10/31/13

Happy Halloween!

I was up early this morning to get my costume on. I took my straitjacket outside and flung blood on it. Then I dried it. Then I had my wife buckle me in. Then did my hair and blood. I looked good, I think.

I also made it into work at 9:05,which is almost a record this month. The only time I was in earlier was on the 1st when I had a 9 am meeting and was in at 8:50. Other than that, I've been super late just about every other day.

When I got home, we handed out candy. We had 22 trick or treaters, which may be a record for this house. I sat outside for a while and scared some kids. It was a lot of fun.

We also watched Pontypoint. It was a strange little movie. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It did suspense right. There was a little gore, but mostly it was verbal descriptions and people being afraid. It's an interesting take on the zombie/infection genre.

10/30/13

I had a really tough time getting out of bed this morning. And since I was already running late, I emailed my boss to let him know I would be working from home. It's nice to have that option. I hate to use it, but it's there when I need it.

I spent a good portion of the day on the phone with the SDS pharmacy, Patient Advocacy Foundation, my insurance company, and my sleep doctor. Turns out the claim for Xyrem was declined because insurance asked for more information and the doctor hasn't been in the office all week.

Regardless, the pharmacy got me enrolled in a coupon program through the manufacturer so that I pay $35 to get the Xyrem, even if my insurance won't pay for it. I set that up and it should be here on Friday.

That said, they're still going to work on getting my insurance to cover it by getting the doctor to respond. But at least this way I'll have something to try without waiting another month for people to get their ducks in a row.

10/29/13

I called the SDS pharmacy today about the Xyrem. The didn't call me back last night or this morning about the advocacy group. I didn't get in touch with anyone, but I left a voice mail.

I also called my sleep doctor to see what they could do to help the appeal, as well as give me something in the meantime to help with the sleepiness. They phone was busy the first 3 times I called and I got voicemail the 4th time I called. It's apparently not my day for phone calls.

Gaming was tonight. We played Dread, but I didn't get to kill anyone. Apparently my players are all Jenga masters. They all escaped the killer and made it home alive, though they were in a heap of trouble. Still, I had a lot of fun, and I think the Jenga tower added some suspense to the session. I'd like to play the game again.

10/28/13

Today was a day of phone calls.

I called the oil company to come fill us up. I noticed that we only had about 1/4 a tank left.

I talked to the drug company that makes Xyrem. After playing phone tag, I found out that the insurance is denying coverage for it. The drug company is going to get me in touch with an advocacy group that will file an appeal. If that fails, then they'll see what programs I qualify for to help cover the costs.

I spoke to the insurance company today. We got the new car covered, took off collision on the other cars, and talked about refinancing the new car. Their rate is slightly better, but they offer free gap insurance. Chase/Toyota wanted to charge us a few thousand for that. So if we can get the new load with no price increase, then it's a good deal.

10/27/13

I was supposed to work on the kitchen with my brother today, but he didn't show up. Regardless, I went down in the crawl space under the kitchen and put up all of the insulation we had down there. So at least that's done.

I also used spray foam to fill up the gap where the drain pipe is. We had to cut out the foam that was already there to make a repair to the drain pipe.

I also took the AC unit out of the bedroom window and put it in the garage.

I made a fire today, but didn't keep it up. Still, it helped heat up the house.

And I put in the storm window in the powder room.

I also showered and shaved, since I was incredibly dirty.

Fun stuff was we caught up on BBT and the Walking Dead. We then watched the current Walking Dead.

10/26/13

My wife and I went car shopping today and brought home a Prius C. It's the first new car either of us has ever bought. 38 miles on it when we picked it up. While it won't save us any money in the short run, once it's paid off, we factor in maintenance, and reduced price of our other cars, we should at least break even.

I called insurance to make sure were were covered. State Farm picked up after 2 rings, so there was no wait. They were incredibly helpful and quick.

Gaming was tonight. Since Frank wasn't there, we played a few games of Eminent Domain. It's a fun game where 4 different players can be playing 4 completely different games, but playing together. It's neat.

10/25/13

Changed gears at work to start a different project. It was something I'm good at, so I got to the place I need to be within the day. I think I budgeted 3 days. So technically I'm ahead of schedule.

Gaming was had. I had fun playing.

We stopped a little early since Anne's mother came over. She' taking a load of stuff back down to Florida, so I helped load the U-Haul truck she brought with her this time. It's nice to be able to help. I hope shifting is kept to a minimum on her drive down.

10/24/13

I think I finished up the cube design for work today. Now I just have to write the reports and I'll be done this project.

Went car shopping tonight with my wife. Test drove a Mazda 3. She's not really thrilled with it, even though it had the best pickup of any of the fuel efficient cars we've tried. We may end up keeping her Bug and just me getting a new car. That wasn't on the table before, but maybe it is now.

I made some breakfast this morning. Or at least heated it up. Still, I ate breakfast without stopping at Wawa. And it was probably a few dollars cheaper.

