Here is my quest log account, from start to finish in that order. - December 26, 2004
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Quest Log (Part 1 of Part 2)</center>On September 6, 2004, I wrote::
I'm back! Holidays were good. I didn't get a tan, but I got to do whatever I wanted and eat whatever I wanted too! I
my aunt and uncle! I'm picking up where I last left off. I didn't reach 8% of my goal before I left, so that's today's efforts. Sadly, the sponsor links don't work.
That was my main source of earning gold. Polls don't give me anything, and bumping, if I wait for at least a minute beyond the regular 55 seconds, results in two golds, regardless if I just signed on or have been on for hours. *sigh* All of that makes this quest tricky as I have to work harder!Lurking seems to do me good, especially if I lurk in the shops! Oh, what nice things to buy!
But I can't do that just yet. I would look so good in some of those items! Maybe I can accomodate a little shopping in my next quest. Hmm. My aim for today (and the rest of the days for this quest, actually) is to earn 240 gold. Without sponsors' links, it'll be slow, but there are a lot of shops to visit. I've almost obtained 120 gold, which puts me half way for today and then I can complete it tonight. Woot! A shame that at this rate, 240 gold/day, I'll need 92 days after today!
Holy stinky cheese! 
I hope the sponsors' links are working soon! 
In the evening of September 6, 2004, I wrote::
Oh. My. Gosh. &.& I'm so tired out from today and I want to go to bed! &.& I vowed though to make 240 g and I did. Thank goodness for the midday session! That and some ancient announcements.
It was really tough bringing myself to go on Gaia. It's not that I didn't want to, only that I was tired and would have prefered to rest my eyes instead of looking into a screen. Yet, I pulled through and I'm none worse for the tear. I even earned enough to "lose" when I log off. Now that feature is a bit irritating.
But I'm at 8% of my quest. Another part reached. I'm going to increase my quota from 240 to 250. It's not much, but it'll help some. To think, every time I earn 250 gold pieces, I'll have earned a chance to buy a cheap hairdo!
That's certainly a different way of looking at things. Chart my quest according to the number of low-price hairdos I can afford. Must. Go. To. Bed. Before. Insanity. Becomes. Permanent.
Beware of me folks when I'm tired! Mwhahahaha! 
In the morning of September 7, 2004, I wrote::
Boy, am I gonna be late for my first day of school!
Not that much ever happens on the first day, so a bit of a leeway there. That and I already have my stuff together and can do the "grab and run" event of the day! Working on another 120 g plus an extra five to speed things up. Still no sponsors' links, not that I really expected them to be working this morning. Maybe by the end of the week? That would be good. In the meantime, I'm off to Ian's shop to do some window-shopping. That seems the quickest way to earn gold these days.
Ta-ta for now!
Edit later that morning :: I did it! Yes, I've earned my 125 gold for this morning! It's much quicker to earn gold by window-shopping than it is by going through posts. It probably works out to the same number of pages called up, but it's faster to try on clothes than to read posts.
I've put up a new post below my log as an incentive to push me forward. I've grown fond of the idea of having jewelery for my avatar. Right now, it's not possible. However, there's nothing saying I cannot imagine that I do own jewelery. A little mind playing, but if it helps me earn my quota (or more!) of gold, then I'll do it. It is effective September 6, not from the date that I started this quest. I already "actually" have the items from before sitting in my inventory. No need to count that money twice. ^^
I've also updated the links in the first post. I wonder if that's why some of my bumpers haven't returned: they have an old bookmark that doesn't work. Funny how my bookmarks for places still do, because, they shouldn't either, right? Hmm. Something to ponder about today.
In the late evening of September 7, 2004, I wrote::
I managed another session. Woot! Go me! Yeah! It was a bit of an iffy situation. First, I wanted to get on earlier, but couldn't. Then I was on, but doing some homework at the same time. Too slow. Then I felt I couldn't make it until I accomplished 125 g. Then I found I supassed it. This could give me some leeway tomorrow, which I might need to draw upon. If not, then all the better.
Added another bracelet to my "inventory." Way cool. Way cheap too.
Quest is almost at 200 pages. I haven't figured out if I should "disappear" for a while, so that only other people can bump or if I should simply continue bumping. If I claim page 200, it would be the person after me who earns the page prize. However, up til now, I've stayed away so that I didn't claim a page. *sighs* That, of course, was back when I could count on sponsors' links to cover for me. Meh.
