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Jul. 27th, 2020 02:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckI've skipped three family gatherings this month; Scott and Cordelia have gone to all of them. I feel kind of bad about it, but I also know that Scott's parents are not being very careful. They're a risk to us, and Scott is a risk to them (and to me and Cordelia, but us avoiding him isn't feasible given the givens).
The gathering I missed on Saturday was for our niece's graduation party. They only had a few people at a time, and it was all in their backyard, but I feel like it was very unnecessary. I'm not sure how our niece felt about it, though.
I slept through a lot of the day. Cordelia says that I actually looked ill-- kind of groggy and vacant (she used the word 'dopey'). I eventually figured out that it was a migraine. My head didn't start hurting until quite late in the day, and even then, it felt like a sinus issue. Still, when I took naratriptan, all of the symptoms started to fade.
The main thing that I knew during most of the day was that I was falling over exhausted in spite of having slept well and that my general pain levels were way, way down. I expect my ordinary, walking around pain levels to be between a 5 and a 7. Saturday, I was between a 0 and a 2 for everything but my neck and head. It was weird, and I could tell that something was really off, but 'suddenly I don't hurt!' isn't a symptom that medical professionals have generally considered worthy of note.
I rather think that it should be, though, because it's really major shift without any explanation.
We've been playing board games via things like Zoom and BlueJeans because UCon is going virtual this year. We have friends on the concom, and they're trying to figure out how to make boardgames work via video conferencing.
Our first conclusion is that the GM can't play. They have to be available remind players of the bits of the game that are offscreen and to shift the camera(s) around. Our second conclusion is that games with secret information for each player are going to be extremely difficult. Our third conclusion is that games will take longer to complete.
The devices people are using change which bits of images they can see, and establishing where the boundaries are for the person who can see the least is fairly important. We couldn't get either Zoom or BlueJeans to give us enough resolution for both seeing the entire board and reading normal sized text.
We're not the only ones working on the testing, fortunately, but Scott, because he plays a lot with his brother in Seattle, has a lot of experience with a lot of different online platforms.
They're probably going to end up using Discord to route people to their games. I'm not sure exactly how that will work, but I'm pretty sure that it can.
This year is going to be weird because, usually, running board and card games is the low time investment activity for GMs. Now, anyone who wants to run is going to have to figure out whether or not it's even possible with the games they'd prefer to run. There isn't going to be a one-size-fits-all solution.
I did point out to the concom people we know that those who answer their survey and say they've 'role played' online may not all be talking about the same sort of game. The concom and staff skew to board gamers, so I don't think any of them realized the variety of possibilities. They really only wanted to know who's done everybody online at the same time voice and video or voice only role playing.
They were more detailed in their questions about online board and card game experiences.
I have ordered some mugs. Now that Cordelia's filling and running the dishwasher, my single 16 ounce mug isn't getting washed reliably. She says she's never sure whether or not I'm going to want it again before the dishwasher would be done. I think it's mostly that she doesn't look for dirty dishes anywhere except the sink and right next to the sink. She often doesn't check the stove and overlooks cups and mugs in the living room.
At any rate, I had a hard time coming up with the right search terms to find what I wanted. I spent a couple of hours on it. I found a lot of very pretty things that claimed to be microwave and dishwasher safe but that looked unlikely to be. I wanted to avoid anything that narrowed much at the base as I'm likely to jostle my mugs. I wanted a solid handle that's big enough for me not to scorch my fingers.
I also wanted something that I wouldn't hate looking at. Most of the things I liked were too small (half of them were 11 ounce; the other half were 15. I wanted 16-20). I decided to avoid text because at least 95% of it was stuff I wouldn't want to see every day, either because it said something like 'Dog Mom' which I'm not or because it had a joke or an inspirational quotation or a political statement. Seriously, I just want a pretty picture or a pretty design.
I also ordered Cordelia some yarn and a set of crochet hooks. She wants something to do with her hands while she listens to and/or watches things. She's been coloring some complicated, abstract design coloring books, but she gets bored with it. If she decides she likes it, we'll get her more yarn.
She says she doesn't care about the texture of the yarn, that that's a thing that matters to me but not to her. I suspect that she will find that she does care if she pursues crocheting (or decides to start knitting). I suggested some stuff that I used in the past that's moderately soft-- not abrasive to the fingers-- and know I'm not allergic to (bamboo fibers aren't allowed near me because I sneeze and sneeze and sneeze). I didn't want to shell out for any sort of animal fiber. I never used any because I find all of them horrifically itchy to work with or to wear and so have no idea what might be good. I think those will wait until she can (and wants to) go to the store herself.
For just trying out the process, cheaper yarn should be fine.
The gathering I missed on Saturday was for our niece's graduation party. They only had a few people at a time, and it was all in their backyard, but I feel like it was very unnecessary. I'm not sure how our niece felt about it, though.
