My part of the game was so easy

Basically I had to role play asking orc and troll gangs who are predisposed to help me because I killed all their previous leaders by myself, for disturbing my peace and harshing my mellow, if they would back up my Shadowrunners taking down a gang leader playing cop in south Dallas. My negotiation rolls were 5 and 6 hits on my social limit of 3, with me only needing to hit my social limit to make the roll with a dice pool of 21. I was pretty much guaranteed to make the roll, but I wanted to role play anyway, because That’s What The Game Is About.

I’m tracking the packages I’m supposed to be getting from the jungle site tomorrow, and they must be in a local warehouse because none of them have shipped yet and they are supposed to be in my hands by 2200 tomorrow. I’m getting filters for Mrs. the Poet’s vacuum cleaner, the power supply for testing the lights, and the test leads for connecting the lights to the power supply. And I clicked on each one and the test leads are coming via USPS and have already shipped, but the other two haven’t shipped yet. And as I was composing this another package with a delivery date on the 25th through the 29th shipped from Ontario CA US, unlike the headlight buckets and backing brackets that shipped from Ontario CA in the Great White North. The one from Cali is my throttle bodies for the manifold I dreamed about.

I’m still eating those single-serving frozen dinners because Mrs. the Poet’s tummy is upset and she can’t eat regular food yet. Tonight was meatloaf and mashed potatoes, which TBH was on the bland side for meatloaf with almost tasteless gravy and barely there garlic mashed ‘taters. There was a hint of garlic in the potatoes, but not a very strong hint. Processed frozen foods just really don’t have much flavor unless they’re pizza, because it’s really hard to ruin pizza unless you use non-pizza toppings. I’m also having the last of the Waterloo sparkling water we bought last month when they were BOGO free, and all they had was mixed berry.

One other thing coming up is Mrs. the Poet’s rescheduled trip to NY in September instead of July will leave me alone on the 21st anniversary of getting killed and my 64th birthday the former more important than the latter by an enormous margin. Not everybody has the option of celebrating the day they were murdered, and I don’t want to celebrate my Deathday by myself. But this was the schedule we moved her trip to when she got too sick to take the trip and the dates didn’t ring any bells until the next week, which is this week. I guess I can muddle through with my friends and without Mrs. the Poet.

And this is long enough for now and time to put this post to bed.

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No game again, and other things

First of all I want to apologize to the people who didn’t think my 4/1 post was funny, I thought surviving another wreck with two more dead vehicles was hysterical. Some of you, not so much.

Congrats to JGR and Denny Hamlin for winning the Cup race in Richmond yesterday, and breaking the string of under-30 winners on the Cup level with an over-40 driver. The race was a barn-burner with lots of dueling for position. I thoroughly enjoyed the race. Harvick almost caught him at the end but couldn’t quite get there. The battles between drivers on different tire strategies were epic.

I was able to watch the race because we didn’t have game with the RPG group because allergies put our GM down for the count, right after he got back up from his brain med problems, the only allergy med that doesn’t have dangerous interactions with his brain meds is diphenhydramine, or the same med I use as a sleep aid. This leaves him basically stoned but not high when he takes it, not good for guiding a bunch of murder hoboes through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. So, no game yesterday.

The weather change has been disrupting my sleep because I was sleeping too warm and basically waking up covered in sweat every morning, not a good thing because I was sleeping maybe 3 or 4 hours a day before it got too warm, and I couldn’t get back to sleep. As previously stated in other posts I sleep best when I’m cool to cold under warm covers, or slightly cool under light covers. I’m still not acclimated to being warm yet, so my sleep is not stable yet.

Totally off on another tangent, I decided to get some clippers tomorrow from Harbor Freight because my old clippers corroded solid because I didn’t use a quality oil to keep them lubricated. Let that be a lesson, always lube your clippers after use, because skin residues are corrosive. So I’m going to try to get to bed early tonight so I’m awake to get the clippers tomorrow.

