It has happened again, the delivery date shown by the price to entice me to buy mysteriously rolls back a day or more after purchase. Not that it matters, or is a big deal, because in the grand scheme of things waiting an extra 24 hours is an inconvenience of the slightest manner, but the way in which it happens is nefarious. Advertise it as next day, but get two day anyway? Blargh. Just say two day, I still would have bought it, I’d just have better managed expectations. I would have simply stressed the reading slower, or save myself the last fifty pages to read on the one additional days wait. I’m moaning about it because I can, not because it’s a big deal. I needed something to write about that I could articulate. This wins on a groggy grey Saturday morning.
I’m currently in bed trying to decide if 8 get up to pee and start my day, or hold it and try to roll over and try for another hour or so of sleep? The bladder holds all of the cards here. If I want a good lie in, I should pee, otherwise I will dream of not being able to locate a toilet for the next hour to ninety minutes. Not cool.
Bladder wins, I drank far too much water yesterday to be able to hold it for more than my full night’s sleep. I had blood work done yesterday so my holding capacity was down ever so slightly! Probably why my night time gummy hit me like a tonne of bricks. A ten Millie Tommy shouldn’t feel that potent, woke. I could have grazed the underside of the moon, Sheesh.
For some reason comments of mine are going on on Threads these last few weeks. I had one go up to 1.6K, and another is up to 830. I’m not a funny guy, so it’s a bit odd. But I can flog my book(s) again if you’d like. They’re here, on this site, and can be downloaded for free. Just pdf’s that can be read on just about anything. You could buy the first book from Amazon Kindle Unlimited if you don’t trust random pdf’s from WordPress types.
You could buy it, or download it for free here on another page found from the main menu. (Fig 1.)
Have a nice Saturday, it’s the Easter long weekend next Friday through Monday so be aware it comes early this year. Not only that but our weather should be a bit nicer by tomorrow, and for the next seven to ten days. Not out of the reach of random snowfall but we get closer to officially putting it all behind us until November fairly soon. Big wheels keep on turning!
First four books in the series, with the fifth on order, slated to arrive later today. (Fig 1.)
I was trying to get the end of the fourth book to stretch over into today but I got carried away and finished it before taking my kids to their school movie night. I’m not going to TRY to finish book five in March, but if it should happen, oh well! Ha. We will see, at some point my enthusiasm for the series will wane, and then it’ll languish on my bedside table for up to a year or more. Just look at Brandon Sanderson‘s Mistborn, I’ve sat with that for a number of years now. But while I am engaged I can read faster than usual it would seem. I have until mid May before the eighth and final book of the series comes out, so I’ll go with it until I no longer care any more.
Work is still steady, which is great news. I just secured another batch of hours so that’s good to know. It’s not paid out yet, so I can’t count those chickens just yet. But I feel a little more confident about Q2, and it’s lead in to Q3 this year. That’s pretty rare for me, but I’m good with it.
So back to the books, they are action adventure set in an overtaken world dominated by powerful alien civilizations that turn the earth into a type of D&D slash Diablo dungeon crawler type spectacle for the entire galaxy and beyond to watch as a live streamed reality (used loosely) tv thing. It’s easy reading, fast paced, and centres on Carl, and his cat Princess Donut Queen Anne Chonk, as they fight their way through the increasingly difficult, and deeper dungeon levels. It’s not Shakespeare, or Years, or anything life altering, but it’s enjoyable, violent, snarky, and full of blood & guts. I’ve read almost 2,000 pages of this stuff in March alone, so I’d say I’m a fan. I hope it never becomes a movie because too much would get left out. A long running 22 episodes per season cartoon might do it justice, but who has the time to wait for that much animation to get made.
In the mean time here’s a picture of my dog with four different socks on his paws. Isn’t he sweet!?!
Messy boy getting into the laundry hamper to sniff smelly socks. (Fig 2.)Isn’t this monster a little cutie pie? (Fig 3.)
