This blog is about me and my little problem. Talking when I type. Well, it is a problem for others if I am working and they're here in the living room trying to watch tv. I don't know why, and I even tried not doing it but whether I am typing a post/using AIM/writing an e-mail I say it out loud. The funny thing was I never realize I am doing it until someone--be it wifey, my nephew or my daughter--responds to me and that's when it hits me. It isn't just in my head but rather that I actually verbalize what I was currently typing aloud for anybody to hear. I can't help doing it time and time again no matter what I try and do to stop it. I am gonna go out on a limb here and assume that I am the weird one and as such nobody else does this, correct?

PS--It didn't take me over 4 months to beat DQV like it did with DQIV. It has a different story but kinda felt like I just played the same exact game. It seems to me like Chunsoft/Enix just dialed this one in when it was originally released. It also took less time to beat. I wanna say maybe 10-15 hours less than DQIV. Not sure but maybe this one was easier if there is such a thing? Here's hoping DQVI will be a bit better.

[spoiler] Land of Confusion - Disturbed's version
Flirtin' With Disaster - Molly Hatchet
Back in the Saddle Again - Aerosmith
Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
Dream Warriors - Dokken
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
The Sky is Crying - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Here I go Again(Whitesnake)/I Can't Drive 55(Sammy Hagar)
Distant Early Warning - Rush
Rock You Like Hurricane - Scorpions
Life is Just a Fantasy - Aldo Nova
Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi
Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue
Going Mobile - The Who
The Game - Motorhead
Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
The Final Countdown - Europe
Young At Heart - Frank Sinatra
Signs - Tesla
Until It Sleeps - Metallica
Let it Snow - Various Artists
These Dreams - Heart
No Time - The Guess Who
In The Navy - Village People
Say What - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Doctor! Doctor! - Thompson Twins
The Dream Is Over - Van Halen
Breakdown / The Waiting - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Ramblin' Man - Allman Brothers [/spoiler]

A double Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers choice for the thread title about what's going on right now. Seems a lot of things are broken at the moment. I go to make a post and end up in someone else's thread, go to edit a post and end up in another forum, go to exit a thread and I ended up in some Final Fantasy Union(I do love me some Final Fantasy but why did the system keep picking this particualr union?). The bug with new posts showing up even though I have been in the thread numerous times is back for me. Then I saw a weird one which I will have to upload. I took a screen shot of a thread with a negative 9 next to it in Ask the Mods that when I refreshed the page disappeared completely! Strange things going on this weekend on GS. IS the moon full? Well as Tom says "the waiting is the hardest part"(for this to get sorted out)! This is the weekend after all folks and devs have lives too. It would be different story if the forums were completely offline or something of that nature.

[spoiler] Land of Confusion - Disturbed's version
Flirtin' With Disaster - Molly Hatchet
Back in the Saddle Again - Aerosmith
Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
Dream Warriors - Dokken
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
The Sky is Crying - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Here I go Again(Whitesnake)/I Can't Drive 55(Sammy Hagar)
Distant Early Warning - Rush
Rock You Like Hurricane - Scorpions
Life is Just a Fantasy - Aldo Nova
Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi
Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue
Going Mobile - The Who
The Game - Motorhead
Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
The Final Countdown - Europe
Young At Heart - Frank Sinatra
Signs - Tesla
Until It Sleeps - Metallica
Let it Snow - Various Artists
These Dreams - Heart
No Time - The Guess Who
In The Navy - Village People
Say What - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Doctor! Doctor! - Thompson Twins
The Dream Is Over - Van Halen
Breakdown / The Waiting - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers [/spoiler]

Wow, didn't realize how much time went by since my last blog. I missed February totally! Well as of March 9th--a full week now--I *think* the recurring dream I've been having for so long is over. For those that may be lost I am referring to this older blog here. As I type this I am knocking on wood so as not to jinx myself. I Was starting to try and think what I did differently or what was done that may have caused the dreams to cease but then I decided to just take it as a blessing. Why look into something if I got what I wanted, right?

Since this was so short lets see what else I got going on.

