Arontius of Bygelswade

.....I'm in Chicago at the moment, waiting for my flight off to Seattle. I just shuffled through my e-mail and saw that Mary Reimer of Druim Doineann has passed on into the Great Unknown. It is a loss and I'm saddened by it. Mary was such a kind and gentle person. Someone who was constantly looking out for others and always had good things to say. I sold her a circlet once at a friend's price. Wish I had given it to her for free now. It's silly sometimes the things that you remember about someone. It's not always the grand and glorious moments. Sometimes its simple, stupid things.

.....Cancer is so insidious. I've lost too many good people to it. I hope that it is conquered soon.

.....I'll miss Mary. What more can I say?

.....Indianna is an interesting place. It actually looks a lot like the southwest corner of Washington, around the Longview area. Maybe more leafy trees and less evergreen, but the groves of trees are the same and the same rolling hills. The people are friendly, although a little scary as they are definitely a more church going crowd then your average Washingtonian. Lots of churches, some of them very old, which were cool to see.

.....Lessons Learned: Taking a flight a night before your travel day neither saves you time nor saves you from the crowds. Holy Nightmares. The flight was totally booked solid with people on standby. No sleep was to be had. United lost my luggage in the transfer from United to American in Chicago. Thankfully it was found, I just had to wait in Evansville for a number of hours for it to arrive.

......Ummm, EconoLodge is aptly named. Or maybe Insectolodge would be better. Don't stay there if you can help it. Next time *I* slog my way through DTS and NOT the secretary. Everyone else stayed at the local Holiday Inn, which, believe it or not, was several steps UP from EconoLodge. Enough said.

.....Bloomington, Indiana, is the nearest large city to Crane, Indiana, where the Naval Warfare Center is located. There was a drive in each day. But the conference was actually rather interesting. I learned a lot, and had the opportunity to network with everyone in the Naval Battery Community.

.....What I found interesting was the fact that even after all these years of learning how to speak and mingle and meet with all kinds of people, that I'm still an introvert at heart. My Briggs-Meyers still comes out as an INFJ, even twenty years after taking my first one. It makes it difficult to attend these things. You're always having to interduce yourself and make small talk when all I'd rather do is stay in my corner, listen to the information presented, make my own presentation, then leave. I found it rather amusing that at the end of the day I ended up with at least 20 Business Cards in my pocket and I gave out maybe 3. :-) I'm going to have to learn a new attitude if I have any hope of making it anywhere as a manager. :-)

.....Last lesson learned: Even thinking of going off-station without Tamm and Rhys for anything longer than a couple of weeks is a definite NON-STARTER. I missed them very much after just one week. They may be able to stand the months with me away, but my world already encompasses them completely. Enough said.

.....Well, if I want some munchies on the plane, I have to run now. I'll talk to you all later. Looks like Her Excellency Brighid took very good care of the Barony while I was gone. :-) Maybe I should make her Deputy Seneschale. :-)

.....Ouch! Just kidding! Don't smack me, Your Excellency! Remember, 'praise in public, discipline in private'. :-)

.....Arontius / Aaron.