The calm after the storm

Holy shit that was a stupidly crazy two weeks I just spent there, and it's not an experience I want to repeat any time soon, if ever. I don't want to bore people too much with the details of Real Life and my crazy ex/kids relationship, but I want to explain myself for this reason: I want to explain myself because I want to get it out of my system. I need to open the valves and let some steam out. Blogs are made to let one pour his thoughts out right? Right.

So the last weekend of November I was starting my parental duty weekend but this time I would be keeping my boys for the entire week because my ex was having her bathroom completely redone, making her house uninhabitable; when one cannot shower or take a dump, you can't live there. This was supposed to last only the week until December 2nd. My appartment being pretty small I have to couch-surf when the boys are over, and with the weather turning crappy it's easy to start stepping on each other's toes. I realise I will have to move out at some point but not before both guys are in school. But to come back on the subject just before the first weekend of December my ex told me that the work wasn't finished yet and I'd have to keep my boys until at least Wednesday (last Wednesday, the 7th) but I would have a short break in the weekend. Well and good but that makes for a weekend that flies extremely fast. Murphy being the complete bitch he is Wednesday became Thursday and my boys had only one night back at home when they had to come back to my place this past weekend for the "normal" parental weekend. Now this weekend is over, I'm slightly sick of my boys, my boys are slightly sick of me, and everybody needs a goddamn break!

With Christmas falling right on the weekend where I usually have the boys, this time they will spend a longer time with their mom and her family, which is all good because my own family is all over the place, from Arizona to Thailand. This will give me time to recuperate and pick up to mess left by two weeks of having the boys uprooted and transplanted in too small a pot. So in order for the next couple of weeks: back to gaming in a very selfish fashion. This may or may not be in EVE Online because lately I've been feeling out of touch with Internet Spaceships. I have told my few corpmates that I may leave my own little corp and go where there's a bit more action, but at the same time I feel that moving stuff around halfway across the cluster will cause the exact same thing that happened last April, I'll get sick of EVE's tedious bullshit. I'm actually waiting to see if our little Montreal corp project gets off the ground; if it does, good. If it doesn't it may be the Swan Song. Anyway, I have to find a way to make EVE fun again to justify paying for it.

But other interests require my attention: I haven't played a serious deathmatch in a while so I should pay my QLive clanmates a visit and brush off some rust. Yes, I will suck badly! Another thing I haven't done in too long is some sim piloting, either flight, racing or battlemechs. Piloting is very relaxing to me, almost as much as drumming. Another time-killer I'm into is RPG gaming; hell I don't even have the aversion to elves that a lot of people seem to have, though I don't usually play one! While I do play some Dungeons & Dragons Online and Hellgate Global, I mentioned last week that I'd be getting Skyrim this week, and I will. Thanks to the magic of the Internets I have a copy of the 660 page Prima guide to Skyrim and I already have an idea of how I'll build my character: Redguard dual-wielder of sharp and pointy objects, worshipper of the Tasmanian Devil :) I haven't been to Tamriel since Morrowind but from what I hear I'm in for a treat. It did win the Game of the Year award so I don't see how I can lose!

But apart from gaming something will start to take more and more of my time. My next summer vacation will be a bicycle tour and many preparations are needed, starting with the completion of my bike setup, the equipment I need to carry, the itinerary I will take, the mileage I want to achieve, the little things I may forget, etc. The past couple weeks' experience have pointed me towards what will probably be my first important purchase: sleeping accomodations. And what better place to test it than in my own living room! My plan is to leave my place for two full weeks, during which time I may or may not sleep indoors. Not being a millionaire my first bike tour will be a loop starting and finishing at my place, but with two weeks of travel time I have to decide where this loop will take me. My only criteria: this will not be a race. I'm taking the trip to enjoy myself and see my part of the world, not to execute feats of performance. I do plan to do the trip in September so I'll have all spring and summer to warm up. This is my first big bike trip and I want it to be a good experience even if it's hard.

But the main common denominator with all those things: everything in here is something I absolutely love, and nothing is a rush. No I won't try to do everything at the same time. I know I'm a huge dreamer and want to do so much stuff that I usually have to drop three quarters of what I want to do. Oh well, I can't help it! At least now I have time to take a breather. Yes I know it sounds selfish, and that I don't love my kids. But at least I'm man enough to say that I'm not a perfect father. I must stop here before I turn this into a lengthy philosophical post.

Fly happy; that's the only thing I can say

o7