That was unreal, playing Shadowrun today

We just finished the strangest run we have ever had playing Shadowrun, we attacked a literal Omega Mart in McKinney. Basically our technomancer took down the store’s host, then we took down the magic around the store, than I attacked the heart with a 3 round burst of HE grenades and we found ourselves standing in the alley behind the empty lot where the store used to be with the ichor from the disintegrating magical beings we killed splashed on us disappearing into the mist. We literally stared in the face of Death in the process of clearing out the Big Bad.

Recapping we got hired by a sweet little old lady and offered drams of orichalcum per runner and additional drams for the party to attack a convenience store up the pike a bit in McKinney. Recon of the target was freaky, as in this video of the prototype that the GM based this run on. Remove the “employee experience” part of the video and just stay in the “store”, and add magic “employees” with combat powers and that’s a small part of what the run was about. We made the run during the one hour a day the store was closed for restocking, and the products, produce, and meat, was attacking us to great effect. We were close to a TPK at least 3 times, but we used teamwork to fight our way through and killed the store to find ourselves standing outside of where the store used to be, with everything that happened to us in the way of damage like it never happened, except for rounds of ammunition expended and healing supplies and magical items expended. Destroying the heart of the store literally undid everything that happened to us in the store, and also made the store itself cease to exist and the location return to its pre-store condition.

Also we had a post-run session where the magic-users fenced our orichalcum, and with everything shared out equally it came to ¥168000

Another thing to report not related to the RPG group, I’m typing on a brand new laptop with a 57GB SSD and a 128 GB external drive from the two computers prior to this one, the Chromebook and the windows unit after that. I’m really blown away with the speed of the SSD. Booting the computer is a whole new experience, going from a completely cold boot to reading a page on the internets in less than 30 seconds with typing my password into the computer to finish booting the majority of that time. Compared to my 4 YO computer that booted to the desktop in a little over 2 minutes, that’s almost instantaneous. Now I also have a much smaller internal storage than my old laptop, but I still have 99+GB free space to put files on my flash drive so I’m still good on space since I’m not editing videos or engineering drawings on this box. Unlike the box I had back before I got hit, where I had literally less than 100 MB of storage, and I was doing engineering drawings and simulations on that computer. This is bliss.

Short months throw me off a bit

And by “short” I’m not just talking about February, I’m talking about all the “less than 31 days” months. I’m taking part in a 3-day challenge to not drink alcohol for the 29, 30, and 31 of February😆

The Shadowrun game is proceeding apace. We had a technical issue with my headset that prevented me from talking to the rest of the group which burned up an hour of game time, but my character grabbed one of the slower characters and carried her into the fight at her request so she could get within range in one initiative pass to save play time. I have one synthetic arm and the other arm is enhanced to the same strength so since she’s classified as a “small” character my strength could handle her weight no prob. I scored low on initiative this time, so I had to wait for the spellcasters to handle their mechanics first before I could fire my grenade launcher, since I couldn’t swing my katana with the munchkin over my shoulder. At some point we’re going to have her either get off of me or switch to riding my shoulders like Master Blaster so I can use both arms/hands. Anyway, I only got 3 shots off all game, 2 single and one 3 round burst to clear away a mob of shelves and cursed products in front of the party, that was very effective at providing a clear shot at the objective. Our short-term goal is the employee-only space at the rear of the store, which should be outside the building as the volume of the shopping area in the building is pretty much the same as the size of the building, so we’re assuming that is where the really weird shit is either hanging out or being stored. The spellcasters are taking care of living things and I’m blowing shit up, so that we have a clear path to the objective. My character is having a good time, but wants to have both arms free to fight so he can use his katana when things get too tight to use the grenade launcher and he has to go to melee range.

