Well it happened again. I got called out for being wrong about something but, later, after a half hour of research, I found what I needed to to back up my argument. And I feel like a shit if I were to text them later to assert my claim.
Google is a real pain in the ass. It is REALLY hard to find things right as you need them to back up an argument. I’m not sure what I’m going to do going forward, I mean I don’t want to bookmark every single article I read just in case I need to back it up months or years later.
This time it was an argument about whether or not Biden can eliminate student loan debt. Turns out, most likely, I’m right. Trump even used the same kind of logic when he did it.
Here are some links:
And now doing a google search of this: can the secretary of education cancel student loans links to a bunch of articles! Fuck my life sometimes man. I hate feeling like I’m this jerk or crazy person who makes bogus claims and can’t back them up. Fuck me for not having the information right then and there. But looking back at it later, I’ll fucking find it.
Update bonus: Here’s a reminder that POTUS can give everyone Medicare for All under section 1881 A of the Social Security Act. In fact, that act has been used in Libby, Montana where residents can get free healthcare.
Dexter is a tough show to watch for me. Not the premise or anything… just the way things happened. I’m one of the many fans who HATED the ending of it. Although, I’m really looking forward to the reboot later this year! Hopefully it won’t be as disappointing.
There are several things I really hated about Dexter. Here are some and what I have to kind of tell myself should have happened.
Biney Dying
I hated that they killed off Brian (Biney). I hated that Dexter did it himself. In the books, Biney is still on the loose. I would much prefer to think of Biney still being out there. In season 6 (I think) when Dexter goes off for a day with imaginary Biney, I would like to think that was real Biney and he’s still alive and well.
Lundy Dying
God I HATED that. Lundy and Deb were such an awesome couple and such a dynamic. I loved that relationship. And how they killed Lundy off so fast in season 4 really bothered me. I like to think that Lundy got too close to Trinity and had to go into witness protection or something and that Deb is still searching for him. Or maybe he left Miami to be with his daughter (whom we didn’t know about until he died). Anything but killing him off. I loved his humor and his character. If anyone should have brought down Dexter, it should have been Lundy.
Rita Dying
Notice a theme of all these awesome characters dying? Rita too, god damn it. I hated that. I mean, WTF? Why??? I like to think Rita left with Cody and Aster and left Dexter with Harrison cause she saw something dark in him maybe? Either way, no way Rita should have died.
Deb Dying
So WTF now? I guess we’ll find out but seriously that was stupid as fuck.
You can check out the other blog posts about Dexter by searching this blog (duh).
But here’s to hopefully a better season than seasons 5, 6, 7, and 8! I’m also re-reading the books so I’ll blog about that at a later date.
When we were at Myrtle Beach, during the night, my phone started having a coniption. The charging port was wet. During the rest of the trip it has been iffy to charge the phone by cord.
When I got home, the phone fully wouldn’t hook up to a cord. The wet “moisture detected” warning was always on. I could not plug my phone into any port. Not the PC, not our cords, nothing. I had to charge my phone with our ghetto wireless charger. It didn’t do a good job.
So I went to a place in Gaithersburg to see if they could fix it yesterday. They could not. The dude even lectured me about how the phones aren’t supposed to be underwater… I’m sorry… what? Why would they advertise they can? Why would they have an option to take UNDERWATER photos?
That place sucked. Bri called Samsung and they said go to one of their certified places. I took it there today. They originally said over the phone they had the part but when I got there, they did not. They could not fix my phone either. They suggested calling Samsung.
We did when I got home. After pronouncing my last name 23432359 times to the lady, she finally got my information and emailed me a postage. I was to mail my phone to them since it was still “under warranty.” However, I think I would be paying them since it was a “my fault” kind of thing since I took my phone to the beach and got it wet.
I couldn’t get my photos off my phone! And their fine print said they would wipe my phone. I had to get these photos off!
After trying various things, nothing seemed to work.
Bri wanted to try to charge the phone with it powered off. For some reason, IT WORKED! My phone was able to charge with the cable with the phone turned off! When we turned the phone back on, the wet/damp warning message was gone! Finally that nightmare was over.
However, it said it could not reach a network (the no sign in the top right). After another restart, everything was fine!
Let’s hope it doesn’t come back. WTF, Samsung?
I hope if someone looks for how to solve the wet/warning issue, they come across this blog and maybe it could help them.
