Thoughts of the Lady in the Tower

2004-10-14 - 8:02 p.m.

Parts 3 and 4 of my trip out to Whidbey Island (part 3 ended up awfully short).

Nice Interlude, now Back to Work.

The first two days of the week were classroom training on the system we were testing. I wanted to go through the training (I had never SEEN this system before, and had only the vaguest idea of how it worked).

The class was mostly hands on, but since only two systems were available, I observed while the guys learned the �knobology� and played with it (it�s not yet in production; we had prototypes, and I believe the first articles are going through production testing now).

During the next three days, the guys dove on the systems. I spent some time learning the planning software (to figure out how to tell the guys where to go), but mostly I observed them and listened to the two guys (JT and SC) who�ve used the system before.

Before Testing, There Was a Weekend

On Friday, the guys were doing training dives on the new system, but they weren�t in the minefield and it wasn�t really anything that involved me. I decided to work on the stats refresher that I'm teaching in November instead of going on the boat. It turned out being such a beautiful day that during the afternoon I decided instead to go to Deception Pass (I didn�t want the weather to turn gloomy before I got there, so when I noticed that it was bright and sunny I left town!).

Wow. That�s really all I can say about Deception Pass. The pictures speak for themselves

I chilled at a coffee shop (with wireless internet!) until Ysabelot and Nathan got off work, then we went to try another ethic food. I think Friday night was Korean, but I�m not sure. Then we went to Half Price Books. Wow. I walked out of there with $200 worth of books and paid $75 (of course, I ended up having to pay a $25 overweight baggage fee at the airport for it, so the true cost was about $100). My best find was the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries for $18. Fabulous!

Serenalyons had (a few months earlier) bemoaned the fact that no one in An Tir teaches a class like my Art of Being a Noblewoman, and had asked for help developing a similar class. When I had the dates for my trip nailed down, I looked for what events would be happening, and Serena mentioned that she would be at Autumn War. Hmm, I thought, I could show her my class!

I contacted the autocrat the week before I left, and she was delighted. However, I forgot to print handouts before I left. Whoops. I emailed the electronic copy to Serena, but her printer crapped out and she *handcopied* them for me. Totally unnecessary, but what a doll!

I spent the first part of the morning shopping, and the big find here was a white latigo leather blank for Richard. He asked me to look for one, and was pleased that I found one that was 2 inches wide. I also purchased a set of bells for a belled baldric (Richard is going to so hate me for that!) and a few other odds and ends.

I taught my class, which was unspectacular, but I think they enjoyed it and learned a lot. And, hey, I�ve now taught it in three kingdoms, which is good for (some form of) bragging rights. I think.

During my class it started to rain again, and the roads (i.e. mudpits) were already testing the limits of my rental car, so I beat it out of there back to Ysabelot�s house. We went out for Pho (yummy cream puffs!) and to explore Ballard a bit before heading over to the wine and cheese party. I offered to drive, so I only tasted a few, but that mango wine was fabulous! I�m not much of a stinky cheese fan, though, so I stuck with the wine grapes.

Sunday morning I met my aunt for brunch, and we chatted for a bit. She�s significantly older than me (she was in high school when my mom was born), but we�ve gone through some similar stuff since we both finished our Master�s degrees this past winter. We had a fun chat, then I went back up to Whidbey to meet AP (a coworker), who flew in that afternoon.