War Witch's new FAD!

Dude. I was here at 6:30 a.m.! No traffic this morning.

TPARN (t=third)

I am grateful that my engineering department takes the time to listen to students feedback about their teaching!

Oz: They've been leaking pics of the Beast Pack for weeks now. So far we've seen eagle, great cat, wolf, and just a while ago on FB silhouette of the Minotaur. There was another silhouette pic but I didn't see any definite new shapes there. I do think we got a new tail or two though.

Might be a long one here. Being a thread for things we're grateful for, I think I'll talk about this here. I'll try to make it relevant to CoH near the end. It's not something I usually bring up since I'm not one to try to garner attention, but since the whole thing is almost over I might as well get it off my chest. But just to make it clear, I'm not looking for any sympathy or special attention.

Over the last five or so years, I've had to deal with Trigeminal Neuralgia. The pain often being enough that I'd be unwilling to speak for weeks or months on end, since that was one of the sure ways for me to set it off... and it's hard to hold a conversation when you're constantly stopping mid-sentence due to blinding pain. Eating was always a problem too, though obviously that was something I had to do, so I suffered through it. For roughly the first three years or so of this I was improperly diagnosed too... partially because it's somewhat unusual for someone as young as me to have Trigeminal Neuralgia, and partially because I'm not enough of a drama queen to properly explain the level of pain I was going through.

For the last two years I've been on medication, and it's made things a lot better, though still not perfect... and I still don't talk much. Habits are hard to break, and the fact that it does still flare up on occasion despite the pills makes me reluctant to try. But, having to take pills every day, and knowing that if I miss even one I'll suffer for it majorly is a bit tiresome. And they are getting less and less effective... so, a little while back, I finally decided to pursue surgery as a solution.

Things have been going pretty well on that front. Next week I'll be going down to Toronto for my pre-admin clinic and an additional MRI that they'll use during the surgery. The week after that, I'll be heading back and so that they can crack my head open and see what they can find.

The one downside of this is that I'll probably miss the week where the WST is one of my favorite TFs.


Summing things up:

• I'm very glad this whole ordeal is almost over, and each week ended means another week closer to getting past this whole thing.
  
• I'm very grateful to CoH as well, since it's given me something to do and be a part of at the times when I needed it the most.
  
• I'm thankful for the community being one of the best ones I've encountered, with some of the friendliest people I know.
  
• And I'm very thankful for the devs who continue to update the game and make it even better, and constantly give me new things to do.

On February 4th, I appreciate:

∙ The Devs for reopening the ski chalet. Whether it was an error, an apology for the I19.5 snafu, or just out of the goodness of their hearts, It was a pleasent and unexpected surprise.

∙ The Rooney family for running one of the classiest, most well-respected organizations in all of sports. Win or lose on Sunday, I will be proud to be a Steelers fan on Monday.

∙ Sushi. Best Japanese export ever. Wait, Ming Na isn't Japanese is she?


Hmmm, short list this week. There's plenty of other stuff I appreciate, its just not coming to mind at the moment. Have a great weekend all, and...

GO STILLERS!
(as heard in a Pittsburgh accent)

Wow. What aren't I grateful for this week?

Cyclone Yasi not claiming a single life in its ferocity and changing course at the very last minute to avoid a major city in Australia's north and sparing it destructive winds of nearly 200 miles an hour?

The fact that even when it got so far inland it fizzled out to just a tropical depression right on top of a country city where a friend of mine lives?

That's two things for sure...I'm also grateful for the courageous hearts and minds of the Egyptian people in standing up for their freedom.

Maybe a little heavy going for such a thread, but we Aussies have been through it this last six months.


S.

I'm thankful for Sekoia. I don't know that I've ever seen him actually post on these forums, but he's a prolific editor-turned-administrator of the Paragon Wiki-turned-administrator of the Titan Network. Now, he's a full-fledged co-administrator, with full root access to the server, domain names, and everything. The intention was to have a backup in case I ever got hit by a proverbial bus (or a real one, for that matter), and I've come to trust him implicitly.

