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.

Thanksgiving Update

   The Dice of Death & Dismemberment Kickstarter is in the dice production phase of the operation. My Spiral Dice arrived yesterday. These dice were created for the Sapio RPG game system. A pre-layout version of the Spiral Dice Hackers' Guide can be found here along with the 'dice bag' for the Roll My Dice app so you can roll Spiral Dice on your phone or tablet. You can also view the Sapio rules here.

  I got to see Gwar at The Rave Nov. 4th. I'll be posting some videos to YouTube later today. They played most of the songs from the Scumdogs of the Universe album along with a few from the Blood of Gods album. While Hunter Jackson returned to the stage as Techno Destructo, I was hoping to also see Slymenstra Hymen, Sexecutioner and Sleazy P. Martini. However, they weren't there. For a large part of the concert, the center and other side of the concert crowd got sprayed by the fake blood and other fluids during the show. I was becoming concerned that I would come away from the concert barely splattered at all. That changed when they played their last song of the show, Fuck This Place. I got thoroughly soaked in a fairly short period of time. The dye completely soaked into the front of the Gwar t-shirt I wore. My skin was dyed red from my head to my groin area. My Gwar hat got sprayed for the second time. I'm not washing the dye out of either my hat or t-shirt. I purchased a Gwar knit hat for winter, a copy of When Heroes Roamed the Earth signed by Hunter Jackson and the last Balsac the Jaws of Death Covid mask.

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.

Dungeons and Dragons Museum Proposed in Lake Geneva

   The granddaddy of all roleplaying games, Dungeons & Dragons, is going to get its own museum in Lake Geneva, WI. The game was created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974. The game was an offshoot of the medieval war game, Chainmail. Both games were originally published by Tactical Studies Rules (TSR, Inc.) 

  I had the pleasure of meeting both Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson at Gen Con. Gary signed my copies of the Chainmail rules, the 2000 Gen Con guide and my first edition Dungeon Master's Guide. Arneson signed my copies of the original Blackmoor campaign setting and the 3.5 edition update.

  Dungeons & Dragons, and roleplaying games in general, have been a big part of my life. I started playing in November or December of 1979. My mom had a subscription to Games Magazine at the time. During the holiday season, the magazine had an insert listing the top 100 games of that year. D&D was listed among them. I purchased one of the early boxed sets from the local K-Mart.

  Now, some 42 years later, I have a sizable roleplaying game collection. I have horror based games like Call of Cthulhu, science fiction games like Gamma World and Cyberpunk and humor based games like Hol and Paranoia. 

Early Calculating Devices

   I'm an admitted geek. I love sci-fi, fantasy, comic books, horror and roleplaying games. One of my more dweebish pursuits has been early calculating devices. These include the abacus, the slide rule and the addiator. These devices predate the modern electronic calculator and, for the most part, are little used today. Some countries, like Japan, still make extensive use of their version of the abacus, the soroban. 

  In this pic, you can see my 23 column soroban, an Arithma addiator, an Exactus pre-decimal English currency addiator and a Pickett N600-ES six inch slide rule. I've playlisted several YouTube videos demonstrating how to use these devices. Here are some videos.

  Despite their age, these devices still have their uses. I can use the Arithma to help keep track of my hit points in roleplaying games. The Exactus can keep track of money in Cthulhu by Gaslight and The One Ring games since both use a monetary system based on pre-decimal English currency. The Exactus separates currency into pounds (libra), shillings (solidus), pence (denarius) and farthings. 4 farthings equal a penny. 12 pennies (or pence) equals 1 shilling and 20 shillings equal 1 pound sterling. That was the English monetary system until Feb. 15th, 1971-Decimal Day. 

  Most of these devices were relatively easy and cheap to acquire. The Exactus was much more expensive. I got it from an Australian eBay seller. It came with a case and complete instructions. I've made it a point to preserve the instruction booklet and put it away in order to keep it intact.

  While I known how to use these devices to some degree, I've by no means mastered them. The Arithma and Exactus are easy to use. I can use the slide rule to a decent degree but I haven't used some of the more complicated scales. I can add and subtract on the soroban, but I haven't mastered multiplication, division, square or cube roots yet.