My mom’s boyfriend, Kenny, was kind enough to give me his timeshare in Myrtle beach in June 2021. I originally wanted it to be a big girls trip with just Arlene, Becky, and I but I realized that wouldn’t be fair to our guys. When Arlene decided to get her own place, I made the move to have the guys there too all week.
We had an awesome time! We did breweries, wine tasting, lots of mini golf, pool, dinners and drinks, games, and (of course) the beach! I always wanted to do a trip like this with good friends. It was awesome.
Pictures:
http://yearscollage.com/user/niles38?set_id=42
Here’s the diary…
Friday, June 4, 2021
- Worked half day; got everything done
- Packed
- Got stung by a plant
- Dropped dogs off at Bri’s parents
- Got hotel in NC
- Hardee’s for dinner; drank a big beer
Saturday, June 5, 2021
- Crappy breakfast
- Left hotel
- Got to Sands Beach Club
- Found car spot with electric parking
- Met up with mom & Kenny
- Drove to Ocean Annie’s
- Drank a lot of beer, live music
- Got food
- Went back to resort
- Room ready
- Kenny & mom showed us around room then left
- Went to hot tub & drank
- Becky texted & we met up with them
- Hot tub & pool with Paul & Becky
- Twisted Restaurant dinner
- I was plastered
- Back to room
- Arlene & Andy came by
Sunday, June 6, 2021
- Got up & Went to breakfast with Paul & Becky (good place)
- Went to Costco
- Came back to resort
- Walk on the beach
- Hit the pool with everyone
- Played with ball
- Back to room to chill and change
- Went to the pirate Voyage show
- Went back to our place for games
Monday, June 7, 2021
- Talked to Kenny but weather not good
- Went to the beach
- Went to the brewery, Andy & Arlene Met us up there
- Walked to golf but Went to a wine tasting place along the way
- Hung around wine place for a bit
- Paul drove us to alpha gold put put place
- Went to Arlene & Andy’s
- Got pizza
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
- Got up somewhat early to go boating
- Met Kenny & Mom at the marina
- Went to Bird Island
- Walked around a bit, did the ocean
- Got stranded on Bird Island because of the tide
- Had some beer
- Did more ocean and beach
- When we were able to get out, did a toast with wine
- Boated to LuLu’s… bad service
- Had lunch, drinks
- Boated back to marina
- Everyone tired & Went to bed early
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
- No one wanted to go out to breakfast
- Bri & I went to blueberry grill for breakfast
- Went to Publix
- Back to hotel
- Went to the beach
- Met up with Arlene, flew kites
- Walked to Harry the hats for lunch
- Hung around hotel
- Hit up the boardwalk around 5
- Paul, Bri, Becky drank at Hurricanes (cat 5 Hurricane’s)
- Played the Mind, alcoholic slushi’s
- Rode the SkyWheel
- Met up with Arlene & Andy
- Went to some tiki bar (bad service) but shots and food
- Went into some shop
- All rode back in my car; everyone drunk
Thursday, June 10, 2021
- Everyone drank the night before
- Went to pancake house for breakfast
- Back to hotel
- Mini golf at two places
- Went swimming in pool
- Met cool guy by the pool
- Went to seafood place for dinner
- Checked out kite place before we ate
- Back to our place for games
- Everyone called it an early night
Friday, June 11, 2021
- Paul & Becky got up, packed and left
- Kind of sadness
- Waited for Mom to message me
- Got in the pool for a bit
- Went over Kenny’s
- Went out to lunch with Kenny & Mom
- Hung out with Kenny & mom for a bit
- Back to hotel
- Met up with Andy & Arlene and went to place next to Ocean Annie’s
- Back to our place & played rummy
- Went over to Arlene’s for their beer
- Watched half of a movie
Saturday, June 12, 2021
- Got up and cleaned and left
- Traffic a lot
- Picked up the kids
- Got home & watched movies
Should have done this a long time ago… here are the algorithms I use to solve the various rubik’s cubes.
2×2
Note that I’m terrible at the 2×2. It’s my worst cube and I HATE solving it. Here are two algorithms I use:
R U R’ U R U2 R’
R’ U R’ D2 R U’ R’ D2 R2 B’
3×3
(bottom to get edge like +) F R U R’ U’ F’ L
(bottom to get edge properly positioned) R U2 R’ U R U’ R’ U’
(bottom to get corners properly positioned) L’ U R U’ L U R’ U
(bottom to get corners properly positioned) R U2 R’ U’ R U’ R’ L’ U2 L U L’ U L
Pyramid
(flipped edges) L R’ L’ R U’ R U R’
(other solve) R’ L R L’
4×4
(2 unsolved edges ====) Dr R F’ U R’ F Dl
(parody) Rw1 U2 Lw F2 Lw1 F2 Rw2 U2 R U2 Rw’ U2 F2 Rw2 F2
(parody corners) Rw2 U2 Rw2 UU2 Rw2 UU2
5×5 (and other odds)
I solve this one differently than what tutorials would tell you. The way I solve it only leaves me with one possible parody; the flipped edges one.
