Damn! Helen's Out Of Reach...

One Blodgermeet Per Year Might Be My Limit...

Part of the joys of having new, reliable transportation is that it allows you to drive long distances in a single hop, and attend faraway functions with the knowledge that you'll actually return home without resorting to Riding the Dog.

Alas, the down side is that those new wheels need to be paid for, and all my usual abundance of discretionary income is heading towards the car note.

Helen, GA, site of the 2006 Southeast Writers' Conference, is almost exactly 900 miles away. Times 2 = 1800 miles of gasoline, or nearly $400. Add $200 for hotel rooms, another $300 for booze, poptarts and bail money, and we're nearly at a grand. No, I won't be flying. Thanks for asking, though.

Not gonna make it out to Jawja this year, unless The Man doubles my salary between now and September. I'll be installing a control tower on my taint to direct the squadrons of flying monkeys departing from my bunghole before that feat of financial wizardry ever comes to pass.

Sigh. Maybe next year. Mobile, I coulda squeaked in, maybe. We shall see. That may still come to pass.