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Writer's Block: Tinsel town [Nov. 29th, 2009|10:56 am]

fenjer
[Tags|]

Do you put up decorations for the holidays? If so, when do the decorations go up and when do you take them down?

Submitted By [info]carterbecks99


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The REAL tree and all the decorations go up on the 12th, and they come down 12 days after Xmas.

As per traddition.
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(no subject) [Nov. 28th, 2009|07:21 pm]

trav28
If anyone fancies funding this item for Linda, give me a yell ;)

http://www.honour.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=285_288&products_id=6778
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(no subject) [Nov. 27th, 2009|10:14 pm]

vientral
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Sheep-time! [Nov. 27th, 2009|03:17 pm]

elmyra
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Location |Cobalt 12]
[mood | calm]

Stolen from [info]omegar...

Think of a TV show/Movie you like
Look it up on IMDB
Click on memorable quotes and choose one
Repeat 15 times
Post them for people to guess

1. Well, I've always believed that if done properly, armed robbery doesn't have to be an unpleasant experience. - Not Robin Hood. Try again.

2. What's next? - West Wing ([info]omegar)

3. Listen closely. I'd like to help you but I can't. I'd like to tell you to take a copy of your policy to Norma Wilcox on... Norma Wilcox, W-I-L-C-O-X... on the third floor, but I can't. I also do not advise you to fill out and file a WS2475 form with our legal department on the second floor. I would not expect someone to get back to you quickly to resolve the matter. I'd like to help, but there's nothing I can do. - The Incredibles ([info]omegar)

4. If more of our so-called leaders would walk the same streets as the people who voted them in, live in the same buildings, eat the same food instead of hiding behind glass and steel and bodyguards, maybe we'd get better leadership and a little more concern for the future. - Babylon 5 ([info]drabbit)

5. Thanks for the adventure. Now go have one of your own. - Up ([info]same_difference)

6. Kendra, this is a motorcycle. Its sole reason for being is to go fast, very fast. Not for you to use as a clothesline. Now, make no mistake. I love you as a friend and a roommate, but I love my motorcycle more. Stay away from the bike, okay? - Dark Angel ([info]hotpork)

7. I can't believe it. You and Dad get paid to write about plants, and you hate dirt. - Coraline ([info]ladycelia narrowly beat [info]phil99 to it.)

8. Please hear me out, this is important. Today I have a chance to join the human race for a few hours - there are actual adults waiting for me with margaritas. Look, I'm in a dress, I have make-up on.

9. Do you know, Humphrey's going all the way to Ipswich to buy me a ring. Stardust ([info]omegar)

10. He gave me a multiple orgasm, I think I know him well enough! - Not Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Try again.

I think I'm going to stop at 10 for now because I'm running out of movies/TV shows I actually like. I might come back to it later.
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(no subject) [Nov. 27th, 2009|02:16 pm]

astray_penguin
Apparently being in hospital has made me ill. I feel terrible and I'm totally worn out. I need to get stuff done this week and was trying to be social next week. But I'm going to have to spend a lot of time in bed and resting instead. Fuck hospitals.

The new updated rules for the other half of Warmachine have been released, reading through them doesn't excite me at all. It's weird but the old faction just feels so bland compared to Retribution, I doubt I'll ever play Skorne again, they just aren't fun.

My mood has completely fallen through the floor today as well, it's just.. completely dead. Yesterday I was fine and today for no reason at all it's fucked. My wrist is playing up and I'm sick and tired of life. Maybe all that medication has finally gone through my system and this is the down after the high, I dunno.. it's been a few days since then but it makes sense at least. Just got to put up with it.

I got the new Borderlands DLC yesterday. It's really halloween based, which sucks because it got released later than it should of, which means you go "man this would of been cool for halloween" constantly.

