Category Archives: life, the universe, and everything

I had the best Nan ever, and I miss her so

life, the universe, and everything

Two long years since Nan left us.

Miss her so much.

September really does hurt the soul and show the scares on the heart are still there.

With the passing of Ebony inbetween the two anniversaries this year I don’t think my heart can take much more this month.

The hard part of these anniversaries is when they fall on a work day and you have to turn up and act as if nothing is up.

It’s only once you get home and close that front door that you are alone with your grief and memories. When the emotions that you have bottled up all day can come out. The tears flow.

Nan I love you. Look after the wolf pack for me.

Back with the fam!

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

I had an interview this morning at my previous place of employment. It went well because I left with a job offer. Though a two month notice period did put that at risk.

But an offer to start immediately by working weekends helped swing things back in my favour.

Which basically means until my notice period is up I’m working two jobs!

The implication gaming wise means during the next two months I’m not going to be able to make club nights or weekend gaming sessions. A necessary sacrifice.

However it does make tomorrow nights gaming session extra special.

Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated

life, the universe, and everything

Three back to back life events updates in a row and no gaming stuff. I know not good enough.

If life hadn’t decided claiming Ebony wasn’t enough of kick in the emotional nads. It decided physically it needed to torment me as well.

Just after midnight last night a kidney stone decided it no longer wanted to be cooped up inside but wanted to see the big wide world instead.

I have a high pain tolerance but when this happens it really does test my limits. I think the previous time this happened I described how intense the pain was. Breaking out in sweats, throwing up just from the pain.

Early on while still able to I got mum to take Nico and Loki. Probably a good idea. Fur ball company often helps when one of them leaves us. It’s their presence, being happy just to be curled up next to you. Not demanding anything. Listening, boy are they good listeners. All stuff you need at moments like this.

I was then lying with a bowl in the conservatory trying to survive the pain. Why there? It was cool, and when you are sweating so much from the pain it helps believe me. Plus it was also next to a toilet. Which I would need.

What helped get me through was the hope that this would be all wrapped up so I could make the interview I had at 8:30am.

As the clock approached 8am the pain still there I needed to contact the interview and work.

Although out of the kidney the stones were now in my bowel causing just as much pain until they were passed.

I was in no position to make those calls myself. Just attempting was making me do multi coloured yawns or more accurately what little was left in my stomach.

It would need mum to make the calls for me.

Unable to give mum the numbers to call, she would need Google. The flaw in the pain induced plan. Mum doesn’t know how to use Google!

So between expelling bile I told her to get my brother to do it.

I was unable to correct mum when she told my brother it was a chest pain. A mistake that would worry my friends at work.

Once those stones had finally passed out of the body I was right as rain. Feeling like I’d been sparing with Tyson and getting a few kidney punches, and very very drained.

I was then able to contact my friend let her know how I was. That’s when I found out about my mums lack of biology knowledge. I’m glad she didn’t call an ambulance, which she was close to doing.

As I was writing this tale of suffering I’ve got lucky and another shot at the interview. That’s a big big relief.

I’m now recovering and recharging from that marathon pain session.

It’s been a shit twenty four hours.

To loved ones no longer here

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

Today has always been a tough day for me. Even after 35 years the pain of my Dad’s death has not eased.

The proverb “time heals all wounds” on this anniversary seems so hollow.

Dad’s passing has always meant September has never been a month where emotional I’m in a good spot.

But the pain is now doubled with Nan leaving us just eight days later.

It truly feels like September is the month my heart and soul shows how broken they are.

The only signs to the outside world is I may become more reclusive and avoid the outside world. Which might mean I cancel plans at the last minute and piss off friends. But that is unavoidable. It’s hard to give the true reason. I’m one of those irrational folks that will gladly help anyone in anyway I can, but not be able to ask for help when I need it. Sometimes that mask slips. I’m sure I’m not as good at hiding it as I think.

I miss them both dearly.

But I remember the good times and their love. May they both be in peace wherever they are.

Why so silent?

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

Well for two or three days I have been. And didn’t think you wanted more posts on my current fixation.

