Lost a boardgamer to the War on Terror. Commence with the 21-die-roll salute.
I only played with Gordy a couple times. He was a tough opponent and a very, very likeable guy. Gordon spent most of his time in Iraq in the two years I knew him. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 7-4-6
Gordon 'Gordy' Cook
Second-generation Fairbanksan Gordon "Gordy" Joseph Cook, 36, died July 2, 2006, in Sadr City, Iraq, while working as a civilian contractor.
Gordy was born Nov. 18, 1969, in Fairbanks, the youngest son of Billie and Cornelius "Bud" Cook. Gordy was a star center football player while attending West Valley High School. After graduating in 1988, Gordy enlisted in the Marines.
Throughout his military career, Gordy served in the Marines, Air Force and Army. He was stationed in several locations overseas including Subic Bay in the Philippines, North Korea and he served in Iraq during Desert Storm.
Gordy and Michelle Coben were married in 1999. They have two children, Kameron and Emmy.
In 2003, Gordy decided to work as a civilian contractor during Operation Iraqi Freedom and spent most of the last three years in Iraq.
Gordy was a partner with his sister, Heidi, in the Old F.E. Gold Camp in Chatanika.
He was preceded in death by his father Cornelius Cook and grandmother Gertrude Crosman.
He is survived by his mother, Billie of Fairbanks; wife Michelle and children Kameron and Emmy, currently of Olympia, Wash.; brothers, David, wife Linda and their children Aidan and Aisla of Ames, Iowa, Art of Seattle and Walter of Fairbanks; sisters, Heidi Cook and children, Kyle and Meighan of Fairbanks; Sandra Boatner of North Pole and Marnie Sheridan and husband Mick and their children, Karl, Heidi, Brian and Julie, of Dublin, Ireland; aunts and uncles, Carl Crosman, Carol Cornelius, Aileen Marsh and Marnie Metz.
Services will be announced at a later date.
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I arrived at my nursing job recently and there were 3 other obituaries posted on the wall. All of them were people I knew.
Obits are routinely and frequently posted in my workplace, all of them people we knew. A couple months ago a certain fellow passed away. When I saw his obituary my first thought was: He might have liked German games, I should have taught him Samurai that night he couldn't sleep.
Chances to play games at work are very limited, but I now have my copy of Samurai in my car, just in case the opportunity arises. I don't know why Samurai immediately came to mind but it is simple, quick, thought provoking and scales very well. I think it's the perfect game for my purposes as a nurse.
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How good is Puerto Rico?
Looking at the game rankings on Boardgamegeek, the number one game, Puerto Rico is 0.25 points higher than the next highest ranked game, Tigris and Euphrates. How significant is a quarter point difference? A quarter point is greater than the difference between the number two game and the number six game. A quarter point separates the number six game from the number sixteen game, and the number sixteen game from the number thirty eight game.
A quarter point difference puts Puerto Rico in rarefied air, definitely in a class by its self. Is it that good?
On the other end of the spectrum, the lowest rated game, Tic-Tac-Toe, is quarter point lower than the next lowest game, Bingo. How is that? You at least have a couple decisions to make in Tic-Tac-Toe, Bingo is strictly passive. In fact the next 4 lowest ranked games are passive. From the lowest they are, Chutes and Ladders, LCR, War, and Candyland.
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Less than four months until BGG.con. Wooooo-hoooooo.
Note to self: Don't piss off any more users on BGG.
Yeah. Like that'll happen.
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Oooooops. Failed already.
OK. Starting NOW. No pissing off weak kneed, pro-terrorist, anti-gun, mentally unstable, anti-free speech, anti-bathing, communist leaning, pro nanny state, Klingon speaking, Dungeon Twister playing, non-spellcheck users on BGG.
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Just out of curiosity, is there anyone out there who works the night shift in the U.S. or Canada who can't answer this question off the top of their head:
What's Richard Hoagland's middle initial?
If you know, do you know what the M stands for in Linda M. Howe?
Who recently died: Lex, Ramona, or Yeti?
If you've been working the night shift for no more than the last 20 minutes you should be able to answer those questions. How about these:
Who is a nutjob: JR, RC, or JC?
Linda Howe was:
A) In the Missouri legislature
B) Miss Idaho
C) Science advisor to Walter Kronkite
Who was the premier nutjob 5 years ago? Leonard, Hank, or Harriet?
Who was denounced by the government, his personel file "lost", and could only prove that he worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory because his picture had been in the local paper a couple times during his stint at the lab?
Reaching back 10 years or more:
Where was Paco from?
Who was the guy who worked at the Post Office in somewhere in California?
Where was/is Mel's hole?
What did Bugs shoot?
What was "that one caller" supposedly flying over when he was shot down by the U.S. Air Force?
I could go on, but I will finish with this:
For the title of The Grand Master, Cult of Night Owls, what was Al Bielek's birth name? (No Googling, please.)
Sorry if you don't know what I am talking about. I would love to tell you but I can't. I would then have to kill you. Even if there are only seven people reading this blog, that is entirely too much travelling for me to kill all of you just to keep a secret.
Plus, I'm morally opposed to killing off our readers.
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2 comments:
Have you been listening to some of the best late night radio? The only show I have ever listened to that competed with it is CBC Radio's Brave New Waves.
You need to listen to more podcasts.
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