Things That Make You Happy

[ChronosCat 155]

On 11/24/2018 at 10:03 AM, ProfessorTomoe said:

My album is up on Bandcamp!

Just checked it out; that's some really awesome music. Great work!

[mlooney 3,417]

I ordered some tea (PG Tips) from a place in England over Amazon.  They had a delivery date of Dec 26 to Jan 11.  They arrived today.

I now have 6 kinds of tea in my rotation for tea while computing/playing Eve.

 

[CritterKeeper 1,102]

On 12/19/2018 at 11:25 AM, mlooney said:

They had a delivery date of Dec 26 to Jan 11.  They arrived today.

I had something similar with our surprise Christmas present for our boss.  She has an adorable mixed-breed rescue dog, and we've been speculating on what her mix might be for years.  So, I suggested we go in together on one of those DNA breed tests, just for fun!  Not sure how accurate they are, probably a lot more than they used to be but not at 100% yet, but it's fun to see what comes up.  This one also tests for a bunch of genetic diseases, most of which we wouldn't think she'd be at risk for but it doesn't hurt to look.

They said initially that they'd have results by Jan 3, but I got the text that all of her results were in already over the weekend!  This is not only in time for Christmas itself, but also in time for the office Christmas party on Saturday.  I just need to print it up and put it in some sort of nice folder or binder to present at the party.

[Zorua 124]

It's been a trying two months, full of stress and uncertainty. But, I can finally say it's paid off.

We finally, finally, got the house.

Tomorrow begins the process of unloading the storage unit, but as we own the house, we can handle it at a more...reasonable pace.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

After a long (too long) hiatus, I have finally returned to working on my novel, Tapper. My music has been put on the back burner for the time being—I've been working on it for an unusually long time anyway. I picked up Tapper and did some long-overdue rewrites and polishing on it, starting about a week ago. I put the finishing touches on it today and uploaded it to Scribophile.

If you want to read it, all you have to do is join Scribophile (no fee required for a basic membership - they don't spam you) and start reading from this link. If you want to help me write, you can critique the novel, but you'll have to go to my profile page and make me a "favorite" of yours first (look for the link below my picture on the left-hand side of the page). That way you'll get full credit (a.k.a. "karma") for your critique.

I'm seriously looking to get this novel published this time around, so I would appreciate every bit of input that I can get. Thank you in advance!

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

Baker the cat's ordeal is over! The vet removed his feeding tube today and pronounced him healthy. We don't have to give him any more medicines or anything like that. All we have to do is keep his neck collar on while his feeding tube hole heals up.

We were afraid Baker was going to die on us when all of this began. If it wasn't for a group of great vets and Baker's will to live, we would have lost him. We nurtured that will to live - Mrs. Prof, especially - and now, Baker is back to his sassy self. Thank goodness.

[mlooney 3,417]

I have a digital thermostat now.  Granted it's only semi-auto, in that I have to select heat or cool, but it's digital, not the freaking 1950's dial model I had before.

[CritterKeeper 1,102]

22 hours ago, mlooney said:

Granted it's only semi-auto,

For some reason this brings to mind the working title Jim Butcher had for the first Harry Dresdan book, Semiautomagic.

22 hours ago, mlooney said:

in that I have to select heat or cool, but it's digital, not the freaking 1950's dial model I had before.

I have yet to meet a thermostat where you didn't have to flip a switch to go from heating to cooling or vice versa.  No idea why they do it that way.  There are certain times of year it would really be nice to be able to cool during the day and heat at night without any human intervention....

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

2 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

There are certain times of year it would really be nice to be able to cool during the day and heat at night without any human intervention....

That's about 300 days per year in Florida

[mlooney 3,417]

2 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

have yet to meet a thermostat where you didn't have to flip a switch to go from heating to cooling or vice versa.

I had one that would do that back in Broken Arrow.  Only good thing in that house.

 

[Zorua 124]

What's better than getting a new house is finally moving all your things into the new house. As of two days ago, the last storage unit has officially been emptied.

Now comes the matter of finding out where to put this stuff...

[CritterKeeper 1,102]

On 5/2/2019 at 7:04 PM, Zorua said:

What's better than getting a new house is finally moving all your things into the new house. As of two days ago, the last storage unit has officially been emptied.

Now comes the matter of finding out where to put this stuff...

