iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Notified yesterday that we’re getting a full refund of the purchase price of the refrigerator. We bought it during a “pay no interest” sale, so we’re not losing any money except the price of the extended warranty which, I’m going to assume, is still in effect for another year.

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 1h

Now that it’s October 1st, this is your yearly reminder that, unless it’s done for comedic effect, you will rarely see any two characters on a TV show or movie wearing the same costume at a Halloween party.

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 11h

Today’s Kool-Aid flavor: Sharkleberry Fin

010

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 15h

I backed Return to Dark Tower and its expansions. It’s up to someone else in my game group to step up and back this. I can’t continue to fund everyone else’s “Ooh, shiny!” good time.

010

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 23h

Thanks to everyone who replied. It’s been returned to the library and am now breezing through Brigands & Breadknives. Age is a helluva thing.

010

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

In my advancing years, it's become necessary that I start winding down my involvement with the dexterity games at BGG Con/BGG Spring. It's not that I don't enjoy it, but I feel like I'm running on autopilot and have things in a kind of stasis to the point I can hand it off. #boardgame

120

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Kickstarter is live. The cheapest version is $250. The mid-range is $499, and they also have the full-size at $1499. There are also tiers that get you 2 copies for $2799 and 4 for $9999 (!) that includes (ahem) "Permanent recognition in the Baseball Shuffle Hall of Fame" (Limit 10). 🤨

010

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

How is it that “pitted olives” mean they do or do not have pits? #inflammable

010

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Ugh. New bank screwed up the online payment I had scheduled for our Internet. Despite scheduling it in time, they sent out a physical check, which still hasn’t cleared. First payment I’ve missed in years. Had to go to a backup payment via credit card. Can’t wait to ditch them.

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Unless someone can convince me in the next 24 hours that Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is worth finishing, I’m going to return it to the library. 800 pages is a slog and I’m not sure I have the time or energy.

420

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I need to figure out a launchable flexible tube that will follow a vertical path with a possible 90º angle range (45º to either the right or left), strike a target, then have enough weight to retract down the tube launcher to reset. Maybe something like a steel/aluminum shower hose? 🎲✂️ #boardgame

110

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Arrived today. Box is okay for its age. But the kicker is that the game itself in the box is still in its shrink-wrap. I feel like I’m gonna be opening the Ark of the Covenant of dexterity games. #boardgame

151

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Purchased the extended warranty on our refrigerator 4 years ago and it’s already paid for itself. The ice maker in it was V1 and less than a year later, it stopped working. Tech told us they were already up to V10, which has since worked flawlessly.

100

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Home from Austin. Unbeknownst to us, the 10-year-old left her room early while her mother was sleeping, went down to the lobby restaurant, and was able to charge a $12.95 breakfast buffet to the room all by herself. We didn’t notice it until we’d already checked out.

120

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Like she did on the cruise last year, the 10-year-old wheedled her way into our hotel room and when leaving automatically threw the lock so the door wouldn’t close and she could come back in without knocking. Child has no respect for boundaries.

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

As a non-smoker, I had no idea how much cigarettes were these days. I would have thought a carton was still $50 even with the taxes included. Nope, HEB had them from $80-$130 a carton.

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The 10-year-old decided she’d drink the salsa right out of the bowl at dinner. Not sure she’s learned her lesson.

010

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Fun day at the Museum of Illusions.

130

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The hall of infinite Q-Tips™️.

A double-reflection in a mirror of a container of cotton swabs. It goes on forever.

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

“I’m not a mad scientist, I’m just disappointed.”

020

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Man, I love hole in the wall Mexican joints.

010

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Starting a road trip of 3+ hours with the 10-year-old in tow. 45 min in and we’re already at a bathroom break and “I want to buy snacks”.

110

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Apropos of this, I watched the commercial again the other day and wondered what the budget was for that spot. Some intern was tasked with finding, what, 500 assorted spatulas of different sizes and shapes?

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Okay, so I *may* have set off the alarm at the banking center this morning.

010

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Recorded all 26 episodes off MeTV Toons. Finally gonna get to watch the entire run.

