We got it a few years ago, but the rules looked so complicated that we just passed, and left it moistly wrapped up. But with my middle son, Doug, here this weekend, we decided to give it a try. Benjamin and Doug tried to make sense of the rules, but we finally watched some videos on YouTube to get the hang of it.
Because that's the way it's done now. There are videos on YouTube now that explain how to do most anything you can think of. No more instant customizing of games as you try to figure out the rules and wind up redesigning the game to fit your own understanding.
Even playing a commonly played board game like Monopoly can be fraught with peril, as every one you bring in who has not played with you before inevitably says something like "That's not the rules! That's not how you play the game!"
Firefly: Out of the Box was okay. It is a kind of game where you win or lose as a team, rather than try to fight each other. I'm still not sure we got the rules completely right, because it was fairly easy for us to win. Or maybe we are just an unusually cooperative bunch.
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We didn't go to the movie theater, which is usually the case when Doug visits. The movies playing lacked any "must-see" pictures, so instead we brought in Rancheros (a local Mexican fast food choice similar to Moe's and Chipolte's) and watched the classic Galaxy Quest, a movie Benjamin and Alison had not seen before. The movie is great fun, a wonderful balance between comedy and action.
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There is a lot I haven't gone into about Doug and his marriage to Ramya. There is a lot there, and much of it is personal to them, and I don't feel like it is my place to write about it. Suffice to say it didn't work out, pretty much from the beginning, and they never really lived together as a married couple. It was a very hard thing to work through, but it is finally resolved. Had they been Catholic, it probably could have become annulled in the first week.
Suffice to say, it has been final several months now, and Doug is finally stepping back into the dating world. Alison and I are thrilled to see this. It is great to see Doug happy again.
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Doug left Sunday. I was not feeling well, but we managed to get through church. I got home with a slight fever, and my fake gout was beginning to flare up again. It rears its head every couple of years (the last time was June 2014), and I was due. I tried to take it easy, but it did mean I missed a performance by my favorite young thespian (well, my favorite next to Benjamin), Emily Beck, who was performing in some skits at Flying dragon, including Sandy in Grease. My sincere apologies to Emily and her mother, my good friend Kimberly.
This morning my fever is gone, but my fake gout is not. My foot may be in pain several weeks, if past incidents are prologue.
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So using Strait rules, without a fever - I go to work.
That's okay, though. After completing a strenuous audit that runs several weeks, I am going to use some of my over-accumulated vacation time, and be off work this Wednesday all the way through Labor Day. Am I going anywhere? No, just to the world of imagination. I hope to move forward on My Europa and other writing projects as much as I can.
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Doug has helped us catch soccer fever (different than my actual fever Sunday), and we watched our "adopted" team, the Portland Timbers, beat the Seattle Sounders 4 to 2. We both agree right now that pro soccer is better than pro football. Of course, that is probably colored by the fact that we are Lions and Falcons fans.
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Trump continues his miserable, foul performance. I still run across people who suggest that Hilary is equally as bad, Uhhh, no, no she is not. And to even suggest that represents a profound misunderstanding of the incredibly nasty and dangerous depths Trump is sinking this country to. He needs to be dismantled and humiliated if this country even has the most remote chance of moving forward.
Until next time,
T. M. Strait
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