Update (Long)

Wow, its been a while since I posted so here is the lowdown on what's been going on.

TF2

I've been spending a lot of time in TF2 lately trying to get the spy and sniper unlockables. I had taken a hiatus from TF2 so I'm also missing the heavy and scout stuff too.

When Valve first introduced the unlockables it was based on an achievement system. That is, you had a list of 30 or so achievements per class and by getting them done you "earned" the unlocks. For every 10 achievements you got you received one of the three unlocks (per class).

With the sniper/spy update they changed things up. Now to get an unlockable you need to spend an amount of time in game (it's been every hour for me) and then you randomly receive an unlockable (from a random class).

It has been quite interesting watching the fallout of this decision. Just check out the boards...

There are drawbacks and merits to both systems. Personally, I hated the achievement system. I want to play and have fun not quest for my new weapons. The new system is kind of screwy though... I've gotten a lot of stuff I already had (including 4 backburners) and only 3 unlocks I did not have already.

I still think TF2 is the best game for the money though. For a mere twenty dollars you get a great game that is still being actively developed with new content every few months.

EVE

I have not been in EVE a whole lot lately due to TF2 unlocks and studying/practice (see below). My industry corp continues to crank out goods which are selling for a decent profit. There isn't anything particular to report on, pretty much industry as usual here.

I've got some ideas brewing that I am actively working on but it requires skill training time on some alts. When this skill time is complete I plan on getting my corp into invention. I'm looking forward to this but need to do some research on what is best for entry level invention. When getting into production for the first time a lot of people start with ammo. I read somewhere that tech 2 ammo isn't the best thing to do.

My side project has halted my PVP character's training. I will be resuming hopefully soon though.

Free Realms

The wife and I created a few characters in Free Realms, Sony's new free to play game. She took up the occupation of a cook and I a miner. Neither of us are paying for the game, nor do we really plan to. I may purchase a pet, not sure yet...

I have been disappointed with the line of quests in the miner profession. At the very beginning (1-5), you would mine and quest (like 8 quests) and get to the next tier very easily. But level 6-10 you got fewer quests and had to grind that mining game longer. And then level 11-15 I only got 3 quests I think and had to grind out close to 2 whole levels. Now I'm level 15, and there was only 1 quest to do. So here I am, halfway into level 15 and apparently I need to grind out 4 1/2 levels? That's ridiculous! It should be fun to level, not so grindy.

The world is just simply beautifully to walk around in though. There is a lot to see and do and every area seems to have its own look and feel.

I'm currently playing around with my adventurer and brawler. I hope there is more to do than the miner.

Pilot

The end of last month and the beginning of this month I was spending a lot of time studying and practicing for my Private Pilot practical exam. I don't believe I've ever been so nervous in my life.

I scheduled my practical for the beginning of this month but the weather turned for the worse and had to reschedule. But a week later the weather turned just fantastic (a high pressure system came in and lurked around for a few days) and I was a go.

So I flew down to the examiner early that morning. I arrived about 30 minutes early but the examiner was okay with that. The oral/talking portion of the exam went rather well. He grilled me for about 2 hours on all kinds of things. I have always been pretty book smart.

When I got to the flying portion I started getting really nervous though. I made a number of stupid mistakes in the beginning but I think he saw how nervous I was. After that I started to settle down and did okay for the remainder. After my final landing and starting to taxi back, the examiner said congratulations and I had passed!

So I am now officially a pilot. It's been my childhood goal since I was 8 or 10 years old. Now I'm trying to figure out what to get into next. Should I get my instrument rating or get into twin engine planes? Decisions, decisions. But for now, I am extremely happy!

I took the wife up about a week ago and there wasn't a bump in the sky anywhere. I couldn't have asked for a better day for our first flight together.