Welcome back to reality -

Probably one of the best AX weekends in recent memory - no kidding. The Los Angeles Convention Center is a perfect fit for this event. With a couple of caveats, and man - those are HUGE.

They closed all of the food concessions every night at 6:00 PM. No, I am not kidding. You wanna eat dinner? Not going to do at the convention center, bub. Hop a shuttle to a hotel and eat in their restaurant - and suck it up, cost-wise. Anyone who had known ahead of time, could have made a killing with a ramen cart or some such. TRY getting pizza delivery there, BTW. I saw them delivering to the bus stop outside South Hall.

Across the street is not much to write home about. Certainly nothing to eat. Open after 6, and on a holiday weekend? Pfft.

I haven't pounded candy bars for dinner like that since college. Do not even wish to entertain the excuses of 'this is the first year for the venue' arguments. Not even. And the stories I heard about the vegetarian 'offerings' for staff chow? EPIC FAIL.

Guys, you don't tell someone who fed a Type I diabetic for 15 years that there's NO FOOD UNTIL THE NEXT DAY at the dinner hour. Ghad, this is basic. My head is still spinning.

And then there was the parking. That closed after dark - no, you can't get back in even if you DO wish to pay another $12. Went out for dinner...and then had to go home. THANKS.

I already mentioned the lack of intelligent design when it came to designing queues. HINT: do not cross the streams, thank you.

Next year - they'll be back to LACC - and I'll be bringing a microwave and a couple of cases of ramen.

The real dilemma now is if I have time to do more than complain - and if that's cryptic, good. It's meant to be.

Today? I'm about 60% - being away for four days really helped flush the RAM of everything I was doing last week before showing up there.

UM.

Not enough alcohol this weekend. Not by half. But I had a really good time and wished the days were 12 hours longer to allow for more sleep.

Welcome back to reality -

Probably one of the best AX weekends in recent memory - no kidding. The Los Angeles Convention Center is a perfect fit for this event. With a couple of caveats, and man - those are HUGE.

They closed all of the food concessions every night at 6:00 PM. No, I am not kidding. You wanna eat dinner? Not going to do at the convention center, bub. Hop a shuttle to a hotel and eat in their restaurant - and suck it up, cost-wise. Anyone who had known ahead of time, could have made a killing with a ramen cart or some such. TRY getting pizza delivery there, BTW. I saw them delivering to the bus stop outside South Hall.

Across the street is not much to write home about. Certainly nothing to eat. Open after 6, and on a holiday weekend? Pfft.

I haven't pounded candy bars for dinner like that since college. Do not even wish to entertain the excuses of 'this is the first year for the venue' arguments. Not even. And the stories I heard about the vegetarian 'offerings' for staff chow? EPIC FAIL.

Guys, you don't tell someone who fed a Type I diabetic for 15 years that there's NO FOOD UNTIL THE NEXT DAY at the dinner hour. Ghad, this is basic. My head is still spinning.

And then there was the parking. That closed after dark - no, you can't get back in even if you DO wish to pay another $12. Went out for dinner...and then had to go home. THANKS.

I already mentioned the lack of intelligent design when it came to designing queues. HINT: do not cross the streams, thank you.

Next year - they'll be back to LACC - and I'll be bringing a microwave and a couple of cases of ramen.

The real dilemma now is if I have time to do more than complain - and if that's cryptic, good. It's meant to be.

Today? I'm about 60% - being away for four days really helped flush the RAM of everything I was doing last week before showing up there.

UM.

Not enough alcohol this weekend. Not by half. But I had a really good time and wished the days were 12 hours longer to allow for more sleep.

Welcome back to reality -

Probably one of the best AX weekends in recent memory - no kidding. The Los Angeles Convention Center is a perfect fit for this event. With a couple of caveats, and man - those are HUGE.

They closed all of the food concessions every night at 6:00 PM. No, I am not kidding. You wanna eat dinner? Not going to do at the convention center, bub. Hop a shuttle to a hotel and eat in their restaurant - and suck it up, cost-wise. Anyone who had known ahead of time, could have made a killing with a ramen cart or some such. TRY getting pizza delivery there, BTW. I saw them delivering to the bus stop outside South Hall.

