Rant VIII: The Reckoning

Taught a session to twenty other Scout leaders tonight on basic map and compass work. During which I explained how magnetic declination worked and how it changes as you change positions in the world, and used the example of how it is very small in the province of Alberta but much larger here in ... and promptly forgot what province I live in, even though there was a giant topographical map in front of me naming that province boldly in like five separate locations.
 
Have to take our second old lady cat to the vet this morning to be put down. She has lung cancer, and just isn't breathing well enough anymore. My wife feels bad because we just got back from a trip to her brother's vacation house for their mom's birthday and it's pretty obvious from how quickly she's gone down hill that she didn't take her meds even though there was a pet sitter coming in twice a day - but it's just her time. She's had a rough go of it for the past year - hyperthyroid, feline mammary cancer, and now metastatic lung cancer; but we just lost our other old lady cat a little under three months ago, so it's going to be a rough day for my wife and I.
 
Tickets went on sale recently for Hal-Con, the Halifax Comic Con. And like the last few years since I've been living near or in the Maritimes, I find myself generally disinterested.

I really don't know why. I'd be able to see and hang out with a lot of old friends, have some nerdy tomfoolery, and all that stuff.

But I just...can't seem to gather up any interest in even getting tickets. There aren't really any guests attending that I'm interested in, for one. Sure, I like actors like John DeLancie or John Rhys-Davies, but I appreciate them enough to watch them, not with any interest in meeting them, getting their autograph, or having a picture taken with them.

Maybe it's because of how I felt about the last cons I went to (Wizard World and Toronto Expo). I enjoyed myself well enough, but the whole thing felt like one giant, glorified flea market where everyone is trying to sell you something. Aside from books, I don't have any interest in buying little nerd knick-knacks and such that I see some people buy in droves at these things.

Ironically enough on that last point, I thought about getting a table for myself and selling my own books. But it feels like tables are more for artists who can maybe sell sketches or something. I just have one (soon, two) books to my name and that doesn't really feel like it's prolific enough to bother.
 
Last edited:
Tickets went on sale recently for Hal-Con, the Halifax Comic Con. And like the last few years since I've been living near or in the Maritimes, I find myself generally disinterested.

I really don't know why. I'd be able to see and hang out with a lot of old friends, have some nerdy tomfoolery, and all that stuff.

But I just...can't seem to gather up any interest in even getting tickets. There aren't really any guests attending that I'm interested in, for one. Sure, I like actors like John DeLancie or John Rhys-Davies, but I appreciate them enough to watch them, not with any interest in meeting them, getting their autograph, or having a picture taken with them.

Maybe it's because of how I felt about the last cons I went to (Wizard World and Toronto Expo). I enjoyed myself well enough, but the whole thing felt like one giant, glorified flea market where everyone is trying to sell you something. Aside from books, I don't have any interest in buying little nerd knick-knacks and such that I see some people buy in droves at these things.

Ironically enough on that last point, I thought about getting a table for myself and selling my own books. But it feels like tables are more for artists who can maybe sell sketches or something. I just have one (soon, two) books to my name and that doesn't really feel like it's prolific enough to bother.
From experience, unless you're getting a table for free as an invited guest of the con, or are already a big seller, it's not easy for an author to make their money back on a table at a 'con.
 
I don't know how the Halifax con goes, but the Denver one has so many things to do besides celebrities and shopping that I always have a good time. Game rooms, kid areas, this year they are adding a maker section, I guess it's really about whether or not they actually have things you are interested in beyond the extra expenses.
 

