Thanks Kazmar, it really helps.

Haven't had sex in a week because my brother in law is crashing with us, in our 1 bedroom apartment, he has the maturity of a 10 year old, dude brought a cold with him so we are all sick, I still am working over time because we had to take off from work last week to deal with his court date, my boss is a prick and is trying to get me fired because I won't cover for him when he isn't following regulations, and I haven't been able to sleep right so I'm dragging ass and not being able to shrug off thos cold like i should be able to.

If you're in a one party consent state I'd tape record my boss on the sly. DO NOT BLACKMAIL HIM WITH IT. If it ever comes down to legal simply ask your attorney if it can be used in your favor in court. I don't know if you're boss is simply violating some sort of regs or breaking the law, but if it's the latter, fuck him, you're doing the right thing.

Well this has certainly been one shitty weekend.

Last night about 8, I got some pressure in my stomach. No biggie I thought, I had pizza for supper and that's been known to give me indigestion. At about 11:30, I got horrible, sharp, stabbing pains all through my abdomen. After about a half an hour, those went away themselves. Figured I was alright then but nope, at about 12:30 I got extremely nauseous and dizzy, and was up all night on the verge of puking. I had really bad heartburn with it too. Slept for about 3 hours, and got up this morning. Stomach still hurts but not really nauseous, so I guess that's a plus. Normally I wouldn't worry, but I'm a type 1 diabetic and I need to keep eating and drinking, which is something I could really go without right now with the way I'm feeling. So I'm hoping it's just a stomach flu that'll cure itself in a day or two, and not GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease, just means you get really bad acid reflux), or an ulcer or something like that. Meh. >.<

Umm, are you sure it's not appendicitis? Because that's fucking dangerous. Maybe you should take a trip to the ER just to be safe...

I had it earlier this summer and kept trying to convince myself I didn't. I have to say I went through a lot longer period of pain than would have otherwise been necessary, due to that, and in reality may have risked my life.

Nah man, I'm pretty sure I'm fine. Today I haven't really had any pain in my stomach at all, no nausea really either. Just a bit of acid in my throat from heartburn it feels like, and a bit fatigued. Appendicitis I'd be sore constantly and vomiting right?

Vomiting is a maybe, stabbing pain that's excruciating is the normal symptom. It can start like you mention though, feeling like indigestion. Prilosec/Omeprazole is a little pricey, but way better than acid reflux (which has pretty severe long term health implications). Spending 40 cents a day to treat it, if you have it a lot, is the way better part of valor.

the snozberries are everywhere, THE SNOZBERRIES ARE EVERYWHERE!

god damn it I'm running out of toilet paper, having to dig up unimportant clothes from the clean pile (the dirty pile is exhausted of snoz-able blow rags); send more TP, send it soon or they will be unstoppable!

(I feel so fucking shitty that I can't concentrate enough get into my games, but not shitty enough to be zonked out in a flu coma).

All right, I have just decided: it's time to give serious gaming a break.

My subconsciousness decided for me, actually, I just realized it did. I think it's been 1 or 2 months since I last played something seriously. Since then, I've just been playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Since at least the beginning of the year, though, it's been pretty hard to just choose something to start playing, even with my huge backlog. And it's not that I want to play too many of them - I just can't bring myself to play anything.

Yesterday I forced myself to try and play Lone Survivor, but I couldn't play it for more than an hour. I realize now it's not the game's fault. Two weeks ago I installed Planescape: Torment, along with every mod I think it needs, and still couldn't bring myself to start it.

What's worse, I just feel like playing another another Call of Duty. If they'd put the whole series on a 75% off sale right now, I'd just buy all of them I don't already have and play through them in one sitting. I have maybe hundreds of innovative, different or just long games, and I don't want to play any of them.

It's not the lack of time either - I'm unemployed, and this may be the last time of my life I have enough time for gaming.

So, this is it, I'm taking a break from hardcore gaming. I'm not leaving gaming, nor gaming forums, it's just that my brain needs some time to relax. I don't think I will be playing anything that requires you to do something as complex as opening a door for the next few months. After that, I'll see if things change.

Has anyone else been trough a phase like this?

Yes, small, bite sized games that are brainless is the answer. Think Shoot Many Robots, Bastion, or similar. It has to be something that's not hard and can be finished in 4-8 hours. It can't have a lot of shit to get your side tracked or be so expensive (for you) that you want to wring every ounce of game play out, because you need to feel not guilty if you don't finish and simply move on to the next one.

Bastion is one of the most tempting games in my backlog currently, but I don't feel like playing it either. I think it's because there's no comfortable way to play with my X360 controller where I am right now. And that's a problem with just enough complexity to turn me off!

...

I need a job.

My dad just gave me a bottle of diet pills and told me that I was getting a little chunky and could use them. ::ouch:: Thanks dad, love you too.

Not really, but it seems to me that you've made the right decision by taking a break from gaming. Games are supposed to be fun, they don't provide any secondary benefits like, say, doing sports. There's absolutely no point in forcing yourself to play them, in fact, that seems like a total waste. Of your life as well as of a potentially fun game. Just do something else for a time, and check back later, maybe then you'll find gaming enjoyable again.

Unless you're having trouble relaxing or enjoying yourself in general?

God, I hope you didn't take them.

Well, I am under a lot of pressure to find a job - mostly from myself, but because I think it's actually time to do something different with my life. Finally get a home, a driver's license and a car for myself, stop my family from trying to control me. Maybe going out at night, picking up some girls... Things people usually do in college that I didn't have a chance to.

Gaming just don't seem attractive with all these goals in mind. I'm not doing any of that without a job, though. I think 10 months of unemployment just have that kind of effect on people.

Nah. Those got flushed as soon as I got home.