I think I'm going to spend the rest of the day in bed watching Dead like me and Kamen Rider. I don't feel much like beong cincious and at least this way I don't bother any one.
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Listen to my voice, it's my disguise. [Nov. 26th, 2009|05:18 pm]

cindas
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Location |Work,]
[mood | pleased]

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )
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(no subject) [Nov. 25th, 2009|03:49 pm]

shevek
Within 12 hours of moving into a new house, we have received a Victoria's Secret catalogue addressed to "Current Resident".
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Why the Supreme Court is wrong [Nov. 25th, 2009|10:50 pm]

elmyra
[Tags|, , , , , , , ]
[Current Location |Home in Newcastle]
[mood | sleepy]

So the Supreme Court today decided that the Office of Fair Trading did not have the power to decide whether bank overdraft charges are fair. And I got myself into a rather heated discussion on whether this was the right decision over on Twitter - which really isn't the best medium for that kind of discussion. ;-)

I'm told the legal basis for the decision is sound, and let's face it, the Supreme Court should between them have the legal expertise to make that decision based on UK law. So here's why I still disagree with it:

[Just went over to Twitter to look some of the discussion and found that the spammers are already in on this one: "Reclaim_UK @elmyra #bankcharges Court Ruling does not stop you from reclaiming your money. For more info http://bit.ly/16YqKD" - colour me amused. I should probably also disclose at this point that I only been affected by said overdraft charges only once, and this really don't consider it worth my time to chase Natwest for the sake of 30 quid.]

So, [info]vampwillow's argument was that people should bear the responsibility for their actions, shouldn't spend money that isn't their own, and should suffer the consequences for unplanned overdrafts. Not an unreasonable position, yet one I disagree with.

My main problem is that the system is unfair: it disproportionately penalises the poor. If you are on a low income and have an emergency which means you need to go beyond your overdraft limit, and then get hit with a £30 charge, that makes getting back into the black so much more difficult. You end up in a vicious cycle.

Sure, says [info]vampwillow - just budget carefully, plan your spending, talk to your bank if you need to borrow more. Well yes. But.

If you're on a low income or benefits, the overwhelming likelihood is that you're not terribly well educated. "current cleared balance + income added at date it clears - expenditure in cash - exp out in next week = effective balance forward" says [info]vampwillow. Simple enough. Yes it is shocking how many people don't even have that basic knowledge of financial management. It doesn't get taught in schools, and most parents don't teach it to their kids - particularly those from a disadvantaged background. And even ignoring the education aspect, simply access to your bank balance may be more difficult if you, for instance, can't afford Internet access.

The next problem I have is that, again, if you're poor, planning your spending is more difficult. You may simply not be able to set aside money for emergencies, and you not have the support network around you to help you out.

And finally to the point on budgeting, even if you plan and budget and the emergency hits you, going to your bank manager and explaining that you're on benefits but need a higher overdraft limit please is likely to be a. embarrassing and b. either futile or expensive. Because being poor is expensive: you get charged more for utilities and you get charged more for credit among other thing. In some of the worst cases, this kind of thing may drive you towards loan sharks. (For an extremely educational experience on the subject of poverty, I recommend a walk through Paisley high street, where every other shop is a bookmaker's or a loan shark.)

Here's another thought. Think about your bank account: the number of transactions that go through it, the debit card you get with it, the cheque book, the online and phone banking, access to branches, and various other bits and pieces. How much do you pay for your current account? Chances are, you pay nothing. That's because the banks use the money they make from charging people for unarranged overdrafts to subsidise "free" banking. Nice for you, if you stick to your overdraft limit, yes? But really, I'm in the 40% tax bracket now. If I was a Tory, I'd have absolutely no problem with this situation, but as it is, I do actually object to my bank account being subsidised by overcharging people on low incomes or even benefits.

And finally, there just isn't a moral justification for banks charging the amounts they do for unarranged borrowing. Yes, spending money you don't have should be discouraged. And yes, there is probably some small administration cost involved in the whole mess for the bank. But the amounts charged in no way reflect the cost, and last I checked the banks were not the police and thus had no power to enforce behaviour or punish. In fact the whole situation is not dissimilar to the proposals in the new "Digital Economy" bill to make ISPs the guardians of copyright law by requiring them to enforce it and disconnect users who may have broken it. Private enterprise and law enforcement should stay well apart.

