Still Plodding Along

   Life's been fairly boring of late. Summer has come and gone. I didn't go to Gen Con or the Ren Faire. The Slot Dice and Goblin Dice Kickstarters have turned out to be rip-offs. They simply took the money and ran. I'm fucking pissed. The Gamer's Bag Kickstarter is starting to look like another rip-off. They haven't posted an update in quite some time. Their last update was May 16th, 2024, where they claimed that they were almost ready to start shipping. There's been no updates since then. The Crossroads Inn people have finally posted an update after a long period of silence. It looks like they're making a sincere effort to bring their project to completion.

  Petersen Games has teamed up with Quimbley's Games in regard to Cthulhu Wars. Petersen Games designs the games and Quimbley's manufactures and sells them. This pairing has finally allowed me to get the Invasion Faction completed. I now have all 12 factions for Cthulhu Wars. The status of the Misprint Corrections is still pretty much unknown. Quimbley's has received the Azathoth dice that were missing from the Daemon Sultan faction and, I believe, they also have the correction stickers for Bubastis and Sleeper. Why they haven't mailed out the corrections is unknown to me. From what I've seen in photos, the Azathoth die looks to be the same die that I got with that custom Cthulhu Wars dice set I bought a while back. The spellbook corrections for Bubastis and Sleeper are minimal. Both factions are playable as they are right now.

  A pair of great concerts are in my future. Gwar is returning to The Rave Oct. 31st and King Diamond will be at the Riverside Theater on Nov. 8th. Tickets have already been purchased. 

It's Been a While

   It's been quite some time since I've last posted. A little over a year in fact. I went to Gen Con 2023. Despite doing everything correctly, I still wound up over 8,700th in line. All my initial event picks except for Cthulhu Wars and the Fate Core event filled up. I got both those events plus a Never Going Home and Cypher system event. I've decided not to go to Gen Con 2024. Money's been tight and I need to straighten my financial situation out.

  On the Cthulhu Wars front, I got tired of waiting for the Misprint corrections for Daemon Sultan and Bubastis to be mailed and decided to have the Game Steward ship both factions to me and send the corrections when they arrive. It turns out that I waited for no real reason. The Daemon Sultan's faction card had three of their spell book slots labeled Awaken Thesis. A sticker was included that corrected the faction card. The only error for Bubastis was the Ailurophobia spell book. The correct version was posted on the Petersen Games website. It's a minor correction. Both factions are useable as they stand. I bought the Ultimate Errata pack for Cthulhu Wars in order to make sure that my game is the most up to date version. I'm slowly gathering the pieces needed for the Invasion faction. I've purchased the Baphomet mini, 8 Larvae, 4 Gryllus, a Fiend and the Neutral Unit Identifiers. All I need to get is the Invasion Faction (no minis), 1 Fiend, 2 Gryllus and a set of Battle Dice. This could take quite a while because I have to wait for the Cthulhu Wars Kickstarters to complete shipping and the Planet Apocalypse Kickstarter to complete. 

  I saw Gwar again last October. Another great concert. My Kickstarters are proceeding slowly. The Orbidice Kickstarter is proceeding at a decent pace as is the dUltimate. Crossroads Inn has had some changes made but it does appear to be heading towards completion. Wasteland Sagas and When the Wolf Comes are having their books printed. The Game Space Kickstarter is starting to concern me. There have been no updates since Sept. 9th, 2023. They say that the Game Space units have been packed and are ready to ship but nothing's happened since. The Gamer's Bags are being made. Hopefully, they'll start shipping them soon. 

  I had to drop the Quartz insurance plan. They said that the monthly premium would be going up and I figured it wouldn't increase by much. The premium went from $170.79 to over $442.00 a month. What the fuck? Why the massive increase? 

Myriad Bits of Random Shit

   Things have been a bit crappy health wise. I have a minor sore spot on my lower right leg just above the ankle. I told my primary doctor about it, and she set up an ultrasound. The lab tech did the ultrasound on my right leg and, for reference purposes, took some readings on my left leg. The results revealed that I had blood clots behind my right knee and more clots in the upper left groin area. Because of this, I'm now taking Eliquis, a blood thinner. The padding in my knees is largely gone and there's now some measure of bone-on-bone action going on. I've received three injections into each knee of a substance made from rooster combs. Whether or not I'll need to have one or both knees replaced has yet to be determined.

