Unexpected Relaxation: Euro Truck Simulator 2

I really didn't expect to get as sucked into Euro Truck Sim 2 as I've been. Originally started in desperation during my Extra Life marathon, there's a soothing rhythm to to hauling cargo across Europe and slowly building up my trucking empire.

It doesn't hurt that most European trucks are the cab-over style. While that isn't as aerodynamic as the long nosed rigs common in North America, I've always thought they looked much tougher. Then again, maybe it's just that a certain Kenworth K100 model figures prominently in a lot of my childhood memories.

Yeah, this one.

Sadly, the Kenworth isn't one of the available options (this is European Truck Sim, after all) but the Renault Magnum makes for a pretty good substitute.

Still looking for a mod to give me this Top Gear paint job though.

The follow-up, American Truck Sim doesn't have any old-school cab-overs yet either. Here's hoping for the future.

Winter Fitness - Keeping Up The Pace

Days are getting shorter, and night is falling soon after I get home from work each day. There's a crispness in the air, and the weather forecast is calling for the first snow of the year within a couple of weeks.

In past years, all this would have meant to me was more reasons to stay in and play games, but with my running this year and a new focus on staying fit, the looming threat of winter forces an adjustment in my planning. Some of my coworkers are hardcore, all-season runners. They have headlamps for night runs, face masks for extreme cold, and all sorts of additional gear. Me, not so much.

Yeah, this is so not me.

I do want to keep in shape though. Managing to run a 5k in 30:49 was a big step for me, and I don't want to loose the gains I've made this year. So for winter, I'm trying something new: swimming!

My city just opened up a new, public, indoor swim center, and I've now gone a couple of times to see how this is going to go.

I'm glad I started running first. Trying to grind through just 10 laps has been tough, and if I didn't remember how tough the first couple of weeks of Couch to 5k training were, I might have quit already.

I'm not quitting. Next year's goal is to run a 10k, and also shave six minutes off my 5k time. Gotta keep the cardio up for that. This week, ten laps (50m per lap) with sixty second rests between lap. I'll slowly reduce the pauses, until I'm able to do 500m non-stop, then continue to work up my distance. By next spring, I hope to be able to hit the running trails again with a much improved pace.

Veteran's Day 2016: Running With Ghosts

Along my preferred running route this year, lies the Veteran's Memorial Park. Dedicated to the memory of all those who from South Dakota who served in the Armed Forces over the years, it sits on land that was once part a U.S. Army radio school during World War II.

The park's centerpiece is a oval walk with plaques commemorating each of South Dakotans who have been awarded the Medal of Honor

The radio school is long gone, replaced by an industrial park and neighborhoods that expanded with the growth of the 1950s. A few remnants remain, mostly a row of brick duplexes, and a gridline of roads that were laid out and paved originally for the base.

I don't believe in ghosts. But visiting this place, walking through the honor ring, you can swear that you hear spirits of the men to whom this place is dedicated drifting quietly among their monuments. Running... I swear that I can hear sergeants call cadence, and feel the rumble of squads of men nearly half my age marching by, preparing for a war that some of them would not come back from.

One side of the monument listing the wars South Dakotans have fought in since achieving statehood.

Second side of the monument

The third and fourth sides are blank. May they never be filled.

Thanks to the ones who have come back, the ones who never came back, and the ones who will go in the future.

Election Thoughts: 2016 Edition

Well, that was... unexpected to say the least. And while I'll happily indulge in a few choruses of "Ding dong the witch is dead" my heart isn't really in it. This victory was more Pyrrhic than most.

Republicans ran perhaps the least likable candidate possible from the available possibilities. That he turned out to be a brilliant brand manager, who's been managing his own brand for decades, and who knew how to stay relentlessly on his own message was probably the only that helped. Well, that and his opponent being the most unlikable option the Democrats could possibly have run.

Going back to at least the '90s, there's been a regular call from the conservative side to put a businessman, not a career politician in the White House. "He'll run the government like a business, fix the budget problems, and cut out the fat." is the usual rallying cry. Ross Perot, Steve Forbes, and Herman Cain all ran under that banner. Well, now we finally got our chance. Let's see how this works out.

