Fidelity's Long-Term Care Insurance Estimates

Recently, Fidelity, the mutual fund giant began surveying insurance providers asking how much long-term care insurance you might need to calculate into a retirement strategy, often referred to as a plan. In truth though, it is only a strategy that if followed over the course of a great many years, develops into what looks to e a well thought-out plan. Plans seem so inflexible. (I travel deeply into this jungle in the tenth chapter of the book Retirement Planning for the Utterly Confused.)

Mark Meiners, director of the Center for Health Policy, Research and Ethics in the College of Nursing and Health Science at George Mason University says “Unfortunately, many Americans falsely believe that their long-term care costs will e covered y Medicaid, but this is true only after they’ve spent themselves into impoverishment.”

As I write in the book, “I can tell you two things for sure. Social Security and Medicare will not pay for your long-term care.

“Most insurance companies use a fairly straightforward criterion when making the decision to pay the insured for their claim. The insurer will require a certified and licensed health provider do a determination of “chronically ill”.

“What is chronically ill?"

“What is chronically ill you ask? Generally this refers to someone who is incapable of performing at least two daily activities of living such as feeding themselves, bathing and toiletry activities or someone who requires substantial supervision. This is often referred to as an ADL or Activity of Daily Living.

“Sounds simple enough but insurance companies rarely have fixed guidelines when it comes to triggering the policy. Policies can e written to cover a variety of care situations and you must determine this at the time of policy execution. The problem is: how do you know what you will need? Will your policy need to cover a nursing home stay, of which a portion of the total is reimbursed over a preset time period?”

That said, I think everyone considering this kind of a policy read the book, I will take what Fidelity has suggested and see if it passes muster.

Measuring Up

Fidelity recommends that folks considering a long-term care policy narrow the search to six categories, each with its own characteristics.

1) A policy premium that fits comfortably within a family’s financial means.

At first glance this sounds like a relatively easy target but the main problem with retirement and the saving for it, those premiums can eat up a good deal of potential retirement cash. Finding the right balance between saving and tossing the cash to an insurance policy, that is cheaper the earlier you buy it, can e so difficult to determine that most folks who may need it will pass on the chance.

Fidelity writes that, “Investors should carefully forecast their ability to pay the premiums year after year.” I think is both old and wrongheaded y a mutual fund company to refer to insurance as investment. Insurance is not a liquid asset.

Bottom line

Bottom line: Figure about $200 a month if you are fifty years old, in good health and have prioritized all of your other insurance products based on risk. A 65-year-old might pay as much as $350.

2) backing by a carrier with a strong track record of paying claims.

I have argued this topic over the past months with numerous people in the field. Fidelity offers this piece of advice: “The ability to receive policy benefits depends on the integrity of the company and its history of financial strength.” This is huge unknown since so few are actually in the position to pay out on claims. Once the Baby Boomers retire en masse, it will be difficult to switch policies if your insurer turns out to e financially unable to handle a sudden increase in claimants. Like all insurance products, the gamble is on both ends, with the insurer and the policyholder.

3) Comprehensive coverage that covers in-home as well as facilities-based care.

Fidelity found that families want “flexibility in terms of the services they opt for when facing a long term care challenge.” Remember, this kind of flexibility will cost you extra. Few folks calculate in the inflation factor and/or whether the facility will keep you. Most folks would rather stay at home.

4) A benefit period of at least 2, but no more than 4 years, for each person.

Most people split the difference.

The numbers Fidelity analyzed are not so ad in terms of how they were gathered. But consider this. Most disability policies run for five years. The data they collected “on over 6 million long-term care insurance policies sold between 1984 and 2004, found that 75 percent of all individuals would not have exhausted benefits lasting 2 years. A 4-year benefit period would have been adequate 90 percent of the time.”

Sometimes, companies will separate the policy into nursing home or in-home care coverage but the lifetime benefit is easily calculated y multiplying the benefit times the policy coverage period.

Into the Great Unknown

Like many policies that have a wide swath of unknown territory to deal with, such as LTC policies, there is generally a waiting period before the policy kicks in. because Medicare covers the first one hundred days, many LTC policies do not begin before 90 days. You can request a shorter waiting period but the monthly premium is often prohibitively higher.

