Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in W. Randy Hoffman's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012
10:58 am	Disappointing news confirmed My job definitely ends tomorrow. (While it technically goes through Friday, I have to turn in my company laptop tomorrow afternoon and I can't really do anything after that.) Definitely the shortest notice I've ever gotten; the decision was relayed to my staffing firm on Friday but somehow, despite having my cell number, they couldn't reach me until yesterday. I'm very glad now that I didn't try to go to Balticon, Deepsouthcon, Worldcon, or any of several other cons I would have loved to try to attend. (I'm still planning to be at Concertino and Confluence.) This is still the best job I've ever had, and my longest stretch of employment since Black Box. I'll miss it. I'll be activating my jobseeker profiles on various sites on Friday; I look forward to calls about legitimate opportunities, but not to the inevitable calls from the swarm of recruiters (especially the ones with a limited command of English) who will be asking me to jimmy up my resume or otherwise highlight my experience with fringe tools or tasks so they can try to cram me into miscellaneous positions for which I'm probably not suited. Goes with the territory these days, I guess. Personal issues aside, I hope everyone has a good Memorial Day holiday! (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012
11:34 am	Disappointing news Temps are being shed quickly at my workplace and it is very probable that I will be out of a job after Friday. So, I'll probably be looking and suggestions for possible opportunities are welcome. (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, May 7th, 2012
11:41 am	Encouraging numbers, plus notes about a certain cereal Last week my blood sugar spiked three times after what I had thought were very reasonable meals involving non-sweet and low-fat multi-grain sandwiches, fajitas, or wraps. I can only conclude that the starch in most breads, and especially in flour tortillas, is a big no-no for me. So I've pretty much sworn off that stuff. Over the last three days I've been eating mostly salads and plain meats, and I've had five straight measurements of blood sugar under 130, which is a first for me. I've also lost four pounds in the last two weeks. Hopefully I'm finally getting on the right track with this thing. However, I've regularly eaten cold cereal for breakfast for about 42 of my 45 years of life, and I'd rather not give that up. So I've gone searching in the supermarket aisles for cereals that are low in total non-fiber carbs; I thought I'd find some in the health-food section at least, but even low-sugar healthy-for-most-people cereals tend to have a lot of starch. (Multi-Grain Cheerios only has 6 grams of sugar per serving but 15 grams of starch, for instance.) One of the only one I've found that has under 20 grams of sugar and starch per serving is Kellogg's All-Bran, so I've been eating that for the last while. Several things I can now tell you about All-Bran: 1. When you throw some Splenda on it, it's actually pretty tasty. 2. Once you start eating it, you'll never need prunes, Metamucil, or Your Favorite Scam Colon Cleanser again. 3. It gets everywhere. I mean, seriously, it's like cat hair if you keep cats. In nuclear-industry terms, it escapes containment easily. No matter how carefully I pour it out of the box, I find little bits of it on the table, on the counters, on the floors, and in places I can't figure out how it got to. (And yes, I can tell the difference between pieces of All-Bran and little presents from vermin, which we don't have any of in the house except silverfish right now -- knock on wood.) But I figure if it helps me stay alive *without* my having to change one of my lifelong routines, this is not a big price to pay. (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012
