Cars, Shopping, Moving things, etc.

They said the car is totalled. Big shock. The car wasn't worth that much any more, but it still ran reliably (sometimes a bit reluctant to start if quite cold; fine the rest of the time or once it was running). We were going to replace it anyway, almost certainly this year, so I'm honestly not too heartbroken about it being totalled. We have to clean our stuff out, then it goes on to their lot for them to fully decide what they think it's worth. I'd like to hear the value but it would have to be pretty low to be worse than what we would have gotten on a trade-in.

Work today was very odd. Almost nothing like I normally do. Two interviews in the morning (both good candidates) and confirmation that the person we offered the first of the two positions to has accepted the verbal offer. Lots of email stuff (that is like normal, anyway). And a good chunk of the afternoon cleaning out my office, boxing stuff up, etc. We're doing buildout and, starting next week, they're going to recarpet and paint the existing areas (and paint the new area). That's the theory, we'll see if they start on time. The good news from this is that I should have my new office by mid-June at the very latest. (Two doors down from my current office, but further from the lab and the break room, which will be nice for the quiet of it, anyway.)

Since I got in at 7:15, and worked through lunch, I went ahead and left at 4:15 with no guilt at all. Stopped and moved the tax refund money from my savings into the house checking (where it belonged, but there was no point in moving it while we didn't need it - it earns money in my savings account! - except we might now and I wanted everything to be where it should be). Then went on to Costco and picked up some of the teriyaki rice rolls (that turn out to be better for me than I'd thought, actually) and a bunch of other stuff. Actually scored fairly low on the "why the hell did I buy this, anyway?" meter as compared to my shopping list (one item, that will get used most happily, namely Hershey's chocolate syrup).

Just called Fry's. The hands-free headset I have a rain-check for is back in stock (and may stay that way, since it's no longer on sale). The sale price I have a rain check for is massively reduced and the headset is a nice one. (We pass the cell phone around at work - but it has only one hands-free, a little doo-hickey you have to stick in your ear. Needless to say, with a shared phone, no one uses it. I thought that was a rather dumb idea, to use that. M found a headset that goes over your head (novel concept!) that was on sale for under $5 and is a fairly nice one, all things being equal. That is so worth it for peace of mind.)

So, for now, I'm off to get that.

Oh! And I found my electronic key for work (that lets me in the doors at hours when I'm not there). It also lets me into the exercise facility, which isn't at all a bad one for being maintained by an office complex. So. Maybe I will now exercise a bit more. This is good timing, because as we move into summer, my 'walk into town for exercise' idea won't work any more. I get heat sick too easily for that to be a good thing. Plus it sucks when I'm on call, since I can't do it (my response time would be too long at the far end of the trip). So. This is much better as I'm only really a building away from work.

Grumble. Grumble, grumble.

Okay, so I call and they say they have 7 in stock. I get there, the computer says 7 in stock. Alas, there are none to be found. The guy who runs the section explains that after teh sale was over, the computer listed 7 but they had none left - product that made legs and walked, possibly to other parts of the store, possibly right out. So why the hell is the computer not so annotated, so that when I call to ask if they're in stock, the answer is accurate?

I'd pitch a fit and go to another store, but I'm going to give them another chance before I do so. Only because this is a $20 headset for under $5 (promotional sale) and I would like to get it.

GenCon! Event registrations. Happiness.

I now have signed up for events for GenCon in pre-reg. Scott's signing up now and will be in a couple I am in (he got them into his cart, which has to be close enough, right?). I think I may regret one or two, but so what? I'm trying them out so I will know.

I'm sure I'll regret the schedule.... I have games thus:

July 24: 12:30-3:30 pm, 5-9 pm 9:30 pm-1 am

July 25: 12:30-4:30 pm, 5-9 pm, 9:30 pm-1 am

July 26: 8-12 am, 12:30-4:30 pm, 5-9 pm

July 27: 10 am - 1 pm. Then fly home.

Yes. Yes, I'm insane. I'd be more insane, really, only I couldn't find events I wanted that were open in the 8 am slot on the 24th or 25th (we're flying in the 23rd), and the 9:30 pm slot the 26th. If I manage to get into something for those slots I'll be happy, except one of the two morning slots should stay open so I can hit the exhibit hall. And maybe the art show.

One thing I can tell: I'd better be prepared to grab food on the run and eat quickly. No restaurants for me! Fortunately, I can in fact eat meals in 15 minutes. Going to take along a fair bit of acceptable stuff that's borderline snack/meal, as it looks like breakfast may be the only real meal I get. And that assumes I'm awake enough to keep from face-planting in it.

Last year, events weren't (mostly) running so late, and because there was no pre-reg and we didn't arrive way way early, I ended up working my way into things with generic tickets as best I could. Very frustrating. I think I've gone overboard compensating for that this year, and it still sounds like a heck of a lot of fun. Most of it's roleplaying, but there is one board game (the Sunday morning event) that I've been wanting to try. Of the roleplaying games, three are systems I've played before, the otehrs aren't. A decent mix.

I am going to be a nut-case by the end of the con.... YAY!