NECON and Redemption

Looks like Dolly isn’t going to come calling on us, though we might get some much-needed rain from the tropical storm-cum-hurricane that will probably make landfall down in Brownsville.

Got caught up on a couple of recorded TV shows last night. First up was Burn Notice, which was a by-the-numbers episode, which meant it was very good but didn’t stand out from the pack of earlier episodes. However, from the previews it seems that Michael is going to learn more about his new contact next week. Then I watched the Sunday night episode of Big Brother 10. The current HoH, the body builder, is sure full of himself. His nominations were a little surprising. I hope he gets ditched soon, though. He’s mega annoying.

Haven’t had any chance to write since getting back from NECON as I’ve spent my morning hours simply getting caught up. Four days away from e-mail and it takes me two days to get back on track. Tomorrow morning I hope to start my first round of editing on a story I wrote two weekends ago.

This morning I had my first physical in a number of years. Probably too long, but I’ve never had any pressing need to go. Everything turned out fine from the physical point of view. Blood pressure by the numbers. Have to wait a while for the fluid tests and ECG analysis, but it looks like I’m good for another 5000 miles.

I read a British crime novel called Lost by Michael Robotham on my way to NECON. It was about a police inspector who wakes up in the hospital after being shot. He has no recollection of what he was doing when he was shot and no memory of the unofficial investigation he was carrying out. It may be tied in with his obsessive case, the one that every fictional cop seems to have (like the one on The Closer last night), where a young girl went missing from her London apartment complex, apparently without ever leaving the building. It was a decent book, with lots of twists and turns and ambiguous characters. I’m currently reading Hollower by Mary Sangiovanni. Creepy!

After miniature golf at NECON, we go into a building where there are bumper cars and the usual sorts of games you might find at a carnival. The one with the claw that might—might—pick up a toy once in a lavender moon. The one where you send tokens down a moving chute to try to dislodge more tokens from a shelf. The prizes from these games are usual tickets that can be cashed in for prizes ranging from rubber bands to color TVs. There are numerous amusing signs around the place where this exchange is made. Here is one. It’s all about redemption. There’s also an emergency exit with this word spelled out in a large arc over the double doors.