Still no MMO action, but I am still playing quite a lot (by my standards) of Team Fortress 2. It’s highly enjoyable, and I got my first Heavy unlock last night – the Sandvich, which is a self-heal and is more worthwhile than the minigun unlock I am sure to get later. I play a lot of Heavy, so it’ll happen sooner or later, but it seems to me that the Pyro unlocks were easier to get. This could possibly be my imagination; I can’t compare it to the Medic unlocks, none of which I actually got – I’ve never felt the love for the Medic, although I’ve fooled with the class a little bit and will continue to dabble here and there.
Upcoming, on January 30, is the second anniversary of the release of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. While I’m not playing just now, Vanguard is on my list of favorites and I’ll be back to it sooner or later, once my employment situation settles down. For those who aren’t in the Vanguard loop, an expansion-sized lump of new free content is also in the works, including significant added raid content and an increase in the level cap from 50 to 55. As of a few weeks ago, the Isle of Dawn is still seeing robust activity, a good portion of which appeared to be actual new players, although veterans were hanging around to help. Vanguard is at this point well-positioned to stay a solid second-tier MMO for the forseeable future. This makes me happy.
Word is down today that March will bring the Dwarf Slayer and Orc Choppa to Warhammer Online. These are badly needed in my opinion, and will bring WAR a bit closer to where it’s supposed to be. The addition in and of itself isn’t enough to get me back into WAR, but things seem to be progressing generally, and I will likely have another dip at the game some time this year. Again, once my employment situation resolves itself.
On that frontier, I was informed today that my contract has been extented through the end of February; it has been scheduled to end on Friday. This may not sound like as good a news as it is; it gives me yet another month of breathing room, and another month for some good signs in the economy to start showing up. Good news out of General Motors (like, say, GM starting to pay their bill from their suppliers) could change my picture substantially for the better.
Another bit of good news is that I am keeping my resume online, and updating it more or less daily to keep it near the top of then search engines. I am getting plenty of bites, and while nothing has actually materialized so far, it’s looking like I will not be unemployed for long, even should that come to pass, although things might be uncomfortably tight for a little while. I am searching primarily in Northeast Ohio, but also in Columbus and in Seattle, Washington.
I’m still planning of returning to college in either the summer or fall, depending on how the money shapes up. This will be a local community college (exactly which is yet to be determined,) until I can put a respectable transfer package together, which will probably take two years despite my having most of the general requirements out of the way from years and years ago, one benefit of living in Ohio; all my old credit carries regardless of how long ago it was.
The plan is to pursue Physics. There are a lot of options with a Physics degree, from being a High School science teacher (which would require an additional certification, but I could get that concurrently with the last two years of a Physics degree. Grad school is also a possibility, should my grades be good enough (and I intend them to be – I’m a lot more motivated now than I was at age 20.)
Ardwulf's Lair 