Whispers in the Windstorm

( And I'm gonna get it for PS3, but only because 360 Oblivion crashes on me )

Yep, still alive. Not depressed or nothin' - just been busy at work and tend to spend home time videogaming. Won another game! Champions of Norrath. (Granted, I could play it a few more times, but not right now. I've killed enough ants for one day.)

( Last Weekend's Blur: Fun Fun Fun )

( Doctor Doctor, Gimme The News )

( A Thrilling New Superhero )

( Oh, and for the second time EVER... )

( This weekend - miscellaneous stuff of good nature )

This week, I have tentative plans to have dinner with R'n'N, and I am inviting the three gamers over to play board games on Thursday. So it's lookin' good.

Eat Snacky Smores - with added fiber!

This is a reference entry, and a challenge. If you wish, reply on one of three areas:

A) Did I forget any that I own? I loan them out and lose track.
B) Anything you see that you haven't? Want me to comment on it?
C) What should be here but isn't? Make some recommendations.

(If it's scratched through, I owned it but sold it.)

( Console Games: Hypnotic Time Sinks )

( I Do Lots Of Normal Things )

Eat Snacky Smores - Now in lo-carb!

Yep, I'm back on the case. And a high thanks to Rich for transcribing the earlier stuff. :)

( Wednesday Morn: I Get an MRI and It Sucked )

( Wednesday Eve: Having Committed to Work, I Can Play )

( Thursday Day: I *Love* This Chair! )

Eat Snacky Smores - just don't move around a lot.

Events in recent history that have been up to now undocumented because I've been freaking busy at work (and my hips and legs have been plaguing me like the devil himself):

( Kinsey. )

( My one-year anniversary with Myra. )

( Christmas. )

There's more Christmas presents to talk about, and more that happened (Kat hit me with a shopping cart!), but I gotta get ready for work. Watch this space.

Eat Snacky Smores - this new Year.

What is she trying to do - kill me from gaming exhaustion?

She bought me a GAMECUBE. A freaking GameCube. She must be trying to kill me.

God bless her. :)

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, the weekend. The glorious, glorious, wonderful weekend. (Except for the leg/back/calf/hip hurting thing. That sucked.)

First off --

Thank you, </a></b></a>karen and Mike, for a wonderful evening together. I only wish you'd been held over for a day - there are a few more sights in Chicagoland left for you to see. (Ah, but another time. Sigh.)

Now - now.

Today's going fairly keenly. Woke up and played a little LOTR Third Age - I'm starting to suspect that the IN-GAME clock is gonna read +4 days after I get done with Moria. (Of course, just setting down the controller and either going to sleep or going to work is fudging the in-game clock a little. Just a -little-.

Yesterday daytime was reasonable - woke up and frenetically packed a lot of stuff I would later learn I didn't need (and I forgot the ONE thing I desperately wanted to bring - arrrgh). The day went by fairly fast. Around 3, I made reservations for Sal & Carvao's, and brushed my teeth with the brush in my travel kit. Unfortunately, one of the shampoos had opened partially, so everything was fairly coated in Head & Shoulders. I rinsed everything off and left it under the fan at work to dry overnight, which worked wonderfully.

Last night was fantastic. I can only repay the favor that Karen and Mike did in covering Sal and Carvao's by telling Joe and </a></b></a>kathy that their trip up here sometime in January will include said dinner I would have paid for anyway. (Oh, and Ernie - mad props for recommending the place. If I ever see you again (you night-shift madman), lemme shake your hand for them and myself.) But it was fabulous meeting Karen's dad Mike, and it was of course the height of the evening hanging around with Karen again.

I got a -little- lost going to the O'Hare Hyatt (seeing as there are at least TWO Bryn Mawr's, separated by a big patch of buildings), but pulled up a little after 6:30. They dove in and we started out. Karen asked me if we could get Yu-Gi-Oh (though she pronounced it "yoo-JEE-oh" rather than the more Japanese-influenced "yoo-GHEE-oh". Oh well, we can't be perfect. (Or at least you rabble can't be.) I told her they were at Games Plus, and she was positively elated - but then she mentioned White Eyes Blue Dragon as a card she was looking to acquire for a young relation. Singles - not what GP does. But a quick reference to Pastimes' hours in my PDA and we were off.

We arrived at the secret headquarters of singles sales in Chicagoland (why on EARTH doesn't Pastimes put up a big freaking neon sign, I tell ya), and we quickly (or once again, {b>I</b> quickly - I end up doing ALL the work on these things) found the aforementioned dragon, as well as a rare (Jinzo) that I've heard of in Yu-Gi-Oh tournament reports. She picked them both up, and we drove off to Games Plus.

