I might have made a deal with the devil

     My grandmother used to give this piece of advice, "Never threaten what you don't mean to carry out." She meant it in the context of disciplining children, as in, don't threaten to take their television privileges away unless you truly mean to take them away. I've discovered that issuing a challenge falls under the "be sure you want to follow through with this" warning label.  Never in a million years did I imagine my husband, Jeremy, would take up the gauntlet I threw down.

    Since his birthday a year or more ago, Jeremy has been horribly obsessed with Lord of the Rings Online.  He can easily spend several days (if he's on vacation) playing. He gets up in the morning: LOTRO. Right before bed: LOTRO. Home for lunch so he can play...yes you guessed it, LOTRO.  He's tapered back a little, because, well, real life intruded, and gosh, those bills don't pay themselves.  But mostly, if he can squeeze in a little crafting, or some tedium that lets him keep his hooks in the game, he's there.

    That's my biggest complaint. I'm a computer widow, or have been, in the past.  As I said, he's doing better. My other large complaint? He wants me to play along.  Like a religious fanatic who proselytizes non-stop, Jeremy sings the virtues of the game to me on a daily basis.  To say he's determined, would be an understatement. 

        Him: "You know there's a Grandmother who plays LOTRO."

        Me: "That's nice. I'm still not playing your stupid game."

        Him:"And some wives actually play with their husbands."

        Me:"Lovely. I'm not some wives."

        Him:"You could start your own character."

        Me:"I really have no interest."

        Him:"If you wanted a character, what character would you be? Dwarf? Elf? Hobbit? I think you'd like to be a Hobbit."

        Me:"Go away."

If we weren't having that conversation we were having another.

        Me: "The house is on fire."

        Him: "Huh? Um. I've just got to finish this quest. Give me thirty minutes." (It's never just thirty minutes. It's usually two hours.)

    We've had some serious arguments over this game. And over the last year or so, I've come to LOATHE the game withe a capital L. All the moreso once he indoctrinated The Boy.  Dinner conversations have become limited to, all things LOTRO ( For those of you hard-core LOTRO players, be reassured, I'm making the following conversation up, as I never pay attention to these conversations).

         Josh: "So the other day I was on this quest. I found the mineral deposits I was looking for, but couldn't find the rune stone."

         Him: "You need to go through the valley of Bibbidy Bop first, fight off the giant spiders. Make sure you have 50 health and use your fire skill."

         Josh: "What about my bowie knife?"

         Him: "No, that won't do it. If you can't throw fire at the Orcs you won't ever make it through the spiders."

What it sounds like to me:

        "Bwah bwah bwah bwah bwah"

    Last night Jeremy informed me, "In the Fall, LOTRO will be free for a basic account. You could have your own account. Make your own character."

        "No thanks."

        Undaunted he continued, "We could do quests together. Give Josh his own account. The three of us could do all sorts of things."

         Knowing how long he could keep this going, I decided to issue my challenge. "Ok, Fine. I'll have an account. I'll make a character, as long as you learn to crochet."

         "Great! Where's the Yarn?"