Escapade Con

Good morning from sleepyville, populationg me. (And I'm betting, a lot of other people.) I really didn't want to heed my alarm this morning. But alas, I did. Two more days to the weekend. I shifted my Saturday schedule to my friend, since she wanted it, and I didn't. I decided that I needed my Saturday for sleep. Ha! Right. As if.

Not long after I handed off my Saturday, I got the message that our beef share was ready, so I paid the rest of it, and set up to pick it up at the Silver Spring Farmer's market on Saturday morning. Our game isn't til 3, so that gives me a few hours to pick it up and be back well before we need to be.

I ordered a medium sized cooler to transport the beef, which should come today. Then we can pack it with a bit of ice, and then put the steak and beef in for safe transport to home. Then, the hard part--fitting it all in the freezer. It's only about 22lbs, so fingers crossed, we'll be good.

Tomorrow night, since we don't have a game, and it's pay week, we will be going out to dinner. Jess has chosen Michael's Steak and Lobster House, so I'm excited about that. This is where I always get the enormous rib steak with a huge scoop of imperial crab on it.

Sunday, I'm thinking about doing some baking. I could kind of go for some cinnamon rolls. Or Sticky buns. But probably cinnamon rolls.

Since Yoda has decided that he will only go out with both Jess and I, it eats up some of my lunchtime, so I have been unable to bake then.

Last night's game of Brindlewood Bay was super fun. It's a game that posits "What if Murder, She Wrote met Cthulhu?" It's taken a little bit of time, but I've finally figured out my character. She's not the brains of the outfit. She's a little more physical. In an earlier session, we offhand mentioned that in an attempt to one off the groups nemesis, Dorie, she'd taken up kickboxing. I've decided that since later, someone pulled a gun on her, she's continued training. Self defense clases, martial arts. She's in her late 60s, early 70s, so one of the younger members of the group, and she was always in good shape, but this is much more. She was afraid of the gun, but then she throat punched him, using the good form she'd learned in kickboxing, and he'd dropped the gun, and she liked that feeling. She's older and a lot of things her body is doing are out of her control, but this, this she can control. She's become a bit of a daredevil, and much more outspoken to Dorie. Last night, we discovered that she's been watching locksmith videos, and sucessfully picked a lock during game. I really enjoy this version of her. And I think the lovely poisontaster will appreciate her ability to move the plot forward, since she's not afraid to do the stupid thing. (Mind you, all of my moves are aimed at minimizing harm for myself and my friends.)

I need to look up tailors in my area. I got a new dress, and I love it, but it's a maxi dress, and I'm short, so it needs a few inches off.

Okay, on that note, I'm going to go get myself together. Everyone have an amazing Thursday!

It's Wednesday! We've got a game tonight, and I am looking forward to it. Hopefully, the coffee kicks in before then. lol. I slept hard, and have a little headache this morning, but I'm sure the Tylenol will take care of it. It's not bad, just a small one.

Yesterday was busy and a bit chaotic. I have a bunch of patients who need appointments, and I spent a lot of time calling them and jumping off and on the phone between making calls. I got a lot of people in for appointments and I'm very pleased with myself. When I see high-value openings, I get very excited. My competitive side rears up, and I jump on it and block it off, and report it to the higher ups, so they can look at the list of STAT appointments and use them. The other day, I found a golden egg in the form of a Pacemaker slot. It was very exciting.

I love storytelling, and I love the collaborative story telling of D&D. I was thinking about our game on Saturday, and how much I've come to love this campaign. This is Arvandor, the one I homebrewed for my high level characters. It was less combat and more court intrigue and weaving in backstories of characters. The module we played previously was Mad Mage, which was fun, but that I sometimes found frustrating. It was a standard dungeon crawl with lots of combat. And I love combat, but sometimes, it gets in the way of telling the stories I wanted to tell. I find that with modules now and then. But this is just my story, and the players reactions and stories they want to tell, and it's been glorious. They've made the story I started out with sing.

