The bad and the good of 2009.

Here is why 2009 sucked. (in order of importance)

1. My father passed away in 2009 and suffered horribly for the first two months of this year.
2. Obama was sworn in as President of the United States of America.
3. An evil act was perpetrated upon a very good friend of mine for the simple reason of destroying him, financially, emotionally, and career-wise.
4. The marriages of some good people ended or otherwise turned upside-down.
5. Many of my friends lost their jobs this year.
6. A girl from my town died at far too young of an age.
7. The economy has almost literally broken me and many of my friends.
8. Did not play paintball once... grr.
9. Guns and Ammo prices went through the roof!
10. Obama is still president at the end of the year.
11. New was received of the end of the Jubilee Olde English Faire.


Here is how 2009 tried to redeem itself. (in order of importance)

1. My birthday, thanks to family and friends, ROCKED!
2. My family added a new puppy to the pack!
3. My wife got baptized this year!
4. My wife and I took over as leaders of the Youth Group at our church. (one of the best decisions I have ever made)
5. Attended the Youth Gathering in New Orleans with 32,000 other Lutheran youths for a week of amazing experiences!
6. My knowledge of wine and wine making has improved!
7. My daughter has embraced school rather than fight it!
8. I attended Gen Con again, and had a blast... and my gaming time with friends and family has increased!
9. I got new windows installed in my house!
10. My wife got a new car at no added cost per payment!
11. After way too many years, I finally had a successful deer hunting season with my son!
12. I have my concealed carry permits from both Pennsylvania and Florida!

The Buck stopped here.

After far too long of a time between deer kills, I finally managed to outwit, outplan and outsit one of God's most excellent game animals. The deer season started on the 20th of November and my son and I went south to Effingham to join up with a really nice guy I met last year. Both he and I are scout leaders and I think our desire to see boys take deer made for a common bond between us. He set us up in a deer stand that we had been in last year for one day and after some talking, we managed to arrange to get the stand moved to a new spot, lined up differently, and readied for the new season. The first day was a disappointment, a feeling that we have gotten to know far too well. Both my son and I sat in the "buddy" stand waiting and waiting. There was shooting all around us, but we saw no indication of deer anywhere near us. So after 10 hours of sitting, we hauled our exhausted butts back to where we were staying and crashed early. We decided that the next day, my son would go out on his own in hopes of seeing something in another part of the woods. (He did, but it was too far off to shoot at comfortably.)

That following day was warmer and I had moved into the buddy stand with out my buddy. The morning was quiet with little gunfire coming from around us and I thought to myself that it was going to be a repeat of the previous day. I was talking to my son on the 2-way radio telling him that our host saw a few doe moving in his direction, when not more than about a minute later I heard a sound unlike all the others I had tuned my ears for. Turning 180 degrees in my stand I see a deer, which I thought was a doe, heading up a hill, but it had slipped on the wet leaves and mud. Had it not been for that slip, I do not think I would have noticed it at all. I could not believe it. After all the years of getting skunked, a chance was now presented to me! I stood and turned, leveled the gun that I had not shot at a target in a number of years, (I still trust the sighting I put on it.) and, hesitated. Was my shot going to be clean, and merciful? I knew I would not miss, but I was worried I would make a wounding shot instead of a killing one. The distance was 80 yards out and below me. Would I need to compensate? All this went through my head in about a second when I knew I had to pull the trigger. Using a magnum load with a hollow point sabot, any hit was going to be devastating. The gun roared and echoed in the woods, and almost instantaneously, the deer falls and slides down the hill, front paws clawing at the air and dirt. I had hit it in the spine and lungs... a killing shot, but not a quick kill as I hoped. I radioed my son, something about a mercy shot, started down the ladder and jumped the last ten feet or so. I could still see the deer pawing and moving so I ran across the distance but stopped about 25 yards out as it was over on the other side of the stream. Wanting to wait no longer to end it's pain, I raised my gun up again and sent a slug through the right side of the deer's head. It was over.

