Trent the Uncatchable

Wednesday

Last night we got home and Laura prepared leftovers for dinner. I ate while we watched Top Gear from Monday, then I left for Curia. It was the usual kind of Curia, where a few things get decided and mostly we hear about what's going on in the Barony. And then home, where I watched Laura play KoL and read for a while. And finally to bed.

Tonight we have no plans, as such ... but we have TV to watch and I have things to clean in the basement. On the way home we're going to stop at the store to get some supplies, I believe.

Tomorrow or Friday we're going to see Rachel's play in Chicago. (We're shooting for Friday, and plan to invite Ginger and Maritabeth and whomever else wants to join us ... but we expect, with this being second-to-last weekend of Faire, that everyone's social calendars are booked.) And, of course, this weekend is Faire.

Right. Work to do. These websites aren't going to update themselves.

Little Old Lady

Last night we grabbed dinner at GPs on the way home (I really like their chicken caeser salad, in case anybody wondered what we *eat* there), then ate in front of the tv. Rearranged the living room, and prepared for our guests.

We began our gaming session by working on characters - levelling up and creating a new one. I sat with Shannon for a little while, working on Granny Mabel the Monk, and with Kat to discuss Anasha's advancement. Jim got a quick debrief, and Daisy had a chat with her deity. Jillian met with the heads of her guild, and Jebidoh chose to work on his advancement outside of game time.

After everyone left for the night, we cleaned up and went to bed.

Tonight is Curia in Brookfield. A friend just told me about a new restaurant called Agave up there, which sounds ... intruiging. Tomorrow and Thursday, nothing's brewing. That I know of. Yet. I haven't moved anything to the basement since Friday's flurry of activity because almost all of what I needed to get done on that front is done, and the porch is at least tidy, but that doesn't really mean that I'm *done* with the process. So I should finish at some point.

Vum

Thursday night I ... huh. Don't remember very well. I believe I packed the car somewhat and relaxed with my family.

Friday morning I rose, bustled around, did some work remotely, and put things in the basement. The garage is now almost empty enough for a vehicle. (Almost.) Then I packed more things into the car and drove up to the Border Skirmish site.

There, I helped around the campsite. And Geoffrey and I set up the list field, which took a couple hours. (We used Ravenslake's list poles, the bases of which need to be filled with water, dirt, or rocks. So we found a pile of dirt, filled thirty or so of them, and moved them to their positions.) There were plenty of other chores to do as well, including setting up the Northshield pavilion (which is a beast ... though I don't know the actual dimensions. I see that at one point it was going to be 20' x 40', but I'm pretty sure it's bigger). Countess Guilia tells me that once upon a time two people put up the NS pavilion, but we couldn't figure out how to do it without at least five. And I think we had eight - four to raise and hold the center poles, four others to run around and put in the supporting poles. Anyway, it got done. I also set up one of the Northshield shade flies and one of ours for the list field.

The torchlight tournament began a little after 9, with two combatants. We wrapped it up by 10:30, and I went home. Laura was at Irish Fest, and I beat her home by about half an hour.

Saturday morning I overslept and sprinted to the site. Got there about ten minutes before I had to actually do anything, set up the paperwork, and hauled out my own stuff. We took care of our one authorization and waited for the fighters. While we were waiting I set up our second shade fly, which has sat in the garage, unused, for years. (It was in the first flood, and we were too scared to open it. It's fine, by the way.)

We had sixteen people in armor at the start of the fighting - three Midrealm, thirteen Northshield. We did a 'for the glory' open field battle, followed by a round of 'single combat' in which each Midrealmer lined up to challenge and fight one Northshielder. Then the Northshielders finished their line against whichever Midrealmer felt like fighting. And then we split the sides more evenly for more open field battles.

After open field we did bridge battles - a twenty foot bridge, with eight people per side, for 15 minutes (including resurrection). And followed that with a few rounds of 'regicide' - each team selected a fighter to be their regent, and we fought open field battles in which the objective was to kill the other team's regent and protect your own. During these, the Cheshire combat archers turned up. We had five or six rounds of a modified Gulf Wars ravine battle to give them some time in the sun as well, followed by some smaller four-person melees. Until everyone was done. By the end of the day, we had had twenty people in armor.

Magnus and I moved all the list pole buckets back to the dirt pile and emptied them, then collected the empties into a single location. I cleaned up the rest of the field and took down my shade flies, and helped take down the Northshield shade flies as well. And took a quick jaunt into town to get some food.