(flipped edges |||) LL’ U2 LL’ U2 F2 LL’ F2 RR U2 RR’ U2 LL2
Mega Minx
(to get the star edges; 1 flipped at 6 o’clock & 1 right at 11 o’clock) F R U R’ U’ F’
(to get star corner pieces; 6 o’clock & 8 o’clock will stay) R U R’ U R U2′ R’
(corners; 5 o’clock & 7 o’clock will stay) U 2 U2′ L’ U2 R’ U2′ L U
(corners pieces; piece on right will change; keep repeating until solved) R’ D’ R D
A lot of time went into the making of this trip. Heidi, Bri, and I have been playing Dominion online since the pandemic. Earlier this year (2021) we wanted to do a vacation that was “covid friendly.” Since Bri had always wanted to do an RV trip, Heidi and I went along with it. We let him plan the whole thing which was probably a mistake… we just let him go at it with the assumption that he knows what we like… which he did.
We had several mishaps during the trip like forgetting the pillows and having to drive almost two hours out of the way to pick up and drop off a rental car. But we had a great time but it was very stressful at times (at least the driving was). But we had a lot of fun and have a lot of good memories.
Pictures:
http://yearscollage.com/user/niles38?set_id=39
Anyway, here’s a diary of what I did on the trip…
Friday, April 30, 2021
- Worked from home for a few hours
- Heidi came over
- Got the RV, went through the whole spiel about “how to RV”… thinking to myself they need to have a degree program in this shit
- Went home and started to pack, neighbors came over to check the RV out
Saturday, May 1, 2021
- Left around 6 am
- Realized we forgot the pillows!
- Went all the way to some airport to pick up the rental car
- I picked up the rental car by myself and drove to Walmart (ewww! First time I’ve even step foot in a Walmart much less buy something in like 15 years!), got pillows, beer, and other supplies, and other shit
- Got to KOA and relaxed, I built the fire
- Couldn’t sleep, tried to sleep in rental car; half way through the night I was cold so I went back in the RV
Sunday, May 2, 2021
- My back hurt in the morning after the sleep on the top bed
- Went to the Fontana Dam with everyone and dogs
- Walked around Cherokee
- Cherokee memorial
- Went to Firehouse Subs where there was an order for “Trump” (a Trump guy said his order was for Trump; he had a Trump patch on his biker vest)
- Heidi went for a walk so Bri and I could do adult things
- Dominion at night before rain
Monday, May 3, 2021
- Back hurt in the morning after sleep on top again
- Heidi watches dogs while Bri and I went out
- It was rainy all day
- Tried to go to Mingo falls (but it was closed); dudes who walked down said don’t waste a trip up
- Scary one way gravel road next to creek to get out of the place
- Went to Mingus Mill; a nice guy there gave us a tour
- Drove through Smokey Mountain National Park
- Camera broke before Laurel Falls!
- Did the hike up to Laurel Falls; no one wearing masks
- Went into smallish town in Tennessee to get gas; no one wearing masks walking around like it’s Marti Gras… got out of there fast!
