Roadside Picnic

We're closing in on the end of the regular season. My Dodgers are on top of the NL West, and will probably repeat as division champs, but I'm not celebrating just yet. They've lost three in a row (to the Rockies, for crying out loud), and I'm afraid that maybe they've just forgotten how to play baseball.

I kinda have a hint of how Cubs fans feel.

Spent the weekend in Liberty. Volunteered to help Dad out at the Apple Festival. Did not enjoy the experience, outside of time spent with my family. Too many people, not enough space or sense or civility.

Cardinal football finally got a win, and WKU clobbered Miami of Ohio. I'm thinking about going to the WKU-Marshall game over Thanksgiving weekend - WKU tends towards rapid-fire offense, and last year's season-ender against Marshall was darn near a live-action Madden game.

Things happen often at their own pace. Money was held up until the various record-keeping systems at UofL exchanged data, with my loan and grant disbursements happening on the first day of classes (and work).

The job is just cake. I drive a desk, admit visitors to the building, distribute mail, stuff like that. Seven hours a day, and most of that I can spend on homework and other assignments. At least, that's how it is now. Things may change. The school's Technology Director asked if I'd be interested in coming to work for him (currently, he's a one-man department), and one of my professors (and head of his department) offered me a research assistant job. Of the two, the RAship is probably my better option, and I'm going to talk with him and my current supervisor about splitting my time between the two - 15-20 hours a week at each, if that can be arranged.

Classes are going to be very challenging, especially Biostatistics. All late-afternoon and early-evening, as school policy dictates. All of my textbooks are available in electronic format, and while those files are a little pricier than most used copies I've found, it's worth the extra expense to save weight. From garage to SPHIS to class to the garage is about a mile-and-a-half, and if I don't have to lug several pounds of books in addition to the laptop I'll have already, so much the better.

SPHIS operates a farmers market on Thursdays. It has eight to ten vendors, two or three food trucks, and a couple of community or other service organizations. One of the nearby hospitals has a sponsorship agreement with the market, and that draws a lot of its employees over for something besides leftovers for lunch. It's a pretty nifty thing.

I was a bad player at last weekend's X-Wing tournament. No. No, amend that. I was a sneaky player. I flew three kitted-out Y-Wings (testing the new Twin Laser Turrets and Plasma Torpedoes). First match was against a new player - Lambda shuttle, TIE Interceptor, TIE Advanced. Swept him, dogpiling one ship at a time. Next up, a guy I've played before and don't have much good to say about. He flew a netlist (Corran Horn and that goddamn Outrider), and I have some serious hate for netlists in general and this one in particular. I decided to try something different - don't fight to win, fight to not lose. I sicced all three of my Y-Wings on the E-Wing, ignoring the ugly-ass YT-2400. Ionization kept him from using R2-D2 to recharge shields, and massed fire made short work of the fighter. And then, I ran out the clock. 1-speed straightaways, only speeding up to keep away from the 2400. Never made an attack run against it, and only fired when he got aggressive and came after my ships - which, after taking a couple of ion shots and nearly being forced off the battlefield, he backed away from. I lost one fighter, but it was worth far less than the E-Wing, so when the timer sounded, I got the win. Lost my next match against a mixed TIE squadron. Last match of the day was against one of my favorite guys to fly against - Don is creative with his builds, and a challenge to fly well against, and a good fun dude to be across the table from. He had an all-ace S&V squadron, a Z-95, the new Khiraxz, and the flying sandcrawler called a YV-666. The YV can take (and deliver) a lot of damage, but it can only fire forward. Sicced my A4 on it, camping out in the rear arc and pouring ion and blaster fire and stress on it while the S3s dealt with the fighters. Won with the A4 - got behind the YV's deployed fighter and controlled its movements with the same firing cycle I used on the carrier. Went 3-1, made sure the netlist wasn't going to be eligible for the playoffs, and withdrew, since I had to start things early the next morning.

NCAA football starts next weekend. UofL plays Auburn for the first time, either ever or in forever. D and I are getting together to watch, and after the game, I'm heading to the farm for Dad's birthday and Labor Day.

