Epiphany

I think I've discovered why I'm having a problem in the Monday Night game.

I was reading my interpersonal communication book, and I read a passage about the four elements of relational messages in communication.

The first is affinity, basically, how much you like or dislike the other person you are communicating with.

Second, is immediacy, the degree of interest and attention we feel towards the communication.

I'll get to the third in a bit, but the fourth is Control, which is a measure of the degree of power each person in the relationship has over the other.

Now, when it comes to these three, I think there's proper balance. I like all the guys well enough, and the interest is there, and as a group, we pretty much equally share the power (though my leaving after the discovery of the wagon was a way of me exerting control, I admit). It's the third element that I think is lacking.

The third element, and the one I believe is crucial in my continued enjoyment of the game, is respect, the degree of esteem you have for the other communicator. That's the element I think is a bit one sided in the game. I respect most of the guys a lot, though one or two I have a problem with, but I don't know if they respect me. I don't think they hold my ideas with the same weight they would others, like my mother or father. I know I'm younger then all of them, heck, at least three of the players are old enough to be my parents (two of them are, one of them is obviously not).

I don't know how to cultivate this respect, but I hope that it can develop more, or I might not want to play anymore. Like I didn't want to judge. It's about respect.

Well, back to work, I've got class in forty minutes.

Teamwork and Stupid People

Ah, another two-topic post. Well, I guess that's because I didn't want to post before the game, so I had to post afterwards.

So, my first topic is actually stupid people, rather then teamwork. Today, at work, just before I got off, my coworker, who was there to relieve me, commented about some people who were sitting on top of the propane tank cage, smoking. Now, this is tree stupid things. First, they were smoking, which is deadly in and of itself, although it's a slow and expensive killer. Secondly, they were smoking around propane, which creates a very fast and painful death. Thirdly, they were doing it in such a place that it would harm me if the shit had hit the fan. That's a very bad thing, because, well, I like being alive, and unharmed.

So, enough of the stupid people (well, those stupid people), and on to teamwork, on in the instance of tonight's game, the lack thereof.

So, we finally arrived in the big town, and while inspecting our new place of residence, two of the PCs discover a giant cask in the basement, though, what they actually discovered was the passageway behind the giant cask. So, beyond the door is an iron portcullis, a trapped one at that. So, they try to open it, up, down, sideways, and finally, they try to disarm the trap, by setting it off. Very stupid, but that's not the point. The person didn't ask for advice, they just did what they wanted to, and didn't care one way or another.

So, after that, and an encounter with a hippogriff, another stupid person episode, we finally get out on the road, and about 12 miles from our destination (and 6 miles from the previous town), we find a wagon broken down on the side of the road. Two people go over to investigate, and discover the bloated bodies of a family of four, covered in pox scars. So, my character, takes a wide track upon hearing this information, and after a bit of an argument with another PC/Player about the potential of the "driver" being either one of the four dead or a fifth, unknown, person, we then begin to dispute if they might have come from the town we were headed towards.

I'm thinking, hey, they died twelve miles out of town, but only because the wagon broke, which meant that it was a fast death once it hit. Why? Because they were strong enough to leave the town, and get twelve miles, but not strong enough to walk the next six to the larger town. Fast and hard, that's what I think. Now, the other PC/Player insists that they might have travelled through the town, and that their driver might have gone off into the surrounding fields, even though the tracks do not suggest this theory. It's like he wants to argue with me.

Okay, so, diseased wagon, two potentially diseased teammates, and a potentially diseased town ahead of us. So, my character did what I thought was the wisest thing to do, I turned around, and rode as fast as the horse would take me towards the previous town, six miles back. Now, no-one else wants to come. Why? I don't know. So, I ride into town, and talk with the priest there, get information, and after a bit of diplomacy, get a single potion of Remove Disease, just in case.

Now, I then ride back to the group, who have since gone from two camps, exposed and non-exposed, to a single camp. So, my character stays a hundred feet away. And another PC/player, trying to get my goat, tries to come over. My character, being the paranoid person she is, threatens him if he does not stay away. She wanted to be alone, and he would not respect hat. So, after a safe night, it happens again the next day, and I threaten again, and he stays away. So, my character is always a hundred feet away, until, finally, we encounter battle, and the paranoia she feels about the disease is overcome by the camaraderie of the team, and she joins the battle.

So, yes, I split the team, and didn't work as part of said team, but that's because I tried to play the smart person and stayed away from the disease. These people died quickly from a disease, and she didn't want to die quickly as well.

But, it's only a game.

First Week

Well, I've finished me first week of classes, and, well, it's not exactly what I expected.

I'm sort of on the fence about my Interpersonal Communication professor. She's talented, really talented, and very experienced. That's without dispute. It's her personality that I have a problem with. She has an ego, though she has a right to it with her credentials, but it's still aggravating. I guess it'll be fine though, as I respect her enough for her ego not to bother me too much.

Then, there's my History professor. He's very difficult to read. We talked about Columbo (the proper name of Columbus), and he wouldn't allow me to play Devil's Advocate, but he did allow me to present a lark of an answer, which he then integrated into the lesson, wherein he played Devil's Advocate for all the Hero vs. Villain arguments we had come up with. So, in addition to learning more about the history of the various "discoverers" of North America (Lief Ericson in ~1000 AD, Zheng He in ~1432 AD, and Columbo in ~1492 AD), I learned about how some people, when faced with hardships, desire a scapegoat, and what better figure then someone who's dead and has a national holiday?

