Wherein Bram is Blindly Irritated, and Finds Criminal Release
Irritation is having your birthweek interrupted by impudence on the part of a government agency.
In celebration of myself (despite what a few wags may snicker, a rare event), I decided to take the last three days of my birthweek off work and tend to other matters. Matters of significantly more importance to Greater Blaskovia than the state of prisoner entertainment in Oregon, or the other bits of tedious techno-necromancy that engage me professionally.
No, indeed. Instead I chose to take Rockstar Games up on its generous offer of a holiday in Liberty City, and have since been swallowed by the intensely satisfying maw that is Grand Theft Auto IV.
The journey, as of this moment, is only 40% complete, and is completely engaging. I strongly suggest anyone with a machine capable of running it to get a copy immediately. Expect a more complete review over time.
I also decided to do some responsible things as well, and make use of the off time from work in a more productive way. My license plates and drivers license both expired on my birthday, so I thought it wise to tend to those as well.
Amusingly, the plates were no issue whatsoever, and the grand cruiser is properly tagged (a pleasing aside, this year the Ohio registration sticker is black with silver lettering, so it matches the vehicle herself).
No, instead the problem lay in another arena entirely.
Those who know me know that I routinely joke about the inhibited state of my vision, remarking to those who favor me with compliments on my eyes that they are mostly decorative rather than functional. I have no trouble seeing distinct shapes, judging distances between them, and identifying them properly, but sometimes fine detail may be lost. I can perfectly well see the streetsign, and while I can guess with excellent accuracy what that sign might read in context, the letters themselves are something of a blur at range. Imagine a camera that is only every-so-slightly out of focus, just enough to lose the actual content of written material seen but not enough to lose overall content of what is seen, and you have a good idea of how I see the world. I see things with all the sentimental softness shown in the final moments of "Legend," rather than the clinical clarity of a crime scene photograph.
I am an excellent driver regardless. I benefit from great training and the lack of a need to constantly demonstrate the size of my endowments with the speed or agility of my chosen vehicle. People I know regularly trust their cars (and all that that implies) to me, and I would have a great many more problems driving my own leviathan of a conveyance if my vision were indeed that poor.
That said, the State of Ohio disagrees, and has officially labeled me an Old Man who Needs Glasses to Drive, and as such refused to renew my driver's license. Thank you ever so kindly for the judgment; I'm sure the people of the Buckeye State will be a good deal safer on the road without my inept menace threatening them 'round every corner.
I'm not opposed to getting glasses. I find them a very attractive feature on a face, and I think I look good with them. Largely, I haven't gotten glasses before now due to convenience of time and financial concerns. Money isn't the problem now; getting more time off work to pursue healthy vision is.
Naturally I came home and lost myself afterwards in aggressive drinking, running over pedestrians and crashing expensive cars for fun and profit. For all that the game series is decried for its violence, loose morals and sociopathic behavior, it gives me an avenue to vent my frustration at being unable to drive safely legally, by letting me not only drive with reckless abandon and deliberate malice, but also to do so as the government presumes I would do presently behind my own wheel.
Isn't technology wonderful?
All mirth and humor aside, I'll go get glasses soon. Either this week or next. Pictures and such to follow.
Thank you to everyone who wished me well on my birthweek, or to those who think fondly on the matter regardless of expressed sentiment.
In celebration of myself (despite what a few wags may snicker, a rare event), I decided to take the last three days of my birthweek off work and tend to other matters. Matters of significantly more importance to Greater Blaskovia than the state of prisoner entertainment in Oregon, or the other bits of tedious techno-necromancy that engage me professionally.
No, indeed. Instead I chose to take Rockstar Games up on its generous offer of a holiday in Liberty City, and have since been swallowed by the intensely satisfying maw that is Grand Theft Auto IV.
The journey, as of this moment, is only 40% complete, and is completely engaging. I strongly suggest anyone with a machine capable of running it to get a copy immediately. Expect a more complete review over time.
I also decided to do some responsible things as well, and make use of the off time from work in a more productive way. My license plates and drivers license both expired on my birthday, so I thought it wise to tend to those as well.
Amusingly, the plates were no issue whatsoever, and the grand cruiser is properly tagged (a pleasing aside, this year the Ohio registration sticker is black with silver lettering, so it matches the vehicle herself).
No, instead the problem lay in another arena entirely.
Those who know me know that I routinely joke about the inhibited state of my vision, remarking to those who favor me with compliments on my eyes that they are mostly decorative rather than functional. I have no trouble seeing distinct shapes, judging distances between them, and identifying them properly, but sometimes fine detail may be lost. I can perfectly well see the streetsign, and while I can guess with excellent accuracy what that sign might read in context, the letters themselves are something of a blur at range. Imagine a camera that is only every-so-slightly out of focus, just enough to lose the actual content of written material seen but not enough to lose overall content of what is seen, and you have a good idea of how I see the world. I see things with all the sentimental softness shown in the final moments of "Legend," rather than the clinical clarity of a crime scene photograph.
I am an excellent driver regardless. I benefit from great training and the lack of a need to constantly demonstrate the size of my endowments with the speed or agility of my chosen vehicle. People I know regularly trust their cars (and all that that implies) to me, and I would have a great many more problems driving my own leviathan of a conveyance if my vision were indeed that poor.
That said, the State of Ohio disagrees, and has officially labeled me an Old Man who Needs Glasses to Drive, and as such refused to renew my driver's license. Thank you ever so kindly for the judgment; I'm sure the people of the Buckeye State will be a good deal safer on the road without my inept menace threatening them 'round every corner.
I'm not opposed to getting glasses. I find them a very attractive feature on a face, and I think I look good with them. Largely, I haven't gotten glasses before now due to convenience of time and financial concerns. Money isn't the problem now; getting more time off work to pursue healthy vision is.
Naturally I came home and lost myself afterwards in aggressive drinking, running over pedestrians and crashing expensive cars for fun and profit. For all that the game series is decried for its violence, loose morals and sociopathic behavior, it gives me an avenue to vent my frustration at being unable to drive safely legally, by letting me not only drive with reckless abandon and deliberate malice, but also to do so as the government presumes I would do presently behind my own wheel.
Isn't technology wonderful?
All mirth and humor aside, I'll go get glasses soon. Either this week or next. Pictures and such to follow.
Thank you to everyone who wished me well on my birthweek, or to those who think fondly on the matter regardless of expressed sentiment.