- On the way back noticed a “Native Brews” sign
- Ate at Native Brews
Tuesday, May 4, 2021
- Returned rental 3 hours out of the way; I drove rental back by myself; met up with Heidi and Bri
- Got on the road
- Bad wind and rain
- Bad accident which caused traffic
- Heidi panic attack
- We drove through GA for like 10 minutes (very strange)
- Canceled rental for Alabama since we weren’t going to make the time
- I drove through nasty rain storm to get to Alabama; hazard lights on the whole time
- Drank at night outside after rain
- Decided that I will sleep on the table bed which had to have been built for a midget (excuse me, small person) since I had to sleep catty cornered
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
- Bri Bri got pan cakes at the Market place in KOA
- Walked around KOA
- Did laundry and played cornhole; talked to the owner of the KOA
- Debated food; nothing around; no one delivered not even Dominos
- Decided to drive to store and get food
- Bri and I did some adult things in the Publix parking lot while Heidi got the groceries
- Walked around KOA when we got back; cinco de mayo food
Thursday, May 6, 2021
- Breakfast and coffee outside
- Heidi went for a run
- Went and did kayaking around lake
- Birds divebombing us around bridge where their homes are
- Walked and chill; of course drank
- Tried to grill but severe thunderstorms
- Lando kept me awake at night… tried to do adult things but it rocked the trailer too much and woke up Heidi… blamed it on the wind and the dogs
Friday, May 7, 2021
- Got on road to KY
- Got rental car
- I found yet another fucking Walmart (all they got out there) drove there and got cupcakes for Heidi’s birthday
- Went to the KOA store… everyone was super nice; offered to drive me back to RV since I bought 4 six packs of beer
- Walked around and played on bounce thing
- Ordered from New Jersey pizza… story… they did not deliver :( But ordered pizza from somewhere a little closer who did deliver
- Played Dominion and got on Fri night call for a few minutes
Saturday, May 8, 2021
- Drove to random bourbon place but it wasn’t there!
- Drove to Wilderness Trails distillery and did a tasting
- Went to little Mexican place which had awesome food; dogs were welcome too
- Went to Four Roses but they were sold out
- Went to Wild Turkey distillery; Heidi and Bri drank so I could drive
- Debated what we were going to do on Monday; Heidi made some calls and set up a KOA for Monday night
- Bri and I went out on a date night but the first BBQ place didn’t wear masks (very scary!) so we went to another joint that had masks
- Heidi went for a walk so Bri and I could do adult things
- Played Dominion
Sunday, May 9, 2021
- Went to Cumberland Falls with dogs; just Bri and I
- Drove through Boone National Forest; stopping at interesting places
- Came back, rain, the mind, and drank
Monday, May 10, 2021
- Had shower and got on road ASAP
- Part way through I did calculation from home and from KOA to home
- The KOA we booked ended up being another 2 hours total versus just hammering it out and going home being 1 more hour
- Decided to head directly home instead
- I drove the final leg which was all of Maryland; drove by our college, Frostburg <3
- Got home around 6:30; unpacked and cleaned
This post is purely for my record keeping. I’m going to keep track of the good and (I’m sure mostly) bad Joe Biden does.
GOOD
BAD
COMMENTS
I’m against having a large military like ours and spending so much on our defense when there are larger issues but it is really stupid that transgender people have to worry about which president is in power in order to serve. That’s messed up.
I hope it goes without saying that Trump was a pretty awful president. He was so bad for the country. It will probably take generations to undo the stuff he has put forth. There isn’t much good to write about him, honestly.
The Good
The Bad
- The tax cuts that he and the Republicans rammed through Congress. We’re in so much debt because the rich got richer.
- Didn’t keep campaign promises on outsourcing jobs.
- Transgender in the military ban.
- Renewed Keystone XL pipeline.
- Did NOTHING for income inequality (made it worse), racial justice, etc.
- Muslim ban.
- Not handling Covid properly.
- Wasting billions of dollars on a border wall.
- I DO NOT have covid. I doubt that I’ve ever had it.
- I REALLY want AOC to force a vote on Medicare For All so then we will know who supports giving people healthcare during a pandemic.
- I say fuck too much.
- My friends are awesome. I miss my friends.
- My dogs are awesome. I don’t miss my dogs since they’re always here with me.
- I’ve been downloading (actually buying) a lot of music.
- I’m really into Chernobyl, Mount Everest, abandoned places, ship wrecks, etc. I would like more recommendations for YouTube but since all I subscribe to and most of what I play is political in nature, I don’t see much.
- I have a weird crush on Jared Harris right now. I just finished binging Fringe and just watched Chernobyl on HBO for the third time. I just love his voice. It’s sexy to me.
- It does not feel like Christmas to me.
- I’m kind of a little addicted to work right now which is not a good thing. I think about it a lot. I’m having fun and (dare I say it) look forward to the work days.
- I’m learning Spanish and actually getting good at it. Speaking and hearing, not so much but I can read it.
- I REALLY wish the Democrats didn’t suck. I REALLY wish we had Bernie in there. I REALLY wish more people realized that the Democrats suck and demand more from them. All I do on Twitter is bash the Democrats because they deserve it. They are beyond pathetic and the next four years are going to be a cluster fuck. Sorry (not sorry) but Joe Biden sucks ass. He’s going to make things worse (and NO that doesn’t mean he’s worse than Trump).
