Three small lessons from three small losses

OH! Before we get to that: My plan for fixing the NBA All Star Game:

Fans vote on the top offensive stars AND the top defensive stars. No duplications.

Then one team is composed of the Offensive starters and the Defensive bench (the O’s) and the other [the X’s] is composed of the Defensive Starters and the Offensive bench.

The Defensive stars are obviously motivated to prove they belong. The Offensive stars will not want to give up anything to the defensive players.

Let’s do this! Or abandon the silly All-Star game. which I missed, for reasons.

We now start the blog-blog

Because the best stories are triads.

I lost a myth.

A few years ago, when I concocted a draft for a Go Action Fun Time episode set in the prehistoric Congo (a time and place I generated randomly, I believe) I stumbled upon the myth of Lokundu and Llankaka. Lokundu was an ancient shaman of some sort who desired the hand of young Llankaka, a girl who could work magic. He won her hand by performing miracles, but eventually, the tribe grew fearful or jealous (not sure – lost the story) and drove the couple out into the forest.

I got this from a website, which I dutifully recorded, except now that website no longer exists.  I have been unable to find it elsewhere. [http://www.abikoyeolufemi.com/2014/05/10/congo-folktale-myth-history-mongo-nkundo/ – which goes to a 404]

Africa, even central Africa, even the African Congo Basin does not have a unified folklore. There are a lot of tribes, and my notes said “Pygmy”.

Pygmy is a European term (from a Greek myth – which I found) for any number of tribes originating from the jungles around Congo River, or the dryer savannahs to the south.  That term is still in use, partly, I suspect, because no one can agree on a replacement., but it won’t get you to our magical couple. They may be Bantu – which is a completely different tribal group.

I can tell you that Lokundu, or its close cognate, is a language group, which very much mucks up the search results. Further, I am not certain I have the spelling correct. There may not be a correct spelling in English.

And that is partly why I often cram science fiction elements into GAFT episodes from the past rather than sticking with the folklore. I would want to get the folklore correct, and that is not always possible with time and resources at hand. The SF elements I can fabricate with impunity.

I really just wanted an excuse to make teen-age superheroes row their canoes through a river full of hippos. It kinda worked as written.

This is the last time I am going to post this illustration on this blog. I promise…

I lost a car payment.

I paid off my car, the 2015 Subaru Forester called Ruby Vroom But I did not disable the auto-pay to the credit union, and that went out today. Oops. I don’t believe that money is gone. I still have a token account with  that credit union. But I won’t know until banker’s hours tomorrow. I’ll update here.

I am very fortunate that this is a nuisance rather than a crisis.

Ruby Vroom in her natural habitat.

I lost a day.

I had a bunch of things I wanted to do Saturday, and they all fell apart for various reasons and I ended up idle and bored. This does not happen to me very often. I always have something to do; sometimes its tedious, but I am rarely idle.  So I decided to embrace it.

I farted around in an unrestrained ADHD-Autistic way for the entirety of Saturday, because there was no consequence other than I might not make word count.

Then a thing I thought had dissipated Saturday, came together on Sunday and fell upon my head. I have been pitching from behind ever since.

Three lessons:

1. promises made to yourself are inherently negotiable.
2. The key to success is not so much avoiding mistakes but recovering from them.
3. I lost whatever the third point was going to be.

An Armadillo writer has a book out:

https://www.amazon.com/Poltergeist-Dead-Winter-James-Strickland-ebook

I’m not your ordinary gumshoe.

My name’s Nina Cohen. Born: 1898, died: 1912. I’m a poltergeist in a human body. I work from home as a private investigator. I watch entirely too much TV, and I talk to my cat. Say hello, Djinn.

Meow

Word Count:

Since last Thursday:

I edited [500 words] and ran the Go Action Fun Time Episode “Blistering Death in the Congo” [1000 words].

I wrote and posted  a description of Los Lomitas Trail in Are We Lost Yet? [1000]

I finalized and formatted the revised (shorter) Go Action Fun Time Cast Directory for Drive Thru RPG. [1000 words].

Basically, I cut out the package deals. They are now in the Show Bible. Which is coming…

UPDATE: The old version is still up. I’m not sure what happened. So if you buy that version right now you get the package deals ahead of the Show Bible – but with fewer entries and more typos.

Still the same cover.

Thursday Night Armadillo Group [500].

This very blog post. [1000].

Wait a minute. That’s 5k on the nose.

How bout that. Whiskey.

What was lost in Dilkon

Ruby, with dead battery, is somewhere under that shade…

Over the past few months, I was sent to program lighting at the Dilkon Regional Medical Center in Dilkon, AZ, within the Navajo reservation.  I do not have many day-job adventures that are both interesting, and in-bounds for open disclosure.

