Quickly: Still working. Went to RECCAcon (staffed karaoke). Finally gave in and bought an iPod (to be shipped shortly). Saw Matrix: Revolutions and was disappointed. Bought and finished one game on my backlog (Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy) and am awaiting Final Fantasy X-2 tomorrow. Planning on driving down to L.A. for Thanksgiving.
In more depth, I’m one more notch closer to getting turned off of Final Fantasy XI (or just MMORPGs in general). I’ve been getting frustrated at the lack of progress, so today I just sat at the entrance to the next area and just cured and cast Protect on passers-by. After a while I was invited to a group and went off to parts unknown. I wasn’t getting much experience because of the limiting formula (I was 7 levels below the party leader), but there was very little risk involved. It took us about 45 minutes and we got to our destination. After one close battle, we were resting for the next, when my connection stalled. I tried logging back in, but it wouldn’t. I finally got back in, only to find my dead body lying on the ground, and a lost level due to the experience loss.
To their credit, my party members tried to find a White Mage with Raise, but no one was around. And also, it only took one monster to get back to Level 11. But this whole incident makes me less enthusiastic about the whole process.