Further Assimilations

Shadowrun went pretty decent last night. We finished a big fight with some corp-type security guards, and the group is set up for the finale confrontation next session. The webcam link to Amy functioned pretty well, and there were albino gluten-free cookies for all. Now I have two synopses to type up :) One pitfall which urban-fantasy GMs must always be aware of: while fantasy-game swords kill slowly, guns are instantly lethal, which can sometimes be a challenge to the game.

Our players arrived to a less-than-spotless house. Starr and I had a rare weekend where neither of us worked or had any social commitments, so we spent a lot of personal time together, which meant I didn't do any cleaning in the living room or kitchen over the weekend. Last night I had to get the place presentable in about 90 minutes time, which I think I managed sufficiently. Luckily my friends aren't Better Homes and Gardens reps.

Midori started the evening off fairly relaxed, but started panicking once the room filled up, and took a completely unprovoked swipe at Jesse's face. Luckily, Jesse's all right, but I'm pretty cheesed at our little evil bitch cat right now. MistyMina, on the other hand, cuddled on ptownhiker's and lewisw's laps all night, racking up cute points until time for all to leave.

That, by the way, is indeed the new kitten's name. We tried Matisse, which didn't work, and then we tried Misty, which almost worked. Starr suggested Mina, the name of a friend, and about then the kitten knocked yet another something over. So we named her MistyMina, for her criminal behavior, and that stuck.

Tonight will be Technicon travel prep. I feel like I know what I'm going to to be doing on Saturday night now, so my main jobs are laundry, repairing a prop, and picking costumes for the weekend. I have four candidates, and only two days of convention :) Really looking forward to seeing everyone!

I bought Starr an iPod nano for Christmas 2007, in the hopes that she could use it to listen to her music library and crochet podcasts on her work commute (nearly as long as mine). As well, she received a device that played her iPod through her car stereo. This caused a problem: the device plugged into her cigarette lighter, which hadn't worked in years.

Today, I finally found the round tuit for correcting that problem. After some Googling, and removing her car's engine air filter, I found the likely electrical fuse, and learned it was indeed blown. Starr admitted to spilling some liquid in the lighter socket once upon a time, and I had hopes for an easy repair. One trip to Auto Zone later, and the little iPod broadcaster works great.

This just makes me terribly happy. I finally got around to fixing the issue I'd promised to, and fixed it properly with a little skull sweat and some digging under her PT Cruiser's hood. Getting something done is such a good thing.

• 07:41 Mythbaby: "Mythbusters" Build Team member Kari Byron is pregnant! Congratulations! Guess she'll be missing some of the rougher stunts. #
• 14:50 Walked to client and back, about 10 minutes each way. Great day for it, 70 degrees out. #

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This is the first shuttle launch in decades that I've managed to watch live. The experience takes my breath away; so daring, so defiant, putting people atop all that high explosive and flinging them into the hostile vacuum above us. I'm not always thrilled with my species, but this sort of thing restores my faith in our future... at least briefly.

In a very small way, I contributed to this launch, which only adds to the thrill. I contributed indirectly, to be sure, just by doing my day job keeping the Macs of Langley humming; but I'm proud nevertheless.

• 08:30 Talking about comic strips at work. Anyone who recognizes the reference to "Uchuu Sensuikan Rabendaa" has known me for quite a long time. #
• 11:35 Cannot reach any JPop radio station on iTunes today. Found a vocal trance station which at least kinda reminds me of Yoko Kanno. #
• 12:49 @DontPanicJasz Well, I don't even have an epic flying mount. yet... and the moment I earned my regular one at 68, I headed for Northrend :( #

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• 10:14 Ok, fandom: if you say, "Oh, I want to be *just like* Rorschach", or indeed any Watchmen char, I suspect you've utterly missed the point. #
• 10:33 Huh. The WoW Armory seems to be busted, I can't look anyone up. #
• 11:08 @UrsulaV Fools on the Internet are like the legendary Hydra - cut one down, and two more spring forth to replace it. #
• 13:21 Meiran's going to want to see this: tinyurl.com/aum42e 1978 "Lost Ark" story conference, Lucas and Spielberg (125pg. PDF) #

