*wave*

I'm in Florida, safe and alive and whatnot....

penguinboi and papergirl are wonderful, the kind of people that, when you meet them, it's like you're just picking up a conversation you had last lifetime. Much fun was had.

I am going to bed. Details of the flight and the Shadesong, Pengy, & Peeg Show shall be forthcoming tomorrow!

Florida report, part the first - The Flight

(Hello to new friend elple, by the way, who I hear I almost met!)

I'm paranoid about getting to the airport in time, so chelona came by at 4:00, and we started the trek down to the airport at 4:30, expecting traffic and, later, big lines at the airport - supposedly, they instituted beefed-up security as of January 1st, and everyone said to leave two hours for that.

I got to the airport at 5:13, hugged chelona, checked in...walked through the nonexistent security line...and was on my concourse by 5:30.

Yup.

So I look for my flight info on the screens to see if the flight, scheduled for 7:30, is delayed. It's running on time. And... so is AirTran's 5:35 flight to Ft. Lauderdale.

Oooh!

I weigh options. Wait for scheduled flight: Hartsfield airport for two hours. Attempt to get on 5:35 flight: Might still be waiting at the airport until 9:30, but I might not, if my parents can get to me earlier. Plus, Ft. Lauderdale airports comfier and less crowded. Plus, AirTran, like SouthWest, always runs late....

I bolted for the 5:35. Made it just in time...to sit on the runway for an hour. That's okay, I had a Discworld book, and imagine how late the 7:30 flight would end up being; I wouldn't have gotten to see penguinboi and papergirl at all, most likely...

I ended up having an entire row to myself, to stretch out and read. Nice! Except for the extreme turbulence midway through. We apparently flew through a cold front. I couldn't turn pages because my drink kept trying to levitate. :(

Landed at 8; called Dad. We try to work out where to meet. I say, "How about where we always meet - the green couches right outside the security area."

Him: "No, no, go downstairs, get your bags-"
Me: "I don't have any bags."
Him: Okay, but go downstairs. And wait by the ticket counter, next to baggage claim."
Me: "Do they have places to sit there?"
Him: "Yeah, yeah, there are benches."

Okay. I go down. I walk through baggage claim. No ticket counters. Nope. I call again. This time I get Mom.

Me: "Dad told me to wait downstairs by the ticket counter."
Mom: "The ticket counter is upstairs."
Me, sighing: "He said downstairs, next to baggage claim..."
Mom: "No. No, go back upstairs. Wait at the ticket counters. They have benches there."
Me: "How about if I wait at the green couches right outside of security? Where we always meet?"
Mom: "Oh, good idea."

Pff. Humans.

Florida Report, part the second: The Night

(Just had to mediate a dispute between my 24-year-old sister and my 7-year-old daughter, who act the same age!)

After much time mismanagement, I got to Boomers to meet papergirl and penguinboi! Penguinboi thoughtfully wore his Vortex (Atlanta landmark) T-shirt in order to make himself easily identifiable, so I spotted them right away. :)

Side note: Why is the stereotype of netgeeks that we're unattractive people? I don't think I've met a single unattractive person from LJ. Both Papergirl and Penguinboi were really, *really* cute. :)

We played Skeeball! It's been - jeez, maybe years, so I was definitely not up to form, but we all had fun... some of the fun at Penguinboi's expense, when one round of his sucked so bad that he only got one ticket. *grin* I still have all of the tickets in my jacket pocket... need to remember to give them to Pengy for spending...

Like Papergirl and I both said, there was that great insta-connection, and we spent more time talking than we did playing arcade games! Which is part of the reason why we migrated out into the unusually-seasonable cold to play miniature golf. They play like I do - very little competition, very little actual aiming, very much just whacking the ball and seeing where it ends up as we geek out on the subjects of movies and comics. PG and I will agree to disagree on Frank Miller, and to our amusement, Penguinboi had the least comic knowledge in our group by far, to the point where he had great difficulty when I quizzed him about New Mutants vs. Teen Titans ("Who's Raven? I don't remember Raven!") Compared lists of movies that all future partners must be able to quote huge chunks of. Truly, I need a written checklist. Fill in the blanks: "Never go up against a Sicilian when ________ ___ ___ ___ _____!"

After braving the cold, we were quite desperately in need of coffee, so we retired to Denny's. It was at this point that I realized that, yes, I'm becoming Atlantan; I was forgetting directions and street placement! I managed to remember where the closest Denny's was, though. Too bad it was too late to go to Swenson's. :(

Denny's was good for a few more hours of hanging out. I *like* these two. I like being with them. They make me comfortable and they make me laugh and these are good things....

And Penguinboi drove me home, and now I must go shower, because he's taking me out to lunch!

(no subject)

...hear those clicks?

That's what tribe formation sounds like.

Today's plans - Jew Food with penguinboi, and I may shanghai him down to Downtown Hollywood, if he's amenable. Hibachi/teppanyaki dinner at Nami with stronae & family (my family , not his); then I'm stronae's for the evening...

She's right, you know.

Elayna: "Grownups don't like ice cream like kids do."
Me: "A lot of grownups like ice cream, dude."
Elayna: "Well, most grownups don't like sweets."
Me: "I love sweets!"
Elayna: "Mommy. You are not a normal grownup."