The absolutely WONDERFUL card I'd made for Karen, informing her that I was giving her a Christmas present there, unfortunately did not make it off my desk at work. (Karen, I'll email it at some point so you can see what you missed.) So I rather clumsily made the gesture, which got misinterpreted and had to be re-explained (and physically DEFENDED at one point). Sigh. But she got three games I've played before and recommended (well, two I've played and one I know the system for) - Bell-Bottomed Badasses, Kung Fu Samurai on Giant Robot Island, and Puerto Rico. I really wish I was there to sit down with her group and help them through the first game. (Maybe we can chat through it - I think </a></b></a>lori's group experience really helped me nail how to explain the game well.) But she saw where I've blown three to four hours a week for 8 years, and was suitably impressed. We checked out (and I picked up an Unhinged pack - rare was an apropos Old Fogey), and then off to Sal & Carvao's.

Parking was gone - we parked at the McDonald's next door. (And while I could have made the turn quickly, it didn't feel right. Oh well.) We entered and sat right down. Sal & Carvao's is a Brazilian barbecue. There's a salad bar you can go to, but everything else comes to your table. They have servers walking around with many different types of meats on spits. If your cardboard token is flipped green-side up, they stop and ask you if you want some. Chicken, beef, steak, lamb, pork, sausage - about the only meats I didn't see were venison and fish. When you flip the token red-side up, they stop asking until you flip it over again. If you're a vegetarian - run screaming. If you enjoy the sultry, sweet and juicy flavor of well-seaoned hot meat in your mouth - you've got a dirty mind. If you like a damn good steak - go to Sal & Carvao's. After the awkward way I handled GP's gifting, I couldn't get out of their offer to cover dinner, so I don't know precisely HOW much it was - but I strongly suspect the table cracked three digits. Such luxury.

We talked and we talked and we talked. (Or rather, Mike talked, Karen responded and I chimed in from time to time.) Either Karen's an excellent coach on how people should handle my rather reticent manner, or I just need to hang out with Irishmen. It was a relaxed and comfortable evening, filled with good eats and happy memories. Chapter Fifteen, indeed, Mr. Brazil - and perhaps a mention in the Afterword too, eh? But, like all good things, it was over too soon. I drove them back to their hotel (taking a longer way there to savor the moment, but I explained it away as easier driving) and took a few pictures and dropped them off. I'll post those later - but I still would want to know why Mike wanted a pic of my car - except to say how horribly decayed and hulky it is. Sigh. But a good evening to be had by all. If anybody from out of town wants to go have the best meat dinner in their lives, come out here and look me up. Now I know the way. :) (And this even goes for locals - but for those I'm going dutch, as you didn't spend time or money getting here.)

I drove home and came down from my high, played some more LOTR Third Age, and went to bed. (I so gotta clean my room this weekend. Sheesh.)

Eat Snacky Smores - now available in a celiac-friendly corn-based variety.

...but first, I gotta get this out of the way.

Pork loin, soft-shelled turtle and bananas? What is Chairman Kaga smoking?

My Thanksgiving holiday was quite the blurry mess consisting of a few activities. I slept a fair amount, I had a very nice Thanksgiving dinner, I played some Half-Life (for which I have a separate post when I get home again, I remind myself), and we went to see National Treasure, which I thought was enjoyable and at least not easily deniable as a possibility. My brother tried to claim that he liked it, but his first words about it were "As long as you maintain a suspension of disbelief..." or words to that equivalent. He was already trying to talk himself down from calling the movie a load of unrealistic crap, in my opinion. Then again, the idiot went and ordered popcorn, too. I should have punched him more than I did. :(

The rest of the weekend, almost to an hour, was spent playing Ratchet and Clank 3. I think it was Playstation's magazine review that summed up the reason for that. "The game never gives you a reason to set it down." There are battle missions, Annihiliation Nation, Clank missions, Giant Clank missions (or rather, a mission), pebble missions (which is what I call the missions where the map view pulls back and lets you rotate the world), and I think between twenty-five and thirty weapons, all with different applications and different modes and evolutions as they become their Level 5 versions. (I still think Insomniac is right to deny the RYNO the first time through the game - it would be a LOT less fun with this thing in the standard loadout. I'm not sure I ever got it in Ratchet 1 - might go back to that.) I actually won this wonderful game (at least the first time) just as Chris was leaving Sunday evening. I believe the play clock shows I'd put in thirty-eight hours of play time getting there. (And I'd be willing to be a good ten of that was spent in Annihilation Nation.) The good news is that the second time through, the bolts, trophies, skill points and weapons are all still there - and the upgrading from Mega to Giga to Omega is two less steps than before. (I'm REALLY hoping that I'm not asked to make the Omega RYNOcerator, though - as good a weapon as that is, that'd be a LONG time, methinks.) I also already picked up the Nano Finder Trophy for getting my health to 200. Only trophy left to acquire, I suspect, is the Weapon Finder, when all the weapons are maxed out. Then it simply remains to take out Dr. Nefarious for the second time (as I'm actually already AT the final planet) and I can shelve the game as a wonderful set of memories and stories. Only a few PS2 games have achieved that honor for me - the only one I can think of now is Silent Hill 2, but even then I suspect there's a lot of unlockable stuff I might not have seen. I won Ratchet and Clank 2, but not 1 - still should go back to that. Oh, and fie on Insomniac for letting me keep the charge boots but making me equip them - that sucked.