I came back during dinner, which was a feast of epic proportions. As it wound down, we took the NS pavilion down and put it away (so that we wouldn't have to put it away wet later). Then over to Alasdair's camp for a Boar's Head meeting, and finally home. Laura was out at Jenny and Karl's, and came home not long after I did.

Sunday was Faire. It was not our best day ever. Afterwards I went home and had dinner, and we crawled into bed early.

Tonight is D&D. Tomorrow night is Curia. And the rest of the week is unassigned. Todd wants some help with his web server again, so I'll see if we can fit that in. And otherwise, there's plenty to do. So.

And so, like that.

Anniversary...

Last night we ran an errand while I called in to Uthyr's radio show (which failed due to technical difficulties), then went home. I went back out to pick up more things - a new power strip, my prescription, some groceries, a car charger for Laura's phone - and headed home again. I rearranged the living room a little more, moved some things to the basement, cleaned a little, and prepared for server patching. Which took till about 1. And now I'm tired.

Today is the anniversary of my Pennsic wedding with Laura. (I suppose it's technically tonight.) On August 14, 2002, we were married in the eyes of various people at Pennsic, by the hands of Rusty, in the eastern tower of the fort. And it was a nice night, with a breeze. And we smashed a glass and ground pieces of it into Mt. Eislinn. (And sent other pieces with guests, so that the glass might never be made whole again.) And King Valharic said words which moved everyone there to tears, completely off the cuff and unrehearsed, bidding us to remember that communication is the most important part of a relationship. And I pledged to my wife the first sip from my cup, the first bite of my meat, and that the honeycomb would taste sweeter coming from my hand.

Tonight we'll see if we can think of something nice to do for each other. We're both pretty tired, so we may put off our anniversary celebration until later. Or may just do something quiet together.

Tomorrow I'm taking the day off to do Border Skirmish stuff (and get a little extra sleep). I'll head out to site in the early afternoon to help set up, then be there for the torchlight tourney (9-ish). And then Saturday is melee all day. And Saturday night is a Boar's Head planning meeting. Sunday is Faire, of course, and Monday is D&D, and Curia is Tuesday. And so it goes.

Right. On to get something done here. Oh, other than the newest episode of The Eric. Hope I didn't say anything stupid this time...

Sleagh

Last night we stopped on the way home for vegetables, then Ben made us Baby Bam Burgers for dinner. We watched some tv, including Eureka, and Laura worked on her database while I rearranged furniture. Not quite done with that yet, but I think the end results will be good. And finally we went to bed.

Tonight I need to run out to the hardware store, and we're rebooting some servers at 10. Which means no Funky Formal this year. Tomorrow we have nothing official planned ... but plenty of things around the house to take care of. Friday I'm heading up to Border Skirmish to run the torchlight tournament, and then the fighting on Saturday. Whee!

I brought in a fan this morning to cool me off faster after the morning trot up the stairs. Because I sure do need it.

And now, on to work.

Stupid stairs

Last night I stopped on the way home to get groceries. Once aquired, it was home-time. Where Ben and I made dinner, and we watched the last (on that disc) episode of Boston Legal. Then Top Gear for a couple hours, and then Laura and I looked at her database and made some changes. And finally bed.

Last night, also, I took the file cabinet downstairs, which is the most cumbersome thing to go into the basement (I think). One evening this week will be dedicated to cleaning all the furniture I'm putting back down there, so that we can put things back *in* the furniture. F'r instance, I need to wipe out the linens cabinet so that we can put linens back in it.

Ginger: This thread is how to fix your Treo. The reset I was looking for is the 'warm reset', in which you reset (by removing the back cover), and hold the up arrow on the 5-way navigation pad as the Treo turns back on. Hold the up button the entire time until the main Phone screen is displayed. At this point you can get to the error logs.

Tonight, no plans. Tomorrow night bowling is cancelled, and replaced with server work (at 10 PM). Which means no Funky for me. Thursday and Friday we also have nothing planned. It's as if we have free time! (But I'm sure it's an illusion.)

This weekend is Border Skirmish. I need to send the 'come fight at Border Skirmish!' email, now updated with Combat Archery information. Huzzah!

And now, I want breakfast.

Woof!