Welp, it’s Friday and I am killing time before a medical appointment in town. So I’m just chilling, having some breakfast, adding to this post, and sending out a work e-mail before I skedaddle. It’s bright and sunny right now, but also minus sixteen as of seven am, so there’s that. My niece whom is in Italy right now (I believe, but don’t quote me on that) has a birthday today. Shout out to the birthday girl! W00t-W00t!
I took the girls to the school movie night yesterday where we saw Zootopia 2 (again). Both girls had friends there to sit beside and share blankets with. It was in the gymnasium, projected on a screen. We got there as doors opened to snag floor mats to lie upon. I brought a camping chair because I no longer care to sit numbly upon the floor for two hours. Spent nearly $30 on snacks, and still had to buy dinner for all of us afterwards. My bad. Last time they sold pizza, so I was expecting it again, but it wasn’t on offer. Live and learn to read the flyer more closely! My fault, not anybody else’s. I assumed, and we all know what that means.
I’m about 100 pages from finishing book four, which is a record for one months worth of reading for me, I would bet. I might be able to add a few additional pages to my count by the 31st, if I’m lucky. As it stands I’m going to get close to 1,800 or 1,900 for the month. I am doing pretty well in the one book per month reading challenge! Far better than last year, that’s for certain. I do have other books coming in April and May from other authors, so I need to get through these before my attention gets pulled away to other stories, and characters that I like. A five book run on one series is pretty good. I could ignore the two new releases and stay with Carl until the final book releases in mid May, and just mainline it until totally completed. That’s a benefit of finding a series after the bulk of it has already been written.botherwise you wind up having to wait a year, or more, to get the next installment. Whereas now I’m just waiting on the shipping to arrive. A much shorter wait, and far more pleasant. Keeps the story fresh in the mind.
I will update further once I actually do finish book four and try to tuck into the fifth book. Can’t count those chickens before they hatch. I checked our library, and they didn’t carry the series. I could donate them when I’m done, or reread them in a year or two. It’s a fun series so far. I’m not bored, at all. It’s pretty breezy. I like it. Obviously.
Praise for Matt Dinniman‘s Dungeon Crawler Carl series is legit, if you like this brand of snark, violence, and blood drenched adventure. Be forewarned! Ha.
Nothing major just tying up some loose ends here and there. Returned the sharps container to the pharmacy now that my wife is off of her prescription. I purchased some cologne that ran out before Christmas. Went to the pet store for various dog treats for our morning walks. Stopped off to put an order in for a case of drinks. Filled the van with gas. Had our morning walk. Sent some files off for work, and then washed, and painted the wall I muddied up last week after our shower was fixed. Brush has been washed out, and then I took five of our six shovels back to the shed. I kept one decent shovel as well as the ice melt by the front door because as all good Canadians know, we may not be entirely done with the snow just yet. Not that we should get lots, but some is surely on the way, believe you me. If I can think of any other minor things to get done I will do that today too. I feel it’s a bit early still for the lawn furniture, hoses, and exterior garden lights to go out. Although the sun is getting stronger so the solar lights might kick on here or there when it isn’t totally overcast or actively raining. It’s just a whole lot of lifting that I’m not entirely in the mood for just this second. If we get a few days in a row with temperatures in the early to mid teens I’ll jump at the opportunity to put our stuff out. That will also mean I have to unwrap the last three that still has Christmas lights on it. Boo-boo. I like the red lights in the big maple!
So it’s Wednesday now. I am almost halfway into book four of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, so that’s good. Might be a record for one month for me. It’s almost lunch time, so I’ll get back to cleaning up the house.
I’m on a Matt Dinniman Dungeon Crawler Carl tear right now as I start to dig into book four of the right part series. Although the final book isn’t due out until mid May, so I don’t know if I’ll have enough steam to continue reading at this pace to be ready for the last book drop by then. I am still enjoying the series a good deal, but they are starting to get far longer, and more intricate. The Iron Tangle left my head hurting trying to suss out what it would look like in my mind. I do not believe that I could successfully recreate it with pen & paper from the humble of descriptions that I’ve read. Oh well.