Across the street is not much to write home about. Certainly nothing to eat. Open after 6, and on a holiday weekend? Pfft.

I haven't pounded candy bars for dinner like that since college. Do not even wish to entertain the excuses of 'this is the first year for the venue' arguments. Not even. And the stories I heard about the vegetarian 'offerings' for staff chow? EPIC FAIL.

Guys, you don't tell someone who fed a Type I diabetic for 15 years that there's NO FOOD UNTIL THE NEXT DAY at the dinner hour. Ghad, this is basic. My head is still spinning.

And then there was the parking. That closed after dark - no, you can't get back in even if you DO wish to pay another $12. Went out for dinner...and then had to go home. THANKS.

I already mentioned the lack of intelligent design when it came to designing queues. HINT: do not cross the streams, thank you.

Next year - they'll be back to LACC - and I'll be bringing a microwave and a couple of cases of ramen.

The real dilemma now is if I have time to do more than complain - and if that's cryptic, good. It's meant to be.

Today? I'm about 60% - being away for four days really helped flush the RAM of everything I was doing last week before showing up there.

UM.

Not enough alcohol this weekend. Not by half. But I had a really good time and wished the days were 12 hours longer to allow for more sleep.

Why we have kids.

Seriously. The thought has to cross your mind, past the obvious "OMG we're pregnant - okay, we're having kids."

The mindset I prefer on the subject is happy acceptance - having sex and having kids? Kinda goes together. You're okay with one, you're okay with both - win/win.

So - unexpected pregnancy doesn't exist in your world. And when you want one, you get one and that's even happier.

I wouldn't know about that. Had the sex, didn't have the kids - and then didn't have the sex for a long, long time. Then got single again. Then married again. Annnd - the pregnant thing didn't jump out and snag us.

Now, you get to think about it. Because now - it costs. Regardless of the route you decide to take, it costs. A bunch. Take a figure and add six zeros or so. Past that, it's just random details.

Somehow, paying money to make a baby didn't make sense when paying money to provide a family to a baby who needed one existed as an equally viable option. We wanted to be parents - and the more I looked at assisted reproduction, the more squicked I got. Jim? He chatted up some coworkers who went that route and just about lost his lunch. Nobody was going to do THAT to his girl!

Not appealing. We don't have to pass on the genetics - really, really.

If it didn't happen on its own, we weren't going to force it. Now, keep in mind back then we were still back in the "adoption is going to be EASY, there's a BUNCH of kids needing homes" frame of mind. That may still be so, but the ability for us to actually connect with a child who COULD be adopted by us has turned out to be, well, not so much - as it turns out. We didn't know - I'll be honest. But I'm really grateful that we didn't spend the time and money on the AR merry-go-round - we didn't have the infertility loss issues to overcome approaching adoption. It IS our first choice.

(Could I still get pregnant? Hang on - I'm getting there. Short answer - yes.)

But why have kids at all - if it doesn't happen on its own?

I'll admit - looking at the house, the yard, the stuff...gathering dust, going to waste...really bothered me. If I've been learning, and growing as a person all this time...why? If I don't pass this baton on to someone...what have I've been doing this for? My own enjoyment? Wow. Not so much!

I want people at all ages of life, in my life. I want oldsters...and kids. And people my age. And people both twenty years older and younger. I LIKE IT THAT WAY.

For me, those are good reasons to have kids. I'll be blunt and admit it - I've considered putting "torch the house with everything in it" in my will, if I survive Jim. After dealing with Cliff's things - and still am - all of the things that really don't belong to anyone else but him - please, just burn it and toss the ashes after mine. (With a few exceptions, of course.)

This just rocks me back on my heels.

"The couple were so desperate for a male heir that they spent their life savings and took out a bank loan for IVF."

The mother is 70 years old.

The got twins. One of each.

