Random Stuff is Random!

Guess who couldn't think of a topic for today? Well, actually I could but none of them would have made for a whole post so I'm gonna lump them in here all together & be a bit random for a change! This blog tends to be a bit random anyway so it should fit in nicely!

Milestone Interviews - I launched this last week on my other blog - it's kind of aimed at non-blogging goldmakers in the community but if any of my lovely peeps here want to join in, you'll be more than welcome! I've had a few interviews submitted already, the first will be going live tomorrow. I'm pretty excited by this mini-project - now I just have to work out how to get the shy ones to send their interviews in!

Paladin Week - yup - my main is a Paladin so I'll be doing a full Paladin post in the next day or two - she's my Achievement chaser, my first ever alt & still my favorite so I'm trying to work out which bit to write about for that post!

Hearthstone - Blizzard have just announced they are going to do a 'wipe' which basically means that all my progress over the last few weeks will be reset back to fresh meat level. I know I'll have the knowledge to get back to same level again (which isn't that high anyway to be honest) but it kinda feels like a waste of time playing now until after the wipe. That's good news for WoW though - maybe now, I'll log in and actually do something other than Auction House & cooldowns! If you're interested in Hearthstone, my friend Cold is a long time, very experienced Card game player & has written a couple of posts over on his blog. The Starter Mage Deck is the one I started with on his advice and it works really well.

Real Life - work is going great - I really like my boss even if she drives me a little crazy now & then. Got some niggling health stuff to sort out but nothing major and finally, after 18 months on the market, my house has sold! Yup - I'll have some cash out of the sale & the first thing I'm going to do is fly out to see my friend! It does mean I'll miss the Blizzcon London weekend meetup but hey, I need his hugs more!

Monk Week - I kinda got distracted by Hearthstone again last week so I totally missed Monk Week. I do have a monk - she's been level 5 since about 3 days after Mists went live! I was seriously put out when I couldn't send her any heirlooms straightaway so she got shelved until further notice. That was a full year ago now! I did pop in and get her to level 8 this morning but it's Paladin Week now so I guess she'll be sitting around for a while longer. Why Tishamaru? One of my old Etsy friends has a beautiful Siamese cat called Maru & her sister is Tisha - probably the most photogenic pair of cats I've seen in a long while & not only do I have a fondness for Siamese cats - it's vaguely Asian too!

Blogging! - as if I didn't have enough to do, I've been invited to contribute to a new site (along with a few other known bloggers) which I've accepted AND I've started a new one of my own. Once everything is running smoothly on that, I'll tell y'all a bit more about it but I want to polish the edges a bit more first! Oh and in my usual scatterbrained fashion, I have a great idea for another one too! Eeeek!

My Fav Guildie - I did log into WoW last night, intending to do just a little bit of crafting but my Fav Guildie was online & we started chatting (as usual!). He noticed I didn't have my new trinket from the Timeless Isle yet so he dragged me off to go get the Burning Chest across the broken bridge. We hit it lucky and the mobs were almost all dead so I just ran in & got the chest - one Trinket & a Burden of Eternity later & I was a happy bunny! On the way back, we stopped to join in on a Huolon(sp?) kill & he summoned the Tiger rare nearby for me too. He's pretty much been living on the Isle as far as I can tell so it was easy to pick up a couple more Rares to kill for the quest. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to do stuff with other players & once I reforge, gem & enchant, I think I may be pleasantly surprised with my Paladin. Big {{{hugs}}} for Ben - apparently I don't talk about him enough here - do you think this will keep him happy? lol

Okay, time to get back to my alt-hopping ways - got a Paladin post to wrestle with & I need screenshots! Got to discipline myself not to log into Hearthstone though - it is kinda addictive once you get going you know!

Have fun y'all, talk soon xxx

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Secret Projects, New Tech & More!

I Love Cuddles!

It's been a strange week here at Casa Nev - full of ups & downs as the 1 year anniversary of my breast cancer looms ever closer with my hospital check-up next week. I thought I was ok with it all but that appointment is definitely looming ever larger in my random thoughts. Not that I think there's anything to worry about but I guess I won't rest easy until I get a definite all clear again.

