I'm Back... Back In the C-U Groove...

Okay... Things are getting back to normal. The spine is still having issues, but I am learning to manage them.

Tonight, my original plan was to go home and do laundry, but then I realized that I have mixed up weekends and it is Shady's Terracide game, so no relaxing at home for me.

Beyond that, students are filtering back into town for the fall semester, which means traffic is clogging up a bit and will be that way until the parents leave and the kids figure out their way across/around town.

Business at the store today has been understandably slow, given a major festival in downtown. That said, we have had people in, mostly people just finding the store and seeing what we have. We smile and nod and encourage them to come back. Just another day of building future business.

Off to go schmooze with new folk! Lovin' every minute of it!

-- GopherDave

Better... I Hope...

I awoke today with only a trace of the headache that plagued me last night. Now, my back is joining in this fray. Oh happy day!

Enough sarcasm aside, I'm starting to get back into good routines I had been dropping in the months prior to my vacation. This is a good thing. Now, if I can make the pain subside enough, I can get back to working out as I am certain my time in Indianapolis absolutely blew my diet away. I was down to 295 pounds when I last checked, so when I get back to the gym (not today) I will just how much damage I have done to my progress.

Beyond all of that, today is Friday which means Friday Night Magic. I am sort of looking forward to it tonight as it is one of our off-kilter draft formats. We'll see how it goes...

Until later...

-- GopherDave

Time Keeps On Slippin', Slippin', Slippin'...

I started this yesterday morning. Here's how the day ended up going...

8AM - 10:30AM: Get ready for work and wait for shipments

10:30AM: Shipments arrive.

11:00AM: Open store while continuing to play with shipments.

12:30PM: Finish with shipments. Get ready to do other stuff inbewteen helping what few customers there are.

1:00PM: Feel the beginnings of what seems to be a major headache/migraine coming on. Take four ibuprofen in an attempt to kill it, or at least slow it down.

2:30PM: Come to the conclusion that four ibuprofen either did bupkiss, or are the only thing keeping me from curling up in fetal position in a dark corner.

6:15PM: Go home after being relieved by Skribl. Hate the sun the entire drive home.

6:30PM: Get home, change into comfy clothes and curl up on the couch, silently suffering. Continue this for three more hours.

9:30PM: Give up and go to bed.

9:45PM - Whenever: Suffer in bed until I finally fall asleep, at which point I sleep like a rock.

Result: Nothing really productive got done this day. Bawls.

-- GopherDave

Thoughts And Ruminations...

Day two of "back from vacation" and things seem like they are running as smoothly as ever. Loq and I did take some time out last night to help a friend grieve the recent loss of his father, and some alcohol was involved.

Gaming-wise, I'm not quite entirely certain where my head is at. I need to run a game, of that much I am certain. Helping Shady run some of his stuff at GenCon was pretty much like coming home. I belong behind a GM's screen and while I've pretty much always known that, it was cemented in my skull this weekend.

I am currently (re-)writing one of my homebrews, and it could use some playtesting. I just need to find the time to finish writing a couple of chunky sections, and then it could be ready to run.

Alternately, I could just use the shiny new Deadlands: Hell on Earth Reloaded book I picked up at the convention. After having waited four plus years for this book, I can honestly say that it is most of everything I could have ever dreamed of. Being only one book that needs to cover the breadth of twenty or so older tomes, it does an admirable job, but it does leave a few areas lacking. S'okay though, it's got just enough to use without getting in the way of any story I (or any other GM) wants to tell within the setting.

Either way, I've been talking about this for far too long. It's time to either poop or get off of the pot...

...[GRUNT]...

-- GopherDave

I'm Back...

I am back from my vacation to GenCon. It was good and it was needed. Had a good time with current friends... hooked up with some old friends... and ran into a friend I have not seen in over twenty years. All in all, a mostly good convention. I say mostly good because the two things I really wanted to buy sold out before I could get to them. So, no Netrunner or Iron Kingdoms RPG for GopherDave. The good news is that based on the demand from the convention, Privateer Press has moved up the release date of the IK RPG from sometime in October/November to September 19th, which less than a month away.

There was also good news in that FASA is back... ...sort of. Redbrick LLC, the company that's been handling Earthdawn for a bit hooked up with one of FASA's original founders (Ross Babcock) and is bringing the old girl back. Without the Shadowrun and Battletech licenses, I do not imagine the new FASA will rise to the heights of the old one, but it is good to see a familiar brand back in action. They had new editions of Player's Guides for Fading Suns and Blue Planet released at the convention, while the production values are less than stellar, they are solid products.

I took a look at the new Malifaux plastics while I was there, and I am pretty certain that these will be well received by the player base. The detail is good. They seem fairly sturdy. The prices will be on par, if not a touch lower than metal figs of the same type. All in all, a good showing for Wyrd.

For the convention, I played in five games (some good, some bad), helped run the same scenario three times (all good, some great), and had a blast. I'm looking at doing it next year with the whole family...

-- GopherDave