Finally Done

Yes, I'm back from lurkage mode, and after 3 long years of studying, I have finally attained my highest goal to date. Last night, I graduated from Erie Business Center with my Associates Degree in Accounting (so, I got my IT degree last year, you might think, so what's the big deal?) Well, for the first time in my life, I proved to myself that with added effort and concentration, I *COULD* in fact, graduate with the highest honors possible, Summa Cum Laude. Granted, it just squeaked in there at a 3.81, but it was worth every bit of added effort to get that. I passed all of my Accounting courses with solid A's, and only had one B+ this time around (that was because my car broke down the day before one of my psychology tests over the summer, and I got a C on that test). Now that school is finished, the real test begins... finding a suitable job in the field. please keep this in your prayers, as I'll be starting the hunt as early as next week.

Also, I hope to be able to post more on here, now that I have a bit more time.

Shoot First, Ask Questions NEVER?

Well, at least that seems to be the modus operandi of certain people, especially where censorship runs rampant. They are quick with the censorship button, and don't even bother to check the true content of a statement or thought before invoking their censorship. In their defense, they claim that the censorship is there to "protect" certain people that may be offended by certain things, but when that censorship starts to get out of hand, it only serves to destabilize things further, and endanger those who it is supposed to protect. Let's say for example, the use of the word "gay". In itself, it's not a bad word, but used in the wrong context, can be very destructive. Therefore, a rule is set in place that improper use of the word is prohibited. The rule works fine for a while, but then it happens. Every time the word "gay" is uttered, people get immediately censored without warning, REGARDLESS of the context in which it was used. Then other words or phrases feel the sting of said censorship, because Clyde or Maxine decide that these new words or phrases are offensive, and the ball starts rolling faster, and snowballing until the list is so extensive that the very right to free speech is threatened, and everybody is afraid to say anything for fear of feeling the sting of the censorship. Those that speak out against it are, of course, blackballed because they are seen as threats to those in power. The opposition is quickly and quietly silenced and disposed of, possibly even lied about in order to keep the rest of the sheeple in line, and ignorant bliss goes on. Perhaps it's time for those who have been censored to stand up for their rights and expose the censors for who they are. Feel free to excercise free speech. After all, this is America, and it is your right.

And Here We Are...

Yes, I'm still alive. I have just been very busy with school and everything else lately, and starting last week, I rejoined the ranks of the gainfully employed. This is going to take some getting used to, since I'll be working mostly third shift, with the occasional second shift stint on weekends. For those who have been wondering, I'll be working as a convenience store clerk at one of the Country Fair stores here in Erie. Thus far, it's been fun, with this past Sunday being the exception. That was the day the cooler broke down (had to ditch all the dairy, and had none in the store all day), the soda fountain started leaking and had to be shut down (It's still out of order), and two of the gas pumps stopped working (we had to credit a lot of gas cards, those two pumps are still bagged.) My boss, Abbas, is a pretty decent guy, and has allowed me to have friday nights off, since Fridays are my tutoring days and the days that most of the running around gets done. Oh, and another thing, I've gotten hooked on Irish Creme flavored Pepsi (basically a few squirts of the Irish Creme syrup in my fountain drink). Well, I'm off to hopefully get at least another hour of naptime in before I have to be up and ready for work. Oh, and since I started playing WoW again, I will probably start up the "Fear the AoD" blog as well. ciao.

Stupid people

Ask me any day what my biggest pet peeve is, and I'll tell you "Stupid people. Stupidity, or lack of common sense, seems to be contagious, as I see evidence of it everywhere I go. Recently, I encountered a string of facebook posts from various people, some claiming to be "Good Christians", calling people to "pray" for the death of the President. First of all, this "joke" as they call it, is in bad taste. First off, when posting ANYTHING on a public site such as Facebook, ANYBODY can see it, especially if you're someone that's stupid enough to leave all your privacy settings on "Everyone". Even if you have them set as Private, where only your "friends" can view your posts, there are ways around it, especially if it concerns something as sensitive as wishing for the death of a public figure such as the President of the United States. What are these people thinking??? Do they not know that the internet is constantly monitored by the government, and they look for certain keywords that might be considered a threat to national security? This is more of an issue after the events of 9/11. Anyone that even posts the words "Kill President" in the same sentence is putting up a red flag for the secret service to spot. I know you're probably thinking I'm stupid for even putting it here, but I'm in no means plotting anything, or praying for anything of the sort. I'm doing it to prove a point. If you do stupid things, be prepared to face the consequences. You claim you have rights under law, so be it. You have the right to remain stupid. Just don't try to push your stupidity on me.

