Health News & More

   My GoDice arrived a short while back. I got the 6 dice set that came with a charging base, dice tube and tablet/smartphone stand. Along with it, I ordered a set of D&D dice shells with bag, USB charging port, folding dice tray and dice cup. I've installed the GoDice app on my smartphone. Once I charge the dice, I can connect them to my phone via the app. Using the app and the D&D shells, I can create a set of RPG dice. The RPG calculator function allows me to roll attack, damage and saving throws with the necessary modifiers when I'm gaming. All the rolls are recorded on my phone and I can get the total damage rolled for spells like fireball etc.. 

  The GoDice have to be put into the shells in a specific orientation in order for them to function correctly. When separated, you'll see a number 5 on the inside of one shell half and a 2 on the inside of the other half. Below each of these numbers is a small number 1. You put the selected die into its shell by orienting the die so the 5 face is inserted into the shell half with the 5 in it and the 2 shell half covers the 2 face of the die. The 1 face of the die must be facing the edge with the 1. Each shell half has 4 small magnets in it. 3 are shiny and 1 is black. When you put the shell halves together, the black magnets are paired with each other. You then use the app to pair a particular die with the shell you put it in. The d4, d8 and d12 use a 24 sided shell while the d10, d% and d20 use a 20 sided shell. Each die has different colored pips in order to tell them apart. The app also has a function that allows you to light up a particular die by touching a button.

  I bought a large 9 compartment dice bag on eBay. I'm using it to organize some of my dice. About 7 complete sets of RPG dice are in one compartment. All of my odd sided dice (d5s, d7s etc.) are in another compartment. My random encounter dice set, Dice of Death of Death & Dismemberment, Dice Coins and my set of ability score, attack, defense and saving throw bonus/penalty marking cubes occupy most of the other compartments. When the second wave of my Death & Dismemberment dice arrive, they'll fill up the remaining two compartments.

  On the health front, I had a stress test on the 17th. The preliminary results indicate that I have a dilated aorta. It's at 4 cm right now. At this point, monitoring it via echocardiograms is necessary. If it doesn't dilate further, nothing needs to be done. However, should it dilate to 5 cm or more, surgery will have to be done. I wore a Holter monitor for 48 hours. It collected data that now has to be analyzed to determine how well my heart is functioning. I turned it in to the Aurora Cardiac Diagnostics Center this past Friday. It will take about a week to get the results back.