Columbus

So, thanks to nikon and xolo I was pointed to the Ohiofurs picnic. It was kind of a long drive -- one of the ones that's supposed to be two hours according to mapquest, but ends up being three because of (on the way down) traffic jams, construction, and naps.

The traffic jam and the construction were in the same place, but for some reason the traffic jam went on *past* the construction. Usually, when there's a huge jam behind a place where the road narrows down to one lane, it's the narrowing causing the jam, but it was jammed for another couple minutes afterwards. Really weird.

On the other hand, it was really weird to see people merging smoothly (albiet at low speeds) without assholes running up to try to nose in at the last second, like you'd see in Washington.

I got there just as the picnic part was ending, but they went to the mall afterwards, and then back to 'the apartment' where Sonic, Tybee, and... a couple other people lived. We basically just hung out and talked, and stuff, but it was interesting. Not sure if it was worth all the driving, though. Considering that I didn't know anyone. 'Though Tybee is supposedly also on Spindizzy. Not on the same shift as I am, though.

The Ohio gathering was a lot less huggy/scritchy/cuddly than the stuff I'm used to back in Bellevue... my guess is that that was because (a) these people didn't know each other as well either, being from all over Ohio (or at least, half of them were from Cincinnatti -- I didn't see anyone else from Toledo or Cleveland or anywhere else northish) and (b) more of them were women.

I left around 11, when I realized that I had to get home in time to get let back in to my mom's house, and that it would take at least two hours to get back... and since there was no traffic, it would have taken two hours, if I hadn't gotten lost every time I left the freeway, for gas, for caffeine, and even to find the house again... gah. The first two weren't my fault -- I'd get off on a random exit off 23, and discover that I couldn't get back on the freeway heading north without driving up to the next exit. Sigh.

Day... 3?

Honey, the replacement family dog since I left, is really friendly. I hugged and petted her and gave her pizza crusts on Friday, so she's been doting on me ever since. You know, pawing at my face, snapping at my hat, licking *everything*...

She woke me up this morning, trying to curl up at my feet while I was sleeping. Only she couldn't get to sleep, and kept moving around to curl up in a slightly different position, before finally giving up. Silly dog.

In the morning, after a few chores, mom took me out to Franklin Park mall, which is now 'Westfield Shoppingtown' -- just like Southcenter, back in Tukwila. They're really cleaning the place up, and it's expanding and everything, but a lot of the old stores are gone, and the new life it's showing is being sucked out of the other malls in town -- Northtown closed, Southwick is on life suppor, and Westgate is going to be torn down to make room for a Costco.

It's hard to be too sad for malls, though. Especially strip malls like Westgate. And the only *real* attraction at Southwick was the wonderfully creepy old arcade set up in what were supposed to be the service tunnels, which shut down when I was in high school.

After that we took Honey on a walk around the hospital and through Ottawa park. Toledo Hospital is sending out pseudopods of landscaping and construction, as it struggles to compete with St. Vincent in the all important 'number of pedestrian bridges over major streets' statistic.

But the entertainment for the evening was to go see 'Dad and Jean', my only remaining grandparent and his wife. They were both looking MUCH older than the last time I saw them... and supposedly, most of it's come in the last year. Walt hurt his leg in the shower, and now he can't exercise, so he's gaining a lot of weight and his health is suffering -- I'm worried it's a death spiral. Jean... made us apricot jello with mayonnaise and cheddar cheese topping. Apparently, I was the only one who thought that might be a sign of senility -- I guess it's just an acquired taste instead.

We spent the time chatting and watching TV. Jean watches Fox news continuously, which meant coverage of the hurricane that, supposedly, is going to flatten most of New Orleans and drown the rest under 35 feet of water. Walt watches sports TV -- specifically, golf. Eventually, the golf game ended and everyone got sick of hurricane coverage, so they gave me the remote, and I put on the scifi channel, cartoon network, and CBC. Everyone thought Dr. Who was amusing, and the scifi movie about the killer crocodile that was afraid of water was... really really cheesy.

It took two hours from the point when everyone said they had to leave until Jean let us out the door. That's about average for her.