  My Dad ended up in the hospital because he was having a hard time urinating. About a liter of urine was backed up in his system and this put stress on his kidneys that led to an infection. He was transported to the hospital and spent time in the ICU. He's currently in a nursing home recuperating. Hopefully, he'll be home soon. 

  The Kickstarters I'm backing are progressing slowly. The Crit Effect and Fright Effect dice have arrived at the seller's location. I've got some new Kickstarters slowly moving towards completion. This includes the Cthulhu Mythos Tarot, Crossroads Inn, Wastelands Saga, When the Wolf Comes, Satanic Panic, FlipDice, Stokerverse, Game Space and Paranoia the Perfect Edition. The two Cthulhu Wars Kickstarters are getting closer to completion. Once The Game Steward gets their Kickstarter orders, I'll be getting my Cthulhu Wars orders. Petersen Games has added The Dunwich Horror expansion to their Cthulhu Wars expansions. They're being made along with the other Kickstarters. I contacted Petersen Games and found out that they'll be selling some of these expansions via their website as soon as they become available. Here's a video of the expansion.

  I'm really looking forward to getting The Dunwich Horror and my Cthulhu Wars orders. Once I get them, I'll have pretty much everything Cthulhu Wars related. Only a few minor upgrades remain unpurchased.

  Thanksgiving and SatursGiving were a bust. We didn't make a turkey on Thanksgiving because Dad was in the hospital, and I couldn't go to SatursGiving because I had to work. I'm hoping that I'll get New Year's Eve and New Year's Day off so I can play boardgames with my friends.

The Tail End of Summer

   Another boring summer is heading towards its end. Gen Con has come and gone, and I wasn't there to enjoy it. Hopefully things will be different next year. I've been to the Bristol Renaissance Faire once this year and I'm hoping to go again before the season ends.

  I've backed a few more Kickstarters since my last post. The first one is The Big Conspiracy card game. Others include When the Wolf Comes, Era: Hitman v1.1, Gausahedron, Wasteland Sagas, Cthulhu Mythos Tarot and Crossroads Inn. The Cthulhu Wars: CATaclysm and Cthulhu Wars: The Daemon Sultan Kickstarters are progressing very slowly. According to the latest update, the pieces are being or have been molded. While I was unable to participate in these Kickstarters directly, The Game Steward has backed both projects. Over the past two years or so, I've placed orders with them for items from both of these Kickstarters as well as other Cthulhu Wars expansions. When all these orders arrive, I'll pretty much have everything Cthulhu Wars related. I've acquired an Eradication first player marker for the game recently on eBay.

One Last Helping of Chop Suey

   This past Friday, I had two doctor's appointments. The first one was with an orthopedist regarding my knees. An earlier x-ray revealed that both knees are arthritic. The doctor told me that the cushions between my leg bones and between the kneecap and joint are worn thin and my bones are rubbing directly against each other. The term she used was remodeling. I got steroid injections in both knees, which she told me would elevate my blood glucose level. She wasn't kidding. When I checked my blood glucose level the next morning, the meter didn't give me a number, it just said HI. That put it over 500 mg/dl. I checked it again at around midnight and it was still around 475.

  While my eyes haven't suffered any damage as a result of my diabetes, the cataract in my right eye is slowly getting worse and affecting how well I see out of it. I have an appointment with another eye doctor in December where we're going to discuss the possibility of having cataract surgery. That will change the lens prescription for my right eye quite a bit, so I'll have to get new glasses.

  I've finally transferred all my gaming material onto the SD card of my Galaxy Tab a6. I've installed a PDF and document reading app on my tablet so I can read the files. Some of the files had to be modified because certain file types like rich text files and TIFFs aren't readable by the app. Now I can bring less books with me when I go gaming. I also have easy access to all my errata files. The internal storage space on the tablet is very low. I've moved what apps I could onto the SD card, and I periodically have to delete cached and unnecessary data from it in order to perform updates. Right now, I can use the tablet to access all my email accounts, listen to music, watch YouTube, look up information on Wikipedia and surf the net.