[And just in case you haven't heard of the Digital Economy bill, or the Three Strikes proposal (it makes me want to spit every time I say/write it), please do wander over to ORG and have a look/sign the petition/phone your MP/leave a message for Lord Mandelson.]

So yeah, I'm against adding yet another poor tax in the form of ridiculously high overdraft charges.

Night Universe.
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(no subject) [Nov. 25th, 2009|09:44 pm]

astray_penguin
Okay so Christmas cards. The following people are on the list, if you're not and want one post in the other post.

Mari
Stephie
Emma

No one else?
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Happy birthday to you... [Nov. 25th, 2009|11:40 am]

cindas
[Tags|]
[Current Location |Sofa,]
[mood | cheerful]

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )
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Is it possible... [Nov. 24th, 2009|07:18 pm]

miss_hellfire
[mood | creative]

...to write 30,000 words in five days? When at least one of these days will be spent in London?
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(no subject) [Nov. 24th, 2009|11:03 am]

_ainz_
[Tags|, , , ]
[mood | sad]
[music |Lee Haslam - Music is the drug]

So..post number two, been signed off my work again for another 2 weeks, meaning that I'm not back until the 15th of December. Good in a way considering that I'm feeling really dizzy and..kinda confused a lot lately, which I'm hating. Due to the sudden increase of my medication apparently, further confirming my belief that GP's dont have enough knowledge of epilepsy. And the sick pay isn't exactly enough to live on, but less stress is good at the moment so maybe it's not all bad. Unlike previous employers my boss is really understanding about the whole thing.

Getting completely fed up though of being in this shite money situation, and being completely unmotivated. I left uni to try and have a less stressful year, giving me time to figure out what else I wanted to do. Since I've left I've done nothing but stress. Stupid fucking mix up with council tax bills meaning we owe rediculous amounts of money to these fucking arseholes who just seem to employ scouse cunts to tell me that I'm obviously lying when I say I have no money. Argh!!! (hmm...where did that come from?) Now my health is being a problem so I can't work leaving me around £500 short this month.

So... that leaves me in an interesting situation to say the least. I am fed up however of wasting time sat on my arse getting less enthusiastic and still feeling like I'm going nowhere. Ideally I'd just start again, go home, save some money and whatever. However that appears not to be an option either.. so I'm stuck here. In the long run this is only til March, then a large chunk of our bills dissapear and I can be happy Ainzlie. Until then I don't see myself feeling any better or any happier. But hopefully less stressful...that'd be a start at least.

x
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(no subject) [Nov. 23rd, 2009|11:50 pm]

shevek
I have spent today applying gdb to the JVM, and after approximately 6 hours of extreme stress, downloading about 4Gb of extra source code, and using nearly every debugging tool in the entire arsenal, I successfully debugged and worked around the issue. I wish this were a more directly marketable skill.

Tomorrow, I will make more actual progress.
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(no subject) [Nov. 24th, 2009|07:13 am]

astray_penguin
So today was the day of the colonoscopy. Got there at 2:30 as the appointment said and sat in the waiting room until 5 when I finally got in and it wasn't until about 5:30 when they did it. It's odd that I don't mind waiting, just sitting there with nothing to do doesn't bore me, I was tired and tried to sleep but I'm too alert in social situations to get to sleep, which is something I learnt.

So after waiting I go into the ward and have to put on a gown, then lay there for ages and they do all the tests, questions and such. Because my veins are picky the nurse had to slap my arm a few times to get them up, it's always fun accusing them of abuse when they do it. Nurses have a rough job and being anti social to them doesn't help any, so making jokes is good for them and it makes you relax a bit.

The thing it's self was fine. I was sedated and didn't know anything was happening until it started to ache, When it started to hurt I asked for more sedation and got it, the 3rd time it really hurt and I said "stop stop stop, more sedation" and all I remember then is waking up and it was 8 o clock. I got up and got a biscuit and some fruit juice then went home. All in all it was fine and the worst bit was them putting the drip in my arm for sedation. Maybe I'm totally gay and in denial but that type of thing doesn't bother me at all, the whole experience was rather mundane compared to having the camera down the throat. When you have a camera down the throat you choke and gag on it, to the point where I was like "well deep throating is never going to be erotic ever" and this didn't have the same effect or even come close to doing so.

