new in my life...

Follow-up to my last post.  The laundry set-up is now working fine.  The last part was that I was having some problems with the way that the washing machine was draining.  After a visit from a person from Schoonover Sewer Service (I heartily recommend them), I found out that I need to moderate how much fluids into the washing machine  Those high-efficiency units are rather touchy when it comes to amounts of soap/fabric softener that you add to them.  So, I switched over to a dryer-based fabric softener to help out with that situation.  Plus, with the initial laundry done, I can then go for several days without using the system.

Anyways, I'm on a day off.  I'm taking my car to be looked at by the dealership (just a check-up).  Then I'm off to help my father to mow his lawn later today.  Tomorrow it's a day of playing Pathfinder RPG.

Not yet...

I have the new (to me) washing machine in place and hooked up.  But the dryer is taking a bit more work than I thought.  First, I got a bit confused with the exhaust vent.  Vernon, the previous owner of this trailer, had taken his washer and dryer with him, so I had neglected that area.  Now, I found out that the duct in the trailer and the one below it were one unit (not two like I had first thought).  So, I am having someone lay that duct from the dryer to the outside.  I have all of the parts for the job, but I would prefer to have some professional help in doing the work.

Also, I plan on replacing some panels of the trailer's skirt.  I bought the new panels from a local trailer supply place just outside of town.  Getting it home was a challenge, as my car was not meant to transport 12' long pieces of vinyl.  So the person at the shop rigged up a string to hold my car's hatch down so that it did not fly open while I drove the couple of miles back to here.  Plus, I had to pull up the pieces to make sure they did not slip out the back.  Thankfully I got them home without any damage, and I was able to close the hatch.  Now all I have to do is cut the vinyl sheets into the proper lengths so that I can replace the pieces that were cut up when Vernon put his exhaust port in place.

The other part to this is that I also am going to hire a person to alter the electric cable for the dryer.  The first I knew that I needed to make an alteration was when I saw the dryer and compared it to the outlet that is the trailer.  The dryer had a three-prong cable, and the outlet is meant for a four-prong cable.  I bought a replacement cable at Lowe's (a day after buying the duct work parts).  I downloaded a copy of the dryer's manual, and then proceeded to crack open the back of the dryer to the work of replacing the cable.  However, I have gotten perplexed with the layout that I saw.  I compared it to the manual, and saw that the manual had a wire where I did not see it in the actual dryer.  So, I am going to contact a local appliance store and see if they can send a technician out to do the wiring.  I know that I am spending more than I wanted, but best to be safe. I want to stay in this trailer, so time to invest a small amount of cash here to avoid a larger expense in replacing the trailer.

Oh wow...

A couple of weeks ago, a couple of friends of mine were going over their voter ID cards.  They were comparing them to see what differences they had as to what they covered.  As they both lived in the same city, the only things different between them had to do with city precincts.  But that prompted me to go home later on and find my voter ID card.  I'm rather different than them as I live just outside the other town in our twin cities.  I do share the major area with them (US House, State House, State Senate).  The differences come in local voting, mainly county board and local precinct.

Now, the biggest shock to me had nothing to do with any of that.  What got me was a date that was printed on the card and comparing it to the previous card.  I've been living at my current address for 6 years.  Where has the time flown?

Before I moved to my current address, I lived with my parents in a local farming community.  It was the same town I lived in when I went to high school in the next town over.  I had moved from there to go to Illinois Wesleyan, but then moved back to the parent's place to start looking for work.  And then the years passed...

One day around six years ago, a coworker had placed a sign up at work advertising that he was selling his trailer.  I got interested in it, investigated the place, and was intrigued.  It looked like a nice place, the park looked good, and it was incredibly close to work (around 10 minutes by car).

But before buying, I decided to have the place inspected.  Vernon (the seller) said that there was no need for that.  I insisted, however, just in case there was something wrong.  The inspection came back with only a couple of niggling problems that were easily addressed.  I went for the deal, and got a sweet loan off of my profit sharing (10 year loan as opposed to 5 years that the bank was offering).  Vernon moved to a town to the north, but had issues with that house that would have been caught if he got that place inspected (he did not).  He moved out of the area around 3-4 years ago, and the last time I tried to get hold of him the phone number that I had was disconnected.

But here I stay.  Unless something drastic changes in my life, I am liable to be here for the foreseeable future.  I know that I am paying a lot of money for lot rent, and that rent is only going to increase as time goes on.  However, I still like the place, and it is still as close to my work as I think I can get, outside of moving to an apartment.  And I am getting comfortable in this home.

My latest home purchase is a used washer-dryer combo that was being sold by a coworker who is moving to a new place.  $315 for a set is not bad.  The next step in getting the pair setup will be a stop at a hardware store for a new power cord for the dryer.  Seems that the previous place had a three-prong outlet, and my place has a four-prong one.  Then I replace a portion of the trailer skirt from Vernon's time.  He just made a square cut in the piece for his dryer vent, but that piece is now so damaged that I cannot put in my vent.  Plus the vent tube is badly damaged, but I have the replacement tube.   So the dryer will not be working for around 1-2 weeks (depends on how quick an order for a skirt piece can be delivered).

So, that is my home update.  Six years.  How time flies, even when you try to keep track of it.

Just Found, part two...

Well, I'm doing a bit of cleaning, and I found an old Tootsie Roll container.  If you remember, the company that made Tootsie Rolls (oddly named Tootsie roll Industries) had a package that, when emptied, could be used as a bank.  Well, the one that I kept had some items in it.  So, what did I put in there?

1 bicentennial US quarter
1 1979 Canadian dime
1 US penny (not sure of the year, but it is a wheat penny)
5 Canadian pennies (1941, 1986, and the others are hard to read)
1 1967 Canadian bird penny
3 game tokens (two from an old Aladdin's Castle franchise)
a 1976 2 dollar bill (still very crisp)
7 50-cent coins (1971x2, 1972x2, 1974, 1985, 1988)

I had found a second 2 dollar bill (1995) which I will be putting with this set of coins.  I will most likely put my other set of coins together with this one.  And looking at these coins brings back some memories.  Playing games at the old Aladdin's Castle arcade.  Being with my friends.  Spending time with my grandparents (my mom's parents who gave me the 2 dollar bills as part of my Christmas presents).

Well, time to get back to cleaning my home.  I'm in the process of buying a washer/dryer, and I need to have the place ready to bring in the new units.

Got lucky today

Well, today was a mixed bag.  But at least I got rid of a headache.

It seems that I became a victim of crime for the second time in my life.  I was checking my email accounts (outside of my main one and my gmail), and found that I had several notices from a credit card account.  Those notices were asking me to call their anti-fraud service.  So I did that.

It turns out that I had somehow given that credit card number to a less than reputable person (or that the number was part of a hack; I'm not sure of the details).  There were a number of charges on that card that I did not recognize.  I seem to remember that there were charges to a couple of internet dating services, an order of flowers, and one really expensive gift for around $500.  They did ask about a couple of charges that I did recognize (gas station, car wash, and a charge for my favorite game site).  So, my account is now in lock-down while wait to get a new card.  But, this also tells me that I need to check that account more often so I can avoid this headache.  And be careful where on the internet I use my credit cards.  I would prefer to avoid this kind of trouble.

As for my first time being a crime victim.  That was a lot more mundane.  Several years ago, someone stole the aluminum porch rails off of my steps while I was at work.  I did report the incident to the sheriff's office, but the deputy who took the report said that it was highly unlikely that anyone would be caught.  Some time later my dad helped build wooden rails for the steps, which I still have today.

My next post will be within a couple of days.  See you all later.

What a day

Work was actually fine. It was the after work events that made this day a bummer. I got home and turned on the power strip for the computer peripherals. And my wireless router did not turn on. A trip to Best Buy, and the Geek Squad tech told me that the power converter was alright but that the router itself was dead. Not a good sign. So I bought a reasonably priced replacement router. The bad part: Geek Squad installation would have doubled the price that I was paying for the new wireless router. The best part: I did the job on my own, and it was very easy to do the work. So gone is the Demon Duck wireless network. Born is the Demon Duck 2 wireless network. And with only one computer on it, I do not have to worry about setting up network sharing (unless I go ahead and get that secondary computer so that I can check up on work-related items).

I also got some more work done on cleaning up the place for company this weekend. I still have some more to get done, and there is also my Jello salad to make. My sister-in-law is making that special request, so I will promote family harmony and make it. Just as long as it is not the day that my family will make the usual trek to Monical's for dinner. There are just some places that my family has to go to, and the contingent from Wisconsin do not have Monical's up there, so they have to have the pizza and stock up on the house sauces.

Just found...

I was going over some items in the room where I keep my computer. One of the items that I went through was a clay cup in which I keep my odd coin collection. Now, I generally go through the collection as I find new odd coins, so after I recently got a Canadian quarter, I decided to catalog the cup's collection to see what I now own. Here it is:

-a 1984 Canadian quarter (the new coin)

-a 100 Japanese Yen coin (this came from my friend David)

-a 2003 Chinese 1 Yuan coin

-3 1979 Susan B. Anthony dollar coins

-a 1977 Kennedy half dollar coin

-a 1973 Kennedy half dollar coin

-2 more Canadian quarters (1974 and 1978)

-a British 10 Pence coin (not sure what year)

-a 1980 Greek 5 Drachmai coin

-a 1973 5 Centavos coin (think Mexican, but not sure)--this one is smaller than a US penny

-2 Canadian pennies (1980 and 1994)

-a Norwegian 5 ore coin from 1974

-4 US nickles from 2004 to 2006 (featuring the alternate designs for the face and back)

-3 game tokens from some of the locations that had video games in my local area (the only one that is still good is for Chuck E. Cheese, but there are no local outlets in my home area). I'm not sure about one, but I do remember the Space Port arcade that was on Green St. in the heart of Campus Town (University of Illinois)

-three shells that I collected back in high school when my band took its Florida trip (I got them from Daytona Beach)

-a bracelet that I got as a Christmas gift from my parents many years ago

-a spent rifle jacket. I got this from my best friend (at the time ), Rick Kessler. Rick lived outside of Foosland, IL, at the time, and we got together as much as 4th graders could. The one other thing that I remember about his family was that his father was in the Illinois National Guard (hence why he gave it to me). That still will bring me to a stop.

