Tainish

I see your Schwartz is as big as mine.

I should never say stuff like this. 4" of blowing rain in 24 hours means water coming in around windows and trying to ruin our new floors and our 4-day-old leather couch. WTF is with Boston and water?

Sorry. Finishing up the reconstruction of the house wound up taking a lot longer than I (or anyone else) expected. We have our final inspection Tuesday of this week. I will definitely be back on Thursday and there is a possibility I can make Tuesday if everything goes well (I have declined for Tuesday night, but if I am available I'll log in in case you need an alternate). That's good to hear, so no more swimming pool in the living room, and jaccuzzi in the bedroom. We are dry. But if another contractor comes through and cuts a hole in a wall I've just painted I'll be facing murder charges.

Sorry. Finishing up the reconstruction of the house wound up taking a lot longer than I (or anyone else) expected. We have our final inspection Tuesday of this week. I will definitely be back on Thursday and there is a possibility I can make Tuesday if everything goes well (I have declined for Tuesday night, but if I am available I'll log in in case you need an alternate).

Spawn!

Xiris and I are interested.

Here is an illustration of my problem: ---------------- water level ------------------ ---------------- Video Card ----------------- ---------------- HDD 1 ----------------------- ---------------- HDD 0 ----------------------- So I am out for at least the next week and possibly two depending on how quickly insurance does its thing.

Awww. Thanks everyone. It was a great birthday (even including the crummy hour or so on Patch).

Agree with Waldy's summation above about trash mobs and dot clipping. Affliction locks just don't do well with trash mobs unless they are aoe-worthy. I use a 6 spell rotation for boss fights that I cribbed from somewhere, but I can't remember the source now. It's the best I've found. If I am in position before the start of the fight I lead off with Shadowbolt, Haunt, Unstable Affliction, CoA, Corruption, Siphon Life. If I lead off with SB and Haunt I have Shadow Embrace stacked twice which increases the output from the rest of my spells. With cast times and GCD I'm ready to cast my next SB right after Siphon Life, but I have to insert some pauses to avoid clipping dots after that. A good dot timer is useful. Since all these dots are on different timers I get some odds gaps where everything is up. I Spam SB in these gaps. If I'm having to run into position at the start of the fight I lead off with the instant cast part of the rotation: CoA, Corruption, Siphon Life, Shadowbolt, Haunt, Unstable Affliction. I lose the benefit of Shadow Embrace for the first half of the rotation, but it's usually better than waiting to start casting until I get into place. Also, this rotation doesn't wrap around as neatly as the other one, and it's a bit of a scramble to keep all the dots up early on. Usually something in the fight distracts me enough that I can't keep all the dots up (adds, bad ######, etc) and then I just have to reload them all, which lets me revert back to the first rotation. Aggro management is an odd thing to get used to as Affliction. Getting the 90% threat warning should be translated as "put your finger over your Soulshatter key and be prepared to press" because it's too late to stop the dots.

Woo hoo! Good work you two. Well actually the joint effort was the fun part. Now the work begins.

Heh Heh...pork butt.

Grandfather Winter gave me a beautiful Frozen Orb which will be so very handy once my sewing training begins again (after I finish all these chores I keep getting all over Northrend). Thank you so much Grandfather Winter!

I agree with all of the above. So congratulations (RAWR), make some tea, and get some sleep. Freak.

Great writeup and summary. Can't wait to get my expac today. It better be on my doorstep soon or I'm going to seriously shake my fist at Amazon. Quick question re: Deathknights: are they legitimate tanks or limited to certain situations or rolls?

I would be happy to help out on any run with that Xiris. She's hot. I don't need any loot, just the pleasure of everyone's company. /sidles up to xiris

I would love to run this with you all, but I sometimes wind up traveling during the week for work so I don't know if I'll be guaranteed to play every weekend. I typically know days in advance whether I'm going to be traveling (for example, I won't be in town next Wednesday). So if you need a 'lock who's always there except for those times when he's not, I'm your man. If you need something more stable, I understand and would be happy to stand by as an alternate.

