Kite Jockey’s Weblog

For a while now I have had an X-Box 360. Most nights I would play with some of my co-workers and or other folks I have met online. Way back when I first got the X-Box I struggled with what to call myself on the X-Box. See each gamer on X-Box live (the environment where all online play takes place) has to have a unique gamer tag. At first I called myself Capt. JAFO68 because I could not think of anything better. JAFO is a reference to one of my favorite terms from a 1983 cult classic Blue Thunder. In Blue Thunder Daniel Stern plays the part of Officer Richard Lymangood who was nicknamed JAFO because he was considered to be “Just Another Freaking Observer”[filter applied]. But I also like that name because years ago when I was working on a Mountain Rescue Squad one of my fellow rescue workers also had this moniker placed on him because of his tendency to show up at the scene and then just watch the rest of us do all the work. I always thought it was kind of crudely funny. I don’t mind making fun of myself so I took this on as part of my gamer tag. Much to my surprise most people just did not get it. They thought I was some sort of serious gamer and played against me with that in mind. All I wanted to do was have some fun. So I decided to change my gamer tag to Do Wah Diddy.

I came up with Do Wah Diddy after reflecting on a scene in the Movie Stipes when Russell Ziskey (Harold Ramis) and John Winger (Bill Murray) begin singing a cadance as they marched at the back of their platoons formation. It was a very funny scene. It showed the same kind of carefree attitude that I wanted to display in my game playing. I quickly found out that this gamer tag really accomplished my goal. The folks I played with did not take me as seriously and I had a lot of fun with it.

But at last all good things have to come to an end. Do Wah Diddy had to go away for several reasons. First, I decided that I was spending way too much time playing X-Box. I tried my best to control it without going to any drastic measures but it was a loosing battle. Many nights I would be up on a work night or worse yet on a church night so late that I would not be able to actively participate in either activity the way I should. It had become a full blown addiction for me. I had to make a break some how. So I sold my X-Box and several of my games this weekend. Does this mean that  I will no longer be playing X-Box not entirely. I am sure I will still find a way to play but I will be playing less that is for sure. By giving up my gamer tag I forced my self to also give up playing with those that are on Do Wah Diddys friends list. This will go a long way in helping me cut down on my gaming time if and when I get back on the X-Box. I did have my friends list maxed out at 100 and that meant that I almost always had someone to play with. Now I am determined that I will not do that again. I am sure I will play X-Box again soon but now I will greatly limit who I play with.

What is going to make this hard to carry out is that most of those that I spent the most time playing with were my coworkers. It seems that gaming comes up all the time at work. At morning devotions, on breaks, at lunch, and sometimes in meetings. I permeates our conversations. We also enjoy playing with each other. We sort of have our own friendly rivalry going. Some of the guys I play with that work with me are some of the best gamers I have ever seen. They have all taught me a lot about gaming. If it were not for them I probably would not have got an X-box in the first place. That is why I have decided to not add them to my new friends list when I begin gaming again. It is just too much of a temptation for me. I feel like if one of them is online that I really need to play with them. These feelings just feed my addiction.

So I am going to see how this goes. I am making a promise to myself that if this does not get under control I am going to give up gaming all together. I have so many other things that I need to be working on and all of those things are way more important than me having a good time in front of the TV.