Plus, there's my math class, which is getting rather fun, though it's still fairly easy, since homework is now worth much more then last semester, I'm actually going to be doing some of it.

And I'm out of here.

First Day of School (Part 17)

Okay, so, today's my first day of classes, for my seventeenth time (starting with kindergarden). Starting off with Interpersonal Communication (which I'm currently sitting in). Then, after that's U.S. History, then a break (for food and a call to AppleCare), and then Integrated Mathematics.

Well, class is about to start, so, I've got to go.

Online Classes and Playing A Role

Okay, today's third post, unlike the first two, is not about my iPod, and, it has two subjects. Wow, two subjects, well, almost three, but this is just an intro, so it doesn't count.

Okay, the first subject is about Online Classes. I just realized why online classes are, well, different. Not only do I need to get a different book (the one I bought cheap was for the RRCC class, not the CCCOnline class), but I also need to purchase a lab kit, and a microscope. The book is on the order of $132 plus shipping, and the lab kit (with microscope) is going to be about $240 plus shipping. So, that's an additional $372 plus two shipping charges for a class I had to pay extra to get in to. But hey, at least it doesn't fuck with my work schedule. Oh, and I still have to at least look into buying the books for my two other classes. Though, i've got two different US History Books, and Interpersonal Communication should be easy enough.

Next, is my second topic, a bit more out there. It's about me trying to play a character different from myself. It gets boring playing the shy, cautious, non-tactically minded, nerd, so, i decided to go with a complete opposite with my character for my Home Game. Instead, I'm playing a female, outgoing, courageous, tactican. Unfortunately, it's too far away from me, and I seem to be having a problem. Plus, get this, the other players, instead of offering suggestions, they go and chide me, and be rude. Heck, tonight alone I had to fight like five times of throwing an outburst because of how rude the other players were. They rib me about playing a girl. Well, sorry, but I rolled randomly, and it came up female. They tease me about playing a former military character. Well, how the frell else am I supposed to have a backstory for a Marshal? It's a military class, and just because I don't have the personal military experience to play the character, unlike at least three of the other players, they tease me about it. Plus, they want me to play the diplomat, but when I need to be one, they don't let me talk and think. They're always (or seemingly so) wanting a quick reaction, well, i can't give them one. there's a reason a full-round diplomacy takes a -10 penalty, you need time to come up with the right words.

Okay, so, i was a little wordy, but, hey, it helped.

AppleCare

Okay, so, following last night's fun with the iPod, I called AppleCare this afternoon, after work. I called with two things in mind. First, I needed to transfer my APP (AppleCare Protection Plan) from my previous iPod (number 4), to my current iPod (number 5).

This took me quite some time, because, well, I couldn't find the phone number. I looked all through their website, and couldn't find it. Oh, I'm sure it's there, I just couldn't find it! So, I googled it, and found it.

For those that care, it's 1-800-APL-CARE (or 1-800-275-2273).

So, I call them up, and once I get into the right queue (love that word), I'm on hold for like five minutes. Then, I get the Customer Service Representative to hook me up. It works, and within another five to ten minutes, my current iPod is under my APP. Then I ask about the problem I'm having, and she transfers me over to Tech Support.

So, after another five minutes of hold, this time with much better music (and my phone nearly crapping out midway due to lack of power), I get on the phone with a Tech. After giving my name and serial number (the iPod's not mine), she asks me what the problem is. I describe it, and just to make sure, I try to replicate the problem.

but, lo and behold, it works. So, I'm like "Um, well, it wasn't working, but now it is". So, I try and check everything out to make sure, but the USB Dock Connector doesn't work. That should have been a sign, but I didn't take it. So I rushed over and grabbed my Firewire Dock Connector from my HTS, and just as I'm about to make it all work, my phone finally craps out, and I'm without Tech Support.

Then, it goes and does it all again, and I'm without iPod.

Again.

I guess I'll tackle it on my way to school tomorrow, seeing as I'm leaving early so that I can give my Mom extra Alone Time.

Well, off to the game. (I might post about that aftewards).

Stupid iPod

Argh!

Well, it finally happened, my fifth iPod died on me last night.

Now, some people who read this blog (you know who you are), might be thinking Fifth? But Nobodez, I though this was your second iPod?

Well, it goes like this. I received my first ipod (a 5GB, scroll wheel model), in February of 2002. Later that year, I believe it was September, that one died, and so I received a second, replacement, ipod from Apple. Then, in January of 2003, right before the one year warranty ran out, the second one died, and I received my third iPod.

That one died about a year later, though it limped on for about another year before, on Christmas of 2004, I received a 40 GB iPod (Click Wheel goodness) from my loving parents. All was fine and dandy, but not three or four months in, it went and died, and I received my fifth iPod in the mail (well, actually it was DHL) from Apple.

Now, yesterday, my iPod went and deleted all it's music and had to be restored. And, while I was recopying the songs, the hard drive went out, which meant that it was dead.

Dee Ee Dee, Dead.

Well, I'll call AppleCare this afternoon and get them to send a box for me to send Galatea (the name of iPod 5) to them so that I can get my sixth iPod.

For the record, I don't remember what iPods 1 and 2 were named, but 3 was named Alexandrina, after my iBook (though it was named in January of 2004, rather then 2003 when I received it from Apple), and number 4 was named Yoriko, after an Iconic Character in d20 Modern. Galatea is named after the Master of Many Forms Iconic in Complete Adventurer.

Well, off to work with me.