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 To be honest, I never planned to do much at the convention; as I have written elsewhere, "The convention was dying when I got there, and it wasn't my fault." Despite my stated disinterest in the convention (and Anime Detour, for that matter) , all sorts of people wanted to bend my ear as to why Fusion was folding and the shitstorm that is currently ATC/Detour. I swear, people must be seeing a clerical collar around my neck that I'm not actually wearing. Or, more likely, I'm from out of town and they feel they can gossip to me without any repercussions. I did manage to see John from Fast Food Anime and bought a couple of manga from him, but I missed Tiffany Grant. On the other hand, I did get to sit and talk with Dave & Pandora from Wasaubi Con, Kale, Lauren, and Admiral Q'ob. I went out to Anoka to hang out with Dwayne Olson and talk about Arcana and the people who used to hang out there (mostly dead or close to it), which killed a lot of Saturday, and Sunday Kale was kind enough to pop back up and do lunch with me at Red Robin. I also managed to pop into Artists' Alley and proselytize among the artists for the N3F. I did see Damarra briefly Sunday afternoon, but we weren't able to get together, and Heather had made it very clear she didn't want to be social at all, but nonetheless she was minimally polite to me the couple of times we crossed paths. James and I went to Perkins for dinner Sunday night, and it was all right. 

Monday my luck ran out with respect to hotels; I had reserved a room at the Baymont in Brooklyn Center for a couple of days, and calling it shabby would be generous. I wasn't there for long; James and I motored down to Red Wing to see the ex*; the three of us went to dinner and in general it was a good visit. I promised to return on my way home Thursday and pick up the boxes of stuff she had for me. Tuesday I ate Denny's for breakfast, did laundry, and met John Stanley & Jeanne Mealy for dinner at  Culver's. Wednesday I checked out of the Baymont and checked into a slightly less shabby La Quinta in Bloomington off Nicollet. I hit Ted Cook's on the way through, had a brisket sandwich for lunch along with half the rack of ribs I ordered,  and got a very good back massage on short notice which helped my lower back and right glutes a lot. I took Anne Waltz out to the Cardinal Club for burgers (actually I had a chef's salad) and we went to her place to watch a couple of episodes of Harley Quinn on HBO. As an offshoot of the Batman part of the DC Universe, I like Harley  and Poison Ivy (especially as a couple) and the art style was very much like the animated adventures of Batman. It was good. 

Thursday I left the La Quinta after finishing the other half of that rack of ribs; flailed around south of St. Paul trying to find cheap gas after the Sam's Club in Eagan's pumps turned out to be closed, and finally wound up in Prescott, Wisconsin, which seemed like a nice place, but I was in a bit of a hurry, so I tanked up at the Circle K and got rolling. I arrived in Red Wing, called Louie, and shortly thereafter met up with her to have an only slightly awkward conversation before she took the boxes out to the Kia with her cart. Then it was west to Mazeppa, where I made the mistake of ordering a breakfast pizza with all the meats from Casey's. They do these weirdly at Casey's** and I nearly wound up with a lapful of hot toppings before I got disciplined and left the rest of the pizza in the box until I got onto I-90 at Rochester. From there it was a straight shot to Sioux Falls and the Super 8 just a few blocks from I-29. 

*We spent about half an hour moving things from the back seat to the trunk and throwing out a couple bags' worth of garbage. Oh, did my back hurt after that. 
**Instead of red or white sauce (or no sauce) the bottom layer of the pizza was cheese sauce, which formed a frictionless surface between the crust and the cheese & meat toppings. 

Somewhere along the drive from Red Wing back to Tonopah, I got a sty in my right eye that annoyed me enough that I called the VA Nurse Line last night and asked if I should go to the local urgent care. The nurse agreed that this sounded like a good plan, so today I got my ass up, ate breakfast, re-enrolled with myfitnesspal.com so I can track my face-stuffing better, and headed over to the urgent care. The doc confirmed that it was just a sty* and to apply warm compresses while I waited for Raley's to whip me up a topical antibiotic. Speaking of Raley's, I stopped by there for tea, yogurt, and Gatorade, and brought up stuff from the car that I'd left behind when unloading yesterday afternoon. 

I did finally pitch into my CE and got the ethics course done; I started Estimated Payments, but I need to reread the text because I'm not doing well on the exam questions where you need to figure out who needs to make the estimated tax payments and who doesn't. This is what I get for being sloppy and relying on Blockworks to do the thinking for me. 

Checked the USAA Amex today and found out the charges from a couple of truck stops and the Buc-ee's in Johnstown Colorado had reverted to the actual purchases, which was a relief. 

*As opposed to conjunctivitis, which cost my Uncle Joe Jaramillo an eye in Panama thanks to the Air Force. 

 Having completely failed to remove any of the stuff from the trunk or back seat before I left, and not finding Masha's magazines or my ski gloves, I set out for Plymouth and Anime Fusion by way of US 6 to Ely, Alt 93 to West Wendover, and I-80 to Salt Lake City. Along the way, I filled two bags with garbage and stuffed them into a trash can at a rest stop somewhere between the Tonopah Test Range and Saulsbury Summit, bought a replacement road atlas at the Love's in Ely because I forgot the Motor Carrier's Edition at home. Wound up staying in a Quality Inn not too far from Temple Square in Salt Lake City, found Masha's missing magazines in the back seat along with the shoulder holster rig, and the next morning picked up a few things at the Walmart after breakfasting at a Carl's Jr. Then it was off along I-80 to Cheyenne, with occasional stops at Maveriks along the way to acquire & release fluids and the Walmart in Rock Springs Wyoming for gloves. Of course, when I opened the glove compartment to put the new gloves away, the old gloves I hadn't been able to find showed up. Wyoming was an okay drive, although every exit seemed to have warning signs that the highway ahead might be closed, presumably in case of blizzards or other catastrophes. Stayed at a Super 8 in Cheyenne and was tired enough that I ordered in from Jimmy John's before bashing out the bloggage and going to bed. 

