Since I've been up here in the grand land of Fayetteville (Northwest Arkansas), I have made some contacts and friends up at the hobby/gaming store Castlehouse Games. While gaming and buying board games, books, and dice (always need more dice), I have spoken off and on and even gamed with the owner Chris. He's a great guy and truly has a passion for games of any flavor. On top of that, he knows his stuff and can answer most questions or find the answer (suprising how many store owners don't care enough to do that). Anyway, Chris is not without his faults, but he's new to retail and is learning along the way a very steep learning curve.
I mention him only to say that I have recently approached him about Free RPG day and I am excited that he has ordered supplies and we are all set for Free RPG Day 2010 at Castlehouse! If you're reading this and are going to be in the Fayetteville area on June 19, 2010, then stop by the store and get something free!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Free RPG Game Day 2010!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Post-Halloween Photo Scavenger Hunt
Halloween...one of my favorite holidays! What, with ghouls and goblins running around, tasty eats, and great parties, almost everyone's bound to find some fun! Over the weekend, I had some fun of my own with friends at a Halloween party Saturday night. The best part of the party was the photo scavenger hunt. We split into two teams and took off around town trying to best find situations which fit the prompts. The prompts came from the game Apples to Apples where one of the judges took 14 green adjective cards and paired them into seven pairs. Then from those seven, the two teams narrowed it down to five pairs of adjectives and we were off. Here was our list:
So, where is the most logical place to go to find the best options for these prompts? Dickson Street in Fayetteville, of course!
Before going on, I should say that our team won in four out of the five categories...we didn't quite get "Gaudy and Lopsided." Oh well, it was a lot of fun!
So, here are our entries! What do you think?
Gaudy and Lopsided
Savage and Effervescent (this was the toughest - Baptists are effervescent, right?)
Offbeat and Foolish (the guy's wearing nothing but a suit coat and a thong!)
And, lastly we have Abrasive and Lethal (my personal favorite!)
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Happy Wednesday!
I hope that everyone had a great long weekend for Labor Day; I know the wife and I enjoyed spending time with friends over the weekend, especially on Monday. We had some delicious food and wonderful gameplay with our friends here in Fayetteville. There's just nothing quite like chargrilled burgers and brats with fabulous Whole Hog's potato salad. Delicious! But, it's now Wednesday and that means it's a whole new set of beauties for the gandering, so enjoy as you finish up your work day!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Grrr-ing in the Land
So, the wife and I have moved to Fayetteville. She has started school, and I have officially found a job but unofficially it hasn't quite started. This has been a month since we have moved up here, and frankly, I'm getting more and more nervous. There are bills beginning to hit us, and money is on short order. Not only that, but it is summer and a new city. There is much fun to be had, and we are unable to take advantage of said fun. More importantly though, money is needed to pay bills and if this job doesn't start soon, I'm not sure what I'll do (besides rip my hair out from going stir-crazy).
I love this place, and a lot of the people here have been helpful, open and accepting to the wife and me. I really appreciate that, but I need a job. Really, I'm the type of person that enjoys being at work in spite of everything. It gives me added purpose and fuels my need to be the "responsible breadwinner." I know that there is a lot more to life, but that "lot more" starts looking bleak when viewing it with no funds available. Yeah, yeah, I know, suck it up. I will and I know things will get better. There is a lot worse out there; I'm just frustrated due to the hurry-up-and-wait-ness of it all.
And while I know that there is a great job waiting on me, the state of Arkansas sure does take it's sweet time in shuffling papers and approving forms! It has nothing to do with the local office up here...they've been great in answering my calls and reassuring me the job is still mine. Heck, they need me to start as much as I want to start! The red tape in Little Rock is holding it up though! If anyone from Little Rock is reading this: Please, rush that paperwork so I can start working!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Being Married Is Great!
“We live in a society of victimization, where people are much more comfortable being victimized than actually standing up for themselves.” - Marilyn Manson
As a preface for this story I am about to tell, last week I called around town, Fayetteville, AR, to find which, if any, dry cleaners also did mending. I had a pair of pants in need of a hem and the wife had two pairs of jeans in need of mending. I finally contacted Comet Cleaners on College Avenue (same plaza as Office Depot, Hobby Lobby, and Atlanta Bread Co.) and the lady, Shirleen, said they sent out to a lady for mending at $5 per job...that meant around $20 depending on how bad the pants were. The next day, I took the three pairs of pants to Comet Cleaners and turned them in for mending which would take a week, I could return today, Monday June 15, to pick them up.
Now, we needed the pants, so having only a few dollars to budget carefully, I deemed this $20 a necessary expense. Gotta have clothes, I mean, no one wants to see my overweight body running around naked!
*shudders at the thought*
So, anyhow, I return today to pick them up and I discover the bill to be $45! How?! So, the attendant has the manager come and explain the store's policy that every mended garment is also dry-cleaned and pressed which totals the extra $20 (plus tax of course). 'This is madness!' I thought and explained to him that I was told $20-ish and nothing about the extra dry-cleaning or pressing. We argued a bit, and I simply thought, 'well, I got screwed over," and told him I'd have to wait until Friday to pay for them.