2:13 pm	Goings-on in my life since, oh, forever Wow, I didn't realize it had been ten months since I last posted anything. Sorry about that -- I'm just not that loquacious of a person, I guess! Lots has happened in that time. Confluence 2011 was terrific. Had a good time at OVFF. Spent a few days over Christmas and New Year's with my new blended-extended family (my mom's side and my stepdad's side) at my stepsister Annette's place. Enjoyed GAFilk. Spent a lot of time preparing for Kira's and my Interfilk guest appearance as the duo "Partners in K'Rhyme" at Consonance in Newark, CA (near San Jose); that was a great experience and I'd like to thank Consonance, Interfilk, and all of our wonderful guest accompanists for making it a terrific weekend. Had another blast at FilKONtario a week and a half ago; took second place in the main songwriting contest and first place in the penguin-themed songwriting contest. Now getting ready for Partners in K'Rhyme's toastmastering slot at Concertino at the end of June. One bit of suckage to report: I now have diabetes. So far it's controllable with meds, and I hope I can start losing some weight and possibly reverse it. Your encouragement is appreciated. Really looking forward to Confluence this year. The mailing has gone out and it will tell you that our GoH and Featured Filk Guest is Seanan McGuire; our Special Filk Guest is Martha Sayre (formerly of Omicron Ceti III), performing at her first con in many, many years; and our musical performers include Carolyn Brown (Ontario), Devo Spice (New Jersey), Steve Dixon (coming in from Washington State, which he might not be able to do again for many years, if ever), Cat Faber (Tennessee), local stalwart Pete Grubbs, Insane Ian (Maryland), Jonah Knight (Virginia), Kathleen Sloan (Colorado), Rob Wynne (Georgia), and Pittsburgh industrial band Wreckcreation (whose lead singer Kirsten Evans bears an eerie resemblance to Amy McNally). The mailing will not tell you (because we just nailed this down) that for this year's musical travesty we're performing "SupermAnnie!", a wacked-out Superman origin story to the tunes from "Annie!" (written by me with inspiration from Greg Armstrong). I hope lots of you will be there! Hoping to post some song lyrics soon, but right now I gotta run off to work. (13 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, July 4th, 2011
12:14 am	Back home and several tangentially related thoughts Home safe from Contata. Had a good time, even though my hideous workweek left me too tired to participate in open filking either night. I did get to sing one single number during the weekend -- my songwriting-contest entry (lyrics later, maybe) -- but it didn't win anything, although I thought it turned out reasonably well. Sold eight CDs, which was very surprising. Kira and I are very pleased to have been invited to be Toastmasters for Concertino in Massachusetts next summer (http://www.concertino.net/). We plan to make a road trip of it, but we'll need to brush up on some patter between now and then! :-) Have any of you (besides Harold Stein) who got this year's premium Contata CD "Fanac" listened to Playing Rapunzel's track "Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine" yet? I did on the way home. Good. Grief. On. A. Crazy. Stick.!!! I'm seriously considering putting it on my Pegasus Best Song ballot. (Of course Kira's and my recording of "Barrayaran Roses" follows it on the CD and we sound like a couple of croaking frog-birds in comparison, but them's the breaks.) Seriously -- you MUST listen to that piece; it is STUPENDOUSLY good. (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 19th, 2011
8:52 pm	ANNOUNCE: Confluence 2012 For the past twelve years, Confluence has hosted an author or editor as our Guest of Honor and a performer as our Featured Filk Guest. These have always been different people...until now. Confluence 2012 (Doubletree Hotel Pittsburgh Airport, July 27-29, 2012) Guest of Honor *and* Featured Filk Guest: Seanan McGuire Our committee congratulates her and thanks her very much for allowing us to honor her in this way! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
8:04 pm	Contata roomshare? I've preregistered and reserved my room, so I'm definitely planning to attend Contata. However, it would be nice to be able to share a room instead of having to pay for a whole one myself -- anyone have space? (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 18th, 2011
7:36 pm	Important people I forgot In my previous posting about next month's Confluence, I didn't mention two people who'll be able to come who will improve everyone's enjoyment of the filk track: Judi Miller is coming to do her awesome signing and Mark Peters is bringing sound equipment to help with our sound issues. I thank them both! (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
