, I'll spend time near my oceans, mountains, and trees for winter, screw this whole 'snow' concept."


--------


Short of posting any sort of in-depth update on myself, I will say that I hope all the dudes and dudettes of this forum are alive and well, and that life isn't kicking anyone in the balls, or cramming any figurative fists into any also figurative assholes.

I wish everyone well, and I hope to reconnect with a lot of you in some way, at some point, over some various medium.

[Vampyr]

My life is pretty much the same: work, gym, play, sleep.

I bought a new car in 2013, which was the first time that's ever happened. I've been driving the Dodge Stratus my parents got me in high school. I now have a new Mazda CX-5. Love having the extra storage space, and the rearview camera is awesome, as is the bluetooth compatibility for playing music from my phone.

I'm still at the same job, writing software for Triton Container, which I've been doing full time now for nearly 4 years. This whole time I thought at the 5 year mark I would start getting 17 days of vacation instead of 12, but evidently that happens in your fourth year. So I discovered that on January 2nd when I got into the office, which is awesome. I get 17 days of vacation this year.

[Combine 017]

Im still gaming adamantly. Playing BF4 a lot and I plan on getting an Xbox One eventually. Also starting Playing TF2 again, apparently its not completely dead yet on the 360. Still living with my gf whom I met playing that 3 years ago.

Outside of games, I finished my 7 month course in welding at the end of november, now looking for a welding job so I can get payed to burn shit.

[Teuthida]

Glad to hear you guys are doing well. Things suck on my end.

Back in June 2012 I was put on a powerful antibiotic for a misdiagnosis. One of the possible side effects was tendon damage. I got the full brunt of that. Any body part I was using a lot while on it got utterly destroyed. Lost the use of my hands for almost a solid month and couldn't walk much without my achilles tendon (the most common thing to rupture) feeling like it would snap. Slowly got better but now over a year and a half later and my right hand is still severely messed up.

So decided to go back to school for biology (start on the 27th) since a career in art (or at least comics since it requires you to draw for 8-14 hours straight a day everyday to even survive) appears to be out.

If school doesn't take, will probably try to get certified as an EMT or lab tech. I have no skills for any non art related job. A BFA in Cartooning is a joke.

Going to see another hand doc soon. The last one said they couldn't say for sure what my problem was without slicing me open. Still holding out hope I'll be able to draw for a living. Sucks that I get a lot of job offers but have to turn them down since I can't physically do them so. Can still draw but not every day, and it's painful to do so.

Oh, the comics I drew long before my ordeal began started coming out in October. Two of them are out so far (http://www.comixology.com/Crossed-Wires/comics-series/12958). The last one should be out next month I think.

Living at home and have been making house calls to fix little old ladies' computers and doing occasional art commissions for cash.

As for games, I play stuff on Kongregate.com every so often. But only games that require one hand. I use a mouse with my left hand and even write with it now too. Cannot draw for shit with it though.

[Combine 017]

Thats sucks, sorry to hear that. :(

What were you misdiagnosed for? And did you get any moneys for them screwing you over? Or at least cover any costs of trying to make it better?

Maybe in a few years you can get some sort of cybernetic hand or something.

[Teuthida]

Was misdiagnosed for bacterial epididymitis. I had chemical epididymitis, which is caused by a backflow of urine. My balls got an ultrasound (not the most pleasant feeling), they saw that my epididymis was swollen and provided me the meds. Easy mistake to make. Mine is way less common.

I went into the ER because I was afraid I had twisted a testicle. First time I saw a doctor in over seven years and this happens.

So they prescribed me Cipro, pretty much the most powerful antibiotic. They use this stuff to kill anthrax. Has a slew of horrible side effects. (Tendonitis, Tendon Rupture, Tendon, Ligament, Joint and Muscle Damage, Vision Damage, Hearing Loss, Taste Perversion, Peripheral Neuropathy (Tingling, burning sensation), Insomnia, Nightmares, Anxiety Attacks, Depersonalization, Cognitive Disorders, Brain, Heart, Liver, Kidney, Pancreas, Blood and Endocrine Disorders, Severe Psychotic Reactions, Suicidal Thoughts or Actions Gastrointestinal Damage).

Three days into my pills the pain started (also had the psychological side effects but luckily those stopped shortly after stopping the meds) and went back to get my meds changed. Got penicillin and something else who's only possible side effect was mild nausea. Why this wasn't the first option, I have no idea. They were really hesitant, borderline angry to change it too.

Talked to a couple other docs later and found they pretty much prescribe Cipro right away. When I explained what it did to me, they just said "that almost never happens."

There was a lawsuit against the drug back in 2008. After that the drug got a black box warning which is the most serious warning you can get.

So a lot of docs prescribe it at the slightest hint of a bacterial infection. What my "doctor" (who was actually a physician's assistant) did to really screw me over besides giving me the drug in the first place was recommend I also take ibuprofen. That is big no no. NSAIDs actually heighten the chance of side effects. To this day I'm afraid to take pain meds.

