Thursday 24 October 2024

The Miller's Tale - Episode 10

Episode 10: In which the podcast reaches double figures, and Mike has his first ever guest, namely James Morris!

Links from the episode:



Thursday 3 October 2024

Catchup, news

Two days after the
burst water main. From
our bedroom window.
And yes, they worked
overnight all week.
Just about got over the house being flooded at the end of May - last carpets/etc went in at the beginning of September (which means we're no longer trying to fit N+1 rooms worth of people and stuff into N-3 rooms) , and the new kitchen goes in later this month. Life has been... um... interesting for a while, hence the partial radio silence.

So. 

Time for a catchup.

  • Just got back from the Innsmouth Literary Festival in Bedford at the weekend, where the club put on 'The Battle of New Innsmouth', a scifi retake of watery weirdnesses attacking a coastal settlement. Photos below.
  • The club put on a game at Sutton Hoo over the summer (thanks to my good friend Andy Hawes) - watch this space for more, or see it at The Other Partizan. Come say hi!
  • We also put on a game celebrating Operation: Market Garden (specifically the actions around Nijmegen involving the 82nd Airborne), in the Lincolnshire village of Folkingham, from which they originally took off. Martin S-C's excellent photos are on the club Facebook page.
  • Posh Lard has sadly been cancelled (due mostly to a lack of spoons (see above) on my part). Back next year.
  • So, sadly, was Hereward Wargames Show, but this time due to a lack of roof on the venue! Again, we'll be back next year!
  • Ran a bunch of BattleTech games for the club, shows and even as far afield as Shetland. Again, pictures below, but most of my BattleTech stuff can be found on Tales From The Periphery, my BattleTech podcast and occasional blog.
  • Re podcasts, I have two episodes of The Miller's Tale lined up for later this month - and they will both have actual living breathing guests! (and relevant ones, at that!)
  • The club's weekly Wednesday evening 'Paint and B***h' session chez moi continues (apart from a break for a month or two when the workshop was full of furniture and guitars (again, see above)), and is a welcome weekly sanity break - thanks guys.
The Battle Of New Innsmouth

Assorted BattleTech:





Thursday 29 February 2024

The Miller's Tale - Episode 9

Episode 9: in which Mike once again attempts to remember how the heck the Heath Robinson-esque collection of RSS feed generator, local webspace and heaven knows what else all hooks together. And attempts to get caught up, and rambles about a 40-year old wargame...

Links from this episode

Tuesday 9 January 2024

Still chairman...

 

...after last night's AGM. Which, unlike last year, I actually managed to attend. 

Per a sidebar with Reuben, I note that this is the start of my second decade as chairman. I also note that my blog is much more reliable than my memory for this kind of thing :D

Sunday 7 January 2024

And here comes 2024...

I have plans. 


I'm definitely not stupid enough to expect these to survive contact with the enemy but, hey, we can hope, right?

So, on the todo list:

  • Finish the Dux Compendium :D (attempting to achieve headspace for that at present)
  • Paint a lot more BattleTech stuff (no, more than that, the Kickstarter's arriving Q2 and, erm, well, I may have indulged in considerable retail therapy....)
  • Run campaigns at the club
    • What a Cowboy (deferred from 2023 for obvious reasons) - Q1/2
    • BattleTech: Alpha Strike - details TBC - Q3/4
  • Run RPGs @ home. My long-running (since 2019) weekly sanity break Zoom-based 5E campaign finished in December, and I'm aiming to split my time going forward with two fortnightly ones:
    • a 5E campaign set in a different corner of my world
    • a BattleTech RPG campaign set on - well, that's a secret for now
  • Start on the Epic ACW plastic (and MDF) pile
  • Finish the 15mm Bulge forces and buildings, consider an IABSM Bulge narrative campaign later in the year
  • Get someone else to paint my 28mm British and French, and play some Sharp Practice 2
  • Play with the laser cutter
  • Blog and podcast as and when.
Yes, that's a fair bit, but, to misquote Robert Browning, "a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a hobby for?" (hands up who thought that was Kipling? - I did)

Sunday 31 December 2023

2023 in review

The best laid plans, as they say...

Do feel free to go read my 2022 end of year post and laugh - probably somewhat hollowly. 

For those who missed the story - we were called up to parents by neighbours at the beginning of January, as Mum had had some kind of fall. Found her not brilliant (with hindsight, she may have had the first of a few minor seizures) and Dad seriously unwell with what fortunately turned out not to be a stroke. Dad to hospital, wife and I up to care for Mum for the next month while we tried to convince her she needed carers in. (How on earth Dad managed to look after her alone (beyond sheer bloody-mindedness) is beyond either of us. She'd been largely chair-bound for most of the past decade.)

When you're 87 and admitted to hospital in as bad a state as Dad was, it's not at all uncommon not to make it out alive. Dad, fortunately, is made of markedly more stubborn Yorkshire grit, and despite being flat on his back for most of 5 weeks, was back walking with the aid of a frame and then sticks before the end of April. And still in possession of the majority of his marbles.

Finally won the carers argument with Mum as it was the only way the hospital would allow Dad home. Sadly she was growing weaker, and passed away at the beginning of March. Next couple of months were taken up with funeral arrangements and starting the process of sorting out her estate. Then Dad (wisely, to be honest) decided that he'd found a really nice residential care home, and didn't want to live on his own in a house that would easily hold 6 while paying for care. (He was wise enough to recognise that his need for some form of regular daily care wasn't going to go away, and quite frankly, after the amount of effort he'd put into looking after Mum, I was quite happy for him to do whatever ever the hell he felt happiest with, because he'd Damn Well Earned It.)

And around about that time Anne's dad passed away. So, once the dust had settled on that, July was spent moving Dad, and then August to pretty much the end of November spent getting the house sold and emptying it of two peoples' lives for the past 50 years. I am I think blessed in that while Dad is a hoarder, he is remarkably good (whether the hospital stay was a wakeup call, who knows?), in fact ruthlessly so, at the idea of 'I no longer need this, lets get rid of it'). So we did - a local auctioneers run a house-clearance service, and they basically auctioned what was saleable (some nice antique furniture) and disposed of the rest. Finally found a buyer and agreed a price, not long after Mum's probate got granted, and Dad and I have spent December helping him set up various savings accounts, ISAs etc to store his half of the proceeds. (Us, we just paid off our mortgage - thanks Mum).

And for a final kick in the teeth, our close friend and musical partner in crime Steve passed away very suddenly in October. 

So. here I am. It's the end of 2023, and ... whew. In some ways I'd like it back for a do-over, and I know I'd like my Mum and Steve back. But... all things must pass, and we move on.

Takeways from that experience:

  • Lasting Power Of Attorney - set it up NOW while the people involved still have their mental faculties. You don't have to use it, but it's there.
  • Treat elderly relatives protesting that they are fine with a healthy degree of scepticism until you have evidence with your own eyes.
  • The process for dealing with what happens when someone passes away is remarkably well documented, Don't panic.
  • The NHS are overstretched, underpaid, under-appreciated and being manipulated by the present Government for their own gains and that of their cronies.
  • You probably won't have to pay inheritance tax. The upcoming abolition probably isn't going to affect you at all, the Government would just like you to think they are.
  • Tell the people you care about that you love them. You might not get another chance.

Thursday 23 November 2023

Posh Lard this weekend - spare spaces!

We have spaces at #PoshLard this Sat due to folks having to drop out. We can offer What A Cowboy, What A Pirate, S&H and/or SP 2 (sadly, IABSM at Chef-du-Pont is fully booked). Yours for £5.

Booking available here!


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