Just Around the Riverbend

So I just finished a float trip down the Chena river earlier this morning. Sure it wasn't anything major, but it was so much fun. Some of my coworkers and I entered ourselves in the Red Green Regatta here in Fairbanks and made our own raft and then floated it for about 2 hours and just let the current do its thing (we paddled when it looked like the bank was creeping up a little too close to us though).

The whole thing was awesome though. There were over 70 entries in the regatta as well, so seeing everyone with their own homemade rafts was quite the spectacle. Really it was a big water fight that just so happened to take place on a river on rafts, but you know, it was still fun nonetheless. My friend Noah was part of a boat that had a grill on it and gave hot dogs to other passing rafts. I mean, how cool is that?

On to the bad news though...

So Res Life may have messed up my housing. And by may have, I really mean "They did. For sure. Damn it." Normally, when you apply for housing, you get to make three choices for hall and room type and they assign you a room based on that information. Previously, I was slated to be a Resident Assistant again, so my room assignment was totally covered. However, they had me turn in an application anyways so I just put down the hall I was going to be working in without a room type. Here's the kicker. Now that I'm not being a RA, they decided to use that application anyways. Now I have a roommate (which is no bueno) and I'm working on getting that fixed.

I'm sure there's other stuff going on in my mind, but maybe its best to leave it be for now. Thinking is hard.

There's a time for speed... But that isn't now.

One of my favorite things to do with older video games is to come back to them after years of playing and test myself with them. I could do 100% completion, see if I can do it without dying, or any number of modifiers and it makes the game new again. Yet, the best modifier (in my opinion) is and forever will be "Just how fast can I beat this game?"

I mean, sure not dying for an entire game seems pretty interesting, but it doesn't really give me anything to compare against. By doing a speedrun of a game, I can say "Hey, I've been able to do it this fast. Can you?" because it sets a definitive level of accomplishment for the game. Plus, I've done it with quite a few games over the years like:

Super Mario 64 - 2:06:36
Super Mario Sunshine - 2:37:12
Banjo Kazooie - 4:56:22

And then I know, I've done it with games like Halo 3, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Bayonetta, and Metroid Prime but I don't have those times offhand....

But this week I realized that there are two types of game that I just can't bring myself to do a speedrun of. There are those games that are built entirely off of timed events (like racing games or fighting games) and then there are games that it would just be considered a disgrace to rush through.

What would Final Fantasy be like if you never took the time to power level? What would Zelda games be like if you never did a single side-quest? What would Just Cause 2 be like if you chose not to explore anywhere? Its games like these that it just hurts to even try. On the 4th I wanted to spend my day speeding my way through Windwaker like a champ and see how fast I could do it, but it soon dawned on me that I was just missing out on all of the fun that the game had to offer. Sure I can teleport using cyclones to just about anywhere on the Great Sea, but isn't it more satisfying to just cruise along on the King of Red Lions and listen to the ocean theme play? Sure I could power my way through the plot of the game, but never entering any secret dungeons, never getting any Pieces of Heart, never taking the time to seek out Great Fairies ended up just not being fun. Sure I could say "I finished Windwaker in 10 hours and XX minutes" (that's about how long it would have taken me if I didn't just give up) but instead I'd rather dick around in my boat and see what the game has to offer. Hell, I might even do that ridiculously long trading side-quest from Windfall and have highly redundant armor even though I rarely take damage anyways.

But yeah, there will always be those games that I can never and will never attempt to speedrun. Heck, after about 40 hours of play time I think I've only done 3 plot missions in Skyrim. Because why plot when I can run around and crouch to pretend I'm not there and steal the clothes off of ordinary citizens without them knowing?

I'll leave the speed to Sonic, expansive RPGs are meant to be enjoyed.

Success!

So work has been going pretty well so far. By pretty well, I mean freaking amazing.

I really enjoy where I work. I wake up in the morning (early enough to call myself a normal person), eat some breakfast, shower if I didn't the night before, and then make the 10-15 minute commute downtown to work. When I get there, I sit down and say my good mornings before just getting to work. For those who don't know, I do tech support for Golden Valley Electric Association/AlasConnect over the phone and I really find it to be one of the most rewarding jobs that I've ever had. I basically spend all day working with a great group of people and helping others with their computer problems. And that's just it, its fun. I'm there doing what I love to do, doing well at it, and learning in the process.

I just had my 30 day evaluation the other day too and even that went really well. So occasionally I come into work with my shirts being a little too wrinkly and sometimes I socialize too much, but I'm still doing well and having fun. It's also nice to hear that they like me working there as well. So much, in fact, that I got my level 3 security clearance 5 months earlier than I was supposed to. Now I can get into my part of the office without someone having to let me in! I work in the NOC, or Network Operations Center, which has quite a lot of information and responsibility in there so it requires a level 3 clearance to get in. So does our massive Data Center, but unless I'm escorting I don't really have a reason to be up in there. Plus its cold. Stupid cold for how warm the Fairbanks summer is.

Now to just keep up what I've been doing and continue enjoying myself there all the while.