The Black Campbell

Here’s a little something that could be useful for historical based games involving motorcycles…

I just had LASIK yesterday afternoon, so my vision is still a bit cloudy at closer distances, but is nicely clear at range, already. Expect a drop in posts for the week, unless the vision clears dramatically today.

The procedure was quite and straightforward. I took the offered valium (a good idea, as it turned out, as the eye anesthetic worked like every other kind for me: hits quick, leaves just as fast. It wore off about halfway through the work on the left eye. They lie you down, position the laser, then cover the eye not being worked on. They clap the eyelids open, like Alex in A Clorkwork Orange. They then have you stare at the red targeting laser, then place the automated knife on the eye. It’s a bit disconcerting: it feels very heavy (but isn’t), and your visn goes out on the eye for a second, then is blurry when they lift the corneal flap. The laser pulses for a few seconds and you can smell the tissue burning off. The doctor then smooths the cornea, and it’s a strange, underwater kind of quality to the vision.

They swapped eyes for me, started again, but I noticed the positioning of the knife felt more heavy and uncomfortable. I hadn’t realized yet the drugs were wearing off. The cut was fine; I couldn’t quite feel it, but I could the last few laser pulses. Not painfully, but uncomfortable and anxiety-inducing. Just as fast, it’s over.

Already, my distance vision was improving, but it’s very cloudy — like looking through water — and I’m light sensitive. Blinking a lot helps. Suggestion: don’t keep your eyes closed, but blink as much as you can. I think it cleans the crap out, because you tear. I kept my eyes closed and it got painful while I was trying to sleep. I sat, blinked a lot and kept the eyes open to tear and it went away.

This morning, I woke with some slight haze — to be expected, I was told — and found myself able to read a poster across the room. Close distances, like typing on the iPad, right now, it a bit hazy and slightly out of focus, but not bad. I can’t read small type on the medicine bottles given me by the eye doctor, save the brand name. Over the course of writing this, my vision has improved.

UPDATE: Most of the haziness, which the the eye reacting to the “injury with swelling and fluid, has dissipated by noon. My followup went well and my vision is now 20/15, although I got most of the 20/10 line correct, as well. Near vision was shot all morning, but now I can read text messages on my phone at normal half-arms length and reading the small type on my 13” laptop screen at arms length is also easy. I might actually get away without needed reading glasses for now, although the lowest reading glasses prescription does make small type easier to read.

I took the bike out today, and had no issues with the airflow through the helmet drying out my eyes. There’s no pain, but a slight grittiness feeling in the left one, and I don’t appear to be too light sensitive. The haloing effect I was told to expect while driving was not bad at all — the headlights had a star-pattern to them, but it wasn’t distracting or blinding. Supposedly it goes away after a few months.

Overall, an excellent experience and I can recommend my doctors, ABQ Lasik Specialists, here in Albuquerque.

Just a thanks to all the new readers, the folks that are regulars, and double that to you who have pitched in content or regularly post. We’re up about 30% on readership this month, alone. We’re still not pulling, say, Gnome Stew numbers, but for a highly specialized game blog that deals with (mostly) dead systems, we’re doing well.

Next year, there’s a bunch of things I’m hoping will finally break loose and get moving. I’ve been heavily hamstrung with minding my little girl, but there’s preschool coming up next week, babysitters helping out, and I’ve bailed from my PhD program. As a result, I’ve turned out a film prospectus, got the starts of a novel, a short novel/novela, the beginnings of research for two more novels, and I’m hoping to turn my attention back to a James Bond RPG-related project.

But once again: thanks! And a good holiday season to all!

He appears to have no name. He has no defined job, yet he lives in an expensive condo in the “big city” with a monkey and the other residents don’t complain. He goes to expensive restaurants with a monkey and no one complains. He travels extensively and has contacts everywhere he goes who allow him to “vacation” in their homes, has widespread scientific knowledge, has been called in to assist NASA in important space missions, is always cool in a crisis, and wears yellow-colored explorer’s garb exclusively and has not visibly aged since the 1940s.

Just who is “the man in the yellow hat” and what are his plans for monkey- and Mankind? [queue ominous music]

Here’s a snap I took with my HTC One V a few nights back while out for a ride in Albuquerque’s Nob Hill. I stopped for a drink at il Vicino, a swanky pizzeria, and decided to get creative-like…

Here’s my new Thruxton, Trixie, looking sexy:

I find it nicely atmospheric, as with these…same time, same place:

Back to gaming-related stuff tomorrow night or Tuesday morning — I should have an after action report for our Battlestar Galactica game covering a murder mystery about the group’s ship.