Monthly Archives: July 2007

Game Day 07/12/2007

Game #1

Tempus

Finally we have gone back and played a slightly older game that, at one time, was played frequently. Well, at least for a month or so. And then it was pushed off into a dark and dusty corner when newer games came into the spotlight.

This is a lightweight civilization that has been distilled down to its bare essence. Perhaps a little bit too much, in my opinion. The theme and feel has been eroded away and you only catch a brief glimpse of a civilization game here and there. But that is not too much of a bad thing since the game works just fine as an abstract game.

During the game play we were a little bit rusty. And far too pacifistic. I lost some crucial fights in some key eras. And that hurt me a little bit. At the end of the game, I was the last person to move. I had been planing an action for a while now. This was my last ditch effort to grab second place. And it just barely worked for me. Amusingly, Ed, who was clearly in first place, was complaining that I was playing king-maker. However, I ignored that accusation as it both attacked the leader and gave me a fighting chance for second place.

Game #2

Blue Moon City

To end out the night, we played Blue Moon City. It is a game built from a two-player Knizia game. The beautiful artwork on the cards depicts many different races. You run around the board and turn in cards to build the corresponding color. Once from one to three of the spots on an area are filled, the majority owner gets a resource and everyone who builds gets another resource. Usually it is crystals which are turned in for victory points. But it can be cards or dragon scales as well.

It is a nice, lightweight game. One that doesn’t require much analysis. The only skill required is predicting what areas people will complete and timing aspects where you can get the jump on other people.

Disc Golf 07/10/2007

Good approach shots #1
Good approach shots #2

Another round at Wilco to prepare for this tournament. It was somewhat unusual to play on a Tuesday. John has been practicing a lot for the tournament. And it affected me enough to get me out here tonight. I made two good first throws.

Disc Golf 07/07/2007

Disc in tree

Today, John and I played at Cat Hollow. And it was not a good day for me at all. All I will say is a picture of my disc in the tree. Which about sums it up…

Disc Golf 07/06/2007

Hole 13

John and I played at Wilco again. I had one good throw on hole 13. My disc is right below the small rock on the right edge and under the tree branch. John’s second shot is under the basket.

Hole 18 first shot

Hole 18 was amusing. I threw past the trees on the right and onto the grass along side the park entrance. I wonder if this is out-of-bounds?

Hole 18 second shot

My second throw was a great recovery. It was high back over those trees and landed in the middle of the fairway.

Game Day 07/05/2007

Game #1

Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery

I had my first playing of this new game today. It was billed as a somewhat meaty game with game mechanics from Struggle of Empires, Caylus, & Puerto Rico. But it didn’t really combine those mechanics into something more interesting than the sum of the parts. I think that this is what gave me a negative impression during my play. I kept thinking fondly on those other games and wanting to be playing them instead.

Also, it was quite long for what it was and it took us 3 hours to play the game after the rules were explained.

Flight home

Putting green

After returning the car (and getting a better rate when the receipt was printed out), I went to the airport. I was a little worried that the problem at the airport in Scotland would cause delays. So I arrived early. But there were no problems with security at all. Too bad I did not have a putter and a golf ball.

I was hoping that somehow today would be different. There would be no problems. However, I was wrong. My flight to Dallas was delayed by 45 minutes. Fortunately I had a little extra time for my connection. Dallas was definitely having problems today. We had to wait a little bit before the plane was able go into the gate.

Walking down the concourse I saw some really tall Chinese basketball players. To bad the lighting was low enough so that I couldn’t take any pictures…

plane waiting to disembark

I got to my next gate in time. But was then told that flight was at a different gate (which was somewhat close). And at this gate I could see my plane waiting for some baggage handlers to arrive about the time we were supposed to leave. Sigh…

Rental car

Mazda 6

I thought that the rental car was surprisingly roomy. I had more than enough head and leg room (which is important when you are 6′ 3″). The horsepower was anemic though. There was a lot of lag from a dead stop. But then how can you compare it to a 380hp supercharged V8? And it seems to get good gas mileage as I have driven 180 miles and the tank is still over half full. But that may be because the tank might be oddly shaped. I will see when I fill it up before I return it. Also, the car rides a lot lower on the ground than my F-150. I regularly look straight at the middle of doors than over other cars.

Overall verdict is a thumbs up.

Update: It looks like the gas mileage was 20 MPG. So, not that good at all. Hopefully, my next car will be > 30.

Biking in Palm Beach county

Biking with Aunt Jill

Aunt Jill and I went biking around the North part of Palm Beach island. We started off here along the intracoastal waterway. It was a pretty nice path… mostly shaded… nice, expensive houses.

Peanut Island
inlet

We paused here and looked out on Peanut Island and the inlet out to the ocean. And then headed back along North Ocean Boulevard.

One thing that I thought was amusing during the ride was the For Sale signs around here. Every sign was this tiny, little metal sign on a post (like index card sized… 3″ x 5″). It must be because of some sort of zoning restriction or something. And it was quite the opposite of the hugh wooden signs around Round Rock.

Cubano sandwich

Cubano sandwich

I finally got a chance to order a Cubano sandwich… mmm… This sandwich is easy to order in a tiny Cuban restaurant where the staff doesn’t speak English: Uno Cubano y Coca Cola por favor. With a credit card or a twenty dollar bill you don’t have to worry about asking how much either…