The movement is afoot to organize a gathering of AWADers in late spring or early summer 2002. The exact dates will depend on what is most convenient for everyone.
The place: southern Michigan. My house. Bring your pillows. Arrangements can be made to pick up people at airports and train stations, and carpooling might also be available. [Werner Klemperer]There is no escape from Wordapalooza![/Werner Klemperer]
OK, I'm saving my pennies. What is going to be cheapest, fellow Brits - pool together and charter a plane, or foregather somewhere in UK where we can set up a video conference so that we can join in the fun?
Great idea, Sparteye, but it's a huge amount of work! To say nothing of the expense to host it. (Organized several during my working years and Never Again!) Are you serious? If so, participants should chip in to offset the basic costs. You have no idea what you're letting yourself in for do you? Or do you? wow Wait a minute -- you're joking, aren't you, you sly fox!
Well, MapBlast lists a drive of 33:40 from St. John's to Lansing (which was the only city in Michigan near Sparteye that I could recall). Too bad they didn't take into account the six-hour ferry ride to the mainland! (Let's see, 185 km at 100 km/h = 1:51 - if you're driving a car across the Gulf of St. Lawrence!!!!!.)
I also noticed that MapBlast assumed a mean speed of 110 km/h = about 70 mph. (Here the speed limit is usually 100 km/h, not 110km/h.) You would be hard-pressed to actually maintain such a speed on the backroads of Newfoundland - oh, I mean the TransCanada Highway - no, wait, they are one and the same!
*Not that I'm complaining about the distance - which is a lot farther for some of the others here - but I guess MapBlast's opinion of the trip was just amusing!
First item on the agenda is setting the dates: please post dates in April/May/June 2002
OK, I'll set the ball rolling - I teach during April and May (I hope - if I don't I can't afford to come amyway!) I also have Examiners meetings in June. But it looks like there is (at present) a window of opportunity between 12th and 26th of June.
The other alternative is March 25th thru April 5th (over Easter) but I guess Michigan is still pretty chilly at that time? (All the more reason to stay in by the fire next to the drinks table!)Ooops - sorry - a naughty little emoticon!
OK. It looks like some early May dates we floated to some folks won't work for a number of people. I do not recommend earlier in the year than May because there would be too great a chance of travelers being stymied by blizzards or ice storms. Not to mention that college basketball season does not end until April 1, and it would be nice if your chief organizer were home...
We usually open the pool in May, so that it is swimmable by Memorial Day (fourth Monday of May), but Michigan weather does not assure swim weather until June.*
June is OK by me, including the dates suggested by Rhu. The only caveat is that Father's Day is on the 16th, and I'm guessing that quite a few of us will have familial obligations for that weekend.
SOOOOOO..... How about the weekend of June 22 and 23, and whatever days before and after suit people's travel arrangements?
PROPOSAL: BASE DAYS OF JUNE 22 AND 23, 2002. DO I HEAR OBJECTIONS?
*But still, no promises. The only month without recorded snow in Michigan is August. I just love to scare people with that factoid. Doesn't scare you at all, does it Bean?
Not at all. Considering St. John's had a record-breaking 6.5 m = 21.3 feet of snow last winter (lasting until June), nothing can scare me! I was in Calgary once in July when it snowed. Okay, the snow didn't stick, but it was falling out of the sky nevertheless!
June 21st is the last day of school for many students, so i'm guessing several of us couldn't make it until at *least* the 22nd, which is a saturday. i dunno, the first day of summer vacation is pretty fun to share with the kiddies.