Anyways, I'll add to this list eventually. I know there are other odd coins out there that are circulating as US coins.

The start of Christmas

Well, here are my reflections about today. This was supposed to be a holiday day-off for me, but I went into work for around 6 hours. This is a first for me, as in the past other people in my department dealt with this duty. It turned out to be some of the easiest work I've had in some time. It was mostly taking care of paperwork and making sure that last-minute entries were dealt with.

Now, about the holiday day-off bit. I know that the holiday is supposed to be December 26 (that is, the Federal Holiday). But this has to do with the company I work for. My employer has established their own fiscal calendar so that there is a bit more regularity with scheduling. Every month begins on a Monday, ends on a Sunday, and has either 4 or 5 weeks in it, depending on which month it is. These months on the company fiscal calendar fall roughly where a normal month is, but there are some variances. Because the fiscal calendar ends on December 25, all of the entries needed to be dealt with before that (thus some work being done on the 24th). The other irregularity was that Christmas for 2011 for the company would actually fall in the fiscal calendar of 2012, thus the company shifting my holiday to December 24. I know this all sounds odd, but I did not complain. It just meant that I got around 6 hours of double time pay, plus my holiday pay. So I got a good bonus.

Anyways, I then got in my regular grocery shopping afterwards. I met a couple of people I know from my work. Hello to Maria D. and George from ATS.

Later was dinner with my local family. Dad was out of the hospital, and looking a bit better. My nephew got to open some gifts, and a decent amount of Monical's pizza was eaten by all. I even introduced my nephew to Angry Birds on my computer, but he was having a difficult time trying to manipulate the birds on my laptop's monitor (he's only played Angry Birds on my mom's Nook). Anyways, time for bed. I'll be having Christmas dinner with Mom and Dad at a local restaurant and not at their home. With Dad having been in the hospital for the last week, Mom has not had any time to take care of their home this last week, and dinner there is not an option. And I did not plan on making dinner myself. Hmm....

Favorite Recipes (part 2)

OK, here is the second of my favorite recipes. This one came from my sister (Hi, Deb!).

Ham Hash

Ingredients:

-half a teaspoon of Garlic

-half a package of Southern Style Hash Browns (defrosted)

-half a cup of Diced Ham

-half of a green pepper, diced

-half of a onion, diced

-half tablespoon of butter

-half tablespoon of oil (olive oil is best)

Start with heating up the butter and oil in a skillet. When the butter is melted, add the green pepper and onion. Cook them on medium high for around 5 minutes to soften the pepper and brown the onion. Add the ham and heat it until it begins to crisp. Then add the garlic and heat for around 1 minute. Add the potatoes, and cook until the potatoes are hated thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I estimate this will make around 4 servings, although I usually get two dinners from each batch.

One more recipe which I recently discovered. This came from a package of Don Marcos flour tortilla shells. They called it Mexican Morning, but I refer it to:

Breakfast Tacos

Ingredients:

one half cup of skim milk

dash of pepper

one 4oz. can of mushroom pieces and stems, drained

one cup of shredded cheese

one 16 oz. container of egg substitute

one tablespoon of margarine (low fat preferred)

package of tortilla shells of your choice

salsa

Combine milk, egg substitute, and pepper in a bowl and whisk until well blended. Melt the margarine in a skillet and add mushrooms. Heat for one to two minutes over medium heat. Stir in the egg mixture and heat. When egg mixture is nearly set, add cheese. After heated, remove from heat and spoon into heated tortilla shells. Top with a little bit of salsa and serve.

I also like to add either ham or green pepper to the mix, adding them with the mushroom pieces. I will heat that part for about a minute longer before adding the egg mixture.

My Favorite Recipes (part 1)

Well, upon reflection of the events of yesterday's Thanksgiving, I decided to share my favorite recipes.  I know that I only have a few that I call my own, but that is mainly because I tend not to spend a large amount of time in the kitchen.  I also guess that I did not really learn a great appreciation for food preparation in my life.  But anyways, here is my favorite recipe.  I'll post the other two in a second post later today.

First, here is my favorite recipe.  I'll call it James's Strawberry Jello Salad.  (FYI, I got the recipe from a book that my mom owns.  It was published by Kraft many years ago, and is surely out of print.  So I can claim it as my own.)