Yesterday evening, after a morning and afternoon of relatively productive work, was pretty reasonable. But I had a wonderful lunch at Walker Brothers with Matt - making it three times I ate there in five days. (Chris only went twice - nyahh nyahh.) I still marvel at people who pick up the menu at Walker's. It's like going to Mount Olympus and asking about the chicken. You go to Mount Olympus, you order the ambrosia. Pure and simple. (And while this is my personal opinion, my experience with the sheer physical ecstasy that food can bring suggests that it might be more generally applicable than other, less weighty opinions.)

After burning up some of our plan's remaining 38 minutes for the month (which I suspect are now closer to one or two left), I managed to keep AIM radio silence long enough to build two LOTR decks. I posted them for Matt R. to review - for which I was widely chastised. Silly people don't realize I've posted probably eight to ten decks now, plus other LOTR commentary. Some of it is for my reference - so perhaps I will mark it private at some point. Some of it, I could consider deleting as entries, especially as the decks are built, tested, and probably taken apart already in one or two cases. But it's my history, too. I'm reluctant to get rid of it. But the current decks definitely need to be visible - unless someone can convince Matt to log in again, something I have decided is not terribly likely. I rewarded myself by launching AIM - deathly few people online at 10PM, apparently - and playing some RC3. At midnight, I reloaded my MP3 player and headed out to Dominick's. Picked up ingredients for the fiber muffins and a variety of sundries.

This morning's going well. I cleared out most of my day-to-day workload yesterday, so I'm...page counting between bits writing this entry. I've got some of my LOTR inventory with me, so I'll start pulling cards for the decks at lunchtime, and I'll clear out some sleeves at the same time. Haven't seen Brian since the 18th - looking forward to tonight.

Eat Snacky Smores - because I do, too.

And powerful strong demons they are, too.

Demon the first: Deus Ex

While old, I never finished it, and I got a shot of inspiration to try it again from a discussion with (I think) Jonathan or Shiro. (Gotta love my swiss cheese.) I've played the first mission like eight times, and played the second mission 1.5 times. It's still pretty good, and my tech has so passed it that it has no hiccups at all. That sucked up some major hours. But that has been mostly supplanted by...

Demon the second: Ratchet and Clank Three

I've gone over the addictiveness of this game, and in addition, my brother is playing it at the same time, and I'm ahead of him! That NEVER happens! So I'm tempted to maintain my lead. But the problem with that is that THIS Tuesday saw the release of...

Demon the third: Half-Life 2

Oh lord. I'd forgotten. I'd so forgotten. I never finished Half-Life 1, but came darn close. (For those who have played, I basically ran out of ammo after landing on the alien world while fighting the battle scrotum.) And when you get the Deluxe Collector's Edition of HL2, you get HL1 implemented in the code of HL2! Ye gods! You mean I don't have to patch the thing to high heaven? Oh, hallelujah. And it all came back to me, too. The initial accident. The first headcrab. The spaghetti strands from the ceiling that eat you. That naaaasty elevator scene with the rain of headcrabs. The big crate-hooked jumping puzzle. Herding guards and scientists along and disabling auto-turrets. The first encounter with tripwire mines and the army forces. The one walkway they have staked out and throw grenades up at. And the AI! The AI! I still think that no program has ever done coordinated battle tactics better than the soldiers in Half-Life, bar none. I sat down and loaded it up around 12:30, hoping to go through the introduction and then close out, go deposit a paycheck, and clean out the cars of all my stuff.

Well, when I came back to the world, it was darn near 4AM. I'm just approaching the railway system, which means I get to play through the coolest human fight of all - the switching yard. (Finding the graffiti the soldiers write is intense.) Then it's off to the rocket silo and the tentacle thing, the government pullout... DAMN, this is a good game. But it wrestles with the other demons I have.

Oh, by the way - I am soooooooo uninstalling Doom 3 tonight. What a gigantic piece of crap.

Demon the fourth: The Dark Tower Series

Finshed the second book last night. While the first book is rather aimless and indeed somewhat challenges you to be involved with the protagonist's life, the second really pulled me in. I probably read the last 100 pages at a go - I read it walking to the bank at 5:30 this morning with a mini flashlight. I've got the third book next to me now - and I'm already taken with it. It's gonna be a LOOONG series, though - it's got a serious case of Harry Potter's disease. But those are all fun demons, not like...

Demon the fifth: Page counting and the December crush

This is an actual demon - a Hellboy-type stormer to all the others' smooth and sultry voices. It takes all the time I had at work and swallows it whole some days. I've truly lamented that I haven't been as attentive to Blood Loyalties as I should have. (On the other hand, for a while it felt like Clockwork had kind of abandoned me. Still hoping JP is interested in a second flashback.) The actual Demon game is chugging along nicely, and Mike will soon return from his hiatus to kick up the Cthulhu game. So it's all good.

