Storypost | 2018.11.25

PUBG buggy Miramar roadkill kill
Descaling

Descaling tankless water heater pump bucket valves

A year after going tankless it was time to flush the heat exchanger. At Ted's recommendation, Pops originally installed it with isolation valves, so hooking it up to a pump would be a wrench-free affair.

Tankless water heater descaling instructions figure 69 nice

I picked up a pump on amzn and with that it was a pretty quick and straightforward procedure:
New leather

Alpinestars jackets new and old

My c. 2006 Alpinestars jacket was finally in need of replacement. It's not falling apart, but it lost a zipper tooth and wrist snap. So for convenience sake and because it's still the top half of my track suit, I went shopping for a replacement.

I've always been satisfied with newenough.com or, as they've been know for a decade or so, motorcyclegear.com. They had a pretty solid deal on a Dianese jacket, so I ordered it. After two size tries with newenough and a few more at Cyclegear, it's clear Dianese doesn't fit me. I kind of expected the euro brand to be super slim fit, but sure enough their jackets are all very wide. I guess maybe they have a product line targeting only large Americans?

In any event, I popped in to Cyclegear for black friday and grabbed a new A* jacket. I kept one of the Dianeses for cold weather, that is, it's perfect for an additional under layer. I'm slightly concerned that in the last decade A* seems to have decreased the size of their zippers significantly. Maybe I'm just assuming larger = more rugged, but if looking for a replacement in five years I will be displeased. The only other significant differences are snaps -> velcro and there's a back-mounted ram air for cooling.
Hit and run

PUBG enemy planking vehicle kill Miramar buggy

The Lolbaters Battle Royale Squad is ticking off unofficial team achievements, in this case a squad wipe with mostly vehicle kills.


In another event, CattleDecapitation baited two players into looting him while hosu lobbed a grenade onto them.

PUBG Battlegrounds scooter training area PUBG Battlegrounds Miramar battle buggy PUBG Battlegrounds Miramar roadkill buggy
Divinity

Divinity Original Sin screenshot giant spider

As J put it, we have absolutely no idea how far we are in Divinity. But we're still seeing crazy new stuff and still encountering the most hilarious dialogue.

Divinity Original Sin bloody floor Divinity Original Sin Jareth of Homeforest blood combat Divinity Original Sin battle room magic Divinity Original Sin telescope
Revelation

Fire Emblem Revelation Azura cinema sunlight

Working through FE Revelation while optimizing skill combinations has been fun. I don't read the FAQs much, but probably the dominant strategy is maxing out stats and focusing on a select few units, using items to compensate for RNG issues. That's less interesting to me than optimizing skill and team composition as well as 'shipping everyone, then taking the creme de la creme. My approach for this playthrough:

A few of my favorite combos:
Parents Passed Skill Child Classes/Skills Notes

Corrin
Hero (5)
Sol

Kana
Nohr Princess

At 13
Nohr Noble:
  • Aptitude
  • Sol
  • Nobility
  • Dragon Fang
  • Draconic Hex
Corrin/Mozu is almost obligatory for maxing stats from Aptitude. Sol helps with tankiness (since Kana's skill should be high). There are a lot of ways to go with the second trait, but it's somewhat limited by wanting to unlock the Kana paralogue early.

Mozu
Villager (any)
Aptitude

Subaki
Swordmaster (5)
Astra

Caeldori
Sky Knight

At 13
Oni Chieftain:
  • Astra
  • Salvage Blow
  • Air Superiority
  • Death Blow
  • Counter
Caeldori doesn't have a specific build, I started with Salvage Blow but wasn't super impressed. That said, Astra + Death Blow could make for some excellent killer weapon action.

Rinkah
Blacksmith (5)
Salvage Blow

Kaze
Master Ninja (5)
Lethality

Midori
Apothecary

At 16
Mechanist:
  • Luck +4
  • Lethality
  • Profiteer
  • Air Superiority
  • Ameratsu
With Luck + 4 and Profiteer, Midori turns out 1200+ gold every map. With Lethality and Air Superiority, she can do some damage from the back, where Ameratsu keeps the heals coming.

Azura
Songstress (-)
Luck

Hayato
Blacksmith (5)
Salvage Blow

Rhajat
Diviner

At 18
Oni Chieftain:
  • Salvage Blow
  • Profiteer
  • Rend Heaven
  • Tomefaire
  • Death Blow
Another Profiteer build, minus Luck but with Salvage Blow. Decent def/res combined with being overleveled (from starting every map) means Rhajat can make money but do some solid tome damage.

Oboro

Apothecary (5)
Profiteer

Takumi
Basara (15)
Quixotic

Kiragi
Archer

At 17
Master of Arms:
  • Astra
  • Quixotic
  • Bowfaire
  • Duelist's Blow
  • Vantage
I'm working Kiragi toward being a DPS archer. Quixotic + Astra should mean frequent 5x half damage attacks with Bowfaire and (soon) Master of Arms upping the base damage. Pairing Kiragi with a replica will hopefully mean Kiragi keeps the guard shields full, when that fails vantage may keep him alive if he doesn't get oneshotted.

