Prost

Hello there. It’s Sunday and that means it’s time for another weekend update.

The first couple days of the week started out relatively slow. On Monday I saw this really nifty comic by Secondlina about how we need others to survive and thrive. There’s elven panels and out of respect for the artist I’m not going to share them all here; instead, you should visit her Instagram and read it all for yourself. But here’s one of the panels to whet your appetite:

On Tuesday I applied to be a contestant on Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me (the NPR news quiz). I’m not the greatest at making myself seem interesting on purpose, so I doubt I’ll hear back beyond the auto-reply I’ve already received, but if it becomes something more I’ll definitely tell you after the recording and depending on how well I did on whatever contest they gave me. I indicated my preference was for “Who’s Bill This Time?” but it could be anything, including Listener Limerick Challenge or Bluff the Listener. Bluff the Listener is probably the hardest because either you know the correct story or you don’t; there’s really no context clues to lead you in the right direction.

I also finished typing up the notes for the most recent D7D one-shot session, affectionately named by another player at the table “Rustle and Company” based on the actions of my character in that session.

On Wednesday our D&D group finally battled Graz’zt – we set up the battle back in April but then due to schedules and the like we didn’t get to actually execute the plan until just now.

For some reason, autocorrect wants to say that Graz’zt should be Graz’Zyrtec – what’s up with that?

Anyway I’m not done typing up the notes for that game just yet but I’ll link them anyway – you’ll be looking for Session Thirty-Four: Against All Odds.

Thursday and Friday I attended a work conference, and annual statewide organization meeting for folks in my field. I actually presented at this meeting before but with so much going on at work I didn’t propose anything this year.

I did have a lot of people remember me; unfortunately I didn’t remember some of them but they were glad to get reacquainted. There are three or four folks I see every year, and one of them kindly told me that when they think of this conference, they think of me and how I started as an attendee and have now presented to others.

Take that, imposter syndrome.

Of course, there was plenty of encouragement to connect with folks on LinkedIn, and there’s just something about a social media site centered around ones’ career that gives me the ick, as they say. I have an account but rarely use it. If it’s what I need to network, though, perhaps I should make an effort.

Being out of town I wanted to treat myself to a nice dinner, or at least something I wouldn’t be able to get at home, so I made a reservation at a Biergarten called Prost.

At the conference, I discovered the coordinators had arranged for a social hour at a local place serving Mexican cuisine. I debated cancelling my reservation but decided against it for two reasons:

First, the provided lunch was a taco bar, and while I wouldn’t be forced to order tacos later that evening, it did mean that unless I wanted to really alter my schedule, I’d be eating Mexican twice in a day. That’s not a bad thing; in fact, people in Mexico probably do it every day, know what I mean? But also I wanted a change, and my hometown has plenty of great Mexican and Mexican-American eateries.

Second, I didn’t think I could be as social as they would’ve liked me to be. I know what my social battery looks like and by the end of the day I just wanted some alone time.

So I drove to the restaurant and found parking right beside it – where I paid way too much to park in a private lot, but what’re you going to do when it’s a beach town in summer?

I went inside and they’d set me up in a nice corner. Not an out-of-the-way corner as if to say “look at this loser dining alone” but a corner that said “please sit and relax and unwind. Take your time; there’s no rush”

I’d paid for two hours in the parking lot and was determined to use almost every minute; that, combined with the atmosphere, helped me slow down.

I started with a fresh-baked pretzel with mustard and beer cheese along with a flight of beer, which I ordered because several looked really good and I couldn’t make up my mind.

From left to right:

They were all good, but if I had to rank them by my own preference that night, it would be the Hefeweizen, the Kölsch, the Pilsner, then the IPA. But like I said, they were all good and tasty.

For my main, I went with the chicken Jägerschnitzel with Spätzle and red cabbage.

I ate it all and almost ordered a dessert of German chocolate torte, but decided against it. I’m not exactly kicking myself for not doing so, but I’m also disappointed I didn’t do it.

I went and found my hotel and checked in and tried to get some sleep. There wasn’t anything wrong with the room, it was just me being in an unfamiliar place.

Friday was the second day of the conference which ended with some roundtable discussions. As we were talking the rain started, which made my afternoon plans for me. I had considered visiting a store or two before heading home, but the radar told me I should leave as soon as possible. It was a good decision, as what should have been an hour and forty minute drive turned into nearly two and a half hours. There were blindingly torrential downpours, detours due to accidents, and at times I found myself in a line of vehicles creeping along the highway in the rain at thirty miles an hour with our flashers on.

Well, almost everyone had their flashers on, and it might be uncharitable, but I hope those that were driving in an unsafe manner realize the error of their ways.

I made it home safely and settled in for a nap. During my nap we had some packages delivered, and even though it was raining and even though we have a large, sturdy delivery box to protect packages from the elements, the delivery person left them in the rain. This is also know it was not out usual delivery person. Thankfully we didn’t have any art being delivered, like the time that prompted the box in the first place, but the outer boxes did get soaked almost all the way through. enough that everything was dry inside but he boxes fell apart as I was opening them.

We got a magnetic calendar for the door and a frame so i could display one of the art pieces I got at the Oddities Expo last month. And since it was now on my wall, I also followed through with the artist, sharing pictures of how it’s being displayed and explaining what the piece means to me. Maybe I’ll share that email someday, but I want to be sure she’s had a chance to read it first before anyone else.

Hare and the Moon

The weather also changed my Saturday plans. I had intended to go to a local No Kings rally, but then found out the nearest one wasn’t in my hometown as I thought, but was an hour away. Driving an hour each way to an unfamiliar place with on one I knew in real life to attend what could be a tense rally didn’t seem like a good idea, so I spent the day instead posting various slogans and explainers showing my support for the rally and being able to express my viewpoint in a bit longer format. The most well-received slogan was actually a quote from Terry Pratchett – which shouldn’t have been surprising, but my posts rarely do low single digit interaction, so to have one reach almost triple digits was kinda cool.

Nae king!
Nae quin!
Nae laird!
Nae master!
We willna’ be fooled again!

In a way I wish I had been able to attend. A 99-year-old WWII vet was speaking, and the day before he gave an interview essentially saying “I fought these bastards once before and I’ll be damned if they win without a fight.”

thank you, sir

I did brave the weather more locally to do my typical grocery shopping and scout out the thrift shops. I monitored the radar, left when it began clearing and made it home just as more torrential rain arrived – literally it was raining at my car in the driveway but not at my front door, that’s how close I was able to cut it. Beyond groceries, I got a copy of The Rock and Muppets Take Manhattan for 25¢ each.

For supper I made BLTs:

And now today is Father’s Day, which stirs up some complicated feelings for me and others. Whatever you need today to be for you, I hope it is that very thing.

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