Dark Alex's Really Long Post Thread.

[316zombie]

i hope it is a good omen for you, like it is for me. storms or rain, either one, always preface a more pleasant year for me. and i DID get a small bit of rain, yay!

[indianasmith]

Thinking I need to find a new computer game to play. It's been about a year since I last got one. Maybe I'll finally invest in Civ 6. Wandering between X-Com 2 and Civ 5 just now. Maybe I'll reinstall Skyrim for a bit. There was still plenty to do in that game. Last time I played it was down the Falklands and I was doing pretty well in it when I had the disasterous 'crash' that meant I'd to get Kristi to send me a new laptop down.

Very dark grey skies outside. Think we'll be having a storm tonight. Guess it will be a dramatic start to the new year then.

Lets just hope that isn't some kind of omen then.

Have you tried DARK SOULS 3?

[ER]

Thinking I need to find a new computer game to play. It's been about a year since I last got one. Maybe I'll finally invest in Civ 6. Wandering between X-Com 2 and Civ 5 just now. Maybe I'll reinstall Skyrim for a bit. There was still plenty to do in that game. Last time I played it was down the Falklands and I was doing pretty well in it when I had the disasterous 'crash' that meant I'd to get Kristi to send me a new laptop down.

Very dark grey skies outside. Think we'll be having a storm tonight. Guess it will be a dramatic start to the new year then.

Lets just hope that isn't some kind of omen then.

Have you tried DARK SOULS 3?

You are cruel, Indy, cruel, lol.

[Alex]

Never tried any Dark Souls games. I tend to like strategy and role playing games where generally you are building something, be it an empire or a characters stats.

Heading back up the road tomorrow. The worst of what ever virus type thing we all had is over. Kristi reckons it was the flu. Her leg is much better although still a little painful. If it is still sore when we get home, I'll make sure she makes an appointment with the docs. Going to be playing Kev at one of the older versions of Warhammer Fantasy (3rd ed) when I get back. All the armies for that edition were all in the one book rather than the later editions where every army got its own individual book. At the back of it the had mercinary and allied force lists you could attach to other armies, but are also suitable just for doing small games. We are just going to do a battle force those ones.

Heading out to do some shopping for tomorrow. We tend not to travel light when it comes to supplies. Most places are still closed but the supermarkets should be open (New Years is a bigger celebration in Scotland than christmas, and the first two days of the new year are public holidays).

[indianasmith]

Thinking I need to find a new computer game to play. It's been about a year since I last got one. Maybe I'll finally invest in Civ 6. Wandering between X-Com 2 and Civ 5 just now. Maybe I'll reinstall Skyrim for a bit. There was still plenty to do in that game. Last time I played it was down the Falklands and I was doing pretty well in it when I had the disasterous 'crash' that meant I'd to get Kristi to send me a new laptop down.

Very dark grey skies outside. Think we'll be having a storm tonight. Guess it will be a dramatic start to the new year then.

Lets just hope that isn't some kind of omen then.

Have you tried DARK SOULS 3?

You are cruel, Indy, cruel, lol.

If I were cruel I'd recommend the original DARK SOULS.

[ER]

Never tried any Dark Souls games. I tend to like strategy and role playing games where generally you are building something, be it an empire or a characters stats.

You actually do build up character stats in Dark Souls. Truthfully while the series is hard it's also one of the best of all time and you might like it.

Here's a test to see if you're right for it: In real life do you think you'd enjoy the challenge of climbing a mountain with a broken leg? Y/N?

But seriously, every Souls game is sheer brilliance, and if ever you play any of the four, tell me what you think.

[Alex]

Almost everything is packed, back of snacks is sorted and ready. Our clothes for tomorrow are out and all we are waiting for is time. On one hand I want to get back to my own place. On the other I hate leaving my mum's house.

Since my little sister loves musicals we are watching The Greatest Showman. Can't stand musicals myself, but hey Kristi and my mum also love them and if watching it makes them happy then I can put up with it for them.

There is never enough time with the ones we love. To say the things we feel, to do all the things we want to do with them. So much time spent on so so many things that just aren't important, even if they seem so at the time. In the end all we have are moments and how we use them.