- I wish I had more time for this blog. I wish I could write debunking posts like I used to. I would research the shit out of something and write about it with sources and stuff. It was fun and awesome.
Hahah.
I’m playing the following songs in case I die. I’ll update this blog post to remember me by.
- Matisyahu – One Day
- Kodaline – All I Want
Will my memory live on? God I hope not. My miniscule life means nothing.
I know I’m borrowing this from a Kevin Spacey movie but I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life.
Yes, I’m drunk writing this. (Thank God for spell check!)
I’m in Ocean City, Maryland right now. I’ve been looking forward to this time for many many weeks. It’s wonderful.
Am I COVID positive? I don’t know. But I couldn’t tell you that before I came here either.
I’m quarantining for at least two weeks when we get back. I’m wearing a mask always (DUH!) even on the boardwalk. I’m very slow to type but I feel safe at the moment. I want to always be safe.
Being in Ocean City, it’s great but it’s also worrisome. I love hearing the ocean but I worry about COVID.
Just now. Tranquil. It’s necessary. Different change in scenery. I need this. Thank you. I’m grateful I can do this.
I’m getting a list together of all the stuff I want to do once this shit is over. I really miss the ability to just go out. I miss my friends. I miss hanging out and having a few beers. I miss driving. I actually miss my commute. This time of year I’m riding my motorcycle to and from work. I miss that. But I actually miss being in the Prius as well. Scary thing.
Anyway, here is a list of stuff I would like to do once the pandemic is over and life becomes normal again:
- Go to Medieval Times (I seriously think about this everyday)
- See Arlene in Florida with Becky
- Go with Arlene to Seattle
- Go on a cruise with my P.I.C. (Bri Bri)
- Go to the beach
- Have our yearly party
- Go glamping with Heidi
- Play real life board games with all my board game friends
- Start up our Friday traditions of going to a bar and playing board games
- Hang out with Uncle George and have a few beers
- See my family
I decided my blogs needed some love. I’m looking at this blog and Syntax Notes. I’m installing new, crisp, clean WP themes on both this blog and Syntax Notes.
We’re also getting out a bit more (a bit). Every week or every other week we seem to do something with someone. We still maintain distance with them and wear masks. It’s nice to actually go places and see people. You need that.
I can’t wait for this bullshit to be over!
I’ve been binge rewatching Silicon Valley on HBO. I remember a scene from a few years ago when I first watched it and am now rewatching. It’s a very good scene.
Gavin is trying to get the cheapest place and people to build his new box. China, Bengledesh, all the other cheaper labor places in the world he couldn’t do so he turned to the United States. Some little town in South Carolina.
He got them to give him massive tax cuts, cleaned up facilities, etc… ya know, what rich NFL owners, Amazon, and other big corporations do.
Unfortunately, that strategy did not turn out well for his factory. Here’s what happened:
- The mayor had the factory repainted.
- The painters left some oily rags in a garbage can.
- Because of cuts to the sanitation service, the trash was not collected.
- The rags smuldered and caught fire.
- Because of cuts to the fire department, the blaze spread.
- A number of concerned citizens tried to fight the fire, but because the water was cut off, they could not.
- The vast majority of the rare earth materials survived the fire until the flames evaded.
- Due to mass layoffs of police, the locals that were there to fight the fire, decided to loot the burned out factory.
- The national guard attempted to reach the factory to help stop it, but the roads.
It’s just perfect to highlight what all goes wrong when capitalism for the poor and socialism for the rich come together. In this instance, even though it’s fiction, it’s good to see how big companies can suffer from their own mistakes.
I’ve been playing a lot of Dominion online with friends. We’re kind of addicted. In real life we only have the following sets:
- Base
- Intrigue
- Prosperity
- Hinterlands
- Empires
- Nocturne
However, Dominion online has all the sets! We’ve played with cards and abilities that add totally new dynamic to the game. Some are very interesting and fun. However, I wouldn’t want to buy entire sets just for a few cards that I like.
Anyway, I thought I’d blog about my favorite Dominion cards.
- Bishop (Prosperity) – Gives you a victory coin, a coin, and you can trash a card and get that amount (divided by two) in victory coins. You play Bishop to trash an Estate, now you have two victory coins and no estates clogging your deck. Easily one of my favorite cards.
- Bounty Hunter (Menagerie) – Gives you an action and you can exile a card from your hand. If it’s the first of its kind in exile, you get plus three coin.