A screenshot of the first episode title “Where’s the Bone?” from the cartoon 2 Stupid Dogs.

120

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Same reasoning as your company forcing you to use it. They bought into it and will lose their job and/or significant money if you don’t, so they’re making it someone else’s problem.

020

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Wild. Just watched them cut up a huge tree and pull what looked to be several rolls of 5 ruble(?) notes that had been put inside a knothole and plugged. The plug looked like just a broken branch.

101

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Algorithm is now feeding me videos of somebody cutting up large oak trees into slabs. The process is fascinating. They screw an aluminum ladder to the side as a guide, then run a super-long chainsaw suspended on a gimbel along the short side to get an even cut.

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Just purchased a 57-year-old solo dexterity game for the con library. It’d been on my radar for a while and I found a cheap copy.

Picket Wicket. A row of sticks with a rod through one end. The goal is to manipulate the rods to move a marble from one end to the other.

010

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Saw somebody on the cruise wearing a Spatula City t-shirt.

110

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Wife heard me whistling "You gotta eat your vegetables" from Commander Keen to the bird and thought I was making it up.

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Been watching dashcam videos and have some observations/thoughts. 1) The source of the problem may be obvious to the cam, but you don’t know where the driver is looking 2) Some people are just entitled assholes 3) Some people shouldn’t be driving, period 4) Dashcams help with insurance claims

010

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Meeting with Fidelity on retirement possibilities and they’re estimating a 99% success rate for me to retire at 60. So, now. Absolutely chuffed. Now just massaging some numbers for legacy - which we have no children, so….

110

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Wife disdains my “comfy” maroon t-shirt I wear with my pajama bottoms. It’s got holes, is kinda threadbare, and has paint stains on it. I love it. But… Pulled the trigger and ordered a replacement. Hoping to wash it 2-3 times to get it soft enough and all the “new” out of it.

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

How bored was I at work? I snuck into other people’s offices while they were out and solved their Rubik’s cubes for them.

120

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Got rear-ended again this morning. Guy in an F-250 with a steel grille guard decided stop and go traffic was the perfect time to clean his windshield. My first words after getting out were “Well, at least you can see now” so he knew I saw him.

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

<to the tune of Red River Valley> “Well, I can’t get along little doggie. No, I can’t even get one that’s small. If I can’t get along little doggie, Then I won’t get a doggie at all.”

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I solved the daily #CluesBySam, Sep 22nd 2026 (Medium), in 03:28 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 cluesbysam.com

cluesbysam.com

Clues by Sam

A daily logic puzzle where you deduce who is a criminal!

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

This has become an obsession. Went back and looked at BGG's recorded plays for 11/09/06 to 11/12/06 and came up with a list of 6 from the US. It's possible it was someone who flew in from another country (or has since moved), or didn't record their play. @dumbslug.bsky.social is on the list. Huh.

200

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Fired off the email a half hour ago. What I do is such a niche of a niche of a niche, etc… I asked them to look for two OOP games, a few affordable options, and a couple of “I won’t dare ask you to buy these, but if BGG is feeling generous…” I may have my retirement job cut out for me.

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I think if they released an expansion to Villainous that contained Maximilian from The Black Hole, I’d have to buy it. #boardgames

010

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

It’s almost “… and frog.” season.

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I eventually see them being let back in begrudgingly, but not before being made to wear identifying badges so they won’t be called on for questions. It’ll still be up to their peers to assist with that.

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I solved the daily #CluesBySam, Sep 21st 2026 (Easy), in 02:34 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 cluesbysam.com

cluesbysam.com

Clues by Sam

A daily logic puzzle where you deduce who is a criminal!

000

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

In 2006, at my first BGG.Con, I agreed to join a future game of Splotter’s “Indonesia”, not knowing how involved it would have been. I ended up having to drop out before it started, disappointing the person who had invited me. Looking back, I didn’t realize the kind of bullet I had dodged.

100

Thosw 🌮 🥃 @thosw.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Got asked by someone going to the Spiel at Essen next month if there's any wooden dexterity games I want them to pick up for the con library. To be honest, there's a dearth of information on any wooden dexterity games, period that aren't crokinole. Anybody got any suggestions?

200