Wednesday No Plans day

Wednesday started with me sleeping into 8ish and investing the whole morning writing the blog. I did have a croissant from Beaverton’s Tous Les Jours bakery and a banana for breakfast. This, combined with liberal coffee made in my French press, got me going Wednesday morning. I had no plans for the day, but my legs were stiff from three days of walking near or just over 5,000 steps. I was also wearing slightly smaller new pants and was hopeful that my weight was still headed down. I am starting to hear the siren call for more travel and will plan a trip, I think, in September.

I put away the electronics for a while and now have my Flyhawk 1/700 (small) SMS Derfflinger 1916 model out to restart. This special version has tiny etched brass and laser-cut wood veneer on the decks to produce an excellent display. I have a few other models to follow after it. I also have figures I want to paint. And then all the writing I want to complete (A Sherlock Holmes AI story, a tenth level D&D 5.0E adventure to play-test, and an initial adventure for D&D 5.0E). I might have no plans, but I have hobbies to get back to.

I wrote as I said above until the morning was gone. Today, the weather returned to our California-style weather. The hot sun and temperatures into the 80s (26C). My allergies are back as summer pollen levels soar.

I make couscous to go with the India-style leftovers. I have no rice, and rice is not so good for a diabetic, and it is just me at the house. Couscous goes better with other things. In a little oil, I toast almond slices, raisins, and Garam Masala (Punjabi Style) in a sauce pan. To this, I add the couscous grains and toast it too. I finally add water 2:1 of the couscous and take everything off the heat. I am careful; adding boiling water to a hot pan can be exciting. I remove it from the heat and put the cover on. The water will be mostly absorbed.

The Tikka Masala (made from a simmer sauce jar from Trader Joe’s) Chicken goes well with the couscous. The flavor is still a bit flat for my taste. I watch more Battleship New Jersey videos on YouTube. The discussion is about the roles the Iowa-class battleships would play in the Cold War had it exploded into a hot war. Ryan, the head curator for the Battleship New Jersey, seemed to suggest the ship was not able to defend itself from a Soviet mass-missile attack and that the attack would damage the pre-WW2-designed ship. He also refers to Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising and the use of the battleships for shore bombardment in the books. It was an interesting return to the past. I was in the Washington, D.C., area during the end of the Cold War and remember the fascination that we all had with the Iowa class back in service.

I began to prepare to return to my model building. I need the suggested paint for the model. I go through my extensive collection of bottles of Tamiya military colors. I toss the aging ones and at $4 a bottle, it was not an inexpensive loss, but I usually buy only one or two bottles at a time.

Aside: Tamiya XF-63 is German Grey, a very dark grey that I use instead of black when painting figures. This is almost black and can be shaded with black. I find it better to start with less than black and fill in with black instead of dry brushing a grey on black. XF-63 is called out for the top of the main guns on SMS Derfflinger.

I discovered that I had every color except XF-9 Hull Red, a red-brown color I could easily mix, but I decided it was an excellent excuse to head to Old Town Beaverton and Tammy’s Hobbies. I was there yesterday but boarded Air Volvo and soon arrived without incident or witnessing any extra-legal driving. Beaverton’s finest was out in force and seemed to be catching up on the ticket totals for July. Tammy’s Hobbies’ Tamiya Paints display was restocked, and the paints looked fresh. With some care (XF-9 is the target, and X-9 is not), I found the correct paint bottle. I was also happy to see Mr. Hobbies, another brand of paints, also restocked, and H-79, the same shade, was for purchase. I selected a fresh bottle of plastic solvent; it does not age well, and I soon purchased all my goodies.

Without bringing the attention of Beaverton’s Finest, I returned home. I looked over the model and decided, again, to brush the colors instead of masking and using an airbrush. I will do a little masking to keep lines straight and military looking. It is still a lovely day out and not really the kind of day to build WW1 Battlecruisers models.

Instead, I unwrap the updates to my board game Expeditions, which has not been on the gaming table often. The add-on, Gears of Corruption, is not inexpensive ($29), and the updates include new plastic mech models, enough supplies to allow for six players, rules for a game-controlled corrupted mech to hurras the players, and fixes and rewriting the start of the game. Later, I learned that a metal version (sold out and $50) would fit my all-metal game. I had purchased a set of plastic mechs and went through quite an adventure to get the matching color rings (having to make a PayPal payment for “replacing” the rings).