- Black Cat (Menagerie) – Gives you two cards but if it’s in your had when someone buys a victory card, it gives everyone a curse. This card is quickly becoming a favorite of mine due to that fact. Snatch these cards up so when people buy victory cards, they get curses as well! These are now the first cards to go.
- Black Market (Promo) – When you play it, it gives you the ability to buy cards that are not in the sets you’re currently playing with. In real life, I guess we’d play with the blue backed (shuffle) cards. Not sure where you can really get this but this is an interesting card.
- Border Village (Hinterlands) – One card, two actions and gives you a free, cheaper card when you buy it. It works well to get free Laboratories, Groundskeepers, whatever.
- Castles (Empires) – Every castle is different (except for the first few ones). Each one goes up in value and allows you to do different things. They go up in power as you go up with the final one costing 10 coins. If you’re playing with these, try to get them before they’re gone. They go fast!
- Chariot Race (Empires) – One action and you reveal the top card and another player reveals their top card; if your card is more 1 coin and a victory coin. I haven’t had the best of luck with these but I think later in the game they work better.
- City (Prosperity) – One card, two actions. Another card that’s get it while it lasts. This card gets better as the game goes on as the more piles are gone, the more powerful the card is.
- Devil’s Workshop (Nocturne) – Dependent on how many cards you’ve gained. Nice to gain an easy gold if your hand is crap. It’s also nice to get Imps if you’ve gained two or more cards. Cascading Devil’s Workshops works as you can play as many Night cards as you want!
- Distant Lands (Adventures) – Placed on your tavern mat. It’s worth 4 victory points at the end of the game. Get these fast and play them.
- Duke (Intrigue) – Worth one victory point per each Duchy you have. Yes, it’s boring but towards the end if you don’t have enough for a Province, these 5 coined cards are easy victory points. I’ve won a game doing this strategy.
- Duplicate (Adventures) – Put on your tavern mat and called when you gain a card and you get a duplicate of that card (up to 6 coins). Pretty powerful for easy gold.
- Expand (Prosperity) – Trash a card and you get something worth 3 coins more than it. Perfect for turning Estates into Duchies then Dutchies into Provinces.
- Farmer’s Market (Empires) – One buy and worth 1 coin per victory coin on it. When four victory coins are on it, you trash it and get those victory coins. Great card but it’s stressful when other players buy it.
- Fool’s Gold (Hinterlands) – Worth one coin but if you have two, both together are worth five coins. I don’t know why more people don’t love this card.
- Forge (Prosperity) – Trash any number of cards and gain what they all total to be. Good way to trash Copper and something else just to get that something else back. Good at the end of the game when you’re clinging for your life.
- Giant (Adventures) – Turn your journey token over. If it’s face up plus five coin and everyone looks at the top two cards of their deck and trashes any worth 3 to 6. If it’s face down plus one coin. This card goes great with any kind of Village. I always buy a few of these guys.
- Grand Market (Prosperity) – One card, one action, one buy, two coins. Cannot buy this with Coppers! Very powerful card.
- Groundskeeper (Empires) – One card, one action but you gain a victory coin when you buy a victory card. I like to cascade them and get more coins!
- Harem (Intrigue) – Two coins, two victory points. It’s a great card as it doubles as victory points and coins.
- Hireling (Adventures) – Stays in play and every turn you get an extra card. This card is too powerful to be only 6 coins. I think it should be worth more. Get them as soon as you can as you can get more cards into every one of your hands faster.
- Hoard (Prosperity) – Two coins but you gain a gold when you buy a victory card. Pretty nice to get free gold.
- Lurker (Intrigue) – One action and you trash a card from its supply or gain a card from the trash (actions only). Very nice to get expensive cards at the beginning of the game. Used very well for cards that are harder to get like Peddlers or Grand Markets. I usually try to get two my first two turns so I can trash something then immediately get it.
- Mill (Intrigue) – One card, one action, discard two cards for 2 coins and it’s worth one victory point. I hurry to get these since it always gives you a card and an action and it’s victory as well.
- Monument (Prosperity) – Two coins, one victory coin. Simple. Easy money and victory coins.
- Mountebank (Prosperity) – Two coins and each other player gains a curse and a copper (unless they have a curse in their hand). Great attack card and it clogs up other peoples’ decks with crap. One game we ran out of copper because of this card.
- Nobles (Intrigue) – Worth two victory points and you get to choose +3 cards or two actions. It pays for itself as it’s worth victory and it does something.