In a way, I almost feel sorry for Hillary. She spent her life following the Establishment's playbook, playing a long game to power. She hitched her wagon to a rising star, and he took her all the way to the White House. Sure she had to overlook and actively cover up his various indiscretions, not all of which were consensual, but that's a small price to pay for power. She carpetbagged her way into a safe Senate seat for a few years of actual legislative experience, then, at her crowning run, got her shot stolen away from her by a young, charismatic man named Barack Obama. She spent the next eight years building her campaign network, ensuring that her people were in all the right places to ensure victory, and in the end, she still couldn't close the deal. Undone more by her own schemes than by anything her opposition did, she exits the stage like a true comic book villain.

Then there are the also rans. These idiots. In a year that featured the two least likable major candidates of the modern era, the Libertarians and Greens were handed a golden opportunity to field smart, viable candidates to help push their parties into relevance. They came up with Gary Johnson and Jill Stein instead. The Greens and Libertarians should have been able to pull at least 10-20% of the votes this year, but no. 5% it is, and continued, perpetual irrelevance.

A very special callout too, to Evan McMullin and his allies with the AndCampaign. Way to make both Libertarians and Greens look competent. With a platform of "Vote for me, hope this gets thrown to the House of Representatives" you never, ever had a shot, but hey, you came in second in Utah. I cannot believe the number of otherwise intelligent Center-Right people who fell for this piss-poor excuse for a plan, simply because they were on #NeverTrump. You could have at least voted for Johnson and made some small impact in having a relevant third party, but no.

So the Republicans have the presidency, and both houses of Congress for the first time in a decade. Anyone remember when Barack Obama took office with that? Calls for moderation and bipartisanship were answered with "We won." followed by ramming ObamaCare through.

So will anyone have learned anything from that, or from this election? Probably not, which is why we'll be talking about President-Elect Kim Kardashian twelve years from now.

Extra Life 2016 After Action Report

Official game day has come and gone for Extra Life 2016. Total raised so far, by everyone in 2016 is over $6 million! I'm proud to have been a part of it, even if my total contribution came to a paltry $30.

I managed to stay awake almost the whole 25 hour marathon, save for some point between the witching hour of 5-6am where I kind of lost the plot and dozed off for a bit, fortunately off stream.

This was a much different Extra Life marathon than the ones I'd done in years past though. My previous runs had an office space provided by my game developer employer at the time, which meant much fewer distractions. On the other hand, my kids are older now, and becoming enthusiastic participants.

Overall, a great day, and I'm looking forward to doing even better next year!

Extra Life Time!

I have literally "Been there, done that, got the t-shirt" for Extra Life since its inception in 2008.


2008 was a difficult time for gamers. Jack Thompson was still relevant, and dancing in the blood of every spree killing, blaming it on video games. Leland Yee, when he wasn't busy trying to pass gun control laws while simultaneously helping his buddies in the Chinese Mafia obtain all sorts of illegal firearms, was attempting to pass bills restricting video games in California.

Out of all this bad attention, one of of the positives was a group of gamers from the SarcasticGamer community who decided to start a movement. They didn't know it would be a movement at the time, they just wanted to show that gamers can do good, and figured that the best way would be to raise some money for their local childrens' hospital, Texas Children's.

That first year raised about $302,000.

Eight years later, they've raised over $9,000,000 and become part of the Children's Miracle Network, supporting hospitals all around the world.

After a few years off, I'm happy to be back and participating again this year. It's going to be a fun time.

Crunch Time is A Harsh Mistress to Miss

It's been over a year since I transitioned from game development to financial software work. I'm still realizing what a profound impact the pace of AAA game development had on me.

I miss crunch time. Not the hours per se, but the camaraderie of a group focused on a singular goal, the high-flying challenges of a looming deadline, and late-night saves to get a build out the door.

It's those things, and the recognition that comes from working on popular, public software projects. "I love the new interface on XYZ Financial's Loan Website" said no one ever.

Perhaps it's not a coincidence that I bought my Sportster and learned to ride in the part of the year that's always been filled by E3 crunch prep. I've gained a lot more time with my family. My health is improving too: I recently completed my first 5k race with a time of 30:43. A year ago I couldn't run for more than five or six minutes at a time, now I'm laying down sub-ten minute miles. Not a great pace by long time runner standards, but pretty good from where I was.

Between crunch and commute, I never had time for a fitness plan before. That's been a huge change; one I don't plan to lose moving forward.

Crunch taught me how to focus, helped me find out how well I can grind out a task across hours and days. It turns out those skills still come in handy when you're kicking a fitness plan into gear, and trying to work in more writing.

I miss some parts of my old life, but I've gained a lot more. I'm grateful for my time in game development, but there's a good chance that my life expectancy went up by ten years since I got out. It's been worth it.