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December 30, 2003
Before This, There Were Woodhenge and Strawhenge...
This might just've been used to allow a quick Eddie Izzard quote, but it's also a very interesting site, particularly for those of us who haven't yet managed to get anywhere near the real thing.
(Thanks got to ***Dave)
Posted by ghoul at 02:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 29, 2003
Return Travel
So far, so good. Morning went well (everyone got up in time, no significant airport traffic, Cosmo didn't try to hide in my suitcase, etc.). I'm typing this from the USAir terminal at the Cincinnati airport, where I don't have net access but I do, at least, have power at a place I can also sit in a chair (which I didn't have in Pittsburgh). And, of course, being 2 hours early proves completely unnecessary...
Managed most everything I'd hoped to do during this short visit back home. I saw the family, plus some old family friends. My nephew and I visited my sister's gravesite briefly, to add some flowers and memories. And, on the lighter side, I was able to get a nice Skyline Chili lunch and to visit both my old game store haunts and raid end-of-year sales a bit, which also means I'll have reading material on the return flight after exhausting what little I brought with my cancelled flight in.
I'll add notes from Philly in my layover and, with any luck, will get to PVD in time for dinner!
*****
And now in Philly, even a little early, with my flight on to PVD on-schedule and a convenient plug to recharge (in fact, were I willing to spend $10 for it, I could even have a net connection... but it's not worth that for just an hour). All is (at the moment) good, which makes dinner at Legal Seafood with Julia and Lou all the more likely!
*****
15 minutes of random "sitting at the gate waiting for someone to remember how to withdraw the walkway" later (sadly a standard Philly departure), I'm now in the air and, with any luck, won't be all that late in FR. Certainly in time for dinner...
*****
In fact, ended up only 5 minutes late, and in plenty of time to enjoy an excellent tuna steak, a big dish of bananas foster, and then a drive home.
Holiday vacation over... back to work today.
Posted by ghoul at 05:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 27, 2003
Again Reviewlike
I took my niece and nephew to LotR:RotK and again was just amazed. And they liked it, too (except Camille covered her eyes rather than see Shelob).
And, again, PVP says it just as well as I could.
Posted by ghoul at 08:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 25, 2003
Travel Travails
Going home for christmas should be easy.
I took a break from deadline fever to get out of the office around 9:30 (it was a half-day anyway), zipped by the UPS location to pick up a couple of packages they didn't want to deliver without signatures, then drove down to Fall River. As has become my normal practice, I fly using the Providence, RI airport rather than the closer Manchester, NH airport, as that lets me leave my car with Julia and Lou (and provides an excuse for us to hit the Legal Seafood near the airport, as we plan to do upon my return).
I drove through the new I-93 southbound tunnel in Boston, which is open but seriously unfinished (one lane is still blocked until they can complete the expansion of the older tunnel and the exits, some of the roof is still unfinished, and there's a brief open space between old and new tunnels). Still, the drive through Boston went from a stop-and-start crawl to a nice, regular speed (even if that was 30-40 mph), and that's an improvement. One can only hope it will be even better with a 4th lane.
Julia zipped me to PVD quickly, check-in was a complete non-event (no lines anywhere), so being 2 1/2 hours early somewhat worked against me. I picked up a bit of lunch, then found a plug for the Powerbook and did some editing on my game world notes to pass time. Of course, having forgotten the HeroQuest rulebook, I'll have at least one more editorial pass still to do, but the nomadic stuff is very nearly complete and the cityfolk are only a day or two's work behind. I think my February date to actually start seeking players remains intact.
The flight from PVD to Pittsburgh was uneventful (I happened to be seated behind two people who had also been at Trilogy Tuesday, so we traded some praise of the mighty Peter Jackson to pass the time when I wasn't writing myths), but after a quick jog from terminal to terminal (stopping only to snag some overpriced sour cherry candies), I found my flight to Cincinnati delayed by 1 hour. Then by 90 minutes. Then by 2 hours. And, at last, after 2 1/2 hours of delays, worried looks at the maintenance folk swarming over our plane, and carefully-caveated promises, canceled. Of course, by this time (8 PM on Christmas Eve), the airport had all but shut down around us. US Air set me up at a nearby Embassy Suites for the night, gave me a $10 voucher to turn into either dinner or breakfast, and a boarding pass for an 9:15 flight on Christmas Day. And, since it would have taken nearly an hour to retrieve my suitcase from the airport, I was sent off with just my carry-on (Powerbook, iPod, a wad of cables, and cellphone). Thankfully, the Embassy was able to provide toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, and other such necessities.