I walked over to the deer and as has been my way ever since I began to thinking about the act of hunting, I said a prayer of thanks and respect to the creature that just gave me his life. It was then that I noticed it was a buck rather than a doe, so I felt better that a doe might carry on to this spring to bring another deer into the world. I would normally have attempted to drag the deer out from where he lay but it was more than I could have done by myself. I contacted my host about the kill and he said he would be around soon, but to sit tight as he spotted some deer in his area. I went back to my stand to keep an eye on things and when I got settled back in, I was surprised that I was suddenly overcome with emotion. Excitement, joy, adrenaline, and yes, saddness and sorrow all came up at the same time. I will have to admit, I am glad no one was around to see me.

Soon, when everyone was around to help haul the deer out, I gathered up my son and we headed back to dress out the deer. I insisted on having him be an active part of the cleaning of the deer and he went to it with very little hesitation. He even decided that instead of wasting portions of the deer, he would keep certain parts like the hide, the hooves and the tail to use for various purposes. I like that. I wanted him to go back out and sit in the event that he could get a deer, but he was just happy that we got one together, so instead we ate a bite of lunch, and headed home. Soon we will be eating our prize and reveling in the knowledge that we took this meat and it did not come from a grocery store.

At some point I will have to blog about why I hunt and why I think hunting is important, but not right now. Instead, my thanks for hanging in there and reading and sharing my story with me.

Later!

Noise... coming to a close...

In another full day, my experiment with being without a cellphone will be over. I have traveled without it, gone to work without it and simply done without it. It is kind of a relief in many ways. I don't worry about answering the phone immediately, I am not tempted to use it at all times, especially when becoming bored, and I have found that I can still communicate with others just fine, and immediate response is not really that big of a deal. The nicest thing was that I learned I don't have to respond to work email when I am not at work! (I was getting bad at that.) But what I find the most interesting is the expectation that others have of you. They EXPECT you to have a cell phone and have it on you. Much like I expect that when I call someone, I will call them on the cell phone I expect them to be carrying. They and I expect that the phone will be answered on the first few rings or if not, respond immediately to a text message.

The young lady who is doing this experiment with me says it sucks for her, but she is learning to plan ahead, make detailed arrangements in advance, and doing other things rather than disappearing into the cell phone. I will be excited to hear what other insight she has had.

I don't know if this had made my or her life easier but it was fun to try and I suggest that some of you try it yourself if you think you spend too much time with you phone attached to your ear or fingers attached to the key pad. You might be surprised at the experience.

Noise... day 2

I have been without my cell phone for two days now and so far the biggest hurdle I have had to face is trying to remember phone numbers that are stored on the phone. At one time, I used to pride myself that I could recall hundreds of different phone numbers for many different people, but now, I only seem to recall those that I don't have listed in my phone! (weird!) I still carry a paper sheet with all kinds of numbers listed on it, but it is so badly out of date that it is of little use anymore. I should update it. The other tricky thing is letting people know where you will be when they expect you to pick them up or meet them. However, it is not impossible to communicate with other if you don't have a cell phone, just a bit trickier.

Later!

Noise....

As a result of watching a video during my High School Sunday School class, I challenged the kids to go without their cell phone for one week. Only one student stepped up to the challenge. So far, it has not been a big deal, but it is a challenge. The young lady who is doing this challenge with me says that it sucks so far, but she has made the effort and is well into her 2nd day as of this writing. I will keep you informed as to hers, and my progress and feelings on this. One thing I can comment on right now, is that I have lived with out cell phones for longer than I have had one, but it is very hard to remember when I did not have one. It has become such a part of my everyday existence, almost like the pocketknife I carry everyday. It is funny how something that I did not have for so long, is now such a part of me.

Anyway, as the week goes along, I will give some thought to what it is like not having it.

Later!

A thoughtful barbarian

While surfing around, I found this passage from one of the best of the Conan stories written by Robert E. Howard.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom's realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer's Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content."
Robert E. Howard - Queen of the Black Coast

This is why no fantasy character can compare to Conan.. If some other writer had written this, it would be considered high prose, but since it was only a pulp fiction writer who created bloody characters it was pretty much ignored. Thankfully, R.E. Howard is being rediscovered thanks to the fact that geeks are now ruling the entertainment industry. It is about time! Now get out there and read some Howard!

Unforeseen design problems?

The clover design is a very nice accent idea in most construction, but if you don't take into account the angle of the sun as it moves across the sky.... you get a very happy walk way!

Because you always wanted to know...