Since I'm not tired and still doing some reading for tomorrow, I think I'll stick around, bump some more, and see how far I get. confused Yeah.
In the very early morning of September 8, 2004, I wrote::
Ha! I have another 120 g in! In fact, I've almost got 160g, which sounds really good. Thank you to logic02004 and Zyfusion for being hanging around with me. I couldn't have stayed on as long as I did without you two!
Thank you as well to the people who've bumped my thread! You not only helped make my thread more noticeable, but you gave me a reason to post!
And that's all for tonight. I'm off to bed!
In the evening of September 8, 2004, I wrote::
I'm just about finished collecting the 125 (120 + 5) gold for the evening. I'm glad I over spent my time last night/early this morning. In a way, it wasn't good because my thread was nearing 200 pages. (I give out gold every 50 pages.) I knew it would come, but I didn't think so soon! I still have eight bags to collect!
Some extra time would have been good, but all the same, I'm glad the page has been reached (earlier today) and surpassed. I like to give out gold, even if it causes my quest to hic-up. 
Congratulations to Quest Bumper! You've won again! I don't know how you do it. You must watch my thread closely and maybe do some funky math or something to that effect.
I'm surprised your laurels aren't golden! You seem to luck out all right in my thread. This evening I came across Tula's Donation Items Quest. She has a grass skirt she'd like to sell and I'd like to buy it. Unfortunately, I can't simply go off and buy the skirt as I'm questing. That wouldn't be right. Yet, she's questing for donation items. &.& And I'm offering a choice of one among many donation letters. &.& I'm thinking we can make an arrangement. It'll be interesting to see if we can work something out, especially since I've yet to buy September's letters.
Oh, and I've also made some jewelery brown bags! Yay! They took a while to work out, but by this evening, I finished the revisions. I'm happy with them and I hope other people will like them as much as I do. I'm thinking somewhere around 50 g to 100g. 100 g would be a more realistic reflection of the work that I had to do, but maybe 50 g would be more attractive to would-be buyers. I think I'll go with the middle ground price: 75 gold. Hmm. Yeah. Now to host and post 'em. They're doing no good sitting on my hard drive!
Oi!
I didn't have a chance to go online this morning and I couldn't do it as soon as I thought I could this afternoon and look where I am! I'm not sure if I can pull off 240 gold this evening. It's not that I hadn't expected this, it's only that I hadn't thought it would occur on the fourth day of my renewed commitment. Yeesh.I'm giving it my best anyway. I've already amassed 80g, so what's another 160, huh?
That's right. Thinking positive! And checking out a couple of shops to boot too. This evening would be a good time to put up those paper bag jewelery items that I made. I was supposed to do that this morning, but we know how well that turned out! My thread had some more luck today. Quest Bumper found a blue gift box. Congrats Quest Bumper! You deserve it for the amount of time that you spend here!
Couldn't have happened to a nicer and more dedicated bumper than you!A lot of my thread isn't accessible. Previously pages 21, 41, 61, 81, 101, 121, and so on were lost. They still are and now pages 132 to 12/15 of page 157 are lost too. I couldn't even check to see when exactly Quest Bumper found the trunk. I know it's somewhere around July 31, but maybe it was July 30 or something like that. Weirdness reigns strongly over pages 152 to most of 157. For some odd reason, those pages are exactly like the first six pages of this quest. I guess I don't have to worry about those pages disappearing.
I thought I had something more interesting than what I've already said, but I guess not.
It couldn't have been all that good if I've forgotten it already. confused Edit ::My mini-shop of items for donors is now open! Phew! It took longer than expected. Those who've donated up to today have a special offer (no time limit or restrictions of which items) as a way of me thanking them more for their help. I'll be sending out information tomorrow as it's too late for me tonight.
It'll be interesting to see how well my craftwork is received. Hopefully they'll do well. And 180 gold made this evening. I'll catch up tomorrow.
, 2004, I wrote::Oi!
I didn't have a chance to go online this morning and I couldn't do it as soon as I thought I could this afternoon and look where I am! I'm not sure if I can pull off 240 gold this evening. It's not that I hadn't expected this, it's only that I hadn't thought it would occur on the fourth day of my renewed commitment. Yeesh.I'm giving it my best anyway. I've already amassed 80g, so what's another 160, huh?
