Okay, so, this isn't really important to anyone out there in Gopher land, but I think from this post onward I'm going to change how I save my text files. My directory structure for phlogs is like this: ~ > gopher > log > YYYY-MM > DD-hhmm hhmm is my local time, and previously I had been changing it once I completed a file to the completion time right before I went to update my Gophermap (because why would I take the fun out of Gophering with automation :p). I think I might stop changing the time afterwards though, and just use the time that I start writing the file (since I have it named to begin with). It doesn't really make a big difference - I've only been doing it because I *started* doing it one way and I guess it's just an OCD kind of thing where it doesn't *feel* right if I don't do it. Speaking of which, I should probably stop flipping light switches, but I'll save that for another day. Anyway! Seattle! It was fun! Flying for my first time was stressful and confusing lol. I got lost and had a migraine at the Dallas Airport and ended up missing my connecting flight and almost losing my luggage. The airline gave me a distressed customer ticket (you bet your phlog I was distressed), which got me a discount at a local hotel. hOWEVER, American Airlines did not CALL the hotel to check for vacancies so when my extremely confused, very depleted self finally got enough signal and charge to get a Lyft and got to the hotel, they had no vacancies. Not eVEN TO MENTION that in order to check in there you HAD to be 21+. But the dude at the counter (a very gay young black dude - he was nice) helped me out by just putting me in a room despite the fact that they had no vacancies and despite the fact that I was and am only 20. Apparently he cancelled someone else's reservation or something and put me in there. He also gave me two ibuprofen because I asked if they sold any (and they didn't, but he had some) to try and help relieve my migraine. After a few hours of sleep (and a few hours of not), I got up, took a shower, got to the airport, and got to Seattle. I also made sure to tip the guy at the hotel for helping me as much as he did. Like seriously my dude, it meant a lot. Props to him. aND SEATTLE WAS GREAT. I was so thrown off whenever we went to land and the pilot said the ambient temperature was 57 degrees F (that's 13C) and soooo glad. The weather was hella nice the whole time we were there. I found my way through the airport, got another Lyft (Uber is broken for me for some reason), and got to the hotel where Rob and Bars were. We went to the Living Computer Museum that day and hoooooly heck I loved it. Everything was freaking beautiful - from the 70s living room with the Red Martian albums to the cold room with mainframes galore. I LOVED it. Rob and Bars played Oregon Trail on an Apple II most of the time looool but I ventured around and toyed with all the different computers. It was INCREDIBLE to get to use them and touch them and see them. And the museum is so great because it doesn't feel crowded or overwhelming; it's just wonderful. Thank you, people of LCM, for making my month. We also went to the pop culture museum before LCM, but I'm not all that into pop culture lol. It was still cool though! The exhibits were impressive and nice, although I think the only real thing that stood out to me was the Dalek (I GOT TO SEE A DALEK HELL YEAH) and the TV in the horror exhibit that the one woman at the museum told us that she identified with more than actual people loool (2meirl4meirl). ALSO I ATE SOME AHI TUNA DISH AT THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY THAT DAY AND HOLY SHIT THAT'S SOME GOOD ASS SHIT LET ME TELL YOU WHAT (we don't have a cheesecake factory where I live, and I have wanted to try it for, like, 2-3 years now. We didn't get cheesecake though, so hold out for me, Emily). Saturday was the keyboard meetup :p. It was fun too, but definitely overcrowded lol. I brought my TI-99/4a Keyboard to show off and my Mac Standard Keyboard with Alps Salmon Switches. Rob had an Apple extended keyboard, and we actually daisychained them together and then through an ADB to USB adapter to my laptop running Mac OS 6.0.8 under Mini vMac. Rob brought his beamspring keyboards, which got a heckton of attention, and had them also hooked up through several adapters and USB hubs to his computer (which reminds me that we had an early morning adventure going from one end of Seattle to another to find a PS/2 to USB adapter - and when I asked a younger (but probably older than me) Best Buy employee, he though I was talking about a PlayStation 2 Controller. We did eventually finding one though at Fry's Electronics - some giant electronics retailer that I had never been to). It was fun looking around at all the different keyboards, and I thought that the one lady doing stand up comedy with keyboard jokes was pretty great. The little bit of the campus that I saw also was GORGEOUS; Millsaps could take a few pointers loool (something something under construction). I was definitely glad when we went back though. Later we walked to Hurry Curry of Tokyo and got some hella good curry. And I think we just