Through a combination of poor fortune and self-created folly, Dilkon proved to be expensive, with each of the expeditions being more expensive than the last.

Let’s pause here to clarify: I do not mean travel expenses. My company picks that up. And while the work was more troublesome than it needed to be, that was a product of the locale and personnel involved, and not generally instructive. Also, there were more than the three trips I am about to describe, but these were the major expeditions.

We have already described one adventure related to this job. This would turn out to be foreshadowing.

1^st Visit- January 2022

Navajo burger

There are two places I found to eat lunch in Dilkon, and by that I mean pick up the food and eat it in your car. The Navajo Nation was (and still is at this writing) 100% masks indoors, and indoor dining is out-of-the-question.  There is a food stand in a dirt lot that will sell you a Navajo burger, a double green-chile burger in a pita of some sort. Or you could go to the pizza place, and get a slice or pie of arguably the best pizza for 50 miles in any direction. (It is honestly decent if not outstanding pizza.

Having learned the day before that a Navajo burger will sit in my stomach like a boulder for three hours, I had gotten some pizza, driven back to the jobsite and ate my slices while listening the NPR station I could kinda-get out there on the car radio. When I finished, I tossed my crusts to the stray, or at least unleashed dogs waiting for that, and went back in to work.

I came back out at the end of the day to discover my battery dead. I then discovered that I had not gotten back (or replaced) the jumper cables I had loaned to my child.

Happily, one of the electricians hadn’t left yet. After failing to jump the car with his cables, we ruled the battery dead. Dilkon has a grocery store, and two convenience stores, none of which carry jumper cables, much less car batteries.

Good fortune balanced poor fortune when it turned out the electrician passed through Winslow, where my hotel was, on his way back to north of Flagstaff somewhere.

His daily commute was close to 90 minutes. I added twenty more at the auto parts store (just down the road from my hotel) where I purchased the second most expensive battery on the shelf (cheap parts die with simple radio play in deeply rural parking lots) and a set of jumper cables.

He added five more minutes picking me up in the pre-dawn gloom the next morning.

It’s forty minutes from Winslow to Dilkon, during which I learned a a lot about this man’s family problems and his relationship to Jesus, none of which is fodder for this space. I also learned that people in and around Dilkon have been driving as far New Mexico for simple medical services.

So, it’s nice to be part of a project that is clearly necessary. We have surprisingly few of those.

 2^nd Visit – Late February – early March 2022

On my way back from Two Rivers (next to last post – I’ve been busy) the power steering died in the truck.

Verity – new to me.

While I bought Verity as a back-up vehicle, Oliver, my child, has been using it as a primary vehicle to and forth from Phoenix College and related young adult adventures. Oliver lacks the size and skill to manage a pick-up truck without power steering.

Warned that it could be a while before I had the time or money to fixt the truck, Oliver convinced one of their young adult friends to fix it – at my expense, but not at a lot of expense.

The repair happened while I was in Dilkon.

Then as Oliver drove the newly nimble Verity about the oil light came on. Knowing the oil had been recently changed, Oliver chose to ignore it and keep driving – until Verity threw a rod.

Throwing a rod is generally fatal to twenty-year-old pick-ups.

Verity + Rattletrap

Yet times are strange. I bought that thing for about $5k – pre-pandemic. The replacement cost for a similar vehicle now would be something like $7-8k as I understand the market now. The part-time mechanic (who likely destroyed the thing in the first place) has offered to replace the engine at cost. He thinks that could be below $3k. I am not so certain. I have tasked Oliver with that research, and that is ongoing.

Bongo at Homolovi

Meanwhile , Lyft charges appear randomly on one of my credit cards.

There was a mid-February visit during which I visited the Homolovi State Park.

It went without further disaster.

3^rd Visit 23-24 March 2022

UnObtanium at Pirate Fest

This visit took place two days before Unobtanium was to appear at the Las Vegas Pirate Fest. My tow vehicle is dead in my backyard, and while Ruby has a towing hitch (that I had installed) the Subaru Forester is not a good towing vehicle. Las Vegas is 350 miles and four good climbs from Phoenix.

My first thought was to rent a van. Inventory inside the van, tent and gear in Rattle-trap. But no one, I mean no one, rents a van with a tow hitch.

U-Haul, however, will rent a pick-up with a tow hitch – even for an out-of-state run. So I thought I had done that.

I burn back home from Dilkon, slide into U-Haul minutes before closing, and discover they have not the pick-up I had confirmed and paid for.

