Shejicon is now in progress, and very kind attendees have come over and helped us move things, sweep things, weed, toss, and what-not, so that we look respectable over here…When we’re on a tight writing schedule, things do get out of hand, because there’s just no energy left, and now we’re spit-n-polish, well, at least—moderately polished.
Went to Tomato Street last night, ate too much, and had a good time.
‹looks at calendar›
‹looks at map›
‹looks at accrued vacation›
‹looks at budget›
‹☹›
I hope everyone is having fun over there!
Ma’am, if you’re ever in NYC on business I hope you’ll announce it here.
Agreed — same if you visit the Sandwich Isles. I’m pretty sure that you have salads around the globe who would be happy to reciprocate your hospitality.
Thank you. I wish everybody could be here.
I do too, but, well, being an Aspie, my most comfortable “party” would be an evening of dinner with 5-6 friends. It wouldn’t be the “friends” bit, but so many of you. Of so many salads, one would hardly know how to partake. 😉
I’m so glad you’re all having a good time, and also that the Shejicon attendees have been able to help you two get some of the stuff on the round-to-it list done, to get the garden and maybe a bit around the house to a point where you can both be content for the moment about the state it’s in.
You want to know my secret wish for Shejicon this year? Not that I could attend, that’s clearly impossible for the forseeable future, but that if your Shejicon friends coild help out with some of the necessary work, and both Shejicon and Spokon went well, with no repercussions on your health, that maybe things would calm down enough that Jane could get back to her own writing, too.
I know that the Confluence contract is the most important part of what the writing energy needs to be spent on, as it’s the primary income-generating job at the moment; and I know she’s been incredibly busy with all the maintenance and work that the house and garden need, as well as all the other things that happened. Still, I’ve been hoping that some friendly assistance from Joe and others at Shejicon will create enough of a lull in the wave of needs-to-be-done work that she will have a chance to get back to Homecoming Games. Maybe that would have to wait for the Convergence deadline as well – I don’t know if splitting one’s creative concentration between assisting you in getting the book written within this unrealistically short time, and her own complicated storyline is even possible – I guess I’d get hopelessly muddled if I tried anything like that!
But I would like to read Homecoming Games at some point, maybe next year!
For now: have fun! 🙂
Exactly that. As soon as we get through with this, she’s going to get my reciprocal support on HG. She’s so often put her stuff on hold to help me–this time is her turn.
Everyone there, please have a little extra fun for those of us who can only be there in spirit. 😀
I saw a rumor there’d be an all-out jelly-wrestling match, but I think this might get the peanut butter ritual into a jam…. 😀
Though on the plus side, this week, we’re getting our first break from 100+ highs in at least two weeks.
The weather prognosticators are claiming we might even have a high of only 89 on Thursday. Plus, high chances of rain all week.
It feels odd when 90 to 95 feels cool by comparison!
After a day spent eating huckleberry slumps at Anthony’s overlooking the Spokane River falls, then shopping at The Flour Mill and Wonders of the World, we drove out to Arbor Crest Winery and admired (?) the view which was heavy with smoke from forest fires from many miles away. We had a marvelous time at Swinging Doors for dinner tonight but opted for a relatively early evening so that we could be at our very best for Tuesday’s busy schedule.
Tuesday was spent riding the Louff Carousel, tram rides, and shopping at Auntie’s Bookstore in the morning. A quick lunch, then a trip north to visit Cat Tails, a wildlife sanctuary. Back in town to CJ and Jane’s for the attempted launch of the “fish dome”, our gift to them, pizza, book signings and lots and lots of visiting. Marah and ATV took a break from WorldCon management to come to the party — a great evening visiting with salads, old and new!
We’re still working on the fish dome. We have a plan.
That sound dangerous. I think that all societies must have the saying, “people plan and gods laugh’.
‘Fish dome’? What is this fish dome of which you speak? A new plan to keep the iggle and the raccoons out of the koi pond?
No, though it may be spooky enough to scare them. It’s a floating bubble that works by surface tension and such to allow the fish to swim up into it above the surface of the pond to look around.
Right now the ashfall from the sky is so problematic for water clarity that we are flat giving up until we see the end of the fires, but we will have pix when we do get it in. The trick to installing it is to push it under until it totally fills, then flip it but we have to raise the pond level a little to get that, and we really need to know we’re not going to algify the dome when we do it, so we’re waiting for better conditions.