Spring Update

Well, it has been a while since I posted last. School, for the most part, has kept me busy, but with finals out of the way (I think I may have been lucky enough to have squeaked by with a 4.0 again this term), and 12 days of break until the spring/summer term begins, I have a little bit of time to play catch up. Hopefully, I won't be too "unbusy" though. I do have an interview set up with the local girls' grouphome for an off-campus work-study position (not sure what the job will be yet, but I'm pretty optimistic) and if that falls through, I'm looking at other options. The next couple of semesters won't be so busy, as I only have three classes this next semester, and most likely only two in my final semester.
Since the weather is getting warmer, I plan on trying to get back in shape a little, and riding my new bicycle when I can. I got it with some of my income tax refund a couple of weeks ago, and thus far have only taken it out once (on one of the nice warm days that it wasn't raining) and returned home with a sore butt and slightly out of breath.
Other activities planned for the break include playing around with my newly acquired copy of Photoshop CS4, and playing some Everquest2 when I have the time. I stopped playing Star Trek Online because I got tired of encountering their "issues" and having them blame the games shortcomings on my computer system. Therefore, as with WoW, I took a "vacation" from the game. I reactivated my account, and created an assassin that I have had quite a bit of fun playing. His name? Llaihr. :)

Broken Pieces

Broken pieces, shattered parts
All that remains of this heart
Once innocent and trusting-
Stabbed by a dagger dull and rusting.
How could I have known that
the love that fulfilled me,
would be the love
that ultimately killed me?

David James Stayduhar
23 March 2010, 2:40AM

As a Dog Returns to His Vomit..."

I had thought I was free of this person and his hateful remarks toward myself and my friends. He'd been silent for so long, that, aside from his frequent visits to my blogs, I had almost forgotten that he existed. The peace that had settled over blogdom was too good to last, and just recently, the snake resurfaced, and began to attack with a vengeance, first attacking my friend Tom's post over at Tank For the Light in which he talked about his new headsets (which I found to be interesting, despite its brevity). He put Tom down, claiming that his blog was uncompelling, uninteresting, and uninspiring, and proceeded to attack him and tell him that he couldn't blog. Since Tom is my friend, I jumped to his defense and asked the fool why he even bothered to read the blog if he found it so distasteful, and proceded to tell him to leave Tom alone to write as he pleased. Noone was forcing the idiot to read Tom's blog, so there was no reason for him to read it. Unfortunately, by defending Tom, I played into the fool's hand and he turned his venom on me, referring to me as 'Liar' (a feeble attempt to belittle me, at best) and claiming that he never reads anything I have to say, all the while defending himself against my counterattack, and proving once again, that he is a liar, himself, and needs to seriously grow up. So what does this mean? It means that, most likely, this blog is next on his list of cyber-bullying. Do I care? Not really. I'm not so easily goaded so, Jon, don't even try. Tom, if you should find your way to this post, again, I apologize for my rant on your blog. He just tripped a major trigger, and needed to be taken down a notch or two.

Cold

Have I gotten so cold and unfeeling that I fail to care about what's going on around me? I pondered this question last night, as I was thinking about my roots, and where I was, and what I was as a youth. I was the typical optimist back then, with my proverbial rose-colored glasses, and seeing possibility in everything. I had no cares or worries back then, and cried when it warranted, and rejoiced when good happened. Now, it seems, I have grown so cold and calloused as a result of what life's thrown at me. Heartache has taken its toll. Watching good people fall to corruption, watching good people suffer needlessly as a result of the greed and corruption of others, among other things have left me doubting the existence of goodness in humanity. Watching others suffer, go hungry, or fall ill with nobody else to care what happens to them has left me questioning the existence of God's goodness, or even His very existence. I keep asking and looking for signs that He does exist, but I think I may have become so spiritually blind that I don't see. I know, deep down, that I'm wrong, that He does exist, and that He is out there looking aftr me, but all the cynicism and negativity clouds it much of the time. I fear that I'm losing ground fast, and that there is no hope left for me, and cry out silently to anyone to hear me and pull me out of the fall. Lat night, it had gotten to the point where I was sitting here and thinking if my life was as meaningless as some of the games I play online. I mean, my life is basically the same thing day after day- wake up, go to school, come home, stress over unpaid bills and worrying about if I'll have enough money or food to make it through the week on what little I get from unemployment, while the other person in the household makes three times what I get, and hoards money or spends it on stuff that she doesn't need, and leaves me to cover the extra expenses. I wonder if I'd be better off getting out of this situation that I'm trapped in, and getting a fresh start on my own. However, as she's done a great deal to ruin my credit rating, that I doubt I'd ever get that chance. God, if you're truly out there, please hear this plea, and help me to get out of this, and help me to start anew. I don't want to be cold anymore.