The next stage of the trip took me off the Interstate and into a maze of U.S. and state highways in eastern Wyoming/western South Dakota until I stopped in Rapid City to refuel at the last Maverik* in South Dakota before I headed for Wall and my hotel room. I arrived too late to see Wall Drug, which closes at 6 in the off-season, and after blogging I discovered that everything else in town except for the gas stations closed at 9. So I grumpily ate gas station pizza and went to bed.

The next morning I checked out of the hotel and easily found Wall Drug, which is quite the little indoor mall. I claimed my free coffee & sinker for breakfast before ordering the buffalo burger for lunch, and all of it was good, so much so that I bought a dozen of the doughnuts, which were plain cake doughnuts exactly like my dad used to favor. I bought a souvenir coffee mug, an "X Miles to Wall Drug" sign which I intend to fill out and post in the window, and the free bumper sticker. Then it was off to Sioux Falls, a long, boring drive along I-90 with oppressive low clouds and occasional drizzle. There I stayed in a decent little Days Inn conveniently located across the street from an Arby's, a McD's, and a Circle K. Dinner was Arby's, the McD's offered a cheap breakfast with horrible coffee, and I only stopped at the Circle K for gas, though considering the mess McD's made of my coffee, I probably would have been better off dining at the Circle K. Then it was east on I-90 to Worthington and a drive through the farm country of Southwest Minnesota to Mankato, where I caught US-169 through Shakopee up to Bloomington and I-494, and soon enough I was at the convention hotel in Plymouth. James took an Uber over to the hotel and we went off to Big Bore Barbeque in Hanover. This was a good decision. We split a rack of ribs, along with rib-stuffed egg rolls and onion rings; we agreed that Big Bore was definitely several cuts above Famous Dave's. I took him back to his place, went back to the hotel and crashed. 

*Or so I thought. I was to find out otherwise on the return trip. 

Sixteen days after rolling out of here at 1400  the day before Columbus Day, I'm finally back...and too tired to write about it right now. Mostly. 
I will say that without the USAA Amex this would not have been possible at all, and even with it, it was a damn close thing.

Got home in time to play the Giants only to find the idiot who'd been bugging me for a week and a half to play did not know what time the games were scheduled for. I played the robot and got swept; the only game that was even close was the opening duel where Jim Kaat lost to Nolan Ryan. 

Going to unpack the suitcase and go to bed. The CE can wait another day. 

Walk into my local CVS with an appointment reserved for RSV vaccine. Get ignored for 25 minutes due to confusion (I think) on the part of the pharmacist not realizing I was there despite having checked in and the tech having told him I was there. Get told my appointment was canceled because I don't qualify for the RSV vaccine.

I blink at him. "I'm over 50; I have conditions that make me vulnerable; my doctor told me to get it."

He says I have to be over 60 for that to count. Which, you know, does not match what the CDC's page says even now.... https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/vaccines/index.html

At any rate, he says I have to have a prescription. So I go home and send a message to my doctor, who sends in a prescription. I schedule an appointment. I get a text message that my appointment was canceled. I immediately rebook for that Saturday (having had a Monday appointment).

I go in anyway to ask what's up. I get told they do not have the vaccine in stock. (I wonder whether, if they'd had it in stock, they'd have given it to me the first time....) At this point I say I will wait and see and if they still don't have it Saturday will try elsewhere.

I should have just canceled that and scheduled elsewhere, because of course they still didn't have it, but the weekend got hectic. I could try to find somewhere to get it THIS weekend, but Scott will be out of town for a business trip for three days this week and I don't want to be dragging from a vaccine.

So, my current plan is to find some place with it in stock and schedule for next Saturday, after he's back.

I am reminding myself that this is NOT a seasonal vaccine and is currently considered a once-and-done vaccine, but geez, I'd just like to get it done so it's not hovering on my "to do someday soon-ish" list.

https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/144788.html

1. What do you see when you are looking out of the window closest to you?

Rain, hedges, neighbor's house, our car, sidewalk, street, vans from some construction group or other (neighbor next to us, not the house I can see across the way, is remodeling something-or-other).

2. Who was the last person coming into your room?

My oldest, on break from online school, to hang with me and the cats for a bit.

3. What is the most predominant colour around you?

If I count the generic walls and blinds and such, white. Otherwise, brown - a fair amount of natural wood and similar colorway art in the office.

4. What is right behind you?

Scott's personal computer and desk and all. Wait, no, RIGHT behind me is the air conditioner which helps keep a small room with many computers from overheating them (or us) in the summer. It's off for the season but I haven't put it away yet.

5. What is on today's calendar sheet?

NOTHING. Today is entirely routine. (Which means it includes school for the boys, housework for me, errands to run, and joy of joys - gaming night tonight with the gaming group. But none of those are a calendar entry. They're just life's routine.)