So, 2025 is upon us

I am recently employed again after a dry spell seeing me leave the University (They wanted someone out, I assisted them in that area, but they didn't have be be such <redacted redacted> about it) and a 4 day tenure at a car dealership run by (and only for) the owner's family.

My wife and I called it quits last August. We're still friendly, but it's over. We have a toddler we coparent with their partner. The partner has been a part of Lena's life since day one, and is a great extra parent.

I find myself in a quandary. I am demisexual - This means I cannot have a physical relationship with anyone I'm not emotionally invested in. This can severely complicate any relationship. You want someone for fun and physical companionship but the way your brain works is you go all in, and they run, or worse, they don't. I have a tendency to spend too long with people who I should only date, or fall madly in love with people who should be friends. I have to find a way to not conjure a relationship in my mind just because they have 'delightful features' but the personality of a house cat thrown in a bath of vinegar.

I do not enjoy being single, and 'sole' (12 days out of 14) parent to a toddler. It makes me very lonely.

On the upside, I got a new job. I am now the development engineer for a prominent educational establishment in Colchester. I am here to develop their systems and improve their lot.

I have thrown myself into helping a friend and her lovely Nan move house and improving my home, many overlapping projects, and my own procrastination is, as ever, my enemy.

Yes, I know, it's been a while....sorry

 Hey All,

What can I say I really need to start doing this on a regular basis.

What's happened since June 2019:

1. Work Stuffs! I worked at Funko, it was glorious, but alas, short lived.... In their wisdom they decided to move their distribution operation to Coventry, which would separate me and my kids, so I had to wish them well. (In fairness the site at Maldon was a terrible fir for that many) I went to work for a rubbish insurance company in Ipswich. Not a good experience. Their hardware was like their attitude to IT (VERY badly out of date and they practically bullied the hardware too), I had to go to eBay to buy parts for some of the servers they were THAT old. I left there happy to start a new job in a well known publishing house characterised by a flightless bird. That was a nightmare of epic proportions. I am still suffering from that over a year later. I went to work for an actually decent MSP at a great place called Ransomes Jacobsen and was treated like a valued member of the team, but the price of Diesel soared in the UK so I had to look closer to home for work, when a dream job vacancy appeared - The University of Essex. Not far up the road, great money, nice team, nice location, short commute. I'm in month 3, so far so very good!

2. Personal Stuffs! I got married. After a couple of years alone, I met someone quite special. So much so I put a ring on it. We had a beautiful ceremony in the Norman castle in Colchester, there was a large sword and a tiny cake. Also some mild fisticuffs, but hey. My wife is an AFAB (Assigned female at birth - Born with girly parts) but is pangender and pansexual, this means we can both oggle nice looking ladies. They use they/them pronouns, but is proud to be referred to as my wife. We welcomed our first child, Lena, into the world September 2021. She is a small but feisty creature, 2nd percentile for height, but very dextrous and very capable. She is likely to be our only child, as although the birth was practically painless and very easy, Rose and I just plain doesn't want to go through it all again and we can focus on Lena's childhood. She is utterly adored by her older siblings who do a cracking job helping out when they're over.

3. Gaming - Fallout 4 is en vogue yet again. I need to get back to Elite Dangerous, but that requires getting my HOTAS/cockpit rig back up and running. Round Towits are always in such short supply.

As usual, it's been a while.

Stuffs! Yes, there's been lots of stuffs going on.

1. Worked at Funko for a year (And still working there)*
2. Got that Elite Dangerous Tattoo I was on about (See pic below)
2. Met a girlie! (At Colchester Invasion 2018)
3. Proposed to said girlie, and she said Yes?!?!
4. Marrying her in October!

*However - They've just announced that the distribution centre I work in is being moved to the Midlands. Most likely just further that I could commute. I do not think there would be a relocation package for mere minions like me, so suspect my time with the big bobble headed people will be coming to an end quite soon.

Hey everybody (Hey Dr. Nick!!!!) - Sorry, had to paraphrase the good(ish) Doctor

It's been a while, as it most often is, but that does mean I have news:

So, it's been nearly a year since I joined Funko. They seem to like me, so there's that :)

I've been seeing someone for about 6 months, and we're saving for a ring!