On the Sprint-T front I found a kit to fill the gap between the engine and a t-5 transmission yet another cost for building a manual transmission car avoided with an automatic transmission. And I’m still looking for a transmission that can be shifted with only a throttle lift without using the clutch, as there is only enough space for my feet side by side and a steering column between the bellhousing and the inside wall of the body with the engine moved as far to the right as it will fit (26″ inside to inside where the engine fits in the front of the body, and a 19″ wide bellhousing leaves 7″ for everything else), so I’m thinking hand clutch instead of a pedal. That means I need both hands to use the clutch and shift if I have to use the clutch to shift, thus the need for a transmission that can be shifted quickly without needing to de-clutch. This means I need a faceplated or dog box (same thing, different name) transmission. The lengths I go to, to remove a few pounds from the car.

And this feels like a good place to put this post to bed.

Game was a bust today

Basically I still have a butt-ton of karma to spend and how that should be done is a major group issue. One option discussed is swapping out a few levels in auto mechanics for being able to fix everything in game including spaceships. Right now I have 6 levels in auto mechanics, meaning I can take a few tools into a junkyard and drive out a few hours to a couple of days later, a la Roadkill in our world. The tradeoff would be having a decent chance to fix anything that moves in Shadowrun, but not at the level I have currently in auto mechanics. I generally have little use for my auto mechanics skills except for when we capture a vehicle from the people we are doing runs against, like when I restored the Ford used to attack me a few runs ago, in an extended test of ability. That was fun as I made several rolls against repairing damage from the grenades and neglect to get a like-new car in the game.

In other things in the real world the windows are installed and it is now possible to sit on the couch and see the back yard and also not get cold drafts from the gaps around the windows. Yay? I think I mentioned that the coating between the panes of the old windows went totally opaque a few years ago and that the sealer between the house and the windows also died a few years ago, and now that I dropped way too much money on three windows the worst are fixed. I did this at a very high personal cost as basically every penny from the Sprint-T budget went to the windows. I have made almost zero progress towards completing the build this year. I have worked with the parts I already have to try to get something done, but so far not much is getting done, because $ is an abstraction in this house, a concept that doesn’t really exist. Which is why I’m asking for socks and underwear for Christmas.

I really didn’t mean to unload this on you, but I don’t have anywhere else to dump it and I can’t keep it bottled up anymore. If I don’t let it out I’ll asplode, and that’s messy. So rather than make a mess all over everything, I’ll dump it here. You’re welcome 😝

No game again today too many people out of town with no internet

Once again I’m unable to play Shadowrun because other people have lives outside of RPG and Urban Fantasy. They are with friends and/or family out of town and are not connected to the internets. Also I face a conundrum as MS has offered me a free upgrade to Windows 11 on this over 4 year old machine and I don’t know if I should accept it. The offer is sitting on the bar under the workspace along with the battery status bar and Weatherbug, if you have a computer and not reading this on a phone you know what I’m talking about. The conundrum is: this computer is running fine with 10 and I really don’t want to mess it up, but there are things that could be done in 11 that can’t be done in 10.

Still unable to get anything done on the Sprint-T, but the concept of using drillium on the front axle leaves open the possibility of making holes. I have already determined the best way of doing this with the tools I have at hand or within easy purchase. First I need to mark one side of the axle with a centerline of the tube, then a centerline for the axle then mark an area for the axle brackets that has to remain solid (no holes) then mark every 1.5″ for holes, then drill pilot holes through the tube using the drill press to make the holes through the tube of the axle perpendicular, then use a step drill to get them to 0.75″ diameter. Shouldn’t take more than 3 days including set up and cleanup.

In completely unrelated news I finally figured out how to use the airfry setting on the new stove we got last year. Using this we got crispy brown french fries earlier last week after getting slightly soggy fries from the same bag before. I take my victories where I get them. And this time it was in the form of french fries that came out of the oven crispy and brown without being overcooked.

Veering to another topic, I have an opening for a live-in girlfriend. Mrs. the Poet has decided since she can’t fulfill my physical needs I should be allowed to have someone who will in the house. The position comes with a bed and a bedroom, kitchen and laundry privileges, and free WiFi. Duties will include hugs and kisses and regular naked time as the woman desires but at least once a month. Note that I won’t force the issue on naked time, but it will be a requirement for living rent-free. Not forcing the issue on naked time is what got me to this state in the first place. If you have a work-from-home job and want to relocate to a gentler but unpredictable climate the weather in Texas is usually mild, February’s deep freeze was an exception. Note that this is a female-only offer, I’m not that bi.

