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. 

Technology and the non-Technophile

   The airpods charging case arrived yesterday. It didn't come with a lightning cable so I had to use the cable that came with my Fuel Rod. I'm happy to say that the airpods I found as I was leaving work function properly. I placed the airpods inside the case and charged everything up. I had to put the Air Battery app on my phone in order to monitor the charge levels in both the case and the airpods. I've paired the airpods with both my phone and tablet and I might try to pair them with my laptop. The app needed in order to do that costs $4.99 and the only review states that the app doesn't work. I'm going to wait and see regarding the PC app. I've ordered a pair of lightning cables. One will be used to charge up my airpods and case and the other will be used to sync my Mom's new iPad to her computer. That way it'll be backed up should she need it. I should also back up her smartphone to her computer as well.

  My parents aren't very technophilic. My Dad doesn't have a smartphone and has never used any of the computers or tablets in the house. He has some understanding of the smart TVs but he still sometimes messes up the settings. He does have an electronic keyboard and a CD recorder that he uses when he creates music CDs so he's not entirely technophobic. While my Mom has a computer, smartphone and iPad, her ability to use them is limited. She never closes web pages on her iPad. Every time I open her web browser, dozens of pages have to be closed in order to free up memory. She's not familiar with the ways to back up her iPad and smartphone and I don't know if she wants to learn. The computer that was purchased for her use sits largely unused. I'm the one that keeps it updated. She does nearly all of her online business on the new iPad. Her iPad 2 is screwed up. I can't swipe passed the home screen and bring up the numerical keypad in order to enter in the passcode. Not that it matters much anymore. iTunes no longer will sync with iPad 2s anymore.

  This is one of the things I hate about Apple and its products. It seems like they go out of their way to screw the customer over. First off, there are no SD card slots on any of the iPads or iPhones. If you want a lot of memory you have to pay through the nose by purchasing the higher end iPads and iPhones from Apple. Then there's the dongle issue. In order to connect your new Apple products with older Apple products, you have to cough up money for a dongle. So you end up paying a shitload of money for these dongles plus you have to carry them around somehow so you have them when you need them. And genuine Apple dongles don't come cheap and third party dongles may not function as well. Then you have the issue with Apple shortening the lifespan of the batteries of older iPhones via software updates. It seems like they're deliberately trying to force Apple users to upgrade constantly in order to siphon as much cash from them as possible. Apple doesn't need to do this because there's already plenty of people so addicted to having the latest and best tech that they're upgrading their smartphones, computers, laptops and tablets on a fairly regular basis.

  I, on the other hand, don't feel the need to constantly upgrade all the damn time. The flip phone I had many years ago served me well for quite some time. I only upgraded because the Android operating system on it would no longer update and the latest version of some of the apps on it couldn't function anymore. The same is becoming true of my iPad 2. I've had the thing since I turned 50. That's over 8 years. It won't upgrade past iOS 9.3.5 and I've had to remove some apps that won't work with that iOS anymore. However, it still functions. The apps that are on it are ones that likely will never be upgraded beyond their present version. That being said, the device still has its uses and I'm not just going to dump it on a whim.

Miscellany

   The airpods charging case has been delayed but I should receive it soon. The 3D printed Dice Jail arrived yesterday. Here's a pic.

  You might be wondering why I'd order something that really serves no viable purpose. Dice have no memory so putting them in jail serves no purpose. If a die is biased because of some flaw introduced in the manufacturing process, the die is always going to be biased. Nothing's going to change that. The dice jail is kitsch plain and simple. 

  While my hip has improved quite a bit since the surgery, my legs still get tired and sore when I stand for long periods of time. I'm hoping this goes away over time. Things were somewhat better this last shift. The area behind my right knee didn't get all tight and sore like it had been getting the past couple of shifts. I've been making an effort not to peg leg too much as that just exacerbates things.

  The 4Oceans mask frames are still in Charlotte, MI. I've talked with Post Office people twice now and have even filed a case report but still nothing happens. What's the fucking problem? They have the address that the package needs to be sent to so why haven't they mailed it? Their automated system sucks. It abruptly cuts off speaking before the sentence is completed. It hears answers to its queries despite the fact that I haven't said a damned thing and trying to get a live person on the phone is nigh impossible. I'm going to keep calling them until I get some satisfaction regarding the mask frames.

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.