What to do While the Patch Downloads

     I'm faced with a conundrum.  What is there to do while the game patch downloads? It's nearly midnight and I'm waiting for "Star Trek: Online" to finish updating.  It's chugging away and I'm cooling my heels waiting for the chance to blow up bad guys. The fact I haven't played in a while is making it feel like forever. 

     I'm four episodes into "Z: The Beginning of Everything", on Amazon. Snacks have been munched, fizzy-brown stuff is bubbling in the mug and the cat has finally gotten bored and wandered off. I've tried biding my time with Microsoft Solitaire Collection, but it's no substitute for adventures where none have gone before. I'd log in Final Fantasy XIV, but playing online while another game patches is and invitation to a lag fest. I've got no desire to see my avatar and his trusty chocobo face-down in the grass.

     So here I sit, tapping at the keyboard as ones and zeroes make their way from the servers to my computer. Hazel is in her basket, glaring at my keeping the lights on. A click and she's happily dozing off. The glow of the keyboard and screens trigger memories of late-night board operator shifts on deployment. The only thing missing things are about 30 more screens and the rumble of the screws trying to vibrate the equipment off the racks. I can almost smell the day-old coffee smoldering into mud. Sometimes I miss it; then I look around my house and forget why I do. No dogs or cats or families allowed on ships.

     As time ticks away, I'm glad work doesn't come until one o'clock. I will blast bad guys to bits tonight, dammit. The opportunity to sleep in looks really nice as episode six of "Z" winds down. Yep, it's officially the patch from Hell. I'm cool with it though. It's probably making up for two or three updates since my last login. This is one of the costs of being a game junkie. If you play any massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), the updates keep us logging in. 

     Well, season one of "Z" is over, and we're at 83%. To bide the remaining time, Let's watch the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"'s 40th Anniversary Edition. It promises to be a great movie just before bedtime. It'll probably get me killed once the game is playable. I'm cool with that. As Worf says: "Today is a good day to die", even if it is a virtual death. The neat thing about virtual death is you get to come back and try again. If only real life was like that (roll footage from "Edge of Tomorrow" here.) 

     Finally it's time to go explore the final frontier. The rest of you should go to bed.