Catching up

Just a few quick notes:

I found a great little game called "A House Divided." It's a little older and is now in its third edition, and I'm a little surprised I didn't discover it sooner. It's a strategic level Civil War game that's easy to learn, fast to play, and a whole lot of fun. The core game can be learned in 10 minutes, and there are a slew of optional rules. One of the designers has written rules for a v3.1 that include some advanced rules with additional optional rules. Overall, even the basic game makes for a great gaming experience, and the additional layers of complexity introduced with the optional and advanced rules make the game a bit more challenging and deep. I'm not sure that the game's any better with the optional rules, but they do present the player with a few more factors to consider. Highly recommended.

I'm allergic to dust mites :( . After suffering through seemingly endless sinus issues, it appears that an allergist has found the culprit. I had allergy testing this week, and while I'm noticeably allergic to Mulberry, Johnson grass, Bermuda grass, Lamb's Quarter, Black Walnut, White Birch, Juniper, and even cats (!), dust mites have the greatest effect on me, especially my nose and eyes. The past few weeks, my eyes have been so irritated that I couldn't wear contacts, so it was time to do something different, which was allergy testing. I now have a nose spray and eye drops to provide some relief, but the simplest, most effective thing I've done, on my doctor's advice, is to cover my mattress with an allergy control cover and replace my old pillow with an allergy control pillow. The concept is to contain the dust mites within the mattress, which is where they are concentrated in the greatest numbers. After two nights, I am already noticing that I don't have the rhinitis and sinus issues that I've had for as long as I can remember. I'm going to have to vacuum more frequently, actually dust my furniture, and wash my bedding more frequently (the doctor suggested keeping the cats out of the bedroom, but I'm not sure I could win that fight), but I'm looking forward to feeling better.