Steam hasn’t been entirely to blame for my lack of updating, or my lack of playing City of Heroes, Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, Dungeon Runners, Exteel or any of my consoles. Or Roleplaying, for that matter. It’s been a distraction, yes, but a sorely needed one.

My Dad was recently diagnosed with a stomach ulcer. He’s been unable to eat much, and I’ve watched him waste away over the course of several months. He’s 60 years old, but he’s never -looked- his age, never slowed down or ‘got old’. Until now. A biopsy of the ulcer revealed it had malignant cells in.

Not quite. Seeing as it’s a tumour. My father was admitted to hospital yesterday, and he’s currently in theatre now, having the tumour and 1/3rd of his stomach removed, at least. The surgeon has to see what the situation is when he begins the procedure. Luckily a CT scan has showed that it hasn’t spread to any major organs, and they’ll have to do further biopsies on the removed tissue to see what stage and type it is.

I’ve been trying to get on with things, and look after my mum who is obviously upset by the whole thing, and never really cried about it. Worried, sure, but cried? Not until last night. Odd what it is that sets you off really, and it’s relating to gaming, promise.

I had spent most of the evening downstairs keeping my mum company, and wandered back up to play some Team Fortress 2 on the Hamphsire Heavies server, that my friend Syracuse plays on. And I sucked. I completely and utterly sucked more than usual. No matter how hard I tried and pushed myself, I just ranked bottom and was cannon fodder each time. I was getting more fustrated and upset that I just couldn’t do anything, and Sy asked those fateful words: ‘Are you alright?’

Of course, I burst into tears at that point. Ever notice that you can kind of keep going until those words get asked, and suddenly the floodgates burst. I mentioned what was up, and logged out of the game to just have a bit of a cry. We got chatting on MSN, and the subject of ways to keep me occupied came up. Noticing that I’d been playing that Peggle Deluxe demo, I mentioned that it was the simple pleasure of geeky life, and that I’ve been avoiding buying it because I’d get addicted.

Syra went quiet for a minute or so, and suddenly a Gift notification popped up on Steam.

Yup, a copy of Peggle Deluxe.

Of course, I was in tears again, but of a different sort. I was also rendered pretty speachless for a while, but managed to regain coherency. So…

Thank you, Sy, not only for the game (which is pretty damn distracting), but just the gesture in whole coming just when I needed something to pick me up. Something I hope to be able to repay you in kind someday.

Thanks as well to my other friends, who’ve had my dad in their thoughts, and to one who’s going to be taking the afternoon off work just to see me when I head to London on Tuesday for an appointment.

I don’t know what I’d do without you all, and I don’t want to know either.

To wrap it up in a gaming kind of manner… as Sy said to me last night, isn’t it amazing how you can tell if something is up with someone simply through their playstyle and ability?

And for a geeky perspective on things:

Flowers are beautiful and nice, but die in a few days when cut. Chocolates are delicious, but once they’re eaten, they’re gone. A geek’s gift, whether hardware, software or other will last for years.

So, given the choice of a bouquet of roses and a bouquet of assorted cables for my PC?

I’d take the cables. I might even put them in a vase.