Timeline of Middle Ages Kings of England
Timeline of the Norman Kings of England in the Middle Ages: 1066 -1154

1066-1087 King William the Conqueror
1087-1100 King William Rufus (son of William)
1100-1135 King Henry I (William Rufus brother)
1135-1154 King Stephen (nephew of Henry I)

Timeline of the The Plantagenet Kings of England (Angevin Line) in the Middle Ages:1154 - 1377

1154-1189 King Henry II (grandson of Henry I)
1189-1199 King Richard I (third son of Henry II)
1199-1216 King John (fifth son of Henry II)
1216-1272 King Henry III (son of John)
1272-1307 King Edward I (son of Henry III)
1307-1327 King Edward II (son of Edward I)
1327-1377 King Edward III (son of Edward II)

Timeline of the Royal Houses of Lancaster and York - Kings of England in the Middle Ages: 1377 - 1485

1377-1399 King Richard II (grandson of Edward III, son of the Black Prince)
1399-1413 King Henry IV (grandson of Edward III, son of John of Gaunt)
1413-1422 King Henry V (son of Henry IV)
1422-1461 King Henry VI (son of Henry V)
1461-1483 King Edward IV ( youngest son of Edward III )
1483-1485 King Richard III (uncle of Edward V)


And the Ranks of English Nobility: From greatest to least
(titled)
King - Queen
Prince - Princess
Duke - Duchess
Marguess - Marchioness
Earl - Countess
Viscount - Viscountess
Baron - Baroness

(untitled)
Baronet
Knight

Shootin' with Queenie

At the Fishers Rennaisance Faire, the Queen herself came to our encampment and had a go at shooting at the running Frenchman on our target line. Here are a few shots of the event for your viewing pleasure. I guess it was a good thing I wore my good cotehardie!

One of the best ever!

On Thursday the 8th of October, I celebrated my 44th birthday and I must say it was one of the best ever. I have, hands down, the best wife and kids of all the people I know. And I have friends that rock to the nth degree. And to top it off, my 83 year old mom can still make desserts with the best of them. I love birthdays. They are God's gift to you. It is your day and it should be celebrated. You don't have to share it with anyone. It is your very own holiday that celebrates you: not Martin Luther, Columbus, or any number of presidents. It is all about you. So go out and celebrate it! I usually take the day off and if possible, like to have a small fire outside for cooking hot dogs and brats on but this year it was raining pretty much from 8am to 8pm. But still! It was one of the best birthdays ever.

To start off, my mom was making for me, as requested, a red velvet cake. If you have never had a homemade red velvet cake, then I feel sorry for you. It is one of the most delicious, rich, and filling cakes you have ever had. (For the love of God, there is a pound of butter in it) My mother even made it with homemade cream cheese icing.... O.M.G.



And to make things even better, my wife purchased a gift for me that truly had alot of thought behind it. For my 44th birthday, my wonderful wife bought me a .44 magnum revolver.... yeah, like Dirty Harry .44 magnum. A Ruger Red Hawk, .44 mag. with 7.5 inch brushed stainless steel barrel with rosewood handle. Just frakkin sweet... I love that girl. Apparently my kids and some friends pitched in to make it happen too. My kids and friends are just the best.


And finally, while having dessert of red velvet cake, one of my best buddies pulls out a 20 year aged bottle of Taylor Fladgate Tawny Port. Talk about a match made in heaven... red velvet and tawny port. Yeah buddy, can you say orgasm for your mouth?



Anyway, I highly doubt I will get a .45 caliber anything for my 45th birthday, and they don't make guns in 46-49 caliber but I can see 50 from here! Makes you wonder what kind of gun goes with 50?

This is a birthday I will always remember.

Thanks!

Later!

Doing more with less...

The CiderHaus at the Jubilee Colonial Faire. Simple idea, simple set up.


Fellow re-enactors enjoying time at the tavern and getting ready for a skit.


The CiderHaus in full swing.

