Tech Thursday and other stuff

Hello again.

Ok enough depressing stuff!

Tech Thursday.

I'm working on Stacy on 2 different tech items.  One:  A smart phone for her.  I'm luring her in with games on my android Samsung Epic.  She has discovered "Words with Friends".  She LOVES scrabble and is quickly becoming addicted.  And Angry Birds, Collapse and other games.

The other item is a bigger monitor for my main/game computer.  I have a 22" which she got for me as a surprise birthday gift 4 years ago.  And I have to say it was one of the best gifts she ever got me.  It was an upgrade from an old 17" CRT.

But I've had monitor envy since playing on a friends 25".  Me want.  But me cannot justify.  However, their is new hope.  Stacy is working from home now on Friday's using Connect to my PC to hook into her work computer.  She really likes my 22" big monitor...I'm trying to sell her on having 2 big monitors to use on the same computer.  Extended desktop ftw.

Then, their are phones for me!  I get my yearly upgrade from Sprint in November.  The multiple new dual core android phones have me quite excited.  But what I'm really eyeing now is the Nexus Prime aka Samsung Nexus Prime or several other names.  Its the straight "Google" phone without any of the extra manufacture UI stuff.  Otherwise, despite how much my Samsung Epic annoys me, the Samsung Epic Tough (Samsung Galaxy SII) dual core phones are at the top of the upgrade list.

Computer wise I'm pretty good.  I upgraded my CPU earlier this year to an i7-870, 8 gig ddr3 ram, win7 pro 64 bit etc.  My video card is a bit older, a GTX280, and is next on the upgrade list. 

Some games coming out I'm looking forward too also.
Modern Warfare 3 comes out in November (already preordered on Steam)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic before years end (preordered)

Then I just got Call of Duty: MW2 on steam for $30 bucks so I can play the single player missions and a coop mission with my friend Aragith.  Won't touch the MP on that game with a 10 foot pole.

So I get to game some tonight.  I employed the rarely failing tactic (though expensive one) of encouraging my wife to go to the Casino with her mom for a few hours.  They play penny slots so its not usually to bad.  Nathan just went to sleep in his crib...so its time for some ME time!  yay!

-out

A Prime Example

Last night was a prime example of ‘me’ vs ‘us’ time.  I get home a little before 6 from work and the gym.  I cool down and shower.  My MinL and SinL are setting the table for dinner.  Stacy gets home around 6:30 and we all eat dinner.  I put away the dirty dishes and clean up while she plays with the baby.  Then my wife decides she wants to take a walk.  After all, its milkshake Monday at the local ice-cream place down the road.  So we pack up Nathan (my son) into his stroller and head out.  We get back in 30 minutes or so when its getting dark out.  She takes Nathan into the front living room with her Mom and Sister where they talk and are watching TV, and playing with Nathan who is getting tired and fussy a bit.

So I figure, nothing else going on that demands my immediate attention.  A good time to jump onto Call of Duty-Black Ops and play a quick game or 2.  Besides, my family is watching the final episode of Bachelor Pad, which I have ZERO interest in.  My computer is set up in the family room, which is on the opposite side of the house.  Stacy wants me to show her something on the computer but she’s occupied.  I figure when she is ready she will come and get me.

So I jump in team speak with my friends and jump in game. (I play with a fairly regular group of people who run their own clan server.  I’m not in the clan, but a regular)  And it’s a good day.  All games know what I mean.  Especially in FPS games, you have good days and bad days.  Last night was a very good day.  I was kicking ass and taking names.  The other team is cursing me in team speak for repeatedly killing them, capping HQ points and generally just being awesome.  I get through 2-3 games where I am just on fire.  And when your playing good, you want to keep playing, riding that wave.  Much like when your having a bad day, where you keep spawning in front of the enemy, take every grenade to the head and die repeatedly without actually ever killing anybody, all you want to do is log and go do something else for a while.