INGREDIENTS:
1 large box (or 2 small boxes) of Strawberry Jello
1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple (drained)
1 16 oz container of frozen sliced strawberries
1 16 oz container of sour cream (I prefer to use reduced fat sour cream)
2 cups of boiling water
I also recommend having two large bowls on hand to prepare this dish, and a ladle really helps out.

1) Mix the boiling water and the Jello in a large bowl.  Stir for 2 minutes.
2) Add the frozen strawberries, and stir until the strawberries are no longer frozen.
3) Add the drained crushed pineapple and stir until well mixed.
4) Ladle around half of the mix into a second bowl, and place the serving bowl in the refrigerator.  Check on that bowl every few minutes until that one is set.  Keep the other bowl at room temperature, stirring it every few minutes to keep that one from setting.
5) Once the serving bowl mix is set, remove from refrigerator.  Layer the sour cream on top of that bowl, and then pour the second bowl's mix on top of the sour cream layer.  Place the entire dish into the refrigerator.  Serve when set.

I've seen recipes on the internet that call for adding bananas to this.  I prefer to not do so.  And my results have borne this out.  You can also save some of the sour cream to make a top layer.  I personally have not done so, if only because of the results above.

I took this dish to several dinners at work, and never came home with leftovers.  This has also become my signature dish for family dinners.

I'll post my other recipes in a second post.

Thanksgiving

Once again, it's been ages since I've posted here, so it's time for another update.

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  I like the holiday, but it's been hit and miss over the last couple of years.  For a couple of years I was going to Thomasboro Peace Lutheran Church for Thanksgiving dinner with the pastor there and with my family members in the area (my parents, and my brother and his wife).  Last year I spent Thanksgiving alone with a turkey dinner for one.  This year I went to my parents' house for dinner.  They had ordered a dinner from County Market, and it was very good.  Turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, cranberry orange relish, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, and pumpkin pie.  I brought with me what is becoming my signature dish, a strawberry jello salad.  I'll put the recipe up on a future blog post.

We had dinner together, with a trip for seconds, and then watched a Shirley Temple movie on Turner Movie Classics.  Afterwords, my mother went to play solitaire on her Nook, while dad went to do some early Christmas shopping on his computer.  I was content to watch a couple of episodes of a downloaded shows on my computer (before the battery went dead).  Just as I was leaving tonight, my brother arrived from their visit to my sister-in-law's parents.  I gave them the rest of the jello salad (she loves it).

Finally, to top the evening, I went over to the local Wal-Mart and participated in my first Black Friday event.  I saw that they had an office chair on sale for $39 (well, technically the sale was on Thursday, but you get the idea).  It's likely the only time I'll be a part of a Black Friday event, unless I hear of a super deal in the future.  All of the other offers for this year do not interest me one bit.

Well, time for me to get back to reality.  I need to check on my Wizard 101 game.  Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Conundrum in Wizard 101

Ok, everybody who is reading this. I could really use some advice here.

First of all, my current favorite game on the internet is a mmorpg called Wizard 101. I won't go into detail about the game. Suffice it to say that it is a family-friendly role-play game, and the game play keeps me coming back. My current favorite character (let's call him LR) is a fire wizard who enjoys adventuring, being with friends, and is an avid gardener. The middle one applies to the real-world me as the only gardening that I do is pull up weeds next to my trailer, and my travels in the world are limited by my budget.

Anyways, my conundrum is thus. My character LR is currently a friend with a young lady wizard of the ice school (remember, this is a G-rated game) who I will call J. Now, J visited my in-game house to say hi and talk. After my gardening, we did talk. J was having a problem with another player. I guess that other player was overly-happy, thus making J sad and mad at the same time. I did remind J that others' feeling need to be considered, but that maybe the other player needed to respect her. (Maybe I said it wrong.) She got even sadder over that, but I then reminded her that I was her friend, and that I would always be there for her.

This is one of those times that I could get to know another player in real-life. I know there are ways to work around the game's censoring software, but this is one person who I feel needs more help than I can provide in-game. I am making it my goal to help her out as best as I can. But there is a limit to what I can do as a character in a game. I feel she needs more help, and a real-life friend could make the difference.

But, then again, I know that this could lead to trouble. After all, I think that I am old enough to be her father.

What to do? I wish I knew. I guess being there for her, even in-game, is better than running and hiding (which was my first thought). This will be a first for me since college. I have to stand up and be a true friend, even if all I am is some character in a game. And isn't that what friends do?

What's in a (nick)name...

I saw this in my list of unpublished posts, and I figured that I really needed to work on this subject. That is,...

How did someone from central Illinois come by the nickname Tobimaro?

Well, there is a story to that. It comes from my history with the internet.

