using my power for evil

1.  My god, you are competitive.  :) *

Yep, I really, really am. My mum used to say (probably still says it): If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well. Except, because I am like that, I heard: If you can't do something well, don't do it at all. Unfortunately, what I heard probably worked in a negative way with me. I didn't apply myself. I don't like failure. I don't like not quite succeeding.

I have eleven O Levels. These are the exams you take when you are 16 in England. A C is a pass, an A is a very good pass, and an A* is excellent. However, I learnt that people are more impressed with the quantity of qualifications, rather than the quality. I have 11 of these things. To the disappointment of my parents, my teachers, nine of them are at grade C, two are grade B (in fact, if you want to be really pedantic William, you only have nine O Levels and two AO Levels). I have two A Levels. A pass, at A Level, is achieved with a grade of E or higher. My two A Level grades are E and D. I have a degree with Honours. There are four different grades for an Honours degree: A First (1.1), a 2.1, a 2.2, and a Third. I have a Third. You see, it's not the taking apart, it's the taking part. If I'm going to do something, and I know that I can do it well, don't stand in my way. Seriously, when I get involved, when something takes my fancy, I am more determined than a T-1000. I am waaaay too competitive for my own good.

Oh, some stuff I have managed to rein in. I don't play Monotony Monopoly to win any more. I'm having a really hard time trying not to win at Scrabulous when I play with Maria (or play with Alan and Maria) - I'm learning to just enjoy it for the fun of it. I've been through my "competitive dad" streak. I've realised that my children didn't learn by being beaten at sport/games/anything I could come up with, they just learned to sulk (Maria's kids are having a much easier time). As age has descended on me I have become more mellow.

Except I haven't.

And I blame it all on neil h.!!!

Before I go any further I should mention that we love neil h. He's our type of person. Does what he wants, is who he is, he's brilliant! Gotta lurve neil h. So, you have it in your mind - neil h. is a luvverly person, wonderful guy. He's the guy you'd want to spend several hours with. He is well read, in that way that he reads things that you've never thought of. He likes so many things and talks about them with such enthusiasm that you want to do those things. He is just brilliant. We love neil h.

neil h. is destroying my life!

It started with Desk Top Defender. DTD is crack cocaine for the non-console owner. Hours/days/weeks have been spent on becoming good at this - and, if you want to log on to the casual collective and check your scores against mine, I own you!

It has moved on. Somehow my competitive nature has sucked me into joining Mixclub. Because I know, I KNOW, that I can produce the bestest ever CD.

However, all of these things are done in the confines of our flat. On the whole, I am not going around and forcing my DTD results in anyone's face. Nor am I forcing anyone to listen to my music. And I am definitely not forcing anyone to go to Casa de Adobe.

No, I'm not! Just because every other week I mention that you should click on the site, doesn't mean that I am forcing it upon you. Except, I am competitive. I really want to succeed at this. Hell, it's nothing. It's just clicking on a site and having the counter convert clicks into people. But I'm competitive.

So I told my 6th Grade class about the site. Yep, I used my powers for evil. Suddenly I have a bunch of kids building their own mini-cities and visiting mine. And look! I have risen into the 300s. I am knocking on the door of being in the top 200 biggest cities in Mexico.

I am a bit sad really. I am that worst kind of person. I am terrible.

Please help me. Please, I have the kids at school improving my population, I just need help with my transport and industry. I am this crap :^)

* thanks Vanessa

Comments

[Croila]

OMG! SCRABULOUS! I think, I just THINK, you might have given me an idea. My mother is freakily good at playing Scrabble (she always does Countdown at home and beats the pants off the competitors on the programme). She hates the internet and is scared of computers. She keeps pestering my dad to do things like pick up her emails from her friends and print them off for her. Google something? Forget it. She phones me up and asks me to do it. Even though I've shown her countless times. She's a complete technophobe.

BUT. Scrabulous might just well the be the hook to reel her in! I'm going to show it to her when I go north to visit my folks next weekend ...

[neil h.]

Apparently work is under way on a Facebook version of desktop tower defence. We are doomed.

[Three-Legged-Cat]

I tried to read this post earlier and the evil filtering system leapt into action "Access denied. Banned phrase found." etc etc. (And that was just on the RSS feed, I've never, ever had a feed filtered before.)

I couldn't wait to read it when I got home. What had Will written? It must be something absolutely outrageous. Oh, it's just Scrabulous, Desk Top Defender etc.

I enjoyed reading about your evil powers Will, but frankly I'm a teensy bit disappointed on the banned phrase front. *sighs*

*heads off to visit a certain mini city*

[Vanessa]

:)