Working backwards:

This afternoon, I've been assembling addresses, phone numbers and routes for my trip tomorrow. MY driving should be relatively simple - but there's a lot of possibility for change, and it helps to have the bases covered. I've also been clearing up paperwork here, and I had a salad and a big oatmeal cookie for lunch. Whooo!

This morning, I wrote a big post comment to </a></b></a>noel's journal, and a sizable email to Kathy. I also cleared up some merges, and pleaded for a home for a rogue amendment on my desk. (So far unclaimed.)

I deposited my paycheck around 5:30, cleaned out the cars, and then packed up my VTES stuff. (I might still have time to design a deck I have in mind - we'll see.) I watched the intro to Half-Life 2 - TWICE - and played through five minutes of it. No shooting - but a really interesting beginning. But it more than ever makes me want to finish HL1 before trying HL2 seriously. I also made the reservations for the hotel tomorrow, and due to Wednesday's failure to get my hair cut, I canceled this week's doctor's appointment (a routine follow-up weight management thing).

I got home from work around 10:00 to 10:30, and talked on the phone a bit. I had a nice stroganoff dinner, and brought all the LOTR crap upstairs I'd left downstairs from Tuesday. The upstairs is a bit...cluttered now, but the downstairs is relatively free of my maelstroms.

I left work at 5:30 to try to get to the barber's before they closed. It closed in 30 minutes, and it's basically one block away. I got in JUST to watch the guy lock up - 32 minutes. People would not believe how screwed traffic is around here with that clip of Dundee blocked off. It's insane. Thank goodness it's only for this week. But anyway, I had to go to the bathroom, I knew traffic was still not going ANYWHERE west soon, and I'd been lackadaisical about my work on Wednesday afternoon. So I went back to work and alternated between reading Drawing of the Three and working. I won't bill them for the time - but I will nock it against the traffic delays this week. (I'd been mostly making them up at lunch, but now I don't have to.)

Work yesterday was (I think) mostly a productive day. At least I remember knowing that if Bev came over to ask about Time Matters, I had a ready answer. I think the network/virii issues were mostly resolved. So another day into the ether. Sigh.

Looking forward to VTES, a drive home, an intense period of packing, and then perhaps some sleep. (I however cannot IMAGINE that my gamer might charge to the front for a second.) I've never done two consecutive all-nighters - but in theory, I might get Dad to drive me to Michigan tomorrow, so I might sleep then. And it's not even like I feel so tired right now - I yawned a little earlier today, but that was it, really.

Eat Snacky Smores - because Noel tells you they're good for you.

Or at least, it's certainly making me suffer for my enjoyment.

Let's reverse this entry and talk backwards. First, this morning.

Got up at 8:16. AGAIN. Icky. Threw on my stuff, put White Rain on my hair as a totally inadequate substitute for shampooing, and rushed to the car. The section of Dundee immediately adjacent to my work is still closed, so I'm taking Palatine to work. (I could take Route 22, but it's got many more bottlenecks.) Went a lot less smooth than yesterday - I think I left two minutes later than yesterday, and arrived about 20 minutes later. Half a lunch for me. Got to work, had a bagel and an apple and found out that Outlook was down. Said "Unable to display the selected folder or item. The attempt to log on to the Microsoft Exchange Server computer has failed." In addition, the scanner continues to not like us. We had a guy from the copier company come out to look at the scanner. He managed to figure out that it was more than likely a result of our server thinking that it's maxed out on hard drive space. So we await the tender attentions of the good people at Sterling to look at our hard drive, our virus protection, AND our email system. Oh, the joy they will have.

After putting that in motion, I started in on today's workload, and since they can't scan things (yayyyy!), I have a respite from counting. So it's all good. :)

(Mid-write update - we can no longer back up files. The server is so full that the catalog for a backup tape can't be stored anywhere. The whole server is going to Heck in a handbasket, and Sterling appears to have given a 'whenever we get there' response. Wonderful people.)

After I got home from Mike's house last night, I told myself that now was a good time to clean off my bed, bring my laundry downstairs, and tidy for an hour. I then proceeded to play Ratchet and Clank 3 until 3:30AM. In some respects, it's nastier than Diablo in the addictiveness angle. While Diablo encourages you to continue to play through loot drops and leveling, it can be a very sedate game at times. Excluding the time spent loading levels, RC3 is rather adrenaline-filled. You're moving, running, shooting and (cooool Splitter Rifle) sniping the whole time. Plus, there's no 'lives' concept - you just play and play and play. You never have to reload a saved game - you play until you stop, you save and quit, you load and play again. Sheesh, this thing's got a moray eel's teeth.

But I've gotten to Qwark's Secret Hideout, I've bought the third level of armor (I think), I have only one weapon to buy right now (the Kwak-a-lyzer, I think), and my hit points are at least above 60 if not above 80. I have 5 skill points and have found at least 10 platinum bolts, plus the trophies for the Plumber and Dr. Nefarious. Oh yeah, and I only got 4 hours sleep - but who needs that? Silly silly.

