It took thirty-one recurrences but it
finally happened, I got sick for my birthday. Lemme tell you a trick
as well. I don't get sick nearly as much as most folk so when some
germ finally sneaks through my defenses it's infinity worse. Since
Sunday morning it's been a total onslaught of slime, coughing,
feverish shaking, with barely enough energy to maintain my already
slim grip on reality. Even with how much better I'm feeling today,
simply writing this post is taking all if my energy. Don't be
surprised to find a paragraph where I lapse out and simply type the
letter m over and over again.
That's how I spent mine and the
nation's birthday. Covered in blankets, walking at a speed of quarter
mile an hour. I didn't get out to see any fireworks, somebody screwed
up the barbecue, though I didn't have the appetite for it anyway. All
in all I think I can officially label thirty-one as my worst birthday
ever.
Not all is lost however. I am
absolutely going to have a complete mulligan birthday this weekend.
We're talking polish sausage, sauerkraut, clearance fireworks, pie,
and board games. Considering the first thing I have to do upon
getting better is go back to work, I'd say I've earned the do-over.
Beyond that, there's also gifts. Those
lovely little bits of sentiment that ease the trauma of finding
yourself another year older. Not an altogether bad haul this year
either, so let's take a look and focus on the good while we try to
ignore the blob of ooze dripping out of my skull.
There's always that subset of gifts
that are are small or spur the moment. Usually that's a small sum
check in a card from gramma, other times it's a whole meal. One might
say the buying party could have done better had they taken their time
but I've gotta admit cornmeal catfish tastes all the better when I'm
not paying for it. Oddly enough the one workplace gave me a tiny gift
card for Meijer. It's a nice gesture though it'd certainly mean more
if the place wasn't paying other employees more than me simply
because they hired in two or three weeks later.
There's always someone who gets you
something practical and necessary. This year that duty went to my dad
who picked up the check for some of my yearly moped maintenance.
Granted they'll never make a Hallmark commercial about a guy
installing a new air cleaner but it's nice all the same.
On Saturday my brother gave me an
early present with Bravely Default. This is one of the top reasons I
got my 2DS. Problem is I'm already working on like 4 games at the
moment so this is jumping to the front of the line with like ten
others waiting to be played. I'm not saying I have to quit my job and
play video games, but I might just quit my job and play video games.
My sister and brother-in-law were next
in line when they delivered one present onto my deathbed on my actual
birthday. The prospect of Vampire Hunter D on blu-ray would most
definitely have garnered a bigger response under normal conditions.
As it was, I was only able to lift it maybe an inch above my chin
before letting out a thin, raspy woo.
The second half of their gift arrived
late. My own set of nice colored pencils. I've been meaning to make a
post about this but ever since taking up this shit show Alzheimer
home job I've found coloring to be a good therapy tool. Gotta keep
that brain working, ya know?
Finally we've got my mum. She took an
extra day to give them to me but seeing as how she'd been nice enough
to provide her dying boy with mashed potatoes and tea, we'll forgive
her such oversights. First up are some proper pourers for my healthy
sized mini-bar. If asked to point out one solid advantage of the new
job is a fine stash of booze available at all times. Ensuring each
bottles longevity by eliminating spillage is some top priority shit.
Next up is volume zero of Spider-Gwen.
In case you haven't heard, this alternate universe version of Gwen
Stacey who gains spider powers and loses her Peter Parker has been
quite the rising star in the comic world. With what little I've read
so far I can kinda see the appeal. There's enough regular elements of
spidey storytelling to keep things comfortable while giving
everything a different feminine touch. The fact that this is a
somewhat grungy and downtrodden version of Gwen is a huge improvement
over the prim and proper bore Peter Parker dated so long ago..
Personally I was never a fan of that twit so seeing an alternate take
where she actually has a personality and contributes to society is
pretty golden. Plus it initiates her into the club of spider-chicks
I've long been a fan of.
Last but certainly not least is San
Juan, a card game with a nifty feature known as simultaneous role
selection. Essentially it means every turn you select a role which
determines what you and everyone else gets to do, but since you
picked it, you get some some kind of bonus. Maybe you build for less,
maybe you pick up extra cards. It all depends on what role you pick.
There's only so many games with this feature and out of all of them,
this seemed like the best fit for my gaming endeavors.
So, yeah. Pretty good haul for an
otherwise wretched birthday. I'm trying to work on some other posts
for you guys, but being sick makes progress slow. Each paragraph
practically requires a twenty minute recovery nap. Currently I've
gotta figure out whether I'm going to work tomorrow. Honestly, even
if my health returns I'd prefer not to go. It's supposed to be ninety
some odd degrees and I'll still have all the energy of a slug. I'll
see you all soon since I'm about a third of the way through another
post. Until then, wish me luck. Thirty-one is already tough.
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