It's That Time of Year

While everyone is thinking about New Year's Resolutions I'm sitting here thinking, "How the hell did I manage to bust this button on my pants?"

Maybe it's time I think of a resolution. . . to use metal buttons.

Soloist

My daughter's concert was a few weeks ago.  Her last concert at the middle school.  It was fun watching her perform in the lobby prior to the concert.

After a few songs playing solo, a few other band members came over to join her and she proceeded to boss them around.

That's what you can do when it's your last middle school band concert.
Also, can we talk about this guy with a full beard?  Sitting in the middle school band?

The Still

I'm pretty sure my neighbor is making a still.

Next thing you know he is asking you to bring over a few mason jars.

Hurry Up!

Tomorrow is your last chance for Christmas shopping.  I'm well experienced at shopping on Christmas Eve but I won't be doing it this year!!

I finished all of my shopping over a week ago and even got everything wrapped last weekend.

So how does it feel to have all of my shopping done while other men are all out rushing around looking for last minute gifts?  It feels awesome.

The Gun

My dad brought this to me last year and I haven't taken the time to photograph this for identification until now.  There are some pretty interesting markings on here that should help someone that knows what they are talking about to identify it.

I'll post an update when I get some additional information on this gun from the 1800's.

Subterfuge Game - Diplomacy

I joined a game of Subterfuge about a week ago.  Ten players are put on a map of outposts.  The goal will be to create mines and the first player to mine out 200 wins.

It sounds easy, but there is much more going on here.  The map is crowded and there isn't much room to expand without fighting with one neighbor or another.  The biggest tool available to you is the chat box.  I opened it and started greeting my neighbors.

I declared peace with 3 of my 4 neighbors and everyone agreed.  Before long I was given an offer to join two players in attacking a 3rd.  We would all benefit as we split up his property.  This victim was a neighbor that I had already declared peace with.  Now what?

The moves in Subterfuge are purposefully long.  As I send a submarine to attack a nearby outpost I see that it will take 17 hours to arrive.  The pacing is intentional.  First of all, this allows me to play a strategic game without having to constantly be on my phone or away from work, family, etc...  In Subterfuge I can just check in for five minutes a few times a day to be sure my allies haven't betrayed me (they will).

The second benefit to this pacing is to allow time to negotiate.  Things happen a little slower so you have time to talk to the other players to make deals.

Late in my first game, as I was being attacked, I knew nearly twelve hours ahead of time that I had lost a major property.    Remember that neighbor that I plotted to destroy with two others?  He has come back with an alliance of his own to destroy me.  That'll be the last time I break off peace on the first day.

The game can be a bit stressful.  Who do you trust?  What info do you give another player?  Where do you move your troops, because once committed they are gone for the rest of the day and bringing them back takes equally as long.

It takes about a week to play a game and I'm currently about two days away from the end of my first game.  I've been severely beaten back from my lead position but I'm still alive and trying to fight back where I can.  I won't win at this point unless I can get the help of some of the other players.

It's time I get back to that chat window and see if I can turn this around.

If you are interested in playing and have an iOS device send me a message and I'll get you an invite to the Alpha.  (Android devices coming soon!)
www.subterfuge-game.com

Still Climbing

Christmas Photo 2014

Getting five people to stand nice and smile at the same time is harder than it sounds.  I admit that it is getting easier as the kids get older, but now we have a hold out when it comes to the fun photo:

Bed Time

As a kid I couldn't wait to be an adult so that I wouldn't have a bedtime.   Now that I'm an adult I have realized that I'm not responsible enough to set my own bed time.

Attitude

This girl is all attitude.

Chores

Everyone in the house has specific chores that they are responsible for.  One of my chores is NOT doing the cat liter.   That job falls to someone else.   When that person can't get to it there is a back up and that backup person is NOT me.

But what happens when the chore owner and their backup are both unavailable?

Spoiled

I'm very spoiled with a beautiful wife that looks out for me.   Very often on Saturday she will let me sleep in and then bring me up a cup of coffee.  Now that she is working I asked her how I was going to get my coffee in bed.

That was a mistake.  She suddenly became aware of HOW spoiled I have become and she apologized for making me so helpless.  She is going to try and right the wrong by not bringing me coffee anymore.

I'm not sure if that is the answer I was looking for.

My YouTube Channel

After uploading my latest video to YouTube I realized that this may be my chance to focus the content of my channel.   Some people have channels dedicated to recording themselves reviewing video games, others are making videos about dancing, fixing stuff, breaking stuff, singing, or just about anything else you can think of.  

I think my channel will be giving my daughter 10 seconds to eat dessert each night.