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A letter to one S. Clause, assumed location, North as possible.
Hello, kind jolly one or representative helper! I hope the current global status has not hindered you too much and that your life is going quite well. Now that the formalities are over, let's get to brass tacks! I am within spitting distance of the great 50 and I can't spit very far. I live out here in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest with my wife, two cats, one dog, and two parrots. I picked up this hobby a few short years ago by my thinking and I am constantly amazed by what is out there and yet constantly learning what I enjoy and do not.
I have been a sufferer of social anxiety and other anxieties but that's not this story. While I have been interested in board games for many years, it was only the much older games that caught my eye and even then, I rarely played them. Weirdly, I can't remember the game that pulled me into the modern era but I'm here now and there's no looking back. I pushed my anxiety to the limits when I made myself go to the game night of a local game store. That FLGS became a favorite place and still is. Off The Charts Games is located in downtown Gresham Oregon and I try very hard to support them as much as possible. You can find them here at www.offthechartsgames.com and the owners, Ron and Lynn have been there happily enjoying their retirement and running (to me, anyway) the best place to comfortably game. If you feel like it, give them a look and maybe they have your pick from my list in stock and that could save you some shipping. Be warned, they don't discount the games but they're both so dang sweet, I don't mind. If you order in some other fashion, THAT IS OKAY! I do not want to put any unneeded stress onto you in this time of cheer.
Where was I? You can't remember either? Okay, let's talk about what I really like in games. I seem to gravitate to worker placement and or tile laying. I also really enjoy a dose of humor in my games as I'm not a huge fan of dark and gritty. ... Except for one of my favorite games, Abomination. This is one some folks don't enjoy but I feel that the theme works so amazingly well with the game play. I also love Space Base. The fact that you are always watching the dice makes for a fun game session for me. Clank is another one I really adore. I have everything for the original game and haven't shown much interest in Space and the legacy version. The combination of deck building and treasure seeking comes across brilliantly especially once the whole place starts to come down around your head and it's a mad rush to get topside. My Clank box is impossibly full right now with lots of fun and weighs more than your average Volvo. Rajas of the Ganges is a recent addition that I have been enjoying a LOT even with the solo mode I found here. I have the first Big Box for it and am waiting for my FLGS to get the second as he is on the lookout for it. I have tried a bit of the other big list games. I have a semi regular Gloomhaven group which led me to get Jaws of the Lion for myself. I also play Carcassone on my tablet on a nearly daily basis but have shied away from the physical game for a couple reasons. It seems like a tough one to bring to my game group and I am genuinely of the endless stream of expansions both full and micro.
If you're still here, bravo! Me? I had to go back and look at the Letter to Santa page for tips on what else I should put in this letter before it breaks. I don't mind a nice used copy if that helps you. I don't even mind the scratch and dent section, really. I have no allergies except socializing. I play games in English, being an American, I was too lazy to barely learn a second language so that's on me. I don't mind some good natured taunting. As to going off list? Yeek.. I hate to say no, so I'll say, ehhhhhh..
That brings me to what I actually do on Earth. I have slowly bounced into a few different careers in my life. I've done retail, managing retail before I started doing a bit of antique dealing. Important note, antique dealer is just like saying junk dealer because they're the same. I then became a person who helped set up estate sales. It was in these recent years I found this hobby and found some amazing deals on a few games (and Lego but that's a different forum). I bought and sold Catan and the first two expansions before I ever actually played it. I finally broke down and got the app version and have learned that while I enjoy it, I certainly don't love it. Well, along came covid and I was let go "temporarily" on my birthday. Whee. After a few months with no word on being asked back, I finally asked if there would be a job and was told no. The next week, my wife and I decided to forgo jerk bosses and become ones ourselves! We started our very own company of selling parrot toys. We hand make almost all of our toys and are learning how to make more. We only started a couple months ago but are doing fairly well and if you are interested, you can find us at www.cayenneschoicetoys.com
I honestly don't know what else to put in here to waste your time with but if you did make it through this ramble, thank you for your time and your kindness in doing this. This is the very first year for me and I hope to make someone's holiday brighter. We could all use it! Thank you so very much and have an amazing day!
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