The plan was for September to get off to an epic start of gaming after the disappointing amount that took place in August.

However best laid plans etc meant that this start to the month has been a damp squib.

For instance today was meant to be Twilight Imperium 4 again. And it would have been if British Gas had come to upgrade mums meters at the time they told her (8am).

In my defence my mum organised this without checking with me first.

However as the morning went on and no sign of a British Gas engineer I had to make a call about if the game went ahead.

The guy didn’t turn up until after midday. Apparently they didn’t know they had to come to mums until they thought they had finished their last job for the day and got told they had mum to do.

This is what a disappointing month of gaming looks like

So with no Internet, and having dog sitting duties whilst the engineer was next door I tried getting mums dog Ebony to settle. But she just wouldn’t. She’s an old dog who doesn’t handle changes to routine that well. Which meant it was nigh impossible to watch any dvd. But I tried a couple episodes of Blake’s 7.

So no gaming but at least mum has a new smart meter for her gas and electric.

I’m hoping Tuesday still happens and I can draft Dice Masters with Dave, and finally get the gaming off to a start for the month.

On the arm front the arm is starting to get sore again. But not nearly as bad as before. So I’m still popping the pills to control things to allow me the use of the arm and to try and rest it as much as possible.

Some gaming stuff did happen in the last week such as…

I had been putting off getting the recent Rolling Realms promo packs when they were released due to cash flow issues at the time.

But now I have them and they are added to the Rolling Realms box. Which now is so full you couldn’t fit another card in it. Well not with out a bit of knife work on the insert.

I did finally manage to get the custom Dice Masters playmat image that I purchased shared with Patriot Games for printing. It was too large to upload via their website. So hopefully that arrives soon. Just hope Gav is able to find the playmat I originally had now. I know the dice bag I ordered off etzy has been posted. So with a fair wind it will be here by Tuesday.

Other arrivals in the week were two Dark Phoenix draft packs. Can’t wait to draft these. The temptation to crack them open has been huge. I want to know if I have the current meta defining Master Mold Endless Sentinels in one of them. So far I’ve been good and resisted.

Wow did I just sneak in Dice Masters to this post? Oops. Bait and switch.

Thanks for reading this far and catch you in the next post.

Shows and Episodes for Saturday 26/8/23

life, the universe, and everything, Saturday Morning Cartoons, watch along

As promised in the previous post earlier in the day here are the episodes I plan to watch tomorrow morning for those that wish to do similar and then discuss in the comments below of this post.

Thundercats

  • S1E4 – The Slaves of Castle Plun-darr
  • S1E5 – Pumm-Ra
  • S1E6 – The Terror of Hammerhand

Batman the animated series

  • S1E4 – The Last Laugh
  • S1E5 – Pretty Poison
  • S1E6 – The Underdwellers

Dungeon & Dragons the cartoon

  • S1E5 – In Search of the Dungeon Master
  • S1E6 – Beauty and the Bogbeast
  • S1E7 – Prison Without Walls

Don’t worry if you don’t have the dvds like I do. I’m sure that there are streaming sites that you can find the episodes on or even YouTube!

Previously on a Saturday morning…

classic tv, life, the universe, and everything, Saturday Morning Cartoons, watch along

With the previous post announcing my sad attempt to recapture my youth on a Saturday morning I thought why not see if others are interested in doing the same.

Plus to follow along I thought I better share where I am after the first Saturday morning watching the shows. Jut in case folks need or wants to play catch up.

Thundercats

  • S1E1 – Exodus
  • S1E2 – The Unholy Alliance
  • S1E3 – Berbils

Batman the Animated Series

  • S1E1 – On Leather Wings
  • S1E2 – Christmas with the Joker
  • S1E3 -Nothing to Fear

Dungeon & Dragons the cartoon

  • S1E1 – The Night of No Tomorrow
  • S1E2 – The Eye of the Beholder
  • S1E3 – The Hall of Bones
  • S1E4 – Valley of the Unicorns

As I briefly review what I have written (and yes mistakes still get through) I realised that I had not said why I chose these three cartoons to start with. So that’s rectify this right now.

