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The Start of a New Month March 1, 2024

Posted by jkahane in diabetes, health hut, life, new month, ottawa, pandemic, personal, weather.
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It’s March 1st. The start of a new month.

Thank Goddess.

February was a very bad month for me, and that’s putting it mildly. Between the health issues I had last month and some of the other stresses I’ve been dealing with that I’ve not discussed here in the blog, February was a terrible month in so many ways.

The weather for February here in Ottawa was a totally mixed bag, very atypical of weather for the month, with relatively warm winter weather, a few dumps of snow that weren’t so much epic as just surprising, and only a few days of really cold weather. Just a very bizarre weather month. The Ottawa valley set several records in terms of warm temperatures for the month. I don’t know what’s going to happen here in March weather-wise, but it’s gotten off to a very bright start, relatively cold and sunny (the current temperature is 4oC outside), so who knows what the month will bring. We’ll see how the weather shakes out, I guess.

My health was not very good in February, as to be honest, I’ve had somewhat severe bowel and intestinal issues much of the month and while my feet haven’t been too bad, they hurt enough to make me re-think walking on some days. My right shoulder and arm are very sore, hurting quite a lot and preventing a lot of movement and use of the arm on some days. Still waiting on another MRI or two on the arm and shoulder. In the meantime, I’ve finally had biopsies taken of the masses in my lower left bowel and intestines the past two weeks, but have to wait for the results. As might be imagined, I’ve had several bouts of depression this past month, don’t seem to be getting a lot of sleep (5 hours per night at most), and have had several (bad) panic attacks.

The COVID-19 (not-)pandemic continues on unabated, with the virus still winning it seems. Add a new outbreak of measles (that I hopefully will not contract ::knock on wood::) and the flu and RSV infections still out there, and well… Then there’s the state of the world right now, Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine (going into its third year) and the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and well… the world is not a pleasant place to live in right now. 😦

Anyway, not a month that I’m ever going to look back on positively.

So, a new month…hopefully one that treats me…gently.

So bring it on, March! 🙂

Getting Ready for Friday Night Gaming February 2, 2024

Posted by jkahane in diabetes, food hut, friday gaming group, health hut, ottawa, pandemic, personal, rivers of london rpg, rpg chat, rpg hut, weather.
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It’s been another atypical winter day as the month of February gets under way. A relatively mild day for winter here in Ottawa today, with a gloomy, overcast sky and the temperature holding around 1oC. For the most part, a day for me to stay inside keeping warm and hydrated, as the damp cold outside has made my bones (and other parts of my body) hurt for the majority of the day. I did go out to get the snail mail, but to be honest, I feel a bit under the weather, my right shoulder and arm are hurting a lot, and the pain in my left foot and ankle is…not fun. Anyway…

I’ll be gaming with the Friday night group this evening; the players should be arriving within the next hour or so. Due to the resurgence of COVID-19 and the flu and RSV season having a stranglehold on the world right now, the Friday gamers have elected to play tonight with the adequate protective measures as usual. The players are quite looking forward to gaming this evening, so I’m pleased about that.

The players will be continuing with their current Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game campaign case file this evening. The players are looking forward to playing the game tonight, and I’ve managed to get the material for tonight’s session written that I wanted. That said, I am looking forward to running the game tonight. Should be a lot of fun.

In the meantime, I need to go upstairs and make myself something nice and hot for supper.

Have a good evening, folks. 🙂

The Start of February February 1, 2024

Posted by jkahane in diabetes, health hut, life, new month, ottawa, pandemic, personal, weather.
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It’s Thursday morning. The first of February. A new month.

The weather outside is pretty much overcast, damp, and relatively cool at just over 2oC. Not expected to go higher than that, and there is a forecast of mixed precipitation for later in the day. Needless to say, winter isn’t over here in Canada yet, and February is a month that is usually cold and very, very snow-filled, but I’m hoping that it’s not too bad this time around.

I’m very happy to see the back side of January, as to be honest, last month was not a good month for me health-wise, and the weather inconsistency did not help with my overall health. My right shoulder and arm are not very good, and I’ve also had some bad pain in my left arm and wrist, my feet are hurting, and I’ve got general aches and pains from the damp coldness that is the weather these days. The COVID-19 (not) pandemic continues to plague the world with the new strain of the virus, less fatal (depending on your definition of “less” of course), and my personal life and finances are something of a mess still after the events of 2022.