Let's go back many years (not sure how many). Back to the dark, early days of the internet (at least as far as I am concerned). At that time I was living with my parents in a very small community with no cable TV (the cable franchise that fed the next town over did not come from the east [my direction] but from the south). My first internet account was on a kiosk at Kinko's in the big (for me) city on a free net called Prairienet. It was extremely primitive compared to today, as my main interests was reading email lists and catching up on my lists. No web-surfing, as the World Wide Web was in its infancy, plus my time on that kiosk was limited. But then the group behind Prairienet could not get better equipment (for free), so they decided to start charging for using their kiosk. I then decided to get my own computer and a different account.

With no cable available, I started to look at the dial-up services that were available. The only services that I could find were EarthLink and America Online. Since I could find local numbers for AOL, I went with them and set up my account. Then came coming up with my primary name...

Well, I went with my favorite anime "Urusei Yatsura". I figured that there would be some others using the names of the primary characters from that series, as the manga and anime were being released in the US. So I delved into the show a bit further. The latest translated book had a story introducing Mizunokouji Tobimaro, so I decided to use his name for my primary screen name. (I was kinda proud to have a screen name without using numbers.) And I still use the name in various locations.

I know it's not much. But I like the name. I give full credit for the name with Takahashi Rumiko and America Online.

Busy Day Ahead

Well, another post...(I really need to be more regular about these posts)

Today is June 11, and it looks to be a busy day ahead. Couple of items have come together to make this day an important one.

First of all will be a party to celebrate the second birthday of my nephew. I am looking forward to it as I do not see him that often. I do have my present ready, and I hope that his parents like it. I got an idea from a supervisor at work to get a US savings bond (to help with his future education), so I put down $25 for a $50 bond. It's not much, and I expect to do more like that, but it's the thought that counts. I also get to see his new swing set out in the back yard.

I then have to travel to the other side of my town for a cook out at the home of my supervisor. He decided to hold a cookout for the rest of the department, and the rest of the guys did not want to have it on Sunday. So, I am planning on leaving the party around 6 to make it for the cookout. I'll bring my own drinks (and I am not planning on having alcohol as I am driving). The only complication that I foresee is if the party goes late (or if my sister in law has a late meal). I'll talk more either tonight or tomorrow.

I just was on jury duty...

Well, I just finished up a period of petit jury duty for my county's court system. It was a bit different than when I my last served on petit jury duty. Let me explain by telling this tale of my history of jury duty service.

The first time I served on petit jury duty was several years ago. I was asked to serve for a two-week period at that time. I was selected to sit on a total of three cases, and was on hand for a fourth day before leaving due to the pending cases being settled by the parties. The first case was a domestic battery case, which lasted one whole day. Jury was selected, trial began, two people testifying for the county, two testified for the defense, jury made its decision, and the defendant was convicted. Not bad for a first case.

Second case was a civil case, but I was excused (no comment as to why).

Third case was a criminal assault case, but I never found out the verdict as I was the alternate juror. Case went into a second day for final arguments for the lawyers, and I was excused as the alternate was not needed at that point.

There was an incident during my service. Remember the day when I was on hand but was let go? Well, I was on my way to get some lunch before going back to work, when I noticed several emergency vehicles rushing towards the courthouse. Later on I heard that a man had entered one of the court rooms and threw an incendiary device at the judge's bench. It did not do any harm, but it did a lot of property damage. This was well before 9/11, so security was not the top priority that it is nowadays.

My second petit jury duty experience was several years later at the new Federal Court in my town. Now, in orientation I was told that my jury duty period was for a three-month period, but because the court docket was planned out in advance they knew that the court would only have one total case for that period. I was on hand for jury selection, but was not selected. With it being a new building (and a Federal court to boot), security was a lot more extensive than my remembrance of the county's court house. Mind you that it was post 9/11, so security would be enhanced.

As for my most recent call, I was asked to serve at the county courthouse for this last week. First of all, the county's courthouse was completely renovated after the fire bomb incident (plus that it was a very old building). Now the public can only go through one entrance (with its requisite metal detectors). And now they also ban all cell phones inside the building to protect any juror from having his or her image splashed on any web page. Anyways, there was only one case this last week, and that was a civil assault case involving two employees of the local university (a professor and an IT person, I believe). It was expected to last three or four days, but I was not called.

Now, I do like to serve on juries. I have not had a bad experience in serving, so that helps. Plus, I had a teacher back in high school who extolled the virtues of jury service as a civic duty. I would like to someday serve on a grand jury and also serve on a Federal jury, if possible. Not that I am going out of my way to volunteer. If it never happens, so be it.

Wisconsin road trip...

OK, welcome back. I said I was going to be doing more posts here, and I aims to please.

