Online and out of touch...

Just Living the dream and trying to figure out where my place in life is. I spend time on my PC, mainly to game. Found the world of online gaming and then got hooked; made a lot of online friends, some of whom I've met in person.

I thought it was going to very strange meeting the people you play games with online, but it cooler that imagined. The first person I've met was "Valcheck" a.k.a. Solo (Isaac).

It was a fairly odd acquaintance; I was helping a cousin move in New Hampshire. I suggested he could come and assist packing the moving van, maybe we'd get some free beer from it. We were invited to go have pizza, but instead Isaac and I went to a separate restaurant.

At another meet we decided to check out the movie "The Fellowship of the Ring" since we were Tolkien geeks, and made it a tradition to catch the next movie from the trilogy when it comes out. We met another crazy guy named Mike who went by the name "MadDog", he owns a restaurant and pub in Massachusetts. We visited him at the pub and at his nice home.

A year or two later we had the opportunity to get SouthWest airline tickets from a member of his family to fly down to North Carolina and visit; Viking, Natasha, Zenophobe and Lawdog (Taz). We received a very warm reception to their home: We played LAN games and board games, even hit up a freaky movie called "THE RING". Our stay was short, but well remembered.

There are plenty more people online I'd like to have over or to go visit. So far we have been fortunate, the people behind the online persona were similar (but better). Many to mention: Castorious and Bulletbill (Canada), NetNix (Canada), Meep (England), X-marine (Connecticut) and many other I don't have time to list at the moment.

Recently have been more contact with "MasterChief" who seems down to Earth, humorous and sometimes down right crazy (being a Brit might help explain a few things).

I spend a lot of my time with my children; going to every sporting event (softball, soccer, baseketball) they have whenever possible, including their practices. I notice other parents rarely show to every game and only a couple to their practice. I believe there needs to be some sort of balance between your personal life (family) versus just being online. I love the competitiveness of Counter-Strike, but on the reverse I dislike the Hackers (cheaters) and online drama that seems to unfold from night to night. Decisions need to be made on where to go from here.

Maybe I need to schedule my time online and wean a bit, this way more things could be performed home with my family, and then my online friends will know the time I can play online. I don't like to just idle (in chat or on vent) all the time - if I am online, I just want to play (talking and having fun can be part of the game). There are always other times to talk and chat.

As a rule I don't feel I want to get involved with ONLINE role playing games for two reasons: Addiction to being online all the time and the monthly cost. (Add up cable fees and the game monthly fee).

Well enough about that...later I may discuss my life up until now. Then hopefully set a goal where I'd like to be in the next 5 years.

World Peace , ya'll.