Squirrel!

Ha, What Better Way is There to Procrastinate Than Surfing Valucre!

I admit, I am totally the… (SQUIRREL!) type of person- big time ADHD that sometimes interferes in a big way with getting things done- especially if it is something I am not particularly interested in. Then again, I tend to have these squirrel moments even with the things I enjoy, if that activity hits a lull or a difficult patch (writing). Such moments come and pass, sometimes briefly and sometimes with myself wandering off into some other activity where I get lost for hours at a time- you ought to see me when I go surfing Wikipedia or TV-Tropes- man, am I bad!

Shiny! 

Getting back on topic here (for the next thirty seconds or so), we have lots of good stuff to cover today, assuming I can focus long enough to get this blog done. Hey, on my good days, I have this thing done in under a couple of hours, give or take a bit, depending on how long my closing thoughts go. On those bad days (where a certain patient of mine is not the cause- because he often is ><) I can take much, much longer. Now, I have found that taking enough caffeine to make a horse have a coronary is a good way to overcome this, but I try to avoid that means of getting my attention focused back on what I should be doing, if only because I’d rather have the ability to sleep later.

Ah, who am I kidding- I don’t sleep!

…. 

One more thing before we get this blog kicked off for the day- I wanted to take this moment to say Happy Mother’s Day (a few days early, but this blog doesn’t update Sundays >__>) to all the Valucre Mothers out there. It takes hard work to be a mother, and for that I want to say that I am impressed by all that you do, including finding a bit of time to drop a few posts here and there. Hopefully, this isn't at the expense of your child’s wellbeing- but we understand if it is anyway. ;)

With that said, welcome to this week’s edition of the blog, brought to you by the makers of Ritalin.

What's Happening Valucre?

The Chosen Continues - I'm going to keep beating this dead horse, partially because it gives me something to fill this section (particularly on these slower weeks for RP offerings like this one), if only because this is an awesome ongoing event that calls for coverage- Chosen is still there for you to watch and there is much to discuss in the lounge.

Employment- A group called the Valkyries are looking for some facilitators in a planned mission they will undergo, so if you like opportunities akin to Storytellers, this something to give you a taste of it. Now, I like that they put this up and out to the public before opting for a Storyteller, because many of our role-players enjoy opportunities such as these. The OP is looking for someone to play the group or individual hiring their party for the work they are to follow up with- so if Storyteller esque jobs interest you, go have a look.

They Fight Crime (RP)- Not the same thing as the contest we had a few weeks back, this is an opportunity for Role-play in which a diverse set of characters are coming together to form an investigative group to assist Roen's character with his endeavours spanning the world. If you have always wanted to take part in an oddball assortment of characters looking to fight crime, this might be your thing. ;)

A Ship Towards Orisia- This person is looking to recruit some well established characters to join a character studying vampires, along side her companion who travels with her. Now, they have a set course to head towards Orisia, particularly with the ambition of charming its queen, but they got temporarily stuck in Coastal Grande. So, do you have a character hanging around the area, or one you could put there? Want to go check out Orisia? Well, come check this thread out and hit up it's author.

Pre-Planned RP- We all know that RPs sometimes have a tendency to fizzle out before coming to fruition and getting a nice and steady foothold in its progression. The person behind this thread wants to try something a little different- collaborate with others on setting up an RP plot, and then playing out the role-play according to the plans agreed upon. Perhaps having a little more planning and structure might help? If you think so, come help this person out.

Body Snatchers in Dougton- This still has openings, should a thread of unusual and quite dangerous dealings should strike your fancy. Remember, quests come with offerings of great rewards, and present an opportunity for an impact on canon. Come immortalize the name of your character, through good deeds and other practices.Take a look.

Hunger Games RP- This one also continues to have available spaces, and has the potential to be a massive RP with a great deal of potential. If you want to participate in a spin-off of the popular series, utilizing trickery and other underhanded methods to ensure your character's survival, then you should come play out this RP.

