Tag Archives: gaming

Geek and Sundry tabletop nerd block 2016

Fail.
Nerd block usually gets things right, but this was terrible.

A lackluster t-shirt,2 pencils, a little note pad, a deck of cards, some character coins, MTG action figure, geek and sundry bumper sticker, dungeons and dragons comic book  and  a novelty die  (all ones d6 in a blister pack).

Lots of filler, not a lot of “meat”. I’d say the only thing that will get much use is the notepad, because I use those things like potato chips.

I have really no idea what the character coins are used for.

No way in hell is that worth $50+shipping.

Won’t be buying anything with the G&S brand again anytime soon, and I am sorely disappointed in nerd block for this sub-par offering.

Did *anyone* like this block?

So disappointed, I’m considering filing with BBB. Nerd Block is a bit notorious when it comes to customer service.

https://www.bbb.org/kitchener/business-reviews/toys-retail/nerd-block-in-whitby-on-1320748/file-a-complaint

Edit: Followup – 

 I was given the invoice for the “wholesale” prices of my items.

  • T-shirt $11.50
  •  Vinyl Toy – $4.00
  • Bumper Sticker – $2.00
  • Toy Tokens – $6.50
  • Toy Dice – $4.00
  • Notepad – $3.48
  • Comic Book – $4.50
  • Pencils – $4.05
  • Playing cards – $3.46

According to NB that MTG figure, costs the same as two, very standard/simple, pencils. Wholesale. These are supposed to be wholesale prices!

In what world do two pencils cost that much?  Or a novelty die that has all ones?

Seriously?

10,813 – Wednesday

Happy Midweek and Midmonth, Dear Journal. Another day, another 2¢.

Glad to be on the rails home.  I’m chilly and tired, happy to be snuggled up in my homemade scarf. I’m feeling pretty good, though I am more than a little hungry… ready for dinner, for sure.

I was chasing phantoms much of the day today – phone meetings, web searches and inventory taking up the bulk of it. All of it useful, but very time-consuming.  I’ve got more than a few meetings tomorrow morning, too – I have one user that is very itchy to get his version software in place – I get to teach him about repositories and more to the point, branching/merging. Ideally, this won’t be too much of a challenge, but I need to keep things focused and helpful.

Drunk Octopus wants to fight you, but I think you’re AOK.

Drunk Octopus Wants to Fight You

Ah well.. I’m going to get back to reading my documentation – until later, dear journal!

On a semi-tangible tangent – I’ve got a feast of goodies landing on my PS3 and PC lately. Not sure when I’ll have time to play it all!

  • Beta for Little Big Planet 2
  • Beta for DC Universe Online
  • Sam & Max – Free! 🙂
  • Osmos
  • Revenge of the Titans HIB
  • Braid
  • Cortex Command

The last 4 are via the humble bundle 2 – I got one for me, and another for Shaun W as Double-win Christmas Presents – Proceeds go to charity, and we get games!

—————-
Now playing: Irving Berlin – Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)

Current Location: Red line Silver Spring to Fort Totten / Green line to Suitland / Love Cube to Home

weekend recap. post #10,809

Let’s see… What has been up to since Cheeto (Justin) brought our Christmas tree over?

I got my invite to the private beta for Little big planet 2!

Poor Pyewacket hasn’t been feeling very well lately – he was logy and seems to be working on a great big hairball. BHK is getting some meds for him today – hopefully he’ll be feeling better soon.

I was saddened to hear that Dr. D is now in assisted care – my best thoughts are going to his family.

Saturday was BHK’s crafts / holiday party – just enough people arrived to fill every seat in the house. At the most critical of mass, I went into retreat – hit the man-cave and worked on the computer in there for a bit.  Amongst the guests were Amy R., Holly, In-laws, Mandy, Tara and Van (in alphabetical order, no less!) – There was more food than we could eat for a week, and the guests brought food too, despite our best entreaties. I fiddled with Goldeneye: Source and HIS (Heroes in the Sky) – I much preferred the former to the latter.