  I've placed my final Cthulhu Wars order with The Game Steward. This order consists of Dire Azathoth, Dire Cthulhu and all the remaining alternate game boards for Cthulhu Wars (Yuggoth, Dreamlands, Library of Celaeno, Primeval and Shaggai) in both 3-5 player and 6-8 player versions. With the exception of a few crossovers from other games, I'll eventually have everything currently available for Cthulhu Wars. In the course of about two years, I've spent over $1,000 putting all this together.

  I had to order a three pack of A to micro-B USB cables for my Tab a6. The original cable's micro-B plug has cracked in two places. I glued those pieces back on, but now the insulation by that plug has cracked revealing the wiring underneath. I couldn't risk further cable damage possibly damaging my tablet or battery. I've already replaced the battery twice.

  I've gone on eBay and ordered a military canteen cup stove, rubber style canteen cup lid and an American style mess kit to add to my military canteen, cup and pouch set. While I'm never been camping, I was contemplating creating a small portable cooking set up that I could occasionally use to cook a quick outdoor meal. I might add more to it over time.

The Financial Report

   The RAV 4 is finally sold. An inspector for the buyer came out a few days ago and looked over the vehicle. He checked the inside and outside of the car and took a bunch of pictures before he left. That coupled with the CarFax report lowered their initial offer of $11,400 to $9,000. The car has been involved in three accidents: one minor, one moderate and one severe. I accepted their offer and uploaded pics of the front and back of the title, registration and front and back of my license to them. They emailed a FedEx label to me so I could ship the signed title to their office in Georgia. The title should get to them sometime later today. Once they have the title in their possession, they will electronically transfer the $9,000 into my account. Arrangements will then be made to have them pick up the RAV 4.

  My federal refund will be in my account on the 13th. It dropped from $3,405 to $2,005. I think the reason for the drop had to do with the third stimulus payment. Hopefully, later this week, I'll have $11,005 in the bank. I'm going to shunt $1,000 into my Health Savings account and about $1,000 to $1,500 will be used to pay down my credit card. Other bills due this month will be paid as well. I do plan to indulge myself a little bit. I'm going to buy the equipment guide for Twilight 2013 and a bunch of additional expansions for Cthulhu Wars like Dire Azathoth, Dire Cthulhu, the other game maps like Shaggai, Library of Celaeno, Dreamlands etc. and the 6-8 player maps for each. The rest of the money will stay in the account. I'm hoping that the amount of money I make on a monthly basis will be more than what I pay out in bills per month. I want to keep paying down my credit card and building up my savings so I can go to Gen Con next year.

Hastur has Risen!! Have you seen the Yellow Sign?

   My Hastur-The Risen One mini for Cthulhu Wars arrived yesterday. Here's the unboxing video.

Further Updates

   I finally saw my new oncologist today. My cancer tests came back normal. Other tests were ordered by other doctors and the only one that came back bad was in regard to my kidneys. My primary care doctor suggested that I have the test done again in order to see if things were as bad as they seemed. The second test showed improvement but it still not exactly where it should be. She believes that I may not be sufficiently hydrated.

  I received my Covid-19 booster shot yesterday so now I have additional protection. I might have to get another shot in about 8 months because the doctors think I might still be immunocompromised. Given that my last cancer treatments were more than a year ago, I don't think this is likely. That being said, it looks like Covid-19 is becoming like the flu in that we'll need to get periodic booster shots in order to deal with all the various strains that exist.

  I've purchased the 3rd and 4th editions of Twilight 2000. The 3rd edition is technically called Twilight 2013. I've downloaded some Twilight 2013 PDFs from Scribd. I want to order the Equipment Guide for Twilight 2013 from Noble Knight Games, but the book is $125.00. I've also ordered the 2nd edition bundle pack for The One Ring game along with an extra set of One Ring game dice. I'm expecting that order to arrive sometime in March. I've also ordered a Hastur, The Risen One Cthulhu Wars miniature. Here's a video displaying the mini.

  This thing is huge. According to the rules, the mini is said to occupy any space its base touches for purposes of movement, attacks etc. It features Hastur in the center with The King in Yellow standing in front of it. The Pallid Mask is off to the one side and Hastur's tentacles form The Yellow Sign when you look at it from above. I didn't get to participate in the Kickstarter Petersen Games had to fund the mini's creation, but they received a limited number of them that they're selling to the public.

