At Long Last

  After about two years of delays due to Covid-19, manufacturing problems etc., my Hexacube dice order is finally on its way to me. I have a tracking number so I'll know how close the order is to arriving. Estimates have it arriving Nov. 4th. My Intel card game is also slated to arrive on the 4th.

  The .PDF version of the main Dungeon Bitches rulebook was released on Halloween. It can be purchased from DriveThruRPG.com. The print version of the main book and the .PDFs of the supplements will eventually be made available from the same seller. I'm getting copies of those items as part of the Kickstarter.

  It looks like the Spiral Dice Kickstarter is making headway. From what the seller says, his dice order should've arrived from Europe on Oct. 25th. He'll be locking in the buyers' addresses soon and the dice should be on their way to us about a month after that. The Spiral Dice Hacker's Guide and the Sapio Core Rules were created to make use of the dice. The Hacker's Guide isn't yet available but the Core Rules can be purchased from the site. Sapio: Zombies is also being created as a part of this Kickstarter. The Hacker's Guide, Core Rules and Sapio: Zombies are included in this Kickstarter. I've downloaded a dice rolling app on my smartphone and added a set of digital Spiral Dice to it. Paying for the app allows me to create other digital dice bags to add to the ones that come with the app. I've added Fudge dice, averaging dice, alignment dice and Asylum marbles to the app along with the Spiral Dice.

  The Gwar concert at the Rave is fast approaching. Four days later, I officially turn 60. Ten years ago, my health started to decline. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. A cancerous polyp was found in my ascending colon resulting in its removal. I lost my right testicle to cancer. I had to undergo chemo for both cancers. My right hip socket deteriorated and partially collapsed. In order to get the hip replacement surgery, I had to get my a1c below 7.2. While I was working on that, my gall bladder got infected and had to be removed.

  My hip is now replaced but my legs still get sore if I stand for long periods of time. Right now, my health has stabilized somewhat. My a1c has been around 7.0. I'm free of cancer. My last visit to my nephrologist went well. Let's hope things don't take a turn for the worst. 

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.

Signs of the Times

  The pandemic has caused quite a few changes in the way we live our lives. Masks are being required at my workplace. Only essential businesses are up and running. Restaurants are conducting business online and by phone with curbside pickup or contactless delivery. Numerous EDC (every day carry) devices are being offered on Kickstarter. Most of these are made from copper or the copper alloy, brass. Brass, bronze and copper are known to be antimicrobial and kill a variety of microorganisms relatively quickly. The devices in question are meant to be used for touching frequently touched surfaces like keypads, elevator buttons, door handles etc. You use them to touch these surfaces thus keeping any microorganisms from coming into contact with your skin. The copper or brass surface then kills them.
  Some of these devices include the Safepoint Antimicrobial Door Opener, the Careful Key, CuPID and the one I've purchased, the Hygiene Hand. Search EDC on Kickstarter to see more devices like these. I've purchased three virus masks from a seller on Etsy. Now me, my Mom and my Dad have reuseable and washable face protection. I got the Navy camo pattern because the material is thicker on those and the Army camo masks.
  The pandemic has delayed many of the Kickstarters I've pledged to. Elderwood Academy was shut down for a time thus delaying the crafting of my mini Spellbook. The Hexacube, Overkill d20 and Critical Dice sets are status unknown at present. Since China manufactures the dice for these Kickstarters, the sellers have to wait until the factories are up and running again. On the plus side, the Debunked card games have been printed and are due to be mailed out soon. I'm still waiting to hear from the people that made my Mindflayer Turn Keeper regarding the extra set of magnetic and battlefield tokens I ordered.
  On the medical side of things, I had a meeting with my endocrinologist recently. I've been prescribed two new meds, metformin and dulaglutide (Trulicity). Technically, the metformin isn't new. When I was first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I was prescribed metformin. With the addition of these two drugs, my blood glucose readings have lowered. I'm finally getting readings below 150 mg/dl on a fairly consistent basis. If I can keep this up, I can get my a1c to 7 or below and get my right hip replaced.

Catching Up on Things

  Event sign up for Gen Con went poorly. I tried to sign in about 2 minutes before sign up went live and failed to get on right away. I didn't get on until 5 minutes past 11. While that's not much time, it put me far enough back in line for every event on my wish list to fill up. I did find get signed up for some other events though.
  Some more of my Kickstarter rewards have arrived. The Tower of Holding, Dice Coins, Bonus  Tracking Dice, Randice and Cthulhu Coin set are here. All the others, except the Mobius strip, have received their funds but aren't ready to ship yet. The Mobius Strip is still in the funding phase.
  I purchased a refurbished Dell Latitude e6320 laptop on eBay a short while back. This blog entry is being typed out on said laptop. The laptop came with a power cable and battery. I've added a Logitech M305 wireless mouse, Targus notebook chill mat and privacy screen, a Wenger laptop bag and a 2 USB 3.0 port ExpressCard to the laptop. I have a CooSkin TPU keyboard protector guard and locking notebook security cable coming in the mail eventually. I've been following their progress through the mail system by their tracking number. And I've received 2 laptop batteries and a Logitech C270 webcam from Amazon today. The battery that came with the laptop works but I don't think it holds power as well as it should.
  I decided to get a laptop instead of an Android tablet because a laptop is more versatile than a tablet. All my character sheets and .PDF gaming books have been moved onto the laptop and I plan to put the E-Tools D&D character creation software on it as well. The laptop has an SD card slot and I want to get an SD card installed in it and move the character sheets and gaming books there to save on hard drive space. I'm going to take the laptop with me to Gen Con so I can post video updates both here and on YouTube. Some of the content will be recorded on my Galaxy S8 and transferred to the laptop.
  My a1c is at 7.9 so it's improved somewhat but my creatinine levels have been running on the high side (1.45mg/dL). A referral has been put in for me to see a nephrologist regarding my kidneys. Back on Dec. 31st, 2014, my elevated creatinine level sent me to the hospital. I'm going to have to contact my nephrologist and orthopedic surgeon regarding my kidneys and hip surgery.

