So I haven’t posted since…late August. Sue me. No, don’t
really, you won’t get much from it. Anywho, my posting got interrupted by life.
As I mentioned in Keeping Tabs, we
had just moved and didn’t have internet at the time. Then in September I got a
new, real job. Yaaay! So I’m working third shift for 35k a year. So now, let me do some re-capping.
Pennsic
Pennsic was fun. Although I was in the same camp as my ex
and her new fiancé (‘cause getting engaged after 3 months of dating is a good
idea, right?), I still had a good time. My other friends kept things lively.
During one of the huge f-all thunderstorms, I decided it was more fun to stand
in the rain doing Taekwon-do patterns and drinking than standing under the big
tarp. Of course, this led to my stock of
Mike’s Hard Lemonades dropping drastically.
It also led to a tipsy bottle band forming where we all stood around
blowing into the empty bottles. Was a good time.
In terms of the battles, the first rapier battle sucked. The
scenario was to retrieve as many bean-bags as we could and get them back to our
flag. This turned into more of a shuttle
run/wind sprint exercise than a battle. Doing wind sprints without warming
first is a really bad idea by the way. And I suspect it led to my late-week
injury.
During the field battle, Aethlemearc’s ally, Atlantia, left
us out to dry and we got annihilated. The East/Midrealm army just wrapped around
us and ground us to a pulp. At one point
a Hold was called, and I looked behind me to see how our line was holding. It wasn’t.
I was surrounded by the other side. This gave me two options, die on the
lay-on, or dive through the line opposing me. I chose the 2nd
option, there was just enough space between the two fighters opposite me. I made it through and found myself against
the Prince of the East and his cluster of guards. Since I now live in the East,
I felt obligated to try killing him. Sadly, I didn’t make it past his
guards. Oh well.
Thursday there was a Cadet Tournament for cadets or people
at least sponsored by a White Scarf, OGR, Bronze Ring, etc. I figured since I
was fighting for the wrong side all week, I’d get one of the OGRs from Bhakail
to sponsor me. I was doing fairly well, was in the groove for the most part,
had 1 loss and 2 wins when I took an arrow to the thigh. Well, not an arrow per
se, but my quadriceps decided to go the opposite direction that I wanted it to.
This effectively put an end to my fighting, and my most of my walking for the
rest of the week. Was still a good time.
New House
The house is coming along nicely, but slowly. My bedroom is
the most complete so far, being floored and painted. It now also has black-out
shades. The back yard is still a little torn up as the shed got knocked down
and we’re prepping to put in a larger one. One big enough to hold my mom’s Audi
TT, which sprung a leak last year when Hurricane Irene came through. It still isn’t working, the electrical systems
are all messed up. We do have internet
and cable now, so there’s some forms of entertainment.
Employment
In September I got hired at a place called CyOptics. I’m
working third shift in the Photoresist Room. Essentially, we get in wafers of
Indium Phosphide, and apply photoresist to them. Photoresist, or PR, is a light
sensitive chemical. We then expose the wafers under a pattern called a photomask.
When the PR is then developed, the pattern is left on the wafer. If the pattern comes out aligned right, we
move the wafers on to the other areas where they are either etched or have
metals deposited on them. The end result is ultimately a microchip with a laser
emitter or detector on it. It’s cool
stuff.
Until next time, keep respirating.