I chose Batman the Animated Series not because I watched it during the seventies growing up, or even the home computer boom years of the early to mid eighties. The series didn’t actually come out until what ‘89 or their abouts after the Tim Burton movies. The cartoon captures the aesthetics, and tone of the the Burton movies perfectly. It had edge. I do have a special relationship with Batman that I explain away in a very long post due to be seen by the world in the later half of October. So because of a reason that will eventually become clear I added it. Plus I have fond memories of catching episodes at the time.

Thundercats and the Dungeon and Dragons cartoon are two shows that I have very fond memories of watching as a I went from a kid to a teenager in the early eighties. Often these shows were an escape from the world, moving up from a primary school to a secondary school, bullying, etc. I can’t say I saw every episode. Don’t forget tv viewing was vastly different to now. Often you would miss an episode for some reason such as tea, on holiday, etc. There were rarely repeats of kids cartoons.

Another factor that also influenced the choice was the affordability and availability of the series as well. For instance my holy grail of the complete Battle of the Planets is not easily available and those copies that are for sale are very very expensive. Too expensive for me to justify the purchase.

I’ve also added a couple more shows to the Saturday morning schedule. See the photo below to see what they are. As I write this the New Adventures of Batman is on its way.

Two new shows arrived to add to the Saturday morning viewing. I’ll talk more about them in a future post and their significance to me once I start watching them.

But for those wishing to join me in this walk down memory lane I’ll put a post up with that Saturdays planned viewing. Which we can then discuss in the posts comments after we’ve watched them.

A third retro tv project idea

Having Blake’s 7 and MASH dvd boxsets sitting on my shelves waiting to be shown some love by being watched. I thought these would be a great start to a retro midweek tv project.

Shows I’d like to add to this new project include Sapphire and Steel (ordered second hand from Oxfam, so awaiting delivery), Wonder Woman (surprisingly affordable), The Six Billion Dollar Man (you would not believe how expensive this is), The Man from Atlantis (nor this), and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (budget friendly). Shows I have fond memories of watching as a kid and teenager.

I have the germs of a fourth retro tv project as well that revolves around the tv I used to watch as a kid on the holidays. Such as the 1930s (I think that’s when they came out, although could be the 40s) serials for Flash Gordon (already own), Buck Rogers, and King of the Rocket Men (already own). I’m going to add Thunderbirds (yep have these too), Joe 90, Captain Scarlet, Space 1999 and UFO to this list.

My Saturday Morning Cartoon Project

life, the universe, and everything, Saturday Morning Cartoons

You may find this hard to believe but I’ve actually started writing a post that won’t see the light of day until the later half of October.

But in those words I wrote this morning I briefly talked about my Saturday Morning Cartoon project that I have started. I also mentioned that by the time you get to read those words I might have written something about the project.

Well here we are with me just about to tell you about this crazy and cool (who am I kidding its anything but this, more sad and weird) project that I’ve started.

Back in the seventies and early eighties as a kid here in the UK our Saturday mornings were either Swap Shop on BBC1 or Tiswas on ITV.

Like the great home computer playground wars of the early eighties between owners of the C64 and the ZX Spectrum, you were either a Swap Shop fan or a Tiswas fan (to be fair dads would have preferred if there kids were Tiswas fans thanks to Sally James).

I enjoyed both, so sat on the fence. As I did in the great home computer wars (after all I owned both).

Both Saturday morning shows had a similar format. Live presenters, an audience of some kind (either in studio or on location), plus some cartoons to break things up.

It was great getting up on a Saturday, switch on the tv and watch these shows with a bowl of cereal, that weeks comics (Warlord, Battle, 2000A.D., Starlord, Eagle, Beano to name a handful of ones that I used to get).

But here I am some forty odd years later trying to recreate that Saturday morning chill, when I had no worries, life was carefree, and times were much simpler.

The plan I started with is to watch some cartoons from that period of my life (or there abouts) to help escape from the worries of the world. To have a relaxing start to the weekend.

I started last Saturday with the following three cartoon series; Batman the animated series, Dungeons and Dragons the cartoon, and Thundercats.

