... in which the fool is disappointed

I was supposed to write something down last Tuesday. In fact, I did write something down. Unfortunately, I happened to have closed the window before Blogger managed to post my previous post. As a result, I have to post again...

It wasn't terribly long really. Just looking back at what I've been doing.

Today would be the sixth day that I've gone without playing Ragnarok Online at home. My brother unexpectedly came home last Saturday and hogged the computer all day long. I figured since the poor guy rarely ever played the PC at home, I might as well allow him to use it for a day. Besides, I figured I could use the PC once he goes to sleep...

It turned out that I went to sleep earlier than he did. How... unusual...

So instead of wasting my time waiting for him to finish playing Disciples II, I turned my attention to the Dune House Trilogy (the prequels to the main books) that my other brother left at home when he moved out. Today, I've just started on the second book, and found the first book pretty interesting (except for the part where they resolved the conflicts rather... conveniently). I could've played the PS2 over the weekend -- I still had my Super Robot Wars scenarios unfinished. But by then, I was unexpectedly hooked to the Dune books that I didn't even bother to turn the unit on.

I thought that I could play for a little while on Sunday. However, my brother woke up earlier than I did, and managed to hog the computer again. Of course, since it was a Sunday, I didn't get to play in the afternoon, when my brother shut off the PC for fear of a sudden electric surge, because I had to go out with my parents to watch Terminator III.

Terminator III was a pretty funny flick. I mean, funnier than the first two movies. It was also a disappointment -- there didn't seem to be any story at all, just a ton of action scenes and funny lines spoken by the T-101 model. Strangely enough, the movie itself felt like a very nice prequel to the Matrix Trilogy, as can be seen if you watched the second and third movies of the Animatrix entitled "The Second Renaissance".

Maybe one of these days, I'd make some sort of crossover story, if I'm still in the mood by then...

Monday had me rushing to finish a homework in microprocessor design... I wasn't able to do it over the weekend because as I said, my brother was hogging the computer. I thought that I could do it at school. Unfortunately, I arrived a tad too late, and all the computers were already being used. I had no choice but to submit my homework late.

I started doing the schematic diagram for the Simple-as-Possible Computer (SAP-1) at around 5 PM -- because my brother was still at it when I got home. I tried to submit between 7 - 9 PM. Unfortunately, I found out at around 7 PM that our phone line had been disconnected because we haven't settled our accounts yet... I haven't been able to play Ragnarok at home since then, and settled for playing at internet cafes.

Today would be the sixth day. I'm already suffering from withdrawal symptoms... and behaving rather erratically. One of these days, I'm afraid I'd just suddenly break down...

... in which the fool suffers from withdrawal symptoms

I haven't been playing Ragnarok for a few days now (this should be the fourth day I've gone without it...). My brother came home and took over the computer for several days, leaving me with nothing else to do... Of course, there's the PS2 at home just asking for my attention, unfortunately I'm not quite motivated to play it. Maybe after I finish with my mage on Ragnarok...

To pass the time at home... I've been catching up on my reading. Thankfully, my other brother left the new Dune prequels when he moved out. With each book nearly 700 pages long, the books should keep me sane for about another week. Until our phone line gets reconnected...

I say reconnected because last night, the telephone company cut off our line because we haven't settled our accounts yet. I found that out as I was about to call Terence to ask about a homework that was due yesterday (as a result, I had to submit that particular homework late... sometime today). I lost all my enthusiasm in working out the bugs of the system, and lost all hope in getting to play Ragnarok this week... Somehow, I have to find a way to pay the phone bill as soon as possible, otherwise, I'd be forced to go to internet cafes just to play my character. It would appear that I now have an unhealthy addiction to the game -- although to me, I'm still functioning in tolerable levels...

The first book of the Dune prequels is the first Dune book I've ever read. All my knowlege about Dune (about a thimble-ful) comes from the various real-time strategy games that have been produced between 1990 and 2000. I was looking forward to finding any hint about House Ordos in the book, and resorted to asking people about the prequels... Unfortunately, they all say that there is no mention of any House Ordos in any of the three books (and even the original six books, if I didn't hear wrong) and House Ordos seems to exist only in games. The gamer in me is suddenly asking for a new Dune game despite my relative dis-interest in RTS games...

The setting of Dune somehow feels like a Medieval Era Europe, with various houses all jockeying for the favor of the galactic emperor. Only with a touch of (okay, not a touch, a heavy helping ) technology for fun. I haven't read the entire trilogy yet, so I can't offer a decent review...

Ah, I wonder when I would get to play Ragnarok again...?