Sebastian missed us at Mike's house, so Ernie, Mike and myself played War of the Ring. Quite a neat game, I thought. There are many Shadow side cards that allow you to kill your own guys to give the remainder combat bonuses. Quite reminiscent of Operation Human Shield from South Park: BLAU. I played Saruman, Mike played Sauron, and Ernie played the Free Peoples. (I thought Mike should have played Free Peoples, myself. But the dice do not lie.) Saruman juiced up his forces, but only attacked after Sauron had moved. The Southrons, on the other hand, rallied beneath Pelargir, and in addition...sacked Erebor. Yeah, that was a march. :) We slew all the defenders - including Gandalf the WHITE. The Witch-king invaded Minas Tirith, which went down to a strong siege. Rohan only went to war late and never mustered any troops. The Fellowship was in Mirkwood when the Fords of Isen fell to Saruman's attack. With little to defend Helm's Deep and the only substantial force of Gondor holed up in Dol Amroth, Frodo and Aragorn decided that the world was unsavable. They walked up to the nearest Orc and handed him the Ring. (Translation - Ernie was getting irritated and I offered to call the game, which he accepted.) On an unrelated note, EQ is probably done for the year more or less, as Ernie has accepted a nighttime hours post for $0.90 more per hour. Can't blame him, but I suspect Sebastian might become a little erratic as well. We shall see.

Yesterday at work was pretty reasonable. I spent the morning training Mary how to use Corbel to generate a retirement plan document. I went into the situation somewhat unsettled - it's not an easy thing taking your essential skills in your position and making sure someone else knows them. But as the morning drew on, I came to a different conclusion. To wit, the situations she was encountering were rather lame from my jaded perspective, and yet I was still asked a lot of questions about Word interface and Windows file manipulation. So even if I pass on how to USE Corbel, I'm still quite the passed master at it - which restores some of the sense of security I was feeling erode away before this. After lunch, I worked on the problem of our server a little, did some regular work, and otherwise felt busy and valuable for the rest of the day. It felt pretty good, actually. Stopped off at Randhurst Mall to look for stuff, then went to the Pretzel Bakery. Two large pretzels and a large pop, only $3 and change. Not too shabby in this day and age.

Monday's driving, despite the construction on Dundee, was really quite nice. Palatine was mostly quiet and fast, and there were only a few minutes of congestion near Waukegan. Shame, really - it was pretty comfortable. I'd no idea how annoying the same route would be that evening or the next morning. (And yes, I'm taking it tonight, too. There's just no good way north, and it's the closest reasonable east-west route south of here. Actually, I -could- take 94 - I think there's a northbound exit east of here on Dundee. I'll research it.)

(Interruption of the present - walked to Starbucks for a sandwich and brownie lunch, and when I had returned the network was back up and running. So back to work I went. Icky. :) And Decipher's announced that they are rotating Fellowship block out of their tournaments. Which means they'll be designing cards they don't really intend to be used with Fellowship block cards - which our group has no intention of abandoning. Ooooh, joy. Decipher's just gone crazy.

Once again, spent a LONNNG time Sunday night/Monday morning playing RC3. I'm thinking about going back to RC1 after I finish 3 - just because I feel funny having won 2 and 3 but not 1. Just a completionist. I've also been playing Deus Ex from time to time - played the opening mission about six times. I've mellowed from a few years ago - I'm much more relaxed about stunning the terrorists as opposed to taking head shots on them. But I'm snagging passwords for all of my co-counter-terrorists, so I've become more devious. Neato-keano. I'm trying to remember what else happened on Sunday - drawing a blank right now. Aargh. Stupid swiss-cheese head.

Tonight's LOTR promises interest. Rob is absent for a second week, having gone to Disneyworld despite having only a part-time job and 2.5 kids to feed. He can't spend $6.25 for a starter for LOTR, but he can throw airfare and vacation money around. Weird. His life, his choice. I might tune some existing decks to go to Shadows format - I won't have to lug my cards outside this time. :)

And a question for the madding crowd of fans. What do you normally do for New Year's? I'll answer it first. I'm a holiday grinch, more or less - I'll eat a meal on Thanksgiving, hide from idiots on Halloween, and give and receive on Christmas. I might say "Happy New Year's" to the world if I'm outside at the moment. Otherwise, most holidays are either annoying (because I have to work but I get no mail) or the rare occasion of comfort (because I get to sleep in - but still no mail). So what will I do for New Year's?

"What do we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world."

Eat Snacky Smores.

A lazy morning, and gloriously so. We woke up around 1PM and went to IHOP. Apparently, they've screwed up Myra's order the last two times, but this time they got it spot on. It might have been that she picked up a comment card on the way in. Perhaps.