I am still quite in love with being a student again. I enjoy the challenges - there is no easy way out this time around, unlike my time at UK. SPHIS requires work, and a lot of it, and it is stimulating. I'm pretty lucky in that I've found a good group of fellow students to study and work with. I'd have a much harder time of this without them.

Took The Niece to Liberty Friday night - Apple Festival time, and she does love it. D rode with me, gods love her, and she made the drive back to Louisville much better than it would have otherwise been. Some frustration with linking up with Mom to drop off The Niece, but shikata ga nai. I did what I do. I handled it. Hoping to see Mom&Dad later this evening when they bring her back to Louisville, but I/we may be deep into studying and homework by the time they get into town.

I'm still unable to really study at the house. Still haven't got a new desk, can't spread materials out on the couch/coffee table, and I hate trying to study in bed, because it muddies up some mental borders. There is no shortage of places on campus to use, of course, and today I've deployed to the Student Activities Center - I prefer studying here to the library, since I can take the occasional mental break and watch trains pass by - and there are very few people here on weekends.

On the other hand, the coffee shop in Ekstrom is supplied and operated by Heine Brothers, and that's a fantastic draw.

Busy week coming up. Debate in 440 tomorrow evening, then an exam review in 301, and a SPHIS event until 10PM. BIOL372 exam on Tuesday. 301 exam on Wednesday (and that thing has me worried). Fall break is next week, so there's a bit of a reprieve. Maybe going to Liberty for the (extra) long weekend, unless there's a surprise workload or something. Need to mow and fix a plumbing problem, too, sometime.

Cardinal football won against Wake Forest yesterday, and today is the end of the 2014 MLB season. My Dodgers won the division and will take on St. Louis on Friday. My 440 instructor is a big STL fan, so I expect some gentle ribbing on both our parts come Monday.

Better get back to Biostatistics.

I have two clases on Monday/Wednesday. Biology for Population Health is fantastic, and I enjoy the class. I lead discussions. I get a handle on topics in a hurry, I can bring my classmates along when they have problems, and it's a great course. Biostatistics, on the other hand, makes me feel almost dumb. The material is sufficiently dense that I wind up staring almost blankly at the screen and my notes trying to get this stuff, but it doesn't engage for a day or so. Frustrating.

Cardinal football got an easy win against Murray State on Saturday. Backup players started going in midway through the second quarter. No one was really surprised; Murray got some national exposure and ESPN money, and UofL got more experience with the new coach. So far, so good, and the Cardinals are favored against Virginia this coming weekend.

My Dodgers have a slim lead on the Giants in the NL West. 19 games left in the season, including tonight against the Padres. My Bio for Population Health professor is a big St. Louis fan, and we've already made a few good-natured jabs at each other. Come October...

Had a good time with Dad on his birthday. Worked on The Niece's car a little. Went out to dinner. Just spent time together. A really good day.

So, this day.

During the afternoon Fantasy Craft game, I heard about Philip Seymour Hoffman's death, apparently due to a heroin overdose. I like Hoffman's work - he was menacing as all get-out in Mission: Impossible 3, and for cinematic whiplash, I'll watch him in Capote.

The game itself? Okay enough, but was lessened by a player overthinking just about everything. The other players did what they could, and we had fun, but ... well, what can you do.

Ben P and Chris M came over to watch part of the Super Bowl after gaming wrapped up. This is maybe the worst SB I've ever seen. Denver cannot get things together on either side of the line, and Seattle is just running away with the game. With two minutes to go, it's 43-8. Unbelievable. So much Manningface tonight.

An adventure began on this night, a few years ago. Started simply enough, an invitation to dinner. Things quickly got out of hand, and the next 90 days were a whirlwind. It ended poorly, but appropriately. And, in the long term, I won. I was reminded of who I was, and who I still am.

So, in addition to the word dump from Friday night, I've been trying (again) to write more. Getting in some bits and pieces during downtime at the office, and, of late, before heading in to the office. For most of the past two weeks, I've woken up around 5:30AM, fully an hour before my alarm's set. Like, wide awake, and fully rested. So, some mornings I pull the blankets back up and doze or meditate or whatever for a while, and some mornings I grab the iPad or head to my desk and I write something. Stuff usually goes into my Dropbox, sometimes it goes to the other blog, and sometimes it goes here. And sometimes it gets deleted, because I just wanted to purge it from my mind.

