We need to get a little bit more tile and then remove the layer of plywood with the glue on it. There’s another layer of plywood under that. Then we need to get a thinner layer of plywood for under the new floor so it’s all the same height, put that in, and the flooring arrives this week, so there is a possibility that it will all be done next weekend.

1. Got the oil changed on my car, the inspection sticker affixed, and some misc detail repair (the 1 to 4 power adapter is remounted, etc.).
2. While the oil was draining, I tidied up the garage a bit.
3. Got the seed order squared away
4. Emptied the compost buckets
5. Played with dog
6. Posted the generator instructions
7. Made bread (maple oatmeal)
8. Cleaned up and stowed the beer equipment in the basement
9. Cleaned up the furnace room a bit (still needs more, and I need to add some more light fixtures back there)
10. Assembled some more minis (Behemoth, Drago, Skarre)
11. Made chicken and dumplings
12. Watered the plants

I think that about covers it.

I’m watching Defiance, and painting minis.

This weekend was relaxing. We bottled the last of the beer – a chocolate porter, played with dog, did some electrical work (split some of the basement lights on to another switch, so they don’t all need to be on at once, and then added a couple of pot lights to another area of the basement) which I’ve been wanting to get to for awhile. The lights are now laid out correctly for the new gaming table and beer draught system (not that we have these yet, but they will come). I am also going to add another light in my office, and a couple more in the back room, so as to have more light by which to work (in both places).

Slept in both days, and am fighting bad glasses. I’m waiting for the new ones to come in from the lab – according to the optometrist, aside from the LensCrafters crappy knockoff transitions coating delaminating, when I had them make me another set to replace my broken ones, it looks like they flipped the left and right prescriptions. My new optometrist had some interesting noises to make while reviewing my notes as he was checking my eyes – not unlike what I say when looking at other people’s goofy code. As a result, I’m now having bad headaches when I use my far lenses. My computer glasses are fine, and the bifocals are fine, so as long as I do detail work for most of the day, I’m good. So, I can work on the computer, paint minis, etc.

• We took down the Christmas tree and decorations. This might sound late, but it’s not – we typically wait until after Valentine’s day to de-Christmasify things.
• Painted some tanks.
• Bottled the spiced winter ale – it’s a little late, but there’s still a little bit of winter left.
• Played with Diesel dog.
• Painted more tanks.
• Watched some movies
• Cleaned up a bit
• Ate up the leftovers in the fridge
• Read some books

Lizzy has been doing similar things, and is working on her Sewing Cabinet. She and her dad have been working in a corner of her mom’s bonsai workshop, and I think the current plan is to try and finish it in the next couple of weeks so that it can be moved back to our house and he can put in the floor in the workshop.

I watched [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Metal_(film) Heavy Metal], which was new to me (both the magazine and the movie). (Fair warning, there’s lots of cartoon boobies). That said, it has a wonderfully retro (well, it was 1981, so I guess it’s not really retro, but more indicative of the time) feel to it – it makes one want to play Mutant Future.

I’m currently watching Reign of Fire, which is not as bad as I thought it would be. It actually could be a decent twist on a Twilight 2013 game or some Savage Variant thereof (note, it looks like the company who wrote it is closing up shop, so I’ve liked to RPGNow, since there is no publisher product page anymore).

Speaking of reloading rooms, I think I might have finally gotten it beaten back into shape. See, I’d like to do more shooting, which means more reloading, which means reloading room set up. More info behind the cut.

So, about two years ago, I did the floor as one of those two-part mix and roll on epoxy setups. It’s actually held up very well – sweeps up well, allows easy cleanup of spilled oil and such, and I’d definitely use it again.

Reloading room floor

I’ve also finally gotten a bench built (I may have mentioned this earlier), which is now fully stocked and integrated into the workflow.

Reloading bench

This means that I now had some orphaned toolboxes (which will be appropriated into the garage), and the old reloading stand. Enter a cheap Lee C press for depriming:

Depriming press

Now, this is an interesting arrangement. My main press has a hollow ram, so when you deprime with it, the primer drops through the ram and into a piece of tubing with a cap on it which catches it. This new press has an angled slot machined into the ram, with a corresponding hole in the base. The primer pops out of the bottom of the case, slides down the ram, ski-jumps into the base, where it stays. Of course, a collection bin would be nice, so a hole drilled in the reloading stand’s top plate coupled with an old cat treat container with a screw top. Voila:

Primer catch jar

Unscrew the cap, drill a similar hole in it, screw it and glue it to the underside of the base, then you can thread the container to it so it is securely fashioned to catch the primers. Now, the above is not perfect – there is actually quite a bit of space in that base, so at the end of a long priming session, one will likely have to shake the stand to get the rest of the primers in to the container. However, this is not really an issue. I don’t think it will actually get jammed up – it will just need a shake every now and then.

There are a couple more photos of the room in the gallery.

• My mother in law got me a copy of Munchkin Quest, which we played last night. Also, a very good game. The board is dynamic, being played as you explore, with the tiles being double-sided, so each game ends up being different.

• After a month with our new stove:

New Stove

• Diesel got a Christmas Goose:

Diesel's Christmas Goose

Diesel's Christmas Goose

• We’ve been experimenting with growing herbs and greens indoors during the winter. We have lettuce and typicak kitchen herbs (parsley, basil, etc.)

Indoor Garden

• Happy Christmas Tree:

Christmas Tree

Christmas Tree

• This year, Liz and I did most of our shopping on Amazon during black Friday. Therefore, this scene greeted her one day upon her return home from work:

Pile of parcels

We bought a stove. Gas. Current stove is electric. Now I need to run/arrange to have run LP gas lines, get a tank, git it filled, etc.

Need to change my transmission fluid too, and put on snow tires. We had our first snow today.

I suppose that means I should bring in firewood and change over to snow tires as well.

I’ve also been working on Warmachine minis in little bits of spare time I’ve been able to grab. Will post pics when they’re done. Almost ready for inking and then varnish. Then I get to work on the bases. I just ordered a Master Basing kit. Heh.

I’ve also been hacking about on my Pandigital Novel. In addition to the company released open platform firmware (basically stock Android, slightly modified for the device), there’s also a pile of community firmware.

I think that’s it for now…

• Woz now has live plants
• Heater cables are now routed so the case fits correctly.

Finished Aquarium - Front

Finished Aquarium - Side

Woz!

Lizzy finishing up the iMacQuarium

All set up

It's Woz!

We’ve since added a heater and a bit of terrain. I’ll take pictures once we route the wires correctly for it. However, in order to do so, we need to empty out most of the water, and we don’t want to disturb Woz quite yet. He got a little cold a couple of nights ago, and we want to give him a few weeks of nice warm temperatures before we go rearranging his world.

This was a kit from Jake Harms. The instructions were very detailed, but the process does take some time. Of course, he has ready-made ones already built, so if you don’t want to spend the time, it might be worth ordering one.