... Since I last posted. A lot has happened, good and bad. To start off, I haven't mentioned this elsewhere, but my Dad had been diagnosed with prostate cancer several years back. They'd initially told him that he'd probably pass from old age long before the cancer became an issue. They were wrong on that.
The cancer metastized, moving into his arm, liver and elsewhere. It was about a yearlong slide, and he passed away on July 19, 2021, at about 5 PM. I got there minutes after he'd gone. It's all over, the grieving mostly done, and life has continued. I miss him, but I was ready for it, so it didn't hit me nearly as hard as it did mom and my brother. And that's the worst of what's gone on in the last year.
Now for more stupid stuff. After he passed, my parent's neighbors across the back yard, the Holcolmbs, were having issues of their own. Jan's knee was in desperate need of surgery, and Dean was in and out of psychological care. Their daughter came out to visit, saw the situation and determined that she was going to move them out to Oregon with her, so she could help.
You might be wondering how this impacts me- well, in two ways. First, Mom and Paul (my brother) volunteered to help clean out their house after they moved, and assist in the sale. This... Was likely a mistake. I won't go into details, but it was a hellscape of labor and surprises. Regardless, they got through it, and Jan offered them her car as partial repayment for the assistance.
My mom and brother being who they are, they refused and outright gift, and paid about $5000 for it, roughly half the blue book value. A good deal, right? Riiiiight. There were problems from the start, which I'll not get into, but the long and short was that it took from August of 2021 to April of 2022 to get the damn thing running.
Originally, the plan had been that I would receive Dad's old car after he passed; that changed when Paul's minivan crapped out completely. I'll note here, I have NO problem with this. He has busted his ass to help both my parents and me over the years, and he deserves whatever benefits come his way. The plan changed to me getting the Holcolmb's car. This was fine, til my old Beast, a 2001 LeSaber, started having more and more problems. For the last two weeks I've been using Dad's car, and Paul has been sharing vehicles with mom and Maggie, his daughter.
However, that's all done, finally. As of yesterday, I have my 'new' car- a 2014 Buick Lacrosse. It has a rebuilt engine (turns out all the problems stemmed from a cracked block- ouch), and so has 72,000 miles on the body, and about 60 miles on the engine. So, woot.
That's all the big stuff. I'm healthy, well-wheeled, and employed. The tabletop games I'm in go well, and I'm making a vague effort to eat at least a little bit better. Spaz is fine, still has kidney problems but is mostly healthy otherwise. He has bad teeth, not uncommon for his age, and will be going in for a cleaning (and probably one extraction) in 10 days.

So, that's the update. Maybe I'll post more frequently... But probably not.

Well, I went to Christmas at the folks yesterday. The drive out was fine, at least after I got off the local roads and onto the main thoroughfares. Because of the brilliant planning of the city and state about NOT declaring a snow emergency, nothing locally has been sufficiently cleared. Some of the alleys have gotten a pass through and that's about it.

I couldn't sleep previous, so I ended up going out and clearing the front walk early, then headed over to their place. We chatted then opened gifts- I got a bunch of DVDs from my brother and nieces, a new camera (Canon 1100S) from the folks, and some clothes. I also got more shotglasses and a little cash. The money will go for the new video card for the desktop. Woot. :)

I think the things I got them in return went over well, and I managed to get Sam, my 18 year old niece to actually laugh til her face went red. Not an easy trick! After dinner we watched Inglorious Basterds the movie I got my brother. I think I wanna get it- But it looks WEIRD in HD. Like its a television show. The picture is TOO sharp, and looks unreal, like its on set rather than 'reality'.

I got home around 8 or so, then passed out in the chair as the fatigue finally caught up. Something else did too- indigestion. I'm fairly sure its what mom and dad use to season the steaks, but whatever it is it just tears me up. :P

Right now I'm just kinda sitting around. I'll probably crash soonish. I may download Champions Online today sometime and try it out, too.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and whatever to all.

Okay, the family gathering was pretty nice. Steak dinner and relative peace, no pun intended. This time it was Maggie that was being a bit out of order rather than Sam... She seems to think that she can dictate everyone else's behavior while still being a brat herself. (Sigh) O well. In any event, my gifts were well received I think, though I rarely if ever get a significant reaction out of the family. The only real downer was I had a screamer of a headache right after I got up which lasted most of the time I was there.

Anyway, the loot!

I got a bunch of DVDs- Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan, the action flick 'The Rock', A classic, 'Brigadoon', and one other that is escaping me at the moment. Also in the haul was a die-cast model of the '60's Batmobile from the series, a... Thing... Called a 'Rabbit' which had three ears and three eyes(!) A shot glass with an embossed duck on it, and a wad of cash that'll help me replace the defunct (possibly repairable) La-Z-Boy.

Oh- I also got some scrapbook/photo album things... Pictures and notes on the family and on me- so people can either look and stare in shock, or laugh their heads off. ;) Kinda neat, but not necessarily something I'll be looking at frequently!

All in all a fair bit more than I expected.

It WASN'T the farm. Dad just talked to Earl Mollenhauer and they just got wind. :)

Yay!