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Monday, March 16, 2015

Fanfest 2015: Scattered Thoughts After An Ill-Timed Nap

What makes me think I play too much EVE Online? Not the 3 accounts I maintain or that I'm back in Reykjavik for the fourth time to attend Fanfest. No, the fact that when I woke up during the flight to Iceland and saw on the little monitor on the seat in front of me that the aircraft was 317 km from Keflavik, my first thought was, "Good, we're on grid."

I'm writing this at 4 am local because my internal time clock is still messed up. I actually work up at 12:30 am, which is my normal time for recording RMT activity. The wind was howling and the time was late, so I didn't try going out. That's right, I missed a night of drinking in Iceland. But that's okay, I needed to recover from the trip. With my braces situation this year, I wound up not eating for about 24 hours. I also didn't drink enough water.

I've attended more cons than I can remember now, and one thing I've learned is the importance of remaining hydrated. I normally buy a couple of large bottles of water every day as a reminder, but with the wind this morning I just drank tap water all morning. Oh, and eating Kit Kats. Normally, eating chocolate is something I avoid, but the quick energy boost helps. Plus, Kit Kats are made by Nestle outside North America, so they taste better.

I did wander outside to poke my nose into a protest that some pro-EU forces held in the square outside Nora's and the English Pub. Apparently, the new government decided on Thursday to withdraw Iceland's application for full membership in the European Union.

View of the demonstration outside Nora's

I didn't get a violent vibe from the crowd as I did on a business trip to Bulgaria a few years ago, but I couldn't help but notice the police circulating around the edge of the crowd. Not to say they are some big boys (and girls), but I figured discretion is the better part of valor and stayed at the edge of the crowd. Sorry, but I'm here to have fun, not wind up in the hospital, in jail, or both.

I guess I should add this note. Just like EVE, always scout ahead, even while you're travelling. I was told the rally was scheduled on short notice, meaning that, if possible, people should read the local news of the destination country while travelling. I had no excuse for not knowing as Logan airport has free wi-fi. If I make a list of things to do when travelling to Fanfest, I'll remember to put this on the list. While I consider Reykjavik much safer than Chicago, even high-sec has gankers,

Also, just a quick note about RMT. Apparently the increase in demand for ISK I saw on Player Auctions in February was just a temporary spike. With the first two weeks of March in the books, sales volume dropped back to December levels. I half-expect the rate to fall back down to January's level, although I don't know how the news out of Fanfest will play out. In that, I guess I'm like the market gurus.

Speaking of market gurus, I'm at the point in my monitoring of black market ISK where I need to start monitoring more than PLEX. I think the introduction of the new Minmatar Tech 3 Tactical Destroyer caused the spike, but I'm not sure. I usually watch, or at least listen to, Lockfox's EVE Prosper show, but I may need to start taking notes. I also need to start paying more attention to null sec. I need to do so anyway now that I'm in Signal Cartel, but my RMT monitoring makes doing so a bit more important.

I don't know just how much I'll blog during this week in Iceland. I just may travel around taking pictures and posting those instead of writing.

6 comments:

  1. This is how I knew I was playing Eve too much; I ask a fellow real life friend and fellow Eve player "Do you want to fleet up and go have lunch, I'm only 9 jumps out (stop lights) and omw." He started laughing and I asked him "dude what at you laughing at?" He then asked me "did you hear what you just said." Lol...

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  2. While talking to someone you notice the finger you use for push-to-talk is tapping your leg or your desk...

    You tell someone you have to take a bio and will be AFK for five...

    (I have personally done those...)

    And the ever classic, "You know you have been playing EVE too long when..."
    You see a guy getting mugged, and you run up, smack him once and run off yelling "I'm on the killmail!! I'm on the killmail!!"

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  3. God damn right, Kit-Kats. I'm not crazy :P

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  4. I click my push to talk button when chatting to my husband while sitting at my desk. He is about five feet away from me.

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  5. Nosy, both you and Sugar have missed the fact that Canada has Nestlie products. Our Kit Kats and Cadburys and Coffee Crisp bars are the exact same as the 'European Imports' :) I even commented on Sugar's non-EvE blog about it, but I guess she missed it :)


    When I lived in Oregon, instead of paying $1.50/bar because :imported:, I called home and had my parents buy an entire store box and ship it about every 3 months. It still cost less than buying the same number of :imported: bars in Portland :)

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  6. "the aircraft was 317 km from Keflavik, my first thought was, "Good, we're on grid." Absolutely awesome.

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