Go out and Vote while waiting for the Wildstar queue
Today is the Gubernatorial Primary Election here in California, and if it wasn't for a small blurb I heard on the end of a news program, I would have been voting next week. I am not a big follower of local news – it usually tells me how bad things are in the 'other' neighborhoods nearby or how happy we should be for the kitten that was rescued from a tree. Living in San Diego, I don't really pay much attention to anything the weather people say – it is always pretty nice, sometimes hotter than usual, sometimes cooler, but always about the same. So I was pretty fortunate to have caught the tail end of a news program that said June 3rd was election day. Truly, I am surprised I did not miss it because I never watch anything live anymore thanks to Tivo. But today is the day.
We have 15 people running for Governor, a bunch for Lt. Governor, 9 or so state officers to elect, 1 federal representative, 5 judges, a handful of school people, 5 county officers (including sheriff), a city council member, 2 state propositions and 3 city propositions. That's a heck of a lot of positions to vote on, and this is only the primary. The thing is, my phone has been ringing off the hook from these folks promising me this or that, my mailbox is overflowing with endorsements, but I was actually lucky to find out when the actual election was. There has to be a better way to conduct democracy in the 21st century.
Regardless, I do my research on these people, study the ballot measures, and try to figure out the positions of obscure people I have never heard of before who want to 'be in charge'. Yes, I know things will mostly remain the same. I do not fear some fascist or extremist will get elected into office, but I do worry about 'best intentions'. How did New York get a government that regulates the size of drink containers? How did California 'support' spending billions of dollars on a high speed train that will service the tiniest fraction of commuters? How did San Diego elect a Mayor who assaults women? (I did not vote for the jerk) The answer is that people voted.
You don't always get what you want when you vote. Sometimes the 'other' guy just has more supporters. But the important thing is that you went out and voted. Make your voice heard or at least be part of the chorus. Do your research, listen to your conscience, and go out and be part of the great experiment that is democracy.
Continuing the Challenge
Today was another straightforward exercise routine. Day 6 of the Core Challenge went off without a hitch.
Week 1, Day 6:
- 16 push-ups
- 20 second plank
- 18 plank reaches
So far I am happy to report that I am not even sore from these workouts. I fear this may indicate that I am taking things too easy, but my goal is to start easy and gradually increase what I am doing. The Core Challenge is only the beginning after all, but it is a start.
Queing in Wildstar
Yesterday was pretty busy and I did not have much time to devote to gaming, but I wanted to get in some time in Wildstar before the official launch. Unfortunately I encountered this…
Yes, I now got the wonderful opportunity to experience the queue. I am kinda surprised considering this was the third day of the head start. I figured they would have worked things out and increased capacity by this time, considering Tuesday's launch. I wonder if they are waiting on expanding until after the official launch or are they just not prepared?
In any case, I was not going to wait around idly which watching the queue time count down, so I fired up League of Legends.
BTW, this lowers my score for the Wildstar launch a full letter grade from an A- to a B-.
Indeed, a wise choice
After failing my promotion series for Silver, I put the game aside for a bit. I was down and did not want to let that impact my ranked game play.
Picking things up then next day though, I had an interesting problem. For my next game, I ran into something that is becoming increasingly the case – Morgana was banned. Somewhere in one of the last patches, people started to realize that Morgana is pretty good. Actually, she is ranked as one of the best support champions at the moment. This makes people ban her more often. And I've seen that when she isn't banned, people are playing her. This is frustrating, considering Morgana is MY main champion. But it is something I have to learn to deal with.
So with Morgana banned, I had to figure out who to play mid. My first choice would be Ziggs since I've played some decent games with him and pretty much know what I am doing (I do have problems with his satchel charge sometimes though), but the other team selected him first.
This pointed out a flaw in my ranked play – I don't know enough champs. I am going to have to start increasing my familiarity with other champions if I am going to get better at ranked play. While I don't have to be great at them, I need to at least be able to not be a liability to my team when forced to play someone other than Morgana.
I chose Heimerdinger as my mid lane champ.
Now my history with Heimerdinger dates back to the first week I started playing League of Legends. At that time, I was using the free champs that were in rotation, and I had grown to love Teemo. I was still very new and his poison, speed boost, and shrooms made him an easy champion to get to play. What, I did not know, at the time, was that the free champions rotate on a regular basis. So, during one game, after Teemo fell out of rotation, I grabbed what I thought was Teemo – it wasn't, it was Heimerdinger.
Wow, what a difference in play style. I went from some familiar poison, blinds, and shrooms to turrets and missiles. AFK farming became a thing instead of attack speed, and the ultimate was just confusing. Needless to say, it was a dramatic change, and the diversity in play styles really began my appreciation for the game.
But back to my current choice of Heimerdinger. I don't know why I chose him – I hadn't played him in a month or two, but I thought I'd give him a shot. Against a Ziggs, it may not have been the best choice since his bomb range was easily greater than the range on my turrets, but I held my own. Mid lane was rough, but it was not the reason we lost the game, or at least my play was not the reason. I ended up with 11 kills and a 2.9 KDA while Ziggs tallied up 17 kills and a 3.0 KDA. The big problem was that our top lane Kayle (1.4 KDA) could not get rolling against their Lulu (3.5 KDA).
The loss dropped me further back into Bronze I, but I learned that I when I need to, I can play Heimerdinger. I really should play him more so I get better at his kit and so I expand my options. I think Morgana is good and now that others do as well, it may be harder to get her when I want to play.
#Wildstar #Vote #Heimerdinger #HeadStart #LeagueOfLegends #LOL