1:59 pm	Confluence updates and tentative schedule The Confluence filk track seems to be coming together nicely, and our filk performers will be coming together from all over the place. Recent additions to our slate of concert performers (assuming all goes well -- knock on wood): Pittsburgh acts Bonfire Night and Patricia Wake, Ohio's Robin Nakkula, Georgia's Rob Wynne, and (we hope) paleofilker and SCA bard TSivia from Canada's capital. Another recent development -- you can now purchase preregistered full-weekend memberships online with PayPal at our website, http://www.parsec-sff.org/confluence. Get yours today, and call the Doubletree Hotel Pittsburgh Airport to reserve your room, before our prereg deadline and room block expire in the first couple of days of July! Here's the tentative filk schedule: Friday, July 22 In the Redwood Room: 4:00 to 4:50 p.m. Panel: "Filk Mad Libs" (R. Hoffman) 5:00 to 5:50 p.m. Annual Pegasus Brainstorming Panel (R. Hoffman) 6:00 to ~6:40 p.m. Concert: Bruce Hoffman [7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Memorial for much-missed Pittsburgh fan Ann Cecil] In the Willow Room: 7:00 to 7:50 p.m. Concert: Andina and Rich 8:00 to 8:50 p.m. Concert: Devo Spice In the Redwood Room: 9:00 to 9:50 p.m. Concert: John Anealio 10:00 to 10:25 p.m. Concert: Kathy Sands 10:30 to 10:55 p.m. Concert: Bonfire Night 11:00 p.m. to ??? a.m. Open filk Saturday, July 23 In the Redwood Room: 11:00 to 11:50 a.m. Workshop [presenter(s) and topic TBD] 12:00 to 12:50 p.m. Concert: Gary McGath 1:00 to 1:25 p.m. Concert: Ed Chamberlain 1:30 to 1:55 p.m. Concert: Josh Kronengold and Lisa Padol 2:00 to 2:50 p.m. Concert: Pete Grubbs [3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Break for Guest of Honor presentation] 4:00 to 4:50 p.m. Concert: Wild Mercy 5:00 to 5:25 p.m. Concert: Rob Wynne 5:30 to 5:55 p.m. Concert: Patricia Wake 6:00 to 6:50 p.m. Filk + written SF crossover panel [topic TBD] [7:00 to ~10:45 p.m. Room closed] In Salon A: 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. Travesty: The Parallax Second Players present "20,000 Leagues of Music" ~9:15 to ~10:45 p.m. Featured Filk Guest Concert: Alexa Klettner In the Redwood Room: ~10:45 p.m. to ??? a.m. Open filk Sunday, July 24 In Redwood Room: 11:00 to 12:50 a.m. The 25th Anniversary of "Divine Intervention" (J. Ecklar, M. Moricz(?), J. Brown, H. Yoder, J. Maione, B. Lee) 1:00 to 1:25 p.m. Concert: Robin Nakkula 1:30 to 1:55 p.m. Concert: TSivia(?) 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Dead Dog Filk After the con, at the home of Martha Underwood and Robert Stockton (rides to be arranged): 6:00 to ??? p.m. Undead Dog House Filk We hope to see lots of you here! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, May 30th, 2011
1:17 am	Home safe from Marcon Panels went well. Other people's concerts -- what I got to see of them -- were great. I didn't prepare well for my concert and it showed, although the audience was enthusiastic and supportive. My thanks to Trace Hagemann and the Marcon filk staff and sound crew. Marcon moves to Easter weekend next year. I doubt I'll be attending while it remains on that weekend. It was a very odd feeling to walk out to my car and wonder how long it'll be before I shlep my stuff along that oh-so-familiar walkway between the hotel and the parking garage again. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
12:45 pm	Marcon and Confluence stuff I'll be a guest at Marcon (http://www.marcon.org) in Columbus this weekend, and I'll be participating in these program items: Friday 5:30 PM Why Aren't you listening to this?: Recommendations from our Filk Vendors and Listeners Saturday 11:30 AM Why we do what we do: Running cons, Interfilk, vendor Saturday 5:30 PM Stealing from the Best Sunday 2:30 PM Concert (75 minutes) I wish Kira could be there, but thanks to the MODERN MAGIC OF RECORDING AND PLAYBACK TECHNOLOGY (TM), I'll be able to sing a new duet with her anyway. I hope to see some of you there. (Before you ask, no, I'm not doing the Sunday drive to Balticon, because I'd be arriving at about 11 p.m. and completely missing all of the programming. Sorry!) As for Confluence, Pittsburgh performers Patricia Wake and Bonfire Night will have concerts in addition to the folks previously announced. (I hope to send out the first big preparatory email to all of the confirmed and prospective performers Real Soon Now.) I know travel is expensive, but I hope a bunch of you can make it anyway; it's so much fun to have you all here! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, May 16th, 2011