Promotion!

...to Rear Admiral in Elite: Dangerous - Not like I'll ever get a promotion in real life. My epic portfolio of face-don't-fit has guaranteed me a long career on the exact same rung of the ladder until I retire or die.

In other Elite: Dangerous news - I also made the combat rating of Elite, a milestone, as (Approximately) 34 years ago I started playing computer games on the Original Elite on the BBC B, so the Elite rank will be going on as a tattoo at some point. My gaming has come full circle.

On June the 12th I go for the last part of my Autism assessment. I'm slightly nervous, but hopeful.

Bob Ross Deadpool Funko Pop - cool AF, or what?

Speaking of Funko! I got a job there. Oh. Happy. Day.

I'll finally be out from under the boot of yet another uncaring MSP. (Managed Service Providers, the people keeping IT wages low, but director's salaries high) I swore I'd never work for another one after the catastrophe that was working for the first one.

Anyhoo, sunny Maldon here I come!

A decade of pretending to be an adult

I thought I'd posted this, sorry, scrambled egg for brains again....

The little man turns 10 on Monday (The 20th of November), the boy that made me a father, and since have had to constantly (Well, almost constantly) pretend to be a normal human being. Funny that his diagnosis of autism made me realise I am too. Oh yes, normal' has left the building.

I mentioned 'High Functioning' last time. This is a phrase frowned on by the autistic community, and as I'm learning more about my neuroatypicality (Is that a word? I hope so) I'm learning more about how one deals with, and helps others deal with, it. So yeah, my bad. However it is a term that neurotypicals understand (kinda)

Dealing with autism when dealing with typicals can be extremely tiring. I of course have to take that to the next level: I work as an IT engineer for a company that farms me out, mainly to hedge funds in West London. This means my appearance and mannerisms are something they can criticise my company on, they're paying for a perfect human being, obviously, not a skilled techie. This criticism is often passed back to me, and I'm told I'm 'Not a good fit for that site' - I worry that I'm not a good fit for this planet.

I was onsite yesterday and was told that 'This site is a tattoo-free zone' I advised the person saying that that they don't peel off. Mixed feelings as site has lots of good tech, and will have more, but detest the location/extra travel, and that comment set off alarm bells when followed by 'They're expecting a certain level of person in the office.' So I'm below that level for marking my own skin? My skills, my high IQ, my determination are not up to scratch because the book cover comes illustrated?

I worry these are obstacles my beautiful, loving and autistic son will have to overcome. I worry his life will lack the depth and colour and happiness he deserves. I worry he will become me.

Some sites I work at know me and know about me, and are super cool about it, they make working there a pleasure. Some are super-arsey. Frankly, the type of person they are expecting (Thanks to Account Managers) is well above my paygrade on one hand, so I'm looking to go inhouse at a firm more local to Colchester, or at the very least on the right side of London, in both senses of the word right, and avoid the borderline-sociopathic ways of SW3/W1 hedge funds. Because of their unrealistic expectation of their hired help, I have to be ABSURDLY normal at some places. I come home torn between wanting to talk the hind legs off a donkey as some places I should be 'Seen and not heard' or just fire up the kettle, make a noodle and play Fallout 4 for a couple of hours without uttering one syllable to a soul, not that there are any other souls in my flat.

Here I go again on my owwwwnnnn!

So hey, long time no speak.

It's been an eventful year (and nearly a half.)

August 2016 I found myself no longer on the inside of a relationship. Certain realities got faced up to and my then fiancee and I went our separate ways. The kids have been beyond cool about it, largely because my ex and I have been cool about it. We're good friends, probably all we ever should have been. We were so wrapped up in being parents and working that we had little time for each other. A massive support network of family doing pretty much zero babysitting ever meant there was no such thing as date night. Anyway, she's closer to work in a nice place, got a bloke who is, according to my kids, alright, so that's good.

