A brief post with a short video of Ace playing.
At time of posting it’s an estimated 116 days until he joins us.
Category Archives: life, the universe, and everything
Too hot to handle
We are currently in the middle of another heatwave. What’s that the fourth or fifth this year?
Having the tarp up has been a genius idea. With the picnic rug, and about 4 litres of water also out, the garden is dog hot weather friendly.
I can confidently let the dogs decide how much time they want to spend outside, and whether it’s under cover or not. The back door is open. They are in control.
It’s the only way to handle this heat with them.
The old sheds contents is still in the garden.
I thought I’d found a reliable person to take it to the landfill. But like the previous guy, a time and date gets set, and then it becomes a no show. The only positive is no cash had been handed over.
Looks like I have several trips to the local council dump in my immediate future.
You got to know when to hold ’em
I don’t play poker, especially Texas Hold ‘Em.
I’ve never really been attracted to it. Even when much younger.
My card game of choice growing up was knock out whist. I played it at secondary school during tutorial time. I played it a lot with my dad’s aunt (she really was a card shark).
However recently I’ve become more interested in it. Or to be more accurate some of the theory behind the game.
Apparently, and I read this somewhere a while back but I don’t recall where, that top MtG players have done really well in poker tournaments because they are MtG players. It appears that although totally different games. MtG players are used to making decisions based on incomplete information, reading the board state, etc. The skills are transferable so to speak.
I follow the chess content creators the Botez sisters on YouTube, and the elder sister Alex (?) in the past has taken part in poker tournaments.
I think because I watched those poker videos YouTube throws up from time to time a poker video in my feed.
Add in that to complete my Knizia books I got his book “Poker Plain and Simple: A Brief Guide for Beginners, Spectators, and the Curious” which also peaked my interest.
So I’ve started down the rabbit hole and bought a couple more books on poker, “Essential Poker Math, Expanded Edition: Fundamental No-Limit Hold’em Mathematics You Need to Know” by Alton Hardin and newly arrived “Modern Poker Theory: Building an Unbeatable Strategy Based on GTO Principles” by Michael Acevedo.
Obviously I’m not claiming that I’m going to become a master poker player over night.
However I think just like MtG has transferable skills to poker. I’m proposing that some of the poker/MtG skills are transferable to other games. It’s a bit like the Discovering Chess Openings book that clearly has ideas/theory that transfer to other games, particularly war/skirmish games. Really.
I’m particularly curious about the game theory side. I can see that side being a big rabbit hole to dive into.
My progress might be slow through these books because I tend to read them whilst sitting outside, getting shade under the tarp as the monster squad chill out.
So bare with me as I start this side quest, which might even see me play a game of poker.
RIP Ramsey the Cat
Yesterday’s plans got thrown out of the window with the passing of mums cat Ramsey.
It wasn’t a surprise. The last few days Ramsey hadn’t been eating. He’d drink water, find a comfy spot, and just lie there.
Ramsey was 16. So not a bad age for a cat.
Ramsey will always be remembered as the cat that took five or six years to work out he could open the door at the bottom of the stairs in Nan’s house!
Yes Ramsey was a house cat. When mum moved in to help look after Nan he came with her. With the two little monsters downstairs during the day with Nan, Ramseys world was upstairs. I don’t even think the little monsters realised there was a cat in the house!
It wasn’t until after Nan left us that Ramsey discovered he could open the door at the bottom of the stairs. When he did suddenly his world got so much larger.
Despite being bigger than the two little monsters added together they still managed to exert their dominance working together.
Ramsey is lying in rest next to Nico in the back garden.
This mornings coffee and doggy snuggles seem even more poignant and comforting.
There was gaming Friday and it was mostly light games this week. I’ll share which ones in the gaming round up.
But this was the first club night where those attending could get this years club poker chip.
This is the third year I’ve done the poker chip for members. I’m still trying to source a place that will produce a sew on patch at a reasonable price. I’ve tried a couple but not been happy with them yet.
If you know of a good place to get sewn sew on patch please leave a comment below.
Hot, hot, hotter than hell, Burn you like the midday sun
Yesterday the heat was back. Luckily I was spending the day indoors playing board games.
However last night I managed to catch the ITV weather forecast without Dolly being triggered.
The forecast for this bank holiday weekend was not the best news for me. It was just going to be getting hotter over the next couple of days.
If the predictions hold true we will see a new record high for May this weekend.
So when I got up this morning to let the Monster Squad out I decided I’d put the new tarp up for them.
About a week ago I went to Aldi for the first time in years to get the £7.99 folding fire pit I heard they had.
But like most shopping trips mistakes were made and more stuff than intended ended up in the shopping basket. Such as the £24.99 hammock and tarp setup.
