To say that Tuesday was a stressful afternoon at work would be a huge understatement. It was a rough day with challenging interpersonal issues that boiled over into some incredibly tense conversations. Things eventually resolved before I went home, but I still left the building in the throes of an anger/stress hangover.

I decided to stop by Tin Whiskers on my way home to take some deep breaths and have a quick 10oz. They ended up having this really great beer brewed with cactus called Electric Love. It was super smooth and easy drinking, with just the right balance of fruitiness. I sat and unwound while talking with a great barkeep about all the new taprooms in downtown St. Paul.

Once I got home we decided to head to Game Center for dinner and a game, since we hadn’t been there in a long, long time. We picked out a new game called DragonStone Mine! This is a game that involves stacking different colored gems on spires of your tower until someone completes all 6 spires. You then score points based on how many single color spires, or fully rainbow spires you have. There’s cards you play to throw everyone’s plans into chaos, as well as some random chance when you’re mining for gems (drawing from the bag).

My only complaint about the game was that the instructions were not as clear as they could have been. It took us a turn or two before we really understood the turn order and all the different options. Otherwise, it was a fun, quick, game that didn’t take all night to learn or play.

It was nice to get back out and enjoy some time at Game Center. It helped me calm down after a stressful day, and reminded me that there’s more to life than sucky work.