That's right. Thinking positive! And checking out a couple of shops to boot too. This evening would be a good time to put up those paper bag jewelery items that I made. I was supposed to do that this morning, but we know how well that turned out! My thread had some more luck today. Quest Bumper found a blue gift box. Congrats Quest Bumper! You deserve it for the amount of time that you spend here!
Couldn't have happened to a nicer and more dedicated bumper than you!A lot of my thread isn't accessible. Previously pages 21, 41, 61, 81, 101, 121, and so on were lost. They still are and now pages 132 to 12/15 of page 157 are lost too. I couldn't even check to see when exactly Quest Bumper found the trunk. I know it's somewhere around July 31, but maybe it was July 30 or something like that. Weirdness reigns strongly over pages 152 to most of 157. For some odd reason, those pages are exactly like the first six pages of this quest. I guess I don't have to worry about those pages disappearing.
I thought I had something more interesting than what I've already said, but I guess not.
It couldn't have been all that good if I've forgotten it already. confused Edit ::My mini-shop of items for donors is now open! Phew! It took longer than expected. Those who've donated up to today have a special offer (no time limit or restrictions of which items) as a way of me thanking them more for their help. I'll be sending out information tomorrow as it's too late for me tonight.
It'll be interesting to see how well my craftwork is received. Hopefully they'll do well. And 180 gold made this evening. I'll catch up tomorrow.
In the morning of September 10, 2004, I wrote::
I must have earned more than I thought last night. I could have swore I hadn't reached 2600 g and yet this morning, all I needed was 50 g and I'm there. Yup, really there.
A big THANK YOU! to Quest Bumper! His donation of 800 g yesterday gives me enough to buy another bag! Woot! So before I earn today's gold, I'm going to do the 'raffle' and see who's ths round's brown paper bag winner!
Edit :: Congratulations to Jayn Newell! You are this bag's round winner! Trade is on its way!
I've "bought" another bag. I have the money for it, but it's not in my inventory, because I haven't started the trade for it. I think I'm going to wait until the bank issues are resolved and for once, I'd like to see if I can save up a 5-digit number.
Of course, the money will already be spoke for the bags, but to see it before I trade it away for them will be cool! Seven bags left to go! 3,000 down and 21,000 to collect!
And now I'm off to school! In the night of September 11, 2004, I wrote::
Oi! I don't know where today went to! I had such hopes of being on . . . and it didn't happen until now.
It wasn't that great of a day, but I did survive it pretty good. Only no bumps. I won't be able to do much this evening. Only some, but better than none. I only managed to pm Tula. I'm holding off on the pm to the other people, because I've had another idea that might take off better than my bags. I've only had one buyer so far (thank you Quest Bumper!
), which I suppose isn't bad for the first day for someone who couldn't be on much. However, I think my next item would be more attractive than my jewelery bags, so I'm going to hold off until I have the other item up. It shouldn't take me long as I've already done a rough sketch. Only to flesh it out a bit with details and choose which lines I want, scan it and colour it and voilá! Another quest item! Woot!Edit :: You know you're not doing so well when your quote's closing tag is [/quest].
Oi, oi, oi!In the evening of September 12, 2004, I wrote::
Woot! Not only did I reach 250 gold for yesterday, but I found a trunk! Yes!
Three months later I finally collect an event and in my own thread to boot! Now to work on some more gold. Would like to have at least half for today in before I call it a day.
*still excited about finding a trunk* Edit much later ::
I have today's "quota" in. This means tomorrow I can focus on 250 gold instead of 250+. I'm not so sure about the tenth - did I garner 250 g or just what did really happen that day? I can't remember and I made no note about gaining 250g, so . . . . I should be up to date. I only wish the servers weren't acting up right now. Someone crashed. In the evening of September 13, 2004, I wrote::
No wonderous luck to report this evening. No item either. Still need a day or so to work on it. Somehow it's not turning out the way I thought it would. T'is a very good thing I'm not a shop owner. It wouldn't have turned out well.
I'll keep on trying. They say practice makes perfect. But just how many practices are needed?I thought about doing away with the 250 g a day and simply going to 240 g. A lot easier when calculating percentages and keeping track. I'm not sure if I earned that extra 10 or if it simply gets carried over and then I tack it in with the total of accomplishing 240 for the day. It's confusing as heck! Perhaps if I sent that extra 10 g into a trade that isn't accepted, that would work better. I thought things would be easier and it's not really that simple.