  The other Cthulhu Wars Kickstarters for the Bubastis and Daemon Sultan factions don't seem to be progressing. This is delaying the orders I have with the Game Stewards. 

Dull Normality

     Things have once again settled into a dull routine. The cycle of work, home, work, home mindlessly marches on. I've seen a few new movies like Venom 2, Matrix: Resurrections, Eternals, Spiderman: No Way Home and Ghostbusters: Afterlife. I've purchased a set of Glow in the Dark Great Old Ones from Noble Knight Games. The set included Azathoth, Hastur, The King in Yellow, Nyarlathotep, Ithaqua, Rhan-Tegoth, Ubbo-Sathla, Tsathoggua, Shub-Niggurath and Yog-Sothoth. Cthulhu was purchased separately. All, except Azathoth, came with loyalty cards and spellbooks. Now the faction Great Old Ones can also be played as Independent Great Old Ones. I haven't heard much about the status of my orders from The Game Steward.

  I'm not sure how well the Farxiga is helping control my diabetes. I should be due to have my a1c checked so I'll get some insight then. Not much else to report health wise. I still have some paperwork to file in regard to my pension. Nothing much has been happening on the Kickstarter front.   

Personal Matters

   The Hexacube Kickstarter is nearing fulfillment. The Hexacubes landed in L.A. a while back before moving to a shipping facility in Chicago. After sitting there for a little over a month, James finally received the dice. All the left is for James to inventory the order and start shipping the orders to the backers. The dUltimate Kickstarter is advancing. I've finalized the order and paid for the shipping. I've ordered a premium tier glow in the dark dUltimate with multicolored paint. The .PDF version of Dungeon Bitches is due to be released on Halloween. The print on demand version has been delayed. The people responsible for this Kickstarter want to make sure the page layout for the print version is correct before making it available. I've backed the Triple Hex Dice Kickstarter. This is another variation on the classic RPG dice sets one normally sees. Adding these, plus the Hexacubes, Spin Dice, Orbidice, eDice, the Range 1 and all the standard RPG sets I own, I've become a full blown Dice Goblin. Here's a video of the Range 1 electronic dice device.

  My paperwork for the pension from my former employer arrived a while back. I have to fill them out and send them back to the union. The Nov. 4th Gwar concert at The Rave is approaching as is my 60th birthday on the 8th. There are a variety of movies I want to see like Venom 2, Dune, the Eternals, No Time to Die and perhaps even the latest Halloween. Dune is going to be shown on HBO Max.

  It looks like the Cthulhu Wars stuff that I ordered from The Game Steward is in the process of being manufactured. Most of this is from the Daemon Sultan and CATaclysm Kickstarters. I found out about another Cthulhu Wars figure, the Risen One, that's part of the Hastur Rising Kickstarter. The Game Steward isn't going to be getting this miniature but there's a seller on eBay that's going to be getting some. He's the seller that I purchased the Ancients and Glow in the Dark gates from a while back.

Cthulhu Wars, Kickstarter & eBay

   I've purchased some new items for Cthulhu Wars. An H.P. Lovecraft bust 1st player marker and the Prophetess have been added. My other HPL marker will now be used as the Eidolon in the game. The Loyalty cards for the Eidolon, Prophetess and the 8 unique High Priests have been downloaded from the Petersen Games website and printed. I've purchased a set of 22 3D printed plastic gates for the game as well as completing my set of Colour Out of Space gates. When I downloaded the Omega Master rulebook for Cthulhu Wars, I found that two more gates had been added to the chart, a Glow in the Dark gate and a gate in the color of the Ancients faction.

  These two gates are harder to come by because they were only available as stretch goals for earlier Cthulhu Wars Kickstarters. While there's a possibility that the Ancients gate would be added to the standard gates package if the company decided to make more sets, the Glow in the Dark gate won't be made again. Luckily, I found a seller on eBay that was selling a Glow in the Dark gate and promptly bought it. I messaged said seller and asked if he would be selling an Ancients gate some time in the future. He sent me a link to his auction for said gate and I purchased that gate as well. They're in mail right now and I'm tracking the shipment. When my orders from The Game Steward arrive, I'll have quite the Cthulhu Wars collection. About the only things I don't have at the moment are the alternate game maps like Primeval, Shaggai, the Library of Celeano and Yuggoth.

