Well, that was refreshing

[kinzel]

We didn't get all the snow the called for yesterday ...

so I went to the office and got caught in a sudden squally mess on the way home -- three four inches in an hour.
There was a scary moment when an overenthusiastic child waiting beside traffic with his mother -- or not waiting, sort of -- managed to slip and slide in front of my car, ending up sort of beneath the front end as I was in an exit line at a parking lot. No harm done by me, but Mom was certainly promising harm as soon as they were someplace safe... and that was followed by the sight of someone at the end of Route 32, at the China road, in full reverse, wheels turning far faster than the car was moving, and only barely inching up away from the corner maelstrom of ice and traffic.

Then it didn't quite stop snowing ... or it did for an hour or two and started again ... and I had to shovel a path across the deck this morning to feed the birds. It snows now. They promise it will stop, but then we're warned of a potential 6 to 9 inches Sunday into Monday ... looks like the groundhog was right!

For research purposes -- anyone on list near Laramie?

For research purposes -- does anyone out there still have working copies of our Embiid books?

For research purposes -- assuming you are not a regular Worldcon/NASFIC attendee, long-range fan, how far would you travel to attend a regional convention, if Sharon and I were featured there? How far would you travel to see us if we were giving a talk at a local library or college?

For research purposes -- have you ever been on/do you take part in Second Life.

I'm sure there were more questions... but this is a start.

Thank you for reading this far. You are free to go now.

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Well, I proved a few years back that I was willing to travel as far as Waterville to see you guys . . .

[starrcat.livejournal.com]

On the traveling, I would travel to a con where I didn't have to spend the night and where there was a day admission. That is totally thanks to today's economy. For a library or college, depending on the time of year (read weather) probably up to 3 hours if it didn't involve rush hour driving.

Hope that helps.

Embiid - well, I might have them on an old PC somewhere

[mikewashere.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

>For research purposes -- does anyone out there
>still have working copies of our Embiid books?

Probably on an old PC somewhere that's not plugged in... It's a fairly academic point, since I also bought Webscription copies of everything, and those are much more usable/portable.

[saruby.livejournal.com]

Well, i wouldn't say I was near Laramie, but I'm only a couple of hours away, if you need me to check something out.

no Embiid.

I'm not a "regular" Worldcon attendee, but I got talked into Montreal this summer. Otherwise, up to 4 hours by car is probably my limit. Local libraries and colleges, sure.

Second Life, yes

[threeringedmoon.livejournal.com]

I bought Crystal Dragon from Embiid for my Palm, despite my loathing of DRM. I am not sure whether it is working now or not. The Palm rebooted so often that I got tired of reinstalling stuff and no longer carry it. (I think the rebooting was caused by static charges from very dry environment.)

I could try and see if I can get Crystal Dragon to work if necessary.

[psw456.livejournal.com]

"For research purposes -- assuming you are not a regular Worldcon/NASFIC attendee, long-range fan, how far would you travel to attend a regional convention, if Sharon and I were featured there? How far would you travel to see us if we were giving a talk at a local library or college?"

Not a con attendee - as someone said in a previous comment - possibly go to a con if there were day admission; plus not have to spend on travel/overnight.

Local appearance - 2 to 3 hours driving.

Have an appearance next time you visit Westminster, MD - I'm only 40 minutes from there :-).

No Embiid or Second Life.

[kinzel.livejournal.com]

Have an appearance next time you visit Westminster, MD - I'm only 40 minutes from there :-).

in which direction? And at what time of day is that. i found Reisterstown to be a 25 minute run on one of my recent trips...

[psw456.livejournal.com]

We live appx 22 miles south near Lisbon/Woodbine and usually come up on MD 97. My husband's office was at 15 Main until they moved to Hunt Valley 3 years ago...

[mickilmp.livejournal.com]

Embiid - yes, working copies (with PC EXE) of Crystal Soldier/Crystal Dragon. I don't have a portable reader that works with it. I also purchased all of the Webscription editions.

[liadan-m.livejournal.com]

I've still got Embiid editions of a few things. They don't work on this computer - Vista is a pain. They do work on the other laptop.

I've been on second life. It didn't catch me.

I go about an hour for local appearances and 10 hrs for cons.

[otterb.livejournal.com]

I am not a regular con attendee, but might travel up to a couple hundred miles. Local library/college, probably anywhere in the DC area and up to Baltimore. It would depend on timing, as Real Life is complex. Which is why I am not, nor have ever been on Second Life, despite it's sounding cool - I barely manage my first life.

Research

[k1ndleuser.livejournal.com]

For a con: No more than a couple of hours driving if there is a day admission. For a very large con with an overnight I'll fly as long as the con is close to the airport and I don't need a car.
Locally: No more than 2 hours drive which for me means Oklahoma City, or Joplin, MO.

[(Anonymous)]

I've got working copies of the Embiid books (I Dare, Crystal Soldier/Dragon, Scouts Progress, Local Custom, Balance of Trade, and the Tomorrowlog) on my PC.