1:58 pm	Live recordings? Kira and I are hoping to release a live album to raise money for the studio album we'd like to try to get ready for Consonance next year. If any of you have good recordings of our joint concerts, my solo concerts, and/or my one-shots or songwriting contest entries that you wouldn't mind contributing to this effort, could you please get in touch with me at mrgoodwraith [at] yahoo [dot] com? Thanks! (Comment on this)
1:49 pm	Confluence attendees: Timing of the "Divine Intervention" panel I've asked this in the Facebook "Filker" group, but I thought I'd pose the question again here to try to get feedback from more of those of you thinking of coming to Confluence: We're going to do Julia Ecklar's "25th Anniversary of Divine Intervention" panel as a two-hour event on Sunday. Given that our normal schedule is 10-11 Panel on a religious or metaphysical theme 11-12 Workshop 12-2 Concerts 2-5 Dead Dog, and normal checkout is noon, which possible two-hour slot for "DI" between 10 and 4 would you be *most likely* to attend most of: 10-12, 11-1, 12-2, 1-3, or 2-4? (There's no consensus for the time slot among the participants.) (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, May 12th, 2011
12:51 pm	Urgent message for Sandy Andina If any of you know Sandy and can make sure she gets this (or if anyone can send me her current email address): Yes, Andina & Rich have a concert at Confluence. Please email me directly at mrgoodwraith [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll get you the details. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
12:00 am	Celebrating two decades Still a few moments left in the day, so before the 12th stroke tolls, I want to wish my friend and singing partner Kira Heston a very very marvelous 20th Anniversary. I hope you had an awesome one, Kira!! (Comment on this)
Monday, March 7th, 2011
4:02 am	Major update Well, it's been quite a while since I posted anything, and the last time I did, it was mostly downers: Job about to dry up, Ann Cecil passing away, sad, bummer, worry, sad. Lots of things have gone differently since then and I think it's high time I let you know. Firstly, the job front. About ten days before the end of my stint with Westinghouse's Nuclear Systems group, half of my contract was picked up by the Structural Modules group. Then, a few days later, the Westinghouse subsidiary that designs the cranes used in the nuclear plant picked me up on a three-quarter-time basis as a tech writer until the overdue documentation for some of their cranes is finished, so for the time being I'm on a 50-hour-a-week schedule. It's rough at times, but I'm managing, and it's a lot better than being unemployed. To learn about the crane documentation, I was sent to the subsidiary's office in Lynnwood, WA, starting the week after Conflikt...and they graciously allowed me to fly out the Friday before, so I could attend the con. What a terrific weekend that was! Roomshared with Blind Lemming Chiffon and hung out with lots of folks I know relatively well and whose presence I enjoy (including but not remotely limited to Ben Newman, Mary Crowell, my pseudosis Merav, Kathleen Sloan, Harold Stein, Josh & Lisa, and Kathy Mar), along with good people I see too seldom (including the Utah Filk Organization, Luis and Tommy Garcia, Mark Osier, Steve Savitsky, Beth Runnerwolf, the McCorisons, Char MacKay, Andrew Ross, and Cecilia Eng) and others I'm not conscious of meeting before, despite being at Conflikt two years ago (including the Tinneys, C. D. Woodbury, Creed Lambard, and Steve Dixon). Finished just outside the running in the song contest; I'll try to post the lyrics for my entry eventually. I want to give a special thanks to con chair Beth Runnerwolf for saying some very nice things about Ann Cecil while she had the mike; so few people in West Coast filk ever met Ann that I was pleasantly surprised (and moved) to hear Beth's comments. The week that followed in Lynnwood was busy but quite nice. I didn't get to do any sightseeing, but I did eat at a lot of different restaurants that were new to me, such as Old Spaghetti Factory (nice interior space but too many overindulged children), Taco Del Mar, Buca di Beppo ("family style dining" = everybody shares one big entree? is this a West Coast thing?), and the 13th Avenue Pub (where we had my predecessor's sendoff). A highlight was meeting Mark Osier and Luis Garcia for lunch at Azteca. The accommodations at Holday Inn Express Suites were excellent. Since then I've been pushing really hard at work and have gotten very little else done, but I'm trying to at least send and respond to Confluence email when I get a chance. I've also squeezed in a couple of