Happy Wednesday!

This week, these wonderful women come via Maxim Magazine's online archives, and you can see for yourself that they are some beautiful ladies! The best part of this week is that three of the four women below are from our very own natural state! May they help you get through this hump day, and just try not to stare too hard!

Leia Mais…

Some Time Away...Update for Today

So, quite a bit has been going on while I've been away, and I must apologize to my readers. I know that some of you look forward to my bit of wackiness and insanity everyday and some of you just wish I would stop I'm sure! Well, after hearing about the mishap and craziness with Little Rock and the State Troopers, I have gone flying around Northwest Arkansas sending emails, faxing resumes, and turning in applications anywhere and everywhere. As of yet, nothing, but it's only been a couple of days. Also, I talked with the lady who would have been my supervisor at the Troop Headquarters up here, and she said that my 2.5 years at DeGray using the small radio there might be enough to get the position up here, but she wouldn't know until she spoke with the Captain who would have to chat with Little Rock. We'll see what happens!

In addition to that run of events, I've been hanging out with the local gamers up here having all sorts of fun and keeping my mind off of the serious depletion of funds and lack of gainful employment. Saturday was Game Day July '09 where a bunch of geeky gamers got together and played various RPGs. It was actually a lot of fun, and I was able to push my character to a spectacular death in a one-shot Call of Cthulhu game: Death at Luxor. It was great! I played a professor from the U. of Chicago by the name of Theodore Ruxpin and we spent a few hours "running" around Egypt to solve a mystery and prevent ancient alien monsters and gods from escaping and destroying the earth. Easy, right? Well, the first character to die did so at the hands of a bartender after giving too much lip.

My character was the next to die as I ate some alien bacteria which was designed to multiply and ooze as a green slime, and it did so from my stomach and out all orifices including eyes and ears and nose! I thought it was great, but to add to it my character decided to go out in a blaze of glory by lighting five sticks of dynamite to blow the tomb closed. I nearly killed the entire party of characters, but the escaped through the sand and sewage. Eww... But have no fear, as the other three characters, two females and a male, ended up fighting a large starspawn alien to their deaths so that the ritual could be completed with their sacrifice and keep the alien at bay for another 100 years. Yep, it was a lot of fun! If you don't roleplay, you might try it!

As for the other gamers, they played a game of Exalted, which I don't really know much about. And a third group played Paranoia XP which is basically what is sounds like. You spend the game paranoid about who's on a mission to kill your six-pack of cloned characters. Yes, death is so rampant in Paranoia that you have not one character, but six! Clones of one another with a hive mentality so that the six know the experiences of one another.

The game is a lot like the movie The Island where you live in a colony run by a computer. The computer knows all, and you're either a Loyalist (to the computer) or a Communist (against the computer) and if the computer finds out the Commies, it executes them. So, it's actually a great mix of paranoid people running around to complete goals and to stay alive. You can even get perversion points for completing goals skillfully or creatively (such as killing an enemy by loaning him your clean room suit that has plastic explosives taped behind the oxygen tank set to explode one minute from then -- yep, stuff like that). It actually reminds me of playing Goldeneye in multiplayer mode! It's got that feel to it!

Anyway, after Game Day was over at 5 on Saturday, we ate and then played a long game of Arkham Horror which is a board game designed around the Cthulhu mythos and the fictional city of Arkham (of Lovecraft origin). It's a game that feels like a mix of Clue, Risk, Stratego, with a bit of roleplay goodness in it. Truly unlike pretty much any other game out there! Lots of fun though, and we lasted until 2 am when the Ancient One "awoke" and devoured us all. Yep, it's fun being devoured...you should try it some time!

So, that was that. Sunday, we played a one-shot quick start to a new World of Darkness game coming out in August called Geist: The Sin-Eaters. You basically play someone who went to the brink of death, made a pact with a Geist (spirit) and came back to life as a dual-natured person. You have a give-take relationship with your geist, you can interact with ghosts, and in this one-shot we were a group of Sin-Eaters who formed the group The Bronx Saints and we had to chase down a ghost who was re-living and re-enacting the Son of Sam murders to open a gate to the underworld. We were supposed to stop him and did so by destroying his one tie to this world: a .44 revolver. Lots of fun and major kudos to Roy, the Storyteller/GM for this game! He did a superb job of getting through it and with loads of fun!

After that, on Monday, I got cracking with job hunts and resumes! And now it's Wednesday which means I couldn't, under any circumstances, miss posting today. It's the most sought after day of posts with Happy Wednesday which will be coming up here shortly! Thanks for reading! Good day.

Leia Mais…

Thank You Little Rock.

So, if you've kept up on here at all, you know that almost two months ago, I interviewed for the position of State Dispatcher at Troop L up here in Fayetteville (Springdale really). And along with that, I was told by everyone up here that I was good for the position. They wanted me, I wanted the position, everything was groovy. I was even sent a massive background packet to fill out.