Friday night Ben and I went to Todd's house. He showed us nifty toys (such as the Media Center that he's been working on, and we watched Dr. Horrible on the big screen in surround sound. Then down to the basement, where I worked on resurrecting his web server and he taught Ben how to put together a computer. And then home.

Saturday was a decent day at Faire. The weather was good, with a brief shower in the late afternoon. Afterwards Laura took a break from running errands and we all went to Red Robin for dinner. (About 20 of us.) And then home.

Sunday was nicer, weather-wise and crowd-wise. Though from the looks of the people at Faire, nobody was really shopping. (We can guess at the overall commerce by how many bags people have.) Afterwards I met Marie in the parking lot and got some stuff for Border Skirmish, then went home. Where I had leftover meatloaf and we watched Boston Legal.

As I got home last night, Kymm called from Pennsylvania. Seems that she was still out there, and that Matt had been called to Arkansas. And the kids were still in Minnesota. And they needed someone to let the dogs out in the morning. (Freya and Pada, a couple of huskies.) So, I drove to their place this morning and let them out of the kitchen, leashed them, took them to the fenced-in back yard, and turned them loose. Latched the gate carefully. And went back inside to clean up the puddles they had left. As I was doing so, I heard the jingle of a collar out the side door. I grabbed the leashes and went to look, and saw the two trotting merrily down the street together.

Pada, when called, waited for me. And bared her belly to me when I got to her, so I rubbed it while I leashed her. And she and I chased down Freya, which took about ten minutes more. With both of them leashed, we made our way back to the house where I let them run around the back yard for a few more minutes. And learned that Pada escapes under the gate, while Freya escapes over it. But I got them both back into the house, cleaned up their mess, changed their water, and left them in the kitchen. (I couldn't find any food containers, so I'm afraid they'll have to go hungry for a little while.) And went to work.

Tonight and tomorrow night we have no plans. (Though I need to clean the cabinets I've brought in from the garage, so that we can use them for storage.) Wednesday night I'm supposed to go bowling with my coworkers. (The project managers challenged the web developers to a match.) And that night is also the Funky Formal (for which the theme is Birds). Thursday night is fighter's practice. And Friday, as always, is intentionally left free.

And now, I have work to do.

I feel no remorse

Last night we went home, then Ben and I went to the school and registered him. GP's for dinner, and home where we watched a couple episodes of Boston Legal. I moved some things into the basement, and rescheduled the server stuff for tonight.

Tonight, server stuff. And maybe some relaxing. Tomorrow, Faire. (They switched the forecast - Saturday was going to be low 70s and partly cloudy, while Sunday would be warmer with rain. Now Saturday's going to be warmer with rain and Sunday will be cooler. Sigh.)

I need to write up a Border Skirmish email to invite fighters to the event. Hmm.

La la la

Last night we got home and had dinner while we watched some Daily Show goodness. Then I ran out to get milk, distilled water, and some other things. And back home, where we watched Tuesday night's Eureka. And wrapped up the night in front of the computers. Oh, and I moved something downstairs.

Tonight we're registering Ben for school. I've been invited over to an ex-co-worker's house to help him build a web server, a process which he intends to record so that he can post it as a 'here's how to build a web server' tutorial. Which reminds me, I need to call him. Tomorrow evening we have no plans. And Saturday is weekend 5 of Bristol.

Ye gods, I sure am tired of climbing stairs.

Post Birthday Recovery

Monday night I got home from work with a headache, and took a nap. And woke up for dinner, which was fabulous and fantastic and everything I could have hoped for. My wonderful wife made me meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, corn, and carrots (possibly my favorite meal), and for dessert gave me a do-it-yourself sundae bar with heath bar custard and the options of white chocolate chips, raspberry topping, caramel topping, dark chocolate chips, nuts, and whipped cream. Meanwhile we watched Top Gear, and then opened presents. I received the Spaced DVD set from Ben, and from Laura I got a story - she was going to get me an 80 GB iPod (and had, in fact, purchased it) and told Ginger, and Ginger decided to upgrade it to a 160GB. Which is ... I can't describe how totally cool that is. So, soaking in the love and joy of pre-birthday happiness I went to bed early.

I woke up yesterday feeling fine, did a few things around the house (I had some furniture I wanted to rearrange, but it didn't fit so I rearranged it differently), and ran off to grab breakfast. I considered Walker Brothers, with a side trip on the way back to get a burrito from El Famous, but decided that was too much work. So McDonalds hotcakes and sausage, and I was sated. And then a quick trip to Home Depot. And home.