After a lengthy battle with an unknown infection, Sammie cat passed away in his sleep at the tender age of one. He was a playful kitten who never met a lap he didn't like. One moment he would be casually striding around the room, and the next moment he would appear on your lap (you would recognize it as "blink"). His only apparent goal in life was to win over a certain, life-long dog-owner, at which he was spectacularly successful. He accomplished his goal through hours of dedicated lounging. Sometimes he would lounge on the dog-owner's chest while he watched football, and other times he would lounge on the back of his chair or in his lap while he played WoW. He was a true lounge artist, dedicated to his craft. He will be greatly missed by the iris sisters, the ish brothers, and Molly the dog, and somewhat missed by Chloe the cat (although she would never admit it). Rest in Peace, Sammie. Your work here is done.

Is the drama llama sleeper hold a variation of the camel clutch?

Where in MO? If *iris and I find out you were anywhere near Kansas City and didn't let us buy you some barbecue and a beer you are in serious trouble. SERIOUS!

SPAWN! Excellent work everyone. I'm happy to see that everyone is doing well and looking fantastically cute.

That would be my Vrugz version. I'm not a gear head at all, but I will never forget my first Drag Race (Heartland Park in Topeka). You feel drag racing more than you watch it. In fact, good luck focusing with your whole body vibrating from the horsepower. If you are any sort of engineering nerd at all you will marvel over all the things in Oriah's post...and then you have to wrestle your brain around taking all that raw horsepower and translating it into forward momentum from a standing stop. If you have any interest in motor sports at all, Drag Racing should go on your "must see" list.

First, I love the irony of Vrugz writing the notes from the meeting. Second, this sounds about right to me: And last, thanks for the update. We know the elders are working hard on the issues that the Crushers face, but it's good to see a summary of the efforts.

Tainish dropped his heavy pack on the first open table he found, then stretched mightily to realign his crooked spine. He was halfway to the bar for a large mug of ale when he had to laugh at himself. It sure was a manly scene -- bone weary warrior returned from battle with a bag full of loot and a thirst for ale. It was a good thing that no one else knew his bags were full of sewing supplies. His smile lasted all the way to the bar, where he found out that they were out of Dwarven Ale. "Fine, I'll take the Stout." The staff was busy gabbing about the recent violence toward barmaids in Orgrimmar. It was hardly surprising, what with all those orcs there, but still...who would knock out the person who brings the ale? Tainish gathered his stout and headed back to his table to sew. He knew that his power as a warlock was improved by sewing his own clothing in the same way that a warrior knew he was more powerful by creating his own armor. And Tainish also knew that sewing could never be as manly as working in the forge, but he never, ever, sewed at the loom. He sewed in the bar over a mug of ale. Like a real man. Sort of. Tainish was sewing because he had heard the news. After the great portal reopened, there were stories of tailoring with techniques that would make the most advanced sewing seem obsolete. It had been a while since Tainish had picked up a needle and thread, and he thought he would brush up on his skills to prepare for these new patterns. Tainish started off a bit slowly, but his boney fingers quickly picked up the rhythm and movements of sewing again. Then, after the third stout, his boney fingers began to loose the rhythm and movements of sewing. His mind drifted a bit as well as he tried to remember where we was when he learned this stitch or that stitch. And any stroll down memory lane always lead back to The Old Orc. Lately Tainish had been thinking a lot of the last time he had seen his friend. They both knew it was probably the last time they would see each other, even though they never said anything about it. The closest they came was when the orc asked Tainish for a favor. "Tain," he said, "Ah hab sum frenz dat hab had sum very bad timez lately. Dey're land was destroyed and dey need sum helb. Send sum shinez to dis address ebery week until yur letters are returned. Dese are proud people. When dey nub longer need da shinez dey will stob taking dem. Ub all my 'sons' yu da ash dat I trust ta helb dese frenz." Of course Tainish sent gold every week until one week the letter was returned with a simple "Thank you." But he had always wondered why the orc choose him. At first he thought it was because he was the most responsible, but when the word came out that the Undercity had built a portal to Silvermoon he started to wonder. Had the old orc made friends with elves? Tainish wasn't sure how he felt about that. He had learned from his father that a common enemy did not necessarily make for good friends. Perhaps the Blood Elfs required a wary eye, but if the old orc thought this one named "Bindle" was worthy of aid then he may be a worthy friend. But Tainish would have to find him first. But for now, he would have another stout. And put away his sewing.

Bindish quietly waterproofs his armor. Seriously, what could be more evil than corrupting the Holy Light for evil purposes. Eeeeeeeevil.

And always remember... What happens in Vegas gets posted on the boards with pix.