Author: Karel Kerezman

  • The Things We Do For Nostalgia

    I could have played a current game, a new game, or not played a game at all.

    But, no. I installed Might & Magic VI, a musty old RPG-type game from the late 1990s. I downloaded the strategy guides and maps from the site I used to rely on way back when (I’m glad it still exists!). And I plowed through the “loot the game developer’s offices” map trick to get a bit of a monetary and gear head-start on things.

    Is it every bit as janky as I remember? Oh yes. Is it a game from the days before everyone realized that WASD makes a better keyboard movement setup than the arrow keys? Sadly, yes.

    Did I have fun mowing down lizard men and Followers of Baa once my party all had bows equipped? Definitely yes.

    I’ve no idea if I’ll keep at this for very long, but hey, it made my evening pass rather pleasantly, all things considered.

  • Something Happened, But Yesterday

    Sure, the one day of the month so far when something interesting actually happened, and it’s the day I forget to log into the site.

    Still, a nine day posting streak is pretty good, considering.

    Anyway! Yesterday, I met my new primary care physician. (What we’d have called “doctor” a few years ago but apparently times and titles change. Insert George Carlin routine about the softening of language, here.) Since my previous one was leaving the clinic I went to and nobody else at that clinic had availability, I ended up going through Providence’s phone system to line up a new option and schedule the meeting.

    It all went well. I was weighed, height measured, and all the usual check-in check-up stuff, then had a brief chat with the new person in charge of making sure I don’t expire like an unpaid magazine subscription (speaking of dated references…), then hiked home afterward. I’m back to having someone on file that I officially can pester about renewing my stay-above-ground pills, and all it takes is a new round of blood testing so the primary care physician can make sure I’m still doing okay overall.

    Being medical is still weird, but I’m getting more used to it.

  • Chores. That’s interesting, right?

    The last two years have eroded many of my normal faculties, including my ability to reach out to people to stay in touch, as well as my ability to work up the energy to do the larger chores around the apartment.

    Today, however, I managed to take the holiday lights down outside (they’d been unplugged since New Year’s Day mind you) and vacuum the carpets (they’d been unvacuumed since… let’s not go into that).

    On the downside I kind of forgot about the dishes until dinnertime. Whoops. (The dishwasher’s been run now but I couldn’t fit everything in, so I’ll be running it again some time tomorrow.)

    This whole “feeling untethered from time and space” thing is for the birds. And not ducks, some other kind of birds.

  • Gagarin!

    Nothing pithy today, I just wanted to share this ridiculous, fun little video from a band I adore. Public Service Broadcasting, “Gagarin”

    Have a great weekend, y’all.

  • Friday? I guess.

    The downside to the combination of working from home and getting up at the same time all seven days of the week (for maintaining a medication & exercise schedule) is that Friday just means I don’t have to sign in to all of the work-related software & websites the next day.

    That Pandemic Life, eh?

  • Three Houses, Alike In Lack of Dignity

    I spent most of the past year playing one of two games. Clearly, if you’ve been here before, you know all about one of them. What about the other one?

    Let’s get into that.

    There’s a sizeable contingent of 3H players (myself included) who adore this guy, which may tell you everything you need to know about 3H fandom.
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