Ah! A diving bell for those who breathe water!
Nice idea. Hmmmm, glass for cleanability without scratching, though scratches inside wouldn’t be obvious.
Glass also resists ‘coon clawing. They will go after it, try pushing it over if nothing else. Support needs to resist shoves by 40# coons.
Wondering if water inside becomes hypoxic.
Last evening, ’round about 2145 give or take, I went outside and looked up. Used to be able to see the Milky Way with Cygnus flying down it, 20 years ago. In a few minutes I noticed a star in maybe Hercules was speeding south, heading 160° more or less. Constant magnitude, no blinking! When it started to go close to the roof line I walked over past the edge of the house. When it got to something like 45° above the southern horizon it started to get redder, dimmer, and faded to black as it passed into Earth’s shadow. I tried to lookup what it might have been, but no joy. It wasn’t ISS.
http://spaceweather.com/flybys/
Sorry I don’t have your ZIP code, so can’t backtrack to see what you might have seen zip by overhead. We regularly see half a dozen different satellites go by, including Hubble and the ISS.
Yes, I found several, but the problem with several was they only listed future events. Nothing seemed to match in the one I found that would go back.
This one was in a nearly polar orbit, which suggests something that either wants exceptional coverage of inhaited latitudes ;), or possibly a GPS satellite.
Most surveillance satellites, especially those for military use, are in polar orbits, because they cover the most area of Earth with each pass…..
I usually go to http://www.N2YO.com and check out what’s in the sky above me….
I was lucky enough to see ISS once, just by chance. 🙂 We were at the Blue Cafe at a friends birthday party a couple summers ago, in the outside porch area. I happened to look up and see it passing. I, of course, pointed it out to everyone, and somehow just immediately knew it was, even though I didn’t have it in my head to look for it at the time.
This is one of the times this blog needs a Like button! Enjoying Tracy’s photos on FB! More! The Humbug waves hello to everyone! Including the others who did not make the trip.
Wishing everyone well and safe trips home when the time comes.
Wish I was there. Want to come so much, but can’t because budget. . . . There is an outside possibility I may get to come if same is held next year. If I drive, I’ll let it be known and would welcome fellow travelers (I’m in Texas Panhandle) and help with gas.
There’s talk of a Shejicon party suite at KC Worldcon.
I did something I should never have done since my college days….pulled an all-nighter, except I wasn’t studying, I was driving. My first day was travelling from Spokane to Wall, SD, about 955 miles or so.
Wall, SD to my home in West Central Ohio in one stretch (with stops for gas, restrooms…) is roughly 1,200 miles. Added to the 955 miles or so I drove on Thursday, that’s a long drive, especially for two days and a night.
I arrived at home at 2:30 AM, local time, which figures to about 19 hours of driving for the day. If I were a long-distance trucker in the days of the Interstate Commerce Commission, I’d be in a lot of trouble.
I did catch a few hours of sleep when I got home, but inadvertently forgot that I have an alarm clock set for 7:00 AM. When it went off, I was in the middle of a dream about a forest fire ravaging candy trees, and once I shut off the alarm, the other 3 ‘alarms’ outside my bedroom door started in.
I was surprised that they were actually glad to see me, all three of them…..especially Sophie, since she’s always been the skittish one. Well, I’m home for the day, have an activity tomorrow morning, and then one tomorrow afternoon, but should remain home for most of the week, now.
I promise, I’m going to start saving up for next trip, I’m not driving on that one…..I don’t mind driving, but after two days in the car, it’s just more than I really want to do, especially if I’m the only one driving. I’ll save up the money for a flight, hotel, and possibly a rental car for next year. I know it’s very early, and the AAA website doesn’t go out past July 2016 for planning purposes.
As far as I know, I have two engagements next summer…one is the National Matches at Camp Perry, OH, and they will be in early August again next year, and then if it’s held, ShejiCon VI.
