Revision

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX: Mmmmmmm.......So Many Bits.....

In which our hero gives in.

[Saturday afternoon, October 4th, Metamora, IL]

"Yes, I broke my promise to not buy any more games this year (1). But Just For Fun games is an incredible game store that would acquire far more of my money if I did live in the Peoria area (2). For those of you who do live in the Peoria area, I would highly recommend that you pay them a visit for all your game related needs (3). They're located on Brandywine Drive right across from the entrance to Northwoods Mall (4). Go there (5). Spend money (6). I command you."

(1) But I promptly remade that promise after paying for my nice new copy of Nexus Ops. It's a really nice game, just ask Trotzkie. You should drop by some time, and we'll play a game or two of it.

(2) Gotta give some thumbs up and down to Cromag here. He was the one who found this place for me, so thumbs up! The dent this store puts in my wallet rates a medium thumbs down. Yes, I could see me spending lots of money there. Good thing it's 2.5 hours away. I would even go so far as to say that it's better than my local game store.

(3) They also have a big stock of jigsaw puzzles and plenty of space to set up and play games. They do also have CCGs (blech), and just about whatever other game you could want.

(4) 4640 N Brandywine Drive, Peoria, IL, 61614 (309) 686-7720

(5) Now! Go now! You're not doing anything better than goofing around on the computer, so go!

(6) Lots. Help keep this little gem in business. I probably could have easily spent $400-500 and not even tried too hard. Mind you, I never would have lived to play any of the games once Pinklady found out, but it would have been easy to spend a lot. Just as a word of caution for those not really familiar with the world of games beyond Monopoly and the like: it's not unusual to spend $35-50 on a new game nowadays. That would be for boxed games. Card games (not CCGs) probably land in the $10-20 range, depending on the game. Go on, spend a few bones and try something new. Interact with real people for a change. Or you can just sit there, reading weird blogs and surfing for porn.

Interruption

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE: What Day Is It Again?

Wherein our hero tries to get caught up on the more immediate past.

* Congrats to BigB on 18 years of gunfire free marriage!

* We had about a weeks worth of a most excellent Indian summer. Now the weather is turning more and more fallish. With any luck, I won't have to mow the yard again. But the leaves haven't even started to fall off of the big trees in back yet. And there will be a ton of plant removal to do once we have our first hard frost.

* Even though I have all the stuff I need, I don't know when I'll be able to get that post in the ground at the folks. And I really didn't want to tell them there was a very pervasive cat smell in the family room.

* I have thought about starting to run again. I don't want to spend this winter getting softer and whiter, and I'm really bad about getting out to the Y to go swimming. The treadmill is paid for, and I only have to go downstairs to use it. Not to mention that I have 13 more Monty Python DVDs to watch while I use it. I think I will wait to start until after this weekend, though. I'll be helping MSD and the Giant move, so I don't want to muck up a knee or my back before I have a chance to do it helping them.

* Really dreary day yesterday. Cold, rainy, gross. Also didn't hear boo from anyone all day.

* Diabetes Ed has proven to be so basic that I have been excused from having to go to the last two sessions by Pinklady.

* The Princess Cowgirl has dropped back into things. Nice to hear from her again.

* I am fighting against the notion that I may have to start taking those stupid pills again.

* Tom and Donna were kind enough to point out to me that on of my banana plants had sprouted two daughter plants. A quick trip to the internet told me that they are called 'pups' by those in the know, and they can be separated from the parent plant and grown elsewhere. If done right, you end up with another full sized banana plant. If I play my cards right, I could end up with my own little tropical looking banana grove right outside my front door. How cool would that be?
For now, time will tell if I manged to perform the separation correctly. The bigger of the two pups now resides in a pot of dirt in the sunny office window. I'm not sure if there's enough to the smaller one for it to be removed, but since I already bought a pot for it, I guess I'll give it a try. I also need to do a bit more reading on how to overwinter the outdoor plants so they come back next year.

* I need to get out more. This was proven to be the case when I became enthused about the new furnace. The two new hole sin the north side of the house I'm not so thrilled about, but the nice, quiet, 95% efficient furnace I am loving. And I fully expect to stay thrilled until the bill arrives.

* I figured out at least one contributing factor to the decline of the plant in the aquarium. Both heaters had crapped out. The tank was resting at a rather chilly 73 instead of its normal 80. A quick trip to the pet store and $50 later, I have managed to put the tropical back into tropical fish. Now I just have to wait and see if the plants manage to come back.

* Looks like I may be getting Trotz to lay out a few bones to pick up one of the older Battletech manuals that I have. If that happened, it'll be nice to be playing on a regular basis again.

* Why is it that the minute you start pinching pennies, everything you're interested in goes on sale?

* Intentional or not, Kittyluv really caught me off guard the other night.

* Electricity, the Goalkeeper, and water. Two of those I wouldn't mind playing with. The other could kill me.

Reflection

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: Sleeping Dogs and Bitter Pills

In which our hero mopes a little more.

[Saturday afternoon, October 4th, Metamora, IL]

"I seem to have gained nothing from turning over rock here. It does seem oddly appropriate that I am here reliving all this stuff as alone as I was when I was growing up here."

This was only partly a mope. I had driven through a couple of parts of town, and for such a nice day, it seemed oddly empty. The section of town where I used to live seemed to be falling into decline, further adding to the sense of, for lack of a better word, 'wrongness'.

As for my being alone most of the time, well, I was about 8 hours from getting some insight into that issue. As far as the past went, I never quite fit in then, either. And, as a child I didn't have the confidence in myself or the strength of character to stand as an individual apart from the group. Even though I found interactions with my peers to be boring/uninteresting, I still craved the acceptance of the group. That whole dynamic of wanting to be part of, yet not really getting anything form the group has followed me for many years.