Chris Huning

[gryphonlsb.livejournal.com]

I live in Fresno, Ca and we flew out to Atlanta for Dragon Con a few years ago in which you two were a major draw for our decision ;)

[ebeth-naylor.livejournal.com]

I'm in western Nebraska which puts Laramie at a 3 hour drive into the "nearby" range. As opposed to when I lived in Chicago and "nearby" was in walking distance.

answer is no to most of the other questions.

ability to attend a convention is more dependent on rearranging work schedule than distance

[baggette.livejournal.com]

1) Not near Lramie
2)No Embid
3)Two hour drive or weekend get away for any con OR three to seven hours if you guys were the GOH but I've never been to a con, so...for you guys, I might go anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard.
4)No Second life
5)free to go? Go Where?

[(Anonymous)]

1. Not near Laramie.
2. I still have a working copy of I Dare for Embiid, but I re-bought it from Baen.
3. I've only been to Worldcons for the past few years, but when I went to regional cons my rule was no overnight travel to get there. For a local talk, 2 hours travel is probably my limit.
4. No Second Life

[victorthecook.livejournal.com]

Research: no;no; anywhere on the West Coast except LA [smog + asthma = bad]; roughly the area bounded by Mendocino, Sacramento, Fresno, and Big Sur; no.

Sorry we missed you at Boskone -- the travel was just too much after relocating here, and before finding paying work.

[(Anonymous)]

2 hours
same
no

I have a working copy of Balance of Trade

[samrobinson.livejournal.com]

But, when I read online I use the full screen view and the copy in word format that I got from Baen. I disliked that reader... ugly and didn't work the way I read.

[(Anonymous)]

1. No Laramie
2. No Embiid
3. We're in the middle of West Texas, and have to drive three hours to get ANYWHERE except Abilene (1.5 hours). So I'd say about 4 hours. That would get us to Austin or San Antonio.
4. No Second Life - we both work full-time, and I'm back in school for my MSc. My husband would rather do tai chi and play concertina or mountain dulcimer, than hunker down in front of a computer screen :o)

/me wanders off...

[grassrose.livejournal.com]

Err... this was me. Sorry about that.

answers

[stick-breaker.livejournal.com]

I have all of your works on Embiid, working on PC and PALM. Tried Second Life, did not find any value for my time. I live in the Empty Quarter, (idaho), you will never be within 4 hours of me. I think your closest was in Denver a couple of years ago. (8 hrs)

WorldCon/Talk location

[https://me.yahoo.com/a/S2w60U8zmJYWJLnnSsbBrTxhPNtYxCvCjWvbMthnpQ--#40add (from livejournal.com)]

I'd probably travel 2-3 hrs from Baltimore. For WorldCons, I might go further if I could crash on someone's couch. Trying to get a bookstore off the ground - well, it cramps the wallet.

Lauretta

[groblek.livejournal.com]

For a con, I'd travel however far I could manage in a day's drive (I hate flying these days). Otherwise, about a 3-4 hour drive. Neither of these takes me very far outside of CA, what can I say, I'm from a big state.

[laurajunderwood.livejournal.com]

I have ELSEWHERE, the collection of short fiction.

And a working copy of the Embiid reader (but tha is because they published a couple of my titles as well).

Laura J. Underwood

About some of the questions

[kinzel.livejournal.com]

part of what this was about is trying to see if we can combine "tour" with con when we go off to conventions next year... this year, there's not much in the way for us to tour between here and Montreal, for example, and the trip to StellarCon is pretty much a "get on the train and go" this time around because of issues with Sharon's schedule at work. Next year, with luck and given the lack of a WorldCon, we may be able to add a stop or two on the way down or back for NASFIC (I assume it'll be Raleigh at this point)... and if we get any GoH type invites we'll try to add in a library or intermediate stop when we can... Alas, you guys in the west coast, we need to do something about reaching you again .. not sure that Reno is really close to anything, and now Reno looks like the only game in town, what with Seattle dropping out for 2011 ...

[sraun]

I bought copies of all the Embiid books, and am still using the computer they were known to work on when the Webscription versions came out. I'd have to pull them out of archives to read them.

Not a long-distance con fan, but that's more lack of funds than anything else. Right now, I'd be willing to drive up to four hours (from Minneapolis, MN), eight to ten if there was someone nearby that offered crash space.

Never done Second Life, doesn't really tempt me. I'm a command-line person - I've gotten used to the WIMP interface, but the pseudo-3D stuff doesn't work for me.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Re: research purposes:

1) no.

2) no.

3) I'll be attending the Montreal Worldcon, from the UK, this year, basically because you will be there (also because it isn't in the USA). That's around 4000 miles.

4) I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of the communist party been on Second Life. I find it hard enough just to handle one life...

Embiid

[bonkabonka.livejournal.com]

If you still need 'em, I've got everything (I think) you and Sharon put out through them.