Middle Earth Role Playing sessions (from a manor liberation in Cardolan straight down to the Underdeeps, with lots of orc and wight action), a choir solo at church, and a games night at Nathan and Stacy Bramlet's place with some of our mutual friends (with "Plague and Pestilence" and "6 Nimmt!" being very well received). Had periodontal surgery on the deteriorated gum and jaw near my remaining upper right molar; enzymes were injected that might cause the jaw to actually regrow there, and I'm hoping for good results in another few months. Confluence status update: Rob Sawyer is our Guest of Honor. Confirmed concerts include Featured Filk Guest Alexa Klettner, Wild Mercy, Josh Kronengold & Lisa Padol, Devo Spice, John Anealio, Ed Chamberlain, Bruce Hoffman (no relation), Gary McGath, and Pete Grubbs. We're starting to prepare for the Saturday night revival of "20,000 Leagues of Music." Ann Cecil's memorial is currently scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday. The panel celebrating Julia Ecklar's "Divine Intervention" will probably be on Sunday; Julia will be attending for the panel, although -- as expected -- she won't be performing a concert. "Intervention" musicians Henry Yoder and John Maione plan to be there, as well as (if at all possible) original producer Michael Moricz, joining Julia's current producer Eli Goldberg. Flyers should be mailed out soon, and as always you can get details at http://www.parsec-sff.org/confluence/. One important note: Our regular email address (confluence [at] spellcaster [dot] org is temporarily out of commission, so please use confluence [at] parsec-sff [dot] org for inquiries and other communication. Request for prayer, good thoughts, etc.: Longtime Confluence hotel liaison and Alpha Workshop mainstay John Schmid has been in ICU most of the past month with pneumonia and ARDS. At the moment he seems to be improving and is able to respond to his family, but he's still in extremely rough shape and has a very long and difficult recovery ahead of him. Please keep him in mind. I hope that both Consonance and Marscon went well this past weekend; I wish I could have attended one or the other, and work almost sent me to Minnesota in time for the latter, but it wasn't meant to be. Now that this year's Consonance has ended and (AFAIK) they've disclosed their guest list for next year, I can share the exciting announcement I've had a hard time sitting on: Kira Heston and I, performing as our duo Partners in K'Rhyme, will be Interfilk Guests at Consonance 2012. Big thanks to Interfilk and to the Consonance concomm -- we're humbled, pleased, and very much looking forward to being with you in San Jose next March! We hugely appreciate the honor! Keep supporting Interfilk, everybody! And now we come to the biggest news of this post. It's been nine years this week since my father died. My mom had been caring for her parents full time for a few years then, and she's still caring full time for her mother now (and grandma's dementia slowly but inexorably gets worse). But my mom is turning a new page in her life: She'll be remarrying in July, on the weekend before Confluence. If you're like my sister, your first reaction is: "How did that happen? You never get out of the house, Mom! Who is it -- the mailman, the pharmacy delivery guy, or the Meals on Wheels driver?" As it happens, a retired American Baptist pastor named Bob Ayars, who lives in central PA and volunteers with our Ministers & Missionaries Board visiting other retired pastors and missionaries and their widows and widowers, stopped by at our place and was really taken with her; he decided to court her, started calling her almost daily, took her out several times, and finally proposed to her on Friday before last. She accepted. So...please keep *us* in your thoughts and prayers too as we approach this big event. Even after the marriage, not a whole lot will change at first; Bob owns a wonderful home and property, but it would be too wrenching a change to try to move grandma to a new location, so mom and Bob will keep both houses for now and try to make their relationship work across the miles. But the handwriting is on the wall; I fully expect to be hunting for a long-term place to live as soon as my grandmother passes. Hopefully I won't have to look for both a job and a house or apartment at the same time! Wow, sorry to unload all at once. I'll try to post a little more regularly so the news chunks aren't so large. :-) All my best! (26 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
