The Mrs was able to score a couple of extra days off around the holiday, so we made the trip out to see the East Cost Contingent of the family. We spent a lovely couple of days with my sister and her family, had lunch with another sister, and saw my dad a couple of times. Naturally, The Mrs managed to squeeze a trip to a quilt store in there, but I was the one who made out on that one as she picked up some spooky fabric, so there are a couple of horror themed quilts in my future.
One of the highlights was visiting a couple of meaderies where the adults got to try a number (a pretty high number) of different meads. I came out with some ideas which I immediately jotted down. I really have to finish reading all of my mead making material so I can get on with my own experimentation.
All told it was a great trip, even if it did mean a weekend away from Tesla. I think she has finally forgiven us for leaving her. However, after being very happy to see us when we picked her up from our in-laws, she spent the hour long drive home facing away from both of us despite the fact that I was sitting in the back seat with her.
Side Note: DTE arrived across the street as we were just finishing the packing of the car to leave. I unhooked the generator and flipped the main over before we left. It was nice to come home to electricity.
On a totally unrelated note, I have put myself in the running to be the Face of Horror. For more information (and to vote for me), click this link.
Listening To: We divided the drive time between Sirius XM’s Red, White, and Booze channel (which combines the pseudo country that The Mrs likes with actual country music that doesn’t sound like bubble gum pop, and classic rock) and Gabino Iglesias’s House of Bone and Rain. I highly recommend this brilliant revenge tale tinged with just a touch of weird horror.
Currently Reading: Edits, edits, and more edits.
Current Obsession: Not my obsession, but The Mrs managed to get my sister hooked on Yellowstone which she normally isn’t able to watch because we don’t have Peacock. I swear, I wasn’t watching, I just happened to be in the room with my eyes focused on the TV while it was on.
Dragon’s Roost Press News
A lot of our recent time (now that the power is back on), has been spent dealing with a distribution error which we discovered quite by accident. Hopefully all of that behind the scenes stuff will be corrected soon.
We have also been placing the final touches on the Kickstarter campaign for Arkham Institutions which will be launching shortly. If you want to be one of the first people to back the campaign (and grab some great Mythos fiction at huge discounts), click this link.
Speaking of the new anthology, how kick ass is this cover from KH Koehler?
Also, if you are in the area, our next show is Wicked Bizzare this Saturday (the 7th) at the Wayne County Fairgrounds. If you can’t make it out to this weekend, we will be at Fort Wayne in Detroit (the fort, not the city) the following Saturday (the 14th) for Frankenfest.
This Week’s Rambling: Ramblings from the Road
The family that we visited over the holiday weekend lives in the Washington DC area, so visiting involved a lengthy car ride. Fortunately, there are a couple of Turnpikes between here and there, so the ride isn’t too terrible, but it does leave something to be desired. We spend enough time on the road that we each have one of those EZ Pass gadgets so we save a little bit of money on tolls. What follows are some random thoughts on the entire process.
Why doesn’t the US have a high speed rail system? I’m assuming the answer is our dual devotions to the automobile fossil fuels, but man it would be nice to have that option
As much as it pains my Maize and Blue heart to say anything nice about Ohio, the Ohio Turnpike is head and shoulders above what they call a Turnpike in Pennsylvania. Seriously, that’s really just a freeway.
However, it is nice that for most of the tolls in the Keystone State are just these crazy camera/sensor things that you don’t have to slow down for.
Just a general statement regarding how turnpikes/freeways/highways work. The far left lane is the fast lane. If you are going five miles under the speed limit, this is not the lane that you should be in. This is especially true if the road you are traveling on has signs every mile or so that read STAY IN THE RIGHT LANE EXCEPT TO PASS.
A note on bathrooms: I fully understand that not all bathrooms can be fitted with the newest technology. Some are old and the cost of upgrading them would be prohibitive. That being said, if you really want to wow me, hit all four of the hands free options — water turns on without having to touch a knob, soap dispenser dispenses soap without needing to be touched, automatic paper towel dispenser or hand drier, automatic door or a curved opening so you don’t have to touch a disgusting handle with your newly washed hands.
A second note on bathrooms:This. All of this.
