Saturday, October 23, 2004

Driven By Anyone Other Than Him >.>

No, I can't stand being driven by my dad anymore. I want to pass this next test so much it's not funny. I apologise if there are any spelling mistakes in this, by the way- my computer has a habit of pausing every minute or so, which means I either miss or don't delete a letter, comma, capitalisation etc *hits it* *winces* I have two deep bruises on my shoulders from where I got hit with paintballs. They hurt a lot more than you might think ^_^; I also took a direct hit on my lower back, on the right. That's not as bad, but it certainly stung, as dd the one on my thigh. If I ever do this again (and I hope to at some point), I'm wearing a cricket box without question. Reveille Got up fairly early and immediately sat at the PC to look at people's MyOs, and OB. Apparently I missed a spam event, which I'm both glad and annoyed about for various reasons. Kei did good, though. Muchly kudosness to her, heh. I had my first shower in a frighteningly long time. My scalp hurt quite a bit when I was washing it actually, so I don't think I'll leave it that long again. It really wasn't intentional, but the times when i normally have a shower (early morning or late evening), I'm either asleep or doing stuff on the computer, so it gets pushed away further and further... But I am clean now, heh. Well, cleaner. Paintballing wasn't exactly the cleanest of activities ^_^; I was contracted to drive to the actual centre, which was a good 45 minutes away. Except, I'd interpret it more as a bad 45 minutes because I don't know the roads and I hate heavy traffic. Of which there was a fair amount, especially on the huge roundabouts running all down the side of Chichester. I dislike them quite considerably, especially people who beep their horns at me for not watching where they're going. Aerosols. That aside, we missed two turnings- one where mum was busy telling me things and I saw the sign to enter the actual venue too late, and the second was on a great long concrete path slap bang in the middle of a field- there were two turnings. One had a slip of paper on, one didn't. We went dwn the one that didn't, seeing as that was the logical direction of the road anyway. Upon approaching a dead end we turned around and then found that the tiny piece of paper read 'Ground Control Paintball Centre'. Way to get noticed. The site was actually really muddy. It had been raining all day and everything was soaked. I suppose it adds to the 'military training' atmosphere of the place, but it was still rather yukky. I'm just glad I didn't eat or drink anything. They gave us some tatty overalls (mine had a hole in them >.>) and a black acrylic balaclava thingy to wear over our heads, then presented us with goggles which we were expressedly told not to put on until they told us to. A lot of things had to be drilled into us for safety reasons- no lifting your goggles (which were more like facemasks with visors, technically), no firing the gun at a range of less than about 15 feet, when not in a game only hold your gun by the metal braid attached to it, don't pick up paintballs from the ground, don't stick your gun in your mouth, don't eat the paintballs, don't shoot the marshalls, don't scratch yourself in undignified places... everything like that. Then we were divided into teams, partnered with another group that had joined up. So then we got to start. We all had 100 paintballs, and they can go very quickly. The first game was Capture the Flag. You know, the one in UT/Quake where you have to grab the flag from their arena and take it back to yours. We played it for real ^_^ We started off at the far end of the battle-ready wood. Trees were everywhere- both living and dead. Barriers had been put up in strategic places, either made out of planks or big tree trunks, for people to hide behind or leap out from. When we were given the signal to start we all charged forwards and found our own places of cover, trying to shoot at the Reds who were already on their way down (we were Blue). A couple of our team went down, as did a couple of theirs. I was trapped behind a log I thought was bigger than it actually was, and there was some guy shooting at us from behind a tree up ahead. There were only three of us left at that point, then this guy charged forwards shooting wildly at two of us. I think all three of us were hit, but I honestly don't remember feeling an impact. He might have run out of bullets. But if he hadn't, I certainly would have been hit. So I went back to our base anyway, awaiting a 'resurrection'. There are only two resurrections a game, so if you only die once and it's after the second resurrection, thats it. But you'd have done very well not to have died for that long anyway, heh. This was where I got my first 'injury'- My leg was sticking out while I stood behind a tree and I took a hit in the thigh. It stings, being hit by a paintball, which is why I'm going to wear something a bit thicker next time ^_^; Eventually, with only two of our team left, we grabbed their flag from them and won ^_^ Then we swapped ends and did it again. This time I got hit on my right shoulder and again on my back while running back to base to await resurrection. We kind of drew this one- I would have made it to the end if I hadn't used up all my paintballs. we were right next to their base, too >.> Still, that was fun. We were allowed a break to buy refills and food and things, then we moved on to the next arena. This was a variation of Capture the Flag- anyone who's played Unreal Tournament will probably know it as Rocketball, or something like that. The flag's in the centre of the arena and you have to take it into the other player's base to win. Because I'd held my mask upside down in the rain, the inside was completely fogged up- I could only see out of my very left periphery, which rendered me more or less useless for tha majority of the first game. I think that was where I got my second shoulder hit, but I can't remember. The second arena was much better than the first- more obstacles ad various ways of sheltering yourself: cars, turrets, makeshift houses... great stuff ^_^. And lots and lots of mud and trees and things. The second match was a lotmore enjoyable- The other end was easier to travel from to get to a decent shelter, whereas on the other side it was too close, so even though you were covered, if you got pinned then you couldn't move any further. We didn't win that one- nobody did. Even though I don't think I shot anyone quite a good tactic is ot shoot at people who are shooting at someone else, or move while they're distracted. So I got quite far up the course. The fifth and final match was a lot less formal. Basically, to be 'resurrected' we just had to touch our base and then run back into the field- the objective was to use up all the paint, because it wasn't any good to them any more once you'd paid for it. One guy bought 300, but ended up with 200 left over, which he took home with him o_o; I was quite dirty by the end of it, but throwing myself around in the mud in the heat of battle was fun ^_^ Doesn't make me want to join the Territorial Army or anything like that, but I'd be interested in doing paintballing again if there was another opportunity, heh. Unfortunately the hole in my overalls allowed some paint to get through to my trousers, which are now in the wash. I hope it doesn't stain >.> Dad was due to drive us back, which is never a prospect I look forward to, really. I could see him lurking about through the trees that divided the 'comand centre' to the road that led to it, trying to see us. So I tore Venetia away from her conversation and we left. I can't be bothered to go inot why I dislike Dad's driving, but the jist of it is that it makes me feel unsafe. He's the kind of driver who, when I drive, I try and avoid like the plague. So I got back, changed my trousers, showed off my bruises (which weren't as impressive as one which someone got from a point-blank paintball. Nasty, that was) and sat here, where I am now typing this. Biggie ^_^ I've had an idea for another Reanimatrix short, which I should be able to write after eating dinner. It's not much, but I like the idea ^_^ Erm... I feel like there's something else I should say but I can't think what it couldbe. If I remember I'll post it in later.

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