Random Thoughts.....What Are You Thinking?

Some new custom FFXI figures, they look good but not sure the front of them looks off but maybe need to see them in person

probably a little background will help:

1. I didn't enter the military until I had finished both my undergraduate and graduate degrees, so I was 25, not a wide-eyed, all-trusting 18 year old.

2. I was a musician in the Navy. Non-deployable, so there while I did go through boot camp and all the "standard" inoculations associated with that time, since I was never sent overseas I didn't have to worry about many things other servicemen and women do.

At least for me, and very much likely due to my age and prior education before indoctrination, I never once felt "forced" into a decision I didn't agree with. Again- maybe because I was experienced enough (or at least more than my fellow recruits) to know I always had an out. Not a pleasant one, mind you...but there was a way. Pair that with me being able to constantly say to myself, "you made this choice knowing what came with it, this shouldn't surprise you" and yes, I can with full confidence say I wasn't ever forced into something.

When I cited my time in the military possibly being one reason why I'm more comfortable with mandatory vaccination, the primary reason is that greater sense of others one gains with military service. All that constant drilling and reminding that there is a "big picture" to things- that way of thinking does stick with you.

But don't confuse my dedication to my personal decision as confidence or faith that the government I worked for had my best interests at heart. I found a way to make a living for myself and a family by doing what I loved, so I took it. I hadn't reached the proficiency to where I could make that living in the civilian world due to so few positions in the country that were a) open, b) provided health insurance, and c) that I could win. So playing in a military band was my way...and I knew it came with requirements I wouldn't see (at that time) in the civilian world.

As far as how many inoculations I received during my time in- about a half dozen at boot camp, required annual flu vaccinations, and some members of my command went on a South Pacific concert tour and had to take extras prior.

....they never took the Bassoonists on the fun stuff ^^

Do they WANT to get cursed? because this is how you get cursed. Helllllll naw.

Update: They've found the remains of 8 people so far.

I've been asked to reduce the pitch of the roof so they can stop digging further down while maintaining the maximum height of the house.

nvm

A lot of my friends have a particular game franchise that they're always associated with. Like, as soon as news breaks, everyone floods that person messages. One's into Zelda games, another's Dragon Quest, another is everything by Hideo Kojima, etc.

I really wanted something like that for myself. The most games I've clocked in are from the Final Fantasy franchise. And I've liked most of the ones I've played. But it felt like such a monumental and unrewarding task to try and play each one. Then I realized that aside from (of the ones I haven't yet beaten) IX, VI, and maybe IV, I've heard more bad than good.

Especially among the earlier Final Fantasies, do any of them really hold up outside of nostalgia? Which ones are really worth playing?