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 On 09/10/2013 at 09:48 PM by Ranger1 See More From This User » |
This may be even more random than normal...Sorry.
My bathroom is being torn out and renovated out of necessity. The contractor, who is this awesome guy named Bill and really knows his stuff, discovered when he needed to rip out the DIY shower that was built into the corner of the bathroom that the sink surround was built into the side of the shower. I hope he doesn't throw his hands up, admit defeat, and run screaming into the hills. Anyway, I am down to just a toilet in the bathroom at the moment. My landlady wants to redo the whole thing at this point. I will have to confer with Bill before I commit to anything. In the meantime, he also had to take the window out so he could get rid of the mold-infested debris without hauling everything through the rest of the cottage. This gave me the chance to replace the broken pane of glass, which I've been meaning to do all summer. One trip to the hardware store, then the discovery that I had forgotten to get a propane torch to soften the old putty for removal. No problem, I'd just use my utility knife and a screwdriver. And then it started to rain, and as I was doing this project on an unroofed porch, I decided I'd go in and use the workshop at the park. And borrow the propane torch there. No joy. The nozzle on the torch is not working properly and the torch kept going out. And the matches were the cheapest paper matches money can buy. It had stopped raining, so I decided I'd take my toys and go home, via the hardware store. Another $30 later, I am the owner of a very nice self-igniting propane torch. I had the rest of the old putty out in less than 15 minutes. Got the window in and the points holding it in place and had started glazing the window and Elizabeth, my landlady, came over to discuss the repair/renovation project. I can't talk and glaze at the same time, I discovered. I will finish it tomorrow, and it will look awesome. I just need to find out if we have any matching paint...
Haven't been doing much gaming in the last week. Too tired, for the most part. I did discover a website that has all the old Infocom text adventures online and spent rather more time this morning playing Enchanter when I should have been getting the cottage ready for all the bustle later. Oops. I have a feeling I will be having a lot of fun on that website in the near future... For anyone interested, the site is called Play Infocom Games Online. Not the most original name, but it does get the point across.
We had our end of year crew party at my co-worker John's house. He smoked a big chunk of pork and made pulled pork, my boss grilled Del Monico steaks, and there was lobster for those who like cockroach of the sea, which was everyone other than me. There was also corn bread, corn on the cob, home-made cole slaw, and a huge green salad. For dessert, Michael had picked up a couple of pints of gelato made locally - wild Maine blueberry and maple. Yum! And there was much laughter and a good time was had by all.
Went up to Pemaquid Point for a commemorative ceremony for the 200th anniversary of the battle between the HMS Boxer and the USS Enterprise (no, not that Enterprise!!!) in the War of 1812. It was pretty interesting, my friends Fred and Julia did the music, and there was a naval historian/novelist James L. Nelson there to talk about the battle and the war in general. Also another historian that talked about the two young captains, who were both killed during the battle. He's written a book, too, that I want to read after hearing him speak: Knights of the Sea. There were also some stories from various diaries and local history books. One of them wasn't accurate: she talks about people taking refuge in the fort, but the fort was torn down by the townspeople in 1775 in an attempt to avoid getting involved in the Revolutionary War. I used to work at the historic site where the fort was, I have a pretty good grasp of the local history myself. After the event, Fred and Julia took me out to dinner at a great place called The Anchor Inn overlooking the harbor in Round Pond. I found out that their daughter Harmony is the first assistant director of the first unit for Agents of SHIELD. How cool is that?!
Hopefully, I'll get to spend some more time gaming soon, but probably not until next week when things settle down in my cottage and my social engagements next weekend are done. One baby shower and one wedding on back-to-back days, 150 miles apart. Yikes. And I'm working in the AM before the wedding so my boss can play soccer.
And last but not least, I have discovered the limited edition Fall flavor of Woodchuck hard cider. It's apple pie in a bottle, people, and it's delicious!
Hope your home repairs go well! That Infocom site looks cool, however the bad thing is that you can't use save or restore, which are pretty much essential to adventure games like these. Unless you want to go commando and finish the game in one sitting, in which case I applaud you lol.
Speaking of people that work on tv shows, my eye doctors son is one of the producers on The Walking Dead! He had pictures and everything on the set, it was so cool. It's a small world after all.
Infocom games aren't really that long, once you figure out what you need to do. I'm looking at it like it's an old game from the SNES/Genesis era. You get so far, you die, you start over. And this way I get a better score by the end, because I will have cut out all the trial-and-error stuff along the way. See, glass half-full.
