At the fish camp

BLM:75 WHM:69 SMN:44 THF:75 WAR:61 RNG:44

I'm slowly getting my next level as WHM.

We had a party yesterday that encompassed a BST, THF x2, PLD, COR and me, a WHM/SMN. We were thinking about going out to Caederva Mire but that place is alwyas so packed now it isn't funny. People can party there at level 68 and can still successfully merit there with the quick kills at 75, so it's no wonder. The monsters in the new areas pop back up faster then in the older areas like Bibiki Bay or The Boyhada Tree, so that's another reason people aren't in Bibiki Bay like they used to be.

Well we decided to go to Bibiki Bay and party against the Hobgoblin Anglers. This was not a bad idea I thought since they take a long time to kill and if noone else is there there are plenty of them.

But it didn't go too well. With me being the only healer, I ran out of MP at about the 4th mob. My stats in MND arent bad at all considering I have 1200mp but that was not useful to note when I was out of mp and people had to wait for the whole thing to charge back up from almost zero. We couldn't even do chain 5 until I got rid of Haste. It was a real learning process for me.

That's when I came to the realization, COR is not refresh. The one roll gives single refresh and the other roll gives healMP + which only works when you are resting. That's ok if you as WHM rest a lot, but I don't like to, especially when I am using a Haste cycle and Regen.

I had my phone filter overheat like I have mentioned in the past and I was forced off the internet while it cooled off. This means that I could not log back in for like 5 minutes and explain why I dc'd.

It was ok though cuz I eventually was able to come back and at least tell one person.

I hate to say this but I think even though we got like 230+ exp per mob, that the party lineup was not a good one. It's just me.

How now fat cow?

BLM:75 WHM:71 SMN:44 THF:75 WAR:61 RNG:44

Guide to playing Dynamis as BLM/WHM.

This is what you do when you are having fun in Dynamis and enjoying yourself killing stuff. As BLM/WHM you are hopelessly outgunned by the BLM/RDMs. They leave you sitting there looking like a full blown WHM with nothing to do, surrounded by a bunch of badasses.

But Stun is the key. Saving your BLMs who are half going after something else, half out of MP, and halfway through their next spell cuz they already used Stun, is what they will thank you for. Even more useful is to land that first spell against the one statue that noone has hit yet. You can run like everyone else and you can rest assured that they will follow you up with some hits of their own.

Since you can't play an active role in killing off statues unless there are like more than 2 of them, most of the time I spend nuking the melee mobs. I only use Blizzard 2 or 3. Blizzard IV usually lands the monster in your face and causes everyone in Dynamis (48 people) to follow you around as you try to avoid getting killed off. The leaders tend to have harsh thoughts about people that do this. Most of the time the monster is just dead before you get that spell off anyway cuz it takes so long to cast, so stick with Bliz 2 or 3.

There is some guide to hitting the right statues depending on what eyes they have. The ones with the Green eyes drop full MP blast so they want you to hit those and kill them off at the center of the melees. The ones with Blue eyes give full HP blast and they want those killed there too. Meh, ask me why and there are many possible reasons. Ask some jerk why, and you will get treated like you are slow or something. It's best not to ask jerks questions. Besides, do you really want to be educated by a jerk?

That reminds me of the call center. So many times I speak to Spanish people and they need stuff repeated. I wonder if it is in our nature to ask stuff twice? I used to find myself always making sure I understood stuff by repeating the question, but now as jaded as I am with my job, I get impatient when I get asked for the balance more than once. I can't help but wonder if there is a culture clash going on there. Maybe I am a part of it?

Well, only one more level till I can wear my uber-head gear AF2. It's actually the only piece I am going to want for WHM from Dynamis. I would really LOVE to have some Herald's Gaiters, but thats like wishing a fat cow would cook itself for you.

Hmm, time for work, I guess I'm lucky.

I'm back!

BLM:75 WHM:69 SMN:44 THF:75 WAR:61 RNG:44

I am back and ready to do something new and improved. I hope my time at work goes well but I am expecting to just up and sit somewhere else like from now on. I have told them that I can't work with distractions and they have sat me down right in the middle of "them". lol

Oh well, at least I have people online that like me, though probably not as many as I think.

