Arontius of Bygelswade

.....This cold thing has not been pleasant. I'm glad to start seeing it in the rear view mirror. I finally started feeling somewhat human when I woke up to the alarm this morning. Now I just have to clear out the lungs of all the 'stuff' that has accumulated in them. At least it doesn't hurt so much to cough at this point. It was strange how it came in waves. The first wave was about two weeks ago. Not a whole lot of coughing or respiratory things on that go around. Mainly just a lethargy and run-down feeling with a little bit of stomach ache. The second wave was about a week or so ago. It consisted of a head-cold and body aches, and just a overall 'achy' feeling. This last one was the most dramatic. Lung issues, slight fever, head cold, headaches. Not pleasant. I'm just glad it's finally almost over.

.....Last weekend I had a laundry list of things to get done, but felt poorly enough to not get even half of them done. The one thing on my list that was overdue was a haircut and I ultimately wished I had not done it either. The place I usually use has not done all that great a job the past couple of times I've been there. And I still get charged $17 for the privilege. Not right!

.....Things are still moving painfully slowly on behalf of September Crown. The Bremerton Motorsports Group had been slow in their responses to my latest round of questions, and I found out one of the reasons why in an article published last weekend in the Kitsap Sun. Front page at that! Their 'Master Plan' had originally called out for a Drag Strip raceway as part of the new park that we're currently using for the Crown Site. The submitted plans took out the drag strip itself. There were harsh cries of foul from the proponents of the race site. But what I found interesting in the article itself were the fears of the Industrial Park tenants and the neighbors surrounding the raceway. I didn't think there were that many, but if you look at an aerial view there are more than you might think. Mike Burdick, the BMSG guy who has been assisting us lately, was quoted several times in the article with his regrets on having to remove the drag strip from the Master Plan.

.....A drag strip is a very noisy proposition. In talking to a few people who have some familiarity with this I was basically told that the drag races happening at the strip would probably be heard as far away as Belfair and Gorst in either direction. For those within a mile or so of the strip itself, the noise level would be pretty incredible. The Sun article spoke to the probability of Industrial Park tenants leaving the site.

.....The Bremerton Motorsports Group actually has included us in some of their long term planning, which I find interesting as we haven't even given them a single check as yet. The proposal is that when construction actually begins on the north side of the Highway, our activities would move to the track area on the south side of the Bremerton Airport. Some of the plans include clearing some forest space out for us. Don't know how long we'll be able to stay there before the new highway goes through the area, but I'm certainly open to possibilities. It's not like Dragon's Laire has large and open event sites waiting in line to host us in Kitsap County.

.....Looks like the September Crown pre-registration page goes live on March 2nd. The Marketplace Coordinator has revised the application form. We're looking it over now and it should go live within the next week. I think I'll schedule a Team Haggis gathering for sometime in the next two weeks and we'll see about laying out a game plan for the next several months.

.....I attended a meeting of the Serjeantry candidates last Sunday. It ended up being heraldry night. I looked over a number of possible name and device submissions, conflict checking what I could with the manuals I had. Definitely an enthusiastic group. We also clarified a number of the requirements. Hopefully stating them in a way that could be understood more easily. I took some notes on this that we can pass on to Dame Ellen when we get with her on completing the latest updates. All of the questions have been good ones. I try to encourage the questions whenever possible. The more I can explain something, the easier it ultimately becomes to explain it.

.....This is true to an extent on the Quest. I think everyone is grasping the concept for the most part. The fact that it is not something that is black-and-white makes it a little more difficult to explain. But it is starting to get easier to explain as well as give examples. Every time I talk about it I put out the reminder that the Quest component is going to be different for every single person performing it. It has to be in order to be something that ultimately benefits the person doing it as well as the Barony. If the person performing it really has no interest in doing it, how is that going to inspire others in the Barony to take on something exciting or different or new? I can't wait to see the first couple of completed Quests so we have something concrete and done to which to speak. It may take longer than the allotted six month time frame, but if the serious work is being done to fulfill it, I'm more than willing to extend the deadline. We'll see how that plays out in the overall scheme of how this fits together.

.....Fight Practice and June Faire Populace Meeting tonight at the OSSC. I thought it a good idea to hold it there. It'll possibly bring out a number of people who've never made it to see the OSSC and Fight Practice location.

.....Need to start concentrating on finding a new location for when the VFW Hall rental runs out. The VFW Folks have been really good to us, but we need to find a place again like we had with Seaside Church. A place that all the different groups of the Barony can come together and mingle. I don't really want to go back to the old days of utilizing places like Silverdale Waterfront Park. Sure, it is free and available. But how many people did you actually see out there from November through February? There is a compromise out there somewhere, we just need to get creative. We have until the end of July to find this place. Need a Honey Badger to 'get crackin'.

.....This weekend is the Madrone Arts and Sciences Championship in Magnolia. I'm traveling with a Florence load of ladies bright and early on Saturday morning. It'll be interesting to see the different way in which Madrone judges their Championship. We might come away with some nuggets to add to our process. Although, I like where we are headed in Dragon's Laire. Just needs some finessing.

.....I've got to get going on that 'to-do' list as well. June Faire will be here in a hurry! There are many things to get done. Again, I need to channel my inner Honey Badger. :-) Maybe in more ways than one. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.