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Anthony Boydell
United Kingdom
Unspecified
Unspecified
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After the weekend (last) of counting and sorting and picking and wrapping and boxing, Charlie Paull popped over on Friday (14th) with a Kia Rio stuffed full of boxes and paraphernalia. Close to the wire, but with a healthy margin to spare if you read the recent BGGNews article about Spiel and games production/delivery, On The Cards had finally arrived from Carta Mundi in all its 55 games/box glory. Twenty minutes later and it was residing, in all its aforementioned glory, in my library room – blocking access to the Delderfields and the Schotts.
Seeing all this stuff clogging up my gentlemen’s retreat made me think about Essen Spiel and it gave me a wobbly feeling in my tum!
The Rio bim-bim-bimmed its way back to Nailsworth with the promise of a return (maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow – but someday etc) – it was too small to take a full load, apparently*
I retreated to the lock-up to wrestle the few remaining Totemos and Coppertwaddles into the open from underneath the bicycles, summer garden ornamentation and feral copies of Scandaroon. Ah! Memories of Spiels past came flooding back, as did that shakey/excited feeling.
I was not going to be picking up the van until first-thing Monday morning, so the posters and blu-tac and stickers and pens and scissors and other stuff lay piled in the middle of my shed (office), waiting to be packed. That tug in my solar plexus returned – eager for the off and the long drive to Essen Spiel.
An evening of games in Ross-on-Wye (see previous blog entry) served as a welcome distraction from my mounting anxiety and anticipation; though my feet did a little dance (of their own accord) under the table when we discussed what the peeps might want me to bring back from Germany…from Essen Spiel.
Come Saturday, come Mr Charlie Paull in the shape of be-bearded cube pusher and uncontrollably cerebral designer of games Mr Alan Paull (some times he’s SO cerebral about it, he forgets to actual get on with the designing bit!). The Kia Rio tootle-y toot-tooted onto the drive positively sagging under the weight of our remaining stock and 300 (spare) mail-out boxes (flat-packed for your comfort). We unloaded, drank coffee and got a little giddy when we talked about Essen Spiel.
An evening of celebrity dancing failed to distract me completely from thoughts of gaming and I went to bed late (as usual) and tossed for a while before settling – images of Essen Spiel, rehearsing of demos, playing in my mind.
Sunday! The Lord’s day and a day for spending with the family before I departed for Essen Spiel. Well, we all missed the Church bit and after taking Arthur, Fred and Benedict swimming, we ate a hearty brunch before I did a few last minute checks on my itinerary and packed the main bits of my suitcase – ready for Essen Spiel. We popped over to Great Grandmothers for a sunny afternoon picking apples, drinking tea and – inevitably – being wished good luck for Essen Spiel. Another quiet, if mildy-preoccupied, evening followed – boiteajeux.net, Spooks and nervous chitty-chats about my hopes and fears for Essen Spiel.
Monday at last! And all that nervousness about getting the van loaded (finally) etc evaporated as I bade farewell to my children and spouse and rumbled off the driveway in a VW Transporter plump with hobbyist delights destined for Germany. Pausing to purchase a caffeine-infused energy drink and some pies for necessary sustenance, I delivery-vanned my way into Hanwell (London suburbs) to pick up some Cubiko stock from pal Gavin. Fully-laden for Essen Spiel, I returned to the soft bosom of High Wycombe for (what has now become) the pre-Essen Spiel drive evening of games with Richard, Carl and Brendan. Not wanting to be ‘late a-bed’, we settled on a number of lighter games to pass the evening: Airships x2, Quarriors (I won, but I still don’t like it much), Modern Art x2 and 7 Wonders.
By 10.30 I was settled, a little windy from the beer matching the windy weather outside; thinking of the next day, the drive and Essen Spiel.
I did a little wee in my pants.
(Note: it is now 5AM – just need to post this up then I’m off)
*For goodness sake.
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