Soon enough I will turn my attention back to painting minis, or my guitar, the resin model kit, woodshop, home DIY tasks, or the outdoor property maintenance. I have ebbs and flows you see. Also if work keeps up I won’t have much time for anything other than a few hours spread over any given week. That’s not bad, means I’m earning money, and we need that to live! Ha.
Sleep is still off since the time change. Not sure what can be done about that besides go to bed earlier. And earlier until I find a sweet spot once again. That could take a while to find, so I’ll make do until then. This is the last full week of March, can you believe it? Still minus ten out this morning, but we could go above zero by four pm, if we’re lucky.
Good news is, if I can find a book series that I really enjoy, and I can find enough free time, I can read about 1,200 to 1,400 pages in a month. That’s pretty good considering I am not a fast reader, like, at all. The bad news is, now that I wear my reading glasses for work, and for reading so much these last two months my vision is sort of soft around the edges when I don’t have them on, and not just for text now either. Everything goes soft edged around me. At least up close. I’m not concerned about things far away being soft edged, as that’s always been the case. This is a new development, and one 8 was concerned about once I needed reading glasses, and I know how my body loves to break down faster once I find a suitable work around for a health related problem. So yeah, fun-fun.
On a positive note I have book four coming later on today, and I hope to start it in another day or two. The later books are much larger, so I don’t think I’ll keep up this pace at all. March Break was slower (ever so slightly) so I could ignore stuff to just read any chance I got. I also stayed up late to read because an early wake up time wasn’t necessary. That is no longer the case. Life has started up for reals! So no more ignoring things for the sake of reading. Cleaning, dishes, laundry, groceries, and extracurriculars all are on deck, and are in play once again.
The youngest was in tears yet again regarding the return to school, but after this week, they have two short weeks due to the Easter Holiday four day long weekend. So there is that to look forward to. We also did not manage to get out to see Project Hail Mary as a nice date night event, so that sort of sucks. Our alone time was usurped by the children once again. Kids! Gotta love ’em.
I did manage to assemble my Ork Boyz models from Games Workshop, so when I’m sick of reading I can prime those, and think about painting them one by one. I’m game for doing twelve or fewer. The 40 odd Space Wolves was a bit of a chore towards the end. Glad I did them, but it was a slog. They do however look much better than the original paint job, so that’s a pretty big plus right there. Not great, but not awful either.
It’s Monday once again, and we are nearing the end of March. The official first day of Spring has come, and gone without much fanfare. So with any luck we might catch a stray sunny warm day here or there in April if we’re lucky. I could do with some blue skies and sunshine right about now.
Will need to weed & feed the lawn, and toss some grass seed around before too much longer. It’ll be grass cutting time before you know it! Leaves, and flowers, and blooms of all sorts will begin to appear. Wonderful time of year.
Whether that’s looking at SciFi books, movies, animation, DIY, self care, dogs, funny fails, politics, history, world travel, comedians, model kits, 3d printer, miniatures painting tutorials, dance choreography, artists (painters, sculptors, ceramics, and musicians) movie trailers, and interesting facts, and beautiful people, odds are I have gone down a rabbit hole tangent looking at oddball things, as I build out a neural path of what I think about. I’m sure Sephora will work itself in somehow because I joined up the points program because of my kids. So I’ll have lipsticks and make-up ads mixed in for good measure too, I’d bet. It’s currently a jumbled mess, because I like guitarists, horn sections, those split videos of people adding solos to popular songs, that lady who transitions through chords as her own quarter to resolve in a pleasant tone at the end. Can’t forget the Floridian real estate lady who mocks homes, and people. A fair few military talking heads, some funny, some not. A real mixed bag. I also have taken some notes on new books or authors to read from several top ten lists I’ve seen that had books I’d already read on the list, so I was more apt to believe it because of the shared titles that I had already enjoyed. Our digital footprints are weird jumbles. Well, maybe not everybody’s but mine certainly is. I like drumming videos, and those American college walking bands with huge brass sections that belt out tunes on football/soccer fields. I was on a good long stretch for a while of watching people get very badly hurt, I injured or killed. A moral failing I’m sure, but in some instances are humorous. Look at me, pointing back to the moral failings statement. Don’t make me tap the sign — again.