Stop The World... I Want to Get Off!!!

So, it's been a weekend from the old H-E-Double-Ell. First of all, on Friday, I got a lovely letter from my ever-so-lovely friends at the unemployment office that they were threatening to cut my unemployment benefits because "I made too much at Erie Business Center" (my school, where I work through the Federal Work-study Program to help pay for my education expenses). First off, I was told both by the school and UC, upon applying for FWS, that it would NOT affect my ability to receive UC benefits because it was financial aid for school, and thus exempt, and not reportable income. Therefore, I had been filing regularly for a year, with repeated assurances from UC, everytime I had to renew or file for an extension, that it was exempt. So now, because they are no longer using my old job at West as basis for my determination of beniefits, and are now using my "wages" from FWS at the school, they are treating it as sustainable income, and claiming that I'm making too much to receive the paltry $106/week allowance they determined I was eligible for. So, because of all of this, I was fretting and worrying all weekend about what to do once Monday arrived. Monday came, and I took the note to school, where the lady in the financial aid office typed up a nice letter on my behalf to tell them EXACTLY what the money I made via FWS was for, and that it is to supplement my financial aid since I don't qualify for the state grants anymore. When I get my monthly checks, I'm lucky if I get to see $10-20 of it. I then asked Mr. DeSanti for permission to leave class early, so I could take care of it. I left school and headed for the unemployment office, only to be told that I couldn't talk to anyone there, and to leave my paperwork in the drop slot outside. Upon getting home, I was then greeted by a letter from the wonderful gas company that they were going to shut off my service for being behind one payment (gee, I wonder why?), and of course it was too late to call them by then, so I had something else to worry about, causing me to lose more sleep last night. So I woke up after only two hours of sleep and called them first thing in the morning, and they claimed they couldn't help me, but kindly gave me the number to the Energy Assistance program, and they told me that they would take care of it, and all I had to do was put my SS# on the shutoff notice, and put it in an envelope marked "LIHEAP" and drop it in their drop off box. That done, I headed to class one worry lighter. Now all I have to do is wait for UC to drag their feet.

Admiral and New Starship (longer post to come later)

Last night, in a fit of sleeplessness, I played a bit on my character on STO, and within a few quests, got my promorion to Rear Admiral. With the promotion came a new ship. I present to you, the USS Philip Anderson, NCC 91827-C. Ok, now I am going home and grabbing a lengthy nap. Will post the pictures of the upgraded USS Douglas Myers and a more in-depth update on my so-called life later.

New Science Officer... Enter Daria

Just a short post because I thought thus was cool. Ws playing Star Trek Online tonight, when I got a new science officer to add to my ship. I didn't think it out of the ordinary until I looks at the name, and noticed the similarity in name to my former Guild Master in WoW's main Character, 'Daraia'. Of course, this character's name didn't have the extra "a" in the name and it has an "h", but it was still interesting. I didn't get rid of Sh'Loria, though. She's still "Number One".

Midterms, New Computer, and "What's That Bright Thing in The Sky?"

Wow, it's been about 2 weeks since I last posted. Please accept my apologies for the lapse in posting, but the last two weeks were midterms, and well, I was just a bit busy with those, and getting things set up at home for my new computer. First off, midterms went rather well. I received four A's as midterm grades, and one of the midterm exams yielded me my first 100% test score for the term, so I'm happy with the grades. Upon returning to school on Monday, after my four-day weekend (last Thursday was an inservice day, so we had no classes) we had another exam in Accounting II /Apps, and due to some very stupid errors on my part (labelling the wrong accounts on the journal entries, and missing the last two problems altogether just because I forgot they were there) I received an 83% (B) on that test. Thankfully, Mr. Desanti drops the lowest test grade, but even if he didn't, I'd still have a low A in the class.

Also, as mentioned, I finally got my new computer that I'd been paying on since December, and it is NICE. With 750Gb of hard drive storage, a NVidia GeForce 9400 video card with 1-Gb of memory, 2-Gb of system memory, surround-sound speakers, etc. playing my games like Star Trek Online is a much more enjoyable experience. It's just too bad that I cancelled my WoW account in January, because I'd love to see how much nicer those graphics look. Anyway, below are some pictures (please excuse the poor lighting on them, as I have it in an armoir, and the flash did no justice.)

As you can see, I have my jug-o-candy tucked into the back corner as well.

Last but not least, I will update on the weather. After this past weekend's snowstorm, we are finally experiencing some pleasant weather. While daytime highs are still in the 30s, for the most part, the snow has finally given way to some sunny skies. March has come in like a lamb, I suppose, so doese that mean we should brace ourslves for a major storm of sorts at the end of the month. With only 18 more days until the onset of spring, I am looking forward to it with great enthusiasm. I need to start getting out, at least on a semi-regular basis, and walking a bit to shed some of the weight that I need to get rid of. Also, I am just dying for warmer temperatures. I guess it's time to start looking for the crocuses, since legend has it (or at least as far as my Grandpa Dailey was concerned) the crocus has to be covered in snow 3 times before spring is here to stay.

RED ALERT!!! ALL HANDS TO BATTLESTATIONS!!!

Today proved interesting enough at school when the school fire alarm malfunctioned and sent everybody, students and staff alike, into a panic. It was about 11am, and Mr. DeSanti had just let our Business Finance class out for a 10 minute break before resuming the review for Tuesday's test. All of a sudden, there wasa deafening shriek and a sequence of a few loud beeps that reverberated throughout the building. People stopped what they were doing, wondering if it was a drill, an actual fire, or if the building had suddenly gone into self-destruct mode. A few of the staff were in the hall telling people that it was just a malfunction, and it would be fixed shortly. After about 10 minutes of the shrieking and beeping causing temporary hearing loss in a lot of individuals, the excitement was over, and life returned to normal at EBC.

Water, Water, Everywhere...

Well, it wasn't quite THIS bad, but the way the landlady reacted to our "kitchen emergency" you'd think it was. What I am referring to is what I woke up to on Tuesday morning. Kat had the night off from work on Monday, and did her usual thing, doing the laundry and washing a load of dishes. Well, apparently, when she started the dishwasher at 6am, she didn't check to make sure that the drain in the kitchen sink was free of obstruction and upon reaching the final rinse cycle, something (I think it was a lid from a plastic butter tub) had somehow managed to cover the drain, and therefore caused the kitchen sink to overflow, and run all over the floor. Since we live in the upstairs apartment, and the floor slopes slightly toward the wall with the refrigerator and stove, the water gravitated toward that area, and leaked down through the hole where the gas connection comes up through the floor, and into the downstairs neighbors kitchen. Keep in mind, now, that the downstairs neighbors are infamous when it comes to overreacting to anything or over-exaggerating things,and immediately called our wonderful landlady, who immediately called in a fit of fury threatening to sue us for the THOUSANDS of dollars that it would cost to repair the damage. She was convinced that there was over a foot of water in the kitchen (uh hello, if there was over a foot of water on the floor, it would have been evenly distributed throughout the apartment and flowing like Niagara Falls down both sets of stairs- that is, of course, provided that the entire floor hadn't already collapsed from the weight of all that water), and that the floor had to be buckling, not to mention the "shop vac we were using to clean up all that water" (her exact words. -note: it wasn't a shop vac, but a very small portable carpet cleaner that we were using to suck up the water quicker than using a mop.) She insisted, and was very vehement about it, that she was going to come by at 10:30a.m. to inspect the massive damage that we caused. I finished the cleanup shortly after I hung up the phone (the entire process took about 30 minutes) and convinced Kat to stay up and wait for the landlady to come by to deal with her, since 1) it was her fault the kitchen flooded in the first place, and 2) I had to be in class at 10a.m. I called home on my break between classes to see how things went, and apparently, the landlady was in extreme disbelief that the floor was completely dry, and there was no evidence of the flood of the century anywhere upstairs. I have no idea what she was expecting, but I surmise that she was extremely disappointed. Apparently, she continued to rant and rave about the massive damage that was nowhere to be seen, while her husband (the one who usually does the yelling) remained calm and rational about it all. Thankfully, though, the ordeal was over, and life resumed as normal upon her departure.