So, as it looks now (I'm typing this at 6:40 on Christmas Day), I'll be getting to Cincinnati around 16 hours late, and badly needing a change of clothes.
Merry Christmas to all!
*****
Following up from the airport an hour later... Security was again quick, the food voucher turned into a nice spread from Au Bon Pain, now it's just to wait on today's plane (and whatever quirks it might show). So now it's just a 2 hour wait, then into the air.
Oh, and no plugs anywhere near any seats. For some reason (likely this airport's reading of security requirements), they're all blocked off if there are chairs nearby, so there's no way to keep laptops charged. And so this is all I'll write just now.
*****
And now I'm all hooked up to the 'rent's cable modem and working A-OK (after a bit of fiddling). The replacement flight went perfectly, landing early despite time spent de-icing.
And now, it is down to gifts and such... And to keeping Cosmo the kitten away from my iPod's headphone cable.
Posted by ghoul at 12:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 17, 2003
Kinda Reviewlike...
I could do a review of Trilogy Tuesday...
Or of Return of the King.
But, instead, I will simply point to this, which says it all.
And that way I can go catch up on my sleep.
Posted by ghoul at 02:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 16, 2003
Today's the Day!!!
First it's to this, then it's into the theater to see the Lord of the Rings start to finish (well, excepting anything PJ and crew will be giving us for the RotK SE in a few more months).
The quality of the first two parts and a bit of browsing of online reviews suggest I have quite a good thing in store.
Posted by ghoul at 07:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 08, 2003
Not Yet Winter
Okay, I can sort of understand the desire to have a pretty, white snowcover for your birthday (not that I ever expect such with my nice August birthday)...
But don't you think Julia overdid it just a bit this year?
I know I had over an hour of digging just to be able to park my car after driving back from her birthday party (which was attended more by movie pirates than anyone else... but still fun, and for once there were too many meatballs). And it's not even really winter. I fear much more shoveling may lie in my near future.
Posted by ghoul at 10:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Ia! Ia!
hehehehehe... This has to be seen to be believed.
Sometimes, I just love the internet.
(From ***Dave Does The Blog)
Posted by ghoul at 10:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
December 04, 2003
Home But Flooded
Thankfully not flooded in any literal sense (I am rather close to the Merrimack, but well above it), but there's a lot of work demanding my time, so blogging may be slight.
The trip home was great, excepting the terrible Boston traffic I had to make my way through on Tuesday. I only missed one tiny bit of TV recording (a single episode of Good Eats, which I'll be able to catch later) and the cats didn't destroy too much while I was out.
Posted by ghoul at 06:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 01, 2003
TurkeyCon 2003: The Final Chapter
New England managed a play after the D&D game ended (congrats to Grant for coming up with a great plot after tossing his original... I wasn't quite sure these characters were ready for serious extra-planar maneuvering, but excepting that Rilla and Gevrok both were quite thoroughly mangled by the hydra guarding the second piece of the puzzle, it went well). The board game proved just as subtle as I'd expected, with its rather simple rules covering potentially very cutthroat play. We started off fairly nice to one another, which let the game go quickly at first, but didn't last. Oh, and I was completely crushed, mostly in the last turn when I lacked the money to bid high enough to take even a single point. But still, a very nice game and well worth a re-play.
A few zips through Apples to Apples ended the day, after Julia got her Alias fix (I'm still waiting to see season 2 on DVD before I watch any season 3) and we all watched Teen Titans (and had a brief panic looking for a misplaced Draconomicon).
Then it is to bed, for there is still the long drive back.
Posted by ghoul at 06:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack