Cafaro’s Ramblings

When I was young (i.e., all the way through college) I played assorted pen and paper RPGs. It started with the first D&D red box set, quickly followed by AD&D, AD&D 2nd Addition, Marvel Comics, CyberPunk, MechWarriors, WarHammer 40k, and assorted other table top and pen and paper role playing games. I loved them, my friends loved them, and it gave us a chance to create explore and work our minds. I know I wouldn’t be who I am today without my chance at playing these games.

So, it’s very sad to learn that one of the creators of the original D&D and really one of the fathers off all modern RPG systems has passed away. Gary Gygax, co creator of D&D, passed away yesterday. Thank you for everything you’ve given us Gary!

More information here

Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax dies.

Well, I finally got my new brake kit installed on the truck. This is a set of SSBC 13″ slotted rotors with enlarged 3 piston aluminum calipers. This replaces the stock 11″ rotors with 2 piston steel calipers. This translates into more stopping power as well as more consistent stopping power. Of course, I’ve got the added grip of sport truck tires that have a larger contact patch than the stock tires. Without this, I would just be hitting the ABS threshold faster instead of stopping faster. Here are some before and after pictures.

Before:

This weekend we decided to hit another high point. This time we drove up to Pennsylvania to Mount Davis. The highpoint is located in a State Forest and there are several hiking trails you can take. The trail/path to the highpoint is short though, maybe 200 feet from the parking lot. This was the first High Point that we took Muirna, our dog, to. She loves riding in cars and getting a chance to check out new areas. It was cool, but not cold and a little bit of wind. There is a sign next to the major road that appears to be marking the high point (in the first picture), but it’s not, you have to drive just a little further past to see the side road that leads up to the parking lot for the high point. The high point is marked by a big boulder (which I’m sitting on in one of the pictures below). Unfortunatly, I left the good digital camera at home, so had to resort to the Treo for pictures.

In January of 2004, we finally got around to hitting our second high point. For this trip, we went to West Virginia’s Spruce Knob. It was a little on the snowy side which made it an interesting and beautiful drive. Having a 4×4 helped, we passed a bmw that was being dragged up the side of a mountain from where it had slid off the road. The driver was fine, but the car had seen better days, he had managed to jump out before it slid off. Once we were at the top it was a spectacular view, but VERY windy. Here’s a shot of the view:

In December 2002, my wife and I started our HighPoint trips with the Highest Point in Maryland, Blackbone Mountain. It was a little bit of a hike, but not much (maybe a mile total). The hardest part was just finding the turn off to the logging road you park on to hike from. Don’t have too many pictures, but here is one of the sign: