Author Archives: Michael C. McGreevy

More Blatherings on WoW

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Wrath of the Lich King has been out for just over a month now, and so far I have to say I’m enjoying much of the new content.

Well, let me put a disclaimer on that.  I’ve found ways to enjoy the time I’m spending in game much more than I was before the expansion was released.  For one, I’ve been holding off on doing any quests until such a time as Krystalle is available to run with me.  As she’s been crazy busy recently, that means my main character has only hit level 75.  I’m ok with that.  I figure I’m only going to get a chance to see the new stuff once with fresh eyes, and I’d like to actually do that with her so we can share the experience instead of going back and running it with her again when I’ve already blown through it.

From everything I have encountered so far, though, and from everything I’m reading online and seeing in our guild, I am severely dissapointed in how easy they have made everything as far as new content is concerned.  Yes, I realize I haven’t encountered much of it yet – but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that when one guild manages to beat the most difficult dungeon in the expansion within a week of release there really isn’t much in the way of challenge waiting for me.

I’m not the only one, either.  I’ve noticed that a lot of the formerly “hard core” raiders in our guild are in no rush to get to the current endgame and the sentiment is pretty much the same throughout – if there’s no challenge waiting for us, there’s no motivation to get back to the point where you are doing the same thing night after night.  Only two of the five officers in the guild have characters at the level cap.  Of the sub officers, of which there are four, only one is there.

Interestingly we have a good number of players in guild who HAVE hit 80.  Some of them on multiple characters.  I log into game and watch them, and other than the fact that they have gotten to experience some of the more interesting parts of the game that I haven’t gotten to yet I do not at all envy the fact that every night I see them running the same dungeons over and over again trying to get that “one drop” or grinding a faction.  Someone mentioned in guild today that we should be attempting to do a raid boss in Wintergrasp every week because it’s quick and will gear people up.

Ugh.

I just can’t find the motivation to get back into that mindset.  I want to be challenged.  I want my accomplishments in game to represent the fact that I worked hard and was dedicated to getting something done.  That’s why I’ve been spending a lot of time working on achievements.  As much as I bagged on them as being a way to get players to run content again that they have already done, I can at least take some solace that you have to either be really dedicated (or insane) to get many of them.

The hope out there among the hard core WoW players is that we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg as far as new content in the expansion and that later raids will be more challenging.  One can only hope.  Of course, when that happens I’ll be behind the curve as far as gear is concerned…but you know what?  Again, not so much with the caring.  I’ve made up my mind that if I’m not having fun doing something in game I’m simply not doing it anymore.  I spent far too long treating the game like a job, and more often than not for other people’s benefit.  I’m paying to play this game.  When someone decides they want to pay me to play I’ll re-evaluate my stance.

NY Governor Proposes 15% “Obesity Tax” On Soda

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One of the biggest obstacles that many of us in the geek subculture have to overcome when trying to be healthy is our love of caffeinated beverages.  While many a light night gaming session has been powered by a case of Jolt Cola, the “empty calories” in those jittery all-nighters are brutal on the waist line.  One can of Mountain Dew has 110 calories alone!

Well, residents of New York will soon have more motivation to cut a few extra cans out of their diet.  Governor David Patterson has added an item to the 2009 state budget that would add a 15% “obesity tax” on non-diet sodas.  According to the New York Daily News this plan will raise an estimated $404 million dollars a year for the State of New York.  Unlike similar tax increases on luxury items such as cigarettes and alcohol, the money raised by these taxes do not appear to be earmarked for heatlh care purposes.  In fact, Governor Davis is reportedly proposing a $3.5 billion cut in health care spending.

On the whole we could all probably stand to have a few less sodas in our lives, but whether or not a tax increase will have a noticeable impact on sugary cola consumption remains to be seen.  The $404 million dollar number seems like it is based on current soda purchases, so if Governor Davis is counting on those dollars it doesn’t seem very likely that he believes the new tax is going to be much of a deterrent either.  Sadly, it appears as though he is counting on the soda drinkers in New York to continue their sugary ways.

Is It Worth It?

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This isn’t some kind of deep, soul-searching blog post.  Please don’t let the title fool you.  I’m kicking around a financial decision and I could use some advice/input from my friends.

I have two $10,000 life insurance policies that my Mother took out when I was in elementary school and passed on to me.  If I’m reading the paperwork correctly, at the age of 36 these policies that are probably close to 30 years old have amassed a whopping cash value of $596 each.  I pay $18.20 quarterly for each of these policies, so I’m shelling out $145.60 a year to maintain them.

I have PMI on my mortgage that is paid monthly, so if the worst were to happen the house would be paid for.  On top of that I have a sizable life insurance policy through work that I pay extra to have increased.  It is set up to be split between Alex, Krystalle and Jareth if.  It wouldn’t be enough to set them up for life, but the house would be paid for and Krystalle could make sure all of my debts were paid off and they would all still have a decent cushion for a while.

I’ve always looked at the two $10k life insurance policies as my “funeral” policies.  That money would probably cover the funeral and subsequent mad party I have requested should I shake off this mortal coil.  In the grand scheme of things, that money is a pretty small drop in the bucket and won’t come near covering what my other policies do.

All of this leads to my question – If you were me, would you continue paying for the two policies or would you cash them in and use that money to pay down debts (or, more likely, pay off the new debt incurred by Christmas)?

