A Swell Time

The leg continues to improve, as the itching and rash are subsiding. I still apply lidocaine-aloe vera sunburn ointment a couple of times a day to make it less itchy. But I also still am getting fluid build-up in my leg, which means trying to keep the leg elevated as much as I can, which is very inconvenient for working and using the computer.

DisCon III Moves to December -- and Ignores the WSFS Constitution

As by now I assume most of the people who read my journal know, DisCon III, the 2021 Worldcon, has moved dates and will now run December 15-19, 2021. It will still be at the Omni Shoreham, but the originally-planned other hotel, the Marriott Wardman Park, went bankrupt and is permanently closed. Before reading further, I encourage people to read the linked article, which goes into extensive detail about why they are doing what they are doing. The December date is the earliest that they hold the convention during a time when they think it will be safe to do so and that the Omni had available space. Trying to hold the convention in August would probably not be safe, even if it was legal, and trying to go all-virtual if the large-events-ban orders were lifted by then would have scuppered the convention with massive cancellation fees from the Omni.

Personally, I'm much happier with a December Worldcon in person than in an all-virtual convention in August (if the meeting order was still in effect) or no Worldcon at all (which was quite plausible). It does, however, change my projected travel plans. I expect there to be an in-person Loscon (last weekend of November), and SMOFCon in Portugal is the following weekend, followed by Worldcon two weeks later. Lisa and I plan to take the train to Washington DC, cashing in many years of accumulated Amtrak points. While I do have enough accumulated time off that I could conceivably take an entire month off, I think it would be a bad idea to do so for various reasons. I did even work out a complicated travel plan that would have us drive to LA, then fly to Portugal and back to LA, then drive up the coast to the Bay Area to take the train on our planned trip. Our tentative train travel plan is a circle trip: Emeryville-Chicago, Chicago-DC, DC-New Orleans, New Orleans-Los Angeles, and LA-Emeryville, then drive home. We might spend Christmas in New Orleans. I don't have the family with whom I used to spend holidays, so it's not the hardship it is for some to have a major holiday period around Worldcon.

In any event, I've pretty much given up on traveling to Portugal for SMOFCon. It will save money and allow me to continue to be a team player. Besides, I don't really want to spend all of my PTO at once. I'm going to need it for Westercon 74 next year and likely another train trip to Chicago for next year's Worldcon.

Yes, I'm generally happy with DisCon III's decisions, but there is one decision buried in the fine print about which I and a number of others are not pleased.

( Skip if WSFS neepery is irrelevant to you )

I think DisCon III should change their initial decision and reopen site selection filing until June 18, even if no other bid surfaces, to confirm that insofar as they are able to do so, even under the difficulties of a worldwide pandemic, they will continue to obey the rules of the organization whose membership is the World Science Fiction Society. To do otherwise is to do a disservice to the members of WSFS.