Day 4: I had a GREAT day. I spent most of it noodling around at Great Escape Games, which has got to be hands-down one of the best pure gaming stores I've ever been to. The staff was really friendly, though it does get weird when they ask me which army I play...
"Well, I have a big high elf army, and a pretty sizeable Empire army, and a huge Dwarf army, and a horde of Orcs and Goblins, (though most of those are still in the box), and I have a Wood Elf army, and a Vampire Counts army, and a Dark Elf Army, and a couple of Chaos demon armies (Nurgle and Slaanesh), and actually quite a lot of Skaven..."
"Wow. I'd love to see those!"
"Um... well, I left most of them at home in SC... except for the Orcs and Goblins, which, as I've mentioned, are all still on the sprue and... um..."
Now, *I* know I'm not lying, but you can just see the look in their eyes. A complete stranger, silently accusing me of being a complete tosser, is kind of disconcerting, and I can't exactly protest my innocence without heading into Gertrude's territory:
"Methinks the gamer doth protest too much. The tosser."
Still, it was a pretty fun day (one guy did suggest he recognized me from a previous Magic tournament, which... is unlikely...). If anyone has any experience with WarMachine, by the way, I'd be curious to hear your opinions. I quite like the Cryx models, but the buy-in to just learn the game seems a little steep: $45 for a rulebook, $45 for an army book, and $50(ish) for a starting box set? Plus, primers, paints, brushes...
It's possible that I just have a stupidly expensive hobby.
Anyway, the BAM of the day is that I had a TRUE California experience:
In-N-Out Burger!!
I was aware of the "secret menu", but I went into it cold to see how much of this magic was hidden. The troops did try to give me hints, and I did get to experience a really terrific burger with raw onions. Apparently, you can order the fries "crispy", which, frankly, I wish I had done. I'm looking forward to going back!
I then adjourned to Chez Hotel for a nice nap, and then met up with C and L at R's place, and I *finally* got to meet M! We watched the first several eps of season 1 of "The Wire" (oh, McNulty, what the eff did you do?), while enjoying wonderfully prepared sausage and steaks, courtesy of R and C. My friend CH and I had dinner at Hot Italian, which I heartily recommend.
In all, it was kind of an amazing day. I have one more day of freedom tomorrow, and then I'll be reporting for work first thing on Monday. But tomorrow... ADVENTURE!!
"Well, I have a big high elf army, and a pretty sizeable Empire army, and a huge Dwarf army, and a horde of Orcs and Goblins, (though most of those are still in the box), and I have a Wood Elf army, and a Vampire Counts army, and a Dark Elf Army, and a couple of Chaos demon armies (Nurgle and Slaanesh), and actually quite a lot of Skaven..."
"Wow. I'd love to see those!"
"Um... well, I left most of them at home in SC... except for the Orcs and Goblins, which, as I've mentioned, are all still on the sprue and... um..."
Now, *I* know I'm not lying, but you can just see the look in their eyes. A complete stranger, silently accusing me of being a complete tosser, is kind of disconcerting, and I can't exactly protest my innocence without heading into Gertrude's territory:
"Methinks the gamer doth protest too much. The tosser."
Still, it was a pretty fun day (one guy did suggest he recognized me from a previous Magic tournament, which... is unlikely...). If anyone has any experience with WarMachine, by the way, I'd be curious to hear your opinions. I quite like the Cryx models, but the buy-in to just learn the game seems a little steep: $45 for a rulebook, $45 for an army book, and $50(ish) for a starting box set? Plus, primers, paints, brushes...
It's possible that I just have a stupidly expensive hobby.
Anyway, the BAM of the day is that I had a TRUE California experience:
In-N-Out Burger!!
I was aware of the "secret menu", but I went into it cold to see how much of this magic was hidden. The troops did try to give me hints, and I did get to experience a really terrific burger with raw onions. Apparently, you can order the fries "crispy", which, frankly, I wish I had done. I'm looking forward to going back!
I then adjourned to Chez Hotel for a nice nap, and then met up with C and L at R's place, and I *finally* got to meet M! We watched the first several eps of season 1 of "The Wire" (oh, McNulty, what the eff did you do?), while enjoying wonderfully prepared sausage and steaks, courtesy of R and C. My friend CH and I had dinner at Hot Italian, which I heartily recommend.
In all, it was kind of an amazing day. I have one more day of freedom tomorrow, and then I'll be reporting for work first thing on Monday. But tomorrow... ADVENTURE!!