  The Spiral Dice and Hexacube Kickstarters have encountered delays. The Go Dice Kickstarter has been dealing with a transistor shortage because of the pandemic. I'm currently the high, and only, bidder on a Loot Crate Demogorgon figure on eBay. This thing is sweet. If I win it, I'll have to find a place to display it.

Finally

   My federal refund has finally arrived. It, combined with some money from my Health Savings Account, was used to pay off my bill with Aurora. I no longer own any money to either Aurora or Ascension. To celebrate, I purchased 20 3D printed plastic gates for Cthulhu Wars off of eBay. I've also added the Dreamlands Surface and Underground monster expansions from The Game Steward to my order.

  I've backed a card game called Intel on Kickstarter and plan to back the Orbidice Kickstarter as soon as it starts. Orbidice are spherical dice that have a specially shaped hollow cavity inside. A small metal ball is inside the cavity. The metal ball slows the Orbidice down when you roll it and eventually falls into a pocket of the cavity in order to determine the result of the roll. I want to get a standard 7 Orbidice RPG set plus an Orbidice tower that looks like a curved, circular track with a basin at the bottom. You place the Orbidice in the track and let it roll into the basin. Simple.

  Now that my medical bills are fully paid off, I need to pay down my credit card. I'm getting WAY too close to my limit. I might try to use the two paychecks from the middle of the month to pay it down faster. I won't be going to Gen Con this year. If my finances improve between now and next year, I'll consider going in 2022. 

More Updates

   The second 4Oceans mask frames order arrived as scheduled. I won the eBay auction and got another set of grey alternate handicap acolytes, all 8 investigators and the Brown Jenkins mini for only $25.71 including shipping. Considering what some of these minis are selling for individually, I made out quite well. I still want to get the Dreamlands Surface and Underground sets plus some plastic standard gates.

  My Covid-19 vaccination record card has netted me an extra $100.00 on my next paycheck. I scanned said card and uploaded copies of the file to both of my eMedTag flash drives and the MyIHR website. The original card has been locked away in my Sentry Safe box for safe keeping. This card may be needed in the future. I've ordered a Moderna Covid-19 vaccination charm from American Medical ID for my medic alert bracelet.

  My federal refund still hasn't arrived. This delay is driving me up the wall. I need that money to pay down my Aurora bill. The money in my Health Savings Account is slowly growing. Now that my paychecks are getting bigger, I don't have to pull money from it to pay bills.

  The Hexacube dice have gone into mass production. The wooden cases will now have magnetic clasp holding the lid closed which is an upgrade from the original buckle latch. There should be a major update soon.

  

Second Covid-19 Vaccination received

   I received my second Covid-19 vaccination yesterday. According to the news, a booster shot may be needed in about 12 months and annually thereafter just like the flu. I can live with that as long as it prevents another goddamn pandemic. This shit has been going on for FAR too long. And we have Trump, Fox News, OAN, Newsmax and all the MAGA maggot contards to thank for that. Their brain dead entitled asses helped spread the virus. Some of these idiots like Sarah Palin and Ted Nugent called the pandemic a hoax until reality bitch slapped the taste out of their smug, contard mouths. Of course, Nugent is still pushing anti-vax crap regarding the Covid-19 vaccine. He doesn't want to get it because he doesn't know what's in it. Based on that, he shouldn't be trying anything.

  The Post Office sent the first 4Ocean mask frame order to Charlotte, MI and then proceeded to lose it. What pisses me off is their solution to the problem was to offer an apology and tell me to ask 4Ocean for a refund or to resend the order. In other words, someone other than them eats the cost. Imagine what their answer would be if said lost package cost hundreds of dollars instead of just $25.00. I've reordered the frames. They should be here later today if all goes well.

  My Game Steward Cthulhu Wars order has been added to. I know, in my previous post, that I said that the order had been finalized. Sue me. The following items have been added; Great Old Ones pack 1, Great Old Ones pack 3, Great Old Ones pack 4, Ramsey Campbell Horrors 1, Nodens and Cacodemon. That brings the total cost of the order to $592.79. I'm currently bidding on an eBay auction consisting of more grey alternate acolytes, Brown Jenkins and a group of 8 investigators. I'm hoping to get this relatively cheap. The auction will be over in about 10hrs and 46mins. Someone might try to snipe me out of getting these expansions at the last minute so I've been upping my max bid.