For the past few weeks, I did get hit by a proverbial... I dunno... Yugo, I guess. I had surgery myself on January 19, and I'm still spending most of my time recovering and not working on the Titan Network. Sekoia has really stepped up in his administration effort while I've been sidelined and is doing a damn fine job, probably better than I do myself. Aside from normal back-end PITA stuff, he's also been working on a long-overdue revamping of City Info Tracker to account for recent issues and to catch up with Sentinel in capability.

In short, the guy rocks. Hard. I used to be a little worried about what would become of the sites were I ever to be gone. Now, I'm not so much because they'd be in good hands, that's a proven certainty. At this point, I'm just really excited that my recovery is going well enough that hopefully I'll be back in the full swing of things within a few more weeks and that together, we'll be working on bringing a new era of coolness at the Titan Network to you all.

I know that GuyPerfect, Diellan, and DeProgrammer have been working on some sexy stuff with Sentinel and Mids, but if you get a chance, drop a note on our forums sometime and throw a "Thanks!" Sekoia's way also. He's been rocking things behind the scenes for years now, he's been doing so with quiet competence, and he's as much or more an integral part of our team as any more publicly visible member of our development team is.

It's not Friday anymore but, I am thankful for the folks who are dedicated to working on improving Mids with new features and up-to-date info. That character builder program is one of the pillars that holds this game up high for me, far above other games.

If Mids ceased to be worked on would I still be playing this game? Probably, but it would be one hell of a shaky foundation.

Like WW, this is my latest list.

I'm grateful for Red Crow's ability to puncture any pompousness (including mine when it rears its ugly head) which keeps us all grounded and eventually chuckling at our own occasional stupidity. Oh, and also for suggesting that our channel needs its own website and events calender, which we now have.

I'm grateful for Dark Lu, who is the most faithful fan of this game I know, and who continually bats away the ennui that threatens us all from time to time.

I'm grateful for Aldrazar, who serves as an example of how someone can balance being a worker, a father, and a gamer, and not let any of the three suffer.

And finally (for now), I'm grateful for Natures Fury, who keeps us laughing and continues to lead the Pinnacle lifestyle for the rest of us who can't as often as we'd like.

This core crew of people is a large part of why I keep coming back.

Going back to Friday: I'm thankful for snow days!

I'm grateful for Brutes! Two of them came to my rescue tonight when my Blaster was getting shredded by Anti-Matter. They reduced him to Praetorian Pudding in about two seconds. Thanks, guys.

I have, in fact, tried the Apple Pancake there. Nice catch

Ok, it's a day early but I'll be away this weekend so I'm sending this today. (I know, talk about breaking your own rules!)

This'll be quick, I promise!

• The incredible framed plaque that Ghost Falcon made for us devs for Going Rogue; mine is hanging up on my wall in my office at home!
• Watching the excitement that players are expressing about the Animal Pack (I know, get it out already!)
  • See? We heard you!
• The talented and passionate people I work with every day. It is truly a joy to come to work, even after, 9 years and be around people who care about this game as much as I do
• The Foodzie box that comes every month to work, so I can foist the goodies on my team rather than eat it all myself

I'm humbly thankful for this game, which has made it possible for me to stop being a spinster. Thanks to the devs, the folks on Virtue and Victory, the Golden Age Heroes, the Golden Age Festival, and the nice CoHers who posted good wishes on our wedding site.

Whatever feuds, snafus and hiccups may happen here, this is a great place full of excellent people.

*grins*

I'm extremely thankful (and more than a little astounded) that not one but TWO bands whose music I enjoy a great deal... have kindly consented for me to use their songs in upcoming COH music videos. (I think I scared the neighbors on Wednesday morning when I gave out a strangled shriek at 7:30 in the morning after seeing the email.)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite