Heya guys!!  Sometimes our talents can be misleading.  *Very Misleading*  So the question comes down in how to understand these numbers in a relatively uncomplicated method?  Well, that’s where I come in!! 

Pets

The first thing you have to understand about an Unholy Death Knight is that a great deal of their damage is coming from pets.  Generally speaking your pets Ghoul, Gargoyle, and Army of the Dead will contribute between 15-20% of your total damage.  Of course the type of encounter can alter this result, but that is the average.  So saying that 18% of your damage is comprised of pet damage is not unreasonable.

Damage Sources

Now you have several sources to examine for determining how much % of your damage is made up by any individual source.

• WMO DK Rankings is a great source (and I prefer it over WWS) to examine your raids (and your) dps, or to examine the top20 best ranked DK’s.
• Recount is also a great in game mod that tracks your damage.  No time at a boss fight to check numbers?  That’s why God made screenshots!!
• Simulators are great as well, such as Kathorie’s DK Sim over at EJ Forums.

Basically you can look at your self, the top 20 best DK’s out there for your spec, or simulations of performace and then see where all of your damage will be (or should be) coming from.  From there, the rest is pretty simple.

Desolation

Let’s take Desolation on the PTR for example.  On the surface this appears to be a 5% DPS increase correct?  No.  We already determined that we do about 18% of our damage with pets (whom do not benefit from this talent).  So realistically Desolation is only giving us 0.82% DPS per talent point.  Eyebrow raiser right?  I know.

Unholy Blight

Another odd example will be Unholy Blight.  Now UB will not be affected by multipliers or modifications (outside of the Glyph of Unholy Blight) in 3.2 release.  It does a % of DC damage (which already got all of those multipliers to begin with), so everything is already added in.  Were the multipliers to go into effect again, that would be called double dipping, and Blizzard is not a fan of that.  Wonder why?  *smirk*

So the Glyph will make UB actually do 28% of a DC’s damage instead of 20%.  So lets see how much damage that really is shall we?  DC, on average, does about 12% of your total damage in a full Black Ice (0/10/61) build.

So out of 100,000 damage (example only) our DC’s did 12,000 dmg (12%).  So the new UB will do 2,400 dmg (unglyphed) or 3,360 dmg (glyph).  So UB will in 3.2 release do 2.4% of our damage unglyphed, or 3.4% of our damage glyphed.  It’s an interesting play on numbers how this 1 point talent will do more than say Desolation (1 point investment).

Also an example like that gives you a great idea how valuable some glyphs *could* be.  For example, the new UB glyph will only add 1% dps.  Not too terribly impressive is it?  Especially when you read it and is says +40% damage!!  See what I mean about misleading?  40% bonus = 1% overall dps gain.

Other Talents

I could break everything down for you guys, but well…that’s time consuming.  And I don’t love you guys that much!  Heh.  But honestly, sometimes the best thing for you is to sit down and examine numbers yourself.  And I recommend you do it.

Don’t be worried, I’ll still give you talent specs, etc.  But don’t be shy about looking at a talent some time and then trying to break it down yourself.  You will learn something!

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Tags: Things you didn't know about WoW

Heya guys!!  So it’s time for an update as things have changed.  Funny how things change so much on a Test realm eh (PTR)?  Heh, 

So I am revamping all of my spec info atm, and trying to break into PvP and Tank specs as well.  I’d like to have about 10-14 specs that are 3.2 viable up and ready to go for Tuesday of next week.  I’ve got a feeling 3.2 is going live soon.  They’re not pushing boss tests much anymore…

So in the spirit of giving you guys toys, here is the preliminary DW info for Tuesday (barring future changes).

Dual Wield 3.2 Builds

The clear leader for 3.2 appears to be Frost DW with the new changes.  However the Unholy DW build seems to be within a 5% range, leaving it a viable option.  Unholy DW will suffer significantly however in any encounter that you cannot keep at least a 70% uptime on your ghoul.

DW Frost Oblit/Pest Build – 0/53/18

Rotations

IT – PS – BS - Pest – OB – RP  //  OB – OB – OB – RP (Set up rotation)

OB - BS - Pest – OB – RP  //  OB – OB – OB – RP (Future rotations once diseases are applied)

Priority System:  Diseases (FF > BP) > OB > BS > FS.  It is important to understand that Rune abilities always take priority over RP abilities.  Always keeps the 2SR in mind however, as you will want to fire off FS/HB Rime procs between GCD’s when possible.  Don’t just RP dump at the end of a rotation.

Howling Blast/Rime Procs:  Attempt to use these with KM procs whenever possible due to HB having a lower crit % chance than FS.  Do not push back a rotation however to do this.  If you have spare GCD’s then it is ok to delay a Rime proc.  Otherwise use KM on FS’s.

Note:  This rotation/spec will not proc IIT due to Pest refreshing the diseases.  If you need to be buffing the raid you can take a personal DPS loss (but a raid DPS increase) by ignoring Pest, and subbing in a new glyph.  A basic rotation of IT – PS – BS - BS – OB – RP  //  OB – OB – OB – RP will work fine. 

The secondary glyph choice is relatively unimportant, so you could leave it the same or take something like Howling Blast.  It won’t impact your dps much by swapping this glyph honestly.

Runeforge:  FC/RI

Weapon Speeds:  Slow/Slow

Presence:  Blood

DW Unholy Oblit Build – 0/18/53

Rotations

PS – IT –  BS – BS – OB – RP  //  OB – OB – OB – RP

Priority System:  Diseases (BP > FF) > OB > BS > DC.  It is important to understand that Rune abilities always take priority over RP abilities.  Always keeps the 2SR in mind however, as you will want to fire off DC’s between GCD’s when possible.  Don’t just RP dump at the end of a rotation.

Runeforge:  FC/FC

Weapon Speeds:  Slow/Slow

Presence:  Blood

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Tags: PTR, Specs

Heya guys!!  The Two Second Rule (2SR) is *not* a reference to some men with their…  *cough* …significant others.    It is in fact a Death Knight reference.  So let’s just jump right in eh?

Blizzard, in a very wise move I might add, realized from player testing that DK rotations were going to be impossible.  Spending all of that RP and Runes within 10 seconds was going to be hellish.  Any bit of lag, a few dodges or parries, and next thing you know the DK is doing nowhere near as much DPS as they projected.  So how to fix this?

2SR

The Two Second Rule basically is the leeway DK’s need to ensure that rotations don’t fall behind because of a small bit of movement, player error, lag, etc…  But how does it work?  Good question.

While you are in combat the 2SR is in effect.  But to make this easier to understand, lets address this in a step by step manner.  First we will examine it by just the mechanics as a player would understand them.  THIS IS WRONG.  Then we will do the same example as it would play out in game.  The second example is correct.  We will only use 1 Rune for the example.

Example 1, the Inncorrect Assumption:

1. Blood Rune (BR) used for Blood Strike (BS) – now it’s on a 10 second cooldown
2. 9.5 seconds pass (Runes have a 10 second CD) and you decide to fire off a Death Coil (1.5 sec GCD) – you are now at 11 seconds (the BR has been off of CD for 1 second)
3. Blood Rune (BR) used for Blood Strike (BS) – now it’s on a 10 second cooldown (WRONG)

Example 2, The 2SR:

1. Blood Rune (BR) used for Blood Strike (BS) – now it’s on a 10 second cooldown
2. 9.5 seconds pass (Runes have a 10 second CD) and you decide to fire off a Death Coil (1.5 sec GCD) – you are now at 11 seconds (the BR has been off of CD for 1 second)
3. Blood Rune (BR) used for Blood Strike (BS) – now it’s on a 9 second cooldown (2SR in effect)

So what’s going on here?  So long as you are in combat you are being given a 2 second grace period on all rune cooldowns, even if you have not used it again yet.  I’ve seen sources citing that the 2SR is actually 2.5 seconds. 

Considering I’ve seen some runes turn over to 7 seconds almost right away I’m not inclined to disagree, but I cannot in any way support or verify the claim.

Basically once a rune comes off of CD, it immediately starts it’s next CD (as if the Rune had been used).  This CD countdown continues for 2 seconds and then stops unless it is used within that time.

Self Testing (if you don’t get it)

A great example in game (if you don’t understand) is to go over to a target dummy and fire off one full rotation against it.  Say, IT – PS – BS – BS – DS (all specs have all of these attacks).  

Now stop doing anything other than autoattack on the dummy.  Wait there for a total of 30 seconds to a minute, whatever makes you happy.  And then fire off 3 Death Strikes, or 2 Death Strikes and 2 Blood Strikes (depending on Death Runes).

Watch your Rune CD’s closely and you’ll notice that all of them started at 8 seconds, and not 10 seconds.  I’ve personally tested the 2SR for up to 1 minute and can guarantee it to that point.  My assumption is that so long as you are in combat and not using runes, it will continue to be in effect as well. 

But it’s too boring sitting there doing that and I can’t see how you’d ever use runes, and then wait as long as a minute before firing them off again in the same fight.  If for some reason this does happen to you, then you’re wrong.  No, you’re WRONG!  Sit in your corner. 

How to use this to your advantage?

The main way to use this to your advantage is for RP generation or expenditure.

RP Generation

A perfect example here is if you don’t have enough RP to fire off an attack, but your runes are coming off of CD within a 1 sec or less (or just came up), then fire off Horn of Winter.  HoW generates RP guys on a 20 sec CD.  You can then use those runes that just came up (HoW use is a 1.5 sec GCD) before the 2SR ends and it’s like you never pushed the runes back at all.

RP Expenditure

Sometimes a build can get RP capped too easily or quickly.  But you need to make sure you spend the RP wisely so that it doesn’t throw off your entire rotation.  The 2SR gives you a lot of leeway with this.  You can fire off a DC/FS right as a rune comes off of CD, and then use that rune for a strike without loosing any CD on the rune itself. 

Try practicing on a dummy, and you’ll find that you can actually squeeze in 8 GCD’s (12 seconds) in a 10 second rotation when you have to, lag/movement/error permitting.  And when lag or other factors would have made you lose a few seconds on a rotation, this kind of skill can stop it from being lost.

So yeah.  That’s the 2SR.  Hope you understand now and that it helps!! 

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Tags: Things you didn't know about WoW

Heya guys!!  Today we’re taking a glance at an oldie, but a goodie.  Blood Tap.  It seems straight forward really, but it’s not.  Most look at this ability and think, “Hey, I can fire off an attack/ability if my runes are on CD.”  But it’s really much more than that.

Abbreviations

• BR – Blood Rune
• UR – Unholy Rune
• FU – Frost Rune
• DR – Death Rune
• lower case letter – rune is on CD
• UPPER CASE LETTER – rune is available (off of CD)
• BBUUFF – represents your 6 available runes (all caps means they are all available)
• BBuUfF – represents your 6 available runes (1 unholy and 1 frost are both on CD in this example leaving 2 blood, 1 frost, and 1 unholy available for use)

Blood Tap

OK, most people think that this just turns a Blood Rune on CD into an active/ready Death Rune.  This isn’t the whole truth.  Rune Tap applies a buff to you for 20 seconds which converts a BR into a DR.  The reason this is important is that the buff, if left on you, can and will mess up your next DR dependent rotation.

So lets jump right into an example.  First we fire off one Blood Strike (BR) leaving 1 BR available and 1 DR coming up from a CD giving you dBUUFF.

Next we use Blood Tap to turn a BR into an active DR.  If you look at the pic however you will see that instead of having dDUUFF, we now have DDUUFF.  Assume at this point that you use all 6 runes for whatever you like to where the result is the DR’s would come back as 2 BR’s.

Now below you can see that the Blood Tap buff is still on me (middle right side of screen).  Because of this, instead of getting back 2 BR’s I now get 1 BR and 1 DR, BDUUFF.  No big deal right?  I would normally be doing BSx2 at this point because I blew the 2xDR last rotation on a SS/OB (for example).  Wrong.

Why is that wrong you ask?  Because of the way the RT buff interacts with the runes, after you fire off 2 BS’s (using 1 BR and 1 DR for 2x BS) you get back DBUUFF.  This is the point in the rotation you should be firing off a 3rd OB/SS with DR’s, but you can’t because you have a BR instead of a DR.

So from this example we can take a few lessons away:

• Blood Tap can give you a Rune usage when you would normally be denied one due to CD’s.
• Blood Tap can give you an extra free Death Rune when you should have gotten only one.
• Blood Tap can mess up your rotation by forcing you to use BSx2 two rotations in a row.

So how do we take all of this information and use it wisely?  Glad you asked!!

Special Abilities

There are a few key class abilities that should be used on boss fights, but would throw off your entire rotation.  How to fix said problem without losing dps or messing up your rotations?  Use Blood Tap!!

Let’s say you want to fire off Vampiric Blood, Unbreakable Armor, Bone Shield, or Ghoul Frenzy.  Using a  rune to activate any of them is going to be a dps/tps loss, and also throw off your rotation.  So we’re going to use BT to ensure we don’t lose anything.

Method 1:

1. UR’s and FR’s are on CD, BR’s are off of CD and *are* DR’s currently (DDuuff)
2. Ghoul Frenzy (bDuuff)
3. Blood Tap (DDuuff)
4. SS/OB (bbuuff)

Method 2:

1. UR’s and FR’s are on CD, BR’s are off of CD and *are* DR’s currently (DDuuff)
2. SS/OB (bbuuff)
3. Blood Tap (Dbuuff)
4. Ghoul Frenzy (bbuuff)

These 2 methods ensure that your rotation will not be messed up, while still giving you a free use of a special ability (free rune cost essentially).

Blood Tap Macro

/cast Blood Tap
/cancelaura Blood Tap

This macro will work with either Method 1 or 2.  Be aware that to use this macro properly you need to tap it once, then fire off whatever ability you wish to use (using the DR), and then tap the macro again to remove the BT buff from your character.  This will stop BT from messing up your rotation as I explained in the picture examples above.

Upgrading BS into OB/SS/DS

Because the special abilities all have 2 minute CD’s (excepting GF) you can once a minute upgrade one BS into a SS/OB/DS if you want to.

Method:

1. UR’s and FR’s are on CD, BR’s are off of CD and are *not* DR’s currently (BBuuff)
2. Blood Strike (bBuuff)
3. Blood Tap (DDuuff)
4. SS/OB/DS (bbuuff)

You just spent 2 BR’s and 1 BT and got 1 BS and 1 SS/OB/DS in return.  Basically this means that out of one 20 second rotation (assuming IT and PS once for diseases), you will:

PS – IT – OB – BS – BT – OB – RP Dump // OB – OB – BS – BS – RP Dump

In essence it’s a high burst rotation, or a small dps addition.  Overall it’s not going to have that massive of an impact in a PvE environment, but it could be devastating if used properly in PvP.

So yeah, that’s basically the ins and out of Blood Tap.  It’s a pretty pimp ability when you really get down to it.  It allows you to do quite a bit of things.  I’m not 100% sure if the double DR trick is technically a bug since it applies a buff.  It could be an inadvertent result however, meaning it may not last forever.  Hope you enjoyed!! 

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Tags: Things you didn't know about WoW

Heya guys!!

First off a shout out for a long time reader here at SJ, Doom Chicken.  Also known as Underpants.  He has the best names right?  *snicker* 

Give him a view, if you don’t mind, over at his new website:  PC Gaming with Underpants

And for you other readers and bloggers out there…

I’m revamping my site.  Slowly…  o.o  I’m not web savy.  But one of the things to do on the “to do list” is to fix my links for other websites.  And I know how to do that!! 

I’ve basically narrowed this down to 4 criteria.

Death Knight Blogs

If you know of a DK blog, or write one, that is for some reason extrodinary then I’d love to check it out.  If it’s something that impresses me, or stands out as filling a needed niche, then I want to link it.  Just because you tell me about it doesn’t mean I’ll post it however.  Just so you know. 

Examples might be really solid DK Blogs/Sites focused on tanking/pvp (something I don’t cover as much as PvE dps for example).  Maybe DK blogs that are just funny as hell, and draw you in.  Or maybe even another DK dps’er who happens to have a top notch blog.

Gaming Blogs

If you know of an exceptional blog or site dealing with gaming, let me know.  I’d be happy to link it, if it’s truly solid.  Keep in mind that my standards are going to be exceptionally high on this one however.  It’s gotta be 5 star material for me to link it, since it’s got nothing to do with DK’s in general.

Soft Hearted Me

If for some reason I like you personally, I may link your blog just because you are you.  It’s not fair, but hey.  It’s my site. 

WoW Blogs

There are some exceptional blogs out there.  For example I got started by reading a hunter blog.  Then I started reading a blog dedicated to mages and another about warlocks and paladins in PvP.  If you know of a really good WoW Blog that just stands out as a solid read let me know.

Please feel free to leave a comment here on the site with any relevant links.  All links not falling into one of these 4 criteria will be assumed to be spam, and deleted accordingly.  At the very least though, even if I don’t link a site, it’ll be here in comments for other readers to click on and read!!

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Tags: Website

Heya guys!!  So, I’ve got a few things to recap on.  Like the buff to DW Killing Machine and how ToT works among a few things.  I also plan on getting some of the tanking stuff and pvp spec related info as well. 

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Tags: Coming Soon

Heya guys!!  So it’s time to finally get into Unholy DPS and specs for the 3.2 release!!  Yay!!    Heh.

Right, so basically Unholy is shaping up to be pretty similar to where it stands now.  But, things will be changing on PTR still.  ATM, on PTR, an Obliterate Unholy build will actually come out ahead of a Scourge Strike Unholy build.

This is basically due to itemization and Armor Penetration.  Once you exceed 20% ApR, OB builds begin to pull ahead.  And considering you can already do that with T8 itemization, the gap will increase with T9 itemization.

There is a similar discussion going on for DKs about at what point they can stop using Scourge Strike and just use Obliterate instead. That would be bad, because an Obliterate-based Unholy build is a lot less fun or distinct to play. A similar thing happened the last time we tried to buff Devastate. Fury warriors said “Yummy,” and gave up a big chunk of the Fury tree in order to get it.  (Link)

So what does this mean to you guys?  Basically if things stay as they are currently on the PTR, Obliterate will replace Scourge Strike.  This goes directly against the conceptual design of Death Knights however, as Blizzard wants them to have one “signature strike” per tree.

While it’s possible things could hit Live as they are, leaving Blizz to do a minor patch or hotfix to correct things, it seems far more likely that you’ll see another PTR release that shakes things up.  Where and how is the big question though.

The main reason SS was nerfed was to compensate for PvP burst problems.  If you thought SS hits hard now in PvP, wait till the newer tiers of weapons come out.  While it’s only a mild problem atm, as gear scales it would (and will) get out of hand. 

So they can’t just increase SS’s damage to stop Unholy from swapping into OB builds.  I’m curious to see their approach to fix this problem, but as of yet it is unresolved.

Unholy Live

12/0/59 - This is basically your best “cookie cutter” Unholy build with T7 itemization going into T8.

0/10/61 - This is your best “cookie cutter” Unholy build with T8 itemization.

You have several options with these specs.  You can always shift some points out of Unholy in the 0/10/61 build into Blood for Subversion if you have to (threat cap issues), or generally move stuff based off of your personal needs. 

For example if you do a ton of AoE and use Death and Decay frequently, you may find Morbidity 3/3 to be a necessity in 12/0/59 build.  But really, its down to player style and need.  Some people also love and hate Ghoul Frenzy.  Shifting a few points for personal playstyle isn’t a bad thing.  Always remember that.

Unholy 3.2 PTR

7/10/54 – If threat is an issue, this should prove to be the answer.  Almost the same dps as the next spec, but without the threat problem.

0/10/61 – This is the more likely “cookie cutter” spec for 3.2 as things stand.

It’s interesting to note how Morbidity pulls out of being a lackluster talent in 3.2 PTR.  Due to the new mechanics behind Unholy Blight (10 second DoT on target hit by a DC, dealing 20% of the dmg of the DC), Morbidity goes from being “ok” to “good” in a heartbeat.

The two builds should play pretty equally, though I think there is some room for maneuvering.  ATM Necrosis and Imp UP would be the most likely place to pull a few points from for side purchases, but YMMV.  Don’t forget to keep GF in mind as well.

Unholy’s AoE damage is going to suffer, but not as much as some might cry.  If you want to see something really interesting, do a full raid run with Recount running and check out the meters at boss fights, and then again at Overall.  For example:

3.1 Live DC for Yogg-Saron and Iron Council

3.1 Live UB for Yogg-Saron and Iron Council

Now this example is in *NO WAY* a perfect example of how UB will play out on Live 3.2 release.  But it gives you an idea of how it will work, and also how you can figure out how this will impact your personal character.  These are multiple attempts on both bosses, with 0 trash mobs involved.

Death Coil

This did 2,427,651 damage with 500 uses.  We’re not going to take out misses or resists because we want to see the “real average”.

Now this means that on average DC hit for 4,855 damage.

Unholy Blight

This did 1,822,191 damage with a count of 5320 ticks.  UB has 20 ticks per use, so that means that it was used roughly 266 times.

On average, UB did 6,850 damage per use.  Now that’s not accurate for ST damage mind you, because there were times where 1 UB hit more than one target.  But we’re dealing with “napkin” math atm.  Nothing 100% accurate.  But because we’re looking at “Overall” data, this will still be somewhat sound.

Unholy Blight 3.2

Applies a DoT to the target (that stacks with further UB applications) that does 20% of the DC damage.  Keep in mind this talent does not double dip from talent bonuses.  For example, if you have Black Ice, BI already increased the damage for DC.  So there is no further modification to UB.  UB does exactly 20% of the DC that landed.  No more, no less.

Assuming that the DoT caused by UB in 3.2 gets every single tick off before a mob dies, this means that UB will hit 500 times.  Why?  Because I did DC 500 times.

So DC did an average of 4855 damage, which means UB will do 971 damage on average.  Since DC hit 500 times, it will do 485,500 damage overall on the same run I did before.

So out of the 30.7 million damage I did overall, I would instead have done 29.4 million damage.  This means that the 3.2 UB change would have made me do 96% of the overall damage that I did before.  Keep in mind that only takes into account UB changes.  It does not cover gear scaling, BS buff’s, disease buffs, SS nerf, etc…

To explain how UB stacks, the numbers are the seconds and assume UB ticks for 1000 damage:

1. DC cast
2. UB tick 1000
3. UB tick 1000
4. DC cast, UB tick 1000
5. UB tick 2000
6. UB tick 2000
7. UB tick 2000
8. UB tick 2000
9. DC cast, UB tick 2000
10. UB tick 3000
11. UB tick 3000
12. UB tick 2000
13. UB tick 2000
14. UB tick 2000
15. UB tick 1000
16. UB tick 1000
17. UB tick 1000
18. UB tick 1000
19. UB tick 1000
20. 0 UB ticks

The DoT damage simply includes all current UB DoT ticks into one number.  As the previous DoT’s from DC fall off, the DoT tick reduces down to whatever is left on the mob.  Which means that you could see some pretty cool numbers with the improved disease damage.

Pets

All pets now receive 40% of their master’s resilience and 100% of their master’s spell penetration. In addition, if a player is at their appropriate spell hit chance or hit chance maximum, their pet will be at the maximum for spell hit chance, hit chance, and expertise. If they are below the maximum, their pet will be proportionately below those maximums.

Now, I’m not sure yet what in the hell this means.  Ideally with raid buffs you should reach the spell hit cap, but sometimes you fall short by a few %.  Considering that a DK should be melee hit capped and expertise capped however, I’m not sure if those numbers will come into play. 