So I got out and we were walking across the car park and the car was on the left but I wandered off to the right. There was an office block with a huge purple sign on it and all the lights on (it was dark), so I walked over to look at it with the trees out of the way. So my mum was like "Stephen, this way" and thought I was wandering off, but I just really like city lights at night and refused to give in. I don't remember the journey home, I was out of it and it seemed to go quite quick.

When I got home I was waiting for food to get cooked and sat on AIM for a while. I could hardly spell anything right and it was mostly gibberish that I can't remember. So I checked my logs and they are pretty amusing. The highlight of which is asking my ex if she wanted a 3some, except only to cuddle, pointing out that sex was completely out of the question. The sad part is knowing me when I'm tired like that I was 100% serious and my only interest was to get two cuddles at once. The other person I was talking to I was hitting on really poorly, it was a fun contrast. so here's to Emma, who has to have a hot girl with her just to make her cuddles worth having~

Tonight I have a Warmachine tournament if I feel up to it, I'm going to get some more sleep now and hope I am.
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Seven Ways To Create More Time In Your Day.... [Nov. 23rd, 2009|12:45 pm]

0rpheus
[mood | accomplished]



Do you ever feel like you have way too much time on your hands, and far too little work and life to fit into it? Unless you're a teen on summer break, I reckon it's unlikely! Most of us would love to have an extra couple of hours in each day. I know I would! With two more hours, we could find time to exercise, to read some of the books that are gathering dust on our shelves, to spend time with friends, the kids, etc....

But, unless you're lucky enough to find a magic genie who can stretch your days to twenty-six hours long, you're stuck with the same twenty-four hours per day as the rest of the world. So how can you create more time in your day? Here are seven magic ways:

01: Get Up Earlier.
Okay, this one's not exactly genius (or even genie) level. Get up fifteen minutes earlier. If you're like most people, your morning probably feels rushed: you drag yourself out of bed at the last possible minute, grab a hasty shower, maybe get some breakfast if you're lucky, sort out the kids/cat/partner and dash off to work. Getting up just a bit earlier can give you some breathing space. Perhaps it'll give you time to actually sit down and enjoy your breakfast for once. Maybe you can use that fifteen minutes a day to read through that book or stack of journals that you keep meaning to get to.

02: Create a Plan.
At the start of your workday, before you even check your eMails, make a plan. Jot down the three most important tasks you want to accomplish that day. Put a big star next to the most important. Now, before you get into the busy work of eMails and photocopying and tidying your desk, start on that important task and see it through to the end. Surprisingly few people take the time to plan their workday, and end up spinning their wheels on a number of low-priority tasks without really accomplishing anything big.

03: Batch Tasks Together.
When you're going through the workday, try to keep similar tasks together. When you switch from one thing to another, your brain takes a few minutes to catch up and settle in: constantly jumping between answering eMails and writing a report and tidying up your desk just means you'll lose track of where you'd got to. You might feel like you're working super-efficiently (because your mind is buzzing all over the place), but you'll actually be wasting a lot of time.
If you need to answer a number of eMails, do them all at once. The same goes for phone calls, filing, photocopying and other similar tasks.

04: Block Out Chunks of Time.
Do you have some big project that you'd love to get round to? Maybe it's writing a novel, starting a business, training for a marathon, decluttering your home - whatever your particular venture or goal, you never get around to making progress. The best way to tackle big projects like this is to force them into your schedule. Spare time doesn't just appear from nowhere – you need to make a conscious effort to create it. Block out a weekend afternoon, for instance: tell family and friends you have another engagement that day. Then storm on ahead with that project. Trust me, you'll feel great for having made a start.