About two years ago I came across a new 18th century event being held at one of my favoritest places, the Jubilee College State Park, site of the Jubilee Olde English Fazire. Now it has another event! The Jubilee Colonial Faire! When friend Jenn and my daughter Cora went to visit the event for it's inaugural year, we discovered an event that was trying very hard to be an education/demonstation focused event rather than an event where entertainment, ceremonies, and shopping was the focus. This was my kind of event. In addition to that, it was very light on scheduled activities. No up for colors, stand around for roll call of the dead, stand around for more ceremony, be on ready for battle, go eat in 20 minutes and come back for more ceremony.... nope. Pretty loose schedule at the Jubilee Colonial Faire.

Well, I decided I wanted to do this event and last year made plans to attend with my cider press to demo how to make apple cider. Long story short, life got in the way and I was unable to attend in 2008. This year, however, I made some arrangements and despite life trying to get back in my face, I persevered and attended the faire. It was really quite fun and I have always wanted to do something that had real involvement with the other reenactors. The tavern was a natural choice and it seemed to be a good one.

Now here is the point of my posting. Ever since I have attended this event, I have been amazed at how enjoyable it was to do this event and I have given alot of thought as to why.

First and foremost, I was not packing for an entire group of people, nor was I thinking for them, or handling issues for them that should have been handled weeks, if not months before the event.

Everything I took could have fit in the back of my truck, but I took a small trailer to spread things out.

Set up was even easier. Two tents, a table, my press and some fixings and everything was done in about an hour, and without alot of struggle or people standing around wondering what needs to be done.

I could have done this entire thing by myself, but what fun is that, so with my family and friend Jenn, we entertained and educated people and enjoyed ourselves for two whole days with very little stress. Rain not withstanding, it was a very nice weekend.

I have been involved in re-enacting for well over 20 years now and still enjoy it, but of late I have been thinking about what could I do with less stuff and having to depend on fewer people. Currently, (at least with my medieval living history group) I need to have at least 15 people (of which 85% need to be older than 14 years of age) to commit to a weekend event for which we will get paid. As people and children grow older, thing get busier and event get harder to committ to. I am a victim of that myself! Also, everything seems to be far more expensive and that makes comitting to an event a real financial throwdown. So when I decide to do an event for with the medieval group, it requires not just my commitment, but the commitment of a whole bunch of other people. And over the years we have developed a show/demo that is quite good, but it also requires a ton of equipment to haul and set up. And it usually befalls on me to maintain, care for and clean the equipment.

All of this was put into perspective this last weekend when I saw that I can still do living history events without all the baggage and still get as much out of it as I do with a 1.5 ton trailer hooked to my truck and a set up that takes 4 hours or more and 8 people to do it. This coming weekend is another medieval event and the group is working with fewer numbers but with more expectation from the faire organizers.

As the winter goes along I am going to consider ways to cut baggage and how to do more, or the same, with less. I don't expect to cut out huge chunks of my re-enacting life and demonstration, but it seems that I might need to lighten my load a bit as it is becoming more and more difficult to carry on as it is.

All I Needed to Know, I Learned From My Dog

If only more people acted like dogs, this might be a better world.


If you stare at someone long enough, eventually you'll get what you want.
If at first you don't succeed, beg.
Don't go out without I.D.
Be direct with people; let them know exactly how you feel by peeing on their shoes.
Be aware of when to hold your tongue, and when to use it.
Leave room in your schedule for a good nap.
Always give people a friendly greeting.
When you do something wrong, always take responsibility for it (as soon as you're dragged out from under the bed).
If it's not wet and sloppy, it's not a real kiss.
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.
Let others know when they've invaded your territory.
Take naps and stretch before rising.
Run, romp and play daily.
Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.
Be loyal.
Never pretend to be something you're not.
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree.
When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout...run right back and make friends.
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Nuns with Guns....

Forwarded to me by a good pal of mine...

(We can only hope!)

Ohh... I want one of these so badly!

An AK-47 styled .410 gauge shotgun! I want one so, so bad...

Go here to see it: The Firearm Blog

Irons in the fire....

Just a list of things coming up that excite me:

A BBQ 7 course meal reservation.... what could be better than 7 courses of BBQ?

An LYO trip to the reindeer ranch! Corn maze at night! I am sure to lose at least a few students!

A colonial trade faire where I will be setting up a "Tavern" to serve "cider" to the participants. Will be making homemade cider for this!

High School reunion photo shoot. While I don't like to do the job so much, it is really good money! Money, Money, Money... need some right now...

14th Century demo/ren faire in Fishers Ind. It is alot of work, but it is soooo much fun!