So with a mug of coffee in hand and a couple of pan au chocolate, the attack chihuahuas and I laid in bed and watched the first three episodes of from the first season of the three shows.

Obviously the animation is of it’s time. But I still found the episodes I watched enjoyable. Yes they weren’t the shows that were shown back then. But they are from my youth (except Batman which was more my young man years).

The plan is to add to the shows to watch Hong Kong Phooey, The New Adventures Of Batman, He-Man, potentially Transformers, and my holy grail Battle of the Planets.

I seem to remember that the Flashing Blade was also shown on a Saturday morning as well during Swap Shop. But my memory may be letting me down on that one. However I do own it on dvd and will rotate it in at some point.

At some point I want to start an equivalent Friday evening tv project as well with such shows as The Water Margins and Monkey. Which are the only two I can remember from a Friday evening on BBC2.

So there you have it my plan for spending a Saturday mornings.

Arm Latest

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

After a weekend of resting the arm, popping pills (only the prescribed medication btw and in the correct dosages and intervals), the arm is currently pain free!

Not only that today I was able to raise the arm high enough to be able to put on a tee.

Until now I was unable to raise my arm high enough (without hurting) to put a tee on.

So I’m a bit chuffed with this progress.

Sadly I had to sacrifice my gaming plans for the weekend to be able to rest the arm and give the medication time to work.

Fenland Gamers Club Night Last Friday aka the one I couldn’t attend. Photo copyright Jonathan Warren

Which meant I missed a really well attended Fenland Gamers club night on the Friday evening. I think going by the photo there were 15 or 16 that turned up, with about 3 new to group folks giving us a try.

Obviously the banter went it was only so well attended because I wasn’t there! “Again, right in the ears, straight to the feelings.” Wil Wheaton Big Bang Theory

The arm also meant I had to cancel our planned D&D session on Saturday afternoon. This Summer so far has not been good for the running of D&D.

No impromptu gaming session Sunday afternoon.

There are plans to play Three Sisters tomorrow evening. Obviously having just introduced Dave to the roll and write genre with the Trek 12: Himalayas entry level roll and write. The next logic step is to throw him totally into the deep end with the sharks (Charlene, Ben, and myself) and play this combotastic, not even remotely entry level or mid level roll and write.

I am hoping the medication and the arm hold out so that I am able to attend the annual Jeff’s all day birthday gaming day next weekend. I believe it is once more going to be Memoir 44 with an overlord map. But more importantly is the home made curry Jeff makes. His curries are rather good.

Even with these plans in place I think my gaming stats will be down for the month. I played way less than I could at Nathan’s because of the arm. It’s cost me a weekend of gaming. How could the numbers not be down?

I’m just happy the alarm is not a major source of pain at the moment. The rest will be what it is. See you in the next post.

Arm Update

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

Monday I caved and tried booking an appointment with my doctor. However there were none and was told to login at 8am the next morning and fill in the form to get one (hopefully) for Tuesday.

I did phone the minor injuries department at the North Cambs hospital who do walk ins. However they told me because I had no history of this sort of thing they would most likely just refer me to my doctor! So there was little point struggling to get to them for relief from the pain.

Tuesday morning I did indeed fill in the form that my surgery requires to be done first before getting an appointment, pressed submit and started the wait.

Nearly three hours later I had a text back saying they had sent a prescription to my regular pharmacy. Which surprised me as I hadn’t had a prescription for years and didn’t know I had a “regular” pharmacy. Plus they were referring me to physio.

Within minutes I had a call to arrange an appointment with physio. That will be happening on the 22nd of the month. I also asked them where they thought my “regular” pharmacy was, as I had no idea. When they told me it was ASDA it made sense, its where I pick mums stuff up from.

In the meantime I had my brother pick up my prescription that only had two of the three items I had been prescribed.

But still £28 was a bit of a shock. Tells you when I last paid for a prescription. Plus I had only been expecting one item.

So yesterday saw me having to pick up the missing medication from the pharmacy and after a day it seems to have started making a difference. The arm is less painful with a little bit more movement. But not much.

Hopefully it keeps it this way or better until the 22nd.