Knowing How To Fix Things

March 22, 2018 / meghan / 0 Comments

Knowing how to fix things makes my life much easier. In the everyday world, I don’t have a lot of knowledge of fixing things. But at work, I am like a god of fixing things.

A young boy looking triumphant in front of a car with no shirt on. The words "how I feel when I fix something" on the photo.

Me, after fixing something at work. Click for image source.

I bring this topic to the table tonight because I had to call tech support twice today. Both calls were informative, pain-free, and successful.

I’m being pretty vague with this one because over the years I have learned how to fix a lot of things. I’m pretty good with registers (or point-of-sale terminals), ice machines, various refrigeration equipment, and a couple different types of ovens. We do still need outside help to come fix things. But I am the last person to check something before we call for that outside help. And by being that person I usually able to give a more helpful description of what is going wrong. Even if I don’t have the parts, knowledge, or skills to make the repair.

Why does this make me happy?

I like learning things. I like machines and things with moving parts. Seeing how things run and being able to spot when something’s not working right is exciting for me. Knowing how to fix it (and having any needed parts) is awesome. When I fix things myself it’s faster.

A very satisfied looking seal. Just a close up on the face. Words on the photo read "that feeling you get when you fix something with one simple part that could potentially hundreds if not thousands of dollars to replace."

It’s such a good feeling. Click for image source.

Have you ever fixed something and felt this good? Share in the comments.

I absolutely recommend that everyone try to learn to fix the things around them. Being handy is a great skill, and I find it to be very rewarding.

World of Warcraft: Where Most of My Time Has Gone for the Last Decade

World of Warcraft has been an on and off part of my life for probably close to ten years.

What is it?

World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). WoW was first released 2004, and it’s by Blizzard Entertainment. In the game, you create a character and then level through the different areas of the world of Azeroth. There’s group content in the form of dungeons and raids. There are guilds for a place to chat with others and work together on group stuff. And so much more.

How did I get into it?

My younger sister started playing while I was away at college. She quickly got our Dad into it. When I got home she got me hooked too. I remember creeping through The Barrens with a group of five level 15 Alliance characters to get to the entrance of Wailing Caverns. Over the years I have leveled many characters and taken long breaks from the game, but eventually, I always return to play.

Why do I like it?

I like how much there is to do in the game. I have leveled one of each of the twelve classes to level cap (the current expansion is called Legion, and the level cap is 110). Setting goals for myself and accomplishing them is something I like and WoW allows that in the form of achievements and leveling.

I’m in a guild that I really enjoy. I don’t really like doing anything that requires more than five people. My mornings are spent running a store, so by the time I get home I don’t want to group up with people to bash ourselves against new content. I am not a person that raids. But the guild I’m in is social and groups up for different events, so I can participate and socialize, but they don’t require me to spend all my time raiding (or getting ready to raid).

The death count statistic from my level 110 mage. It’s 921.

I like how many different ways there are to play WoW. Dungeons and raids are player vs. everything (PVE) content, but there’s also player vs. player (PVP) content. I usually stay away from PVP because I’m so good at accidentally dying on my characters anyway (you become a ghost and have to run or fly back to your dead body to resurrect), but sometimes I dip my toes in to give it a try. I play mainly on the Alliance side, so I am currently working on leveling some Horde side characters to get a more balanced feel of the game (and the story).

A picture of Crystalsong Forest from World of Warcraft

The visuals in WoW are a big draw for me. I don’t have a high-end gaming computer, but I really enjoy adventuring around in Azeroth.

A screenshot of the flying city, Dalaran, above the Broken Isles, from World of Warcraft: Legion.

There’s a flying city. Flying cities are my weakness. I missed Dalaran in the Cataclysm expansion when it wasn’t the home city for most high-level characters. I took some time off for the Mists of Pandaria and Warlords of Draenor expansions. When I came back for Legion I was really excited to see that Dalaran was the place to be again.

Where can you find it?

Here’s Blizzard’s World of Warcraft site: https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/

There’s a free trial version of the game. It is a limited version of the game, but it gives a good first look at what World of Warcraft is like.

Lists: The Backbone of Everything That I Do

March 17, 2018 / meghan / 0 Comments

I want to jump right in with something a bit abstract that I like.

Lists!

I love making lists. I like to-do lists, packing lists, countdowns, budgets (kind of), etc.

The most recent list I’ve been working on is a list of post ideas. It’s one of the most fun lists I’ve made because it’s just a list of things that I like. Everything on this master list is a thing that makes me happy. It’s got 38 items on it right now, and I think that’s pretty good because each one has the potential to become a blog post.

By Natalie B @ Pexels.com – Female hand holding a pen and writing a plan in a planner

I like lists so much because they are a way to organize thoughts. I like how flexible lists are. Lists are like the next step after freewriting in a project for me. After I’ve taken the time to get some of my thoughts out about an idea, lists are a way to start organizing those thoughts so that I can do something with it.