Closed To Reason

Nothing in the world irritates me more than a closed-minded individual. These people see their way of thinking as the only RIGHT way of thinking, and refuse to open up to new ideas, or the possibility that, Heaven forbid, they just MIGHT be wrong about something. I encounter people like this every day in school, on the street, on line, or even while playing someof my favorite games. They'll get into a "discussion" with you about what they believe, and why you should see, think, do, etc. things the way that they do, but will not budge if you provide a counterpoint to their egocentric ways of thinking. If you even DARE to try to prove them wrong, or hint that their reasoning is faulty, they'll often go ballistic, and either start screaming at you, calling you a liar, or just close up altogether, and refuse to listen anymore (of course you're wrong, so they don't have to listen to a word that you say, anyway). Some of the most closed-minded people that I have encountered in life are the "devoutly" religious people who see everything in either black or white, with not a shade of grey in between. They go through life with their blinders on, so focused on their own beliefs, and what is being fed to them, that no other possible viewpoint will be accepted, no matter what real value those viewpoints hold. My mother, bless her soul, is one of these people. Don't get me wrong, because I do love her dearly, but I try very hard to avoid any discussion regarding politics or religion with her, because I know that, no matter how I try to point out her often faulty reasoning, she will stand her ground and tell me how wrong I am. I also have encountered people that I had considered to be friends in other forums as well. These people had developed the mindset that what they wanted was exactly what everyone else wanted, and when they were confronted about it, and told "this is NOT what everyone wants, and therefore, you are NOT meeting the desires and needs of everyone else." they immediately went on the defensive, calling those who opposed their thinking liars and "disruptive influences" and immediately silenced them and their ideas by excommunication (ie. blocking access to any forum that THEY controlled, etc. just to prevent the disease of "wrong-thinking" from spreading to anyone else.) They didn't stop there, either. To further cement their beliefs, and maintain their "control" over people, they fabricated lies about those who opposed them, and proceded to turn others against the opposition. This is where closed-mindedness begins to become dangerous.
Closed-minded individuals often develop extreme prejudices toward certain races, ethnic groups, religions, and other ways of life. Infamous people that come to mind are Adolf Hitler (lets exterminate the Jews, their sypathisers and anyone else that doesn't match my ideals of 'perfection') and- more recently- the Reverend Fred Phelps and his flock of sheep, er followers, from the Westboro Baptist Church (whose hatred is broader and often more violent (let's protest gays, gay rights, blacks, democrats, islam, or -insert other things that 'God hates' here.) People like this are dangerous, and make me wary of poking my head outside my door lest they find something that I believe in wrong or "evil" and violently beat or kill me for.
Unfortunately, closed-minded people can rarely be persuaded to change their ways of thinking, and must be tolerated. As for myself, I prefer to keep my mind open to new ideas and possibilities. In my opinion, that's the only way to grow intellectually as a person. Like the saying goes, "A mind is like a parachute, it functions best when open."

Another day, another headache.

Well, this morning I had to take our one cat, Lancelot, to the vet to have a growth removed from his one paw. We discovered it last week, when he was noticably limping, and looked to see this raw oozing mass where the pad should be. We took him to the vet to have it examined last Tuesday, and we were given antibiotics, pain medication, and some blue stuff to soak it in to clean it once/day until they removed the mass, which was today. The vet bill isn't looking too pretty, either at $167 for the initial visit, plus $563 for today's visit plus surgery. They wanted to do blood tests, and a biopsy on the mass to see if it is/was cancerous, but we opted out of that. We also opted out of the Elizabethan Collar they wanted to put on him, because he hadn't bothered his bandages or anything while we were waiting for the surgery, so I highly doubt that he will bother them now. All that aside, I just got a call from the vet saying that surgery went well, and that he was recovering quite nicely. Going to pick him up at 6, and hope that they will take what money we have and take payments on the rest.

More pics from STO

Just a few snapshots of my latest ship. USS LoPresto NCC-92842. Since we only have a limit of four starships per character, I decommissioned my first ship the USS Argent, and replaced it with the LoPresto. I am currently only two grades away from the rank of full commander, and when that happens, The Philip Anderson is going to be decommissioned and replaced with a heavy cruiser- to be named Philip Anderson (NCC-91827-A).

