Saturday, September 24, 2011

Star Wars the old Republic We are Not a Guild group



Star Wars the Old Republic announced their release date Dec 20, 2011. This has caused quite a stir within the MMORPG community. Many people have been waiting a long time for this announcement. Suddenly there is an actual date set, and people are very excited.

My husband joined Lord of the Rings online to get MMORPG experience. He has made some friends, and found that he actually like playing MMORG’s. The one thing he did not like was that many people bugged him to join their guild/kinship. He turned that feature off and they started IMing him to join thier kinships.Most guilds on Lord of the Rings seemed to have restrictions, guidelines and regulations.

Suddenly you could not just go play. You were expected to only play with and help people in the guild. You were expected to participate at specific times, in specific battles, and had to play so much each day or week. You could not just go play with anyone and everyone. You could not just play when you felt like it or had the time. You could not join fellowships unless they were part of your guild.

It was not his idea of fun. Now understandably not all guilds are like that. It just felt that the idea of guilds was more restrictive then helpful. Not when you could develop friends, and just play for fun. He liked doing things his way, helping and fighting beside anyone, and just enjoying himself.

Now that Star Wars the Old Republic has an official release date the requests to join a guild went from a couple a day, to a flood. People started giving him a hard time trying to get him to join their guild. Some of them had a hard time taking no as an answer. They don’t seem to understand it is nothing personal. He just does not want to join a guild right now, if ever.

Several people that also play Lord of the Rings with him have also decided that they don’t want to join a guild right now. They like the freedom of doing their own thing on Lord of the Rings and they want to be able to do the same thing on Star Wars the Old Republic.

My husband decided to create: We are Not a Guild group. If you are interested in being part of the guild please contact Fenwolf on the East Coast server - the Jedi Covenent

This is a group for people who do not want to be a part of an actual guild. We all work alone and don't want to be invited to join guilds. There are no alliances or adversaries. If you declare war on someone you are on your own. The group will not aid you.

You can participate as much or as little as you want to in the group. You can develop friendships or fighting groups if you want or just ignore everyone. Any republic players welcome from any age or experience. No politics allowed.


Group has 3 rules only.


1 - Be nice and polite to all members. Clean language as there might be kids and teens


in the group.


2 - No harassing people to join the group.


3 - Don't take any actions or make any declarations on behalf of the group.


IE - Do Not Declare War.


P.S. - The group can vote to change this at a later time if we decide to.

I think it is an interesting idea. A good way to get people to back off and let people play the game they want. It could be a very interesting guild as well. Anyone is welcome, no politics and only three very simple rules. Either people will love it, or no one will.

Monday, September 12, 2011

9/11 the aftershock still going 10 years later



I knew that the 10th year anniversary would bring back memories and sadness over the senseless loss of so many lives. I did not expect it to affect me so strongly. I did not lose anyone, and I have no personal connection to the tragic event. Yet I started crying within moments of turning on the TV to watch the memorial.

I remember driving my car on the way to work, stuck in traffic, when the news about the first plane crash was announced. I did not care about being late or anything at that point. I was just shocked. When I got into work no one was working. People were on the phones calling friends and family, checking emails, listening online or to radios. A few had access to TV’s. The news took over the day. I think we may have even been sent home early that day. It’s is all just a blur. No one got work done that day.

The lady who worked beside me was hit the hardest in our area. Her husband was at a conference in the States with an insurance company. That company had their offices in the Twin Towers. Fortunately the conference was in another location. Unfortunately only the big wigs from the company were at the conference. They had an entire floor, above where the plane hit. My understanding is that everyone at work that day died. People her husband knew, worked with, talked with were just gone. It was hard on him, and her. They were on the phone a lot that day, even though it was long distance and she was at work. They were scared. He was stuck in the US, with people flying planes into buildings, who know what else was going to happen.

Even though I live in Canada 9/11 changed my life. That day I called my long distance boyfriend and said let’s move in together. I was scared, and who knew what was going to happen. He moved from one end of Canada, BC, to Ontario within 10 days. We have been together ever since, and have two wonderful children. I don’t think that would have ever happened if 9/11 hadn’t. I always said I would never get married or have kids. 9/11 changed that for me.

I think the hardest part of the 10th year anniversary of 9/11 was explaining it to my children. I cried as I told them about how police and rescue workers went into the buildings to rescue anyone they could, knowing they may not come back out. That took courage. I explained how many of the police and rescue workers died that day. It was hard for them to understand the whole thing. Why would someone fly a plane into a building? Why did they want to kill people?