I took a trip to Wisconsin this weekend. My youngest brother is getting married later this year in Las Vegas, but due to budget constraints I will not be attending the wedding. However, he and his fiancee were both having a get-together for family and friends, so I and brother #2 and his family (he is the one who adopted a son back in 2009) made the trip up to visit them (and brother #1) in northern Wisconsin. My parents did not make the trip due to my father's recent illness (recovering from a staph infection). So, in my father's borrowed van, we made the trip up north. My only issue with the trip came up when I realized that my laptop's battery was not going to last the whole trip. We did stop at a town just south of Rockford for food and gas, which allowed me to buy a DC to AC power converter. They had other issues, but I did not want to get involved (and I do not air their issues in public, so let's keep it at that). My main form of entertainment was watching several episodes of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger (this is the basis of Power Rangers Samurai that is being shown on NickTOONS).

We arrived at brother #1's home (actually it belongs to his girlfriend) around 11:30 PM, and we were all happy to get there. I got the computer room with the unfolding futon. It was not a bad place to sleep, and thankfully my nephew knows not to open doors that he should not open without permission. The one that was happiest to see us was their labradoodle, who became best friends with my nephew over the course of the weekend (brother #2 and family have a dog, so being around a dog was no bid deal for my nephew).

SATURDAY:
Brother #1's girlfriend had to put in some time at her job early in the morning, but she still had time to make a breakfast casserole. I got up a bit late, but due to sleep issues, I felt it was not long enough. Anyways, while #1's girlfriend, #2's wife, and #3's fiancee went for a ladies' day with some of friends of the fiancee, the brothers and myself watched a bit of TV, watched nephew play with the dog, and we also talked to our father over the phone for a half-hour (using my cell phone). Lazy day of seeing NCAA basketball and hanging out.

Then the ladies came back and we did some more light talk, and brother #2 and wife gave the new couple a shower gift (tool set).

Then came the guy's night out. We planned on going to an early show at a bar/comedy club in town, but the plans shifted to the late show (one of #3's friends was coming from out of town and could not make it for the early show). So we ventured out to a bar in the same strip of stores as the club (cheaper food), where we met a pair of #3's friends (including the late arrival). We got food and drink (mine was not alcoholic as I planned on being a designated driver). After eating and watching a bit of the Wisconsin game on TV, we walked to the comedy club.

***My only complaint about that club is that they really need to work on how they handle lines going into the club. Back to my story.***

The MC for the night was a rather young comedian. Not bad, but he is a work in progress. Averell Carter was the next act, and he was very good. His best bit was a shot at a couple of people he encountered in a line complaining about poor service with a line "This is so gay". His retort was that they really needed to find a better complaint line (offensive words were at one time really offensive, now they are really lame). He told it better; I recommend you go see his act.

The headliner was Michael Mack. Now his act was funny. And his work with the women in the audience was great. One person that he worked into his act was an older woman who had her family with her in the club, and they sat to his left at the foot of the stage.

***Another note: the seats that the six of us (four brothers and two friends of youngest) were very nice. Great view of the stage, but not right next to the stage so that the comedians would not be using us in the act).***

My favorite part of his act was his ending, including his props to simulate various famous rock acts. The Queen bit from Bohemian Rhapsody where that band did the 'figaro' bit had me laughing hysterically. Loved it!

After the end of the act, we all went back to the first bar. We found out that Wisconsin had won (boo). Brother #2 and I split off from the rest, and after borrowing #1's gf's van, we went back to the house to get some sleep.

SUNDAY

Late night became late morning. We did find out that brothers #1 and #3 made it back to their respective homes safely (#1 was locked out of the house for a bit because I had the keys). The group met at a local restaurant for brunch, followed by a trip to a local outlet shop for a look at the selection (its almost a tradition). After that it was trip preparations and #2 and I traveled back home. This time I listened to my NPR podcasts, and watched part of a documentary on the Crusades (my nephew liked seeing the men riding on their horses...ok, he liked the horses). The odd thing about the trip back was the weather. Up in norther Wisconsin it was only in the upper 30s to lower 40s. Back in central IL it was in the 60s when we stopped for dinner. I had to ditch some layers of clothes during the trip.

Long trip, but fun nevertheless. I'll have to think about my next trip up that way in the summer for the post-wedding reception. I may just drive myself. I liked watching my shows on the computer, but I think I may prefer to listen to XM for the trip. I also liked the drive with my nephew, but...I'll stop here. Have a good day.

Um...

(deep breath) *Whoosh* *cough cough*

Oh my, so much dust here. *COUGH*

Wow, has it been this long since I posted here? Time to clean up the dust.

(sounds of a LOT of cleaning)

I am very sorry about this. I meant to keep this up, but life gets complicated, and I never got into the habit of coming here. Well, I hope to do more to post here and share my life with others out there. I'm going to keep this post short, but I will put up a longer post as to what is going on in my life within a couple of days. I just wanted to show that I am not dead, just lazy.

I may also try to post about my views of the world. I have seen news out there that makes me wonder about the state of the world. Lots of changes in the Middle East and in the good old United States makes me wonder about the future of the human race. But I will save that for a future post.

Enough of this. I have more cleaning to do here. This place is REALLY dusty.