relaxed for the rest of the day (I think. I have no more pictures from Saturday). Sunday we went to the Space Needle. We never went up it, though, because there were literally hundreds of people in line (kiiind of sad that one of America's coolest structures has just become a giant tourist trap. Then again, what else would it be?). We did walk around the park though, which was nice. Apparently it was even connected to the Pop Culture Museum, and we walked right through where we had been two days before. It was on our way to the Space Needle, though, that was even better - because we went to the Amazon Go store. For the uninitiated, Amazon Go is Amazon's attempt at a retail store where anyone can sign in with their Amazon app, walk in, get any and all items they want, and just walk right out of the store - with all of their items being automaticaly charged to their account. The items could be in their hands, in their pockets, or in a bag - Amazon Go knows. You can even check in mutliple people on one account. The only thing you can't do yet is hand items to other people. It's a really cool concept that's just incredible that it's reality. It's like stepping ten or twenty years into the future (but it also felt like shoplifting lololol). We sat out on the really gorgeous area outside the store and ate and then went on our way. It's a really incredible thing - although, I would just still prefer that cashiers actually fill up the registers at Walmart instead. And then that night we went to a little shooting range. I shot a pistol and some weird $2000 foreign gun. I really liked the second one, but I don't think I'd ever want to own one lol. Rob and Bars shot a lot of different guns, but I mostly just stayed behind and texted Tomo, because I kept not understanding how exactly I was supposed to hold and stand and stuff like that. I grew up around guns and know basic gun safety and how to handle a gun, but certainly they knew more than me, and I kind of just wanted to stay out of it lol. Guns also make me incredibly nervous sometimes (I dislike holding a deadly weapon - usually just because to me, it is a deadly weapon made for the very purpose of being a deadly weapon - whether it be to kill a rattlesnake, a deer, or a human being), which isn't something that bothers me to a point that I can't use one and use it safely - it's just an underlying anxiety. I own a gun for self defense - in the case that someone breaks into my house and has a gun or weapon of their own, and I heartily dislike it. I'd much rather live somewhere where I don't have to worry about crime and especially gun crimes, but while I live in the United States it is just a reality that I have to face - that whether or not I own a weapon, a criminal will, and it is in my best interest to have a means of defense. Anyway, that got sidetracked. Next time Tomo comes to the US I'm gonna take him to my brother's house to shoot guns because he told me that that's something he wanted to do in the US and forgot lol. Poor boi. Anyway, Monday we got texts that our flight was being delayed (to the point that we would absolutely miss our connecting flight). We decided to go ahead and go to Dallas and be there and be ready to get home the following day, so we went to the airport and got our tickets sorted out and got on the plane (after a VERY long line - holy heck - airports suck). When we got to Dallas, Rob went to talk to the AA lady about getting our hotel rooms, and Bars and I went to grab our bags. Natalie, one of our friends from Millsaps who aPPARENTLY LIVES RIGHT NEAR DALLAS (I SHOULD HAVE CALLED HER THURSDAY NIGHT) met us there and was going to drive us. After an hour of us talking, Rob called me and told me that apparently American said that "it was the airport controller's fault, not the airlines, so they couldn't do anything for us," which I think was complete bull from AA. Rob was piiiissed - not so much about the money but largely just because he stood in line for an hour just for them to tell him that. Still, though, the fun of having Natalie there helped cheer him up a bit, and we went to go find a hotel. When we got to the hotel, they apparently were booked out but their other hotel down the street had vacancy, so the guy at the counter went ahead and set up the reservation for us, and all we had to do was check in. When we got to the other one, Rob made a remark about how it was actually nicer here because basically the same hotel was half the price of the other one, and I made him laugh by saying, "Yeah, but, the guy at the other one was cute." (and hekkin hek he was. Come back to me, hotel man). We left and got Korean BBQ together, which was really fun and tasted gooood. Got back, slept, and parted ways the next day. And bada bing, bada boom, I am home. And now I have to get ready to go back to college on Sunday loool (I'm not ready help). SO that was JEBUG29'S SEATTLE ADVENTURE(TM) WITH THE DALLAS EXPANSION PACK DEMO. This phost is long enough, so I'll end it here. Thanks everyone! P.S. I set up a Gopher server for the Millsaps Computer Club. Check it out! gopher://mpcclub.info/ (or g mpcclub.info/ if you have my Gopher Shortcut Tool)