Post OP Review

   I successfully underwent hip replacement surgery on Feb. 2nd, 2021. Simply put, after I went under, I was transferred to an operating table that had stirrups. With my legs locked in position, the surgical team cut open my right leg, moved the muscles and tendons aside, dislocated the joint and cut off the top of my right femur. An artificial titanium ball joint was inserted into the femur and the socket was reinforced before the joint was reset. The skin was then sewn closed with dissolving stitches. The hose from a small negative pressure device was inserted into wound before closure. The purpose of this device was to draw off any fluids from the wound and deposit them onto a sterile strip of gauze taped to my leg. Here's a pic of what my leg looked like after surgery.

  You can see both the negative pressure device and the sterile gauze strip in the above photo. Only a small amount of fluid was drawn off onto the gauze and there were no signs of infection. The next photo shows my leg after the gauze, bandages and pump were removed.

  The sutures holding the incision closed will dissolve over time. At the moment, I can shower but I can't soak my leg in water without risking infection. The post operative pain and swelling are decreasing and I'm starting to walk better. There's still a bit of discomfort when I lay on my right side.

  I confess I've been rather lazy during my time convalescing. Other than doctor's appointments, prescription pick ups and going out to eat on occasion, I've spent my time at home. The short term disability and FMLA paperwork has been successfully filled out and sent to both the surgeon that did my operation and MetLife. I found out that I can send faxes from my printer. This saved me having to drive to the orthopedic center in Kenosha. I've scanned and stored copies of all the completed claims forms onto my main computer.

  My taxes have been filed electronically. I'm getting back $1,887 federal and $325 state. Most of it's going to be used to pay down my medical bills. I might splurge a little bit and get me a copy of Cyberpunk Red.

Trump's Idiotic Reign has Ended and Other Things

   At 11:00am CST, Dipshit Donnie's term as President came to an ignominious end with the swearing in of Joe Biden as President. Finally, after 4 long, painful years, sanity has returned to the White House. The Great Orange Asshole didn't attend the Inauguration which was a definite plus. Former VP Pence was in attendance. Thankfully, no violence occurred despite there being rumblings of protests being held at all the state capitols by the MAGA maggots.

  Trump's second impeachment trial should be gearing up soon. While I REALLY want him to be convicted, that outcome seems unlikely. I don't think enough Republicans will vote to convict him. Most are too spineless and corrupt to do what's necessary. On a more optimistic note, now that Trump no longer has Presidential immunities, a legal shit storm is heading his way. The southern district of New York, among others, is pursuing legal action against Trump over various state and federal crimes. Other members of the Trumps clan, like Ivanka and Jared Kushner, are also involved in these allegations.

  Turning to the personal side of things, time is slowly creeping towards my hip replacement surgery. I ran into a bit of a problem when the doctor's office called and informed me that my health insurance terminated on Dec. 31st. I called Anthem and found out that my Member ID and Group number for my insurance had changed on Jan 1st. but my new insurance card hadn't been mailed yet. Until the new card arrives in the mail, Anthem securely emailed me a card to print out with the new information on it.

  My test results have indicated that my creatinine level has gone up past 2. This isn't good. My nephrologist says that this might be the result of an enlarged prostate preventing my bladder from fully draining. I'm going to have an ultrasound done to see if that's the case. He also said that I should try to stay hydrated, cut down on my caffeine intake and temporarily stop taking my lisinopril/HCTZ tablets. I can't let my creatinine level get too high or they'll cancel my surgery. I'm going to be heading over to the Aurora clinic later today for some lab tests.

  I used the second stimulus check money to catch up on some bills. My paychecks lately have been bigger. I splurged recently and bought some supplements for the Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000 AD RPG. The first two, Strontium Dog and Rogue Trooper arrived Tuesday. The last one, The Day the Law Died, won't be coming for a while due to pandemic restrictions. I'm contemplating getting a copy of Cyberpunk Red.

