#I REALLY LIKE SODA. hes simple in a way. and yet also fairly complex. or something. i think hes dumb in the same ways i am

[sluckythewizard]

GUH. i started writing more. ill see if i can find the time to write a lil more while im at work (i will be working for 3 grueling days straight) but in the meantime heeere HEEERE have a small small sip.

[myhockeyworld87]

Nervous Regrets - Tyler Seguin - Part 8

Word Count: 4726

POV: Reader

Warning: Cursing

Notes: Not really any this time. Hope you guys enjoy!

Euphoric, it was a funny word, while its meaning meant happiness or elation; it was often used to describe the effects of drugs one may consume. Obviously, that wasn’t your case at the moment, but euphoric was definitely how you felt after the last few hours with Tyler. While you weren’t one to agree with the use of recreational drugs, you could see their allure; for if this was the high one got when they took ecstasy or the likes, you’d be a junkie, hooked on one Mister Tyler Seguin.

 That giddy, light headed, endlessly happy feeling inside you at the moment was something you didn’t want to let go of; after the last few months of despair and darkness, it finally felt good to love again. It was amazing how a few days could change your whole world. You had crawled into a black hole after the whole cheating scandal; now that you were out, it felt good to be human again. You were soaring above the clouds, floating on them really; and nothing could bring you down.

Making your way through Dallas traffic, you recalled the last few hours; and how you went from sheer panic to pure elation. Seeing your baby, while the man you loved held your hand; was surreal. It was something, only a short week ago, you never saw happening; yet there you were, both of you sobbing as the life you’d created, popped up on the screen. Unconsciously your hand went to your stomach to cradle your baby.

Trusting Tyler was still an internal issue that you were struggling with; but your unquestioning nature seemed to be winning that battle at the moment. Whenever doubts would creep in, he would seem to find some way to breakdown that wall; letting you know he was all in. The baby would forever link the two of you, but if you could find a way to put your trust issues with Tyler aside and become a family; that would be a dream come true.

In order to do that though, you needed to start taking better care of yourself. So, heading home you decided to treat yourself by going through the drive thru of your favorite fast food restaurant. You’d been craving a salad topped with grilled chicken, not having access to a grill was definitely a problem; that you ordered a side of fries with it, probably wasn’t the best option. Walking into the sparse apartment, you slid your heels off, making yourself comfortable. Quickly you ate your dinner, then changed into an old V-neck t-shirt and yoga pants; wanting to get a small workout in before the Stars came on. Throwing your hair in a messy bun, you tossed the Pilates mat in front of the television, putting on a quick thirty-minute session.

About twenty minutes in to it, you realized you should’ve waited until your meal settled before you began; as your stomach started to rebel against you. Grabbing a ginger ale from the fridge and some soda crackers; you switched the television to the pre-game action. Tyler’s lack of performance in the first few games was a topic of conversation the sports announcers seemed to pay close attention to; it did nothing for bouts of nausea you were currently experiencing. You were hot, sweaty and your breasts felt like they were five times their normal size, in their restrictive bra; and in the moment you felt if you didn’t remove it, you’d either hurl all over the living room floor or self-combust. Why a female would ever invent a contraption so constricting was completely beyond your imagination, in that moment. Feeling like you could breathe again, and not actually expel the contents of your stomach on the floor; you made yourself more comfortable on the couch as the game got underway.

Tyler scored with minutes left in the first period putting the Stars on the board; hopefully that would silence the announcers about his previous point percentage. In the second he added an assist on Jamie’s goal; which had the Stars leading the game two to one. You couldn’t wait to see what the third period would bring, as it got underway. Unfortunately, the doorbell rang with only three minutes into the period. Getting up out of your warm cozy spot, your brain trying to work out who could be at your door at this hour; your friends usually called before they came over at this time of night. Peeking through the peep-hole you saw Robert, standing in front of your apartment. While this wasn’t an appropriate hour of the night, you needed to break things off with him; and so, you opened the door. “Robert, what are you doing here? It’s a little late.”

You hoped that didn’t sound too dismissing. “Hey pretty lady.” Starting to kiss you on the lips, but you quickly turned so that he would be kissing your cheek instead. “I haven’t heard from you in the last few days and I’d thought I’d check on you.”

Well that was sweet of him and here you are trying to break things off. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Work has been crazy, among other things. I did get your flowers, that was very sweet of you to send them.”

“Yeah you kind of had me wondering, since you didn’t really acknowledge them.”

Maybe because you’d also received ten other more extravagant arrangements that day. Mentally shaking yourself, now was not the time to be comparing whose bouquet was bigger. “They’re lovely. Can I get you something to drink, water, soda, wine?”

“A glass of wine would be great.” Throwing his jacket in the chair, he plopped down on the couch; grabbing the remote and turning the television off, just as Tyler was making his way to the net with the puck. Giving him the side eye, the one your grandmother used to give when one of you had said something distasteful; you poured the wine, less than what you’d normally give. “You’re not drinking?” This asked as you handed him the glass of wine.

“Umm..no, I have work tomorrow,” it wasn’t a lie, you did have work; but you also weren’t divulging the truth to him.

“You should blow it off. I’ll grab my dad’s jet and we can head to the beach for a couple days.” He was so nonchalant about it, like it was something he did every day; and that your job meant nothing. Robert was the quintessential rich playboy; daddy’s money had gotten him everything up to this point and he saw no reason not continue on this way. You couldn’t be certain he’d ever worked a full day of his life; so how could he understand that you not only needed your job, you enjoyed it. It was something Tyler never questioned.

Taking a seat at the opposite end of the sofa, you tried to explain, “I just can’t up and leave work like that Robert. I have responsibilities there; deadlines that need to be met.” Granted your job did afford you the flexibility to work from wherever; and they were fairly willing to let you have time off when you wanted; but this was not something he needed to know.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, he acknowledged you with a simple, “fine.” With glaring eyes, he surveyed your apartment. “Babe, why haven’t you looked for some place better to live. You know you could move into my complex, that way we’d be closer. Plus, it’s definitely more luxurious than this.”

What had you seen in this man, when he first asked you out? He was condescending and arrogant; that he’d masked these attributes in your first couple of dates was amazing. Or maybe they were just there all along and you were too blind in your misery to see it. “I actually looked at a place yesterday.” Omitting the part that it was with your baby daddy.

You went to continue, however he cut you off, “good, I hope it’s better than this place.” Mentally you rolled your eyes at his pretentiousness. “Babe, why are you sitting so far away?” He scooted closer to you, placing his hand on your thigh; while his eyes focused on your breasts. That’s when you remembered you weren’t wearing a bra; immediately feeling naked and exposed to this man.

