Convention Center Kabuki

The most entertaining part of move out at the Convention Center after Worldcon was the scheme that had been devised so that we didn't have to pay the nine dollar parking charge to bring our vehicles in to fill them with our stuff and then drive away. An LACon IV volunteer sat on a lawn chair outside the gate. As you pulled up, she'd hand you a blue parking pass. You would then drive to the gate, where the attendant would carefully scrutinize the pass while the volunteer walked to the other side of the gate. He would then raise the gate, you would drive through and hand the pass back to the volunteer, and she would go back to her lawn chair to wait for the next vehicle.

All wonderfully stylized and silly. Don't you just love bureaucratic regulations?

(That said, I was happy to avoid paying the nine dollars and am not complaining. I'm merely amused. :) )

Convention Center Kabuki

The most entertaining part of move out at the Convention Center after Worldcon was the scheme that had been devised so that we didn't have to pay the nine dollar parking charge to bring our vehicles in to fill them with our stuff and then drive away. An LACon IV volunteer sat on a lawn chair outside the gate. As you pulled up, she'd hand you a blue parking pass. You would then drive to the gate, where the attendant would carefully scrutinize the pass while the volunteer walked to the other side of the gate. He would then raise the gate, you would drive through and hand the pass back to the volunteer, and she would go back to her lawn chair to wait for the next vehicle.

All wonderfully stylized and silly. Don't you just love bureaucratic regulations?

(That said, I was happy to avoid paying the nine dollars and am not complaining. I'm merely amused. :) )

Midland

We left Las Cruces at the leisurely hour of 10 AM, arriving in Midland a bit before 5:30 PM, counting the time change back to Central time. The 80 MPH speed limit is quite nice and lasted from outside of El Paso to the county that Odessa is in. However, it's a daytime speed limit only, so just as well that we waited until the next day so we weren't condemned to drive 65 MPH (or break the law in some substantial fashion).

I've now converted their wireless router to use a 128-bit key which Judy has printed out and put in a safe place.

Geek Squad, bah! (Ok, there was some wireless security, which is more than I can say for their neighbors. :) )

Midland

We left Las Cruces at the leisurely hour of 10 AM, arriving in Midland a bit before 5:30 PM, counting the time change back to Central time. The 80 MPH speed limit is quite nice and lasted from outside of El Paso to the county that Odessa is in. However, it's a daytime speed limit only, so just as well that we waited until the next day so we weren't condemned to drive 65 MPH (or break the law in some substantial fashion).

I've now converted their wireless router to use a 128-bit key which Judy has printed out and put in a safe place.

Geek Squad, bah! (Ok, there was some wireless security, which is more than I can say for their neighbors. :) )