fenchurch | Things I've learned in the last few weeks

Thing I learned #1: When given the choice, a teenage boy would much rather spend every waking moment playing computer games than go see the sights in Seattle.

As a present for his 16th birthday, we flew our nephew up from southern Texas... to give him a bit of a vacation and to just spend some time with him since we don't get to see him very often. We had quite a bit of fun and we did manage to drag him out to the Museum of Flight and Snoqualmie Falls... but the rest of the time, he and I played Lord of the Rings Online together pretty much from the moment he woke up in the morning until he went to bed at night. I figured that if that's how he wanted to spend his vacation, then that's what we would do! Rackham set him up on his account on a world where we don't normally play (we're usually on Landroval, so The Nephew and I played on Meneldor), so I could go in and play at the same level.

Thing I learned #2: Yes, it is possible to play too much Lord of the Rings Online. And, also, they've seriously nerfed the newbie quests since I did them the first time.

I did have fun, but wow... I was VERY ready to step away for a bit. I was amazed, though, at how easy it was to get through those starter quests now. So many of them have been changed so that fewer monsters attack you and there are some areas where they've eliminated the monsters altogether. It certainly makes me respect the "Undying" title a lot less than before. And I'm a little miffed, because none of my characters on our main server managed to get that title... because it was *insanely* easy to die when I played them as newbies. Harumph. Damn kids.

I am, however, enjoying still occasionally bopping into Meneldor for a few minutes to play my low level characters through the early quests. My characters on Landroval are all high enough level that there's not a lot they can do that doesn't take either a fellowship or a LOT of time or both.

Thing I learned #3: Gardening can actually be fun and good exercise, but the earbuds for my MP3 player work much better when I don't snip through them with my pruning clippers. I was out pruning down some of the rhododendrons (which all desperately need it), and thought I'd be clever... trimming down the bits so they'd fit better in the yardwaste bin. Until the earbud line got tangled in a branch and I snipped right through them. It was a bit funny, too, because I swear it happened in slow motion... I saw the cord in there just as the clippers closed on it and absolutely could not stop it from happening. It's not a big deal, but I'm a bit bummed because I really liked those earbuds.

Thing I learned #4: Thanks to

lage_nom_ai, I found out that Great Big Sea has a new CD out... which made me check their website where I discovered they were coming to Seattle in October! And I was able to get tickets the morning they went on sale, so we have some *excellent* seats. Squee!!!!