2:19 am	Heather Dale and Ben Deschamps: House concert in Pittsburgh Sunday Heather and Ben are touring in support of Heather's new album "Avalon," and they'll be performing a house concert here in town. Michael Greenstein says: "Canadian independent musician and recording artist Heather Dale (known to the SCA as Mistress Marian of Heatherdale) and fellow musician Ben Deschamps will perform a house concert on Sunday evening, January 16, following a potluck dinner at the home of Michael Greenstein (Michael Alewright) in Swissvale, Pennsylvania (just outside of Pittsburgh). "Those of you who know her music are already excited. For those who have not yet had the pleasure: "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQFHSJQHbNM "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84xZYSQRhQ4&feature=related "Potluck dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. Concert begins at 7:00 p.m. "If you have never had the pleasure of attending a house concert, the evening's festivities will be a marvelous opportunity to meet, enjoy and even sing along with professional musicians in a relaxed, informal atmosphere. This is a family-friendly program. Those with pet allergies take note: there are two cats in the home. "There is no 'ticket price' for the evening, but a hat will be passed to reward Heather and Ben for their gift of music (love may pump the heart, but not the gasoline!). Suggested patronage is $10 - $15 per adult. Additionally, CDs of their music will be available for purchase." I hope to abandon the goggies long enough to attend at least the concert portion of this as well. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
2:11 am	Wake for Ann on Saturday Greg Armstrong, who shared Ann's house, posted this notice earlier this evening: "On Saturday, Jan 15th, the family and friends of Ann Cecil will hold an open house and wake at Ann's house (2966 Voelkel) from 2pm to 8pm. Bring your memories and photos of Ann to donate (or just to share), and celebrate the wonderful gift of friendship that came from an amazing woman. "Because of the short notice, donations of food to share are welcome, but not required. If you need directions to the house, please let us know and we'll be happy to provide them. "Thank you all; we're looking forward to seeing you there." My mom and I have to sit my sister's dogs this weekend, so I'll probably only be attending the first couple of hours, but I am planning to be there. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
8:32 am	Big fat up-and-down extended weekend Sorry I haven't posted here of late; starting in September, I've been so busy with (a) acting in Pete Grubbs' new video, (b) OVFF/album preparations, (c) my real job, and (d) holidays that I've gotten very little else done besides watching a few movies and doing some online gaming. (Plus LJ is blocked at work while FaceBook isn't, for whatever reason.) But here's the latest: This past Thursday morning, I was told that my contract at work would probably expire on January 28. I'm hoping that one or more of the other Westinghouse groups will pick me up, but things are very much up in the air, and I might be unemployed at the end of the month. Thursday evening, I made another follow-up call to try to get in touch with my college dorm-floor mate Gene Schmitt, with whom I've been meeting over GAFilk weekend for years. His wife informed me that he had passed away from complications of surgery in August; this was the first I'd heard of it. Thursday night I edited most of a document that needed to be submitted on Friday, with the result that I got 45 minutes of sleep. Friday afternoon I had a smooth flight to Atlanta for GAFilk. I enjoyed the opening festivities and Antithesis' concert, but I was so tired that I had to crash out and skip open filking. Saturday morning I got word that Ann Cecil, the grand dame of Pittsburgh fandom, the person who got me into fandom, co-founder of PARSEC, Confluence, SouthWrites, and the Pittsburgh Filk Underwriting Initiative, Listener Guest at OVFF 12, and Fan Guest of Honor at one of the Contraptions, was going into hospice care for her cancer. Saturday afternoon I enjoyed the GAFilk concerts. Matt Leger's was quite good, as was Howard Scrimgeour's. Seanan McGuire's was excellent; her emergency pickup band (I suggested they call themselves "The Molly McGuires" ;-D ) sounded terrific and seemed to have fun. I didn't get to hear many of the 2-song-by-10-minute performers, but those I did were