Scrambling off the couch, you needed this interaction to come to a close. Even his use of the word babe felt wrong falling off his lips; not like when Tyler would lovingly call you it. Crossing your arms, trying to cover yourself; you began the conversation you’d been dreading since he walked through your door. “Look Robert, you’re a really nice guy. It’s just well….it’s not you, it’s me really.” God you’d been the recipient of that line so many times in your dating history; each time you’d known it had been a lie. It was a half-truth in this instance, feeling the need to be somewhat honest; you continued. “The truth is. I’m trying to work things out with Tyler and I just don’t think it would be fair to either of you; if we continued this.” Motioning with your hand between the two of you.

“Wait…You’re getting back together with the bastard that had the back-alley blow job scandal.” You winced, it sounded pathetic coming out of his mouth; that you would want to get back with someone who had treated you so callously.

“It’s complicated.” Truly it was; but you didn’t feel the need to explain any further.

Setting his half-drunk wine down on the coffee table, he stood. “You’re gonna pick that fucking man whore over someone like me? I thought you were smarter than that.” His eyes roamed up and down your body, a disgusted look crossing his face.

Flinching, you stepped back realizing you didn’t know this man at all. “I’m sorry Robert, I just need to follow my heart; and my heart just really belongs with Tyler.”

He seemed to collect himself then; striding to the door as he said, “Good luck, you’re going to need it.” With that he left; you let out a breath you didn’t know you’d been holding in, breathing a sigh of relief that the encounter was finally over. That was until you looked over to the living room and spotted his tailor-made suit coat lying on your chair. Grabbing it and your keys you headed out to return the garment to him. He was in the parking lot, getting ready to step into his vehicle.

“Robert, you forgot this.” Yelling, hoping to impede him from leaving. He stopped closing the car door as you drew closer. Handing him the jacket, you apologized once more. “I really am sorry.”

Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply; when they reopened, gone was the Robert that was cold and arrogant, replaced by the caring man you’d thought you’d been seeing. “I’m sorry to (Y/N). I shouldn’t have said those things inside. I just really thought we had something special.”

Hurt was etched across his face; in that moment you felt guilty for not telling him the entire truth about your reunion with Tyler. “I hope we can still be friends.” You weren’t exactly sure that was even possible or even if you wanted friendship with this man; it just felt like the right thing to say.

“Sure, no hard feelings.” He reached out then to hug you; a goodbye gesture you saw no reason not to return. He held you a little too close and a little too long for your comfort, but you let him have this final embrace. Finally, he pulled back, and before you knew it; his mouth was on yours greedy and hungry; forcing yours open as he held you tight in his arms. Panic set in, it was late and no one was around; you pushed at the wall of his chest hoping to loosen his grip. When it tightened you did the only thing that popped into your mind. Bracing your hands on his shoulders for leverage, you brought your knee up connecting it as hard as you could with his groin; the direct hit had him doubling over in pain. You twisted out of his arms and made your way back into the apartment, as he yelled, “you bitch!”

Not looking back you headed straight for your apartment and locked the door; glancing out the window, seeing his car peel out of the parking lot. Your heart was racing and you couldn’t seem to catch your breath; tonight, had definitely not gone as planned. All you wanted right now was Tyler’s arms wrapped around you; but it wouldn’t pay to tell him what had transpired. Knowing Tyler, he’d be out the door ready to beat Robert to a bloody pulp. So instead you grabbed a blanket and encased yourself in its fluffy warmth; taking deep breaths as you calmed your nerves.

Grabbing your phone, you pulled up the highlights of the game to distract you. As you suspected Tyler had scored again in the third period, leading the Stars to victory over the Avs. Checking the time, you felt he should be home by now; you sent him a quick text.

Great game tonight! I’m so proud of you!

Part of you wished he would text you back, asking to come over; you’d gladly take him up on it. When you were together road trips were always hard; but now that you’d finally started taking steps towards reconciling these next five days were going to be hell without him. The phone beeped drawing your attention.

Thanks

That was it, nothing more; it was not what you expected. Staring at the screen, you waited for more to appear; when it didn’t you hauled yourself up and headed to bed. Maybe he was tired, it’s been an emotional day; first seeing the baby and then playing such a great game. Tyler probably went home and dropped onto the bed exhausted. He’d done that from time to time, after a particular trying game; you’d always removed his shoes and tie then, taking a blanket and covering him up. He’d eventually wake up in the middle of the night, strip naked and climb into bed with you; waking you up with feverish kisses. The two of you would make love until you both fell back asleep. Your body ached with need for that at the moment. The PA was right; your hormonal urges were becoming stronger, though it could just be thoughts of being with Tyler again.

The baby fluttered then, reminding you that your love had created this little life forming inside you. Closing your eyes, you let your mind take you to a time, not too far in the future; where you and Tyler were lying in bed, the baby on Tyler’s chest as they both slept. Smiling you drifted off to sleep with that picture in your mind.

Waking up, you put the drama of last night with Robert behind you and started your day. Work was busy, so you hadn’t really noticed that Tyler hadn’t text you that he’d landed in St. Louis, until it was well after four. He had mentioned they were leaving after morning skate, which would likely put them there around two or three in the afternoon. Pushing any uneasy thoughts to the side, that something was wrong, you finished out the day; shooting him a quick text and vowing to call him if you didn’t hear from him shortly.

When eight o’clock rolled around and you still heard nothing from him, you started to panic. Picking up the phone, you dialed his number; pacing as the phone rang. Your heart jumped into your throat when his voicemail picked up. Something was wrong, maybe there was an accident, or he could’ve been hurt in practice and be lying in the hospital. Your mind was swirling with dread. Vaguely you thought about calling Jamie; had even pulled up his contact info when the phone rang, Tyler’s face popping up on the screen.

“Oh thank god, I was so worried. Are you ok?” it all came out in a rush; like it was all one word and not sentences formed together.

“Yeah I’m fine.” There was despondence in his voice; he didn’t say anything more.

“Tyler, what’s wrong? Why didn’t you text me when you got in?” Sheer panic had taken over when he hadn’t answered; now you were questioning whether or not there was something else going on here. Doubts started creeping in; was he with someone, some woman? When he didn’t answer right away you voiced your concerns. “Are you…is someone with you?”

“What? Fuck, no I’m not with anyone.” Anger tainted his voice, but really what could he expect; it was the only logical conclusion you could draw, since he was acting so strange. Softly, he added, “I’m not the one fooling around this time.”

“What the hell does that mean? That I am?” He was making no sense at all. You thought your relationship with Tyler was finally heading in the right direction; that he would suggest otherwise had you baffled.

“Really? You’re going to just pretend like you weren’t kissing some guy last night.” Realization dawned on you, somehow Tyler must have seen what happened with Robert last night; but he had it all wrong. You started to speak but Tyler cut you off, “Seriously (Y/N), how can you go from everything that we shared yesterday, to making out with some other guy. I mean explain it to me, because I don’t get it.” He took a breath and you thought you had your opportunity, until he continued. “For fuck sake you told me you loved me yesterday. Did that mean nothing to you? Does our child mean nothing to you or our family?”

