It's an Easter Miracle

I am thrilled to report that Squeaky has reached her goal and all of her medical procedures have been fully funded!  Thank you everyone who contributed and made this possible!

You realize what this means, right?

GLOCKENPONY 2 IS COMING.

Now is the time to start sending in suggestions for what kind of lesson you'd like Twilight Sparkle & the girls to learn or to teach. As I said earlier, here are the following restrictions:

1. It must be a kid-friendly topic. No implied bloodshed, please.
2. It must involve the ponies and guns I already own. As hysterical as it would be for Fluttershy to review the Barret M82,* I don't own either.
3. Ammo is expensive and scarce these days. If you want me to actually shoot things for the post -- example, "Twilight Sparkle discusses the differences between 9mm and .380 on watermelons" -- then you'd better be prepared to donate some cash for the cause so I can replenish what I use. 

 * McThag suggested I have her say "It goes," (deep breath), "bang."


To round out tonight's Sunday Pony Sunday, I leave you with Double Rainboom, a full-length, fan-produced MLP episode made by some very smart and talented people -- including friend of this blog Joie Brown!




What does this meeeeeaaaaaaan?  ;)

Squeaky Update

As of this moment, the Squeakster is $110 away from reaching her medical fund goal.

As I said in my last post, if she reaches her goal you will get another Glockenpony from me.

You want to make that happen, right?

Random Blogular Strikes

• The weather here is completely bipolar. It's near freezing in the morning (mid 30s, low 40s), ramps up quickly once the sun starts shining, and by 6 pm it's bright and sunny and in the low to mid 70s. My parents have lived in Florida for a quarter century and they've never seen anything like it, especially the freezing temps this close to April.

• But yeah, it's crazy.  This is the second week in a row that started out fine, and by Thursday I was in allergy/sinus hell, with drainage and congestion taking the parts of dueling banjos within my head. The obligatory headache from the pressure change is just a bonus!

• Speaking of weather...

 

• Speaking of health, both Roberta and Tam report that Der Tamschnozz is healing nicely. Thank you to everyone who donated to her surgery!

• Speaking of donations, Squeaky Wheel is very close to reaching funding for her Lyme uber-blood test. If you haven't donated yet, please do so! Take that money you'd spend on a fast-food meal and give it to her medical fund instead. 

• Speaking of speaking of, there is a horrible pun inbound. Brace yourselves.

• Speaking of puns, I will put my pony where my mouth is:  if Squeaky reaches her goal, I will make another Glockenpony post!  You readers will get to decide what it's about, pursuant to the following restrictions:

1. It must be a kid-friendly topic. No implied bloodshed, please.
2. It must involve the ponies and guns I already own. As hysterical as it would be for Fluttershy to review the Barret M82, I don't own either.
3. Ammo is expensive and scarce these days. If you want me to actually shoot things for the post -- example, "Twilight Sparkle discusses the differences between 9mm and .380 on watermelons" -- then you'd better be prepared to donate some cash for the cause so I can replenish what I use.

•  Speaking of ammo, this is an excellent rebuttal:

• Speaking of talking out one's ass, I'm off to meet some friends in St. Augustine for fried gator tail. Have a great weekend, everypony!

WNW: Carmina Goddammit

I kept waiting for "Oh for fuck's sake," but 'twas not to be.

Traveller Tuesday: Staterooms

a.k.a. "Just where do those murderhobos sleep, anyway?"

Looking at the map of the Pride of Walston (amazingly, the PCs managed not to wreck it  last game session), you can see that the quarters look rather cozy.

And by cozy I mean cramped. I eliminated the grid in order to make this design prettier (because girl), but those staterooms are roughly 3.5 meter by 2.5 meters (or 11.5 x 8 feet), not counting the bathroom. My rudimentary math tells me this is 92 square feet or 8.75 square meters, which means these staterooms -- which, I admit, are on the small side even for Traveller (because scout ship) -- are smaller than your average dorm room, which I'm told is 12 x 19 feet.

What's interesting about this whole dreary exercise in geometry is this:  Cabins like this exist in real life.

There is an entire selection of images like this to be found at Freighter Voyages. Apparently it's now possible to book passage aboard a cargo ship as if it were a cruise line. I find this endlessly fascinating. Yes, you can rent a suite smaller than a motel bedroom and be stuck in it for days as you cross the ocean between cargo ports!

I tease, but this is exactly how most player characters make a living in Traveller: hauling people and cargo between worlds. It's actually quite cool that something like that exists in the here and now (not counting the Navy, of course. I believe this would rate as officer quarters on most ships, and submarine staterooms are little more than walk-in closets).

Those rooms, though. I'm not claustrophobic, but I'd go mental in one of those. And now you know why, in Traveller, half of the displacement of a stateroom is not taken up by the room itself, but by communal areas such as lounges and galleys.

My life in a single picture

Both of these came in the mail today. I think this is an accurate summary of who I am.

I wonder if I could get venture capital for a store that sold both firearms (& ammo) and My Little Pony. According to the Rules of the Internet, it should make a killing despite being a highly specialized store.



Right now I'm torn between calling it "Glock & Pony" or "Nines and Equines."

Grease a Squeaky Wheel

Look, I tried to come up with a catchy title, okay? But when a blogger goes by the name of Squeaky and she is asking for help, the title rather writes itself.

Oh. You probably don't know what I'm blathering about, do you? Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up:

I just recently found out through Jennifer that a sister gunnie, Squeaky, needs funds for several medical procedures as well as for prescriptions, follow-up visits, paying bills while recovering, etc. She needs financial help, and while it embarrasses her to ask, she has humbled herself before us because she needs this done. Since gunnies are good folks who come together for each other, I am certain that my readers will contribute, even if it's just a few bucks, to this worthwhile cause. It's not like you're gonna be buying ammo any time soon, am I right?

A year ago, I was deeply honored by you folks when you generously donated so that I could purchase my carry pistol. This past November, we gunnies came through for Tamara when she was diagnosed with Basal Cell Carcinoma, and we fully funded her procedure. I know that not only will you good folks fund her treatment, you will help her afford that nasty $800 uber-bloodtest for Lyme and whatever else she needs.

I also know that there are many non-gunnies who read my blog. I don't want you guys to feel left out! Any donation by anyone is welcome. It doesn't matter if you're a gamer, a gunnie, a goth or a Brony -- all help is needed and welcome. You're all splendid folks for reading my blog, and both Squeaky and I will love you for helping.
 
Please donate. Pinkie Pie will give you sad puppy-dog eyes until you do.