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Your Saturday moment of zen.
Lizard, photographed in Mendocino County, CA.
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Well, all the deep-REM napping caught up with me last night. Still pretty down with this cold, and I got a grand total of 2 hours of sleep. Then got up at 5 am to drive three hours back to Portland. Today is a total loss, with respect to any form of productivity more important than lying on the couch and re-reading the same paragraphs over and over.
Endurance and other tasks to resume tomorrow (hopefully). Off to Omaha Monday, assuming I'm any kind of better. For now, allowing myself to flatline.
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Scale tip — Art writing guru James Gurney on telling details.
Barbie heals space martians, and cures interspecies racism! — Um, yah. (Thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mikigal.)
A field guide to reproductive health — Art madness.
Welcome to Lunarville — Ah, me. Missed opportunities.
Robot land-steamers to consume all life on Earth as fuel
?otD: Virus or bacteria?
7/11/2009
Body movement: n/a (overslept due to ongoing chest cold)
This morning's weigh-in: n/a (no scale at beach house)
Currently reading: Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
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Accomplishments: In an hour this morning, I started a new Assassin character and got her up to Level 5 without much trouble at all.
Assassins: While I don't know a lot about Assassins yet, I'm very impressed with the ease and fluidity of their attack strings (main attacks, off-hand followup attacks, etc.) and how you quickly learn to choose a battle strategy based on the target's current health and capabilities.
Environment: From the first moments of play, the beauty of the natural, wild environment in Factions is breathtaking, from the waterfalls to the lush, misty vistas that overlook forests, seascapes, and mountain passes. The presentation of architecture and natural features throughout the environment really works for me, as the world in Factions already feels like its massively more varied than Prophecies!
Leveling Up: Getting from from Level 1 to 5 was the work of about 40 minutes, and my travelling group of four characters took out some bad guys and bosses that I wouldn't have even dared approach in Prophecies. I suspect the leveling up process is going to be much faster, but I'll track that as I go along to compare.
Annoyances: In terms of the presented information, the "Tablets of Wisdom" scattered around the opening play area offer a lot of good advice to the noob, but the information written on the tablets really isn't couched in the same rich, clear language that marks the overall Canthan style. In the noob introduction, after dealing with the frequent long pauses and the handful of weird NPC moments where I wasn't sure what to do next (did the quest crash?), these Tablet info-dumps strewn all around the opening area with gameplay strategy tips could have been designed SOOO much more thematically.Current Mood:  gamery |
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Jul. 11th, 2009 @ 10:22 am
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Still have the cold, which deducted a 2 hour nap from my afternoon. Managed 1,700 new words nonetheless. Should have time to wrap my weekly quota tomorrow. Tired of being sick.
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The Whole Tooth, and Nothing but the Tooth: Yesteerday, I went to the dentist for the first time in about five years, and was astonished to learn that I have no cavities. While my gums could use some work, and I'll have to go back in again for some more work on the built up tartar, the Sonicare really proved itself during this period. Possibly up there in the "top ten product purchases ever" category, as I used to have a cavity per visit every time I went to the dentist back in my 20's.
Attention of the League: I picked up my first couple of invitations on XBox Live, for people who saw me play CoD:WaW and wanted me to join their guild. While I don't play enough to be in a guild, I appreciate the nod, and I'm glad that all my hardwork on COD, GOW, and Halo has paid off!
Job Status: I had a good phone interview two days ago with Bungie. While I didn't work out for their current job listings, I'm very pleased that they spent a half hour talking through my skill sets - and I'm hoping something will blossom from that conversation in the future. In addition, it looks like I'll be starting up a short-term contracting gig this coming Monday, which could open up some interesting possibilities if things go well. More news about that when I can talk about it, but it's a pretty cool opportunity!Current Mood:  busy |
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Accomplishments: Picked up a Fire Sword as a random drop from a Hydra, which seriously helps the war effort! Boom, baby!
Failures: While I successfully explored the Crystal Desert and got locks on my map for all three of the cooperative missions involved in the Ascension storyline, I don't think I can do these missions alone with just my band of NPC's as backup, or a group of random PC's picked up in town. I'll need to organize a group of friends sometime later this month to go in and help me through this section of the game, as with my current level of skills, the NPC's are just too random to pass certain sections of these missions without continued party wipes.
Next Task: I'll be moving onto Factions, starting with a beginning character and working my way up through the opening content.Current Mood:  gamery |
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tor.com on Steampunk Tales — In which I have a story.
