Like sands through the hourglass...

I won't bother to post a long, dreary entry right now.  Suffice it to say, things have changed a lot around here in the last six weeks.  My life has gone from riding the crest of the wave, to being sucked into its undertow, and is just now beginning to level off again.
 
Three days after my last entry, I lost the job I had for almost eight years.  Without going into dreadful details, the event has changed my life.  I am a different, but better person now and I think I may have a clearer focus on life and what's really important.  It's not money, it's not a big house or a huge television (things that were all on my mind two months ago).  What is important, is family and faith.  If you have those, you'll be all right.  If you're missing one of those, seek out the other if you can, and hold onto the one you have because it'll save you.
 
Have I gone crazy?  No.  I've gone through a transformation and come out a better man.  I'll explain over time, because it's important.  Stay tuned.
 

Diligence

Another milestone of sorts last night.. Ladene and I were accepted into Diligence as full members. I think we've found our final home in EQ. It's been a rocky road of what some might consider guild hopping, but I like to think of it as finding our rightful place. We tried 4 guilds within a year's time and none had the same focus we did (or rather, the power to do it). Within 2 weeks, we finished our Time flagging, got up to speed with the new expansion and got accepted. Everything before this took the entire last year spent in other guilds. All of them were respectable guilds with respectable people, but it hasn't been until recently that we've been so excited about playing again (in a guild.. mind you that playing with our friends is always the main draw). Thank you, Diligence! I hope we earn our place in this legendary guild in the times to come. Speaking of.. provided Sony patched the servers properly, we'll be doing our first run through Plane of Time on Wednesday and Thursday!

Time

After a roughly 4 hour, very grueling ordeal, one of the most interesting and nervewracking events I have been a part of during my stay in EQ, was conquered last night. Combined forces of Forged Souls, Fires Within and just a few Diligence (the rest of the guild was in Time for their rotation), helped to defeat the Rathe Council and Avatar of Earth encounter to flag roughly 50 people across all 3 guilds. With so many people in zone (about 115) it was an amazing feat of leadership that allowed this to be conquered so smoothly. My only regret is that 95% of this round of recruits have been flagged and it may be a while before this stuff is done again, but I hope it continues. It was a total blast, like a huge server party and I would be glad to help out in any way. Thanks again to the fine guilds mentioned. Within an hour of the end of the event, Julie and I stepped into the Plane of Time. Five years of dedication and time spent in a alternate world have finally come full circle. Yeah, I know Time isn't new and I'm probably one of may thousands to zone into it now, but it's a personal triumph and goal achieved. Now we can join our new friends in Time and beyond. No more "backflagging". Unfortunately, by the time we caught up to the raid force in Time, the recent "changes" to the game made progress through the phases impossible. I did, however, get to train Vallon Zek a few times and watch him snap back on his leash ;) I took a lot of screenshots, hopefully I can toss a few up.

Thanks again Seventh Hammer.. Hopefully I can pass the generosity of time and effort down to those that come after me. To Infinity and Beyond!

Kinder, Gentler Hammer

Something rather unprecidented has happened on the Hammer. Three of the top guilds have joined up to get their latest recruits / new members flagged for Time (and Kod'Taz). On Tuesday, FS, FW and Diligence amassed 150+ people to massacre both Coirnav and Xegony. It was nice to see a lot of old acquaintances again and the events were high-spirited and friendly. On Wednesday night, FS sponsored the quick take-down of Earth rings and the Mystical Arbiter, keying a lot of people for Plane of Earth B aka Stronghold of Ragrax, the lair of the Rathe Council. Rathe is now the final flag needed for us to be Time enabled. This is something that's been a long time in coming and I can't stress enough how excited we are and thankful that this alliance has happened. Hopefully tonight the Rathe Council will face their doom, allowing everyone to join their respective guilds in Time as intended. Kudos to the guild and raid leaders from Forged Souls (of which we are old alumni), Fires Within and of course, Diligence all of the Seventh Hammer.

Kod'Taz

Woohoo.. Kod'Taz flagged. Thanks to Diligence and Fires Within people for making this happen. We did a marathon last week and finished Tipt & Vxed trials (pretty challenging) and FW helped a lot of people get the sewer trials flag via a Smith Rondo raid. Yay! Also, we managed to snag a Fennin Ro flag compliments once again to Fires. It's nice to see the big guilds working together and I hope it continues.. no one really _enjoys_ backflagging.