You Know Things Are Going Well When...

... your only current crisis in life is which weapon to pick in a MMO.

But seriously, which one should I pick? Graystone Maul of Purification or Graystone Censor of Purification? I can only pick one...

I'm torn because my current single handed blunt weapon is only slightly less DPS (about 2) while my current two handed blunt weapon is a fair bit less than the new one above - about 20 DPS higher. I also don't really have a preference. Currently, I gain DPS from switching to two handed while I only gain a slight increase in healing when going with one handed and shield.

I think I'll go with the two hander since it is the biggest actual upgrade available.

Life sucks as a geek doesn't it?

Heh

Oh, I survived my first weekend of being in the presence of chips that I really like (French Onion Sun Chips.... I'm drooling just typing that) without having any. It was really difficult, especially when no one else was in the house... the wife left them out in the open, on the kitchen counter... I almost caved, but hung on!

I gave her crap when she got home though... it was sort of like that stewardess who is trying to quit smoking.

So Far So Good...

I survived half a week and the whole weekend without eating any chips. The wife went and bought some tortilla chips and salsa, but I stayed away despite their pleas crying out to be eaten.

The mother-in-law brought over some white chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies... which I consumed in two days so I don't think I should really count it as a winning weekend. But then again, I could have eaten all those cookies AND a couple of bags of chips... so maybe it was a win?

I Vow to Never Again...

... eat chips.

Yes, it is true, I have given up chips. Sell your stock in Lays, Hostess and Frito-lay because its going down without my support.

Almost two years ago I decided to give up on pop; Coke/Pepsi, Root Beer, Spirite/7Up, Crush, Cream Soda and Dr. Pepper. I've held to that, not having any of the above since*. The main reason was that it's free at work and I was consuming far too much because it was so readily available.

So now, chips are personal enemy number one... right there with pop.

Bet you thought this was going to be me giving up on hockey? Nope, I'm proud of the Senators getting where they did. I'm proud of Alfredsson and would argue he was definitely the playoff MVP and showed it last night when he got Ottawa back into the game not once, but twice. I have several other disappointments, but I'm going to focus on what was good.


*Well, one exception which I think I can be forgiven for; it was the wife's Christmas party, there was no free wine and my brother-in-law hung me out to dry. I needed drink and fast so I turned to rum and coke. I needed something strong to handle the wife's VP telling me I should get a visectomy and explaining to me that his sex life was much better now.

Lesson for Gary Bettman

Two of the highest scoring teams in the NHL this year came out of the East. They were highly skilled, fast and finesse players. They utilized their teammates, they played hockey how it was meant to play. They didn't need bigger nets or smaller goalie equipment, they just needed to be able to play their game.

You want to increase goal scoring?

Ensure your refs call the game by the rules. Every call. If the players take 80 penalties a game, they'll smarten up. If not, they'll be benched. If you can allow the skilled players to play without being man-handled or held up at the line when they don't have the puck, you'll see more scoring.

You want to increase the fan-base in the U.S.?

Take a note from basketball, football and baseball - they all make the calls whether it is going to put another team at an advantage or not. That's the point of a penalty, you are penalized for not playing by the rules. If you don't want to be penalized, play by the rules.

The refs only decide games when they don't call penalties because that shifts the advantage to the team that is willing to break the rules - these aren't the people you want winning, these are not the people you want to decree as champions of the league. That doesn't sell to the U.S. at all, they're not stupid, they see it for the joke that it is to think otherwise is to insult the intelligence of the U.S. audience.

Start looking at it as, "The players decide the game by whether they play it by the rules or not" because that is how it should be.

Are the other leagues perfect? No, they make bad calls but they make the calls. Another point is that when a bad call is made, the coaches can contest it. Figure that system out and implement it. Video replay should be allowed since the game is fast paced. Yes it will need to be limited, but the coaches should be allowed to call for a review of the play.

I'd also suggest replays for injured players. Why? If someone goes down or comes away bleeding, someone did something they shouldn't have. If your refs miss it the other team is going to be upset and start taking liberties. Call it right then and there. Suspensions can be handed down after, but it looks horrible when four officials on the ice all miss a dirty play, right around where the puck is played, and an injury results.

Hockey is the best sport there is, the National Hockey League is the worst organization out there.

While I'm ranting, this is a bloody joke. This jackass should have been FIRED! Not had his contract bought out. He's the poster child for being overpaid and under-producing. He's a joke. The NHL needs to start protecting the teams, managers and fans who end up paying the salaries of these types of players.

(Granted the Islanders should never have locked him into that sort of deal, but it's an extreme example of yet another system in the NHL that is wrong)