Here in Ontario, Canada, COVID has been ramping back up over the past 4-5 weeks sadly. Numbers are back up unfortunately, testing numbers are high again (good and bad) and things are incredibly stressful on a regular basis. As Shawna and I feel the stress weighing us down again in this COVID world and as business owners, I decided to take an additional week off (the week leading into Christmas and the week between Christmas and New Years) to rest, regroup and see what happens after the holidays. ๐ It's sad considering I've only worked 5-months of this year, but it really does create a lot of unhealthy stress mentally and physically.
Today I received more stressful news; One of the guys I play pickup hockey with Thursday mornings has tested positive. I opted out of playing in my league game today, and I'm just waiting to hear back from the local testing centre for when I can get an appointment to "get my eyeball massaged" as one of my clients, so delicately put it. ๐ฎ
Needless to say, I was upset this morning. Not with the guy we play hockey with, but with the state of the world these past two years. That's not even mentioning non-Covid related stressors this past year. Man, it's been tough. And our stresses are nothing compared to so many. It's unreal what we are all going through.
So as the house was cold (due to an 18hr power outage thanks to last night's windstorm here), I sat in my track pants, slippers, sweater and toque and decided to GET US OFF THE PLANET!! Fitting seeing as how space isn't warm anyway ๐คฃ
Seemed reasonable don't ya think??
I promised Shawna I'd be back for her and the kids. I just needed to head to Mars, terraform the planet and come back for them so we could get away from this chaos we've all been "enjoying" the past two years. I've played several games of TM and seen the movie "the Martian". So between gaming and knowing that I just need to grow potatoes on Mars to be ok... I felt I had this basically done already.
I failed. ๐คฃ
We're stuck here. ๐คฃ
I did however play with the final corporation in solo mode that I hadn't used yet; Interplanetary Cinematics Corporation. I have now used all corporations at least once. Out of all of them, I've successfully terraformed Mars once.
My future as a martian scientist still eludes me apparently! It really is harder than Matt Damon made it look.
After that failed endeavour, I decided to make the next logical and realistic leap... Make some wine and run my own winery, with Viticulture. ๐
Once again.... I failed. ๐คฃ
BUT on the bright side (no pun intended) - We have power again, it's warm in the house finally, I just finished a round of Wingspan at the table AND I'm able to share my gaming adventures with my ST possee now.
What a day. Never a dull moment in 2021 that's for sure.
Derek, that COVID resurgence real sucks. Here in the U.S. they like to continually talk about the number of new cases. To me, those numbers don't mean much. To me, it's, "How many people are actually dying from it?" If there were 1,000 new cases, but they all had mild symptoms and then it was over, why would I even care? If the mortality rate is decreasing, the simultaneous increasing of cases is largely irrelevant, IMHO. But, our government likes to keep us scared. If the mortality rate is increasing, that's a different story, of course. Hopefully, it'll ramp back down for you before the lock-downs ensue (Hey, let's crush all the remaining small business owners out of existence!). I sincerely hope you (and your family) end-up okay. Anyway, good luck all around, especially since you weren't able to escape to Mars. ๐ฅ But, if you attack real-life as you do your games, I'm confident you will prevail!
Your transition from failed Martian Farmer to potential Vineyard Magnate did seem logical. ๐ Plus, unlike frozen potato plants, you can drown your set-backs and failures with fermented grapes. ๐ But, alas, it wasn't your best "green thumb" day. Hopefully, your luck changed with the birdies.
I sat outside for a while this afternoon, wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops reading a Rulebook. It was about 65ยบF (18.3ยบC), but because of our altitude (6,000+ft/1,830+m), the air is thin so the sun is strong. Admittedly, this isn't common weather for this time of year. Even got out on my two-wheelers (one has a gasoline-powered engine and the other has me for an engine).
Then it was back inside to be slaughtered, annihilated, and otherwise pulverized by Hans in Final Girl. Damn, that game is difficult to beat. May be time to invoke some of my 'House Rules' (aka (also known as) cheating ๐). I only have one 'Feature Film' (The Happy Trails Horror), but despite my consistent defeats, I may acquire the other Feature Films (Expansions). With this game, it appears I'm a glutton for punishment. Hey, it's not even midnight yet, so it may be a good night to die (again). Hans, you sick bastard!
Hey Derek, I hope the test results will be alright. I'm just coming out of a 10 days isolation - my daughter caught covid at school. I think taking off an extra week is the right decision. Recharging is very important. Oh, and great to see Terraforming Mars on the table. ๐๐ป