I am living in a proper town at last - Colchester. I get to see my boys every other weekend, they're awesome little men and are happy in their new school. My eldest was diagnosed with Autism at the end of last year, with a shopping list of pointers that pretty much make him Me. So yes, QED, I am Autistic too. We're both 'High Functioning' and what used to be known as Asperger's. So we're socially clumsy, intelligent and mildly odd. Not exactly awful, but a little isolating at times.

I had one abortive relationship with a woman so desperate to not be messed around she messed me around before I would have had a chance (Not that I would have, but there you go, crazy is as crazy does). My work life currently blows, as the commute from Colchester to West London is punishing. There are some upsides - Got a nice little circle of friends in Colchester, and still got my besties in Nottingham, Poole and Hove. I venture out on Thursday evening for a date, so wish me luck :)

As for Gaming - It's been Fallout 4 and Elite Dangerous pretty much for the last year. The previous post about Elite Dangerous 2.1 made me laugh reading it back, as they've nerfed the AI for the NPC's again, then boosted it, then nerfed it, we had 2.2 and 2.3, which were OK, but still looking for a bunch of variety in the ships and not finding it. 2.4 launched, and we had the Frontier Expo (Didn't get tickets dangit!) so looking forward to more. Watch this space(ship)

New AI in Elite Dangerous 2.1 - Stick your head between your legs and kiss your ar*e goodbye

Greetings, Commanders,

So 2.1 landed, and we tippy-toed out of our space stations to be royally rogered by the new AI. No flowers, no chocolates, and no dinner, just straight up g*ngbanged.

I haven't openly sworn at my computer for a while, having small children means, thankfully, that the headset goes on after they've got their heads down for the night. The other night I downloaded the new update, keen to work on my ship, upgrading merrily as I went. I realised I would be needing some bits and pieces from (a) the surface of the planets and (b) mining. To this end I bought an Eagle (Best thing in the shipyard) and gave it an SRV hangar, and an Asp Explorer for mining.

I loved my Asp Explorer, nice, capable ship, not TOO big, quite tough, and not such a huge outlay if I dented it a bit. How wrong I was.... but more about that in a moment. I bought collector limpets (Which are just brilliant, BTW) to get oore fragments AND they pick up scrap from ships, I later learned, a memont of sheer joy, those little guys make me happy. I headed out to a lowRES to test mining, tried it once last year and it did NOT float my boat. HOWEVER, once I'd mined enough ore to have a ton of anything, the NPC's got nasty, and this was in a LowRES! Suddenly, there's teams of 3 well kitted Vipers and Asps drilling your hull. It goes south SO quickly.

I actually combat-logged. Twice! It was just to keep my hard earned mining payload. Not proud of it, but I'm a relatively experienced combat pilot, and I got bullied like a posh kid in Lewisham.

Anyway, looking forward to a minor nerf, because if that's a LowRES, then HighRES will be like going to warp in Event Horizon.

Fly safe, commanders.

Grinding for my mistress

Greetings, Commanders,

So 1.3 landed, we all picked sides, or avoided them and we've had time to come to terms with that decision, right?

I went for Felicia Winters, the shadow president of the Federation. It tessellates nicely with my 'I'm Federation, but not a total arsehole' ethos.

So far, so good. The first few days I got badly spec'd Eagles after me, and the occasional Cobra. Then the attack rate dropped off, then I started getting Pythons and Anacondas. I had actual clenching moments flying. It was AMAZING! some genuine fear and and you start investing all over again. Having had a crazy run of Annie attacks, I went on a rare run around Lave/Witchhaul/Altair etc to crank up some credits and repair my ship (Yes, I took a beating)

I'm looking forward to returning to Winters space to grind some rep and (Hopefully) get my Fed Dropship (Finally!!)

She could use the help, judging by the drop from 1st to 4th place.

How are you all finding the factions?

The danger of assumptions

This week saw the launch of the 1.3 Beta for Elite:Dangerous. I was stoked to see the new Diamondback ship from Lakon Spaceways. Due to the images, I was looking at a ship pitched at the Non-Federation players looking for an equivalent to the Federal Dropship. You know, that angular looking beast sitting at 19 Million credits with some sweet options and quite nimble. The clues were it was being built on an Alliance world, there as a pre-update mission to help get the shipyard built, the Imperials have the Clipper and the forthcoming courier, so, like all vapourware followers I started making assumptions. The path to wrack and ruin starts here.