We went to HyVee's (a local grocery store chain) and loaded up on ingredients for her taco soup and my mom's fiber muffins. They don't have those little bags of baking raisins - quite disappointing. They had the mixed varieties of Rice Krispies Treats that included the chocolate ones - but they aren't worth my while. Can anybody still find boxes that only contain the chocolate variety? I'd pay a bounty. :) We checked out and went to Wal-Mart to buy a decent mixing bowl. I suggested she get containers for dry goods (flour and sugar), but she got a new muffin tin instead. And now a somewhat-closed half-full flour bag is in her cupboard. Siiiiigh. I dragged her over to the PS2 section, but nothing appealed to her.

We got home, stored all the perishables, and broke out the PS2. We started with Katamari Damacy - the highly enjoyable yet sustainedly gay game. She never said as much, but I think she agrees with my assessment. She played through the tutorial and the first level, and then we played four games of the multiplayer variant. I did...rather well, let's say. (In case she reads this, that is.) Then we broke out Trivial Pursuit, and played the freaky-weird Unhinged variety. Has teleports, spaces where you can refuse a question and get another, spaces where you get extra bonus points, and spaces that ask you a random question. My first turn got me three wedges - I was quite surprised. And despite my history of starting strong and finishing dead-last in a two-player game, I came out on top! And of course, it was due to my intimate knowledge of NHL trivia. Eric McSore-something hit someone on the head with a hockey stick - of course I knew that. I was at the game!

We then went to the cooking. It wasn't a taco soup, more of a taco chili - but it was quite hearty and delicious. We watched tape one of The Crusades (a Beeb documentary with Terry Jones narrating), which didn't seem to hold her interest too well. Rats. Then I made the muffin mix, and she helpfully put away ingredients and washed some of the dishes, and loaded the dishwasher. Then we put the batter in the fridge. I set her up with Katamari Damacy, and she's been doing well. I suspect I'd better practice when I can. (Smirk.) I've been updating Amber, Cthulhu, and I also updated her AIM. After I post this, I'll launch the MTGO updater and rejoin her in the living room.

All in all, a rather domestically-inclined, no-pressure day.

Ain't life just grahnd?

More backdated entries later - when I return to the more drab world of my normal existence.

Eat Snacky Smores.

Tuesday was pretty nice. I started the day with five to six hours' sleep after pulling an all-nighter Sunday night. Dad and I were voting together, and he was kind enough to drive me over. Voting was quick and painless - but I was somewhat perplexed that there were no resolutions, initiatives, millages, or anything that wasn't 'pick a name'. Dad thought there was going to be some sort of rural firefighter initiative - but apparently our district isn't being asked to pay for it. Hmmmm. And there were two judgeships (which I'm really not sure we should be voting on) in which the Republican was running unopposed. Sheesh. Anyway, Dad and I had a vigorous political discussion all morning. Mom hates what I refer to as "animated discussions" and what she calls "just shouting" (but it isn't, really - she just doesn't like raised voices), and she was just as happy to see us leave. :) After voting, Dad drove me up the street to Starbucks' - peppermint latte and a orange-cranberry muffin. Nummy. Then he dropped me off at home and I drove to work - getting there early in I don't know HOW long. Gotta try to do that more often.

Work was somewhat energized, even if it was only page-counting, really. I took some pictures of my workload, and I plan to create a photo album showing exactly what kind of workload it is, and how much of an endless river it'll be. (Sigh - I'm alternating between writing this and counting pages right now.) But I let the trash can pile up higher than I've ever done before, just to be silly. I also got absolute CRAP done in terms of sorting my LOTR Shadows stuff, or deckbuilding with it. So I piled it into the car again and drove home as soon as I could. I finished A Bad Place - pretty good, actually, even if a somewhat sedentary epilogue. I got home, sat down in front of my PC, talked to Myra and chatted with Matt a bit, and then pulled up my LOTR database to get cracking on deckbuilding. And it was only then that I realized that my LOTR database still has around 100+ holes in it, as I'm typing information only as the cards get posted on Decipher, so that I can keep my records current as to the weblink of the picture. So - no Shadows deckbuilding for me. :( I decided that I still had some time, so I booted up Deus Ex again (and a shout out to Al Schaefer who reminded me how good it was), and I played the training level. Unfortunately, the last exercise was to get by a patrol bot and through to a door. I decided to simply throw a crate of TNT at the bot, which did two things. A) it blew my legs off, so I couldn't run or jump any more, and B) I only found out later that it set off an alarm that locked the door. So I spent around a half hour, slowly walking around, only to give up. I hate that. I grabbed my Shadows, my decks, my site box, and a spare two-lane box, and drove out to Rob's place.

