The Franco-Taiwanese Alliance

The first segment of the winter gaming storm is going pretty decently.  I haven’t mustered the desire (or the disk space) to touch any part of Orange Box aside from Portal and Team Fortress 2.  I suppose that at some point I’ll crank up Half Life 2: Episode One and Episode Two, but who knows.  I spent a fair chunk of today grinding away at Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, trying to turn my party into a decent variety of something other than Squires and Chemists.  How did I ever play this game without massive grinding?  I managed somehow, years ago, but damned if I know how.  I’m getting Halo 3 tomorrow, so that Ryan, James and I can play the coop campaign over Live, and soon after that, I’ll be acquiring Guitar Hero 3 and Hellgate London, both of which will probably devastate my free time.  Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness is tempting me strongly, but hey… didn’t I just buy a SRPG for the PSP?  Damn.  I also have urges to pick up some slightly older games, like Resident Evil 4 for the Wii, and Odin Sphere.  And hey, didn’t another Phoenix Wright game just come out?

I went in for my first eye exam in five years or so, and ordered a shiny new pair of glasses.  I haven’t really been happy with the pair I’ve been using ever since I broke my primary pair in a fit of rage two Decembers ago… they’re too small in many ways, and I’ve long since destroyed the magnetic clip-on sunglasses that came with them.  One of the nosepads, which I didn’t even know could come off, vanished a couple of days ago, and though I’ve since discovered that I actually could replace them (I thought the glasses hadn’t been made for too long), I decided it was still high time to get a replacements.

I went for a brief ride today with a few of the 530riders.  Well… I say “brief”, and it was just to The Corners and back, but it still took just under two hours, all told.  It was an uneventful but fun ride for me, at a decent pace (for my crappy skills!), with no oh-shit moments and no crashes.  We stopped briefly at The Corners and had a little chat about the June 8th trackday at Thunderhill, and then we went our merry ways.

My new(ish) Alpinestars leathers were worn for the second time, and they held up just fine.  I had issues with the pants the first time I went out with them, but I think between better-fitting underwear and the leather starting to break in a little bit, they worked better today.  In fact, I sat around at the Silo on the UC Davis campus for about an hour, waiting for a lunch date with Alice and friends, and they were remarkably comfortable.  Getting them on and off is still and issue, and I really hope they stretch a bit more before settling in, but they’re perfectly workable.

The rest of the suit is doing pretty well…  The jacket, which I wore without the liner today, fits well and doesn’t impede movement, even though I thought it was just a touch big for me before.  At least while I’m on the bike or doing other things, the jacket seems fine.  I’ll probably appreciate the extra room when it gets cold again and I need to wear things under it.  One thing I noticed, though not exactly a downside, was that the thinner material on the inside upper arms surprised me a few times during the ride, because when a bug or small rock hit me there, I would FEEL it.  Nothing terrible though, so oh well.  The gloves are doing great, though they’re complicated to put on, and the same with my new Gaerne track boots.  I guess I’m all kitted out then, as far as safety gear goes… next up is moto maintenance, and then rider training!

Jacket

Pants

Gloves

Holy shit, these things are expensive.  But maybe they’ll save me from injury without grenading themselves in the process.

(Okay, you got me, I just like shiny, expensive things.  Sigh… keep looking for bargains, I suppose I will.)