Beyond that, school finally ended August 27. In the time I wasn’t studying or stressing, I managed to finish Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, And Mass Effect 3. Mass Effect 3 gave me fodder for one of my Rhetoric/Composition essays, thanks to the complete WTF endings, which I’m not going to get into here. Let’s just say it felt like they ran out of time, threw a bunch of Stupid in a can and sprayed it all over where the end was supposed to be.

I’ll finally admit it, I loved the games. Everything I said a year or so back about hating them, not being my thing, etc? Yeah, I was wrong. As @Llanion has so enjoyed reveling in by the way. He even gave me my own blog post as a source at one point over steam.

I can also finally get back to SWTOR. You know, now that everyone is losing interest. Figures right? Happens to me EVERY time I have to walk away for a bit. I’m cursed I tell you.

Oh and it’s SUMMER! Which means more time on the Bike with Hubby, hopefully some fishing, and trying to get my routine back. It’s like I forget what to do with myself when I’m not in school.

Oh Hello There! brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

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Shepard Still Hasn’t Learned brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

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Well, with all the fuss about ME 3 my Tumblr is flooded with, I was tempted to try it again. I gathered some advice from the fandom, and created my Commander Shepherd. Well, after I reinstalled the game that is.

The first obstacle for me, is ALWAYS looks. If I can’t stand looking at my character, that breaks the whole deal. Hell, I have rerolled characters in WoW many levels in, because something about them didn’t look right. BEFORE recustomization existed. I’ve done it a hundred times in SWTOR.

Well, I’m past the first hurdle. Meet Commander Vetta Shepherd. Earthborn adept, Sole survivor of the Akuze mission.

So far so good. Though the graphics in the game are less than what I’m used to…I like her.

She kind of came with her own characterization. Look at her. She looks straightlaced and by the book. She seems to have a tinge of sadness to her.  She’s the type that comes off cold, but has a big heart for her squad, and always puts their safety first. She’ll tell Ashley not to blame herself for the loss of her squad, while still blaming herself for the loss of hers on Akuze.

So, that’s hurdle one cleared. Now if I can just get the hang of the UI. At least at the moment I can shoot things and throw them around with her Adept skills.

Try It You Might LIke It brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

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The “classroom”. I found myself after giving my mom my former school laptop, using my “fun” computer for school. This had nasty side effects. First I would finish my class work, but be unable to turn off the school mentality, and start working past my self imposed deadline of 4pm.

This is a bad thing for all of us. Why? Because my husband and I have an unspoken agreement that stress and work are dropped at the door at the end of the day. Well for me I have to create a door. Mine is when the kids get home from school. That is when I need to switch from student to mom and wife. They have homework to do and he works 18 hours so I need to handle shit around the house. This wasn’t happening if I was stuck in student mode. I needed a disconnect.

The second side effect came on top of that. When I could force myself out of work mode and play swtor or whatever, I didn’t want to sit at my desk or look at my computer. It symbolized work and stress at that point.

So this is my door. My classroom is now the dining room. Thus I can have a much needed disconnect. And I can now look forward to going to my desk for study breaks and relax time. Now I can turn it off. It may seem silly, but that is one of the big challenges I find to attending school online.

Bonus, when I need quiet for my Thursday evening one on one time with my algebra professor, I can go upstairs easily with this laptop and have quiet and privacy. Isabella the Alienware is not so portable being attached to her monitor and keyboard and zillion peripherals.

Virtual Classroom brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

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Where are the MP’s you ask? Well, budget cuts are preventing anymore from being hired. You see, MP forces have been reduced due to the past and recent force reductions, and we depend on DoD police forces (contracted civilian position) mixed in. And they can’t HIRE anymore because guess what? Hiring freeze due to cuts in the budget.