Lore of the Week!

This Week's Feature: Weland

At a Glance: 

• Leader (Mayor): Okamura, Taiji
• Population: A diverse mixture of humans, gnomes, halflings, draconian, full and half-breeds, and a higher than average yuan-ti population (No population numbers given).
• Defenses: Director of Defenses- Masato Okamura. Peacekeeper Raphael Zaffre. 10,000 military personnel of Terrenus and 10,000 locally hired town guard. 
• Neighboring Landmarks: ~910mi south of the nearest coastline and 1,300mi south of Patia. ~620mi southwest of the Weland Gorge and 1,300mi of the Labyrinth Forest. ~1,000mi West of Dougton. ~ 1,700mi Northwest of Casper. About 650mi Southeast of Marlboro Keep.

Canonical Occurrences by Members:

• The Lady of Day River- A missing woman's death was first blamed on raids by Patia, but after a ghost turned up on the Day River, it was later uncovered that her Father conspired against her, leading to her murder. Thanks to the efforts of a few others, things were righted.
• End Our Sacrifice- The Syndicate of Mercenaries visits Weland, and finds it suffering from the wrath of a Shadow Dragon. The group successfully takes down the Dragon.
• Light the Pyre- A funeral procession for Hotaka Okamura ends when a massive explosion brings Renmin Square to ruin. The characters Jericho and Ventis uncover who the bomber was, and bring him to custody, earning them positions as honorary deputies.  
• If You Dig It- Two terrible monsters begin to ravage Weland, resulting in a prompt response by the city guard. They manage to drop one, but the second absorbs its fallen companion, and then becomes nearly impossible to take down. A mysterious business group (specializing in mercenaries and weapons) steps up and drops the beast. They even stay to assist in the cleanup and reconstruction- but this service comes at a price. 30% of Weland is destroyed, and 45% suffers smoke and fire damage. 

Available Quests:

• Level Two: A nearby kingdom has launched an invasion!
• Clerics work to Summon a great evil (thread in progress, but stalled)
• Vampires Prey on a nearby village (thread active)

Brief Summary of Lore: 

Weland is a prosperous city known for its sweet scent (thanks to its numerous lotus blooms) and clean air. The city is one described of beauty, noteworthy for its numerous flower gardens and sculpted trees. Numerous tea shops and courtesans are found along cobblestone paths, along with numerous other shops including tailors, smiths, and other merchants. Much entertainment is available to those visiting during holidays, where people are encouraged to share their sword skills and other talents, particularly during tournaments that occur. There are also rumors of underground fighting rings that pay bulging purses to successful combatants. 

New Members and Returns!

Welcome, Fieryblood

Welcome, Selina458

Welcome, Venefirous

Welcome, PandaHat

Welcome, Shadowremenants

Welcome, Topeye

Welcome, Apollymi

Welcome, Angellis Ater

Returns:

NONE!

Well, another week with a gain of eight, a modest gain but nothing that falls short of a decent gain. Now, one of these folks was difficult to find because a certain Admin (*cough* Supernal *cough*) moved their thread from newcomers to the Watercooler because they were inviting others to RP with them. Luckily, I found them when looking for highlights. Hopefully, this has not happened too much in the past- I would feel bad if I missed a few of you lovely new folks. ;)

Other Highlights?

Perhaps I have come to terms with this- I sure do bitch about it a lot less. Perhaps I have come to realize this new generation of people are all just entitled and demanding, constantly pursuing what they think ought to be theirs, or what they are owed. Who can say, who can say. Anyway, here are your stinking highlights.

User Blogs- Now, if you read my blog, I have to assume that you have at least a modicum of interest in blogs, so perhaps you would like to follow the blogging of other members. If such be the case, you can check out what others write by following the blog updates here.

