I'm sitting killing time before Nerd Nacht starts. I'm sitting in the main area of the 'Bean Factory' (formerly J&S Bean Factory, until the owners divorced). The pleasing aroma of fresh roasted coffee wafts through the air from the roaster in the back. This place is one of my old haunts in the Twin Cities. Its still an important place to me. I meet my friend MikeD here before as many Nerd Nachts as our schedules allow. We have a cup, or two, or three of bean juice and catch up on old times. MikeD is one of my oldest and closest friends. I've known him almost all my life. He was a year behind me in school, so I knew of him for many, many years before we became friends in high school. We used to have plans. Graduation and backpacking across Europe. Getting an apartment together in the Cities and going to the same colleges. But life has a way of changing plans. Its only been recently we've had enough money to even buy tickets to Europe, but now neither of us are in a position to take a summer off and backpack across Europe. He never went to college and I dropped out. He's been slowly over the last 14 years moving his way closer and closer to the Cities, while I've been moving away. Despite that, we call each other often. We've always been like brothers. We've been there for each other. He was one of the first friends I introduced Nerdwife to, before she was Nerdwife and just Futurenerdwife. I've stood by him when other friends left him. He was there for me when I had cancer. He is smart, self-educated. Constantly teaching himself new things. His occupation is machinist and he is damn good at what he does. His hobbies are computers and reading.
I awoke this morning looking forward to the day. Tonight is Nerding, something I've done for many, many years. The Nerdpod (in reality Nerdpod 2) is a close cadre of friends, a clan, part of my tribe. I love Nerd Nacht. I get sad when I miss it.
But first a trip to my Grandparents. My grandma's computer is acting up. It turned out to not be major. Her Windows Defender expired and needed to uninstalled. Her McAffee AV expired and needed to be reloaded. She had problems downloading it and in an attempt to fix the errors that pop up, used WinXP's 'System Restore' feature to roll back to mid-Nov...not something to do. I was able to easily undo the restore, uninstalled Windows Defender, and started downloading the renewed McAffee AV Suite (she had already purchased the renewal, I would have moved her to AVG, as its much easier to use and its a commercial piece of bloatware, but c'est la vie). She has dial-up (Juno , but its cheap) and it would take 4 hours to download. She and Grandpa like when Nerdwife and I visit and they love us both very much. She used my visit as an excuse to make breaded pork-chops, a favorite of hers. She makes good pork chops.
As we eat and catch up on news with the family (I have not seen them since Xmas) I notice the age lines. They are both doing well for being in their late 70s, having been smokers all their life. I'm concerned, Grandma has had a melanoma on her face that the doctors have been treating for years. I notice the start of a new one near her nose. But she sees the doctor regularly, and if it was serious, she would say something. I wish they would stop smoking, it is the only downside of visiting them. I've been away from smoke and smokers for long enough now, that being around a single smoker can make me nauseous. My cloths now smell of the toxic stuff. I will have to air them out later and wash them.
From my Grandparents I went to kill time at the Nerd Store (aka The Source). I've been a card member since 1993, one of the few who have a card number less than 300. I soak in the nerd. It feels good. I am pleased to see families, and women. When I first started the full on decent into total Nerdom, there were few women in the hobby. Now there are many, and more people of all types. I see the faintest trace of someone I recognize out of the corner of my eye. I look closer...and sure enough it is someone I know. Or rather knew in a past life. This person was a project manager named Troy for my former employer's employer (I worked for an Outsourcer). He was always a pleasant, if not always easy to work with person. He was also someone to whom I would not figure a nerd. He is, a big one. He is there with his wife and 3 or 4 year old daughter. He is not only a nerd, but so is his wife and they were there buy something for his daughter. I smile. I don't approach him. He more than likely does not remember me, and I am not 100% positive his name is Troy. I go back to looking for a miniature for my 10th level Ranger 'Falin M'Or', whom I've played since joining the Nerdpod. I find a miniature that I will paint. Its not truly Falin, but its the closest I've found in all these years.
Falin is me. Or at least me if I was elven, adept with martial weapons, and could track like Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. I guess he is who I would choose to be if I were this fantasy world we create on every 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month. He has grown from being merely some stats on a piece of paper to a part of me. Much like my World of Warcraft rogue, Pernox, has become a part of me. This bonding with my characters has only happened with a few other characters, usually they are just characters.
Xen - my 13th level Cambian (retired, from Nerdpod 1)
James Ravenscliff - my 11th level Anti-Paladin (retired, from Nerdpod 1)
Anax - my 6th level Gnoll Fighter (RIP)
Xu - my 9th level Dwarven Fighter/Rogue (RIP)
I love the smell of coffee.
Time to get my nerd-on.