You've obviously put it somewhere.  The next step is finding the energy and time to find another more organized place to put it all, rather than just letting it stay where it is now....

[mlooney 3,417]

I'm about to jinx myself, but the goddess of random numbers, as defined by music selected by my MP3 player on Godzilla, is on point today. Almost an hour and not a bad song yet.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

Having a decent Indianapolis 500 this year. The race was good, the crowd turn-out was fantastic, and hopefully the ratings will be high. Good IndyCar action.

[mlooney 3,417]

My project Y has gone live, at least the first adventure.

The Kobold Did What?

An one shot adventure for 5th ed of the worlds most popular table top role playing game.

 

[CritterKeeper 1,102]

The number of replies chiming in with "Me too!" in reply to this thread is heartening.  :-)

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

I've been asked to be a special guest aboard a game/anime-related cruise/convention! It takes place in February of 2020. The cruise departs from Galveston, TX on a 4 day round-trip cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. It's hosted by Jon St. John, who is best known for his role as the voice behind Duke Nukem in the video game Duke Nukem 3D.

To come out from behind my persona for a bit for those who don't know me - my name is Lee Jackson, and I'm the former Music and Sound Director for Apogee Software and 3D Realms Entertainment. I worked on music and sound for PC games, writing the soundtracks for Rise of the Triad, Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, and Stargunner.

I'm not sure what kind of presentation (if any) I'll be doing on the cruise yet, but I'll be bringing copies of my Calibrations album, as well as two unique autographed Calibrations T-shirts to give away!

If you've ever been crazy enough to want to meet and greet either Jon St. John or myself, now's your chance! Go to http://jsjnotcon.com/ for more information and to sign up. I'm looking forward to seeing you on board!

[ijuin 572]

Speaking of Apogee, I've been waiting for Commander Keen: The Universe is Toast for 25 years now.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

Mrs. Prof and I were treated to a surprise luncheon (no Steamed Hams references, please) today, courtesy of Mr. Jordan John of the Texas Motor Speedway. He invited us out to The Speedway Club, a very swanky private club at the track for lunch and viewing of private Firestone tire-testing laps being run by Josef Newgarden for Chevy and Graham Rahal for Honda. It was a good day for testing - clear, hot (100°F with a heat index around 105°F), and not much wind. Fortunately, we were high above it all, on the 8th floor of The Speedway Club, having pulled chicken & dumplings, garlic mashed potatoes, elotes (Mexican corn off the cob), and more desert choices than you could shake a stick at. That, plus a great view of the track.

Jordan went well above and beyond the call of duty today. He didn't try and sell us anything (directly), and he didn't ask for anything in return. He said that he just wanted to get to know us since we placed our 2020 IndyCar ticket order so early. I'm sure he probably wished that he could have sold us season tickets, but we let him know right up front that we don't like NASCAR racing - just IndyCar, Formula 1, and IMSA Sports Car/Endurance Racing.

I sent him a personalized MP3 copy of my Calibrations album as a gift. He deserved at least that.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

1 hour ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

(no Steamed Hams references, please)

Could I at least be allowed a joke about 30-50 feral hogs? It won't take any longer than 3 to 5 minutes, I promise.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

7 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Could I at least be allowed a joke about 30-50 feral hogs? It won't take any longer than 3 to 5 minutes, I promise.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/8/6/20756162/30-to-50-feral-hogs-meme-assault-weapons-guns-kids

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

I've spent a good part of the past two days piggybacking on the one and only Jon St. John's convention booth at the Let's Play Gaming Expo 2019 in Irving, TX (a Dallas suburb). He and his agent were kind enough to let me set up and sell copies of my Calibrations CD. Didn't sell too many, but it's the experience and the camaraderie that count. Had some fun conversations with Jon during slack time, none of which I'm at liberty to share.   Big thanks go out to him for this year, as well as for the invite to return next year!

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

My invitation to be a guest on Jon St. John's NotCon at Sea 2020 cruise became officially official this week with this announcement post:

[Red Regent 63]

I sent this pun to a bunch of people earlier and it made their day, so I hope it'll do the same for all of you:

If there will ever be an EGS Conference or Convention...

can we call it...

A TED TALK?!

[mlooney 3,417]

My latest work is posted to DriveThruRPG.   If you plan D&D, 5th ed, check it out.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/288790/Ive-Got-a-Bone-to-Pick-with-You-An-Adventure-for-Four-2nd-Level-5e-Characters