  The Hexacube Kickstarter is showing progress. The new company hired to make the dice has produced some samples that look like they'll be up to standards. The seller has to receive said samples for testing. I've backed an unusual roleplaying game, Dungeon Bitches. This Kickstarter was funded fairly quickly so the game's going to get published. Four of the stretch goals have been funded. As of this writing, there are still 24 days left for the other 3 stretch goals to get funded. This game is a little outside my comfort zone. Being a heterosexual male, I don't know what it's like to live as a lesbian. You see, unlike Macho Women with Guns, Dungeon Bitches isn't geared towards humor. The rules make it clear that the PCs are living in a world that doesn't understand them and actively hates them in many instances. This games hits on subject matter that some might find disturbing in a manner similar to White Wolf's Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah supplement for Wraith: The Oblivion or Clockworks roleplaying game, Asylum. That being said, I want to add this game to my collection. 

Healthcare Update & Other News

  My 2020 application for health care has been completed and I'm going to have health and dental coverage starting in January. I had to call the ACA information number in order to complete the application. It turns out that I made several mistakes on it which led to me ending up with really high monthly premiums. When everything was corrected, I ended up with a hefty tax credit to help pay the premiums. It was also recommended that I go with a silver policy for maximum benefit. The policy isn't perfect. While all my doctors are covered under the policy, my Lantus pens aren't. When I'm able to sign up for insurance through work next November, I have to contact the government so they can cancel the ACA policies.
  My eDice unit has arrived. I charged it up and tested it out. It works fine. The tracking numbers for the Randice expansion set are available. I have to contact them and get my number. I'm backing two more Kickstarters, the Better Backstories deck and GoDice. The Better Backstories deck aids DMs and players in creating backstories for characters. Other functions are being added to the deck as various stretch goals get reached. The GoDice are a set of six d6 that have sensors in them. Included with the GoDice is an IOS or Android app. This app allows the GoDice to connect with your phone or tablet via Bluetooth and play games. At the tier I pledged, I also get an RPG app and six shells that convert the GoDice into RPG gaming dice. Three of the shells have 24 sides and convert the GoDice into a d4, d8 and d12. Three 20 sided shells convert GoDice into a d10, d% and d20.

Nerdhalla Day 3

  The last of my scheduled events are done. I bought the Sleeper and Tcho-Tcho factions for Cthulhu Wars. I got 3 free Astral Acolytes with my purchases.  I played in a Luchador event that I'd played last year and made a Cthulhu style deck box in a crafting event. Here's a picture of the box.

   It's a little crude compared to some of the examples they had on display, but I like it nonetheless. There are no events scheduled for tomorrow. I'm going to get up early and get everything packed into the Rav 4, check out and head over to the 24 hour parking facility at 109 South Capitol. I'm going to make a last run through the convention center so I can get a 36 d6 dice cube, some dice to group with a lone d20 I have so it will be part of a complete polyhedral set and take some more pics. By about noon, I'll be on the road heading for home.

Nerdhalla Day 2

  The second day of Gen Con has ended. Today it was The Forge of Fury, a D&D 3.5 scenario and Time Travelers in King Arthur's Court, a Doctor Who scenario. The Doctor Who scenario was run by the same person that ran a Doctor Who scenario two years ago so I got to play Drex, a Sontaran warrior for the second time.
  I bought more dice, as if I needed more. I got a set of d10s and d6s for Cyberpunk. I got a set of Elder dice primarily for Call of Cthulhu and a set of d2 Elder Sign coins. I've wanted a set of legitimate d2s for some time now. The other d2s I have are d6s marked with three 1s and three 2s. The last purchases I'll make tomorrow are some deck boxes for my Paranoia decks, a cube of 36 d6s for the latest version of the Judge Dredd RPG and the last two factions, Sleeper and Tcho-Tcho, for Cthulhu Wars. If they have a 6-8 player world board, I'll buy that too.