Hana
Swordmaster (5)
Astra

Hinata
Oni Chieftain (5)
Death Blow

Hisame
Samurai

At 11
Berserker:
  • Sol
  • Vantage
  • Duelist's Blow
  • Death Blow
  • Astra
The usual glass cannon build. Death Blow and Astra for crits plus Vantage and Sol to help survivability.

Selena

Hero (5) Sol

Kaden
Basara (15)
Quixotic

Selkie
Kitsune

At 15
Nine-Tails:
  • Beastbane
  • Axebreaker
  • Quixotic
  • Even Better
  • Grisly Wound
Felicia surprised me with pulling down Axebreaker early in the campaign (Butler/Maid levels are weird). Kaden doesn't have a lot of reclass options, I initially went Hero thinking Selkie could be tanky with Sol. Instead he went Quixotic which I'm not sure is particularly useful to Selkie. I can reclass her into something with a 15+ skill I want to proc frequently, then back to a Nine-Tails.

Felicia
Hero (15)
Axebreaker

Keaton
Hero (5)
Sol

Velouria
Wolfskin

At 14
Hero:
  • Sol
  • Vengeance
  • Vantage
  • Astra
  • HP +5
Velouria is my experiment into a serious berzerker (without using the berzerker class). Wolfskins tend to have high HP and avoid, but when it gets under half she'll strike first and maybe regain health with Sol or oneshot the enemy with Vengeance. As usual, Astra will help keep her shields up.

Camilla

Sorcerer (5) Vengeance

Arthur
Fighter (-)
HP +5

Percy
Wyvern Rider

At 13
Great Knight:
  • HP +5
  • Lunge
  • Wary Fighter
  • Sol
  • Luna
I wasn't sure where to go with Arthur (and settled on HP +5), but Effie's Wary Fighter skill is great for classic tanking. Percy comes in with Lunge which is nice for anyone that's highly survivability. Sol and Luna may not proc much with a low skill build, but don't hurt. When Percy gets to 15 he'll get Armored Blow stuff will just bounce off of him. From there, maybe Aegis or friendship his way to Tomebreaker.

Effie
General (5)
Wary Fighter

Benny
General (5)
Wary Fighter

Ignatius
Knight

At 14
Bezerker:
  • Defense +2
  • Lunge
  • Wary Fighter
  • Luna
  • HP +5
Ignatius is built a lot like Percy, I wanted to hedge my tank in case one drew really low resistance. Similar stuff here except he's making a stopover at Berzerker to become an axe specialist.

Beruka

Wyvern Rider (-) Lunge

Silas
Great Knight (5)
Luna

Sophie
Cavalier

At 14
Paladin:
  • Luna
  • Shelter
  • Elbow Room
  • Renewal
  • Defender
Renewal on a tanky unit is pretty awesome. As long as I keep Sophie generally out of trouble, she can run around behind enemy lines. In this vein, reclassing her to Adventurer for Movement +1 and Pass could be fun, but probably won't do much on the harder levels.

Sakura
Shrine Maiden (5)
Renewal

Ryoma
Swordmaster (5)
Astra

Shiro
Spear Fighter

At 10
Sniper:
  • Seal Defense
  • Astra
  • Seal Speed
  • Vantage
  • Seal Strength
Shiro's going full debuff. After learning three seal skills, anyone he attacks becomes especially squishy. After friending Kiragi, he's on his way to sporting a Spy Yumi and do his stuff from a safe distance. If I can get him Replicate, it means twice the debuff with only one bow.

Elise

Malig Knight (5) Savage Blow

Azama
Great Master (5)
Renewal

Mitama
Shrine Maiden

Unpromoted:
  • Rally Luck
  • Miracle
  • Replicate
  • Renewal
I may have wasted Azama's Renewal skill on a back line character, though I might move Mitama toward a flyer build where, as long as I can keep her away from bows, Renewal could be useful. Otherwise she's competing with Forrest for back line healer/buffer and having Replicate puts her in the lead, not to mention Rally Luck works very well with the moneymaker builds described above.

Setsuna
Mechanist (l5)
Replicate

Xander
Great Knight (5)
Luna

Siegbert
Cavalier

Not yet recruited
With Luna and Quixotic, Siegbert could do some damage from horseback. If he stays in the Paladin track, Aegis may keep him out of trouble. I'll probably make him an all-around character with high mobility, though I'm somewhate tempted to make him a tanky Pegasus Knight.

Hinoka

Basara (l5) Quixotic

Leo
Sorcerer (5)
Vengeance

Forrest
Troubadour

Not yet recruited
With Vengeance and Tomefaire, Forrest has the skills to be a front line mage, but if he pulls low defense and HP, he'll be a liability aside from 1-on-1 mage battles.

Nyx
Onmyoji (15)
Tomefaire

Odin
Swordmaster (5)
Astra

Ophelia
Dark Mage

Not yet recruited
I'll probably promote Ophelia to Sorcerer for Vengeance and Dark Knight to get Lifetaker at level 15. The combination of these should mean each of her two copies could do serious magic damage and heal each other.