Someone is going to have to cross-check me on this one, but wouldn't an adopted child have inherited the same as a biokid in India? (Adoption in India is an incredibly scary place right now - the corruption is mind-boggling and heartbreaking. Might not have been any kind of option for these folks - as old as they were.)

Why are you having children.

Wow.

Every time I look at this, I find another hot button linked to it - property, acceptance, proof of life, immortality, employment, identity....and none of it much involved with the fact that a kid has nothing to do with your issues, and has every need that has to be met by you as the parent.

They're happy - and this is their challenge that they met with these steps. Can't judge. But the mind boggles a bit, neh?

It's not what I would do. For me, I hope to have my adopting done by age 50 - hope, mind. I'd like permission to get older, with my kids being my kids. Not be old - and trying to make things work regardless.

They're happy. Is it wrong to feel sorry for the kids? Would it be more acceptable for the parents to have accepted their lot and not fought 'the system'?

And this is all before I talk about gender preference. Messy, messy, messy.

Why we have kids.

Seriously. The thought has to cross your mind, past the obvious "OMG we're pregnant - okay, we're having kids."

The mindset I prefer on the subject is happy acceptance - having sex and having kids? Kinda goes together. You're okay with one, you're okay with both - win/win.

So - unexpected pregnancy doesn't exist in your world. And when you want one, you get one and that's even happier.

I wouldn't know about that. Had the sex, didn't have the kids - and then didn't have the sex for a long, long time. Then got single again. Then married again. Annnd - the pregnant thing didn't jump out and snag us.

Now, you get to think about it. Because now - it costs. Regardless of the route you decide to take, it costs. A bunch. Take a figure and add six zeros or so. Past that, it's just random details.

Somehow, paying money to make a baby didn't make sense when paying money to provide a family to a baby who needed one existed as an equally viable option. We wanted to be parents - and the more I looked at assisted reproduction, the more squicked I got. Jim? He chatted up some coworkers who went that route and just about lost his lunch. Nobody was going to do THAT to his girl!

Not appealing. We don't have to pass on the genetics - really, really.

If it didn't happen on its own, we weren't going to force it. Now, keep in mind back then we were still back in the "adoption is going to be EASY, there's a BUNCH of kids needing homes" frame of mind. That may still be so, but the ability for us to actually connect with a child who COULD be adopted by us has turned out to be, well, not so much - as it turns out. We didn't know - I'll be honest. But I'm really grateful that we didn't spend the time and money on the AR merry-go-round - we didn't have the infertility loss issues to overcome approaching adoption. It IS our first choice.

(Could I still get pregnant? Hang on - I'm getting there. Short answer - yes.)

But why have kids at all - if it doesn't happen on its own?

I'll admit - looking at the house, the yard, the stuff...gathering dust, going to waste...really bothered me. If I've been learning, and growing as a person all this time...why? If I don't pass this baton on to someone...what have I've been doing this for? My own enjoyment? Wow. Not so much!

I want people at all ages of life, in my life. I want oldsters...and kids. And people my age. And people both twenty years older and younger. I LIKE IT THAT WAY.

For me, those are good reasons to have kids. I'll be blunt and admit it - I've considered putting "torch the house with everything in it" in my will, if I survive Jim. After dealing with Cliff's things - and still am - all of the things that really don't belong to anyone else but him - please, just burn it and toss the ashes after mine. (With a few exceptions, of course.)

This just rocks me back on my heels.

"The couple were so desperate for a male heir that they spent their life savings and took out a bank loan for IVF."

The mother is 70 years old.

The got twins. One of each.

Someone is going to have to cross-check me on this one, but wouldn't an adopted child have inherited the same as a biokid in India? (Adoption in India is an incredibly scary place right now - the corruption is mind-boggling and heartbreaking. Might not have been any kind of option for these folks - as old as they were.)

Why are you having children.

Wow.

Every time I look at this, I find another hot button linked to it - property, acceptance, proof of life, immortality, employment, identity....and none of it much involved with the fact that a kid has nothing to do with your issues, and has every need that has to be met by you as the parent.

