We are in the midst of very uncertain times, a virus that has the potential to kill us, an economy that threatens our livelihoods and a fat orange American in The Whitehouse who thinks he knows better than just about any other human being on the planet.

Most of us are isolating, and employing social distancing, thankfully a lot of us (not all I know) can work from home and the government is helping out with 80% of wages for those who can’t, so that’s those two covered.   I’m afraid there is no solution to the fat American… unless someone hires a hitman… at least he’s 3000 miles away across the pond.

There is of course another element to all this, and that is the very real problem of our mental health, we are social animals, we like interaction, and that can be tough at the moment.  I personally miss playing football with my mates, beating them all at pool, and trying to out drink them all at the local watering hole… I usually win that one too, so long as we don’t board the Jaeger train, then it’s Goodnight Vienna!

Serendipity
noun
the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

Don’t worry, this isn’t an English lesson, but what has happened since Christmas definitely falls into that category.

Christmas is for kids, so when it came around I struggled to think of anything I needed.  Clothes weren’t an issue, I have several Adidas t-shirts and two pairs of jeans (as a developer that is pretty much all you need), trainers weren’t an issue as Ebay has allowed me to amass a nice collection, so what now?

One of my favourite pastimes is videogaming, but I had GT Sport, Far Cry 5, Tomb Raider and a couple of others, so my needs were met.  But then it happened, Modern Warfare was coming, not the ‘run round walls with a jetpack’ version, no, this was back to basics.  Claymores, sticky semtex, proximity mines, so many fun ways to dis-member the virtual creations of all those teenagers that lets face it will probably always be better at it than I am.

What do you need if you have a first person shooter… a headset! So now I have a PS4, Modern Warfare and a headset… just need some online friends [sad face].

I always prefer playing on the same side as other gamers, FIFA is always better when I am at a friend’s smashing six past Manchester United, and we regularly do.  The friends I had on my PS4 either weren’t online at the same time very often, or played different games.  After playing Modern Warfare for a few months it became a bit repetitive, so I posted a screenshot on Facebook (one where I had done well obviously) asking if anyone else played, and they did.

Step forward my friend Morg, someone I hadn’t seen in years, he buggered off to Southampton with his then girlfriend (now wife), but I don’t hold that against him.  He not only contacted me, but he played in a clan (that’s a team of geeks for the uninitiated), and they accepted me!

There are now six of us, unfortunately one of us has an X-box (maybe two, not sure about the new guy), and I know some of you may think I’m subscribing to stereotypes there (X-box owners are idiots), but in this case it’s true, the guy has trouble telling his left from his right, so much so that he has recently been given the nickname ‘Sat Nav’, ironically obviously.

At first this was a great addition to my gaming life, but now Coronavirus has hit hard, it means I can socialise, albeit with 4 people I haven’t actually met, but nevertheless it’s an activity that allows me to relax in the safety of my own home, with up to 5 other blokes who are just as deranged as myself.

So whilst I cannot venture out to the pub, I can still experience the causal flinging of insults, and quaffing of ale (Asda delivered 36 cans of Carling on Monday), and as an added bonus shoot some spotty 14 year old from the back of Talsik Backlot in the head with my Boomslang… it’s the name of a sniper rifle you perverts.  At the same time listening to the sweet music of exploding claymore mines taking out his mates as they run up the stairs to enact revenge.

My life is complete.

Sources
Twitter.com
9to5toys.com
Pixabay.com