2022...the Year that Was...

And now we find ourselves at journey's end. What dreams we held in January have crystallized or crumbled under the press of the year gone by. 2022 was by any measure, an outstanding year for ASL. Personally, it was a challenging and humbling year. Week two of 2022...I literally, in the middle of a call about inflation predictions for 2022...hung up the phone, packed up my office and walked out. The crushing weight of the job, the nonsense and petty cruelties of my boss and a sense that I simply wasn't where I needed to be finally propelled me to that thing we imagine doing throughout our lives. Johnny Paycheck would have been proud...but 19 weeks no paycheck wasn't so good. Today, I'm working for an outstanding organization, boss and with a fantastic team. Had I not, finally done what was best for me...I wouldn't be here today. Life is funny sometimes.

An office with an incredible view of downtown Tulsa...never thought I'd be in such a place.

Through all the personal travails was a single constant...ASL..every Friday and Saturday evening with my buddy Scott in St. Louis and my Kansas City nemesis, Dan Best. Scott and I usually play between 6-12 Starter Kit scenarios each year. His mother's heart attack this year, derailed our gaming for six months. His mother is doing great today and happy we are for that. Dan would pick up the slack on Friday nights and for about six months, we would get 2-3 games in every week. I would finish the year with 110 and might be able to sneak in one of more games yet this year. My in-laws are here and visiting until January 3rd...so I'll have to be really sneaky!!

Back to back 100+ years is pretty sweet. It's a lot of ASL and every now and then it would be a bit of a grind for Dan and I, if the scenario was just not giving us joy. The best games this year for me, were the two weeks where Dan and I played through some Red Factories scenarios. I thoroughly enjoyed those games. My dislikes...well, didn't become a fan of Ethiopian scenarios and played a few blowout scenarios that really aren't fun for either player...win or lose.

ASL does an outstanding job of putting you in Stalingrad. (The cardboard version of course.)

2022 had its share of lost moments...getting food poisoned during the Kansas City games day in February sucked...and then staying home from tournaments for a third year in a row was very tough...especially missing March Madness...where the Grumble Jones scenario pack was being released. A lost moment that will never happen again. Hopefully, 2023 will see me at March Madness and Texas. 

And now for some of the images from the year gone by....

My thanks to Dan, Scott and Dave 

for all the great games of 2022!

As for the Grumble Jones Blog...well...let me say thanks to all the readers who make this blog relevant. 

As always, thanks for spending your valuable time at Grumble Jones!

We will see you in 2023!!!