Out to supper last night (with update)

So I didn't get my blog written. I spent this past weekend with Mom (and I did find 6 garments to cull from my wardrobe).

The presentation went pretty well. I skipped a few things but I think I retained enough interest. And the director wants information from it to be in the quarterly department newsletter. I gave the 3-page presentation, including the parts I didn't cover, to the communication director.

I also went to an extended lunch and learn, sponsored by the Women's Center. The topic was navigating gender bias in the workplace. It was part II. I haven't taken part I but I'm informed enough it didn't matter (thankfully).

But here's the game I'm playing via Google Hangouts on Sunday evenings (link goes to description). It's not published yet, so I guess I'm part of the play test. I'm playing a master weaver, and grandmother. Most of her family was killed but she has one granddaughter, from another village, who has come to live with her. Sulveig, my character, is very focused on the future of her family and the secrets of weaving she has to share. I missed this past Sunday's game, for reasons.

Coming home from visiting mom was, I was going to say interesting, but that's wrong. It was boring. Boring. Boring. Which is better than being interesting. My hour plus drive took three hours because of multiple accidents. Last I heard, there were 130+ cars involved, at least 9 separate accidents, 21 people taken for medical treatment, and about 6 miles of highway closed to incoming traffic. At one point, I rolled down the shoulder-side windows, turned off my car, and read a book. Some bad storms moved through but I never got hit, while I was in the car.

See the rainbow? We were still moving occasionally at this point

We had stopped moving by this point

I think it was soon after this, I turned off my car

There were also two guys who ran past me on the shoulder; no idea where they went or what they were doing. I only saw one non-emergency vehicle on the shoulder, and that car was backing up to get to the exit ramp.

And if anyone has an empty bead tube like this, I'd like them. My mom wants them. I'll be emptying these beds into another container so I can give her this tube. I went and bought this tube at JoAnne's after doing early voting on Friday.

Employee Forum meeting was yesterday. I took these pictures on the way back.

Last night I drove to Raleigh to meet friends for supper. A friend who moved out of the area and I've only seen her a couple times since came back for a week. This is what I saw in the drive.

Note the line of cars

A 40 minute drive in rush hour took over an hour. It was more slow and go than full stops though.

And this picture I took today. This is one of the pollen culprits.

Great Time Had, After a Lousy Lead-in

Last night was a birthday supper for one of the Davids. We were meeting in Raleigh, because everyone else lives or works in Raleigh and it was where that David wanted to go. I got directions online, because I'd never been to that restaurant. It was to take about half an hour, figure about 40 minutes with traffic. I left at about 6:15, to get there by 7 pm. Except.

I got stuck on the on-ramp. I checked the clock; 6:21 pm. After 10 minutes, I'd gone approximately 1 mile and I had seen a sign that said 'major delays for the next 3 miles. I called to let folks know that I was caught in traffic and I'd be late. 40 minutes later, I was finally going more than 20 miles an hour. It took me 50 minutes to go those 4 miles. Ugh. The rest of the trip only took 25 minutes. I got there as the appetizers were being served and quickly placed my order. Luckily, I'd looked at the menu online and had an idea what I wanted already.

There were enough of us that I didn't get much interaction with the other end of the table but I did have a great time with the three people near me, plus a couple interjections from the folks in the middle. I shared this video with RW (mild swearing). Warning, if you follow the link, put down your food and drink. Really. I mean it.

After the supper, it was off to stay with A and S. A and I will go to the bead show together & from there it's the tatting meeting. Squee!

*(&%&^$ I tried donated platelets today. Few things make you feel quite as worthless as failing to donate blood. They just could not get a good stick in my arm or hand. Their two most experienced phlebotomists tried.

As I was heading there I had a run-in with a jerk. It was mild but it did irritate me. As I'm pulling into the right turn lane, the right arrow goes amber. So I slow down & sure enough it's red by the time I get there. No problem. I stop, I check to see what traffic's doing & then I start my turn. As I'm checking on traffic bozo in the pick up truck behind me beeps at me. "Dude (not that he can hear me, but I talk to him anyway), red means stop, not slow down!"

