Banged Up

Ladies and Gentlemen: I write this from a hospital bed at Banner Desert Medical Center. Well, let me rewind to the start.

Monday before last (14th), as I was walking up stairs to go to my biology class. I don't make it past the first landing on these stairs before I made one of my own. One step NAILED me in the right knee. Oh you bet it fucking hurt. Oh and you bet it left a mark.

So over the next week I dealt with the swelling... and bruising... yeah you might see where this is going. To keep this short: Monday the 21st I went to Urgent Care since the bruising had spread, there was still swelling. Well, there was also reddening of my shin. The doctor on staff and I both realized that while I hadn't broken my leg (X-Rays taken... I even have a copy on a CD) but I had developed cellulitis. Just click the link, then come back. Yeah, it's very serious thing to have.

My ass was in ER, at Banner Desert, shortly thereafter. I've been here since. I had surgery this past afternoon to drain a pocket of blood drained that was right below the injury, probably causing a lack of circulation that caused the cellulitis.

 I'll keep my blog updated as right now having moved back in August/Early September I'm all alone in my room. My laptop, and guest wifi, are keeping my sanity.

I'm not dead I swear!!!

You ever get busy with work/homework/a project and leave another little project you have to the back burner? One that's always in the background anyways?

Yeah, this blog became that after I moved and went to school. Sorry about that. To note I've also really not been feeling well. I'd explain but it's more of a mental thing that I just realized was happening and I've had to wrangle my brain back into place this past week. All said and done I'm looking to pick up writing here and there from now on.

Game Jam and Toast

So I've been busy with adjusting to school, my school workload, and other things that I may or may not enumerate later.

Right now I'm waist deep in a Noob Game Jam:

Google Image Search for Game Jam. Sounds yummy!

So what is this, really? Basically we "Jam Noobs" (ie those that have never been in a game jam) get paired up with vets in teams to make a game. In 48 hrs. With or without sleep. I took the former, though see below on what I've learned. What have I learned?

• If you want to sleep, having a RedBull at 9 PM is not a good way to do it. Falling asleep at 3 AM and getting back up at 7 AM is not a good thing.
• Open design docs, ones that all in a team can edit, are breeding grounds for scope creep. Thank the gods that I took some initiative to nail things down.
• I'm a better artist than I give myself credit for. I'll post some of my 'junk' below. 
• Also egos can run in. No, we're not doing the A-Team van.
• We are very sick, sick puppies. The group I'm apart of is doing Rundown, where we run down pedestrians and shoot at the other cars. Our special enemies include Justin Bieber, Obama, and a drunken college girl, among others. Oh and a bear that throws sharks while ridding a unicycle. Yeah the artist, my friend James, is very, erm, pleased to have to draw that by hand. Yeah

So I've got 20 hrs to go on this, wish me luck that I make it. Here's a quick dump of the art I've made so far, enjoy!

A week into school....

So far, as I've only gone through my first day of classes, I really don't have much to report. I swapped some classes last night so I could take C# programming (rather than C++ II) as I needed that for the beginning core of my classes. This means I now do a Mon-Thu for all my classes. Here's basically my schedule, and an explanation after:

• BIO: Biology
• CSC: Computer Science, here it's C# I
• PRO: Professional Studies, this one is the basic course EVERY MAJOR has to take
• COM: Communications, here it's Public Speaking
• GAM: Game related. This one is Intro into Game Design. My major takes it so we know what the designers what us programmers to do.

So, it's a light load this first semester. The juggling too place because C# too place at the same time as my original PRO102. So swapped that with one my roommate is taking, punched in C# and BAM!

I'm here, and it feels weird so far

I'm still a bit exhausted from all of this. Excited and tired, like a little kid on Christmas Eve as they fall asleep at 11:55 pm waiting for Santa. I have been running on Adrenaline and Caffeine for the past 2 days. Even now, after 12 hours of sleep I am still feeling exhausted.

I was up until 1 am cleaning my old apartment on Monday. I had used the previous Saturday with my classmate Tom and a UHAUL to move what large items I was keeping to my storage shed. The time since that night to early Monday morning was a blur.