I’m just hoping that this month is better than last month, particularly health-wise. While the early part of January was decent for the most part, the last 15 days of the month were some of the most miserable I’ve spent in a while and not a good sign for the 2024 ahead.

I don’t have much else to say today, as I’m in quite a bit of pain and have a few things I need to get done before the evening. That, and nap a bit this afternoon.

Getting Ready for Friday Night Gaming January 19, 2024

Posted by jkahane in diabetes, food hut, friday gaming group, health hut, ottawa, pandemic, personal, rivers of london rpg, rpg chat, rpg hut, weather.
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Another day of winter here in Ottawa, and this one’s been typical for January. The last couple of days have been brutally cold, and today was no exception here. The temperature reached a high of -14oC (with a wind chill of -22oC!), the kind of day where one didn’t want to go outside unless one had to. And I didn’t, other than to get the snail mail from the mailboxes outside. Managed to stay hydrated, but I’m still pretty cold. Feeling a bit under the weather still, and my right shoulder and arm are hurting quite a bit, as is my left foot and ankle. Anyway…

I’ll be gaming with the Friday night group this evening; the players should be arriving within the next hour or so. Even with the resurgence of COVID-19 and the flu and RSV season starting to get pretty bad, the Friday gamers have elected to play tonight as long as we take adequate protective measures as usual. The players are quite looking forward to gaming this evening, so I’m pleased about that.

The players will be returning to their Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game campaign this evening. I think this will be the last game session of Rivers for a bit, as to be honest, I’m tired of not having any new adventures or material for the game to throw at the players, and am just not in a “create new case files” frame of mind these days. That said, I am looking forward to running the game tonight. Should be a lot of fun.

In the meantime, I need to go upstairs and make myself something nice and hot for supper.

Have a good evening, folks. 🙂

Getting Ready for Friday Night Gaming January 5, 2024

Posted by jkahane in doctor who rpg, food hut, friday gaming group, health hut, ottawa, pandemic, personal, rivers of london rpg, rpg chat, rpg hut, weather.
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It’s been a very atypical week for the winter, moreso for January, with relatively warm temperatures, and today was no exception here in the Ottawa valley. The temperature hit the 4oC mark today, and there were periods of rain, but the sun managed to peek out of the clouds somewhat as well. I’ve been very tired the last couple of days, to be honest, and am feeling a bit under the weather. Other than the pain in my right shoulder and some abdominal issues, I don’t feel all that bad. New year, same body issues, I guess. 🙂

I’ll be gaming with the Friday night group this evening; the players should be arriving within the next hour or so. Even with the resurgence of COVID-19 and the flu and RSV season starting to get pretty bad, the Friday gamers elected to play tonight as long as we take adequate protective measures as usual. The players are quite looking forward to gaming this evening, and it will be the first gaming session of 2024 so that’s adding to the excitement I feel about gaming tonight.

Rather than continuing on this evening with the Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game campaign this evening, the Friday night gamers will be creating (or re-creating in the case of two players) characters for the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game (formerly the Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPG) published by Cubicle 7. I’m quite looking forward to this evening and the Session Zero that’s ahead, and all of the players are looking forward to playing in the game as well. Should be a fun evening.

In the meantime, I need to go upstairs and make something very light, but hot, for supper.

Have a good evening, folks. 🙂

The Year That Was January 1, 2024

Posted by jkahane in cangames, conventions, coriolis rpg, dc heroes rpg, diabetes, health hut, life, pandemic, personal, rivers of london rpg, rpg chat, rpg hut.
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A new year. A time for reflection. A time for memories.

Up until a few years ago, I always did a Year in Review entry about things in a lot of detail. Eight years ago, I changed it up and didn’t do that, only something along the lines of a year’s perspective. I’ve come to realise that the year is done. Life has wound its course for 2023, and there’s no point dwelling on it too much. That’s not to say that I won’t remember 2023. I am, I do, and I will. But I can’t live in the past, though I can certainly learn from what happened last year. At least I hope so.