05: Don't Multitask.
Although multitasking feels efficient – because it feels busy – it actually loses you time. Believe me. I speak from experience here. By sticking to doing one thing at a time, you'll be much more focused and able to produce your best work: there's nothing efficient about rushing a job which you then end up having to redo.

06: Stay Focused.
When you are working on a task, make a conscious effort to remain focused. Sure, you'll have intrusive thoughts like, maybe I should check my eMail, or this desk could really do with tidying. Just recognize that those thoughts are impulses which you don't need to give into. If you think of something while you're working on your task like I really must phone Joe, then just make a note on a bit of paper or in your diary so you don't forget – and get on with the task at hand. You'll accomplish much more by working in a deliberately focused way than if you let yourself jump around from task to task as things come to mind.

07: Finish Work On Time.
Finally, one of the best ways to make more time in your life is to finish your work on time! If you work for an employer, make an effort to leave the office on time – at least a couple of days each week. (I know this is difficult if your workplace has a long-hours culture). If you work for yourself, you need to be even more self-disciplined, as your work is likely to be very easily accessible when you're at home! Some good ways to create a boundary at the end of the day are to keep your work separate from the rooms in your house where you relax. You could also schedule something social in the evening (perhaps meeting friends for a drink) so that you can't get caught up in "just one more eMail"...

What could you do with an extra ten hours every week? How could you create more time in your day?
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(no subject) [Nov. 23rd, 2009|01:51 am]

astray_penguin
The preperation for tomorrow triggers the uber bad pain.. they are trying to find a cause for by doing tomorrow... to try and get better I have to hurt myself in the worst way possible...

Life hates me, this post wins against any argument you can make.
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NaNo Day 22 [Nov. 22nd, 2009|11:32 pm]

madzilla
[Tags|, ]
[mood | ecstatic]
[music |Bear McCreary - Diaspora Oratorio | Powered by Last.fm]


50115 / 50000 words. 100% done!

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Quirks post [Nov. 21st, 2009|03:30 pm]

astray_penguin
Stealing this from another blog, can't remembr how to link names on LJ any more.

Sounds -

I'm overly sensitive to loud noises. Where as most people can tolerate some loud noises I really can't, it creeps me out when I lose my sense of hearing because things are too loud. One example was when me, Jay and Kieron were waiting for an old electronic door to open, it made a fuck load of noise, I had to cover my ears and they hardly noticed it.

If I'm inside some where I must have some level of noise though, I just can't settle in a silent building, it's just plain creepy. Outside I'm fine but human structures + no sound = uber weird. This is why I always have my TV on, it makes noise and noise is good.

Clothing -

Must be totally oversized! I hate tight clothing, especiallyt-shirts. I can easily get into a medium or even a small, but I wear Large or Extra Large. I'm most comfortable in shorts when they come down past my elbow and reach about mid thigh. I tend to have a small selection of clothes that I really like and just wear them exclusively.

Material wise I tend to almost exclusively wear cotton. I really don't like most materials, they don't feel right and aren't comfortable. They also need to be thick, when I wear something I want to feel it's there, not have it waffer thin and just feel light.

Colour wise t-shirts I tend towards blue or tan. I like both colours a lot and because I have dogs in every colour they set a middle ground until Black. I'm also wearing more white recently but not a whole lot. Jumper wise it's yellow all the way down, I've had the same Jumper almost a decade now, it's a comfty fleece and while I have newer ones, I always fall back to this one. I may take pictures of them at some point.

Smells -

Smells are kind of weird, I don't tend to notice them much. I really like the smell of Fresh cut grass though. One of my favourite (and weirdest) smells is the smell of Games Workshop plastic glue, I can't explain why but it just smells so freaking good.. and holy fuck, I'm eating a boiled sweet as I post this and DUN DUN DUN it tastes exactly like the GW plastic glue smells.. WTF life!? It just tastes/smells so freaking good. I haven't had these sweets in years either. Another smell I love is Diesel, I don't know why but I've always enjoyed the smell of it at garages.

