1978

Quakecon 2005 registration, a night where true friends were made. The one night I wished I was not in the NAVY.

It was March 22, 2005 ;the night was warm and the damp Prairie View air threatened rain, my room mate was getting a little UT2004 double domination in. My desktop cluttered with various C++ programs, and bottles of bawls preparing for a major test on Data Structures the next morning. #quakecon was teeming with activity people already planning unofficial tournaments. The air conditioner kicked in (since the heat produced by the 5 computers running in the small college dorm room was enough to heat a small Eskimo villa).

Suddenly Just as the spot lights of a football stadium at night, there it was. Debuggers were closed and in their place more IM windows of clan members lit up sending the news to all going. Many words cluttered the recent post at quakecon.org, but two small strings stood out from their brother and sister char arrays. Moments of joy of the previous seconds died away leaving anger. APRIL 15, Uncle Sam I have to protect the country that day. the day I am on duty. How am I going to register when I am out on a Farking ship in the Gulf of Mexico. (the simple answer to that question was I wasent). After hours of thought I turned to my trusted gaming friend Valkyrie. “Dude If I give you my user name and password would you register me right after you?, I've got NAVY that night.” Just as any true gaming friend he said he'd take care of it. Putting my mind at ease, at least for a little bit.

April 15, Without computer phone or even regular non sound powered phone. I sat as a 5 year old kid would the night before his first trip to Disney World. 'When is this going to be over I need to call and find out what my registration number, did it go through, what if the server was overloaded”. Its a good thing the enemy did not attack us that night as I am unsure how much help I would have been. Hours past,...................and passed and passed.............Only instead of hours passing it was only minutes.

“Dismissed” My Commanding Officer annunciated. My LG3200 had never opened and a turned on faster in its existence. Speed dial Valkyrie...........He must have been waiting for my call because it was answered on the first ring. “You're number”................”1978”...................