Ever have an anger you just can’t put into words?

This week has been rough for me. Between the Rittenhouse verdicts and my personal medical issues and buying Thanksgiving dinner I’m just all ravelled ends.

Starting with the punk with a gun hunting protesters, I do not understand how they came to the verdicts, he crossed state lines, with a weapon that he was too young to carry, looking to find somebody to shoot, and he found somebody to shoot and kill. He had no reason to be there armed unless he was hunting protesters. And the fact that the one charge that he was guilty of without a doubt was dismissed, well the fix was in.

My personal health issues are my hips hurt constantly now, and my fingers don’t work sometimes, as in I hit the wrong keys or no keys when I think I did and have to go back and edit what I typed way too much. Basically my pain level is 3 or higher on a 0-10 scale and sometimes other joints/muscles decide to join the chorus, like my knuckles right now. It’s not even cold, only 73°F in my office according to my desktop clock/thermometer.

Also on the health issues list is my need for touch and affection not getting met. I have no doubts that is contributing to my other pains being worse than I would otherwise be. All I’m looking for is some skin contact and lady orgasms. Seriously, that’s also about all I can manage physically because of my knees. Absolutely no danger of getting anyone pregnant from an encounter with me. And that’s another reason I’m angry, a big chunk of my arsenal of fun things to do with people doesn’t work.

Throw that together with can’t afford to finish the Sprint-T and you get an amorphous mass of anger and frustration. Just all wound up and nothing to let it out on, not even role playing games. Our Shadowrun session was put off because half of the group is dealing with medical or mental issues that prevent joining the game Discord. So I can’t kill imaginary enemies with equally imaginary weapons. When I can do this it is an incredibly effective stress reduction, also the in-game concept that my character has a personal DMZ between two gangs that he enforces with a combination of carrots and sticks and the fact that he’s effectively immortal, he can be killed but he also can’t stay dead for long. He has a habit of coming back during open casket viewings/eulogies quoting Monty Python.

And I just had an idea of a game arc that might be fun, we get a TPK and I have to guide everyone back from the Land of The Dead to the our world. If the DM does it right it could be quite an adventure. We also have a bunch of people who have old characters they don’t want to play that this could be a good way to permanently dispose of. They just can’t/don’t want to leave the Land of The Dead. Presto, unwanted character is no longer playable without a seance. Also I could possibly get a punch on my customer loyalty card from Charon for everybody in the party and get that spa day at the Elysian Fields Resort for (another) 10 trips. 😈 That would be interesting gameplay.

The Sprint-T project is on a mad dash to nowhere because of lack of budget because windows that can be seen through and don’t leak air are more important, and because I still haven’t won the lottery or Powerball or Megamillions. And inflation has taken a serious bite out of my budget, period. On a serious note, sending money through my Ko-Fi is a good way to support the Sprint-T, you can even leave a note saying what you want me to spend it on.

And I see I have written enough words to make an interesting post and few enough to not be boring, so this is s good spot to put this post to bed.

No game Sunday, watched the race instead

We had a post-pandemic scheduling problem as 2 of the group were attending events rescheduled from 2020. As such they were more anxious to attend the events that they missed last year than to play a game. Also our GM has family obligations for the next three weeks and that means no games. So I watched the race just in time to catch Roman Grosjean slicing his way through the field to a third place from way back in the pack. It was one of the best drives I’ve seen at Laguna Seca. I haven’t seen every race from that track, so there very well could be a better race but not that I’ve seen.

I also checked my Lottery numbers to see if I won a comfortable retirement , but I’m still p’.

Wednesday is my birthday so I’m taking a day off from blogging even if I have something to write about.

