Saturday Gaming Field Trip & good news on Victoria

Posted on 2008-08-24 by dpkworldwide

Yesterday, I took a trip down to Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove, CA because I’d heard through the grapevine that someone from Peter Pig Miniatures would be there demoing a new set of Samurai period wargame rules.

Sure enough, Battle in the Age of Wars turned out to be a lot of fun and quite satisfying historically. I bought the rules and will be using them if and when I get my 10 mm Samurai armies painted. The most interesting thing about the game was that there’s whole pre-game “campaign” that you play before your army actually gets put out on the table. This can drastically effect a lot of things for the upcoming game—from troops that appear late, to hampering your chain-of-command to all kinds of other intrigues and inconveniences. I think that’s what made it so appealing and interesting—you really don’t know exactly how things are going to work out for you.

The game itself is very fast-playing, involving rolling bucket-loads of D6s. The mechanisms make sense, though, and it’s easy to get the hang of things and memorize how to do stuff part way through. With two complete novices and fairly normal sized armies of three wings, our turns were taking about 1/2 an hour and we finished the game in about 3 1/2. Of course, we also had the author himself refereeing for us…

I got so involved in playing the game that time flew by and I missed lunch (not that I need it…), so I treated myself to an early dinner at the only Sonic Drive-In south of Bakersfield—it was yummy!

But now to today’s big news: I brought Victoria home from kitty hospital this morning. She gained nearly 2 pounds in the two days she was there (mostly fluids from the IV bag), but she still isn’t eating. The doctor said she maybe didn’t want to there but would at home. I have to give her liquid antibiotics twice a day and will have to continue with the subcutaneous IV fluids at least once a day in the morning—kind of creepy since it means ME having stick a needle in her. The doctor also said that there seems to be both kidney and liver problems, but she didn’t elaborate yet. I’m going to take care of her this week and go back for a visit on Thursday. Hopefully she’ll be eating by then and on her way to full recovery; if not, I’m going to have to either board her or have a professional pet-sitter come visit while I’m gone to Las Vegas this weekend for the convention.

Poor Victoria

Posted on 2008-08-23 by dpkworldwide

Yesterday morning, after ignoring it for a bit too long, I finally took my female kitty Victoria to the vet. She had turned into nothing but skin and bones while I was gone, and I was trying on my own to bring her back thinking that she had just gone on a “hunger strike” because she missed me.

Well, turns out she was chronically dehydrated, has a serious bladder infection and potentially other ailments. The wonderful doctor (Dr. McFarland at The Cat Doctor and Friends, Santa Clarita) took some tests and was actually glad to see the infection because it was something treatable. She stayed overnight at the kitty hospital for treatment and recuperation and I’m on my way to see her this morning and listen to the prognosis. The initial outlook was that she does have a better-than-50% chance of recovering, but she is getting old (my cats are both 15-16). It’s kind of expensive getting her treated, but what else can I really do right at the outset? It would be sad, but if she has to be put to sleep, so be it. I guess I’ll know in a little while and be able to post news later…

Last night at The Bengal Club, we played a new WW2 air combat game, Check Your Six hosted by New Robert. It’s sort of like Blue Max with much faster, ore powerful planes (that also tend to get shot up and die a LOT quicker). I guess it was kind of fun, but it will take a lot more than that intro game before I decide. Then again, I really don’t need to get involved in yet another gaming period and rule set. In fact, as I was telling Matt as we carpooled home last night, since my focus is turning more and more to Japan, I seem to be really struggling to maintain any interest in gaming at all.

In a way that’s good: it should spur me on to even greater efforts to clean up my gamers clutter and eBay with a vengeance. I’m also going to be well and truly ready for the HMGS convention this coming November to sell big-time at the swap meet.

Random Stuff

Posted on 2008-08-21 by dpkworldwide

The problem with me blogging at home versus blogging when I was in Japan, is that my regular life isn’t really…all that interesting.

I’ve been trying to find work (not particularly successfully yet), do stuff on the computer, get on a regular weight loss/fitness routine and that’s kind of it. I’m still not over the post-KJapan malaise yet, though it’s not nearly as pronounced as it was two years ago. In my head I’m all for selling everything, packing up and moving there, but the “anchors” are already there and that—coupled with my general laziness—are making progress really slow and almost purely academic at this point.

Yesterday was kind of fun, though. I’d told my Mom & Dad about my new favorite restaurant (Cowboy Cantina out in Canyon Country), so they said they wanted to come out and give it a try. They did yesterday for lunch and brought Julie, Kyle and Jacob with them. Me and the boys went down to the pool and swam for a bit (believe it or not, it was the FIRST time I’ve been in my building’s pool since I moved in in December ‘06), played pool in the game room and then we all went to lunch. Afterwards, the kids played a bit on my PS3—it was fun. I told the boys that they should come and stay overnight sometime so we can work on building their train models I brought them from Japan. Maybe they can do it next week before school starts.

So other than that, my normal life slides by. Things should really change, though…

The End of Civilization as We Know It

Posted on 2008-06-17 by dpkworldwide

As of 5:00 PM PDT yesterday, Monday, August 16, 2008, Same-sex marriage is now legal in the state of California. This is an absolute calamity.

You can add 4 judges—only four fallible humans—to the 4 from Massachusetts who think they have it within their purview to redefine the way humanity organizes itself, defines family and establishes its social structure. That’s eight people who think they know better than millions. Eight people who feel they can rewrite history. Eight people who have forced upheaval on the land.

Don’t even start with me about “fairness” or “equality” (both of which are lies) and don’t trot out the tired “there’s over 1,000 rights denied to gay and lesbian couples” (also an over-exaggerated lie). Nobody seems to see the upheaval this will cause all the way to the very core of our legal, moral, ethical and societal structures, and the true scope of damage will not be felt for who knows how many decades or generations.

