An Exhausted Wizard

This wizard is exhausted from searching all the reagents needed for the crafting quests. Gilroy still needs 9 Blood Moss and 8 Black Pearls to complete the last crafting task; the 5 bookcases.

I tried to encourage him with a big ice cream sundae, but it does not seem enough.

Wizard City needs an Ice Cream Parlour... That would probably give Gilroy what he needs to finally finish this quest...

Come on buddy! You're almost done!!!

The difficulty of writing in a foreign language

I could have titled this article "The frustration of writing in a foreign language". It has been much more difficult than I expected. I realized that my vocabulary is much more limited to information technology than I thought. At work, I have no problem writing about an IT subject in both French or English.

My blogging is very different from what I am used to write. And writing is much more different from speaking than I thought. Aside from the more elaborate vocabulary for writing, I always found it difficult to express feelings and emotions, even while speaking in English. The extremes are easy to express. The good and the bad or the black or the white are easy. What is difficult is all the shades of gray between the extremes. As a result, I feel that I am writing like a five year old with an elaborate vocabulary...

This does not mean I will stop blogging. But for time, I think I will limit my subjects to the ones that I feel more comfortable writing about. In the mean time, I should also begin to read English books that are not technical manuals.

Old Trades and Traditions Festival

Today we went to the "Festival Métiers & Traditions de Longueuil" which translates to "Old Trades and Traditions Festival". It is held in a park in old Longueuil during the Labor Day weekend. There was a blacksmith, a candle and a soap maker and all kind old trades that were the high tech of my grand parents. The temperature was ideal so there was a lot of people. Most of the time it was difficult to watch the demonstrations. There was so many people with their dog, that sometimes I felt I was in a dog show lol.

There was an ice sculptor. He was keeping his ice in a mini barn covered with saw dust, just like they used to do before freezers. They would cut the ice from a lake during winter, put it in a barn and covered with saw dust. The ice would stay frozen all summer long and until it was cold enough to cut more ice the next winter.

Saw dust covered ice blocks

My wife was more interested by the doll and candle makers. As for me, I liked the ice sculptor and the blacksmith. The few hours we spent there were very pleasant and interesting. I just wish the booths were identified. With so many people, it was difficult to see what were the demonstrations about.

Black Pearl Day!

This weekend I felt is was time for Gilroy to resume looking for black pearls. Well, it was a good feeling. Yesterday, he found two black pearls. I thought it was pretty good. But today was exceptional. He found six black pearls. Yes, I said six including one he purchased from the Bazaar. With those pearls, he was able to craft his second tunic for the Dragonspyre crafting quest. And I even have three out of eight black pearls for the third tunic.

I hope to be able to keep up this pace. WOOT :)

A New Name

Hi all!

I finally found a name for my blog: The Goofy Wizard. And a new name also comes a new look. Since in Wizard101 I am a Necromancer, I thought black was in order.

Speaking of Wizard101, I have been taking a break from the game this week. Searching for all those reagents was getting boring. So I am taking a small break before I get to hating the game. I will be back soon looking for black pearls again.

In the future, I will probably write more about Wizard101 but I will also continue to write about things in real life.

Like last night. I spent last night in a sleep clinic. I had what they call a polysomnography. I spent the night hooked up to a dozen electrodes that were monitoring my physiology during my sleep.

My doctor sent me to pass this test because I was complaining that don't get fully rested after a night of sleep, even if I feel I have slept well. And also because my snoring makes it difficult for my wife to sleep.

So, I arrived at 9pm last night at the clinic. The inhalotherapist showed me my room. I was surprised that it looked more like a hotel room with a real bed and not an a hospital room. I had a questionnaire to fill and the inhalotherapist briefed me on how the night will go. Then he installed the electrodes on my head, face and neck. The whole "hookup" procedure takes 45 minutes. Once in bed I had two more electrodes on the legs to monitor leg movement and a device in my nose that would detect if I was breathing through my nose or mouth. Then he made me test the electrodes. He made me move my eyes sideways and up and down. Breath by my nose, my mouth and even snoring. Move my feet one at a time.

Now came the time to go to sleep. Normally I should have fell asleep in minutes like I normally do. But I think I was a little nervous. It took me two hours to finally sleep. So I had four hours of sleeping time. In the morning, the inhalotherapist told me that he monitored some episodes of sleep apnea. But the data would have to be analysed and that my doctor should receive the report in about ten days.