I towed Rattletrap to Las Vegas in a 12’ box truck, which had plenty of capacity but over-all cost me $800 I’ll never get back. Impoverished and emboldened by that experience I then towed that same rig with Ruby, my Subaru Forester, on the shorter and flatter run to Lake Havasu City for the London Bridge Ren Faire.

Ruby+Rattletrap at LBRF

The listed towing capacity of a 2015 Subaru Forester is 1500#. I don’t know how much Rattletrap plus the Unobtanium tent and inventory actually weigh, but Ruby can tow it as long as we stay under 75 mph.

Traversing I-10 westbound at or near the posted limit does not improve the scenic value of the journey.

FTR – London Bridge RF actually takes place on the shadeless, packed dirt expanse of the county rodeo grounds.

The big bell tent held up just fine.

UnObtanium at London Bridge RF complete with tent.

When the smoke cleared:

• The Dilkon Medical Center is still not open (medical facilities dawdle forever before opening) by my lighting is complete.
• Ruby survived her Reservation country and towing adventures.
• If you don’t count the U-Haul fee, UnObtanium made money at both events.
  • We plan to return to both next year.
• And Verity still sits in my backyard, with her new roof rack still in place. If you want or need a 2001 Dodge Dakota with a blown engine, make me an offer.

Now we know.

Trying to pick out life events from the blur

When I first found myself living alone, I wanted most of all not to end up with a boring routine of a lifestyle.

Careful what you wish for.

There’s been some news, and I’m trying to remember it all. Let’s see… Oh yeah.

A couple of years ago, I promised Woody that if he ended ever actually chairing a Leprecon again, I would run gaming for him. I had forgotten about that promise, but he did not. So here we go.

I am the gaming chair for Leprecon 47 – a virtual convention taking place in our imagination on the internet March 19-21, 2021.

It has been decreed, without my advice or consent, that no events of this con shall conflict, so rather than filling a small meeting room with loud gamers from mid-morning until the shift change in security throws us out sometime past midnight, I have only two sessions: late afternoon Saturday and Sunday.

I am relatively certain I can run concurrent games in that window, but as I write this, I think maybe I should ask.

Anyway, if you can run a game (RPG or other) on Discord or Zoom (the con has a Zoom account – which is basically our only expense), and desire to play it with strangers, then I have an opportunity for you.  Contact me for more information.

Yes, I will be running Go Action Fun Time (even if I am the whole game room). I will run Lasers in the Jungle (which I only run at cons) (because its adapted from a module published for a completely different game) and will run the world premiere of Dungeon of Darkest Doom by Jason Youngdale.

The first follower separates a leader from a lone nut.

Hopefully, I will not be the whole of programming.

What else? Oh – Hidden Lake went well.

Is this really period? Whatever. We’re time travelers.

The mask discipline in Buckeye is comparable to Kingman, but we are all outdoors, so it’s hard to panic. Worry a little about the unmasked boomers close-talking, but not panic. I’m wearing my mask, after all. And I’ve already had it, and even if I’m re-infected, it was a three-day annoyance to me. I am fairly certain that there is a genetic profile that is only annoyed by the virus, and a genetic profile that falls over dead within days, and that I possess the former. But you, Boomer, are free to take whatever risk you feel comfortable with.

Donald Trump set his presidency on fire to ensure that freedom. (I joke here. It would be great if his reasons were anything so noble- if misguided.)

I reflect, though, that Boomers, terrified of Muslim terrorists, are the reason that the TSA has a collection of my corkscrews. OK.

Cheryl in her natural habitat.

Back to UnObtanium, I had been warned that the state sales tax would be a recurring nightmare for me, but it turns out that in COVID times, Arizona discovered the power of technology. Rather than mail my form monthly, we can file on-line. And, because we made less than $500 in 2019 (when we did not exist) we can file annually.  So, I paid my $50 or so for the Kingman event last year, online, in about 20 minutes.

A year from now, I am hoping it takes a few hours to do the same thing – and that we go over the threshold where we have to file at least quarterly.  That’s right – it is a goal to owe more tax more often, because that is a marker of success.

I am part of a civilization and I hope and work for its success. I guess that makes me a liberal.

I am old enough to remember when that would have made me conservative.

That was not what I wanted to tell you about.

Oh – Ruby Vroom (my 2015 Subaru Forester) has passed 100k miles. So, that was sudden. We’ve talked about this elsewhere.

What else? Oh – I am starting to get edits back on Taliesin’s Last Apprentice. (The sequel to Beanstalk and Beyond) It’s mostly been typos. So that’s good?

Ruby on Packsaddle Mountain.

