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Yeah, I'm turning into the Hulk again
Jan. 10th, 2011 11:18 amOne of the things my doctor suggested last week was a return to a daily Prednisone regimen. 2 20mg tablets daily, on in the morning, one in the late afternoon. I will say that this has had a marked effect on my breathing. Things are much easier and my need for the inhaler has dropped off sharply. But...
I'm having my usual free-floating excess energy reaction to the Pred. Yesterday we took out the garbage and I did some badly-needed laundry. Then did the dishes. And swept the kitchen. And cleaned up around my desk. And cleaned my desk. And monitor. And keyboard. Also cleared out my backpack. Organized papers. Tried to learn to juggle. Failed at that. Cleaned the mason jar of dice. Sorted dice. Became very upset that I have a full set of black with red pips/numbers polyhedrals but for a d20. Searched dice collection to be sure. Noticed that my glass markers were somewhat sticky. Cleaned them. Finally ran out of energy.
Then I took the second pill. Sleep was interesting. But so long as it helps me breathe, I'm willing to work on a long-term strategy to incorporate Prednisone into my life.
In other news, I've been reading Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium!. Loving it. It really is remarkable to see how good the Black Library stuff is overall. I've yet to encounter a set of books that I'd consider bad, and highly recommend most of them simply because the authors and editors grok that characters trump technology and setting. All of these books are about people, and interesting ones at that.
Take Commissar Cain. The books are presented as edited versions of his unpublished memoirs, with extensive footnotes and additional material presented by an Inquisitor who worked with Cain many times (and it is hinted, had a more personal relationship with him at times.) Cain describes himself as a self-serving coward who has managed to survive countless encounters with the Imperium's deadliest foes through a combination of luck and well-timed decisions to run away. He writes about his ability to fake concern for the troops under his control, and his general disregard for anything that doesn't directly concern his survival and comfort. Yet when you read the accounts in the book, you realize that Cain is much deeper than that. He does believe in the Imperium, in his own cynical way, is loyal (if dismissive) of those he serves with, and demonstrates what real courage is: overcoming the natural inclination to run away from danger and instead facing it. Time and again, we see Cain do this, and although he plays it down in his accounts, it's clear that he has earned the title Hero of the Imperium! many times over.
I also appreciate that these books spend time dealing with some of the different races that don't get much coverage elsewhere. The extensive look at the Tau and the Necrons was nice. I've reached the end of the second novel in the omnibus, and will tackle the third later today. Good stuff. Next up, I may pick up the second Gaunt's Ghosts omnibus.
Finally, I've bought the Pathfinder RPG. Very nice, and if you know D&D3.5 the transition is very easy. Just working my way through the character generation stuff now. They've made all the classes very interesting, and removed many of the stumbling blocks for playing non-humans. Fighters are now what they should be, death on speed. Sorcerers, with their bloodlines are now a diverse and dangerous lot. Wizards may need a little tinkering, but I like that they are weak at low levels, world beaters at high levels. Having three different advancement speeds is a nice touch. You can race through levels with lower XP totals needed, or take the longer route to fully exploit each power level for adventures.
Seeing the "heroic" dice option (2d6+6) was nice. I used a modified version of that back in my AD&D days. 3 2d6+6 rolls, 3 3d6 rolls, assign as you like. It gave a wider range of results, and I always liked playing with characters with at least a few lower stats.. nothing says fun like a Wis 4 Rogue.
Guess it's time to start working on my setting.
I'm having my usual free-floating excess energy reaction to the Pred. Yesterday we took out the garbage and I did some badly-needed laundry. Then did the dishes. And swept the kitchen. And cleaned up around my desk. And cleaned my desk. And monitor. And keyboard. Also cleared out my backpack. Organized papers. Tried to learn to juggle. Failed at that. Cleaned the mason jar of dice. Sorted dice. Became very upset that I have a full set of black with red pips/numbers polyhedrals but for a d20. Searched dice collection to be sure. Noticed that my glass markers were somewhat sticky. Cleaned them. Finally ran out of energy.
Then I took the second pill. Sleep was interesting. But so long as it helps me breathe, I'm willing to work on a long-term strategy to incorporate Prednisone into my life.
In other news, I've been reading Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium!. Loving it. It really is remarkable to see how good the Black Library stuff is overall. I've yet to encounter a set of books that I'd consider bad, and highly recommend most of them simply because the authors and editors grok that characters trump technology and setting. All of these books are about people, and interesting ones at that.
Take Commissar Cain. The books are presented as edited versions of his unpublished memoirs, with extensive footnotes and additional material presented by an Inquisitor who worked with Cain many times (and it is hinted, had a more personal relationship with him at times.) Cain describes himself as a self-serving coward who has managed to survive countless encounters with the Imperium's deadliest foes through a combination of luck and well-timed decisions to run away. He writes about his ability to fake concern for the troops under his control, and his general disregard for anything that doesn't directly concern his survival and comfort. Yet when you read the accounts in the book, you realize that Cain is much deeper than that. He does believe in the Imperium, in his own cynical way, is loyal (if dismissive) of those he serves with, and demonstrates what real courage is: overcoming the natural inclination to run away from danger and instead facing it. Time and again, we see Cain do this, and although he plays it down in his accounts, it's clear that he has earned the title Hero of the Imperium! many times over.
I also appreciate that these books spend time dealing with some of the different races that don't get much coverage elsewhere. The extensive look at the Tau and the Necrons was nice. I've reached the end of the second novel in the omnibus, and will tackle the third later today. Good stuff. Next up, I may pick up the second Gaunt's Ghosts omnibus.
Finally, I've bought the Pathfinder RPG. Very nice, and if you know D&D3.5 the transition is very easy. Just working my way through the character generation stuff now. They've made all the classes very interesting, and removed many of the stumbling blocks for playing non-humans. Fighters are now what they should be, death on speed. Sorcerers, with their bloodlines are now a diverse and dangerous lot. Wizards may need a little tinkering, but I like that they are weak at low levels, world beaters at high levels. Having three different advancement speeds is a nice touch. You can race through levels with lower XP totals needed, or take the longer route to fully exploit each power level for adventures.
Seeing the "heroic" dice option (2d6+6) was nice. I used a modified version of that back in my AD&D days. 3 2d6+6 rolls, 3 3d6 rolls, assign as you like. It gave a wider range of results, and I always liked playing with characters with at least a few lower stats.. nothing says fun like a Wis 4 Rogue.
Guess it's time to start working on my setting.