Last Vacation Time, end report

Well, it looks like I've attended my last convention for 2009. But the last two were a blast, for entirely different reasons.

On the weekend of October 2-4, I was in Bloomington, IL, for the 10th iteration of FlatCon. And it was the last Flat Con since the organizers are giving the convention to others to run. It will most likely be under a different name for 2010, but it was a marvelous run for those years that I attended. I was there to help the CIRCA Gamers run Living Forgotten Realms games, but I was able to get in some playing as well. That was a nice change of pace, as it is not easy for me to play modules when I am running games at cons. Plus, I won a couple of raffle prizes as well.

FlatCon was unusual in they held raffles for a local charity. They procured games and other donated items, sold raffle tickets, and then held a drawing to give them away. I got some decent items (as well as a bunch of filler stuff). A Dungeon Tile supplement, a couple of books, a tote bag, several magnets, two 4.0 D&D modules, with the rest being some free items, store promos, and three copies of the same Hackmaster Hacklopedia of Beasts. Oh well.

On October 9 and 10, I attended Brewfest in Cape Girardeau, MO. This convention was a blast for different reasons. The bad part was the drive from where I was staying to Buckner Brewery, where the convention was being held (thus the appropriate name for the convention besides it being inspired by Greyhawk D&D). My gaming on Friday and early Saturday were LFR games that I wanted to get for my local group, and they went well. But the game on Saturday evening was nothing short of a laugh riot.

If you have never played a round of Kobolds Ate My Baby, then you are missing something in your life. And since this was an all-adult group that went from 8-12 PM, this was an R rated game, and there were times when the game master was laughing so hard that he cried (unless there was the time when he almost choked on his drink). In short, I felt that my entire trip was worth it for playing a game that I had not seen in three years. I plan on spending a bit of my spare cash (what little I have) to find a copy of this game and the harder-to-find supplement.

But anyways, I can see what month we are at, and I know that my employer will be ending overtime work soon. Time to get back to my job and grab what precious overtime pay that I can. It is the main way that I can afford these moments of fun.

GenCon Recollections

I attended the GenCon Game Fair in Indianapolis, IN, recently. I had a lot of fun, but it was not all fun and games (pun intended). But before I forget all about it, here are some highlights.

Wednesday, August 12:
My friend Brayden picked me up for the drive, but not before I had to leave some of my items at home for lack of space in his car. So no updates for my LFR PCs, as one of the items that were left was my laptop. We got to Indy for his slot zero, and as he parked the car, I checked myself in at the Marriott. A bit later my first slot zero table convened in the bar just off of the lobby. We ended up ordering dinner instead of moving to a different table. But we did break for the RPGA judges's meeting in the convention center. The shirts that they got for us this year are certainly different than the ones I got two years ago. Mine were a bit too big (2XL). My other concern was getting a refund for my player's badge, but the RPGA staff said that they would take care of that. After that, I was able to drag Brayden from our room so that we could have fifth player for my second slot zero. Fun all around.

Thursday, August 13:
Thankfully I did not have to judge the first slot, as that allowed me to get a bit more rest. When I did go over to the convention center well before my first judging round, I made the mistake of entering the center during the opening ceremonies. That was brutal, but then again I was wondering if most of those people were competing to see who would be the first into the dealer's area. I was able to get one of my shirts exchanged for an XL shirt, which fit much better.

After that, I had my first session as a judge, and it went well. I was able to ask for a particular table featuring another friend from my area (Hi, Harold!) and Gerrie, a friend whom I had last seen at a convention in Cape Girardeau, MO.

In the last slot, I was released due to lack of interest (or maybe due to the number of players who tried to get into a level 4-7 module with their level 1 characters). I went to the front desk, and was asked to run a module for "open play" (they play whatever is available), but the only module that I had at hand was that module that I had prepared to run. So, after procuring a copy of the special (and a borrowed battlemat), I was given a party to judge. All went well, but I feel that I could have done better. But for the fact that I had had no time to prepare, I feel that I did my best.

Friday, August 14:
Another day, more judging. Got through the morning session alright, although I was once again asked to judge a module that I had not prepped. Thankfully I was able to borrow another judge's pre-made map.

After that I had an open slot, and I decided to play that round instead of going to the dealer's room right away. I went downstairs and got in line to buy an event ticket for an LFR game. I had two choices, and went with my second one. But after buying that ticket, I checked the event guide...only to find out that I did not have a character for that game. Oops. I then got in line at the Customer Service booth to get that error fixed. I got back to the RPGA room just in time for the slot, and then proceeded to play the low-level special that I had just judged the night before. Thankfully I was playing a silent fighter-type. I later got in a trip to the dealer's room, coming away with a free key chain, a Hare+Guu Deluxe part 2 DVD, and a new flipmat from the Paizo booth. I passed on their Pathfinder D&D 3.75 product, preferring to get it later, if at all.

