Monday, August 17, 2015

Fun With LOTRO Pics





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"Come, Mordy! If you want to get on Dancing With the Wraiths, you must practice harder! Faster! UNDEAD-ER!"

Padhric
Master of Toons

Friday, August 14, 2015

This Merger is Gonna be "YUUUUUGE!"

Tell me you wouldn't love a Donald Trump hairdo cosmetic in LOTRO. C'mon!

I swear I had no intention of leading off this post with a Trump gag but, not unlike the Donald himself, these things just sorta turn up on their own and leave behind an enormous, radioactive mess.

And speaking of enormous, radioactive messes, Turbine is closing down a few of their servers. Of course, when I say "a few" a mean it in the same way I might have had "a few" too many gummy bears the other day. We shall be left with only five U.S.-based servers: Brandywine, Landroval, Gladden, Crickhollow, and Arkenstone. Since my home server, Vilya, will be closing down along with the vast majority of the others, the Dawnbreakers (a most excellent kinship) will be deciding where to move sometime during the coming weeks.

Now, I don't want to make this about myself (Kicking the habit? -- Mrs. Pad), but it's pretty clear this whole server-closing business is a covert scheme to drive more readership to this, The Greatest Blog of All Time. After all, once a ton of players are dumped into whatever server I end up occupying, The Greatest Blog of All Time will instantly become relevant to a lot more people. Fear not: I shall not let you down, faithful readers. Nor shall I let my new-found celebrity go to my head (I hope not - your head is large and pointy enough already. -- Mrs. Pad).

In all seriousness, I need to pee. Okay. In all seriousness, the transfer will be an excellent opportunity for more folks to join the Dawnbreakers (a most excellent kinship). Therefore, if you are on the hunt for a calm, cool, and fun gaming community which prides itself on actually knowing who makes up its membership, I encourage you to check us out.

Once the transfer is complete, of course. I don't encourage it beforehand, since it would be as pointless as ... well ... joining a kinship right before they move servers.

Hey, it's Friday... cut me some slack.

Padhric
Master of Toons

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Fun With LOTRO Pics

"This isn't what I had in mind when I told you to come up with a mobile banking service."



Padhric
Master of Toons

Monday, August 10, 2015

Oops! Did I (Forget To) Do That?

It's been how long since I last posted here?! Egad...

I've had a rough few weeks at work (said everyone, always), including some travel (which I dislike) and the pursuit of several millions of dollars (which I won't personally receive and, therefore, dislike). But that just goes to show you: time flies when you're having fun. At least, that's what they keep telling me this is.

Ah well, I'm sure I'd know fun if I saw it.

Since I'm aging and childless, it is required that I talk about my dog. Poor Mr. Goober has been in rough straits again, having developed a second corneal ulcer, this time on his right eye. He had one on his left eye last year, and Mrs. Pad and I were beginning to wonder if maybe we were doing something wrong that was causing this nasty malady. Goober insisted it was related to our refusal to let him try ice cream, but the vet says these things strike without warning and toy breeds like the Shih Tzu are particularly susceptible to them.

Thanks to The Goob's sub-par genetic material, he is back on antibiotics again. Being 77 years old (in doggie years) and also on an anti-inflammatory for his arthritis, we've concluded the poor guy is just getting old. I suspect it won't be long before he begins asking us about the Medicare doughnut hole and starts watching reruns of Wheel of Fortune. 
 
"Honey, why can't we just stop and ask for directions? It looks awfully Apocalyptic down that way."

Anyway, this is all to say things have been a bit busy lately at Casa de Pad, so I apologize for the lack of activity here on The Greatest Blog of All Time.

What's that you say? I'll have you know 100% of all experts polled agreed this is indeed The Greatest Blog of All Time, so who are you to question science?

How many experts did I poll? This sounds like character assassination to me. I demand that you cease these underhanded attempts at spreading propaganda or I shall be forced to stop quoting your questions before I respond to them.

Where was I? Oh, right: nowhere in particular -- my favorite holiday destination.

Now, before I was so rudely interrupted by myself, I was going to say: I shall endeavor to post more of my risible reportage at a slightly higher rate of frequency over the coming days and weeks. Your patience is greatly appreciated. Unless, of course, you have none, in which case you can borrow mine.

Just don't scratch it.

Padhric
Master of Toons

Sunday, August 2, 2015

A Canine Rescue Operation

Yesterday, Aug. 1, as I was returning home from my latest (and typically unsuccessful) attempt to be less fat, I noticed a lone, shaggy-looking creature wandering unattended through a neighbor's yard and urinating all over various vertical objects. My first thought was, "Gosh, Russell Brand has really let himself go," but then I realized it was a dog -- along and unaided in the harsh climes of South Texas.

I parked at home and walked over to the little guy, looking around visibly for any sign of an owner, but there was none. I started to ponder how I might capture him, but the next thing I knew the dog trotted right up to me and practically threw himself into my arms. Although he was a bit unkempt, this was enough to convince me he had an owner somewhere and most likely was not abandoned either. He had a bright blue collar, but it had no tags. I hoisted him under one arm and started to knock on nearby doors, especially ones with visible holes in their backyard fences, but I had no luck locating the owner.

It became clear I was going to have to host the wayward pooch for a little while, so I took him home and introduced him to our backyard. With Mrs. Pad's help, I was able to get a decent picture of him in order to start printing "Found" posters throughout the neighborhood.

Since it was supposed to hit 100 degrees or better that day, we decided to bring him indoors. He was remarkably well-behaved, so we figured his owner either was already or would be looking for him soon. While Chuckie stuck his nose in the stranger's face trying to discern whether he was a threat to him being the Center of the Universe, we printed up a few posters and Mrs. Pad walked them down to the communal mailboxes. Our temporary house guest gave Mr. Chuckie a couple of "get away from me, you lunatic dog" growls for good measure.

After what must have been only a couple of hours, we heard someone calling loudly from the road. Mrs. Pad intercepted them and, sure enough, it was the owner's daughter who had missed her furry companion.

It turns out the gate to their backyard got open somehow and Rufus escaped for a little unsupervised Saturday stroll. We never did ask what breed of dog he was, but Rufus is a service dog for owners who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), so we're especially glad to have detained him and avoided any unhappy endings. Although he has tags like any good dog, they had been prone to falling off his collar.

So, as the Gaffer would say, "All's Well As Ends Better!"

Padhric
Master of Toons