5) Five percent guaranteed annual benefit increase except for buyers older than age 75.

Fidelity seems to have little faith in the Federal Reserve’s ability to use monetary policy to keep inflation in check. The 5% mark is well about what the nation’s top bankers deem suitable. Inflation protection usually comes via a rider on the policy. Three percent is usually the norm with the costs of this add-on rising with each percentage point in protection.

6) For joint policies, a “shared coverage” provision that enables each insured person to tap the other’s benefits if necessary.

This may e one extra cost too many.

Now consider the following. You put $180 away in a portfolio with a modest long-term return of 9% and save it for 20 years, taxed at 10% and with inflation calculated at 3%, you would have amassed $56,447. The policy paying $300 would cover only $129,600 in total lifetime cost, which, if you suspect you will e in relatively good health, will leave paying for a policy that may have been just as well even paid for in cash.

If you need cold hard facts... You will need $100,000 in savings at retirement for both you and your spouse to cover health care and insurance. From that point, you should calculate your retirement savings.

I would pass on the LTC if you were planning on leaving nothing to your heirs (but you still need to save much than you are now unless you want to spend those golden years with your kids). but if your heirs are concerned about you spending down their inheritance, ask them to chip in on an LTC policy and then it might be worth the costs.

Why You Should Listen To Scott Lucas

Scott Lucas
270-872-6990
Critical Thinking Coach
Visit me on myspace.com

So with that in mind I realize that I have awful timing and this is certainly an important (one of the most important) aspects to work on. Think for a moment how many times you probably had the opportunity to get with a chick and didn't time it right. I, myself can think of plenty.

So the final question remains, wtf can us PUA's do to improve timing?

Today let's talk about the next four items which build upon the first four and that are applicable for the middle school years.

5. Allow children to work independently as much as possible beginning as young as possible. How young can children begin to work independently? I recommend by grade 2 allowing children to read directions and work on their own in at least one or two subjects such as handwriting or math.

6. Do not move on in each area unless the child has mastered the material. It is imperative that today's work be done with excellence before tomorrow's work is even considered. Everyone has a bad day here and there, so if the student isn't getting it today, you can always have him try again tomorrow. Just don't move on tomorrow until today's stuff has been understood even if it isn't understood until tomorrow. Make sense?

7. Have the student set short-term goals with you in each subject and praise them when the goals are reached. Every nine weeks, which equals just four times a year, (or however often you want to order it,) sit the student down, look over each subject and have them project where they think they can be in each subject nine weeks from now.

At the end of the nine weeks, review what has been accomplished, praise and/or give rewards, and set goals for the next nine weeks.

8. Allow plenty of "quiet time" during the day for students to pursue their own interests and to foster personal development. Provide cool pens and notebooks for non-school use. Encourage (or enforce if you have to) one hour of in-your-room time for your students.

What they do during this time is up to you. I like to have mine just go in their rooms and find something to do that is not screen-related. They will write, draw, read, play board games, etc.

I found that my kids really enjoyed this time, and my middle school-aged kids would stay in their rooms past the one hour time period because they were engrossed in something that they probably wouldn't have been engrossed in had mom not insisted they spend time in their rooms. Funny how that works, isn't it?

Just a helpful hint here: if the children come out of their rooms before the hour is up, (excepting bathroom trips and anything else that is essential) then the clock starts over again.

There you have them...the four things which, if implemented and done faithfully, will provide valuable opportunities for children to learn and grow in ways that will bring lifelong benefits.  

If you have questions on mastery learning or self-teaching, there are a couple of pages on this blog that have additional info on these two topics.

Stay tuned for the last four strategies, which will be directed specifically towards high school students.

Reference: 1216119942

Edit | 15th July 2008 at 12:05 BST by Nikki Ambler. Permalink.

Our client is seeking a Graduate Analyst to assist in the development and management of facility safety cases and the production of safety documentation within the Research and Applied Science Organisational Area (OA). The role requires support to Facility Managers, Project Managers and experiment designers. The role also ensuring corporate policy and standards adequately account for OA business activities and requirements, both internal and external stakeholder management and reviewing technical documentation.

