John!

We had a visitor Saturday!

I had hoped John would be able to make it earlier in the day, but his family has had their own challenges to face. I'd hoped he'd arrive while Carrie and Shane were at the movie theater watching some PBS kid cartoons, so we'd have a little time to talk.

That didn't happen, but we broke out Battletech!

The nostalgia factor for me was huge. John's played some (I ran a campaign while Carrie and I lived in my parents' basement waiting to close on our first home together), but he was foggy on much of the rules.

John invited Shane to play, too.

And John was the more patient of the two of us with Shane, as well! Shane's pieces tended to march around, kick other pieces, and suffer from patience fatigue! John showed Shane a trailer from an old computer game before we started to get him in the right frame of imagination.

It was Shane in a Catapult C1 and John in a Wolverine 6M versus me. I sported a Thunderbolt 5S and a Shadow Hawk 2H.

We played learning style. The boys savaged me.

Shane got the final hit on my Thunderbolt. John looked at Shane's sheet and broke out in an uproarious laugh.

Shane wanted to record that he took down Daddy's mech! Should I be a little disturbed?

Shane's not really old enough for the game, but he had a grand time hanging with us. I was pretty tired by the end of it (Thinking burns more energy than you think!).

I wish John had been able to stay longer. I love it when friends visit. He's my friend who's been able to make the trip to Cville the most often. I'd been trying to encourage John to spend the night either Friday or Saturday, but a day trip was all he felt he could work in.