[Alex]

And we are on the train heading homewards. On the one hand it feels like so very long ago I was posting pictures of the journey down south, and yet no time at all seems to have passed with us now having to head home. Weather is chilly, but shouldn't be bad enough to cause any delays. Without directly saying anything I did manage to get Kristi to change travel plans so we didn't travel through the worlds coldest train station (Aberdeen). I just waited until she has waivering between the two stations and said "Ok, you choose which one you want to go through." It's pretty much 100% that she will change her mind at that point.

I have always considered understanding your wife (at least in as much as it is possible for any man to truly understand a woman and their 'fuzzy logic' mind sets) to be an important skill.

Hmm, some guy just passed our table. Ever heard of having bags under your eyes? Well this guy looked like he'd brought a full set of outsize luggage and paid for additional baggage. He didn't look interesting enough to people watch though and come up with a back story for. Besides ever since the International Jazz Pirate, no one else really has seemed to be worth people watching anymore. Damn you International Jazz Pirate for ruining about the only thing that kept me vaguely amused during long aircraft waits.

[Alex]

Other than our taxi driver not noticing that the car in front of him had stopped to turn right and was waiting for a break in traffic we had an uneventful trip home. He realised he was going to smack into the car in front and wrenched the wheel to the side so he mounted the pavement instead.

Good job there was no one on the pavement there really. On the one hand, he reacted fast enough to prevent an accident, on the other... well I have suggested politely to Kristi that we shall be using a different taxi company in future as had he crashed with Ash on board, I wouldn't have been quite a calm as I was. There are extenuating circumstances for him (slightly, not completely), but yeah I think we will be switching back to my preferred (if slightly more expensive taxi company).

If someone ever invents a device that translates what dogs say for their owners, I bet you end up with a lot of dogs asking where their nuts are.

[Alex]

In the mood for a whole bunch of fantasy films, so I've stuck the Mythica series on. Inbetween watching that I'm sorting Ash's bedroom, ready for him to move into it. The biggest thing is moving the spare bed out and his cot in.

Kristi had to go out and get a new clothes horse today. The old one snapped a leg just before we went away and I have a crap load of laundry to do for everyone.

Especially Ash. Oh boy, can he go through clothes. Plus the extra clothes he makes us go through when he covers us in whatever baby gunk. Got his cot moved through into his own bedroom, where he is currently lying with a bottle. Mostly this is so we can get 10 minutes quiet. I do need to put the door back on his bedroom tonight though.

Ash has his own room now, woohoo. Maybe I and Kristi can even one day look forward to cuddling up together in bed again without us taking it in shifts to look after a baby who has decided sleep is beyond him. Since he isn't quite 100% over whatever virus we all have Kristi isn't completely sure on moving him through, but I am willing to bet there is never a 100% good time for things like this. And besides, somehow I am pretty sure we'll be sleeping tonight with all the doors open and checking on him regularly, if he does sleep and just doesn't cry loudly all night long.

All part of the price we knew we'd pay when we decided to have a baby. We are his world, and all he really knows after all and when you create life you owe it, not the other way around. A mistake more than one god appears to have made. But then claiming that you are perfect does not make it so.

Wish someone would tell trump that last part.

Or just give me a world of goblins, orc, dragons and adventure. I'd happily walk away from the workaday world for that. Brawling in taverns, robbing powerful (and sinster) wizards, wealthy merchants... all that swords and sandles jazz I could cheerfully go for.

'Course these days I'd have to do it with a baby in a backpack. Hey, if it worked for Ogami Ittō, it can work for me.

Getting a good bit of the adventure written. Just as well really since we pick up again on Sunday. I still however need to do some background research and work out how much the expedition is going to cost the group, hiring craftsmen, sellswords, wagons, animals to pull them and food for them all. Yay for that.

[Alex]

Spent Saturday cleaning the man cave carpet. Took me most of the morning, mostly due to getting rid of things that Ash has dropped scrubbed out. Anyway, used the last of the carpet shampoo we had and congratulated myself on a job well done. Later that night Ash would manage to knock over a pint of Irn Bru onto the carpet. The next night he managed to kick over one of my beers.

Oh well, Kristi is out shopping with Karen today so they can get some fresh carpet cleaner and I can go over it again. Speaking of Ash, his current thing is either I let him stick his finger in my ear or he screams. He is spending some time in his cot as a result.

Judging from the amount of texts from work this morning, they forgot I'd booked today off. Yeah, figured someone else could do all the first day back briefs and made sure I booked it off in advance. I didn't turn down the chance of being an acting sergeant* to have to go doing responsible things.