Ghouls don’t have spells, so since we’re melee capped (but possibly not spell hit say in a 10man) would the ghoul be expertise and melee hit capped?  As soon as I figure out how this works you’ll know.  But the upside however is that our ghouls will be getting less dodges (expertise).  So that is a huge boost.

So Recapping…

Basically our AoE damage is going to go down some.  The improved disease damage will compensate some, but not completely.  The SS nerf is going to hurt but improved diseases, UB, and BS should help compensate some as well.  Also, expect some kind of change coming down the pipe.  Blizzard won’t allow OB to become the “signature strike” for Unholy, replacing Scourge Strike.

All in all 3.2 isn’t too bad for us, short of losing AoE damage.  It’ll be interesting to see how things pan out in the Live release with BISI gear, etc.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Tags: PTR, Specs

Heya guys!!  So lets clear some air on a few things.  I got burnt out on WoW a while back.  It became obvious when my post counts dropped from 10-20ish a week to maybe 3-5 a week.  And it was made poignantly obvious when I “quit” WoW.  Which lasted all of 3 weeks.

Those 3 weeks were awesome btw!!  I watched over 50 movies in the first 2 weeks.  I told all of my friends to go to hell, I was “on vacation”!  Heh.  Got one of those movie pass things and watched like 3-5 movies a day on work days, sometimes more on days I had off.  Huge movie buff here!!  It was nice catching up on stuff.

But anyways, since then I’ve come back to WoW and been trying to understand the “burn out” factor.  And I’ve got a decent handle on things now.  On top of that, I came to find on that little sabbatical that I really missed posting on my site. 

I recently quit my guild.  Part of the reason was the raiding schedule.  In my new guild I only have to raid 3 nights a week (as I can’t make one of the 4 raid nights).  Frees up a bit of time there.  In addition to that I went into my TV’s DVR and cancelled all scheduled recordings outside of brand new episodes for some of my favorite stuff.  Which also means a ton more free time.

A TON more really as I’ve gotten into NCIS recently (and just cancelled it) and it would take me all week watching 2-5 a day to just clear those out of my DVR alone!! o.O

I also sat down and read a lot of my old posts, which were hella fun to write and do.  And I’ve come to realize that I’ve lost some of that initial passion because I’ve placed myself in a box!!  Instead of writing about what comes to me, sometimes I write about what I think “needs” to be up.  Which is devastating to creative writing honestly. 

I’ve also let the site become very disorganized, not focusing on keeping track of post ideas, solidifying categories, and more.

I’ve got a lot of plans for the website.  I’ve finally begun delving into the ads and junk (and it’s a tad bit overwhelming FYI), and want to also see about doing some redesign on the website.  And I’ve finally sat down and made the time to do these things.  Whereas before, I was tackling too much without making time for it to be feasible.

Over the next two weeks the focus will be PTR and trying to better understand those Ads and make them less…ugly.  I might even figure out how to stop getting medical skeleton ads on there, heh.

But I wanted to also throw this out there.  For all of you loyal fans who kept reading anyways, whether I was taking a break or focusing on something you were not that super interested in, thanks.  I appreciate it.  I’ve got some plans for this website, and I hope in the end you’re happy with the result.

 - Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters

Tags: Website

Heya guys!!  Sometimes people do things that shock you.  So today you get an insight into the RL world of SJ.

I own a 2004 Toyota Tundra.  It’s black, it’s awesome, and I love it.  I’ve got some tire issues atm (they need replacing), but otherwise my vehicle is in great working order.  Well today I stupidly left my air compressor plugged into the cigarette lighter with the compressor’s light on.  While I was at work.  >.<

So when I get out of work, all ready to go home I’m suddenly fracked.  *grumble*  Borrowed some jumpers, got a buddy to come out and help me, and then no go.  o.o

As it turned out we spent 15 minutes trying to jump my truck from his car, until he finally reveals to me that he has a weak battery on his car.  Two thumbs WAY UP!!  Good to know genius…

So then I get someone else to pull their car up, jump the truck instantly, and I’m on my way.  But low and behold the engine light is on, the clock lost it’s settings, and the radio lost all preset channel’s.  This isn’t good.  Run the engine for about an hour, finally turn it off, try to turn it back on, click click click click click…  Damnit!!  /sigh

Well I open up the hood and really take a look at things (as a heads up I know !@#$ about cars).  Between a good deal of corrosion and the fact that it’s a 5 year old battery I figure I might as well go buy a new battery.  And as luck would have it my roomie is on his lunch break at home.  So he takes me to Autozone real quick and I head back to get to work.

