[Information] Absence Thread

[lymphomaniac]

This thread is for me to let you know if I will be away or otherwise unavailable for any appreciable amount of time. The next couple of paragraphs is my usual posting schedule (in case you're interested in my habits). The important points are the ones in bold.

As a general rule, I do most of my game posting at night (Pacific Standard Time), as my daytimes are usually occupied by (oddly enough) my occupation. You might see me online during the day - particularly around lunch time, but I normally can't do much more than a quick post on the Open Roleplaying or General Discussion forums, or a comment or two on some OOC thread. This means that most game updating will be done at night.

I spend much of my Saturdays with my significant other, so while I might be able to squeeze a post or three in, there's also the possibility that I might not be available to post at all. Sundays are 70 / 30 in terms of availability, 70% likelihood that I'll be with my significant other. Generally speaking, if I make a game post on a weekend, consider it a bonus.

In any case, I'll post any anticipated absences here in this thread. I invite my players to do the same, if you know that you might / will be unavailable for any significant length of time.

[lymphomaniac]

Heading into the busy season at work. Fiscal year-end is a female dog. Especially when this is my first year leading it.

"What does this mean for me and my game?" you might ask.

All games that I am actively involved in, I will continue to remain involved. Posting may slow down, but I'll make an effort to at least post once every other day. I probably won't be able to accept any more new players for the time being, at least not until my current ones have completed. Games for which I am a player in, I give permission for my DMs to NPC me if I don't respond in a timely fashion - although I'll make an effort to post when I can (ie. see beginning of this paragraph). Grave, I hope this means that you won't need to NPC me, considering it's a solo game. Games for which I'm not a part of - well, I never really was a part of them anyways.

Scrabble refereeing: I cannot accept any new assignments for the time being, although the thread appears to be quite dead at the time of this writing.

I'll be a little sparse in the OR / GD threads, though I have a few that I'm quite fond of and may drop in on from time to time.

I think that pretty much covers it. In summary, I'll remain active, but not taking on any new stuff. At least for now. When the situation changes, I'll give an update.

[lymphomaniac]

Fiscal year-end is now over, and all the necessary financial statements have been dealt with.

My next major task at work is dealing with the auditors. This means that while I do have additional time now to take on more tasks off hours, I'll probably be feeling pretty dead at the end of the workday. Thankfully, the auditors are only here for a week - the follow-up will take a bit longer (maybe a month), but the required attention towards that won't drain me out by the end of the day.

In essence: a couple of weeks from now, I'll start ramping up activities here.

Thanks for your understanding and patience. Game on!

[lymphomaniac]

Audit is in full force right now, and I'm quite breathless from all the running I'm doing. Too bad the running is not in the form of running away from the auditors, but running so that I can get things completed for the auditors.

Additionally, I'm going to be out of town from July 7th-10th. Buddy of mine is getting married, and he didn't have the courtesy to throw his party in the place where most of his friends live, so we've all decided to crash his backwater hick town and paint it red. There's no internet access where I'm going, so I won't be able to update any games.

For those whose games I'm running, I apologize for the delay; technical problems are only temporary, please stand by. For those whose games I'm running in, please feel free to NPC me as the game requires, although I hope that by the time I come back, my characters are still alive and well.

Thanks everyone - keep on gaming, and I'll see you on the other side of the weekend!

[lymphomaniac]

Now that year-end has essentially been completed, and the auditors are gone (and mostly not bothering me any more, though that might change as questions arise), I'll be easing myself back into a "regular" schedule.

In essence: the parameters mentioned in the first post of this thread are basically back to being valid again. Thanks for everyone's patience and understanding!

Game on!

[Grogg Tree]

As a reminder to all of lymphomaniac's players and DMs (as per his signature), the lymph will be seen only sporadically around the site due to personal matters that need his immediate attention. For those players in his NPSG, myself or another DM will post in your threads as needed. For his DMs, if you haven't been told otherwise, please NPC lymph's character. If there are other players that lymph DMs, please talk amongst yourselves while waiting for his return.

Thanks for your patience & understanding in times such as these and be sure to keep lymphomaniac in your prayers to help his him maintain the strength needed to deal with life's trials.

-GT

[lymphomaniac]

I'm back now, sort of. Things are in a bit of a "hurry up and wait" state, so I'll be around but might not be immediately responsive. I'll try to ensure things keep moving. Thanks everyone for your patience.