Did You Know- Those of you under the allotted time period (I believe 90 days) can give your first impressions of the site, and get some VB for it to boot. If you are looking to kick off your collection of VB (used in getting RP boards or name changes or giving your name a glow (SHINY!), you can start with this.    Get more details from this thread here and you can check out all the rest of the Did You Know Archive over here.

Closing Thoughts?

Have you ever heard the saying, ‘Things happen for a reason’?

Sounds like a bit of a cliché, right? Seems like something people say in response to events they cannot explain, use it as a means to cope with that what seemed outside their control, moving the responsibility of such an occurrence to something more akin to a religious figure or perhaps Karma. I don’t really believe in putting all events into this category- sometimes shit just happens and that’s the way it is. What I do like taking from this is remembering to keep an open perspective on the event itself- sometimes, something good might come of it. Sometimes, how it went was actually a relatively mild means of something that could have been much worse.

I got to thinking about this over the weekend, when a I had a series of unlucky events end up putting a dampener on some of our plans, as well as create a great deal of inconvenience. Oh, I was quite annoyed- there never really is a great time for your car to break down, but it happens, especially when you choose to drive an older car. Sure, you take care of it as best you can, staying on top of maintenance and avoiding doing anything really stupid with it, but some things are unpreventable- such as old parts simply wearing out. You can try to keep up with tracking just how worn those parts are, but sometimes, the part that goes out is the one you really cannot monitor anyway.

Such as what happened to me this weekend

If you are not someone who works on cars, there is a good chance that you have never heard of a part called a ‘Coolant bypass elbow’- I know I sure never had. This $4 part became the subject of a major headache, putting my car at risk for a blow head gasket, potentially getting us stranded, and later $100 in labor (which was actually at a discounted rate, because I had family come help me out). This little 3” part is what takes coolant from your water pump and sends it inside your engine, allowing it to cool. The part itself is simple, and not difficult to figure out how to replace, once you have the multitude of parts in your way pulled out of the car- yes, this is a difficult to access bugger.

It took my Uncle, who has worked on cars since he was a kid (over 40yrs) an hour and a half to get to it and replace it, especially with having to remove melted pieces from both the water pump and the engine.

Yes, melted pieces, as this was what was left https://www.dropbox.com/lightbox/home/Camera%20Uploads of that part.

You might be asking- how does my anecdote tie in with things happening for a reason, or more so, happening in ways that was less serious than what could have been? Well, let’s get to that.

This breakdown occurred at the coast, while we were out with other family members who arrived with their own vehicles. This trip almost did not take place, or else was going to be pushed for the next day, because of scheduling issues. Either way, we had plans to head out of town once again for a trip to our zoo and a fancy restaurant Raze likes to celebrate our anniversary (6 years ;) ). Had we gone on this trip first, or gone on this trip without having gone to the coast, this part would not have failed while we were around other people- it would have happened while we were far from home and without someone to help us out. There was a good chance it would have occurred while we were on the interstate, which presents its own risks. Either way, this part going out while we were on that trip would have been much more difficult to deal with.

I would have not had anywhere safe to stow my car for a day or two (at the coast, an outlet mall was gracious enough to let me keep my car there a couple days while I sorted out how to fix it). I would have been in a real jam to find someone who could get out there to come rescue us. If we were on the interstate, we would have been at serious risk of getting hit- there are a fair bit of accidents out there. If in the city, chances are we’d be stuck in an area with less than savory people out and about, especially at night. Either way, I’d have been much more upset about getting stuck out there.

As you can see, managing to get out on our coast trip with my family actually turned out in our favor. We were able to get a ride home and we were able to find someplace willing to let us stash the car in their parking lot for a day or two while we figured out what happened (at first we thought the water pump went bad). My brother, who is only a permit driver not yet licensed, loaned me his car for the next couple of days, allowing me to get around while making arrangements. As annoying and inconvenient the breakdown was, it turned out fine in the end, and the repair was cheaper than expected.

As for the repair itself- those Coolant elbows are known for wearing out on older GM cars (Mine is a Pontiac).