Background Noise

  I feel like my life is little more than background noise in the grand scheme of things. It never gets noticed because of how mediocre it is and I am. It seems the only time I do get noticed is when I royally fuck up in some fashion. I always feel like the odd man out. Like I don't belong anywhere. For example, take the gaming group that I've gaming with for over a decade. Despite the fact that I've been with these people that long, I still can't shake the feeling that I'm not truly part of the group. It's the same way at work. It's this feeling that kept me from dating. I know, deep down inside, that any attempts I make at finding someone will only end in failure. Some years back I hooked up with a local BDSM group I found on AOL. I attended a few meetings but I could never get comfortable with them. I tried to stick it out going so far as to attend a BDSM gathering at a hotel in northern Illinois. I went into the bar area where everyone was hanging out and did... nothing. I didn't speak or try to get to know anyone there. My anxiety got to the point where I just left. As I was driving home, I realized that I'd forgotten my coat and actually considered just leaving it there and taking the loss.
  The reality is I'll never be physically, mentally, emotionally or financially ready for a relationship. For the women of the world, that's really great news. One less sub par idiot making a play for their affections. One less mediocre dipshit ruining their social lives. My erectile dysfunction seems to have gotten worse not that it matters. I'm not sure whether that's due to diabetic complications or a fucked up mental state. Probably both. I've been trying to get my a1c down to 7 or below with mixed results. While I've had some good days, I'm still screwing things up enough to potentially cause problems. I need to get my a1c down so I can get hip replacement surgery done to correct the avascular necrosis.

The Mundanity Continues

  The polar vortex that plagued the area from Tuesday through Thursday has finally passed. The temperature has gone from -50 degrees to a much more tolerable 45 degrees. Let's hope that the super cold weather is done for the rest of the season.

  The Towers of Holding are being manufactured and the books, GM screens and plug and play tokens for the Judge Dredd RPG have been printed. Hopefully I'll be getting those soon. I've contributed to a Dice Coins Kickstarter in order to get a 10 coin set. Here's a YouTube video showing couple of d20 dice coins someone else ordered.

The set I want will consist of the following dice coins; d3 Cerberus, d4 Wizard, d5 Castle, d6 Cleric, d8 Ranger, d10 Skeleton Dragon, Percentile Phoenix, d12 Barbarian, d20 Lich and a Weather vane coin. As the video shows, each coin has a bump on the bottom that allows you to spin it like a top. You then stop the coin spinning by placing your finger on the edge. The first fully visible number to the left of your finger is the result. The Weather vane coin has words on it describing different weather conditions.
  I filed my taxes yesterday. I'll be getting back about $883.00 which will be split into my Simple and Serve accounts for Gen Con. Speaking of Gen Con, my hotel reservation has been made. I lucked out this year in that my hotel is only two blocks from the convention center. It's funny, the years when I made it a point to have the hotel reservation day off, I'd get a time when I could log into the housing portal that was 5 to 7 hours after reservations went live. This year I didn't request the day off and my log in time was 12:27 pm. It should be noted that the housing portal goes live at 11:00 am CST. I set up my hotel reservation while I was on lunch at work.
  I've been trying to lower my a1c but I'm not sure I'm making any headway. I have a fasting blood draw coming up on Thursday. I'm not sure if my a1c is one of the things they'll be determining at that time. I've got to stop the late night eating. It's not helping matters.

The Mundanity that is My Life

  My life, for the most part, as been dull normal with the emphasis on dull. On the plus side, dull normality means that nothing massively bad has happened. On the negative side, nothing really great has happened either.

  The avascular necrosis of my hips is bilateral and worse on the right. The orthopedic surgeon says that I'm going to need hip replacement surgery. The problem is my a1c is too high. I need to get it down from 8.5 to 7.0.

  I've backed several Kickstarter projects; the Tower of Holding, the Judge Dredd RPG, a set of zinc alloy gaming dice and a set of Randice random character creator dice. All the projects are fully funded and the first three have received their money and have started production. The Randice project still has 7 days to go. I'm hoping that they make their $13,641 goal so they'll throw in two extra dice. If nothing else, I hope the make their $7,105 goal so the dice will be engraved.