Oh well, at least I have people at the bar that like me, though probably not as many as I think.

Oh well, at least I have people from the old linkshell,

...ah forget it.

I need to get a dog.

Herleyouway

BLM:75 WHM:69 SMN:44 THF:75 WAR:61 RNG:44

It's funny, cuz one year ago I didn't have any problems at all under a different Team Leader.

In FFXI news I have no plans to play for a while since I did the last foray into Jeuno. I was @ 1 for the THF boots but they didn't drop. Since I have stuff locked up anyways, I was not allowed to lock those up anyway and I would have had to lot specifically.

I have become more reticent to give my brother and his girlfriend use of the game cuz they are in dire straits now and have many problems more serious than getting online. I wish there was someway I could help them but I am about to be out of a job.

Here, I am getting offers to work for call centers and I have to say that opening up a call center here is probably in the best interest for Citibank. Most of the residents have learned English here and many of the Nicaraguans that immigrated here are doing a lot of the hard labor and working in residents' homes, making the general population far more educated. Most of the Universities are gearing up their English requirements. Many stars are starting to buy up property here because of the many casinos that doubtlessly will soon find this as profitable as Cozumel but without the corrupt government leaders to hoodwink.

It's funny. I prepared for so long to run a center out here and improve the business in general with my genius and instead I am here writing all this in my FFXI blog like an afterthought.

I am clearly not the Transformational Manager I was once told I would be.

Losin' in

BLM:75 WHM:69 SMN:44 THF:75 WAR:61 RNG:44

I am now in Costa Rica. I had a safe flight but it has become something of an ordeal now having to wait till I return to the US to find my job in jeopardy. I expect perhaps this vacation before being fired is for the best. Still, since I have been in this situation before, I expect to make it through it. On the other hand, like with Uchipu's linkshell breaking, I expect it will be the "really" last time eventually. I need to plan for what I am going to do next and perhaps this trip was for the best, to really plan on it. There is a lot of optimism out here for people with close to having almost no money. I am aghast sometimes at the sheer disparity in dispositions from regular working folk and really corrupt sheisters, to successful beacons of the work ethic that is present at Citibank. I know I am one of the latter, but if I lost my job, I know that everyone around me will have bought into the mindset that I am not productive and that is something that I just grips me with disbelief when I think about it.
I wonder about my skills sometimes though and I know a lot about drinking coffee and a lot about Excel and about credit scores and the new Credit reports that Citibank is using to approve credit and lend money to people that may not deserve to have use of money which may be in direct violation of the Patriot Act but who knows, maybe out of the goodness of their heart they are giving money to Spanish speakers who are located mainly in Texas and OR and AZ and CA and just risking it using limited knowledge. I have been with them perhaps too long, 17 years now, and my usefulness has greatly waned of late. Is there anything more boring than an aging mascot? One thing I do know is that people will read again!
The Home Depot Credit Services is making a lot of money though, I do know that. I wonder how it is that people in safe positions with nothing to lose can possibly risk it all for just a little bit of fun. I know I am not like that. Well, time to say goodbye. I still have plenty to talk about though. I constantly wonder about my mouth.

It's in the eye of the beholder

BLM:75 WHM:69 SMN:44 THF:75 WAR:61 RNG:44

Sometimes it's nice to take a break from it all.
Tomorrow I travel out of the country and will find quite a different environment from what I have gotten used to here in Jacksonville.
I have big hopes that maybe I will find some sort of solace in the company of my family. My cousin is getting married and even though I will probably be jealous as hell most of the time throughout the ceremony, I will find my peace with the future there I expect.
Work is not working out again. Today I had another case of harassment with this girl and I let her slide yet told my boss about it and he took it out on me like I was a pansy for saying anything. He gave me a zero for one call and like a 50 for another which basically screws me for the entire month. The process is so corrupt I'm not even gonna mention it until I need to. I am so lost there, I might be like keeping my job for another 3 years or I might be losing it next month. It's really a crapshoot. One thing is for sure though, I had no problems with my previous mgr like I have had with this one.
Does that beast look scary? He perhaps would look scarier if he was yellow.

