Good Bye, Grandma

At about 6:15 pm last night, my Grandma died. I will miss her.

My Grandma

As it stands now, my Grandma is dieing. She had a stroke about a month ago that had her in a hospital for that entire time. I went to visit her once or twice (it is hard for me to make it down more often because of work) and sometimes she remembered me. She seemed to have fun scolding me when she did recognize me.

My Grandma is wonderfully independent and this being in the hospital is very hard for her. Apparently, she has bitten the nurse that was attempting to give her some pills to calm her down. She hates the diaper she is forced to wear and takes it off given any opportunity.

I will remember her as she was when I was little. My siblings would hide under the beds in Grandma and Grandpa's room, hiding. Chris and Jenn slept with Grandma and I slept with Grandpa. And those nights are some of the most comforting nights I have ever had.

I will miss you, Grandma.

Home, please.

I wish I had a chauffeur to take me home when I leave. A chauffeur would allow me to nap on the way home, so that I would not have to take a nap half way through my trip home or risk driving into a rock cut. It would cut the trip down by half an hour. Plus, someone else would be dealing with the possibility of speeding tickets.

Construction Accident

Check out the fun and damage noted in these pictures. It seems to be a mechanical failure. The guy driving the truck is OK, but he could easily died. 'Twas a bad day yesterday.

Games and Gaming

Let me preface this by saying I am a bad man.

I am also a gamer. And not just a Risk gamer, but someone who loves pretty much any type of game out there. From computer, to board, to role playing and beyond. The games are currently stored in a large bin and on one complete bookshelf in my home. The question is why do I play these games?

I like the company. I like to stretch my mind. That is pretty much it.

To me, playing a game is not about winning or loosing (unless someone is being a prick), but about getting together with some buddies and having a good time, within the structure of a set of rules. If those rules need a map of earth and several plastic pieces, so be it. Should the rules require a certain amount of theatrics, so be it. The important thing is the friends.

But, my knowledge of games does make me a bit of a geek. I know what the zerg are, what the major differences between 3.0 Edition and 3.5 Edition Dungeons and Dragons and what the strengths and weaknesses of the factions within the Warhammer 40,000 universe. If there is a more nerdy combination, please let me know.

Recently, I have been looking more at the structure of the games than the pretty models, graphics or books and have begun trying to find games with interesting, yet simple, game concepts. My brother and I have been apart on and off for quite some time. He took the brunt of my habit. He and I tested out our many new game acquisitions. Now, the burden of my gaming habit falls to my wife. My long suffering wife, who's prior nerdyness stopped with an enjoyment of Star Trek, The Next Generation. Now, she has become not just a willing participant but an enthusiastic instigator in a string of games ranging from Dungeons and Dragons to Settlers of Catan. My wife's nerd factor has risen very high. She has even begun making gaming related jokes. As she is a teacher, it sometimes helps. She startled two students printing out gaming materiel in the school library by knowing the game they were playing.

For taking a lovely, normal woman and creating a gamer out of her, I am a bad man. I am also oddly proud. Love you, sweet heart.

Dominance Issues

I swear, the contractor and the site manager are determined to turn every little disagreement into a pissing contest. They fought for two days about removing some material from site that did not need to be removed and left me caught in the middle. I am getting tired of babysitting two teenagers who reminisce about the days of old and seem determined to prove that they run the job. To add to this fun, this verbal brawl occurred when all the big wigs showed up on site. And there is nothing like the gleam of sun off a string of shiny white hardhats to intensify the pressure of a skirmish of this nature.

We are having fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun up here in the 30 degree weather in the boiling north.