Oh lookie, a long line of cars
I have discovered something about this part of Virginia.
If you have to drive anywhere that involves passing through a tunnel, don’t be shocked if you’re late to your destination.
Movies! Music! Games! Parties!
For the first time since moving here, my weekend return to Salem was marred by traffic delays in both directions, both at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. Neither time did I see an evidence of an accident – it was instead as if a claustrophobe had realized too late, “oh, I’m going through a tunnel!” and slowed to 15 mph, causing everyone for 6 miles back to have to slam on their brakes.
However, the Game Day / raininva‘s Party / Con Meeting / .Hack Session was lots of fun. Rain proved once again why she’s nearly indispensable to Rising Star, I demoed MegaMan, and Nick P. showed me a .Hack//Enemy deck which is no fun to play against :p I also got to say hi to a bunch of Blacksburgites who I don’t see as often as I did before the move – I might not be in B-burg again before Rising Star.
Despite reviewers’ best efforts, I have figured out the plot twist in The Village from reading reviews, just as I did in The Sixth Sense. The difference is that the deduction made me more interested in watching Willis and Osment, but I know I’m going to give this new movie a pass. Instead, rattrap nearly talked me into seeing Thunderbirds after all – at the very least, I can sit back and enjoy the CGI rescue vehicles.
Moving to Virginia Beach has certainly improved my concert situation. I saw a Chicago / Earth, Wind, & Fire doubleheader last month, and this month Blondie is playing a show less than 2 blocks from where I work. Yes, I am still all about the 80’s – if I can catch Duran Duran on their 2004 tour, I can check off two more bands that I always wanted to see.
Time to go fix another laptop…
Should’ve chosen Rt. 460
Yesterday’s drive could have gone better. I made excellent time up to the Busch Gardens exit of I-64; suddenly, the highway turned into a parking lot, and I sat there for the next 90 minutes. Good thing the iPaq has Solitaire and a power adapter. Now we just need flat-rate nationwide 802.11 access!
I think the 90 minutes of inactivity wiped me out more than the drive would have, but I did have enough energy last night to load up DDRMax to make sure everything worked okay – tonight will be my first “workout mode” session. Then I played an hour of Fatal Frame, since that’s on loan and I want to finish it. Nice graphics, very atmospheric and creepy, though I haven’t actually been scared by it yet. I also need to be quicker on the draw with my camera!
I miss Rain already – I’m so glad I’ll see her again Friday. I have to get one or two more items for my costume for Lorelei’s party – I can’t wait to see what Rain picks out for herself. Lots to do this week!
Somebody invent the frelling transporter!
Phew. Still a little tired from the accumulated 12 hours of driving this weekend. I had a great time in Riner, it was good to catch up with folks. Ironically, I had to drive back to the B-burg area to see some people who live here on the Virginia coast :p By the end of the evening, I was on the floor of the guest house with a bunch of buzzed people working out the “King James ending” of Space Rogues. Turns out that the cat is more important than you can imagine!
rattrap and rubinpdf helped me with my HeroClix issues, and that was much appreciated. Told several people about the portfolio review – hope they get in and get to draw a card or two!
Thanks again to calandra for a great afternoon and evening!
Weekend in western Virginia
Posting from the handheld, since the computer’s back in Virginia Beach. Rain’s off at Origins, and I’m got a kitty magnetically attached to my lap – she hasn’t seen me in two weeks, nor Rain for a couple days. Boy did she cuss me when I walked in.
Brought some card sets up for this evening. I’ll probably get cleaned up and leave for Blacksburg before long. More driving. Good thing my car’s comfy as they go.
It’s interesting trying to read webcomics on the screen of a handheld. I wonder if I could manage to save up for an nice eBay laptop by Xmas, one I can shoehorn OS X onto.
Kitty’s purring.
Dinner with Captain Paisley
Saturday night I had dinner with Tom Monaghan and his wife, Donna. We had a good time catching up on stuff, seeing what the other’s been up to, trading trivia found on Slashdot, that sort of thing. Tom’s even posted some new Wiikii strips on his website, Wiikii Paradise. I think he (or maybe Wiikii) should get a LiveJournal.
Other than that, it’s been a slow week. All this week, I get home at 7, eat dinner, and just don’t feel like doing much besides reading. As soon as I get my next paycheck, I’m going to get some model supplies and build and review the Klingon ship model for Jerry. Of course, tomorrow night I’ll be back on I-64 / I-81 for the trip to Blacksburg (with stopovers in Salem both ways).
While I still believe that 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the most beautiful and realistic space movies ever made, I think I become more critical of its other aspects upon every viewing. I’m beginning to agree with the folk who say that Hal 9000 actually has far more personality than the two human astronauts on Discovery. Guys, you could be out-acted by Thunderbirds puppets – come on!
First weekend back
Got back to Virginia Beach this evening, from a weekend trip back to Roanoke. Got some more of my personal things, but more importantly, got to spend time with Rain. It’s going to be a while before I see her again, which sucks rocks. Big chunks of volcanic pumice rocks, still blistering hot too. 🙁
But I did get to see her, that’s what’s important. Even got to see rhaps and shrewlet for a bit on Saturday, and trenn for an even briefer bit.
I should be back up in Blacksburg in two weeks, to catch up with calandra and much of the B-burg crowd. Jesse Braxton told me to pass along her regrets that she won’t be able to come up that weekend, but life made other plans for her.
Weird drive. Because of the deep layer of cloud cover over Roanoke, and the clear skies over Norfolk, this is one of the first afternoon drives I’ve taken where the sky got lighter as the afternoon wore away.
“Olliur Base here: The Griffin Has Landed.”
A Baby’s Diary: “Day 1 – Still tired from the move.” – Steven Wright.
I’m all set up in my new place here in Virginia Beach. Room is nice sized, roommates are nice, and I’ve got the Internet connection working, so I’m as comfy as possible. Went to the grocery store today and, for the first time in over 35 years, bought a week’s worth of food for only myself. Weird.
I miss Roanoke already 🙂 I hope my first day at the new job is a smooth one.
Technicon 21 report
The element of Technicon that has stayed with me most this morning is the great pain in my legs from dancing too much too quickly Saturday night. Oh, yes… and I think that next time raininva and I go to India Garden, we’re ordering just bland chicken “tanders” and the garlic “naan” (bread). Our stomachs aren’t international enough for much else.