Kagero

Mechanist (15) Replicate

Laslow
Hero (5)
Sol

Soleil
Mercenary

At 14
Bow Knight:
  • Sol
  • Luna
  • Strong Riposte
  • Good Fortune
  • Rally Skill
With Sol and Luna, Soleil could be a good all-around unit, but maybe second banana to Siegbert since Quixotic will make these trigger more for him.

Peri
Great Knight (5)
Luna

Niles
Sorcerer (5)
Vengeance

Nina
Outlaw

At 15
Dark Knight:
  • Movement +1
  • Sol
  • Vengeance
  • Locktouch
  • Pass
Nina is in Dark Knight to learn Lifetaker as a way to stay alive behind their lines. After that she may go Bow Knight and get some Boots.

Charlotte

Hero (5) Sol

Saizo
Mechanist (15)
Replicate

Asugi
Ninja

At 15
Master Ninja:
  • Replicate
  • Quixotic
  • Locktouch
  • Lethality
  • Shurikenfaire
I targeted promoted level 15 with a couple pairs, including Saizo and Orochi. This meant going for Replicate and Quixotic to make Asugi (and Asugi replicant) a great first strike option. Quixotic + Lethality means he can oneshot the occasional enemy, otherwise he'll debuff them and do a fair bit of shuriken damage.

Orochi

Basara (15) Quixotic

Unused

Jakob

Dwyer

Reina

Gunter

Fuga

Flora

Scarlet

Shura

Izana



Storypost | 2018.11.14

Dog weimaraner ear surgery bandaged back

The grey dog burst a blood vessel in his ear, so we had to keep it elevated. He was displeased.

Dog weimaraner ear surgery bandage arooo Dog weimaraner ear surgery bandage truck Dog weimaraner ear surgery bandage lick
Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung dumplings noodles

Jes took me to the DTF soft opening in UTC. It was pretty tasty, particularly the truffle XLBs.

Din Tai Fung diced beef szechuan peppers

All too late I noticed they have what looks like the upscale equivalent of Spicy City's spicy chicken cubes with peppers. Definitely going to give that a try next time.
Xmas photos


Did some (what I presume are) xmas photos for D+K.

Games


I recently got through my hard/classic playthrough of FE Fates: Birthright. So of course I've moved on to Revelation. It's pretty great to have the combined characters for the final plot arc, I'm taking the team crafting very seriously.

Gloomhaven scenario traps bear

Mark and Chase have both moved on to new Gloomhaven characters. Rouge, my rogue, has two more scenarios before she retires. ~15 scenarios in the gameplay still feels pretty fresh.



Storypost | 2018.11.04

PUBG vehicle combat passenger view pursuit
Seattle

Golden puppy walking on log sound

Jes and I went up to Seattle/Burien to see Jon/c/Tori's new place and new pup. Jes went up early, I joined on Friday and we took Pepper to the shore.

Hand drawn Seattle map pretty much unreadable

Jori came in on Saturday and gave us a few tour options. We couldn't really read any of it, so we just let them drive us around.

Starbucks roastery Seattle

We drove through the city, making stops at the sbux Roastery, Pike's, the Gasworks, and Rock Creek.

Golden retriever puppy playing Golden retriever puppy Seattle rain sidewalk pork bun Coffee martini Starbucks Seattle tea Golden retriever puppy rainy rear window

Weimaraner looking around cat polyptych

Meanwhile Kafka hung out with Derrick and Koko, Lola, some kids, and some cats.
Halloween

The Shape of Water couples costume Asset Elisa Halloween

Jes brought home the Halloween party costume award yet again. I wore it, but the craftmanship was all her. Photos courtesy Courtney.

thumbnail Halloween party X-Files The Shape of Water Mulder Scully thumbnail Halloween party X-Files Mulder Scully Ghostbusters cheerleader thumbnail Halloween party costume Rick and Morty
thumbnail Halloween party costume tourists
thumbnail Halloween party Waldo Doc Back to the Future thumbnail Halloween party costume
thumbnail Halloween party costume Ghostbusters knights
Video games

PUBG Mirado attack van Miramar airborne replay glitch

I pretty much maxed out my video editing skill combined with all there is to see in PUBG that isn't eyebleedingly boring. But then the crew and I were cruising through Cobreria and got into a fun little bit of vehicle-on-vehicle action.

pubg

thumbnail PUBG vehicle battle Mirado van Miramar Cobreria wheelie thumbnail PUBG vehicle battle Mirado van Miramar Cobreria airborne thumbnail PUBG vehicle battle Mirado van Miramar Cobreria airborne crash thumbnail PUBG vehicle battle Mirado Miramar Cobreria wheelie
thumbnail PUBG vehicle battle Mirado van Miramar Cobreria airborne crash

Twitch advertisement calling heroes loot box death of gaming

Twitch managed to title a promotional email encapsulating everything that is wrong with gaming.

Dog weimaraner blue paint on nose