- Oasis (Hinterlands) – One card, one action, one coin, discard a card. A lot of folks don’t like this card because of the discard but I don’t mind it. I usually discard a victory point or a copper.
- Peddler (Prosperity) – One card, one action, one coin. Like a Market however the cost depends on how many action cards you’ve played. Peddlers can be free!
- Port (Adventures) – One card, two actions when you buy it you get another one for free. Not bad for 4 coins.
- Ratcatcher (Adventures) – One card, one action so it takes care of itself. You trash a card when you call it back from your mat.
- Replace (Intrigue) – Like Remodel, it does the same thing except if you gain an action or treasure, you get it onto your deck. If you choose to buy a victory point, every player gains a Curse. Great for turning copper into Estates and cursing everyone!
- Sacrifice (Empires) – Trash an action card and get +2 cards and +2 actions, trash a treasure and get 2 coins, trash a victory and get 2 victory coins. I love it. Easily trashes estates out of your hand and doubles their value. Keep buying estates and trashing them with this. I love trashing cards!
- Scheme (Hinterlands) – One card, one action, put an action card on top. I Scheme Schemes! They’re awesome for playing a card over and over.
- Temple (Empires) – Get a victory coin and trash one to three cards and add a victory coin to the Temple pile; whoever buys it gets the victory coins accumulated there. Easy victory coins. However, trashing in later hands can be stressful.
- Trade Route (Prosperity) – One buy, trash a card and you get that many coins that are on the Trade Route map. Really good towards the later parts of the game. Love this card.
- Treasure Map (Seaside) – Trash two of them and get four golds onto your deck. Get these as soon as possible and hope you get two in a row to get some serious gold.
- Upgrade (Intrigue) – One card, one action. Easy way to turn a card that costs 5 into a gold. Or get rid of coppers.
Bottom line, I love cards that trash! I love getting rid of coppers. I love upgrading cards into something better. I love trashing curses. If a game doesn’t have a trash card in it, I’m sad.
We’ve been social distancing now for about three weeks. I really miss my friends. I was able to do facetime with a friend the other day and I really enjoyed seeing them. These times are hard.
Anyway, I thought I’d share some cool websites we found to better connect us with our friends. These are primarily game websites since Bri and I are both big into board games. Here’s the list:
- dominion.games – This is Dominion online. We played this last night until like 3 AM. The free version just has the base set. It’s only like $5 a month. Totally worth it. One membership gets you all the Dominion sets as well as the ability to play with six people. You only need one membership for anyone to join you. It’s free to join.
- http://playingcards.io/ – This is a free, virtual card playing website. They have Cards Against Humanity! They also have a bunch of other games you’d usually play in gradeschool like Go Fish.
- https://jackboxgames.com – JackBox games are always fun! We started playing them years ago with friends. You play them with your phone. You can do them distance now as well. I recently played Drawful with coworkers. We shared his screen via Slack and all talked through Slack and drew on our phones. JackBox games do cost a bit of money though.
- https://www.trickstercards.com/game/ – A neat website you can play four player card games like Spades, Hearts, Bridge, and Pinochle.
I’ll update this post with more social distancing fun stuff when I find it.
We recently explored the possibility of moving to another house (long story). So, naturally, we started interviewing realtors to sell our current house. Every one of them said rip up the carpet (which is only five years old) and expose the hardwood.
I wasn’t sure what kind of impact that would have on our home as the different levels have been built up for carpet. Not to mention, the title I had put in on the side door. That would have to go.
I also wasn’t sure what kind of shape the hardwood floors were in as I hadn’t seen them before. What if they were crap and needed to be sanded? Ugh. I know what that does to a house (all the dust, disgust from cleaning and sanding hardwood from my dad’s house).
Ripping up the carpet was a non-starter with us. We dismissed it and saying we wouldn’t do it. Apparently, hardwood “shows better.”
I had hardwood when growing up and it was gross. Getting a glass of water in the middle of the night, or going to the bathroom? I’d have to wipe my feet off before I went to bed. Dust, dirt, black on my feet. It was not cool.
My husband and I are big into carpet. I love the feel and the ease of cleaning. It’s just a vacuum. With hardwood floors it’s like swiffering, vacuuming, and cleaning. It’s a pain. Not to mention the dust and hair that settles down on it and get’s blown around. Then you have these areas close to the walls where there’s hair and dust. Ugh.
