Cold in Oregon

I continue to fight a cold. There's no fever, so I doubt it's the flu, Swine or otherwise. Still, I doubt that I would be a popular person around BASFA or my office if I showed up sneezing, coughing, and otherwise acting infectious, so it's just as well that I'm isolated in the Oregon countryside. Later today we will probably go in to Stayton and find out if the shelves have already been emptied of face masks, which I assume will soon become the latest smart fashion accessory for people wanting to stay alive in public spaces.

Montreal Video & Pictures

Cheryl now has the pictures and video from our Montreal trip online. If you want to get a feel for the convention center and environs, including the restaurants (yum), check out her reportage.

And do have a look at the photos, so you'll see what I meant about really wanting to use the Auditorium for the Business Meeting if it were just a little bit larger.

Re amended to add: While I'm not displeased by positive comments, I suggest that people post their feedback on the original message at Cheryl's Mewsings. She's the one who did the work, after all. I merely opened doors and held bags like a good production assistant.

Grand Prix de Mehama

While at Norwescon a few weeks ago, Lisa bought the new Formula D board game. (This is a backward-compatible re-issue of the Formula De board game that I'd seen but never played.) After a few two-car warm-up games a couple of nights ago, we decided to play a little more complicated two-lap race, with each of us fielding two-car teams. We also let Kuma Bear play as a one-car "privateer" team, with Lisa and I mutually agreeing on how Kuma should drive. This was a basic game with the beginner rules.

( Gentlebeings, Start Your Engines )

It looked like just about anyone could win, but Lisa's lead car got a perfect die-roll, with Kuma not far behind. Kuma's conservative style earlier in the race preserved enough points to be able to blow the last corner without braking. In a desperate play to make the podium, both of my vehicles up-shifted and rolled much too high a speed, ending up crashing into the tire wall on the final corner. Kuma scored a respectable second place, while Lisa's two cars took first and third.

This is a fun game, and I reckon it would be really entertaining for the full compliment of ten people, although it would probably take quite a while to play, even for a one-lap race. Once we've grown comfortable with the basic rules, we'll see about moving to the more realistic advanced rules, which give separate damage points to different parts of the car rather than lumping 18 damage points together for the whole vehicle.