I guess I’ll start by saying that 2023 will be remembered for the continuing COVID-19 virus and the pandemic that has not so much raged across the world, but continues to plague us (no pun intended) in an eighth (or ninth or tenth, depending on who you ask) wave as we start the new year. The sheer scale of the pandemic, the (still) staggering number of dead, the effect on the economy and on people’s lives, and the toll on mental health will all be something that we can’t and don’t forget. Even with the vaccination rate, that doesn’t mean the COVID-19 pandemic will end in 2024, though that is the hope. But the sheer rising number of cases and not-so-much rising number of deaths in this eighth (or whatever) wave (as I write this blog entry) from the current Omicron variant is a good indicator that coronavirus is not done with us yet. And I suspect the hope that the vaccines bring is making too many people complacent. Throw into the mix the current flu, which is wreaking havoc (and even death) as it surges in a nasty wave this year, and the respiratory infection (RSV) that is striking down both the very young and the older population, and it’s going to be a year that will be quite nasty over the course of January and February.

For me personally, the year was epitomized for the most part by several things. First of all, the year started with me developing a very bad diabetic ulcer on the bottom of my left foot that left me feeling pretty crippled and off my feet for much of the first half of the year, requiring me to stay off the foot and receiving home health and footcare through early September. Second, my diabetes was obviously not under good control (hence the foot ulcer), and things were not helped with the shortage in some of the medications that I take for it. Suffice to say, I did manage to bring the diabetes back under control somewhat after September. The isolation that I was going through during the months trapped in the house, unable to walk or even to go out anywhere except when necessary, didn’t help my health overall and I was wracked with deep, heavy bouts of depression and helplessness during much of the period. While I have the joy of my gaming groups during the year, this was few and far between (see the stuff on gaming below), and I struggled to stay positive for the most part. This is something that I’ll need to work on this year, especially since I don’t see myself risking my health in various social settings too often this year, and because I don’t really have a lot of friends and people I socialize with. Throw in the bowel issues I’m having, including Irritable Bowel Syndrome, the stress I’ve been under and… well, let’s just say 2023 was a year to forget health-wise.

And then there’s the situation on the world stage. I mean look at this mess: the COVID-19 pandemic and the way that various world governments and their people have continued to badly handle it; the messy situations in both Canadian and U.S. politics; the continuing discoveries of how abusive things were in Canada for the Indigenous people, and how that situation has not been handled well, let alone resolved; how Canadian relations with China and a couple of other countries continue to be a hellish handbasket; the extent to which terrorism ruled the headlines; the continuing Ukraine-Russia conflict that is making losers of both sides, but especially the Ukrainians; the terrible conflict between Israel and Hamas, and the devastating, horrifying results to this point; the rash decisions being made by North Korea; the way in which Mother Earth fought back against what we’ve done to the planet and climate change, in addition to the pandemic; the manner in which racism continues to be an issue all over the world, and the generally poor way in which people and governments have handled it; how environmentalism/climate change became key issues for people around the world because of one young girl’s bringing the matter into the spotlight; and the various deaths in both the entertainment, music and science industries, notably of individuals my own age or younger. Is it any wonder that people continue to feel depressed and hopeless, which is still being exacerbated by the not quite a pandemic?

Gaming-wise, 2023 was a pretty disastrous year for the most part. I managed to run four (4) game sessions of the Coriolis – The Third Horizon RPG at the beginning of the year and ran eight (8) sessions of the DC Heroes RPG from May to June, but then was lucky enough to be able to run twenty-five (25) sessions of the Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game RPG from late July through the end of the year. Quite a few of these were Session 0s, but there was a lot of gaming time lost to cancelled sessions (especially early in the year because of my diabetic ulcer) for various reasons. And that was pretty much my entirety of gaming for 2023. Because of the diabetic ulcer, I was unable to attend CanGames in 2023, so I didn’t get to run anything at the convention or socialize with friends and acquaintances. I’m (still) not one to play games on-line using Discord, Zoom, Roll20 or other sites, so those just aren’t an option for me. There are several games that I’m looking forward to running (and perhaps playing) this year of 2024, but we’ll see how things shake out.

And there’s also CanGames 2024 to think about…

I can’t honestly say there were a lot of highlights in 2023, but there were a lot of lowlights, none of which I really want to look back at with any angst, perverse fondness or annoyance. Or fear. I like to think that I’m a bit of a better person for what happened in 2023, but there’s (a lot of) room for improvement, and I hope to be a better person yet again in 2024.

That’s really all I have to say about 2023.

Now? It’s time to look forward. And all the good/great stuff that’s hopefully going to happen this year.

In the meantime, to everyone reading this blog entry… Stay safe, and stay healthy.

