Con Trite

Got to work, there was a message on my phone from Sunnyvale PD - at 10:30 pm - saying I would need to come down in person to file a missing license plate report. Got my morning stuff done and emailed the team that I would be out for an hour. The lobby of the Public Safety building is like a prison - you pick up a phone and talk to a person behind what may or may not be bulletproof glass. There are several doors into the main building from the lobby and they are all keycarded.** The nice lady said it would be an hour, please have a seat in the lobby, all those people are ahead of me. There were no seats free. And as I watched for the next hour, most of those people were not ahead of me, they were there to report identity theft (handled by a non-uniformed employee) or to claim property (handled by a woman in a tan uniform). Only one person was actually there to see an officer, and she was done in about 45 minutes. But I was not called. I waited, reading my Kindle, for another 45 minutes before I was called, and the officer apologized for the long wait, it was clear the nice lady had forgotten about me.

Very nice officer, middle-aged man, he got all the info on both cars, looked up the one I sold and it showed it was still in the process of being issued a license. My HOWEIRD license showed as only being assigned to my new car. He said nobody ever buys personalized plates for nefarious purposes because they stand out too much. He gave me the case number on a Sunnyvale PD card meant for that, and said he thought there was a chance the DMV would re-issue the same license.

**while I waited, I watched several officers and tan uniforms enter then exit one room and enter the one right next to it, using the keycard for each entry. Seems excessive.

Back to work, just when I thought I had nothing to do, a bug I'd filed got re-opened because the engineer noticed it was generated by the device not by my browser (as I had thought). This meant a bunch more troubleshooting, the kind where you push a button, wait for half an hour, look at the machine for 10 seconds and repeat. I was able to show the engineer which build the problem showed up in.

Had something resembling lunch in between button pushes - sardines and kippered snack, plus celery dipped in peanut butter.

Stopped by the UPS store and picked up two packages. One had the two 2TB drives and cables, and the other was a replacement for the computer room's dying desk fan.

I had wanted to have dinner, but wasn't that hungry and had some chores to do - change the litterboxes and take the used cartridges and the kitchen garbage out to the dumpster. which is when I noticed Kaan had pooped by the tall cat tree. Grrrr.

Finished packing, decided not to bring the half jar of peanut butter & the uneaten celery. I did fill my car water bottle with ice & water, and I had cheez-its and cheesy poofs in the car to nibble on.

Left as planned at 7 pm, theoretically after the mad rush.  Boy was that wrong. what should have been a 2-hour drive was almost 3, with stop and slow traffic most of the way. I did avoid a huge line at the new Benicia bridge by having a Fastrak. There were a lot of people playing car slalom, and more folks who found themselves in the 6th lane over right when they needed to exit. The 880-to-680 connection at Mission Blvd ws a mess - bumper to bumper for the whole mile, and then to add to the fun they changed the exit so that the right land was exit only going south where you used to be able to stay in that lane to go north. It looks like they are building a whole new interchange there. What they really need is a freeway connection to bypass Mission Blvd which is a main street.

Got to the hotel at 9:40, by the time I registered the one and only food place in the hotel was closed. Should have brought some food after all. My room is at the far end of the 6th floor, a long walk. But close to the ice machine and a second set of elevators.

Saw several people in the lobby I knew. Checked out the "gift shop" which mostly has over-priced pop and candy, no real food. The room doesn't have a fridge, and I guess we're not supposed to cook. There is no food walking distance, and I didn't feel like driving at night in a place I am not familiar with. Though GPS would have found me something I'm sure.

Plans for tomorrow:
Take my time getting up
Breakfast in the hotel eatery
Get my badge and "table tent" 11-ish
Dealer room and art show open at noon
Maybe drive somewhere for lunch. Parking is free for the con members
My first panel is at 3:something
and we're off....