Nerdhalla Day 1

  I arrived in Indianapolis yesterday afternoon. I had to go to the Will Call line in order to get my ticket for the Doctor Who event. There's a game store next to the hotel I'm staying at. I saw fellow gamer outside the store. He had purchased the Letters from Whitechapel game. It's a game where one player is the Ripper and the rest are the police hunting him down. The Ripper wins if he successfully murders 5 women without getting caught. If he's caught, the police win. I purchased a copy of the game.
  Day 1 of Gen Con is officially over. I played in a One Ring and a Call of Cthulhu based 5th edition D&D game. I had 3 hours in between gaming sessions so I did some shopping. I bought the 2019 Gen Con commemorative dice set from Crystal Caste plus two sets of polyhedral dice for my gaming belt. I picked up the hardcover Doctor Who rules and The Laughter of Dragons supplement for The One Ring. I made the mistake of purchasing The Oaths of the Riddermark supplement. I had forgotten that I purchased it at last year's Gen Con. I'm going to see if I can return it on Saturday. I also purchased the latest Luchador supplement, Masked Men of Mexico, along with a Luchador mask. My big purchase of the day was the Cthulhu Wars game and three expansion sets, Opener of the Way (Yog Sothoth), Windwalker (Ithaqua) and Azathoth. I might pick up some more expansions. I haven't decided yet. If they have the 6-8 player Earth map, I should consider getting it.
  The weather here's been hot and despite the relatively short walk from the hotel to the convention center, I still sweated my ass off. I found out that I can go from the convention center to the J.W. Marriot hotel without having to go outside. They're connected by skywalks. This will work out nicely since both games tomorrow are in that hotel. It'll be 8 hours of gaming between the D&D 3.5 and Doctor Who games

Pseudo Religions? Part 2 and Other News

  I've discovered that there's a First United Church of Cthulhu and you can download their Certificate of Ordination here. Needless to say, I want to get ordained. I've downloaded the certificate. Now I just have to get it filled out and printed.
  I'm still waiting for some of my Kickstarter rewards to arrive. The Judge Dredd rewards are being mailed out now. Randice production started around March 6th so hopefully they'll be mailing out those soon. The Tower of Holding rewards fulfillment has run into some problems but those problems  are being sorted out. The blanks for the Bonus Tracking Dice arrived March 9th and final tests and production set to begin next week. The Dice Coins survey has been filled out and returned. I found out that as an early backer, I was entitled to two more Dice Coins so I'm getting 12 Dice Coins in all plus 3 pouches.
  The money for the Immersive Battle Maps should be transferred to Kickstarter soon. I don't know when the surveys will be sent out. The Debunked card game, Cthulhu Coins and the One Fuck/Zero Fucks Decision Maker Coin Kickstarters still have either 8 or 11 days to go. The Cultist coin has been unlocked and I've upped my pledge in order to get it. I'm also getting two free pouches with the coins. If the total reaches $45,000 or more, the Elder Sign pin gets unlocked.

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.

End of Summer Musings

  Gen Con 2018 is now a pleasant memory. I enjoyed some great roleplaying sessions and made a TARDIS dice tower and Dalek canvas bag. I would have posted some pics of Gen Con here for you to view but my new Galaxy s8 went schizo two days after I got home. Prior to Gen Con, the keyboard on the phone had kind of a dead zone in its center. Certain letters, like, the t, would be very unresponsive. It would take multiple attempts to get it to respond. I thought it had something to do with the screen protector I had installed. It was an inconvenience, but I could work around it. On Tuesday, things got much worse. I tried to open my Nagbot diabetes app other apps would open. Suddenly, my phones dialing numbers on my contacts list, trying to play music and opening YouTube. When I tried to enter text on the keyboard, 5 keys other than the one I pressed, would activate. It was a mess.

  Several things combined to cause the loss of my pics. First, I couldn't get my phone connected to the hotel's wifi. Second, the Flickr app on my phone wasn't set up to upload my pics automatically. Third, I didn't back up my phone to the computer using Smart Switch. And fourth, I failed to decrypt my SD card before letting the rep at AT&T do a factory reset on it. I thought that since the SD card was still in the device that encrypted it, things would be fine. Turns out I was wrong about that. A memory card expert at Samsung informed me that when the phone was reset, the passcode that could decrypt my SD card was erased and there was no way to retrieve it. Since my phone was still under warranty, they sent me a new phone. I had to mail the defective phone back to them within 10 days in order to avoid being charged for it. The box my new phone came in could also be used to return my old phone post paid which made returning it convenient. They sent word that the phone has been received.