By the way, I would really like to thank Ready (and ReadyGuy) for coordinating, for getting the gift, and party favors, and setting up the tours, etc. It’s not every day you can say you got to feed a Siberian tiger up close and personal….well, there is a plexiglas screen between us, and you put the meat on a large spike that fits through a hole in the screen. The tiger doesn’t care, it’s food….they only feed them this way twice a week, and then they let them rest in between the days when they do feed. A couple of us fed “Tuga”, and WoW’s S.O. Chris, fed “Zeus”, a Royal White Bengal Tiger. I haven’t gotten the pictures I took organized yet, much less uploaded to any site, and I’m pretty sure everyone else is getting around to it, as well.
Most of all, I’d like to thank CJ and Jane for their patience and the use of their time, energy, and home for our gatherings in the evening. The pizza party was a smashing success, the Space Pirate BBQ was fun, and the absolutely hilarious time we had trying to get the fish dome “submerged” into the pond. There were no instructions included, there was a “committee” of folks who were reading the instructions off their devices connected to the web, but we couldn’t get the dome to stay submerged because the pond just wasn’t quite deep enough…we tried filling the pond a little more, but I don’t know if Jane ever got a chance to get the thing submerged after I left. (I think it needs a release valve that would allow the user to submerge it by opening a valve on the top of the dome and then when it’s submerged, close the valve. There was sufficient buoyancy in the styrofoam (TM) ring that we had a heck of a time pushing it under the surface of the pond. All of the tricks we tried were ineffectual, because as soon as you’d fill the dome with water in accordance with the instructions (upside down like a bowl), you had to flip it quickly and by the time we’d get it flipped, the water would pour out of it. That’s why I believe a release valve would be better than what we tried.)
The sights were pretty dim once I got through Missoula, MT, due to all of the smoke in the air, and I thought maybe by crossing the Continental Divide at Butte, the air would clear up. Unfortunately, there were forest fires on the eastern side of the Divide and they were contributing their smoke to the mess. My eyes were getting sore and the back of my throat was getting scratchy, as well. I can’t imagine what people with respiratory problems would have experienced. Even with the car’s environment controls on “Recirculate” and the air conditioner turned on, it was still not comfortable.
For Joe: I’m glad you got home safe, driving way too long at a stretch and with irritated eyes too. I wish people wouldn’t take such risks unless it’s absolutely necessary, but who am I to grumble at nice people who don’t even know me.
For CJ: Could you turn over the dome while it was completely submerged, and then help hold it steady while the buoyancy of the ring lets it rise up until it’s above the surface? Though I fear that would mean being in the pond with it, allover wet… maybe something to try if you have to go out wading anyway.
After the smoke and ashing stops and the water clears, of course.
Sorry for the ‘captain on shore’ effect of thinking to advise about something I haven’t even seen; if it was a useful idea I’m sure the committee would have thought of it 😉
Smoke and ash notwithstanding, Chris and I had such a wonderful time! It was so great to see you all, eat, explore, eat some more, party . . . I slept all the way home. (That was after we *just* caught our plane. Apparently TSA didn’t like the big block of Neko’s soaps we’d packed deep in one suitcase.)
I really wish all of our salads could have been there. I’m sure that your “little house” would hold us all, with joy, CJ and Jane. You were gracious hosts, and made us all welcome. Ready (and Readyguy) really worked hard. Thank you all again- I will treasure my memories of this Shejicon forever!
Oh no! I hope they didn’t trouble you much over them or, gods forbid, take them off you! I somehow managed to get over $700 worth of soap into the country, and nobody batted an eye. :O
Sadly, due to various money issues, card issues, and bank issues in general, I didn’t see much return from that adventure. I’m going to have to do things differently next year. Trying to run around collecting money from folks in a time span of three weeks while trying to coordinate events is exhausting.
I had good fun with Auntie WoW though. 😀 And everyone else too.
I’d have liked to have talked more apiology with you…the short conversation at Anthony’s was too short….
And we are finally wrapped up!
Joe, you crazy lad, you are home safe.
Everybody is safe.
Jane has a sinus infection which is getting better and I am just so tired I’m horizontal, but all is well here. We are overfed, overstuffed, and going to need to get back on the diet, but we did get the bubble to work, Jane got it installed, and the fish, despite that we haven’t been able to bait it with fishfood as recommended, have (some of them) explored it. It moves about, but they like it best when it’s stationary against the bridge, which it’s too tall to go under (a good thing.)
We will get pix of Ari in the dome: she looks like a whale. 😉
“Captain, there be whales here!” 😀