Friday, February 29, 2008
RIP Veronica
My golden-haired cocker spaniel of some 16-odd years was put down today. In her waning years, age had robbed most of her vision and hearing as well as endowing her with a generous amount of arthritis. Still, when my dad took her to the vet I had no idea they were possibly thinking to make it her last trip. When I returned home from having supper and Veronica wasn't seen lying in the next room, I knew the time had come. I was upset more that I didn't have the chance to say goodbye. Was it probably for the best, given the vet said he gave her 6 months to a year at this visit? I guess, but it's still very tough to loose a family member--even a furry one.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Danger on the Highway
When driving, my motto is: Always assume the other driver is going to do something stupid. Now, this motto is normally applied to drivers at intersections but yesterday I discovered I have to assume this everywhere. While coming home on the interstate yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the highway was merely wet and a bit slushy at spots (we have had some moderate snows and ice over the last couple days). So, here I am passing an 18-wheeler at casual highway speed when I notice the truck start to drift into my lane. This kind of thing happens when windy so I at first assumed this was the case here. Not so! Apparently, the driver didn't notice I was next to him and was bringing his rig into my lane. There was little to do except brake and try to squeeze into the space between the passing lane and the concrete median.
Unfortunately, given the recent snows, that space I was entering was a packed nightmare of snow, gravel, and who knows what else. Of course, my braking only caused me to lose control of the car and I began to slide toward the concrete median with little hope of correcting my course. When I did hit something, it turned out to be the snow packed there which diverted me back toward the passing lane. But my braking was now causing some fish-tailing action and I suddenly remembered that you were supposed to pump the brakes while sliding. My foot came off the brake and I immediately had more control. By this time, the trucker realized what had happened and was already parking off the highway ahead to the right. After coasting a bit for a van to pass by me, I regained solid road and, after determining that the car was still driving OK, proceeded home. The trucker was stopped and looking out his window but I didn't want to tempt the fates by stopping and chatting along the busy interstate so I passed him by.
There was a bit of shimmying going on with the front driver side wheel but I made it home without further incident. Looking at the tire, I noticed that my run-in with the snow pack had sheared a thin 2-inch area off right above the hubcap. To make sure all was well, I went immediately to a local tire place to have them check it out. The guy there said that, often with vehicles forced off the road into snow or mud, material is shoved under the wheel well and affects the tire balance. That's probably what happened and was easily corrected. Twenty dollars and less than 10 minutes later I was back in action with just that little scar as a reminder that you really must expect other drivers are going to do something stupid.
Unfortunately, given the recent snows, that space I was entering was a packed nightmare of snow, gravel, and who knows what else. Of course, my braking only caused me to lose control of the car and I began to slide toward the concrete median with little hope of correcting my course. When I did hit something, it turned out to be the snow packed there which diverted me back toward the passing lane. But my braking was now causing some fish-tailing action and I suddenly remembered that you were supposed to pump the brakes while sliding. My foot came off the brake and I immediately had more control. By this time, the trucker realized what had happened and was already parking off the highway ahead to the right. After coasting a bit for a van to pass by me, I regained solid road and, after determining that the car was still driving OK, proceeded home. The trucker was stopped and looking out his window but I didn't want to tempt the fates by stopping and chatting along the busy interstate so I passed him by.
There was a bit of shimmying going on with the front driver side wheel but I made it home without further incident. Looking at the tire, I noticed that my run-in with the snow pack had sheared a thin 2-inch area off right above the hubcap. To make sure all was well, I went immediately to a local tire place to have them check it out. The guy there said that, often with vehicles forced off the road into snow or mud, material is shoved under the wheel well and affects the tire balance. That's probably what happened and was easily corrected. Twenty dollars and less than 10 minutes later I was back in action with just that little scar as a reminder that you really must expect other drivers are going to do something stupid.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Old Books Die Hard
Got some cleaning in this weekend and devoured some Star Wars fiction--Tim Zahn style. I just love this guy's style and interwoven plots. After finishing Allegiance yesterday I couldn't help but pick Heir to the Empire off my shelf and start rereading it (and plan to go through that trilogy in its entirety). Grand Admiral Thrawn was definitely one of my literary idols in the 90s. Such a cool calculating villain you just can't help but root for him.
Is it just me or do y0u never hear about people rereading favorite books? Sure, there's always new stuff to read that is possibly as good or better than favorite books of the past but why not revisit the old goodies when in the mood? It's the same as popping in a dvd of a favorite movie...which I suspect folks do with some frequency. Could be the time requirement, I suppose. A dvd only requires a couple hours of your time and can be combined with socializing when necessary while books require solitude and many hours of time.
But maybe nostalgic longing for certain books is a trait reinforced by D&D culture itself. The shared experience inherent in the hobby's infancy and a longing for it is evident when you look at WotC's recent Expedition to... adventures, Goodman's DCCs, and even Necro Games' "1st edition feel." Every gamer around in the 70s & 80s would give his eye teeth to grab the wonder and excitement of those early days. So why not help out that nostalgia gland by re-experiencing one of your personal "classic" novels? It might just reignite some lost gaming passion.
Is it just me or do y0u never hear about people rereading favorite books? Sure, there's always new stuff to read that is possibly as good or better than favorite books of the past but why not revisit the old goodies when in the mood? It's the same as popping in a dvd of a favorite movie...which I suspect folks do with some frequency. Could be the time requirement, I suppose. A dvd only requires a couple hours of your time and can be combined with socializing when necessary while books require solitude and many hours of time.
But maybe nostalgic longing for certain books is a trait reinforced by D&D culture itself. The shared experience inherent in the hobby's infancy and a longing for it is evident when you look at WotC's recent Expedition to... adventures, Goodman's DCCs, and even Necro Games' "1st edition feel." Every gamer around in the 70s & 80s would give his eye teeth to grab the wonder and excitement of those early days. So why not help out that nostalgia gland by re-experiencing one of your personal "classic" novels? It might just reignite some lost gaming passion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)