Amy R. is the newest fan of Swarm of the Snakehead. Totally unrelated – Human Centipede is now availabe for netflix streaming. (I do not think I’ll bother with it, though, unless it’s to distress BHK)

Quite a few passes by “Santa” and his pickup truck… has a lit up Reindeer and Santa dangling from the vehicle… and has been doing orbits around our town more than once or twice.

Van stayed for a bit after closeup – he had never played Catan before, but that didn’t stop him from winning against us handily.

Sunday, we rested up most of the morning, but the in-laws hijacked us to go to Men’s day at Maerten’s Jewelry… I snuck over to Play’n’trade to see what was up – 3 used games for 2 wasn’t a bad deal, but I’m still pretty well stocked for toys on both the wii and the ps3. I did look for family game night, seeing as James had mentioned it, and BHK loves to do boardgames – Catan on the ps3, or anything on Yucata.de is her vibe.

Looking at the archives… looks like Pye and the tree are quite the habit this time of year.

1 year ago – Pye admiring our Christmas tree

2 years ago – tree arrives in our living room, “love, actually”, Chinese food.

3 years ago -got crabs for Xmas CD, add LJ friends page to RSS reader, bears in ill-fitting hats, metro fare increases, glow-kitties fight disease, 2007 q&A meme

4 years ago – Peter Boyle RIP, Grey Gardens, Holiday hubbub, new comic store, Tina’s wedding present to us

5 years ago – Sam and Max, Atari 2600, favorite things

6 years ago – I discover that Romanian pop tune (OZONE – Dragoste din tei) before the weirdo kid cam sings it around the world, Oceans 11, pollo tropical makes me sick

7 years agothe secret message, Bro & Danny visit, lizards in the tummy, truck surfing, riddle, some reference

8 years ago – nightmare, balloon hats, fudge and dinosaurs, Danny and I win a Tomato Recipe contest!

9 years ago – nice dreams, flesh eating robots, wacky day, SOP

10 years ago – coffee, hello kitty murders, village blacksmith, books to read, I get a Sigmund and the sea monsters tape!Geotarget
—————-
Now playing: Jon Black – Ghost of Elvis

10-die poker rules

10-Die Poker

By James Ernest and Joshua Howard

Players: 4-7

Equipment: 10 six-sided dice for each player in two colors (These rules assume Red and White), and some Poker Chips. To play $1.00 ante, as described below, players should start with at least $40.

To Begin: Each player antes $1.00.

Rolling your Hand: Each player rolls his starting hand as follows: Your dice are always locked in pairs, one red and one white, so you can’t just roll all your dice at once. Instead, you roll five pairs of dice, one pair at a time.

Arrange your dice so that there is a clear Red and White hand. It is helpful to put the better hand on top, so you can more easily compare hands with the other players.

The Value of Hands: The Hands in 10-Die Poker are the same as those in Poker, except that there is no Flush. The rank of Hands, from lowest to highest, is: High Die, Pair, 2 Pair, 3 of a Kind, Straight, Full House, 4 of a Kind, 5 of a Kind.

The value of your whole hand is always equal to the better of your two sets of dice. For example, if your Red hand is a pair, but your White hand is a straight, you have a straight. If two players have identical high hands, they compare low hands. If both hands match, which is very rare, those players are tied.

Challenges: The best hand is the “leader.” The worst hand now becomes active, and may elect to either fold, or challenge the leader.

If you fold, you are out of this round, just like in Poker. If you challenge, it costs you an amount equal to half the pot, rounding up. So for example, if there is $5 in the pot, it costs $3 to challenge. This brings the Pot to $8, making the next challenge cost $4.

If you challenge, you may re-roll some or all of your pairs of dice. You must pick up all these pairs before you roll any of them; you can’t decide piece by piece. And you must roll both dice in each pair, not just one or the other.

If your new hand beats the leader, you become the new leader. If not, you have lost and you drop out.

Winning: This process continues, with the low hand always challenging the high hand, until everyone either fails a challenge or folds. Then the survivor takes the Pot.

Tied Hands: If two players are tied for high, they split the pot. If two players are tied for low, they must choose randomly which one of them will challenge (or fold) first.

