We got a Wii! It was a wee bit expensive, but we figured we'd help prop up the faltering economy with some of that incentive money we are assured we will get in a couple weeks. The local Toys-R-Us just happened to have gotten a shipment in right about the time Ysabel, in a fit of spontaneity, decided to check on the possibility of getting one. And there it was, in all it's shining (and previously unattainable) glory, just waiting for her eager hands to pluck it, like a sacred golden apple, from the store's inventory.
Of course, they were out of the game I wanted to play on it first, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but no matter. A quick stop at Best Buy on my way home remedied that. I got the last copy they had, actually. It's amazing how popular such things are these days.
After sneaking the "package" into the house past our inquisitive (and avaricious) children, my darling wife waited until I got home to do the grand unveiling. I wanted to be there to see their faces. Sure enough, I thought our 11-year-old was going to wet himself when he saw it.
We hooked the tiny console up to our best tv (which at some point I *will* replace with a large LCD flat panel) and spent the rest of the night investigating the wonders of the Wii. My first impressions? Freakin' awesome! Now, if they would just have the old Sega Genesis Shadowrun game and Chronotrigger available for download on the Virtual Console, I'd be in Wii heaven. I'd Wii myself. I'd have a Wii-gasm... Well, you get the idea.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
An Axe to Grind
This past Saturday saw us travelling to Cullman, AL for an SCA event called Black Axe. Despite the threat of heavy storms in the afternoon, we saw very little rain. The fighting was... interesting. I was feeling exhausted and lethargic the entire morning and wasn't really in the mood to fight. Strangely, my apathy didn't seem to work against me and I went undefeated through several rounds of best two out of three matches. All the way to the finals, in fact. Of course, when it came to the final bout, my exhausted apathy turned into exhausted jitters and I lost. Don't get me wrong, Feodor (also undefeated) is a damned tough fight, but if I had been more focused and/or more relaxed, I would have performed much better, I think. As it was, I not only lost, but I lost spectacularly, gaining a nice deep bruise on my right bicep for my trouble. Still, I got some pretty impressive kills up to that point, so I probably shouldn't complain too much.
Later in the day, at Their Majesties Court, we were happy to witness the induction of our newest member of the Merdian Order of the Blade, THL Stefan d'Gascon. Congratulations, Stefan! Following that, we left the event and headed for home, stopping with some of our Household for dinner at the local Cracker Barrel. Ok, so the decor isn't exactly cosmopolitan, but I have to admit I really like their cornbread (with butter and honey!) and their hashbrown casserole. Once sufficiently stuffed, we made the long trek home and collapsed. It feels great to fall into a warm bed after a day like that. Waking up to the aches and bruises, though... not so much.
Later in the day, at Their Majesties Court, we were happy to witness the induction of our newest member of the Merdian Order of the Blade, THL Stefan d'Gascon. Congratulations, Stefan! Following that, we left the event and headed for home, stopping with some of our Household for dinner at the local Cracker Barrel. Ok, so the decor isn't exactly cosmopolitan, but I have to admit I really like their cornbread (with butter and honey!) and their hashbrown casserole. Once sufficiently stuffed, we made the long trek home and collapsed. It feels great to fall into a warm bed after a day like that. Waking up to the aches and bruises, though... not so much.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Long, Hard Road
The past several days have been hectic. Our Shire put on a one-day event on Saturday, which went very well, but was a lot of work for everyone. I was in charge of the rapier fighting and ended up fighting in both tournaments because we didn't have many fighters show up. I won the first one, oddly enough. I know, I know, it's gauche to win one's own tourney, but they all wanted me to fight, so I fought. Not my fault.
Then, on Sunday, we drove a couple hours away to help out with a small town Ren Faire. Usually we get a pretty decent crowd watching us fight, but this time nobody seemed all that interested. We pretty much treated it like a regional practice and fought our butts off anyway. So, by Monday morning, we were sore as all get out and not in any mood to go back to work. Of course, we didn't have much choice on that score. We gotta eat, ya know.
Then I find out that I have not one, not two, but three different commitments that I have to deal with on Tuesday and all of them are during work hours. So, I have to beg my boss to take the day off. He's fairly understanding, but I felt like I was pushing it a bit this time. Still, what choice did I have. Fortunately, he was ok with it.
Tuesday came around and I ended up at the bank at 9am to talk to a mortgage officer about adding on to our house. The man was condescending, a bit rude and didn't seem particularly worried about getting my business. The numbers he was quoting for rates, etc., seemed a bit high, as well. Time to find a new banker, maybe? Hmmmm....
At 11am, I had to meet with my daughter's teacher. "Megan is remarkably intelligent, but she's unorganized and lacks self-discipline." Gee, where have I heard that before? Oh, right, every teacher I ever had in my entire school career. Well, at least I have a good grasp of the problem.
After that, it was off to help my lovely wife with a rapier demo at her middle school. I usually enjoy doing demos, but the lackluster crowd at the ren faire on Sunday had my expectations for this one kind of on the low side. I got there a bit early and had to stand around in her class room being stared at by a bunch of 8th graders. Guess I shouldn't have worn shorts. I have pretty visible tattoos on my calves and they aren't exactly "mainstream". Still, once we started the demo, the kids really got into it. I did much better than normal talking about the time period and the concept of dueling. They got very excited when we fought and asked lots of questions afterwards. All in all, it was a complete success. How cool is that? By the time we were done, though, Ysabel was feeling sick from a stomach bug she had picked up somewhere (I'm looking at you Feodor!), so the rest of the day was mostly taking care of her. Not that I minded, really, since I love her and stuff. Still, there are more pleasant ways to spend an evening.