I know cuts have to be made, but they can me made with a lot more wisdom and intelligence. I am a civilian, wife, and mother. I have no training in government, or economics. I’m going to college, but my first degree will be an AA in Liberal Arts. And even I can think of smarter ways to reduce spending. I can list three off the top of my head. Watch…

1. All the equipment that is issued at EVERY duty station, that sits in our closets and is never used even in combat deployments. Stop issuing that crap! And the stuff that is issued and used, that gets turned back in when we move from that station? Half of it gets written off and trashed. Even though we are required to turn it in in clean and useable shape or pay to replace it. Friggin RE-USE it!

2. Stop moving us around every two years! They’d save billions just by slowing down the PCS rate, since all packing and hauling is paid for by the DoD, as are travel costs. Either let us stay in one place for a careers length (not optimal), OR change the rate of moving us around to 4 or 5 years instead of two or three.

3. Stop tolerating and keeping troops that can’t pass their PT tests because they are just plain lazy, stop wrist slapping those DUI’s and troublemakers. Get them OUT and off the payroll. And on that point, stop taking 6 months to chapter out your soldiers that ARE being discharged for failure. They’re sitting there collecting a paycheck for NOT doing their jobs, and failing to adhere to standards. That’s pretty stupid.

So when you next hear about how desperately we need to cut defense spending. Please keep in mind, before you jump in with your support, what exactly you are supporting. They reduction in the safety and essential services for thousands of women, and children, who’s husbands are risking their lives for their country. The safety of troops that when at home, should FEEL safe.

We sacrifice enough, our safety shouldn’t be OPTIONAL. Does a family need to be murdered as a result before people actually get it? Me? I’m going to exercise my 2nd amendment right to bear arms. Walther .380 here I come. Don’t fuck with Mama Bear.

Another Rant on Defense Spending Cuts brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

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I agree with Dechion, hit the sponsors of the bill where it hurts most. The bottom line. Put your money where your mouth is if at all possible. And I say this with a caveat, don’t HURT yourself in the process.  What do I mean? Well, let’s use Harley Davidson as an example. We bought our Harley back in September, so obviously we were a bit late to say “sorry, you support SOPA, no sale”. But, I would have bought it anyhow, because my husband worked his ass off, and sacrificed a lot to finally achieve that dream. He enlisted in the army (no not to get the Harley), served two combat tours, and has waited 20 long years. I’m not about to let my outrage over HD’s support interfere with his dream, anymore than I want them interfering with my blog. As a Harley owner, the bike requires safety gear, maintenance, and of course there is the customization process.  Maintenance can only be done by HD or void the warranty, and the customizations…well that’s part of the buying the bike deal. I won’t deny my husband, I just won’t.

But, I can still not shop at Wal Mart, refuse to buy Lexmark printers, Adidas or Nike sneakers (and Hubby goes through A LOT of sneakers), I won’t replace my kids Wii, or buy anymore Nintendo DS games, or anymore PSP games, though I will continue to buy Xbox products.  I already drive a Chevy instead of a Ford and probably always will.  Now, I can’t say I won’t buy any EA products, because I love Bioware games, and Bioware is part of EA unfortunately.  I love SWTOR and Dragon Age (Origins, Awakening, Dragon Age II, and the DLC) too much to give up. BUT I can refuse to buy anymore SIMS games or DLC (Sorry Kids), or any more of their Madden series (sorry Hunny), and refuse to buy the ME series or other EA titles no matter how curious I am about it  until they get their heads out of their asses.

You don’t have to boycott everyone.  But if making a few changes to brands and places isn’t going to hurt anyone BUT those places, and the SOPA bill, then do that. Use that list I linked up there, and contact those companies that you want to show who’s boss.  Speak with your wallet, it is your loudest tool.

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

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What has finally made my decisions, has been a combination of voice acting, and story, mixed lightly with the characters various abilities and how the mesh with my playstyle. I have played several classes through the first areas of their story to see who clicked and who didn’t.  As of today, I have decided which will continue.

1. Rivaini- Smuggler. She’s my highest level, and my first created. She’s definitely a keeper.

2. Zecora- Trooper (commando) I really like her look, and her personality and utter badassery.

3. Caislyn – Sith Inquisitor (assassin). She’s new, rolled today, but I just adore her voice acting, her abilities, and her personality.