New Year’s Eve Thoughts December 31, 2023

Posted by jkahane in health hut, life, new year, pandemic, personal.
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And so, here we are, once again. New Year’s Eve.

I haven’t planned to do much this New Year’s Eve, other than to relax and have a relatively quiet evening, and I don’t expect that to change. I’m in a heck of a lot of pain today due to my left shoulder and arm hurting a lot, the weather is cold and damp, and my left foot and hip are bothering me as well. Heck, truth be told, I’m not really feeling all that sociable at the moment. The day digging through the storage cupboard for some gaming stuff (even with ‘s help) took its toll on me, and I’m feeling somewhat chilly as well. I’m just looking forward to ringing in the new year as quietly as I can, and it seems fitting that I’ll be doing so on my own.

I’m planning on having either a bottle of Heineken beer or a glass of wine some time later on this evening, and will be watching another couple of Classic Doctor Who DVDs this evening and into the New Year early morning. Then it will be off to bed.

In any event, I would like to wish all my friends and everyone a very safe, healthy, and Happy New Year. In this time of coronavirus, which is not through with us by a long shot, and world events of such import it’s even more important than usual to stay safe and be healthy tonight. It’s not a New Year’s Eve like any other, that’s for sure. Be good to yourselves, be good to each other, and I’ll catch you here again in 2024. 🙂

Final Day of 2023 December 31, 2023

Posted by jkahane in diabetes, health hut, life, ottawa, pandemic, personal, weather.
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It’s the last day of 2023.

Thank Goddess this year is coming to an end. While there have been some good moments this past year, 2023 will be primarily remembered as the year that Russia attacked Ukraine and the devastating toll it has taken primarily on the Ukrainians; the Israel-Hamas War that is devastating the Gaza strip and taking the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, on both sides; the prices of food and groceries in Canada (and presumably other places as well); and finally, the resurgence of COVID-19 coupled with the flu and RSV currently and in the months leading up to winter. Add to that various natural disasters and other world issues and events that have been depressing as hell, and… Oh, and let’s not forget the number of deaths of beloved figures in both music and entertainment and the senseless slaughter of too many people world-wide in acts of terrorism and sheer evil. (Yes, I’m looking at you, Vladimir Putin and your continuing gutless attack on the people of Ukraine, and hope you have a rotten New Year.) Yes, even with the pandemic present all over the world, people and countries still continued their deplorable behaviour instead of cooperating and working together to deal with the coronavirus. Even with the eighth (I think, I’ve lost track) booster vaccine shots, the virus continues to plague the world, though at least the Omicron variant isn’t as lethal. So there is that positive. Add to that the rough, at times miserable, periods I’ve had this year health-wise, and in other regards that I’ve not discussed this year, and when you throw in the sheer isolation that the pandemic continues to somewhat force on a lot of us, especially if you’re a 68-year-old single male, and… Well, to reiterate, good riddance to 2023.

It’s a Sunday morning here in Ottawa. It’s atypical of the weather we normally experience, being relatively warm at 4oC and raining, so it’s relatively cold and damp, though not snowing at the moment, so I’m in a good deal of pain. I’m sitting here at home taking it relatively easy, but will be undertaking digging out some gaming stuff from the storage cupboard (more on that in a separate post at some point). Just hope I’m up to it.

Now if I could just shake how cold I feel, which doesn’t help with the aches and pains, perhaps I’d feel better. Maybe another shower later today.

Getting Ready for Friday Night Gaming December 15, 2023

Posted by jkahane in diabetes, food hut, friday gaming group, health hut, ottawa, pandemic, personal, rivers of london rpg, rpg chat, rpg hut, weather.
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It’s been one of the truly odd, very non-typical days of weather here in Ottawa for the middle of December. Today has been a mostly sunny day, punctuated with moments of cloudiness and a bit of a breeze outside at times. The temperature reached a high of 8oC (!!), very warm for a day in the middle of December. Not that I’m complaining. Had a rough night of it and somewhat dificult day today, as I’m suffering from bad foot pain after having my regular footcare appointment yesterday. This is normal for me after these appointments, but it doesn’t make things any less painful and sore. Hard to walk, so have taken most of the day easy and off my feet somewhat. The weather has helped a bit with the other aches and pains, but I still can’t write or type for beans for long periods without the pain intensifying. And I still can’t lift very much weight with the right arm, so…

I’ll be gaming with the Friday night gaming group this evening; the players should be arriving within the next hour or so. Despite the resurgence of COVID-19 and the flu and RSV season starting to get pretty bad, the Friday gamers elected to play tonight as long as we take adequate protective measures as usual. Part of their motivation is that this may be the last gaming session for 2023 what with Christmas and New Year coming up, so… I’m going to game this evening and see how it goes.

