Greetings one and all! I am not dead, just wanted to let you all know that. I have not been run down by a runaway elephant, abducted by aliens, kidnapped by yakfolk, moved to Atlantis, taken a vow of computer silence, or had by hands bitten off by my cat. My extended absence has derived from a long and mostly boring story of the trials and tribulations of my life. If you really really want to know, read the next three paragraphs. If you couldn't care less and just wonder when the hell I'm going to get back into DMing, skip the next three paragraphs.
Basically, I was living in Indiana, doing a job for which I went to college for, namely being an athletic trainer (sports medicine specialist) working out of a physical therapy clinic at a local high school. I have to have a license to legally practice this profession, and to get the license one must pass a test. The test is only held about 4-5 times a year at specific, rotating sites around the country, and costs over $300 to take (so over $300 plus travel expenses, you do the math). Most of you don't know, but I have been struggling with major recurrent depression since about Sept-Oct of 2003. I have been getting treatment for it, but it often manifests itself in me as a kind of apathy/fear of doing things. I sometimes fear doing something wrong, so I push it out of my mind as inconsequential so I don't have to deal with it and get stressed. Signing up and studying for my test came under this category. I was supposed to take my test in November or January. I didn't get signed up until April. I was then fired from my job the day after I took the test (I knew it was coming because I hadn't taken it sooner, but I thought it wouldn't happen until May).
Stuck in Indiana with an apartment that required my former salary, and unable to obtain unemployment benefits due to the fact that I was fired, I tried to look for some other temporary employement. I got myself food stamps, my fiance helped me financially, and I waited for the results of my test, hoping that if I passed all three parts of it, I could get another job in the field. It came, and I only passed one of the three. My lack of studying had seriously sunk me into a hole. I had no job prospects in Indiana, and with an employer who would give me a bad reference, I was effectively not going to find any sort of employment in my field. Thusly, I returned to my homedown of Davenport, IA.
After living with my mother for a few weeks, I got a part time job at a blood bank as a telerecruiter ("Ya wanna donate blood? Do ya, do ya, do ya?"). A friend of the family came through for me with a strange fluke of fate. She had a small house she had moved out of two years previously. She intended to fix some small problems with it, and then sell it. Unfortunetly, she fell very ill shortly after moving into her new house, and dealing with the old one became less of a priority. She is allowing me to buy the house from her on contract (no banks involved) while I live there. Shortly after doing some painting, obtaining some large appliances and moving in, I got an additional, full-time temporary job at a warehouse. Two weeks after that, a girl in our department quit, which moved my job from temporary to indefinite. But due to us being short-handed, that meant the rest of us had to pull five hours of overtime a week.
In short, I have been working 62-hour weeks, and I literally just got internet access yesterday. Now, as I barely have time to eat or sleep as it is, I will obviously not be able to reactivate all of my games, even assuming all of my players are still willing to participate and my DMs want me back. At the current juncture in time, I think I will be conservative and reactivate three of my games, and see which (if any) of my DMs haven't replaced my characters yet. My posting will be restricted to the weekends, and perhaps a post here or there during the week.
Please, if you play in any of my games, I need to see if I have any full rosters left, or if people have had real life intrude like I have, or have found other games they would prefer to play. I really can't activate a game if I only have one or two people in it, so if you want your game activated, try to get all of the party together please! (Or viable alternates, whichever works.)
If any of my DMs read this, could you please let me know if you still need/want me, or if you have replaced me on the roster (I totally understand, it's hard to move a story ahead when people drop out for three months...).
Basically, I was living in Indiana, doing a job for which I went to college for, namely being an athletic trainer (sports medicine specialist) working out of a physical therapy clinic at a local high school. I have to have a license to legally practice this profession, and to get the license one must pass a test. The test is only held about 4-5 times a year at specific, rotating sites around the country, and costs over $300 to take (so over $300 plus travel expenses, you do the math). Most of you don't know, but I have been struggling with major recurrent depression since about Sept-Oct of 2003. I have been getting treatment for it, but it often manifests itself in me as a kind of apathy/fear of doing things. I sometimes fear doing something wrong, so I push it out of my mind as inconsequential so I don't have to deal with it and get stressed. Signing up and studying for my test came under this category. I was supposed to take my test in November or January. I didn't get signed up until April. I was then fired from my job the day after I took the test (I knew it was coming because I hadn't taken it sooner, but I thought it wouldn't happen until May).
Stuck in Indiana with an apartment that required my former salary, and unable to obtain unemployment benefits due to the fact that I was fired, I tried to look for some other temporary employement. I got myself food stamps, my fiance helped me financially, and I waited for the results of my test, hoping that if I passed all three parts of it, I could get another job in the field. It came, and I only passed one of the three. My lack of studying had seriously sunk me into a hole. I had no job prospects in Indiana, and with an employer who would give me a bad reference, I was effectively not going to find any sort of employment in my field. Thusly, I returned to my homedown of Davenport, IA.
After living with my mother for a few weeks, I got a part time job at a blood bank as a telerecruiter ("Ya wanna donate blood? Do ya, do ya, do ya?"). A friend of the family came through for me with a strange fluke of fate. She had a small house she had moved out of two years previously. She intended to fix some small problems with it, and then sell it. Unfortunetly, she fell very ill shortly after moving into her new house, and dealing with the old one became less of a priority. She is allowing me to buy the house from her on contract (no banks involved) while I live there. Shortly after doing some painting, obtaining some large appliances and moving in, I got an additional, full-time temporary job at a warehouse. Two weeks after that, a girl in our department quit, which moved my job from temporary to indefinite. But due to us being short-handed, that meant the rest of us had to pull five hours of overtime a week.
In short, I have been working 62-hour weeks, and I literally just got internet access yesterday. Now, as I barely have time to eat or sleep as it is, I will obviously not be able to reactivate all of my games, even assuming all of my players are still willing to participate and my DMs want me back. At the current juncture in time, I think I will be conservative and reactivate three of my games, and see which (if any) of my DMs haven't replaced my characters yet. My posting will be restricted to the weekends, and perhaps a post here or there during the week.
Please, if you play in any of my games, I need to see if I have any full rosters left, or if people have had real life intrude like I have, or have found other games they would prefer to play. I really can't activate a game if I only have one or two people in it, so if you want your game activated, try to get all of the party together please! (Or viable alternates, whichever works.)
If any of my DMs read this, could you please let me know if you still need/want me, or if you have replaced me on the roster (I totally understand, it's hard to move a story ahead when people drop out for three months...).
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