Does this thing still work? Sorry for the radio silence for the last couple of weeks. I have been busy. Shortly after my last post I attended a birthday party for my friend and co-worker Mike Mehlberg. A large portion of the Arxan crew showed up and a good time was had by all. Photos of the event are located here.

That weekend (Saturday the 14th) my grandparents held a Noland-Harper get-together-reunion-thing. As you can see my grandparents had two children which produced 9 grandchildren. The families used to get together on an almost monthly basis to celebrate birthdays and the like, however we hadn't all been together since Christmas. My lovely girlfriend Sara had the opportunity to meet the Harpers. She was very well received by the family.

Concerning pets: Many people have criticized the inhabitants of Casa de Noland for their antipathy towards pets and the interminable cleaning job they represent. Well we have finally decided to come around to their way of thinking. As such we have adopted a pet. Nancy is an orb weaver, more precisely she is a barn spider (Araneus Cavaticus). She appears every night to tend her web and devour her prey. She is more quiet and less messy than other pets; plus she feeds herself and destroys pests. Best pet ever.

In other news my parent's dog died on Sunday. She was 15 years old, she had a stroke more than a year ago, and had not been doing well for some time.

This most recent weekend was my Gencon vacation. My friends Castor, Lehmann, Showalter as well as my room mate Brad and Sara came along. We ate at the Claddagh, Buca di Beppo, and the Rathskeller while we were in Indy. The best games played at Gencon were Ursuppe, Big Eyes Small Mouth, Conspiracy X, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, a Sherlock Holmes themed Matrix Game, and Masque of the Red Death. The weekend was exhausting, but I am almost back to full speed.