My first convention and I catch it.
Con Crud.
I feel like crap :( But I guess I shouldn't be surprised with my immune system being what it is. Time to go take some Vitamin C and sleep for the rest of the day.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Penguicon Day 1
WARNING LONG POST IS LONG!
Well, here I am, comfy in bed at the Troy Hilton in Michigan. I've been to one day of Penguicon, and I'm mostly enjoying myself. Yesterday was an adventure, though ...
So, Tene and I left for the airport around 10, our flight was scheduled to leave at around 12:30am. It left on time and all was well.
Ended up falling asleep on the flight. It was uncomfortable but - hey - whatcha gonna do?
Problem #1: My glasses broke in-flight. I'm not entirely certain as to how. I put them in the pocket of the seat in front of me before I fell asleep. But ... When I woke up they were gone. I eventually found them by my seat - apparently run over by one of the stewardess carts. Nothing fell off, but the left side was bent out of shape - the metal hinge twisted, and the plastic cracking. I put them in Tene's glasses' case and didn't worry about them again.
The plane took us to Atlanta, and we had a short layover before finally getting into a smaller plane to get to Detroit. Aside from me having issues with turbulence and general fears of flying, everything went well. I slept better on this flight.
We landed in Detroit at 9am local time. Didn't have to wait for luggage (yay carry on!), found an over-priced cab, and went to our hotel.
I slept in the cab, which hurt my neck.
Finally we got to the hotel. This is where I learned that Tene had not pre-registered for the con, and as a result we couldn't get registered for a while. While this was mostly okay, after some other adventures we could no longer get into the Consuite.
At the hotel I decided to replenish my energy, and had a long nap. I was wakened by Tene, who then asked if I wanted to go pick up one of the panelists from the airport. This panelist was Eliezer Yudkowsky who posts regularly to Overcoming Bias. So, we borrowed one of the Conhosts cars and went to the airport to pick up Eliezer. Everything was fine, I was just there to keep Tene comfy. I fell asleep in this car too.
At the airport I waited with the car while Tene went to go find Eliezer. Unfortunately, I was left in the "No parking, no standing" zone - where there was supposed to be "active loading and unloading, only." After being yelled at by a policeman on a motorcycle, I decided to move out of the way.
I ended up getting lost, and couldn't find my way back to the terminal until I'd gone around the airport 5+ times. I was not happy.
Once my anxiety attack was over, I found myself back at the hotel! Still unregistered, we couldn't find Matt (who owned the car we borrowed). Tene called him, and got permission to borrow the car again.
We went to the mall nearby, and found a Lenscrafters. They failed at an attempt to fix my glasses, but put them back together enough that I could wear them. Now they work okay, the lenses were in good shape, but the side post falls off sometimes
Well, we finally got back to the hotel, registered, and then went off to see the panels. I went to the three literature ones, which were very interesting, and I got to meet Tamora Pierce. That was cool.
I'll go into the panels later, for now, my adventures are hopefully over.
Well, here I am, comfy in bed at the Troy Hilton in Michigan. I've been to one day of Penguicon, and I'm mostly enjoying myself. Yesterday was an adventure, though ...
So, Tene and I left for the airport around 10, our flight was scheduled to leave at around 12:30am. It left on time and all was well.
Ended up falling asleep on the flight. It was uncomfortable but - hey - whatcha gonna do?
Problem #1: My glasses broke in-flight. I'm not entirely certain as to how. I put them in the pocket of the seat in front of me before I fell asleep. But ... When I woke up they were gone. I eventually found them by my seat - apparently run over by one of the stewardess carts. Nothing fell off, but the left side was bent out of shape - the metal hinge twisted, and the plastic cracking. I put them in Tene's glasses' case and didn't worry about them again.
The plane took us to Atlanta, and we had a short layover before finally getting into a smaller plane to get to Detroit. Aside from me having issues with turbulence and general fears of flying, everything went well. I slept better on this flight.