How to tell a riveting story — (Thanks to goulo.)
Toy ray guns of the world
Portable DNA Purifier for Poor Countries — A new handheld device isolates DNA from human fluid without the use of electrical power. Like Bill Gibson said, you have "to be pretty technical before you can even aspire to crudeness".
Hemingway as failed KGB spy? — Weird.
A Housing Market Built on Mud Takes Off, and Then Goes Thud — Ironic, sad and darkly funny story about housing in West Africa.
The invisible hand of god — Pace Adam Smith. (Snurched from Scrivener's Error.)
Hannity again crops Obama's comments abroad in order to smear him — Your Liberal Media, hard at work bending the truth for the GOP. And conservatives wonder why the rest of us see you as crazy and deceitful. Hannity isn't some fringe figure, he's a major spokesperson for your philosophy with an audience of millions.
?otD: What would Heinlein have titled a sequel to Friday?
7/10/2009
Body movement: n/a (overslept due to ongoing chest cold)
This morning's weigh-in: n/a (no scale at beach house)
Currently reading: The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold
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Even amidst it all, I managed 1,300 words today (to my amazement). Might make goal this week after all. Too tired to sort out a WIP.
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I've had some things to say about cancer, about health insurance, about Endurance, but this chest cold is running me ragged and having me sleep 11 hours a day. Regular blogging service will resume as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, calendula_witch finished a book. Go give her some love.
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Summer simplicity. Have it tonight spooned over your favorite ice cream and tomorrow morning dressing a stack of berry-studded pancakes.
Credit: James Baigrie
1/2 cup sugar
1 TBSP cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries
1 TBSP lemon juice
In a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in water until smooth. Stir in blueberries and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Cover and refrigerate. |
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The "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks — The name says it all. (Thanks to corwynofamber.)
10 weird uses for vodka — (Thanks to garyomaha.)
First Drug Shown to Extend Life Span in Mammals
LRO won't convince the Apollo deniers — Apollo denial is just as mentally fractured as Intelligent Design, supply side economics or vaccination denial — batshit faith-based thinking pretending to a rational basis. It just doesn't have the same massive policy implications, and nobody dies from it.
?otD: Why do we call it a 'cold' when it makes us hot?
7/9/2009
Body movement: n/a (overslept due to ongoing chest cold)
This morning's weigh-in: n/a (no scale at beach house)
Currently reading: n/a (Just finished The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (re-read))
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4,900 words today, across two hours, to 100,500 words on the manuscript. Right now I think this is going to come up considerably shorter than earlier estimates. Maybe 120,000 or so. I'm a bit surprised. Possibly Fred has learned to write to length, or possibly I'll have to insert stuff on rewrite. That's fine. Every book is different. But my last few have been dreadfully overlength, and I've kind of gotten used to very fat drafts.
Go figure.
Meanwhile, ( wip! )
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Accompishments: Managed to pass the cooperative mission at Sanctum Cay without much trouble, courtesy of some good pulling, and great use of the new katana I purchased over in Cantha.
Lessons Learned: Save for one "party wipe via cat", I was able to get through the mission in about three tries, with the third try resulting in no bad mob collisions or party member deaths. While navigating through poisonous swamps can be difficult with a party of NPC's, doing flagwork and careful pulling can let you eliminate most threats if you're careful.
Going Forward: We're getting to the point where I don't have a lot of personal knowledge about the game maps, so I'll need to play a bit more conservatively in the coming desert battles. If I remember correctly, some of the lead-up to Ascension is a real bear to hack through, and I'll just have to rely on what I learned and keep on going.
Things I'd Change: Opening up a set of skills that specifically work in public spaces, that are related to amusement or non-griefing situations. Being able to sprint through certain public areas would be great, though I kind of understand why Arena did it this way, to truly deliniate between combat zones and public areas where players are "safe".Current Mood: gamery |
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Proof that life goes on despite high drama and low...I seem to be coming down with a chest cold. I spent much of yesterday being vaguely stupid and inefficient, while my voice croaked. Also exhausted. Tumbled into bed early last night, overslept by two hours, missed my exercise, and have that raw feeling in my throat today. Grr.
Too much to do, too little time.
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Coffee 'may reverse Alzheimer's' — Guess I need to take up a new habit. (Thanks to danjite.)
Vintage ads for women's fragrances — Uh huh.
Donnie's Deusie: 1924 — Mmm. Duesenberg. Mmm.