4. Kasha’lyn- Imperial Agent (undecided Advanced Class) She’s voiced by the same actor as Female Hawke in Dragon Age II, and her whole special agent idea is really well done. Right down to dropping her accent on command.  She is my favorite in looks I think.

5. Zivah’ni, Jedi Consular, Sage. She is a maybe. I love her look, her personality is coming, but I’m not convinced yet.

With school starting again on the 9th, this is the most I can handle.  And I am playing every minute I can up until that time!

Preparing For Commitment in SWTOR brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

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Many people mistakenly think taking your classes online means it’s easier than going to school physically. However, that is incorrect. If you can’t maintain strict self discipline, time management, and your own structure, you can’t succeed. You have the same responsibilities as you would in a classroom. There are still weekly due dates, papers, tests, quizzes, midterms, finals, lectures and discussions.  While in some formats, you might work at your own pace, mine is not one of them. Essentially, you not only have homework due, you still have classwork due. Where in a classroom you’d have your lecture, discussion, and teaching, this is all lumped together when learning at home.

By my second semester, I developed a good strategy.

1. Get up early, get dressed as if I am actually going to class. This puts me in the mindset that I have something to get done that day.  I add having my coffee, and checking in on my favorite social sites and blogs to this part of my day.

2. Set an end of the school day for yourself. I found that if I worked all day and into the evening, I felt like I was never getting finished. So I started following my kids’ school schedule. From 8am to 4pm I am in class. I break for lunch, and take a few shorter breaks in that time but mainly I focus on my work. This leaves me time in the day for things I enjoy, like playing games, watching TV, or just browsing Tumblr and Twitter if I want.

3. Pacing myself. No more than 2 classes a day, or I’ll burn myself out quickly, and start feeling overwhelmed.  I try for Monday through Wednesday, but sometimes that doesn’t work for me, and I might do Mon, Wed, Fri, or some other variation depending on when my due dates are.

4. I refuse to obsess about my GPA. I give my absolute best, in every class. But sometimes, that ends in a C+. It happens, I’m not going to excel at everything, and I have to accept that. Even if that is a greater challenge than I’d like.

5. On days I have no classes to work on, I run errands on preferably only one day. The rest, I don’t worry much about getting dressed, I don’t look at my school website, I relax, and sit in my PJ’s if I want to.  These are my days off, and I need to enjoy them as much as possible.

6. Ask for help around the house! My husband is usually in a training cycle when my semesters are in full swing. He can’t help out mych, nor do I expect him to.  Not when he works from 4am to sometimes 10pm 6 days a week for 14 weeks at a time. But my daughters do help tremendously, from taking over household chores (mainly keeping the counters in the kitchen clean, and vacuuming the floors), to cooking dinner.

Without these in place, I stress out, and become useless. So while I may feel like a sloth demon for being generally lazy the last few weeks, I know I have earned it. And I know I better enjoy it as long as it lasts because from January 9 to Sometime in March or April, I’ll be back in the school saddle again.  And this one’s going to be a rough ride. But I look forward to it, and to the New Year.

Entering the New Year brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

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It started innocently enough. I hit lvl 22 on my smuggler Rivaini and said “wooo 22!” in guild chat. One of my guildies has since begun calling me Zecora, and I decided I just had to do this…say hello to Zecora the Trooper. With that hairstyle, she HAD to be a badass. Too bad I couldn’t find a closer cutie mark tattoo.

Also, I will now always announce my levels in rhyme.

My Guildies Made Me Do it… brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

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Between Steve Miller, and Ratshag’s patented Friday Night Drunken Singins, this came to my head last night.

Corso: Some people call me a space cowboy…

Riv: Some call me the gangster of loooove…

C2-N2: Some people call me Maurice…this is just silly master noone’s ever called me Maurice!

Minimech CE: Beep…beeeeeeep

Risha: ‘cause I speak, of the pompitous of loooove

Bowdarr: Howwwwwwwl

Thursday Night Starship Karaoke brought to you by Lady Jess - (Have You Seen My Stapler?)

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