2001-06-07 - 10:56 p.m.

Planetarion: Sitting On Our Suitcases

In our galaxy in the online game of Planetarion, things have gotten no better. In fact, they've gotten worse. Lily and I are counting the days until this round ends, so we can leave this bunch of idiots behind.

Since our last little blowup I have resolved to not let my temper control me. I've tried to maintain a statesmanlike detachment amidst the bleating of my galaxy-mates. But it is SO hard!

Basically my going is to try to unite the galaxy as much as I can, and if it doesn't improve (and I know it won't) I will try to take the best players with me when I go. Screw you, dumbass galaxy mates!

There is one annoying little gnat named Kru who is especially grating. I would guess he is about 13 years old. He seems to have an amazing talent for coming out with the stupidest statements. He seems to be some sort of a genius in reverse.

Kru and I had something of a throwdown over the galaxy attacks. Twice in a row Kru called planets then did not launch on them. The point of having a galaxy attack is that when all the planets of a galaxy have incoming, they can't defend each other. If a planet doesn't get attackers, then he is free to defend his galaxy mates. In fact, in both cases where Kru didn't launch his targets DID defend other planets, thereby spoiling the attacks of his galaxy mates.

Kru had some sort of lame-ass excuse for why he didn't launch, but he had screwed up like this before. I said that I was thinking of not allowing him on any further galaxy attacks. A galaxy mate that we can't depend on is useless, I argued. Why have him tie up good targets that someone else could attack? This caused Kru to have some sort of a foul-mouthed temper tantrum, and I responded with some tart rejoinders.

I got so steamed that I just had to walk away from the computer and go hang out with Lily to just forget all this bullshit. After I cooled down I stitched up my resolve and wrote an apology to Kru for speaking harshly to him. I expected him to apologize back to me, since he was mainly in the wrong, but instead he wrote me back a letter saying: "I can be a big man, so I accept your apology. Don't do it again."

You little pissant! I'd like to crush your empty head like a grape!

There is another galaxy-mate named Terror who is of a similar bent. I've managed to keep my cool around him, but he makes me want to yield to despair.

The trouble is that both of them are good friends of Sharon, our mainly-absent GC. Every time she shows up they kiss her ass shamelessly. I know that in any dispute, no matter how stupid, she is going to take their side.

All this is reminding me why I chose to remain self-employed. If I had a boss like Sharon, I'd probably have her assassinated.

As tough as I am having it, Lily has it worse. You see, she is the one running the galaxy attacks. Her job is like that of a kindergarten teacher trying to keep her charges together on a tour of a candy factory. She has to sort through a litany of complaints from our teenage galaxy-mates. Nobody seem to be satisfied with the time of the galaxy attacks, and hardly any of these problem galaxy mates seems to be able to launch on time. And after they launch four hours late, they are surprised when their targets get defense.

Nothing but whining and complaints. If they don't launch early or late, they bitch that the targets are not "exciting" enough. Well excuse us!

Lily was the one who talked first about leaving this galaxy at the end of the round, or quitting. All the while I've been trying to talk her out of it, but now I quit. We will play out the end of the round and then leave.

We are down in the lobby of Hotel Planetarion, sitting on our suitcases, waiting for a taxi.