That was it, you’d had enough; Tyler had crossed the line with that last comment. “Would you shut up for a fucking minute and let me explain.” Blood boiling, you needed to calm yourself. “First off, the baby means everything to me, and I mean everything; don’t ever fucking question me about that again. Do you hear me?”

A small weak, “yeah,” was all you received.

“Secondly, I do love you and I meant every word I said to you yesterday. God Tyler, I never stopped loving you, not even after everything that happened. All I wanted last night was for you to finish the game and come and hold me in your arms; I just didn’t know how to ask you that.” Blowing out a breath you continued on, “Lastly, I don’t know what you saw, but I was not and I mean not at all kissing Robert.”

“Funny, it sure looked like you had your tongue down his throat.”

“Jesus Tyler, I was not kissing him.” He started to refute your claim again, but you were not having it. “What you saw was him forcing his tongue down my throat. He wouldn’t let me go, I had to kick him in the balls to get away.”

“What did you say? He forced you?” This wasn’t how you wanted to say any of this to Tyler; point of fact you didn’t want to tell him any of it. You knew Tyler would lose his cool, if he found out about Robert’s actions; which is why you had decided to keep this to yourself. That was until he’d misread the entire situation. “Talk to me (Y/N) or I swear to god I’ll be on the next flight home.”

He was overreacting, thinking the worst had happened. “Nothing else happened, I ran into the apartment and locked the door. He left shortly after that.”

His silence spoke volumes, you knew he was seething inside; wanting to hit something, mainly a man named Robert. You could almost see him pacing back and forth in the hotel room; hands threading through his hair, as he tried to calm himself down. “Why was he there in the first place?”

It wasn’t the question you’d expected him to ask, but he deserved the truth. “He stopped over; I didn’t invite him, I swear. He showed up because he hadn’t heard from me since Saturday, when I’d left him at the charity event to meet you. He said he just wanted to check on me. I thought he was a decent guy and I owed him the truth; that you and I were back together. I hadn’t expected him to get so angry about it, but he did. He forgot his jacket, so I ran out to give it to him. He seemed to have calmed down, so when he went to hug me goodbye, I didn’t think much of it.” You paused not really wanting to say the rest; hoping Tyler would say something so you wouldn’t have to. When he didn’t, you had no other choice, “He wouldn’t let me go and then he just forced his mouth on mine. I tried to push him away but he just held me tighter. That’s when I kicked him in the nuts. It was the only thing I could think of to do, but he let me go and I just ran back to the apartment. But I’m fine, he’s gone and I don’t have to see him again.”

“It’s not fucking fine (Y/N), he tried to force himself on you. I wanna fucking kill him. Like just rip his damn throat out. God what if you hadn’t been able to get away from him?” He paused as if he was visualizing the whole thing. “I think I might be sick.”

“Ty, babe, listen to me. I’m fine. Just breathe.”

“I should’ve stopped. I just saw the two of you together and I thought the worse. I should’ve known you’d never do that to me. I’m so sorry baby. God why didn’t I fucking stop and check on you.”

“Ty, don’t beat yourself up. I can see it from your side. I would’ve thought the same thing.” In all actuality you probably would’ve thought much worse, given the past.

“I don’t think you should stay there tonight. What if he comes back? Just go to the house and stay there, the security system is top notch and the dogs are there, they may not be fierce but they would frighten anyone away.”

His protective nature was kicking into high gear. “Ty, I’m fine. The door is locked here. No one can get in.”

“You don’t know that. What if he bust down the door or something?”

“I’m sure one of the neighbors would hear, if that happened.” He was being unrealistic now, running through scenarios that weren’t going to happen.

“You don’t know that. Maybe I should come home. I’ll go talk to Monty and catch the next flight.”

“Tyler, you can’t just leave; you have a game, the team is depending on you. Besides, I think I might take off Friday and head to my parents’ house for the weekend. If I leave after work tomorrow, I’ll be there before your game starts.”

“Well I still don’t like you staying there alone tonight. Can’t you call Jan or someone, and see if they’ll stay with you?”

“Tyler, I’m fine; I promise. Besides it’s like almost ten o’clock. I’ll be going to bed here shortly.” The last hour or so on the phone with Tyler had you mentally exhausted and needing some rest. Besides you needed to pack, especially if you were going to head to your parents’ place in College Station. Seeing an opportunity there, you decided to change the subject. “So, I thought I’d go down and tell my parents about us and the baby.”

“You sure you want to do that alone? I mean, when I come home, I’ll go with you.”

It was sweet of him to offer but you kind of had a feeling you needed to do this alone. “Thanks for offering but I think I need to do this on my own. I don’t know how they’re going to take everything and I think it would be better just coming from me.” Knowing your parents, they were probably going to try and talk you out of getting back together with Tyler; they were not happy at all, when the scandal hit. They would definitely need time to adjust to everything, before Tyler started coming around again. “Have you told your family yet?”

“I almost said something to Candace on the phone the other day; but then I thought better of it. My mom will be furious if she’s not the first to know. I’m just not sure if I want to tell her on the phone or in person, you know?”

You knew exactly what he meant; which is why you were driving almost three hours. “Well maybe you should fly them in or something.”

“Yeah I thought about that; but then it really cuts into my time with you.”

Chuckling slightly, you’d always gotten along really well with Tyler’s family. Then like a ton of bricks falling, it hit you, what if they resented you for leaving Tyler; they could carry some animosity towards you, as yours did against Tyler. While the scandal wasn’t your fault, part of the aftermath was. He had just as hard of a time with the breakup as you. “Well we could all do dinner or something while they’re here. That way we could still have time together.”

“Yeah of course. Though honestly, they’ll probably want you around more than me. They all laid into me, when we broke up. Once they find out about the baby, they probably won’t leave your side. I know my mom will want to rush out and buy a ton of baby stuff.” Smiling to yourself, you hoped your family would handle the news the same.

“Well she can buy whatever she wants. I haven’t bought a thing yet. So it would be fun to go shopping with her.” You’d been so afraid of where things would go, that you couldn’t purchase one baby item, for fear there wouldn’t be a happy ending with Tyler. Now, just talking about it, had you bubbling with excitement.

“Don’t tell her that.” He laughed then, and you could tell he’d let some of the tension from earlier go. “I’ll give her a call tomorrow and see what I can work out. I’d really like to have you there when I tell her the news.”

“Yeah we can do that.” Yawning into the phone, “I really need to get some sleep, can we talk some more tomorrow? I mean if you answer your phone.”

“Sorry babe, I was pretty pissed off. I promise I’ll answer.”

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry, for putting you through that. I’m glad we talked things through though. I think as long as we continue to communicate things will be good.”

“Oh, we’re not through with this conversation by a long shot. I don’t like the idea of you staying there, with that jackass being able to show up at any time. But since you’re heading to your parents, I’ll drop it till I get home on Sunday. What time do you plan on being back in Dallas?”

Hopefully within the next four days he’d have a memory lapse and forget the whole thing. “I was planning on leaving after lunch. So probably around four or so.”

