Lisa Update

Lisa called late last night to (painfully) tell me that she had made it home to Oregon and that her throat hurt possibly a little less than it had earlier in the day. I told her to rest, not talk, and nurse the throat -- and if it didn't get better soon, to go to an Urgent Care center in Salem and have a doctor look at it and possibly prescribe antibiotics if it looked like strep-throat. (Obviously one shouldn't use antibiotics if they are not indicated.)

A Pleasant Evening

Tonight I had the time to do something I never had during Worldcon -- time for a nice pleasant relaxing meal with friends, in this case pmcmurray and snowdraco, who are here in the Bay Area as part of their post-Worldcon holiday. Those of you who know this will be astonished to hear that Pat and I did not spend the entire meal boring Julie with talk about the Business Meeting this year (and next -- we're doing this again in Japan). We did deal with a small amount of business, but not a whole lot, over our meal at one of my favorite restaurants on the Peninsula, CreoLA in San Carlos.

(Somewhat to my astonishment -- I indulged in the pecan pie for dessert after having had the Catfish Belle Chasse -- my blood sugar was perfectly normal (102) one hour later. Yet this afternoon, a small Subway BMT sandwich sent the blood sugar soaring up to 174.)

They've been able to visit some of the nice places in California I've never had a chance to visit, and I've lived here all my life, such as Hearst Castle. On the other hand, I have visited somewhat out-of-the-way California landmarks such as Lassen Volcanic National Park (I've climbed the volcano, albeit thirty years ago) and the Bristlecone Pine Forest (I've stood within 100 meters of the oldest living thing on earth, but I don't know exactly where it is because the actual identity of the Methuselah Tree is a secret so that nobody tries to cut it down).

I love Worldcon, but I work so hard at it that I rarely get time for a relaxed meal with friends. That's one reason I go to SMOFCon as well.