Surprised you there didn't I

So two blogs in two days, unheard of I say...

So today's thoughts - going to setup a couple of Tribute pages for my Mum and Dad with several photos and plenty of stories, it will help with the ongoing element of missing them like crazy.

Absolutely believe that cremation is the better option these days given the number of humans on this planet but it does mean you don't have a grave to go and visit which has been niggling my head a bit for the last couple of months, so good news there.

Work wise, fun time as they are investing in training for me, something with all the work in Maggie's we never got around to, not to say they didn't want to or that BCC has less work for me, more just a determined investment in staff development no matter the workload.

As I say, still love Maggie's and what they do but training time vs workload time is something that isn't quite there but is here, so on wards and upwards and all that.

So two years later...

...and I'm still not blogging regularly, though I have got around to setting up a gaming themed Twitter handle @GorbalsGamer, which going by current I'll do for a while and wander off again, weird that, not.

How's the Gaelic language study going?

It's not, losing both of your parents within two years will do that to your noggin especially if you have to keep your shit together as a responsible parent and all that entails, am I negative about the lack of progress there?

Nah, in those two years I've seen my boys grow by spending as much time with them as possible and keeping at least a toe in the language learning side of things, I've also moved job to Beatson Cancer Charity, a fine bunch of people doing great work, Maggie's was great but we've all got to move on at some point if our skills are needed elsewhere and I'm already seeing the benefits of me being here, ho hum, more random thoughts as I fly by, let's see how long that take's this time...

Sleep tight little fishies...

Pedal for Scotland - the return of the tryer

So,

Doing Pedal for Scotland again this year...

Let's do a potted history -

• First time done and completed with my wife
• Second time, birth of our first lovely son
• Third time, signed up, death in the family
• Fourth time, signed up, got about 10 miles in and pedal kept coming off - ended up stopping and catching the train back to Glasgow very much ticked off and fuming, calmed down by having lunch with wife and family on my return

That brings us to this year, so what do we have on the cards?  Several test runs of varying lengths have been completed and happy with overall fitness if going to be a slow one, bike has been checked out and extra weight of commuting removed.

Camelbak light weight back and 2 litre bottle bought and ready so running light, no major dramas on the calendar (hear that life?  Leave it!) *achem* had to get that out.

So am I feeling like it's going to happen this time?  Hell yes! is the answer resounding, will it be a fast one?  Not bloody likely but that doesn't matter, as long as I finish that's all that matters at this point, the challenge and the enjoying it with good mates is where it's at, any negative vibes can go take a swim in a deep dark lake with their hands tied behind their back.

Bring it on!

Crysis FPS thoughts

So finally got around to playing the Crysis series after I picked up 1 & 2 in the Steam sale a while back and have to say I'm pleasantly surprised and quite hooked on playing more.

I say this because it did initially look like a gadgets vill FPS that tried to grab attention by having 'cool' powers in your suit rather than a straight forward run around and shoot.

Whilst the graphics of the first one do feel dated and that's natural given when it was released the game play and storyline were solid, I have to admit to getting wound up no end by how the control system worked but when I got the hang of it things cranked up in the fun stakes no end.

So example you say?  Well, attacking a base/group of bad guys from one angle whilst visible, then when they all start shooting/running at you cloaking to cover then running like blazes to another completely different angle, allowing you to use that advantage to snipe/take the objective as needs.

So I finished that (you finished a game, with two toddlers?!) Yes, I did and I even managed to move onto the second in the series and complete that!  Wonders will never cease...

The second was a definite shift in focus & increase in playability, where the first could sometimes come across a bit, here's some bad guys, now move on, the second flowed much better storyline wise and tactics used given it was an urban environment were a good shift.