Disappointment laced his voice, “Oh, ok. We should land before noon or so; that is if we don’t end up flying out Saturday after the game. It’s still up in the air. Why don’t you stop at the house before you head home and I’ll go over with you? That way I can make sure everything’s fine.”

“Yeah…maybe. We can talk about it later.”

“Alright, but I’m not going to change my mind on this one.”

Sighing, Tyler could be stubborn at times; you knew he wouldn’t relent on this issue. “Ok well I’m going to head to bed. Get some sleep, bossy.”

“You too, sassypants. I love you. Talk to you tomorrow.”

“I love you too, Ty.” With that you hung up the phone; glad to have things back on track with Tyler; but dreading the next seventy-two or more hours without him.

[thecoroutfitters]

Written by R. Ann Parris on The Prepper Journal.

Editors Note: Another article from R. Ann Parris to The Prepper Journal. As always, if you have information for Preppers that you would like to share then enter into the Prepper Writing Contest with a chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Cards with the top prize being a $300 card to purchase your own prepping supplies!

In some cases, modern information sharing and science leads us to throw away conventional wisdom’s – rightfully so. However, there are tidbits from history that still apply, particularly to preppers and modern homesteaders.

I’ve looked at historic trail foods, rations, and preservation methods before, from both the travel aspect and the ability to preserve harvests. This time, I want to look at the dogged insistence that soldiers required more variety to combat food fatigue starting in World War II and the items we as preppers regularly consider luxuries but that were must-have basics for both soldiers and the settlers walking beside wagons during western expansion.

Wagon Train Meals

First up, let’s poke at the typical meal schedules of the western-expansion pioneers. That’s a hot meal morning and evening (makes total sense – so does the fact that beans got served in the morning). Many backpackers follow the same trend, or only have one hot meal.

In between, pioneers had a midday meal.

They stopped in the heat of the day, and they ate. Usually it was leftovers from breakfast, or it might be just crackers, dried fruit, and jerky, but they ate. The civilians, the miners, the military, migrating natives, USGS survey teams … pretty well across the board, on the trail and once they settled in somewhere.

A lot of packers and military rations are set up for some snacking through the day, in lieu of or in addition to that midday meal, and some preppers plan for the same.

I bring it up, because there are also preppers who actively plan to only eat twice a day. Addressing the “two meals a day” idea really deserves a little more focus, but I wanted to slide it in here super quick. There’s plenty of research and history to consider, from pioneers and early soldiers to pre-petrol and early-tractor farmhands.

Luxury vs. Staple

From the days before western expansion when supplies were hauled across the entire continent after crossing oceans, through the War Between the States and the days of the “greatest generation”, there was a constant. It’s a constant we as preppers most usually stick in the “luxury” category and plan to do without.

That constant is a warm brown drink.

Now, society has changed. If you don’t drink soda, tea, coffee or anything but some juice you can produce, sure, ignore this section.

If you do, remember that it was worth risking life, limb, and imprisonment to trade for or steal coffee in numerous conflicts, before and after repeating firearms. It was one of the must-have supplies on wagon trains.

Hardship survivors and grrr-tough folks throughout history became so accustomed to tea and coffee, they’ve toasted, roasted, and brewed darn near anything to create replacements when they can’t get real. (Bonus Factoid: Some of those replacements lived on in products like the LDS’s Postum, but coffee and tea were on the Mormon Trek provision lists.)

Hard to Swallow

On the page http://www.kration.info/original-k-rations.html, the author states, “The ‘frilliness’ of the ration has been defended as follows: ‘[sic]While this ration has seemed unnecessarily complex to some, the variety contained in it is deliberate. No simple ration has yet been found which did not became tiresome within a few days that the test subjects did not eat sufficient to meet their nutritional requirements’.”

The author doesn’t credit that particular quote (that I found) but very similar text can be found in letters to and the minutes of quartermaster and ration-creation commissions during WWII and in post-war years.

There’s a big takeaway there.

In the days when you ate what was in front of you from childhood up, in a period when we ate relatively regionalized foods with fewer cultural foods increasing our variety, high-activity soldiers were failing to eat enough of the available foods to maintain health and condition.

Some added context? Those study soldiers were children and young adults during the Great Depression.

The quartermasters pushing for more variety were mostly adults during those eras of shortages and outright hunger. Some of them were young soldiers in the First World War.

Variety wasn’t solely a U.S. focus. And, remember: Many nations didn’t experience the economic booms of the U.S. in the interim’s of war, or have the alleviation of the Depression that North America offered.

Those tough cookies are the ones who started waving flags about what is now defined as “food fatigue”.

Think that through for a minute.

They faced the same “bah, they’ll eat if they’re hungry” reactions we regularly see in the beans-and-rice and MRE prepper factions. But they managed to slap enough evidence in front of naysayers to expand and improve rations.

Lessons from Chocolate

Increasing the variety, ease, and satisfaction of military rations remains an issue, even in the MRE and UGR generations. It’s something other nations continue to address as well. However, we can learn a lot just from the battles quartermasters fought over rations during WWII – notably, the shape of cans (lost), better heating options (draw), and increasing unit-sized options (won).

For those curious, this page http://www.kration.info/partial-dinner-units.html lists ration items and menus for the partial-dinner “D” 10-in-1 units as they evolved, including the progression of K-rats to C-rats.

Ration candy has a slew of lessons to offer all on its own.

The original WWII chocolate came in bars so thick, they were difficult to eat, especially in cold conditions. The solution was multiple thinner bars. We can see that trend still in the “travel-soap” bars of the Italian rations and some other nations.

A requirement for small, incremental portions of other candies also goes all the way back to K-rats, 10-in-1’s, and C-rats – stipulating 5-8 individually wrapped pieces per serving. That prerequisite lives on in numerous international rations that provide handfuls of individually wrapped caramels, hard candies, and dextrose wafers, portion-able chocolate, and rolls of candies.

We also see the military’s continued focus on those points in the multiple small nougat, jelly, and energy bars some nations include, and the other small snacky bits common to modern military rations.

All of them help us evaluate our personal food storage and resupply plans.

How much is going to be difficult to get our teeth around and break off in cold weather or if we have a tender mouth? (Hello, emergency ration bars.)

Are there eat-as-is options, whether it’s prepackaged or the ability to make foods for later consumption?

Do we have options that let us eat little bits at a time, to account for quick breaks, busy hands, long watches, overfull stomachs on hot days, drowsiness, and trail fatigue?

Can we address electrolyte imbalance from sweating and pushing water, especially in get-home and bug-out bags?

Do we have some of those “luxury” items? Not just feel-goods and energy-boost sweets, but also the tea, coffee, and variety that were important in rations back in the days bracketing the Great Depression, and were important enough for inclusion not only when gear was twice as heavy in the Civil War but also when families and military units had to tightly budget their load weights to cross half or two-thirds the continent?

How much leads to blood-sugar and energy swings (highs and crashes)?