I've been trying to make more time for gaming lately. Here's what I have been playing lately.

360--Viking: Battle for Asgard(This is a case for me where reviews don't matter as I am having fun and that's all that should matter.)
PS3--NHL 09(On my 4th season. I can't get enough of this game. Definitely, hands down, the best NHL game ever!)
Wii--Nothing(I need to rent something or maybe finally go for all 120 stars in SMG)
PSP--Nothing(I have Star Ocean: Second Evolution waiting but I can't manage 2 RPGs at once so DQV will have to be beaten first)
DS--Dragon Quest V(If you played DQIV then you will feel right at home as this uses the same interface but the story is different and the ability to have mobs as pets is a nice feature. I am only about 7 hours in so far)

Sickness -I am trying to fend off what may be a record 3rd cold in less than 75 days for me. I was never this sick since my daughter went to pre-school for the first time--germfest there folks! That year I even got sick in the summer which even for my weakened immune system is rare. I just hope this is the end of clds in 2009 for good.

'Dractoid'(factoid about me)--For the first year since I have been on my own(21 years now)I never turned on my heat in the winter. Now you can either blame it on global warming or the fact that maybe this place I am in now has the best insulation. I don't know what the deal is but anything to keep the bills down works for me!

[spoiler] Land of Confusion - Disturbed's version
Flirtin' With Disaster - Molly Hatchet
Back in the Saddle Again - Aerosmith
Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
Dream Warriors - Dokken
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
The Sky is Crying - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Here I go Again(Whitesnake)/I Can't Drive 55(Sammy Hagar)
Distant Early Warning - Rush
Rock You Like Hurricane - Scorpions
Life is Just a Fantasy - Aldo Nova
Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi
Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue
Going Mobile - The Who
The Game - Motorhead
Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
The Final Countdown - Europe
Young At Heart - Frank Sinatra
Signs - Tesla
Until It Sleeps - Metallica
Let it Snow - Various Artists
These Dreams - Heart
No Time - The Guess Who
In The Navy - Village People
Say What - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Doctor! Doctor! - Thompson Twins
The Dream Is Over - Van Halen [/spoiler]

Just an update that I finally had time while I was(still am)sick to scan some old hospital photos from my year spent in waiting on that heart. It is like an add-on pack for this blog and I don't charge a cent for it;)

[spoiler] Land of Confusion - Disturbed's version
Flirtin' With Disaster - Molly Hatchet
Back in the Saddle Again - Aerosmith
Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
Dream Warriors - Dokken
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
The Sky is Crying - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Here I go Again(Whitesnake)/I Can't Drive 55(Sammy Hagar)
Distant Early Warning - Rush
Rock You Like Hurricane - Scorpions
Life is Just a Fantasy - Aldo Nova
Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi
Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue
Going Mobile - The Who
The Game - Motorhead
Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
The Final Countdown - Europe
Young At Heart - Frank Sinatra
Signs - Tesla
Until It Sleeps - Metallica
Let it Snow - Various Artists
These Dreams - Heart
No Time - The Guess Who
In The Navy - Village People
Say What - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Doctor! Doctor! - Thompson Twins [/spoiler]

Hey Doc, forgot to respond in the last blog. I was in Haifa for 3 weeks in October 1988. That was the longest port stop in the 6 months. BTW, I didn't go anywhere overseas that I didn't like;)

Sorry about that folks--onto the blog at hand.

Definition of a hardcore gamer has changed for me over time. When I first started playing video games I always thought, or assumed, that to define a hardcore game you had to be the best at what you did. Play every game on the hardest difficulty, play games (insert high number here) hours straight with no breaks, get the highest score possible, find every single item in each game(100% completion), beat games that would take normal people a week in less than a day. I think I can stop here with the examples as most of you should get it by now. I don't know if I am getting soft in my old age but now this definition has changed. To me now, the definition of a hardcore gamer is one that is just really passionate about playing their games be it really complicated or really simplistic games.

Anybody disagree, agree or have their own definition to add?

