May 08, 2002
I'm back. Back in my house, back in my own bed, and back at work.It's not going to last long. I have to hit the road again on Friday for my employer, which means I have just a couple of days of normalcy before travel impinges again. Ugh.
The vacation was fairly nice. Here's a boring travelogue, some of which is actually true:
We drove out on Wednesday, and plowed headlong through a spring storm that threw gorgeous lightning, loud hail, and then treacherous snow in our path. I discovered that when the little LCD panel on the dashboard says "Traction Active" what it really means is "we have no traction, so I'm looking for some."
Thursday I discovered that the rains that Northern California had were pursued hotly by a multi-speciated pollen bloom. My allergies kicked in, and I knew misery. It was a decidedly upper-crust kind of misery, what with how snotty it was, but it was miserable nonetheless.
Friday was my sister-in-law's wedding. One of the best parts was getting deputized by the wedding photographer (if you're in the Bay area, and looking for a photographer, hit AndrewKercher.com and have a look around. Andrew was great to work with) to herd my inlaws in front of the lens.
Saturday I went up to Berkeley where I did not force entry into a reactor room laboratory using only a piece of string and a local cartoonist. Nor did I play with any hydraulics, stick my head into any giant toilet-shaped experiments, or discover a crate of Nazi gold. There were no giant robot ants, no pallets of secreted cold-war-era uranium, and there was but a single sexy blonde Finnish physicist to be found there. There was, however, Thai food (Gav, for reference, it's NOT the place on the corner -- it's the place next-door, with the cat) and a very cool comic book store.
Sunday I went to church, tried in vain to sleep off the allergies, and prepped for travel.
Monday I drove us all back to Utah, landing but a single speeding fine in the process. The officer was very nice, but is obviously not a Schlock Mercenary reader (if he were, he would have asked for a sketch along with the fine).
That's about it. I'm glad to be home, even if the pollen blooms here in Utah are also bent on killing me.