So the other day some dude comes up and offers to dance for me for a piece of silver. My first reaction was "Cool - finally someone who isn't just begging for money outright". And then I thought about it for half a second. Two quick strokes of the keyboard and any of us are dancing - most of us do it for free waiting at the harbours for the next boat in between flexing and playing dead ferfuckssake. Why should I pay someone to do it for me?

 

What is the deal with beggars in the WoW anyway? Seriously-why should I be expected to hand over my hard earned cash because someone else "really, really needs it"? If you "really, really need it" - go out and freaking earn it ferfuckssake.   How hard is that? Kill a few beasties, maybe do some grinding on your skills and earn some coinage. You might even get to have the fun of playing rather than sitting around some city begging everyone who passes by.

 

I am much nicer to beggars in real life. I always buy the Big Issue, I think buskers on the Underground are an important part of it's charm and anyone asking me for spare change because their car broke down or whatever are likely to get it.  To be honest though, I prefer the buskers and the Big Issue sellers. I don't tend to give money to people just sitting there holding a cup out expecting handouts. Work for it, show me you are willing to put in the effort to better your situation and I will be overgenerous.

 

I feel the same about people collecting benefits. I am glad we have a system that helps people out in times of trouble. Seriously I am happy it is there and don't begrudge your average person who had a few shitty things happen to him using it.  Or the single mother supplementing her income with childcare benefits.  Or the disabled person who either truly can't work or uses benefits for things like travelling to and from work or computers to assist working from home. I think the fact we can provide these things in absolutely terrific and I don't begrudge their use in the slightest.

 

What I can't stand are people who are on the dole, living in a council flat - and not trying to better their situation in any way. Or saying "why should I work 20 hours a week if they will take that money out of my dole money"? Ummm how bout the self-respect of having earned the money yourself? Or the possibility of once you are in a job having that job develop into something more so you can get off the dole altogether?  Or just to not be a lazy "really, really need it" dickhead sitting on your ass all day waiting for someone else to take care of you.

 

Back to WoW...

 

I've noticed the higher the level, the more you run into beggars. Why is that? Because 20 silver seems like practically nothing when you are level 60? How lame is that - the level 60 still had to start out at level 1 and earn every copper along the way same as the level 6 who "really, really" needs it".  And expenses are always there.  I've got a 39 warrior - about a quarter of the way to 40. You know what that means - mount time. I've got 25 gold at the moment.. A far cry from the price of mount, training etc. Every single silver piece counts right now. I've put off some training, avoided Griffins and done without things I wanted because I "really, really need"  the money. I've also been mining, blacksmithing and cooking  like a fool. Auctioning off goods I am likely to get a higher price for instead of just selling them etc. What I am not doing is sitting at the gates of Stormwind asking every player who happens by if they can spare a dime.

 

I don't want to be another "really, really need it" dickhead. In life or in WoW.

Yeah, sure I'll agree with that.

 

I was raised a Catholic. If there is a sure way to turn a person away from religion, it's has to be raise them Catholic.   When I was younger, I really truly believed in God, Jesus etc. -the whole shebang. Somehwhere in my teens I knew that the Catholic faith just wasn't for me, but I convinced myself there had to be something. The more I learned, the less I believed. And not just with the Catholic faith.

 

Letting go is a weird thing. I'm amazed at people who can be just like "nope, I don't believe anymore"  just like that. For me it was a decade long process. First I did the born-again thing, then of course the pagan thing.  But really all I think those were was my heart trying to fight what my mind already knew. Sorry folks, its just us. No big guy in the sky.

 

Some people think that is kind of sad and lonely. I personally think it is great.  I'd rather do the right thing because it is the right theng rather than because there is some all-seeing parent figure wagging his finger at me. And because I believe all that we have is the time that we are here, it becomes more important to me to do the best with the time that I have.

 

Or at least spend a lot of time playing WoW.  Speaking of which, there are a few horde awaiting my axe.

 

You fit in with: Humanism Your ideals mostly resemble that of a Humanist. Although you do not have a lot of faith, you are devoted to making this world better, in the short time that you have to live. Humanists do not generally believe in an afterlife, and therefore, are committed to making the world a better place for themselves and future generations. 20% scientific. 100% reason-oriented.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Bliss - the house is just about spotless. I was just served breakfast in bed. I have a cold bottle of champagne and some juicy ripe strawberries waiting for me this evening with nothing to do between now and then but play some WoW. Could life really get any better?

 

yes.

 

Cause I know - just KNOW-  that today I am going to meet one of those players that annoys me the most. The Instance Abandoner. You know the one - they join your merry crew, kick ass with you through the first 1/3 of a dungeon then announce they got what they needed for their quest and bugger off. Often with the other friend they brought with them. Leaving you surrounded by baddies with no healer and a low level newbie you let tag along cause you had a great tank. WTF?  

