So, it has been a bit of time since I last updated this site.  I haven’t forgotten it.  I’ve just been busy trying to stay afloat.  I’ve not wanted to rant and rave about how miserable life has been … mostly because it hasn’t been.  It hasn’t be great either.  It’s just been a melancholic mediocre.  I know I promised new mixes, but I just haven’t been all that inspired.  I’ve been busy trying to make sure that Mona, my daughter, and myself have food on the table.  In an effort to keep food on said table, I’ve applied for and have been approved for food stamps.  There’s a “First to Work” program that I’m a part of in order to obtain financial aid … but, really, I can’t be bothered when my Full-Time student status doesn’t necessarily apply.  And while I’m relieved to know that no one in my family will starve, I’m hardly happy that I’m mooching off of the Taxpayer’s dollar.  This and the dire financial status of my family overall prompted, perhaps a rash, but necessary decision to enlist.

That’s right.  I’m more than likely going to be a soldier in the United States Army.  Over the course of the last two weeks I’ve met with and played the cat & mouse game of recruiting.  I’m currently working through my SF86 papers and I’ve been informed that my AFQT was a 93.  It’s nice to know that only 6% of applicants and potential recruits are better test takers than I am.  But, while the AFQT is only indicator of the calibre of a recruit, it doesn’t secure my MOS.  A little more research shows that I must also have a Security Clearance of at least SECRET and have the line scores to support the said MOS – which is currently 25B Information Technology Specialist, other job opportunities that I had been considering were 25U Signal Support Systems Specialist, 31B Military Police, 35T Military Intelligence Systems Maintainer/Integrator, and 36B Financial Management Technician … the good news is that I should have the line scores … hopefully my background investigation checks out enough to allow me to grab this particular job.

So, I’m essentially two steps away from finalizing this decision.  I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t have my reservations.  I wonder if how well my family would be taken care of if I didn’t come back from an assignment.  I question if I’ll be able to meet the physical requirements … it’s been so long since I’ve done anything remotely athletic.  I mostly wonder how well I’ll do under the pressure of Boot Camp.  I know I’m tough mentally, but I’m also very accustomed to working alone … the only spin on this would be that it is an opportunity to expand my horizons … and I’m doing what I can to give Mona and my daughter options.  By this Friday, I’ll probably know where I’m headed.

My third and final trimester of my first year of college is underway.  I’m almost done with GAM200, Critical Game Studies.  I’m maintaining a respectable 94% for the class … I started off fairly rocky, but have since found my rhythm.  I devised a combat system that’s uses a sliding skill method to balance offense vs defense vs speed vs damage.  I also created a dungeon crawling game based off of using a deck of playing cards and a six-sided die.  This is the final week of this class … oddly enough, class ends this Friday as well.

In other news, I’ve since left <Hostility> on Runetotem – in fact, the day after I made my last post.  There’s just too much attitude to deal with in that guild from too many of the Officers.  I won’t stand for people tearing down other people just because of a difference in opinion.  Though I suppose, I’m going to have to come to grips with that eventuality in the work field.  So Sylvandria is back with <Seething Hatred> and I’m still running with <Roll Initiative>, who has been having problems as well – though mostly because the guild grew too fast without any plans for the new recruits. 

<Seething Hatred> has downed Toc10 a weekend ago … however, we’re still having issues with Mim-Daddy in Ulduar 10.  Currently our weekend raids have been suffering due to the lack of people logging on.  We’ve had to include a couple of friends from other guilds in our runs.  Looks like I’ve become the 2nd in charge when it comes to organizing and running raids.

<Roll Initiative> is still working on downing all the bosses in Ulduar 10’s Antechamber.  However, we’ve seen some progress as certain bosses are getting easier to down.  I’m sort of happy that we’ve returned to working on our Core 10 man group.  I’d be more than happy to bring Sylvandria in on 25-man Naxx runs to gear up new recruits.  That being said, we ended up downing Onyxia 10 over this past weekend.  We also downed Malygos and Sarth … so it was an all Dragon kill weekend.

So that’s my great update.  I’m still thinking of putting together a mix.  Something deep … just because I’m feeling deep.  It won’t feature much in the latest releases … I’m too broke to afford new tracks.  But it’ll feature tracks that I haven’t played or haven’t played in a long time.