... The Tough Tests and Twighlight

There's nothing as confusing and puzzling as awakening in the morning with aching muscles, wondering why and - after a few moments careful pondering - realising "oh yes it's because I had gaming last night".

You see The Viking Hat GM had cunningly decided that we would use our inappropriately named rest-week, not for board games or their ilk, but for testing ourselves and rating the results in game terms.

So a series of push-pull-and-balance-ups ensued. Combined with jumping (from which my bad knee saved me) breath-holding and various other sundry tests. I for one was disappointed that there was no eating test when we were calculating our Endurance statistic (although I do suspect that Age of Fable may have outscored me on that one).

The surveys of worldly experience to determine our mental stats were a little easier although I believe I may have strained one of my lobes.

All in all an interesting exercise and I still have to complete an IQ test to achieve more than the average rating.

Interestingly the tests were created by TVHGM and The Mad Magyar and contained many areas specifically tailored to their particular strengths - I mean really, scoring bonus points for sadistic treatment of players in a game. Still, never being one to complain, I just sucked it up and accepted the bias inherent in the testing procedure.


The MRI
My second test, which technically (and actually) occurred before the gaming one, was an MRI of my dodgy knee. It had been conveniently scheduled for 8pm on a gaming night - further proof that they are out to get me.

As it was merely my knee that was being scanned I was only slid up to my waist into the giant magnet and so had no concerns at all with claustrophobic issues raising their ugly heads.

The process itself was akin to being waist deep in a giant clanking washing machine for twenty minutes with metallic hammering occurring all about my knee.

No results yet but the specialist should be giving me a buzz in the next week to arrange the inordinately expensive consultation in which I am informed of the true state of my knee injury.


Twilight
This was the third of my tests and I managed to just pass, making it to the end with some few tiny threads of my interest remaining.
Having seen the movie I knew everything that was going to happen (not that there's a lot to remember in any case) so the only extras in the book where the angsty "I haven't seen him for five minutes and I'm going to die of depression" internal monologues of a weak-willed teenage girl.
Still the prose flows well and it is your typical totally romantic novel of a 90 year old seducing a 17 year old with his overpowering presence and worldly experience.
Although why he'd choose the one person whose thoughts he couldn't read over being able to know what his girlfriend was thinking has this correspondent as confused as a geek waking up with sore muscles after gaming.
.