Back to the earliest point, do we have a midday meal, or something akin to the many 24-hour rations where there may only be two “mains” but there are also snacky bits to munch through the day?

Happily, they’re pretty easy and inexpensive aspects to mitigate.

Expanding Our Rations

Bags of boiled sweets and chewy candy fruit jellies, nut-brittle bars, dehydrated fruits that offer natural sugar kicks, pre-seasoned cans of beans with sauces and flavors instead of only plain, granola bars, simple powdered milk (especially in flavors), and sports drink mixes – they’re all affordable options, homemade or purchased.

They’re more expensive and have short-ish shelf lives, but other options are higher-protein diabetic drinks, meal replacement shakes, and nuts and seeds.

Another is stocking or learning to cold-smoke and air-dry jerky and meat sticks, and stocking or creating any kind of crackers-spread combo.

Even old-fashioned oats or rolled barley will soak up water in a bag or jar while we work, and make for a compact-carrying but fairly easy and fast-eating munchies. So will instant grits or couscous, cream of wheat, and most quickie pasta meals.

Rice, dehydrated corn, and wheat groats take longer, but with some pinches of powdered broth, a chunk of pocket soup, or a dollop of salsa, they also offer a meal just for time spent soaking in the sun.

Any broth base and some rice or noodles, and we’re well on the way to fast, simple sun-brewed or quickie-fire soups – a belly-filling, warming comfort food eaten by soldiers further back than the Revolution, and still included in military rations today.

If sun-steeping is an option or a stove/oven is already running, hardtack soaked in broth or tea is also a long-storied calorie food.

Dehydrated grated or sliced potatoes and any of half a dozen seasoning packets from cheese soup to gravy will turn into a meal with 10-30 minutes of pre-soak and 10 minutes in a pan, or can be made with the portable solar options. Instant mashed potatoes are even faster.

We have endless possibilities for applying the trail-food lessons of the pioneers and old-time soldiers.

Variety & Luxuries in Tough Times

Like the early settlers and military packs, many of us have limited space and weight in our primary storage and in our bags. Like many of those settlers, most preppers are further limited by financial constraints.

Maybe that’s what makes it easy to scoff off some of the “add variety” suggestions.

Or, maybe we don’t look at fort-bound soldiers’ supplies and the Civil War ration goals. Maybe we overlook what we consider luxuries but almost all of them considered must-have staples.

Maybe we forget that worldwide, the men who spearheaded the expansion of military rations were also veterans of pretty lean, hungry times.

Maybe it’s easier to check blocks, ignore the working-man origins of tea time, and move on to something sexy like rifles (so many of which do not have slings, my head might really explode – ain’t gotta be fancy).

Maybe it’s easier, but history demonstrates the challenges that arise. It also gives us numerous solutions.

A few inexpensive, easy additions and a good cookbook can be used to create variety in even simple food supplies. The histories of the Mormon Trek and western expansion provide examples. For-real cattle-drive and Depression-era farmhouse recipes are another source.

We can also research the lunch-dinner breaks of pioneers, old-time (and modern, poverty-stricken) farmhands, and soldiers of manly-man eras for pacing of meals and foods that give us continual boosts through the day, that can be consumed easily regardless of weather, and options that don’t require extra preparation or heating.

We do, absolutely, want to be sure we’re hitting the life-sustaining basics. We also, absolutely, want to make sure we get the most bang for our buck.

We don’t have to exactly replicate military rations, hit all of those luxuries, or hit them daily. However, it’s worth some attention, whether we’re preparing for a hurricane/snow storm or long-term, grid-down Armageddon.

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The post Lessons from History – Variety & Luxury Foods appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

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[weprajith]

Top Ten Classic Video Games

10. Pong

Origins: Pong was based on a game called 'Tennis for Two' which was a simulation of a game of tennis on an oscilloscope. Physicist William Higinbotham, the designer, goes down in history as creating one of the first electronic games to use a graphical display.

The Concept: The game is intended to represent a game of Tennis or Table Tennis (Ping Pong). Each player has a bat; the bat can be moved vertically. The screen has two horizontal lines on the top and bottom of the screen. A ball is 'served' and moves towards one player - that player must move the bat so that the ball hits it. The ball rebounds and moves back the other way. Depending on where the ball hits the bat, the ball will move in different directions - should it hit one of the top or bottom lines, then it will bounce off. The idea is simply to make the other player miss the ball - thus scoring a point.

Game play: while it sounds utterly boring, the game play is actually very addictive. It is easy to play but very difficult to master, especially with faster ball speeds, and more acute angles of 'bounce'.

Nostalgia: for me this is the father of video games. Without Pong you probably wouldn't have video games - it started the craze that would continue grow and become a multi-billion dollar industry. I will always remember this game!

9. Frogger

Origins: this game was developed by Konami in 1981, and was the first game to introduce me to Sega. At the time it was very novel and introduced a new style of game.

The Concept: Easy - you want to walk from one side of the road to the other. Wait a minute - there's a lot of traffic; I better dodge the traffic. Phew Made it - hang on, who put that river there. Better jump on those turtles and logs and get to the other side - hang on that's a crocodile! AHHH! It sounds easy - the cars and logs are in horizontal rows, and the direction they move, the number of logs and cars, and the speed can vary. You have to move you frog up, down left and right, avoiding the cars, jumping on logs and avoiding nasty creatures and get home - do this several times and you move to the next level.

Game Play: Yet another simple concept that is amazingly addictive. This game relies on timing; you find yourself dinking in and out of traffic, and sometimes going nowhere. The graphics are poor, the sound is terrible, but the adrenalin really pumps as you try to avoid that very fast car, or the snake that is hunting you down!

Nostalgia: I love this game for many reasons. I played it for a long time, but never really became an expert - however, it was the first ever game I managed to reproduce using Basic on my ZX81 - I even sold about 50 copies in Germany!

8. Space Invaders

Origins: Tomohiro Nishikada, the designer of Space Invaders was inspired by Star Wars and War of the Worlds. He produced on of the first shooting video games and drew heavily from the playability of Breakout.

The Concept: aliens are invading the Earth in 'blocks' by moving down the screen gradually. As the intrepid savior of the Earth it's your task to use your solitary laser cannon, by moving horizontally, and zapping those dastardly aliens out of the sky. Luckily, you have four bases to hide behind - these eventually disintegrate, but they provide some protection from the alien's missiles.

Game Play: this is a very repetitive game, but highly addictive. Each wave starts a little closer to you, and moves a little fast - so every new wave is a harder challenge. The game involved a fair amount of strategy as well as good hand eye co-ordination.

Nostalgia: I wasted a lot of time playing this game. While originally simply green aliens attacked, some clever geek added color strips to the screen and the aliens magically changed color the lower they got - that was about as high tech as it got back in the days of monochrome video games!

7. Galaxians

Origins: Galaxians expanded on the Space Invaders theme by having aliens swoop down on the defender. It was one of the first games to have colored sprites.