Ending the Game: Like Poker, this game is continuous and cyclical. Any player may enter or leave the game after any round. If you finish with more money than you started with, you’re winning.

Strategy: A Straight probably isn’t going to win the game, and it’s a very tough hand to improve. When deciding whether to challenge, be aware of the dice in both hands. If you have a decent hand on both halves of the pairs you are keeping, your chances of beating the leader are pretty good. Otherwise, think twice. Also, be sure to note the chances of the leader coming back to beat you, even if you do win the challenge.

10,111 – Monday

Happy President’s Day! Happy Belated Year of the Tiger (GO NEWT!)  Happy Belated Valentines Day!

Recapping yesterday:

valentines breakfast at bob evans w/ nailles – it was tasty, but I think my order was the only one that wasn’t goofed in some way.

Sean came over for a moment – brought us popcorn and a movie to watch!

The picture I took of my footprint in the snow looks weirdly inverted when viewed small.

BHK officially got her Vallies Day Gifts – a couple of handmade cards, a hat made of llama yarn (black, with knitted pictures of bunnies and weather on it. ), a llama pin made from fimo, and Style Savvy for the DS. If you want to visit her pretend-play fashion store, it’s in Velvet City at the Chiffon Mall, Floor 16 – Green La .  Buy lots of goodies , dear journal!

Speaking of goodies, I now have Little Big Planet (game of the year edition) for my ps3. Looking to game with me, dear journal? look me up as scottobear in the ps3 community.

I got new pair of Jeans for Valentines day from the in-laws – nicely timed, as one of my old pair of chinos tore about an hour before. Larry and Chris had Ice cream and cake for Chris’s B’day, and we lounged about and watched some of the olympics.

So far today, all I’ve done is look for work, update my journal, and notice that my beard is just about all grown out, thanks to the recent snow.

1 year ago – ides of feb, pic, walkies, insurance thinks I have fibromyalgia, tv
2 years ago – minty kisses, DuClaw, Toe the line / Piss and Vinegar, Video card driver issue, Q&A meme
3 years ago – Otter Pics!, Marine museum, warm geese in hoodies
4 years ago – compusa poop, holy moley, transistors, cargo cults, lj feature, bus station picture, cadbury bbq egg, on the lam(b), sex pred stigma
5 years ago – edbook pic arrives, cheap chocolate, land of the lost, Rik’s comic gets to previews, netflix queue, top 100 free e-texts, cow-pattern tents, public records db finds fugitive
6 years ago – Sun-sentinel cam changes direction, crittercam, condo shopping, I feel great
7 years ago – MP toys, work shopping, black bean hummus, key deer
8 years ago – Newtcam active in old apartment, how cell phones work/tracking, fibbed to, SOP
9 years ago – Monster!, SA goes in fro her job interview, got a love note, simpsons lame, cartoons, silly haiku, bro and IGeotarget

10,067 – Monday

Hey! Today is a palindrome! 011110 !

A panoramic pic of the bay iced over from yesterday (bigger here)

4263588273_4eeceb72dc_o - 4264343410_fc95771676_o - 4684x1522 - SCUL-Smartblend

BHK made me a wonderful breakfast of veggie omelets and English muffin – nice dose of protein to begin the day solidly.

Bad news technology-wise… BHK’s laptop seems to have taken a nap from which it won’t awake. I suspect the internal power supply. Looking into cracking it open soon, if the alternate cable doesn’t fix her up.

Shadow of the Vampire this evening, while we strip the tree of it’s ornaments and lights – rather a counterpoint too last year’s Kolchak festival while putting on the goodies.

Started watching sanctuary tonight, but the allure of Big Kahuna took it over. We’ve made it to 94 of 99 levels complete, and all but one tropical fish unlocked.

Dinner of tasty twisty pasta and unchicken strips in a tomato-cream sauce, with lots of tasty garlic!

Janet sent me a pic of Danny from his Birthday on Los Olas – BHK thinks he looks cuter sans moustache.

