Monday, September 08, 2008

Post #900. Break out the champagne, or the Red Bull, whichever is appropriate.

So a swell time was had by all at Catholic Charlie’s last Saturday. We were treated to a demonstration of the power of prayer in that the sun was shining, or at least peeping out from the clouds occasionally, and we didn’t get swept away by Hurricane Hanna. (I did decide to give Vassar a pass, though, as I had predicted; my fortitude is just so forty). We met in CC’s own classroom, a shrine to technology (Mr. S, a former IBMer, knows his way around a computer) and to Genesis (the group, not the Bible book, about which the less said the better). Kaz and JV and I sat together, for what I’m sure will not be the last time this season, comparing notes on what was coming up. The calendar I’ve been keeping is pretty solid, and a couple of things were new to them, like the two-day novice event replacing the MHL at Newark (kudos to the Garden Staters) and the controversial running of Nov-Dec for grizzled novices at the Home of the Albino Bagel (I just can’t get myself to write its other name so easily). Unfortunately the Montwegian contingent was up at Vassar, so we couldn’t consult over Districts business (which I hate to admit I already have a bit of at this early date). We shall all reconvene at Regis in early October, if not before, to sort those things out. Anyhow, as far as the Cats were concerned, my big issues were the introduction of 4 rounds, which we will start on Oct 4, and the reduction of the number of judges at Grands from 3 to 2 if there are fewer than 20 teams. This too passed (although Sister R complained that it was the most boring discussion ever, which is not true given how often we’ve discussed Dec over the years, but alas, it was a constitutional issue and did have to be voted on). The best thing of all is to have more than 20 teams, but in the event, we are sure we can run it better with the fewer judges if we don’t have the numbers. I hope we’ll never have to put it to the test.

Tomorrow night is the first Sailors’ meeting of the year. The cheerleaders have corralled the library, so we will be sent off to the Siberia of the cafeteria. This sounds so wrong to me, on so many levels.

I’ve updated the calendar with everything I picked up Saturday. I noticed that the Jewish holidays are smack dab in the middle of things this year, and I’m going to have to juggle around them a bit with parent meetings and such. Fortunately Bump is a bit late, so we can wait on that. I’ll probably find some open days to have the usual number of meetings for the assembled multitudes of plebes and ABs. I hate foregoing a session early in the season, there being so much to cover and so little time already.

And Civilization arrived Saturday in our handheld version of the game. I’ve now owned every version of this game on every device I’ve ever owned. I usually play one or two games out and then the upgrade arrives, leaving me at about the level of whoever they now put at the bottom of the hall of fame. Who’s the worse civil leader of all time (other than GWB)? That’s my usual level. But I do love building cities and roads and boats and stuff. Don’t bother me in the tab room, fella. Menickville needs more entertainers or the citizens will rebel. Paging Elvis!

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