More Bayconnage.

[gridlore]

When last we left our hero, it was early evening on Sunday. I had planned on helping run the party, but as I left the Internet Lounge something in my gut went sproing, and i was suddenly in dire need of a restroom. Needless to say, I skipped the party. Instead I sat on our balcony for the Dive-In Movie.

See, overlooking the pool area is a large, blank, white wall. And there's a walkway that provides a great place for a projector. So at night we show movies. Sunday it was Serenity. With people all over the place shouting comments, cheering the good lines (I couldn't say which one got a bigger cheer.. Jayne's "Let's be bad guys" or Mal's "I aim to misbehave.")

After the movie ended, I went to bed. ataniell93 had kindly given me some herbal meds that really settled my stomach, so I got a good eight hours sleep.

To be honest, most of Monday is something of a blur. There was a major SNAFU with the hotel.. none of the function space had been reset. Or opened. Which meant my 1000 panel "When the Water Rises" was a bit late and ad-hoc. It was also uncomfortable for me. Look, I'm a high-school dropout. It's only because my mother refused to let me leave the valley without a diploma that I have one at all. I know I've done a lot of self-education on a number of topics, but the reality of my education remains. So imagine how I felt sitting on a hard science panel with three PhDs. I honestly felt like an audience member with a really good seat. Thankfully there were a couple of places where I could make a point, and one wonderfully lady quoted the panel description and asked "Well, where will the penguins go?" I gave her two answers. The serious one (the Emperors and Kings are in serious trouble since they are adapted to life on the ice sheets, the other species just require rocky beaches and a food source) and the funny one (They're marching north! Guard your homes!)

I ducked into the "Extra solar planets" panel, but left quickly. Just a bad vibe in the room. Kiri and I decided to get the room packed up and out of the way early. I had one more panel, and it turned out to be one of the best of the weekend. Just A Minute... based on the BBC4 radio show, was a hoot even if we had a tiny audience. I won (21 points to 17 for my closest competitor) but that was besides the point.

Time passed, as it often does, and eventually we got to the Hiss'n'Purr. The usual BS mixed with good suggestions and real problems. One thing that really ticked me off was the whinging about military time. Is it that difficult to subtract 12 from the first two digits? I use the 24-hour clock all the time in my journal, does it bother any of you?

I mentioned how out of place I felt on the "Water Rises" panel, and got a good explanation on why I was there (they know me, and figured I could contribute.) At that point I left for a trip to the men's room, and lady caught me and said that she had attended that panel, and thought I had done a wonderful job. I heard that from a few other people over the next hour. Like my head needs to swell any more.

Now I need to go to bed.

Comments

[kshandra]

Like my head needs to swell any more.

Then I probably shouldn't tell you that when Gerry Nordley ducked into the Trav party on Sunday night and I mentioned how much you enjoyed being on panels with him, he called you erudite.

:D

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Well, I need a new hat now.

[jilesa.livejournal.com]

One thing that really ticked me off was the whinging about military time. Is it that difficult to subtract 12 from the first two digits?

Difficult, no. Annoying, yes. It's probably at least as annoying for those of us who don't deal with military time on a regular basis to do the mental calculation as it is for you to hear us whine about it. ;)

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Well, good luck if you ever travel outside of the USA, because you'll find that airports, train stations, and other public conveniences (not to mention convention programs, such as last years' Worldcon programming schedule (http://www.interaction.worldcon.org.uk/sched05.htm)) are mostly going to use 24-hour (mistakenly called by Americans "military") time.

I share Doug's impatience with people who can't parse 24-hour time. My wife gets nearly incandesent over it. She was sitting at the feedback session seething with frustration over people complaining about it. (She also wishes the USA would join the rest of the world on the metric system of measurements, too.)

[jilesa.livejournal.com]

*shrug* When travelling internationally, I deal with the use of 24 hour time on a 'when in Rome...' basis, just as I do metric measurements. But until the U.S. switches uniformly to 24 hour time or metric measurement, I'm going to be slightly annoyed at having to do the conversion when I encounter it in non-military settings here.

Please note that I've never said 24 hour time shouldn't be used. Indeed, I can understand the benefits, particularly for something like a con program. But I also find it annoying to have solve an aritmetic problem just to figure out when I need to meet someone for dinner. ;) (Consequently, I usually don't bother to do the calculation unless someone uses 24 hour time in planning something with me.)

Resurrecting Restaurants

[speaker2packets.livejournal.com]

Some years ago, there was a delightful, lower-upper-range restaurant just north of DC's Georgetown, La Nicoise. The waiters (mostly co-owners) were all in black tie, but with the minor addition of roller skates.

"Well, where will the penguins go?" I gave her two answers. The serious one (the Emperors and Kings are in serious trouble since they are adapted to life on the ice sheets, the other species just require rocky beaches and a food source) and the funny one (They're marching north! Guard your homes!)

I see no reason, therefore, that one could not create an ice-rink restaurant where the patrons wore ice skates (not that I can skate), and the penguins were the staff. Getting the penguins to progress from presenting one's penguin ladylove with a pebble, to proper French service, is left as an exercise for the reader.

[dandelion-diva.livejournal.com]

Glad y'all had a good time. :)

Not only does military time *not* bother me, once I figured it out (I had a disconnect wrt math till I was in my early twenties), it seemed the most logical way to go. No mixups wrt daytime vs. nightime hours.

Gessi