Sunday Slower and Game

I rose for my last full day in New Hampshire on Sunday, sleeping in as Annika was not feeling well and was thus not ready to rally the family and get them to church. I wrote the blog slowly and spent some time organizing and getting ready to make everything fit in the small bags again. I had the usual breakfast, and the lobby was busy with many folks finishing their holiday weekend in Merrimack, New Hampshire. I am ramping down, have less planned each day, and the blog was no more than 1,000 words for Saturday’s remembrances.

I spoke to Deborah a few times, and we texted often during the day.

Sunday was the usual messy post-Thanksgiving day, opening into the last rush of work (for some) and holiday purchases, decorating, and travel (for many). It can be daunting. Dear reader, remember to be good to yourself (extra rum in the eggnog, as needed).

I met Clint for brunch at the Riverwalk Cafe in Nashua, near the river and in old town. I had a pastrami egg sandwich on a homemade biscuit, and Clint had a burrito with chorizo sausage. All good.

I parked the rental, then saw the ‘no parking’ sign in this lot (even on Sundays), and moved the car downhill to a public lot. Giant empty parking lots with no-parking signs (unless allowed by some unknown process) are dotted throughout the area. Hmmm.

Liquid Therapy was nearby, and we drank our lunch there, with me getting a sourish ale and Clint a flight of their strange beers. We, having just eaten, passed on the fine food that they constantly asked us about. We also went to ‘Order Here’ first, and were then told by the bartender that they have table service. We sat at a table and had a beer.

Deborah complained to me that I cannot associate all the aggressive driving and some of the unique customer service options with the New Hampshire motto, seen on their license plates: “Live Free or Die.” But I think it explains a lot, gas prices, traffic patterns, toll roads, and so on.

Satisfied with the sour beers and some types I have never seen before, a golden stout (?!), we returned to Annika’s and Clint’s place and tried our hands at playing the older board game Terra Mystica. This game, which I have not played the original, is the starting point for many games, and I was interested in enjoying the original version. I would see from the start that the game is about capturing and using board locations, and this can create conflicts. It was just Clint and me in this game, and we avoided most conflicts, but I could see some angry words when someone blocked another player. It is a resource management and worker placement game without conflict or discovery (thus avoiding 4X issues).

We played as we learned, and some things we discovered we should have been doing, definitely a learning game. It was a pleasant, enjoyable game, and I was able to get a few points over Clint, but we likely missed some scoring opportunities. It is one to return to after watching some videos or finding someone who has played it before. Not a bad game, but it did feel a bit dated to me.

Mad Dog, one of the graybeards of Linux (here), was at the bar that Clint and I traveled to after the game of Terra Mystica. Mad Dog was interested in sharing his experiences, and I know where he was going (I may have purchased his Linux Red Hat book years ago). Mad Dog went over his efforts to build a server-quality chip set for heavy Linux processing in Brazil. I was told that Raspberry Pi licensing prevented building them in Brazil, which led Mad Dog to help get server-grade processors made in Brazil. Mad Dog and his associates are focusing on RISC-based processing. We spent two beers of time talking shop.

Clint and I returned to his home, and I said good night and goodbye to Anniak and Ryder (but still mixed her up with the one in college). I apologized but still offered to take her to a play or musical if I am in Manhattan, and she can get there.

It was cold, and there was some snow, and I reached the hotel soon. I managed to close my suitcase and soon was talking to folks on the phone, saying goodnight to Deborah, and getting a ride from the PDX from Joan S (thanks, Joan!).

Thanks for reading.