Brief, BRIEF update:

1) I’m spending lots of time in Artists’ Alley
2) Breakfast is free at the hotel, and I can eat enough then that I don’t need lunch. In short, I don’t need to be fed by others except for dinner, and that’s now covered. I appreciate the offers, though.
3) I saw Serenity Friday night. This is a great movie. See it.
4) On Day 2 (today) I’ll be at Artists’ Alley from noon until 5pm. Then I’ll be gone, doing panels, dinner, and Cosplay judging.
5) I’ve made $135 so far. This means I broke even on the trip. Hurray!

Gotta go.

–Howard

Today was my “travel and meetings” day. Travel was fine, if cramped. I haven’t been on a plane that was too small for my carryons in a long time.

Maybe I should stop hauling this piano around.

Anyway, the rest of the day was spent in the excellent company of Steve Jackson. We discussed lots of things, including a new and improved schedule for the first of the Schlock Mercenary books. I won’t trouble you with it here, except to say that it won’t be ready in time for Christmas. The good news: the new schedule will work, provided I don’t try to catch the bus with my pants down around my ankles.

I’m not sure that metaphor means what I want it to mean. I need to pee now, though.

I spent the evening with Steve and his local crew of MIBs, employees, and regulars playtesting the planned expansion for the Illuminati game. I’d never played Illuminati before — it’s a hoot. Being able to say things like “The South American Nazis are going to take over Microstuff with the help of the Minions of Cthulhu” in intelligent company is a right treat.

Better still, I looked at the Microstuff card and quickly designed a polar opposite to represent the Open Source community. After all, in any proper Illuminati-based conspiracy, Open Source has to play SOME part.

Okay, it’s bedtime. I took my melatonin, and tomorrow will be a busy day.

–Howard

My Linucon Schedule is up, and with it you have the opportunity to participate in my new “Will Draw For Food” promotion.

Begging aside, you can also find out where I’ll be, and when. And now, back to work with me. I’ve got a zillion things to do before I go, and this evening is my weekly shift at the temple, which means I need to get a zillion things done before 2pm.

In other news, I put up a “Third Orleans” footnote.

–Howard

Here is some local coverage of the Utah State University van crash. The accident is getting a bit of national coverage right now, because apparently people are tired of looking at pictures of floods.

Significant details:

1) Nobody was wearing a seatbelt.
2) The van was probably going at least 85. The posted speed limit there is 75, and the van was passing traffic. It could easily have been going 90 or even 95, though.
3) All eleven occupants were thrown from the vehicle during its high-speed, 4x rollover. Nine of them are now dead.

If you drive in the United States, the odds are about 600:1* that you will NOT be involved in a car accident this year. If you drive or ride without your seatbelt, you are playing russian roulette with a 600-chamber revolver and a single bullet. If you wear your seatbelt, you’re still playing russian roulette, but you don’t have to point the gun at your head each time you pull the trigger.

–Howard
*SOURCE: Extrapolation based on research into the number of fatal car accidents in the U.S., plus my wet finger in the air. There are between 30,000 and 40,000 car accident fatalities per year in the U.S., and more than 10 times that many accidents. If we assume that 250,000,000 Americans drive or ride in automobiles each year, each of them has one chance in about 6000 of dying in an auto accident, and one chance in about 600 of being in an accident at all.