Location

Aldermaston

Salary

Competitive salary dependent on qualifications and experience

Job Responsibilities

Take a technical lead in the inputs to/outputs from safety cases of facilities involving radiological, nuclear and chemical plant.

Take a technical lead in the safety documentation to meet licensing and experimental requirements.

Ensure safety documentation is fit for purpose.

Understand and advise Facility Managers and other company Stakeholders on technical issues relating to safety documentation.

Provide technical advise to facilities and projects as to the most appropriate safety documentation strategies.

Assist in the liaison with external company regulators, including the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, on safety documentation matters in support of facilities.

Interaction at all levels with other departments Ensuring that relevant quality requirements for assessments are met.

Responsible for own work and seeing that the product meets with the expectation of all stakeholders.

Understand and maintain up to date company and industry standards and techniques.

Review documents produced by consultancies and report and advise on adequacy of documents to company and national standards.

Produce safety analysis/arguments.

Please contact ERS on 44 (0)1452 203 460 to register your interest in this position.

Reference: 1216121087

Edit | 15th July 2008 at 12:24 BST by Nikki Ambler. Permalink.

Our client is seeking a Graduate Commissioning Engineer to carry out the commissioning of projects through organisation of all meetings, tests, demonstrations, training events, and performance verifications and approved commissioning procedures.

Location

Aldermaston

Salary

Competitive salary dependent on qualifications and experience

Job Responsibilities

Ensure commissioning proceeds in a structured, safe manner.

Ensure the procedures test all the equipment to the agreed performance.

Ensure the commissioning is carried out according to the approved procedures.

Ensure a commissioning programme is issued which follows a logical sequence of events.

Ensure the commissioning organisation set up is sufficient to carry out the testing.

Ensure any reservations are raised and cleared if possible, or concessions to performance are agreed and documented.

Assist with commissioning projects at the company site.

Take responsibility for the commissioning of small projects.

Write commissioning strategies, assessments, plans, procedures and reports as required.

Draw up commissioning programmes.

Advise on commissioning requirements to projects on site.

Act as the focal point for commissioning of allocated projects, to liaise with all stakeholders and provide support as necessary to ensure a successful commissioning phase.

Attend Design Reviews.

Carry out trouble shooting, problem solving and design work as required.

Carry out additional functions to ensure the graduate training scheme (commissioning based) is followed.

Please contact ERS on 44 (0) 1454 203 460 to register your interest in this position.

A common feature among these climate strategies is a “cap-and-trade” system for reducing emissions.

These systems draw on the power of the marketplace to reduce emissions in a cost-effective and flexible manner. In practice, cap-and-trade systems create a financial incentive for emission reductions by assigning a cost to polluting. First, an environmental regulator establishes a “cap” that limits emissions from a designated group of polluters, such as power plants, to a level lower than their current emissions. The emissions allowed under the new cap are then divided up into individual permits—usually equal to one ton of pollution—that represent the right to emit that amount.

Because the emissions cap restricts the amount of pollution allowed, permits that give a company the right to pollute take on financial value. Companies are free to buy and sell permits in order to continue operating in the most profitable manner available to them. So, those that are able to reduce emissions at a low cost can sell their extra permits to companies facing high costs (which will generally prefer to buy permits rather than make costly reductions themselves).

A key advantage of a cap-and-trade system compared with other emission reduction strategies is that it gives companies flexibility in the manner in which they may achieve their emission targets. Another advantage is that it sets a clear limit on emissions. Traditional approaches often focus on emission rates or require the best available technology, but do not always require that specific environmental goals be met. For example, an emissions tax penalizes polluters but does not guarantee the degree to which the environment will benefit, because some companies might find it easier to pay the tax instead of reducing emissions.

Does this help understand the system called "cap and trade"?  Please let me know.

One of the biggest argument in Urban Rivals is whether or not a player should use a fully evolved or an unevolved version of a card in a certain deck. Like any other type of strategy, there are some pros and cons in using unevolved cards in a deck. It is important that players first understand how unevolved cards affect deck performance, and finally, how these cards should be managed by the players.
This article aims to discuss the different pros and cons of using unevolved cards.

