Hump Day Doldrums
The high point of my day was seeing my wife and son when they got home from Stephen's grandmother's house today. The rest of the day suffered from something of a lull. It didn't help that I kept thinking it was Thursday, with the weekend only a day away. Wishful thinking, perhaps.
I suppose I should rewind. Yesterday, I got a letter in the mail from our apartment complex. It looks like our rent is going up by $90 starting in October. I guess it's been coming for a while, now. They've only raised our rent three times since we moved in, almost six years ago. Still, $90 buys a lot of diapers, and the money will be sorely missed.
This gets me to thinking about housing; I'd always intended to wait until we had a home, with equity, before we had a child. That's not quite the way things panned out, as we're still renting. The housing market in Southern California isn't friendly to folks at my income level, especially when you consider that the average home price in my area is somewhere around $500k (maybe even higher than that).
So that's one reason that I feel blue.
It's not all bad news, though. The Thieves' World Player's Manual, probably the most high-profile product I've ever contributed to, should see release relatively soon. It's currently at print, which means it will start showing up on game store shelves in no time. Not only is this a great thing, in terms of exposure, but the fact that the book is being released means that I'll also get paid for the work I contributed to it.
While I'm currently working on a new project related to the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying game, I'm also tying off some loose ends that are related to the Future Player's Companion (which is being published electronically by the Game Mechanics, prior to being put into print by Green Ronin). I never did get the last of my final chapter finished, so I've spent the past couple days trying to get it done. I'm fairly satisfied with the way it's looking, so far, but it's definitely going to be over word count.
Tomorrow night, my wife, our friend Robert, and I, are going to a Megadeth concert. Though I enjoyed Megadeth in my formative teen years, I haven't really been a huge fan for a long time. There are a couple of Megadeth CDs that I know by heart (namely, So Far, So Good, So What?, and Countdown to Extinction), but I'm not sure that makes me a huge fan. I know I'll have a wonderful time, given the company I'll be keeping...and so long as the recreational drug users that plague these concerts keep their foul smoke to themselves.
What else..?
I learned today that I'll be taking a business trip to Indiana in September. It will last a couple of days. I guess it's a buyer's conference, of sorts, and I've been chosen to represent the company that I work for. With luck, it will lead to some good opportunities, but I'm currently a little nervous about the whole thing. I'm hoping I don't need to give any sort of presentation. ::shudder::
Combined with Gen Con (in Indianapolis) in August, this will mean I'll be going to Indiana twice in the same calendar year. I never would've thought that would be happening to me.
Stephen watched me cook dinner tonight. As his mother held him, I explained to him what I was doing. "This is a pork chop," I told him. "I'm going to trim the fat -- this white stuff -- off the pork chop, and then cut it into strips before I cook it in that pan." He watched, interested, as I performed my culinary duties. I gave him a rubber spatula to hold, scepter-like, and I let him taste a bit of orange-pineapple juice (he thought it was good, too).
Stephen's asleep now. I should probably go to sleep, too. After today, I think I need it.
I suppose I should rewind. Yesterday, I got a letter in the mail from our apartment complex. It looks like our rent is going up by $90 starting in October. I guess it's been coming for a while, now. They've only raised our rent three times since we moved in, almost six years ago. Still, $90 buys a lot of diapers, and the money will be sorely missed.
This gets me to thinking about housing; I'd always intended to wait until we had a home, with equity, before we had a child. That's not quite the way things panned out, as we're still renting. The housing market in Southern California isn't friendly to folks at my income level, especially when you consider that the average home price in my area is somewhere around $500k (maybe even higher than that).
So that's one reason that I feel blue.It's not all bad news, though. The Thieves' World Player's Manual, probably the most high-profile product I've ever contributed to, should see release relatively soon. It's currently at print, which means it will start showing up on game store shelves in no time. Not only is this a great thing, in terms of exposure, but the fact that the book is being released means that I'll also get paid for the work I contributed to it.
While I'm currently working on a new project related to the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying game, I'm also tying off some loose ends that are related to the Future Player's Companion (which is being published electronically by the Game Mechanics, prior to being put into print by Green Ronin). I never did get the last of my final chapter finished, so I've spent the past couple days trying to get it done. I'm fairly satisfied with the way it's looking, so far, but it's definitely going to be over word count.
Tomorrow night, my wife, our friend Robert, and I, are going to a Megadeth concert. Though I enjoyed Megadeth in my formative teen years, I haven't really been a huge fan for a long time. There are a couple of Megadeth CDs that I know by heart (namely, So Far, So Good, So What?, and Countdown to Extinction), but I'm not sure that makes me a huge fan. I know I'll have a wonderful time, given the company I'll be keeping...and so long as the recreational drug users that plague these concerts keep their foul smoke to themselves.
What else..?
I learned today that I'll be taking a business trip to Indiana in September. It will last a couple of days. I guess it's a buyer's conference, of sorts, and I've been chosen to represent the company that I work for. With luck, it will lead to some good opportunities, but I'm currently a little nervous about the whole thing. I'm hoping I don't need to give any sort of presentation. ::shudder::
Combined with Gen Con (in Indianapolis) in August, this will mean I'll be going to Indiana twice in the same calendar year. I never would've thought that would be happening to me.
Stephen watched me cook dinner tonight. As his mother held him, I explained to him what I was doing. "This is a pork chop," I told him. "I'm going to trim the fat -- this white stuff -- off the pork chop, and then cut it into strips before I cook it in that pan." He watched, interested, as I performed my culinary duties. I gave him a rubber spatula to hold, scepter-like, and I let him taste a bit of orange-pineapple juice (he thought it was good, too).
Stephen's asleep now. I should probably go to sleep, too. After today, I think I need it.
posted by Gary at 9:30 PM
2 Comments:
I haven't gotten that letter from our apartment yet. I guess it's better to hear it from a friend.
I think it (the rent) only gets raised on the anniversary of your move-in. It seems to occur every other year.
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