Joaquin Del Mundo

Warcraft Patch 3.1 Builds

Blizzard just released the patch 3.1, which allows duel talent builds.  As everyone knows, these talent builds dramatically affect how one plays the game.  For hybrid classes (shaman, druid, paladin), talents get can get complicated, mixing extreme types of gear to match the style of play.  These can get complicated to track.

Here's my personal picks amongst my many classes. 

Boomkin-Heal Duel Spec
This build is for those that play a boomkin (balance tree) and would need to switch to healing with roughly the same gear.

• Boomkin Spec (Balance)
• Heal Spec (Restoration)

Elemental-Healer Duel Spec
I love melee, but it incorporate a completely different style of play (both are fun, melee and blasty styles), but more economical with time you put in game and reward you get back, the elemental and healer really works out.

• Elemental Spec
• Heal Spec (Restoration)

Return of Humidity

The humidity has just spiked up dramatically today.   Now, I have the feeling that I am constantly wet.  Walking to the college and back, my clothes become wet.  I feel uncomfortable to the point where I want to switch clothes, but then in a few moments, I feel wet once again.  Soon it will be both hot and humid, and always uncomfortable.  According to weather reports, the humidity at 23% with temperature at 25°C  (77°F).  In San José, Californa, the temperature is 12°C  (50°F) with 80% humidity.  That seems wrong, but that is what Yahoo reports.

It is for this reason why I like winter over summer.  But my favorite season here has to be Spring, as the flowers bloom and the weather is cool. 

Jog through Neighborhoods

I think it might be the weather or something, but today my mood is elevated.  I jogged and hiked up the hill in hopes that this would improve my health and help me combat this virus.  I went through the back neighborhoods that are seldom seen by foreigners.  I was really amazed.  I saw the many of the similar cost-effective architecture that is common in Korea, but then also very lavish opulent buildings by some notably wealthy Korean families.  These neighborhoods were exciting to see, the homes of both the wealthy  and lesser affluent somehow all fit together in harmony.  This is a sharp contrast to the filthy debris littered streets of Shinchon area near Hyunadai Department Store, where many buildings feel like discordant assembly of mutated scraps heaps.  That may be harsh, but it is just the emtion I feel from living in that area.  I am more sensitive to surroundings, architecture, and nature than most.

I was able to observe relatively clean neighborhoods, beautiful buildings, and many more modern buildings that looked constructed at least in the 1970s.  Most of the structures are big cement blocks.  The type of construction would be used normally for larger office buildings or skyscrapers, but is used to build these one to three story homes on the hill.  The buildings that had Asiatic styled roofs in this area did not use cement globs to set the ridge shingles, but used small fitted stone slats or at least some design that mimicked those slabs.  The method of constructing the ridge of these roofs is very different than the method used in Japan. 

Using globs of cement to rest the ridge shingles instead of using small stone slats might be more durable and cost effective, but it really looks unappealing and even primitive in my opinion.  However, no one seems to mind or notice in Korea.  Still, foreigners that travel to other Asian countries do notice, as they make comments that the various restored palaces and such are unremarkable.  As I respect and admire Korea, this makes me feel saddened.

The Flu Continues

I have never experienced a flu so quite bad like this before.  I received this feeling Sunday morning about 2 am roughly.  That is when I starting getting the chills: the temperature feels like it is really cold, but skin is very hot.  That Sunday, I had the worst headache, where  I was incapacitated the whole day.  I didn't think this was unusual because this happened to me a few times before, having an headache that is disabling for 7 or more hours.

I crawled to the hospital and got some medicine for the flu, and this is where I lost my wallet.  Now since then, I have been mostly bedridden.  I spent the days partially cognitive, unable to function on anything. 

Today, this Thursday, I have a blistering headache, my muscles are screaming in pain, but my mind is mentally functional.  I think I can make it into my classes and do something.  Anything is better than just laying here slowly dissolving away.

Violent Media's Affect on the Mind

I am feverish with a flu, and I am not in complete control of my thoughts.  It is at this point when I get those dreams where inside the dream, the laws of known physics disappear so readily.

Now, I have so many negative thoughts that are creeping into my head.  I am still able to block them off with my barrier I built against negative thoughts (which is a technique I picked up through my meditations), but still there are still so many thoughts.

Then I realized something, all of the action movies that I have been watching during my recovery, affect the mind in a non-positive way.  The violence in the media becomes the lens through which we view life.  We get a skewed perspective.  Now I see my dramas or potential negative scenarios combined with movie dramas that are violent.  The sheer number of these thoughts are amazing.

I don't know if I always have a flow of negative thoughts, or maybe being sick, I am ore sensitive.  Though I may not be completely under control, I am aware.

So, be mindful of what you read or watch, whether fiction or non-fiction, the mind is very delicate and sensitive to violence.  It clouds are existence.  The mind can only handle so much exposure, then we become overloaded.  From my experience, in interacting with different societies in my life, I find that most people don't have the disciplined minds to compensate.

String of Bad Luck

Yesterday I had an extreme flu, and was totally taking out for the whole day.  I managed to crawl to the hospital to get some medication, but along the way I lost my wallet.  I left it in some taxi, at least that's my guess.  Given that my name and number is plastered on my wallet through some sticker, and that no one has called, I think my wallet is good as gone. 

Right now, I'm scrounging for food, tearing off green fuzzy parts off of bread for food.  I want to save what ever change I can.  I tried to get into my bank account, but the website for accessing account information is now down.  The time when you need access, it seems the banks fail you.

Today, I am feeling better.  I am just resting and watching TV as well as sleeping when I can.  It is hard to sleep.  My energy and emotions are going wild.  I don't have control and cannot maintain an equilibrium at the moment.  At least I am not going crazy hysterical for the time being.

These days, I am just having bad luck.  It was the other day, about two weeks ago that my laptop screen was broken.  Fortunately, I have another laptop, MacBook, which always seems reliable.  The HP Pavilion DV9000 laptop is powerful, but always had problems, culminating in the LCD screen going dead.  Now, I'm going to do something I haven't done in a long long while, just play the game Warcraft to chill while drinking some green tea.