Concept: Take Space Invaders, add some color, remove the bases and make some of the aliens swoop down at you and you have Galaxians. Essentially the concept is the same as Space Invaders, you're defending the world against alien invaders, but rather than the whole screen full of aliens moving down at you in a nice orderly fashion, you get groups of aliens swooping down in haphazard ways.

Game play: if you liked Space Invaders then you'll love this. The strategies are different, as you often have to avoid two or three different groups of alien 'swoopers' but if you can shoot them as they swoop, then you get some great bonus points. The game is difficult until you get used to some of the patterns

Nostalgia: this was one of the first games that I played on a desktop computer that was almost exactly like the arcade fame. I had an old Acorn Electron, and this game was almost perfect on this little machine. I miss my old Acorn Electron!

6. Defender

Origins: This game was created by Williams Electronics in 1980. The Game was designed by Eugen Jarvis, Sam Dicker, Paul Dussault and SLarry DeMar. It was one of the first games to feature complex controls, with five buttons and a joystick. While slow to catch on due to its difficulty, it still was a popular game.

Concept: Most of the shoot-em-up games of the era were horizontal shote-em-ups. This game changed the playing field by being a vertical shooter. Yet again aliens are intent of doing nasty things to earth - this time they are trying kidnap 10 humans. You are in charge of the sole defender and must kill the aliens before they kidnap the humans. You fly over a 'landscape' and can see your humans mulling around on the surface. The aliens appear and drop towards the humans - you can kill them at this point, but should they grab an alien, you must shoot the alien, and catch the human before the alien reaches the top of the screen.

Game play: This was a great game that was easy to play but tough to master. Shooting the aliens and catching the humans gave the best bonuses, and this formed a major part of the strategy. There were some different type of aliens that chased you making the game a lot more hectic than others; often it was just a relief to finish a level. While not as addictive as some, it did give a feeling of achievement when you reached a high score.

Nostalgia: I went on vacation with a friend for a week and we spent the entire week in the arcade playing this game and the number one game on my list (I won't reveal the name now!). It was one of the best memories of my teen years!

5. Missile Command

Origins: In July 1980, Atari published a revolutionary game. It didn't have a joystick, but had a ball that controlled an on screen cursor. It was programmed by Dave Theurer and licensed to Sega.

Concept: Those pesky aliens are getting smarter. Rather than sending space ships down to fight, they're hiding in deep space and sending a bunch of missiles to blow up the Earth's cities. This game was unique as it use a 'round' joystick. You used this to move to a point on the screen and then fire a missile into this spot - the culminating explosion would destroy any missiles that hit the 'cloud'. The missiles were essentially lines that moved down from the top of the screen at varying angles and speeds - some of them would split into multiple 'missiles' half way down.

Game play: this is a very strategic game. Placing your bombs in the right place and timing them right could essentially clear the alien missiles quickly and easily. As the game move on you found yourself spinning the wheel frantically trying to get the bombs in the right place. This game was adrenalin pumping fun - sometimes you seemed to be up against impossible odds and yet you'd breath a sigh of relief when one city survived.

Nostalgia: this was one of the first games I played on a table top machine. While these didn't really catch on, it was still fun to be able to put a can of soda down while you played!

4. Breakout

Origin: This game was heavily inspired by Pong. It was created in 1976 by Atari, with Nolan Busnell and Stew Bristow being the key designers. It's probably one of the most cloned games ever, even today there are new games based on the same theme coming out. Apparently the Apple II computer was inspired by this game - wow where would Steve Jobs be now without Breakout.

Concept: The idea is simple - you have a bat at the bottom of the screen that can move back and forth. Above you is a wall of bricks. A ball will move from your bat - every time it collides with a brick, the brick disappears and the ball bounce back at you. Your task is simple - stop the ball going off the bottom of the screen by placing your bat in the way and bouncing the ball back at the wall - you also have to remove all the bricks in the wall to progress to the next level!

Game play: this is a fairly difficult game to master. As the bricks get lower each level and the ball speed increases, it becomes more and more difficult to 'break out'. Also, sometimes the angle that the ball comes off the bat is so acute that it is very difficult to judge where the ball will bounce! It's one of those games where you just keep on saying 'just one more game' and before you know it five hours have passed.

Nostalgia: when I lived in Wales we had a little utility room that housed books and my little ZX Spectrum - I used to spend hours playing this game as my Father sat and studied. It was like a male bonding session!

3. Hang On

Origin: This game was released in 1985 and was developed by Sega. It was one of the first '3D' racing games and one of the first to introduce a 'realistic' aid to playing the game - that it a larger replica motorcycle style cabinet, with speedo, brakes and a throttle. This game became the benchmark for future racing games and lead to the highly praised Out Run series. The game cleverly used 'billboards' and trees to give you the feel that you were moving at high speed.

Concept: You are a motorcycle racer - you sit on top of a bike and have to race around a 3d race track, overtaking other riders and reaching certain checkpoints within a time limit. The game featuring different places and conditions (such as night).

Game play: Yet another easy game to play but very difficult to master. Timing the turns was essential, especially if other bikers got in the way. Each slight touch of another bike, or crash into a barrier slowed you down and made it harder to reach the checkpoint in time. The awesome graphics (for the time) made this game pleasurable to play as you really felt you were in a race. It is another game that kept you coming back for more.

Nostalgia: As a kid I always wanted a real motorbike, so this gave me a feeling that I actually had one. I was very good at this game (an d Pole Position) and constantly had my name on the high score table - it's perhaps the only game I could truly say I was a master.

2. Pacman

Origin: Developed by Toru Iwatani, and programmed by Hideyuki Moakajima San, this game came out in mid 1980. The name is derived from a phrase that relates to the sound when your mouth opens and closes (allegedly). Namco produced the game, but it really took off in America when Midway released it.

Concept: You are Pacman and you are very hungry. You find a maze full of 'dots' and zip around eating them. Unfortunately there's some ghosts who aren't too happy about this and they will chase you and eat you - but hey, there's some really big dots that give you the power to banish the ghosts back to their central cage. The maze is complex, filling up the whole screen, but there are no dead ends - there's also a passage way between each side of the screen. In the center, is the cage that holds the ghosts - occasionally bonus fruit appear next to the cage. You essentially have to eat all the dots in order to progress.

Game play: This is a simple concept, but with pretty decent graphics and an addictive tune it became a huge success. There is a lot of strategy to the game - each ghost follows a set pattern (although eventually they'll forget this and follow you) - in fact there are books dedicated on the best route to avoiding the ghosts. The game gets harder as you go, with the ghosts speeding up and getting smarter.

Nostalgia: there's something about the music in this game that is just so catching -even as I write it I can hear it in my mind. It's one of the first games that I can remember using music as a major selling point. I wasted many hours playing this game, and although I was never great I always had fun trying to devise new routes. It is also probably my most successful programming achievement - I designed a version of this for the Acorn Atom and I actually sold a couple of hundred copies (again in Germany) - I am proud that as a twelve year old, I was able to use logic and programming skills and make some money doing it.

