At least I went OUT today.

July 15, 2003

Well today wasn’t totally wasted like yesterday, although I did play the same game again for a few hours. I actually reached a stopping point yesterday that I couldn’t get past–well, actually, the game was taken offline at 11 PM PST to update the online content and no one could play, but I was at a stopping point anyway. I couldn’t get through a quest that I had undertaken, and I know no one else playing the game to get their help. I was lingering around the countryside and I happened to run into another player (that’s one of the neat things about online role playing games–running into other players in the huge lands that you play in) who said that he could help me. He was actually too low-level to help with the quest I needed, but he logged off and came back as a character ten levels above my own, and significantly more powerful than me. We ended up cruising through the dungeon I needed to get through, and even though he did most of the work, I hurt some of the monsters…. When we reached the end of the cave where he couldn’t continue, he bid me farewell and tried to convince me to buy the game for real and join the allegience he belonged to. I guess he thought I showed some promise or something. I mean, the game’s not too expensive–it can be found for only $20 online, but it still costs about $10 a month to play. I’m not sure I could afford to do that, plus I’m saving up for another online game that I’ve mentioned.

In any case, that was kind of a neat moment in the game. Fighting a bunch of monsters together, and then combining efforts on the big bad guy at the end of the cave. I guess that’s why online games are so popular, the social aspect. I never really had much interest in playign the online role playing games before, but then again, I never had much interaction with other players before.

Coffee with my friend went well today. We met downtown at Powell’s in the coffee shop, and we talked for about two hours. I actually haven’t seen her in years. We used to sing in the same choir together when I lived in Corvallis, but we were never really that close. Since we’re both living in Portland now, though, and she’s friends with my Mom, she suggested that we get coffee sometime. It was kind of nice going out and being social for once, actually, even though I’m not big on coffee. We didn’t arrange another time to get together, but I told her to give me a call next time she knows she’s free.

I went for another jog/walk today, though I reversed my route so that I was able to jog for longer and not have to walk for half the time because I can’t make it jogging up a big hill at the end. Of course, reversing my route meant that I was jogging downhill for more time, which isn’t quite as strenuous. Also not as good for my knee, or my ankles, for that matter. I’m slowly working my way to what I’d like to be my fighting weight and body type, but I’m finding that the more muscle I gain the more stagnant my weight is, since I’m gaining muscle and losing fat at roughly the same rate. My body is definitely starting to tone up for what limited exercises I can do without a gym, but I’ve only lost about 5 pounds since May.

Of course, my meal habits can both directly and indirectly causes some of that weight fluctuation. I went by Albertson’s on my way home from the transit center today to pick up some veggies to stiry fry for dinner, but the whole thing turned into a mess. First of all, it was 4:30 when I was shopping, and I hadn’t eaten since a small lunch, so I was hungry. I ended up buying a big bag of Baked Doritos (Cooler Ranch! Yum.) to munch on before dinner, and I ended up eating about 85% of the bag before I even started cooking at 6 o’clock. Oops. Then my Mom asked me to make sure that I had plenty of rice for her to have, so I made a little more rice than I normally do. Following the damn recipe from the book for my steamer produced the exact same results as it did the last time I tried to do that: soupy, unfinished rice. Stupid steamer. It works just fine for the smallest amount, but any efforts to raise the amount of rice you cook, and things get shot straight to hell. Oh well. I put it in a pot and cooked it for a little while longer, but it didn’t taste very good after that. The veggies didn’t come out well, either, but there’s not much to tell there. I just wasn’t happy with the taste. I didn’t buy any potatoes this time, nor did I cook any meat to cut back on the calories (see, I knew I was getting the Doritos ahead of time, so I compensated), but it just didn’t end right. Dang. I normally use green beans, a baker potato, onion, bean sprouts, garlic, and sometimes green peppers. I normally liek to put snow peas in as well, but they only sell them by the package here, and that’s too much for me. Anyhow, it didn’t come out well. I think I’ll change the cooking method next time.

Tomorrow I don’t have any plans…again. Guess that means I’ll sleep in, then play my game for awhile, maybe exercise in the evening again. At least I have a schedule, no? Goodnight, all.

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