 

Would it have been so difficult at the outset to say "hey I'd like to join - but I only need xyz quest" and let the rest the party make the decision. It's a simple courtesy. Let them make the decision - sometimes we don't have the time to devote to doing the whole thing. Why not just be upfront about it?

 

And what's with the selfish "I got what I needed - so a big two fingers up to the party that spent the past hour getting me there".  Would it kill them to stick around a little longer helping those who helped them?  *sigh* We need more musketeers - One for all and all for one.  Personally, I like helping others. I will often go on a quest I have already completed just to help someone else. It's all about the fun of playing anyway - isn't it?

 

Guess not.

 

Oh well - WoW awaits. Time to take out some baddies

So we decided to do a spring clean this weekend about 2 weeks ago. You know - the whole top to bottom, scrub the walls, clean the baseboards, shampoo the carpets and throw out half the junk you have been accumulating kind of clean. Obviously when we hear there is a chance of sunshine the excitement brings on a temporary sort of insanity.

 

Now most people who knew they were about to do a major overhaul tupe of cleaning- the kind you invest a solid 20+ hours to over the course of the weekend would at least make the job as easy as possible on themselves wouldn't they? Ya know, stay on top of the laundry, pick up a little bit? 

 

 Do I do that? Hell no.

 

The house looks like total and complete shit. There is crap EVERYWHERE. Seriously - it doesn't look like a bomb hit it, that would be an improvement. 

 

All week long when I told myself I should put something away or clean something up I talked myself out of it saying it didn't matter - we were megacleaning this weekend anyway.

 

I am seriously regretting that this morning.

 

The worst bit? Aaron kept up with the dishes this week. The kids have put a few things away. Almost everywhere I look it is my crap cluttering up the place. My computer desk is awash in makeup, underwear and interestingly enough anti-bacterial wipes. My bedroom has clothes and shoes EVERYWHERE. I think I tried on everything I own this week - and with my shoe fetish that is a LOT. I don't believe I put back a single thing.

 

You can follow trails of Rosie all over the house and probably figure out every move I hae made all week.

 

Why do I make things harder on myself? *sigh* Time to get cleaning...

 

So I met my husband 18.5 years ago.  Aaron and I are coming up on our16 year wedding anniversary next month. In that time we have been through a lot together, as anyone who had been together for half their lives would have been. Duh.  He is still my best friend in the whole world. I would rather hang out with him than anyone else and we still totally dig each other. I thank my lucky stars everyday and know how truly blessed we are to have found each other.

 

When I met Aaron, we were teenagers working at McDonalds.  He was your average pimply faced super geek. With super thick, grey tinted glasses, no chest hair  and a unibrow.  But he was also the sweetest guy I had ever met and it was very easy to fall in love.

 

Over the years he has changed of course. He is still the sweetest guy I know, but the acne cleared up well over a decade ago.  His chest is super sexy with just the right amount of hair to run my fingers through  And while it took some doing I finally convinced him to pluck the unibrow a few years back.

 

The one constant in his appearance has been his glasses. Of course he ditched the grey tinted ones back in the '80s (thank goodness)  He has had a series of increasingly stylish glasses over the years. His last pair were downright sexy.  I could probably chart our lives and tell you where were were and what was going on in our lives just by seeing a pic of the glasses Aaron was wearing at the time.

 

  To me, Aarons glasses are a part of him. One of the endearing things that I love. Like many people who wear glasses though, he hated them. No matter how sexy and stylish his latest pair were. Hahahaha. He hated not being able to lay in bed  and watch a movie without his glasses digging in and all the million other little things that drive glasses-wearers crazy. He wanted to be able to wake up in the morning and be able to see out the window or ride a roller coaster and  see just how scary the next turn coming up was or make out and shag  without the awkward glasses removing pause.  He has strange issues about things near his eyes, so he could never wear contacts. So on Thursday he had Lasik eye surgery.

 

He has been dreaming of having the surgery for years. Of course I encouraged him, knowing how much he would love it. And he does, for which I am very glad.

 

But.... I also feel like I have lost something. My Aaron wears glasses. He always has. I fell in love with him even when they were seriously ugly glasses. Every memory I have of him from the past eighteen and a half years they are a part of. I feel so lame but I am totally bawling my eyes out over this.

 

I'm torn because I am really, truly happy for him. But I am also so, so sad about it. I'm such an idiot, but I just can't help it.  I'll miss my Aaron. The face that I see when I look at my husband is going to seem just wrong for a while. I know it's wrong to even care. But for some lame-ass reason I do.