[spoiler] Land of Confusion - Disturbed's version
Flirtin' With Disaster - Molly Hatchet
Back in the Saddle Again - Aerosmith
Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
Dream Warriors - Dokken
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
The Sky is Crying - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Here I go Again(Whitesnake)/I Can't Drive 55(Sammy Hagar)
Distant Early Warning - Rush
Rock You Like Hurricane - Scorpions
Life is Just a Fantasy - Aldo Nova
Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi
Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue
Going Mobile - The Who
The Game - Motorhead
Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
The Final Countdown - Europe
Young At Heart - Frank Sinatra
Signs - Tesla
Until It Sleeps - Metallica
Let it Snow - Various Artists
These Dreams - Heart
No Time - The Guess Who
In The Navy - Village People
Say What - Stevie Ray Vaughn [/spoiler]

Figured, I'd share some old photos I found from my stint in the US Navy. Looks weird to see me so damn scrawney but these were from 1988-1992. Scanning them into the pc was very time consuming to say the least. I was shocked that I still had some actually. Anyway, to see them click here: this moment. I also have some Christmas 2008 one's up as well.

[spoiler]
Land of Confusion - Disturbed's version
Flirtin' With Disaster - Molly Hatchet
Back in the Saddle Again - Aerosmith
Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
Dream Warriors - Dokken
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
The Sky is Crying - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Here I go Again(Whitesnake)/I Can't Drive 55(Sammy Hagar)
Distant Early Warning - Rush
Rock You Like Hurricane - Scorpions
Life is Just a Fantasy - Aldo Nova
Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi
Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue
Going Mobile - The Who
The Game - Motorhead
Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
The Final Countdown - Europe
Young At Heart - Frank Sinatra
Signs - Tesla
Until It Sleeps - Metallica
Let it Snow - Various Artists
These Dreams - Heart
No Time - The Guess Who
In The Navy - Village People [/spoiler]

First let me start off saying I forgot all about my last blog! Here is what happens to me on a daily basis. I log-in then head over to the moderator forums and take care of what needs to be take care of. Then I head out and check on the support forums as time permits. Now if I get caught up with all those forums and my main job I will try and venture into other forums and even my profile. My profile seems to be the last thing I think of to click on and usually that only happens like now---when I go to type a blog. Anyway, a few people told me to talk to someone but it would have to be a psychologist/psychiatrist which is why I was asking for a way to try and stop them. Thanks to all for the comments/suggestions.

OK, on to the blog at hand. First game of the new year I beat was a hold-over from September 2008. Yes, you read that right. It took me just about 4 full months to beat a game. Go ahead and laugh...I'll wait. *taps feet* OK, done? It was Dragon Quest IV for the DS which I originally beat back in the 90's on the NES but I have to say I didn't remember much which made this feel like a new game to me. I also tried to do every little thing and finished at a little over 48 hours including building my town into a Castle ala Suikoden, the bonus dungeon and killing Aamon at Diabolic Hall. I had all characters at or about level 45. I must have leveled just perfect cause the boss fights weren't incredibly easy nor incredibly hard. I am guessing since I tried to do everything that 48 hours must be overkill. As usual it took me so long cause I have no time! What is the normal time it took everybody else that played it?

I am now looking forward to February 17th for Dragon Quest V. Finally a DW/DQ game I never ever played. It is sad but my DS is getting the most playtime lately. Sure I still have that NHL 09 urge to fill on the PS3 but aside from that one game and DQIV I haven't really played anything else. Now that I have about a month to wait for DQV I am hoping to get to play some other games especially on the 360 that has been neglected for a long ass time.

[spoiler]
Land of Confusion - Disturbed's version
Flirtin' With Disaster - Molly Hatchet
Back in the Saddle Again - Aerosmith
Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
Dream Warriors - Dokken
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
The Sky is Crying - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Here I go Again(Whitesnake)/I Can't Drive 55(Sammy Hagar)
Distant Early Warning - Rush
Rock You Like Hurricane - Scorpions
Life is Just a Fantasy - Aldo Nova
Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi
Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue
Going Mobile - The Who
The Game - Motorhead
Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
The Final Countdown - Europe
Young At Heart - Frank Sinatra
Signs - Tesla
Until It Sleeps - Metallica
Let it Snow - Various Artists
These Dreams - Heart
No Time - The Guess Who [/spoiler]