Finally got a frame for a map of Scotland, Kristi had bought me a few years ago so that is now mounted on the wall of ancient maps in the dining room. Doubtless, I've not put it in the frame the right way, or something and I'll have to move it later. I kind of like hanging things slightly off. When we have friends with OCD round you can see it preying on their minds.

I wonder if I could get some picture frames made up that are just half a degree or so off being square. Trying watching The Haunting of Hill House TV series. Slow starter and well, it will have to be damn good to be better than the movie (the old B&W one, not the ultra crappy remake).

Oh well, I should go start painting up Kristi's howitzer and my German infantry.

*Acting unpaid to boot, which as you have to pay SNCO's mess bills would have meant it'd would have actually cost me money.

[316zombie]

a word of advice..you need to COMPLETELY disconnect any and all thoughts of the B&W movie OR shirley's book in order to enjoy the haunting of hill house netflix series. i went bat guano  crazy on the first 2 episodes in my group, and was reminded that i DO now love kubrick's the shining, after having the same reaction lo these many decades ago and walking out of the theater 45 minutes into it. *curtis married me anyway, lol!*
   once i looked at THOHS from a stand alone POV, i quite liked it. and a small hint, watch the background closely....

[Alex]

I ended up putting it off and going watching something else. I might go back and give it another go in the future, but the show just didn't seem to engage with me. Mind you nothing I watched on Monday seemed to click with me.

[Alex]

Was ordered to fill in a questionnaire yesterday at work. Wasn't on a topic that interested me and I couldn't force myself to actually read the questions properly, so I put in that I disagreed with everything and submitted it. Hopefully, no one will ask me questions on my responses in the future. Hell, I don't think I even fully read what the questionnaire was about. Kind of scanned it, didn't pick up anything interesting and clicked buttons, then forgot anything I had picked on what it was about.

Just as long as I didn't turn down a pay raise.

First rehearsal of the year. Did as much of it as I could without my script. Sadly it turned out that half the cast all had something in common. 3 of us lost cats just before the holidays in car accidents. One of the women is convinced one of her cats pushed another one out in front of traffic. Decided not to mention about Dagon at that point.

Helped move some scenery around afterward. Managed to get a splinter buried deep in my hand, so the first job when I got home tonight was to pull that out. Tracy (the director), had suggested I let Kristi do that for me. My wife is very expressive and waves her hands around a lot. I tend to keep guns out of her hands, and not stand too close when she has a knife. She is awesome though. There are a lot of jealous guys out there over how much she looks after me and the little things we do for each other.

I doubt there is a woman out there who could make me happier than she does. Hopefully, everyone out there with a significant other has someone who makes them feel as good and as loved as she makes me feel.

And that is about as soppy as I am prepared to get tonight. Watching Army of Darkness just now. Not a film that would for most people be considered romantic.

Mind you, I was this close to proposing to Kristi in a graveyard. And we had mints at our wedding in the shape of Frankensteins head, so what do I know? Oh, and our cake toppers were lego zombies, in a wedding dress and a suit. Mind you, most of what was at my wedding was a surprise to me (like when I was half way down the aisle and the harpist started playing the imperial march).

[Alex]

Spending a lot of time designing a villain for D&D that the party might not go anywhere near. Hmmm. When anyone is DMing they should always be careful not to get too attached to any character they design. Recurring bad guys have a habit of being unexpectedly dispatched by players. Yes, you can fudge things and alter the dice rolls, but I like to give the party more freedom than that. They do have the power to change their fate.

Wonder when the next enjoyable horror franchise will emerge. It has been a while since I saw one I liked to follow over several movies. I stuck with Saw for a while, longer perhaps than it deserved. I kept hoping they'd come up with a twist with the same level of gut punch that the first one finished on. Bless their cotton socks though, they tried. Kristi's birthday this weekend. I think she needs to be pampered and spoiled, she's earned it. Still, we both got a good nights sleep last night. Ash did wake up about midnight. Gave him a feed and he went right back to sleep. Keeping very quiet this morning in the hope the little man sleeps later and both mum and baby can have a longer lie in.

Sales in China are slowing. I wonder if this is the long expected bamboo curtain crash, the effects of trump's trade war, or some other factors.

Oh well, time to head to work. May your day bring as much light, love and pleasure as you bring into the lives of others.