Small Victories

I received my first writers pay check yesterday -- the proceeds from my Novel, The Frozen Codex. Definitely a step in the right direction.

The next step is to become active within the writing community.

In my job I'm used to managing a pipeline. Now I'm spending my evenings and weekends trying to manage a pipe dream.

~Fraser

Care

Objectively speaking, the more frequently we are exposed to something the more desensitised we become. Ergo, the less we care.

The UK's NHS has shown that a country can run a socialist healthcare system within a democracy to a great deal of success, but as the years roll on I feel the care is becoming much worse.

It is a similar environment to any office where you can often tell a lot from how hard someone works. It's often down to their bonus scheme and those people drifting tend to be the ones paid the same regardless.

NHS staff remind me of these drifters you meet in jobs you wouldn't want. People who don't care and will avoid any work they don't have to do.

I'm not expecting a bunch of motherly nurses in our hospitals but the sheer ineptitude and lack of interest is saddening.

We've all taken a job we don't like because we need the money or couldn't find anything else at the time. These people however are at times in charge of our lives.

I can't help but compare the NHS to the hospital care I received in South Korea. I was shocked at how efficient,  modern and caring they were.

The Dr I saw there was not just dealing with the next patient, he made sure I understood everything that was happening. Explained all the avenues of treatment.

The difference? Money. It cost me to get treated so who knows how you cope without medical insurance/money over there.

I'm not selfish enough to want to change our NHS in favour of a paid model but surely it is a matter of attitudes as much as finances.

I remember the awkward smile which the Dr in SK gave me as I shook his hand on giving me the all clear of pneumonia. The last Dr in the UK didn't even look at me as he told me his assistant would see me out.

~Fraser

Inspiration

Inspiration can come from anywhere,  but for me nowhere else will inspire me more than the Scottish Highlands. The older I get the more I appreciate why my dad used to spend so much time there.

~Fraser

Richard III

Both Leicester and York are disputing where the late monarch, found under a car park in Leicester should be buried.

I think they should all be thankful he didn't get clamped for having been parked there all these years. Maybe they should just put him back, as a grisly reminder to the current monarchy.

Justice is always metered out in the end...

What...too soon?

~Fraser

Exocrine

Almost finished painting my new 1500 point 40k list. Hitting the town on Saturday to play test the new 7th edition rules. Bring on the weekend!

Diplomacy

Prince Charles is famous for being a blundering racist and has landed himself and more than likely the British image in some trouble over the last few decades.

Yet when he likened Putin to Hitler I thought he finally might have hit the nail on the head.

We'll see if he has the guts to hold to his nerve in the face of political pressure.

~Fraser

Warhammer 40k 7th Edition

Fancy new cover art, the old 3 book style, a hefty price tag.

I must admit I'm pretty excited by the new edition of 40k. If you haven't already,  I recommend watching the teasers on youtube as to what's in the new rules (once you've changed your password of course //cough// heartbleed //cough //).

The new missions sound great - kind of like risk where you have a unique objective you get extra points for completing. It looks like the days of randomly selecting a bunch of missions that sound different but work almost exactly the same are gone.

One small change caught my attention. No forge organisation.

Sorry, what?!

So you're telling me my unnecessarily balanced army could find itself fighting a whole army of fliers or armour, rendering 50% of units useless.

Warhammer is one of those games were little exploits of rules lead to severe beardiness. Now you're telling me I could fight the Lemun Russ Corps of Lemun Russ, whose background fluff states that they like Lemun Russ so they built a lot of them.

Great.

I've already planned my tournament list. 300 spore mines. You don't get points for killing them so the best you can hope for is a draw.

I'll create a back story of a hive fleet entirely of spore mines wherby to become the king you must blow him up. If the king blows himself up or gets shot, the mine to his left becomes king.

See you on the battlefield

~Fraser

The Blues

There's something ironic about feeling so good while listening to the blues.

I wonder if it's part of the human condition or just damn good music

~Fraser

2 new pages

The Frozen Codex now has it's own page on the blog so make sure you check it out. It also has a link to where you can buy it in case you need to pick up a copy.

Also there's a new Battle Report for Warhammer 40k. Chaos vs Tyranids - definitely worth a look.

~Fraser

Business

It makes you wonder, standing there at Euston station watching as two Sandwich shops selling identical products could be doing so differently.

On the left you have Delice de France, where one man stands dusting shelves and shuffling stock as next door the three women working at Upper Crust are working non-stop to put baguettes in hands and take their money.

I came up for a closer look and the actual produce was almost identical. So I got thinking how could one business have no customers where the other actually had a queue. It seems absurd to think that there was a perpetual queue where people could simply get served at the other instantly.

So - here's what I figured -- the small differences between them must have had something to do with it.

First, Delice de France has flat panels for displays whereas Upper Crust has slanted displays. It gives the illusion that there is far more choice and nothing is hidden from view. Maximum goods on show.

Second, Women. Three women beat one man - hands down. Men would rather buy from women. Women would rather buy from women. At least in catering I suppose. In the whole time I stood watching them only three people went to Delice de France. A woman who was dating an Asian man -- so would have felt subconsciously drawn to the Asian guy at Delice. Next was a man who saw the woman there and went to buy from the same shop. He frequently checked out her and her purchases. The final person to go there was an Asian mother. She obviously thought that it was better to buy from the smart young man than have the temptation on her husband/son of three pretty young women.

Subsequently her husband pulled her to Upper Crust where he insisted they buy from. Go figure.

There has to be an element of conformity in it, seeing others buying from a shop instantly has a snowball effect. Seeing no-one buying from there might as well be buzzing with flies.

Come to think of it. I've only ever bought from Upper Crust.

There's obviously more to Business than products alone...

~Fraser

Hanafuda

I found a strange ray of hope in a small Japanese card game yesterday.

After western playing cards became banned Japan moved to make its own equivalent,  to keep the people happy and the money flowing. One company made a name from these beautiful little cards. Nintendo.

Such a simple and creative idea that sparked such a huge enterprise.

Perhaps there's hope for us creatives yet!

I dare say Hanafuda isn't the only game that is a household name in Japan. All around the world you'll find a pack of cards or maybe a chess board tucked away in a cupboard in most homes.

Board games - identified with stuffy nights in please no-one mention the game of life or pass the bomb at christmas or I will shut myself off from humanity.

That said I love them -- board games that is. Risk, Talisman, Carcassonne, Forbidden Island. Can't get enough. It's funny that most people only scratch the surface and stay comfortable with chess.

Why not try one next time you feel like your eyes are melting from "screen overdose"

So here's to the board games -- now I just need to find some people to play with!

~Fraser

Stories

I've never believed more that everyone has a story to tell more than when my Gran told me that she was excommunicated from The Church of Scotland for poaching their members

~Fraser