Been busy at work in my new job - week 3 and we had the annual auditors visit - interesting when they are asking me stuff like 'where's this invoice' and all I can say is 'see that cupboard over there?' because I have no idea yet where anything is or how things were done in the last financial year!

I started the week in WoW with more pet battles but I finally caved in and treated myself to an iPad which arrived on Wednesday. I spent most of that evening downloading new apps and logging in to my regular ones like Twitter. It was most peculiar to be sitting at my computer & responding to tweets via iPad even though I had Twitter open on my PC!

I treated myself to Netflix too so Thursday evening was the first evening since last August that I spent away from my computer desk. I actually sat on the sofa and watched some tv & played some silly games. That may sound strange but as I didn't even have a sofa until about 3 months ago & I still have no television, I haven't had many options for getting away from the PC other than to lie in bed & read or sit on the floor or something! Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all - I made my choices & I'm pretty happy with them so far.

I've also started my own improvement project - joining a gym, eating sensibly & trying to shape up a bit. Eventually I'll add giving up smoking to that list but with everything going on, I don't think right now is the best time to add nicotine withdrawal to my list! There's something else on my self-improvement list but I don't think I'm ready to share that yet - it will be the biggest step though and probably another life-changer for me.

As for my secret project, that started a couple of weeks ago & this morning was almost finalised. The end results will be made public in the next few days & I am mega-stoked to share it with you. It's been really hard keeping it to myself but I think & I hope it will be a popular move with my friends & my readers.

I'll be back to pet battling posts next time though - I'm heading in now to finish of Northrend & maybe the Cataclysm zones too before bedtime tonight! 

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Still Here, Still Talking!

oh to fly away again!

Last time I posted, I was deep into Neverwinter & enjoying my holiday. Now I've been back a couple of weeks & it honestly feels like I've never been away - work was kind of backed up when I returned & this week I moved desks to start my new position. I've just signed a 12 month contract to cover maternity & sick leave for the Accounts Assistant.

Timing wasn't the best though - the boss lady is on vacation herself this week so I had 2-3 days with her last week & spent most of this week pretty much trying to work out how to do stuff from what they did last time! It's nice to be using my brain again, that's for sure!

As far as Neverwinter goes - I'm still playing although not so much. I was playing my Cleric with Cold of Cold's Gold Factory and as he is on massive overtime at the moment, we've not been able to match up our schedules! So that's left me with WoW again - I actually did a dungeon this week - Heroic Scholomance with my favorite guildie. He was surprised I didn't know my way around until I told him I'd only been through there 1 or 2 times ages & ages ago!

I'd prepared him for my rubbish DPS but he'd made a couple of suggestions before the queue popped & I think it helped because my DPS wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it was! After we got out of there, he joined a group for Nalak & dragged me along there too - I got the ilevel 522 legs from the boss loot & got them again on my bonus roll - how frustrating! So now my item level is 467 and I'm running out of excuses to not do LFR!

I also reached exalted with Shado-Pan at last so now I'm doing the August Celestials & Shieldwall Offensive work orders on my Tillers farm. I will get all the reputations eventually - I only need 3 more for the 45 reps achievement & I have 5 Cataclysm factions at revered so I should probably go back & sort those out too!

I also guested on not one but two podcasts this week! On Monday evening, I joined Phatlewts, Goblin Raset, Manthieus & Novitsh for the Happy Hour Roundtable podcast to discuss the upcoming patch 5.4 and some of the PTR notes. It was great fun and nice to hear some non-US accents for a change.

Then this morning, I joined my fellow Brit goldmaker extraordinaire Marcus Ty for episode 7 of his podcast - The Journal of Marcus Ty. When I tell you the skype call was 3 hours long, don't worry, we didn't record the whole time & Marcus is great at editing! It was great fun & I hope you can hear how much we enjoyed putting the show together for you - it's not published yet but if you're feeling curious, I was also a guest on episode 3 so you can hear my crazy Brit accent!

So I have promised myself to get more time in WoW next week - I have pets to collect & battle, gold to make & achievements to work on even if I don't really play any alts! With the Midsummer Festival XP bonus though - now might be a good time to push my 3 level 85/86's towards 90 - at least that will give me more choices of what not to play at end game!

