Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

Kayla is going to Carson City to a protest march on Saturday, so I need to get as much rest as I can tonight and tomorrow night. At least the scheduled time for the protest is not until Noon, so I don't have to be up too early on Saturday to make the drive over to Carson City.

When Kayla was getting ready to leave today, she found where the strap on her purse that attached to the cell phone pouch had broken. That won't get the old phone back (and it's too late anyway), but at least it's clear what happened.

The rest of today's antics are in kayla_allen's journal, for which you will need to ask permission if you don't have access yet.

The alarm went off at 2:00 AM, much too early for my liking. I dragged myself out of bed, went and set a cup of coffee to brew, and got dressed with minimal prep. While I was answering messages, Lisa came in at 2:30 as we'd discussed last night. I finished the food bar (which she had brought home with her all the way from her train from Munich to Hamburg), took the coffee, and we headed for Reno.

As usual when you shop at WinCo at this hour, there are more shelf-stockers than shoppers, and we spent our shopping dodging forklifts and piles of goods being put on the shelves. However, we had no wait to check out, and we did a very large refill of our pantry.

We got home around 5:30 AM, unloaded everything, and Lisa said goodnight. I had drank enough coffee that I would not be able to go back to sleep, so shortly after 6 PM I walked to the Wigwam and had breakfast. I also retrieved my players club card from the casino, where kayla_allen had left it after she used it yesterday.

Much of my day today was taken up by a Montreal in 2027 Worldcon Bid Committee meeting. As part of my contribution, I sent a message to BayCon/Westercon asking for a bid table for Montreal. I won't necessarily be around for much of BayCon, but Kayla is probably going to be doing stuff there, and the Montreal committee didn't seem to have a problem with her doing the bid table work.

Besides giving me (and Lisa) the SMOFCon quilt, Scott Sanford had another gift for me (and Kayla).

( An Appropriate Beverage for Both of Us )

Of course, you could say that I've already drank the gender fluid. And FYI, this is not a new development, just not one about which I've said much in public until recently.

I mentioned that I ran completely out of wood in the indoor wood box yesterday. That is primarily because Kayla did not feel like going outside in her office clothes, and I knew that there was more wood close at hand if we really needed it. Here is how we stage the firewood.

( Small, Medium, and Large Wood Boxes )

Kayla could have stepped outside and got a few logs if necessary. It was not as if she was unwilling to go outside at all; she walked down to the other end of the property a couple of times on Friday. She just was being a little lazy and leaving the work to me.

After a day of extreme discomfort where I spent about 16 hours alternating between my bed (where I could lie on my side, it being the only way I could get comfortable) and the bathroom, I am more or less back to normal. I'm going to get another dose of magnesium citrate, though, and stay close to home for most of today. OTOH, I felt good enough this morning to walk to the Wigwam for breakfast. There, I had the opportunity to thank Dawn, my regular server, for how nicely she treated Kayla on Thursday.

Thursday night, the humane trap in the kitchen started rattling again. That sound is usually due to a mouse trying to gnaw its way out of the metal trap. So it was time to escort the mouse out of the house again.

( Another Day, Another Mouse )

I don't really care where these mice go as long as they don't come back to the house.

Today I celebrated Halloween and also a milestone in my long, slow weight loss. I recently passed 250 pounds (about 113 kg), the lowest weight I've had since my peak of 330 pounds (150 kg) about twenty years ago when my diabetes was diagnosed. I haven't be doing a specific weight-loss program, and there have been both ups and downs, but returning from Europe, I found that there are things into which I could fit from many years ago, and it was time to take a little bit of a chance with things this year.

( Hello, Kayla, It's Been a While )

I really enjoyed myself today. Some of my costumes have been very uncomfortable, and while they looked good, they were so difficult to wear that I couldn't wait to get out of them. But aside from the chance of wardrobe malfunctions and slightly too small shoes (pointed toes look good but are hard on my feet), this was, as I called it, "Office Lady," although Lisa dubbed it "Substitute Teacher," which also works, and it's not uncomfortable, so spending the whole day in it was fine. It was a little chilly outside, but not too bad today.

(The pink outfit to which I linked at the start of this entry had 4 1/2-inch high heels, and the first time I wore it, I wore it all day at my office before going home, having a short break, then going back out to Halloween parties in Chico. It was great fun, and I was a finalist in several contests but didn't win any. I think I made some people uncomfortable. But the outfit itself was painful to wear. I couldn't feel my feet by the time I got home, and I didn't get feeling in my toes until Thanksgiving! That's why when I re-equipped for this excursion, I got flats. I'm tall enough already. I wish I had better photos, but that's the only one I have, digital photos not being ubiquitous back then.)

I'm not sure when Kayla will come out again, but when I look at the smile on Kayla's face, I don't think it will be thirty years before her next visit.