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• 08:26 @tangowildheart Vilya was the elven Ring of Air, on the hand of Elrond in LotR. #
• 11:20 I can't remember the zip code of the last place I worked, but I can give you the names of the three elven rings in no time. *eyeroll* #
• 12:40 @meiran Be strong. We may knock one down, but the Internet has a nigh-infinite-supply of idiots. #
• 18:13 Rumor going around that Daft Punk will score the "Tron 2" movie. tinyurl.com/b7ru6h Probably BS, but my nerd heart is soaring. #

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Langley is closed for the day, which surprises me. There's a dusting of snow outside, but it sure isn't anything I couldn't drive through. Perhaps the bridge-tunnels are unsafe. Our e-mail notification system is a tease, though: "Check Sunday at 7pm." 7pm Sunday: "Not sure. Check Monday at 5am." 5am Monday: "We're definitely closed until Monday at noon. Check at 10am for more." 10am Monday: "Yeah, okay, we're closed."

The upshot is that I have a day off, and for once Starr's not working today either. We didn't see much of each other this weekend, so this'll be nice. We might hit the Y together and get some exercising in. The cats are thrilled to have us home, which means they are all over us every second. I'm thinking of getting some kitty restraints. (Cue Steve Martin's "Cat Handcuffs" routine.)

I made my hotel reservations for Technicon this weekend. Went nuts and got a suite, since a suite at the Microtel costs less than a twin bed other places. My plan right now is to drive up Friday after work, chill Friday night, do the con and some local socializing, and drive home Monday. I often miss everyone up there. You guys need to all come down to MarsCon or NekoCon or something now so we can hang out.

Mom tried to move back into the house at Kentland this weekend. With reservations, I support this - her plan sounds workable, and she's going to have outside help. But we learned that a pipe was broken, necessitating shutting off the water, and the gas was also shut off for some reason. I have to get her and Whitney together to get that fixed, as there's not much I can do about it from here.

And speaking of houses... Starr's parents have made us an offer to buy this house from them. Without going into details, it's a deal we would be complete fools to pass up. We've agreed to their offer, and are setting up the money now. Nothing's been signed yet, but it looks like we are going to be homeowners.

I'm going to own a house. A four-bedroom, 2.5 bath house in a nice neighborhood, with a garage, a swimming pool, a fireplace... and this from a guy who was amazed he could afford a three-bedroom apartment. I'm still a little dazed at the prospect... this is awesome. Starr's right now looking at mortgage rates from her USAA membership, we might even get a good rate. Whoa. *deep breaths* Please send good thoughts my way if you can spare them. This means a lot to me!

• 07:49 @starstryder That's right! you need Katamari Damacy instead: tinyurl.com/iPrince #
• 07:51 Wow. Absolutely exhausted yesterday, nearly wrecked on the way home. Think I'm feeling better this morning. #
• 13:33 @queenofpith If a Richmond Dave & Busters installs the VWE MechWarrior simulation pods, I am so there! #
• 14:56 Job perk: had lengthy hallway discussion with boss this morning about Dollhouse, Dr. Who, and BSG. Local PBS may be showing 4th Doctor eps! #
• 17:30 Just watched Blizzard's Uldar preview video. Holy smoke! For the first time ever, I'm really sorry that I've never done endgame raiding. #
• 18:42 OMG, this History Channel program on the secrets of the art on the dollar bill is complete bunk. #
• 19:42 Microsoft will ban you for XBox Live for being out as gay. Not that my money matters, but they won't get a gaming dime from me now. #
• 20:55 This History Channel program on Atlantis is also bunk, but at least I expected that going in. #

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• 06:25 Since I didn't manage to see a single new movie in 2008, the Oscars piqued my interest not at all. #
• 09:15 Sewing machine FAIL. Got nice book, but was too busy with other errands this weekend to sit down and play with machine. Maybe later this wk. #
• 19:14 @fuzzface00 I found out about the anti-air flak in WoW the hard way myself! Thank goodness for mage Blink and Invisibility. #

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