My flight up to Boston on Saturday morning was fine. We got in slightly early, but then had to wait for a gate agent to actually drive the jetbridge over to the plane so we could disembark. I caught the Silver Line to South Station and the train to Wellesley. Why Wellesley? Well, see, there is a Volksmarch there I could do for one thing. More importantly, that's where my friend, Penny, lives. (She grew up there and moved back from L.A. a few years ago.) She walked part of the Brook Trail with me, pointing out things like the elementary school she went to and the golf course where she learned to ski. She went home, while I continued the walk, which took me around the college campus and back through the downtown area. The campus is lovely, though I had to take some creative detours due to flooding. I am reasonably sure they did not intend for me to walk through Paramecium Pond. Penny met me at the library (the start point for the walk) when I was done and we had a late lunch at Rosie's Bakery and Cafe. We had a lot of catching up to do, mostly about storytelling and storytellers we both know. She also provided a driving tour of the area (including the house she grew up in), before driving me to Cambridge, where I was staying at the Marriott overnight.
I got together with
ron_newman in the evening and we went to the Mamounia celebration at the Somerville armory. This is traditionally a Moroccan Jewish post-Passover event. There was lots of music and dance and, eventually, food. It was enjoyable, but not as well organized as it might have been.My nominal reason for the trip was The Boston Crossword Puzzle Tournament. I had missed the ACPT this year (since I was in Canada) so why not? I managed to solve all four puzzles cleanly, but was much slower than I should have been on the 4th one. Not that I would have really had a chance of winning, but I usually do Thursday puzzles in about 10 minutes and this took me over 20. I made a mistake on one clue early on and it took me a while to get out of the blind alley I'd turned into. Still, my overall performance was solidly in the middle of the pack and I finished a reasonably respectable 27th out of 112.
530nm330hz finished 4th. It was nice seeing him and hahathor among others and, while bugsybanana was not there, I did meet and say hello to her brother. Several of us went out for beer and food and conversation afterwards. All in all, it was a very pleasant day.Then I headed off to the airport, and checked into the Hilton for the night. I even ended up with a room on the executive floor. The main advantage of the room upgrade is decent computer facilities in the executive lounge. I will probably stay there again when I am insane enough to fly home from Boston at six in the morning. (That is, this coming June.) I was rather exhausted at work all day, but it's not like that is unusual for a Monday.
