Well, yesterday could have gone better. Work was uninspiring, though I did get a nibble on an interesting job well for which I would be very well suited. It’s in Marengo so the commute would be interesting, but it’s not out of the question. On the way home, I passed a Lake County sheriff’s deputy as I was getting on Route 41; he followed me for about a mile then hit his lights. He was very nice, and explained that the drivers license associated with my registration expired two years ago. I showed him my NC drivers license (yeah, yeah, I’ll be getting an Illinois one Real Soon Now) and explained that when I surrendered my IL license back in 2000 (!), I guess NC didn’t transmit any paperwork stating that fact. He was satisfied with this explanation, and sent me on my way. Whew.

After a brief stop at the Highland Park post office to stock up on stamps for mailing MFF registration postcards, it was down to Paulina Market to pick up some tasty snacks for the coming weekend. As I was sitting in the stop-and-go traffic on Lincoln Avenue, someone came barreling up behind me – all I heard was a squeal of tires then I felt the impact as he hit me. We pulled off to a side street and exchanged information. The damage doesn’t look too bad – rear bumper marked up and slightly pushed down – but having been through this not too long ago, I know that a lot more expensive damage can lie under the bumper. On my way home I stopped by my insurance agency and gave them all the information and set up a body shop to take a look at it next week. All in all, a minor hassle, though my neck is slightly sore. Nothing debilitating, just a mild stiffness. Hmm, I should have taken some Aleve this morning for that. Ah well.

I admit I was pretty down for the rest of the evening, but Dan put up with me. He made several batches of chocolate chip cookies, and then we packed up everything for Congenial. In a lot of ways, a local relaxacon is more of a pain to pack for than Anthrocon: There’s all the room amenities to pack (coffee maker and accoutrements), booze, glassware, games, and all sorts of stuff. We got it sorted out, though. As I mentioned before, we’ll be up in Racine tonight through Sunday, since Dan has to work in Milwaukee tomorrow and my commute to work is roughly the same from Racine or Chicago. I’m going to try to get the same room we had last year (first floor, on the east end of the south hallway), since it’s convenient to the con suite yet not in the line of traffic.

Hmm, I’m gonna go hunt down some Ibuprofen now…