It’s a sombre day here, a sober one too. The last day of March Break. It’s back to school for these fools tomorrow morning. Life, and schedule go back to normal once again. School, packed lunches, laundry, dishes, groceries, tutors, taekwondo, dance, girl guides, climbing, volleyball, the works! It all kicks off again on Monday. Oh it gets exhausting at times. On the plus side we will be right on the doorstep of summer before you know it. Shorts, hats, sunglasses, and SPF shirts for everyone! Outdoor activities, and lawn maintenance abound!
Not to mention the brief period where we can have the windows wide open, and the doors flung wide, and the screens letting a wondrous breeze blow through the whole house. The smell of flowers, and grass on the air. It’s not yet humid nor sickly hot, and the breezes are light, but fresh. It’s a very short window where this is possible. I get a longer time for it in the fall, but I’m not ready to look that far ahead.
I have some smaller children’s bikes to take to the charity shop in another few weeks. That will help me open up the Shed’s head room. As those particular bikes are hanging from the rafters. I’ll power wash them, clean them, grease their chains, inflate the tires, and then drop them off for donations. I missed the snowboards this year. We were busy. I’ll set a reminder for October to get them out of our hair. Look at me, already chomping at the bit for a spring cleaning mini purge! Oh oh oh. Can’t wait.
I enjoy watching people organize spaces on YouTube as well. Especially shops and garages too. I get some neat ideas from those. I obviously cannot enact them all, our space is small, and I have it fairly well organized, and stripped down as it is. But I love to see other people get a space all spiffed up, and made useful. Awesome sauce!
I’ve given more thought to getting rid of a salvaged cart from the farm, I’m just not sure if I want the welding gear out in the open. I like that my propane is by the door (low to the ground in case of leaks) and inside a cabinet should it ever kick off. I could put it out by the shed if I had to, get it all further away from the house.
In other news I built my 11 Ork Boyz miniatures from Games Workshop, so I’ll be needing to prime and then paint those in the coming weeks.
All eleven put together with care this time around. (Fig 1.)
I started book three of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series yesterday, and I am still enjoying it a good deal. As each lower level gets longer so do the books. I don’t know if I will get through all eight of them, but I like it so far. The books are getting much thicker as I go along, so it’ll take me longer, and longer to read them. I find it odd that the hard covers are cheaper than the paperbacks, but I’ll ake the 5 to 10 dollars in savings where I can get it. I shan’t be picky. I’m not one of those my series has to match the whole way through types. I’ll mix paper backs, hard covers, those oddly taller paper backs, movie motion picture covers, with original printing covers. I’m reading the inside, not modeling my house with the books outer face. Duh! I mean, I get it, but I don’t care.
Things we need to bring with us: child, present, skates, helmet (without a cage unfortunately), hockey stick, jersey, hockey gloves, snow pants, and a positive attitude. I am hoping the kids keep this low key because while my child knows how to skate, she learned via the ringette team, she doesn’t play hockey competitively, nor does she practice all that much. I think she has skated four times this year, and none of that with gloves, sticks or pucks involved. Should be a hoot to watch! Ha.
Found my other daughter’s helmet, and scavenged the screws so I could attach my oldest’s cage for errant hockey puck safety. Never can tell with these pre-teen boys if they’re going to play by the rules or escalate until somebody gets hurt. If I see anybody body check my kid at a birthday party game of shinny they’re going home in a cast, or with a severe limp. I kid you not. It won’t be permanent but it’ll hurt in the moment, and for a little while after. Ha!