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Real Life Catch Up

I can't believe it's been almost 3 weeks already since my last post! But to give you an idea of how things are going - it's 8am on a Saturday morning & I've already caught up on my Twitter feed from overnight (about an hour), have made a to-do list for the weekend & I'm about to start sipping my 3rd cup of coffee! Yup - my body clock has readjusted to working hours & didn't believe me when I told it to go back to sleep, it's the weekend. Grrrrr.

I can't say work has been interesting, it's just a data entry type job but having been off for 4 years, I've got to start at the bottom again. The people are nice & as it's a charity working for & with disabled people, it's actually quite an interesting place to work. Many of the desks are taller than normal to accommodate wheelchair users, the spaces between the desk areas are much wider too for the same reason & the bathrooms are huge with all sorts of special equipment. We also have quite a few volunteers working a day here & there - it gives them a little experience in an office/work environment & for some, it can lead to a proper job to give them some independence.

I do find it a bit difficult sometimes - I've never had much interaction with any kind of disability before & I'm meeting all kinds now - I'm kind of nervous of putting my foot in it by saying the wrong thing or being over helpful. I don't want to be 'that person' who raises their voice when speaking to a blind person or overly solicitous just because a guy walks a bit wonky, you know? It's also really hard not to stare sometimes - I'm not being rude to them (not intentionally at least), I'm just in awe of their ability to keep going even though just getting to the office is a monumental task and to be honest, I'm curious.

At least Spring has arrived!

I've only got a few more weeks there by the sounds of things. They are interviewing for the position I'm covering but I haven't applied as I know it is too junior for me & I won't last. Yes, I know a job is a job but you have to be realistic too - I know myself pretty well & I know that within a month or two, I'll be bored to literal tears & will probably leave anyway. I just can't handle it.

But on the upside, I'm planning a trip to USA when this position finishes so woo hooo! It's only been 4 months since I saw my friend & I'm really in need of some cuddles! That's probably the hardest thing about running solo these days - almost no physical interaction - it's surprising how much of a difference a hug can make but as much as I love my Mum, her hugs don't quite cut it! She's of a generation or an upbringing where hugs just aren't the done thing so she always feels awkward. I still hug her though - she's alone too so I'm guessing she misses hugs as much as I do.

As for WoW, well, I've not been very active at all in game - I'm just about managing to log in & relist my auctions most evenings, hence the lack of posts on my main blog, AH Addict. My guild is dying but as the only original member & currently the GM, I don't want to let it just die & fade away or let it go to someone else - crazy I know! I'm planning on finally getting my Shado-Pan reputation to exalted this weekend - just a few more dailies & farm work orders should do it.

With the just announced drop in XP required for leveling 85-90, I don't feel the urge to continue leveling my priest either so I guess this weekend will be a few scenarios on my Paladin - I still don't have the Scenaturdist achievement & it's almost Children's Week too which is the last Holiday achievement I need for the Violet Drake meta-achievement. Damn that PvP element though!

So there we go, that's where I am right now. I have no real direction so I'm just poodling along. I hope I can knuckle down & find something productive or fun (or both!) to do soon. I have no idea where this blog is going but in the meantime, it's great just to write it all out. I just hope you're nosy enough to enjoy my blatherings and bear with me whilst I get back on track!

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Yet More Changes at Casa Nev!

Last week I mentioned that I had a job for the next 10-12 weeks & here we are on a Sunday afternoon & I'm just waking up from a much needed afternoon nap! My body clock time keeping has changed drastically over the last few years to the point that actually getting to sleep before 2am is near impossible which hasn't been a problem whilst I've not been working!

Now though, I'm awake at 7am & by 4pm, I have no idea how I'm staying awake for that last hour of work, let alone driving home! I have been able to sleep by 1am though so I'm guessing another week or two & I'll be back to a 'normal' sleep pattern.