So....when I logged in to Beta, I bought one. I had spare cash, and Beta prices, party time! Was it f*ck!? Due to my, by now, mythicall proportioned assumptions, the Diamondback was crap. I got less options than I expected in load out, (The penny hadn't dropped at this point) I picked a tough combat mission, got smacked liked a redneck kid in a supermarket, res'd at the station, bought my old loadout, bought some better slots, (Beta prices!) went back out, more of the same. Crap!

However, after a rage quit (yeah, that as me, not proud) I reflected. I looked at the stats, it was larger than the ubiquitous Cobra and smaller than the well rounded Asp, I looked at the mental image I had and the actuality of it, and my assumptions were found wanting (And I felt like a pratt)

The truth of it is the Diamondback is a very capable combat explorer that sits between the Cobra and the more expensive Asp. It's nimble, good looking and has a good array of options available. I hope it's priced accordingly. I could allow pilots to avoid the Type 6 grind stage moving up from the Cobra, which I remember fondly, much like my other half remembers labour.

What this means is I have to try and get some serious rep in and the last rank jump with the Feds so I can get the Dropship, as it's the multifunction I need until the Python or Fer De Lance falls into my budget bracket. Bad news, I have less than a week to get it. Let me explain, due to Powerplay, we will have rep with factions. Those factions include 2 Federation leaders, 3 Empire, 2 Independent but only one Alliance. I'm thinking of going Alliance. They have the most to gain (Especially in ships, see above) so I may tack my colours to that mast. Also looks like the Fed president has disappeared, so there's more afoot.

IRL crept out for a cheeky Nandos this week, Twas magical!

anyhoo, nearly at my destination. So...don't assume, look what it does!

Commanders, be good (Or be careful)

Delays in life as in Elite Dangerous

The season of not quite anything is upon us. We have blazing sunshine and 14 degrees, we have rain and sun and sleet in the same day, and yet we're in the dog end of May. Many are waiting for Summer to happen.

And so in Elite:Dangerous.. The 1.3 Powerplay update has been delayed, the Beta was announced for the 20th, and has been put back. Some of the comments on the forum are ridiculous, decrying the devs, how very dare they delay the beta, this whole game's a beta, I'll scweam and scweam and scweam* etc etc

However, perhaps the delay is due to dev burnout, perhaps, knowing the level of support required they're getting some family time/R&R/Pizza action before the beta hits, then the update itself (Generally a week later) and the extra work on patches and bug fixes required. Perhaps the devs have been given a break due to the sterling work they've done already, and this allows them to come up with new stuff. Perhaps they're waiting on the Corvette model. Perhaps perhaps perhaps. However disappointed I am, I'll wait for the beta, and I'll hope that extra time has been spent wisely.

One thing to note on the forums was that the noisy minority hating on the devs were exactly that, a minority. The sheer love for Frontier E:D dev team was touching. Most comments I found ran to 'They'll release it when it's good enough' 'They know what they're doing' and picking apart the redonculous diatribes of the haters.

Devs are human too. E:D's ones are just a bit better. In the meantime, I'm playing Borderlands - The Pre Sequel, some E:D, and dribbling over The Elder Scrolls online. SO tempted now it's not subscription based. Also preparing for the arrival of my Thrustmaster Cougar MFD button panels and my E:D pirate faction T-Shirt. A captain's chair is in the offing, waiting for news on a suitable donor chair. Good times!

Remember commanders: Fly safe or have the insurance money set aside!

Powerplay Beta is coming - May 20th

At last!! Powerplay, Elite:Dangerous is coming. The Beta drops on the 20th of May, and Betas tend to last a week before they go live.

