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So, yeah.  People.  What is the deal with them?

A comment on my previous post reminded me of yet another odd telephone conversation I had.  This was quite a long time ago, when I had to call the telephone company to clear up a question about my bill.

Today, while at work, I had occasion to remember the strangest and most frustrating telephone conversation I’ve ever had with a coworker.  (Yet, anyway.  Given time, I’m sure this can and will be surpassed.)

It happened a few summers ago.  Along with another coworker (one who is neither crazy nor rude, and actually quite the opposite of both), I’ve mentored several college students in summer research projects.  It’s a very pleasant and rewarding experience.  But it can be a lot of work, even before the students arrive and the resarch begins.  Many hoops must be jumped before a student can get up and running.  These hoops involve (but are by no means restricted to) establishing a workspace for the student; getting a workstation configured for the student; and ensuring the student is up-to-date on all required training.  That last point can take half a day or more, depending on circumstances.  If things don’t go well, it can be a week or more before a student is able to begin his or her summer research.

So, because of that, my co-mentor and I have made it a point to attempt to be as efficient as possible when it comes to arranging things for our students.   Which means that I once made the baffling mistake of calling the “training help desk,” which is supposed to field simple questions about the training program.  Because this took place several years ago, I obviously don’t remember the entire dialogue verbatim.  But I do remember the progression of the conversation quite clearly, and I do remember certain statements because I wrote them down.

May lightning strike me dead if this isn’t an honest rendering of the ensuing conversation.   It’s not a transcript, but it’s a good-faith effort to convey the sense of the interaction.  It’s also an honest rendering of the tone of the conversation, on both sides.

Now that Bubonicon 43 has come to a successful conclusion, that brings an end to this month’s gauntlet of reunions and conventions.  I’ll try to get back to regular posting on the blog again…  After all, there are so many inane and boring topics I haven’t posted about yet.

I’ll try to think of new ones soon.

In the meantime, though, Bubonicon was a blast and a half.  I make no claims about the merits of my weekend stint as toastmaster, but I can at least take comfort in knowing that I won’t go down in history as the guy who permanently destroyed Bubonicon.  I only wish I’d had more time to hang out with so many great people.  (I tried to be somewhat responsible so that I didn’t blow out my voice prior to introducing my friend Steve Leigh at his Guest of Honor presentation on Sunday.)   Man, what a good time.

Got back from Reno on Sunday night, after hanging out with some fantastic folks, and making new friends, at Worldcon.  

But, as anybody who knows me even the tiniest bit will know by now, I’m useless when it comes to writing up convention reports.  So let’s not insult ourselves by pretending I’m likely to do that.  Instead, let’s just take it for granted that it was a hell of a thing.  I met a ton of awesome people, including Alex Brown, Lauren Beukes, Saladin Ahmed, Katy Stauber, and Courtney Schafer; caught up with other convention pals like Corry Lee, Chuck Gannon, Dany Kollin, and Cory Doctorow; and watched GRRM dance the Time Warp. 

But now that I’ve just about recovered from Worldcon, it’s time to prepare for Bubonicon 43!

1)  This morning, as I was waking up from anxious dreams, I discovered that in my bed I had not been changed into a monstrous verminous bug.

Whew.  Sure, it’s like the 13,000th day in a row when that hasn’t happened… yet.  Still, though, a nice way to start the day.  I’ll take what I can get, morning-wise.  (Why yes, I am a morning person.  How could you tell?)