Vacation, days 1-3......
Aug. 11th, 2003 10:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1It's finally here! My week-long, stay at home vacation! I can finally make a dent in the honey-do (and me-do) lists! For sake of discussion, I'm going to include both weekends as part of the vacation.
Sat. 8/9: A typical Saturday morning and afternoon -- I sleep in (while Rebecca is up with Maria since Maria has no concept of "sleeping in on the weekends"), run errands, go shopping.
In the morning, I had an appointment with my chiropractor for my monthly adjustment. In the afternoon, we went for lunch at Hardee's, and then to the local Great Party! store to buy decorations for Maria's 1st birthday party. Due to the size (and current state) of our home, we'll probably have the party in a restaurant.
That night, my wife had Chicken Korma -- take-out from our favorite local Indian Restaurant, India Palace -- while I went out to the annual Skinner party.
Every year in August, my friends Skinner and Yvonne host a party and invite their friends from the various groups they're in -- Mensa, New Warrior, and several of the local pagan folks they've known over the years. Their place is very relaxing; it has the look and feel of a vacation cottage, and there's a lot of good peaceful energy in the backyard. Skinner is the coordinator for the Hell's M's SIG, the "party animal" group that wears black T-shirts and staffs RGs and AGs. (Hell's M's is to Mensa what the Dorsai is to science fiction fandom.) And lots of food! Yvonne's catering skills are legendary in Mensa circles. Just stay out of her way when she's in "production mode" (also known as "worker bee" mode).
I got to see several old friends there -- Rob & Nikki, Al, Mikey, Brea, Micki, Scott, Donna, Dick, Mike, Francia & Tim, Jasper & Tegan, Kurt, Dave, Murray, Jeff, and John. I got to meet two new people -- John & Karren. And there were a few folks that I steered clear of (and they did the same) -- Ellen and Nita. I'll just say that either I rub them the wrong way, or they rub me the wrong way. C'est la vie.
Sun. 8/10: Typical Sunday morning and afternoon -- I get up with Maria (while Rebecca gets to sleep in), and run more errands. I watched the Kansas Device-Voice-Drum DVD. For the first half hour of the disc, Maria stood up and watched Steve Walsh nearly every time he was featured. (Steve is one of my keyboard heroes, by the way.)
For lunch, we went out to Schlotsky's Deli. Maria was getting a little cranky afterward, so I dropped her and mommy at home, while I went off to Complete Petmart to buy cat food, and Pet Supplies Plus for cat litter (it's cheaper there).
We had dinner at the 1000 Nights Cafe, a Middle Eastern restaurant that recently opened. I had the lamb kabobs, with tabouleh and spinach pie; Rebecca had the chicken kabobs, with stuffed grape leaves and baba ghannouj. The food was delicious -- MUCH better than what I'd get from mixes! (The waitress told us the owner is from Syria, and uses his family's recipes.) We had a relaxing dinner there; we spent nearly two hours there. Fortunately for us, there weren't too many other patrons there. Perhaps it's the midwest "meat-and-potatoes" diet, or the current political climate, but I was hoping to see a few more people there. In any event, we're definitely going back there soon.
Then we went for an hour-long drive -- going through Lytle to Waynesville to Corwin, east on route 73 (and passing the site of the Ohio Renaissance Festival), north on route 380, past the site of old New Burlington (now swamped by Caesar's Creek Lake), through Roxanna, Spring Valley, and home.
Mon. 8/11: I got to sleep in until about 10 am. I spent the morning online, answering email and making LJ comments. After I got done, my wife called from work and told me that Maria had a doctor's appointment at 1:45pm today. Great. My plans for the afternoon were shot.
I picked up my daughter at the day care center, and took her to the doctor, who prescribed some medications for her runny nose. I then stopped at home to load up the car for my next errand -- recycling. I dropped my daughter off at the day care center, and headed to the county dump where I take my paper, paperboard, and cardboard for recycling. (My trash hauler takes glass, #1 and #2 plastics, aluminum, and steel only.) Then I had lunch at Jersey Mike's.
I came home, wrote some checks for bills that needed to be mailed, left home, mailed the bills at the post office (6 pm pickup! Wa-hoo!), stopped at Speedway to get something to drink, and then picked up my daughter from day care.