10/23/13

I struggled with the cubes some more today, but I think I made some good progress. Hopefully I can finish this up tomorrow and start working on reports.

I went to my sister's to try to fix her computer. She needs a new Ethernet card. BestBuy doesn't carry them anymore. So I have to get one online.

I stopped by my parents' place to go through some stuff my mom is getting rid of. While I was there, I fixed my father's computer. He screwed it up somehow so that it didn't know how to open a shortcut. I had to fix the registry, but it's fine now. Until he breaks it again.

10/22/13

Gaming was had tonight. We're playing Dread and we got through character creation tonight. I thought about starting play tonight, but we'd only get an hour or so in, and I was worried about losing a character early on and leaving them nothing to do next week.

I got some more work done on the project plan at work. Doing more cube work, so it's a little slow going. But I think I just got into the swing of things again.

I was also 5 minutes "early" this morning. 9:25. It's not the 9:00 I was hoping for, but since I officially changed my hours to 9:30 to 5:30, it'll do.

10/21/13

Got part way through the rules of Dread today. I at least have enough to run the game. I also made the character questionnaires, so I should be good on that front. At the very least, tomorrow can be character creation and I'll have another week to digest the rules.

I corresponded with NASA about the launch and registered through the site. I also called the drug company about the Xyrem (since I haven't heard anything in 2.5 weeks). And I called to schedule the wine tasting my mother got us as a gift. It expired this Saturday, and they were booked up, but they said they extended the coupon so I was able to schedule it for ext month.

I was late getting into work today, and I came in to a boatload of emergency emails, but I was still able to devote the majority of the day to working on the project plan. I haven't been able to do that for over a week.

10/20/13

Had Subway for lunch. It was good.

My brother came over today and he worked on the kitchen. I ran to Home Depot a couple of times while he installed a new waste pipe, faucet, and hooked up most of the plumbing and electricity. We couldn't find a coupling for the sink and garbage disposal, so we can't use the sink yet. But the faucet works.

Afterwards we went out to Pennhurst Asylum for some Halloween fun. I had a really good time. My wife screamed a lot, I saw some friends, and as usual, the effects and actors were great.

10/19/13

I painted some of the cabinet doors today. I didn't get them all done, but I made some progress. Unfortunately it started to rain, and the paint took longer to dry than normal since it was cold and humid. But it's a start.

Gaming was had. We finished the adventure. People seemed to like it. There was talk of continuing with it. I don't know if that's just excitement from finishing tonight or whether we're actually going to continue in the next few weeks.

I got an email from a friend looking for a bio for his game/Kickstarter. It's cool that he's trying to include me, since I did some work for the original game. So far it's my only credits from a published game.

10/18/13

Called out of work today because I was insanely tired this morning. I ended up sleeping until noon. that's a bad thing, but I did feel better around 3-4 and up until now. I'm tired now, but it's like a "normal" time to go to bed tired. So I guess that's good.

I bought some gaming stuff today. Bought from a charity, bought a favorite author's game, and picked up some other cool stuff. Spent too much, but I have the money right now.

I apparently won a social media contest NASA held. I get 1 ticket to get into the MAVEN launch next month. It's in Florida, so I have to figure out how to get down there, where to stay, and how to afford it. But I'll be able to watch the launch, meet with engineers and techs, and hobnob with media. I'm not sure my wife will be able to go down with me or not. She had to check with her boss. Technically I have to check with my boss as well, but I don't think it'll be an issue.

10/17/13

Had lunch with a friend from work today. It was a nice change of pace. And since he had to drop out of gaming, it was nice to chat a little bit.

Hit the gym tonight with the wife. I've been just too tired to go most days. I've been really suffering with my sleep the last few weeks. It's been worse than it's ever been. So it was nice to be able to go tonight, even if I didn't go for long.

The wife and I got Qdoba for dinner after the gym, which was also nice. We haven't been there in a few months.

10/16/13

Bought a game of Jenga in preparation for the game of Dread that I'll be running next Tuesday. I'm excited for it. I think it'll be fun. It'll definitely be different.

Took a nap tonight after work. I really needed it. I probably needed more. And I probably should have gone to bed early tonight.

Made some changes to Happy Feats. I think I'm mostly done with the mechanics. I think I just have to write up some descriptions and polish it off. Then I can lay it out and release it into the wilds for people to tear apart.

10/15/13

I got a fair amount of work done at work, even if it wasn't stuff from the project plan. And while I was tired, I wasn't dead on my feet.

I got a little bit of work done on Happy Feats, so that's a plus. I'm slowly getting to a completed draft.

Tonight was gaming. While we didn't finish the battle, I think it yielded some good info. The super tough monsters I made were a challenge for the PCs. The PCs probably would have won out, but it was touch and go there for a while. I think I just need some guidelines on how many monsters to use and how to use them. Otherwise I think they're in a good place.

10/14/13

Solved a problem today that's been a problem for the past week. I don't know if my boss didn't or couldn't look into solving the problem, but I somehow was able to squeeze several extra minutes of efficiency out of a report to allow it to run without timing out anymore. I got flack for it in the same breath as I got praise, but what are you gonna do?

Watched Tucker and Dale vs Evil tonight and was very pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I'd been avoiding it because it looked horrible. 

I got a little bit done on Happy Feat today. I'm more than halfway through the very brief monster write ups. Part of me wonders if I should write more, but I think that since a few sentences are all I'm giving to PC races, a few sentences will suffice for monsters. Besides, I've got pictures to go along with the monsters, so it'll all be cool. 

10/12/13

I've been having a really hard time with sleep, the house, and assorted drama, so I decided to take the day off. Completely off. I turned off my alarm and decided that whenever I felt tired enough to sleep, I'd go lay down and sleep.I got up at 10:30, laid down (but didn't sleep) at noon, laid down (and did sleep) at 5. I feel better, but we'll see if it keeps up.

I watched V/H/S today to get my Halloween fix. It was a fairly good anthology horror movie. I started watching the Innkeepers, but turned it off when I got tired. I'll probably finish it tomorrow.

I vacuumed the house and had to empty the vacuum 3 times because of all the dog hair. I let it go far too long. But the house looks a little better now. Hopefully it smells a little better too.

10/11/13

I took lead on a meeting for probably the first time at work today. I thought it was the most productive meeting we've had in a long time. I think other people seemed to think that as well.

Gaming was tonight, and we had fun. At least I did. And we leveled.

Hit Fridays after gaming. Had some good food with friends. It was nice.

10/9/13

I was relatively productive at work. I got several ad hoc projects done and even a little bit of what I was actually supposed to be working on.

Got some of my Halloween music on my Walkman. I also thought up some other stuff to put on there. So it should be shaping up to be a good mix this year.

Watched the season premier of American Horror story. Not a bad start. We'll have to see how it turns out.

10/8/13

Good play test tonight. It gave me a lot to think about. I need to ensure that clerics and thieves have something to do in combat, and I need to work on the spells section, since the charm spell decimated the enemies. There was some good discussion after the game about where things are lacking.

Started assembling my Halloween music ensemble today. I still have some work to do, but it's starting to take shape.

Wife was at gaming again tonight. I really like having her there.

10/7/13

Wrote my first stored procedure today. And it worked on the first try. So not bad. Sure, it's not supported on the system we have, but it worked.

Got a little brainstorming done for Happy Feats. I'm hoping to revamp the magic item section soon. After that, I'll do the feat, monster, and equipment descriptions. I might be done at that point. We'll see.

Did some reading online. Almost caught up on the "interesting things" I've found from last week.

10/5/13

Gaming was had tonight. After a rough start, I managed to pound the PCs pretty hard. They're losing and getting desperate. That's a good thing.

The wife and I went grocery shopping today. We spent over $300, but since we haven't done a real shopping trip in a month or two, that's not too bad. Plus, we have lots of food now.

I bought a copy of Codex Seraphinianus today. At least I preordered one. I'm curious to see it. It got it for $80, when most places it's going for $270. Still, it's a lot of money. Hopefully it's an interesting book and I'll enjoy the pictures and script, etc.

10/4/13

I got the monsters revamped for Happy Feats today. They should be in the right shape for playtesting on Tuesday.

I also shared the Happy Feat draft with one of the guys at work who expressed interest. I haven't heard back from him yet, but I'd be curious to see what he thinks.

Watched Over the Hedge and Rio tonight. Both were cute movies. Not great, but cute.

10/3/13

Worked from home because I had a doctor appointment. I was able to get at least a little done, as well as help out one of the consultants at work with some SQL issues.

Saw a sleep doc today (my doc is out on maternity leave, so he was the replacement). I got a prescription for Xyrem. He's not sure if insurance will cover it, but he agrees that we've exhausted all other options. He also thinks taking it could be diagnostic. If I respond well, then I have narcolepsy. If I don't, then it's something else.

I got a call from the Xyrem people tonight, which was faster than expected. It was just a welcome call, but still nice to know things are moving.

Bonus: I made dinner (pasta with eggplant, zucchini, and breaded chicken) and we ATE ON REAL PLATES. My wife protested, since the dish washer still isn't hooked up, but it was nice. Real nice.

10/2/13

Had a training thing today at work. Since it lasted most of the day, I got free pizza out of it. I generally don't turn down free pizza.

I also had my review today at work. Things seemed to go fairly well. Probably no big raise this year, but I'm also not in danger of losing my job.

Played some Ingress on the way home from work. I'm slowly getting closer to level 6.

10/1/13

I had a meeting at 9 this morning and I managed to get in on time for it. I even beat my boss in.

Thought it was stressful, I managed to get all the feats done for Happy Feats in time for gaming tonight. Now I just have to revamp monsters.

Gaming was tonight. While the monsters weren't really ready, I think the PCs were doing what they should be - fighters were hitting, wizards were casting, etc. I think the priests need a little help with meaningful choices during play. And I'm still working on thieves. Regardless, things are coming closer to how I expect them to work, which is good.