No compensation. Wrote (rather dictated since attempting to hold a pen caused my entire arm to seize up) the hospital about what happened when sent me a survey. About it. Also months of phone calls to even get them to accept my insurance. My situation ended up being free of charge.

I was lucky I stopped the meds 3 days in. It was suppose to be 10. Some folks end up completely disabled being on it for months. Also the side effects get worse for a time once you stop. Chance of tendon ruptures for up to a year afterwards.

Not sure what my current deal is. Have full mobility of my hand now but have strange painful masses on the underside of three fingers. Hoping to get an MRI and find out what can be done.

When things were really bad I actually looked into cybernetics. I would have wanted one of these: http://www.touchbionics.com/


So yeah...how about some something positive from someone? What's up?

[Angrist]

Woooooooooooooooooow. :( I'm sorry to hear that. It sucks how much of our lives sometimes depends on a few tiny things. And getting job offers must be so painful. >_<
I hope the biology or the other options work out for you. Do you have your own place btw?

I have been without a job for more than 4 months, but now I finally found something. A temporary administration job at a police office. It pays really well, so that's nice. After that I hope to find something else.
I have a master degree in nature policy and recreation... but there's no work to be found there. So I have to find fun jobs where they just need smart and hardworking people.

In the meantime me and 2 buddies have been doing regular Zelda podcasts, which is pretty fun. Because I do all the editing and planning, I'm learning a lot. Our channel: https://www.youtube.com/ZeldaPodSmashers
Other than that I'm active for my religion (still 1 of Jehovah's Witnesses) and I play a lot of Zelda lately.

[Happydude]

Holy mother of god.

I cannot believe this forum is still active. Even more amazing is all the old faces I see.


I'm currently at work and don't have time to read through the essays posted above, but I might when I get home.

Jeeze, so many memories.

Angrist, when did you get unbanned?

[Angrist]

Was I ever banned? I think I left once or twice, but that's about it. :p

The forum I'm active on these days is that of ZeldaUniverse.net. I might be a bit addicted to it... :(

Edit: lately I've been recording Zelda podcasts with 2 other Europeans. This is our latest, where we look back at the Zelda releases in 2013 and talk about what to expect in 2014!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ge9UL3LRkk

[Ginkasa]

I work at the same movie theatre I have since high school, but I enjoy it. I make a decent wage. I've been hoping to move up further, but its taking a while. The company is going to be expanding some more over the next few years, so I hope that's my opportunity to get a GM spot. I've been thinking about other plans if things don't pan out, but we'll see how the next little bit goes first.

I have the two kids. A two year old boy and one year old girl. They're swell. My boy isn't talking as much as it seems he should, but he's getting there. He recognizes and can say all of his letters, can count to three and recognizes numbers up to 10, and is getting pretty good with his colors, so I'm not too worried overall.

My wife was going to nursing school before getting pregnant the first time. I think that ship has probably sailed now, though. She has gotten a part time job with the state now the babies are a little older. We weren't struggling before or anything, so its just a nice little addition to our savings.

And that's about it.

[BlueFire]

Hi everyone!

This is kind of crazy. I can't remember when GT first opened -- was it January 2000? I've definitely lost touch with this place in the last years, but I can't believe I still remember to check this place every once and a while. I was 12/13 when I found Nintendose and GT. Now I'm 26 -- that's kind of mind-blowing.

[Seth]

heya takegiantsteps!


Angrist, your country's women are fast skaters. wth

[thatmariolover]

I still lurk from time to time, but this is one of the longer breaks I've taken. This community meant a ton to me ever since Nintendose. I still see Crash and a few others post on Facebook from time to time.

I have a clinical position working in healthcare. Not satisfied but no idea where to go from here.

My primary gaming devices are a PS4 (PSN: Curiousus) and a modded 360. Mostly playing BF4 (even though it's still a buggy mess) and Assassin's Creed on the PS4.

It's nice knowing that we're all still tenuously holding onto our nostalgia. Take care guys.

[TheSlyMoogle]

Hey SlyMoogle,
Nice update, I hope Kentucky and getting out of Kentucky provides you with a happy new year and many blessings.

What PC games you playing?
Ever thought about moving to the westcoast?



I just now saw this so going to reply.

I spend literally every spare gaming moment I have playing either ff14, diablo 3, league of legends, dota 2 and recently some hearthstone.

I've also sometimes play Marvel Heroes but that's a rare thing when my friends hop on it.

I also recently purchased a 2DS with pokemon Y, the A link between worlds and Bravely Default.

I'm really happy with the 2ds actually, which I didn't think I would say, and I'm also very happy with the games. Specifically Bravely Default. It's some of the most fun I've had playing an RPG since the playstation days.

As far as moving west goes, I've given it a lot of thought. However I wouldn't know really anyone there, and I heard it's super expensive to live in Cali.

[Angrist]

Angrist, your country's women are fast skaters. wthHah yeah. :p I don't really watch the Olympics, but sometimes I see the news. It's pretty crazy! The men as well by the way.