April 2025 Wrap-Up

April absolutely flew by but here are the cliff notes: I turned 40, the federal government is doing every it can to fucking ruin the things I care about, and we had a nice trip back to Syracuse for Easter. You'd think turning 40 would be a much bigger deal, but if you read my post about it (link below) you'll understand why it's not. Both my work and favorite hobby are being greatly affected by the decisions of the current administration. Whole federal departments are being downsized and/or cut which means funding for the work we do is just evaporating before our very eyes. With the release of a leaked HHS budget proposal, our office specifically could see a massive change. 

The board game hobby that I adore is seeing similar issues with many publishers and retailers either closing or drastically changing their business models because of the tariffs on China. The people producing/selling the games are losing their livelihoods and homes in some cases, while consumers are not receiving their orders and in many cases losing hundreds or even thousands of dollars because of it. It will take years for the hobby to recover even if the tariffs are rolled back soon. Thankfully there is no shortage of games to play, it's just sad to see so much work go to waste and know that many designs will never see the table in published form.

Blah Blog Log

A short birthday post with a great title brought the post count up to two in March.

• March 2025 Wrap-Up - Played one of the original Euro games for the first time, ate at a classic diner, and found an unlikely snack that I really like.
• I am 30 or 40 years old and I do not need this - A birthday post like no other.
  

Bored Board Games

I broke 100 plays for the fourth straight month, brining my total plays up to 648 across 62 games this year. A favorite flip and write game of mine, Cartographers, joined the 100 plays club and has been added to the 100 Games 100 Plays list. This month's highlighted game is:

El Grande - I've wanted this game for over a decade but it really wasn't the style of game that my previous group would have enjoyed. However, my current group is much more amenable to games that feature area control and take that mechanics, among others. My birthday gift from my mom was a gift card to get some new games and since I've wanted this for so long, it was time to pull the trigger. I'm so glad I did because the game is excellent.

Played over a series of 9 rounds, players select one of their 13 power cards to determine turn order as well as the number of caballeros you get to move from the provinces (general supply) into your court (personal supply). Then in turn order, players select one of five action cards which allow variations to the rules and additional scoring opportunities in addition to determining how many caballeros to move from your court to one or more of the regions on the board (or into the Castillo - a secretive tower). After every third round, the regions are scored, and after the ninth round, the player with the most points is the winner.

El Grande was originally published back in 1995 and went on to win the Spiel des Jahres. Now 30 years later, it has stood the test of time as one of, if not the best pure area control games ever published. It's incredibly easy to teach, but offers so many interesting choices. You have to strategically manage your hand as the game goes on, reducing your ability in guaranteeing you get an action card you want. Then you need to be smart in selecting the action card. The one that might help you the most at the moment might not be the best choice if an action card selected by another player later in the turn could foil your plans. It's such a clean and straightforward game that I wish I could have played many times already. Thankfully I can now bring it to meetups and it's also on BGA, so it will likely make the 100 plays list at some point.

Enjoyable Eats

I said in a previous wrap-up post that I wanted to focus on local places but we had some amazing food for Easter diner when we were in Syracuse. Instead of the traditional ham and au gratin potatoes that I love, my sister-in-law had a brilliant idea of getting catering from a Polish restaurant in Solvay. I went with her to pick up three trays of perogies and containers of various cabbage dishes and a garden salad.

I pulled this picture from Eva's European Sweets website to show you what their homemade perogies look like. We had three different kinds: cheddar, bacon, and mushroom. They come with either potato or sauerkraut filling, which we had a mix of both. The dough was so tender and they were so flavorful. The cabbage salad and pickled red cabbage were great additions to cut through the richness. If you live in Syracuse and have never been, I can't recommend Eva's enough. I'd never had their food before, despite them being around for over 25 years. We'll definitely need to rectify all the years of missing out during our future trips back to Syracuse.

I'm Watching 👀

The Last of Us is back with it's second season and so much has already happened in the first three episodes. No spoilers here, but the internet has been buzzing about a major storyline that, if you've never played the game, came as a huge shock. It's definitely one of my favorite show on TV right now and can't wait to see where they take it. I never played the games but have a friend that has so I know some of what happens, assuming they keep things similar in the show like they have so far. 

It was tough to pick a show to highlight here because we had a few shows that had series premieres in April. We're also watching regular food programming like Spring Baking Championship on Food Network and Next Level Chef on FOX. I'm also watching the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs and hope my Colorado Avalanche don't get eliminated tonight. 

 Resolutions Update

I decided on a single resolution for this year: Read all 35 issues of Simplify Magazine. Which means I'll need to read 3 issues each month. Each issue is about 75 - 100 pages long and is comprised of short essays on whatever that issue's topic is. 

• Goal Progress - 9 out of 35

Fell a little behind on this because I didn't read any issues in April. As of this morning however, I have already "caught up" by reading the three issues on Food & Diet, Relationships, and Self-Care. Hopefully I find the time to read the three for this month to stay on track.

Whatcha Snackin?

While in New York for Easter, my sister in law gifted me a bag of these new peanut butter filled pretzels from Reese's. I've been eating peanut butter filled pretzels since I was a teenager from a variety of brands. They're all basically the same with some small variances like the amount of salt on the pretzels and the quality of peanut butter inside. I think these ones by Reese's are one of the better versions because the pretzels are crunchy and salty with the peanut butter mixture you fine in one of their peanut butter cups. It's not quite the same texture or flavor as you normally find. After receiving them, I read an article that snacks like these, that I'm shocked weren't a thing sooner, are being released because of declining candy sales. If you like peanut butter filled pretzels, definitely give these a try.

Wrap It Up

Please comment below with any thoughts or comments on anything I've covered. Thanks for reading!