Discussion

PROS

Efficiency. This is the principle that explain the power of unevolved cards. As what I have discussed in my past articles, efficiency means the card's ability to win you games and earn you points. And to do this, a card must posses two elements: adequate stats (power:damage ratio +abilities/bonus) and a proportionate star levels.

Unevolved cards give players the ability to adjust the power level of their decks while sacrificing power and/or damage points. But mind you, not all cards that can be used in the unevolved form SHOULD be used as such.
Let's give a few examples of cards that can be good in the unevolved form.

Wanda
Gwen
Dorian
Zatman
Vickie
Ottavia
Charlie
Yayoi
Xia Leming
Wee Lee
Vermyn N
Juicy Lord

What do these cards have that make them good in the unevolved form? simple --- they were able to maintain efficiency at a low star count. Take Yayoi for example. Yayoi at level 4 is a 7/6 with SOA. But at level 3, she is a 7/4 with SOA --- only a difference of 2 damage points! Does it matter? A LOT!
There are several reasons that make unevolved cards good in a deck. These are: Star Sensitivity, Power Sensitivity and Points Sensitivity.

A. Star Sensitivity

In certain deck formats that are star count sensitive, like ELO, a deck needs to maximize every star count possible. This means trying to put into the deck all the best possible cards while considering the total star count of the deck. The star count of one halfdeck will affect the star count of your other halfdeck. Therefore, it is important that a player strike an equilibrium of star counts and power level of each of his/her halfdecks.

In ELO, a common pussycat halfdeck most players would use is:

2* Wanda
5* Charlie
2* Feelyn
4* Yayoi

Total star count = 13
Total Power = 21
Total Damage = 19
This halfdeck has a fair rating. It has 4 reducers, 1 SOA, 2 nukes, and 3 walls. But being at 13 stars,it means that you only have 12 stars left for your other halfdeck. Some players try to remedy this by changing either Charlie or Yayoi into another lower-star card. But in doing so, potentially removing a good nuke or SOA from your deck.

Now, here is an example of a very efficient pussycat halfdeck ELO top players would use:
1* Wanda
3* Yayoi
4* Charlie
1* Gwen

Total star count = 10
Total Power = 29
Total Damage = 12

It has 4 reducers, 4 walls, 1 SOA and 1 nuke.
As you can see this halfdeck only uses 10 stars allowing the player to have a total of 15! stars for the halfdeck. That means that the said player can potentially put in 2-3 nukes in his other halfdeck. Another significant observation seen is that while there is a decrease in star count, there was an even higher total power count as compared to the first list. This is the explanation why unevolved version of some cards are good in the deck. These cards have nearly the same power level as the fully evolved version, but at a lower star count. Sure, this means that your halfdeck will have a lower total damage, but this can and will be compensated in your other halfdeck.

B. Power Sensitivity

In the previous paragraphs, I was able to show you how unevolved cards help the deck by allowing more cards to be placed as a result of a decreased star count. Now, I will discuss why only some cards are worthy to be used in the unevolved form while some cards are needed to be used in the fully evolved form.

Reason I: Some cards have acquired their abilities at a much lower level than other cards making them good candidates as unevolved cards.

A good example is Lulabee and Hikiyousan.

At level 5:
Hikiyousan is...
8/5
A: +2 dmg
B: +2 pwr

Lulabee is...
7/6
A: SOB
B: +2 pwr
But let's say you only have 4 stars left in your Ulu Watu halfdeck and you have to choose which level 4 version you're going to use. Which card you you going to choose - Hikiyousan or Lulabee?
Clearly, the best choice would be Lulabee because at level 4:

Hikyousan is...
6/5
A: none
B: +2 pwr

Lulabee is
6/5
A: SOB
B: +2 pwr

They have practically the same stats, but Lulabee has her ability at level 4.

Reason II: Some cards already have a good power levels at a lower level as compared other cards of the same level making them good candidates as unevolved cards.
Here's another example. In your pussycat halfdeck, you only have one more star left and you had to choose between 1* Svethlana, 1* Wanda or 1* Gwen. Which card will you choose?
Obviously, Wanda because among the three, Wanda has the highest power. True, Svethlana has an ability that copies the opponent's power but she can only equal Wanda's power in certain situations. Plus, she falls down easily to SOAs.

