Catching up from Christmas

I hope that all your holidays were happy and that you have a healthy and Happy New Year! Janice and I drove in my new car to her family in Upstate New York for Christmas. The capacious Honda Fit served us well, even if it got its first ding (in the windshield). Fortunately, the weather was mild and traffic was relatively light, even if children and skiers were disappointed by the lack of a white Christmas.

Among other things, I received more reference books on Arthurian lore, some cool Star Wars and gamer garb, food baskets, and a toaster oven. As usual, we also ate very well, caught up on Disney/Pixar movies, and played with my nephews’ superhero action figures and Lego sets. My thoughts are with ill relatives and friends.

Unlike several of my friends, I was busy with work in the week between Christmas and New Year’s, so I was unable to post to this blog. However, I don’t foresee any shortage of genre entertainment, food and travel, or politics to talk about in 2012!

In between work and the holidays, Janice and I ate at our usual haunts: Wild Willy’s Burgers, Acropolis, Subway, Chipotle, and the Ninety Nine (I’ll have to work it all off). I met fellow role-players Beruk A., Brian W., and James B. for lunch in Central Square, Cambridge, as well as fellow blogger Thomas K.Y. with his brother Tony and girlfriend Kai-Yin at Elephant Walk in Waltham, Massachusetts. I’ll look more at recent movies, comic books, and games in upcoming posts.

For New Year’s Eve, Janice and I walked to the First Night events in Needham, Mass. We enjoyed listening to the West Newton Ceili Band, Melodius Funk, and comedian John Colliton. In addition, we saw the newly renovated town hall, melting ice sculpture, and the colorful Quinobequin Quilters show.

This morning, Janice and I watched the annual Rose Parade, and we’ll be taking down our decorations as the holidays wind down. I hope that the global economy improves, people strive to peacefully overcome their differences, and to find time for all my friends and interests!

Santa’s sleigh

On Saturday, 10 December 2011, Janice’s parents, her youngest sister Melinda, and Melinda’s children Amanda and Joshua came over to celebrate Janice’s birthday and to bake holiday cookies.

I took my nephew Josh to New England Comics and Newbury Comics in Norwood, Massachusetts. I later took Josh and Amanda to a talk about birds of prey at the local library, and the family had dinner together at Mick Morgan’s pub. We’ll be seeing them around Christmas.

In addition to housecleaning and shopping for gifts for family, friends, gamers, and co-workers, I’ve been dealing with automotive issues. A few weeks ago, I had some expensive repairs and maintenance done on my 1998 Honda Civic coupe. On my way from the local dump to work yesterday morning, my car started overheating.

I called into work and brought my beat-up green car (which I had bought used in 2000) to Boch Honda in Norwood. I’ve had to postpone several meetings to later this week. Another coolant hose had come loose, and more problems were likely coming soon. While waiting for the assessment, I went into the dealer area and eventually bought a 2011 Honda Fit Sport.

My family and friends are much more excited than I am about the new vehicle, which I consider merely a means to get from Point A to Point B in relative safety and comfort. I’m not a fan of gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles and the distracted soccer moms or cellphone-using drivers behind the wheel. Still, the Fit is pretty stylish.

I had hoped to nurse the Civic through another harsh New England winter. Ice, salt, potholes, and tree sap take their toll. In 12 years here, I’ve been hit several times — never my fault — and the engine may have had another 100,000 miles in it. I was also in no hurry to begin making car payments anew, but repair bills were starting to become bigger and more frequent.

My red Fit has more passenger and cargo space than the Civic, despite being about the same compact-car length. Although most of my driving is stop-and-go, short-distance commuting with the occasional out-of-state trip to visit family, I hope to get good mileage. As of this writing, the four-door hatchback has only 17 miles on it so far.

What do you think I should name my new car? I’m asking only readers of this blog! I nicknamed my first car, a used red Chevy Cavalier, the Millennium Falcon for its utility and temperament. I sometimes called my Civic a “Runabout,” after Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s long-range shuttlecraft.

Weekend update: One step forward…

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas...

On Friday, 2 December 2011, I brought my 1998 Honda Civic coupe to Boch Honda in Norwood, Massachusetts, for maintenance and repairs. The 120,000-mile oil change, annual inspection, bumper reattachment, and new water pump and hoses totaled close to $2,000, which is nearly what the automobile is supposedly worth! If I can get through the winter unscathed, it’ll still be cheaper than car payments — for now.

