Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Power Grid

My brother was up yesterday and we played our first game of Power Grid and the game is so unique that we started brain storming on how to create a better game of Monopoly. A fusion of three different games - more on that later as Ralls (brother) has created a few games (none published . . yet) in his life.

Power Grid is a fantastic game where (I'm told) people don't play it twice and put it away which is a problem with most games.  Once you learn how to win it just becomes a race.  Monopoly, once ahead have you ever seen anybody come from behind to win?  No. 


Power Grid is unique as whoever is in first place is at a disadvantage. 

The goal is to buy power plants and build cities.  Power plants are all are different sizes and costs and some need oil, coal, garbage, uranium or wind.  And each one of those (except wind) gets more expensive and harder to come as the game goes on so you need to look at the future and look at what your opponents are doing.  You also only have 4 different random power plants to purchase but you can see which random power plants will be available  . . . soon.

Every time you buy raw materials for your plants they become more expensive and there are less of them.  But here is the cool thing.  The person in last places buys the raw materials FIRST.  The person in 1st place buys last.  So first place is always at a disadvantage through out the game in most things you do.

There is only a small amount of luck and strategy changes throughout the game. 

Each turn has 5 rounds and there are 3 stages in the game that slightly changes the rules.

1. Determine Playing order
2 Auction Power Plants
3. Buying Resources
4. Building
5. Bureaucracy

So we started talking about other games specifically Monopoly and Settlers of Cataan  We thought if we could take the best parts of all three games and combine them . . . . .

The unique leveling of competition from Power Grid when prices fluctuate throughout the game. The property aspect of Monopoly with perhaps zoning and location issues with properties NOT having a static price but one that fluctuates as properties become available, and the randomness of the actual board that Caatan has where each game has a completely different board through random distribution.   

Does Boardwalk have a Stadium near by?  Or a big road like East Washington?  Is cheap Baltic Avenue near a lake? or a dump?  or is it across the street from Park Place?   

Probably can't publish the game if it ever happens as we would get sued (sort of like Cercis Brewing  who wanted to be called Red Bud but Budweiser would sue the hell out of them).

So - three thumbs up with Power Grid.

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Any Milwaukee Buck fans out there?  Want to know what former coach Don Nelson is doing?  He lives in Hawaii, has a cannabis farm and plays poker with Willie Nelson once a week.  Seems a lot easier then coaching in the NBA.

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In a few weeks we will attempt another vacation into the Rockies. Last year was a clusterf*ck.  Getting over head colds at 9,000 feet  . . . . is a nightmare.   Add a FIL with failing health and the place you are staying having people working on remodeling during the day is not a good combination.

We will have a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater to see Brit Floyd and a Rockies game the next night after 5 days in Winter Park.


We toured the place last year and said this HAD to be on our bucket list for places to see a concert.


Another plan is to play around of golf at 9,000 feet at Pole Creek Golf Club.  I purchased 2 new club yesterday a 5 and 7 wood - both GBB Callaway Epic's.  My old 5W looked like it was from the 50s and my 7W just never gave me confidence. 

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OH OH - did you see the Brewer game last night!  OMG Suter, the 5th longest home run by a pitcher since Statcast was invented - 433 feet.  It won the game.  

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Amazon deleted 5.3 million product reviews as being fake.  That being said - I reviewed some Levy jeans I purchased.  It was not a good review.  I wear 511s and their seems to be 20 different 511 jeans now and MY 511s are no longer made.  So I took a stab and the jeans I got were not the same fit.  I reviewed them but it seems my review was negative so it was not allowed and rejected.

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Puerto Rico has had a 27% increase in suicides since the hurricane and the elderly, who are STILL without power are really suffering.

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64% of Americans and ALL of the world believe Trump should not pull out of the Iran Nuke agreement.   But since Obama, "a black man" did this Trump automatically canceled it.  Anything Obama did, good or bad, needs to go according to the whitest President ever. (probably not the most politically correct statement).

OH - the deal will eliminate 250,000 to 500,000 barrels of oil out of the market.  Watch gas prices. For every $1 in crude price rise it corresponds to 2.4 cents per gallon of gas.   We shall see.

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Water - so the theory is you are suppose to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day - FALSE.  There has never ever been a test that substantiates this. It's 100% opinion.  The real thing is you are suppose to CONSUME 6 to 8 glasses of ANY liquid a day which includes pizza sauce or a can of coke to the juice of an orange.  It has nothing to do with a "glass of water".

If you want to know how you are doing - pinch the skin on the back of your hands for a few seconds.  If it immediately goes back to normal, you are fine.

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Weather - YUCK - expect 2-5 inches of rain over the next days (more like a couple here but locally more).    Friday looks like the worst day with a high of 45 and dubious amounts of rain . . . .much much rain.  Saturday is "better" with showers diminishing and a high of 55.  Sunday sunny and 67.

Middle and upper 70s next week.

Rod