Long Time, No Post

Inquiring minds want to know ...

Conventions recently (more or less) attended:

My first BayCon in about ten years, the 25th one! It was fabulous! I went to several enjoyable panels, including one about costuming. Bought hundreds of dollars worth of treasures in the dealers' room, got lots of ribbons for my badge and had many wonderful conversations with interesting people. The best things, though, were the room parties every night. My favorite one was the Klingon room party because they had the best bar and some of the best decorations. My favorite drink was the Warp Coil Coolant. Cyrus tried a couple of different shots; can't remember what they were called but they were much stronger than the Warp Coil Coolant. Honorable mention for room parties goes to the Evil Geniuses for great decorations and experimental drinks (I earned a "Lab Rat" ribbon). Can't wait until next year's BayCon, when the theme will be Pirates (arrrrrr!)

During BayCon, we made a quick trip up 101 to KublaCon, the gaming convention, where we met up with Forrest and Lynn for lunch and I bought more stuff in that dealers' room.

A few weeks later, at the same hotel as BayCon, was Gnomeward Bound, the 60th annual Westercon. It was much smaller. There were a few good panels, like the Harry Potter panel which made me realize I had to go back and re-read the two last books before the new one came out because I had forgotten too much. The dealer's room was smaller than Baycon's, so I didn't buy too much, fortunately! I got a bunch of ribbons for my badge there too. The Klingons weren't there, but the Evil Geniuses were, along with some other good room parties. Kudos to the Firefly room party for its fresh fruit. Speaking of Firefly, we went to a charity showing of Serenity where Cyrus won one of the auction packages. I also went to Alexander James' concert (Cyrus unfortunately missed it) and it was very good. Alex is the "Heir" to Heather Alexander, the famous Celtic/folk singer.

Next convention is Silicon in October, I think.

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On the home front, we lost little Raspberry back in March to a tragic spinal column disease. I don't want to say anything further except that it was very difficult and I miss her.

Bucky Katt is now grown up and is free to roam around the house without fear of the dogs. Another kitten has joined us: Queen Hatshepsut, aka Hattie. She is a little nuclear-powered kitten whose mother is a Siamese look-alike to Bucky, but Hattie has some interesting faint stripes on her legs and body in addition to the points. She now lives in the bathroom and gets to come out when the dogs are behind the gate in the kitchen. Pretty much the previous Bucky situation. When Hattie gets big enough then she will have run of the house. She is pretty wild, biting and scratching way more than Bucky ever did, but all in fun (hers, not mine). Hopefully she will grow out of it.


Lastly, there is Savannah. She will be joining us very soon; I had hoped she would be here by now. Savannah is a rescue from a puppy mill auction in Ohio. She had spent her entire life inside a tiny wire cage, pumping out puppies to be sold at pet stores. She was all skin and bones when they got her, couldn't walk, and had rotten teeth. She also has only a stub of a tail. She has been in foster care for a few months and has gain weight and has learned to walk, albeit a bit unsteady but getting better all the time. She needed to have her teeth pulled and while pulling a molar, they accidentally broke her jaw so there was additional healing time. I am waiting for her last appointment with the vet before I can pick her up. Despite her horrible past, she is a very beautiful, loving dachshund and I intend the rest of her life to be filled with love and attention.


Lastly, I have had electronic problems. My stereo receiver/DVD player ate Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. When I took it in to be repair, they couldn't fix the DVD part but they got the movie out, unharmed. The receiver part still works. So I have to replace the DVD player. My HD DVR satellite receiver HDMI output didn't work. Dish Network shipped me a new receiver and now I have full HDMI connection again which looks absolutely fabulous. My iPod died. It's dead, Jim. The hard drive is messed up and it would cost more to fix it than the iPod (4th gen, 40gb color) is worth so I need to buy a new one. The repair people were supposed to ship it back to me because I can get a 10% discount on a new one if I turn in the old one. It is currently "in transit" although it should have been here yesterday. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

My friend Noel says he thinks the planet Mercury must be in retrograde. I wonder how long that will last?