Stealing away for a while

BLM:75 WHM:69 SMN:44 THF:75 WAR:61 RNG:43

I am taking a trip out of the country soon and won't be back for a while. I am slightly anxious about the trip.

They failed to give me the entire time off that I needed for the trip and now I am stuck with one day that I need to work that is stuck right in the middle of the days I need off. I have to believe that someone is out there laughing at how often I get into trouble at work. It just can't be coincidence I'm tellin ya!

I did Dynamis last time with my THF and it was a nice change of pace from going with BLM. I was surprised by the Auto-Target feature which basically just added the next monster to my attacks without my say so. This has the unfortunate side effect of making me attack a slept mob that is not the one people are attacking in general. As BLM I never needed to turn Auto-Target off but as melee I quickly learned why it was necessary. Thankfully it was on for a very short time and I think noone noticed.

Tomorrow is next to the last day that I am going to be in the country and I almost can't believe I am really going. I hope the trip goes well. I guess I will miss my friends if I decide to stay there. Sometimes I am so confused about my future that I wonder how it is that I still have my job.

I spent July 4th helping my brother move and surprisingly, I had a good time doing it. He and his girlfriend are in dire straits however and I only hope their relationship survives this break. They are getting evicted from their apartment.

Slow moves Elle.

Rajas bling

BLM:75 WHM:69 SMN:44 THF:75 WAR:61 RNG:43

Well my workplace has improved of late due to the new area I am sitting in. I have some a place right in the middle of the area which isn't so bad but everyone that wants to annoy me is strategically placed somewhere nearby. The good part is though that I am becoming more used to moving and I find that working away from the others is actually far less stressful. I can't say that I enjoy work though since I like to talk to others but I can't abide talking to some people and disliking others that want to be in the conversation and having to talk to them.

In Dynamis I have gotten 4 out of 5 pieces of Relic gear for my THF and am really impressed with the group in general. There are many outspoken people in the group but for the most part noone badmouths others. Mistakes do happen however and the whole group suffers when they do. People have left themselves on auto-follow and then the person that they were following changes equipment and the follow unlocks and leads them right into aggro. Other times people will forget to pass on the drops towards the end of the night and much stress over possible lost gear ensues. All in all I think it's a great group. There is not a real leader that everyone says is bossing everyone around, there is a group and that makes me feel better about being there.

I haven't merited in a while and haven't upped my dagger skills any. I have been working on my WHM a lot but I find myself really unliking having to buy the Blessed Set for him when he hits 70. I think I am just gonna wait til I get relic gear for him and do it that way. His gear now looks like junk on him cuz its like level 55 Cotehardie and stuff but the mix of that and Crow's gear really statistically are better for WHM than even the Artifact Gear. Still, I need to get the WHM body from Xarca soon before they cut back on doin Xarca runs. First of course, I need to get WHM to 73 which could take a couple of weeks. I don't even like partying with WHM too much either cuz I love to merit with THF.

I just finished doing COP and I finally got my Rajas Ring. That and a nice fat Thunder Ring will put my THF right at the top gear-wise. I even got half the fat fee for the ring ready and just need to sell my old Great Sword to be able to buy it. It's a slow sell though. I have had it up for sale for the last 2 months or so and it is always the only one on sale and noone wants it. It's a level 56 Darksteel Claymore +1 and the next one is a level 60 Zweihander so paying a fat fee for the +1 version is something you can easily skip if you want to.

My BLM is really starting to get the nice stuff too. He has the Elemental Torque and the Arborist Nails and I have the BLM Belt locked up from Dynamis-Valkurm and if I get that I can just skip getting the Penitent's Rope and save myself the 500k or so. I also have the Sorcerer's Petasos locked up too and when that drops I will probably beeline it to the BLM body AF just so he can look cool with his new hat. That's gonna be a while though cuz a lot of BLMs are going for the hat and we have a lot of BLMs in our Dynamis.

They are talking about upgrading another relic piece for one of the officers and from what I hear it's has a hidden +30% MAB! If that's true then perhaps they should have upgraded that first! Still, I don't think he should be given the relic piece if he doesn't do the work of forming parties but I dunno.

Relic weapons should only be found on successful leaders, imo.