I also thought of more possible sites and things I'd do, if I could have a week all to myself. Go camping in Allegany State Park (NY) or Caesar's Creek State Park (OH). Go canoeing, either down the Little Miami River (OH) or Algonquin Provincial Park (ON). Spend a week in a monastery.
The common thread of these and the other ideas I had in the previous post is to get away from the constant ticking of the clock and the flipping of the daily calendar pages. For me, the clock is a great stressor -- deadlines, appointments, meetings, departures, arrivals. My battle cry wouldn't be "Stop the world! I want to get off!" but "Stop the clock! I want a time out!" I can see myself taking repeated swings with a sledgehammer to a ringing alarm clock. That would be both cathartic and theraputic.
Tomorrow:: Vacuum and clean the old car -- the '94 Saturn SL1 -- which I hope to donate to a local charity by the end of the week. Scrub the shower stall. Spend a couple of hours in a local park, reading through the pile of newspapers in the corner, and listening to the chirping of the cicadas. And maybe burnign a CD-R of all the GEnie stuff I currently have on a Zip disk.
Sat. 8/9: A typical Saturday morning and afternoon -- I sleep in (while Rebecca is up with Maria since Maria has no concept of "sleeping in on the weekends"), run errands, go shopping.
In the morning, I had an appointment with my chiropractor for my monthly adjustment. In the afternoon, we went for lunch at Hardee's, and then to the local Great Party! store to buy decorations for Maria's 1st birthday party. Due to the size (and current state) of our home, we'll probably have the party in a restaurant.
That night, my wife had Chicken Korma -- take-out from our favorite local Indian Restaurant, India Palace -- while I went out to the annual Skinner party.
Every year in August, my friends Skinner and Yvonne host a party and invite their friends from the various groups they're in -- Mensa, New Warrior, and several of the local pagan folks they've known over the years. Their place is very relaxing; it has the look and feel of a vacation cottage, and there's a lot of good peaceful energy in the backyard. Skinner is the coordinator for the Hell's M's SIG, the "party animal" group that wears black T-shirts and staffs RGs and AGs. (Hell's M's is to Mensa what the Dorsai is to science fiction fandom.) And lots of food! Yvonne's catering skills are legendary in Mensa circles. Just stay out of her way when she's in "production mode" (also known as "worker bee" mode).
I got to see several old friends there -- Rob & Nikki, Al, Mikey, Brea, Micki, Scott, Donna, Dick, Mike, Francia & Tim, Jasper & Tegan, Kurt, Dave, Murray, Jeff, and John. I got to meet two new people -- John & Karren. And there were a few folks that I steered clear of (and they did the same) -- Ellen and Nita. I'll just say that either I rub them the wrong way, or they rub me the wrong way. C'est la vie.
Sun. 8/10: Typical Sunday morning and afternoon -- I get up with Maria (while Rebecca gets to sleep in), and run more errands. I watched the Kansas Device-Voice-Drum DVD. For the first half hour of the disc, Maria stood up and watched Steve Walsh nearly every time he was featured. (Steve is one of my keyboard heroes, by the way.)
For lunch, we went out to Schlotsky's Deli. Maria was getting a little cranky afterward, so I dropped her and mommy at home, while I went off to Complete Petmart to buy cat food, and Pet Supplies Plus for cat litter (it's cheaper there).
We had dinner at the 1000 Nights Cafe, a Middle Eastern restaurant that recently opened. I had the lamb kabobs, with tabouleh and spinach pie; Rebecca had the chicken kabobs, with stuffed grape leaves and baba ghannouj. The food was delicious -- MUCH better than what I'd get from mixes! (The waitress told us the owner is from Syria, and uses his family's recipes.) We had a relaxing dinner there; we spent nearly two hours there. Fortunately for us, there weren't too many other patrons there. Perhaps it's the midwest "meat-and-potatoes" diet, or the current political climate, but I was hoping to see a few more people there. In any event, we're definitely going back there soon.
Then we went for an hour-long drive -- going through Lytle to Waynesville to Corwin, east on route 73 (and passing the site of the Ohio Renaissance Festival), north on route 380, past the site of old New Burlington (now swamped by Caesar's Creek Lake), through Roxanna, Spring Valley, and home.
