The Year Everything Changed

Well, it's not often I use my blog for serious talkings about myself, as I prefer the closed book approach about real life, but for once I guess I can make an exception.  

My life took a change for the better in 2012, azs my 'lightswitch' relation has gone steady now and we're celebrating 6 months yesterday.  Which is for me a longrun performance already as I tend to loose myself to fanatically in my hobbies.  Yes Rejects-posse, it's the same one I talked about on Salute past year.

But as the Spider-man saying goes (or better, kind off heheh), With Real Life comes Real Responsibilities.

And the one small downside is that a relationship cuts seriously in your hobbies freetime.  Even though it isn't an actual downside, as I can perfectly live with that.

The biggest victim is turning out to be my wargaming part of the hobby, as paint time is reduced to the evenings she has the late shift, and I go to my place then since I have to get up early each day for work myself and she can sleep in late that way.  These days, we live 'semi together', generally meaning I'm 3/4ths of the time at her place and ther is really no room to move the whole man-cave over, that and a curious 7 year old doens't help either ;-)

But a second PS3 system and Vita do help though surviving and not having withdrawal symptoms hehehehe...

But one thing that does mean, is that I have to focus even more on the hobby side of wargaming, and I had some serious talks with my personal advisors on this, being my girlfriend obviously, and my mother.  Yes, I talk hobby things with my mom, she knows nothing about the whole thing and doesn't get the craze it can generate, making her the perfect advisor for an outsiders view in.

And I asked and received my decommission at work, meaning my employment will end around May 2013 and I will be going into a new venture, including actually going back to school in a way as well.   From expedition and administration to IT, it's a big change, but by then I'll be 35 and if I don't do it now, I won't be able to do it anytime anymore I fear.

The conclusion is that I'm going to focus more and more on the Chaos Dwarf things only, as I want to use my limited paint time now to finish and keep working on the 30000+ points of Dawi Zharr I possess.  I'm going to finish the Journeyman League (at least on a paint level, more of that a bit later) but once that is done I'm not going to get sidetracked again in other projects and the likes.  I, and this sounds odd to those that know me, can't spare the extra time anymore.

These are all still on my to paint list

On the other hand, I WILL be playing a lot more of Magic the Gathering.  And yes, this is also on fridays; but bear with me here in the reasoning.  My gaming club, Tin Soldiers of Antwerp, is located on the very outskirts of Antwerp and there is no public transportation to basically the very other side of the city after 23hrs.  The Outpost, where the FNMs are held (Friday Night Magic) is drop dead in the centre.

Now, the other half likes taking a dance and drink with her girls.  I HATE this personally (not that she does that, but my partying days are long behind me, ever since my leg accident I can't keep standing longtime, and I don't drink anymore since they took my galblatter out), making me very boring going out companionship.

So we readched a compromise; like every relation is build on taking and giving, and now she goes out to dance and I go out to play Magic, to take a cab together afterwards from the city centre to our place.  Still needs some finetuning in certain parts, but the first test went relatively well ;-)

And I'll be attending the Magic GT London next year; because it's the weekend before Valentine, and little minion is with his dad that week.  We'll be making it a four day trip, three for the sightseeing and stuff, one for this geezer to go cardchucking.

Practical Consequences

* The final phase of my cleanout will now include everything bar my Chaos Dwarfs and anime Gashapons.  Meaning most of my gaming in 2013 will de dictated by this book as the core of the hobby:

* I won't be going often to TSA, and most likely to play Warhammer / Blood Bowl / Mordheim when low-time pressure leagues are run for those systems

* I WILL be playing any WFB tournaments though at TSA and related clubs

* I will be upkeeping this blog, just expect to see more of the 'silly hats' then other things.   I'm also going to try and run in both the Brush Slave League and the Lead Painter's League with models tied to them.  Even if that means missing some bonus points left or right...

* I won't be attending Salute 2013.  Nothing to do with the whole chitchat above though; but because just two days prior I'm having this tattooed on my upper arm:

Ciao ciao and till the next post!