I played H:L for about four hours until it crashed, which was glorious all on its own. Laura got home around 5 and we left pretty much right away to meet Glenn for dinner at Bridie McKenna's, which is about as Irish a pub as I've seen in Illinois. And they have Magners on tap, which is a smooth and sweet cider, and shephard's pie. Then we dropped Glenn off at Starbucks and kept going to Gorton, arriving only a few minutes late. The group saved me a seat in the front row, and as I sat down they tied a hat on to my head. (It was a birthday cake with 'Paul' writ large upon it.)

We saw Moonie, The Swordsmen, The New Minstrel Revue, Ded Bob, Will Shakespeare, Robin Hood and Little John, and Doktor Kaboom. Robin and John pulled me up on stage to help them sing a song, which involved clapping and pelvic thrusts. And Moonie used me as a stepladder, and had me toss juggling clubs to him, and gave me a hug, ... and it's all on film. Not my film (Laura and Kat took pictures, and Ginger took video), but film. The show was really great, overall, and the highlights ... well, are too numerous to name. Or, really, to explain. Doktor Kaboom used electricity to light up a pickle and swap Moonie and Shakespeare's brains, and they both turned into Dirk Perfect. And before that, Moonie and Shakespeare did a limerick contest dedicated to Veronica from Genoa. (Moonie won.) Ded Bob led everyone in singalongs. And it was all just cool. Afterwards we all went home, and I had more custard. As birthdays go, this one is high on the list of Best Birthdays Ever.

This morning I have a headache. I've taken ibuprofin, drank caffeine, and gotten exercise (walked up the stairs), and it hasn't gone away yet. But it's not too bad if I sit still, so I'll be here all day...

Tonight we have no plans. Tomorrow night we need to register Ben for school. (He's a senior now, you know.) And Friday we also have no plans.

And, right. Time for work.

Brand New Day

I've declared that today I'll listen to Dr. Horrible two or three times through. Just to see if I can get the songs out of my head. (Some of them bear striking similiarities to Sondheim's Sweeney Todd songs - for instance, the syncopated bits of Epiphany and My Friends are quite like the syncopated bits of Slipping and the Finale...

Friday night we stayed home and watched the season finale of Doctor Who, and I was quite pleased with it. It evoked all the right emotions, and tweaked all the right chords, and ... yeah. We also caught up on Burn Notice and watched an episode of Boston Legal. And went to bed.

Saturday was a strange day at Faire. The forecasters didn't doom us (though they had given dire predictions for the weekend at the beginning of the week, Thursday and Friday they said nice things about Saturday), but we didn't have the crowds we expected. And the crowds that we did have weren't big shoppers. I worked with Kate, and Ed floated in and out of the shop at his whim. Ginger went dancing after work, and Ed and Kate met friends for sushi, and nobody mentioned any dinner plans to me (and, really, I was beat anyway) so I went home and my wife ordered pizza. And we finished the Boston Legal DVD.

Sunday was still not a day of staggering crowds at Faire, but it was still good. Kate, when not working, is entertaining herself with letterboxing ... which actually looks really cool. After work they asked me to choose a place to eat, and I chose The Chancery because it wasn't too far north (so Ed and Kate didn't have to double back) or too far south (so the rest of us didn't have to either). It took a long time to get our food, but it was tasty ... and was gone quickly. And then we went home.

We thought today was Ben's school registration, but it's actually Wednesday. Still, Laura took the day off to get Ben in for some immunization shots and to take care of a few things around the house. Tonight we - or Ben and I, or just I - will see Speed Racer at the cheap theater (4:40 show), and probably do something birthday-ish after. Tomorrow I'm taking the day off to relax ... and if I accidentally put some furniture in the basement, then oops. (I have a list of things I'd like to get done, and I don't expect to get most - or maybe any - of them done tomorrow. I'd like to spend the day killing demons in Hellgate: London. But, my list of things to get done: Make new swords, put a new back plate in my kidney belt, paint my shield, buy a new battery and battery-powered sump, evaluate the furniture in the garage, and put the plastic storage cabinets down there. And then maybe move stuff off the porch.) And then tomorrow night we're going to the Bristol Gang Variety Show. (Turns out it's at the Gorton Center, which is the home of Center Stage, a theater group I've done a few shows with (ten or eleven years ago). In fact, I believe it's where Glenn and Rachel first did theater together, back in the way back times.)