Back to work & lots of doings. It was only one morning but one guy came in with a stack of HR stuff to do, both on-line & copies to make. Whee! Yeah, not so much. Then it's lunch time & my stomach is still not entirely happy from the Tums. They just don't sit right with me.

tatting: I finally turned the corner on the bookmark. It looks interesting. I'm not entirely confident about it, though.

books: I started going through some books to go to the used bookstore & set more aside for Bookcrossing. I finished reading Desire & started Shadow Fires. Once I've read it, it's going to the UBS. I'm also re-reading, because I thought that I hadn't read it, Caught Dead in Philadelphia.

clothes: black ~slippers (despite the heavy rain), knee-highs, black jeans, black belt with silver Celtic knot buckle, Celtic knot ring, earrings & triskele pendant, flower band ring, black stone band & hematite band (on left & right ring fingers respectively), braided hair & waffle weave white polo. Right now, I also have a blue bandage on over the attempted needle sites.

We made it. I fell asleep around 9 am & woke up an hour late, near Richmond. Another hour passed (& one missed exit) and we were pulling into the hotel in Williamsburg

It was raining yesterday, whoot. It's not enough but it's a start. However, traffic backed up enough for a 40-minute drive to take over an hour. The first 40 minutes of that was to cover about what's 10 minutes of travel, normally.

We're staying at the La Quinta, which provides breakfast. This one has the largest breakfast I've ever seen at a La Quinta. It was still completely full, with people waiting to find a table.

We took our time about getting started & did not actually get to Williamsburg & get our tickets until about noon or so. We wondered around a bit and finally had lunch at The King's Arms at about 2 pm. Rosemary & I had the Norfolk Pottage Pye (aka chicken pot pie) & it was delicious. The crust was so flaky, it had huge chunks of chicken, just yum. Chris had the East Indian Company chicken (ie fried chicken) with a slice of country ham, a biscuit & mashed potatoes. I tried a bite of his chicken & a bite of his potatoes. Again, yum. I had a shrub to drink (fruit juice & sorbet drink) while Rosemary finally had a mint julep. She had never had one. I had a taste of hers. We both agreed that we prefer rum.

All three of us bought the souvenir mug and got cider. They are refilled for free and for each of us, maybe another 2 or 3 refills & the mug has paid for itself. I also bought a couple maps, Colonial America c. 1719 & New France, same era. I may give them for Chris as his birthday is the 15th and he wanted them, too.

I've seen a number of things that I'd like to get for Hailey & Leela. It's hard deciding upon just one item each. I might get one of the whistles for Liz. They are perfect for calling wandering kids, or husbands, home.

We toured the Governor's Palace. I took more pictures this time. Last time, we had to cut our tour short to be in time for our carriage ride. This time we completed it and then looked through the gardens a little.

Williamsburg has gotten a little more like Disneyworld, in a good way. They have collectible (& at least theoretically, tradable) pins, the refillable mug, & if you are staying at one of their hotels you can have your purchases shipped to the hotel & you get preferential treatment for tickets & stuff.

They are doing the Revolution City right now & we've caught part of it. We were at the edges of Hardcastle's tar & feathering & heard one of his speeches. We saw the rider come in with news of the events in Lexington & the aftermath.

I bought a notebook and a couple cedar pencils. I've started a travel journal. I'm leaving spaces to add some of the photos that I've taken. I want to do things like add my ticket to it & stuff like that, too. I'd love to use a quill pen but 1) I need to get one [though I have one at home], 2) get better at using it, 3) get some ink & 4) get a stoppered inkwell so I don't waste the ink.

