two thousand and twenty two in review

This year started off with me being a giant ball of stress.

Moving house. It sucks at the best of times. This wasn't the best of times.

But I got through it. And the new place is... adequate for requirements. It's certainly much quieter than the old place.

I also got to dip my toes back into DMing, and actually DMing a full hardcover adventure for the first time. Which was actually super satisfying.

There were a few post-moving projects, including changing all my DVD covers over to Penguin Book themed covers. And then there was a lot of pre DMing prep.

So, for what it's worth, here's this year's roundup.

January: This month was one long moving related freak out. Up until securing a new place. Then it was just packing. And then I got a new iPhone, because the old one was on the bring of failure.

February: I lost a DnD character and gained a new one. I moved house with the help of Ma and Fluffy. Then did all the things that come after a move. And we got Ma a new iPhone also.

March: We had a tiny, tiny earthquake. I spent too much time printing things at Officeworks. Birthday.

April: I unpacked the last of the moving company boxes. We finished the current Friday Night DnD adventure.

May: I started DMing for Friday Night DnD.

June: I redid my blog banner. Got my flu vax. I got a new drivers license.

July: Got my fourth vax booster.

August: I got sick (just regular, normal sick) for the first time since 2019. The Thursday Night DnD group finally finished our non-campaign campaign after a little over a year.

September: Thursday Night DnD started our new Critial Role campaign with DM Fluffy. I got a new laptop. And then had to make it behave.

October: I had to go and get a second new driving license (thanks Optus). Third anniversary of the Friday Night DnD game.

November: After something like 25 years, I rejoined the library. I had the first proper rental inspection since moving in (the mid year one was cancelled). I put my Christmas decorations up and tweaked my back in the process (although that didn't become apparent until later).

December: Like I said... tweaked my back. I've spent most of the month laying on the bed and seeing my Chiro more than usual. No Christmas Tree decorating at Ma's place this year tho. Boardgame Christmas still happened followed by Movie Night with Fluffy. Also Regular Christmas.

So there's that.

As far as movies go... this year wasn't great for movies. The highlights being The Tragedy of Macbeth (surprising no-one) and Everything Everywhere All At Once. The movie that annoyed me most this year was No Time To Die (and yes, it came out last year, I didn't see it until late March).... fuck that movie.

Current mood:

photo saturday: adventing part five

Remind me next year to definitely keep a colour theme through the whole of the Hero Forge Advent Calendar. I like the look of the items cross the weeks.

And I almost got away with a single model this week... but pauldrons don't really go with shoulderless shirts.

Also, because we're a day ahead in the future here in Australia, I don't get to add tomorrow's final item. Depending on what it is, I might use it as the basis for an outfit. Or not, we'll see. 

• Current item count: 35 + a ton of new familiars and mounts (everything else was a one off this week)
  
• Current item's I'd actually use count: 18 + (I'm not sold on the hat or the "beard", everything else is nice... and the animals will definitely show up in various things as we go)

So, we're roughly in the "about half" zone for things I'd use. Which is pretty good. I guess time will tell.

I do like the way these random collections of items start to suggest a character. Some kind of spellcasting, armoured sea captain with a rabbit familiar.

Anyway.

As always tends to be the case, there isn't a lot to report on in the week between Christmas and New Year. And even more so because I spent pretty much all of it horizontal. 

It's also why I'm typing this while standing up. Because there's not a lot of point spending a chunk of time laying down or walking around and then fucking up all that goodwill by sitting. I'll get there. I mean, I am getting there, I just want to try and sidestep some of the setbacks.

So I put most of my Christmas presents away early in the week... still gotta find a permanent home for Sharky McSharkington though... I reorganised my dice collection... I made salads with leftover turkey and sausage meat for most of the week (until it ran out)... it was mostly just a chill old time.

And then we get to Friday night DnD. They very nearly finished the campaign in the middle of the session... LOL. So I very definitely did that video game thing of saying "You're entering the final element, please ensure you've completed all quests you want to before proceeding"... or, that, but better written.

But we got to the big "twist/reveal"... and everyone's reaction was essentially the same as mine when I first read it.

