As I alluded to previously, but did not make explicit, I spent much of the past week out of town. Specifically, I was in lovely Orlando, Florida, where the natives experience a curious phenomena involving water falling from the sky. They even have a word for it: “rain”.
(Actually, things have improved slightly in Austin since I returned, but we’re still in a drought, and they’re not going to bring back the fireworks this 4th. Oh, well.)
I was in Orlando for the annual convention of the Smith and Wesson Collector’s Association. I’d love to be able to talk more about some of the nifty stuff I saw there, but the S&WCA doesn’t really like having this stuff discussed on open Internet forums. (I think they see open discussion of what goes on at the conventions, as well as other member-only information, as being a disincentive to people joining. In other words, if you want to know all the inside S&W history like production numbers or shipping dates, or what goes on at the conventions, join the club.)
(And you really should, if you have a serious interest in S&W collecting. The S&WCA is a good organization that deserves your support.)
So if I can’t talk about the convention in detail, what can I talk about? Well, I can talk about what worked and what didn’t. I have to say that this was about as perfect a trip as I’ve had in a long time. With the exception of things being slightly tight getting to the gate in Austin for the flight out, and leaving some medication at home, everything went smooth as silk. (Well, okay, the flights on “Latvian People’s Airlines, Your Cattle-car In the Sky”, were packed to the gills with families flying to Disney. But I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.)
My travel configuration hasn’t changed much since my last two trips. The only significant addition is that I now have a smart phone. And, in spite of my issues with Android (which will probably be the subject of a longer post in the future), I have to say; a smart phone for travel is nearly worth its weight in gold. Being able to find things (like a restaurant, or a Wells Fargo ATM) wasn’t the only advantage; the Orlando Airport Marriott was charging $14 a day for wireless Internet access. Easy Tether Pro literally paid for itself the first day I was there, and every day after that was like money in the bank. I heartily endorse this product and/or service, and, yes, you can get EasyTether
in the Amazon Android app store.
Speaking of finding restaurants, food in Orlando was mostly just okay. The association has a cocktail party on Thursday night, and the hotel food there was pretty good (conch fritters, yum), but the Saturday banquet dinner was just not to my taste. I had a couple of fast food lunches with friends at Chipolte and Wendy’s, which were pretty much what you’d expect at each.
The best meals I had were at:
- Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q, which is a chain, but a regional one, serving mostly pork based barbecue at very reasonable prices.
- The Bonefish Grill near the hotel. Bonefish is also a chain, and a pretty large one; the holding company also owns Fleming’s, Outback, Carrabba’s, and Roy’s. That aside, I thought my fish (the imperial longfish) was a solid choice, even if it wasn’t local. (My close friend who was unofficially hosting the meal got slightly indignant when he found out the shrimp was from China. His indignation, however, was exceeded by that of a fellow diner who was offended by the 18% gratuity added to our checks.)
- Big Fin Seafood, the directions to which Google Maps on Android gets wrong wrong wrongity-wrong. Not that I’m bitter or anything. The blue crab crusted grouper was very good (and local!) and I enjoyed my meal very much. But (with a slice of key lime pie, soup, and a half-dozen oysters, plus tax and tip) the meal came to as much as a dinner at Fleming’s or Ruth’s Chris. It was good, but I’m not sure it was quite that good.
I have some photos I took on the grounds of the National UDT/SEAL Museum (another product and/or service I heartily endorse, and which deserves your support) and will probably be posting those to Flicker once I’ve had a chance to import and clean them up some.
I didn’t do as much reading on the trip as I usually do, but I did finish Chinaman’s Chance
, the first of the Ross Thomas novels about Artie Wu (pretender to the throne of China), his partner Quincy Durant, and Otherguy Overby. As far as I know, the Wu/Durant books are the only series Thomas wrote (edited to add 6/27: I realized over the weekend that I had forgotten the Padillo/McCorkle novels, which started with The Cold War Swap
); I don’t like Chinaman’s Chance as much as I like some of his non-series books, such as The Fools in Town Are on Our Side
and The Fourth Durango
, but it is a perfectly fine read for an airplane or a beach.
I’m working my way through The Modern Day Gunslinger: The Ultimate Handgun Training Manual
(a book I was previously unaware of, and which I found at the UDT/SEAL Museum). I don’t think I’m going to review that, as I don’t feel like I have the level of expertise to be able to do an intelligent review. However, I am considering commissioning a review for the site; if I pull the trigger (so to speak) on that, I’ll let you know. I will say that, so far, I haven’t found anything that contradicts what I’ve read elsewhere, my experience, or the training I’ve had from experts.
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