Family Reunion Week Game Log

Tuesday, June 17

Machi Koro (with megory and Dad)
Fairy Tale (with megory and Dad)

Wednesday, June 18

Dragon's Hoard (with megory)
Citadels (with megory and Dad)
Fairy Tale (with megory, Dad, and Joe)

Thursday, June 19

Dragon's Hoard (with megory)
Pandemic (with Joe and Marika)

Saturday, June 21

Dominion Intrigue x2 (with megory and Dad)

Sunday, June 22

Haggis (with megory and Dad)
Dragon's Hoard (with megory, Albert, and Jessica)
Dominion Intrigue x2 (with megory and Dad)

Monday, June 23

Tokaido (with megory and Dad)
Dominion base set + Prosperity x2 (with megory and Dad)

2014 Kickstarter Game Update Week 25

Apologies for the delay. It was too much of a pain to try posting from my tablet over the weekend while I was away from my computer.

Games I Viewed:

Ophir

Status: 38% funded

Players in this game move around in ships trying to pick up goods and deliver them to the market or the temple for money and points. Although the art is pretty, there doesn't appear to be much substance to the game.

Harbour

Status: Funded

In this small-footprint game, players exchange goods and purchase buildings at a fantasy-themed port town. I was interested in this at first due to the whimsical theme, but nearly all reviews liken it to a light version of Le Havre, a game that I didn't particularly enjoy the one time I played it.

Historia

Status: Funded

This is a Euro-style civilization-building game in which players manage wooden cubes to make technological advances and build wonders. I'm interested, but I was a bit disappointed by similarly themed Nations (when playing the solo version), so I'm waiting to see if something about it jumps out at me. Reportedly Rahdo is asking for a preview copy to make a video, so I might change my mind after watching that.

50 years and counting

My mother's family was having its 50th annual reunion this year, so I took a week off work in order to meet up with everyone for a visit.

I was a bit worried on Wednesday the 11th, when I woke up with a bit of a scratchy throat. That turned into a sniffle by Friday and a minor cough by Saturday. This was a problem, because my first stop was going to be Washington D.C. to see my brother and his family. My nephew had just come home after spending 7 months in the hospital as a premature baby, and his lungs are still too weak to handle getting sick. Whatever bug I had caught was a negligible inconvenience for me, but it could be devastating for him.

I spent the weekend guzzling grapefruit juice and tea and hoping I would get over the cough quickly. When I flew out on Monday the 16th, my parents had me stay a hotel the first two nights just in case. I did visit on Tuesday, but I wore a mask most of the day and mostly remained out of the room where the baby was. By Wednesday, it was clear that I didn't have any more symptoms, so I was able to interact more. I even got to hold the baby a little, which was a complicated affair due to the oxygen line and feeding tube and other things connected to him everywhere.

On Friday, my parents and I drove back to Michigan, where I got to have supper with one of my other brothers and his wife. Saturday was the family reunion, which was a pretty huge affair. I had a chance to talk with a bunch of cousins and aunts and uncles I hadn't seen in years.

Sunday I spent the day with my third brother and his family. We talked about gardening for a while and had a lovely meal.

My parents took me to the airport on Monday, where I arrived in plenty of time for my flight. In fact, when I got to the gate, I saw that my flight was delayed by about half an hour. Since I had about a 2.5 hour layover in Chicago, I wasn't too worried at first. As time went on, however, the flight time kept getting pushed back in roughly 15 minute increments.

By the time it had gotten pushed back over an hour, I asked the airline agent if I would have trouble making my connecting flight, but she assured me I would be fine. Time passed, and the flight continued to be pushed back. By the time the plane finally arrived for us to board, the new departure would only leave me 40 minutes in Chicago to make my connection. I asked the agent again if I needed to adjust my flight, but she said that as long as I had at least 30 minutes I could make it.

We all boarded the plane and had the pre-flight safety announcement. Then the pilot came on and said that Chicago had issued a ground stop--no flights allowed in or out--that would be about 15 minutes. That made me nervous, because it would bring my connection time down to 25 minutes, which was cutting it too close for comfort. We continued to wait, until eventually the pilot said the ground stop had been extended indefinitely and we would all have to leave the plane.

After getting off the plane, it was clear I wouldn't make my connection, so I got back in the long line to talk to the agent yet again. Just when I made it to the front of the line, they announced they had received the go-ahead to take off and we should make any further arrangements in Chicago. Those that hadn't given up and gone home for the night re-boarded and we were finally on our way.

There were about five of us trying to get to San Francisco, and the others were all checking flight info on their phones as we taxied up to the gate in Chicago. There was only one flight left that night, and it was scheduled for departure within minutes. We all grabbed our bags and ran as fast as we could to the next terminal, where we arrived just when the plane was originally scheduled to leave. Fortunately for us, it had been delayed by about 10 minutes, so it was still possible to board. Even more fortunately, it had enough seats open for everyone.

I ended up arriving at SFO about an hour later than originally planned. I missed the last regular bus by about five minutes, so I had to take a taxi, but that was probably for the best because I didn't particularly feel like walking home from the bus stop at 1:30am anyway.

I spent most of today getting caught up on some garden work. I pruned the grape vines, saving some of the more tender leaves for some recipes I want to try, and harvested the last of the cherries. It took me about two hours to pit them all. I also picked the first handful of blackberries of the season as well as a bowl of cherry tomatoes.

I imagine it'll be a bit jarring going back to work after such a whirlwind week.

Edit: Also, as an update on the game that I designed, it won the category of Best Cooperative Game in the Board Game Geek contest, with an honorable mention for "best integration of mechanics and theme."