JMGraham

I'll be at the Lairmont Manor, eating dinner with a bunch of non-Sword-tix scrubs from work. See you next week, WITH MY GAME ON!!! Wanna play summat miniaturey.

23 hours ago, Munkie said:

I'll be down with whatever fits in my backpack. Might get down on some curios. I don't think I've ever played it so I'm.... curious. 

It's natural to be curious, Kevin. Completely natural. Super natural, that is.

Hey all, I hate to impinge again, but... if 2 to 4 souls could deign to play another round of Dark Curios, I have some changes I'd like to test. First soda or beer is on me! I'd plan on being there at 5:30, set up to go by 6. If it takes more than two hours, I've done something wrong, so there should be time for another board game or something after.

Can do!

It's the end of the quarter for me, so I have all kinds of weekend commitments for the next couple of weeks. Graduation is the 16th, Fathers Day is the 17th, so the soonest weekend I could do would be the weekend after that. Feel free to go without me if need be; otherwise the 24th works for me.

I'm out for tonight. I'm leaving for KublaCon this weekend and I have tons of stuff to get done at home.

Eli! Welcome back!

Color me interested! That gives me some time to get some stuff painted. Er... time for me to ask Joey to paint some stuff.

Gonna be in tonight, but playtesting. Apologies! 

Gonna be missing tonight, gents. I have a self-created-emergency play-testing session. Mee Maw and the McLintock clan will return next week.... with 100% more snakes!

Yea! Congrats on the grad school acceptance! Wait ... Western Michigan is just on the other side of the mountains, right?

We have a TNT campaign that'll be going on for the next 3 weeks, and I have a couple weekends where I'll be traveling. Maybe we could line a game up sometime in early to mid June?

Sepsis is scary stuff. Glad you and an angry dwarf biker are going to try and get your uncle some R&R. Caretaking, when you are helpless to do anything, can be absolutely exhausting. I'm glad you can be there!

For most trips, Las Vegas would be a highlight of potential weirdness. However, given what you've already seen and done this trip, it's probably just another blip on the radar.

Jason, I still have my Raven Guard and would love to play. Still haven't painted more than two models, but ... I do have (courtesy of Joey), a fully painted custom Zone Mortalis board. Which would be perfect for either stand-alone 30k ZM, or combined with an above-ground board as part of an epic scenario.

On 4/28/2018 at 12:39 AM, generalripphook said:

 

And not to be political but these people couldn't fathom that I could even think of voting for "a dirty n-word from Kenya Barack Hussain Obama"

Yet they picked up a hitchiker and let him stay a night or two at their house. 

They picked up a white hitchhiker. My experience living in smallish town Texas was that everyone was always very nice to me, very polite. My East Indian co-workers? Much less so. Ahmer would spend the night in the lab some nights if he stayed too late, so he wouldn't have to walk past the bars on his way home.

Sorry to hear about your aunt! I hope you arrive there safely.

Building and painting is definitely therapeutic!

Pot has ever really been my thing, but when it comes time for dyskinesia (the involuntary writhing that results from long-term use of levadopa, a drug used to treat symptoms of immobility in Parkinson's), I'll definitely give it a shot! Glad I live in a state where I can. 

Thanks, all! You're the best!

Oi! Warhamsters!

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a “best” way to get this kind of information out in the world. As such, I apologize for the impersonal nature of this post. I just wanted to inform as many people at one time, rather than having the information trickle out slowly, and having people worry about “who is allowed to know”.

I have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease (young-onset, idiopathic). I’m currently very early in the progression of the disease, with symptoms limited to tremors and stiffness in my right hand and bradykinesia on my right side. I’m currently managing my Parkinson’s with regular exercise and with a dopamine agonist when I want to conceal the tremors (which will be less often now that folks are aware of my condition). The progression of young-onset Parkinson’s tends to be much slower than in more typical Parkinson’s. As such, while I can’t predict the progression of my own disease, I expect and am planning for a long fruitful life.

What can you expect from me?

1. Tremors. This is the most noticeable symptom. Currently they are restricted to my right hand (and to a much lesser extent, my lower right leg), but they will worsen over time. Up until now I’ve been doing things to conceal the tremor (keeping my hands out of view, or in my pockets, or sitting on my hands). I imagine that I’ll still do some of that out of habit, but I’ll make a conscious effort not to. It's a resting tremor, so for now you're more likely to notice it when I'm sitting at Bayou after games than while measuring range.

