So, yes...it has been over 4 months since I made an entry here.

I've been busy.

Turns out that owning a house is a LOT of work!

We closed on the house on the first week in August. That was followed by taking out nearly ALL the original carpet, and putting down new carpets and laminate flooring. That was essentially our $8000 tax rebate.

While we spent time packing (interrupted by my youngest son's biopsy and subsequent hospital stay due to pneumonia), my father-in-law moved into the house and started working on it. By the time we moved in near the end of August, he'd painted and repaired much of the issues.

So, then moving day came. The night before the move....I sprain my ankle. Lovely. Luckily, we had great friends who lent us a hand. Whew!

So, in the time since, we've slowly settled in. I've taken to tackling a lot of the yard work....pruning our trees and shrubs, planting new ones (like the 6 huckleberry bushes I bought!), thinning the bamboo grove back to a respectable size, creating planting beds, etc. etc. etc. I really do love gardening, it seems.

And that's about it. Homeowning is a busy, busy endeavor, but one that is totally worth it. Oh, and that other house we tried to buy? It was foreclosed, as we thought it would. Records show that the real estate group that bought it paid $360,000 for it, only $5000 less than we had offered. Funny though....they are selling it for $349,950. Guess they didn't see the inside before they bought it! It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside, knowing that I wasn't the one who got screwed over on that house, after all.

I've driven across the country twice now, lived on both Coasts, and had a job that took me to many states I would have never visited otherwise.

I'm aiming to put Alaska on the list next.

So, here it is.....I'm buying a house.  The biggest damn purchase of my life, going to happen on May 15th.



W.T.F?

The whole housing market crash/home loan fiasco has finally made it possible for my wife and I to afford to buy a home in the Seattle Eastside region.  Redmond, to be specific.  We will live a quarter of a mile from the elementary school, and 1.5 miles from my work office.  Still walking distance, although I shudder to think what that walk is going to be like this winter....in the dark.  It really was all about the location (perfect) and the YARD.  Quarter of an acre.  HUGE.  No big trees shading it, so full sun yard.  We will have more than enough room for a big garden,  with room to spare for the boys to play.

And the house?  The house is a short sale.  Meaning we bought it below the value that the owner owes on it.  We actually had to get the lienholders to accept our offer.  The whole thing took about 3 weeks from the time we submitted our first offer to the time our counter-offer was accepted.  That was a LOOOOONG three weeks.

The house is also a fixer-upper.  Apparently, it WAS a nice home under the original owner, but she sold it to a speculator, and they rented it out to some very bad renters who apparently had little respect for the house.  The carpet is trashed.  Between the weak-bladdered old dog trickling from the living room to the master bedroom, to the halos of dirt left from where the coach/coffee table and bed were, to the numerous spills, I can only imagine the type of people they were.  Me?  If I spill a drink, I am so over that stain with Oxyclean and a towel!  I cannot fathom the attitude of "Oh crap.  I spilled.  Meh.  Whatever."

So, I make it sound bad.  The carpet really is the worst thing.  We are planning to take out all the carpet upstairs.  ALL. OF. IT.  and replace it with new carpet and some laminate wood flooring.  The exact combination is still under debate, but that's the goal.  The downstairs carpet looks better, so we are going to see about super industrial cleaning it first.

We also need to do some work on the bathtubs, and of couse we need to paint, paint, paint.  And there is the assessing of the appliances...some are dated, so we'll need to clean 'em up and see what we have left.

Lastly, I now have a yard.  To mow.  And landscape.  In college, I worked for a lawn/garden nursery center, and really got into learning and selling all the bushes and trees and landscaping stuff.  I am very much looking forward to planting a series of blueberry bushes, and as many lilac bushes as is rational.

But yet....I am quite keyed up about this.  This is a LOT of money.  And right after we sign the papers, and commit to owing someone a LOT of money, we are going to go right out, and start spending even MORE money to fix the house up!  It just really, REALLY freaks me out ever so slightly.

But.....if I can just get past the closing date, and get to work on the house, I think it'll be great.

