gerisullivan | Rain, rain, garlic, thyme, and more rain

My original plans for the day were to head over to Albacon in Albany, NY. It's a 2-hour drive, I bought a membership last year, it would be good to see friends and meet new ones, etc. But the remnants of Tropical Storm Tammy are doing their best to drop 4-6 inches of rain here today. The drive just didn't seem like such a good idea under such conditions.

While I could have spent the day outside, surfing down my driveway, I opted for the wonders and frustrations of surfing airline and rental car websites instead. It took more time than I might have wished, but yielded what look to be some excellent waves to ride west on in November and December. I firmed up my Smofcon plans, spending frequent flyer miles plus $10 in security fees on what look to be tolerable flights to and from Portland. Fingers crossed, knocking wood, as usual. The arrangements fit my current budget constraints, that's for sure. And given that I earned most of those miles in the course of working on conventions, spending them on a Smofcon suits my sense of the appropriate.

The huge win came on my November trip to see family in Michigan, timing it to also be at Jack's SundayBeforeThanksgivingBrunch in Chicago. That was going to be a driving trip, right up until I found a $118 roundtrip airfare to O'Hare. Yikes. That's roughly half what gas and tolls alone would cost. It's still a bargain after I add a budget-conscious rental car to the equation, and I found one of those this afternoon after I clicked on the "specials" button on the third car rental site I checked. Don't get me wrong; I still love just getting in the car and driving. But I'm giggly with joy to be dropping 26 hours of it from this trip, plus two months off the life of my car, and the added costs that so easily mount up on the road. You know, the part where all the twenties in your wallet turn into ones? Yeah, that part.

The rain-filled day brought several excellent phone conversations with it, too. Major win. As for the garlic and thyme part of this message, I just put a beef roast in the rotisserie. After anointing it with minced garlic, followed by Joe's rotisserie rub, and a coating of thyme. "Set the timer at 60; we'll be there in an hour."

Before then, I'll toss a salad, adding fresh-from-the-skillet croutons made the way

minnehaha K. taught me. I get so much mileage out of those. Heck, my sister thinks I know how to cook thanks to them!

It's a surprisingly good day for one that's so much different from what I'd been looking forward to. Considering the aroma of meat, garlic, thyme, and other spices already wafting its way from the kitchen to my office, it could easily turn into a surprisingly good night, too. Even if it is still raining.

Yum.

Hope everyone at Albacon is having a fine time, of course. Sorry it didn't work out for me to be there. But satisfied with the substitute doings du jour. Indeed.