[lymphomaniac]

I will be going on a business trip (mixed with personal travel) from Oct 21st-30th. As such, with effect from today and until after my return from my trip, I will not be available to take on any additional New Players at this time.

I will have some meagre internet access while I'm away (provided by the hotel I'm staying at), but I will be in a different time zone and will be occupied for most of the time that I will be out of town - in particular, Oct 25th-29th. NPSG's that I am DM'ing will be updated at least once every other day (or once a day, hopefully). Games for which I am a participant in, I will try to maintain some semblance of regular posting (please NPC me if you need to keep the game moving).

Thank you for your understanding and patience.

[lymphomaniac]

Back from my trip now. I need to do some unpacking / cleaning, and then figuring out what (and how) to debrief my manager on what I've learned during this trip. I'll try to post as time constraints (ie. mental capacity) permits.

[lymphomaniac]

It's nearing the holiday season, and things are going nuts. I'll be online sporadically, but can't guarantee that I'll necessarily fit in a post while I'm online.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

[lymphomaniac]

Now that I'm in the holiday season, I have a bit more time to be responsive. However, I might also be fête-ing it up during these days and catching up with RL friends. YMMV.

Life should be going back to "hectic as usual" in the new year.

[lymphomaniac]

Some of you may know that a close relative of my fiancée is dealing with fairly urgent health issues. This close relative will be going under the knife mid-January. In support of my fiancée's family, I will be spending quite a bit of time helping them out with tasks that require heavy lifting, taking them to / from the hospital, performing odds and ends, etc.

Additionally, her family will be (and are already) quite anxious about how the surgery will turn out. The surgeon has assured us all that his record is immaculate in terms of subjects making it out of the surgery alive; he claims that complications attributed to the surgery are also quite low when he's at the helm. Needless to say, there are no surgeries that are completely risk free, so everyone is walking on eggshells. I have a feeling that a good portion of my free time for the next couple of weeks (months?) will be spent helping everyone settle down emotionally, reducing anxiety, keeping everyone on an even keel (including myself).

So, what does this all mean?

I won't be able to take up any new games between now and when her close relative is on track towards recovery. Each person takes a different amount of time to recover from surgery, and this being a relatively major surgery, it could be (and probably will be) a couple of months before things settle down properly.

To my fellow NPSG DMs, sorry that I can't pick up more of the slack at this time - at least as much as I would've liked. I still hope to (one day) run as many games as you guys do at a time.

All games that I'm currently involved in as a player, I appreciate your patience with what will likely be a sporadic and unpredictable posting rate. I'll try to fit in a game post each night when I have time (depending on game speed); I'll also understand if you need to NPC me in order to keep the game moving.

For those NPSGs that I'm DM'ing, I may be a little more lax in keeping the game moving, but I'll try to commit towards a game post at least every other day, and perhaps more frequently (as time permits and as need arises). I also appreciate your patience with my posting rate.

Thank You, Everyone, for your understanding.

EDIT (Jan 17/12): Surgery was a success. Now there's going to be a long road of recovery ahead.

[lymphomaniac]

I'm back, sort of. Waiting to see how much backlog has developed at work, and how my fiancée's relative's recovery progresses, to determine how much more time I can commit to things here.

Thanks again for your understanding and support.

[lymphomaniac]

A few notes regarding my upcoming time:

1. I need to start toning back my involvement with regards to NPSGs at this time to prepare for our year-end at work. This doesn't mean that I'll be dropping the NPSGs entirely (or dropping the ones that I've already started), it just means that I won't be able to pick up any new ones for the time being, and will probably trim back active NPSGs to 5 or less through attrition game completion until year-end and the subsequent audits are completed (mid-July).

2. Games that I am currently involved in may see a seasonal reduction in post quality or quantity. For that I truly apologize. I'll try to keep my post quality and posting rate up, because nothing sucks worse than having a player who just won't keep up; the game suffers and everyone wishes that your character would just die (or otherwise get out of the way). However, work and my fiancée's relative's health remain my top priorities during the day, so my posting might happen during less busy times of the day - with mealtimes, sacrificed bedtime, procrastination from task-time, etc. Those times aren't when my brain will be functioning in top gear, hence the possible drop in quality / quantity. In any case, I'll do my best.

3. I'll probably be somewhat scarce in other parts of the site (Open Roleplaying, General Discussion).

Thanks for your understanding and support, as always.

[Calden]

Not a problem at all, completely understand. Hope everything works out