Mon. 8/11: I got to sleep in until about 10 am. I spent the morning online, answering email and making LJ comments. After I got done, my wife called from work and told me that Maria had a doctor's appointment at 1:45pm today. Great. My plans for the afternoon were shot.
I picked up my daughter at the day care center, and took her to the doctor, who prescribed some medications for her runny nose. I then stopped at home to load up the car for my next errand -- recycling. I dropped my daughter off at the day care center, and headed to the county dump where I take my paper, paperboard, and cardboard for recycling. (My trash hauler takes glass, #1 and #2 plastics, aluminum, and steel only.) Then I had lunch at Jersey Mike's.
I came home, wrote some checks for bills that needed to be mailed, left home, mailed the bills at the post office (6 pm pickup! Wa-hoo!), stopped at Speedway to get something to drink, and then picked up my daughter from day care.
I also thought of more possible sites and things I'd do, if I could have a week all to myself. Go camping in Allegany State Park (NY) or Caesar's Creek State Park (OH). Go canoeing, either down the Little Miami River (OH) or Algonquin Provincial Park (ON). Spend a week in a monastery.
The common thread of these and the other ideas I had in the previous post is to get away from the constant ticking of the clock and the flipping of the daily calendar pages. For me, the clock is a great stressor -- deadlines, appointments, meetings, departures, arrivals. My battle cry wouldn't be "Stop the world! I want to get off!" but "Stop the clock! I want a time out!" I can see myself taking repeated swings with a sledgehammer to a ringing alarm clock. That would be both cathartic and theraputic.
Tomorrow:: Vacuum and clean the old car -- the '94 Saturn SL1 -- which I hope to donate to a local charity by the end of the week. Scrub the shower stall. Spend a couple of hours in a local park, reading through the pile of newspapers in the corner, and listening to the chirping of the cicadas. And maybe burnign a CD-R of all the GEnie stuff I currently have on a Zip disk.
no subject
Date: 2003-08-11 08:43 pm (UTC)As for Mensa, I've been a member since '93. It's something I don't often talk about among my non-Mensan friends. I don't want to come across as bragging or arrogant. My philosophy is, "So I got a genius-level IQ. Big fat hairy deal. That and a buck gets me a cup of coffee. Two bucks if I go to Starbucks." I've let my membership lapse this year, mostly because the local group here is very baby-adverse.
Ditto that for my New Warrior experience. I figured most of the male SF fans and filkers I know aren't interested in that side of me, or exploring that direction for themselves.
You know Jean and Ed Becker, then? Wow, it really is a small world after all!
I really ought to wear one of my two "Hell's Mensans" shirts at OVFF this year! I'm still planning to go!
no subject
Date: 2003-08-13 04:26 pm (UTC)Yep. I've known Jean and Ed for years peripherally. Jean is my best friend, Roberta's sister.
It's too bad your local Mensa group is "baby adverse", I'd think it would potentially be a great parenting resource. Rats.
I've always been torn between knowing how cool many Mensans are, and being somewhat put off by the idea that it is an exclusive club based on IQ. (though they do use other measures than strictly IQ)
no subject
Date: 2003-08-14 07:13 pm (UTC)I made an observation a coupld of years ago that the typical DAM (Dayton Area Mensa) member is either single, married with no kids, divorced, divorced with one or more teenagers, or an empty-nester. There are two other members with babies or very young children (0-6), but I rarely see them at functions. Another member has slightly older children (in the 6-12 age range) and has begun hosting "family game days", but that's too old for Maria. Only recently has there been a push at the national level to cater more towards teenagers (12-18). I don't know if the demogaphics are different for the other chapters.
As far as admission policies, the only standard is that a person score in either the 98th or 99th percentile on a standardized and proctored IQ test. Personally, I don't believe IQ is an accurate measure of how intelligent a person is, but that's the best measurement tool we have right now.
Like any group, there are some cool folks in Mensa, and there are some folks who are (I'm sorry to say) socially maladjusted.
Now, a weekend convention/gathering with filkers and Mensans....that would be a party to remember! I certainly can't be the only person in the overlap area.