I shall call it "My Great Purge", as I pretty sure the garbage men are pissed off with me. Assuming they came and picked it up yesterday. If they did the west side garbage bin was full. Also the garbage chute was backed up to the 2nd Floor! Sorry Mr. Garbage Man. Bring a shovel.

So even though I slept nearly 12 hours I may go back until lunch today. Which, of course, means I've become a college student overnight XD.

[Edit] oh and I had Hot Pockets for breakfast, so doubly so. Having those reminded me of this, enjoy.

Regarding Legalities: GameStop, Deus Ex, and OnLive

So unless you've been under a rather large rock for the past few days you'll notice in the gaming world a bit of a kerfuffle right now: SquareEnix released the retail version of Deux Ex: Human Revolution with a $50 coupon for OnLive, and digital games distribution network. GameStop.Was.Pissed. They took the time to open each box and remove the coupon, and are now fully removing the retail version until further notice.

Since I'm stuck daydreaming at work (Tomorrow is the last day :O ) I thought I would chime in on this. I've read enough up on it to form some (not all) solid opinions on what is going on:

Change Feels Weird

So, if you look at my countdown clock I'm nary 1 week away from my move in to Arizona. It feels... strange. Weird, exciting, scary, wonderful, awesome all rolled up into one emotion. Swirling in my head day and night now.

I'm sitting here, right now at work ( :O I'm surfing, I'M SURFING HAHAHAH), composing and email to users/coworkers/friends about my last day being next Friday with the company. It's bittersweet and I thought to immortalize it here, just for kicks ^_^ Take care all, I have a party tomorrow as a going-away thing and I'll be taking pictures.

Hello Everyone,

Throughout the past year I have re-examined my current standing in life. To pull a movie quote out here it was “measured, weighed, and found wanting”. Putting it more bluntly I was dissatisfied with where I was and decided that I had the power to change this. Thus I put into motion a plan to better myself via grand changes in my life.

That leads me to the purpose of this announcement: 8/26/11 will be my last day at <REDACTED>. Over the past 10 years I have had the pleasure of seeing this company grow robustly and astonishingly. However my future plans will not allow me to work in my current position, therefore I made the difficult decision to move on. For the curious I will be moving on in my life in leaps and bounds: I was accepted to The University of Advancing Technology, located in Tempe, Arizona, and will be pursuing my Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science with an emphasis on Video Game Programming. UAT is a fine institution and I hope to have many doors opened before me when I graduate.

It has been a pleasure to have worked with and for you in this past decade of my life. Wish me luck and longevity in this new adventure in my life.

The Countdown Has Begun!

Take a look to your right up. You'll notice something. I picked out a nice flash flip-clock to countdown my time until move-in at UAT. I got my housing info just last night. I'm so EXCITED!


And worried, and scared, and a mix of emotions I haven't felt... ever. It's weird for this old fox* to feel like this. I'm pulling myself up by my own bootstraps to move to another state, leaving behind all that I've known in my life. Though I didn't move here until I was 13, Costa Mesa IS my hometown. I'm going to miss the town I use to call "Coastal Misery" but now realize I was the one miserable.


*it would take too long to explain the choice of animals here

[Edit] Almost forgot to add in this weirdness. So a long time coworker of mine, Renee, pointed out for me that my handing of my resignation to work yesterday, August 1st, was exactly 10 years to the day I started working for my company. I didn't plan it that way, but find it fitting.

Orange County Fair 2011: Part IV: Rides

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So as not to kill everyone's browser I'm splitting these up into parts. I'll link each part here as I go along.

Part I: The Entrance

Part II: FOOD

Part III: Entertainment

Part IV: Rides (You are here)

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Ok so this is going to be the shortest of my 4 posts on the OC Fair. Mostly because, ashamed as I am to admit, and not very good for most of these rides. I'm too heavy and/or big to fit in most. The ones I can fit in squish me with speed. Oh, and there's this thing I have about heights (not nearly as bad as when I was a teen but it's still there). So I really don't go on rides.

Orange County Fair 2011: Part III: Entertainment

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So as not to kill everyone's browser I'm splitting these up into parts. I'll link each part here as I go along.
Part I: The Entrance
Part II: FOOD
Part III: Entertainment (You are here)
Part IV: Rides

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