Friday Five: Five Things for Which I am Thankful

I wasn't going to do a Friday Five today.

Honestly, it will be hard enough to go in to work given how many folks were personally impacted by the events that took place early in the morning 8 Septembers ago. It was a turning point for me as it was for so many others. BUt it is not a topic for this blog.

Since this day does give pause for much reflection, I decided to share five things related to WoW that I am personally grateful for right now:

1. My guild. They're not all perfect and I could sometimes happily virtually strangle a few of them, but this is, overall, the best fit I've had in a guild. The day-to-day Pirate officers and raid leaders are thoughtful and open to feedback and are looking out for the best interests of the guild at large.
2. My ladies. While I am at work, I have you on twitter to give me a smile or two (or a scoop on the latest data mined vanity pets). And in game I have your ribald comments, your more than competent playing backing me up in our many adventures, and your encouragement when leveling my alt hits a plateau of never ending quest-induced tunnel vision. Special shout outs to Sawyer, Tryn, and Norm. You ladies are the bestest.
3. My ISP. I used to suffer through with a national DSL provider whose service "mysteriously" took a nose dive every night by 9:00. I had 2 fps in 25-man raids and a migraine whenever I called to complain about it and their offshore support would tell me it was definitely my old modem causing the nightly slowdowns but they could sell me a new router for only $100…I now am a Speakeasy customer. Yes, it's a lot more expensive. But it's also reliable and you get to talk to a company employee who seems to genuinely want to help you if you have a question or issue.
4. My iMac. For three years, I played WoW on the very last PowerBook PowerBook. But when I saw that WotLK's specs did not seem to be 3-year-old laptop friendly, I took the plunge and upgraded to an iMac and have been astounded by the beautiful screenshots I am able to take thanks to having all my graphics settings cranked up, and the high FPS even while AOEing in a 25-man raid. It has improved my gameplay — and my posture– immensely.
5. My SO. I would not have started playing WoW if it were not for watching him raid ZG when it first came out. And without his ongoing support and partnership, it wouldn't be nearly as fun as it has been. I can't think of any other regular activity that has kept me engaged for almost four years. When I decided to swap to the horde, he leveled up a new toon to play with me, and quickly became a pro at it. His tenacity, and his willingness to partake in the WoW math side game have helped make him the great player he is today– and have rubbed off on me alittle bit too. Much love to you, Guld.

Happy Friday. Give someone you love a hug.