(no subject)
Boy. What a week.
My cousin went away last weekend. She went to Mardi Gras in NOLA. Something she's wanted to do for years.
But this meant I was left to my own devices.
On Tuesday, right after I did my Uber update, our cable went down (internet, phone, tv). Could I find our account info to call & complain?? Could I?? Like hell. Frantic text messages to the USA (oh my poor bill) produced the information - albeit with a 6 hour time difference delay. Turned out not to matter - the whole relay for our part of the city was down. It took them til Thursday to fix. Which they managed to do just before I left.
Where was I going??
Xena Con - that's where.
I knew my cousin was going - I'd even posted a question on the Xena con FB page for her, about trains - and I was envious, I would have loved to go, especially as it's the last one, but I couldn't afford it. Just before she left she gave me an envelope. Inside was a ticket to the con, and a plane ticket (on a cheap, overnight, get-you-there-but-knackered flight). Seems that she got together with my two sisters and the three of them bought it for me for the big birthday I have coming up next month.
I was totally gobsmacked. (Yes, I did choke up with emotion.)
I have never packed a suitcase so quickly.
So Thursday evening found me on a plane to LA. I got there at oh-god-is-that-the-time Friday morning, met my cousin at the train station and went straight to the con.
It's awesome. Lucy & ROC were brilliant. Hudson was... well Hudson. Alex Tydings was great. Claire & Danielle were a little disappointing but you can't have everything.
The hotel is fantastic (my cousin likes luxury & spends way more on a hotel than I would). Food is the usual struggle but the Hometown Buffet is still there at the Empire mall, 20 minutes walk away, and I can get plenty to eat there.
Fantastic.
Oh - the trains - my cousin decided she'd like to see a bit of America, so instead of flying from Mardi Gras to LA she took a train. She said it was an experience but she doesn't ever want to do it again.
It did impress upon her exactly how big the US is, but she had no idea there was so much desert in the south-west. She said it was a 1900 mile journey of which 1500 miles was desert. She was also surprised by the levels of poverty that were very obvious.
She said she was glad she saw Mardi Gras but found it a little too much. She saw a couple of parades but couldn't cope with the crowds for the big ones. She also couldn't handle the evenings. She said if she'd been drinking it would have been different, but she doesn't drink these days. She got loads of beads though, and she brought me a rainbow-coloured, sequinned, Mardi Gras fedora, Which actually doesn't look too bad - I don't usually "do" hats.
My cousin went away last weekend. She went to Mardi Gras in NOLA. Something she's wanted to do for years.
But this meant I was left to my own devices.
On Tuesday, right after I did my Uber update, our cable went down (internet, phone, tv). Could I find our account info to call & complain?? Could I?? Like hell. Frantic text messages to the USA (oh my poor bill) produced the information - albeit with a 6 hour time difference delay. Turned out not to matter - the whole relay for our part of the city was down. It took them til Thursday to fix. Which they managed to do just before I left.
Where was I going??
Xena Con - that's where.
I knew my cousin was going - I'd even posted a question on the Xena con FB page for her, about trains - and I was envious, I would have loved to go, especially as it's the last one, but I couldn't afford it. Just before she left she gave me an envelope. Inside was a ticket to the con, and a plane ticket (on a cheap, overnight, get-you-there-but-knackered flight). Seems that she got together with my two sisters and the three of them bought it for me for the big birthday I have coming up next month.
I was totally gobsmacked. (Yes, I did choke up with emotion.)
I have never packed a suitcase so quickly.
So Thursday evening found me on a plane to LA. I got there at oh-god-is-that-the-time Friday morning, met my cousin at the train station and went straight to the con.
It's awesome. Lucy & ROC were brilliant. Hudson was... well Hudson. Alex Tydings was great. Claire & Danielle were a little disappointing but you can't have everything.
The hotel is fantastic (my cousin likes luxury & spends way more on a hotel than I would). Food is the usual struggle but the Hometown Buffet is still there at the Empire mall, 20 minutes walk away, and I can get plenty to eat there.
Fantastic.
Oh - the trains - my cousin decided she'd like to see a bit of America, so instead of flying from Mardi Gras to LA she took a train. She said it was an experience but she doesn't ever want to do it again.
It did impress upon her exactly how big the US is, but she had no idea there was so much desert in the south-west. She said it was a 1900 mile journey of which 1500 miles was desert. She was also surprised by the levels of poverty that were very obvious.
She said she was glad she saw Mardi Gras but found it a little too much. She saw a couple of parades but couldn't cope with the crowds for the big ones. She also couldn't handle the evenings. She said if she'd been drinking it would have been different, but she doesn't drink these days. She got loads of beads though, and she brought me a rainbow-coloured, sequinned, Mardi Gras fedora, Which actually doesn't look too bad - I don't usually "do" hats.