Getting Back To The Norm...

Trying to get back to a routine once again... It's difficult when your life schedule is discombobulated. It has been mostly thrown off track by big product after big product hitting one after the other in a three week period which also coincides with rent. We'll thrive and survive... we always do... but it is periods like this which scare me a great deal.

Beyond that, game things are syncing up once again. I am getting the itch to run a game. At first, I thought about wanting to run another superhero-styled game, but now, I've got some other things in mind. I remember playing games like Dark Conspiracy and Conspiracy X, and enjoying them a great deal. There always seemed to be a fair mix of action, intrigue, diplomacy, paranoia, desperation, and (oddly enough) heroism within those settings, and I believe I can make something work in a setting such as those.

Hmmmmmm.... Off to cogitate...

-- GopherDave

It's Been Awhile...

Okay... I'm back. Sort of...

Managed the uniform today, but looking at the upcoming temperatures for the area, this may be a one-day thing for now. It's looking to be hot here in the corn, folks. For the next five days or so, high temps are looking like 95 degrees Farenheit, with humidity somewhere in the "wet blanket" range. We'll see how it goes today.

For now, my day is looking like going in and doing some orders. setting up some tables and working the afternoon. Hi-Sign is closing, as we are arranging hours to accomodate the big MtG M13 Pre-Release weekend. Long hours are in store for yours truly.

Beyond that, Working out is more intermittent than I had orginally hoped, but it does happen. While slipping on my diet Saturday night and a little Sunday, I still got on the scale and had it show me 300.5 pounds. That is a pound less than Friday. I am hoping by week's end I will have dropped below the 300 mark. I am slowly heading downhill. If I did more than I am doing currently, it'd be faster, I know. It *IS* making progress, though, and I'm happy with that.

Toodles...

-- GopherDave

Off The Grid...

Hey All...

I'm not dead. Just haven't been blogging that much for a few reasons. Chief among those, blogging is typically part of my "getting ready for work routine". As the temperature in the Midwest has been in-FRICKIN-sane lately in terms of warmth, the sweater vest and the tie have stayed home. I expect to get back to the "uniform" when the temps consistantly drop below 92 degrees Farenheit, but at this point I'm not seeing that yet.

Working out has been more miss than hit this week, though Loq and I did manage to pull ourselves out of bed this morning. At this point, I am hovering at a shade over 301.5 pounds. Which means I've lost four pounds or so over the las two weeks. It's a small step, but it's in the correct direction, so I'll take it.

On another note, the daughter and I went to go see Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter a couple of days ago, in 3-D no less. It wasn't bad. It's worth a rental/Neflix fee, but if I had it to do over again, I'd have preferred to pay far less for it than I did. Still, it was quality time with the daughter, and that's never a bad thing, especially since she's going on sixteen and won't be "so little" anymore. Sadness.

The game writing proceeds apace. I have the general intro section to tighten up and the skills section to expand, then it should be ready for its current unveiling. The intro section has never been written before, so that is coming slowly out of me from scratch. Given what is currently there, I already know it'll need revising, but it is servicable. The skills section is getting a rewrite to account for the change in how skills work from before, plus I've never included definitions/play use decriptions before in this rulebook, so that will be added. The definition/decription section is probably going to be ripped out of one of my previous attempts at a game system, just revised to fit the DICEBAG mechanics. It's less work than it seems like, believe me.

That's it for now... laterz...

-- GopherDave

Lack of Productivity...

Not much happened today. Nor did much happen on my day off yeasterday. I'll be honest, ten years ago what I accomplished yesterday would have been considered a full day in my book at the time. I went and worked out and I did orders at the store. Then, I fought my body all day to stay awake and did not do much else.

Now... I feel I could have done so much more yesterday and today than I did and have. Three years of working 70+ hour weeks running the store mostly by myself has really shown me what I can truly accomplish in a typical day. Currently, with the hiring of employees and the lessening of my hours there, it's like I have forgotten how to relax and enjoy life. It's kind of sad, really.

I did get a slice of real life back tonight, though. I took my two favorite ladies (Loquacious and Pumpkin) out for a scoop of custard. Yes, it was no good for the diet, but it was a fantastic summer night with beautiful weather, and it felt good just hanging out in front of the custard place enjoying the town and the moment in time. It was a good vibe.

Maybe, I can find another one soon...

-- GopherDave

Hard Start...

The last couple of days have been a hard start. Getting up after about a four-hour nap each night is not the way to live, but I think that is what is going to happen until I get used to the new schedule. S'okay though... I've done long-term endurance-taxing stuff like that before. I'm a professional... =P

Today was a Gopher Minis Day at the store today, but nothing really happened in that regard. Three of our hardcore miniatures players were in St. Louis, and there is a big yearly festival going on across town this weekend. It makes for a pretty slow day. Normally I'm okay with a slow day tossed into the mix, but with M13 and Warhammer 40K (6th Edition) looking on the VERY immediate horizon, slow days scare me a bit right now. We should make it, but it might be tighter than I'd like.

Beyond business concerns, tonight is another run of Shady's Terracide game. Tonight, we will deal with a major conflict and get to a point where we can make a break in the story. Then, we are apparently looking at converting the game from HERO System to Savage Worlds. I'm not exactly certain how that is going to go, as they are two *INCREDIBLY* different animals mechanically. We'll see. I like Savage Worlds, but the idea of converting the current Terracide game to it is not exactly thrilling me. I don't know why...

Like all things... We shall see...

-- GopherDave

Slowly...

Third day of working out happened, and it seems I am going backwards-ish. Did less distance on the stationary bike than I did either of two previous days, but when I weighed myself at the end, it turns out that I have lost one pound. That brings me to 303 pounds. At this rate, I should see 300 by the end of next week. It'll only get easier from there.

Not much work has been done on the game system, lately, but I'm not worried. Knowing what I have to do makes things easier to get them done. I should have some time in the next week or so to crank out some more material. I'm looking at having the main rulebook done by the end of August, then working on the genre/setting modules over the next couple months after that. That leaves me about three months to work on the adventures.

Sounds like a plan to me...

Disconnected...

Particpated in the "online" table-top game last night. We are playing D&D4E using a combination of MapTools and Ventrilo voice chat. It's been interesting, but odd. I find it great because I now get to game once again with a friend of mine I haven't gamed with in ages due to real-life distance. I also feel oddly disconnected, though. So much so that it approaches the feeling of playing a very clunky version of those old D&D computer games (think Pool of Radiance) with some human intelligence thrown in.

Also, I trule love immersive role-playing, and I am finding a difficult time with that with no body language and limited voice inetraction on my part. Limited voice? How can this be, you say? How does one of the most talkative people at a role-playing table have "limited voice interaction"? Simple. Much of my role-playing is spontaneous and is cued off of body language from the other players. We're all in separate places, thus, no body language. Second, the voice chat software we are using is sort of a "walkie-talkie" push-to-talk sort of thing. When you are pushing the button, the sound from the other players is cut off to prevent feedback. Being limited of hearing in the first place, I am hesistant to use the "talk feature" for fear of missing an important clue or piece of information. The whole set up really has shut me down and made me kind of uncomfortable.

I will probably give it one r two more decisions before I make a final one, but as much as I am enjoying "playing" with my long-lost friend, and I appreciate the opportunity to do so, I'm kind of leaning toward ducking out of this one. It's not a bad set-up... It just doesn't seem like it is conducive to the type of role-play gaming I like to do...

My $0.02... Your milage may vary...

-- GopherDave