"Huh... sure, okay... didn't see that coming. But why though?"

I also didn't drag it out. Once they had one of the big reveals in hand, I spelled it out for them, because otherwise it's just confusing. Because you don't see it coming or expect it.

But I think we have maybe a couple of sessions left if they want to go fight all the bad guys before triggering the end of the game. I need to give some thought to what happens there too. I just had a thought... I'll have to pull on that thread and see where it leads me.

I did also get to reveal Fluffy's warlock Patron to him finally. And of course, because his Patron was also his favourite magic item in the game, he was very happy.

Which is all I ever want really. For my players to be happy after a reveal. Even if the characters aren't.

Anyway.

Today was all about errands.

Supermarket to start, then off to Kmart and Big W looking for various bits and pieces. Most notably a new iPhone cord for me because the old one developed that "clearly broken unless you put it just so once it's plugged in" and fuck that game.

So that was it really. Then it was back here to do pre-New-Years things before Fluffy comes over for Movie Night.

Current mood:

post christmas round-up 2022

So Kris actually belongs to the Jingle Bros (Part 1 and Part 2) from last year. But I ran out of time to add him to the roster, so, you know what, he can be part of today. And he's just as I made him last year, I didn't bother remaking him.

And of course he's a halfling.

Merry Christmas to the, like, handful of people who still bother reading my blog. Essentially it's just a diary I shout into the void these days. But I'm still grateful for anybody who has stuck around.

So, indulge me for a little bit if you will. I'm feeling a little... garrulous.

The observant amongst you would have noticed that there was no traditional putting up of the Christmas Tree this year. No scantily clad Christmas hunk posted earlier on Christmas Day.

Yeah, I wasn't, and am still not, feeling it.

What I am feeling is more pain than I would like. And the sentence that has been whirling around in my head all day, and was originally going to be the opening line for this post is thus.

Surprising nobody, pain changes your brain chemistry. Regular pain more so. And for at least the last month, my brain has been dealing with intermittent pain from my back. Or, weirdly, pain that SHOULD be in my back, but is often on the sides of my calves, because nervous systems are fucked up little monkeys.

So, the last thing I wanted, or was physically able, to do at the start of the month, was drive down to Ma's place and put the Christmas Tree up. And so, left to her own devices, and under strict instructions that if she attempted to construct and dress the whole Christmas Tree I would be Very Angry With Her, the image above was the result.

It's not great, it also doesn't suck. It's the top third of the regular tree, inserted into the base of the regular tree. And had I been involved I might have attempted something with the Christmas Lights, it's not terrible.

But, going back to... well, my back. I can't sit for long. Not in most places. When I do, the aforementioned pain starts to creep in around the edges. And then all I want to do is go lie down. But after I've been lying down on and off for almost a month, that also fucks with my brain.

So, clearly, given this little story, I'm in a weird place this Christmas. Last Christmas was pre-moving stress. This is... less intense. But, honestly, I didn't much care about Christmas this year. And, yeah, I know, if you go back through the last few years, I've been saying some version of that for the last several years. But it's still true.

I still went through all the motions. But it was mostly for other people. And while I had fun along the way, I wasn't feeling it. Which brings us to today. Let's just say that left to my own devices, I probably wouldn't have bothered much.

I woke up about as early as I have been of late, which is a little too early for my tastes. And I'd already told Ma there wasn't much of a point in me being down at hers super early. So I wasn't in any kind of rush. I faffed around, watched some YouTube stuff, and finally got my ass into gear, before having a shower, loading up the car with what little there was to load it with, closed up the house with the aircon on so I'd come home to a nice cool house and toddling up the road to Ma's place at about 8:45 or so.

We had our usual breakfast of croissants, and I'll be honest, as much as Ma always asks what I want on/with them, generally speaking I just want a little butter and that good, good warm pastry.

We fucked around a bit after, I complained, as I do every year, that none of the TV stations just digs into their stock of shitty (or not shitty) Christmas movies and just runs them end to end all day. There are enough channels these days, they could totally do that. I don't want to WATCH them, you understand, but I like some, as we call it, colour and movement going on in the background, since it's just Ma and I.

I never keep track of time on Christmas Day at the best of times, and it somehow tends to just flow through my brain like water anyway, so who the fuck knows when anything happened... 

But between mostly ignoring and quite often going "Hey, it's that person who was in that other thing", we put the original 1947 Miracle on 34th Street (it does kinda fall over a bit when you realise that Santa is also Captain Wiles from my favourite Hitchcock movie, The Trouble With Harry) and at some point in the process it was time for presents, such as it was.

And I say that only because a lot of my presents are what happens when you say "oh, that thing I need, or that thing we just bought, that can go away for Christmas". For... like the last four months. So it's all some combination of kinda from Ma, kinda from me to me.

But it also includes the presents from Mr, Mrs and Fluffy from Board Game Christmas.

So, starting there...

• LEGO Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck
  (from Fluffy... nearly made me cry because reasons)
• IKEA BLÅHAJ Baby Shark
  (again, Fluffy... because we got slightly obsessed with some stupid IKEA Japan videos and the sharks in general)
• Here to Sleigh expansion deck (from Mr and Mrs... they bought me the original game a couple of years back)
• Q Workshop 2022 Advent Dice Calendar (from Mr and Mrs at the end of November)
• IKEA PIPSTÄKRA quilt cover (which also has an associated fitted sheet and a couple of pillowcases for other pillows, but I didn't bother including them)
• IKEA VINTERFINT Apple scented candle in metal tin
  
• Bonds Essentials Move Pullover Hoodie (plus a couple of Bonds tees, also not included)
• Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes sourcebook
• Before the Coffee Gets Cold by  Toshikazu Kawaguchi
• Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell
• LEGO Minifigure Series 23 Cardboard Robot (the one problem with blind box things is sometimes you get the one you're wildly ambivalent about instead of one of the 11 you really, really like)
• Chessex Polyhedral Dice Sets in Translucent Orange, Translucent Yellow and Light Blue

Oh, and some Bundaberg Spiced Ginger Beer, which is not so much a present, as something I was definitely taking home.

I took some photos, moved some stuff around, and then we started on lunch prep. Which went about the same as always, albeit slightly smoother than some years.

We put the potatoes in with the turkey and the sausage meat, so they got all good and crispy. But mostly it was switching between half watching The Holiday and doing prep.

And I'm just now remembering that I forgot to steal both the last of the mango salad dressing AND the mince pie ice cream from Ma's place. Oh well.

I have no idea when we sat down to eat. Sometime after 2pm maybe. No clue.

It was pretty good though. And some combination of the pepper I put on the tomatoes, the chili in the salad dressing and the ginger in the ginger beer definitely made it nice and tasty.

The intent was probably to play some Here to Slay, but, I'll be honest, I wasn't in the mood.

We tidied up, we watched a good chunk of Robin Hood: Men in Tights, which it seems like Ma hasn't seen before, and she groaned through all of the groan-worthy parts.

And then I threw together some Eton Mess with mince pie ice cream, lemon meringues and fresh berries. It's a good Christmas dessert. Even if, traditionally, we have it about three hours after dinner.

Then, honestly, by that point, I'd kind of had enough. Mostly of sitting and standing.

So I packed up the car with more stuff than I arrived with and headed back up the road. And other than the heat, it wasn't a bad run. I think it was around 6pm when I got home, and after unpacking all the stuff, threw myself into a quick shower and then had a lie down until I felt able to tackle this post.

Which is done now.

So, for another year, Merry Christmas, and thanks for listening to me unpack my internal monologue as part of the post-Christmas round up. It's becoming a tradition at this point.

Current mood:

photo saturday: adventing part four

Of course, this week had to feature three pieces of headgear... leading to a little picture in picture action.

Much more of a blah week for this week's Hero Forge Advent Calendar, but some nicely rendered pieces again.

• Current item count: 29 (including two versions of the helmet, some handheld snowballs and two sizes of the arcane lantern)
• Current item's I'd actually use count: 14 (although it's a big maybe on the helmet, circlet, lantern and axe honestly)

Favourite item? Visually, the axe. Although I don't make a lot of heavy weapon wielding characters.

So, we have one more week to go, because this Advent Calendar runs for the whole month and doesn't end on Christmas Eve. Tomorrow does tend to be the big one though. All I'm really hoping for is less hats.

Anyway...

Sunday was Rocky Road Day. As in, the day I made this year's batch of Rocky Road. Which I ended up making in two batches, because I don't have bowls big enough. All while watching the 1970's version of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge. Which is free on YouTube and nobody seems to have noticed or cared that it's there.

Originally it was just for "colour and movement" while I was doing other things, but, I'll be honest, it's actually really, really good. It's also a musical and none of the child actors can really hold a tune. But it does some interesting things with something that is so overdone and I've seen so many versions of at this point.

As I've said to a number of people, it's the best version of the story that doesn't include Muppets.

Monday was Board Game Christmas Day.

And it was a good day. We played a bunch of games. A little L.L.A.M.A, followed by some Uk'atoa, then the adorable Calico (which was the only game I actually won, by a single point) and then finishing up with Shadows over Camelot, which was a co-operative game that we lost as a group. Well, except for Mrs, because it turned out she was the traitor, and because we all lost, she won.

We also did presents (which I well detail tomorrow), but suffice to say, Fluffy got me a little emotional, for reasons I can't quite explain, with his choice of gift.

I just threw home made tomato and onion relish (the food item I mentioned last week) and big boxes of Rocky Road at everyone.

After Board Game Christmas, Fluffy and I came back here and watched Hackers (which he'd never seen, which is a crime), and the aforementioned Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. And between the movies, I made a quick pizza with stuff I had in the fridge.

So, quite a long day, in fact, from when he arrived to when I dropped him home, Fluffy and I hung out for over 12 hours. A good day though.

The rest of the week was pretty much nothing much, but a lot of me laying down to help my back out. Because it's getting there, but it's not there yet.

Fast forward to Friday for Chiro Day. As in the actual day I was intended to go to the chiro, not one of the several other times I've been this month.

And then it was Friday Night DnD.

I finally understand why many people said that the final area of this adventure was problematic. And doesn't make a ton of sense. Because while I'd prepped it, it seemed okay. But then the map showed me something that the text seemed to contradict and then suddenly I was in the realm of WTF. So I'm going to tweak some of the bit and pieces and see where we end up.

Because the "as written" instructions are actually kinda dumb.

But we'll get there.

And I don't really care because the stuff that I layered in which was more interesting is still paying dividends in ways I didn't forsee. And I still have some tricks up my sleeve even now.

But there are some spots in this final area I'm excited for them to get to, even if they're not super involved.

Anyway.

Why is it that when Christmas Eve DOESN'T fall on a day we would normally go shopping, the supermarket is insane and crammed full of people. And on the year that it DOES, the supermarket was... still busy, but not insanely so.

We did get there a little earlier than usual, and yes, the fruit and veg section was a little nuts, as it usually is. But I got served instantly at the deli counter (because they had a ton of staff on) and in a minor Christmas miracle, I just randomly picked a checkout because the person being served was about to leave, and it turned out to be the lovely girl we tend to gravitate towards on a normal week, because she's efficient, knows how to pack a bag and seems nice.

But it was actually fairly easy overall.

Ma didn't stick around for long afterwards, which is fine because I'm seeing her most of the day tomorrow, and it gives her more time to prep at her end.

So that's that about that.

Current mood:

movies: guillermo del toro's pinocchio

Many times in recent years, two movies that have basically identical premises are released essentially back to back, and there's always a clear winner. 

Bug's Life vs Antz. Armageddon vs Deep Impact. The Prestige vs The Illusionist. Finding Nemo vs Shark Tale. Happy Feet vs Surf’s Up.

And without me saying it, you already know which movie in each of those pairs is the winner. Because it's obvious.

So I don't even need to SEE the other movie (also, fuck Disney's toxic trend of remaking their animated movies in live action, but worse) to know that Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is the absolute winner in the 2022 Pinocchio Movie Battle.

And sidebar, I don't normally talk about the movie posters over on the right there, I just normally pick the "primary" poster. But this absolute artwork exists, so, yes, I'm picking that one.