Best to only ever fight wars you already won. — The Edge of the American West on conservatives, Obama and library cards. Also William Ayers. Funny stuff.
?otD: What time did you wake up?
7/8/2009
Body movement: n/a (overslept due to incipient chest cold)
This morning's weigh-in: n/a (no scale at beach house)
Currently reading: The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (re-read)
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I think it is teh awesome! Artwork by Mari Kurisato.
Avatar © 2009 Mari Kurisato.
Original photo © 2009 B. Lake.
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3,700 new words on Endurance today, in 90 minutes of writing time.
( As usual, a WIP )
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Jul. 7th, 2009 @ 04:20 pm
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A typical day in the pharmacy
* Patient A you picked up four out of five prescriptions from our pharmacy last night. A tech spoke with you and told you that we were out of the fifth and would need to place it on order for delivery today. I was not here when this happened, however you were. We did not indicate that we would phone you when it is in. That is not our policy. We do in excess of 500 prescriptions per day and we simply do not have the staffing to do that. Instead we advise when something is not available and give you a time and date that it will be in. When you approached the counter today, you did not seem to know how many medicines you were picking up, if they were OTC special orders or RX, what the name or names of the missing medications were or what they might do. Please don't get angry when I ask if you are picking up for a friend or family member. You struggled to give the correct birth date, for goodness sake! I have no way of identifying the the medicine is for you unless you show me a picture ID. You seemed to know so little about what you were picking up that it was, in my estimation, a reasonable assumption that you might be doing a favor for someone else.
* Patient B, we don't destroy people's prescriptions. For any reason. Ever. Forever ever. There isn't a conspiracy against you. It's probably the narcotic pain medication talking, so we'll chalk your yelling and flailing for twenty minutes up to addiction....
* Patient C, please do not approach the counter after your purchase and bellow at me that I didn't ask to scan your courtesy card. Forgive me, but I had a line of seven people and you happen to be the third person in that line. I make every effort to get people in and out in a reasonable amount of time and it is sometimes necessary for me to prioritize. I was trying to get you situated with your prescriptions since you, much like Patient A, couldn't identify what or how many you might be picking up. I don't know if you realize this, but being so unprepared slows the process down a bit and makes others wait longer behind you. I am required to verify your birth date and/or address, insure you are being given the right medication, have you sign the HIPAA log, give an offer for consult, etc. If the courtesy card was that important to you, perhaps you could have given it to me without prompting. It in no way discounts your prescriptions. I have much more important things I'm required to ask....things that insure your health and safety.
* Patient D, please stop yelling at me that you can get the same medication at Walmart for $9. I realize that. I politely explained that they do not route the claim through insurance and take a loss on the cost of the drug, taking the risk that you'll remain shopping in their stores for other non-prescription items. In an effort to educate you, I reiterated for the umpteenth time today that the insurance company determines the respective copay for each drug. When you replied, "Well, I don't know about that" and went on to infer that we must be inflating the prices to make a large profit, I didn't get offended. I remained calm and tried to illustrate my point using 'loss leaders' in a grocery store...the handful of items that appear in the grocery store circular, advertised below cost in hopes you'll get the rest of your shopping list with them. When you continued to grumble, I encouraged you to be a competitive shopper and that if Walmart was able to deeply discount your medicine, perhaps you should be picking your prescriptions up there instead. Roughly translated, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
* Patient E, holding an RX 'on file' means exactly what it sounds like. Your RX, which you dropped off saying that you did not need at the time, is placed in a filing cabinet until you alert us otherwise. It will need to be inputted into the computer and the claim transmitted to your insurance company. This is not instantaneous and no, I am not the person inputting. If you need an answer to exactly how much your medication will cost right this second, I suggest you dial the toll-free number on the back or the bottom of your insurance card. As I told Patient A and Patient D and about a hundred other patients in the past 48-hours, they are the ones that determine the copay. If you'd like to phone back in a few minutes--to allow that person a little time--we will be more than glad to tell you the price that was provided to us. Telling me "I'm not very helpful" won't get you crap.
* Patient F, don't get angry at us for your wait. It was your doctor who didn't write any dosing on your medication (multiple doses are available, both ER and regular) nor sign the prescription to make it valid. No one is prepared to put their professional license on the line to "take your word on it". Maybe you should be yelling at him instead.
Dunce of the Day has to go to the doctor who when we phoned to clarify a prescription because he wrote a dosage that didn't exist, he replied angrily that he didn't know why we had bothered to call that "it was close enough". |
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