Anybody ever have the same dream more than once? Now by "same" I don't mean same exact. For instance, if you had a dream about an apple pie you could dream different ways to make it, eat it, etc. That is more to what I am getting at by saying "same" dream. Now by dreaming the same thing more than once it can literally be anything--an item perhaps, a person whether alive or dead, an event in your life whether past or present, etc. I am sure many of you can come up wih more examples but the gist of this blog is to see if you have the same dream more than once or am I living in my own world that it only happens to me? At the risk of seeming like a freak of nature I will just say I've had the same dream ...um..."numerous" times. Now if it was a particulary bad dream that you kept experiencing like free falling off a skyscraper or maybe drowning in the ocean with nobody to save you how would you go about trying to stop those dreams?

Land of Confusion - Disturbed's version
Flirtin' With Disaster - Molly Hatchet
Back in the Saddle Again - Aerosmith
Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
Dream Warriors - Dokken
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
The Sky is Crying - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Here I go Again(Whitesnake)/I Can't Drive 55(Sammy Hagar)
Distant Early Warning - Rush
Rock You Like Hurricane - Scorpions
Life is Just a Fantasy - Aldo Nova
Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi
Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue
Going Mobile - The Who
The Game - Motorhead
Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
The Final Countdown - Europe
Young At Heart - Frank Sinatra
Signs - Tesla
Until It Sleeps - Metallica
Let it Snow - Various Artists
These Dreams - Heart [/spoiler]

I was browsing my local newspaper and my local news web sites and they both had similar headlines---"Winter Storm 08 to blast L.I."! I then read the little blurb below the headline and it says 1-3 inches :lol: That is a winter storm blasting through?!?! I guess 4 schools only read the headlines as they are closed today despite a lack of a snowflake at all! Are you kidding me? This may sound like I am exaggerating but I had to go to school when there was no snow on the ground and the potential for up to 3 inches existed. I feel like an old fart but I have to say it. Kids these days--they got it so easy I tell ya!:P Oh yeah I forgot to mention no precipitation to start until at least 11am est. These 4 schools are gonna regret it later when they have to either stay open when everybody else is closed for snow cause they wasted a perfectly good day. I should be jumping for joy since I am a self-professed Winter lover but 1-3 inches seems hardly worth it.

Land of Confusion - Disturbed's version
Flirtin' With Disaster - Molly Hatchet
Back in the Saddle Again - Aerosmith
Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
Dream Warriors - Dokken
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
The Sky is Crying - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Here I go Again(Whitesnake)/I Can't Drive 55(Sammy Hagar)
Distant Early Warning - Rush
Rock You Like Hurricane - Scorpions
Life is Just a Fantasy - Aldo Nova
Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi
Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue
Going Mobile - The Who
The Game - Motorhead
Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
The Final Countdown - Europe
Young At Heart - Frank Sinatra
Signs - Tesla
Until It Sleeps - Metallica
Let it Snow - Various Artists [/spoiler]

Finally cracked the 10,000 barrier in hours slept in the last 5 years! Sounded like a lot of hours to me but it really isn't if you divide by the 5 years.

I am killing time so I decided to calculate my average hours slept per night and it comes out like this:

5.7392035894559730790802019068985

That was the number I was left with. I can't make this **** up!

Edit: Before I get the inevitable question---I have a CPAP device---google it;)

Land of Confusion - Disturbed's version
Flirtin' With Disaster - Molly Hatchet
Back in the Saddle Again - Aerosmith
Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
Dream Warriors - Dokken
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
The Sky is Crying - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Here I go Again(Whitesnake)/I Can't Drive 55(Sammy Hagar)
Distant Early Warning - Rush
Rock You Like Hurricane - Scorpions
Life is Just a Fantasy - Aldo Nova
Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi
Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue
Going Mobile - The Who
The Game - Motorhead
Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen
The Final Countdown - Europe
Young At Heart - Frank Sinatra
Signs - Tesla
Until It Sleeps - Metallica [/spoiler]