excellent. Saturday evening I was delighted by the GAFilk banquet's delicious food, its extraordinary music (provided as usual by Play It with Moxie, who are preparing an album for release who knows when), and its casual and good-humored dancing. (GAFilk is one of the only events at which I will consent to dance.) Saturday night I open filked until dawn. Sunday afternoon and evening I enjoyed Dave Clement's unscheduled concert, joined the traditional dinner run to the Barbecue Kitchen, and did some more open filking. Sunday night I went to the airport at 8:30 p.m. for a 10:15 p.m. Airtran flight departure (which remained listed as "on time" despite the Great Southern Storm of 2011 being in progress). The plane was late getting in (10:40) but we boarded in short order (11:00). We then sat there waiting for a deicing spot to open (11:30). The plane trundled over to the pad (12:00 a.m.) and was deiced, after which the pilots told us passengers that they had reached their hours limit and needed to be replaced (12:30). The plane returned to the gate and we were allowed to deplane (12:45). First substitute pilot arrived shortly; second pilot got stuck in traffic (horrendous) but eventually got there (1:30). Plane reboarded (1:45). We were told that we were waiting on paperwork (2:05). We were told we were waiting on fuel (2:20). Fueller crew arrived and we were allowed to deplane again (2:40). Fueling was quickly completed and we were herded back on board again with threats that the plane would leave without us if we didn't get back on in ten minutes (2:55). Plane reboarded (3:05), then sat for no explained reason. Plane taxied out again (3:20). The new pilots informed us that we were waiting for deicing but that freezing rain had started and would prevent deicing from being effective (3:50). The pilots informed us that the freezing rain was not stopping and they took the plane back to the gate (4:15). The pilots informed us that we can't leave the plane yet because four other planes have returned to their gates ahead of us and no gate agents are available (4:25). The pilots shut off the plane and temperatures rose inside (4:50). We were finally allowed to deplane (5:15) and were told that we needed to go to a gate in another concourse to wait for gate agents to open it in an hour. We formed a line of lost souls at least 200 deep at this gate (5:45). I gave up and went back to the hotel (6:15), collapsing in graciously shared crash space at 7 a.m. Monday I accepted Pete Grubbs' offer to ride home with him and his boy Cecil and his sister Cindy and his dog Patch. I got up at 9:30 a.m. and had breakfast with Grubbses and Dave Clement and Alex Andrews, then helped load up. We were on our way by about 12:20 p.m. Roads were absolutely terrible. I-85 was shut down, so we had to follow I-75 instead. It took us three and a half hours to get out of Georgia. At 6:30ish we stopped for dinner at Papa John's Pizza in Cleveland, Tennessee, the first restaurant we'd found open in at least 30 miles. (A Cracker Barrel had its lights on and its music playing, but a note on the door saying "Sorry, closed until Tuesday.") We followed I-85 to Lexington KY, then I-64 to Charleston WV, then I-79 and I-376 to the Pittsburgh airport to pick up my car, then I-376 and PA Route 28 to my house at 6:30 a.m. today. Grubbses continued on their way; hopefully they are all safe at home now too. I checked my email to find this: "One of the most wonderful, smart, funny, generous people who ever lived passed away early this morning. Ann Cecil August 1, 1940 - January 11, 2011. Right now we don't have any concrete plans for any memorial. She requested no services." I will forward any additional info about Ann as I receive it. I hope Locus and some of the other SF news outlets and blogs will do some nice writeups about her, because she deserves every word of appreciation they can bestow. Folks, as wonderful as the convention was, I don't need any more long weekends like this one has been. Ever. (36 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
3:16 am	Home from OVFF Finally back home after leaving the OVFF hotel this morning, dropping off Zev and Kira, and working a full day. Had a great time at OVFF as usual; glad I was able to stay the extra day this time. Didn't win either of the Pegasi I was up for, and didn't register a blip in either of the song contests, but it was an honor to be nominated and I got two pretty decent songs out of it. More later after I rest up some, I hope. (Comment on this)