It was very hot today & after the threat of rain cleared up, it was sunny. Good thing I put on spf 30 this morning. Since we walked about 4 to 4.5 miles today, we all got hot & sweaty. I think that I got a little heat sick. After we ate supper at the Dairy Queen (a short walk from the hotel), I was cold & took a nap. I was still abnormally cold when Chris woke me up.

We went on the Haunted Ghost Tour, which is a fairly recent addition to the Williamsburg experience. It's about an hour & the guides carry old-fashioned lanterns. They tell of encounters & unexplained occurrences in the area around Duke of Gloucester Street, including the old jail & other nearby locales. The oldest one that they relate is only a decade or so old & it's the first of a recurring sighting. The Lady in Green is probably a daughter of the Shields family which used to live in & run the Shields Tavern. She died, a teenager, of an unknown diseased in the 18th century. She often shows up in the Tavern since they reconstructed it, usually in the family's rooms.

Since there were children along for the tour, the guide did not talk about the occasional unfriendly ghostly encounter just the friendly ones; even if a couple of them were downright creepy. They ranged from footsteps to a mysterious meeting to a figure seen behind a locked gate to water faucet turning itself on. At the end of the tour, everyone got a pin. They could choose from a lantern or the Lady in Green. Rosemary & I chose the latter, Chris chose the former.

books: I bought Savannah of Williamsburg & the author signed it. I haven't done much reading though. I've had no time, really.
Tatting: I've worked on one of Jane's bookmarks but I messed up and it's canted to one side near the top. I'll use it but this is not one that I'm going to show off.

clothes: black ~slippers (which are now very dusty), black jeans (yeah, good idea on a hot sunny day that you'll be spending outdoors), burgundy NC Archaeological Society t-shirt (with time line of arrow points on the back), clip watch, black bead bracelet, andromorph Celtic pendant, chain mail earrings, Celtic knot ring, hash mark ring, hematite ring & braided hair.

Semi wreck
Thanks to the oddities of the bus schedule, I had to drive to work this morning. I'm donating platelets this afternoon at 3pm & the closest the bus comes to delivering me on time is to deliver me at 1:30 pm. And for that, I'd have to leave work at noon. That's just a little much.

I was running a scoche late anyway (stopped to sync my Palm after changing the batteries - I miss my re-chargeable one) but not absurdly so. Then traffic pretty much stopped for 2-3 miles. I thought it was because traffic is just that bad at that time of day. But it turned out to be an overturned tanker semi. The local news still don't have it on their webpage so I don't know if the driver's okay or not. It looked pretty bad but by the time I passed by, there was no ambulance & the doors were off the cab.

I ended up being about 15 minutes late to work. I missed one bus at the park & ride; it left just as I reached it. Another one was coming up just then so I boarded almost immediately. Since I'm not really getting a lunch hour today, maybe a lunch 15 minutes, it's not a real time issue.

Today's outfit: black jeans again, lilac Carolina Renaissance Festival polo, black loafers (tasseled), nude knee-hi's (I'll be glad when the weather settles down to one season), amethyst & silver pendant, same flat rope band, female figure ring & 'stained glass' earrings with a mauve center & blue points. My hair's loose until I get it brushed again.

Tatting: [note: expletives deleted] earrings that I made this weekend have disappeared. They aren't in the bag with the necklace or the bracelet. I finished putting the fastener on the bracelet & fray-checked everything. But it looks like I'm remaking the earrings. They're aren't hard & I think that I still have some beads but it's [expletive deleted] annoying.

Donating Platelets: It takes longer than donating blood but they get twice as much of the good stuff. I am type O+ so I give as often as I can. Things I have learned: 1) drink plenty of fluid beforehand (this means the blood flows well & you donate quicker); 2) eat something (the red blood cells are carrying nutrients & this increases the size of the blood veins, making finding & sticking them easier) & 3) get some calcium into your system. They give you Tums but I hate that taste. The calcium prevents nausea (they use something to help the blood flow that causes that reaction, it's temporary but I get it worse than many people). If I get some yogurt or other high calcium source before I give, I feel a lot better.