Forward Dorsal view- USS LoPresto NCC-92842

Forward Ventral view: USS LoPresto NCC-92842

Portside view- USS LoPresto NCC-92842

Starboard view: USS LoPresto NCC-92842

On the Bridge of the USS LoPresto NCC-92842

Wonderful weekend...

This past Saturday (Feb 6), I ventured to Akron, OH to surprise my eldest niece, Christina (aka "Beaner") on her 16th birthday party. This had been in the plans for at least a couple of weeks, and I wasn't about to let a little bit of snow deter me. I left Erie at approximately 10am, and there was not a flake extra on the ground than there was the night before, so I was optimistic about the rest of the trip. My sister had called the night before, and wanred me that they were supposed to get about eight inches of snow, but since I drive in that kind of yuck every winter, I wasn't too worried. The roads were clear, and driving was good... at least until I got to within 10-15 miles of my destination. Then it started to get bad. It had stopped snowing, but the roads were still not completely cleared, and most of the traffice was moving at about 10-15 mph below the posted speed- logical for most, unless you're an Ohio driver. I had seen a few cars ditched or rolled over along the road, and one Auto Transport truck on its side in the median area with what were once shiny new cars lying in various states of ruin around it. Being the careful driver I usually am, I slowed my speed to compensate for the road conditions, and was doing fine until some maniac from Cuyahoga county (it was on his license plate) decided to try to pass me doing about 70. He quickly realized that passing may not have been such a good idea, and pulled back into the driving lane - without signalling, and splashed a crapload of snow and sluch all over my windshield, almost causing me to go off the road. He continued his "breakneck speed" on down the road, and I saw the same idiot off the road a few miles later cussing at his car (ok, how was it the CAR's fault that you went off the road- IDIOT?). All road conditions and idiots aside, I finally arrived at my sister's home at about 12:30, and was promptly greeted by excited nieces and nephews. Chrissy came downstairs and gave me a big hug and kiss, and opened the presents we bought for her. I gave her the entire "Twilight" series of books, and Kat sent some earrings and a bracelet. we visited, watched a couple of movies, and talked until other people came, when we ate. The girls brought out their karaoke microphone and started to sing along to their favorite noise (I don't consider Eminem to be real music) and played a couple games on the X-box, until the others had to leave. I stayed an hour longer and then left for Erie myself (I made two wrong turns, and almost got lost on the way home). All in all, it was an enjoyable weekend, and I had some good, quality time with my sister and her family.

Side note: I made it to Lt Commander 6 on STO on Sunday. Will post pictures of my latest ship later on.

Some more STO pics

Just a few screenshots of the newly (re)commissioned USS Philip Anderson. Actually acquired the starship two days ago, but there were issues with saving the proper configuration that were finally worked out.

LCdr Kellian e-Shikyrie tr'Khellian (CO) on the bridge of the

USS Philip Anderson NCC-91827.

USS Philip Anderson NCC-91827; Portside view

USS Philip Anderson NCC-91827; Starboard view

USS Philip Anderson NCC-91827 (Ventral view)

USS Philip Anderson NCC-91827; Forward dorsal view

And It's LIVE!!!

Yesterday, February 2, was the official launch of Star Trek Online. People flocked to their nearest game retailer (Gamestop, Target, Best Buy, etc.) to get their game so they could install it onto their computers at home and take off in their starships to fight Borg, Klingon, and Gorn alike. Those that pre-ordered the collectors editions received special bonus items which varied from retailer to retailer. Since I pre-ordered from Gamestop, I got an exclusive TOS (for those Non-Trekkies out there, that stands for The Original Series) Constitution Class starship, A Star Trek communicator pin, Extra uniforms from the Next Generation and Deep Space Nine series, and a special Red-matter device that boosts power for a short amount of time when used. I didn't get too much game time in yesterday, due to having to take a cat to the vet for an emergency visit (He has an agressive "growth" on or near the pad of one of his front paws), and only got to play for a couple of hours before I went to bed. I did achieve Lieutenant Commander 1 rank, however, and got my second (or should I say third, since I got the TOS constitution as a "freebie") starship. So I'm happy. My three ships so far are as follows:
USS Argent- Light Cruiser
USS Susquehanna- Light Cruiser (TOS Constitution)
USS Philip Anderson- Cruiser
(I can't remember all of the registry numbers, except that they all have five digits and begin with "9".)
I plan on getting some serious game time in this weekend. Also, I have one more 10-day guest pass available, if anyone is interested.