Something about the overall feel of the game just felt much better put together, I enjoyed playing Crysis 1 but I loved playing Crysis 2, as I felt much more involved in how the game was going storyline wise, enemy AI was definitely improved as well, I clearly remember taking out some bad guys in a base in the first game and a bunch of guys just stood around without reacting, whereas in the second game if you make enough noise EVERYONE will come running, so you have to either a) Don't or b) be prepared for all out war.

I so enjoyed the second that I swallowed my 'I hate Origin platform' concerns and picked up the third in the story, only played about 10 minutes so far but it's shaping up to be another great game, can take or leave having a bow tbh given how practiced I got at using a silenced weapon/knife/fists to take an enemy down silently but we'll see how it develops.

As a last thought it's been entertaining from a gamers view to see how the game has developed both in graphics and overall game functionality from the first to the last, I haven't touched the multiplayer element and frankly I don't plan to, if I want to play MP I can do a bit of Borderlands/any other game where I can play with friends that doesn't involve going up against folks who will have practiced using the suit skills to the Nth degree, if I wanted to get frustrated I'm sure there are plenty of RL things like how folks can believe the crap the UK government is spitting out re: the Yes vote that could get me wound up ;)

My Dad

You were there to deal with the nappies & the late nights. You were there to enjoy the wonders of my coming into the world & my gummy smiles.

You were there to enjoy my first steps with me, the inevitable falls & pick me up. I loved that you were there play with me & help me learn all those first things as a toddler.

You were there for my first days at school, teach me right from wrong & that violence never makes you the better person no matter what.

You were there for my days at high school, the ups & downs of being a teenager, the dramas and the fights and the serious debates of who was the better snooker player, the critical topics of the day clearly, enjoying the quiet times with you watching any & every sport you could find on the TV.

You were there to support me & drink with me through the student years with many a pint & chaser and laugh as I regaled you with stories of the late night antics of my friends and I.

You were there through my 20s and 30s and I joined you for one or two nights at the Gunners enjoying your & Mums company and enjoying watching you dance together. You probably heaved a sigh of relief when I settled down with Lindsay & I know that you loved that I married a woman of Islay descent going by the number of bottles of whisky that I brought back over the years and the fun of the wedding on that lovely Isle.

You were there as a wonderful Granddad to my fine sons & help me develop as a parent. They always looked forward to seeing you for their tickles and hugs & a few cheeky tugs on your moustache.

I was there at the end to help you when you needed me along with our family to keep you company and smiling.

At the end of things you have been many things to me Dad, all of the them remembered with great fondness & will be treasured forever.

To my one & only Dad with love eternal,

Your Loving Son,

Greig

Boy, time's two

Wow is it almost 6 weeks already?!

Almost 6 weeks since our lives were made even happier with a second child and second son.

Really doesn’t feel like it until you look around and realise you’ve missed a couple of friend’s birthdays and the summers almost over, totally understandable but apologies to those who have been missed!

We’re doing really well, both boys are as healthy as can be and whilst Ruaraidh hasn’t quite learned what ‘gentle’ means he clearly loves his little brother, he’s even been known to give him a couple kisses which is immensely cute to say the least.

Struan’s even managed it all the way over to Kirkcaldy which we didn’t do until about now for Ruaraidh, he’s met one of his Grand Aunties, the one he inherited his Yoda ears from, his cousins are queuing up for a shot of a cuddle, very funny to see them having little arguments about who had a shot last and how long J

Unfortunately like life in general you get ups and downs, our only down at the moment apart from the afore mentioned lack of sociability is Ruaraidh’s fractured bed time, the little bundle of joy hasn’t went to sleep till after 11pm on quite a few occasions, we can only hope this is some kind of phase because if it keeps going someone is going to have to plug is into a caffeine drip!

As I thought it’s going to be hard to make sure Ruaraidh still feels like he’s getting the same attention as he’s used to, but that will become a little easier when Struan gets a bit more movement and he sees him as more of a little person than an interference to his play plans, which does happen on occasion just now.

