The art of cheapskating.

Today, the LA asked me to check the tyre pressures on her car. All were in spec, but while I was doing this, the couple across the street set out an air compressor, and not just any air compressor but the kind with built-in wheels because it weighs a heck of a lot. Then they put out a sign saying "Free", and I wandered across to ask if it still worked. Not only does it work, they had all the instructions including the parts listing.

So, over the next week or so, I shall be cleaning it up, ensuring that it does compress air suitably, that the reservoir is reasonably leak-free, and so on, and then I shall draw up a prioritised list of air tools I can use. A compressor of similar capacity and quality would likely run me a good $300 at current prices, so to have scored one for nothing makes me VERY happy.

And of course I shall endeavour to keep it operational for as long as possible, since I want to get plenty of use out of any air tools I buy; and when it eventually does cease to work, I know I shall have to buy a replacement. After all, by then I'll have all these air tools which will be useless without a compressor to supply the air!

Conventional

I go to conventions. However, after the joy of Big Bad Con last year, coupled with the problematic nature of DunDraCon's and KublaCon's game registration setups, and the costs of attending cons, I'm cutting back. This year, I will NOT, unlike previous years, be attending DunDraCon for the entire weekend; now that the entire seminar schedule is out, I can see that there will be most content of interest to me on Saturday, and so I shall attend only on Saturday. KublaCon is off the roster; partially because it's a slog across the bay for yet another con with a shuffler, and partially because I'd prefer to try and arrange for another con in May; Fear the Con has moved to a May convention. I'd like to go to it.

And if there is a Bigger Badder Con this year (I've not heard anything one way or the other), I shall CERTAINLY be attending it. I consider it my convention; I made friends, I had fun, and I hung out with people you may have heard of.

Left 4 Dead 2: A Brief Overview.

So a friend got me a copy of this fun zombie game recently. It's been out a while, so you've probably played it if you're interested, but if you're not familiar, it's the zombie apocalypse you can play with your friends. Three of your friends, anyway, and you'd best choose them carefully, because...