Returning from vacation

Today is my first day back after a week of sit-around-at-home vacation.

The Week: Relaxing, in an amorphous, blurry way. Got a lot done on Bloodweavers, and a little on a few other projects, watched a few movies, did a little housework.

Saturday: We'd had an HDTV party when the HDTV was first in, but we didn't have any HD content. Now we have an HD DVR and an HD-DVD player, so a second party, this time using HD DVDs, was proposed and ended up on this date. It was kind of a bust; only two people showed up, and we didn't end up watching a single DVD. But I took the opportunity to make good Mexican food, including salsa cruda and crema, as well as fajitas (more Tex-Mex than Mexican), which was yummy. (Next time, tinga poblana, or chiles rellenos.)

Sunday: My 39th birthday, and a very fine and fun day. Resuming, after three years, playing a roleplaying campaign set in Hârn; it was a gentle reintroduction since we all were so blurry on our memories, plus starting a relatively novice roleplayer on a very complicated system. This was a blast; I love this campaign and my character in it. Also had leftover Mexican, supplemented with frijoles de olla (simple but yummy beans, as made in Mexico), and for dessert, trifle with fresh cherries and blueberries (yum!). Also some presents...

Legos: Actually, Mega-Bloks. I have a fairly good-sized collection, and added a wonderful 1200-piece set of nicely generic pieces in a variety of colors, including some I didn't have. I always prefer generic pieces in generic sets, compared to sets that have a particular model in mind, particularly if they have pieces that are little use except in that model. It's relaxing to just start building without even deciding what you're building, even if the result is sometimes a little silly. Played with these all day, while roleplaying.

Rubik's Cube: Back in the heyday, I had one, but I didn't solve it myself; it seemed too daunting, I didn't know where to start. So like most everyone else, I bought a cheat-book with a solution, learned it, and got fast with it. And looking at it, I realized what I'd been missing and that I should have been able to solve it; I always regretted not doing it myself, but it was too late, I already knew the solution. Fast-forward 25 years... and I still remember the few key concepts needed to get started, but do not remember the solution, so now I can actually solve it myself. So far I've only dabbled idly, without making notes or really focusing, but I've been able to do the first few steps -- of the 20 cubes that need to be positioned and oriented, I have 11. Not bad for just fiddling disorganizedly. Amusingly, the 25th anniversary edition comes with a solution in a booklet in the package, which I'm not going to read.

Back To Work: So far the transition back to work has been relatively painless, but it's still a little difficult. Thankfully there wasn't a huge pile of waiting issues awaiting me, nor did my cow-orkers mess up my workspace (a running office prank whenever anyone's on vacation, but I rarely get hit because I rarely participate in the hijinks myself). Getting back into the swing of things.