And so we bid a fond farewell to Scranton, PA

The NDCA did have its moments.

First of all, it was half-price night at the pub where the Sailors and I had dinner on Friday. I was so impressed that I brought the Lexwegians there later, after we escaped the hotel because it was too loud. The pub was absolutely a tomb, at least for the five minutes before the DJ arrived (disk jockey, not day job). What? What? WHAT? I was half deaf before; I’m one and a half deaf now. We did better Saturday night eating at the hotel: very classy and peaceful, with a piano jazz band replacing the previous night’s gypsy guitar (think Django) band. Sunday night Bietz treated, which made whatever the food was, wherever it was, that much better. We’ve got to bring him along more often.

The tab room was, literally, dueling iPods. I’d put on something and Bietz would get antsy and he’d have to follow it up (he introduced me to Stephin Merritt), and then I’d have to follow that up, etc., etc. It wasn’t so much that we were trying to top one another as much as keeping the room humming with just the right sort of hum. Thank God Kaz didn’t have an iPod in the race. All we needed was yet another country heard from.

The tournament provided all of us with meal cards that bought two rather nice brunches at the cafeteria. All you could eat of eggs and waffles and endless strips of bacon and ice cream for desert. This was a nice touch. Go, Scranton!

The university is a Jesuit school, so there was a lot of inspirational etching on the buildings and various statues of saints and apostles on the grounds (you know, a lot of “Turn left at Mary Magdalene” stuff). The university pitched themselves to us with a couple of short videos during the award ceremony, and I have to admit I was sort of impressed by the atmosphere of the place. My experience of Jesuits back in my parochial school days was a good one, although I never actually attended a Jesuit school. They’re the educational bleeding edge of Catholicism; I was a tad more backwater, still sort of stuck in the Inquisition, I guess.

From a Sailor perspective, the high point of the weekend was Bump winning the tournament of the year award. Much as I hate almost every minute of the Bump experience, beginning with the purchase of the trophies in September, it is nice to know that others like it. Seriously, it is a tribute to our families and alumni, who are the ones who really put out beyond the call of duty. The award was a nice etched vase, which I passed along to our principal. (Now if we could only use the award to eliminate the custodial fees…) Before the awards O’C barked at me to get in there, but I thought he was just making sure on g.p. that I didn’t pull a Menick and sit them out and not that I was in line for something. This has been a big year for me picking up tin for one thing or another. Obviously the community at large thinks it’s time for me to retire and is showering me with accolades in the hope of accelerating the process. Good luck with that one, folks. I’m already making my plans for the NDCA in Vegas. Yee-ha!

And that is about all there is to say about NDCA. Until Vegas, of course.