The day started with me rising after the sun, as happens after time change day, and then the dark catches up as we approach the winter solstice. I wake with the sun and then fall back to sleep. I do miss rising with the sun, but I could use the sleep.
I made coffee. I have been making liberal-style coffee nearly every morning at the house. Coffee is usually fair-traded, supports a cause, or comes from a local roaster. I do have a bag of Starbucks 1972 that I will get too, but that is the exception. I want to drink coffee every morning that reminds me of Justice with Compassion. The bitter, dark taste reminds me how far we have yet to travel to find enlightenment for all. And someday we will Lift Every Voice and Sing, and Justice and Compassion will be found everywhere in our land. I have dreamed of that day.
Sorry if I am preaching today, dear reader. It seemed a good day to remember these things.
I put on blue pants, a blue shirt, and a blue sweater to celebrate the election. That was after I got a text from Rev. Steve W letting me know that he was in town for a car repair and we could meet. I put away the blog (which would not be finished until evening again) and headed out in the Air VW, the Gray, which refuses to charge over 80% now.
I later learned that a safety recall is in place to stop the car from exploding while charging to 100%. VW is trying to write a software patch to eliminate a thermal issue that could cascade. I have lost 50 miles of range. Physics allows for a cool charge until about 80%, and then heat is lost in the process, as it takes as much power to charge the next 20% as it did to charge the first 80%.
I picked up Steve, went to the wrong auto place first, and we headed to La Provence for a lovely brunch. I had the corned beef hash, and Steve had the French-style baked eggs. We talked about church stuff and people. It was nice to get caught up and just enjoy some time together. I sent my croissant home with Steve, along with their excellent jam.
Next, Steve and I headed to the church. I showed him the improvements we have made. Steve was a pastor at First United Methodist Church some years ago. He, like me, has been enjoying retirement. There, Wendy, the church admin, greeted us, and we loaded the bulk mailing cards into the cargo hold. I had to put down the Biz class seats and move the board games to the floor. We manage to fit the load and a cart into the cargo hold.
We delivered the cards, and the mail clerk said he remembered me from last time. He accepted the pile that we stacked up for him. With that, we were done, and I dropped off Steve.
I would see Steve again soon; I had his iPad. He met me at the church as I returned the cart. We said “until next time,” and I headed out. The last time I saw Steve, he showed off pictures of his newborn son.
I was tired and headed home. The food, the workout for the cards, and something about today made me sleepy. I got home, reheated some coffee, and read for a while. I also started prepping for Dungeons & Dragons 5.5E play on Thursday with Emma, Mariah, and Joan S. It’s been nearly a decade, maybe more, since I played at home and hosted and DM’d a game. I do a few one-offs for Clint in New Hampshire, but this was the first time back in the chair in a long time. This is also a campaign, so play will recur twice a month; at least that is the plan, with steady character progression.
Emma put together the starting characters and is the only experienced player, though this is her first time playing in the 5.5E version. She borrowed my spare books (I have a spare Player and DM 5.5E book). I started to sort through various one-off setups to find all my figures. I had lots of bags of figures for various encounters.
I emptied the bags and sorted the figures back into my boxes by type. M@ has them broken down by look, but I just have them in a few drawers. I added a collection behind the DM screen that sort of matches the adventure. I did not paint/buy any figures for this adventure, but I think I can make it work with what I have.
I also printed out copies of the Monster Manual pages that fit. I hate to dig through the book or look things up online while playing. I also looked through the adventure and made sure I had thought about it again. It is an inch-thick book, but it has a mostly useless copy of the old AD&D version in the same text (in their next version, they made that a separate book). I have to open the book halfway to get to the start. I will be flipping back and forth for some of the creatures.
With all that prep done, the sink cleaned, and the stuff I don’t need put away, I am mostly ready. I went to bed, read more, found more monsters I needed to copy, and finally turned off the light and slept.
But between all that, tracing back to dinner time, I met Emma and Mariah at Lazy Days, and we played trivia while we had various sandwiches. I went with a meatball sub, which was OK. We came in 5th in trivia, with Emma answering most questions. I was good for one. It was fun and a good break.
Thanks for reading!