It was the tarp from this bargain that I used this morning. It was the reason I bought the setup. I needed a tarp for the garden, and didn’t want to ruin one of my more expensive hiking tarps. The hammock I will give away because I have a DD Hammocks lightweight hammock.
The tarp itself has four tie out points, one on each corner. Which is ok for my intended use.
As you can see the tarp was pitched low. Well its primary usage is shade for the dogs.
The American Outback Crusher Leather Hat
There is just enough headroom for me to sit with my little table so I’m outside with them.
I don’t like the dogs being outside unsupervised. Not because they’d get up to no good. More I don’t trust my fellow man. I don’t want them being stolen or worse.
So if Diogo wants to lay outside then I have to sit out there with him. Which means Dolly will want to be out too with me, and Loki swaps between wanting to be outside and also inside.
And yes I made sure there is lots of water for them outside.
We had an early dog walk to avoid as much heat as possible. But even then you could feel it starting to get warm.
Anyway stay hydrated and coverup and catch you in the next post.
Road to UKGE 2026 #4 – It’s alive!
As I write this post I’m four days in on creating a sourdough starter using rye flour. Naturally once the starter is fully active I’ll be making loaves of rye bread.
I’ve not done any baking since Nan left us in 2021. At the time she was the reason I baked.
Yes I had a sourdough starter back then, and I’d make a sourdough loaf regularly. After taking the loaf out of the oven, and once cooled a little. I’d take the loaf round for Nan to see. She’d put both hands on the warm loaf. She used to love doing that. I think it was the warmth of the bread, and the sensation it gave her. At the time Nan was well and truly bedridden, her dementia slowly stealing her away.
Nan would eat the tiniest of bits of the fresh loaf. She had trouble eating solid food, and literally no appetite. So to get her to eat a piece that wouldn’t even feed a sparrow was a major achievement. Nan definitely got great enjoyment from just holding her hands on the warm loaf.
But my baking didn’t stop there for Nan.
I made cookies, shortbread, muffins, poundcake, lemon drizzle cake, lemon meringue, cheese cakes, chocolate mousse, you get the idea.
Nan would eat just the tiniest of pieces of all of them. But even if they required a lot of effort, technical skill, or took time to make. It was all worth it. They were for my Nan.
Once Nan had left us I no longer felt like baking. I didn’t have the heart or desire. My reason had gone.
But now the desire to bake has returned.
I think it was initially sparked into life with my cousins daughter who has got into baking. I sent her a couple of books to do with baking (Ratio, and Dessert Course: Lessons in the Whys and Hows of Baking). Nan would have done the same. She would have wanted to encourage her.
It was helped along making bread and butter pudding for mum. She really likes my bread and butter pudding (I use brioche, and a mixture of dried fruit, nutmeg, and double cream).
Then recently I’ve had a hankering for rye bread. I love it toasted. However when I can find it in my local supermarkets it’s not cheap. So I thought you know what? why don’t I make my own? It’d be cheaper.
Obviously depending on the weather while UKGE is on instead of noodles there might be rye bread sandwiches, or just a chunk of rye bread to have with cheese. Although these might be my preference.
Plus I think each day there might also be a slice or two of pound cake to be washed down by some damn fine coffee.
I definitely will have biscuits as well to go with the coffee, which might just be home made now instead of the individual packets you can get.
So at the moment my food plans have completely changed.
Another first for me is I’ve come up with a list of stands, games and expansions I want to visit/get at the expo! That’s very organised. Especially for me. I blame my friend Duncan. He messaged me on BlueSky giving me a stand at the expo where a game I might be interested in is. So a note was created on my iPhone so I didn’t forget. Before I knew it a single entry had grown into a full blown list!
May the 4th Be With You 2026 Edition!
Happy Star Wars Day folks.
I think in the past I’ve talked about seeing Star Wars A New Hope for the first time. How my memories of the time seem to be mainly the Olivia Newton John and John Travolta You’re The One That I Want music video from Grease and the Star Wars clip of Han saying “don’t get cocky kid” to Luke during the escape from the Death Star scene in the Falcon shooting Tie Fighters.
However we are jumping ahead to 1983, possibly 1984 and the first time I played a Star Wars game.
Back then during the start of peak 80’s home computer boom in the UK, my first time playing a Star Wars game was the C64 port of the Star Wars arcade game.
In the fenland market town I lived in the main places you got to play arcade games were the odd cabinet sitting in a corner of an establishment like the roller skating rink, or maybe a pub. Otherwise you had to travel to the coast and visit the arcades there (not a great option for a teenager) or wait for the fair to come to town.
So the home computer boom and the many ports of arcade games to home computers were often the only opportunity for a fenland teenager to play them.
It was this way that I got to play the C64 port of the Star Wars arcade game. This was played with a joystick.
