Slow Posting

In the last 2 weeks, I've driven from Chicago to Houston, flown from Houston to LA and back, driven from Houston to Phoenix, flown from Phoenix to Indianapolis, and then from Indianapolis to my home in SLO...and then again from SLO to Santa Barbara and back (200 mile round trip, hardly seems worth mentioning). All the driving was done with the whole family, except the last leg. Also in that time, I've had some time to breathe, but not much.

That makes my 2-month trip (since Sept 15) worth 10200 miles on the rental car, and almost the same amount in the air.

Good things on this last leg of the trip:

I got to see a great-aunt and uncle I hadn't seen since the youngest was born.

I got to meet the blogger Borepatch in person. Summary estimate: The gruffness is a facade. He is, in person, one of the most genuinely kind human beings one is liable to run into in a year.

I saw a good friend in LA, and talked demigod cats, and met a new potential programmer-buddy.

I met an online-only programmer buddy in person finally in Indianapolis.

I got to see some good friends in Phoenix...who I haven't seen in a year.

It's a real shame that my friends (the closest thing I have to a community) are scattered all over the USA...and I only see them once in a while. And it's a shame that I've been so in a hurry that I was unable to stop for the 2 extra days it'd take to do the Texas Blogshoot, or even to announce where I was going to be in time to meet folks who might have been on the route.