Hodgepodge

Happy Birthday to my best friend, companion and life partner jgaleckas.

May it be joy filled!

Happy Birthday to jgaleckas, my partner, my best friend and my companion.

May this be a super day!

I apologize for posting this late but Friday was very busy so did not even have a chance to get the laptop out.

The con gets going full steam today and after a so-so continental breakfast at our Day's Inn, we headed to the CCC. Since this was the first morning we went directly to the CCC we were please to find it took about 7 minutes to get to the parking deck. A small time cost for saving half on the room per night.

Panels:
The Return to the Moon - Well presented and a lot of info, good photos of what is going on with the hardware. IN the end though, it became clear that we will not likely make it back to Luna in the next twenty years if NASA is the only option. 4 stars.
Bleeding Heart Liberals and Military SF - A great panel with Elizabeth Moon, John Scalzi, John Hemry and Joe Haldeman. All were interesting and gave insights into their writing and philosophies. 4 stars
Mars Update - Geoff Landis did his usual superior job with great slide of the Phoenix lander and Bill Higgins was also interesting. Steve Howe gave some grim news as to the constant changing directives from Congress on the engineering goals and while trying to remain optimistic, it was clear that Mars is even more unlikely to be a destination for human exploration in my lifetime for sure. 4 stars
You Canna Change the Laws of Physics - A fun discussion of how authors bend or sometimes completely break the laws of physics in their writing. Jordin Kare always has good things to say and Greg Bear has the smoothest voice of any writer I know - I could listen to him all day long. It got a little off topic but a good time. 3 stars

Midday I lugged the laptop down to the mall and yes I did find the free Wi-Fi. It was weird browsing the web while siting on an outdoor bench.

Had dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery and jgaleckas were thrilled to see they had hand-crafted root beer. We both ahd steaks and they were excellent. We then headed to the Sheraton for Consuite and party action. The consuite was much better stocked with buffalo wings and birthday cake. They had a celebration for anyone having a birthday during or around the con. The bid party room was Australia tonight and a distinct air of smugness existed. I guess that comes form running an unopposed bid.

The walk back to the CCC and the van was wet since it rained most of the night.

For my birthday yesterday, jgaleckas surprised my by taking my to see a Kane County Cougars game. The Cougars are the A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics.We have talked about going to a game there for the last few years but never got around to actually going.

Her daughter Tamara arrived at about 10 AM and we left the house with the warning I needed to dress warmly as we would be sitting outside all day. At first I thought she had gotten tickets for the Cubs (the Sox are out of town) but then I realized we wouldn't drive to Wrigley( the "L" is much better) and I was pretty sure they were playing at night.

As we headed out west on I-88 I began to suspect where we were going and knew when we exited the expressway.

A good time was had by all. The park is very nice, our seats were third row behind the dugout and with that type if intimacy, even Janice (who is NOT a baseball fan) enjoyed the game. There were thousands of school kids there for a reading promotion (a cool thing) which added to the atmosphere. The Lord blessed us with a sunny and mild day so we just sat back and enjoyed. We didn't care who won (we did root for the Cougars even though they got trounced). It was very relaxing.

After the game we visited Janice's son to see his new motorcycle, his broken ankle (from a fall on said motorcycle) and his 'due any day' now wife. We didn't stay long, came home and watched The Water Horse on DVD. (a two hanky ending)

A very nice birthday indeed!

I am sitting here reflecting on reaching age 55 yesterday. I have never been one to dwell on age at any birthday and I don't feel any older today than I did 10, 20 or 30 years age. (Some mornings after a hard day at the farm I feel physically older when I wake up and find the body resisting)

I think the reason the age thing doesn't bother me is because I have tried to stay up on the world around me whether it is music, movies, TV computer stuff and other technology. I see a lot of people who don't, and they feel the world has passed them by. This doesn't mean I think all of the new stuff is good - I never thought it was all good back when I was 21 either.

Another reason I feel good is that I have the love of a wonderful person who is my companion, best friend and anchor. Without her, I might look at age differently.

I am blessed in many ways, spiritually and otherwise. The adventure awaiting us at the the farm keeps me youthful, my effort to become a published writer, while frustrating, fills me with an energy that is real.

So yeah, 55 is no big deal.

Happy Birthday to kradical, one of my favorite Star Trek writers.

I hope you find time in your frenetic day to enjoy your special day.