LOTR was a little annoying, but all right. Rob is a rather rabid Bush supporter (which even now I still don't even comprehend, really - but that's probably part of the fabric of the cloak that's being draped over Kerry's campaign even as we speak), so it was disconcerting to hear him cheer things I was inclined to boo. But I decided to spend my time getting Shadows in order, as I could give commons to Brian, Charlie and Rob and some uncommons to Brian. (Along with the four uncommon sites.) I actually finished sorting, winnowing and filing JUST as the evening was drawing to a close (so no actual GAMES), and we sat and watched news for a few minutes. It amazes me to some extent that most networks were displaying the totals of the states they'd called already - and then displaying the individual states on a scroll bar at the bottom of the screen; even the one's they'd already called. I mean - if I'm watching the news, and it's 200-200, do I really need to know that Kansas was already decided? I think the most useful information would simply be reporting the current margins in undecided states, and races that haven't been resolved. (Perhaps breaking in once every ten minutes to report won senatorial and gubernatorial races would be reasonable.) But we left Rob's, and Brian said that he was more into LOTR now that Ken is expressing greater interest - always a good thing. Brian was considering not playing next week, but given that Ken's interested in playing, and Rob's on vacation - it made for a winning combo, apparently. Yayyy! So I drove home, getting home around 12:30AM, and decided to play through the intro to Deus Ex again.

This time, I ran by the bot, crept up to the bridge and keyed in the activation code, and slipped through. (It also took me precisely one try to run the stealth test, as opposed to ten or so the first time. I wish they'd give you a zapper for that one, though - so much easier. :) I then decided to play the main game. I got caught up in it, and I was almost halfway down the Statue of Liberty when I died - without saving. SIGH. I'm gonna see if I can afford Master Sniper next time I start - the middle ranking just isn't cutting it. I have to get too close to snipe - I'm still a little agog that at some points, it was sensible to switch from the sniper rifle to the zapper - a melee weapon. That's not right. I finally decided to get some sleep, after chatting a little bit with Karen. (Hope you feel better! Drink citrus tea and play KOTOR!)

Oh, and I got a sticker when I voted. It says "Proud to Vote", and I put it on my wallet.

Eat Snacky Smores.

Friday evening, after work, I stopped at Barnes and Noble. For once, a relatively painless transaction! I went in, stated the problem, a clerk pulled a duplicate from stock, it was opened and examined to confirm all ten tapes where there, and it was released to me! Ain't no thang. :)

But a blemish. Approximately twenty minutes after I left work, I realized that I'd left the phones on forward, not on night mode. Having done that last week, there was no way I could let it go again. So after I got home, the family went to Walker's (where we picked up a spare order of Forty-Niners that we gave to Chris later), then we went home and packed. Took me a bit to get everything I wanted, but the Bag O' Doom was not challenged. (The trunk was, however.) We loaded the car, got gas, drove out to work, and then picked up I-94 for the trip out. (Turns out that two calls had gone in before this, so I started today in a little trouble - but I wayyy outbalanced that by having come in from Lake Zurich that night to fix it. Yayyy!) By this time, it was after 9PM, so traffic was relatively non-existent, except for one stretch in (hah-hah-hah) the express lanes. I started my new book on tape over again, so that Dad could listen - but he fell asleep rather rapidly. So, I listened to it all again. I like doing that with the early tapes in a book - sets the central concepts in mind so that you can find your way better when things get complex and fast.

We got into Chris' place somewhere around 1AM. He showed me some Final Fantasy X-2 scenes he'd taped to VHS, and I checked email and chatted briefly. Then I went to bed, sleeping on his couch.

Saturday we got up around noon, and went to IHOP for breakfast. Lovely IHOP. Had their multi-grain pancakes and got to torment Chris a little while he tried to play Bejeweled for Palm at the table. The nerve of it! It's no better than reading at the table. I was highly offended.

(Wanders away for three minute laughing jag, returns.)

Very offended. After that, we went back to Chris', and I played 3 in Three while we waited for his friend Brian to join us. We drove out to what is probably the best comic/game shop in Michigan - Fanfare Comics in Kalamazoo. Anyone in the area is highly encouraged to visit. Comics, graphic novels, magazines, RPG books, board games, CCGs, CMGs, video games, DVDs (including Doctor Who, Lori), and most supplies that those hobbies entail. It doesn't compete with Games Plus as a game store, but it has more for someone interested in the many subparts of the geek/gamer spectrum of interests. We hung out there looking around for an hour. I got myself:

1 pack Rebel Storm
4 packs Champions of Kamigawa
1 RPG book
2 books of Fastner and Larson art (both of which were amusingly covered with little blue button tabs)
1 surprisingly found DVD
2 3-lane shoeboxes

Money spent - probably too much, but it was all good.

We went back home after that, and then Brian and his wife Chris met Dad, Chris (my brother) and myself at Hong Kong Kitchen for a perfectly wonderful dinner. I had the General Tso's Chicken, as always - and it was very good. (Though oddly enough, even though I first found Green Garden's General Tso's Chicken weird, I think I like it more now - it's spicier.) We went back home and watched Murder on the Orient Express. I had forgotten a line from near the beginning that tickled my fancy. Poirot is discussing the murder with the doctor and the line director near his first interview, with the murdered man's assistant.