Reason III: Some cards already have good damage values at a lower level as compared to the same card at a higher level.

Here's an example. A very good ELO deck is the Bangers/Pussycat deck using:
4* Blaaster
5* Bodenpower
2* Graff
5* Lennox
3* Yayoi
1* Wanda
1* Gwen
4* Charlie

Now, the card in question is here is the 4* Charlie. Strategically, 4*Charlie is already a good choice for this deck. Why? because she still maintains her status as a nuke even at 4 stars. Even at a low level, 4* Charlie can still make a possible 2HKO just like any other 5* Charlie in another deck.

C. Points Sensitivity

Finally, unevolved cards allow the player to potentially gain more points in battles as compared to the same card at full level.
A good example is Dorian. Most Type 2 decks will use 5*Dorian. However, a modified Type 2 Uppers/Montana (that I use) utilizes a 3* or 4* Dorian. The reason for this is that a 3* or 4* Dorian already has 8 power which is equal to that of a 5* Dorian. This means that a 3* Dorian can equally defeat any card that a 5* Dorian can defeat. True, 3* Dorian has a low damage value, but this can be compensated by the other cards in the deck.
If Player A with a 5* Dorian defeats a Player B with a 5* Lennox, Player A will only get 3 points. But if Player A had a 3* Dorian and it defeats a 5* Lennox, then Player A will get a total of 5 points. Another useful bonus is when 3* Dorian levels up during a tourney, you will gain a bonus of 5 points.

CONS

A. Very Costly

This is the primary reason why players hesitate in using unevolved cards. Most of the time, the price of the unevolved card is not proportionate to the earning received in tournaments. It is this same reason why unevolved cards are very dominant in high-level game play such as in ELO, where the prizes are significantly more expensive than the cost of unevolved cards. Rich players are able to buy unevolved cards to use in their decks. They use their decks to get high ranks in ELO, and win tons of clintz plus Cr cards making them richer. This again, allows them to buy more unevolved cards to do the same thing.

B. Very Limited Use

Most of the good unevolved cards are level 1 to 3, which means that from 0exp, these cards will need to gain about 500 to 2000exp before they lose their purpose in the deck. As such, the best use for these cards are as reducers, walls or chumps, and are rarely used to defeat high-star cards to avoid excessive EXP gain. Most of these cards level up fairly quickly therefore they also lose their usefulness fairly quickly, too. And due of the limited capabilities of these cards, the demand for these cards are insanely high. The sadder part is that the supply is very low. This is the reason for the high prices of these cards.

C. Release of Newer Cards

With the release of newer cards, some cards are given "acceptable" alternatives instead of using an unevolved version of the said card. A good example is Kluwn. Compared to Blaaster, Kluwn is -1 pwr/dmg but has practically the same power level as Blaaster, but at 1 less star.

Take this deck for example:
4* Blaaster
5* Bodenpower
2* Graff
5* Lennox
3* Yayoi
1* Wanda
1* Gwen
4* Charlie

Instead of adjusting the Pussycat halfdeck, players can instead replace Blaaster with Kluwn and opt not to use 4* Charlie and use a 5* Charlie instead, since Charlie is very expensive as an unevolved card.
Cards like Kluwn allow players to have a pseudo-unevolved card in their deck making the "genuine" unevolved cards nearly inefficient.

Conclusion

Using unevolved cards is a strategy only a few players can effectively do due to the requirements needed to maintain these types of cards. But as seen in the examples, unevolved cards play a huge role in making certain deck types very good and very efficient. Players should understand that There are some drawbacks in using unevolved cards but in some situations, the payouts greatly outweigh the drawbacks mentioned.
So the next time you see a deck with unevolved cards, don't scratch your head and say "This deck is bad!" or "You need to change Card X to Card Y". Remember that some players are aware of the hidden powers of unevolved cards and are willing to take the sacrifice of using them for a greater gain.

-Breakpoint

I have been very busy for the past couple years going to school. Recently I got the feeling to document the process and experience and decided to put some of that here. I plan to document the financial process in detail as that has been a big experiment to see if in fact that anyone who wanted to go to College in the United States could. So far this is true, but I am nearing the point where I will transfer to a four year school and am getting a bit nervous about that step.