I followed the directions and began updating my version of Expeditions. I replaced the metal mechs and rings with plastic to match the add-on (the metal mechs are larger than the plastic ones!). I put the metal ones in the box that the spare plastic ones come in and set them aside. I forgot that I used plastic sleeves on the cards for this game, something I seldom do, but I saw the Expedition cards wear faster than normal and decided to protect them. I took a sleeved card with me and the new deck of cards from the add-on to the local gaming store, and Air Volvo soon had me there without incident. One of the staff opened a few packs of sleeves until we found the correct match, Standard American inner-card sized.

I updated Expeditions and read some of the updates. I think the publisher has fixed the issues that stopped this game from being played more often. The start of the game was a rush, and some players would miss out on important resources and this weakness would haunt them the rest of the game. I found there were always two players ahead and the rest behind by some distance. The start now provides resources to play a good first few turns without having to fight over limited resourcing options. I read the rules and watched a few videos, and I think I will put this game back in Air Volvo’s cargo hold and play it again.

Aside: I will have to paint the mechs. I am debating whether to paint them with a black undercoat, the usual choice for complex surfaced SciFi models (think Discovery in 2001 Space Odyssey and not Star Trek’s Enterprise), or go with a brighter, cleaner look. More to follow.

For dinner, I made a grilled cheese and heated up a can of vegan-approved lentil soup from Trader Joe’s. The bread was from Tous Les Jours, too.

Dondrea and Z will meet me at First United Methodist at 6:30ish for Praise Band Practice. Andrew will not be joining us. Z and I will play two-person. We played the board game Istanbul‘s basic game last time. I promised to add in the coffee and try the expanded board. Z was surprised by how much the game changed by adding in four locations and a new resource, coffee. The coffee extension to the game adds new cards to the basic game to include coffee and some other improvements. The Guild provides superpower options that cost you a turn. Z liked these and spent many turns getting new superpower options. Coffee supplies a few means to get rubies with coffee and small bribes, Baksheesh, or with lots of coffee. In the second play, Z started to understand all the fun new options.

Z had trouble grasping all the changes, and I was familiar with all the changes. Soon, Z was watching me gather rubies at a speed not reached in the base game. Istanbul is a fast and, I think, exciting race to use all the worker placement and resource management provided in the locations on the board to get victory points, which are rubies. When a player reaches the final ruby, they end the game and win; everyone gets one last play to tie.

(Z by my cart with all the rubies)

Z will want to play again, maybe slower. Z did like the new version of the game and started using my tricks against me—excellent. Once you understand the basic game, Istanbul with Coffee allows you to change your strategy when a player is blocking your move. Instead, you grab some coffee and stack your plans. This is how I beat Z twice. Also, the map is larger, so everything is a two-turn journey now, maybe three. You will need some virtual coffee to push that virtual cart so far!

Aside: This version we played is known as the add-on Istanbul: Mocha & Baksheesh. You can still find it for sale, often cheap. But the Istanbul: Big Box includes the base game and all the add-ons, and would be my recommended purchase. Usually, a gaming store has an old copy of Istanbul in their try-before-you-buy collection. Give it a try, but it is best to learn it from someone who knows it. Be prepared to lose your first couple of games until you better understand the twists and turns of the streets of the old city!

After that, we said goodbye, and I took Air Volvo home with Z, loading Istanbul back in the cargo hold. I read and did some updates to Quicken. My deferred compensation lump payment cleared today. I was tracking it before taxes and would now have to transfer it to my US Bank checking and adjust the balance to remove the tax payments (which appears like money that went puff, which is really what happened–taxes).

I felt I needed to walk a short distance with the sun already down. My street is not lighted, but I managed to return before it was too dark to walk. I am not worried about my safety; my balance is less when I cannot see the horizon. I am not good in the dark anymore.

I stayed up late, even making tea, and had some excellent cookies with my tea (thanks, Linda F). I soon showered, dressed in my PJs, and read until I started to sleep-read. I did not wake up until sunrise.

Thanks for reading!