This movie is absolutely the most Guillermo del Toro movie imaginable. It's (from what I understand) the longest ever (thus far) stop motion movie, it's based on a piece of children's literature yet is probably not for children. And it features both fascists, World War II and angel/spirit characters that wouldn't be out of place in Hellboy.

It's also very much part of a trilogy with The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth. A fantastical story set against war and fascism.

And it's very, very cleverly done. While the main character is still a wooden boy brought to life by magic, there's no talking, bipedal fox and cat, no Pleasure Island turning boys into donkeys, and several of the characters who are kind of "blink and you'll miss it" are essentially rolled into one.

Plus it has a cast that includes Ewan McGregor as the Cricket, David Bradley as Geppetto, Tilda Swinton as the angels/wood sprites, Ron Perlman as the head fascist, Christoph Waltz as the human fox/circus owner and Cate Blanchett as Spazzatura the monkey who has maybe three fucking lines and mostly just makes noises. And who is quoted as saying that she would have been happy to "play a pencil" in the movie for del Toro.

I mean, story checks out really. 

Oh, and I do also need to shout out del Toro's co-director, Mark Gustafson, who was clearly all about the animation process.

I also did tear up at the end. Because the end is sweet and sad and lovely and... doesn't go where you expect it to go.

Actually that's kind of the movie as a whole... or at least it doesn't go the WAY you expect it to go, even if it covers the same ground. Because the original stories of Pinocchio do a lot more stuff (and include, it seems, a lot more talking animals), most of the current interpretations cover the same three or four dot points.

Tricked into joining the circus, separated from Geppetto, ends up with a bunch of other boys, seeks out his father at sea, giant whale/sea monster, happy ending.

This movie takes those elements and tweaks a number of them just enough.

Having said that...

Pinocchio, the character, voiced by Gregory Mann, is... kind of obnoxious. And I know that's the point at the start of the movie, but he never quite lost that for me, even at the end. Added to that is the fact that although all of the stop motion puppets are stunning, Pinocchio doesn't look like he's made of wood... he looks more like... wax or, honestly, what he probably is, some kind of resin. Specifically his head, and definitely from the back.

And... it's a musical. And the songs are... mostly terrible/forgettable/could have been cut. I mean, definitely anything that doesn't come from Pinocchio being on stage and performing.

Which would probably bring the running time of the movie down, which is also a little bit of an issue. It was a bit too long.

But it's still lovely.

yani's rating: 4 angelic hourglasses out of 5

photo saturday: adventing part three

Well... that's more like it... other than, you know, that nasty-ass tail.

This week's Hero Forge Advent items are much more useful. And, honestly, a lot more interesting, and kind of go together, at least a bit.

• Current item count: 19 (including a heeled and flat pair of boots)
• Current items I'd actually use: 10 (this week was a good week, although I'm a little iffy on whether I'll actually ever use the hoodie and the skulldrons)

Do I have a favourite item from this week... yes, the Archery Gauntlets. Followed closely by the books and the bodice. And yes, I probably could have squeezed everything this week onto the same model as last week, but honestly, it all got a bit much.

Anyway...

This week has also been predominantly horizontal. But much improved.

I did spend about three hours on my feet on Sunday making a certain food based item for certain people's Christmas presents (I'll be less vague about it next week since the deed will be done by then). It was a different version than I've made previously, but I'm very pleased with the results.

My Monday chiro appointment was rescheduled on Monday morning to Tuesday morning, because, you know, chaos is always an option. But I was feeling a lot better generally by Monday, and even more so by Tuesday, although I couldn't really sit for all that long without it being a problem. Hence the previously mentioned horizontanality. Which isn't a word. But should be.

Then Wednesday I finished up the books I was reading and returned them to two different libraries. Which meant firstly a wander down the street to what I am henceforth going to refer to as The Postage Stamp Library. Like, I love it, but fuck it's small. Where I grabbed something else from my "to read" list. And then a quick trip to the Burnside Library where I mostly just Wandered Around and Looked At Things.

Also, I'm enjoying this library thing because it means I can read new books and not have to rearrange my living room every time.