My BIRTHDAY! I love my birthday... even if I don't have a party or anything like that. This time I think I would like to have friends over and do some gaming. Never done that.... after a wiener roast of course...

The JagerFest at the Bayern Stube. Nominally to celebrate my birthday, but I don't need an excuse to go there to eat good German Food!

Camping with the family and dogs. We are going to a new place not far from home but one that looks like it could be hours away! Camping with my kids in the same trailer I camped in as a kid give me a special thrill for some reason. It is like sharing my childhood with them.

Being about 1/2 gallon away from having my house completely repainted... now of I could only get the time to do it!

Well, with this much stuff in the fire, I better get busy getting all the boring stuff out of the way!

Later!

And more from Wired!

10 gaming gadgets that will make us hurt ourselves....

OUCH!!!!

Leave to the Germans!

They have conquered the world of gaming and made it their own. All because of a little game called "The Settlers of Catan." It is a lengthy article but if you are a gamer, then you should read it!

Read about it here: CATAN

Thanks to Henry for bringing this to my attention!

L8r!

I would like one of these...

but fortunately, my neighbors have no problems with guns...

They work for us?!!?!?

This was sent to me via a friend. It is quite an eye opener. I truly don't know if all of it is true but I think, and am afraid it is. WARNING! The language is rough!


THE GUY FROM BOSTON

What rocked about Gen Con this year...

Gen Con Indy, 2009 was, as always, a great time for the family, friends and I. This year was maybe slightly better than other years.

For one, I paid nothing for hotel accomodations, even though we had to pack and unpack each night so we could go to our reserved hotel, find it a disaster, and with no room for us to stay there. Then we would head 4 miles west and stay at a swanky new hotel that would cost something like 150-200 bucks a night, but yet it cost us nothing. It was on the house so to speak from the hotel we were supposed to stay at. Seeing that they never had rooms for us, they sent us to the other hotel at their expense and still let us park in their parking garage which was only 5 city blocks from the convention center. Yeah we had to move around alot and didn't have a place to go to for a break, but what the heck! It was free!

Secondly, registration and scheduling was a snap! Due to a new system, I got into all the games I wanted and so did the family. AND we discovered the game room where you can just go rent a game for $2 or $4 and play to your hearts content! We spent alot of time in good old room 500! Discovered REDNECK LIFE too! Great game!

Third, and most importantly, I had a blast in each and every game I played. My first game was Tigris and Euphrates, a new game just learned a few weeks ago. My wife and I were to play this with two other people, but they never showed so we went at it by ourselves and found it to be a cutthroat sort of game when played with two people. While she did not stomp me in the game, my wife did defeat me soundly. She would say she trashed me. Another game I played and enjoyed, but would probably not purchase it, is Age of Conan: the Board Game. A good game, but it didn't hold my attention and there were too many small mechanics in the game to make it easily playable. I did enjoy the game, especially because of the theme, but it would not make it to my top 20 list in fun games.

The games I did enjoy the most were Memoir '44 and Battlestar Galactica the board game. Both of these games gave me an adrenaline rush and were hours well spent playing. The Memoir game is a tradition for the group I attend GenCon with. Four years now we have played the Overlord games and come out victorious! This year was my turn at the role of overall commander and we beat an experienced team with a "world champion" of strategy board gaming. Never seen a champion retreat in a battle strategy game before! Anyway, as a team we worked really well and I was happy that we all contributed our best to win the game. It was a hard slog but it was worth it! The other game, Battlestar Galactica, while not a game for everyone, is rapidly becomeing one of my favorites. The premise is that exactly as the show... Humans trying to survive Cylon attacks and plots. In the game, you don't know who is human and who is cylon and it makes for a very interesting game especially with the mechanics of skill checks coming in from everyone, and not everyone is playing to win for the humans! I did not win in this game but I got to play with my daughter and can see she is starting to become a gamer. She has a good grasp of complicated game concepts when she pays attention. Now only if she could translate that into grasping concepts in school.

The only complaint I have about this year's con was our visit to the Ram. The service sucked, the food tore me up inside, and they discontinued their sale of Taylor Fladgate 40 year port. For that alone, I will not return.

It was a great time and I can't wait for next year.
Later!