So stay tuned for more on that and feel free to ask any questions or to give suggestions about anything I write on.

Ciao,

t23

Keep borrowing in its place. Instead of trying to keep up with neighbors and friends, decide when debt is most useful to you. You'll use it more wisely while also maintaining control. So plan for what you need. Then slowly but steadily save for your goals.

Know good from bad debt. Purchases you finance should outlast the payments. Your mortgage is an example. It's also a good debt because your house appreciates in value. Education loans can be good investments, too. Bad debt includes almost anything that builds up long-term, unpaid balances. Although items like furniture and TVs last longer than the debt, they depreciate rapidly. So pay in cash or from short-term savings. If you must charge, pay off quickly.

Know your limits. Just because you can get credit doesn't mean you should use it. Find the right balance between income and debt - always leaving room for unexpected expenses as well as savings.

Understand what credit costs. Suppose you add a $19 charge to your credit card. If you carry no balance on your card and pay it off within the 20- to 25-day grace period, you won't pay anything more. But what if you have an unpaid $5,000 balance on the card? Because of interest you're already paying, that $19 will end up costing $40!

Get the best deal. At the credit union, car loans, credit cards and mortgage rates and fees are lower than at the competition. Another terrific bargain is share-secured loans. Ask us for details. Also save by prepaying. The sooner you eliminate debt, the sooner you can save and borrow more.

Thanks to my colleagues at PMC (who shall remain nameless!) I have attached a copy of the ways-i-want-my-life-to-change-wish-list that people can use at the very beginning of a programme to help identify the areas they want to influence by developing pain management coping skills.  It can be used instead of the menu I showed yesterday, or it can be used alongside it.

There are quite a lot of areas that people would like to change or learn about with regard to chronic pain, and this list isn't designed to be exhaustive. It's also not especially specific in terms of making measureable goals based on research into goal-setting that we've discussed a few days ago.

What it does do is give you, as the clinician, a really good idea of the sorts of needs the person has already identified. In terms of motivation or readiness for change, it can indicate areas that the person is already 'contemplating', or is even perhaps in 'preparation' for change. Prochaska and DiClemente's model (oh yes, I've talked about this a LOT!) and work around this model clearly supports the finding that people need to be in the right space to even start to consider making changes.

If the person is never asked to consider an area that could change, though, it's fairly difficult for them to actually decide that they would like it to be different, so part of our role is to help open up the possibility for change - and you can see this in the 'Wish List'.

I use this Wish List at the very beginning of the programme, asking people to tick all the areas they would like to see changes in. Then after a week or so, I ask them to indicate their three most important 'wishes'. Then we can start working on importance and confidence: why these areas are important (providing the person with the opportunity to reflect on how important it is to them, and uncovering personally-relevant values to support their change process), and how confident they are to achieve them. Once we've identified their level of confidence, it's part of my work to help the person build the confidence to start taking steps towards achieving the changes they want to see in their lives.

To me, pain management is not simply about developing a set of new coping strategies that can be employed while the person continues on in their life. It's much more about reconceptualising who they are: to move from a person who has become quite experienced at being a patient, and following other people's requests or directions, into someone who has their own life to live, their own direction to follow and is becoming a person again.

This is why I feel quite frustrated with many self-help books, even for chronic pain, that are chock-full of new ways to cope, but leave the integration of these coping skills to the person.  Integrating new skills is critical for the skills to actually be used. If you've ever been to a workshop and come away with a whole set of new ideas - only two weeks later find yourself doing just what you've always done, you'll know exactly what I mean!

In industrial and organisational psychology, a lot of research has been undertaken into 'transfer of training' - and things like ongoing support in different contexts, refresher courses, memory prompts, support from 'important people' (eg line managers in a factory) are all known to be both effective and almost essential before training can be implemented in a workplace. (For some good information on transfer of training, this site provides some good resources).

Now, start to think of how we as health providers, support transfer of skills developed in a clinic: how many of us get the support of the 'important people' in the person's life to help them use the new skills? How often do we consider the network of relationships that are a part of an individual's context? How could we help that person make the links between what we show them and what they can readily use in their own environment?