As I am away at Norwescon this fine Easter weekend, I leave you with THIS, a pic from the wonderful folks at SnorgTees, my favorite t-shirt site:

Being the programming leader for the gaming track at Norwescon 32, I am very, very excited for next weekend.  My goal for the gaming track was to bring in true professionals in the gaming industry as panelists, and to have them discuss panel topics that both they and the gaming fans want to discuss. 

And, looking at the panel schedule, and the truly awesome list of Pros I've assembled, I think are going to do pretty darned well.  I certainly hope so!

And what exactly do we have going on??  Well, check out the Gaming Track schedule...after the break!

( Read more... )

A listing recently requested by mearls , in turn inspired by Rob Heinsoo.  Here's my list of the 10 games I've played the most during my life thus far.

1.  Dungeons and Dragons...since 1985.

2. Diablo 1/2 series.

3. DungeonSiege series.  A DVD's worth of user mods.

4. Unreal/Unreal Tournament.  A CD's worth of user mods.

5. Quake 2.  The number of mods and user maps I had was...

6. HalfLife series

7. Civilization 2 (for the PC).

8. Sim City series.

9.  Risk

10.  Fluxx

Yes...a lot of computer games there.

As I jump on the bandwagon and put this past year in perspective, I first see that I really need to work on this blogging thing.  Wow.  I post very little.

The Year 2008 was a good year.  It saw my 10th Year Anniversary to my wonderful wife, and a second honeymoon of sorts on the Big Island of Hawaii.  There I snorkeled for the first time...and loved it.  I saw and walked on a live volcano.  And I stargazed atop Mauna Kea...at 14,000 ft.  I drank Kona coffee until I literally vibrated off the ground.  I hiked in a botanical garden with more tropical life than I've ever seen.  And I did this all with my wife.  What a great trip.

This year also saw the very first PaizoCon, which I somehow came to become the local organizer of a meetup of 40-50 Paizo fans.  With a LOT of help from some wonderful new friends, we made it an event to remember.  And, because it was a success, we are now looking at PaizoCon II in June 2009!

Our children seemed to have had a good year as well.  My older son turned 7, and the younger son turned 3.  Both are apparently clones of myself, or so I'm told.  It's good, as they LOVE the Clone Wars.  Healthwise, this year was a bit of a challenge with the younger son.  Ear infections, pneumonia, chicken pox.  All potentially serious with an immune-suppressed kid.  The good news: no signs of rejection, making it once again the best decision I've ever made in my life.  Three wonderful years to see him grow and play and smile, as opposed to...none.  Oh, yes.  Best.  Decision.  Ever.

Since many of the year in reviews here are gravitating towards gaming, I'll toss in my gaming moments of 2008.
 
1) Joining a D&D campaign, Sins of the Ancients, via the online MapTools and Ventrilo.  Having never played this way before, I have found a wonderful group of folks to play with, and it has allowed me to focus on improving my roleplaying more.  And we've been playtesting the Pathfinder rules as well.

2) PaizoCon.  This event introduced me to some truly awesome new friends, and gave me the chance to hang with the Paizo folks again.  And I got to play a cursed barbarian who knits.  Bonus!

3) Playing at 4E HQ in Seattle with mearls .  What a way to be introduced to the new game.  I wear my RAWR shirt often....

4) Our 4E Forgotten Realms campaign resetting to 4E.  While I really do miss my dragon shaman of 3.5, my bandit build in 4E is quite fun as well.  I tend to lapse back to 3.5/PF RPG rules too often, though.  The DM is probably tired of that by now....

5) Getting a Wii.  While I do not play as often as my 7 yr old son....I do enjoy our Wii Fit, and Star Wars Force Unleashed.  Boom Blox has also become a fav of mine.  I am NOT a console person (really a strong PC gamer though), but this Wii is different enough that I really enjoy it.