The quest is progressing nicely, even if my log topics aren't exciting, got-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat type stuff. Yeesh! But the silverlining in this entry is that I'm still pushing forward. True, nothing exciting has happened (yet), but I'm still plugging away, and that's what counts, right? That I haven't given up on my quest and focused on something else?
Even if some of the charities that I had links to have up and closed?
One of those "you snooze, you lose" scenarios. I honestly didn't feel that my quest for the set of paper bags was worth bothering those charities. I thought it would be better to request when I was going for a tougher item, such as the Jacked-Up shirt or pants. That's when I would really need charity help. Not so much for paper bags.This quest is supposed to be a practice, a warm up quest so that I know what I'm getting myself into when my eye wanders on to a "that's so lovely it makes me drool with desire" item. Okay, not quite like that, but you get the gist of it. Going for paper bags was to ease me into the process. What's saving up 5,000 g? Or, rather 3,000 g? Not much. Easy money.
But the closing of some of the charities makes me wonder: could I have used my resources more wisely if I had gone after higher value items like the Jacked-up shirt/pants? Back then I could have easily requested help from them, and now I cannot, hence, a waste of resources. When they were there, I didn't ask. I felt it was too soon and my quest not worthy enough. Now they are gone.
But as one door closes another one opens up and it is true. Over the past few days I've looked through the Charity/Quest forum. There are lots of charities that were not around when I first did my search. The one day that was all I could see: charity organizations after another. So I can still find help when I quest for costlier items, although I could have had a broader base of help.
Still, what's in the past is in the past. No use crying over spilt milk, or in this case, milk that was refused before it was poured out of the container.
If I ever quest for a group of items that at the most cost about 5,000 g each, I'd probably do the exact thing over again: holding off asking for charitable help until I undertake a worthier quest. These items are small items. Sure it may take me a while to collect them, but with solid determination and steadyfast willpower, I can do it. I know I can and I'll savour the day when I complete the entire set of brown paper bags.I'll also savour the moment I understand why I went into such a deep thought!
Until then, a little more bumping and a little more window shopping. I have 110 g left to go and only 22 minutes. Oi!Edit :: Time's up! Not quite enough, so I'll catch up tomorrow morning. I'm shy 65 g and that includes the 10 g extra. Meh. Next quest I do, I got to make it simplier!
In the morning of September 14, 2004, I wrote::
Had to get up really early in the morning, so this all sort of feels surreal. An interesting feeling it is. rolleyes
I completed yesterday's quota. I now have another silver bracelet and I switched four bracelets for a locket. My "inventory" looks a little neater.
boombaibe and MeOfManyNames look like they'll catch up and surpass Atlantima.
It's been a while since I've played around with the top five bumpers. Once there was a top seven because there was a lot of bumping going on, and then it sort of . . . fizzled. confused Edit :: Collected 8 10 g, covering the extra 10 g for today. Now all I have to do is collect 240 for today's quota.
I can do it. My gold count is 4,160. Thus, I need to be at 4,400, which will be recorded as 4,320, pushing my percentage to 18%. (And to think, all I need is 16 more 10 g to tack on another point! )In the evening of September 14, 2004, I wrote::
I'm a little ways off from my quota for today, however I've learned of a new guild: The Official Quest Guild! There's no charge for signing up and it looks like it'll be a good place. I really should be more in touch with quest charities and such.
I'll work on that, honestly!Here's the banner and URL of the guild:
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</center>Currently there's a contest going where the person, who has the most users sign up to the guild, wins a monthly donation letter. I don't know the end date or what will happen if there is a tie, but it sounds like it's worth a shot. I already know of someone who would like the letter, and no, it's not me.
I can manage with those. So, if anyone signs up after clicking the banner in my signature, would you say that I informed you of the guild? I'm not sure how many people read this far down the page, but I'll be adjusting the banner a bit (nothing drastic) so that I can fit it into my signature, because 255 characters isn't much. 
Meh.Edit :: A big THANK YOU to MeOfManyNames!
She became my sixth donator and she jumped ahead to fourth place! My quest is nearing the 250 page mark and she's only 22 bumps away from third place in my Top 5 Bumpers list. I wouldn't be surprised if she does it: claims page 250 and jumps over ~.Cherry Rose.~. Thank you again, MeOfManyNames for helping me on my quest for all the brown paper bags! In the evening of September 15, 2004, I wrote::
Congratulations to boombaibe! You claimed page 250 and your prize is on its way! Woot!
Now for some boring math that I need to do to keep me current with my quest. It's really boring.
