I managed to get going as late as 8:30ish. I had some disturbed sleep, but I felt better. I found that my lungs and legs hurt a bit. Pollen is at a stupid level, and my legs hurt all night. The pain stopped about mid-morning.
I started the last Star War movie, The Rise of Skywalker. I like this one better. It is more logical to me, and the acting works for me. I love the lightsaber battles in the ruins of the Death Star in a boiling ocean. I managed to get about 1/3 way while waiting for the laundry.
I baked frozen croissants from Whole Food, but I think they needed longer in the oven as they were mushy still. Next time! I had made coffee and ate my less than stellar croissant with a banana and an apple. I then finished the laundry I started last night. I then could get dressed!
Susan was up in time for lunch-breakfast and had a poor croissant that I then replaced with a different baked good I picked up from Whole Food. She made it clear that she preferred my scones, and I should return to cooking those and other of my homemade baked goods, not buying from Whole Foods. I shall obey.
I also received a gift card yesterday for my birthday from L.L.Bean from mom Wild, and today my sister sent me two boxes of fortune cookies she made for me with custom fortunes. I had given her a kit for Christmas. She and a friend made cookies for me and sent them. My first fortune is “Keep Calm. And Party On.”
Evan showed after I was dressed, and the laundry was done but not yet fully put away. We have started playing games at Wildwood Taphouse, so we headed from home to the bar. There we ordered some brewed products and set up the game.
The Lost Ruins of Arnak is one of the new well-rated 2020 board games. It is a worker placement game and resource management sticking to the Euro model of limited player interaction. The game combines a few elements from other games, such as deck-building and using the deck for actions. I was able to explain most of the game to Evan in thirty minutes or less. He started to get the game about 1/2 way and managed a score just three points below mine. He was disappointed to not win, but his score was great.
The game has you place to archeologist in digs. You may take a known dig and receive known resources. You can also, Indiana Jones or Laura Croft style, find a new ruin to explore. This requires considerable resources investment, and much like the game Concordia or Architects of the West Kingdom, you need to take actions to gain the resources first and then invest. You need to plan. A new site will grant you new resources, a relic, and be guarded by some horror. If you do not deal with the guardian, you will get fear cards. Evan defeated a pile of monsters and nearly took the game from me. I was paying gold to get new items which are more cards for your hand with all sorts of special abilities and worth points at the end. I also bought artifacts with compasses (representing directions and maps and the like), worth points at the end. I remembered Richard beating me in my first game on the research track. I invested there and pulled ahead. The game has only five rounds, and neither Evan nor I quite got our hands of cards working efficiently to move up far on research.
I managed to face two monsters and defeat neither as, while Evan drew easy monsters, I seemed to get ones that I could not defeat. I got fear cards! I managed to exile two of the four cards from rewards in the research track. At the last round, I sent my archeologist meeple to try one more time and explore a new site. I managed to get a guardian monster that I could take. Again, I did not have the resources, but I had a card that I bought that let me get resources from any site, and there was one site that supplied what I needed. This got me a five-point monster and to draw a card. That gave me enough to improve my research position and win by a tiny three points.
The Lost Ruins of Arnak board game is a good mix of various game mechanics with a good theme that is a bit immersive; I wore my pith helmet while playing! You are not pushing around cubes but have cardboard representations of guardians, relics, and so on. You hire assistants in the research track that give you even more things to do. I like the options and go-your-own-way available in this game. You can also mix and match actions that you complete over multiple turns. It feels a bit like well running a dig in a 1930s setting, a Hollywood version. Evan thought he would place it in the middle of games to play.
When we finished the one game, we headed to BJ’s Brewhouse for lunch (or early dinner). We also got an order of ribs for Susie and Corwin for dinner. I had my fav brewed product there and their jambalaya. Evan had the Phill Steak sandwich and their excellent clam chowder.
We came home after that, and Evan slept in the chair for a bit. He was up early, too early, for a sporting event. He headed home before it was late.
I finished the oil paint shading on the figures for Richard. They need to dry overnight, and then I will do any last-minute touch-ups and then spray them with a protective dull coat. I can then get them back in their box and have more room for the next sets. I am 1/3 done when I put these away.
Susie and Corwin loved the ribs.
27,738 people in Oregon were vaccinated yesterday. This number will likely increase as it takes a few days to get the final counts. Oregon has finished vaccinating 1/4 of the state’s people.
738 people died today in the USA from the virus.
Tonight I went with Whirling Dervish from Syria (this is from a show in Germany).
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 