In contrast, perfect has, indeed, become the enemy of done with the printed version of Go Action Fun Time. I’m comfortable with the content. I am still fussing over the (print) layout.

In particular, I am editing the illustrations to eliminate the scan errors and pencil smudges that make them look even less professional that the theme we already have.

Dopple left hanging – but waay better than the lineart.

There was one more damn thing…

AH!

Last week marked my 54^th orbit around the sun. I treated myself to some Sushi, a bottle of favored whiskey, and later may order some underwear online, because I am 54.

And I need my sleep.

Photo by C Zierman

WORD COUNT:

A chapter of the second book of the 64: 1500 words.

Writer’s group: 500

Editing photos for GAFT: 2000 (I did this all day).

This blog: 1000

The original lineart

That makes 5000 – though I am cheating bit. I wrote this blog Monday (before the deadline, but did not post it (or add links and graphics) until after deadline.  But I’m lowballing the illustration count.

I say I earn whiskey – birthday whiskey.

Now you know.

Why I am not walking the dog.

Arizona is under curfew tonight, so I couldn’t walk the dog even if I wanted to. 

What dog? Regular readers may ask. Hang on. 

Let me just say that this curfew is inexplicably state wide. So sitting here in Phoenix, I can argue whether it’s helpful, but I could at least follow the logic of it. If I were sitting in Gila Bend or Ajo or Snowflake, I would – I would probably find another reason not to walk the dog. It’s somewhat inconceivable that they are enforcing it in those places. 

Ducey’s order has so many exemptions the only thing it actually prohibits is protesting, and therefore would not stand long in court.  For example:

[Exempted:] Individuals traveling directly to and from work; attending religious services; commercial trucking and delivery services; obtaining food; caring for a family member, friend, or animal; patronizing or operating private businesses; seeking medical care or fleeing dangerous circumstances; and travel for any of the above services.

So not only could I plausibly walk this dog (though it would be a stretch), I could absolutely go to the topless bar down the street, which is now open despite the state having met basically none of the actual criteria the CDC set out for opening.

Last month, while we were under a more defensible curfew,  was the year anniversary of acquiring my 2015 Subaru Forester. I bought it at 48k miles. It just ran past 85k. That’s 30k miles in a year and probably not sustainable. 

A year and 30,000 miles later my opinion hasn’t moved much: with the exception of the turning radius and the sound system, it is an upgrade in very way from my poor old Kia Soul. I’ve had some off-road adventures with it,but most of my miles are on the highway, where it is, actually, above average. 

I consistently get in the mid 20’s for gas mileage. Her preferred cruising speed seems to be 80 mph. I’ve become pretty adept at shoving things into it.

Even so, I had a moment of mild crazy and bought a second vehicle.

• It is troublesome sharing a vehicle with Rey (for both of us) and
• I really do need a back-up vehicle as Ruby is staggering into older-vehicle country and
• I need to tow a trailer from time to time, and that is not in the Subaru’s wheelhouse so

I bought a 2001 Dodge Dakota for $4600 cash.

The yet unnamed truck – priced as if dealer’s fee and tax did not exist.

And – I got what I paid for. 

The brakes are wonky – and likely about to fail. One of the headlights is out. The cruise control is long gone. And it overheats. I’ll know more once I get it to the mechanic. 

But its a truck with a tow hitch. And the first vehicle I’ve bought with cash since the 1980’s. 

“Get down, Pipa! Now!”

Rey’s persistence at the pound yielded a 3 year old boxer named Pipa, who scares the crap out of my poor cats, and moves shoes and other objects around the house at random. When Rey is home there is a steady background of the phrase “Not for Pipa!”

I am convinced that the dog means no harm to the cats, but my cats are emphatically unconvinced. How do you train courage into adult cats? I do not know. So they hide outside except for a few hours in the early morning when the dog is firmly ensconced in Rey’s bed.

The kitten is not afraid. This is why I have some faith in Pipa. 

Fireball is helping…

A small fluffy kitten Rey dubbed Fireball has wandered into the house and made herself at home, and plays with the dog.

My cats are also scared of the kitten. I dunno. 

 

WORD COUNT:

In the past seven days I:

• Edited 20k of the 64 novel, in hopes to have a beta-read copy soon = 2000 words
• Designed, drew, and colored two badge art proposals for MaricopaCon = 200 words.

Not the finished product.

• Edited about 10k words of the rulebook forGo Action Fun Time= 1000 words.
• This blog = 1000 words. 

 

That’s 6000 out of 5000.

 

I’m still not walking the dog. That’s Rey’s job.

 

Now we know. 