FortLauderdale_DanBirthday_2010_Page_23

1 year ago – rescue ink, winter farmer’s market, comics & munchkin quest (still unplayed, a year later! got to correct that soon), die monter die, mr meaty, took apart trains under the xmas tree
2 years ago – baby polar bear, different route to work, friday 5, gizmodo tv-b-gone
3 years ago – newt and pye pics / video, off to marion
4 years ago – hijinks, top 10 questions, hieroglyphic names, system still out for repair, doodling
5 years ago – turtle thought, dinero, illumination, tv torrents, vampire hunting with a stand up bass, metasearch, mucho folks fired for keeping online journals, iraqi abuse cheerleaders, server location, flying_blind introduces me to the term blague which is a perfect alternate to blog.
6 years ago – drama flakes, bad taste, Dentsu, Tintin, Sandalwood and walkabout
7 years ago – LotR, Nipple scarves, vax-d, UBER-PEA!, Newt piccies
8 years ago – Colostomy bag thief, D&D stats, monkey god baby
9 years ago – looking to the future, all the words Geotarget

10,066 – Sunday – Happy birthday, Kat!

Brunch with BHK, In-laws, Adam, Dave Nelson, and Rorey – Adam made a heart-shaped biscuit for anna, who was absent (Adam is going to VA this afternoon to settle some court issues there)

0110001344.jpg

No Snow today, but the bay is still nicely iced!

downsized_0110001230.jpg

Visited Nailles a bit, chitty-chatted for a while

Big Kahuna when we got home – nearly to the end by now – our zoo animals haven’t given birth yet.

New fondness for the IT crowd TV show – nice mindless foolishness, with some of the boosh gang hanging about, too.

1 year ago – shots, bhk doc visit, Kat’s 3rd year ljing, dunwich horror, cookies, bhk’s coat arrives
2 years ago – plumber, kat bday, nutshell day
3 years ago – KC’s bday, moved a bit, dead and breakfast, hero quiz
4 years ago – illegal to annoy, esp poll 2, superkitty icon, yahoo-webjay, meme, sliders farewell, Japanese spidey full 1st episode, more silly quizzes, dinosaur/archosaur, family watchdog for sex preds, eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
5 years ago – Mel’s not fond of my music & helpful to caterpillar, OTR, evilcorp, FBI most wanted, long list meme, word use, that silly video, no conspiracy folks?
6 years ago – Blimp, bail, accents and the start of getting a mortgage, fog of war, newt pic
7 years ago – silly entendres, pygmy cannibals, pyramid mausoleum
8 years ago – gollum toys, prayer wheels, SOP, What’s he gots in his pocketses?, gollum poll
9 years ago – supes, lyrics, ghosting Geotarget

10,064 – Friday

snow day today – a light dusting cleaned up the dirty slush left over from the blizzard.

Newton has the right idea, I think – Burrito snuggles under covers!

0108001206.jpg

Mandy took home the game trophy for winning cir-kis and pop-up storybook.

I like Cir-kis, but think that Blokus is a bit more my thing – benefit of cir-kis is that you don’t need ghost players if you only have 3 people at the table.

1 year ago – crayon physics, pyecam and newtcam, Chris’s metro car poops out, inauguration, mexico for lunch
2 years ago – plumbing issues start, video games (meet me on the steam netowork to play!), absinthe legal again
3 years ago – gave up on heroes and torchwood, assorted tv enjoyed, bhk and I work, took down xmas train, brown house
4 years ago – Letterman vs O’Reilly, Envisioning poll, Prof. Plum, Moon Worship, firefly crew, World Of Stuff, bike about and hoff, pictures, human skin books
5 years ago – mooshy, work hires, 300 fonts you should have (Note – porno bob, CS, sharon and jill all no longer work there)
6 years ago – Wonderful Prezzies from The East, Misc work hubbub, there.com hubbub, scary chimps, Ted Passed away.
7 years ago – Elvis, scrapple, lesbian book covers, smokers, pancake bunny passed away, Sweet comment from Rachel
8 years ago – walkies, toys, WordsEye, food
9 years ago – deoxy, st. mary’s, noir Geotarget

pic recap of New Years day Entry # 10,060

Mostly photos from the polar bear plunge, but some gaming (Valley of the mammoth – warning, cartoon nudity) and Hap-pye New(t) year!

