Last Saturday (the 21st) I went to an arcade near work that specialized in BattleMech pods.  Inside each pod had a full set of controls for a ‘Mech and was well equipped to do just about anything you could do in the game “MechWarrior.”

I spoke with uglyman, the owner and proprietor of the shop, who said that the pods were a little dated but still worked well.  I ran a few games in Pods 1 and 5, where I had my butt royally handed to me, but it was fun.  Pod 5 did give me a little trouble with the joystick slowly moving itself up when it was left in the centered position, but that was easy to remedy by pulling it back down.

I used a mix of ‘Mechs starting with the Mad Cat Mk. II.  The first rounds were a horrible obliteration of my ‘Mech, but after a while I found just the right combination of missles and lasers.  It’s one thing to play against Rookie ‘Mechs on the computer but quite another to play against humans in the pods.

If you’re in the Seattle (specifically Kirkland) area and want to give it a go ’round the site for uglyman’s location is The Airlock.  Click on the images below to see my scores and the battle details.  Pay attention to number 2, when I had a kill 30 seconds in and 2 seconds from round end .

PS: I’ve been trying to get this post out for the last week! One of these days I’ll get on a semi-decent schedules. Read more

As soon as I’ve finished making my apartment presentable (and I’ll do that after I finish this post!) I’m going to start hosting Game Nights. Those who know me know I have a love of board games.  Those who know me and do NOT know I love board games, well, now you do.  Those who don’t know me are finding out right now.  But I digress.

Board games (and their slightly naughty sister, card games) have a way of bringing a group of people together to achieve a common goal.  Granted, their goal might be to beat the crap out of the other people getting there, but it’s still common to all players! It also brings out the competitive edge of most people and I find that it really doesn’t matter WHAT game you play as long as you all have fun playing it.

Monopoly is one of the few games that I refuse to play with anyone but family.  I don’t want to risk alienating people on something as stupid as such a cut throat game.  Risk also runs this risk (no pun intended).  I want to give people a fighting chance on a game.  That’s why games like Jenga,Life and Pit are at the tops of my list of games for new players.  They’re relatively simple to learn, different almost every time and a wild blast to play with a bunch of people. Given that most people never take the time to sit down and play I’m surprised that anyone remembers the rules at all!

As the days go on and get longer, I’ll probably start hosting more outdoorsy games (Ultimate Frisbee anyone?) but for now, we’ll start with the games everyone knows and can play! See you soon!

I currently live in an apartment which, as most apartment dwellers can tell you, is not the best of circumstances.  But at this complex, I’ve had nothing but good luck and awesomeness.  But in the last few days, I’ve had to listen to loud action movies, many, many video games and VERY loud music until 1 AM or later.

So when I went to my apartment complex office to renew the lease, I complained to them about the noise.  What did they say? “If it happens again after quiet time, call security.” Sigh…I need to go find their number now.

I DO realize that I’m guilty of quiet time violations myself having run laundry at close to midnight or my dishwasher at 2300. But those are small appliances that don’t make noise for more than an hour and when they run they only bother people right next to the wall.  These neighbors I’m able to hear through the wall, living room and into the bedroom on the opposite side of the apartment.

Oh well.  Until I have the cash to move out of an apartment, this is STILL the best complex I’ve seen/been in/heard about.  Next up: Game Nights!

I’m becoming a believer that while computers are handy in our every day life, not everyone should be allowed to touch them.  Some people should be taken far, far away from the nearest electronic device.  And just to ensure that the global network doesn’t crash we need to shoot the worst offenders.

Just kidding.  Mostly.

I’ve been dealing with some computer issues recently caused by people working with computers without LEARNING about them first. Why can’t we have a licensing system for computers? How is running a computer without protection (particularly with sensitive information) any less harmful than a nail gun? Both can be dead useful if used correctly or cause great pain if used incorrectly (Read: stolen identity…).

The best prevention is education.  Pay attention to what the hell you are doing on the computer.  Don’t just click random pop-ups.  And for God’s sake, DO NOT PAY FOR SOFTWARE FROM UNKNOWN COMPANIES!  If you DO get scammed, the majority of computer technicians WILL laugh at you.  Even if it’s not to your face.  Just know, they’re laughing.  It really is just a matter of common sense.