I slept through a lot of the day. Cordelia says that I actually looked ill-- kind of groggy and vacant (she used the word 'dopey'). I eventually figured out that it was a migraine. My head didn't start hurting until quite late in the day, and even then, it felt like a sinus issue. Still, when I took naratriptan, all of the symptoms started to fade.
The main thing that I knew during most of the day was that I was falling over exhausted in spite of having slept well and that my general pain levels were way, way down. I expect my ordinary, walking around pain levels to be between a 5 and a 7. Saturday, I was between a 0 and a 2 for everything but my neck and head. It was weird, and I could tell that something was really off, but 'suddenly I don't hurt!' isn't a symptom that medical professionals have generally considered worthy of note.
I rather think that it should be, though, because it's really major shift without any explanation.
We've been playing board games via things like Zoom and BlueJeans because UCon is going virtual this year. We have friends on the concom, and they're trying to figure out how to make boardgames work via video conferencing.
Our first conclusion is that the GM can't play. They have to be available remind players of the bits of the game that are offscreen and to shift the camera(s) around. Our second conclusion is that games with secret information for each player are going to be extremely difficult. Our third conclusion is that games will take longer to complete.
The devices people are using change which bits of images they can see, and establishing where the boundaries are for the person who can see the least is fairly important. We couldn't get either Zoom or BlueJeans to give us enough resolution for both seeing the entire board and reading normal sized text.
We're not the only ones working on the testing, fortunately, but Scott, because he plays a lot with his brother in Seattle, has a lot of experience with a lot of different online platforms.
They're probably going to end up using Discord to route people to their games. I'm not sure exactly how that will work, but I'm pretty sure that it can.
This year is going to be weird because, usually, running board and card games is the low time investment activity for GMs. Now, anyone who wants to run is going to have to figure out whether or not it's even possible with the games they'd prefer to run. There isn't going to be a one-size-fits-all solution.
I did point out to the concom people we know that those who answer their survey and say they've 'role played' online may not all be talking about the same sort of game. The concom and staff skew to board gamers, so I don't think any of them realized the variety of possibilities. They really only wanted to know who's done everybody online at the same time voice and video or voice only role playing.
They were more detailed in their questions about online board and card game experiences.
I have ordered some mugs. Now that Cordelia's filling and running the dishwasher, my single 16 ounce mug isn't getting washed reliably. She says she's never sure whether or not I'm going to want it again before the dishwasher would be done. I think it's mostly that she doesn't look for dirty dishes anywhere except the sink and right next to the sink. She often doesn't check the stove and overlooks cups and mugs in the living room.
At any rate, I had a hard time coming up with the right search terms to find what I wanted. I spent a couple of hours on it. I found a lot of very pretty things that claimed to be microwave and dishwasher safe but that looked unlikely to be. I wanted to avoid anything that narrowed much at the base as I'm likely to jostle my mugs. I wanted a solid handle that's big enough for me not to scorch my fingers.
I also wanted something that I wouldn't hate looking at. Most of the things I liked were too small (half of them were 11 ounce; the other half were 15. I wanted 16-20). I decided to avoid text because at least 95% of it was stuff I wouldn't want to see every day, either because it said something like 'Dog Mom' which I'm not or because it had a joke or an inspirational quotation or a political statement. Seriously, I just want a pretty picture or a pretty design.
I also ordered Cordelia some yarn and a set of crochet hooks. She wants something to do with her hands while she listens to and/or watches things. She's been coloring some complicated, abstract design coloring books, but she gets bored with it. If she decides she likes it, we'll get her more yarn.
She says she doesn't care about the texture of the yarn, that that's a thing that matters to me but not to her. I suspect that she will find that she does care if she pursues crocheting (or decides to start knitting). I suggested some stuff that I used in the past that's moderately soft-- not abrasive to the fingers-- and know I'm not allergic to (bamboo fibers aren't allowed near me because I sneeze and sneeze and sneeze). I didn't want to shell out for any sort of animal fiber. I never used any because I find all of them horrifically itchy to work with or to wear and so have no idea what might be good. I think those will wait until she can (and wants to) go to the store herself.
For just trying out the process, cheaper yarn should be fine.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-27 11:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-27 02:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-27 07:27 pm (UTC)Last time I went was about 2015 or 2016. Joe Saul was running the convention and sitting at a table near the entrance. Previously, he had spent about three years hassling me online, many years earlier, and maybe he felt guilty about it, or maybe he felt bad that my partner had recently died and was a friend of his, but, whatever the reason, when I walked up to the table to get tickets, Joe took a long, long look from my face, slowly down my entire body, and slowly back up again. I felt *so* invaded and unwantedly sexualized that my kids and I left UCon and have never gone back, even though we love board games and would like to go.
Does Joe normally do that to convention-goers, would you say, or was that more likely to be a onetime fluke? (Though it is not likely to be an issue with this year's UCon going online.) Anyway, I am curious about your take on it.