Just hoping the rain will sod off at some point so he can get to play out the back more, he’s loving his slide and trike, even if he still tries to use the neighbours boys scooter whenever he sees it, typical toddler behaviour but still very funny, he’s a little charmer and has got the next door neighbours playing peek a boo with him when the weathers good enough, shame that the younger kids in the block don’t come out to play more often, but I suppose that’s the curse of living in a block of flats, they all live on the higher levels and don’t quite see the back court as a play area as much as we do.

All the fun little developments of Struan are great to watch when I get a chance to, he’s a wee smiler, very cute, more than likely he’s going to be another charmer like his big brother, and he certainly lives up to his name when it comes to nappy time and that sure keeps us on our toes!

Back again when I’ve had more sleep/conscious thoughts, have a good one folks J

Mass Effect 3 - The end, eventually...

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So we’ve reached an impasse.

I’ve absolutely loved playing Mass Effect 3 let me say that right now, they’ve done another fine job with the storyline.  Heavy hitting choices, grand scope, funny buddy interactions, and all fantastic stuff, kept me hooked all the way.

New characters are well fleshed out and seeing what’s happened in the characters lives from ME2 in some ways surprising, some ways bitter sweet, I’ll let you play the game and you decide but overall really happy with what they’ve done there.

Combat is improved since ME2 & I’ve been won over by the melee weapon idea which I was pretty sceptical about during the run up to the game release.  I used to be the long range fighter with the occasional close quarters only when needed.

I actually found myself getting my squad to provide covering fire whilst I used Tactical Cloak + Shotgun to get in close with sprint, hit them with the shotgun to drop their shields and finish them with the heavy melee attack against three or four enemies.

For those who know how I tend to play FPS games this is a fairly major attitude shift, but serious amounts of fun & an adrenaline rush as you’re in close quarter combat with multiple enemies whilst your squad mates shoot around you.

The missions structure is pretty good overall, with a bit of practice I found the Cerberus heavies easier to take down, as long as I planned where to hit and who to put where.  I even got to the stage with the sniper rifle where I was getting on with the ‘postal slot’ achievement, which is where you shoot a Cerberus Guardian, who attacks with a heavy shield, through their line of sight slot.

Even though I’ve not been able to dedicate long sessions to the game it’s been structured in such a way that I’ve been able to get close to end game with completion of a lot of the side quests and a fairly hefty War Fleet.

This is where we come to the impasse.

Without ruining what the potential multiple endings are there is a widely discussed & even publicised on the BBC website issue with how the ending is structured.  How the game pans out is basically worked out on a percentage scale of your overall readiness, which is worked out using multiple factors, not like before based on in mission achievement, more of a long road way.

However, to get the ‘best’ ending, which is always what I strive for after all, you either have to ‘Gem Hunt’ the galaxy for War Fleet assets in single player, or play Multiplayer which increases your readiness.  So it pretty much boils down to how many points you have in the ‘bank’.

If you do the hunt, you’re pretty much wandering the galaxy scanning planets till you get what you need, yawn!  However because your readiness can’t go above 50% without playing multiplayer it’s your only choice in single player.

If you instead do multiplayer to increase the percentage readiness, all fine, but there’s a kick in the tail, as soon as you sign up to play multiplayer there is a ticker in the background that drops your readiness by 1% every x hours, 6 hours from what I remember.

Given my status as a parent with a toddler and a bay on the way I really can’t see playing multiplayer enough to get away from the minus ticker.

So do I a) do the galaxy hunt which will be boring and tedious, but will mean no minus so can be done over time

Or

b) Start multiplayer at a time I’m certain I can do it in a night and do the final mission as soon as I’ve got the points needed, how likely is that do we think given I have problems doing a N4SW race J

Either way it’s going to leave a little bit of a bitter taste in my mouth in which was otherwise a fantastic game experience, I tend to treat my games these days like a book and it’s feeling like a great book with a crappy ending at the moment, I’m sure when I finally see the end game I’ll love it, here’s hoping!