Dave

Staff member
I just had to turn down a $1500 paying gig (3 hours work) in Denver because I won't be available and my partner is going to be in Europe. Two days earlier or later and we'd have been able to do it. *sigh*
 
Oh yeah. Think I saw an episode or two of that a long long time ago. had completely forgotten about it. Wasn't especially captivated or interested, sorry.
 

fade

Staff member
Well, I somehow bent the optional 17" alloy wheel on my MINI, and a new one will "only" cost me about $400. I guess I wouldn't be so bothered if I had any recollection of the event that caused this. I have hit a pothole or two, but not to the degree that it should've been bent like this. No rim repair shop will touch them because they're powdercoated. None of the junkyards I've called have them. Oh and I found this out when I went to get the wheels balanced. Also realized my tires are nearly slick. Which is also a surprise because it hasn't been that long since I checked them. I've only had this car a year and a half, and I'm already considering trading it in, because this is starting to feel foreboding.
 
Well, I somehow bent the optional 17" alloy wheel on my MINI, and a new one will "only" cost me about $400. I guess I wouldn't be so bothered if I had any recollection of the event that caused this. I have hit a pothole or two, but not to the degree that it should've been bent like this. No rim repair shop will touch them because they're powdercoated. None of the junkyards I've called have them. Oh and I found this out when I went to get the wheels balanced. Also realized my tires are nearly slick. Which is also a surprise because it hasn't been that long since I checked them. I've only had this car a year and a half, and I'm already considering trading it in, because this is starting to feel foreboding.
My brother went through a lot of the same foreboding type of repairs with his 2005 mini rag top. Last year he actually had a repair where a mechanic from BMW was flown in from Germany to repair. The repair should have been the FIRST thing a MINI mechanic should have looked at when the transmission slips. After 10 years of odd little repairs he finally bought a new car. A 2015 MINI rag top, same color just the racing stripes are different.
 

fade

Staff member
I miss my Jeep, that's for damn sure.[DOUBLEPOST=1430941733,1430941630][/DOUBLEPOST]
What I'm hearing is that MINI's are overpriced and expensive to maintain.
I don't know about overpriced... I didn't pay that much for a miniature race car. 17,000 for a 2 year old used S model with the Sport package.
 
Oh, don't get me wrong, I'd like to, too.
But until the fuel AND insurance AND maintenance costs come down OR my income goes way up, it ain't gonna happen.

--Patrick
 

fade

Staff member
Well, I somehow bent the optional 17" alloy wheel on my MINI, and a new one will "only" cost me about $400. I guess I wouldn't be so bothered if I had any recollection of the event that caused this. I have hit a pothole or two, but not to the degree that it should've been bent like this. No rim repair shop will touch them because they're powdercoated. None of the junkyards I've called have them. Oh and I found this out when I went to get the wheels balanced. Also realized my tires are nearly slick. Which is also a surprise because it hasn't been that long since I checked them. I've only had this car a year and a half, and I'm already considering trading it in, because this is starting to feel foreboding.
Also, I found a well-reviewed rim shop that says they can fix it for $165. According to them, the fact that it's holding air means it should be easy. We'll see. It's a damn sight better than $400. And I don't want to replace them with aftermarket wheels, because frankly they're kind of awesome.
wheel.JPG
 
Oh, don't get me wrong, I'd like to, too.
But until the fuel AND insurance AND maintenance costs come down OR my income goes way up, it ain't gonna happen.

--Patrick
The insurance on our new outback is not bad at all. All the new accident prevention stuff that comes with eyesight really helps. We also get an average of 31 mpg. We'll see about the maintenance. The switched to a timing chain instead of the belt they were using, so that should fix the one big expense they did have.
 
The insurance on our new outback is not bad at all. All the new accident prevention stuff that comes with eyesight really helps. We also get an average of 31 mpg. We'll see about the maintenance. The switched to a timing chain instead of the belt they were using, so that should fix the one big expense they did have.
I'm currently driving a 2008 Milan Premier. It gets about 28-30MPG and the insurance is about $100/mo. I had to buy about $600 worth of tires when I got it, but they had to do about $850 worth of transmission service under the warranty, so I feel like I'm still ahead. When I finish paying it off in a couple years, then maybe I'll look for something better. Right now I need reliable and cheap.

--Patrick
 
Top