We landed in Detroit at 9am local time. Didn't have to wait for luggage (yay carry on!), found an over-priced cab, and went to our hotel.
I slept in the cab, which hurt my neck.
Finally we got to the hotel. This is where I learned that Tene had not pre-registered for the con, and as a result we couldn't get registered for a while. While this was mostly okay, after some other adventures we could no longer get into the Consuite.
At the hotel I decided to replenish my energy, and had a long nap. I was wakened by Tene, who then asked if I wanted to go pick up one of the panelists from the airport. This panelist was Eliezer Yudkowsky who posts regularly to Overcoming Bias. So, we borrowed one of the Conhosts cars and went to the airport to pick up Eliezer. Everything was fine, I was just there to keep Tene comfy. I fell asleep in this car too.
At the airport I waited with the car while Tene went to go find Eliezer. Unfortunately, I was left in the "No parking, no standing" zone - where there was supposed to be "active loading and unloading, only." After being yelled at by a policeman on a motorcycle, I decided to move out of the way.
I ended up getting lost, and couldn't find my way back to the terminal until I'd gone around the airport 5+ times. I was not happy.
Once my anxiety attack was over, I found myself back at the hotel! Still unregistered, we couldn't find Matt (who owned the car we borrowed). Tene called him, and got permission to borrow the car again.
We went to the mall nearby, and found a Lenscrafters. They failed at an attempt to fix my glasses, but put them back together enough that I could wear them. Now they work okay, the lenses were in good shape, but the side post falls off sometimes
Well, we finally got back to the hotel, registered, and then went off to see the panels. I went to the three literature ones, which were very interesting, and I got to meet Tamora Pierce. That was cool.
I'll go into the panels later, for now, my adventures are hopefully over.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Script Frenzy 2008
Since I'm sure few (if any) of you read Truth in Lies, I decided to also mention it here.
I'm participating in Script Frenzy 2008! Hooray for me! I probably won't do well, and if you want to know more I'll be talking about it at TiL.
I'm participating in Script Frenzy 2008! Hooray for me! I probably won't do well, and if you want to know more I'll be talking about it at TiL.
Update on Min
This is an update on Min and what the vet told me yesterday.
The tumors are, in fact, tumors and they are most likely benign. I could have an "easy surgery" to have them removed, but the surgery, boarding, feeding, medicine, etc will cost 350$; 275$ more than I expected to be paying (I was unaware that I would be paying for boarding/a hospital stay).
The tumors are painless and won't actually harm Min - except for making it difficult for her to move around (because of their position, this could become a problem very quickly). They'll continue to grow unless removed, eventually leading to Min being unable to move around without difficulty - which would then lead to euthanasia.
I did some more research (I'm getting good at this!) and apparently rats rarely live passed 3 years - and that's if they're actually bred well. Since Min came from PetSmart, I highly doubt that she'd live very long even with surgery anyway.
This is a hard decision, and I'm going to be figuring things out over the next week. Cost-benefit analysis doesn't work so well when it's your pet's life on the line, though :/
The tumors are, in fact, tumors and they are most likely benign. I could have an "easy surgery" to have them removed, but the surgery, boarding, feeding, medicine, etc will cost 350$; 275$ more than I expected to be paying (I was unaware that I would be paying for boarding/a hospital stay).
The tumors are painless and won't actually harm Min - except for making it difficult for her to move around (because of their position, this could become a problem very quickly). They'll continue to grow unless removed, eventually leading to Min being unable to move around without difficulty - which would then lead to euthanasia.
I did some more research (I'm getting good at this!) and apparently rats rarely live passed 3 years - and that's if they're actually bred well. Since Min came from PetSmart, I highly doubt that she'd live very long even with surgery anyway.
This is a hard decision, and I'm going to be figuring things out over the next week. Cost-benefit analysis doesn't work so well when it's your pet's life on the line, though :/
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Script Frenzy 2008
So, I decided - probably against my better judgment - to join in the fight for Script Frenzy this year. Now, I tried NaNoWriMo last year, and I failed horribly. I'm going to try again this year - but I make absolutely no promises.