Sleep apnea happens when the air ways are blocked during sleep and thus causing micro wakeups that are preventing the subject to go into deep sleep. And without deep sleep, there is much less resting.

So I should know more when see my doctor with the report. I will keep you up to date on this subject after I meet with my doctor.

In the mean time, sleep well!!

Black Pearls

Today I bought the Beckett Massive Online Gamer Magazine and got my Umbra Sword. It looks awesome, but I wish it would be more powerful. It gives five cards of 75 death damage and no extra pip.

I finally managed to find eight black pearls to craft my first death tunic. Those pearls are really hard to find. Tonight I found three pearls, that's my all time record. I usually find none or a single pearl per day. More and more people are looking for them, I will have to find a way to get on the game outside the busy hours to get more chances to find one.

Fiddler on the Roof

My wife got free tickets again. Today we saw Fiddler on the Roof. The show was in french so the title was "Un violon sur le toit". It was part of the Just for Laughs Festival. Even if the festival itself is over, some productions continue to play.

The show was at Salle Pierre-Mercure. We had to plan how to get there, since there are three festivals this weekend in Montreal and a lot of streets are closed. There is Diverscité, a gai festival, Osheaga, a music and arts festival and Les francofolies, a french music festival. Our plan was good and we got there with time to spare.

When we entered the theatre, it was very cold. But when the show started, we warmed up quickly. It was the first time a saw Fiddler on the Roof. I found it very entertaining and also instructive. I did not know the Jews were driven out of Russia by order of the Tsar. I thought it was only after Staline took power.

The actors were excellent. Most of them are well known local actors. I did not know Martin Larocque (Tevye) could sing that well. Golde, the milkman's wife was played by the always excellent Linda Sorgini.

Tevye (Martin Larocque) and Golde (Linda Sorgini)

At the end, the actors got a well deserved standing ovation. We had a great time. After, we decided to go back home for dinner as Downtown Montreal was very crowded.

Washing Machine Repaired

Yes, I finally repaired the washing machine. I thought of an easy thing to do. I cut the wire with the faulty connection before and after the multi wire connector. I connected the cut wires together bypassing the connector:

The faulty connector is the white and green block in the background, attached to the main motor. In the foreground is my bypass connection.

It was so easy, I should have thought of this the first time...

Brazil Brazil

This afternoon, my wife got her hands on a couple of complimentary tickets for a Brazilian dance show, Bale De Rua. The show was at Place des Arts downtown Montreal. It is part of the Just for Laughs Festival (http://www.hahaha.com/en/).

The show was great, full of energy. It even woke up my very hidden rhythm gene, LOL. I don't know why, but the audience seemed not to respond very well. The dancers tried to make people clap hands and sing with them, but the response was very shy. They danced on all kinds of Brazilian music. At the end, the audience gave them the ovation they deserved.

They really brought some sunshine in our miserable summer. Here is a video I found on YouTube:



It would have been a perfect evening if it was not for a flat tire on our car. The front-right tire was completely flat when we arrived in the interior parking. It could have been worse. We could have been outside in the rain... So I put the spare tire, you know, the one you wish was the same size as the others when you need it. Then we headed home slowly. In all we had a great evening.

Good Night!

Washing Machine Repair

I repaired the washing machine again today. I had repaired it last month, but I had not found the real problem. As I poked at the internal components, it started to work again.

So this time, I wanted to find the problem. I thought is was the control timer. So I got a another one ($25 used part). But the washer was still not emptying... :(

The guy who sold me the timer told me that timers were rarely faulty on that model. He told me to investigate the lid switch. This is the switch that stops the machine when the lid is open. I checked it, but it looked ok. So I decided to take a look at the wiring diagram that I found inside the machine. I found out that the lid switch was connected to two places: the control timer and the main motor. I knew the timer was working fine. So i decided to check on the electrical harness at the motor. I wiggled it a little and the machine started to work again. WOOT!! :)

Here is the culprit:

Since the repair shop was closed at that time, I decided to leave the faulty part in so I could close it up for the night.

Our washer/dryer set is 17 year old. My wife wants new ones. So we'll see later if I change the part or if we buy new machines...lol Our fridge and stove are even older. We are definitly due for new appliances... But i love taking things apart. I won't be alowed to play inside new appliances...