I also “snailmailed” the first batch of holiday packages to friends, including Byron V.O.’s raffle winnings from the Super MegaFest. (I often don’t get all my cards done until after Christmas.) At work, I’ve been busy with assignments and planning for the year ahead, including TT‘s annual company meeting in mid-January. Janice and I had dinner at Wild Willy’s Burgers in Needham, Mass., and the next morning, we brought the last load of autumn leaves to the local dump.

We then met my former boss Michele L.D. and her husband Paul D. and onetime co-worker Ken G. and his date Sarah for a pleasant lunch at British Beer Co. in Framingham, Mass. From there, we joined gamer Sara F. at the AMC Framingham 16 to screen The Muppets, which we all liked. I’ll review the movie in more detail soon.

Sara, Janice, and I did some shopping at Shopper’s World and had dinner at T.G.I. Friday’s. We then went to the Natick Mall — formerly the pretentiously named “Natick Collection” — and got dessert at Red Mango. Since it was getting late, I didn’t get to the Lego Store or the recently moved Newbury Comics.

On Sunday, Janice volunteered at the animal shelter, we put up our Christmas decorations, and I ran the latest virtual session for my Pathfinder/Skype: “the Vanished Lands” fantasy campaign. I’ll try to post an update for that game, which will probably take another hiatus as the role-players travel in the next several weeks.

Neither team for my FATE 3e “Vortex” space opera is meeting tonight because I’ll be celebrating Janice’s birthday by taking her to the Fuji II Steakhouse. Happy Birthday this week also to my cousins Socorro and Joke, college chum Ron J.K., and niece Becky Z.! I’m mostly caught up on genre television (including some good science fiction documentaries), but I have several books, comics, and DVDs waiting…. What have you been reading or watching?

Thanksgiving 2011

Norman Rockwell's vision of America — Thanksgiving by Norman Rockwell

On Wednesday, 23 November 2011, Janice and I drove down to my parents’ home in Virginia. We passed through heavy rain, but the traffic wasn’t too bad. We stopped for lunch at Boston Market, and my mother had a good dinner waiting for us. We watched Jeopardy and talked about politics, history, and travel.

On Thanksgiving, my brother Peter, his wife Kelly, their two daughters, and his mother-in-law Maureen joined us for the traditional holiday feast. I’ll to spend the weeks before Christmas trying to work off the turkey, potatoes, and desserts.

In response to one of my nieces, I’m thankful to live in a country where there is still freedom and opportunity, despite political squabbles and economic stress, and to be able to spend time with family and good food.

The weather was warm and pleasant, so we got to play badminton and horseshoes with my energetic nieces. The next day, Peter returned to the Blue Ridge Mountains, and we did some yard work, played volleyball in shirtsleeves, and of course, ate some more.

On Saturday, Janice and I visited her grandmother in Pennsylvania. We ate another all-American meal at Saville’s Diner before returning to the road. Even with heavy traffic, a detour, and stopping for dinner at Cracker Barrel, we made better time than in many other years.

Since then, I’ve been catching up on reading (R.I.P. “Pern” author Anne McCaffrey), genre TV (including the end of the fun Batman and the Brave and the Bold, as well as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movie marathons on cable), and role-playing games (updates and reviews to come).

Playing catch-up

Although Janice’s and my Verizon FIOS wasn’t restored until Thursday, 3 November 2011, I hardly missed land-line telephone, cable television, or Internet service after the early winter storm last week. A decent number of trick-or-treaters came to our door on Halloween, and I’ve caught up a bit on reading, free of fund-raiser calls.

Of the TV shows I missed, I should be able to see Masterpiece: Mystery and Homeland in reruns, and I can afford to miss episodes of Castle and Psych because they don’t rely too heavily on story arcs. I’ve already dropped Terra Nova and American Horror Story. Fairy-tale dramas Grimm and Once Upon a Time are just getting started. I prefer the quirky sense of humor of the former over the romantic visuals of the latter. I also enjoyed the latest low-key Person of Interest.

Now, if I had missed “sci-Friday,” I’d have a lot more to catch up on: Batman and the Brave and the Bold, Young Justice, ThunderCats, Star Wars: Clone Wars, and X-Men for animation. In addition to them and Grimm, there’s also Chuck, Fringe, and Sanctuary (and eventually Spartacus: Vengeance). Of these, my favorites right now are Clone Wars, ThunderCats, and Fringe.

Coming soon: Food, once and future co-workers, games, and reading…