My Game Steward Cthulhu Wars Orders Finalized

   I've placed my last Cthulhu Wars order with The Game Steward tonight. If everything goes as planned, they should start shipping sometime in October. I've been slowly adding to this order for over a year now. Here's the list of everything I've ordered.

  Order 1: 9-11 player neoprene Earth map

  Order 2: Bubastis Faction expansion

  Order 3: Daemon Sultan Faction expansion

  Order 4: Elder Shoggoth expansion, Giant Blind Albino Penguins expansion, Something About Cats box

  Order 5: Tcho-Tcho tribes spellbooks expansion

  Order 6: 6-8 player Earth map, Classic Acolytes and High Priest for Daemon Sultan

  Order 7: Neutral Unit Identifiers for Daemon Sultan, Neutral Unit Identifiers for Bubastis, Neutral Unit Identifiers for the other factions

  Order 8: Daemon Sultan Battle Dice, Gold Cat Battle Dice, 200 Battle Dice set for remaining factions

  Not including shipping, the total cost is $472.85. When all this arrives, I'll have 11 playable factions each with their own set of battle dice and neutral unit identifiers. There will be an extra set of battle dice plus the original 20 dice that came with the base game should anyone's combat dice pool go over 20 dice. Order 4 is entirely composed of neutral units adding to the neutral units I already have. Order 5 adds to the Tcho-Tcho faction with additional spell books. The Bubastis faction doesn't have classic acolytes and is the only faction that doesn't have a high priest.

  I already have the alternate faction acolytes for the 9 factions I currently possess along with 9 alternate grey acolytes for handicapping. There currently aren't any alternate grey acolytes for Daemon Sultan and Bubastis but I have the Unnameable set of 6 grey classic acolytes and a high priest that can be used in that respect. All the factions will have 4 plastic brain cylinders and a dark demon at their disposal. All the factions, except Bubastis, can recruit high priests. Bubastis can't recruit a high priest. If I decide to modify the rules a bit, the grey high priest can then be recruited by Bubastis.

  My Hexacube Kickstarter order is progressing. The latest pictures of the dice look promising. Hopefully, mass production will be starting soon and the wooden boxes meant for the ancient gold dice will have magnetic latches now. I still have to pay for the red pearlescent hexacube set w/ red hexacube red bag. 

A Few More Updates

   I've received my first Covid-19 vaccination this past Friday. I'm due to get my second shot on April 23rd. All I have to do in the meantime is avoid catching Covid-19.

  Some time back, I found a pair of airpods on the ground when I was leaving work. Since they appeared to be in good condition, I picked them up and kept them. Problem was I had no way to charge them up to see if they worked or not. Today I ordered a refurbished charging case. Hopefully, these airpods work. It'll be nice to have some wireless earphones.

  My federal refund has yet to be deposited in my account. I wish I knew what the fuck was going on with it. I need that money to help pay down my Aurora bill. I'll be back to working full time when I return to work this Monday.

  I received a letter from the Treasury Dept. stating that I will be receiving another $600.00 stimulus payment sometime in the next 7 days. This is an unexpected windfall. Most of the money will go to paying on my medical bills but I'm planning on getting 12 sets of Battle Dice for Cthulhu Wars. Every faction will have their own set of 20 Battle Dice plus there will be a neutral set in case the dice pool goes over 20 dice. My place of employment is offering $100.00 to employees that receive both vaccine shots for Covid-19. Once I get my second shot on 4/23/21, I'm going to find out how I can get my $100.00.

  On the national news front, the Smartmatic and Dominion lawsuits against Fox News and others are working their way through the courts. I don't want either of these cases to be settled out of court. I want these two companies to win and wipe the smug, condescending grins off the faces of these lying, hypocritical propaganda monkeys once and for all. A massive hit to their wallets will do that nicely.

  Sidney Powell, Trump's former lawyer, has come up with the most absurd defense regarding the Dominion lawsuit. She claims that no reasonable person would believe her statements and that she was just expressing her opinion. If you read the linked article, you'll see what a load of bullshit that is. Apparently, she was trying something like the Tucker Carlson defense. Personally, I want to see Sidney Powell, Fox News, OAN and everyone else Smartmatic and Dominion are suing lose big and have to pay through the nose.

