SSG Speaks – SSG Ice Reaper
This time around we’re talking to one of our newer Knights. He joined us last fall but, despite being a relatively fresh face in Camelot, he already feels like a long lost member of the family. That is when he’s actually around. Not only is he a busy family man, but he also has a habit of vanishing like a thief in the night for two weeks at a time. His destination? The open ocean. Read on to find out where those helicopters regularly whisk him away to…
As always, we’ll start with how you found SSG…
Well I would say it found me in a sea of noobs. SSG Rhys found me in a game and told me about this really awesome place and suggested I check it out. After I saw what SSG was I quickly signed up!
Good choice, but you already knew that. Since you earned your armor, how has your gaming experience changed?
Hmmm, I’m not sure I even know how to put this into words but I’ll try my best. I didn’t have access to internet till about 2 years ago. So when I got it I was stoked to get my online gaming on. But alas I had no friends to play with and was quickly growing extremely bored with it. Since SSG, man my world has opened up. Playing solo is something that I really don’t enjoy very much. It is freaking awesome to have friends to game with and get to know.
And people say that gaming isn’t a social experience. They don’t know what they’re missing out on. So what’s the first game you remember playing?
Wow you’re going to get me to show my age here. Atari Pitfall, man that brings back some horrid memories. LOL! My dad was into gaming so he got me and my brother into it. Sadly now my brother is a Play Station fan boy.
Playstation?!? Boo. Hiss. Okay, my console preferences aside, after the exercise in frustration know as Pitfall, what was your first real gaming addiction?
Again I will have to show my age. It would either be Dragon Warrior for NES or, Wing Commander for SNES.
Okay, moving away from the joysticks, what do you do when you’re not gaming?
I am either working 2 weeks away and with my 2 weeks off I enjoy spending time with my family. I have been married for almost 13 years to my wife Mary. We have 3 great children Josie, Luca, and Laura. When not with the family I enjoy going to the woods and doing a bit of bow hunting for deer or hogs and, doing a bit of fishing when the weather warms up.
Any favorite books or movies to recommend?
Hmm I will have to mix some of those up.
As far as books I really loved the “Inheritance Cycle” (it’s 4 books but I will have to count it as one). The journey of a boy that shows that even a bumbling person can accomplish so much in his life.
My second favorite book is “The Last of the Dog Team”. This book for me was something special and I can’t really explain why. It’s just one of those books that grabbed me and kept me.
And my favorite movie would have to be Inception. I just love the idea of lucid dreaming and I’m attempting to achieve it myself. I’ve only got to it once and it was incredible!
I had a lucid dream once. Elle Macpherson was in it & we were…I’ll just stop there for…um…reasons. Favorite food or beverage of choice?
Hmmm I am a sucker for Root Beer. Just love that stuff. Just wish we had an A&W soda shop around me! Ok I have to go get one I’ll be back after I enjoy one!
Drinking on the job. Jeesh. Ok, one more: favorite Halloween costume you’ve ever had?
Mmmmm ok that’s better! I don’t really have a favorite costume more like a favorite Halloween memory. Before kids we were at a friend’s house at a party drinking and having a good time handing out candy. Then I had an idea I was going to jump out the bushes on the side of the porch and scare the kids who came for candy. Well here I was hiding in the bushes when the kids came so as I jump out I tripped over the lawn mower my buddy had stored there flipped head over heels and busted it hard against the porch. As I was laying and groaning I could hear the dad of the kids laughing his butt off! My most epic fail for Halloween!
Funny how complete fails become those stories we still remember years later. So what’s the best thing that’s happened to you in the last year?
That’s easy I became a Knight and found a great place in SSG.
Aww shucks, you’re making us blush. Just for that, our resident troll has an unsettling question for you:
You wake up naked and without any memory of the night before… Would you rather: wake up next to the Burger King telling with him saying, “You had it your way.” or wake up next to Ronald McDonald with him saying, “You were loving it.”?
I totally hate that freaky king. So I will go with the clown. I can handle that just a bit easier!
I agree with you on the King. Can’t believe that not only an ad agency exec but also Burger King’s upper management both sighed off on that campaign as a good idea… Now, in 10 words or less, what is SSG to you?
SSG is the home away from home.
A lot of us feel the same. We’ve got a pretty good thing going in Camelot. So speaking of away from home, let’s get to that interesting job I alluded to up above. What’s it like working on an oil rig?
Well I work on an oil and gas production platform. While we do have an “oil rig” on top of us they pop the holes and we just produce them. I love the work that I do. We get to fly in a helicopter ever 2 weeks to go and come from work. It’s about a 45 min. flight from the shore base to the platform.
What’s it like being on a tiny man-made island in the middle of ocean? Any crazy storm stories?
It’s a whole different world out there. I have seen all sorts of weird stuff. I’ve seen nurse whales bigger than my platform just rubbing against the side of us to scrape the barnacles off. I’ve rode out a couple of big storms. I rode out tropical storm Allison. That’s the one that flooded Houston so bad. We had 30 foot seas during that one. Also I went out and had to open the wells back up after they had closed during the night. I ran out and the rain was coming sideways. This of course was in the middle of the night so I was in boots a in my boxers running out bringing on the platform. The next morning we found out that I had brought the platform back online in the middle of a hurricane!!!! That was freaky! LOL!
Is it hard being away from home for so long at a time?
The time away can be hard sometimes. I miss out on great gaming, but also miss the family. Working this kind of life you have to have 2 sides to you, a work side and a home side. Just got to know how to stay focused out there because if not you can get hurt pretty easily.
Zombie apocalypse survival plan?
Hmmm my zombie plan is to load up my rifle and my bow and take the family out to the country. We have some pretty isolate places out here and can live off the land pretty easy. And plenty of defendable positions to hole up in. like cabins and camps. Either that or find an island and live on it since zombies can’t swim!
They might not be able to swim, but read World War Z. When you don’t need to breath air, there’s nothing stopping you from just walking across the ocean floor. *shudder*
Anyways, thanks for taking time to share your stories. See you on the electronic battlefields!