6) Norwescon.  This was the first year I've skipped Norwescon, in favor of saving $$ for our trip to Hawaii.  But, I missed it.  Enough so, that I volunteered to be Track Leader for Gaming Programming for NWC 32 in 2009.  Quite a few of my "Pros" are on Livejournal, and it is turning out to be a real All-Star cast.  I'm very excited to see Gaming Panels ROCK the Con this time!

So, 2009 should be awesome.  PaizoCon II.  Norwescon 32.  More gaming on the horizon.  A surprise trip to Disneyland in the works.

So, to all....Happy New Year!

Thanks to wanton_heat_jet for showing this quiz.

I blame iuztheevil for introducing me to games with plots and story arcs. Who knew?

You Scored as Storyteller You're more inclined toward the role playing side of the equation and less interested in numbers or experience points. You're quick to compromise if you can help move the story forward, and get bored when the game slows down for a long planning session. You want to play out a story that moves like it's orchestrated by a skilled novelist or film director. Storyteller   92% Method Actor   75% Butt-Kicker   58% Tactician   58% Power Gamer   58% Specialist   50% Casual Gamer   33%

This is pretty much what I expect to see tonight.....



Go Silly Party!!

Good for one laugh...one LOOOOONG laugh:

So, yesterday I turned 38.

It pretty much ended my opportunity to quote Monty Python when asked about my age:

I'm 37. What? I'm 37. I'm not old. I can't just call you "man".



Anyway, it was a good birthday. My wife treated me on Saturday to a night out without the kids, and we started off by going to a Half-Price Books store that always has an awesome selection of D&D books. I picked up the "DMG II" and "Tome of Battle Book of Nine Swords". Now I can begin to figure out what irishninja is doing with his crusader in our online game!

After the bookstore, we headed down to Seattle Center, picked up our tickets to the Dark Knight on the IMAX, and headed down to Queen Anne for Thai food. Yum! Then back up to see the Dark Knight. I had seen it before, on a normal sized screen...but the movie on the IMAX was truly awesome. Some of those shots they took from way up high? Whoa. It felt like you were right there. What a rush!

Yesterday, we went out for Cajun food, my favorite ethnic cuisine. And I received TWO Wii games for my presents: "Boom Blox" and "Force Unleashed". And two lightsaber extensions for my Wii remotes. And I think I'm getting a copy of Dungeon Runner as well. All this gaming goodness, and yet...I still have a powerful urge to go buy "Spore" very soon.

I'm sure I'll forget about Spore very soon, as I sit down to toss stormtroopers around like rag-dolls, and let loose with some Force Lightning.

Well, it's done. The whole thing took less than a half hour...I think. At least that's when I woke up. All three came out quite easily, and I have them in a little plastic tooth container. It's weird to look at teeth with roots. All I ever saw was the teeth I lost as a kid, and those didn't have roots!

As for the pain, I can't say. I'm on oxycodone and ibuprofen, and the anesthesia is taking quite a while to wear off. It's been at least 6 hours after, and I'm JUST starting to feel my lower lip again. The painkiller/narcotic is just....nasty. When I got up for the bathroom, I nearly fainted, and it took 10 minutes of crashing back on the couch to feel better again. I think I'll limit that to bedtime/sleeping periods.

I've been drinking smoothies, and just got a big bowl of instant mashed pototoes that tastes wonderful. My wife was torturing me tonight by watching the Food Network...some Southern Life cooking contest.

Catfish never looked so good......

Well, I have avoided this day for too long....

Today I am having my wisdom teeth removed. All 3 of them. Yes, just 3...that's all I have. (A reduced number of bones is a sign of evolutionary advancement, by the way, so I've secretly been superior to many of my less-advanced humans.) ;-)

I've been pretty proud of the fact I had them so long. My childhood dentist told me that they were coming in straight, had plenty of room, and he saw no immediate need to remove them. Dentists that I've seen since then have all immediately recommended that they be removed "before they cause problems", advice that I've answered with, "When they start causing problems, then I'll consider it."

So, when my wisdom teeth developed cavities, I argued that fillings were just fine, thank you. And they have been, until now. The upper left tooth now has cavities all around the filling, and looks to be spreading it to the molar next door. So, out they come.

