Winter Driving

Whoever came up with this idea should have been shot.

It is 7:45 when I leave my house, snow shovel in hand, to greet the day. It isn't actually that cold, but the snow has been falling continuously since last night. Mom is helping me dig out both of our cars.

Speed is of the essence: we both have to get to work this morning. On the radio, I heard that all the area schools have shut down for the day, but that hardly matters to our employers - or our wallets. Our street has not bee plowed, so Mom warns me that I should just take it slow. Going too quickly is an easy guarantee that something will go wrong.

I should have listened.

I can feel myself losing control before it happens, first a little, then a lot. I end up sideways across both lanes of traffic over a small curve in the road, and I felt my tail end plow sideways through a snowbank.

I am lucky; I am still on the road, and I did not hit anyone. I get myself straightened out before someone hits me.

"I can see the road."

It has become my Survival Mantra and a happy lie. I can see two strips of pavement where others have come before me - until I find myself following a vague black shape. It kicks up a cloud of snow so thick I cannot see the road - or anything else, for that matter.

It is a tense drive. The road wasn't especially well-maintained, and my job is actually in the next town over.

It is an incredible relief to see buildings again, and I find myself laughing when I see on a bank sign how early I am.

When I finally get myself parked, I call Mom to let her know I'm okay.

I have no idea how I'm going to get home: the sun will be down before I am allowed to leave.

A God's Log: Here Kitty, Kitty!

9:12 PM Friday, Jan 7th 2011

A land of innocence has no need for gods ....

I had a random urge to do Something Not Warcraft, so I fished through my stack of old games until I hit upon Lionhead's Black and White. Some research on the Internet later, and I have a fully functioning game, since Windows 7 doesn't always play nicely with the older games. I still don't know how to get Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri to work (I hit upon the much easier solution of: when I want to play SMAC, I boot up Mom's old XP machine), for instance - even the newer games sometimes throw a fit.

I forgot how bad the graphics were.

And how long the unskippable tutorial is. Gah.

I think I wanna try and be either a good deity or at least train a good creature. Given my own Chaotic tendencies, I have problems focusing ... I suspect I'll end up failing at least one of these goals.

Here goes nothing ....

9:32 - After some exploring, I have picked out a rather silly-looking kitty cat. Probably not the best choice for a pacifist pet, but I'm not much for cattle or monkeys, and they looked even worse.

9:41 - Maybe I should build this boat so I don't have to listen to the singing. Or kill the would-be sailors ....

10:09 - I actually don't know how much mutton I need for this sheep herder - oh, five. Can't deities keep a quest log? Can I get a bloody hint? GAH!

10:22 - Oo. Huge kitty. I've actually seen him on idle exploration; he's hard to miss. Doing his quest because I suspect he's how I get to teach my Creature miracles. Blah, miracles. Blah, teaching.
Evil (Blackie?) is a coward.
Nemesis is such a ... descriptive ... name.
Yeah.

10:40 - I am going to teach this Creature to make water if it's the last thing I do.

10:46 - Where the hell is my Creature?!

10:59 - Creature kind of knows how to water trees. Teaching him to heal and buff himself. Looking for last singing stone.

11:27 - Found the last stone. Can't find stone circle anymore. GAH.

11:28 - The hippie's stones made me a damned food miracle dispenser. Thank you, GameFAQs.

11:30 - Where the hell is my Creature?!

11:32 - Death ....

11:34 - Apparently my Creature collapsed ....

11:40 - Who wants tummy rubs?!

11:50 - I'm not convinced my creature can learn to buff himself. He seems kind of stupid.

11:52 - Death ....

11:53 - Ha! He knows how to make food! Not completely hopeless. Who'ssa good kitty?

11:54 - Death ....

11:58 - Still not convinced he can learn to buff. Death ....

12:00 - Death ....

12:06 - I met the one guy who doesn't believe in me on this rock. I don't care about him at all.

12:11 - Death ... DEATH!

12:13 - Evil smells combat! ... death ....

12:19 - Where the hell is my Creature?!?