Ugh! One less hour to sleep!

[fredericks]

I think I'm staying up only to see what my cable box does to compensate for Daylight Savings. Will it go from 1:59 to 3? Will it run normally until the old guy running things in headquarters gets around to punching the button the PC? Will it play sneaky and wait to change until my eyes are closed, pulling a Santa on me? The mystery is killing me.

I know I'm always saying this, but I need to get out of Le Shack. I'm walking around there like a zombie now. A zombie with keys. I also need to head back to the gym. My leg is starting to kill me.

I had a nice heart-to-heart with my aunt the other day. She told me to story of her life, which was great. Amazing. If I had the energy I'd recap it here, but I don't so oh well. She basically told me not to freak out about my situation, because she didn't figure out what the fuck she wanted to do with her life until she was around 25. She was basically in the same situation that I'm in right now, and she put up with the same stuff I put up with from my mother (her sister) from her mother (my grandma). And she survived it (with sanity intact...or so she says). It was eye-opening.

Hmmm. Little bit of time left until the big change.

The other day my brother told me about a funny thing that happened to him in the mall. He and my cousin were in EBGames messing around, playing some sort of military/stealth game, in the spirit of Metal Gear and Splinter Cell. They (apparently) were doing well but got bored and moved on to another display. Out of the corner of his eye my brother noticed another (older) guy try his hand at the same display game, and he died rather quickly. The guy shrugged, then walked over to my cousin and my brother. After saying "Wow, guess I wasn't as good as you guys" he handed them a card. A Navy recruitment card.

When he told me this, I was all like "the HELL?!?!?" It was weird but hilarious. We then had a blast listing all the ways *real* combat differed from the video games. A few of the better ones we came up with:

• You can't pause the action and grab a grilled cheese sandwich and a tasty beverage while in the middle of real combat.
  
• No resetting in real combat.
  
• You can't pick up a box, hide under it in the middle of a room, and disappear from sight in R.C.
  
• You can't do chin-ups and pull-ups while hanging from a railing and instantly increase your grip strength in R.C.
  
• No bullet time in R.C.
  
• Leaving and re-entering rooms doesn't reset their contents in R.C.
  
• Eating food left around doesn't change the fact that you're bleeding from multiple bullet and stab wounds in R.C.
  

I *know* I'm forgetting some of the better ones we came up with, but my brain's shutting down. Please feel free to share some if y'all think of any. Must finish entry.

I bring that up because I caught the tagline of some newstory the other day about how the top online RP combat game right now was being used as a military recruitment tool. It's ridiculous, the way that these people are trying to lure in youth. BIIIG difference between pressing the A button while holding down Z and running with a AK-47 in your hand with hostile individuals running after you with grenades.

Okay, the clock went from 1:59 to 3AM. My life is complete. G'night, peoples.

Comments

Actually....

[kommisar.livejournal.com]

Two thoughts:
1. Your aunt figured out what she wanted to do around 25? Wow. I figured out that I was actually real at about that time. Still working on the "What do I want to do with my life" bit 9 years later. Really... you don't have to worry so much about it. Of course, I'm male.

2. Military appreciation of video games has nothing to do with physical training for combat.... It's more about team work, coordination and the ability to make use of newer weapons/communications systems entering the military at this time. Quake was a huge hit with the USMC because they redesigned the game around real combat and used it to teach small unit tactics and communication within a unit. This actually translated into training gains in the field. Because they could quickly reset the training exercises and pause and break in the middle of the action to discuss errors and communication necessities during the game. In the field -- you can't.

Those lads at recruiting aren't only interested in bodies anymore -- which in itself is a scary thing.

Re: Actually....

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

It's more about team work, coordination and the ability to make use of newer weapons/communications systems entering the military at this time.

I understand all that. It's all very Ender's Game-ish. And that makes it all the more hilarious. In the context I'm referring to it in, the military isn't using this stuff for training, but to lure young men in. Thats what they want, I suppose; little Enders and Beans and Alai's that can command peons while under pressure.

Funny to the extreme.

[gorzo.livejournal.com]

I know the job crap, trust me. I'm a zombie myself at work. No one notices or cares. Might e the same for you. Oh, and I must kill.

The Daily Grind

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know *you* know the job crap, D.

And, no, just say NO! to climbing clock towers with firepower and ammo in your possession. Just kill lots of innocent children monsters.

Hang in there.