I wasn’t clocking up world record scores (not even close). But I was able to run through the three levels three or four times in a single play.
It was as far as I knew a pretty good port. It certainly was fun to play.
I loved the first person, 3D. Shooting tie fighters, avoiding their shots or shooting them too. Survive long enough and you were then flying across the surface of the Death Star shooting up towers and gun turrets. Survive that and you were in on the Death Stars trench making a run on that one weak spot in its design, the exhaust hole.
There weren’t many 3D games around at the time. Star Wars used wireframes just like the classic Battlezone.
At the time for a Star Wars fan this was a great game.
Happy Star Wars day.
Hotter than hell
That damn hot weather.
Once again we’ve had a few days of unseasonable hot weather. So much for those April showers.
The contents of the removed shed hasn’t gone yet. I’m waiting for the guy that did the shed to give me a date. Once it has the vision can start taking shape.
In the meantime I’m still outside with the dogs allowing them to enjoy being outdoors.
Obviously our routine has changed during this weather. Their first walk of the day is the only one. However it is a much longer walk. So it’s done and dusted before it gets too hot for them.
Using some bungees I put up a DD Hammocks magic carpet to give the Suicide Squad some shade. I almost look on this as a proof of concept for the summer.
It would come as no surprise that my coffee consumption has gone up. Being able to brew up without leaving my seat is fun. Plus it allows me to get familiar and comfortable using various stove and pot combinations.
Luckily as I write this post the weather has cooled a bit. Just in time for Diogo’s second paddock session this evening. He’s going to be tired this evening.
Alien Day 2026
Happy Alien day everyone.
I’ve only recently (in the last week) found out there is an Alien 3 Assembly cut of the movie. Up until now I had always thought there was the Alien 3 theatrical release, and the Audible original dramatisation of the William Gibson Alien 3 screen play.
But now I find out that there is an edit of the film that attempts to recreate the director David Finchers work print for the movie. Fincher wasn’t involved with this, hence why it’s called the assembly cut and not a directors cut.
What makes this revelation shocking is I’ve had this new version of the movie for years! Since 2003 to be precise. It is on the Alien Quadrilogy.
So you know what I’m going to be watching today. Along with starting Alien Earth.
Yes I’ve still not got round to watching it yet. Like most tv series I watch I hate with streaming the drip, drip, drip of episodes. It’s so old school. Remember when streaming services were new we got whole seasons that they funded/created in one drop. I get why they switched. But for me that defeats the reason for streaming services. I’m more than happy to wait for all the episodes to drop. Then it relies on me remembering to go back and binge the episodes, or more likely not be bothered any more about the series. So in my case the weekly drop of episodes has had a detrimental effect, and I’m less likely to watch. Maybe not a massive or even a noticeable hit on their viewing numbers. But still I can’t be the only one.
Alien Rogue Incursion Part One Evolved Edition was released digitally on the Nintendo Switch 2 last week. A surprise drop. And I’m looking forward to firing up the Switch to play it. I just wish there was a physical copy I could purchase instead of it being digital only.
However I’m pretty clueless about what this Alien game is about, style, etc. I know it started life as a VR game. So I’m guessing they might be going for that horror, jump scare, enclosed claustrophobic feel. But that’s just an educated guess. There is no reason why it can’t be a run and gun style game. But if I was doing a VR Alien game I’d be doubling down on that immersive horror jump scare angle.
But I look forward to finding out if my guesses are right.
How are you spending your Alien Day?
Two New Books
If you want to see what’s possible with just regular d6 dice, or a regular pack of 52 cards then the two Knizia books Dice Games Properly Explained, and New Tactical Games with Dice and Cards are a must.
I particularly like Dice Games Properly Explained. Scattered between the many explanations of games are some interesting chapters explaining probability and stuff. The game descriptions not only describe the rules but also give advice on tactics. I think my favourite game so far from this book is Ship, Captain, Crew, a Yahtzee style push your luck game.
According to Amazon I was missing two Knizia books, Poker Plain and Simple, and Blazing Aces! A Fistfull of Family Card Games.
So naturally I had to order them. And they arrived yesterday.
I don’t play poker. However I’m familiar with Texas Hold’em. Mainly from YouTube videos and tv. Plus whatever version of poker I’ve seen played in westerns.
I certainly know poker hands from numerous board games where they are used as a mechanic such as Dice Town, or The Gang.
One thing that has confused me about Texas Hold’em is the bidding, especially the checking. But not enough to google it. So I’m looking forward to Knizia explaining it.
When you throw in the likes of Regicide what you can play with a regular pack of cards is incredible. So I’m looking forward to seeing what Knizia has come up with in his western themed book of card games.
Anyways more for the reading pile for while the little monsters are enjoying the warmth of the spring sun.