I was saying to poisontaster that I don't know if I'll ever have that Brennan Lee Mulligan moment. I may not have a "In the same way your heart feels and your mind thinks, you, mortal beings, are the instrument by which the universe cares. If you choose to care, then the universe cares. If you don't, then it doesn't," but I feel like with this campaign, I've come closest. The characters have had development, and we've explored backstories and it's been amazing. And the players have been outstanding. They've been brave and vulnerable and really put themselves out there with their role playing. It's been really good, and I've really enjoyed it.

I love all my games, and I've been able to do some of this with Frostmaiden, but that's a bigger group, and it's more difficult to work the backstories in, but we've managed.

After tonight, I don't have another game til Saturday, which is Baba Yaga. This is only the second session of it, so we'll see how it goes.

Next week, I'm starting a new module for the Curse of Strahd players. We're doing Vecna: Eve of Ruin. I need to finish reading the module before next Friday. I've been working on it. It's an official Wizards of the Coast module, and so far, it's a bit blah. Going to take some work to make it more interesting. Not sure how you take one of the big villains of the brand and make it kind of boring, but sometimes they manage.

We'll figure it out and make it fun. There's some expanded stuff that I'm going to look at that seems a little more my speed.

Okay, on that note, it's time for me to get my ass in gear. Everyone have an super Wednesday!

It's Tuesday and I'm debating on the Farmer's Market as always. I really want some good Maryland Tomatoes, and I don't know how many more chances I'll have. With fall getting ready to come sneaking in, my mind is turning to Thanksgiving and where we want to get our turkey from. And what we want to do with it. And how big it should be. It's something to consider.

Jess' surgery is exactly 30 days away now. They have their preop this morning, and will get bloodwork then. They're young enough that all they need is bloodwork in order to get it. Then we shall prepare for the long wait. The world is on fire enough that it's causing serious stress. Jess is having a hard time, full of "but what if" catastrophizing. , and I wish that I could help. Hopefully, their Therapist can help with some stress-managing ideas. All I can do is give hugs and remind them that even if Ogberfell falls, Maryland ratified same sex marriage a full three years before the supreme court. And if it is outlawed, then Hopkins has had partner benefits for 26 years, so really we're okay. It'll be okay.

And maybe I'm channelling my innner Tobias (from Ghost) and his occasionally wildly optomistic view of the future, but I feel like we can still pull back from the precipice. And if we can't, I can always make plans to move to Portugal or Germany. It would suck, but if we need to, we can.

Yesterday was very busy at work. I was calling patients and filling in appointments most of the afternoon.

I'd also like it noted, I did not go full supervillain and punch someone through the internet. While I comb schedules for places to work people in, I frequently find fuck ups. Most are nothing major, and I just fix them, but some...

Our grid, which is basically the holy bible of scheduling, states that if a patient has anything but a cardiac stent, they have to go on the 1.5 T machine. There's a little yes/no question that specifically asks that. And yet, my dude answered no to everything. And then made a little note that he had a brain stent. And put it on a 3.0T machine. And then, I who had a sooner appt on the 3T call the pt to see if he wants it. And I start going through the questions. And find the bullshit note and am like "oh, noooo." It worked out fine, I found an opening on a 1.5, but for that one *best case* scenario is that he gets there and they can't scan. Worst case, he gets scanned and those stents heat up and do damage.

Then, there was another dude, whose dr told him he needed a 3T. And he has a Cochlear implant. Which is fine. It's one that can be done on a 3T. But, he also has a lumbar spinal fusion that goes into S1. And the picture is of his prostate. So I send back to clarify, and the radiologist agrees with me--he needs a 1.5. So, I call the doctor, and let him know what's up, he calls me back and long and short of it, I look super smart and good and conscientious about our patients.

I'm pretty sure Peg was on that email, too. I mean, I still fuck up, but not as often as some people.

Okay, time for me to go forth and get my ass in gear. Gotta figure out what I'm having for breakfast this morning. Everyone have an outstanding day!