The Friday night gamers will be continuing on with their Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game campaign this evening. They’re quite looking forward to gaming this evening, as the rest of December is up in the air with gaming so… I’m quite looking forward to the game tonight, too. 🙂

In the meantime, I need to go upstairs and make something hot for supper.

Have a good evening, folks. 🙂

Start of December, A New Month December 1, 2023

Posted by jkahane in diabetes, health hut, life, new month, pandemic, personal, rivers of london rpg, rpg chat, rpg hut, weather.
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It’s December 1st. A new month.

Thank Goddess. Once more, November is a month that I’m happy to see the back end of, and I suspect pretty much everyone might be feeling the same way. This was a month that saw the COVID-19 pandemic new (and Omicron?) variants taking a few new twists (there are quite a few cases now here in the Ottawa area), seemingly becoming more insidious though not necessarily more virulent. This has been heightened by the rising cases of the flu this year as well as the RSV that is striking hard at children and now older adults. So, a triple wave of disease of sorts. The current wave of COVID-19 (the ninth?) is being quite nasty and the hospitals are starting to be swamped and overwhelmed once more. With hospitals being short-staffed to begin with, that doesn’t bode well. Throw in some natural disasters, a few man-made disasters, and the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars (among other conflicts) that are being fought in various countries, and it looks like December is going to be a hell of a month once more. That said, I’m dreading the true coming of winter this month, as is inevitable, but hopefully it won’t be overly bad temperature-wise. The snow, on the other hand, is something else. Given the kind of month I had in November, I’m sort of just glad that December has arrived. (And I can’t believe that I just wrote that!)

October and November tend to be the months when I come down with my usual late Fall infection of some sort, and this year has been no exception. Aside from being struck by a car while putting groceries in a car in October, I fell somewhat ill late in the month and this continued into November. I felt better around the early part of the month, but then made the mistake of dressing too lightly on a couple of days, and have been somewhat ailing since then and through the end of the month of November. Since I had my flu shot and my (seventh) COVID-19 shot this past month, I’m surprised that I didn’t feel worse this past month than I did. I spent pretty much most of November feeling a general malaise and just feeling out of sorts. Have had lots of diarrhea and plentiful bowel stuff going on this month as well. Not to mention, it’s been an odd month for me in terms of sleep, in that I’ve been sleeping 10+ hours a day once I’ve managed to get myself warm enough. Not normal for me. November saw very little in the way of medical appointments, but that’s not something I’m going to discuss here. I might still be suffering from the lingering effects of the most recent concussion I had, and well…it was a month to not write home about on the health front.

Being Jewish and a singleton, December tends to be a depressing month for me, not to mention somewhat lonely. I’m not sure what this year holds in this respect, as I don’t have any family here in Ottawa, and I’ll likely see little (or at least less) of my (gaming) friends (see below), depending on my health, the weather, and a few other factors. Throw in the ongoing pandemic and concerns about my health, not to mention my poor shoulder, arm and hand, and well… Truth be told, I’m hoping that December passes quietly, there’s not a lot of snow ::knock on wood::, and that someone buys me a Christmas/Hanukkah present of some sort! 🙂

In terms of gaming this December, both the Friday and Sunday gaming groups are going to be taking things week by week, given the continuing threat of coronavirus, flu and RSV, as well as the potential winter issues that this time of year brings with it. Both groups are currently playing the <i>Rivers of London: The Roleplaying Game</i> (in different campaigns, of course), and I’m thinking that perhaps in the new year I’ll switch systems to something else, but am not sure when I’ll switch and what game I’ll switch to. However, if I’m being honest with myself, I’m not all that inclined to run something overly complex or mathematical right now, as it’s still too taxing on my brain and all. Again, how much gaming (if any) happens this month will depend on the health concerns of the players, the weather, and a few other factors, so I’m taking it one week at a time.

The real trick for me in December (well, most of the winter, really) is to manage to keep warm. The arthritis that I have is one thing, but the neuropathy damage from the diabetes that I also have makes winter tough on my keeping the extremities warm. Heck, my body overall. Not to mention hydration.