Smells I don't like.. are rather rare. I remember playing Silent hill 3 and one of the dogs having hid some food under my old desk. I could smell the food going bad but just couldn't find it any where. It stands out in my mind because I was like "Wow, this is weird smelling decay as I play". These days I couldn't put up with it though, my Asthma got worse and my throat gets tight around mold, sucks to be me.

Tastes -

There is only 1 food I don't like. Crab. I had it once and just.. ick, I really can't stand it.

I love the taste of pepper, peppery food is awesome. I tend to put it on everything I can.

Food is difficult to discuss since I'm pretty much a vegan now. I'm lactose intolerant and after my operation I've become restricted eating meat too. My diet isn't very exciting at all.

Human touch -

I don't mind shaking hands if I must, but I want to wash them right afterwards. I don't trust people to have clean hands and I do't want to know what they just touched.

Personal space is very important to me, I hate people being too close and it bugs me when people won't back off. I don't like being around people and having them in my face does not improve this. Luckily I'm an anti social dick and it never comes up much.

Other sensations -

Lights are evil. I really don't like the dark, it deprives me of a sense and that is creepy. The village I live in has 1 street light right in the centre of it, which is quite a way from where I love, so outside is pitch black except for the house lights at night, that's not creepy when half the fences here belong in RE4 and I'm not starting on the sheds with that one.

Light bulb wise 100 watts or fuck that shit. It's just not bright enough, I don't like energy saving bulbs and LCD monitorsgive me bad eye strain really fast.

On a weird note I also can't look at the sky, it's too bright for me, when I look up even if it's a cloudy day it still hurts my eyes. Teach me to be nocturnal eh?

Temperature -

I absolutely HATE being too hot. There is nothing worse than being too hot, you can't cool down easily and it bugs me. I like being a bit cold, but my room is always the warmest in the house because my PC and TV are always on keeping it warm.

One quirk I have is that I will -always- sit under a blanket at home. No matter how hot or cold it is I have a blanket over my legs. I don't know why it started but it's a habbit now. It tends to keep my legs warm so I'm not in pain from them, which is good. It also helps when I make models as it's a safety net before the floor.

Any questions?
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(no subject) [Nov. 20th, 2009|02:03 pm]

astray_penguin
[Tags|]

One time me and Keith were making a Livejournal post and he... okay.

L4D2 is fun. It feels like a true sequel in the classic sense. It didn't reinvent the wheel, it didn't try to be something new and different, it just added loads of new stuff, did some more levels and did a new story. It's a good game, it's a lot of fun and the new stuff adds a lot of depth to the game. They also ramped up the difficulty, so often you are struggling to survive, not just breezing through. My only complaint is the old special infected seem rather rare now, but that may just be random spawning.

Everyone is back tomorrow which sucks and I also have to start my special diet for the hospital appointment on Monday. Really not looking forward to that but got to be done. Got to finish tidying up my room today since I went through everything and threw out some old clothes, oragnised my games and such. I might take a picture of my bookshelf since it's now covered in awesome things.

Tuesday night there is a Warmachine tournament, I already know some of the lists being played and I know Retribution are going to have an uphill battle. It's a MKI tournament and that means Retribution robots are bad compared to everyone elses, so it's weakest army and most experience to pull this off. I know the tactic I need to use and it involves zerg rushing and winning as early as possible because you can't play attrition when everyone else has an advantage over you in this format. I will probably take some pictures and if I get my ass in gear I'll be rocking fully painted, and most likely the only one. Fuck yea, I win on that front. I think this will be my last MKI event as I'm looking at going to some big/national tournaments when MKII hits in January and I want to start practicing for that, I already play a MKII faction so it's easier for me than most I guess. Franco said he wanted to get into MKII and he's got a week off after next, so we're going to get some games in. Should be interesting to see how that goes, unfortunately it means I now have to read another rule book.. I just finished the Malifaux rulebook and waiting to see if a community builds and now I'm reading an update to Warmachine.. ick.
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Oh why, oh why would I wanna be anywhere else? [Nov. 20th, 2009|11:08 am]

cindas
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Location |Bed.]
[mood | blah]

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )
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