So what's the next lot of change coming to Casa Nev, I hear you ask? Well, I started this blog originally to talk about WoW stuff that wasn't gold related. It turns out I don't have as much non-goldmaking stuff to talk about as I thought but I do have lots of other stuff going on in my life so I think I'm going to change the direction of my posts here.

I have an Etsy shop & a couple of Zazzle shops for my photography & fractals, I write pages at Squidoo on all sorts of stuff, I have WoW stuffs, I'm learning new cooking styles & of course, I have my new single life stuff. So I thought rather than start yet another blog, I'd just re-purpose this one! Luckily 'She Rides Dragons' isn't an obviously WoW name so I don't even have to worry about changing that :)

The only WoW stuff I've done in the evenings this week is to relist my auctions & do the Tailoring & Leatherworking cooldowns to get the new PvP patterns.

I did get my priest moving over Easter weekend - she's almost 86 now :P Yeah, I may have forgotten how slow leveling a priest is even with almost all ilevel 415 blue crafted gear! It's almost as if I've lost the ability to quest for hours or even do anything productive in game. Again, I'm sure I'll settle down again eventually so I'm not going to stress it for now.

I'll still be doing some WoW posts here - especially the to-do list ones as I find they help me stay focused in game but with everything else going on, sometimes I just need to get my other thoughts out there too. I'm not totally sure quite what will end up here but I hope you'll tag along out of curiosity if nothing else!

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All Change At Casa Nev

In my last post, I mentioned that I'd been out to work for a few days & maybe the agency would have me on their radar now. It's a mixed blessing but on their radar I ended up - I have a job! It's only an input clerk & only for 8-12 weeks but it sorts out a lot of problems for me & gets me out of this apartment. It does mean that most of my side projects that I was going to knuckle down & focus on will have to go on the back burner again though! It also makes a few other things more difficult but I'm sure we'll get through those. They do say 'love conquers all' after all :)

So as my last grasp of unemployed freedom, I'm going to spend the next few days in WoW - no more messing with side projects & faffing - it's time to play a bit & maybe even get my Priest on her way to 90! Shock, horror, gasp!

So I need a to-do list for the next 5 days - here's what I got so far!

• Start leveling Priest (including new keybinds, glyphs, talents & sorting out her bank/bags for space!)
• Get a pet to level 25 - I have some around 13-15-ish so far
• Do the Thunder Isle dailies at least once if only to see what the fuss is about!
• Work the Auction House like a madwoman!
• Do Tillers dailies on my Warrior & DK - both at 12 plots now.

If I don't see y'all here before then, have a great Easter :)

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Arrgghh! Real Life Interrupts Again!

So it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post & real life has gone crazy on me. I did manage to get my Paladin halfway through Revered with the Shado-Pan & into Honored with the August Celestials but only because of the farm work orders!

I also managed to get both my Warrior & DK's farms opened up to 12 plots so now I can plant the special crops - I went for Songbell Seeds on both as my warrior is my Blacksmith but I'm pretty sure I won't be playing her much. My DK is my scribe & jewelcrafter - not 100% sure I need Spirits of Harmony on her but until I get time to check, I'll keep planting them!

And that's about all I have managed to do in game for the last 2 weeks - oh, I did do 1 evening of pet battles  but it was kind of uneventful. I started a fresh team & managed to beat the Stranglethorn trainer guy but that's as far as I got.

After almost 4 years of illness, unemployment & more illness, I went back to work this week. It was a bit of a shock to my system as you can probably imagine & trying to keep up with twitter & my in-game friends is taking way more time out of my evening than I expected. I think we've also sold the house too (well, we've accepted an offer, hopefully it will proceed to a sale) so there's been lots of lawyer talk going on!

I know I'm probably very ungrateful given the current economic climate but I'm actually quite relieved that my 'job' was only for 1 week. I'm on the job agency radar now though with current references & experience so hopefully there will be more temporary positions coming up. It's also reminded me why I quit my last real job all those years ago! I have a lot of bits & pieces going on all over the place but if I want to be self-employed, I have to find some self-discipline & focus from somewhere!

I'll still be writing here & over at AH Addict too although maybe not as often as I would like - playing WoW to get stuff to write about has been my escape for far too long! Time to knuckle down & work smart!

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