The Patent Dragon's Zone of Soul Retraction

Hey look, kids...



I'm a bit behind on reporting the video uploads, I know, but there's the latest, and the rest can be found at aceofthorns.co.uk. Last week got only two videos, 'cause my Long Live The Queen series has reached its "Book 1" end, although I will be playing it again sometime.

Elsewhat... Shopping. I just spent a bit of money on myself (not a huge amount), in part to make good on a Move-related promise to myself. Also... I may be heading South later this summer for a bit of a vacation...

The weekend has been almost wall-to-wall R-A-I-N - so now you know for certain that "summer" has descended upon us. We're not washed out, but there are new small(-ish) leaks...

Damn - in the downpour, a very important anniversary has come and gone: one year since The Move. As you can see, this is not a big deal in the current... *sighs* climate.

Gonna sign off now, and do some Star Trek Online catch-up, maybe even start on a Klingon Defence Force character at last...

Having a better time today - guess I better make the most of what time I have, 'cause Saturday sees the start of Work Slot 2. It's just one week, not a week and a half, but whatever hours I get, they still include half a weekend, and that still eats into my recreational options. At least the laptop should be getting a bit of a rest.

Curse you Star Trek Online - how dare you be so engrossing...!

I really need to see the roof-work underway - it's a key piece of finally wrapping up The Move. Someone else doesn't exactly seem to see things the same way. Hmph.

Well, that's the tough part of the office move done, and I suspect that things will be fairly "easy" for the rest of the week - hopefully. An easy time leading into Thursday night would suit me just fine.

Today was pretty much work-free, so I got to do a bit of type-up, and some more writing, so that Pirates Of Freeport is officially into Chapter 3 as of lunchtime. Nice...

Meanwhile...

But that's not all... The roof repairs are approaching commencement - I had no idea it was going to be quite that big a job, running into the summer!

I really, REALLY, do NOT know where to start. Or whether I should.

( A bunch of emotional decompression follows - proceed with caution... )

Today has been better. It doesn't help that an act of vandalism was revealed yesterday, and I'm disappointed that the replacement for the vandalised item which I bought today isn't entirely successful. Next time "that skill" is employed, I shall have to confront it, and ask "Why?" Maybe I'm not the only person struggling to express themselves.

Just waiting for some computer house-keeping to finish...

Last night was the bi-monthly police Community Engagement Meeting. We missed the last one due to the stresses and strains of The Move, so we felt duty bound to attend...

The meetings are still held at the school just across the playing fields from Number 99. My former home. The taxi went past the door. I took a look - the first time I've seen the house since I locked the door two and a half months ago...

I could have broken down in tears, but I didn't. The house looks fine, with a new garden gate, and new windows for what was my bedroom. The place is being lived in, and that's fine by me.

Even so, I'd be happy for the meeting to move to a more central venue, to encourage more local people to attend. Seven or so out of thousands isn't exactly what I'd call "community engagement".

Meanwhile... I'm picking up the pieces from my embarrassing admission that yes, I utterly failed to make good on my Mission 101 promise. The bookbinding plan did rather stumble at one of the last hurdles, but I can make good on that this weekend, spare time permitting - there is, I must admit, still tidying and sorting left to do post-Move. It would be nice to have a weekend that's not overshadowed by all that...

At least some woodwork jobs have been dealt with by the necessary professionals. The office window is sorted, all (or most) of the windows now open properly, and no killer winds have been driving me to seek shelter elsewhere, and the step just outside the bathroom door is now presentable again.

Not the most thrilling news, I know, but sometimes, it's good to have a quiet day. Next weekend will be anything but - and I must charge up some batteries for the camera.

Development News... Still nothing quite ready to post yet, but TDD-702 - The Learning Curve IS continuing its development cycle at a pace only matched by the REIGNFALL "push".

Mission News... This weekend, I'm planning on making a book (Task 85), and completing a long-standing craft project (Task 52). That would shift those Tasks into the *SCORE* column...

Move News... ...however, a lot of things could get punted into the long grass if nothing is done about bringing the living room into some kind of usable order, despite much talk of doing so this weekend. Absolutely no "living" has actually been done there yet, and the total length of time anyone has actually been in there counts in the minutes - but part 2 of this season of Doctor Who begins TOMORROW, and a there's a Grand Prix on Sunday - Belgium - and both would be very much improved by an HD TV set-up, which has languished in its boxes since it was delivered. Justice MUST be done...

Thought For The Day... Some day soon, I will get organised.

Until then, I'll have to do with creeping onward with whatever project manages to grab my attention - today, it's salvaging hard drives from old computers. I brought two with me from Number 99, and there are three hard drives to recover from them before they can go for scrap. Today, I ordered an enclosure, which I plan to use as Step 1 of this plan.

meanwhile... Damn, is it one month already? Hardly seems like it - but all my immediate needs are met, and I get peace and quiet when I need it. I could even say this place is starting to feel like home...

There. I said it. And y'know what? I actually mean it.

Oh, and there was a Darkhawk anniversary in there somewhere, too. Wow, eight years...

Driven out of The Office by paint-fumes, resulting from a delayed start to one of my weekend "things to do", I found shelter in The Bedroom for most of tonight's Ultima Online activities. Got a decent signal, and I may even watch a movie (or a couple more episodes of Star Trek - Hidden Frontier) later...

I think I can call my "sort the notice board" Mission 101 Task completed. I've got it on the wall, and it's now serving as a "pit board" for writing posts - the rest of TDD-701 A Star Is Rising is marked out there by chapter number and planned day of posting, and hopefully that will, errr "keep me regular".

In the meantime, I'm having thoughts about TDD-702, and how to advance the story after A Star Is Rising. I so want to avoid another cosmic conflict, but when you're working on something with this kind of scope, that's not always easy. My usual antidote for something like that would be a quick Mane-of-Night adventure, but I have specific plans for how that's going to go. I may do a couple of "intermediary" stories for her, to keep things cooking.

Also in the meantime, an unexpected side-effect of The Move - I keep finding things I didn't know I'd packed, and I find myself thinking "what could I have kept if I hadn't brought this meaningless piece of shit with me?" I'll probably be doing this sort of things for years to come...

Update ...and here's another way The Move has fucked me about - my new monitor order has fallen through because of some shit to do with changing address. Oh brilliant.

And so, After The Fall reaches its conclusion.

Moments to treasure, moments to fear - and this is but the beginning of how things are going to be from now on...

Release Notes... Expect Season Seven to continue very soon!

Meanwhile... Crap. Nettle stings. And all on my mouse-hand. Guess I won't be doing much tonight then - except maybe researching gardening gloves. Oh, and maybe a games console to double as a DVD/BluRay player, which I am really starting to need, now that I have a 32" TV at hand (ouch)

I am so desperately trying to make a life here at the "new" (heh) house, but the place doesn't seem to like me much. Our pestilential adversaries have just doubled in species, not that I can mention that to the house-owner without being made to feel that a) I'm bringing it up just to make their life more miserable, and b) it's somehow my fault.

Fine. I'll pay to have it all fixed. Happy? I want to make this work, and not just because I have nowhere else to go. There are some neighbours who have been owing me money for years now - maybe it's time they forked over some cash...

Ah, screw it. Going to watch some DVDs now, on whatever equipment is available. I got the collected edition of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr's Kick Ass comic yesterday as my "book-a-month" (and just in time, too), and a pretty powerful piece of work it is. I'm not a fan of the "grim and gritty", so typical of British comic creators, but this was impressive stuff - teenage loser decides to become a superhero, and that's about as good as it gets for him. Brutal... Score: 8.5/10

Mission Update... is coming tomorrow. I'm not in the mood.