Saturday is here, oh glorious Saturday. Hard to believe nearly all nine days of the March Break have come, and gone. Like a flask. Poof! Fetus Deletus of an entire week out of the month. Perhaps next week will quiet down, or perk up, who knows, hard to say. But I’m going to enjoy my Saturday as much as I am able to. I still have some hope we might get out to a movie this evening, just my wife and I. Although the forecast does show more freezing rain tonight. Damn. Double damn. Thwarted by the weather — again.
Let us pray for no injuries at this hockey party on the rink. Have a wonderful day. Ciao Bella.
What is going on with this weather right now, it’s all over the place. Who could possibly have any sort of handle on what is going on outside. How do you dress for these fluctuations? How do you even begin to prepare for a hot, sunny, cloudy, windy, rainy, snowy, icy day that moves into, and out of each stage randomly throughout the day, every single day. This is madness. I for one am outraged! The freezing rain is so bad right now it would have been a day off school for the kids if it weren’t all ready the tail end of March Break.
Which reminds me, I haven’t heard a peep about March Madness or brackets, or college basketball at all this month. Did that shit get cancelled or what? Now don’t get me wrong, I neither watch, nor follow basketball, at any level, I’m just used to seeing marketing for it plastered everywhere. I did watch some of the World Baseball Classic, thank you Venezuela! So did that beat out March Madness this year? I’ll Google it.
March used to be led in by a Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Issue, and March Madness splashed across every tv, newspaper, and radio spot whether you cared or not. Oh the times they are a changing. Likely means no lunch at Made in Mexico today, due to the weather, and no looking around the book store for the next installment of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I’m about 70% done with book two. Boo-urns I say, Boo-urns to the weather. Sucks to your asthma!
Not to mention the week is just about over. We’ve reached Friday morning, and all those possibilities are gone. The weather did not cooperate this year, like at all. We do have to attend a birthday party tomorrow morning, so my eldest got to see some friends, but it has been a kind of slow, and boring week off. I worked, split wood, and walked the dog a bunch. Was hoping to go see Project Hail Mary tonight, or this weekend with my wife, but given the current weather trends of volatility, that seems highly unlikely. Oh bother.
I need to pick up a card, and grab some cash for this birthday my oldest daughter is attending tomorrow. Maybe the freezing rain will end soonish, and the sun will come out? Yeah right. I’ll end up having to use a blank thank you card, and scrounge together whatever cash I have if I can’t get out to the bank before tomorrow mid day. Then do I drop and go, stick around, find something else to do for two hours, go home? I haven’t really thought much about it. Now that the peer group are turning twelve, it seems less likely that they need parents to stick around, though some can get a bit rowdy out on the ice rink. I’ll play it by ear. If they have a warm viewing area that I can stay in, I’m more likely to hang out for a while, and help out.
Have I mentioned how sick and tired I am of all this snow, and freezing rain this winter? Today is supposed to be the first official day of Spring, and we have freezing rain to shut it all down. How lovely. Five months straight of this horse shit. I’m so done with winter. Checked out. Vacated. Moving on!
But it turns out I posted it last night, that being my epic battle with our wired in smoke detectors. It left me with two bloody fingers, very sweaty, and cursing a blue streak about four miles long. I was not impressed. But! We got them installed, with the green led showing, and the batteries activated (or so I hope!)
It is now Thursday, and I have walked the dog, been to Can Tire for water softener salt, filled the car with gas, and stopped off at Shoppers for my Rx, so now I am working diligently, just to remember I haven’t eaten yet. So breakfast it is then! A full morning of activities. The kids are at the library to see a magician of some sort. We have laundry on the go, and my book arrived yesterday (and it’s a good one!) I might have to look into book three soonish too. Oh my!
Otherwise the March Break is speeding along at pace, taking a chunk of the month with it! It’ll be April before you know it. Then May, then June, then POW! 9 weeks off with the kids for summer holidays. Man time flies eh? Holy schmoly.
Greatwall Studios Graphic Design 
You must be logged in to post a comment.