As for the home repairs...twitch, twitch.
I've never even heard of Infocom. It seems I will have relenquish my gaming throne. Clicking on the site, I have heard at least heard of a few of those games. Certainly never played any of them though! Oh well, it was before my time I guess. Good to know there are apparently still more areas in gaming I am unfamiliar with.
Kevin - go sit in the corner! How can you never have heard of Zork?! At least give it a playthrough at some point. The only problem with that site is that you can't save and start back up where you left off. You can, however, buy most of those games through GoG.
The One of Swords podcast had a live show at PAX that I listened to where they talked about Zork and all the Infocom games. I had to look up Infocom on wiki and add a bunch of their games to my list. They did a lot of cool stuff I've never played.
John, I'm even more disappointed in you than I am in Kevin. He at least has youth as an excuse! I'd start with the Zork series, then check out some of the others. You can get the whole Zork anthology through GoG, and maybe Steam, too. I had Enchanter when I was in high school, Christmas gift from my parents, picked out by my step-dad. The biggest issue with getting them as DL is that you don't get all the cool goodies that came in the boxes - scrolls sealed with real sealing wax, spell books, etc.
I did play some Zork on my Aunt's IBM PC in the 80's, but I played only Wizardry on my parents Apple IIc. Yea, I missed out on a lot of stuff back then.
never had hard apple cider. is it really sweet? I'm not really into sweet alcoholic beverages.
wow sounds like you've been busy. blowtorches are cool, too.
I love colonial era history. But I didn't know Kirk and Spock were involved in the war of 1812. 
Is hard cider sweet? Depends. Have you ever had cider before it's "turned"? It pretty much tastes like that, but with a bit of fizz and a lovely alcoholic buzz afterwards. Woodchuck makes a bunch, the Fall limited edition one is pretty sweet, but it also has nutmeg and cinnamon, hence my comment about apple pie in a bottle. They also make a Dark and Dry, which is less sweet, and may be my favorite. The 802 (named after Vermont's area code, which is where thw stuff is made) is more on the dry side as well. The Amber is the most common, and that one is fairly sweet. Two of the other varieties are Granny Smith (sweet and tart at the same time, but a little too sweet for me), and a Pear, also very sweet.
Blow torches are awesome! I have FIRE, mwahahahahaha!
War of 1812 is later than the Colonial Period. That stopped when we declared independance from England. Technically, that would be the Federal period. And that was the first USS Enterprise, you ninny.
yeah, the first Enterprise, with Kirk and Spock, not the second one with Picard and Data. 
Brat. Watch it, I might start twitching and then go fire up the chainsaw... And upon doing a little research, it was actually the third ship of that name in the US Navy. See my reply to KnightDriver below for more info.
either the chainsaw or the blowtorch!
The blowtorch is puny. I will stick to the chainsaw.
Actually, the original ST series featured the SECOND Enterprise ship according to canon. TNG had the FIFTH ship. 
I never knew we had starships during the war of 1812, the war where the fighting technically started in 1811....
Just reading your home issues just game me a headache. I don't like rennovations, even if I have someone hired to do it. I know I need to eventually. My roof could use some work...
Arrrgh! Not THAT Enterprise!!!!!!!
Oh, you should see my headache! My beloved landlady Elizabeth, who is like a second mom to me, realized that her plans might be a little too grand and scaled back, so we are just replacing the shower and sink and the rotted-out subflooring, dry wall, and insulation. And Bill the contractor is redoing some of the screwy plumbing to make everything fit better and be easier to maintain or repair in the future. But in the meantime, chaos are us. I will be showering at work for the forseeable future.
There's been a few Enterprises in the American military. I believe there was an aircraft carrier named that in WWII also. It's so American, that name.
There have been eight ships called the Enterprise in the US Navy from 1775 through 2011. The one that battled the Boxer was the third of that name. Go to this page and click on "The Legend" for more information. They boo-booed the name "Pemaquid", though, and it reads "Penequid" (which is better than "Penguin Point", which is what some history books have it written as). Blyth was the first captain killed, he was hit with one of those 18 pounders in the torso in about the second volley. Not much left of that boy. Burrows took a grapeshot to the groin, and bled out or died of shock on deck, refusing to be carried below. The Boxer was getting pounded by broadside after broadside, the poor sailors on her unable to surrender their colors because Blyth had nailed them to the mast. Little bit of arrogance going on there, I think.
Eight ships. Wow! Then there's the space shuttle too.
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