???

NCLUGers - is this model by anyone we know? Are there photos online of my 4504-based convention center?

I find it very bizarre that we'd see somebody else build something this way so soon after I brought my WIP model to an NCLUG meeting. As far as I know, no photos from that meeting are "in the wild" yet - am I mistaken there?

In any case, I bought another partial 4504 on the cheap last weekend (the person selling it had already cherry-picked the rare bits for the SW collectors, and wanted to pass along a bargain on the other parts). I'm thinking I'll try to grow the WIP version into more of a behemoth.

Sorry I'm falling behind on the other blog too - I'm thinking of doing some shorter-than-usual cheap catch-up posts to make up the difference.

Brief, Scattershot Update

My laptop finally came back today - with a new motherboard. With any luck, this means that I'll get back to life as we know it.

A few more unfulfilling follow-ups:

Regarding flickr - I'm now planning on rotating photos to BrickShelf periodically. This way people can take advantage of the notes and commenting features for a limited time, and then the photos will be archived in a less useable but still accessible format. OK, I'll use flickr more often if someone offers to buy a "pro account" there for me.

Regarding gas - We continue to have shortages here, although it's relatively easy to find petrol in Raleigh. It's still the most expensive gas in the continental United States, but it'll do for now. My Dad volunteered to be the family gas scout shortly after my hysteric post here (and I would like to follow up on the politics of that properly soon, but I don't have time to do so properly at the moment). Since we had to settle for getting gas whenever we could, Dad rushed to places with limited supplies a few times this past month, and no useful MPG data could be recorded. I was able to fill my tank this past Thursday in Raleigh, and that will be the new starting point for MPG data. From now on, I'll be trying to protect myself from disastrous shortages by trying to refuel at the half-way point (instead of near empty), and I'll be finding the MPG based on the displacement instead of based on the mileage for a full tank. I don't know if this has been suggested elsewhere, but it seems to me like a more accurate and safe way to go.

Regarding the last NCLUG meeting - a proper wrap-up should be done sometime this month, if I can. My little printout (a short list of what I brought and a copy of an e-mail I sent about Collector's Guides) went missing at some point - anyone know where that is?

I have a few half-written posts here and elsewhere that I plan on cleaning up and posting soon, but I also still have quite a bit of "real work" to do - I'm afraid that that still has to be the priority.