Another Chance

So now that I've completed my first two days of work, I have a better idea of what things are going to be like.
My schedule is ideal, the hours are great, and my co-workers are awesome. Minor issues aside, this job definitely feels a lot more comfortable and supportive, and I look forward to actually being able to do hard work for this company and reaping the rewards for doing so. I feel like I have another chance at life and I want to take advantage of it!


That being said, I believe I will have time to post fairly regularly and depending on how other things work out, I might even be able to finish some hobby projects while I'm off. I don't want to over-do my excitement because I'm still in my "probationary" period and technically still in training (and then there's my whole bad luck issue), but I have a good feeling about all of this.

My main concern is the amount of time I'll be able to spend with my family being on such and awkward schedule (one that I wanted however). Not even remotely as important but still at the back of my mind is how much time I'll have for the myriad of hobbies I've gotten myself into. Here's a brief summary:

• I own about 16,000 points of Blood Angels and 7,000 points of Tyranids. Neither of these armies are fully built or painted, and I actually plan on picking up more Tyranids when their second wave hits this/next month.
• I own about 3,500 points of Dark Elves and also plan on expanding the army slightly to round out some extra options so I'm not running the same list over and over.
• I bought maybe 40-50 points of Cygnar from a friend (at a super low price) that are primed dark green and highlighted with gold. I plan on quadrupling the force but also stripping and re-painting what I have. I'm not sure though; I might just eBay the whole lot of it and start from scratch with a battle-box. I want to get a Storm Strider or two, and a Colossal when it comes out this summer. I'm really starting to like Privateer Press more and more.
• My friends are starting Flames of War armies, and I've always wanted to do an American Rifle Company backed by Shermans. I love the little jeeps too lol but overall I feel that force would look really cool on the table (and I hear Shermans are the shiznit).
• I own maybe 400 points of Lord of the Rings Haradrim miniatures (not including Sauron, the Fellowship, and 14 of the Nine), and with the updated and newly released LotR - Strategy Battles source books I've been dying to find a reason to get back into the game with some really cool armies.
• I have a super hard-on for Magic the Gathering right now, but the problem is I've been burned by card games in the past so I'm not sure I want to dump hundreds of dollars into ANOTHER game that might be useless this time next year. I know that's the nature of the CCG/TCG beast, but I don't think I'll be making THAT much money lol. Thankfully my friends have decided that starting with what we bought now, the cards we have will "always" be legal in our play group to be supportive of people's incomes.
• I am part of a casual roleplaying group that meets bi-weekly at a friend's place, but due to having seven people in the group and having a DM who tends not to run a session without all members present, all my roleplaying books, minis, tiles, tokens, and dice sit around for weeks (sometimes up to a month and a half) just waiting for the word that we're on for that week. I'd rather have a regular weekly game, but again with the job and everything else, who knows if I'll even be able to participate more than that.
• Speaking of which, Wizards of the Coast is releasing more D&D minis but THIS TIME they're non-randomized and pre-sorted according to "themes". So, in theory if you want the cliche "pack of goblins", you can buy a pack of 8-12 goblins. Coupled with this they are releasing new miniatures battles rules in more of a "tactical board-game format". How that differs from the old miniatures game I have no idea. My wife and I have three large boxes full of D&D minis, and I've got two huge boxes full of Star Wars minis (including three completed individual sets), so I'm not sure what to do here.
• I've been out of the loop for a while with video games and movies, so I would like to try to get back on top of that. I have missed out on a ton of good games and I thoroughly enjoy the theater experience, so how the heck I'm going to fit that in also confuses me. Don't even get me started on WHAT the games would be played on (PC/Laptop, XBox, PS3, PSP Vita, etc).

Obviously priorities lie primarily with bills, family time, and savings. Let me be clear and up-front with that. I have a plan in place for when I get hired on permanently to save up a specific dollar amount and start the apartment-hunting process.

However, should I have a spare dollar or two from time to time, I'd love to figure out what games/systems I want to support and which ones I need to just let go and sell out of. Some of these hobbies I've only recently picked up while some I've been doing for 16 years. Some have lost interest and some seem to have a lot of potential going forward. Without trying to sound super dramatic and masochistic, I wish I could burn it all and start from scratch to help me focus on a few small projects rather than a large sampling of all sorts of games. Sometimes I think I've spread myself too thin but man, I've had a TON of fun with each one. It's a shame I couldn't get rid of some of this stuff for a reasonable amount.

Yes, I have first-world problems. Don't judge me.