Gaming, Biking, and Whining
May. 13th, 2013 10:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aSo I dunno why, but last week generally sucked. I was feeling tired pretty much all week for I-have-no-idea-why. Just mentally and physically tired. Weak-ass cold? Undiagnosed allergies? Freaky fatigue? I dunno. It actually happens from time to time, but rarely for a week together. I'm going to see if I can get a referral to an allergist next time I see my doc, within the next month or so, to cross that "i".
But the week was subpar as a result. I did some research for _Designers & Dragons_ and some writing for the D&D Histories. But I just biked once (on Tuesday night, up to Temescal) and even opted out of gaming on Wednesday.
This weekend was mother's day, and we'd arranged to spend the weekend in San Martin with the Wiedlin family. We'd actually been planning this for over a year as a weekend get-together. I think it was a great idea, as we don't spend that sort of compressed time with the Wiedlins like we do with Dad & Mary, as we don't vacation to San Martin, so I'd been looking forward to it.
The main thrust of the weekend was theoretically board games. There were to be 7 of us (Mom, Bob, Jason, Lisa, Rob, me, Kimberly), and that's a slightly awkward number, but I managed to pack the big gym bag I used to carry with me to Endgame with 6 + 7 player games (under the theory that not everyone would be playing all the time). Kimberly brought a couple as well.
Unfortunately, Kimberly ended up largely unable to game, while there were many other times when my mom, Bob, or Lisa sat out for a game. We never got everyone to the table at the same time, so I could have focused a bit less on the magic "7" number. We played a good variety of stuff: _San Juan_, _Shadows over Camelot_, _Bohnanza_, _Winner's Circle_, _Samurai Sword_, and that may have been it. _Shadows_ was the one when we got almost everyone to the table; sadly, we lost (or, I suppose Lisa the traitor won).
There was also some great food to be had. Fajitas on Saturday night and a terrific breakfast of blueberry pancakes, bacon, egg, and terrific chicken sausages on Sunday morning. We ate the dinner on their recently built patio and it was really nice. Breezy and just slightly cool, pretty much the perfect weather (and a particular combo we get rarely up here in Berkeley because it drops so quickly from warm to cold most nights).
There was also lots of great talk. Jason, Rob, Lisa, and I talked a couple of hours into the evening on Saturday, something that I don't think we've ever done all together. All about TV shows and books, from stuff we read in high school to _A Song of Ice & Fire_. Kimberly, my mom, and I also had nice talks on Sunday morning as the rest of the house slowly roused.
The house is totally comfortable for everyone, which is no surprise because it's 2500-3000 square feet, I think. We had a really private room on the far west side of the house. Sadly, I didn't sleep that well, dunno why. Even after I finally fell asleep, I was then woken by hungry dogs at 7am, who thundered down the hallway outside. I do think I was the only one of the "kids" who got a shower on Sunday morning, though, so that was a plus.
We left earlier than I'd expected, on Sunday afternoon, in part because Kimberly wasn't up to the tripvisitas it turned out. Still, it was a good day (and a bit more), and something I hope we can do again.
I'd already scheduled today off work, because we'd planned to be in San Martin, and I figured even if that changed I wanted a day to recover. Turns out, that was a good idea. I was feeling overwhelmed but various emails last night that weren't even problems, but felt like they were. And I napped yesterday afternoon when I got back. Then I napped again yesterday evening before the Survivor finale. Then this afternoon too. Yep, tired, but less overwhelmed by the world now.
I did get out a little today too. Had lunch at McDs as some time to myself, then biked down to Cesar Chavez Park, when I hadn't been too for a while. I parked on the northwest corner of the park for a while, which has beautiful panoramic views of the Bay. Just gorgeous, with San Francisco and Marin both feeling like they're practically in your lap. There was a layer of overcast running along the middle of everything out west, sadly, but it was still nice.
I sat there for a while reading and started work on my first new history for the '00s book, but it was too cold and windy (especially windy) to work there comfortably for long, so I returned home via Black Oak Books and the new Southside Library and then (as already noted) napped.
Black Oak disappointed me. I'd noted previously that they were marking hardcovers at online prices, which generally meant marking them way down rather than trying to get 50%. It endeared me too them. Now they're doing the flipside and marking their used comic TPBs way up, I have to assume also based on prices they see on the internet. So most of their TPB costs ran from 70-130% of cover, which just pissed me off, because it felt like they were ripping their customers off. I almost bought some Scalzi paperbacks, but ultimately decided not to even pick up their $.50 _Sword of Shanara_ because I didn't want to put money into their pockets based on their newest business decisions. So, probably not going back there.