Doctor - "He did it."
Bianchi - "He could have. He had constant access to Ratchett."
Poirot - "And the dagger he might have obtained from working in concert with the chef."
Bianchi - "You believe so?"
Poirot - "Of course. And he stealthily crept to Monsieur Ratchet's beside, pulled back the covers, and plunged the dagger repeatedly and without motive into the body of his suitably surprised victim!"

It's pretty cool. After the movie, I played more 3 in Three, chatted online, and went to bed somewhere around 3. (3 in Three, done at three. Oooooooo.)

Sunday was another wonderful breakfast at IHOP, then gaming with Jeff Boes and his son Adam. We played a game I have been itching to try for some time - Alhambra. I haven't bought it yet because I found out there is a significant error in the English printing of the rules, and so I was happy to try it out. It's a neat game, having some resemblance to Carcassonne. Apparently, it started design as a stock market game, but a tile-playing structure was added, and it (at least in the game I played Sunday) was the determining factor in who won (me - yayyyy. I might pick it up sometime soon - especially if I crack open a copy at Games Plus and find it fixed.

After that, we broke for Magic trading. I traded a bunch of my Mirrodin-block stuff and a few Kamigawa rares for cards Jeff and Adam had. I'm edging closer to building my War Elemental/Ion Storm deck - but I'm saddened to discover Jeff had built it already. Oh well. Mine will rock, however - in many ways totally different from the way in which Mr. Boes' deck rocked. So nyahh.

We tried to play Goldbrau, but Chris was asleep at this point, and Adam had to go to work. So it was more of a demo. Then Jeff broke out a game still in the shrinkwrap, and we played Clippers, which was pretty good. (Of course, I might be saying that because I won - but I like games I win. :) ) It could be improved by making the port markers larger and/or more distinguishable, but otherwise it's a neat game with lots of "but I wanna do BOTH" - always a good factor for a game to have. Chris seemed to like it, too - but the end has a whole lotta math. (I'm still amazed how many people seem to have endless trouble with math. Not fractions and exponents and calculus (which looked so useless I never even touched it - but basic adding/subtracting! I frequently produce totals which, had I waited, would have cost someone two or three more extra seconds of thought. I dunno - 67 plus 48 is 115, and it looks pretty obvious to me. Oh well.

After that, we went back home to pick up Dad, who had fixed Chris' toilet, and then to El Rodeo for dinner. It was good, but I think Dad was pretty achy at this point. We went back to Chris' place, loaded up the car, and Dad drove home. Uneventful - but I slept from the Michigan state line to the first toll booth. Got home, yanked the Bag O'Doom upstairs, and talked to Myra for a while. She's doing well, but her beloved Cards are not, and she's losing hope. But the Series moves to St. Louis for three days, where they won all their games in the League Championship. So there's hope yet, I would wager. After that, I chatted with </a></b></a>matt and </a></b></a>lori for a while. Matt is still vaguely bummed out at college - but he's found a twice-a-week Heroclix group, so he's better. Lori is helping </a></b></a> deal with an impending tragedy, and her loyalty and deep concern for him reveal her noble nature. But even a Knight of the Cross needs a break once in a while, and I am pleased to spin a tale of happiness and joy (that might occasionally contain a nugget of wisdom or two) as comic relief. She'll return to the emotional meat grinder unhappily soon enough, I wager. About the only advice I might offer to him at this moment goes something like, "Friends of convenience will always show up to a party. Friends for life are the ones who gather around you in times of unique crisis." Not the best phraseology, but you get the point - if you're reading this, that is. You got my support, man - there but for the grace of God...

Anyway, after that, I was about to log out, when I noticed Karen logging into MSN Messenger. A brief ping to say hi...resulted in her logging off! How wude! (But what I suspect happened was that someone else with access to her computer accidentally launched it. But if he happens to read this (hint, hint), I would welcome an opportunity to talk with HIM, actually. I understand he might not be interested/able, given his busy schedule of the moment, but we are actually playing a game together, hmm? (She just now issued a formal denial, saying her PC was just acting up on its own - but what would he have told her to say if it happened the way I describe? Hmmmmm?)

Regardless. After that, I set up Katamari Damacy and played through the demo level and the first level of that. It's neat, and pretty hard. But it's one of the only games I've seen where the intro made me think, and I am certain would make most people think, "Dang! This game is SO gay!" But that's just the intro, and the game play was fine. It's certainly no Big Gay Monkey.

Sleep at last. Today's been nice - I'm moving along in both Amber games, the Cthulhu game, and I finished this rather extensive entry. Tonight's Everquest RPG, ideally. In fact, a brief rundown of this week's schedule:

Monday night - Everquest RPG, with Ernie, Mike and Sebastian
Tuesday night - LOTR CCG, with Brian, Charlie, Ken and Rob
Wednesday night - Scrabble most fair
Thursday night - Random boardgaming, with Brian, Ernie, </a></b></a>noel and </a></b></a>rich
Friday night - LOTR CCG with Ken and Charlie, conversation with Noel and Rich
Saturday night - Possible spectating at Mike's house
Sunday - dunno yet; recuperation?

Eat Snacky Smores.