I have some wishes for this update: Faction rewards in internal components - Better quality internals or weapons - I totally want C3 Multicannons, or some sort of multi point mount, eg 2 x C2 in a C4 slot, could totally 'multimulticannon' my little old Asp. Anothger perk I hope Powerplay folds in to the game - Faction discount on insurance. If it costs less to replace you might take more risks, my last replacement wascostly, but it did prey on my mind for a while after that I didn't want to lose that much money, meaning I bailed on combat earlier than I could have.

I'm hoping to take the new Diamondback for a spin, hoping it's an Asp on steroids. With a bit of luck the Diamondback is a heavier multipurpose with at least C3 harpoint, and that the hardpoints are all on corners for extra gimballed shootiness. The concept drawing looks the nuts, but not seeing any other images. I would love Frontier to rectify that soon, or I can just joy-puke/cry into my keyboard when the Beta lands. I'm mildly nervous about the whole experience.

In other Elite:Dangerous news I finally made 'competant' in combat - Which is great as it's the first combat rank that doesn't sound like you're completely crap, which was nice.

Considering a cheeky Nandos for lunch, it's FRIDAY!!

Anyway, fly safe, or make sure you have your insurance money saved.

OK, so where's 1.3 Powerplay?

Hello good peeps of the interwebz,

Patience has never been my strong suit, but I thought we'd have 1.3 Powerplay by now? I'm keen to see the Diamondback in the hope it's the ship to suit me perfectly. I want something tough, but with a bit of cargo spacce. The impression I get from reviews is that the Fed Dropship is not good value for money. I love my Asp, but it's getting OLD, and it's that awkward size/price point that you have no choice until you get to the Python.

Talking of which, one interdicted me yesterday, scared me silly. I've killed one before, but this guy was guns blazing from the off, ended with 53% hull and thought myself both wise and fortunate for getting the duck out of fodge with some hull to spare.

Anyhoo, waiting with baited breath for 1.3, rep for that Dropship won't farm itself.....

Never Give Up! Never Surrender!

Powerplay and Fer De Lance and Vultures, oh my!!

Apologies for my tardiness in posting, there's been a combination of stress, malaise, work and Elite why I'm not posting so often. My 'Little Asp that could' is nearing the end of it's upgrade journey. It's a toss up between a Vulture with lots of  cargo space, a Fer de Lance armed to the teeth, or grind Fed rep and get the Dropship. I can afford the Drop ship right now, and I think I could afford the Vulture, but feel either would be a compromise. Decisions, decisions....

Powerplay...ahem plays a part in this... If I grind Fed rep to Petty Officer I can get the ship, and Powerplay  will tesselate nicely in that it should allow for more and easier rep grinding missions, and maybe some discounts. Yay!! Because who doesn't love a discount on something you've been saving for? Amiriiight?

Especially interested to see what the Alliance will pull out the hat as a loyalty reward. I'm hoping some unique or A+ modules or twin Smalls for Medium moints etc. Their own ship would probably be tidy, too. We'll see, soon enough.

Starting to love a bit of combat. Made 'Novice' rank in combat and getting some nice bounties, killed a Python and an Anaconda in one week, I was like a dog with two willies. I bet my ship looked like it was dragged through a combine harvester backwards, mind, but what the hey.

Also got my Asp handed to me (see what I did there?) ...in small pieces after getting cocky and trying to take on two Annies and a Cobra. The Cobra was 'Dangerous' and the Annies were Master, so bit off more than I could chew would be a gentler version of my prognosis.

However, doing the (as described by one Elite forum member) Baby's first rare run at this time until I can afford something meatier. the run consists of buying rates in the  Lave, Diso etc cluster, then haul it to Witchhaul, flog the cargo, buy stuff over that side of the map, then haul ass to Zaonce and flog everything. Makes a Million easy if you wait for stock refreshes. If not, half a Million. Not shabby, even so.

Anyhoo, IRL beckons. Fly safe and Bon weekend!!

The wait for us is over

The race to Elite is over, at least for these guys. My hearty congratulations - Hard work, and hard won. Well done:
CMDR Tequila (Exploration)
CMDR Lordkee (Trading)
CMDR Fromtonrouge (Combat)
And ultimate bragging rights go to CMDR Onepercent (Triple Elite)

However, this is the opening stanza of my personal journey to Elite, in at least one category. So far I'm Scout (Exploration), Merchant (Trading) and the rather deflating Mostly Harmless (Combat) although it's a Douglas Adams Hitchhikers book title, so there's some comfort in that, at least.