Friday Night DnD was... amazing.

I finally, finally, finally got to drop the reveal on Fluffy's character that I've been waiting to do since May. And it went as amazingly as I could have hoped. It was one of the things I was worried about from the additional stuff I added, whether or not it would stick the landing. Whether the build up he had in his head as a player matched what the reveal was.

And I know it was good because as we left, after we waved goodbye to Mr and Mrs, he just said quietly "Fuck you". Which as every DM knows is the international love language of a player who loves what you just did but knows that it will cause mental trauma for their character.

But it does mean that we are entering end-game.

Today was much the same as last week. A pre-Christmas "We bought too much stuff because of reasons" supermarket trip followed by not a lot of anything. Because, really, why would we want to be doing anything involving shops this close to Christmas.

Also, you know, sitting for long periods, bad.

Current mood:

photo saturday: adventing part two

Behold the terrifying spider person that happens when you try and display all the Hero Forge Advent Calendar items on one mini...

• Current item count: 11 (including two hairstyles and the soccer ball as handheld or base item)
• Current items I'll actually ever use: 3 (the feather dagger and the hairstyles)

 Granted, I think I've only used about three of the items from last year's Advent Calendar.

But I was worried for a little while there that we were going to be getting nothing other than (mostly useless to me) handheld items.

I will say, the modelling on some of these items is amazing. Especially compared with even last year's efforts.

Anyway.

This week has been... predominately horizontal.

Basically my back kinda gave up after last Saturday. And I went to see my chiro on Monday, she put everything back where it was supposed to be, but none of it liked that and made it's displeasure well known.

So I've basically been going back and forth between laying on the bed, struggling to get up again, using my cane, wandering around the apartment and only really sitting when I absolutely had to... like when eating. Or you know, right now. Because typing sideways is fucking hard.

And that's mostly been the key to it I think.

But my week basically boils down to going to the chiro on Monday, hobbling down the street to visit the library on Tuesday, and DnD on Thursday and Friday, mostly done from the standing position. I was supposed to go see my chiro again on Friday, but she had to cancel and now I'm going back on Monday instead.

Speaking of Thursday DnD... well... yeah, remember how I said things went south last week. We continued in a southerly direction for our last game of the year. So much so that one of the PCs died. And, my character, who is the closest thing we have to a cleric, let them die and left them behind.

I also invoked a secret that I, honestly, hadn't intended to. And I'm wondering if I actually needed to. I mean, I did in the moment, in order to get something done. But it's now going to be "a thing". I will, however, be very happy when the focus points at someone else and less at my... things.

But who would have guessed that when you make a character entirely out of secrets and lies, sometimes those things will come back to bite you in the ass. Who knew? 

Friday night DnD was a little delayed due to Other People's Plans, but it was a good session overall. And it looks like my pre-Christmas present/task will be prepping the final location.

Anyway...

Today was a big old pre-Christmas/Christmas prep supermarket shopping adventure. And that was it, because, honestly, see the earlier part of the post. And, seemingly out of nowhere, it was going to be over 30 degrees today, so fuck that.

That's it, basically.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go lie down again.

Current mood:

photo saturday: adventing part one

It may be a brief one this week...

First up, the Hero Forge Advent Calendar started this week. And like the last few years, I tend to make a mannequin in order to display all the items, just so I can see what's what and also play around with colouring them, without having to build a whole character around each one.

And I was planning on showing them off last year, but then the Jingle Bros happens... and took up basically the whole of the month (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), so I'm doing it this year. With a possible exception for Christmas weekend.

I will say that my problem with the last couple of Advent Calendars is that they've been... oddly specific at times or less useful to me specifically. This year we kick off with the same problem. I get the addition of the dice, but I can't see myself really getting much use out of the cane.

I also don't know that Hero Forge necessarily understands how a cane works. Since they don't tend to have such a large handle, owing to the fact that you really need to have your hand over the centre of gravity of the cane.

Ask me how I know in a minute.

Anyway.

This week has been... problematic.

We start with the fact that I need to stop trying to make chilli. Because I never get it right. Or at least I haven't done so in quite a while. This week being no exception. There was too much of it, it wasn't great and I've had to eat it the whole week.