[begin boring figure stuff]I plucked 50 g from my 10 g "collection" and added that to MeOfManyNames donation, thereby garnering another 1% gain. I finished collecting the remaining 20 g left from yesterday this evening. That puts me ahead by another 1%. I've already hustled today's 10 g to the 10 g collection (making it 40 g). My current gold is 4,560. I need to earn 240 g plus 100 g for boombaibe. (No biggie boombaibe, so no worries!
) [/boring figure stuff]All right, so I'm off to make the trade and then to do some bumping and window-shopping! Oh, and yes, Tula, I'll get that trade finished with you!
Almost forgot, but not quite! wink Thank you, Tula!Edit :: Trades sent! ^^
Edit #2 :: 150 g gets carried over to tomorrow.
In the morning of September 16, 2004, I wrote::
I accomplished my 150 gold from yesterday. Tula finished her trade with me, adding 1,000 gold to my pot. Currently I sit at 5,800 gold, but because that gives a weird percentage number, I've noted it as 5,760 gold. So I've got the extra 10 gold for today, tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday! ^^ Hence, today, tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday I need to earn 240 gold each day and then one of these days, I'll be able to pull my 10 golds out and tack on another 240 gold to my quest fund! ^^;; Complicated as heck, ain't I? &.&
In the morning of September 17, 2004, I wrote::
Was on last night, but couldn't do much asides from lurk.
Thankfully my thread wasn't archived. A big relief there! (Gained 80 gold throughout last evening's glitchy session.)I was officially accepted in to The Office Quest Guild and thank you MeOfManyNames and Tula for mentioning me!
That was so sweet of you! But oi! I've a long ways to go to via for first place! Work, work, work! And so I'm off to bump, because I'm so close to another bag!
In the late evening of September 17, 2004, I wrote::
Wow. What a day! I've only tried six times to update my log and it only happened now.
A big THANK YOU to boombaibe for cancelling my trade of 100 gold for claiming page 250 and sending 900 gold my way!
Completely unexpected and much appreciated! Woot!Congratulations to Maiden214 for winning this bag's round! Yes, I've earned another bag and it was shortly before boombaibe's donation.
I am one very happy Gaian. Currently, with today included, there are 45 days until Hallowe'en. Yes, I'm shifting my quest a bit. Previously, I aimed for 250 gold a day (240 gold + 10 gold as an "extra" wink . For the most part, I did all right. However, at the current pace of 250 gold a day, not considering any future donations, I will need 76 days to earn 18,000 gold and complete my quest.
I want to do it in 45 days.So here's the deal. I now need to earn at least 400 gold a day. This is a big jump from 250 gold, however, I feel I'm up to the challenge. Currently I'm sitting at 1,000+ gold on the first day. My ambitious new plan makes me very appreciative of boombaibe's kind donation, despite her not finding an item that she wanted to buy at a store.
With her generous help, I can begin my altered direction with a four day lead. This will give me some leeway, but I still want to aim for 400 gold a day.I believe this is possible. I know it will take a lot of hard work and dedication on my part and I plan to do just that. Everyone from bumpers to donators to the new guild that I have joined has helped me out tremendously and I feel very empowered with everyone's support.
It's strange saying that, but I feel that way.As a reminder for myself, I'm not merely picking up the speed because of this year's upcoming Hallowe'en. As soon as I finish this paper bag quest, I want to begin another. It won't be a continuation for the Hallowe'en items, but rather a quest of a different sort. For two months, I want to quest for Christmas items and raise money for other questers.
I've thought about it all evening. The Christmas items I want are relatively cheap and can be purchased in the store. Well, save for the slippers and something else and the giftbox. Still, relatively cheap. For every gold piece that I earn toward a Christmas set, I will match it with a donation to someone or some charit. If someone donates to me during this mixed quest, all donations will go to the charity portion, not my actual quest. I believe I can earn those Christmas items myself, but I want to do something special for others because Christmas is a time for giving and that's what I want to do.
Returning back to my quest at hand, I'm almost finished the third item. With this third item, I will be opening a shop. I'm thinking I'll start it off as a quest shop. Yes, I believe it will sell well, it's that good.
There will be various limited editions, and each purchase will be going toward my Christmas donation drive. This third item is in its final stages of being finalized. From there, it'll be inked and scanned and coloured. I've done lots of alterations to it and I'm hoping by next weekend, I'll have it up and on sale. <center>( Day 45 )</center>End of second part of log's first half.