They're happy - and this is their challenge that they met with these steps. Can't judge. But the mind boggles a bit, neh?

It's not what I would do. For me, I hope to have my adopting done by age 50 - hope, mind. I'd like permission to get older, with my kids being my kids. Not be old - and trying to make things work regardless.

They're happy. Is it wrong to feel sorry for the kids? Would it be more acceptable for the parents to have accepted their lot and not fought 'the system'?

And this is all before I talk about gender preference. Messy, messy, messy.

Why we have kids.

Seriously. The thought has to cross your mind, past the obvious "OMG we're pregnant - okay, we're having kids."

The mindset I prefer on the subject is happy acceptance - having sex and having kids? Kinda goes together. You're okay with one, you're okay with both - win/win.

So - unexpected pregnancy doesn't exist in your world. And when you want one, you get one and that's even happier.

I wouldn't know about that. Had the sex, didn't have the kids - and then didn't have the sex for a long, long time. Then got single again. Then married again. Annnd - the pregnant thing didn't jump out and snag us.

Now, you get to think about it. Because now - it costs. Regardless of the route you decide to take, it costs. A bunch. Take a figure and add six zeros or so. Past that, it's just random details.

Somehow, paying money to make a baby didn't make sense when paying money to provide a family to a baby who needed one existed as an equally viable option. We wanted to be parents - and the more I looked at assisted reproduction, the more squicked I got. Jim? He chatted up some coworkers who went that route and just about lost his lunch. Nobody was going to do THAT to his girl!

Not appealing. We don't have to pass on the genetics - really, really.

If it didn't happen on its own, we weren't going to force it. Now, keep in mind back then we were still back in the "adoption is going to be EASY, there's a BUNCH of kids needing homes" frame of mind. That may still be so, but the ability for us to actually connect with a child who COULD be adopted by us has turned out to be, well, not so much - as it turns out. We didn't know - I'll be honest. But I'm really grateful that we didn't spend the time and money on the AR merry-go-round - we didn't have the infertility loss issues to overcome approaching adoption. It IS our first choice.

(Could I still get pregnant? Hang on - I'm getting there. Short answer - yes.)

But why have kids at all - if it doesn't happen on its own?

I'll admit - looking at the house, the yard, the stuff...gathering dust, going to waste...really bothered me. If I've been learning, and growing as a person all this time...why? If I don't pass this baton on to someone...what have I've been doing this for? My own enjoyment? Wow. Not so much!

I want people at all ages of life, in my life. I want oldsters...and kids. And people my age. And people both twenty years older and younger. I LIKE IT THAT WAY.

For me, those are good reasons to have kids. I'll be blunt and admit it - I've considered putting "torch the house with everything in it" in my will, if I survive Jim. After dealing with Cliff's things - and still am - all of the things that really don't belong to anyone else but him - please, just burn it and toss the ashes after mine. (With a few exceptions, of course.)

This just rocks me back on my heels.

"The couple were so desperate for a male heir that they spent their life savings and took out a bank loan for IVF."

The mother is 70 years old.

The got twins. One of each.

Someone is going to have to cross-check me on this one, but wouldn't an adopted child have inherited the same as a biokid in India? (Adoption in India is an incredibly scary place right now - the corruption is mind-boggling and heartbreaking. Might not have been any kind of option for these folks - as old as they were.)

Why are you having children.

Wow.

Every time I look at this, I find another hot button linked to it - property, acceptance, proof of life, immortality, employment, identity....and none of it much involved with the fact that a kid has nothing to do with your issues, and has every need that has to be met by you as the parent.

They're happy - and this is their challenge that they met with these steps. Can't judge. But the mind boggles a bit, neh?

It's not what I would do. For me, I hope to have my adopting done by age 50 - hope, mind. I'd like permission to get older, with my kids being my kids. Not be old - and trying to make things work regardless.

They're happy. Is it wrong to feel sorry for the kids? Would it be more acceptable for the parents to have accepted their lot and not fought 'the system'?

And this is all before I talk about gender preference. Messy, messy, messy.