Today rolled around, as days tend to do, and I had to meet with a business associate regarding some web work he owed me for. Good thing, too, since I needed to put some money into my car rather badly. I didn't realize how badly until after we were through and I took it up to an oil change place to have the oil topped off. I knew the oil was low, but it turned out to be 3 quarts low. This is after only about 2500 miles of driving. Not good. Additionally, the front passenger side tire was showing uneven patches of wire all the way around. It could have shredded itself at any time. Since I drive about 100 miles a day for work, it's a miracle that it has lasted this long. So much for the money I just got paid. The car is currently sitting up at the local Firestone getting 4 new tires. Not cheap, let me tell you. This on top of the $350 that we have to pay for an appraisal on our house in order to get the financing for the add on. I am not a happy Corbin right now, to say the least. And to top all that off, Ysabel emailed me to tell me about a gun scare at her school today. The stupid kid was in her classroom when they came to get him. Turned out to be a bike pedal that he had stuck in his pants and was flashing around to make people think it was a gun. Don't these kids have any freakin' brains these days? Can you say "expelled"? I knew you could. Sheesh!
Then, on Sunday, we drove a couple hours away to help out with a small town Ren Faire. Usually we get a pretty decent crowd watching us fight, but this time nobody seemed all that interested. We pretty much treated it like a regional practice and fought our butts off anyway. So, by Monday morning, we were sore as all get out and not in any mood to go back to work. Of course, we didn't have much choice on that score. We gotta eat, ya know.
Then I find out that I have not one, not two, but three different commitments that I have to deal with on Tuesday and all of them are during work hours. So, I have to beg my boss to take the day off. He's fairly understanding, but I felt like I was pushing it a bit this time. Still, what choice did I have. Fortunately, he was ok with it.
Tuesday came around and I ended up at the bank at 9am to talk to a mortgage officer about adding on to our house. The man was condescending, a bit rude and didn't seem particularly worried about getting my business. The numbers he was quoting for rates, etc., seemed a bit high, as well. Time to find a new banker, maybe? Hmmmm....
At 11am, I had to meet with my daughter's teacher. "Megan is remarkably intelligent, but she's unorganized and lacks self-discipline." Gee, where have I heard that before? Oh, right, every teacher I ever had in my entire school career. Well, at least I have a good grasp of the problem.
After that, it was off to help my lovely wife with a rapier demo at her middle school. I usually enjoy doing demos, but the lackluster crowd at the ren faire on Sunday had my expectations for this one kind of on the low side. I got there a bit early and had to stand around in her class room being stared at by a bunch of 8th graders. Guess I shouldn't have worn shorts. I have pretty visible tattoos on my calves and they aren't exactly "mainstream". Still, once we started the demo, the kids really got into it. I did much better than normal talking about the time period and the concept of dueling. They got very excited when we fought and asked lots of questions afterwards. All in all, it was a complete success. How cool is that? By the time we were done, though, Ysabel was feeling sick from a stomach bug she had picked up somewhere (I'm looking at you Feodor!), so the rest of the day was mostly taking care of her. Not that I minded, really, since I love her and stuff. Still, there are more pleasant ways to spend an evening.
Today rolled around, as days tend to do, and I had to meet with a business associate regarding some web work he owed me for. Good thing, too, since I needed to put some money into my car rather badly. I didn't realize how badly until after we were through and I took it up to an oil change place to have the oil topped off. I knew the oil was low, but it turned out to be 3 quarts low. This is after only about 2500 miles of driving. Not good. Additionally, the front passenger side tire was showing uneven patches of wire all the way around. It could have shredded itself at any time. Since I drive about 100 miles a day for work, it's a miracle that it has lasted this long. So much for the money I just got paid. The car is currently sitting up at the local Firestone getting 4 new tires. Not cheap, let me tell you. This on top of the $350 that we have to pay for an appraisal on our house in order to get the financing for the add on. I am not a happy Corbin right now, to say the least. And to top all that off, Ysabel emailed me to tell me about a gun scare at her school today. The stupid kid was in her classroom when they came to get him. Turned out to be a bike pedal that he had stuck in his pants and was flashing around to make people think it was a gun. Don't these kids have any freakin' brains these days? Can you say "expelled"? I knew you could. Sheesh!
Friday, April 11, 2008
A Walk in the Garden
I'm not usually one to talk about food on my blog, but by a lucky happenstance we wound up having our SCA Shire business meeting at Olive Garden last night. I have to say, I'm generally adverse to spending more than $10.00US for a plate of food, but this was one time when I really didn't mind. I took a chance and ordered something that, while it sounded good, I'd never had before, the Stuffed Chicken Marsala. It turned out to be not just good, but Real Damn Good. It's not often that I grace a restaurant item with the RDG label. Sometimes they manage to be decent or even pretty good, but RDG is starting to edge into foodgasm territory. I walked out with a slight stomach ache because I was determined to eat every last scrap of the stuff. Partly due to the cost (you just don't waste food that costs that much), but more because it was simply RDG. The downside to having our meeting there was that the acoustics sucked and it was bloody hard to hear anyone talking about Shire business, but overall, I'm not complaining.
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