Well...I bet you were expecting an "Our Saturday" Game AAR. Unfortunately, life had other plans. A lot happened to me over the past week and none of it good. Family issues plagued me mid-week and really messed me up, especially as my wife was taking care of her parents in Minneapolis this past week. So had to deal with issues related to my daughter and a boyfriend (a Felon who just got out of jail last week and as of this writing is once again in jail). Suffice to say, it's none of it good and a fifteen minutes visit with the local police at my dining room table last night confirmed my concerns regarding this person. I'm grateful for the Quincy PD...great officers in the community.
My next bit of anguish occurred Friday as I was laid off with a great many other folks. I was notified later in the morning after watching many others depart. I've been lucky up until that point. In over 30 years in manufacturing, I been able to survive some truly horrific layoffs...I mean...RIF's...reductions in force which you know "right size the organization. So for the first time in my work life I'm unemployed and staring at the prospect of no insurance at the beginning of the year. COBRA is of course available...but the cost would quickly bankrupt me...so don't know what I will finally decide.
I let Dan know what had happened and he and I decided on a short game Friday evening. We selected Tettau's Attack and as the Germans I was mowed down early and often. Probably not the right scenario on the very day that you lose your livelihood. To say I was depressed...shell shocked...disoriented is an understatement. And I got to spend it all alone. The wash of negative emotions that come with being laid off are difficult to express. Like many men my age, my self-worth has been built around my professional life. I've poured my heart into my career and to suddenly be thrown overboard is shattering. Even as I sit blogging this, my mind still goes to work issues that I needed to address. They are of course no longer my concern...but leaving them unfinished messes with me anyway. Sorry to lay all this out there...but it helps me to talk about it. It will also impact my blog as I don't have a PDF editor on my home computer. It was on work laptop, which I used to create the PDF's of my scenarios. So my apologies for not being able to put out PDF's for the near-term.
I decided to create a bonus December scenario, because...I only had 11 to put in this year's GJ 2020 pack. This year's Halloween scenario was a huge bust. In fact, I received zero feedback regarding it...so lesson learned...some things just don't make good scenarios in practice. So, I felt like I needed one more for this year.
I was reading up on the Italian campaign following the fall of Monte Cassino and came across the exploits of a Luftwaffe Gefreiter, Herbert Fries. Fries manned a Pantherturm outside of Piedimonte and managed to destroy numerous Sherman tanks prior to falling back with the rest of the retreating German Tenth Army. There is a surprisingly good amount of information about Fries on the internet. So quick Google search will give you the details regarding him.
But his exploits in Italy are reflected in this month's scenario.
Pantherturms are new territory for me...so hopefully this scenario works ok. You never know with a GJ effort...what you're going get....kinda like a box of chocolates....by the time you've taken a bite...well...it's too late!!!
This will finish up the 2020 Scenario Year. I intend to continue this effort for 2021 for good or ill. Hopefully, these are fun to consider if nothing else. And I enjoy putting them out there. Thanks everyone for your support of this blog this year. I appreciate you all spending your valuable time at Grumble Jones.
As always these monthly "Basement Quality" Scenarios are offered for fun only and as a thank you to the readers of this blog.
Remember to open pictures in a new window in order to maximize the size.
And as always, these scenarios can be downloaded from The ASL Scenario Archive
(just search on Grumble Jones).
Hello there, sorry to hear about your redundancy - happened to me in 2017 and at first it was gutting...however it made me reevaluate myself. I had defined myself too much by my career instead of by who I was. Sounds a bit hippy dippy but once you get over the sucker punch and realise your job wasnt YOU its a healthier place all around. I took the opportunity to turn a hobby - painting miniatures - into a livelihood. I dont earn as much as i did but frankly you find you dont need to. In retrospect the redundancy and recalibration were the best things that ever happened to me and i hope it will turn out ok for you. Best wishes Johnj
ReplyDeletePS if you want to look at nice eye candy pics of ww2 stuff have a look at my website thing firstcommissionpainting.co.uk
Thanks for the kind words John!
DeleteHi Grumble Jones,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say that I know where you are coming from. I was made redundant earlier on this year in July. I was in my job for 17 years as a computer programmer and it came completely out of the blue. The company was doing very well but they decided to make some people redundant due to perceived harder times ahead.
After a few failed interviews I was finally offered a job last week and things are starting to look up again. I didn't think that I would find work again as a 50 year old programmer I was feeling very left behind with changes in technology and me not keeping up with it all. All I can say is that things might look very bleak right now, but things WILL get better. You just have to get over the current speed bump.
I've always enjoyed reading your ASL blog over the past few years. Monday mornings (I live in the UK) are one of the highlights in my week when I get to read about your ASL weekend games. I know that you don't get much feedback but we are out there reading about your good and bad dice rolls in ASL. I've been playing ASL on and off since my student days and even though I feel more like a collector these days I do still play a couple of games a month with my ASL gamer friends.
Chin up and don't let the bastards grind you down. Try to have a daily routine to keep yourself busy. You will have some bad days, don't be to hard on yourself and try to take a few days off to do things that you enjoy. It may look bad now but there are still plenty of good days to be had in the future.
Will.
Thanks Will...I will do my best. You never get up on an ASL game until every squad is broken!!!
DeleteHang in there Scott. If you get to the point where you need anything, send me a note, I'll do my best to get it done. What else are friends for? Take care of your family and yourself. Roy
ReplyDeleteThanks Roy. These are tough days for sure. Appreciate you having my back!
DeleteSorry to hear about your crappy week, Scott. Been there myself, several times, and it's never fun. Good for you to have the sense to realize how much of one's self-image can get wrapped up around one's job; don't let one short-sighted company's decision make you start feeling bad about yourself - remember what Eleanor Roosevelt said about that. Keep busy, keep up your routines, think about your next job (if you want/need one) and go after it. Stay positive. Know that you're appreciated, like others here have said. Hang in there.
ReplyDelete