Links from this episode
- Flashforge Adventurer 5M Pro filament printer
- XTool S1 laser cutter
- Tales From The Periphery - my new podcast
- The BattleTech portal page
- Brutal Cities MDF terrain
WAB, WECW, Dux Britanniarum, IABSM3 and many other wargames rules, mostly in 28 and 15mm.
Links from this episode
...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
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:
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:
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!
Right.
Ducks in a row. Cats herded. Venue booked. Website updated.
Announcing Posh Lard 2023 - Nov 25th at the George Allcock Centre, Peterborough.
https://www.peterborough-wargames-club.org.uk/2023/06/16/posh-lard-2023-saturday-november-25th-2023/ for more details!
So, I've been doing a bit of shopping of late, because... reasons, to follow in another post (or actually, probably podcast!). Various items, from seven different suppliers depending on availability, price and a few other criteria, from (literally) A to Z, though I'm not going to name names, although you should be able to work a few out. So. In alphabetical order...
A box-shifter, it would appear. Cheapest for a couple of items, but I foolishly failed to notice one item was on backorder. They will not split orders, even when it's glaringly obvious that one of the items is out of stock and in fact out of print everywhere. Support desk, and I quote verbatim, "Inline with our shipping policy page and backorder policy page sir we do not split orders". Just flat out unhelpful. Order now cancelled: had they been more helpful about it I would have re-ordered as two orders, but I'm a little concerned that they actually don't give a toss, and my backorder would have hung around for ever. Either way, it cost them over £100 in sales. Reordered with #7, watching for the credit card refund like a hawk.
Probably the world's biggest. Own delivery chain. Two deliveries, both turned up next day as promised, rang doorbell, parcel in my hot and sweaty hands. No problems.
Small 3D print seller on eBay - still waiting but they say 5-10 days so not stressed.
EBay seller doing custom decals (I'd do my own but I can't print white). Shipped the next day (in fact, today), should be here Tuesday via Royal Mail.
A doorbell. It even says RING on it. |
Odd site as their URL doesn't match their trading name. Second cheapest for most stuff (often cheapest if you cash in reward points or take advantage of their discounts), actually deliver when promised via Royal Mail. No complaints except that I spend more by looking for that 'one more item' to pass the discount price break :D