More Medical and Other News

   I'm finally eligible to get the Covid-19 vaccine. I'll be getting it this Friday the 26th. I have to get some lab tests done before I see my nephrologist this Wednesday. My eyeglass prescription has changed and I need to have my glasses updated.

  I've added more to my Cthulhu Wars order that will be coming from The Game Steward. I've added the Neutral Unit Identifiers pack for the nine currently available factions as well as the upcoming Daemon Sultan and Bubastis factions. I'm contemplating getting the Battle Dice sets for all the factions when I get my refund. I might get some 3D printed gates too. The Game Steward has sent an email stating that the Cthulhu Wars Kickstarters will be loaded for ocean freight from China by July 31st and the Game Steward will get their shipment sometime in October. This timeline isn't set in stone. Things could still go wrong.

  Gen Con has moved to Sept. 16th - 19th. Because of the pandemic, Gen Con Indy, Gen Con Online and Pop-Up Gen Con will be running simultaneously. It's unlikely that I'll be attending in any capacity this year. My hoping to be able to attend Gen Con 2022.

Random Shit

   I'm presently still convalescing after my Feb. 2nd hip replacement surgery. I'm due to see the orthopedic doctor this Thursday and I'm fairly certain I'll be given a release to return to work. I replaced my old Targus chill mat with a new model. This one is larger, tilts and has 4 USB ports in the rear of the unit. I'm using it right now. My $1,400 stimulus check was deposited into my account. Most of it went to pay for some old medical bills and other necessities. I did indulge myself a little by buying the alternate acolytes and handicap grey acolytes packages for Cthulhu Wars. The handicap acolytes arrived yesterday and the others will be arriving in the next day or so. I've added the standard acolytes for the Daemon Sultan faction, a 6-8 player Earth map game board and Tcho-Tcho expansion set to my Game Steward order. I have no idea when everything I ordered from them will arrive as all of it is based on Kickstarters that have been delayed by the pandemic.

  The Hexacube Kickstarter is getting closer to fulfillment. The seller has received and tested the samples and they passed with flying colors. Now he's negotiating with the manufacturers to get the dice produced. Some progress has also been made with the Go Dice Kickstarter. 

  My federal tax refund hasn't been deposited in my account yet. When I first used the TaxAct software to complete my return, it calculated that I'd get $1,887 back. A day or so later, an update for the program was downloaded and installed. The update lowered my refund from $1,887 to $1,167. I fear that this alteration is what's holding up my refund. I've tried to email and call the IRS with little success. I might have to contact a tax preparation service and get advice from them. I might have to file an amended return.

  My Mom and Dad have gotten their first Covid-19 vaccinations and have scheduled their second shots. They've received the Pfizer version of the vaccine. I'm not yet eligible to receive the vaccine but, as a diabetic, I'm higher up on the list than most other people. There's a chance that I can get the vaccine earlier than I should. I got put on a 'No vaccine left behind' list. If someone can't make it to get their shot, I could get called to get the shot.

  On a political note, 4 former Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush and Obama, have been trying to encourage people to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Notably absent was Trump. This narcissistic moron won't go on camera and tell his followers to get vaccinated but he sent out a message stating that, without him as President, the vaccine would've been delayed by 5 years or more and most people wouldn't get vaccinated at all. He wants all the credit for the vaccine for a disease that he downplayed most of his term but none of the credit for all people that died from the disease because of his incompetence. 

  The stimulus bill that passed recently went through without any support from the Republicans. Some of these fascist assholes are now trying to take credit for the bill's passage. These motherfuckers want to reap political benefit from a bill they didn't want to pass. They're also against H.R. 1, the voting rights act. The very party that whined about election integrity voted against a bill intended to increase election integrity. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Republicans don't care about America or democracy. All they want is power and to shovel more money into the coffers of the rich.

Hip Surgery Scheduled

   The Trulicity and metformin, along with the other medications, has lowered my a1c to 6.4. As a result, my hip replacement surgery has been scheduled for Dec. 21st. I was given a chlorhexidine gluconate soap to be used the day before and the morning of the operation. I'm expected to be off for 6 weeks after the surgery. MetLife is going to be sending me the FMLA forms and I've contacted UFCW 1473 to see if there are any forms I need from them. When I had my colectomy, I had to get a form from the union in addition to the other forms I required. I believe this is so I get paid while I'm on leave.