That’s why I say it’s the end of Civilization as we know it—because it’s going to change everything.

The worst part about California’s law is that unlike Massachusetts where only same-sex citizens of that state can “wed”, there’s no such limit on marriages here. That means those same four people of the California Supreme Court have deemed it desirable to export revolution throughout the country. I apologize to the other 48 states…

We do still have a small chance of reversing this decision with a constitutional amendment measure on November’s ballot. But, sadly, I think it’s a small one. From now until then (over 4 1/2 months), gays will be marrying simply so they can say, “see, we’re not hurting anybody”; the liberal media and establishment will push that agenda and the gutless electorate will be loath to vote for something perceived as “writing discrimination into the constitution” ( that’s also an overwrought lie). I can only hope that enough people will see this for the societal tragedy that it is and vote YES on the amendment.

The next steps will be legalization of all sorts of “marriage” (polygamy, siblings, groups, minors), and don’t think for a moment it won’t happen. The big argument “winning” the same-sex case was essentially that “you should be able to love and commit to whoever you want and the state should support that”. Just what part of that argument do you think is going to stop any of the other permutations I listed? It’s only a matter of time until society “gets used to the idea” and four other people on a court somewhere make it legal.

This reminds me of a well-know Alexander Pope quote from his Essay on Man:

        Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
        As to be hated needs but to be seen;
        Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
        We first endure, then pity, then embrace.

No truer words have ever been spoken. If you’re reading this I hope you’ll take that message to heart and put an end to this, because it’s likely the last chance we’ll ever have to do so.

Otherwise, you’re obviously perfectly OK with changing Civilization as we now know it…

2008 AT&T Champions Classic Golf Tournament

Posted on 2008-03-17 by dpkworldwide

Last spring my friend Mike E. managed to get us some deluxe tickets to watch the AT&T Champions Classic golf tournament, complete with luxury lunch buffet in the clubhouse. It’s part of the Seniors PGA Tour and was the first time I had ever been to see a golf tourney in real life.

Well, when I spoke with some of the volunteers then, I became excited to also volunteer. I’d been thinking about it, but never got around to actually doing anything about it until this past Monday when I realized it was going to be this week! I went up to the Valencia Country Club, located the proper people and signed up.

I ended up working four days and spectating for one, having a great time. I spent most of my shifts working on the fairway of the 10th—which was really exciting during the Pro-Am tournament when the wind kicked up. It was very lucky that we had a tree to hide behind!

On Saturday, Mike and I walked around following the action. No deluxe buffet for us this time, but we still saw great golf. When we arrived around 10:30, it was an absolutely perfect day for golf: gorgeous sunny weather, only a very light breeze. But by the time we walked back to my place around 2:30, it was actually raining on us! Kinda put a crimp in the festivities…

On Sunday, I worked the green on the 14th (which is where the photos are from). As you can see, Valencia CC is an absolutely beautiful course. The exciting bit is that—since I was a hard-working volunteer—I will actually get to play the course in August. That’s pretty cool since there’s no way I could ever afford to join. But it’s also pretty scary considering I watched the pros play and know just how tough a course it is! Denis Watson ended up winning the tournament after 3 playoff rounds.

In the evening, I went from marshaling to transportation. I drove Curtis Strange and his wife down to their hotel near LAX—such nice people. My second and final trip was fun too: I drove Brad Bryant to LAX for a late night flight. It was funny because he had one special request before we left: he wanted to go eat dinner at In & Out Burger! So he treated me to dinner, which was really nice. He says that In & Out is always a must-visit site for the PGA tour folks, since they’re only in California. I said it was the same for me when I visit the South and have to go to the Waffle House since the nearest one is in Phoenix, Arizona. He also gave me an autographed visor which was really cool.

I had so much fun that I hope to do it again next year if I’m still around.

EeePC and the Lunacy of Windows

Posted on 2008-02-26 by dpkworldwide

I’ve really been enjoying using and playing with my new EeePC. More than I thought I would, really.
But I’m fast coming to the conclusion that I’m not geeky enough to put up with Linux much longer. It’s really quirky and confusing for a non-techy type like myself. I mean, I had to go online to eeeuser.com, read the wiki and do some experiments before I could figure out how to simply format a SDHC card. That’s just too inconvenient for me.

I never thought I’d ever actually say this—but I want to install Windows XP on it. Which brings me to the “lunacy” part.

So I go online to Amazon.com figuring I could order it for a discount, not pay sales tax and get it here in a couple days with my Amazon Prime 2-day shipping benefit. But then I saw the price: $199.00 (okay, $191.49 with the exciting 4% discount…whoopee)! In order to do the install you must have the full version with SP2—OEM discs won’t work.

But that’s a price that’s extremely hard to stomach. That’s 50% of what I paid to buy the danged computer! It’s more than what I paid for my new Sam Hecht-designed 320GB portable USB Hard Drive from LaCie I just received today. It’s not quite double the cost of the much superior MacOS X Leopard.

As if I really needed any further evidence against the Evil Empire, this really makes it strike home just how much Micro$oft has been gouging the world with its overcharging for inferior product.

Sigh.

Amgen Tour of California

Posted on 2008-02-23 by dpkworldwide

Just thought you might like to see a couple photos of the peloton going past my place. The Amgen Tour of California professional cycling race has made its second appearance in Valencia, and it’s even bigger this year than last. They’ll actually be starting the next stage from here tomorrow—last year, they actually packed up and went someplace else for the next stage (Long Beach, I think).

Of course, I’m home sick today and really can’t be bothered to do much more than stick my head out on the balcony for a few photos. It certainly does make things lively around here, though!