Anyway, Friday night was good. After a stressful week at the terrible day job, I needed good company, and D delivered. Conversation over dinner (at Boombozz Pizzeria - quite good) went to some strange places now and then, but it was so good just to talk with someone about something besides advertising or contextless griping. Still some dissonance, but I'm almost familiar enough with dissonance to be comfortable around it. Stayed in Louisville later than I meant to, and got caught by construction traffic on the way home, so I missed the midnight showing of Alien, but not the end of the world.

I got to indulge my Fading Suns love at today's game day; first part of an adventure to conclude in two weeks. FS was the second game of the day, and that's for the best. The first game was the beginning of Invasive Procedures, and man, Ben P can flat-out run a horror game. Some nice staging, and it doesn't (or maybe it does) hurt that IP is written around one of my personal terror triggers - corruption of the self and removal of identity. I think if this had been the evening game, I would have gotten home, poured a bourbon, and slept with the lights on.

UofL and Auburn won on Saturday, and the Bengals beat the Patriots this afternoon, and right now, my Dodgers are beating the Braves in Game 3 of their NLDS. As is normal with me, I'm trying to keep my hopes under control, but, man, LA looks so good right now. This is probably the best team they've fielded since 1988.

After seven months, I gave in. Bought a digital signal converter tonight, and with the quick antenna setup, I can pull in the channels I wanted - specifically, the local CBS, Fox, and NBC affiliates. See, I'm getting through baseball season with the iOS app, but there's nothing comparable for the NFL without switching my cell provider to Verizon, and with the rotating contract lengths on the shared family account, I'm just not interested in that without something nearly catastrophic forcing my hand.

So, hooray. I'll be able to watch Sunday afternoon and night games. Monday nights are my current gaming nights, and since I don't really have a team this year (probably going to default to the Bengals and/or Colts), I won't really miss anything by role-playing instead of watching football.

And, hey, as I'm writing this entry, I'm watching Supernatural. Already this investment is making a return.

Had the volunteer meeting for Scarefest tonight. Still keeping my expectations low for this first gaming track, but next year already looks positive. 2014's gaming track will be its own thing, using Scarefest resources, but run separately. This means a lower entrance fee for those only interested in gaming, while a Scarefest badge will still grant entry to the as-yet-nameless gaming side. I can get behind this, and will feel much better about working on and promoting this setup. So, tentatively, that moves me back up to four conventions for next year - CincyCon in March, GenCon in August, Convention X in September, and Archon in October.

We got some snow. Two, three inches, and I don't think we've seen temps above freezing since New Year's Day. A few flurries today, but no further accumulation. Roads are clear and dry now, and the remaining snow is very pretty.

The wildcard playoff games were interesting. The Jets knocked Cincy out; Dallas put a real hurt on the Eagles, and Baltimore did the same to the Patriots. Arizona beat Green Bay in overtime, in what I think was the highest-scoring post-season game ever.

Met up with D for dinner and coffee last night. A few hours of good conversation, working out plans to maybe head off to Savannah and Tybee Island next month. It depends on her work schedule, but we're hopeful. She's good company.

Previous friend-locked post? Times a thousand.

Got out of the office around 1:30, but D couldn't leave the clinic early, as they had an emergency surgery come in. We got together shortly after she got to town. Late dinner, then up until an ungodly hour talking. Got together for breakfast this morning and then watched the Auburn-Northwestern game. Good times.

Doing some writing this afternoon, maybe getting out for a while this evening.

Currently reading Spin State, by Chris Moriarty. Recommended.

I'm feeling quite good, and still have an entire normal weekend ahead. RoXXor.

I've rotated between the Spycraft job and two pieces of fiction today. Probably not the most efficient way of getting any writing done, but I'm unwilling to let this sudden burst of energy go to waste, and said energy is pushing all of these projects with an equal intensity. There was a fourth piece, something that's been rattling around with me for a long, long time, but I cannot get any traction whatsoever on it. It was an ugly and brutal little revenge piece, and I don't feel the need for that one anymore.

Arizona and Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl. Not at all what I wanted to see, but what can you do?

Old Man's War (John Scalzi) is a good read. Solid military SF, full of good ideas.

Back to work.