As we begin Week #3 (or is it #4?) of self-isolation, I thought I would let you know how time is being passed in the now empty Grandstand. Rather than become total prisoners of the television - we have actually reduced our TV viewing time - we have dusted off some of our collection of board games and have whiled away the evenings with....
Poker's Wild. A pretty cool game wherein you score points by making poker hands by laying out the cards on a board. No actual gambling is required, but we began playing for money last night. A dime a point. We split two games last night, but Marlyn came out ahead $.70.
Scrabble. It had been years since we last played this, but we hauled it out last night. We played an entire game and we both used all of our tiles. Incredibly, the final score ended in a tie at 230 points each. What are the odds of that, I wonder? (We were playing for a dime a point in this one, too, but no money actually changed hands.) By the way, the directions said that the total points in a normal game should range between 500 to 700 points, depending on "the skill of the players", so we are a bit embarrassed that we only managed a total of 460. Definitely room for improvement there.
Blackjack. We played for big stakes in this one. Each chip was worth a dime. We went through two six deck shoes. Once again, Marilyn came out ahead, winning $1.30.
Yahtzee. An easy way to pass a couple of hours. We didn't play for money, and I, uh, can't remember which of us actually won the six round game that we played.
According to my Games-maven pal Fred Shugars, this game was invented by people while sailing on yacht, and no, I don't know why they left out the "C" in the name.
Connect 4. Easy, simple, fast and fun. It can also be aggravating when you miss a very simple move that causes your opponent to win the game. Not that I'd know anything about that.
Pentago. We picked this game up at some store in a resort town while on vacation a few years ago. Can't even remember where, but I'm thinking the Jersey Shore. It's one of those games that, according to the box, "takes seconds to learn, and a lifetime to master." When I posted this on Facebook, Susan Shugars, wife of Fred, said she never heard of this one. The implication that I might possess a game that Fred does not own is one that I consider a victory of sorts.
Transamerica. The object is to connect five cities across the USA by railroad tracks. A game introduced to us at Fred's Gamesfest a few years back. This game is really a fun one. It can be played as a two person game, but is more fun with three or four.
Oh, and I actually won this one when we played!
We have also spent time as many have, according to all of the Facebook posts, doing a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle, one of a Steelers helmet.
I don't live to do jigsaw puzzles, but somewhere along the way I inherited part of my grandmother, Katie Madden's, puzzle DNA. Seems like she always had one going on a card table in her dining room. Once I do sit down with a puzzle, I'm hooked. Hours can pass by without even thinking about it. This particular puzzle was a tough one in large part, I think, because there were no straight edges surrounding it. Like I said to someone, it would have been easier to run through the Steel Curtain than it was to complete this one. We did it over four days, and probably about 18 or so person-hours between us.
Okay. Time for a nap. We've taken a lot of those, too.
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