PolarBear on 9/12/2014 at 05:29

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Hello.

Some of you may remember me. I used to frequent TTLG a few years ago, as h-son or Gray. For some odd reason, I could not revive either account, and instead used this old one that was used for a one-off masquerade party. I used to be on between roughly 1999-2007-ish, At one point, I briefly moderated one of the smaller forums, SS2 ShockEd. I had to leave though, due to medical reasons. Old members may remember my constant whining about that. The bad news is, it's not getting better, rather the opposite.

But there's good news. Somehow, and I'm not quite sure just how yet, over the last 7-8 years after leaving TTLG, I've managed to become a Warcraft addict, met a woman through Warcraft, married her and moved to Scotland, of all places. I always wanted to visit Scotland, and now, apparently, I live here. Strange times indeed. The Scottish landscape is amazingly beautiful, much more dramatic than where I'm from, but alas, unfortunately the weather often prevents you from seeing it. You'd think I'd know Gray, but this is often grey, grey, grey... I've always heard the jokes about UK weather, and as a foreigner living here, unfortunately a lot of it appears to be true. Sideways rain hurts my face more than -36C and a snowstorm ever has. I miss having more than one season. Climate here appears to just be various temperatures of rain, but otherwise quite samey. Obviously I exaggerate somewhat, we do have occasional sunshine, but compared to where I'm from... not a lot, and if so, very briefly.

Through all this, I somehow acquired a whole new family. Suddenly, I'm no longer just a grumpy old loner who hates other people and yelling at youngsters to get off my lawn and turn that loud music down, but apparently a stepfather of two grown(-ish) adults, and also a step-grandfather for an adorable 5-year-old little girl. Unfortunately, her real dad died before she met him, so now I'm sort of an occasional stand-in dad-and-extra-granddad at the same time. Very weird for someone who hates people in general, but small children in particular. But she's lovely and cute as a button. Just don't tell anybody I said that. I'm still old and grumpy and generally hate everybody. Ssh! Go away.

It still feels a bit weird to say I have a wife, I'm not quite used to it yet, but apparently I do. I love her to bits. After leaving TTLG, I needed some other way to waste massive amounts of time, and World of Warcraft seemed like it might fit the bill. So, in 2008, I used some free promotional 2-week deal and tried it out for a bit. The second week I met some random scottish woman who bought the game for her son (then 13) but couldn't resisting give it a go herself. We met at at lake Al'Ameth in 2008, both being complete noobs at the game. I just happened to be about a week ahead of her, and could explain how some stuff worked. We became friends. We met IRL. We fell in love. We travelled back and forth between our two countries. We got married in 2013, and inscribed on our wedding rings were "Al'Ameth". We are so nerdy. It's the happiest I've ever been in my whole life, I love her to death. She's the only person I've ever met that totally gets me. We've become that annoying couple I usually hate that are all lovey-dovey and finish each others sentences, but since it's happening to me this time I don't really give a damn how much it annoys other people. I moved out of that noisy student-infested hellhole I kept whining about with constant loud parties, to a surprisingly quiet cul-de-sac in the middle of Glasgow. Things are new and strange, and I'm trying to adapt. I've been speaking English for over 30 years, but still, it feels somewhat odd to do it every day, and I can't honestly remember how many months ago it was I said a full sentence in my own language. Also something to adjust to. Still struggling with the local accent, people often speak too fast and slur their words, and use colloquialisms I'm unfamiliar with, but eventually I might catch up. Or at least be "that foreign guy we have to speak slowly to". Whichever is fine.

Sadly, I've not kept up with TTLG and related games. Been too busy with Warcraft and, um, the previous four paragraphs. No idea if anything interesting has happened game-wise over the last few years, and even if it has, I'm too old, too tired and too busy to keep up. Also I can't be arsed. Leave me alone.

So, um, anyway... just wanted to stop by and say hello to some old friends. I'm still alive, if only just barely, but things are looking better than in many years. I don't expect I'll ever have the energy to become a regular TTLG member again, but I may occasionally stop by and poke my head in. I can only just manage to bother with FaceBook once every four months, so it's not very likely I'll be on TTLG very frequently, but I miss you guys. I hope you stay as insane as ever.

/J.

[Edit]

Oh, and if any admins are paying attention, I'd quite prefer to use my old Gray account if possible, if it hasn't been deleted yet. Could not get it working despite several attempts. Thank you.

Yakoob on 9/12/2014 at 07:01

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Oh welcome back. I think I vaguely remember you, but I am not exactly sure. Anyway, looks like things have turned out pretty awesome for you. One of my best friends met her current boyfriend of 2 years in an MMO as well. Hmm, maybe I should play that instead of OkCupid, the odds seem a bit better :p

Shayde on 9/12/2014 at 07:16

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Hello and congratulations on your awesome life. I've always wanted to go to Scotland but I think the shock might be too much from someone who has spent her whole life in the Southern Hemisphere.

I don't get much time for gaming as we have had rolling blackouts at night for the last few months. But if I had to recommend some games and you want an MMO break I would suggest Dishonored and Skyrim. Dishonored is great as you can stealth it on good days and Xena the shit out of it on bad days. It also has DLC that is well worth it. Skyrim is huge and pretty and everything that is good about the Elder Scrolls series.

Medlar on 9/12/2014 at 08:27

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Welcome back Gray, good to hear you are living the life :) Beware Scots women, they dress their men in skirts and make them squeeze pigs on their shoulders and cook a dish called Stovies that once eaten ruins the prospects of any other food! They also apparently produce really cute grandkids that can change a man........

Good to see you here again bud :)

The crazies are still here but they stay more in the shadows than they used to.

PS
you may like to see the weather way down South of you in deepest darkest Cornwall (http://www.parishtram.co.uk/ParishTram/Surf_Cam.html)

PigLick on 9/12/2014 at 10:21

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Gray hello! Not good to hear your insomnia issues havent got any better. Good to hear from you though. For some reason I am thinking about fez hats right now.