The new Southside library is nice. Not necessarily that great from the outside, but the inside is beautiful with tall ceilings and lots of windows. Makes it all look so much airier and more welcoming.
And that was the 3-day weekend in this corner of Appelcine land.
But the week was subpar as a result. I did some research for _Designers & Dragons_ and some writing for the D&D Histories. But I just biked once (on Tuesday night, up to Temescal) and even opted out of gaming on Wednesday.
This weekend was mother's day, and we'd arranged to spend the weekend in San Martin with the Wiedlin family. We'd actually been planning this for over a year as a weekend get-together. I think it was a great idea, as we don't spend that sort of compressed time with the Wiedlins like we do with Dad & Mary, as we don't vacation to San Martin, so I'd been looking forward to it.
The main thrust of the weekend was theoretically board games. There were to be 7 of us (Mom, Bob, Jason, Lisa, Rob, me, Kimberly), and that's a slightly awkward number, but I managed to pack the big gym bag I used to carry with me to Endgame with 6 + 7 player games (under the theory that not everyone would be playing all the time). Kimberly brought a couple as well.
Unfortunately, Kimberly ended up largely unable to game, while there were many other times when my mom, Bob, or Lisa sat out for a game. We never got everyone to the table at the same time, so I could have focused a bit less on the magic "7" number. We played a good variety of stuff: _San Juan_, _Shadows over Camelot_, _Bohnanza_, _Winner's Circle_, _Samurai Sword_, and that may have been it. _Shadows_ was the one when we got almost everyone to the table; sadly, we lost (or, I suppose Lisa the traitor won).
There was also some great food to be had. Fajitas on Saturday night and a terrific breakfast of blueberry pancakes, bacon, egg, and terrific chicken sausages on Sunday morning. We ate the dinner on their recently built patio and it was really nice. Breezy and just slightly cool, pretty much the perfect weather (and a particular combo we get rarely up here in Berkeley because it drops so quickly from warm to cold most nights).
There was also lots of great talk. Jason, Rob, Lisa, and I talked a couple of hours into the evening on Saturday, something that I don't think we've ever done all together. All about TV shows and books, from stuff we read in high school to _A Song of Ice & Fire_. Kimberly, my mom, and I also had nice talks on Sunday morning as the rest of the house slowly roused.
The house is totally comfortable for everyone, which is no surprise because it's 2500-3000 square feet, I think. We had a really private room on the far west side of the house. Sadly, I didn't sleep that well, dunno why. Even after I finally fell asleep, I was then woken by hungry dogs at 7am, who thundered down the hallway outside. I do think I was the only one of the "kids" who got a shower on Sunday morning, though, so that was a plus.
We left earlier than I'd expected, on Sunday afternoon, in part because Kimberly wasn't up to the tripvisitas it turned out. Still, it was a good day (and a bit more), and something I hope we can do again.
I'd already scheduled today off work, because we'd planned to be in San Martin, and I figured even if that changed I wanted a day to recover. Turns out, that was a good idea. I was feeling overwhelmed but various emails last night that weren't even problems, but felt like they were. And I napped yesterday afternoon when I got back. Then I napped again yesterday evening before the Survivor finale. Then this afternoon too. Yep, tired, but less overwhelmed by the world now.
I did get out a little today too. Had lunch at McDs as some time to myself, then biked down to Cesar Chavez Park, when I hadn't been too for a while. I parked on the northwest corner of the park for a while, which has beautiful panoramic views of the Bay. Just gorgeous, with San Francisco and Marin both feeling like they're practically in your lap. There was a layer of overcast running along the middle of everything out west, sadly, but it was still nice.
I sat there for a while reading and started work on my first new history for the '00s book, but it was too cold and windy (especially windy) to work there comfortably for long, so I returned home via Black Oak Books and the new Southside Library and then (as already noted) napped.
Black Oak disappointed me. I'd noted previously that they were marking hardcovers at online prices, which generally meant marking them way down rather than trying to get 50%. It endeared me too them. Now they're doing the flipside and marking their used comic TPBs way up, I have to assume also based on prices they see on the internet. So most of their TPB costs ran from 70-130% of cover, which just pissed me off, because it felt like they were ripping their customers off. I almost bought some Scalzi paperbacks, but ultimately decided not to even pick up their $.50 _Sword of Shanara_ because I didn't want to put money into their pockets based on their newest business decisions. So, probably not going back there.
The new Southside library is nice. Not necessarily that great from the outside, but the inside is beautiful with tall ceilings and lots of windows. Makes it all look so much airier and more welcoming.
And that was the 3-day weekend in this corner of Appelcine land.