Some Video from STO End of Open Beta Event, and Jump Start.

Apparently a few people got some good video of the End of Open Beta event, and postied it on Youtube. As you can see from the videos below, it was pretty intense. I saw a few names that I recognized in both videos, but alas, I was not in any of them. I might have been in the first one, but as I was getting picked off almost as soon as I respawned, I probably didn't make even a minute appearance. As a reminder to anyone who hasn't pre-ordered, and wants to, today is the last day to do so, I believe, so if you do not want to miss out on some of the nifty bonuses, engage full impulse and navigate your aft thrusters to your favorite electronics/software department (or online store) and pre-order now. Also, the Jump Start for those who have pre-ordered starts today at 10am PT (1pm ET), and you can bet I'll be there. See you there. Engage!

End of the Beta, and Memorial Tribute to an Old Friend

So, the Open Beta for Star Trek online ended last night at around 9pm (Eastern Time). It was a relatively normal game day (if anything can be considered "normal" in a beta testing environment) until about 5pm, and that is when things began to get interesting. There was an announced planned Klingon invasion into Federation space (which probably should have just been sent to klingon players to begin with) that everyone knew about, so Federation fleets were amassed all around key systems and starbases(Sol, Vulcan, Bajor, DS9, DS K-7, etc) awaiting their arrival. To begin with, the Klingons didn't seem very organized,as they kept going into federation space in ones and twos, and getting picked off rather quickly and easily. The Klingon players were also sharing general chat with those on the federation side, and we weer bombarded by their constant (and very unklingon)whining and crying that we were "spawn camping" and not playing fair. (Hey, there's a lot to be said for organized gameplay within groups.)

This went on for a while until the next stage of the event began- a massive (and I do mean MASSIVE) Borg invasion. This sucked everyone into it, Klingon and Federation alike, from the lowest ranking ensign to those who had somehow achieved Admiral rank. This proved to be more fun than the failed Klingon invasion, because - well- the Borg were NPC and computer controlled, and also more powerful. I got sucked into my first battle, and was promptly obliterated, and obliterated, and obliterated. Thankfully, by the fourth time I respawned, there were a few more players that had gotten sucked in, so with some combined effort, we were able to pick off some of the Borg as well as the few Klingon players that hadn't gotten smart enough to leave (yes, we were STILL getting their complaints that we shouldn't be targetting them- even though they were targetting us, because "they can cloak and attack the borg that way" -Illogical. The Borg can see through any cloak.) I played along with this for about an hour, before I got tired of it and sought out the safety of Earth Starbase. HA! As soon as I beamed down from my ship, there were borg drones EVERYWHERE. I picked off a few here and there, got killed a few times, and called it a night. Despite the seemingly poor planning, and crying Klingons, it was a rather fun event, and I look forward to playing in the Jump Start on Friday.

In closing, I would like to introduce you to my second (or third) ship that I acquired in the game. The USS Anderson, NCC-93787. I figured that I wasn't going to get to commander rank before beta ended, so I created a cruiser to test out. This ship was named as a tribute to an old BBS friend, Mr. Philip C. Anderson (aka. the Viking) who died almost ten years ago due to complications from diabetes. I'd been thinking about him a lot lately, and how it was through him, and his old computer BBS, that I met a lot of the friends I have today. I also found out recently that his wife, Barb, passed away suddenly on January 4. Both Phil and Barb were good people, good friends, and are very sadly missed. Here's to you, you crusty old Viking, sailing around in that great longboat in the sky.

