Everything but the kitchen sink

The last week or so has been a whirlwind of trying to get some things wrapped up for my vacation next week. Next Thursday I leave for VA Beach and For Purpose Conference. I always have a good time there, but I also try to wrap up as much as possible before going on vacation.

First and foremost was my car. I always like to take it out and get it looked at before a long trip like this. Turns out my rear springs & 1 ball joint (which still sounds slightly obscene) needed replaced. There were some other routine maintenance type things and all toll about $1,000 worth of repairs. Can you say ouch? I knew that you could! That money could have been used toward a new-to-me car (I never buy a new car), but I need to get through the winter with my current one. Plus a 1300 or so mile trip is not when I want to try and figure out all the weirdness of a new car.

I am also trying to get some technical documenation organized for the group. We use try to use Yahoo Groups to keep in contact throughout the year, but very few people have actually joined. In part, I think, because this group of people are not overly technically inclinded. So I tried to organize some step-by-step instructions to help people get into the group. I know it is easy, but I also try to remember that easy for me on the computer can be hell for others. I am also trying to organize a group over on Flickr. I am not sure who would be using it, but I know of a couple of us who definately would.

One thing I have realized is that the web is great for connecting people, and blogs and sites like Flickr have made it easy for us to share. The biggest problem is getting people to also feel that what we are doing is easy.

I still need to do a little shopping for the gathering, mostly I need some white clothes for the one night. A lot of what I want/need to take with me is already together just requiring me to throw it all in the car. Ideally I want to just shower, feed the cats and go on Thursday morning. I have some alternate directions that will, hopefully cut down on the time it takes me to get to VA Beach. The guy at work says it can cut as much as 1 hour off the usual route I take. My usual route would be 77S to 64E. It actually takes about as much time as the route that Mapquest comes up with for going to VA Beach if you factor in the traffic in DC. It has the advantage of going through some absolutely beautiful country, but if I can cut some time (and milage) off the trip it is worth it. I still need to get some directions together for getting to what looks like the closest free hotspot. I will definately stop by there at the end of the week to load up on podcasts.