1. Asteroids

Origin: It's truly amazing to think that this game was first released in 1979 - I've been playing it for 30 years now! Developed by Atari and designed by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg, the game cleverly used vector graphics and real inertia physics to convert a simple concept into a classic game.

Concept: Your little space ship has strayed into an asteroid belt. With the use of thrusters, a trusty laser cannon and a hyperspace unit, you must move your spaceship in all directions over the screen and avoid the asteroids. You can go anywhere on the screen and even going off the edge is OK - it just happens to be a wrap around universe. The asteroids come at you from all angles. Initially they are large, and are fairly slow. Once hit they split into smaller asteroids, and these smaller asteroids split again - the smaller the asteroid the faster it goes. Occasionally a nasty alien ship will appear and start firing at you - he'll occasionally hit the asteroids and split them. The idea of the game is simple - destroy all the asteroids without colliding into them or getting shot by an alien.

Game play: Wow what can I say. To really succeed at this game you have to use strategy - firing at all asteroids will fill the screen with a lot of small fast moving asteroids, making it difficult to avoid collisions. Therefore the game required that you pick off one asteroid at a time, and then deal with the smaller asteroids. While doing this, you also had to maneuver gingerly; with real inertia, you often found yourself drifting without realizing it and suddenly you'd be in the middle of four or five asteroids.

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[myupdatesystems-blog]

Top Ten Classic Video Games

New Post has been published on https://myupdatesystems.com/2017/04/01/top-ten-classic-video-games/

Top Ten Classic Video Games

10. Pong

Origins: Pong was based on a game called ‘Tennis for Two’ which was a simulation of a game of tennis on an oscilloscope. Physicist William Higinbotham, the designer, goes down in history as creating one of the first electronic games to use a graphical display.

The Concept: The game is intended to represent a game of Tennis or Table Tennis (Ping Pong). Each player has a bat; the bat can be moved vertically. The screen has two horizontal lines on the top and bottom of the screen. A ball is ‘served’ and moves towards one player – that player must move the bat so that the ball hits it. The ball rebounds and moves back the other way. Depending on where the ball hits the bat, the ball will move in different directions – should it hit one of the top or bottom lines, then it will bounce off. The idea is simply to make the other player miss the ball – thus scoring a point.

Gameplay: while it sounds utterly boring, the gameplay is actually very addictive. It is easy to play but very difficult to master, especially with faster ball speeds, and more acute angles of ‘bounce’.

Nostalgia: for me, this is the father of video games. Without Pong you probably wouldn’t have video games – it started the craze that would continue grow and become a multi-billion dollar industry. I will always remember this game!

9. Frogger

Origins: this game was developed by Konami in 1981, and was the first game to introduce me to Sega. At the time it was very novel and introduced a new style of game.

The Concept: Easy – you want to walk from one side of the road to the other. Wait a minute – there’s a lot of traffic; I better dodge the traffic. Phew Made it – hang on, who put that river there. Better jump on those turtles and logs and get to the other side – hang on that’s a crocodile! AHHH! It sounds easy – the cars and logs are in horizontal rows, and the direction they move, the number of logs and cars, and the speed can vary. You have to move you frog up, down left and right, avoiding the cars, jumping on logs and avoiding nasty creatures and get home – do this several times and you move to the next level.

Game Play: Yet another simple concept that is amazingly addictive. This game relies on timing; you find yourself drinking in and out of traffic, and sometimes going nowhere. The graphics are poor, the sound is terrible, but the adrenaline really pumps as you try to avoid that very fast car or the snake that is hunting you down!

Nostalgia: I love this game for many reasons. I played it for a long time, but never really became an expert – however, it was the first ever game I managed to reproduce using Basic on my ZX81 – I even sold about 50 copies in Germany!

8. Space Invaders

Origins: Tomohiro Nishikawa, the designer of Space Invaders was inspired by Star Wars and War of the Worlds. He produced on of the first shooting video games and drew heavily from the playability of Breakout.

The Concept: aliens are invading the Earth in ‘blocks’ by moving down the screen gradually. As the intrepid savior of the Earth, it’s your task to use your solitary laser cannon, by moving horizontally and zapping those dastardly aliens out of the sky. Luckily, you have four bases to hide behind – these eventually disintegrate, but they provide some protection from the alien’s missiles.

Game Play: this is a very repetitive game, but highly addictive. Each wave starts a little closer to you and moves a little fast – so every new wave is a harder challenge. The game involved a fair amount of strategy as well as good hand-eye co-ordination.

Nostalgia: I wasted a lot of time playing this game. While originally simply green aliens attacked, some clever geek added color strips to the screen and the aliens magically changed color the lower they got – that was about as high tech as it got back in the days of monochrome video games!

7. Galaxians

Origins: Galaxians expanded on the Space Invaders theme by having aliens swoop down on the defender. It was one of the first games to have colored sprites.

Concept: Take Space Invaders, add some color, remove the bases and make some of the aliens swoop down at you and you have Galaxians. Essentially the concept is the same as Space Invaders, you’re defending the world against alien invaders, but rather than the whole screen full of aliens moving down at you in a nice orderly fashion, you get groups of aliens swooping down in haphazard ways.

Gameplay: if you liked Space Invaders then you’ll love this. The strategies are different, as you often have to avoid two or three different groups of alien ‘swoopers’ but if you can shoot them as they swoop, then you get some great bonus points. The game is difficult until you get used to some of the patterns

Nostalgia: this was one of the first games that I played on a desktop computer that was almost exactly like the arcade fame. I had an old Acorn Electron, and this game was almost perfect on this little machine. I miss my old Acorn Electron!

6. Defender

Origins: This game was created by Williams Electronics in 1980. The Game was designed by Eugen Jarvis, Sam Dicker, Paul Dussault and SLarry DeMar. It was one of the first games to feature complex controls, with five buttons and a joystick. While slow to catch on due to its difficulty, it still was a popular game.

Concept: Most of the shoot-em-up games of the era were horizontal shote-em-ups. This game changed the playing field by being a vertical shooter. Yet again aliens are intent on doing nasty things to earth – this time they are trying kidnap 10 humans. You are in charge of the sole defender and must kill the aliens before they kidnap the humans. You fly over a ‘landscape’ and can see your humans mulling around on the surface. The aliens appear and drop towards the humans – you can kill them at this point, but should they grab an alien, you must shoot the alien, and catch the human before the alien reaches the top of the screen.

Gameplay: This was a great game that was easy to play but tough to master. Shooting the aliens and catching the humans gave the best bonuses, and this formed a major part of the strategy. There were some different type of aliens that chased you making the game a lot more hectic than others; often it was just a relief to finish a level. While not as addictive as some, it did give a feeling of achievement when you reached a high score.

Nostalgia: I went on vacation with a friend for a week and we spent the entire week in the arcade playing this game and the number one game on my list (I won’t reveal the name now!). It was one of the best memories of my teen years!

