Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Guns, Jewels and Tools.

"Guns, Jewels and Tools!" Sign at local hock shop.

Kind of describes Bend, right now, eh?

Cheap Entertainment at home?

Played Settlers of Catan last night for the first time with friends Char and Aaron. Once you play a game, it's actually pretty easy to learn. And lots of fun.

I mentioned that I'd had more requests for SofC after Christmas than before, and Aaron said, "I think with the economy the way it is, you'll see more of that."

An easy, fun, but challenging game that you can play with two or more people and you can play over and over again?

Yeah, that might fit the bill.

Next visit: Ticket to Ride.

(By the way, speaking of Aaron, I'd like to repeat my recommendation for him if you need help with your computers. He's a real wiz, and I think he's very reasonably priced. E-Mail Address: thatleisguy@gmail.com)


Depression Nostalgia?

The point I'm trying to make is, I've had a bit of weird nostalgia for the '80's. Not that I'd like them back, but they do take on the cast of an simpler time. I seemed to have time back then to actually read comics, to actually play games.

I've driven home a few times lately, and the traffic was so light that it reminded me of the old days.

I feel myself being strangely relaxed.

I'm relaxed partly because I have a cash reserve in the bank, pretty much for the first time. I've known a 'cash reserve' would be handy since -- oh, I don't know -- about a year into owning a business.

It just shows how hard business was that I spent the next 20 years trying to accomplish this simple goal. But I always needed to keep the store moving forward, and sometimes I needed just to keep it from slipping back. I always made the choice to spend the money.

But not now. This time I'm hanging on to it, because this feeling that I'm covered in the short term is priceless.

Settling In.

Meanwhile, I seemed to have found my groove here at the store. I was kind of worried after a couple of weeks. I was plenty tired, had a few customer incidents, and just seemed to have a hard time of it.

Then, this last week, I remembered a few tricks, a few techniques, and a different attitude, and it's become much easier.

Hoping I can keep that going.

2 comments:

Mark said...

That's the idea of Eurogames: not too difficult to learn and playable again and again. I discovered SoC three years ago, and since then I've found 50 games I like better (including Ticket to Ride -- good luck with that one).

Boardgames are a depression era form of entertainment to be sure. Some balk at the idea of spending $ 40 or $ 50 on a boardgame, but I figure if this doesn't provide at least 40 or 50 manhours of entertainment, it wasn't a very good game for us. How many other forms of socially-active entertainment cost $ 1/hour?

Olde Dame Penniwig said...

That's a cute slogan on your pawn shops. My motto is Guns-Ammo-Chocolate.

I think you will find yourself alone in your nostalgia for the 1980s, the Reagan years, the preppy years, the yuppie years, the rise of the idea of being a rich & lazy evil overlord trumping the notion of decency and nobless oblige...bah!