So, this post was pretty pointless. Just letting people know I’m a carpet person and hardwood sucks!
WaPo had an interesting article of what the average American looks like. I fit most of their attributes.
Here’s how I compare:
The average American is a woman – Yes, I’m a woman.
The average American is white and not Hispanic – Yep. I’m Caucasian.
She’s 52 years old – Nope. I’m significantly younger than that.
She has a bachelor’s degree – Guilty. BS from Frostburg!
She works in “education and health services” – Somewhat. I work for a government contractor who does contracts with HHS.
She earns $889.62 a week – Nope. I earn a lot more than that.
She lives in a city – Yes. The suburbs.
She’s a political independent — who tends to vote Democratic – Yes. I’m a registered Independent but I tend to vote Democrat (when I like them).
She voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 – Hell no! I voted for Jill Stein.
The average American has a 26.1-minute commute – This is accurate.
She’s married and lives with her spouse – Yep.
She lives in a house that she owns or that another resident owns – Yes, I own my home.
There’s probably another person there, too – Yes. My husband and my pets.
She’s an evangelical Baptist – Nope.
She disapproves of Trump’s performance as president – True!
She believes that Trump has strengthened the economy – False!
She believes that Trump has weakened America’s standing globally – True!
She would rather see Democrats control the House than Republicans – Yeah, I guess but it’s like one inch of difference.
She probably won’t vote – Fuck no. I’ll always vote.
Total: 13/19
Wow, what a serious title.
Anyway, for the past, I don’t know, year, I’ve been thinking a lot about what the best days of my life were and how I wish I could relive them… even the boring parts.
First, though, let’s start about songs about the best days of people’s lives. Here’s a list I can think of off the top of my head:
- Bryan Adams – Summer Of 69
- Kid Rock – All Summer Long
- Van Morrison – Brown Eyed Girl
- Bob Seger – Night Moves
Not sure if all of them are about like the best times of people’s lives but they were good enough to write a song about.
Anyway, I figure the best times of my life were:
- Spring and summer of senior year of high school – I was ready to graduate high school so like everything was easy. I didn’t have to nor want to study. I crushed on a few guys from my school (some of them teachers)! School was actually fun. I was living with my mother and sister who didn’t care where I went. I didn’t have money but I had friends and time. That summer I started dating a friend of mine. I would go over his place and hang out. We would IM each other and invite ourselves over to our friend’s pool. I played a lot of neopets. I hung out with a lot of friends; go to the mall and the movies and sushi. I was always up for hanging out. I would sleep late everyday. It was a great life.
- The May after I graduated from college; spring, summer, fall – This was the time where I really had everything. I had friends, time, and money. We had finally made some friends and we were all living in the apartments in Germantown. It was an amazing time. We would hang out every night. On the weekends, we’d go out to dinner, had drinks, go rent movies, and go back home and watch them. We’d play a lot of Rockband and go over to each other’s apartments all the time. We’d do crazy stuff like light off fireworks, water gun/balloon fights, go to the pool, barbecue, etc. I had everything then… then my dad had to die and it changed everything.
I love my life now for the most part. I have everything… time, money, and friends; but it isn’t the same as those times. I wasn’t constantly hanging out with people or sleeping in late everyday. Just miss those times I guess.
Maybe I should write a song about it.
A few things have changed… In August of 2018, we brought in a cat named Brindle (who had kittens). You can read her story. Also, our cat we had from college, size_t, passed away. He had diabetes for the past few years and had slowed down on eating. It was very sad.
Now (as of February 2019), we have a dog and three cats. We decided to keep two of Brindle’s kittens. This makes for a different kind of relationships throughout the house. Bri and I are our pets parents. We are also parents to Lupin and Tonks (Brindle’s kittens; named after Harry Potter characters).
Since Brindle is also our daughter and she is mother to Lupin and Tonks, Lupin and Tonks are our son-grandsons. (But we just call them our sons.)
Wiki’s relationship is interesting because he is a brother-uncle to Tonks and Lupin and only a brother to Brindle.
Lupin and Tonks are brother-nephews to Wiki.
Brindle is Lupin and Tonks’ sister-mother.
So we have an interesting dynamic to our house.
Bonus… I’ll throw in our houses in Hogwarts!
- Janis – Hufflepuff
- Bri – Gryffindor
- size_t – Gryffindor
- Wiki – Ravenclaw
Brindle, Lupin, and Tonks are too young to be sorted yet. I’ll take the quiz to see what house they’ll be put in later in their life.