Cool Stuff From All Over (And Down Under)

It was another quiet weekend at the Mad Padre's painting chapel, on the edge of the still mostly frozen Canadian prairie. After teasing Curt C about how Regina might not see summer until mid July, my own part of Alberta got a dump of snow this weekend, though Madame Padre did log the first robin sighting on the back lawn this Saturday, so we live in hope.

Since I last posted here I received a message from the Canadian Forces confirming my selection for the Advanced Training List, meaning that I will be going back to school this fall on the taxpayer's dime. Thank you, kind taxpayers. The last time I was in graduate school, I lived on ramen noodles and washed my dishes with my underwear, so this will be a pleasant change. I still await the elusive posting message that authorizes me to move, put my house on the market, etc. In the meantime, work continues. OP LIVING ROOM is now at D+14, with the carpets ripped out, the walls painted, and, after this weekend, the baseboards sanded. Since I ran away to play little soldiers with my friends the weekend previous, I owed Domestic Niner a weekend at the chores.

I should say that sanding baseboards is one of the nastiest jobs known to humanity. My back is still not talking to me, and despite the masks I am sure I inhaled enough dust to take a few years off my life. However, the wood is original, solid, lovely stuff, dating from the house's construction in 1912, and I felt I owed it to the old girl to do it right. I hope to have them stained by this weekend, and the room ready for the carpet layers when they choose to show up. Work has also progressed on some minor side projects, such as OP KITCHEN SINK and OP BANNISTER PAINTING. OP STOVETOP and OP ELECTRICAL are scheduled for this Friday.

Some good things came through my mailbox in the last few weeks that deserve comment. I was thrilled to get my prize from Dux Homunculorum's recent contest, a set of Iron Ivan's WW2 rules, Disposable Heroes.

I've glanced at them quickly and they look intriguing, so possibly they will get on the gaming table this weekend. Thank you so much, Dux. Stanley the Cat says hello, by the way. He keeps sitting by the door, waiting for the postman. I am starting to wonder if he got bribed to pick the winners in my own contest. I could be wrong, but it's suspicious how often he's asked wbat Australian rodents taste like. Why would he think about that, I wonder.

Also in the last few weeks, I was delighted to get a package from Spain, from Benito, the owner of the Gaming With Too Fat Lardies blog. Benito had noticed that in a post a few month's ago, I had expressed a desire to get a copy of Don Greenwood's famous Avalon Hill game, Breakout Normandy. He kindly offerred to trade me his copy, in excellent condiiton, in return for postage and some trades. This was terribly kind of him, and is a fine example of what young Kinch has called The Freemasonry Of The Hobby. Gracias, amigo! I look forward to playing this game this week, once I get the carpet pulled up from my study (the last room to be readied for OP CARPET).

Besides these two exciting arrivals, a third package showed up here recently, and it deserves a post of it's own, because it is so brilliant I need sunglasses to describe it. I hope you're excited, and that you'll come back here soon to find out what it is!