Varrqnuht.net

Before moving to my new job, I negotiated with my new employer to have a notebook as my workstation. Well, it’s taken a while to get it all organised, but it finally arrived yesterday. What can I say? I’m stoked.

It’s a Celeron 750, 256Mb RAM, 15.1″ LCD, ATI Rage 3D LT (8Mb), DVD, 20Gb HD, and all the builtin stuff you’d expect. It’s rather speccy.

Look, I’m a geek - I’m allowed to get excited about stuff like this..

I’ve been playing Nethack again..
Kane has just started playing it
and I’ve been giving him a few pointers.

Of course that’s got me back in the mood for playing it, which occaisionally
results in my writing up the "adventures" of my characters.

Buffy wiped the sweat from her brow as she jogged toward the end of the narrow
laneway. Merchant’s signs hung above the doors dotting the facades of the
buildings in this dank underground setllement, but the merchants stayed safely
inside. This was not the sort of town in which you’d be caught outdoors
without a sword at your waist and a shield strapped to your arm.

Buffy looked down at her shield, slowing to a walk as she reached the corner.
It was a small but very sturdy shield - a family heirloom passed down to her
from her mother, and her mother’s mother before her. Somewhere along the line
one of her ancestors must have pleased a powerful mage, because the shield had
been enchanted and the workmanship was not that of any corner-store magician.

Carefully rounding the corner of a particularly ramshackle building, she
raised her shield arm and loosened her longsword in its scabbard. She felt
her arm snap back as a crossbow bolt bounced off her shield. A gnome charged
toward her, reaching for his club as he saw the the bolt hadn’t hit home.
Buffy parried his clumsy attack, and stepping deftly sideways she drove her
sword between his shoulderblades, feeling it grind against bone. The gnome
died, quivering, with a suprised look on his face.

After pulling her sword free, wiping the blade and returning it to its
scabbard, she reached down to grab the gnome by his tunic and started dragging
him toward the small converted storeroom that passed for a temple in this
utilitarian mining town.

“Pilgrim, you enter a sacred place!”, the priest of Odin intoned as she
entered through the low doorway, the still warm body of the gnome thumping
against each stair and leaving a bright red trail. “Looks like you’re having
a good day” he added less formally with a wry smile. “Odin smiles upon all
his loyal subjects - you must have him grinning though”.

Buffy smiled, and in one smooth motion lifted the lifeless body onto the stone
altar. Kneeling, she intoned the ritual prayer of offering. As she finished
the was a deafening crack and a bright light apeared above her head. She
watched as a war hammer descended from the light and rested at her feet.

A powerful voice boomed “Use my gift wisely!”. It had seemed to come from all
around her, and glancing at the astonished expression of the priests face she
guessed that it was her God, Odin. “Cool”, she said to herself, reaching for
the hammer at her feet. It had a sturdy polished wooden shaft, and solid
metal head with a blueish tinge to it. As her hand closed around the shaft
the head burst into a blue flame, and tiny tendrils of lightning crackled
around it.

Buffy hefted the hammer from palm to palm, amazed at how light it felt.
Moving to give herself room, she swung it forcefully through the air, and
heard it buzz and crackle as it moving, leaving a faint blue trail behind it.
“Let’s see who wants to mess with me now!”, she said to noone in particular
as she headed for the door.

Brushing past the priest, who was still kneeling and watching her with that
open-mouthed look, she left the temple and started looking for trouble.

All up I made a profit this year, and by my standards that makes it a good year.

It wasn’t much of a profit, granted - I came out $5.80 in front, which is a profit of almost %17. But the point is that I came out in front, and I’m happy with that.

Yes, it’s Melbourne Cup Day! I’m the quintessential once-a-year racing expert, and like most of the rest of Australia this is usually the only day I’ll bet on the horses.

I don’t bet much at all, really - I’ll occasionally get a keno ticket in a pub or restaurant, but it’s pretty rare. I don’t buy tattslotto tickets, and I don’t play pokies. I’ve played roulette and blackjack a few times, and that’s fun, but it’s not something I do more than once or twice a year.

But come Melbourne Cup Day and I’m talking about odds and form guides just like everybody else. I usually spend between $20 and $30 dollars, and I don’t think I’ve ever done better than make my money back. But there’s always hope.

So, here’s what I’m doing this year. I’ve put a Maxibet on these horses:

• Sky Heights
• Ethereal
• Big Pat

I don’t know what they proper name for a maxibext is - Louise used to
work for the TAB so she always uses the right names but I can never remember
them. A maxi bet is basically all possible win/place/quadrella/trifecta
combinations for those three horses. It’s designed for once a year punters
like myself.

I also put place bets on Persian Punch and Hill Of Grace.

I haven’t found out who I drew in the sweep here at work yet, I’ll go check that shortly. And of course, I’ll head off to watch the race and have a drink at 3pm.