Lugh, here I come. On the one hand it's the story of The Republic of Ireland, and I'm a republican by inclination, but in the other I'm totally a Fed too. Probably grind Fed rep. UPDATE: Got there, nothing doing. Back to Lave for rares - Those A class upgrades to the Asp won't buy themselves.

In non-Elite news, there's a new Borderlands Pre-Sequel DLC pack - The Claptastic Voyage! Tried it, loved it, but got totally owned.

Painite? Sounds, er, painful

Greetings, fellow commanders

So, there's a new mineral, Painite. We know it exists by it's crazy 30+k prices in the commodities markets, but we have no clue where to get it, the ultimate phantom resource.

I do hope this is FD's way to make mining a worthwhile venture. In the meantime I hope you're all updating Thrudd's Trading Tools or Slopey's BPC (I don't have a good link, sorry)

I've used both, and was very impressed by what I found. Turns out Painite is a real thing: See HERE

I thought it was cobblers, turned out I was wrong. I may try my hand at mining if these are not a wild goose chase.

Rare Runs - Currently tooling around Lave/Leesti/Diso picking up 60 tons of rares so I can make my limited 60 tons of space pay for themselves. We'll see how that pans out

Spray painting my backpack. Always fun doing sprayjobs on my gear. I recently sprayed a stencil based on the Elite logo that came on my Elite logo T shirt onto my jacket. Now I plan to give my Boblbee backpack the same treatment, so I'm spraying a combination of black, red and white digital camo, over a black and red honeycomb background, with a yellow Elite Logo on one side. Should be interesting.....pictures to follow.

As ever, your humble overlord

Jimbob(CMDR Jim Backer #5224)

Widdershins/Terry Pratchett station, anyone?

Hey, back in the chair! Loving Elite:Dangerous, and finally flying my Lakon Spaceways Asp Explorer. Although it does sound a littler close to Ass Explorer, which I'm sure is probably an adult movie franchise. If not, I came up with the name and want a slice of the profits.

The Asp is a lovely ship and the first thing you notice after selling your type 6 (The White Van of Space) is that it handles so much better. Even with all the weapon slots filled and as much cargo as you can carry (80 if my memory serves) it still handles like a viper compared to the Type 6. I did like my type 6 but (a) it had a 'Shoot Me!' bumper sticker on the back and (b) you could only get it in dull white. Compare and contrast the old Ford Transit, famously the mount of British 'White Van Man' see HERE for details. The Lakon Type 6 doesn't even have a 'Trotter Independant Trading' paint job

If you get a chance, donate to wikipedia. They give you free information, and -most- of it is good. Almost all of it.
Leonard Nimoy died recently, that was sad, he seemed like a really nice chap, and seeing Bill Shatner talk so warmly about him in Frankfurt last year, I reckon he must have been a solid guy. Frontier Developments have honoured him with a station orbiting Vulcan, and rightly so. Me, I reckon Sir Terry Pratchett is also deserving of a station/world/something. I've posted on the Elite Facebook page to get a world within a 12LY radius of Wolf 359 called Widdershins in honour of Terry's book dark side of the sun, one of his few Sci-Fi books.

Talking fo the commander's chair, considering building a chair in the likeness of the Flight Chairs in the film Alien, aboard the Nostromo. Like this:

The main reason is it's cool as all hell, but it also look confortable, and I can mount the Saitek X52 Joystick control system on the ends of the armrests. I will need to go speak to the lovely people of the RPF (Replica Prop Forum) who are a practically bottomless pit of information

Anyhow, I'm being called to iron stuff for the kids (It's Mothers' day here, so I go to help the smashing mother of my smashing kids)

Be nice to your Mum, you only get one.

Fly safe, fly true!