Now, I have given you the rundown on how things could have been worse- to me, this reinforces why it is important that when things start going to shit, we should stop ourselves from falling to despair, angry and cursing our life or the world, when we should be thinking about- how much worse could this have been? Are there scenarios where this very same thing could have gone even further south? Particularly any that are realistic (saying at least I didn’t get struck by lightning at the end of an awful day might be stretching it a bit)- such as my case of that car very nearly was not at the coast that day, and would have broken down in some place worse.

So, how about that notion of things happening for a reason?

Call it how you want- karma, god, fate, chaos theory, life’s strange ability to make things work- sometimes, it does seem like events line up a certain way to ensure things work out. After all, my car did decide to break down at the right kind of place, rather than getting me stuck elsewhere. Yet, this would not be enough to convince me that things happened a way for a reason, only that I actually had some dumb luck for once. That is, it didn’t until the Monday morning, when other things happened.

My Uncle originally planned to take goats (he breeds goats) out to an auction and then do some work around his property. I had given him a call the day before, and he was willing to accommodate his schedule to help me with my car. I was going to help him get his goats through the auction, then we were going to take off early afternoon for my car and get it done. I got to his place, and found out that his truck had decided not to work, and that he had people over looking to buy a few goats directly from him. By the time he had that taken care of, he was not going to have time to get his truck working and get the goats to auction, so he decided to put that off for a couple of weeks, and instead focus on figuring out what my cousin had done to his car. The cousin borrowed it for a few days, and upon returning it, the car shook violently when taken above 45mph.

We took it into town and had the tires balanced- at which time I also bought a replacement water pump at a hardware store. Driving the car back, we found that balancing the tires did not help. So, he takes everything at the wheel apart to check the wheel bearings- mind you, this is getting into early afternoon, at which time we should still have been at the auction- when my Aunt called him over. We get over to her and see the cause for her alarm- a tree was coming down, and about ready to fall on a power line over their greenhouse- both would be ruined in this tree’s fall. As we tried to figure out how to approach it, it snapped some more and did come down on the line- but was held up by another tree just enough not to take it out- we had to act fast.

He took off for a chainsaw while I went and grabbed a 2x4 and got it wedged under the tree, to hold it up. I then hauled this tree up and slid the board further, until I got it about 6” higher, taking pressure off the power line. My Uncle got there and chopped the thing up and off the line, thus saving his green house and power line. My aunt could not have helped with this, as she is partially handicapped and had her arm in a sling. Had we been at the auction that tree would have long since destroyed the greenhouse and line. Had he been home and without help, it still would have, as his wife could not hold it up.

The tree provided a benefit- about $150 in firewood he otherwise would not have had, and at a time where he needs money before the end of the month. Selling the goats will come again in two weeks, so missing this auction was no big. But he needs money by the end of the month to pay certain expenses, and the money from that tree and what I paid him went significantly far in dropping the deficit he had- right place, right time.

I was not happy about what happened to my car this week, but it could have been a lot worse. By having my car in a safe place, I got my uncle to come fix it instead of going to an expensive shop- an Uncle who needed extra money this month. By being at his property and unable to go to the auction, we were able to divert a tree from taking out a major power line and his greenhouse- both additional expenses that he could not afford right now.

Funny, how things worked out.

So, here is my takeaway folks-

Whether you want to chalk it up to a god figure (however your particular faith calls its deity), lucky circumstances, good Karma, or string theory- things had an odd way of working out this weekend. Perhaps there is something to the old saying that some things happen for a reason- and there is definitely a need to realize how much worse something could have been. It is too easy to get upset over what did not go right or what went totally wrong, and sometimes what is more important is how things worked out instead.

Take control of your negative thinking- I bet you will be much happier for it.

Alright folks, that’s the update for this week, see you next week!

-          Acies

"A writer doesn't solve problems. He allows them to emerge."   ~ Friedrich Dürrenmatt