  I'm still waiting for my mahogany Hex Chest and aged mithril dice set to arrive. I haven't received any emails from Elderwood Academy updating the status of my order. The only other order I'm waiting for are the two minis I ordered from Minuteman Miniatures. They make miniatures that have your face by scanning your head to create a 3D computer image. This image can then be attached to a body of your choice and the whole thing is then created using a 3D printer. I ordered a wizard and Dark Ages Viking version of myself. If they add more body types, like Victorian Age or Doctor Who, to their roster, I might order more minis from them. Their website states that they keep the scans so I can order new minis if I want.

My Gaming Future

  I've been playing roleplaying games for over 38 years now and I'll keep gaming as long as I'm able. Arrangements for this year's Gen Con are going smoother than planned. I have slightly over $2,000 set aside and my badge, hotel and event tickets have been purchased. As usual, despite creating my event wish list early and submitting it as soon as event registration went live, I couldn't get into any Paranoia or Firefly events.

  How many more Gen Cons I'll be attending is unknown. My legs aren't what they used to be and the avascular necrosis in my right hip still needs to be addressed. I've decided to no longer purchase any new editions of D&D. I only have the 4th and 5th edition core books. I'm not buying anything else for these editions. Gaming isn't a cheap hobby. New editions, especially ones that radically change the game, require purchasing new core rules and supplements. Converting older edition characters to the new rules can be quite difficult to nigh impossible. I'm not always willing to upgrade.

  I have a lot of time and money invested in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd  and 3.5 editions of D&D. I'll continue to buy supplements for these editions to add to my collection. The same holds true for my World of Darkness collection. When White Wolf ended their original WoD setting, I didn't move to the new setting. I might buy the 7th edition of Call of Cthulhu. I found a conversion document on Scribd that will allow me to upgrade 5th and 6th edition characters and monsters.

  I'm going to get new material for Luchador, Doctor Who and The One Ring. What else I decide to buy is unknown. I'm going to check out the various dice sellers and see if anything catches my eye. A gamer can never have too many dice. Miniatures are another possibility. I could use some standard D&D minis. Most of the ones I have are limited edition. I just bought the gargantuan Orcus mini on eBay. Here's a pic of what the mini will look like.

Myriad Bits of News

  I purchased the latest edition of the Paranoia roleplaying game recently along with the More [Redacted] Societies and Mutant Explosion decks, interactive GM screen and a set of four Computer dice. Having read the Players' and GM's books, this edition is quite a bit different from other editions of Paranoia I have. I want to try to get into some Paranoia sessions at Gen Con so I can get a feel for how this edition plays.

  Events go online May 6th at 11:00 am CST. I'd like to get into some Firefly and Paranoia events but that could prove difficult. Those events fill up fast. Even if I create my wish list ahead of time and submit it as soon as possible, I could still end up way back in line. I've shunted more money into my Simple and Serve accounts giving me a grand total of $1,649.00 for the convention. I'm going to continue to add money to these accounts between now and August. I'm still making sizable payments on my credit card while adding as little as possible to it. Barring any unforeseen financial problems, I should be sitting pretty by the time Gen Con rolls around.

  I've been filling out my power of attorney documents. I've given it to my Mom, niece and her husband. I still have to complete the document and sign it in the presence of two witnesses who must also sign the document. They can't be related to me by blood, marriage or adoption. I'll try and get two members of my gaming group to act as witnesses.
  On the Trump front, our Dipshit in Chief has proven to be as spineless as the rest of the GOP when it comes to the NRA. After claiming that his fellow Republicans were afraid of the NRA, Trump backed down on his call for raising the age limit to buy assault rifles to 21 and having more extensive background checks on gun purchases. It seems the only things this motherfucking prick stands firm on is lining his own pockets, giving more money to the rich and aggrandizing himself at every possible moment. 