After dinner at the Circle Center Mall, I was able to finally get back to judging the module I had prepared for. I really liked that table, and not just because of the all-dragonborn characters. The only downside was the event ran a bit long, so I reverted to a non-D&D decision making prop that my local group adopted from the Champions RPG. I had all of the players make what is called a "luck roll" to decide the outcome of the final combat. I know that is a cop-out, but due to the fact that my side had a good chance to win, I felt that having them make those rolls was a fair decision. The rolls were in their favor, which makes me feel better about the situation.

Saturday, August 15:
Time for some more judging. Five of us were released from our group, and we were all given the choice to run the two-round MINI game. As three of those released had the next round off, I and one other judge were assigned to that game, with the caveat that we were not expected to be there for the next round at the IMPI1-5 group. I was thankfull that I had bought that flipmat the day before, as the only mapping items that I had brought with me were the Dungeon Tiles that I had picked out for the IMPI1-5 game. Turns out that what I had heard about the MINI1-1 game was true, as my table got done in a little over 5 hours, including player stops for food and bio breaks, and I even got a bit of lunch in.

I went back down after the game, with the intention of getting a three-set of generic tickets and the thought of getting into another round of playing. When I returned to the RPGA area, I found out that the IMPI area got slammed and was the group that needed more judges. Well, I decided to put back on my judge's shirt and run another round. At least my area did not have to turn away players.

I then went to get my judge's rewards (aka swag). I let the people at the front table that I had judged an extra slot, and was told that it did not matter that I had somehow fit in another game. I had been put in for 7 rounds, and that was the reward level I was set at. WHAT THE?!? I proceeded to pick out my rewards (Books: Divine Power, Eberron's Player's Guide, and Adventurer's Vault 2, one pack of the new minis, and two Dungeon Tile sheets featuring boats) and vowed that I would talk to others later.

Another trip for dinner to the Circle Center Mall, and I ran into the marshal for the IMPI1-5 area. I told him my issue with the front desk, and he asked if I had talked to anyone in charge. Well...DC had been absent, and I had not seen TB, who is a person I had known from a couple of trips to Chicago-area conventions back in the Living Greyhawk days. He said that he would talk to DC about the fact that I did not have to volunteer to run a slot when I was asked to. When I got back to the LFR area, he took me to the desk, and I was then credited with my extra effort (book: Monster Manual 2, and a pack of the Rewards Cards).

Then came my last judge slot with Team Wootzor. They were the most eclectic group that I had ever judged, even going back to all of the tables that I had run in the LG days. They even had a bit of feng shui going, as every player had a particular seat that they had to have in conjunction to where the judge sat. Needless to say that they really got into the role-play portion of the game. And their needing to shout out their name whenever one of them rolled a critical hit. (I was even expected to yell out "Whoop-Ass" whenever I had a critical, which I had a bit of a challenge to remember). In the middle of the game, just as I was rolling initiative for the second combat, the fire alarms went off, forcing us to evacuate the convention center (but not before everybody gathered their stuff). We reconvened in an open-gaming room at the Hyatt, where the gang was forced to keep their yells down a bit. I came away with a keepsake d6 and an appreciation of their group.

Sunday, August 16:
I had the entire day off, and I took advantage of it by sleeping in a bit. However, Brayden and I had to be up in order to check out in time. He had a bit of a panic by having misplaced his Rewards Cards set, but he had packed them in one of his bags already. After vacating the room, we checked out and had the bags put in temporary storage. While he went to visit friends, I proceeded over to the convention center to play a couple of games. I ended up getting involved with their University of Catan promotion, having gathered the basic commodities that are present in the game Settlers of Catan, thus gaining the title Knight of Catan, an entry in a drawing they were holding, and a half-off coupon I used to buy the latest version of Eurorails. After that, I hooked up with Brayden, and watched our stuff while he got the car. And that was that.

All in all it was a good convention. I am considering judging for them at DC's next convention (DDXP in Fort Wayne, IN), but I will make sure that I hit the free hotel room level.

They say it's your birthday...

Well, here it is. Birthday #43. Yipee.

Anyways, I decided to take the day off and get the home prepared for the upcoming visit of my sister and her husband. They should be here by Friday the 17th. And what have I got to show of it by now? Well, I have my shed cleaned out and rearranged. And I should get back out there and put some of my stuff in the shed. Other than that...

Let's just say that I have been planning on cleaning my home for some time, and mainly due to tiredness from work, gaming with friends, and some laziness, it has not gotten done. But I can live with a bit of clutter myself. Besides, I do not have others coming to my place to make me keep up the cleaning. And I also usually spend the majority of my day cleaning a warehouse, so I feel somewhat justified in not keeping my home free of clutter.

Anyways, time to get back to getting some cleaning done. I may not get my home fully cleaned by Friday, but at least I'll have it in much better shape than I have seen it for some time.

Oh, and I will most likely go out for some form of dinner tomorrow. It is my birthday, and I intend to treat myself. I just have to figure out which place to go to.