This is really important as far as developing pain management skills in the workplace goes. Without specific support to help someone use their skills, in the context of work where all the cues for old behaviour exist, it's going to be very difficult for them to recall and do something different. Especially when they are perhaps not entirely convinced that this new way of working is helpful.

So while pain management itself is not about 'personality makeover', it is all about reconceptualising the person-as-patient into the-person-as-person. Without that essential 'new belief' the person will likely return to old habits.

Your challenge for today? What about taking some time to think about one method you could use to support someone to recall a skill that you are helping them develop? How could you transfer what they are starting to learn with you into their home or work situation - hey, even into their car!

For those of you who haven't had the chance to go to a LAN party yet- it stands for local area network, and it's a big gathering of nerds where everyone brings their computers and gets their game on!

I find that LAN parties are an awesome way to meet a group of people who you know automatically share many similar interests with you. In day to day life I find it hard to meet people who play the same fps games that I do, and whenever I bring it up I usually get looks of disbelief.

At the March lan, though, there were still a couple incidents of disbelief. I wore my t-shirt that my friends had bought me for my birthday that said "Girls play cs, too" and one guy still asked me "Do you actually play cs?" I had to try really hard to keep my composure, because I felt like rofl-ing.

You really see every type of gamer at these kinds of parties. You will have your griefer- a big asshole who likes to ruin other people's fun, and somehow they will drag you into the middle of it, and you will be having such a good time that you won't realize what you have become. At one LAN a bunch of us went onto a server and meow'd until we either got kicked or banned. "What is with the cats?!"

On the opposite end of the spectrum you have the rager who screams at everyone, because nothing is ever their fault. This person is the least fun to be around. The only upside is that they give everyone else a laugh for looking like a complete tool.

The ringer is the best person to talk to if you are trying to improve your game. This person knows all of the strats and is the resident pwner-er. When they're not playing the game they tend to be very quiet, so you'd have no idea what they're truly capable of. Meeting this kind of person is like finding a dollar in your pocket- a very nice surprise.

The creeper is possibly the worst kind of gamer for a gamer girl to run into (yes the genders can be reversed, but I’m speaking from my personal experience). The creeper is not even a real gamer; he has no friends or girlfriend, so he goes to the lan as if it was his mecca. The creeper will sit next to your computer while you try to game, and he will stare at you as if he was a turret in Portal, “I see you!” When you get up to “go to the washroom” he will take photos of you, and he will treasure them always. You might try to enlist your gamer friends for support, but he will inevitably creep them, too.

The non-gamer gamer has the best rig (or fragwagon) there. The case is brilliant, and the lights emanating from it makes the lan look more like a disco. You will probably be fooled into thinking that this is the new fatal1ty until they ask you how to run ventrilo.

Well that’s all for now :) To be continued!

(Inspired by Valkyrie's post on different types of gamer girls)

1. There are six weapons in the game, three melee and three ranged. They are graded by how powerful and fast they are. For example: the sledgehammer is slow but powerful, the katana is fast but weak, and the baseball bat is in the middle. It's the same with the shotgun, the pistol, and the machinegun.
2. Ranged is not necessarily better than melee. On open maps with lots of space, ranged weapons (esp. the machinegun) are effective. But on crowded maps without much space, I usually get better results out of melee weapons.
3. Never attack unless there's an enemy in your sight. The sound will echo around the map and other players will track you down. This is especially true if you don't have a weapon. People will hear the sound of fists and know that there's a vulnerable player nearby.
4. Camping doesn't really work in this game. Always be moving around the map, picking up weapons, searching for weak players, etc.
5. Sometimes you will get a mosh pit with 3 or so players crowded in the same room. The sledgehammer can be very effective in these conditions. I once scored 2 kills with one hit.
6. Take advantage of the game engine. When you move forward, the screen will scroll at a slower rate and you can't see what's ahead of you. So when you get into a firing position, make sure you move back a bit so you have a better view of enemies coming at you.
7. Always make sure you're standing in a "blind spot" such as the corner of a wall, so enemies don't have a clean line of fire in your direction.
8. Cowardly as it may seem, you should run away whenever possible when someone has an equal weapon to you (ie, don't fight katanas with katanas), instead, tackle someone with a weaker weapon. You get better odds that way.