I then went and retrieved a sick and tired wife from class and explained the bit about the pants, and, in a fashion that would only suit someone of German-Irish background, her eyes spark into a green, glowing fire after which she states with a smooth tone, "Let me talk to them, " as a small smile creeps across her lips.
We arrive at Comet Cleaners where I asked her would she like some company (knowing well that she would not). She says no and walks in. The poor chap behind the counter, a regular attendant, calmly and mousely explains that his manager would not return for thirty minutes. She nods and comes back to the car explaining to me the same message. No sooner had she shut the door than did Mr. Manager, Richard, come walking past our car into the store. I pointed him out to her and she exited with an extra spring in her step (must have been those Lucky Charms!).
She asks to speak to Richard, and explains to him the mix up (at this point she was still nice and calm). No sooner had the words, "we were charged..." left my wife's lips did he point at an 8" x 11" paper taped to the wall and say, "it's all posted there."
Wrong answer buddy. This is the weird mystical part of the story where my wife vanishes and she channels her mother. She immediately points out that this "posted notice" is not visible from the drive-thru, and that it is poor business not to explain up front that the "A La Carte Cleaning and Pressing" is automatically added to every tab. She goes on to request a copy of the receipt to review it. He does so in a fit of ire (mind you, my wife is almost always quiet and calm and allows many people to take advantage of her gentle nature, this is one of those rare moments where you do not want to continue trying to pull the wool over: sorry Richard).
She eventually gets a receipt and he says something to the effect that he'll refund the $15 for mending but it's still $45. What?! Where did that get pulled from? She then (precious little darling) calmly takes a piece of paper from her pocket and teaches him his simple math once more: $5 + $5 +$14 (for my hem and mend) = $24, not $45. Mind you, of course, this is all at the front counter with customers watching intently. After that, he just shuffles some paper, runs to a calculator and back, takes her twenty dollar bill and gives her a ten back all the while shooing her (yes, hand motions and all) out the door saying, "you'll take your business elsewhere from now on!"
Her sweet reply, "oh yes, and we'll make sure to tell the Chamber of Commerce to do so also. Thank you!"
Marilyn Manson explains in his autobiography that society has certain expectations and there are certain, definite codes of dress and behavior. Well, I bet Richard didn't count on a girl in pig tails, flip flops, and a t-shirt to make him look that ignorant! The only thing she said as she put the pants in our car and got in was, "is that going to hurt my karma?" No, because I feel that cleaners had it coming for shady business. Kudos!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Wednesday...a Day of Random Posting
After last time's blog, I left you with a couple of links to the new Sherlock Holmes movie which contains three of my favorite things in a movie: Guy Ritchie (without Madonna), Sherlock Holmes, and Robert Downey, Jr. This movie is sure to be explosive, and it has reminded me that I have yet to finish the entire Holmes works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which is what I have again picked up to continue (hopefully by December when the movie comes out). It looks to be an exciting movie and show a closer representation of Doyle's Holmes and Watson than films have done in the past.
Additionally, going into the events of life here in Fayetteville, yesterday the wife, our friend, E, and I went to the local game shop, Castlehouse Games, to participate in a small gaming event where about a dozen people showed up to "dungeon delve" into Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition. It was pretty fun, but that many geeks/nerds in one place can cause havoc and it did, at least in my mind. I was about to be driven up the wall when we arrived because that many people disturbs me in such close confines. J and C, coworkers from the park, know I get a bit nervous with people a bit too close and when there's nearly 20 of them, wow, I wanted to scream. Instead, though, I simply counted to 23 in my head to calm myself because I really know that it's my lack of social-ness that does that. Hopefully these events will bring me out of my shell a bit so that I can resemble something of a normal human being. Yeah, right! :)
So anyway, that was fun and the wife feels that it was good overall because it is boost the self-esteem of E to get out with some friends and just goof off and laugh. I hope so, but either way it was fun, so not a waste.
In other news, here is a great web comic I came across on Reddit either today or yesterday, don't remember. I always wondered if Vader went through that little monologue...
Lastly, I think I'll just mention a bit about the people of Fayetteville in general. It was really a crazy thing to move up here with very little money, few friends, and only the three cats to keep us cheered up (you know how that goes). We were both worried about settling down up here and worried about the whole transition, but I have to say, two weeks in, and we are enjoying the heck out of the area. We've been to see the lake and the Farmer's Market and various other places, and one thing that has stood out to both the wife and me is the caliber of people up here. For the most part, they are kind, considerate, and well spoken. Now that isn't to say that Arkadelphia was different or worse, but we were simply worried about "fitting in." The people here have enabled us to feel at home a lot faster than we would have otherwise. We joined a couple of forums and those folks have just brought us under their wings and accepted us even knowing how strange we are. So, to the people of the Fayetteville/Springdale area and specifically the NWARPG, Castlehouse, and CWNWA forums, Thank You All!
Cheesy? Maybe. But we wouldn't be enjoying this place without them!
Oh, and I almost forgot! Apparently, this guy is still trying to get somewhere in MMA fighting. Perhaps he and this joke should be locked in a cage together, hmmm?
