Tikkabik

Our trip to my grandmother's yesterday went off without a hitch, except for one thing -- the market I usually go to to get her grapes (a New Year's tradition for good luck) was closed, so we arrived grapeless. Anyway, it's the conclusion of my familial obligations for the holidays, and with it over, I breathe a sigh of relief.

Now I have one day -- really, only a few hours -- to prepare myself for Macworld Expo, a job I've heretofore almost totally avoided. Outside of making a few appointments -- actually, a lot of appointments -- I haven't really done a damn thing to prepare for the show. Haven't packed. Haven't gotten my affairs in order. So now I have to get myself in the mindset and cram as much as I can into the few hours I have before I take off.

Usually I catch a mid-morning flight out of Providence, but this year is a little different. Travel is up this year for the first time since 9/11, and my agent couldn't get me on a flight at a decent hour without charging the company an arm and a leg. So I'm stuck with a 6AM flight.

If there's an upside, it's that I'll get into San Francisco before noon. The downside though -- and as a non-morning person this is a big one -- is that I have to be up at the crack of ass to get moving. What I've done is gotten a motel room reasonably near the airport for tonight. I'll still need to be out of there at 4 or 4:30 to make sure I get my boarding pass and get through screening without a hitch, but at least I won't be up and out at 3 AM, which was the alternative.

I'm really starting to look forward to this trip -- people's budgets have loosened up a bit, so there are more parties and fun things going on during and after the show than in years past. This also gives me an opportunity to visit with my father and his significant other, who I just met for the first time last year, get reacquainted with them and catch up on things. So these are all good things.

Just continuing with the yin and yang theme, I *am* disappointed that Corey isn't coming out, due to circumstances totally beyond his control. I had been looking forward to seeing him, as we get together all too rarely, so that's a disappointment. Lots of other people are making the trip, however, so I'm happy I'll get to spend time with people I like.

Now, where's my clean underwear?