2. Stiffness and Bradykinesia. You might notice my right arm doesn’t move as much as my left when I walk. My handwriting has always been questionable, and will continue to worsen. I’ve always been a “hand talker” in the past, but my right hand is now much less expressive.

3. Game losses. My ability to play games is greatly impaired. Therefore, out of pity, you should throw any game you play with me. Oh.... wait. I guess that's not at all true. Cognitive impairment is unlikely due to the young age of onset. My ability to play games is likely to continue unabated. 

Other than that, I expect things to go on much the same for a decent amount of time. Depression can go along with Parkinson’s, but so far so good. The speed of Parkinson’s progression is difficult to predict and, from a researcher’s perspective, it’s frustratingly difficult to find good normative data. While I know that things will continue to progress, I expect a good many years of productivity until my functioning is significantly impaired. Michael J. Fox is still acting managing his foundation 27 years after his diagnosis, and that’s without the benefit of some modern treatments (because he had his brain surgically lesioned, he is not eligible for deep brain stimulation (which, BTW, is cyberpunk AF)).

How should you respond? However you like! Please, don’t feel that you can’t talk about this (with me or with others), and don’t feel that you have to talk about it. There’s no specific response I’m expecting from others. My Parkinson’s is not a secret, nor does it define who I am. My being open about it is more about me not wanting to keep secrets or hide things than it is about me expecting something specific from others.

My Parkinson’s changes the ways in which I will experience life, but it doesn’t change the fundamentals. I have an amazing family and a supportive friend network. Y'all are incredible, and I have the best gaming/friend group I can imagine. I have a job I love and work with people I admire and respect. I’m looking forward to a life and a career full of joy, creativity, and curiosity. Life is very good. 

With warmth and gratitude,

Jim

tldr; I have Parkinson's disease, and am pretty OK with it. I'm gonna have tremors for now.

Nice! Looking great!

Yes!

43 minutes ago, VonVilkee said:

Course Jim, kinda figured but wanted you on the list. I understand the balance all the more now that I need to do it as well. Not as much as you but I have an inkling... always outnumber your enemy... I don't know how you do it!

Zone defense while they're young, then when they get older, put them to work to earn their keep!

On 4/15/2018 at 2:21 PM, VonVilkee said:

Possibly 40k but who knows...

Jm Graham

 

I really appreciate the thought, but I'm likely not going to make it down again this year. I love the OFCC, but have been spending my "away from family time" doing more board-game related stuff. I'm going to KublaCon again next year and am considering a couple of other regional cons, as well. I really like 8th edition, but my heart's just not in the big mini games at this moment. Don't worry, I'll come back around, though! :) 

6 minutes ago, Sherbert said:

Brought my stuff with me to work so I can be at the shop around 4:20. Ready for some mutant cannibals on mutant cannibals?! 

The gathering of the clans, wherein we peaceably discuss the future of the wasteland and our shared role in it. Or wherein we just get drunk on Mee-Maw's shine and try to eat each other. My kids get home right around 4, and I'm planning on heading out at around 4:15. Feel free to set up terrain if I'm not there yet!

I like Savannah a lot. I ended up visiting it by accident when Erin and I were camping in South Carolina and realized that our campsite was infested with mosquitoes and black biting flies the size of vultures. We bailed and went to Savannah instead. I love the whole feel of the city, the squares, the Spanish moss, the giant cockroaches... Well, maybe not those. Savannah has one of the best haunted history tours I've been on.

It's interesting how much of your trip has been about the people. Flitting in and out of folks lives puts you in such an interesting position. I'm not surprised you're running into some strange drama, but I'm happy you're running into the occasional act of kindness as well. 

1 hour ago, Sherbert said:

I have a game set up with Jake tomorrow but I will still be a game behind.

I might try and head to the shop right after work. That would get me there around 4:30.

This is relevant to my interests.

I'll be trying to make it out a bit earlier this week - maybe a bit after 4?  I only played one game last week, and would love to fit in up to 3 games to catch up.