Back in the chair, the CMDR's chair

Hey Everybody, I'll not mention how long it's been. You can check. I've kinda missed you. Let's see. Eldest is 7, youngest will be 4 in May. I still don't play WoW. However, I am playing Elite:Dangerous. Currently rocking that most awful of ships, the Type 6 by Lakon, a huge, lumpen brick of a ship. You know when a ship is transitory when it doesn't come with paint jobs. Surprised really as I reckon Frontier Development could have made a fortune with Trotter Import Traders decals for the side. "Lave, Witchhaul, Sol, Putney."

Currently only half a million from an Asp. This does come with paint jobs. It's also a lot more shooty.
Anyhoo, new ships beckon, the Beta for Wings (Update 1.2) is out today, and images are appearing of the two new showstoppers, the Vulture (Core Systems new heavy fighter, and the Fer De Lance, Falcon DeLacy's new multipurpose beasty.

Photos courtesy of Roy van Rumpt and Mike Pearson
Shop Smart, Shop S Mart!

back.......again.

Yes, after a length of time I can't even contemplate, I'm back here. I don't play WoW any more. Haven't for over two years, I've been back and forth with a few games, Gearbox's Borderlands 2 being the mainstay for the last year, Borderlands before that. I've even started fashioning some of the armour from the Crimson raiders characters. Due to family commitments I need a game I can hit Pause on. This isn't to say I've not had any MMO time. star Trek online was fun for a bit, once Star Wars:The Old Republic went free to play it had a look in. Neither lit my fuse like WoW. I have a contact in NCSoft, who is trying to get me a Beta test for Wildstar, which is made by a group founded by people who left Blizzard (WoW's creators) I'm hoping his will happen soon. I'm keen to get a bit more MMO time without the huge crop of Arseholes who made leaving WoW such an easy choice, both to make and to stick to. Let's see Work hard, have fun and listen - My mantra to my eldest son. Words I could do with more myself sometimes.

IRL It's been an odd few months. Work continues in two directions. Hoping that a better one will appear as work becomes more grinding, contrasted by working harder and throwing myself more into my unwilling role change. However, if I keep my head down, it lets me build FreeNAS boxes and tinker with personal projects without anyone batting an eyelid when we're not busy. The first part of that has lead me to hoard IT equipment that might form the initial basis of a small company IT infrastructure. I have that much kit, it's true. How many people have 3 SME level Windows servers in a room at home? I have been asked this by my nearest and dearest, but really she knows it keeps me amused, so it's not all bad. Finally hacked the meadow down to a lawn (It's been raining a lot in Britain, so the grass is growing quickly and getting cut infrequently) and planted an apple tree. Sweet! Family life continues apace as my youngest child rapidly approaches 1 year old. He's a bundle of fun, but his late night wake ups are grinding the life out of us. He has 4 teeth now, just another 16 to go - lol, there may be a few broken nights' sleep left, then. My eldest boy is hard work, but when he's sweet, he's absolutely amazing. On the subject of FreeNAS boxes and the like, I'm in the throws of a large project. I have one PC (Dual Core Intel, 8GB RAM, Win 7 64bit) to run everything on currently. I mothballed my old Games PC (AMD 6 core, 4GB, Win 7 64bit) but now I reckon I've cracked it. The Games PC became better (i7, 12GB, 16GB flash as cache and much quieter) the old AMD went into a new case and is now Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 64bit and this will run the side monitors for browsing etc, and the old HP will become a VM host. The Pinguy running HP Microserver will go over to FreeNAS, so I can use the limited hardware to better effect. WoW - Or more accurately 'gaming in general.' Steam has bee a source of solace, as I haven't played WoW for about 6 weeks. Most people who have known me in the last 5 years would not have credited me with that sentence, but there it is. I've been playing Borderlands pretty heavily, and am very much looking forward to the sequel in September, but I haven't limited myself to one game only. Supreme Commander has been fun, as has Sol: Exodus, and Star Trek Online (Rear Admiral: Lower Half!!) If World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria doesn't rock my world, it will be my last expansion. And today's the day I got ....... Diablo III, the third incarnation of the game that made me a gamer. So far, playing the Demon Hunter, loving it. Nearly home to play some more, laters all.