Phase Shift Armor

Took two screenshots to show off my current UI.

1. Normal: Sariana visits the entrance to the Ironforge refugee camp.
2. Raid: No pain no gain. Unless you’re shadowmelded.

Fantasy Snack Team

We had our holiday party (catered by Qdoba, lol) and everyone got gift bags full of tons of snacks. Seriously, these bags were full of chips, chocolates, peanuts, popcorn, fruit snacks, gum, etc. Of course not everyone values snacks the same way, and as soon as all the directors left, the party quickly became a bartering bonanza. It was totally like a free-for-all fantasy sports tradeoff, and I think I did quite well. I don’t snack that much, so I was mostly trading for Bunky. I quickly identified my “franchise” snacks that were untradeable (basically anything chocolate) and then laid down the snacks that were on the trading block. Here’s how I did:

• Bag of Nacho Cheese Chips: Bunky likes plain chips, so I made an even exchange for plain baked chips. This was later traded for a large bag of Kellogg’s Fruity Snacks.
• Tiny Bag of Stale-Looking Peanuts: Traded for a medium-sized, fancy chocolate in the shape of a large candy cane. Easily the steal of the day.
• Famous Amos Cookies: I don’t know if Bunky likes these, but bagged cookies often taste like crap. These were traded for yet another large bag of Fruity Snacks. I hope Bunky likes them, because I now have two strawberries and one cherry.
• Nacho Cheese Combos: Untradeable… Felt a little like Isiah Thomas on this one.

All in all, not bad. While the glut of Fruity Snacks may come back to haunt me, I think I got rid of a lot of snacks that wouldn’t have gotten any eating time. I added a lot of size to the team, and a lot of fruit as well.

Knickerbrawlers

This NBA season has not been a good one. My fantasy NBA team has been in shambles so far this season, mostly due to injuries:

• Point Guard: What a disaster this position has been. Stephon Marbury was available for cheap, but he has sucked so badly that he couldn’t even be my second string PG. Leandro Barbosa was OK for a time, but now I’m relying on the unproven Jarett Jack and the resurgent Shaun Livingston.
• Shooting Guard: Another disaster, as Jason Richardson has been terrible since coming back from surgery. I don’t play him, but he’s on the cannot-drop list. I do have some relief in the form of Josh Howard (a favorite of mine) who was picked up for free when he got injured a while back. For a time JR Smith was doing great from behind the 3-point line and as a scorer, but then he went and got himself suspended for 10 games. Thanks, thanks a lot.
• Small Forward: Lebron James has been worthy of a number 1 pick, and Josh Howard also qualifies for SF. My other SF, Richard Jefferson was picked as a low risk scorer-rebounder, but he has been disappointing thus far this season. I desperately need to shed some small forwards and get some bigs.
• Power Forward: Jermaine O’Neil has been pretty good and Zaza Pachulia has been above average so I guess I can’t complain…
• Center: Except that those two PF have to moonlight as my 2 centers as well…

Bad times all around, as injuries and sub-par performances have really rocked my squad. I’ve been losing pretty much every week (and badly), so I need to make some changes to my lineup. I think I will probably try to trade Richard Jefferson if I can find a good power forward, and I am considering dropping JR Smith, in hopes that I can pick him back up later.

As for the Knicks, way to make a bad season that much worse by getting involved in a terrible brawl. I don’t know where Isiah gets off telling George Karl who he can or can’t play, and I was surprised Isiah didn’t get any punishment.

Follow the Guide

I went out with Bunky to do some Christmas shopping, but the first part of the evening was really just Bunky buying stuff for herself. This was clearly not very efficient, so we split up to get gifts and agreed to meet up afterwards. I was able to hit all the stores I wanted and get everybody’s present (or at least get an idea of what to buy online for a person) and finished up my circuit having checked everyone off on my Christmas list. It was totally awesome like I was following Jaime’s WOW leveling guide, and after I hearthed home I turned in all my quests for like a bazillion experience. Although there were a lot of people in the mall, I wouldn’t say it was overcamped.

Bunky ended up not finishing her list for anyone except her secretary, but bought herself a few things…