Script Frenzy is new - it just started up last year - and it focuses on script writing, rather than a novel. But it has a similar premise as NaNoWriMo, as it was set up by the same people. The goal is 100 pages of a script within the 30 days of April.
A daunting task, to be sure. The thing is - and what makes me absolutely insane for trying this - I've never written a script. Or, correction, I haven't written a script since I was 12, and those scripts were never very good.
They were fanfiction, for one thing.
Bad fanfiction.
Based on a computer game.
An educational computer game.
Ever heard of the Logical Journey of the Zoombinis? That was what that script was based on.
I think I still have it somewhere.
Anyway, I haven't written a script since I was 12, never saw a need to. I'm much better at fiction writing, and I was never great at the dialog-action thing that goes along with scripting. I'd rather have it all blended together smoothly.
And I have no ideas for plots.
Anyway, regardless, and against my better judgment, I'm trying this crazy thing out. If you want to watch my progress, my Script Frenzy profile is here.
Script Frenzy is new - it just started up last year - and it focuses on script writing, rather than a novel. But it has a similar premise as NaNoWriMo, as it was set up by the same people. The goal is 100 pages of a script within the 30 days of April.
A daunting task, to be sure. The thing is - and what makes me absolutely insane for trying this - I've never written a script. Or, correction, I haven't written a script since I was 12, and those scripts were never very good.
They were fanfiction, for one thing.
Bad fanfiction.
Based on a computer game.
An educational computer game.
Ever heard of the Logical Journey of the Zoombinis? That was what that script was based on.
I think I still have it somewhere.
Anyway, I haven't written a script since I was 12, never saw a need to. I'm much better at fiction writing, and I was never great at the dialog-action thing that goes along with scripting. I'd rather have it all blended together smoothly.
And I have no ideas for plots.
Anyway, regardless, and against my better judgment, I'm trying this crazy thing out. If you want to watch my progress, my Script Frenzy profile is here.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Oh no ....
I found a bump on Min tonight when I was playing with her. I'm fairly certain it's a tumor. I'm going to try to take her to the vet this weekend, but I'm unsure if I can actually do anything for her ... aside from euthanasia. I knew I'd be losing my girl sometime in the next year or so ... I just didn't think it would be so soon.
I did some quick searches. There are two possibilities for what this could be. It is either a mammary fibroadenoma, which is a benign tumor (which I'm hoping for), or mammary adenocarcinomas - which is the type that is malignant and would mean that I would probably need to put Min down.
I'm not ready for this ...
I don't have the money for a vet visit, let alone surgery, but I think Tene would help out with this. He helps me out so much, I feel so guilty. I was so surprised and shocked when I felt the bump, I've been crying since. I'm worried about Min, but I can't do anything tonight. Or tomorrow ... I'll need to wait until Tene is home from Houston to take Min to the vet ... and he'll be gone next week as well. Maybe I can get him to transfer some money to me .... hmmmm.
Well, I do need sleep, scary rat problems or no.
Just so worried :/
I did some quick searches. There are two possibilities for what this could be. It is either a mammary fibroadenoma, which is a benign tumor (which I'm hoping for), or mammary adenocarcinomas - which is the type that is malignant and would mean that I would probably need to put Min down.
I'm not ready for this ...
I don't have the money for a vet visit, let alone surgery, but I think Tene would help out with this. He helps me out so much, I feel so guilty. I was so surprised and shocked when I felt the bump, I've been crying since. I'm worried about Min, but I can't do anything tonight. Or tomorrow ... I'll need to wait until Tene is home from Houston to take Min to the vet ... and he'll be gone next week as well. Maybe I can get him to transfer some money to me .... hmmmm.
Well, I do need sleep, scary rat problems or no.
Just so worried :/
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