5. Missile Command

Origins: In July 1980, Atari published a revolutionary game. It didn’t have a joystick but had a ball that controlled an on-screen cursor. It was programmed by Dave Theurer and licensed to Sega.

Concept: Those pesky aliens are getting smarter. Rather than sending spaceships down to fight, they’re hiding in deep space and sending a bunch of missiles to blow up the Earth’s cities. This game was unique as it uses a ’round’ joystick. You used this to move to a point on the screen and then fire a missile into this spot – the culminating explosion would destroy any missiles that hit the ‘cloud’. The missiles were essentially lines that moved down from the top of the screen at varying angles and speeds – some of them would split into multiple ‘missiles’ half ways down.

Gameplay: this is a very strategic game. Placing your bombs in the right place and timing them right could essentially clear the alien missiles quickly and easily. As the game move on you found yourself spinning the wheel frantically trying to get the bombs in the right place. This game was adrenalin pumping fun – sometimes you seemed to be up against impossible odds and yet you’d breathe a sigh of relief when one city survived.

Nostalgia: this was one of the first games I played on a table top machine. While these didn’t really catch on, it was still fun to be able to put a can of soda down while you played!

4. Breakout

Origin: This game was heavily inspired by Pong. It was created in 1976 by Atari, with Nolan Busnell and Stew Bristow being the key designers. It’s probably one of the most cloned games ever, even today there are new games based on the same theme coming out. Apparently the Apple II computer was inspired by this game – wow where would Steve Jobs be now without Breakout.

Concept: The idea is simple – you have a bat at the bottom of the screen that can move back and forth. Above you is a wall of bricks. A ball will move from your bat – every time it collides with a brick, the brick disappears and the ball bounce back at you. Your task is simple – stop the ball going off the bottom of the screen by placing your bat in the way and bouncing the ball back at the wall – you also have to remove all the bricks in the wall to progress to the next level!

Gameplay: this is a fairly difficult game to master. As the bricks get lower each level and the ball speed increases, it becomes more and more difficult to ‘break out’. Also, sometimes the angle that the ball comes off the bat is so acute that it is very difficult to judge where the ball will bounce! It’s one of those games where you just keep on saying ‘just one more game’ and before you know it five hours have passed.

Nostalgia: when I lived in Wales we had a little utility room that housed books and my little ZX Spectrum – I used to spend hours playing this game as my Father sat and studied. It was like a male bonding session!

3. Hang On

Origin: This game was released in 1985 and was developed by Sega. It was one of the first ‘3D’ racing games and one of the first to introduce a ‘realistic’ aid to playing the game – that it a larger replica motorcycle style cabinet, with speed, brakes and a throttle. This game became the benchmark for future racing games and lead to the highly praised OutRun series. The game cleverly used ‘billboards’ and trees to give you the feel that you were moving at high speed.

Concept: You are a motorcycle racer – you sit on top of a bike and have to race around a 3d race track, overtaking other riders and reaching certain checkpoints within a time limit. The game featuring different places and conditions (such as night).

Gameplay: Yet another easy game to play but very difficult to master. Timing the turns was essential, especially if other bikers got in the way. Each slight touch of another bike or crash into a barrier slowed you down and made it harder to reach the checkpoint in time. The awesome graphics (for the time) made this game pleasurable to play as you really felt you were in a race. It is another game that kept you coming back for more.

Nostalgia: As a kid, I always wanted a real motorbike, so this gave me a feeling that I actually had one. I was very good at this game (an d Pole Position) and constantly had my name on the high score table – it’s perhaps the only game I could truly say I was a master.

2. Pacman

Origin: Developed by Toru Iwatani, and programmed by Hideyuki Nakajima San, this game came out in mid-1980. The name is derived from a phrase that relates to the sound when your mouth opens and closes (allegedly). Namco produced the game, but it really took off in America when Midway released it.

Concept: You are Pacman and you are very hungry. You find a maze full of ‘dots’ and zip around eating them. Unfortunately, there are some ghosts who aren’t too happy about this and they will chase you and eat you – but hey, there’s some really big dots that give you the power to banish the ghosts back to their central cage. The maze is complex, filling up the whole screen, but there are no dead ends – there’s also a passageway between each side of the screen. In the center, is the cage that holds the ghosts – occasionally bonus fruit appear next to the cage. You essentially have to eat all the dots in order to progress.

Gameplay: This is a simple concept, but with pretty decent graphics and an addictive tune it became a huge success. There is a lot of strategy to the game – each ghost follows a set pattern (although eventually they’ll forget this and follow you) – in fact, there are books dedicated to the best route to avoiding the ghosts. The game gets harder as you go, with the ghosts speeding up and getting smarter.

Nostalgia: there’s something about the music in this game that is just so catching -even as I write it I can hear it in my mind. It’s one of the first games that I can remember using music as a major selling point. I wasted many hours playing this game, and although I was never great I always had fun trying to devise new routes. It is also probably my most successful programming achievement – I designed a version of this for the Acorn Atom and I actually sold a couple of hundred copies (again in Germany) – I am proud that as a twelve-year-old, I was able to use logic and programming skills and make some money doing it.

1. Asteroids

Origin: It’s truly amazing to think that this game was first released in 1979 – I’ve been playing it for 30 years now! Developed by Atari and designed by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg, the game cleverly used vector graphics and real inertia physics to convert a simple concept into a classic game.

Concept: Your little space ship has strayed into an asteroid belt. With the use of thrusters, a trusty laser cannon, and a hyperspace unit, you must move your spaceship in all directions over the screen and avoid the asteroids. You can go anywhere on the screen and even go off the edge is OK – it just happens to be a wrap around the universe. The asteroids come at you from all angles. Initially, they are large and are fairly slow. Once hit they split into smaller asteroids, and these smaller asteroids split again – the smaller the asteroid the faster it goes. Occasionally a nasty alien ship will appear and start firing at you – he’ll occasionally hit the asteroids and split them. The idea of the game is simple – destroy all the asteroids without colliding into them or getting shot by an alien.

Gameplay: Wow what can I say. To really succeed at this game you have to use strategy – firing at all asteroids will fill the screen with a lot of small fast moving asteroids, making it difficult to avoid collisions. Therefore the game required that you pick off one asteroid at a time, and then deal with the smaller asteroids. While doing this, you also had to maneuver gingerly; with real inertia, you often found yourself drifting without realizing it and suddenly you’d be in the middle of four or five asteroids.

Nostalgia: this is one of the only games that I still play today. Whether it’s the ‘Buck Rogers’ in me, or I just like the challenge I don’t know! You’d think that after 30 years of playing I’d either master the game or get bored; somehow neither has happened – I can sometimes get a mega score, but usually I’m just average. I guess I like the fact that it makes me think and keeps my hand-eye co-ordination in tip top condition! Now if only I could get all that money that I pushed into the asteroids machine back – I’d be very rich!