We had to turn the TV off and just have some family time. We did not turn it back on until the kids went to bed. The horrible images were just too much to put them through. One day they will be old enough to learn more about it, but not with Mommy crying as she tries to explain it. 9/11 is a life changer. I don’t want my kids to lose what innocents they have, the trust that all is good in the world and nothing bad is going to happen. That will happen soon enough as they got older.

Even now I feel sad, and cry when I think of all the lives changed in a bad way that day ten years ago.

I like remembering a couple of stories about that day, small simple miracles in a way. One person was running late but stopped for a coffee anyway. Another person called in sick. One person missed the bus/subway. These small things saved their lives. There are many stories like this, but not enough, not nearly enough.

May the people who died that day, and later from the chemicals in the air, may they have peace!

For the people who did this, may you wake up one day and understand that this was wrong! I tell my kids all the time, temper tantrums don’t get you what you want, no matter how big of one you throw. To me 9/11 was just another type of temper tantrum. Someone did not get their way so they did what they could to destroy lives. You know what, they still did not get their way!



Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Food for thought, Pedophiles that don’t get caught



I received a very disturbing comment today on my blog posting

Anonymous said...


We are here, we will always be here and the longer and harder you fight....the stronger we become. We are law makers, we are law enforcement, we are the teachers in your schools, the ones who bag your groceries, the ones who service your AC units on hot days, the ones who drop off your mail, we work at Disney Land and none of us look alike. And the cold reality of it....not all Pedophiles are Sex offenders. Most of us never get caught.






Food for thought....



I think that it is true; most of them are not caught. Pedophiles work very hard at fitting in and hiding what they are and what they do. Anyone could be a pedophile. I know that there are several “poor” pedophiles in my area, ones that got caught and are registered as sex offenders. This comment just makes me wonder how many “good” (not caught) pedophiles there are in the same area.

I think that pedophiles pray on the weak and lonely. We need to make our children feel proud, loved and welcome so they can be strong. We need to be there for our children so they are not lonely. Our job is to let our children be children, not victims. We may not be able to find and stop pedophiles but we can try to make it more difficult for them to succeed.

Children need to be heard, believed and trusted. If a child said someone is hurting them or touching them we need listen. The real problem is that the person doing it may not be the person the child say’s is doing it. Many children are scared to tell the truth because they think the person will hurt them or people they love. Sometimes it is the very people who they should be protected by are the ones hurting them. As adults it is our responsibility to listen to the children, even if they are not our kids. Get the police involved, they are often able to get to the truth even when we cannot.

The real crime is that too many people turn a blind eye or deaf ear to those in need.

Friday, September 2, 2011

I received an email today from a local event in Hamilton, Pagan Pride Day. It is a fun event held in Hamilton every September. Every year they collect food for FoodShare, and it is given to the different food banks in the area. The email touched me and I want to share it with others. I hope it touches everyone else as well. Please give to your local food bank, the need is real and the need is now. I know that kids in my area are going hungry every day, some will be in my children’s classes. I cannot help them all, but maybe all of us can help them by giving what we can to the food bank.


Pagan Pride Day is 1 week away (Sept 10th) and I'm asking you to keep in mind the FoodShare collection we sponsor every year.


Every year at this time the 'back to school' bill takes its toll on the average family ... supplies, clothes, shoes and all of the miscellaneous things needed to start off another school year. Unfortunately for many, sometimes the cost of those supplies come off of the dinner table, no matter how hard you try to budget and the truth of the matter is that the schools do watch for kids without lunches and they will phone home to inquire why the child has no food ... I can't think of anything more heart wrenching then having to admit you have nothing to send with that child and that the only real meal of the day is supper.


Last year the Pagan Harvest Festival & the Wiccan Church of Canada helped raise just under 300 lbs of food for the day. We are sincerely hoping to crack that 300 mark with your help and support. Alot of the grocery stores are having some really great sales right now, $5 can make a huge difference. Please be aware as well that all cash donations that go into the collection cauldron go directly to Hamilton FoodShare where they put it to good use by turning every $1 into $5 worth of food stuff.
Investing in a child is one of the best investments you can make, it’s about building a better future :)


Thank you for your support and generousity ... it is deeply appreciated by so many.