 

Sorry but not sorry about missing word count

I was out of town most of last week. I got a little bit of artwork done, but nothing else of substance creatively. So that’s the word count update. Beyond that, I learned a lot, and have a bit of news.

Before we get to the past, let’s look at the future a little bit.

I had plans to run Go Action Fun Time at G3: Gaming for Charity Game Marathon next weekend, but they did not actually schedule my game. It has always been my policy that I do not announce events that do not have actual time/space coordinates. I’ll have GAFT in my car when I attend, but I cannot guaranty that it will be played.

Note to game event organizers: struggling game designers are willing, nay even eager partners in drubbing up publicity for your event, provided that you actually include them.

I’ll show up anyway, drop some money in the fishbowl and maybe just play for once.

In contrast, I have three games scheduled for Crit Hit 4, and I will be loudly announcing the particulars in the coming days.

Last week I went to Flagstaff on business, camped in the forest, then went to Las Vegas to attend Amazing Comicon, then went back to Flagstaff to pick up Rey, as she is spending most of the summer at my house. (Which, FTR, is her legal address anyway).

Ruby Vroom vs all the bugs on the highway. (with Rey)

Things I learned in no particular order:

Ruby Vroom, my 2015 Subaru Forester, has an ideal speed that is appropriate for picking your way down jeep trails without startling elk.

For me, paying a little more for gas in Flagstaff is worth not having to glide into Kingman on fumes.

The nacho loco appetizer at El Capitan is just an absurd amount of food.

The north rim of Sycamore Canyon in the Kaibab NF remains one of my favorite areas to camp. Ruby and I found the end of Forest road 56C. I didn’t get any writing done there, but I got some thinking done, which is an important step.

Ruby Vroom at the end of the road

 

The brief camping excursion was the only part of the journey that I did any real documentation on.  But that’s another post for a different blog.

Amazing! Las Vegas Comic Con is over-all a fine event for what it is, but I could not, in good faith recommend travelling to Sin City just for the event itself, especially not if you live in Phoenix. ALVC is a fraction of the size of Phoenix fan Fusion, and while the vendor hall is substantial, the porgamming is miniscule, and other events are non-existent. It is, in truth, more skewed to actual comic fans that Fan Fusion, and comics dominate the vendor hall and much of what programming exists. So if that is your focus, you might enjoy the weekend.

If you are a more casual fan, however, one day will be more than sufficient.

Of course, I went for the company:

Fiona (mid transformation) in Ruby Vroom

Going to a con by yourself can be amusing, and maybe even educational. Going to a con with good friends is fun. Going to a con with your costumer girlfriend is very fun.

Even if you are not in costume.

My link dump from the Con:

Anomaly Comics are trying to combine augmented reality apps with regular graphic novels. Meh. But the novels themselves are good quality. http://www.experienceanomaly.com/anomaly/

They also put out tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/user/ExperienceAnomaly

Tiki God comics gave me a bookmark and are rewarded with a link: https://www.tikigodcomics.com/

Frameless hangars is an interesting product if you still ahve space on your wall. www.framelesscomic.com

Wayward Nerd is a travel site for, well you.  https://www.waywardnerd.com/

Bookmarks because someone on the internet is Wrong:

https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/social-security-act

https://www.ssa.gov/history/InternetMyths.html

You might infer what they are wrong about.

Anyway, I did not make word count. So it goes.

 

Faith in finance brings me Ruby Vroom

If you missed the last entry, we learned that my Kia Soul did not survive  a collision, and that was the end of that. (And I’m fine, because we also learned that’s the first question you’ll ask).

I have a new vehicle: a 2015 Subaru Forester.

It has just under 50k miles, and represents a couple notches of improvement im bith size and over-all quality from the vehicle it replaces.

Even so, my payments are about the same. How is that possible?

Turns out I had gap insurance after all.

At least, that is the theory. There are a list of people, office professionals, who were going to contact me and confirm the details, and none of them have done so. Even the down payment check has taken nearly a week to clear.

But, as far as I know, I bought a car for the same money that I owed on the previous one.

I named her Ruby Vroom – refering to the Soul Coughing Album, her color, and her tendency to go faster than you expect. A more complet review coming in a few weeks.

Assuming I still have her, of course.

 

 

 

 

 

WORD COUNT:

1000 words of new Taliesin’s Last Apprentice content.

1500 of 2nd draft TLA content

500 words for Thursday Night writer’s group.

500 words for editing Go Action Fun Time material and

1000 words for playtesting Go Action Fun Tie at my house last Sunday. This could become a regular thing.

Missed it by 500 words.

I will live with myself.

Now we know.