Well, today, the wife received a call from the Captain in Springdale who said that in accordance with new rules from Little Rock's Central Office and the Governor, anyone wanting to work in the State Troopers' offices as dispatcher or trooper needs at least two years experience with the State Troopers' office. How a new hire is supposed to accomplish that, I don't know. What I do know is that despite all of his arguing on my behalf, the Captain has now informed me that the answer from Little Rock is no. ...

I even received excellent words from my former employer and references! I wanted this job, waited for this job, and now, all gone. Thank you Little Rock. Sometimes bureaucrats can be confusing, infuriating, and this time, depressing. Goodbye job...now, onto more applications. Sorry dear.

*Edit/Update: It would be remit for me not to thank my friends and wife for being there and encouraging me and just not allowing me to get down on myself about this. Thanks guys! You all are great!

Leia Mais…

Stately Sundays

I recently was able to view for the umpteenth time the film The Dark Knight which I think is a spectacular movie, and it saddens me to think that Heath Ledger has died because he brought a lot to this and many other films. But since I was on the bat theme, I thought that today's Stately topic would be Devil's Den State Park which is located in Northwest Arkansas outside of Winslow and the Ozark National Forest off I-540. I remember visiting there a few years ago with my father and siblings to go spelunking in some of the caves. It was a great time, and the bats were sometimes close enough to reach out and grasp (we didn't though thanks to my father's scare stories of rabies, etc.).

In light of some constructive criticism, I realize that my last Sunday post was a bit wordy and lengthy, so I'll try to cut this one back a bit and highlight some of the better points. In that case, first I would like to mention the update on their site detailing that the Farmer's Cave and Big Ear Cave are both off limits due to fungus infestations which are detected by the white noses as shown in the picture below. Yuck, but fungi can be tasty!


Aside from the caves though, there are wonderful cabins, a park cafe, and a swimming pool overlooking a gorgeous lake (who would want a pool when there's a lake though, I don't know). Additionally, they offer bike trails, canoeing and kayaking, and best of all, there is a horse camp for all you equine enthusiasts! This truly is a great park, and if I hope to visit it again soon to explore more of it's secrets which you'll only find by visiting first hand!

Lastly, although most of the park's history is somewhat vague on the various sites I visited, it was formed in the 1930s as part of a CCC (Civilian Construction Corp - part of the New Deal) construction project where they handcrafted much of the rustic wooden structures still in use today. Additionally, the CCC created some stone dams to create the 8-acre Lake Devil on which the park sits, and the dams, while upgraded and maintained for safety, still use many of the same stones that were first placed in the 1930s. A wonderful site to see indeed! So, go...visit...enjoy!!

Leia Mais…

Grrr-ing in the Land

:Begin Rant:

So, the wife and I have moved to Fayetteville. She has started school, and I have officially found a job but unofficially it hasn't quite started. This has been a month since we have moved up here, and frankly, I'm getting more and more nervous. There are bills beginning to hit us, and money is on short order. Not only that, but it is summer and a new city. There is much fun to be had, and we are unable to take advantage of said fun. More importantly though, money is needed to pay bills and if this job doesn't start soon, I'm not sure what I'll do (besides rip my hair out from going stir-crazy).

I love this place, and a lot of the people here have been helpful, open and accepting to the wife and me. I really appreciate that, but I need a job. Really, I'm the type of person that enjoys being at work in spite of everything. It gives me added purpose and fuels my need to be the "responsible breadwinner." I know that there is a lot more to life, but that "lot more" starts looking bleak when viewing it with no funds available. Yeah, yeah, I know, suck it up. I will and I know things will get better. There is a lot worse out there; I'm just frustrated due to the hurry-up-and-wait-ness of it all.

And while I know that there is a great job waiting on me, the state of Arkansas sure does take it's sweet time in shuffling papers and approving forms! It has nothing to do with the local office up here...they've been great in answering my calls and reassuring me the job is still mine. Heck, they need me to start as much as I want to start! The red tape in Little Rock is holding it up though! If anyone from Little Rock is reading this: Please, rush that paperwork so I can start working!

:End Rant:

Leia Mais…

Battle of the Boot.

Arkansas 31, LSU 30

Okay, Arkansas hasn't been the greatest team this year and aren't going to a bowl this year, but the Battle of the Boot is always important to Arkansas and LSU, even if it solely a matter of pride. As I was listening to the game last night with Casey Dick's wild 4th down pass play turn to a touchdown pass to London Crawford, I was elated that the "Boot" would stay with Arkansas for another year. The play call was definitely questionable with only 4th and inches, but Dick showed that he knew his teammate's capability. After that touchdown, the announcers began talking about MVPs of the game, and I would have to give the game ball to the Arkansas defense. They really stepped it up in the second half and were able to give the offense a chance to get back in the game and ultimately win. Good job, guys! Congrats on the win!

Leia Mais…