Update... at last

I apologize for the delay in posting. This past week has been rather crazy and hectic with school and other real-life stuff, and I haven't really had a lot of time to update. Basically it's been school> eat > sleep> rinse and repeat of late. Last week, I had my first two tests of the semester. One I did slightly better than I thought I did on, and the other I did worse. I got an A instead of a B on the Accounting test, though I know I probably would have gotten a 98 instead of a 90 if Mr. DeSanti hadn't kept calling me up front to help him with the computer issues during the duration of the test. I was so distracted and sidetracked, that I read the instructions wrong on one problem, did one thing I didn't have to do, and neglected to do something that was required, thus costing me eight points. I won't say anything to him about it, bacause it is still an A, and I've got five more tests in the class to secure an A. The business math test, I should have gotten an A on, but got a B because the directions on the test were vague, and I did exactly what it said to do (input the balances after each transaction) instead of what the book wanted (which was copy the transaction over to the last line as well). I lost enough points to bring what should have been a 100% down to 84%. I am still a bit upset about it, but not too worried, since (again) I have four more tests and a paper to do to bring that back up to an A.
Over the weekend, I spent a lot of time playing Star Trek Online, and reporting a lot of bugs (which I hope will be fixed by the time the game is officially released. I seriously think that most people are just doing the beta testing for the free play time, and doing more complaining about the bugs than reporting them so that they can be fixed. I made it to Lt. Commander (rank 13 now, I think) and haven't done much with the game since Sunday.

Monday was spent with my friend Rachel waiting at the hospital while her husband, my friend Dave, was undergoing gall bladder surgery. He made it through quite well, although he had to stay overnight for observation. He was back to his old self, aside from the expected pain and wincing when getting in and out of the car, on Tuesday.

So far, the rest of this week has been busy as a result of school. I'm still getting used to having a full schedule again. After tomorrow, however, my weekend starts, and I'll get some relaxation and hopefully more game time in.

Just some screenshots.

I apologize for the lack of posts the past couple of days. will update you all on Monday or Tuesday. For now, have some STO beta pics. (Clockwise from upper left: Fore view of the Bridge of the USS LoPresto; Aft view of the USS LoPresto; USS LoPresto, gained at Lt Commander rank; USS LoPresto away team; Klingon character, ch'HulHu)

A Little More Game Time...

Well, I woke up this morning to find out that my unemployment check wasn't deposited into my bank yesterday as it should have been (not really a big surprise considering the state's recent record of inoperable websites, or phonelines with which to file) and I called their toll-free number to find out what was going on... and was put on hold for close to an hour-and-a-half (more inefficiency). While I was on hold, I put in a bit of time in the STO beta. I did get a few quests finished, and it didn't seem to be running as glitchy as it was yesterday. I actually got to team up with another player on one quest, not that it was much,since it was only an escort quest, and there were very few enemy ships to blast. I also went up against the Orion Syndicate, and took out a few of their drydocks. I'm still getting used to the controls, and have no idea how to use the equipment I salvage, but I'm having fun. I gave the extra beta key I got from FilePlanet (I had the one from Gamestop, so didn't need two) to my friend Dave, along with my fileplanet account info so he could use the fast downloader, and maybe I'll get to play some with him tonight or tomorrow. So far, I'm only able to play federation, or I haven't figured out how to create a Klingon character on the beta server. Maybe it's just certain keys only allow you to play certain factions. :shrug: Either way, it's still fun, and I plan on doing more exploration tonight :)

Star Trek, Brain Farts, and the End of the McSkillet Burrito

Well, after approximately a day of downloading the file, I was finally able to get into the Star Trek Online Beta today. I installed it and played with it for about 20 minutes before leaving for school this morning, and played it a few hours this evening before the server went down. I created what is passable for a Romulan character, named (of course) Kellian e-Shikyrie tr'Khellian, my main alter ego in the MFI, and got him a nice little ship, the USS Argent. Because the game is still in beta, it's still quite glitchy, but at least you get a feel of the game. I look forward to a bit more exploration over the weekend.

I had my first test of the semester today, as well. I studied, and thought I had everything committed to memory, but when I picked up my pen, I just drew a complete blank with the first problem. The rest of the test wasn't bad, and I think I did well enough on that, but when it came to that first problem, it just created a massive brain fart. Mr. DeSanti said not to worry about it, but I still hate it when I forget how to do something. Tomorrow is the first test in Business Math, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I do well on it.

Last but not least, the best breakfast burrito that McDonald's ever made is no more. As of Friday, officially, McDonald's is discontinuing the McSkillet burrito. True, they will continue to sell the regular breakfast burritos on the dollar menu, but the one that I got hooked on will be no more. The reason that they gave me was that it wasn't selling, and wasn't cost effective. So my friend, McSkillet Burrito, I thank you for the memories of delicious breakfast, and only hope for your eventual return. You will be missed.