My dear Lady Ann, Thou hast most kindly invited thy friends to join thee in a celebration, but dates remain uncertain as does the location. Thou hast not identified the Manor House at which such celebration is to take place. Perhaps in the land of the laconic Lacedaemonians? Spartan was I ere I left Sparta. Has such manor been yet yclept? As I recall, thou hast hitherto besought thy AWAD ycleptomaniacal friends to aid thee in thy ycleeping (obs.) of thy new abode, but no notice of official ycleeping has, to my knowledge, heretofore been published. Bethink thee of thy rash invitation. It may not bode well for thee to have a multitude of ycleptomaniacs medd'ling about your abode. (Post Scriptum to a certain AWADer of exalted rank, unnamed but neither nameless or WORTHLESS - - ) Mea culpa - You are, of course, quite correct. THAT word should be reserved for those who know how to use it, but, having first become acquainted with it more than half a century ago (Robin Hood, Scott novels or where'eer) I succumbed to (under Michigan law) an "irresistible impulse".)
of course you'll wanna fly into ORD so I can get you's into the best of spirits Count me in on the ORD crew. We may be in good enough spirits to fly from there without benefit of airplane.
I thought *everybody* knew that I live just outside of Sparta -- sometimes called East Lansing, Michigan. A bit to the south and west, AAMOF. I will send details to all who sign up for Wordapalooza!
I have not yet settled on a name for my house. Perhaps that can be on the Wordapalooza! agenda. I need something with a certain dignity, but without too much pretension.
As for the date, we seem to be struggling to find something which works for all. I originally proposed to pick a date in late spring or early summer, but it seems that we have already found that no dates in the range work for all. SOOOOO -- how about July, everyone? The only thing going in July is Independence Day, which is on a Thursday. As far as I'm concerned, we could pick any weekend in the month as base days.
What about it, guys? Is there any problem for anyone who is coming to arrive in a time span which encompasses a July weekend? If you can come in July, are there weekends you would prefer? Weekends you cannot? The weekends are:
i'm sorry, i screwed up my dates when i complained about the June 22 idea. turns out i was looking at a 1999 school calendar (not MY fault that they haven't updated their website since then!). i'm posting this retraction at sparteye's request, though i won't be sure until tomorrow of the correct kindergarten graduation date. i'm guessing June 21st or so would be fine for me, or maybe even as early as the 20th (don't they usually do graduations on wednesdays??)
July looks good to me - all dates suggested are clear of previous engagements. From a practical point of view, earlier is better than later for us Brits, as air fares begin to go up as soon as the children are out of school. Hey! I'm begining to get excited about this!
(June)22nd,saturday.....is the following weekend out of the question?
June 29-30 is jamming up pretty close to the Fourth of July and higher July costs for travel, too. Also June 29-30 is very heavy travel weekend with kids out of school, people going to summer cottages, etc. How about Saturday, June 22, and Sunday, June 23? Then folks come and go as they can manage on Friday and Monday! That weekend is close to the Summer Solstice so we should have nice long daylight hours, weather warm enough to swim but not hot-as-hinges-of-hell that it can be in July! (It was 100 fahrenheit in Michigan just a week ago according to The Weather Channel!) And, shouldn't we have an "end date" so Sparteye can know when she will get her regular (personal and professional)life back? I undersand she does have other obligations!
don't you just hate the truth that comes out of the mouth of babes?
hey young pup, here is a bit of truth for you-- most people don't get more grown up after the age of 14 or so, they just get older-- and more experienced-- so they are better at faking it, and better at hiding the evidence. why do you think you fit in here so well? we are all 14 olds at heart-- its just some of us have a bit more money and freedom.
The objection being withdrawn to June 22 and 23 as the base dates, I'd like to officially designate that weekend as Wordapalooza!
Now, as travel schedules and inclinations dictate, people may arrive sooner and stay later, but I'd like for everybody to try to be here on those two days. We will plan the bulk of the AWAD-related activities and the big blowout dinner for those days.
Now that we have the target dates, the flurry of planning can commence. I will soon be sending copies of planning discussions which have already occurred to those who have already said they are coming. Anybody else who wants to get in the ground floor, please speak up!
I will certainly make every attempt at getting there. After a year of 24 hour Architecture school under my belt, I'll be in need of a nice weekend. Plus, I live so close (comparatively) that I can't afford to miss it. (Perhaps Ms. Jackie can even pick me up on her way up. )
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Ooops - sorry - a naughty little emoticon!
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