Been a while, but stuff has happened

First things first, we tried to play Shadowrun on Sunday but health issues came up for a couple of our players. One is recovering from C-19 and got tired really quick, and the other ran out of brain meds because insurance and was not managing to think straight, so we quit early because tired and not thinking straight makes the game not fun for everybody. We did get my character sheet fixed before then and basically I’m a street samurai with a minor in rigging, level 6 pilot ground car. That makes me level 6 guns, blades, and ground vehicles which if I understand the rules is as high as I can go in all of those.

Other things, I’m still plugging away at that engine giveaway. The build video has been released and the engine pulls to 7000 RPM and makes over 500 HP and also good low-end torque, so aside from weighing close to 600 pounds would be really good for the Sprint-T. Also POWERNATION has announced the winner of the 5 liter Ford giveaway and it wasn’t me >sigh<.

Now I was doing some research and the biggest bore available with an aluminum LS block is 4.2", which combines with the OEM cranks of 3.26", 3.622", and 4", results in displacements of 361, 401, and 443 cubic inches respectively, and they would all weigh about 415-420 pounds depending on the FEAD I pick. Now that 4.2" bore block runs about $6k bare but fully machined, so unless I win the lottery this one is an exercise in possibilities, not realities. I could walk to the local C-store (just barely) and get a ticket today for tonight's drawing, making this something that could happen IRL for me. But it's dark now so I have to wait for sunrise to leave so the C-store will be open. The good thing is we are post a cold front passing through so it's not ghastly hot today. Today's Powerball is $388 million for a $2 ticket and the Lotto is $15.25 million for a $1 ticket. I just have to wait until sunrise…

Good racing today, good game yesterday

There were two races at the same time on TV today, the Cup race from Richmond, and the Indycar race from Barber Motorsports Park. There was a lot of good, close racing from both. Likewise there was a lot of driving around in circles from both. You have to take the bad with the good. I was happy to see the 48 win again in Cup, not so happy that Bowman won. Never was a big fan of Bowman. Scott Dixon I’m more ambivalent about. Good driver, but he wins too much. I know that’s the point, but I’m enjoying the parity in NASCAR too much, 9 races and 8 winners.

In the Shadowrun game we finished the rescue of the troll girl who may have been turning into a technomage, and despite our best efforts the building is still standing and mostly usable. Actually things went pear-shaped when one of the technicians with the troll girl recognized our mage, and the code phrase “pink mohawk” went out which was my cue to get active and I got my MGL12 grenade launcher in use. We needed to get through the front (and only) door and I hit the limits of the weapon on my roll and then hit the limits of the amount of damage my grenade could do, and then the door wasn’t there anymore.

Our mages did battle on the etherial plane against Bound Spirits protecting the facility, while our hackers blocked communication with the outside while making it look like everything was totally “normal”. It was a good thing that I packed a shit ton of HE grenades because the guards were wearing tank-like armor and I needed at least one and sometimes two grenades to take them out of the fight. until I got slammed by an air spirit throwing air boulders at me. Not the actual term, but I was attacked around midnight our time (1500 or so in-game) so my memory of actual terminology is a little vague. But anyway I was pounding the guards inside the building with grenade after grenade and whittling down their numbers one by one after I found out I needed to score a direct hit to cause damage even with a HE grenade set to explode on impact. Fortunately I have extremely high ranks in all kinds of firearms up to and including light field artillery so hitting my targets has become almost a given unless I roll a glitch, which is the Shadowrun version of a Natural 1 on the D20. So I was getting rid of the guards on almost every shot even with distractions like -4 on all rolls because of injury from the Air Spirit (and incidentally one of our mages cast a spell that let the rest of us do damage to the spirits, so I popped a couple of grenades at the Air Spirit so that it would leave me alone). Eventually we defeated the guards and freed the troll girl from the equipment that they were trying to figure out if she was really becoming a technomage. We looted the lab of some of the more interesting and portable equipment, took the troll girl back to our Mr. Johnson, got our money and Karma, and will not have another session until after the local Faire season is over first week of June.

And a pork-based counterpart to the FSM, the United Church of Bacon. Time for bed, this has been an exciting day.