Let me 'splain

"Let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up." Ahh, the immortal words of Inigo Montoya ("Princess Bride" for those who don't know the reference). I find them extremely appropriate. Hell, my last post (that you saw) was on April 23, 2015... that's more than a year ago. Almost a year and a half! Sure, I've written a few things every now and then. Mostly, it seems, for my cathartic release and not for others. I don't necessarily post those entries. This time, however (comma), I will post this message.

Why haven't I posted in a while? Simply put, I'm busy and--in a predictable and yet convoluted way--somewhat lazy. The busier I get at work, the less I want to jump on a computer in my "down time" and crank out... well... anything. I'll turn on a music stream or watch something on YouTube, but that's about it.

"Mm-kay," I hear you saying, "so why am I wasting my time reading this post?"

Let me 'splain. No, there is too much (in the past 18-ish months). Let me sum up.

Work has kept me--to quote the father of a longtime friend of mine--busier than a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest. Some days I think it feels like that. Some, less so. Other days... well, I found myself flying to Berlin, Germany and Richmond, Virginia a few times for a couple weeks each trip. Great experiences, but it separated me from important people and things in my life.

Outside of work, I've been taking care of things around the house and fighting a pinched nerve (since December) that has finally subsided enough to allow me to get <redacted> done. I laid white oak hardwood flooring in my office and finally got around to sanding and sealing it in the past several weeks. I also built a walk-in cooler for my ever-expanding beer cellar. Yeah, lots o' beer. Now, all kinds of stuff is getting moved in, including nearly countless boxes of gaming materials and related reference material into my currently limited bookcase space. I have plans for improving the gaming table with a projector and camera to make it facilitate game nights with remote gamers. I must finish that soon.

In the main house, I have done many small-ish things over the ensuing months, including a few items I'd call "jewelry for the house". Ya know... or at least I hope... nicer light switches or door knobs and plates. I replace the decora light switches and install reproduction push-button switches. They are very fitting for our 1895 Victorian four-square farmhouse. We've enhanced Andie's "Closet from Hell" (I can't help calling it that) with more shelving.

I have also spent some time researching my family tree, pleasantly discovering that a handful of branches of our family are nobles and one is "royal" (more digging into that is needed, but there's a possible Plantagenet back along the family lines). It's humorous that my family name is the last to arrive in this country, circa 1850. Everyone else, it seems, was here in this country before it was... well... this country. Definitely cool, in my not-so-humble opinion. :) As the oldest member of my immediate family with my wits about me, this is an important task to explore.

What's up now? I'm heading to Gamehole Con in Madison, WI in a couple weeks to feed my geek gaming muse (with thanks to my wife, son, and coworkers). I haven't been at a game con in a long time. I'm looking forward to catching up with Steven Schend, Ed Greenwood, and several other TSR and Wizards of the Coast expats. Wow...

More to come! Soon, hopefully.