So I completed Fallout 4 Far Harbour last night. I played it over Christmas and it had been a good 9 months since I played the main game. I got caught up in the main plot and felt the desire to help build/maintain the peace between the island’s factions. Then I remembered that my character had 9 months previously joined the Brotherhood of Steel, killed his son and nuked the Institute and generally ended the game as a fascist in a set of power armour. Things did not go well for the Far Harbour Peace plan immediately after that 🙂
It comes down to this
This year my experiences has led me to believe in no uncertain terms that we are bigger and better than the reality we believe ourselves to be trapped in. It’s like we are constantly looking down at our feet, with an inescapable deep back pain developing from our neck downwards as we break our own backs looking down, while a voice whispers in our ears saying “hey you’ve stepped in shit and everyone can smell it!”. Well not to put it to gently its time to “Free our mind and our ass will follow” and escape this victim-martyr-poor-me mentally.
It costs nothing, and will literally save the world that our thoughts create 🙂
November 2016
November was a quiet month. Work was briefly a bit bonkers. A sink hole opened up down the road. Other than that life just pottered on.
An Important Service Announcement From Uncle Bob
“Only after weeks had passed did I begin to think that I had, rather absent-mindedly, passed through what mystics call “the dark night of the soul” or “crossing the abyss.”
Whatever one calls it, I reached a depth of despair and deliberately decided to love the world instead of pitying myself; and, afterwards, I was no longer afraid of anything.”
- Robert Anton Wilson, Cosmic Trigger.
October 2016
October and the weather is beginning to really go down hill, but we still have the odd surprising really sunny day.
Highlights this month:
- Work sends me on a training course for a content management system we don’t even have access to
- Crypts and Things finally gets released to the general public yay!
- Having fun at Furnace 2016 despite the whole con being ill.
- I start staring 50 in the face (thanks Carl Greatbach for that horrible metaphor that is stuck in my head!) as I hide from the world celebrating my 45 birthday!
- An efficiently run Halloween 🙂
September 2016
The main thing I remember was me thinking “Dang I was just getting into Summer!” and feeling a succession of jolts as the ambient energy dropped (that’s seasonal downturn to all you people in normalsville).
Life progressed as normal. Kids where settled back in School. Work continued to be vaguely annoying and indecisive, but I kept my cool and played along.
Henry had an ace small boy birthday, full of toys, meals out with family, a party at a local play place, and the realisation is that he’s now beyond his littlely years and growing up fast!
Big personal news for me was that the final proofs of Crypts and Things landed, and I had it my hands after spending a good two years developing it. That was a feeling you can’t beat! 🙂
August 2016
Although most of August was dominated by the holiday, the weeks before and after it was fun. I vaguely remember the weather being much better than usual. Although nowhere near the high summer days of my youth, at least it wasn’t grimmly overcast and raining all the time (yes 2011-2013 I’m looking at you).
Vikings always make me feel better
I know its all fashionable to get all blue about the state of the world at this time of year and to give into some sort of perma-whinge. Me I just invoke my inner-Viking and think…..
What would a Viking do about about Brexit? Doesn’t care too busy raiding your coast and extorting tribute from your weak government!!!
American Presidential Election? Don’t care colonised America first and the long ships are sailing up the river to burn the Whitehouse down unless you pay us ALL YOUR GOLD! Donald Trump OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!! As for Hillary, we’ve got an axe for her too. We’ll put Burnie Saunders in charge because he’s popular with the peasants….sorry people, and he’s a weak…opps sorry slip of the tongue again ..reasonable ruler WHO WILL OBEDIENTLY BE PAYING THE TRIBUTE WE WILL BE DEMANDING FROM NOW ON!!!
Ask a Viking what he thinks of “Writer’s Imposter Syndrome” and he’ll go “What is this weak writing business where we pass around illuminated manuscripts via the internets. Its for girly monks with their long rubbish sackcloth dresses and hairy shirts stuck in their shitty little cold monestrys. Don’t worry we will be coming soon and raising the temperature with hot fire and illustrating the manuscripts with their blood!”
See Vikings make everything better 🙂
Or else….
Glastonbury Tales 2016
This was our big two week holiday in the Glastonbury area of Sommerset. It was slightly delayed due to a bit of drama on Evie’s part. Two weeks before she had broken her front tooth in two, and our dentist very kindly stuck it back together. A miracle of modern science! However we had to have a breif check up (something to do with roots possibly dying) on the Monday afternoon of what would have been our first week. So we delayed driving down until mid monday afternoon, which was a good thing because our Rach wasn’t well (she’s been having problems with her gall blader) and I did all the packing of the tent + clothes + kitchen sink over the weekend. Drive down was cool. Rach got used to our new trailer (verdict great on the motorway, less so on small countrylands). Bristol was a bit bumpy! Just as folk were tired and tempers were flaring we reached our stop off point, a trusty and chilled out Premier Inn.
Next day after breakfast we did the last third of the drive and after me and Rach put up the tent, she took the kids to the local supermarket while I did the pegging and moved all the ‘stuff’ into the tent. Which was a good way off doing it 🙂
This time out we did alot of loafing around the campsite, because after last years holiday we realised we were spending too much time on a mission to visit places every day. There were complaints from the kids who wanted to spend more time playing with their new frieds. Also Rach was taking it easy due to not feeling well. But that be said we did Longleat Sarari Park as a big day out, Glastonbury muliple times, and we had a couple of trips to Wells. We also got to go to an outdoor swiming pool a couple of times and visit Rach’s friend Hema (some of you might remember as one of Rach’s bridesmaids at our wedding) and her big BIG Bull Mastiff dogs. So overall we had a good venture out.
I loved this holiday. From the moment we got to the campsite the whole experience was magical. People joked about “feeling the ley lines” , but I felt a rise in energy the whole time I was there, which hasn’t really gone away since I’ve come back. I would quite happily come again, but the family now have their sights set even futher south ( after realising we can break the journey quite happily by stoping at a hotel ) and at this point Eurocamp in the South of France is on the cards. Rach is even learning French! But I hope to return the Isle of Avalon at some point – if only to finally walk up the Tor which I missed out on doing this time out.
July 2016 in Photos
Most of July was us just kicking back enjoying the summer and gettnig ready for the camping trip to Glastonbury that was coming up in August. Weather was pretty meh, occasional sun, a bit of rain (but not very much for our neck of the woods) but mainly overcast. Lots of quality home time though including games and a new barbeque.
