On the occasion of marking my 40th trip around the sun, I attended Council of Five Nations, a gaming convention held in Schenectady, which isn't too far from Shelley's mom's house. Not long ago I happened to receive an email announcing it, and its large Star Fleet Battles tournament, so I decided to attend and surprise a number of friends from Ithaca who would also be there.

Of course I hoped to have a 4-0 record for the tourney, however I ended up at 2-4, mostly because of being rusty, but also because of flying the ISC ship with which I don't have much experience, and the high quality of the opponents there. Nevertheless, good fun, and a perfect way to pass the day.

Yeah, I missed baby, but she came up for a visit with Shelley, even wearing her "Level 1 Human" onesie to show what a gaming geek she's already turning out to be. The Ithaca gang reiterated their promise to get a copy of Baby's First Big Book of Star Fleet Battles to her soon, but I'm not holding my breath for it :-)

And no, being 40 feels no different than 30. Actually, maybe better because at 30 I received geriatric drinks at my party. This time I got a digital video camera, mostly for capturing Kelley's antics over the next few years. I'll be experimenting with it after return home, and will occasionally post audio-visual files for when motion and sound carry the message better than a still image.




Baby visits her first gaming con and advises daddy on his Star Fleet Battles tactics.




Birthday cake! (It says "First Prize Daddy" on the top :-)