How I use lists

bill tracking.
using the Bullet Journal system to keep all my to-do lists in one place and keep me organized and motivated in my day-to-day life.
to help me get back on track when I get overwhelmed.
grocery shopping and remembering all the things that I went to the store for.

In the time it has taken me to write this post I’ve also started a new list and added to my big post ideas list. I like how just writing something down can take a little bit of the weight off of me trying to remember it.

Do you love making lists? Do you love having a list to use to get things done?

First Post Part 2

March 11, 2018 / meghan / 0 Comments

It’s been a while since I last posted here. That’s something I think almost everytime I end up here, even if I don’t type it.

I come to you this time, not with a quick update, but with a purpose. A purpose for this blog going forward.

There are a lot of things in the world right now that annoy and anger me. In my daily life, I tend to dwell on those things, even while I cling to things that make me feel better. As I move forward in my life I want to use this space to share the things that I really enjoy. I want to talk about and celebrate the things that I like.

I’ve already started a list. It’s a pretty broad in subject matter. There are movies, tv shows, books, artists, people, and concepts. I just want to take the time in my day to talk about the things I like. Instead of focusing solely on the things that annoy or upset me.

I hope that some of these things are things that will make other people happy, or that I can introduce something I like to someone else, and they might like it as well.

I am an excited geek, and I can’t wait to share my excitement with you.

Posts Incoming: An Update

October 11, 2017 / meghan / 0 Comments

Hello!

I’ve imported the posts from a side blog I started called “Meghan Explains It All.” It was a fun thing, but I’ve got Excited Geek and don’t really need two blogs to barely ever post to. The “Meghan Explains It All” posts have “MEIA:” in front of the post title and all have the “meghan explains it all” tag.

Some of the context doesn’t make much sense, but it was important for me to keep those posts.

MEIA: Writing A Shitty First Draft

August 23, 2017 / meghan / 0 Comments

I found a post on Tumblr that changed the way I think about writing.

Here’s the link: Drafting: The Theory of Shitty First Drafts.

I had always thought that writing a shitty first draft still meant writing prose that could be shared with other people. I really enjoy this blog post because it made me realize that a shitty first draft is more like an outline on crack. All the planning that I try to keep separate because the first draft is “real” writing can be in that document. I love the idea that the shitty first draft is an expanded planning document. Got three ideas of where to start the story? Write them all, deal with it later. Ideas that don’t fit are okay. Side stories with minor characters are okay.

I always wondered how writers managed to cut so much between the first draft and publication (or even sharing with people), but it makes more sense if everyone else is writing first drafts like this. I’m used to the first draft being the one I turned in to the teacher in school, so a first draft that’s just barely controlled chaos and ideas sounds amazing and freeing.

MEIA: Random Post: Cats!!

August 2, 2017 / meghan / 0 Comments

I know I want to post tonight, but I’ve spent all of writing group trying to figure what to write about.

After much deliberation, I have decided on a topic near and dear to my heart: cats!

I really enjoy cats. My family has two cats. They have grown up together for the most part, but they are not the same breed so they are not actually related. I love how much personality cats have crammed into small, usually furry bodies.

Here’s a Chrome Extension I found: Tabby Cat Chrome Extension. It generates a cute animated cat (and name) every time you open up a new Chrome tab. If you mouseover the cat they vibrate or put their head down like you are giving them petting.

MEIA: Writing Begins with Forgiveness?

July 22, 2017 / meghan / 0 Comments

Writing Begins with Forgiveness

This links to an article about how writing begins with forgiving yourself for how long it’s been since you wrote last. It’s about how a writer is a writer because they write and not because they write every day.

I really enjoy this because I’m really good at not writing for long stretches of time.

So if you feel like it’s been too long since you wrote last and you can’t get back to your writing, then start by ignoring that and just write instead.

MEIA: This Is All Heather’s Fault

July 20, 2017 / meghan / 3 Comments

This blog is all Heather’s fault.

Let me explain.

We were at writing group and she mentioned everyone having a blog.

My thoughts:

I never set up a blog for writing group. Does that mean I can’t be part of the fun?
I love making blogs.
That sounds like not writing — excellent.

So get this, I made another blog. And I’m great at making blogs. Starting blogs is so easy nowadays (*crotchety old man voice* back in my day we had to download WordPress, and then upload it using an FTP, and create all the databases ourselves). All I had to do was make a sub-domain and use the one click installation from my web hosting company.

~~Heather even thought up the name for me.~~ I lie sometimes. Cindy thought up the name for me.

So that’s how this is all Heather’s fault, even though Cindy gave me the name.

Maybe I’ll even do some fiction writing stuff on here.

Being an Adult is Weird: Paying Bills

January 9, 2016 / meghan / 0 Comments

I realized something yesterday as I was doing my pay day finances: being an adult is weird.

Excited Geek

I very rarely know what I'm doing.