Time Crisis
For any gamers out there, you've probably played or at least seen the game Time Crisis in the arcade. It's one of those shooting games with a pedal that you can step on to hide and reload. My roommates are playing Command & Conquer 3 and I am very tempted to install it on my laptop and play along with them. My hardware is definitely capable of playing most games. The thought of it brings back a lot of memories from the days when I used to play quite a few PC games.
I remember my very first computer. It was a 486 and ran on Windows 3.1. I don't even remember the specs on it but the first multiplayer game I got hooked on was Warcraft II. I used to play dial-up modem games with my good friend back home. We would connect via 28.8 kbps modems. I can just imaging telling my kids about dial-up modems and have them laugh about how "old" that 20th century technology was along with things like cassette players and VHS. I used to get into trouble because we only had one phone line and I'd be playing modem games when my parents were expecting a phone call.
From there I went through a Pentium 166 and a Pentium 450. I can't remember if I had another computer but my current desktop computer at home is over 4 years old and has an AMD Athlon XP 2800 512K Barton chip, 1 GB of of PC2700 DDR RAM, two Maxtor 80GB 7200 hard drives, and a Ti4200 8x AGP 128 MB vid card. It was my first true gaming rig and I remember picking out the parts and putting it together. Some games that I remember playing a lot are C&C Red Alert, Starcraft (especially on Battle.net), Day of Defeat (a WWII half-life mod), Warcraft III, the Unreal Tournament series, and the Rainbow Six series.
I thank the Lord that I never got into the MMORPGs like World of Warcraft because I'm certain it would have utterly ruined my life. I had already once reached a point where I was totally immersed into computer games and consumed so many hours of my life. I don't think there's anything wrong with playing video games (in fact, i think they help to develop manual dexterity and problem solving/multi-tasking skills) but with everything, moderation is the key. For me, I was not able to play in moderation and I would be fixated on trying to become the strongest player or have the best stats on the server. I'm usually not openly super competitive when I play sports or get involved into games but for some reason, computer games bring out the tiger within.
Often, I feel like I go through a bit of a time crisis myself. Time management is something that is always an issue for me and I have yet to completely master. I am so amazed by people I know who are so disciplined and organized that they can juggle full time studies, a part-time job, a girlfriend/boyfriend, a regular workout schedule, church, volunteering, and time to hang out with friends with the 24 hours they have each day. Sometimes I wish I had 30 hours a day to get things done but I know that would just be treating the symptoms and not the underlying disease. Even with 30 hours a day I would still have the same problem of fitting in all the things that I need to do and want to do.
It was both exciting and depressing looking at my calendar to find that I have just over 10 weeks left until I will be finished with classes for the year. Exciting because I get to go back home and depressing because it means that I need to basically start bringing study back right now. I started studying seriously about 5 weeks prior to my mid-year exam so it only makes sense that with double the material to cover, I should start at least 10 weeks ahead of time. This is ignoring the fact that I wasn't even close to being fully prepared for my last exam and it was a miracle that I didn't bomb the test. *sigh* Here we go again!
My favorite book of the bible is Psalms. I always find encouragement from the words of David and the other psalmists.
I remember my very first computer. It was a 486 and ran on Windows 3.1. I don't even remember the specs on it but the first multiplayer game I got hooked on was Warcraft II. I used to play dial-up modem games with my good friend back home. We would connect via 28.8 kbps modems. I can just imaging telling my kids about dial-up modems and have them laugh about how "old" that 20th century technology was along with things like cassette players and VHS. I used to get into trouble because we only had one phone line and I'd be playing modem games when my parents were expecting a phone call.
From there I went through a Pentium 166 and a Pentium 450. I can't remember if I had another computer but my current desktop computer at home is over 4 years old and has an AMD Athlon XP 2800 512K Barton chip, 1 GB of of PC2700 DDR RAM, two Maxtor 80GB 7200 hard drives, and a Ti4200 8x AGP 128 MB vid card. It was my first true gaming rig and I remember picking out the parts and putting it together. Some games that I remember playing a lot are C&C Red Alert, Starcraft (especially on Battle.net), Day of Defeat (a WWII half-life mod), Warcraft III, the Unreal Tournament series, and the Rainbow Six series.
I thank the Lord that I never got into the MMORPGs like World of Warcraft because I'm certain it would have utterly ruined my life. I had already once reached a point where I was totally immersed into computer games and consumed so many hours of my life. I don't think there's anything wrong with playing video games (in fact, i think they help to develop manual dexterity and problem solving/multi-tasking skills) but with everything, moderation is the key. For me, I was not able to play in moderation and I would be fixated on trying to become the strongest player or have the best stats on the server. I'm usually not openly super competitive when I play sports or get involved into games but for some reason, computer games bring out the tiger within.
Often, I feel like I go through a bit of a time crisis myself. Time management is something that is always an issue for me and I have yet to completely master. I am so amazed by people I know who are so disciplined and organized that they can juggle full time studies, a part-time job, a girlfriend/boyfriend, a regular workout schedule, church, volunteering, and time to hang out with friends with the 24 hours they have each day. Sometimes I wish I had 30 hours a day to get things done but I know that would just be treating the symptoms and not the underlying disease. Even with 30 hours a day I would still have the same problem of fitting in all the things that I need to do and want to do.
It was both exciting and depressing looking at my calendar to find that I have just over 10 weeks left until I will be finished with classes for the year. Exciting because I get to go back home and depressing because it means that I need to basically start bringing study back right now. I started studying seriously about 5 weeks prior to my mid-year exam so it only makes sense that with double the material to cover, I should start at least 10 weeks ahead of time. This is ignoring the fact that I wasn't even close to being fully prepared for my last exam and it was a miracle that I didn't bomb the test. *sigh* Here we go again!
My favorite book of the bible is Psalms. I always find encouragement from the words of David and the other psalmists.
"In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me. Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress."
- Psalm 71:1-3 (NIV)
- Psalm 71:1-3 (NIV)
"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken."
- Psalm 62:1-2 (NIV)
- Psalm 62:1-2 (NIV)
Labels: Personal Reflection, Random
posted by Matt at 7:26 AM
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