  

Latest Health News & Other Items

  I saw an opthamologist a short while back. My prescription has changed slightly since my eye exam about a year ago. I don't need to upgrade my glasses just yet but I might upgrade my prescription sunglasses prior to Gen Con. Both eyes are exhibiting the early stages of cataract development. This could mean cataract surgery in about 10 to 15 years. The opthamologist also noticed that I had a weirdly twisted artery near the optic nerve of my left eye and recommended that I see a retinologist. After dilating my eyes and taking some scans and pictures, the retinologist said that it was a vascular loop and, other than looking weird, was nothing to worry about.
  My tumor markers came back negative for the third time in a row. The CT scan of my pelvic and abdominal regions showed that my organs are functioning properly. Things are looking bright on the health front.
  Plans for this year's Gen Con are proceeding better than expected. I've been making large payments on my credit card while putting as little as possible on it. I have more than enough room on it to cover my hotel bill and gas. Between my Simple and Serve accounts, I have a little over $1,000.00 put aside to buy stuff at the convention and eat. I'm going to try to add another $200.00 to the total before August. I want to get some of the Doctor books Cubicle 7 is publishing for the Doctor Who RPG plus get a copy of the revised The One Ring rule book and Bree supplement. I'm also going to see if anyone is selling the gargantuan Orcus miniature my friend TJ told me about. It will go nicely with my gargantuan blue and black dragon, colossal red dragon, balrog and Great Cthulhu miniatures.
  I've recently purchased a lifetime VPN (virtual private network) subscription from VPN Unlimited. I found out from the iDrop newsletter that they were offering these subscriptions for a limited time at 92% below the normal price. The offer was too good to pass up. PC Magazine gave VPN Unlimited 4.5 out of 5 stars. I'm including some VPN related YouTube videos to provide you with further information.

Gen Con & Other News

  I got into most of the Gen Con events I had on my wish list. I was 2,900th in line and only the Firefly and Paranoia events filled up before I could check out. On a related note, I finally got a copy of Narcissist: Crash Free v0.7. This game was to be a companion game to Aetherco's time travel RPG Continuum. I came across Continuum back when Gen Con was still in Milwaukee. I was slated to play a Changeling event that particular Gen Con. All the players showed up but the Storyteller didn't. A staff member said we should wait a half hour. If the Storyteller still hadn't arrived, we could get a refund on our ticket. A table near where we were sitting was about to run a Continuum game and we were invited to join them. Since I had nothing else planned, I gave the game a try.
  That day I bought the Continuum main rule book, the Further Information supplement and the span book software program. Continuum's not a bad RPG but it is one of the more complicated ones to play. As noted above, Narcissist was to be a companion game told from the point of view of the crashers. However, for reasons unknown to me, Aetherco stopped production of any new Continuum supplements and Narcissist never became a full fledged RPG. Trying to find the printed pre releases of the v0.5 or v0.7 editions of Narcissist Aetherco put together is nigh impossible and could easily cost you quite a bit of money. The Continuum main book and Further Information are regarded as rarities. I'm not sure how rare the span book program is. I tried for quite a while to get my hands on a copy of Narcissist. There was a PDF version on Scribd for a period of time but it was gone by the time I tried to get it. Other searches proved fruitless. Finally, I found a torrent that contained not only a copy of Narcissist v0.7 but it also had PDF copies the other two books and some supplemental material. If you want a copy of Narcissist: Crash Free v0.7, leave a comment down below with your email address and I'll send you a copy. I can also email you PDF copies of the other two books, supplemental materials and span book software (with registration key).
 

Gen Con Update

  The plans for Gen Con 2017 are proceeding along nicely. My 4 day badge has been ordered. The hotel reservation has been made. I had to wait 7 hours and 5 minutes before I could reserve my room and thus ended up about 10.5 miles outside of downtown Indianapolis. Since I don't feel like driving into downtown Indianapolis everyday and paying for parking, I'm going to see what mass transit options exist and use those. I've set up a wish list of 8 events that I will submit when event registration goes live this Sunday at 11:00 am CST. Hopefully I won't end up way back in line like last year. I had to watch as most of the events I wanted filled up and I had to wait until I got to the head of the line before I could secure what events were still available. Then I had to pick other events to replace the ones I didn't get into and get in line again. I asked for this Sunday off so I could log in early and submit my wish list.