Two things make me nervous right now:
1) General anesthesia. Never had it. Ever. I've had to watch my youngest son go under, and it was not a fun experience. So, this has me a bit worried.

2) The amount of pain that I'm in for. I've heard the full spectrum on this one...from no problems at all, to horrid pain that only drugs can grant relief from. Don't worry...I've got the drugs. But it's the 4 days of Hell that should have been a fun Labor Day weekend that's got me all bummed. I'm likely going to miss PAX again this year.

Well, 2 hours and counting......

This...is.....awesome!

A year ago, I found possibly the best British comedy I've seen in a while: The IT Crowd. Nearly the whole first season was up on Google Video, and I spent most of that week watching the episodes over and over again. And then, with the lack of a 2nd season available, I forgot about it.

Until last night. For some reason, I remembered it, logged in to YouTube, and ran a search. And LO! the whole second season shows up! I really did have full intentions of going to bed at a reasonable hour...really! But, man, watching the first two episodes of Season 2 had me holding my gut, wiping the tears from my eyes, and enduring wicked looks from my wife as I howled with laughter in front of my computer as she tried to talk on the phone with a friend.

Really, truly, if you have not seen this show, start now....with the first episode.

Part 1




Part 2




Part 3

So, I attended the WW D&D Game Day at Neumos in Seattle, and got to play the 2 hr demo.  I was lucky enough to get to play with  mearls, even.  It was good to see him again, as I hadn't seen him in over a year.  Actually, I saw several friends there: delve_srm, therobfather, and (gasp) iuztheevil.  

Bottom line:  I had fun!  

Yes, the game system is very different.  Yes, it is a departure from the 3.5 ruleset.  But, you know what?  I STILL enjoyed playing it, and learning how it works!  Honestly, I pretty much sequestered myself from the pro vs anti-4e debates, as it got increasingly nasty over mere rumours and speculation.  I was so happy today to be able to look at the rules, give them a go, and PLAY.  No preconceived notions.  No bias.  Just the judgement of whether I had a good time playing or not.  And I did. I had fun playing 4e!

I have to say, these books are damned nice to look at!  All through, the layout is just a pleasure to the eyes.  I DO have an issue with all tieflings looking near identical...apparently the only horns a tiefling can sport are sheep or goat horns. ;-)

Yet, as I visit the messageboards, and read blogs and posts, it is still pretty apparent that now that people can actually HAVE the books in hand, they are still making the same arguments on why they won't buy the books, and won't ever play 4e.  EVER.  And they get really, REALLY pissed about it, and about the fact that those who do choose to play are "MMORPG-lovin', brainless gits".

I'm honestly having a hard time figuring out why this sort of feeling seems to permeate the gaming community. If you haven't read it, how can you possibly know anything about it?  That's like walking out of a movie after the opening scene, and telling everyone the whole movie was crap.  Plus, if it's not your style of game, why not just stick with 3.5?  I mean, it's one of many possible games available to play.  It's not the ONLY one.  

I've said it to several people:  "Accept that this is a completely different game and system.  Stop trying to compare it to 3.5, and stop trying to believe that it should have been 3.75, 3.95, 3.99 or whatever.  The sooner you do that, the more comfortable you will be with the way things have worked out."  Yet, this advice seems to irritate them further....so, I really am even more perplexed.  WTF?

Me personally, I'll not be giving up my 3.5 just because a new edition is out.  Heck, I'm buying up all the 3.5 books I'm missing so that I can start a 3.5 game for my old high school chums that haven't playing since 1988.  I will be playing Pathfinder as much as possible, too.  Those Paizo folks mightly impress me with each and every item they think up, so I throw my support behind them fully.  But, you know,  I will be enjoying me some 4e flavor as well.  And why not?  Why can't I play lots of different game systems?  As long as I get some enjoyment playing, that should be all that matters, right?

I've been reflecting on this lately, and you know what?  It's a good time to be a gamer...