Truth In Advertising

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In the interest of full disclosure, I have to preface this particular entry by reminding my readership that I am ensemble member of the Jobsite Theater.  All this really means, in the grand scheme of things, is that I have worked with Jobsite in the past and they do not need to see a monologue from me at the beginning of their casting season.  They know what I’m capable of, and if they think I might fit a role they call me for that specific show.  I am not involved in the business end of Jobsite at all.  I am not on the Board of Directors.  I have no financial stake in Jobsite beyond the shows that I do with them, and my interest in their health and future only impacts me directly in that if they were to fold I’d actually have to actively seek roles with other companies if I wanted to keep acting.

I mention this only because what I’m about to write is going to be fairly critical of another local company, American Stage, and I do not want you all to think that my words are in any way motivated by a desire to see them fail.  The truth of the matter is that any company that does well here is good for the community at whole, and that’s kind of why I felt the urge to make this post.

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Inspirational Quotes

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I’ve always held a quote from Anne Frank very close to my heart.  “In spite of everything, I still believe people are good at heart.”  This came from a girl who hid for years from the Nazi’s only to end up dying in a Concentration Camp.  I read something else today from a person in a similar situation.

You only live once. Let’s keep trucking. If we don’t do that, who’s going to do it for us? We have to be happy. Why hate?  The world is full of hate, and yet they don’t know what they want.

The man who said this was a Prisoner of War in a Nazi slave camp, who saw hundreds of his comrades die and who was told by his own government that he was not allowed to talk about his experiences when he came home.  You can read the full story here.

People like them give me hope for the world.  If they can hold on to goodness and hope when they’ve been through atrocities that I’ll never come close to experiencing I certainly can.

Scary Things I've Read Today

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This morning I asked those who follow me on Facebook and Twitter not to be dicks when it came to the election results from last night.  I feel that, in some ways, I am violating that request by making this post.  I honestly can’t help myself, though.  Reading some of this I can’t tell if I should laugh or cry.

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An Open Letter To President-Elect Obama

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President-Elect Obama,

I am writing this post with a full awareness that you will likely never read it.  I am not writing it for you per se, but I am directing the message at you and anyone who feels that you were elected out of some kind of blind hope or reckless idealism.  I am writing this to explain, and in some ways I am writing this as a warning.

Mr. Obama, we will be watching you.

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I Want Some Peanuts

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So….the Tampa Bay Devil (fuck all that dropping the Devil business…they only did that to try and get the religious freaks into the stands) Rays beat the Boston Red Sox tonight 9-1 in a playoff game.  Let me state right here and now that I do not give a damn about baseball.  At all.  I think it’s a mind-numbingly boring game, and the only time I willingly go to a baseball game is when my son is in it (and even then I get bitchy about it).  If it weren’t for the fact that Tampa Bay was in the playoffs I wouldn’t even be aware that the playoffs were going on.

I just don’t care.  Really.

But…

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[Politics] – Amendment 2

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The following is the text of an email I just sent out to my local Family members.  Figured I’d cross post it here to broaden the audience (although the personal appeal at the end will have less of an impact).

“Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.”

Before I get into the meat of this, I beg a small amount of indulgence from those of you I am sending this to.  I believe I can safely say that throughout the years I have made it a point not to forward political emails (or any type of emails for that matter) or inflict my political viewpoints on the unwilling with this medium.  We all have our beliefs, and I’m certainly not under any illusion that I can possibly persuade you to change your vote by sending you some kind of ill-informed and factually void email about how evil the other candidate is.

For the record (and in the interest of full disclosure), I will be voting for Barack Obama.  If you are undecided about the upcoming election and would like to know my reasons for doing so you are welcome to ask and I’d be happy to discuss it with you.  I have nothing else to say about the Presidential nominees in this post other than to ask all of you, regardless of who you feel would be the best candidate, to make your vote count and vote for somebody.  If you are too disgusted with the current top two choices look up who else is going to be on the ballot and vote for one of them.  Those votes help keep those parties valid in the states and help their candidates get elected to other posts.  Please don’t just write in “Mickey Mouse.”  That sends no message and does no good in the long run.

All of that being said, this email is not about the Presidential election.  It’s about an Amendment you’ll be voting for on the same day.

I pasted the key phrase from Amendment 2 at the top of this email.  I’d like you to look at it again, if you will.  Look at it closely and really try to grasp the consequences of what it says.  This isn’t just about defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.  This amendment would go one step beyond that to make the recognition of any kind of union outside of marriage illegal.  It would outlaw domestic partnerships and civil unions as well as same-sex marriages.  This amendment could potentially impact not only homosexual couples, but the large number of people living in our state who have Domestic Partner benefits in their heterosexual relationships as well.

Beyond that, though, I have to ask all of you – Do you really want to live in a state that has an amendment on the books that legally creates second class citizens?  That tells its residents how to conduct their private affairs?  Do you really, truly, believe that allowing two people who love each other to have legal recognition of that love is going to have any kind of impact whatsoever on whether or not your heterosexual marriage is valid?

And if I can appeal to you personally here – As I am sending this mostly to local friends and family, I can safely assume that most of you have had the pleasure of meeting Kim’s friend Duffy.  If you haven’t, you’ve missed out.  It’s very rare to meet someone so kind, so giving, so loving, and so willing to simply give of himself and not ask for anything in return other than your friendship.  He’s been there for Kim more times than I can count, and has even gone so far as to subject himself to 2 day trips on a Greyhound bus to middle-of-nowhere Missouri just so she didn’t have to make the trip alone.  If you’re considering a “Yes” vote on this Amendment, I ask you to really think about him before doing so.  Is this such an important issue that you would make it impossible for him to ever get married if he found someone he wanted to settle down with?

Ok, I think I’ve made my case here.  As always, if you’d like to have a discussion about this or any political issue I’m certainly open to it but this will be the last time I sully your inbox with political noise before the election.  Whatever you do, please make sure you get out and vote!