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A Little Personal Growth Never Hurt Anyone....


svensson

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This is appropos of NOTHING to do with Chaosium or RQ. It's just a personal observation about Life n' Stuff.

With the loosening of COVID restrictions, has anyone experienced a bit of personal growth or a newer outlook as we all reconnect with friends and outside hobbies? I ask because I sure did.

I'm a Civil War reenactor and my state-wide association went from zero [no events at all] to full speed [a full calendar] in the time it takes to flip a coin. What's more, about a week and a half ago, my club /unit elected me [ME!?!] as the company commander. This is a whole 'nuther level of responsibility, paperwork, and worry. Over the middle weekend of July, I attended my first reenactment in nearly 3 years... and my first as an officer.

It was a surreal experience to say the least. I came away from it exhausted and in pain because I'd been sitting on my butt and stress eating, but my outlook on life, my insides, felt rejuvenated in a way that I'm having a hard time explaining. It's not just seeing old friends, it's realizing just how much I missed them and how much I needed that people contact. I really feel it's more than that, but that's as much as I've figured out so far.

Anyway, for those who are the least bit interested, here's a pic of me mid-battle with my first 'command' on 'The Second Day of the Battle Honeybucket Hill' 😆

Yes, I'm the tubby guy in back shouting at someone.....

Respectfully Submitted,

-- /s CR Hicks Jr.

-- 1st Lieutenant, Infantry

-- Co. C, 4th Infantry Regiment, United States Army

-- Commanding

 

[photo credit to the Lewis County Chronicle]

 

2022 16JUL Chehalis Centralia Chronicle Photo.JPG

Edited by svensson
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3 hours ago, g33k said:

Congratudolences on your "promotion!"

Glad you're getting back to a thing that you love!

You know, the part I love the most is the teaching aspect. It's an amazing feeling to connect to that one kid in the back of the room who hates memorizing dates. When the kid realizes that history is about people just like them, it's kind of magical.

Oh, chasing Johnny Reb back to Richmond is fun and all, but it's the camaraderie and the teaching I love.

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I'm living vicariously through my kids. They're 17 and 18, and constantly off on trips with friends, some of them international. It's like they've suddenly discovered the wider world and can't get enough of it.

My eldest said when she was little she could never understand why we would drag them around them to see museums and castles and historic places and such, but now she suddenly 'gets it' and cant get enough of that stuff. It's a major inflection point in their lives. Any change in my life seems trivial in comparison.

They're off to Uni this year and next, one after the other. I'm not the protagonist anymore. I feel like Bilbo in Lord of the Rings. I used to have my own stories, blast it!

Edited by simonh
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Check out the Runequest Glorantha Wiki for RQ links and resources. Any updates or contributions welcome!

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On 7/26/2022 at 5:13 PM, svensson said:

This is appropos of NOTHING to do with Chaosium or RQ. It's just a personal observation about Life n' Stuff.

With the loosening of COVID restrictions, has anyone experienced a bit of personal growth or a newer outlook as we all reconnect with friends and outside hobbies? I ask because I sure did.

I'm a Civil War reenactor and my state-wide association went from zero [no events at all] to full speed [a full calendar] in the time it takes to flip a coin. What's more, about a week and a half ago, my club /unit elected me [ME!?!] as the company commander. This is a whole 'nuther level of responsibility, paperwork, and worry. Over the middle weekend of July, I attended my first reenactment in nearly 3 years... and my first as an officer.

It was a surreal experience to say the least. I came away from it exhausted and in pain because I'd been sitting on my butt and stress eating, but my outlook on life, my insides, felt rejuvenated in a way that I'm having a hard time explaining. It's not just seeing old friends, it's realizing just how much I missed them and how much I needed that people contact. I really feel it's more than that, but that's as much as I've figured out so far.

Anyway, for those who are the least bit interested, here's a pic of me mid-battle with my first 'command' on 'The Second Day of the Battle Honeybucket Hill' 😆

Yes, I'm the tubby guy in back shouting at someone.....

Respectfully Submitted,

-- /s CR Hicks Jr.

-- 1st Lieutenant, Infantry

-- Co. C, 4th Infantry Regiment, United States Army

-- Commanding

 

[photo credit to the Lewis County Chronicle]

 

2022 16JUL Chehalis Centralia Chronicle Photo.JPG

Been there myself (in the hobby, not that particular event).  You now must be a professor of Hardee's Tactics.  

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8 minutes ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

Been there myself (in the hobby, not that particular event).  You now must be a professor of Hardee's Tactics.  

We use Casey's Tactics here, but it's just an abridged and clarified Hardee's. At least we're not using Gilliam's and firing in three ranks... 😁

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On 7/26/2022 at 11:13 PM, svensson said:

With the loosening of COVID restrictions, has anyone experienced a bit of personal growth or a newer outlook as we all reconnect with friends and outside hobbies? I ask because I sure did.

Not particularly, for me. The pandemic was great for me, as I could cut myself away from everyone.

Continuum next week will be the first big, in-person event that I will have done post-Covid and I am looking forward to it. 

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Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

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2 hours ago, soltakss said:

Not particularly, for me. The pandemic was great for me, as I could cut myself away from everyone.

Continuum next week will be the first big, in-person event that I will have done post-Covid and I am looking forward to it. 

Well, as I get older I find I have a more limited tolerance for the general run of human Stupid, but the contact with others is fundamentally healthy.

My wife works for medical review board... they review human experimentation requests for drugs and surgical procedures to ensure that they meet the ethical standards of such work. As you can imagine, COVID and cancer is just about all she's been doing for the last couple years. We've been 'bunkered down' for most of that time, and so getting out to see folks again has been something of a tonic for the soul.

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3 hours ago, soltakss said:

Not particularly, for me. The pandemic was great for me, as I could cut myself away from everyone.

Continuum next week will be the first big, in-person event that I will have done post-Covid and I am looking forward to it. 

Watch yourself and mask, because COVID is not over.  New dominant strain is more contagious if less deadly.  I caught it myself when I went to a state political convention July 14-16.  Then my wife tested positive a few days later, we were both at rhe convention.  Good thing we are vaccinated, but we both got very tired, coughing etc.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

My 85 year old auntie got COVID a week and a half ago, but tested negative on Sunday. She is a staunch anti-vaxxer, but she was just tired and not eating much so it does seem the dominant variant around here (UK) is less dangerous even if unvaccinated. But yes, do get vaccinated, and wear a mask, and wash your hands.

The prevailing wisdom seems to be that everyone is going to get this new strain. But if we reduce our exposure, through masking and washing, we give our bodies a better chance to fight it off and build natural immunity on top of vaccination resistance.

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