So anyway, I play for maybe an hour.  And here comes Stacy with the dirty look and the “are you going to play every night?” comments.  I tell her I was just waiting on her to be ready and quickly log off the game.  I show her what she needs to know on her laptop, but am then expected to sit with her and watch the last 45 minutes of Bachelor Pad with her in the family room.  Sitting their, bored out of my mind while she’s typing up stuff on her laptop, watching a show I have zero interest in.  My computer sits, 15 feet away, lonely.  But I know if I go to it, I will piss of Stacy.  Why?  Because this is ‘us’ time? 

Now don’t get me wrong.  I like ‘us’ time.  If there is a show we both want to watch (I only watch a few TV shows, that we watch together.  Castle, Combat Hospital).  Or a movie from Netflix that we watch. (Usually 2 a week?)  She has no desire to watch the shows I like on the Discovery Channel, NGEO or the Military channel.  And she pretty much rules the TV and what is watching.  The ‘Lifetime’ network, Hallmark network, ‘O’ network.  Made for tv movies.  I’ve seen so many of them now.  And we both enjoy a lot of the same interests outside of the house.  But a work night, where nothing is going on?

So is it wrong, if we are not doing anything but watching TV, generally a show I have no desire to watch to want to go and play a game for a bit?  I’m in the same room as my wife, so I’m available for questions, comments or honey-do’s.  Lately I’ll play while Nathan is on his pillow or swing right by me so I can watch him. 

So that’s my question.  Am I in the wrong?  Have the time I feel guilty for trying to sneak an hour of play time in here or their.  For me, its my decompress from work time.  My stress relief.  For her, vegging in front of the TV works the same.

And you know what is the last thing that happens before we goto bed?  Foot rub.  For her, a good 15-20 minutes per foot leaving her falling asleep on the bean bag.  See?  I pay for the right to be able to game some.

-out

Introduction Ramblings

Ah blogging. 
To think back as a teenager I use to keep a private journal (journal, NOT a diary) in a spiral notebook were I would write down stuff that bothered me, things going on in my life, girls I liked and any other stuff that kept me up at night.  I've often found it easier to express myself in writing then verbally.  My brain tends to go very fast, which can really trip up my mouth.  Writing it down makes me slow down and really think about what I'm saying.  And now I can share my personal thoughts with everyone!

Anyway, this blog.  I will be writing about a myriad assortment of topics, covering my point of view and opinions about the constant balancing act needed to keep my life running.  Work, wife, baby boy, extended family, friends and my personal interests; gaming and reading.  And occasionally other things in the world that capture my interest.

So I'm a gamer.  I have gamed, both pen & paper (ie D&D) from the time I was in 3rd grade to video games, back when video games first started.  Like many gamers of my generation I started on a commodore-64 and the earliest consoles (atari, nitendo).  Now days I find myself playing 2 main type of computer games.  MMO's and the Call of Duty series of FPS.  I'm currently between MMO's awaiting the new Star Wars: The Old Republic to come out later this year.  I'm mostly playing Call of Duty: Black Ops online while waiting for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in November.  I also play in 2 different D&D style (Pathfinder RPG from Paizo) campaigns with groups of friends.

And I'm a family man.  I work, in a new position now, 9 hour days with a flex day every other Friday.  Some OT when I want it.  On call weeks with extended hours.  I'm married and have a 3 month old baby boy.  My mother-in-law and sister-in-law live with us as of about 2 months ago.  My mother-in-law cares for our child now that my wife is back to work too.  This, obviously takes a lot of my time.

Balancing Act: 
How to get time to game and occasionally hang out with friends while staying in my wife's good graces.  It is harder then it seems.  While she is generally pretty good about me getting together with my friends occasionally, she doesn't care for my computer games nearly as much.  It was a pretty drastic change for me, from being a single guy who could play as much as I wanted to a married man toeing the line (I know who is boss in my relationship...and it isn't me). 

I'm big on "me" time.  I have no problem being alone for a couple of days, happily playing on the computer, reading books, and rarely watching some TV (military channel, discovery channel, NGEO etc).  A lot of my friends live all over the county, I stay in contact with them via games.
My wife is big on "us" time.  She does NOT like being alone.  She doesn't handle alone time well.  She understands "me" time in concept, but not in practice.

Enough for now!  My head is full of stuff I want to get out, but overwhelming on the first post is bad!

-out