Next up is the fact that it seems like I'm allergic to the apartment. That sounds extreme. I think it's just hayfever really, really, really kicking my ass. But it's hayfever that is specifically related to the apartment. Because if I go elsewhere I'm fine. It's weird. So I've been sneezy and runny nosey for a lot of the week. Unless I go somewhere else.

Add in the fact that the Vroom Go Faster Car Race got moved to this week rather than late February, which is great, because then it doesn't go Vroom all over Fringe, but the stupid helicopter doing laps of the race did my head in on Wednesday. Currently the big planes are going Whuzz overhead. And by Whuzz I mean "the fuq, I'm deaf now", as one of them went zoomies literally over my apartment block. I will say, that was one thing I didn't miss when I lived at the Portrush Road apartment.

Then at a certain point this week I tweaked my back. Because it's December, and clearly that's what I do in December. It was mostly just "getting up out of bed is a problem" and I was dealing with it. Then I had the two DnD sessions at the end of the week, and, honestly, the combination of driving and sitting on hard wooden chairs really did a number on me.

Honestly, more so the Friday game. I was feeling much improved on Friday, even if I did go lie down at a certain point.

And yes, I should have called my chiro and tried to get an appointment on Friday, but as I said, I thought I was doing okay. I'm calling them on Monday morning.

Which is why I'm very much on board with how canes work, since, after I took some time earlier to lay down, realised that getting up is the issue, and so broke out the cane I haven't actually used since I originally did my back in back in 2012.

So fuck everything. Specifically my body and it's penchant for falling apart.

Having said all of that, I did take a trip to the Burnside Library at the start of the week, after I finished the two books I'd borrowed from the library down on the Parade (that's the size of a postage stamp). And picked up a book that I'm thoroughly enjoying. Which also makes me wish that I'd gotten on the Library train again back when I lived within walking distance of the Burnside Library.

Other things may have happened... but probably didn't.

I did also start the Q Workshop Dice Advent Calendar this week. What is very, very strange is that Fluffy and I have gotten the same design of dice all three days thus far, although for the first two days they were different colour variants. However, Mrs also bought herself a copy of the calendar after she bought ours and her dice are completely different. It's very weird.

We'll have to see what happens tomorrow.

Speaking of DnD...

Thursday's game was... a disaster... a dumpster fire... a fuckup of the highest order... problematic. We were two players down but decided to play anyway. This was, unsurprisingly, a mistake. I mean, not really, but we certainly made our lives difficult.

Let's just say that we started the adventure ready to see what adventures awaited us and ended the adventure wanted for murder and espionage. Yeah, it didn't go well.

And I will say that it was something of a record in that pretty much every single decision we made was the wrong one.

Friday night's game was, by comparison, much more successful. Well, except for the fact that the first door they encountered was magically locked and the sorcerer couldn't roll anything higher than a 3 on their Dispel Magic roll. So, they tried all manner of other options, I gave them a couple of hints, but they just weren't getting it. I think they spent at least... 10 real world minutes trying to get past it, and they just weren't getting anywhere.

They did, thanks to a lucky NPC roll, find the Magical McGuffin they've been looking for a while, which also meant that I could break out a prop I've had prepared since... shortly after I moved house I think. So that was fun.

Anyway...

Today was... urgh.

When I got up my back was worse than it had been at any point in the week. And I needed to carry heavy things and walk around the supermarket. And to make it worse, the fire alarm went off while we were at the register and we had to leave our stuff, go outside, wait for the fire department to turn up, find out it was a false alarm or some other thing that didn't involve an actual fire.

Yeah, totally what I didn't need this morning.

And there wasn't much point in going anywhere or doing anything. So we didn't.

It also means that there isn't going to be a "putting the Christmas Tree up at Ma's post this year". Because we're not. I mean, Ma might put up the top third of the tree, but we're not doing a whole thing. Which is actually fine by me, because I don't actually care if Ma is okay with it. But I'm also definitely NOT driving all the way down to her place and attempting to do any kind of tree business right now.

Current mood: