It should be noted that I live in the best of all possible worlds.

Through a sickeningly convenient credit card promotion through Frontier Airlines, I have enough frequent flier miles to get a ticket out to BGG.CON in November.

Except that there are no redemption seats available during that week. The website tells me it is unable to find a flight from Portland, or from Seattle, or from Denver, which is Frontier's hub. Nine months in advance!

I called customer service to see if I could find away around it. The woman I talked to was sympathetic and told me to just keep checking in case a new seat opened up. How often should I check? "Oh, every week or so. Maybe every day."

Thus begins my daily search for free airline tickets.

In a matter of hours I'll be away at BGG.CON. Four and a half days of straight board games. Woo hoo! I'll get to meet all the people I've been playing Werewolf with for the last year. We're going out to dinner. And drinking. Apparently one of my roommates in the hotel is known for bringing the party.

And I definitely won't be at work, which is nice. Recent shuffles in the workstations at the call center have moved me to a position where I am explicitly not supposed to be taking initiative and booking appointments, so lately I've just been bored. I'm not supposed to bring reading material to work--but they don't know when I log on to Google Books.

I won't have internet while I'm gone, but I should have my phone with me. If, you know, you want to talk to me while I'm gaming.

I don't really have anything to end this, so here is a picture of a ( kitten in a martini glass. )

Misha (the kitten) took off three keys from my keyboard over the weekend. He was sitting on my laptop as he enjoys doing (I guess because it's warm?) and dug his claws in when I went to move him off. Now the 3, 5, and F4 are missing. I've got to get them replaced at the Apple store on my lunch break some time.

Other things that happened this weekend: karaoke at Mari's birthday on Friday, corn maze on Sauvie Island on Saturday, and relaxation on Sunday. A great game of Battlestar Galactica, which makes me look forward to the expansion once I can buy it. (I'll get it for free once I complete enough online surveys. I'm about 1/3 of the way there, which is not insubstantial.)

It's time for bed now, or soon. I miss sleeping in every day.

Back in Portland now.

Good: we have a kitty! He's got any of half a dozen names, depending on who you ask.

Bad: every few days I get an email from Rosetta Stone saying they're cutting our hours again.

After the initial shock, being out of school in September isn't too remarkable. It feels like summer is stretching on forever, except that there's no excuse for inactivity any more.

Great news! Phil and Kaja Foglio will be hosting one of their radio show dramas at a special exhibit in Portland this weekend. But because God hates me, I will still be Montana. (And if I wasn't in Montana, I'd be scheduled to work during those hours anyway.)

Do any of my wonderful Girl Genius-loving friends want to attend in my stead? And, I don't know, take pictures or something?

And I forgot to mention in that entry one of the geekier developments in my life right now: I have tickets to BGG.CON 2009 in November. Four days of uninterrupted board games and a chance to meet the people I've been playing Werewolf with over the last six months. This is going to be really fun.

So here I am, remembering that hey, I should maybe post something every once in a while.

I'm in Montana currently. I came back for about a week to see friends and attend the 25th anniversary party for my mother's vet clinic. Her clinic is amazing, a triumph of entrepreneurship. She started working out of a little shack in the mountains and now has a fully tricked-out animal hospital with a partner and several technicians. The woman she hired to take care of me as an infant is now her office manager, and she runs the place so well. This clinic has done well in 25 years.

I saw friends on Friday and Saturday, but most of today was spent on my computer. I'd like to blame it on my job, but let's be honest--I probably would have done it anyway if I was in Portland. Here's the deal: on Saturday I got an email telling me that my hours were being cut (along with the rest of the team) and that we'd have to reschedule all our shifts, effective today (Monday). But it took longer than anticipated to make the new schedules, so we had to revert to the old ones until further notice. This update can come at any time. Meanwhile, I spent several hours hanging around my computer waiting for the update to tell me if I was allowed to leave the house, and then learned that no, I wasn't.

Hanging out with friends on Friday and Saturday night was great. Quincy had another party at his homemade pizza oven. I got to pass along more crazy Reed stories. We went skinny-dipping at 1 am in Lake Blaine, and I got a big gash in my foot from where I fell through a hole in the dock. I look forward to high school reunions with these people.

Meanwhile, my life has been a lot more of the same. Tons of Werewolf, lots of fluff over the newest Magic products. The same stuff I link to in every post in a desperate attempt to get people to pick up on my hobbies. You know.

I've been rereading A Game of Thrones again, partly because I've always meant to and partly because I'm excited for the HBO series that's about to start filming. Seriously, seriously excited. I had to put the book down a few times because I just started thinking about it and getting a huge grin on my face. The author (grrm) is posting hints, and many roles have already been cast. Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister. Sean Bean as Eddard Stark. Harry Lloyd as Viserys Targaryen. That's the one I'm most excited about. I wouldn't know this actor if it weren't for his role in a Dr Who episode, but I know he will make an excellent crazy exiled prince. Just look at that face.

Oh, and the giant zombie board game went well at Reed's new student orientation. I hope to bring it out again sometime and become known as the desperate alum who hangs out on campus and offers games to freshmen.

I don't know when I'll be back in Portland. Currently I have a train ticket that brings me back on Sunday morning, but that was purchased with my old work schedule in mind. I have really no clue when they'll want me to work with the new schedule, or even when they'll announce it.