Additional caution – if looked at too closely, you may see Scotto’s hair front and or back.

MVI_1951  IMG_2023  IMG_2018  IMG_2017  IMG_2015  IMG_2014  IMG_2013  IMG_2006  IMG_2005  IMG_2004  IMG_2003  IMG_2002   IMG_1998  IMG_1997  IMG_1996  IMG_1995  IMG_1994  IMG_1993  IMG_1993  IMG_1992  IMG_1991  IMG_1990  IMG_1989  IMG_1988  IMG_1987  IMG_1986  IMG_1985  IMG_1984  IMG_1983  IMG_1982  IMG_1981  IMG_1980  IMG_1979  IMG_1978  IMG_1977  IMG_1976  IMG_1975  [1] 010110, 100CANON, 4 images, IMG_1973 - IMG_2001 - 7485x3172 - SCUL-Smartblend  IMG_1973  [1] 010110, 100CANON, 6 images, IMG_1972 - Christmas 2009 028 - 5041x3725 - SCUL-Smartblend  IMG_1972  IMG_1967  IMG_1966  IMG_1966  IMG_1965  [1] 010110, 100CANON, 3 images, IMG_1964 - IMG_1967 - 4734x2716 - SCUL-Smartblend  IMG_1964  IMG_1963  IMG_1962  IMG_1953  IMG_1950  IMG_1949  S6305655  IMG_1930  IMG_1925  IMG_1921  0101000006.jpg

1 year ago – jaw a bit better, winter holidays over, Sean, J and Duncan visit

2 years ago – dinner and a movie w/BHK, rotoscope video, friday 5, cold weather – shelter hotline, orexin A vs narcolepsy,

3 years ago – The Library is Open

4 years ago – on call, nice day, rainbow love thingum
5 years ago – Mel lunch, food cravings, b/w picture of Scotto, torture
6 years ago – Henry Earl Likes to Party (he still does!), Glossary of Linguistics and Rhetoric, Tokyo bowl, playing with filters
7 years ago – Ticked at bro, want to try out for LSH
8 years ago – chilly, dream, Miss Cleo in trouble, digi cam shopping, Cinnamon Pecan Bread
9 years ago – super power desire, phonelessGeotarget

10,052 – Farewell UNTIL THE SUMMER, Amy!

bhktoad  S6305654  S6305653  S6305652  S6305651  S6305650

Dictionary Dabble, Carcassonne – New World, and Valley of the Mammoths played.

BHK Did really well – Winning all (She and I tied in Dabble) I think it was the green knit cap I got her for Christmas – Mandy said she looked like toad (a mushroom person) from Super Mario… of course, BHK had to take that and run with it (see above)

Amy is off to NY again – We’ll miss her! BHK and I are going to have lunch in Deale soon with the in-laws. tomorrow, Sean is coming over for some year-end games, too, maybe we can whomp on him and Andrew a bit then!

Random thought in my head lately – I really like grappling hooks. One of my fave gadget / tools in video games, RPGs or even just in general. Swung by hand or fired from a gun, it doesn’t matter.

1 year ago – BHK and I go to Geppi’s, Gabby Hayes, Ravens/Orioles stadium pix, leap second added
2 years ago – breakfast, xmas books to read
3 years ago – officially done with ACIM, Danny covered for b day, calvert library
4 years ago – Spanish channel shenanigans, big brain issues, ACIM paperwork, crunks,walkabout pics, palm cam picture spin (visiting Deerfield)
5 years ago – picture beliefs, cheese
6 years ago – Dang Dick, Kindly Kahuna, and Scotto Stuff. Alliteration!
7 years ago – RFL pictures, PT Barnum, Malawi vampires, Morse code
8 years ago – Treebeard and Entwife, Met Denise & Sara @ Danny’s Party, Mai Kai, eclipse
9 years ago – Calcutta Chromosome, Got shoo as a pal, Amitav Ghosh, Saw D&D movie with Danny, and Andy running the yellow Pompano comic shack
GeotargetVisitor Map