  My 59th birthday is coming up. I ordered the Great Old Ones pack 2 for Cthulhu Wars. It includes Atlach-Nacha, Bokrug, Father Dagon and Ghatanothoa. I'm expecting it later today. My orders with The Game Stewards has been delayed until Feb. 2021. The Debunked game arrived a while back. The posters will be mailed separately. The Hexacube Kickstarter has had trouble finding a dice manufacturer that can make the dice correctly and the Go Dice Kickstarter has been delayed due to the pandemic.

  Satursgiving has been cancelled due to the pandemic. This sucks. I haven't gamed since last year's Gen Con and was looking forward to at least seeing my friends again. It's likely that the New Year's Eve get together at Glenn's will be cancelled as well. 2020 has been fucking boring as shit.

  The election's coming up Nov. 3rd. Mom, Dad and I already voted via absentee ballots. Hopefully, Trump and his GOP sycophants will have their collective asses bounced out of office. Of course, the orange skinned dipshit has indicated that if he loses the election, he won't leave office peacefully. If this is the case, I hope the military escorts his sorry bloated orange ass out of the White House at gunpoint. 

More Health Issues & Stuff

  On 7-08-20, I had some stomach issues. My gut felt bloated and uncomfortable. I took some Beano and Pepto and the symptoms went away. On 7-11-20, the symptoms returned. I ended up leaving work after about twenty minutes and went home. I went to the emergency room later that day.
  After receiving an MRI, I was diagnosed with choledocholithiasis with acute cholecystitis with obstruction. In simple terms, my gallbladder was infected. Apparently, gallstones had gotten trapped in the bile duct causing the infection.
  I had to have my gall bladder removed but first they had to treat the infection. Because of the upcoming operation, I couldn't eat or drink anything. I was kept hydrated intravenously. Before operation, they performed an endoscopy where a camera was inserted down my throat allowing the doctors to clear out the gallstones and pus before placing a stent into the duct. Once the infection was dealt with, I underwent a laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
  The surgery went well and I was discharged on 7-16-20. Unfortunately, I lost several shifts at work so my upcoming checks are going to suffer. The surgery plus the heat of the recent days have made work difficult. I was sent home early Saturday because I was sweating so much.

  The family dog, Bear, passed away shortly after I came home from the hospital. He developed diabetic ketoacidosis. He was the last dog the family will have because everyone here is getting up in age and can no longer properly take care of a pet. I miss him and all the other pets we've had over the years.

  Gen Con 2020 was a virtual convention this year due to Covid-19. Badges were free and all events were conducted online. I ended up not participating because I didn't want to request more time off from work.

  My visit with my orthopedic surgeon was somewhat productive. My last a1c reading was 7.6 which is still a little too high for my hip replacement surgery. I need to get it down to 7.2 or lower. I'm seeing my endocrinologist on Oct. 27th. Some blood work will be done prior to the appointment so they can get a new a1c reading. If it's low enough, I'm going to make an appointment for surgery. The stent put in place before my gall bladder surgery will be removed Sept. 17th.

  Several Kickstarters I've helped fund have come through. The Better Backstories deck, Tavern Brawl and Book of the Dead games, Critical Hit dice set and Mythroll Armory 4:8/6:12 and 20:10 dice spinners have arrived. I'm very happy with my purchases. The Debunked card game is almost ready to ship. The Overkill and Underkill d20s should be shipping soon. The Hexacube Kickstarter has been running into problems. They've been having problems finding someone that can make a decent set of molds for the dice. They can't get the face ratios and edge geometry correct resulting in biased dice. Two different Chinese dice makers tried and failed. The second company says the molds are impossible to make. I'm not buying that. It sounds more like they don't want to make the effort. There haven't been any recent updates from the Go Cube people yet. Hopefully, they're on schedule and I'll be getting them soon. 

  My Cthulhu Wars order from The Game Stewards should be mailed out sometime in September. The problem is my order is for items from various Kickstarters and if those Kickstarters were delayed by the pandemic, then the Game Stewards won't get the items on time to ship them to me.