Turns out I’ve got 71,000 skymiles. You need 25,000 for a “sky-savers” round-trip ticket. So… two tickets, anywhere in the continental US, for a nominal service charge.

It also turns out that my 95-year-old grandmother is in the hospital. This makes the fourth (?) time in a year, and this time she ended up on a respirator.

Long story short… I decided to bag work for most of next week and fly out to see her. The earliest I can fly is Monday, and the “nominal service charge” comes to around $85 thanks to short notice, but it’s still better than the $1500 alternatives.

Once I decided to fly, I realized I still had a ticket coming to me. So I’m flying my brother Randy out from LA. Yeah, I have to pick up HIS service charge too. And I’m renting a car. And I’ve talked our youngest brother, Bill, into driving down to the DC area from Ithaca, New York.

I spent the evening pulling this together, and logistically, it’s pretty slick. I hate traveling, but I’m GOOD at it. And fortunately, that skill is good for something. Assuming Grandma survives the next two nights (and it’s looking pretty good on that front), all three of her grandsons will visit her on Monday night and Tuesday.

We’re either saying goodbye, or saving the day, I’m not sure which. It has no bearing on whether or not we travel, really. This lady RAISED my two brothers after our father died, and she was in her 80s. She paid off the mortgage on the home our parents “left” to us, and then refused reimbursement when we sold it two years later. You know how Grandmas will slip 20-dollar-bills to you when Mom and Dad aren’t looking? Well, this sneaky old lady managed to drop $30,000 into each of our pockets.

Seems to me that even if I DIDN’T have the skymiles, this flight is the least I could do. Hang on, Grandma. We’re comin’.

–Howard

Yesterday I went out and saw “Catwoman.” It was fun. Obviously it was no “Spiderman” (let alone “Spiderman 2”), but it was still fun. They did a good job developing the Catwoman mythos, and allowing her to be her own character, rather than someone whose identity really only gets developed in contrast to Batman.

When I got out of the theater there were lines everywhere. My first thought was “I hope these folks aren’t all going to see “Catwoman,” because most of ’em will be disappointed.” Not everybody likes comics the way I do, and I was predisposed to like the movie.

I needn’t have worried. They were all in line for “The Bourne Superemacy.” I had no idea that opened Friday.

I SAW THE WRONG MOVIE!!!

–Howard
(I will rectify this oversight at 11:10am today…)

Today, July 24th, is Pioneer Day in Utah. We celebrate with lots of waving of the American flag, fireworks, picnics, parades, and the rest of the stuff that people also associate with Independence Day.

This is ironic, because July 24th, 1847, marks the Mormons’ arrival at their destination OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES, which nation they had decided to LEAVE because of religious persecution, mob violence, and attempted genocide.

It’s nice to be back.

–Howard “now, let’s chase all the really WEIRD religions to the MOON!” Tayler

I headed in “to work” this morning at about 6:45… just a quick 45-minute “commute” to the airport. Got checked in, no bags, and managed to start my day off right by getting upgraded to First Class. THAT made the trip out much more managable.

Landed, caught a cab, got shafted by the cabbie (as near as I can tell $45 from O’Hare to Schaumberg airport is “shafted” when the meter clearly reads $27 + $3.00 in tolls), and rolled on in to the hotel to present.

Before I presented, a guy whose name I forget (BAD Howard) saw the Schlock card affixed to my looks-like-all-other-Novell-issue-laptops-otherwise laptop, and said “wait a minute… YOU do Schlock Mercenary? I’ve been reading that for YEARS now and never put two-and-two together.”

As stated before, I have a policy: Schlock fans at Novell events get free sketches. I whipped out a Schlock for him, complete with actual ink and erasure-of-construction-lines, and then got started.

(someday this policy is going to be unmanagable, because there will be so many Schlock fans I won’t be able to keep up. On that day I should be able to retire the policy by not needing to work for Novell anymore, but I’m not holding my breath.)

I did my schtick. I’ve done better, I’ve done worse. This was a very interactive presentation, and that’s a good thing. I got lots of good feedback for engineering. I ran a few minutes over, and then made my escape to a waiting cab, which only cost me $32 (including the tip) to get me back to the airport.

I didn’t get the First Class upgrade on the way back. Oh well. Three hours of sitting and reading, mulling over my presentation, and how to overhaul it for my session in Waltham in two weeks…

The good news is that about halfway through the flight home I realized I was better. No more “malaise.” To prove it to myself I bounded up the stairs in the SLC airport parking garage. I was a little out-of-breath, and my legs were just starting to gripe, but that’s not “malaise.” That’s “fat guy needs more exercise.”

I got home at 8:00pm sharp. In more than just the literal “home” sense, it’s good to be back.