First bolt on the battery comes off fine.  Second one comes off instantly…ALL OF IT!!  /facepalm

So I’m staring at a corroded bolt in my hand trying to figure out what the hell to do.  Well, might as well get everything off at least.

I’m pulling out all kinds of screwdrivers at this point trying to wedge them under the terminal clamps to pry them loose and it’s just not working.  These suckers are on TIGHT.  Between the corrosion and rust, it’s bad. 

And then I remember how coca-cola is used to clean engine blocks, corrosion, etc… (true story)  I go inside and there isn’t any…  *blink* *blink* *blink*  W T F ? !  I’m a coca-cola addict (drinking 1-2 12packs a day is not unusual).  So where the hell is my coke damnit!!  /cry   

I end up breaking out some of my roomie’s girlfriend’s Dr. Pepper and pouring it on everything to eat some of the crap away…  You can see I’m trying anything at this point.  *wry grin*

I managed to get one of the terminal clamps off, but low and behold the other one is just stuck.  Bad.

By this time some of my neighbors get home, and one of them can see me struggling big time with my truck (me sweating and grunting trying to pry metal with a screwdriver…not pretty folks).  And what does he do?  He comes over (thank you lord!!).

Well the next thing I know he’s going into his house and coming back with tools and crap, and busts out a crowbar on me.  He couldn’t get the clamp off with the crowbar (which did leave me with a sense of satisfaction as my manliness was now still intact with his failure, heh) and decides to go look for some more tools in his house.

So me being me, I grab the crowbar.  I’m gonna get this !@#$er off damnit!!  And about a minute later, I’ve got it off!!  YAY!!!  Woot!!  P90X paying off baybeee!!!

Well then it turns out the battery is too short and the metal clamp to hold the batter in place won’t hold it.  So this dude goes back into his house and comes out with a “spacer” he calls it.  Hunk of plastic exactly the perfect size to wedge between the battery and the clamp.  O.O

So he pops it on top of the batter, slaps the clamp in place, and then bam.  It’s in.  And it totally didn’t fit before.  He just happened to have this in his house laying around!!

So now we’ve got to figure out how to fix the terminal clamp because the one that has the broken bolt isn’t going to work right anymore.  So this dude says he can fix it.  He drives me to Autozone and I but some new terminal clamps and we get back to work.

He takes wire clippers and cuts off the excess terminal clamp, just leaving a piece of metal attatched to the wiring with a bolt hole.  The hole is too small, so he then grabs a drill and increases the hole enough to fit the new terminal clamp.  He pops that lil baby in, tightens everything up, and BAM!!  My truck is fixed and 100%.

I cleaned off the corrosion on the clamps, got the battery in nice and tight, and actually have better terminal clamps on a new battery.  All thanks to this neighboor, his tools, know how, and generosity.  He even drove me to get spare parts!

And I have never met this man before today.

Do you believe that?  We’ve never spoken one word to each other.  I never asked for help.  Nothing.

And in just seeing me in trouble…struggling, he went out of his way for nearly 2 hours to help me out.  No reward, no pay, no requirements…  Just kindness and generosity.

I’m a firm believer in passing it along.  I go out of my way to help people out on a regular basis.  I don’t believe in Karma or anything like that.  I just got raised that you help people.  And when I see someone else go so far out of their way when they don’t have to, it surprises me. 

In today’s world, generosity isn’t that common anymore.

So, thank you Alfredo, my neighbor.  (Yes that really is his name.  No jokes, he helped me out here!!)

Next time you see someone in need, what will you do?  Be a good samaritan like Alfredo?  Or walk away?

 - Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters

Tags: Fun