Wednesday night we have no plans. Thursday night we'll take Ben to get registered for school (unless one of us goes in late or comes home early on Wednesday to do it). And Friday we have no plans.

So, right. Plenty to do.

Puddle of sweat

Last night we got home, then I went back out to Matt and Kymm's. Kymm's the Mayor (or autocrat) of Pennsic, and has been gone for a week or two, and the kids are at their Dad's place. Matt's home alone - with the exception of the dogs. Who apparently escaped yesterday and ran up and down the street terrorizing the neighborhood. Matt and I hung out for a little while, until Tristan and Eleanor arrived and Eleanor declared that she was hungry enough to eat a whole hamburger. So they went off to get dinner, and I left to pick up dinner. And paper (the printer paper was in the basement, and is now a brick), and Laura's prescription, and a piece of apple pie from Outpost, and ... and dinner.

Home, where we ate and watched a couple episodes of Burn Notice. We're almost caught up. (Well, we're closer - we now have two episodes to watch.)

I updated my iPod last night, too, which was a major task because it was full. So, see, I had to figure out what I can take *off* in order to put more *on*. And Ive been taking half an hour here and half an hour there, whittling away at my playlist, for weeks. I think it's been two months since I last refreshed it. Which is a long time, in my head.

Did the stairs today. Rested on 25. Today I'm having an Americano, because it has no carbs or sugar or milk. So it's healthier, right? (They don't make Breve's at the upstairs cafe.) I'm sitting here now in my work shirt, totally unbuttoned, with my office door closed and the windows covered, 'cause it's freaking humid in here and I'm still sweaty. Bleah.

Tonight we have no plans. I think we're going to do some things in the basement and watch Doctor Who (and maybe the rest of Burn Notice, and we have a whole disc of Boston Legal) - I mentioned that I'd like to get a few more things down there, and Laura pointed out that she can organize her fabric after she gets a few more tubbies, and I couldn't think past the stairs. So we'll see. And, of course, Faire on Saturday and Sunday.

Right. Off to work.

End of the Rat King

Last night we got home, had a light dinner, and set up for gaming.

After we were all finished, we went to bed.

It seems that tonight my wife has plans with Ginger. Or, maybe not. I'll give Ginger a call today (Laura will be too busy at work to do so) to clarify. I need to run some stuff out to Matt and Kymm's. Tomorrow we have no plans.

I did the stairs this morning with just one of the developers (one was late, the other's legs hurt too much). She doesn't use the handrails and takes the stairs two at a time. I didn't use the handrails for the first ten flights, and took a break at 25. (I've been using the handrails the whole time and taking two breaks - one at 20, one at 30.) So, that's progress.

Hero of the Revolution (self-declared)

Last night I went to the dentist. They said 'We're sorry your tooth still hurts, but we don't see anything wrong with it. It might be cracked with a fracture so thin that we can't detect it.' And then the technician told me about her husband, who had a cracked tooth that just ... split in half one day and he wanted to know why nobody noticed that it had been cracked. Which filled me with confidence. Or ... what's that thing that's not confidence? Dismay. Yeah, that's it.

Then I hit Walgreens to get a scrip, and then home. Where we watched last week's Doctor Who and the brand new Eureka. Then I futzed with computers for awhile and got Laura's modem to work *and* got wireless working in the house. So now Laura can sit in the living room with the 50 foot network cable, *or* she can connect via wireless, *or* she can use her cell phone modem. So, I win. To celebrate, I played Hellgate: London for 45 minutes. Until three spark slayers jumped me at once and cooked my poor computer's brain. And then I knew it was bedtime.

Tonight is D&D. We ought to be wrapping up the current adventure and discussing what we're going to do next. Tomorrow is ... unclear. I have things to drop off at Matt and Kymm's, Speed Racer has another week in the theater so I don't *have* to go see it (but it's only playing matinee shows next week, so maybe I do), and there's fighter's practice.

I did the stairs again today. Dirk and I started with Victoria and Judy, who have been doing the stairs for months now and take them two at a time. And don't touch the handrails. And are both in much better shape than either me or Dirk. (Dirk's in better shape than me, in that he doesn't have a gut ... but his legs hurt more than mine.) Anyway, V&J left us behind. But we still finished in ten minutes. I should figure out if that's good or not.

And now, on to work.